Good news, bad news and something cute.
Life has been keeping us pretty busy lately, and when I haven't been busy I haven't felt much like talking, so you have all been able to enjoy some peace and quiet for a change.
With being so busy since tygrr began nightshift I noticed I had drifted into the habit of propping myself up with caffeine and sugar. I had also noticed a return to a certain extent of my depression and social phobia. I woke up Sunday morning feeling very, very jittery, wound up and anxious with a song stuck in my head on full volume. I noticed as the morning wore on that I was dreading the writer's meetup that I was scheduled to attend that afternoon. I caught myself rehearsing in my head possible conversations and working out responses to potential criticisms which is utterly rediculous as that group is not like that at all.
I somewhat frantically used some of the relaxation techniques my hypnotherapist had taught me, but I am ashamed to say I was very rusty as I have not seen him since returning from queensland in July, and I have found myself too tired at night to listen to his tapes. Of course, I realised that those were just good excuses to avoid continuing to work on my issues. It would seem that I must be pretty close to something important if my mind is trying so hard to distract me from it.
So it was time to correct a few things. Firstly, no caffeine yesterday or sugar. At all. Secondly get a good night's sleep, which of course was so much easier without all that caffeine and sugar in my system. Thirdly make time to listen to the tapes again. Coincidentally I have my first appointment to see my hypnotherapist again tomorrow morning.
Curiously, whether it is connected or not, today I am feeling much brighter. Much more energetic and my mood is considerably improved. So has the social phobia. It makes sense that sugar, which can wind you up can aggravate anxiety, and then the resulting blood sugar low would drag down my mood. I really must make more efforts to be aware of things like that and not let bad old habits creep back in again.
So, while I have been struggling with my mood a lot lately, today I feel good. I have also achieved a lot this morning, and that only enhances the good start to my day. Hopefully the good mood will continue.
Meanwhile, I have some good news and some bad news and a couple of cute things to share.
The good news is that I finally have all tygrr's immigration paperwork done, copied, certified and compiled. We are supposed to fill out forms they provide, get people to fill out Statutory Declarations verifying the authenticity of our relationship, provide photographic and documented evidence (power and phone bills, shared purchases etc) to back up our claim to be a couple as well as Statutory Declarations of our own. So, two years worth of accumulated evidence, plus the requested information results in this:
All of which is supposed to fit into an A4 envelope.......riiiiight.
Well, some clever copying by da dragon has achieved the impossible.
Voila!
Their requirements 'did' say that they did not want original documents submitted but certified copies. It turns out that most documents are on reasonably heavy and thick paper. My copier, which has already earnt it's keep in the last two days, uses much thinner paper. By judiciously coping all that needed to be copied (even putting four photographs per page and copying them too) I have made the impossible possible and now everything we need is sitting in an A4 envelope ready to be submitted.
Well, almost everything. We are still waiting on the police clearance but that takes 30 days and as long as we have proof we have submitted the application for it (and we do) then it is not urgent for it to be back before we submit our application.
We currently have six Statutory Declarations from people vouching for us, and three more promised by the end of the week. And yes, there is room in the envelope for them to be added to the collection. However, even if those three did not arrive, six is a goodly amount to submit.
So now I can breath a sigh of relief that it is all done. Ahhhhhhh....
I just wonder how many trees that paperwork killed....:(
While in the photocopying and verifying mood I also finally copied all my ID so I can submit for a passport. And yes, it is a LOT of id as I have to show every change of name along the way, and that also means every marriage certificate and subsequent divorce certificate that went with it. I am just grateful I don't have to submit all that with the immigration paperwork too or it would never all fit in the envelope! So, tomorrow I will apply again for a passport and then if there is ever an emergency with Bedingabird in the States and I am needed I don't have to muck around getting a passport then.
Ok, so that is all good news. Now for the bad news.
The mechanic called about tygrr's car today. The general concensus is that it's better to replace the gearbox altogether rather than try to put new parts in an old gearbox, especially one that has done the miles that tygrr's has. They can get a replacement one second hand but by the time they get it, and replace the clutch we are now looking at a repair bill of around $2000!!!! Sheesh, my wallet just had a heart attack and I think our bank account is about to join it in ER with a hernia!
Well, a call to the Bank of Mom ensued and yes, it is ok to repair the car. The good news in that is that it will only take us a month more to pay her back than originally planned. I am so doing shaloms to tygrr's new job. We would be in such deep doo doo if not for that. Even nicer, the Bank of Mom is not requesting repayment until after the new year, so we get to have a bit of money for christmas too. Bedingabird is such a lovely mother in law. The tygrr/dragon financial ship would have followed the Titanic to the bottom of the ocean a long time ago without her help! The nice thing is these days it's only ever a loan. It's a good feeling to be able to pay her back.
Now onto the cute. Firstly I got a card in the mail yesterday. I simply HAVE to share it with you. It's a belated birthday card and this is the verse from it -
You probably get lots of cards on your birthday.
But what about after?
When the balloons have withered
and the cake has crumbled?
Who's thinking of you then?
Who's looking out for you when the
SPOTLIGHT'S OFF?
I am,
that's who.
ME.
I'm not late.
I'm senstive.
Well, I tell you, when I opened that and read it, I sat there and laughed so hard I damn near cried. That is the funniest belated birthday card I have ever seen. It is absolutely classic!
And in other cuteness, I knew Seth, the new kitten, was a cutie, but this shot snapped by the troll yesterday just takes the cake in my opinion.
Smile!
And no, that jaw has not been photoshopped! (although I did tidy up the background by whiting it out)
How can you not smile when you live with critters like this, huh?
In other good news, I have finally kicked off my writing again. I am only about 10000 words behind now...lol! But still, I managed 3000 words between last night and this morning, which has to be a positive thing. I am not pressuring myself. I know I will write now that my time is freed up, and now a lot of the stress has lifted. As for now though, I am off to give myself a cut and colour as a reward for getting all the paperwork done at last!
NaNoWriMo
Goal: 50000 words
Done: 11724
Mood: Relaxed.
With being so busy since tygrr began nightshift I noticed I had drifted into the habit of propping myself up with caffeine and sugar. I had also noticed a return to a certain extent of my depression and social phobia. I woke up Sunday morning feeling very, very jittery, wound up and anxious with a song stuck in my head on full volume. I noticed as the morning wore on that I was dreading the writer's meetup that I was scheduled to attend that afternoon. I caught myself rehearsing in my head possible conversations and working out responses to potential criticisms which is utterly rediculous as that group is not like that at all.
I somewhat frantically used some of the relaxation techniques my hypnotherapist had taught me, but I am ashamed to say I was very rusty as I have not seen him since returning from queensland in July, and I have found myself too tired at night to listen to his tapes. Of course, I realised that those were just good excuses to avoid continuing to work on my issues. It would seem that I must be pretty close to something important if my mind is trying so hard to distract me from it.
So it was time to correct a few things. Firstly, no caffeine yesterday or sugar. At all. Secondly get a good night's sleep, which of course was so much easier without all that caffeine and sugar in my system. Thirdly make time to listen to the tapes again. Coincidentally I have my first appointment to see my hypnotherapist again tomorrow morning.
Curiously, whether it is connected or not, today I am feeling much brighter. Much more energetic and my mood is considerably improved. So has the social phobia. It makes sense that sugar, which can wind you up can aggravate anxiety, and then the resulting blood sugar low would drag down my mood. I really must make more efforts to be aware of things like that and not let bad old habits creep back in again.
So, while I have been struggling with my mood a lot lately, today I feel good. I have also achieved a lot this morning, and that only enhances the good start to my day. Hopefully the good mood will continue.
Meanwhile, I have some good news and some bad news and a couple of cute things to share.
The good news is that I finally have all tygrr's immigration paperwork done, copied, certified and compiled. We are supposed to fill out forms they provide, get people to fill out Statutory Declarations verifying the authenticity of our relationship, provide photographic and documented evidence (power and phone bills, shared purchases etc) to back up our claim to be a couple as well as Statutory Declarations of our own. So, two years worth of accumulated evidence, plus the requested information results in this:
All of which is supposed to fit into an A4 envelope.......riiiiight.
Well, some clever copying by da dragon has achieved the impossible.
Voila!
Their requirements 'did' say that they did not want original documents submitted but certified copies. It turns out that most documents are on reasonably heavy and thick paper. My copier, which has already earnt it's keep in the last two days, uses much thinner paper. By judiciously coping all that needed to be copied (even putting four photographs per page and copying them too) I have made the impossible possible and now everything we need is sitting in an A4 envelope ready to be submitted.
Well, almost everything. We are still waiting on the police clearance but that takes 30 days and as long as we have proof we have submitted the application for it (and we do) then it is not urgent for it to be back before we submit our application.
We currently have six Statutory Declarations from people vouching for us, and three more promised by the end of the week. And yes, there is room in the envelope for them to be added to the collection. However, even if those three did not arrive, six is a goodly amount to submit.
So now I can breath a sigh of relief that it is all done. Ahhhhhhh....
I just wonder how many trees that paperwork killed....:(
While in the photocopying and verifying mood I also finally copied all my ID so I can submit for a passport. And yes, it is a LOT of id as I have to show every change of name along the way, and that also means every marriage certificate and subsequent divorce certificate that went with it. I am just grateful I don't have to submit all that with the immigration paperwork too or it would never all fit in the envelope! So, tomorrow I will apply again for a passport and then if there is ever an emergency with Bedingabird in the States and I am needed I don't have to muck around getting a passport then.
Ok, so that is all good news. Now for the bad news.
The mechanic called about tygrr's car today. The general concensus is that it's better to replace the gearbox altogether rather than try to put new parts in an old gearbox, especially one that has done the miles that tygrr's has. They can get a replacement one second hand but by the time they get it, and replace the clutch we are now looking at a repair bill of around $2000!!!! Sheesh, my wallet just had a heart attack and I think our bank account is about to join it in ER with a hernia!
Well, a call to the Bank of Mom ensued and yes, it is ok to repair the car. The good news in that is that it will only take us a month more to pay her back than originally planned. I am so doing shaloms to tygrr's new job. We would be in such deep doo doo if not for that. Even nicer, the Bank of Mom is not requesting repayment until after the new year, so we get to have a bit of money for christmas too. Bedingabird is such a lovely mother in law. The tygrr/dragon financial ship would have followed the Titanic to the bottom of the ocean a long time ago without her help! The nice thing is these days it's only ever a loan. It's a good feeling to be able to pay her back.
Now onto the cute. Firstly I got a card in the mail yesterday. I simply HAVE to share it with you. It's a belated birthday card and this is the verse from it -
You probably get lots of cards on your birthday.
But what about after?
When the balloons have withered
and the cake has crumbled?
Who's thinking of you then?
Who's looking out for you when the
SPOTLIGHT'S OFF?
I am,
that's who.
ME.
I'm not late.
I'm senstive.
Well, I tell you, when I opened that and read it, I sat there and laughed so hard I damn near cried. That is the funniest belated birthday card I have ever seen. It is absolutely classic!
And in other cuteness, I knew Seth, the new kitten, was a cutie, but this shot snapped by the troll yesterday just takes the cake in my opinion.
Smile!
And no, that jaw has not been photoshopped! (although I did tidy up the background by whiting it out)
How can you not smile when you live with critters like this, huh?
In other good news, I have finally kicked off my writing again. I am only about 10000 words behind now...lol! But still, I managed 3000 words between last night and this morning, which has to be a positive thing. I am not pressuring myself. I know I will write now that my time is freed up, and now a lot of the stress has lifted. As for now though, I am off to give myself a cut and colour as a reward for getting all the paperwork done at last!
NaNoWriMo
Goal: 50000 words
Done: 11724
Mood: Relaxed.