Furbaby

I don't have my own biological kids and most likely never will so I have a fur baby.  He is my fur child so get over it.  I will post pictures of what we do and accomplishments he completes because for me, he is my fur baby.  It makes me happy - full stop.  I love seeing pictures of puppies and a planning play dates and going places just like you would with your kids.  We do go places with my step dwarfs but now I feel apart of something that is mine and that is my puppy.
I may be a geek.  I am sad.  I may be a loser but I am loved and something that is only 40 pounds makes me stupid happy and I don't want to apologise for it.
I am that person who posts pictures of my dog - ignore it if it bugs you ;-)

This isn't a mean post by any means but understand he is like my child.  He gets feed 3X a day, I hire puppy sitters, get play dates and we have days out.  He just listens better then some kids HA well sometimes ;-)

Ya know that saying? Love me, Love my dog....Never been a truer statement.

Snow Wife

Not Always Easy Peasy

A lot of people can pick up and move and never have growing pains, I thought I was one of them.  I got along just fine and never really blinked or looked back because I was happy.  Most other expats say the first year or two are the hardest and that may be true for them but not me.
My hard time came when life really happened and job hunting and realising it wasn't going to be easy and you either suck it up or bail.  Bailing isn't an option because no matter how much it can suck I love that Prince Charming of mine.
I don't think I could even live back in the US because it would be reverse culture shock.  I like England as much as I pick on it once in awhile because of the quarks, well quarks to me.  I would prefer better weather and of course some Mexican food ohh and throw in my friends and family to visit whenever they want or I want and it would be perfect! HA Why isn't that time machine made yet?
Sometimes you just need a moment and take the time to realise the loss of what you know and talk it out and that's what I am doing.  I miss things and life as I knew it but you can't harp on it or you can never move forward.  Buck up young one and move on...

I am a very lucky girl because I get to see my best friends very soon and that is the goal I needed to look forward too or I am not sure I would be as happy go lucky.  Can you say Friends? Bud Light? Pool? Mexican? These are the things that make my world go round

snow wife

Date of Expiration

Now normally I am a stickler for not eating past the expiration date including the "best by" date on milk or other items but I that is over.

As an expat there are things you crave from home, it can be small things that make you feel better.  I was having a moment (or two) of life sucks and what do you eat when that happens? Kraft Macaroni & Cheese!  I had a box sure (my last box) and I boiled the water and got ready to drain and thought huh wonder what the expiration date/best by date is and it was July 2011! I laughed to myself and said, "screw it" as its pasta and its dried cheese stuff.  I dipped my finger in and it was FINE! I ate it.  It was fabulous and it made me feel a bit better.

After quitting smoking and other shit happening in my life - I put on about 15-20 pounds and I know Mac & Cheese isn't the best for you but sometimes you just need that comfort - don't judge me as I did share it even though I could have demolished the entire box. 

I am still weird about the expiration but not as much as I was in the states because here stuff expires or has a best by date the moment you open it!  Cheese even has a best buy date of a week - a block of cheese! I mean come on, we all know cheese can last longer.  Bread lasts longer here because it isn't so warm and humid and that rocks but mine still goes moldy because bread would last me months if it didn't go moldy.

Just another thing you do as an expat and if you really need a comfort, you seek it out even if it "expired" almost a year ago.

snow wife

I'm a loser baby

Ever have one of those days or even nights where you just feel like a loser? Yeah me too.
As you may have figured out I am an expat which mean an American living in another country.  Talk about compromise right?  Well many years on I still can't get a decent job.  I want a "real" job that makes "real" money.  I have had a job since I was 15 and made real money my entire adult life but that doesn't seem in the cards here but I can keep looking.

I don't want to work for 6-7 an hour as a "manageress" (the title alone is stupid) or "manager" in a retail shop where I will be stuck working nights and weekends.  I did that shit in my younger years and it made me miserable so why in the world would I want it now?

I am not giving up looking but FFS this blows.  Maybe I should go to a more populated area like London because where we are there isn't anything.  I could always commute to the states HA wouldn't that be nice but that won't happen.

I am just having a moment and feeling down again which makes me a loser and not many people get it.  I don't need the anyone saying, "oh it will get better" or "something will come up" because that just makes me mad.  I am educated and have some great work experience so this shouldn't be as hard as it is but oh well right?

Maybe I should just open a small pub with breakfast tacos ;-P With this economy? That would be stupid I know...I will just struggle on and just hope to live on the breadcrumbs of part time wages which blows if you didn't figure that out.

snow wife

Poorly Puppy

So our puppy LOVE water, he would run around in it all day if you let him.  We have had shit tons of rain which its like mini heaven for the furdwarf and of course he was bound to drink some of this water.  Say it with me Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww  It is not clean good water but some water that sits on god know what but puppy/dogs will be puppy/dogs and you can't change it.

Well it has upset the stomach, say it with me Funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn - NOT.  Touch of diarrhea which is always fun to try and clean up (can you say spray hose?).  So I went to the grocery store looking for Pedialyte to ensure furdwarf was hydrated and of course it isn't sold here.  So I searched the baby isle looking for ANYTHING like this and there was nothing.  So I asked the pizza lady, who is awesome and super friendly and she said it is called Dioralyte BUT you have to get it at the pharmacy counter.

I tottle off to the pharmacy counter and ask for this stuff and it goes like this:
Me: Do you have dioralyte?
PharmAsst: Yes, it is a powder
Me: Great I would like some please
PA: Raspberry or Black Current
Me: oh it doesn't matter its for my puppy as I want to make sure he is hydrated
PA: Sorry we cant sell it to you
Me: What?
PA: we cant prescribe vet medicine
Me: I don't want a prescription, this is a kids drink and I have known my whole life that its ok for a dog to drink this as it restore electrolytes.
PA: I will have to check - hold on
Me: (rolling my eyes) ok
PA: Did a vet tell you it was ok
Me: yes in the states, this is common
PA: (asking pharmacist who is hidden) and says ok we can do this

All for a 2.39 quid drink - dumbest thing ever.  I was in the pet shop getting puppy food and talking to them about this and they said oh its crazy.  They wont sell you gauze with vaseline stuff if you say its for your dog because they don't do vet medicine.  So of course we all say yep for my kid or yep its for me.

So lame.

snow wife

Babies R U

Seriously they are everywhere...Yes I am jealous, I admit it.  At work I see pregnant women everywhere - seriously, everywhere.  I see all the cute prams/strollers and little kids on leashes (ha).  Munchkins in little tom's so excited to be walking and it is adorable.

It seems everyone got knocked up at the same time last year.  I see some people WAY old that are pregnant (I am talking gray hair now).  I flip and flop now on whether I want to cross that bridge.  Some days I can't imagine my life without our own child and then others I am like screw it, we can be selfish!  I kinda like our life and having the freedom that comes with having older dwarfs so I dont know if I want to give that up.

Oh plus I am no spring chicken anymore. I don't know if we are both ready to be those "old" parents.  Our dwarf now talks how so and so parents are preggo and they are like "old" and it will be weird.  YES these are people our age...Sooooo until I wrap my head around this I guess we just go on and get older haha

Meantime I can still be jealous of all the new mommies out there and you can't stop me ;-)

snow wife

B&R

Just let me bitch and rant!  Sometimes I want to miss things and not give a rats ass why England doesn't do it that way but I want to bitch.

You can't stop me - don't try.

I miss the drive thru bank - yes I do! Instead I have to fight to park in small parking spots like forever away to walk into the "high" street to go deposit a check into my bank. F that - I want pull up do other crap while I wait in line.  Don't go on and on about how England would never purpose build a drive thru bank or it would have to close others down. THAT IS NOT THE POINT.

I am not always looking for a solution, I just want to have a rant.  I miss things from the US and from how life as I have always known it so let me.  Try to understand it WAS my way of life and now I am kicked back to pioneer times (in MY mind at least).


I mean seriously I got stupidly excited when I saw a drive thru Starbucks because the only drive thru's are McDonalds and KFC - BLAH....

So while or shall I say whilst I know England doesn't do it BUT they should and just let me think this in my own little world.

One more example: Fiber Optic Internet I mean good god I have never had Internet speeds this slow in my life but its all "broadband" aka DSL because it uses the phone line.  The phone lines are 500 years old and they get "interference and noise" and it slows down during busy times. FFS come on, we are hosting the Olympics but we can't get fiber optics everywhere?

sorry I needed a B&R obviously.

snow wife

*NOT all things are bad in England and some are good but this is a B&R post so don't tell me to live in the moment lol