Accepted!

Today I got my visa. YAY! I am so relieved I can't even tell you. I got home yesterday afternoon and their was a slip from the post man saying sorry he missed me, there was a letter that needed to be signed for and I could pick it up at the post office the next day. As the letter was addressed to a Miss Amber Elizabeth Mooney I knew it had to be my letter from the home office about my visa. I spent most of the day really stressed out. I was so convinced it would be a rejection. Not to mention that Martin is away for the weekend and I had to decide when to tell him. Wait til he gets home, tell him the day before he gets home so he can think about it. In my head I was on my way home, even though my heart wanted to stay. So, I woke up and went down to the post office first thing. I don't think I have ever met a man who works as slowly as the gentleman helping people at the post office. And what do you know, it wasn't a rejection but the visa I have been waiting six months for. Yay.

Although this has all been quite traumatic and an emotional roller coaster, I think it has been good for me. I think about home all the time and I miss it every day, but when I was faced with the prospect of having to leave England, it made me really sad. I really like living here. It can be really hard and a tad lonely but I live in a beautiful place and with a beautiful person. And I'm not ready to leave. Which I would have to have done should this application been rejected. It has been a good test for me and I can now say that I really do want to be here, which is nice. It is also nice not to have to worry about it anymore. I feel so much lighter and free. And I can look for a job properly now. I almost feel like I have my independence back. And I am very happy to close this chapter of my life. Yay!

Polo

Or as my mom would say, horseys! A rare beautiful weekend in England Martin and I joined some friends for polo on Sunday. I have never been before and it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. We took a blanket and a picnic and just walked up and set up camp. There is a polo club not too far from our house and although you can make it as posh as you like, you can also make it as common as you like as well. It was fun to watch but mostly just a good opportunity to enjoy the sunshine.

Fish and Chips

When I made the decision to move to London, I told myself that while here I should really try everything British. Although I wasn't going to include Shepard's pie and mince meat in this resolution, I was going to include fish and chips. Even though I am a vegetarian I thought I would have been disappointed to leave England without ever having tried this English staple.

Almost three years later and I still hadn't tried it. Why eat meat when you don't have to? But I had made the mistake of telling Martin of my little promise and a mission to find the best fish shop began. Not really being a fish and chip person himself, he decided to have me risk it at our local chip shop, in hopes that I would fall in love with the meal and would want to start wanting to eat all meat. My explanation that I have never really liked fish in the first place and that a fish and chip meal wasn't going to tempt me back in made no difference. The man is desperate for me to eat meat.

We took the meal home and slopped it onto our plates. I quickly put tartar sauce all over my fish because even though I have never liked fish, who doesn't like tartar sauce? Seriously, they should think of more things to put it with. I delved in with no hesitation. And it tasted alright. Good even. Pretty much what you would expect. A lot of greasy batter with some fish flakes and a nice sauce to accompany it. But once I got into the meatier portion of the fish, I had to stop. I began to feel really ill and I only ate about half of the fish. I just couldn't do it. I felt nauseous and the whole idea of what I was eating just really grossed me out. I couldn't even look at it.

So that is my fish and chip experiment done. Here is the picture to prove that it really did happen. This is the first time in 7 years I have knowingly ate meat. Do I regret it? Not really. A promise is a promise and once I told Martin I knew I had to do it. It was also a good reminder that although being a veggie in this country sucks and even though sometimes I would love to have a salami sandwich, the actual act of putting meat in my mouth and chewing it has proven to be too much and actually makes me feel physically ill. So from now on, I'll just stick with the chips and maybe ask for some tartar sauce to go with them

Lets try again

I have sent off my newest visa application today. Lets hope this one works. It is pretty stressful having my life in limbo like this. I thought this visa thing would be a piece of cake and to find out that actually no, they will look for any reason to make you leave, is pretty distressing. I am up quite a creek should this one be rejected so keep your fingers crossed.

Meanwhile the weather has been lovely. Hot even! I actually left the house and didn't need a sweater! I have taken lots of photos to share with you but I have lost the cable connecting my camera to the computer in the move so I haven't been able to show you. I know it is around here somewhere, I just can't imagine where.

Other exciting news is I have a niece and nephew graduating from high school this week and last. I know you are thinking that this makes me old, but they aren't even the first ones! I am a great aunt after all! But I am super excited for them and I am also super proud and wish I could be there to celebrate. Well done kids!

I just did spell check and no misspellings found. How exciting.