Not much peace within myself...

Just looking at the brief description of myself on the top of the blog page, I pondered over the Peace within oneself being the best answer bit.... it's been a challenging week with a reply from the Ontario College of Nurses (CNO) requesting more information after having received my application 12 weeks ago.  So, no license just as yet. No probs, not really sure I want a nursing job yet, so what's the rush? I have 40 days to decide whether to continue with the application or withdraw. Continuing means I have to get a whole load of information and references they need, ok, fair enough, they don't know me from Adam or Eve or Suyin for that matter. I also have to complete a grid of some sort, that mirrors what their baccalaureate nurses achieve at the end of their nursing degree. It's a 4 year degree course here.

Withdraw?? I have already paid out for my transcripts to be posted from the UK, and they have arrives, the CNO has received them, yippeee. The application fee for this was CAD 600 plus tax, so something like CAD 678, about £500+ in total already spent!! So, even if I don't eventually work as a nurse, it's good to have this as a plan B option.

Then, we had news that our prospective tenant was deemed unacceptable by the letting agency, undisclosed adverse credit ratings etc.  Alarm bells rang for me, when I was told he earned £25K a year and was going to rent our house for £550/month, with utilities and poll tax, his monthly outgoings would hit nearly $800, how ever was he going to afford that?? Then we find out that his wages are only about £21K, confirmed by his HR dept where he was working.  He was single, wanting to rent a 3 bedroom house. I was thinking he would secretly sublet the other rooms without informing us. So, perhaps a blessing in disguise. Trouble is, still no tenant and this means that we're paying rent here and also servicing our mortgage back home. With me not working, things were looking tight..... the vice in my head cranking up another notch.

The 3rd and final blow came when I enquired about becoming a British Citizen, why now, after all these years, why not before??? After all, I had lived in the UK for 19 years before I left for Trinidad. I had been married to Dave 14 years by then too.  I was still Malaysian. I always used the excuse of my parents still being in Malaysia and if they needed me to return for an extended stay, it would be no hassle. Truth be known, I did not want anyone to think or say that I have married Dave for a British Passport. In doing so, I have bitten off my nose to spite my face.. I have missed the boat, having been away from the UK for more than 450 days in the last 5 years has scuppered my chances.. I can apply again when I return to the UK and live there with no absences for 3 years.... Dave says it's not the UK Border Agency's fault, it was mine for not applying sooner... maybe he thinks I married him to get a British Passport too? It just amazed me a bit that all those years I had lived in the UK counted for not a lot if I no longer continued to live there for a period of time. The fact that the rest of my family are British accounts for nothing, the fact that the majority of my estate is still back there, again, accounts for nothing, the fact that I have worked for the NHS for 19 years accounts for not much either, never mind anything else.

I have not rambled here for a while as my brain was rather preoccupied with all the above... so, there it is...when life serves you lemons, make lemonade, be sure to add some sugar in case the lemons are so acerbic you feel yourself being eaten inside out by all that organic acid.

On a brighter note, Sana my neighbour downstairs is due to have her twins by C/S on the 28th. I have been knitting for the twins a bit, so I had better hurry. The scans show them both in a breech position. They are supposed to be 7lbs 6oz and 6lbs 4 oz, so one is bullying the other already!  Sana, knowing about my nursing and midwifery background has asked if I would help see her through the first few weeks. I was honoured and I will be rewarded of course, but I would have done it for nothing. So, I will be getting some pocket money soon, depending on how many hours she needs me for.  Perhaps this will give me some peace of mind?

Remember my Domo? Well, the mums I have been teaching to make him are incredibly talented, Lynsey has made 2 of them in a week, with only the finishing touches left to do. I have now moved on to making sack boys at the request of Mitch and Jas , as they love playing on the Little Big Planet, even though they are currently stuck on a level they cannot seem to beat.  So here is a picture of the 1st sack boy I made. The kids in school loved him, my kids were more critical, what's up with the mouth mum? Gratitude, eh?

Finally, did I mention that we bought a lotto ticket with some change that we had after I'd been out with the Dragon Ladies a few weeks ago? Well, we bought a lotto 6/49 ticket and an encore ticket, costing $3.  We won $5 from that draw. After consulting the other 5, I bought  Lotto Max ticket for last week's jackpot of $46 million. We won! We won again, it wasn't the jackpot, no one got that, but we won $40. More discussion and the consensus was to purchase 2 Lotto Max this week, at $5 a go, then the remaining $30 was divided between all of us, $5 each. So, for a 50 cents stake each at the very start, we are now $4.50 up each and have two potential wins this Friday...how nice it would be to have some money to share again....I can dream, can't I?