First Great Western

First Great Western (the company that's in charge of the train network in and around London) have told us that duplicate season tickets are not usually refundable. (Ryon was unfortunate enough to lose it shortly after purchasing it). He got it in March and paid for it with the help of a company loan and in return sacrificed a certain amount of his salary each month. In his last month they didn't pay out his salary at all for it to go towards the loan and then we still owed them £600 after he left the company. Needless to say we dug into savings in America and subsequently paid £2480 for his annual travel card. However, since 18.08 Ryon does no longer require the ticket as his new job is outside of London and handed the ticket in to be refunded. He hadn't been told there and then, but when he chased the people up via telephone two days ago we were told that "refunds are not usually made for duplicate season tickets according to the terms and conditions of carriage". BUMMER! They still owe us over £1000, money we'd been counting on to get us out of the overdraft and up on our feet again. Now the only thing that we can do and have done is to write a letter of complaint to the Customer Service Bureau. I'm praying they will give us our money back. It's so not fair! Without dramatizing they are taking food from our baby's mouth. In moments like this I despise this capitalist country. I know Germany has it's flaws, too, but it seems like this country likes to challenge us all the time. But at least we know that if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere! We'll get stronger! :)

PS: A praise for Germany: Germany is very supportive of young families due to their "new" policy. A German friend I met up with today told me that you can take up to 3 years maternity leave in Germany. And dad's are welcome to have their fair share if they want to! Also the childcare costs are calculated in accordance with your salary.

Vegetarian Challenge...20.08. - 04.09.2008

Inspired by a fellow blogger, Michelle, I (and Ryon) want to take on the challenge of being vegetarians for at least two weeks. The challenge started yesterday and will last until the 4th of September with the possibility of extension. But Im planning to be in Germany over Bennet's birthday so I might revert to old habits, especially when I can't afford to buy food, but have to live off other's expenses (but then I can't really afford to buy propper food in this country is what it seems). To put my all in it and to get some ideas what we could eat, now that we omit meat, I took out two vegetarian cookbooks at the library. I flicked through them and the recipes inside look extremly yummy, so I said to Ryon that I could imagine turning into a vegetarian for longer if not good. And this comes out of the mouth of a devoted carnivore :) I have to add that Ryon and I have already been avoiding red meats for quite some time and stuck to chicken, turkey and fish (mostly). However, these ones I have been enjoying to the full, especially as there is no better soup than a chicken soup with some chicken on the bone. The flavour is just not the same without it. :( That's why I wonder if I can stick to it longer than 2 weeks??? We'll see.

Then, today, Bennet had a trial run at the childminder and I was having typical motherly feelings and doubts about whether I have made the right decision, chosen the right person to look after him, the right environment etc. When I returned after an hour and stepped into the room, Bennet saw me, moaned (as if "How dare you leave me behind, mommy") and came quickly crawling towards me like a little dog. For the record, I will be returning to work on the 22nd September for a mere £50 a week, due to exorbitant childcare costs. I don't even have the option of putting Bennet into nursery, because I wouldn't be able to afford it. So give me a good reason why I should return to work, when I seem to be working to pay the childminder??????????????? Grrrrrr. And in the meantime, cost of electricity, food and water keep rising and rising and the waterlevel is coming up to our chins. Hopefully, Ryon's new job will pull us out of the wet before we drown. Don't know what would have happened to us if he hadn't found the new job??? Now I hope he is not going to spoil it all by telling forbidden jokes, farting or generally behaving in a childish manner that's not accepted when representing a respectable person with a reputable job in an aspiring company. But I think he does realize he's got to be better than that and a family to look after. At least that's what I hope. :)

I better go to bed as it's late.

One topic I'll keep for another time: First Great Western Company. They are evil. And corrupt. Backstabbers!

Bye for now.

Milena

Grandpa meets Grandson the 2nd...

Not long ago, my dad came to visit us for a week to take in some impressions of the English Country, tourist attractions and most of all his grandson, Bennet. I got to show him around quite a bit. We went to Regent's Park, Madame Tussauds, Bath to see the Roman Baths, London (a couple of times), LEGOLAND Windsor and Windsor Castle. Here are some pictures of the lovely pair: grandpa and Bennet







We miss you, grandpa! Come back soon!

Happy Birthday to me...

This is how my birthday cake looked like. :) Can you tell
that I like to make a big fuss about my birthday? *hehe*
You only turn 26 once and I've been thinking about mortality
a lot lately so one more reason to celebrate birthdays. :)
My friend Ant never got to get 26...

Even though this whole month has been overshadowed by the
death of my friend,I still managed to enjoy my birthday.
Ryon surprised me by taking me to a Restauarnt called
Tummies for breakfast. A scrumpteous breakfast I have to say.
And Bennet quite enjoyed the tropical fruit platter. :)

After that we put Bennet down for a lunchtime nap and we even
got a chance to rest our heads as well. At 2.30pm we had 3
mommy friends with babies of mine come around to have tea
and cake with us. It was lovely to chat and see the babies
interact with each other even if it was just trying to snatch
each others toys...





At about 5.30pm I had a surprise piano lesson, which was a
lot of fun and encouraged me to make more use of my keyboard!
Defintely planning to have more lessons, but with a different
teacher...a woman, if I may be a little sexist here :)


This is daddy and Bennet warming up the piano for my surprise
lesson.





And in the evening we went for a walk on Raymill Island where
this picture was produced.




It was a fab fab day!

Thank you Ryon!!!


PS: Sorry for the messed up format in this post. It must
be the banner at the bottom, but if so it's worth it.
Go check it out!