Birthday round-up
To say that I have a lot of news for this post would be a bit of an understatement. It will probably be long and picture-filled.
Will really went all-out for my birthday, with stuff happening on the weekend before, on the day itself, and on the weekend after!
On the first weekend, I knew that something was happening in the house but I didn’t know what it was. It turned out to be a surprise birthday party!
On Tuesday it was my actual birthday, my mum and sister came up, and I got my presents from Will too, including an awesome thing for making cold coffee in the fridge. There was a thing on my wishlist to go with it, that turns coffee iced really quickly, and it’s been purchased but I didn’t receive it, so I don’t know if someone is hiding it away for Christmas or they just forgot.
My birthday-proper would have been completely good if it were not for our electric company being bloody awful. Long story short, they sent a bailiff to our house on my birthday, for a bill we had already paid. I left a Trustpilot review about it, and I’ve copied the text here in case they have it removed:
“On Tuesday I answered the door to a man saying he was there to represent Spark Energy. He asked where my partner, the account holder, was. He had gone out to get supplies for my birthday meal. The man asked to come into my house to look at our electricity meter. I told him it wasn’t a good time (what with it being my birthday, and all my family visiting and being in earshot of the conversation, and me being there in my pyjamas, and my dog getting excited about the stranger at the door). He handed me a letter for my partner with the words “Hand Delivered” printed on the envelope.
He then went off, and we watched him out the window as he tampered with our gas meter for about 10 minutes (even though we aren’t with Spark for gas) and then he loitered at the front and back of our house for a while longer. Even after my partner had come home, I saw him at the back again, but he didn’t knock our door again so I’m not sure what he was doing.
The letter he gave us said that we hadn’t paid our electricity bill and he was here to seek payment, so he was a bailiff. The problem is that we HAD paid that bill, and had only gotten the letter for it in the post about two days prior!
When my partner rang Spark Energy after getting home, they acknowledged that we had already paid this bill, but that they considered it late because the letter apparently should have arrived in October! It isn’t even dated in October!
Having that horrible man at my door obviously soured my birthday, and the fact that he was sent after we had already paid the bill is just unacceptable. Spark apparently told my partner that the agents will be told not to pursue us anymore, but they should have already been told that, as soon as they received our money!”
It looks like this has happened to plenty of other people recently, too. In summary, if you have any choice in the matter, don’t go with Spark Energy. Transfer away from them if you can, if they are already the provider when you move into a property. We couldn’t do that because the previous tenants had a pre-payment meter installed, which would have apparently stopped working if we changed provider, and also Spark insisted on making us wait. After getting onto a normal tariff, we finally got a smart meter, which will, also, apparently stop working if we change provider. So we are begrudgingly stuck with this incompetent company for as long as we live here.
The most recent weekend involved a surprise trip to the zoo! As you undoubtedly know, I love the zoo and have been desperate to go for a while. I actually managed not to vomit on the journeys (maybe something about being in a taller car helps?) but I did feel a bit foul until I managed to find a position to semi-go-to-sleep in.
The first animal I saw was the Anteater (who I believe is called Ernesto) and he was really cool. His body was bulky and furry like a weird dog. Shortly afterwards I saw some Capybaras and a Tapir!
Honestly I saw so many great animals at the zoo. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any Okapis, but I saw a Bongo and they are pretty good too. Man I just love the zoo. Plus it was one of my 19 things to do before 2019! I’d like to go again in the summer or autumn, but it’s definitely an experience I can tick off.
But there was an even bigger surprise!
We were looping around towards the exit and we came up to the giraffe house, which now seems to incorporate lemurs!
When we went into the giraffe pen I got the Jurassic Park tune in my head, I was so in awe at how big they are. I mean, obviously you go through life knowing that a giraffe is a very tall animal, but it really hit me in that moment. There was one giraffe who kept going back and forth between feeders, even though there were plenty of free holes, and while moving around, it towered over us briefly.
So I was staring at this giraffe, thinking about life and God and how all this once came from microbes, and then Will proposed to me.
He remembered the kind of engagement ring I said I’d wanted years before, a plain white gold band that was only 3mm wide (because I have tiny fingers and I wouldn’t want a jewel getting all snagged in stuff).
He proposed to me AT THE ZOO guys. I think it took a while to actually sink in. But I’m really happy about it.
And actually a bit overwhelmed, because there’s so much stuff to do, and it seems to be impossible to have a wedding for under £1,000 and I do not have £1,000. Because I would have another dog and a stairlift if I did! Photographers alone seem to want £1,000, so I guess we just won’t have one?
I wanted to get married in 2020 originally, but Will would like to do it in 2018. Which leaves us with less than 12 months to organise everything. I’m so confused about so much stuff, including how to actually give notice, because it seems like you have to actually have a ceremony booked first, but then what if you are declined permission to marry afterwards?!
I’m especially concerned about my weight. I will never forgive myself if I am overweight on my wedding day. But I’ve been eating so much steamed veg recently, and do you know what happened? I lost 6 lbs, felt good about it, then gained them all back when I wasn’t doing anything different. That’s the usual story of my body though. It all comes back no matter how little I eat. It’s an issue my doctors don’t know what to do with. I’m even exercising with my pedal machine (arms more often than legs because my leg bones just like to wriggle everywhere) and it doesn’t help.
So, I’m excited to get married, but also terrified.
Below are some of my recent meals:
In other news, I am once again . . . ill! I got tonsillitis AGAIN! And today I have very swollen glands in my neck that are hard and weird, which is probably related to whatever is going on in my mouth. I’m glad I have some menthol Halls in because they are quite relieving.
I’ve also done something in my abdomen which I originally thought was pulled bladder muscles, but now I’m worried it might be one of the ovarian cysts leaking because I am in a hell of a lot of pain and have had hot water bottles on me all day. It’s just one issue after the other with my body at the moment.
But, I’m 28 and I’m engaged. I hate the word “fiancé” though so I’m probably just going to keep using “partner.”
We decorated on December 1st and stuff looks really festive and nice. I can’t believe we’ve lived here for a whole year, and we’re about to have our second Christmas here!
