Are you there Immi? Its me Claire (Part 3)

So this morning I had one of those moments where I felt upset by the fact that it is now 7 months into my visa application and 10 months into being unemployed. After last weeks let down with GN wasting my time and thinking I was about to get a break work wise. I guess im feeling more let down by the system.

Now that its been the 7 months into the 7-9 month turnaround, everytime my hotmail lights up with a new email. I think this is it "this will be the email telling me I have my visa so I can start working again". Unfortunately that email hasnt arrived yet :(.

I decided to go back onto Australian Forum today. A site I havent visited in months because it kept getting me down. why you ask? imagin being told that every application is being treated the same and will be processed in the order they have been received. how would you feel reading about others who have had there visas granted within a week or 2/3/4/5 months when you have been waiting for what seem like forever. Its not nice hey? so you can understand why it gets me down. Anyways i went onto the forum today and noticed a number of people who applied around the same time as me finally getting their approval so i decided seeing as its been over a month since my last call to immigration and I had 50c in my purse that it was time to call for an update.

I was on hold for a less amount of time as i normally have so maybe calling later then i normally do i a good idea to note for future calls. Anyways i got through to Tara in the melbourne call center. Who I have to say was the most honest person I have spoken to todate. Once again my visa is currently being processed. No further documentation is required blah blah blah. She explained to me that with the recent changes in the requirement for skilled migration visas has resulted in a unbelieveable amount of new partner applications being received. Due to this the new current wait is 9 - 12 months, so yet another blow to my life at the moment. so this means that instead of i should be hearing in the next 2 months its gone back to 5. FML. I had a number of questions to ask her but unfortunately they go unanswered as i felt myself about to explode with tears so i chockingly said thank you and hung up.

After 10 months of being unemployed and the current 7 month wait and counting for my visa, its really starting to take its toll. The stress is building up in Matt and I fear he is going to end up in hospital again. I find myself unmotivated to do even the smallest of things. Money is tight and getting tighter as bills go up and it doesnt help with SDRO finding new fines that need to be paid. The fact that we can hardly socialise with our friends is really getting to the both of us. And when we do get a chance we end up spending more money then we can afford. We have no idea what we are going to do if the visa gets cancelled let alone how we will afford to re apply or move to a new country as we cant afford to save.

I feel now that each time I call up its going to be harder. as these past 2 times i have ended up in tears on the phone. But I will endevour to keep you all updated.

Claire

"I'm not fat I'm big boned" - Eric Cartmen

Weighing in at 80kgs unfortuately for me means that im offically classed as obesse. Whenever I say this to people they dont believe me. I guess we all have grown to asociate obesesity with the size 20+ people we are so used to seeing on the TV. I am a size 16, infact when I was a size 14 I was still classified as obese. Starteling huh? They say the average woman is a size 14 so does this mean that the average woman is not just overweight according to there BMI but obese too?

Almost a year ago I went to the Sydney event for the "Rose of Tralee". The photos of that event were the "wake up call" for me. I didnt like what I saw in the photos. So I decided to take action. Unfortunately for me I have 3 big problems and Im sure many of you have these too:
1. Im one of the worst comfort eaters you will ever meet.When im sad, feeling sorry for myself or someone has gotten me down I reach for the chocolate, Ice-cream cake and coke. Anyone who is a comfort eater will tell you that sometimes you dont even think about what your doing, then next thing you know BAM!!!! wow I just ate 2 bars of choclate with 1 cup of tea.
2. Im a huge procrastinator. I will always find something else to do that takes me away from what im meant to be doing. per example, I am typing this blog when im meant to be cleaning. Or maybe staying in bed a little longer so i dont have to go to the GYM
and 3. I seriously lack willpower. Believe it or not its True. I sit here daily going to myself. DO something!! Go to the GYM, go for a run, Get on the Wii Fit. Instead I continue to sit at the laptop bored. Complaining that im bored. im unemployed so In theory I have no reason not to go to Curves for the 30mins session every day. But in general i just about scrape in my 3 workouts a week.

I joined Curves back in June after eventually getting some "willpower" to do something about the ever growing extra kilos ive been lugging around. I weighed in at 83kgs then. Then I lost my job, cue Binge Drinking and comfort eating to numb the pain. So by the time I started the weight management program in August I was up to 85kgs(main incentive for starting the program). By christmas I had lost 5kgs and  I have been fluctuating between 79 and 80.5 since then.. All I can say is that ive lost motivation again and recent events have not helped.

So today I decided that I need to get back on the bandwagon. I had a chat with Michelle at Curves in Petersham (there were almost tears). She called me a "serial faller off-er"! but congradulated me on keeping the 5kgs Off. We have set a goal for me of 75kgs for when my show is on in June. She is going to find an incentive for me to HAVE to go to the GYM everyday. So what I need for all of you is support so that I dont "Fall Off" again. I give you all full permission to smack me in the back of the head if you see me eating something I shouldnt, hell even if im eying it up give me a whack. Remind me about my goal.

I will keep you posted here on my successes and failures cause lets face it there will be some. Also I would just like to inform you all. I am doing this not because the TV and Magazines say i should be slimer but because I want to take action and prevent health issues. I am coming to an age where I could be high risk for a number of problems and I want to lower my chances of getting them.

Claire

Me 80kgs

Are you there Immi? Its me Claire (Part 2)

I know its been a while but unfortunately there has been a lot emotionally and mentaly going on in my life at present. Ive gotten to a stage where after 9 months of not working, the loneliness of spending days on my own and being broke has finally gotten to me. Oh and my brother has had to leave the country. That little comfort on having one of my best friends and a family member in Australia has been taken away from me. Ive been kick while im down and I cant get up again. I have taken myself away from social sites for a bit so wont we writing about my life here for a while. My other writing has stopped and ive no motivation to write. fingers crossed ill get it back

On the visa side yesterday I plucked up the courage to call immigration yesterday. What a shock im still where I was 2 months ago. Sitting in a pile in a box or a room or someones desk somewhere. I asked some questions about what happens if we get declined. I found the lady really unhelpful. she told me to be patient and as im still on a 457 to get a job with someone who would sponsor me. To which my response was "If it was that easy i wouldnt be bored or depressed or worried"..

On a plus note, my amazing friend Naomi found a position on line offering sponsorship. I will be applying for this so fingers crossed I hear something. Oh and the musical society reharshals are going awesome :)

Claire

FebFast - The Last Day :)

Huzzah!!!! Its the last day of FebFast and seriously this month has flown by. I wanna thank everyone for all their support throughout the month and for the donations. I am $25 off my target. So I your still wanting to donate dig deep into your purses/wallets/pockets and donate what you can.

Days of FebFast: 28
Days remaining: 0
Number of FastBreaks Purchased: 0
Number of times at pub drinking water: 14
Amount raised: $475
Amount to Goal: $25

The shoutouts for this week go to Jax who generously donated to me when I was sitting in the pub with everyone drinking water. To the awesome Jayne thank you for your kindness and support throughout the month. Last but not least to the wonderful Brian(his is the completely anon donation on my page), thank you thank you thank you, He is meant to be saving to come visit in October but could still could find a few dollars for the cause.

If you wanna donate and help me reach my goal by the end of the day click now http://www.febfastfundraising.com.au/claire_king_5

Claire

FebFast - Day 18

Just over a week left can you believe it. The whole month is flying. I have had a bad week when it has come to sleeping. I dont know whether this is an effect of having not had alcohol in my system for a number of weeks or if it is something else. All I know is that i have been truely exhausted and the idea of a few drinks to help me sleep has been mentioned by a number of people. Who I will admit have forgot that I was doing FebFast. I quickly reminded them that I was on it to which they appologiesed :)

Days of FebFast: 18
Days remaining: 10
Number of FastBreaks Purchased: 0
Number of times at pub drinking water: 9
Amount raised: $430
Amount to Goal: $70

Shout out goes to the beautiful Leah.  I spent the day on tuesday hanging with Leah as she was recovering from a heart operation. We watched Rent and chatted and she insisted on me showing her how to donate. She kindly donated more then I expected but explained. That as she was in hospital the week before she saved money on food and shopping so she was giving it to the charity instead. What an amazing thing to do/say. I am truely touch. Thank you lovely xx

Just $70 left to go and 10 days for me to achieve it. Help me get that goal. remember all you have to donated is the cost of a drink or more if you want. It is a great charity. We all knew someone as a teenager or young adult that got heavy into drinking and drugs. These charities are there to give support and help them in their time of need. You can help too. Just by clicking the link and donating.
http://www.febfastfundraising.com.au/claire_king_5

Claire

Im going "Back to the 80's"

So as you all know I had my disaster of an audition for the Ashfield Musical Society last week. The week following the audition was aweful. I was anxious daily to hear back. Constantly checking my emails to see if there was an email about whether I was in or out. Basically that same feeling you get when your trying to hear whether you got a job or not.


On sunday I got an email that begain with. "Congratulations, what a great standard of singing and dancing we had at the auditions" but later on said "Rehersals will begin on Thursday, so everyone who has received an email from me will be required". I sat there confused trying to decide if I was in or not. In the end I interpreted that I wasn't in as I hadn't received another email from her. That feeling of rejection started the sink in. I then started to think. What if this is the email she was talking about and maybe she meant to say "all of you who have received this email are requided". so I responded back asking "Am I required on the 17th? I havent received any other email from you. Or is this the email you are talking about?". Half and hour later she responded that "Yes it was the email she was talking about and that she will clarify that with everyone".

So I guess they looked beyond the nerves from the audition and decided to give me a shot in the musical. I dont have a part but thats cool cause i really only wanted to be part of the chorus.. its where the fun is.

Tonight is the first rehershal. Im so excited for it.. Incase you dont know the musical is "Back to the 80's". It was written by some Aussie guy but features some of the best songs from the 80's. it even gets rickrolled. Show will be on in early June at Concord RSL for anyone who wants to support. I will keep you posted.

Claire

FebFast The half way mark :)

So today is Valentines Day. But not only is it Valentines Day, today signafies the middle of  FebFast. I am still feeling great and have succeded in getting through my second weekend without Alcohol. I am actually enjoying not drinking Alcohol and I really think that this month is seriously going to help me cut down over all. Im going to leave it short today. After having such a great weekend with Matty. Im feeling rather lonely today.

Days of FebFast: 14
Days remaining: 14
Number of FastBreaks Purchased: 0
Number of times at pub drinking water: 8
Amount raised: $380
Amount to Goal: $120

Todays shoutout goes to Erin, also the winner of the best Canadian award in my books. Thank you for your support hun. You are a rock in times of need. xx

Donate and get a shoutout click the link. only a little way to go http://www.febfastfundraising.com.au/claire_king_5

Happy Valentines Day to all you couples out there and keep up the good work to my FebFast friends.

Claire