Well here I am at 4.30am in the morning just as the other half has left for work thinking about where we are in getting away from the rat race.

Stress has not been the word over the last couple of weeks. I have had to work thoughout the Christmas period as I manage the quarantine facility where I work and as we all know animals have got to be fed cleaned and watered no matter what time of the year it is. In addition to this I manage a computer animal record database for the 8,000 + animals kept at the zoo. This programme holds all information relating to the animal including DoB, place of birth, parents, transpomder/tag information and other information relating to it such as animal management notes, feeding, medical information etc (effectively the animals life history). This time of the year has meant annual stock takes of all animals and checking that the numbers are correct in the database. On top of this in the last 3 months we have just deployed the new computer programme for our records which has meant training of 70 staff how to use it and continuous correspondance with the developers regarding data transfer issues to the medical record database.

Not that I have not got enough to do, I nown have a pile of blood results that I need to enter into the medical record database!!!
Who said men cannot multitask!!!!! At the moment there seems to not be enough hours in the day and most days I am starting work at 6am in the morning and have lunch "
on the hoof"
in order to get everything done.

Poor Mrs Eq has had it just as bad recently with constant hassle from shoppers demanding this and that in their last frantic efforts to buy everything in the shop in order to prepare the festive Christmas meal only to be back in the ship again on Boxing Day as they must get more!!!! Festive spirit seems to have been lost the day after Christmas and the OH is confronted with more grunts of displeasure as the shop dies not have the item they are loking for (as if my wife owns the shop).

So now you can see why we want to come to BG in an attempt to get away from this lifestyle (if you can call it that).

The foot seems to be full on the accelerator at the moment in researching and preparing for our trip in March which has just put even more stress on us in addition to our everyday life. If we can get through all this together we will ge through anything. That glint of light of our future has appeared like the lights of a distant car as we have booked flights, booked the dogs into kennels in preparing for our trip in March.

Now the frantic checking out of website after website for possible properties to check out when we get to BG in March. Thanks to everyone who has given advise in the past few months, i don;
t thin k we would have got to where we are without you guys. As for the language course CD it is played every day whilst driving to work, but I think/hope most of it will be picked up once weare in BG "
living the life"
for at the moment it is as they say "
clear as mud"
.

Anyway thought I would give a quick outline as to why 2013 may be the year for us to actually have a life. Exciting, frightening, nerve wracking, daunting not, enough works to explain how we feel.

Got to go as need to get to work on time today as I need to prepare a report.

Keep that light shining to guide us.

Mr Eq

I think I can safely say that Bulgaria is waiting for you too, especially the members on here, as we welcome new faces and personalities. Things may seem as clear as mud at the moment, but once you are here, you will begin to see the benefits of all your preparations. At times you might think, "
why did we bother"
, at others you will say "
yes, this is what we were looking for"
, but it's important to not lose sight of your dream and give everything a chance.

It's trying very hard to snow this morning, after a fortnight of warmish , clear weather.

There is no substitute (research, reading, forums, etc.) to actually visiting Bulgaria.

I'm sure that once you arrive and start taking it all in, then things will start to fall into place for you.

I hope you feel like you can settle and be happy here and also we look forward to your report when you get back!

Well good luck to you both - I am so impressed with the work you do which seems very worthwhile although difficult. You will have problems here just as anywhere but somehow they seem much less hassle and there is the excitement of something new. I am so glad we didn't return to UK as we had thought last year and Bulgaria has a lot to offer. Keep on posting and I am sure we will all do our best to help.

Oh dear, I thought he was a bit subdued this morning! I am on holiday next week so hopefully he will be able to lie in till at least 5.30, bless him. I am always telling him I can get up and make a cup of coffee all by myself, but he insists on having my toast ready by the time I get dressed.

We are really looking forward to our trip, though restful it will not be. I am determined to see as much as possible, villages, houses, hills and valleys. The cameras are at the ready. Exciting!

Thank you all for your encouragement.

Mrs Eq

Good luck for your almost imminent venture to BG, you have done your preparation and your homework and next you need to be here and see things for yourselves.

It is not always easy to explain things as we see it because we live here, it is an experience that will put you in good stead for the future and put you on a firm footing for living here.

itchyfeet wrote:

Good luck for your almost imminent venture to BG, you have done your preparation and your homework and next you need to be here and see things for yourselves.

It is not always easy to explain things as we see it because we live here, it is an experience that will put you in good stead for the future and put you on a firm footing for living here.

Completely right, you will see things differently once you get here and settle down and even then it takes a while although some do very quickly it can also take others months or even years but either way if you want something different and want it with your heart you will be just fine. Good luck.