HELLO.............

 8 months later! So sorry. Well what a bloody year eh! My goodness. Paula is home:):):):):):):):):):)

Seven and a half months he was gone. Although it dragged this year has gone so so fast! Do you think? It's been mental.

So I've sort of forgot where I got up to. Basically we applied for the Spouse Visa. We paid an extra fee to get it fast tracked which you get a decision made within 30 working days. Then Covid put us into lock down and fucked things up just that little bit more. Put everything on hold. All applications. It was god damn hard but this time I knew we had things right. Our immigration agent Nazya was amazing!! Can't thank or recommend her enough. Fusco Browne in Stockport, Manchester. She was our actual angel.

I won't bore you too much with the in's and out's but Nazya chased up our case and so did Paul. Theres not much I can do and they won't give me answers with it being confidential. So in August we found out a decision had been made but they couldn't tell us what until he received it in the post. Being in Tonga and in a global pandemic was very bloody difficult and it took weeks for him to finally receive his decision. We had to pay over £100 to get it sent from Fiji to Tonga. It was such a ball ache as because of flights at this time, it didn't come direct and went from Fiji to New Zealand and with the boarders being closed it was stuck there for weeks. Paul was in touch with a girl called Emily who had been dealing with this in Fiji. She told him his passport had been stamped on the 27th July (if it's been stamped this is usually good news) We were estactic but couldn't be too chuffed in case it wasn't a YES. After all the bad luck we had had we had to play it cool. Emily had told Paul this news on the 27th August, exactly one month later. Jeeee whiz how much longer were we going to have to wait!

On the 14th September Paul went to the Depot to collect his Passport. And there it was...........

A BIG FAT YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! Absolutely over the moon!!

He face timed me and we couldn't stop smiling. My face hurt. He was actually coming home. We were going to be a family again.

As always I rushed in getting him back. So many disagreements with family. Trying to get him on the best flight and the safest route. I wanted to get him through New Zealand but the fastest route was through America. Absolutely no way was I risking America. Eventually with a couple of days of racking my brains I decided to book the flight that left Tonga on Tuesday 22nd September and got to England three days later. 58 hours later!!!!!! God love him. The flight went from Tonga to New Zealand. Stop off there for 24 hours. This is where the Transit Visa came in (if you can remember I spoke about this earlier on as we had a massive issue with this the first time round) from New Zealand to Brisbane. A very quick plane change. From Brisbane to Doha and then Doha to Manchester.

I wanted a massive family reunion at the airport for him. It didn't go that way. Not like the 'Love Actually' way at all. Only myself and Milla could go down to the Airport. We got there far too early and I knew he would get held up at immigration as thats always been the case but this time thank goodness it wasn't for too long. Milla was a right pain in the arse but bless her she won't have known what was going on. Paul messaged when he got off the flight! He'd made it! He'd actually made it. It was such a weird feeling. You weren't allowed to wait at the terminal (cheers Covid) so we were waiting right outside the double doors. And out he strutted. Looking like terminator. He was home. Actually home♥️

Isolation

Funny word that. A lot of us will have all experienced isolation. Right now we all are. What crazy times. Covid 19. Nasty bastard. I plea for people to listen to the government advice. STAY AT HOME. It's quite simple really. If someone said to us a month ago, right would you like to stay at home with your house hold for a few weeks we'd be like YES! Please. Well I know I would be. Right now I'm at home with Milla, my Mam and Dad. I still have to go to work at the pharmacy. It's been hectic!! Like you wouldn't believe. The street is still full of people. You see the same faces walking past every day. Some holding nothing. Some holding a dog and some with bags of shopping. ESSENTIALS!! Come on man, milk, bread. Surely we can't be buying this every day. We could make it last a week. And stop STOCK PILING!! Don't be so selfish. What has this world came to. We're all in this together. All in the same boat. Whatever you want to refer it to. Stop being greedy. There's absolutely no need.
Today came more shit news. All applications for UK Visa's have stopped. The offices are closed. My heart feels like it's been ripped out. When will Paula be back. My husband, Milla's Daddy. We have no idea. Last week the priority service was no more. We paid extra to get a faster decision. A decision is usually made within 30 working days and without the priority service it is up to 60 working days. Now as the visa is no longer being looked at we can't put a time on it. At this rate we'll be lucky if Paula even gets back this year. Devastating. Milla still asks for him every single day. She has done since he left on the 11th February. To watch my Daughter grow without her Daddy is soul destroying. Am I doing the right thing? Am I raising her right? What would Paula think? I have a constant battle with myself daily. I know I work too much! 10 hours a day. I'm out the house 11. The salon has been closed for a week now. Before that I was off a week as I had Corona symptoms. May I add the most horrific illness I've ever experienced. It maybe wasn't the Coronavirus but I was terribly ill. So I was off work. Now I still have to go and work with customers daily. Worrying what I might be taking home as the rest of my household are self isolating. What a worry for everyone.
I've been wanting to post for a good few weeks now but I've been holding back. Just figuring out life as a single parent again. Today felt like the best time to write as when I do it helps so so much. I don't need people to read this nor do I need sympathy. Everyone is struggling one way or another. Reach out. Talk to people. A stranger, a friend. An old friend. Never be silent. This is my safe place and my space to vent (without actually having a mental breakdown) So thank you Blogger for giving me this platform.
As awful as this situation is for all of us, I've actually enjoyed catching up with old pals. Tik Tok is giving me daily lol's and group FaceTime/Snapchat/Whatsapp video chats are giving me life. It's funny really coz every time Paula goes back this is how I feel. Isolated. It doesn't feel much different for me. For other people I feel they are now living my life. It's strange. Usually I feel so so alone as everyone has their own families and lives but at the moment people have got time for each other. It's beautiful. I think after all this chaos we will have learnt some lessons. One being, making time for others and most importantly yourselves. I think people will realise how much they rely on others, beauty and hair salons but sadly I don't think people will stick with natural beauty and i'm pretty damn sure no one wants roots down to their shoulders but thats ok. We are all beautiful one way or another.
So stay safe everyone. Look after each other and in a world where we can be anything. BE KIND xx