Apartment hunters

A few weeks ago, we went to see an attic apartment in one of those so-called “Stalin houses” outside the city (around 10 km from Tallinn).

It’s actually a really nice area, much nicer than where we live now BUT it’s not IN Tallinn, which is certainly a disadvantage. Plus the apartments are not finished - the new owners are supposed to finish them according to their wishes. We’re not sure if we’d be able to do it and how well was the roof done…

Why am I talking about it? Well, because till the end of September we could get it 7000 euros cheaper. This money could be used for finishing it…

We really can’t decide what we want and it sucks.

I'm back

A new post is coming soon. While waiting, check Charlie's blog, which kind of became my main blogging page, on charliethetzu.tumblr.com .

Homecoming

So, I'm flying back home in a week and I'm already stressed out. Going back to my parents' house always makes me feel...mmm...strange. It's like becoming a kid again and I have no intentions to be dependent again. I am a self-standing woman who is responsible for her own life and a dog. Mostly the dog :) I still haven't figured my life properly...

A good example why I am not excited about living with my family for 5 weeks (what was I thinking when I was buying the ticket??? 5 weeks!!??) can be my yesterday's conversation with my mum. She called me just to tell me to bring only ONE shampoo and one brush for Charlie. It's totally not her business what I am going to pack for Charlie and she should already know that keeping his coat nice requires two shampoos, one conditioner (plus some extra products which his coat can live without) + grooming spray. 

My mum is always talking about me living with her, how wonderful it would be, but we saw how it worked with her and her mother. She just can't stand she can't control me any more. And I, now consciously, enjoy pulling the strings, meaning I enjoy to show her she has no power over me.  

I would love if my parents were proud of me instead of trying to control me. You know, if they just accepted that I am a grown-up and were proud of my achievements instead of constant underestimation. I still haven't forgiven them for telling me that I wouldn't be able to take care of him, I'd give him up, it was a bad idea to get him and constant criticism about how much money I spend on him (this one is justifiable but still, not their business since I am managing my finances quite well).

I'm quite curious how the stay in CZ will go, it might turn into a quite nice holiday or a nightmare, probably nothing in between. I hope Charlie will enjoy it, though. When I was planning this vacation, I was thinking about him having fresh veggies, rabbits and be away from the city heat. 

Wish me good luck, I guess.

3 more days till summer holidays

Yeeeey! No more kids for almost 3 months!! 

How to wear up a dog + some other news

Take him to school. Nothing proves to be more efficient :)

I have started a blog for Charlie because I found over thousand pictures of him in the camera and would love to share them with the world. I also enjoy reading several shih-tzu blogs, so why not to join them.

charliethetzu.tumblr.com

(I've recently become quite fond of tumblr, most of the cool blogs are there...:)

Charlie had a quite a busy day today, including visiting school with me (he loves it there because there's so much space for running, children are carrying him, playing and snuggling with him), playing with six big dogs (I've done my job, he is not scared of (some) big dogs :)) and Viktor. He's totally exhausted and sleeps like a baby. I like when he sleeps.

Resurrecting my bike from a very long rest

After a bumpy way on a plane my plane arrived to a local post office looking like it was not the most comfy flight ever, it was put on the balcony and remained there for more or less two years because I didn't find it interesting to go cycling alone. Poor bike, could have stayed home resting peacefully in the attic at home in the Czech Rep.
But this Monday, I found out that it's such a fun to ride the bike to school, not only because of that steep hill down but also it is about 20 minutes faster than bus. If only this nice weather could last forever :)

Summer is almost here!

Only two more weeks at school and let the summer holiday begin! Actually, my holiday starts on 20 June, but still, I won't see the kids every day and what's better than that?

The weather got much warmer and sunnier, so I am in a summer mood and I love it. Charlie and me spend a lot of time outside and  we discover new places. I've got to admit, there are some nice places here, it just took buying a dog to discover them.

If only Charlie liked to be photographed...

Charlie loves spending time by the sea - surprise, surprise

Yes, he has just saved the ball from the evel waves :))

Shortened!

Recently I have bought two pairs of trousers which were slightly longer than my legs, so I decided to have them shortened, that's what I used to do back in Czech. So, I took Viktor and went to a local tailor who has her atelier just across the road in the basement. Even though she behaved quite professionally, I didn't forget to emphasize several times that she shouldn't shorten them too much. Of course, she did it! So, I actually paid her 12 euros for destroying my only trousers I could wear to school :( And since it was shortening, it's not possible to prolong them back :(  I am so furious!!! I want my money back!!!

I'm back

I have been quite busy since January, I would have never believed how much more work would be to teach one extra class three times a week, only two kids but extremely difficult (that's why they'd got their own class, right?), having a puppy, attending Estonian language course twice a week, and of course, watching about 10 tv shows a week. :) Anyway, in this post, I'd like to post some pictures of Charlie, so you can see how much he's grown. 

12 weeks old

6 months old

3 months old

5 months old

Almost 7 months old

3 months old

5 months old

Almost 7 months old

Čekám, že brzo puknu

Somebody, hug me! Anybody?

Charlie

It's been three weeks since I brought Charlie home. The first week was tough, he didn't want to eat, my mum kept telling me that he was going to die or I would get fed up with him soon and he'd end up living with her...but everything's fine now. I'm far away from my controlling mum, my puppy started to eat (I have decided to feed him with raw food instead of dried one), so he doesn't look like being close to dying and I am not getting tired of him at all, I am growing fond of him so much, instead. I mean, I am not that very happy when he wakes me up several times a night because he either needs to pee or change position or both. On the other hand, he can sleep with me till 11 without any problems :) I am so happy I went for shih-tzu and not anything more active. We are such a lazy couple, so he fits in perfectly.
He is 15 weeks old and he's improved so much during those 3 weeks! I'll definitely miss the puppy period but I think I'll enjoy his adulthood, too. Hopefully, he'll stay as cute as he is now and I'll train him well, so he won't be that annoying small dog we're sometimes meeting on our walks.
I have seriously started to think about starting an e-shop with pet's stuff because I'm missing the market/variety/choice which is in the Czech Republic. But this is a long way before I'll be able to do it :(

On the plane

My first snow

When having a shower, I look like an abused dog

Charlie aka reality of having a pup

I am honestly surprised how difficult it is to take care of a pup. It really is like having a baby. He wakes up at night and requires somebody to play with him before he falls asleep again, he doesnt want to be alone, even for a minute, he gets stuck at strange places, he can kill himself within a minute (he almost strangled himself on the Christmas lights wire), he enjoys chewing things (it seemed like a carrot stick might be a favourite treat) but unlike kids, he loves to fetch :) On the other hand, he is so cute and sweet and he totally got into my heart.

The other issue is that he doesnt like to eat dry food from the breeder. So, as a result of a panic that our pup was going to starve to death, we started to cook for him and I am afraid that he will never start to eat dry food again. So, BARF it is going to be, probably. I am partly happy about it and partly not. I want to buy a small package of ORIJEN food tomorrow and try it because I kinda get why he doesnt like Royal Canine. I would like to combine both approaches but more I read, more it seems that it is not such a good idea.

Favourite hiding spot.

Carrot, the best snack ever.

In our old cats bed.

Totální odpor k balení a jakékoli jiné aktivitě

Prostě bych nejradši šla spát, a ne se balila. Potřebuju si toho vzít co nejméně, protože mě čeká sprint z letiště na Anděla, resp. na autobusák Na Knižecí, odkud si pojedu vyzvednout Charlieho. A jak je známo, nepatřím zrovna k baličům, co si umí vzít jen věci, které budu potřebovat. Na druhou stranu kvůli štěněti nikde moc nebudu moct cestovat, takže na doma mi budou stačit ty věci, co už doma mám. Pitomý je, že nemám tucha, jaké oblečení mám v Česku, poslední 3 roky jsem intenzivně vyhazovala, třídila, nakupovala a prostě jsem ztratila přehled.

No a samozřejmě mě stresuje to, že nevím, zda najdu na letišti bankomat (nejlépe čsob), jestli stihnu autobus pro Charlieho a spousta dalšího. 

ALE! Koupila jsem dneska několik dárků pro maminu a babičku! :) Mužská část rodiny se bude muset spokojit s éčky.

Jdu objednat Charliemu hřebeny a kartáč, aby mu to seklo :)) Zdá se, že Viktor se na broučka začíná opravdu těšit :))

Prááázdniny

Can't believe it, I made it! I've got through 4 months as a primary and lower-secondary teacher and 3 months as a pre-school teacher and I haven't abuse any of the kids :)) And now 14 days of holidays! Can't wait!!!

If everything goes well, I'll get Charlie on Friday - so, we'll have a little baby boy :)) Can't wait!!!

I'm so glad that the kindergarten experiment is over. I hope I won't have to go back to teaching such young children! Can't wait for the free afternoons (spent with Charlie and Viktor)!!!

Charlie: 10 weeks old

Charlie with mummy (she has a bad hair day, obviously)

Nap time

Charlie with his sis

Two weeks till Christmas

There are three main reasons why I'm excited about Christmas this year:
1) I'll get Charlie
2) I have dumped my job in the kindergarten, so 21st December is my last working day! Hurray! No more overcrowded buses, walking to the   Prisma  bus stop, screaming, uncontrollable and always sick kids...
3) Somebody else is going to cook :)

Things at school are getting better and better, I really do enjoy my job but still, I'm looking forward to the holidays, a lot!

I need to do plans for the kindergarten till tomorrow, including assessments of each child at each month. I even don't know all the names! I have no idea what some of the kids know! It seems quite pointless to me to write about each child's knowledge, they're too young and with some of them it's difficult to assess them. I could imagine writing some kind of a feedback on their classroom work (but then I would appreciate if the parents read it and worked with their kids). I'd better started, so I finish it today :)
I might not go to the kindergarten on Monday and Tuesday because I want to take school kids downtown to take some pictures for our project with Lenka. So, I need to try a bit to keep them happy because my letter of resignation definitely didn't make their day. What the heck did they expect? To work for less money than promised, to enjoy my unprofitable contract, to watch the pets suffer...? The pet thing: The kindergarten has quite a lot pets, budgies, turtle, some more birds, chip monkeys, a pony - they keep them in small cages, feed them well, though but nobody socialize with them. It's damn sad life to be surrounded by people but nobody really cares...Or maybe I'm just too judgmental. I can't wait to get out of that job! On the other hand, I really wanted to get to know with the EVS volunteer who's coming in January - still haven't found any friends here, so she could be the one :) But, I usually get on better with boys than girls, so I need to keep looking, I guess.

I need to go Christmas present shopping but things are more expensive here than in Czech and the weather is so depressing....

World without banks

I dream of the world without banks, institutions which don't do anything useful but suck my money and get on my nerves. If nothing, they could be a bit more flexible - who has the time to go to the bank to change the phone number, especially if that person lives on the other side of Europe as if it would be a such a problem to change it online. Who wants to pay them money just because they're running one's account but actually doesn't do anything with it? But the worst part is that one has to have an account....
What's the point of having an account if you cannot use it? I really hate the fact that my CZ account is more or less useless but I still pay them money for keeping it. A huge sight! Can't wait to cancel it in December! Hopefully they won't be such a**holes like in KB where I had to wait for 3 weeks before they canceled it.
And the most annoying part is that I cannot shop online for Charlie in CZ and that sucks!

Yeah, I feel a bit better when I put it on the paper.

P.S. It was snowing today! Kinda cool! The kids were super excited. :)

Charlie; for Charlie

My almost 2-month-old baby boy! Can't wait to pick him up!

As the day I'm flying back home's coming, I've started to do some shopping for my pup, not my family :( I'm still not in the right mood for Christmas shopping. Sight. It'll suck when the shopping spree comes and all the shops will be overcrowded. Anyway, here's what I have for my boy so far:

Hopefully the best friend; Producer: Trixie

I bought a dental ball but it smelled so badly/cheaply that I exchanged it for these Trixie bowls.

Gender neutral leach by Flexi

Plus I've got him an unbranded winter coat and a blanket. Not much yet, but even these few things make me super excited about my new friend! I wish Christmas was already here, not only because of Charlie but also 14 days of holidays from school!!! Yey! But only one week from the kindergarten. On the other hand, an EVS volunteer is coming, so I'll finally have an assistant and the kindergarten experience will get more pleasant. Or I'll just dump that job and will enjoy being with that little ball of fur. 

Flight tickets

I am a total looser when buying flight tickets. Any time I buy a ticket thinking that the price won't go down, it does, even with Czech airlines. When I wait until the price drops, it always increases. I wish I would understand the price policies! They're really pissing me off! You know, a penny saved is a penny earned.
If fact that's why I like travelling by bus/train - the prices are set or are only getting up.

Just a couple of thoughts

I came home totally exhausted today. Dealing with the bank, grocery shopping, teaching both at school and kindergarten,....too much for one day, I'd say. There's so much on my mind and if I don't write it down, my head might explode :))) So, here we go:

1) I just love how my school deals with "naughty" children, they don't yelling at them but they show them love, companionship and understanding. Well, they sometimes yell at them, too, but it's not like a constant thing. I wish I would be able to love the kindergarten kids in the same way as they do love the students in my school.
2) Six hours in a row at school is less exhausting than 15 minutes with screaming kindergarten kids.
3) I just can't wait to have Charlie!
4) My days are quite exhausting with the full-time, part-time job and Estonian language course, which is going to be over this week. I'll miss you, Andrei! :( I should join a new group but I'll have to do lot of self-studying to catch up with them. Wish I had more motivation right now. I might also join a free Estonian course in December but since it's free, one has to bring too many documents. I kinda don't have time to deal with it now.
5) I'm just amazed how magically Eda (she's a head teacher) works on the kids. She's like a magic spell. Wouldn't it be great to have her in my classes all the time? :)
6) Thanks to her (Eda's) visit in my lesson, I realized, I have to slow down when speaking English because the fact that one student understands me doesn't mean the others do, too.

I'm getting pretty tired and have lots of things to do for tomorrow, tons of Estonian words, dozens of tests to correct (this is what sucks the most about teaching full time, too many tests) and a few lessons need to be planned.