Earlier this year, my partner and I had a problem. I needed to be away from home for five weeks, so someone had to be home with my big, beautiful sausage dog. My partner needed to go to India sometime this year to do some Hindu ritual for his mother and he arranged to go back home when my thing was done. So, I finished my thing and my partner has left.

Unfortunately, my best friend (the sausage dog), got really sick and his quality of life wasn’t very good and I had to make the difficult decision to euthanise him. I really miss him still. His urn is here and I still talk to him sometimes. I still tell him he’s a good boy. I tell him I miss him. He was such a good, sweet boy. I wish we could have spent more time together. I adopted him when he was 7 years old. I just wanted to make his life better. His circumstances weren’t very good: he had a few different homes and I got him. I was always afraid that he would think that he’d be alone again or be passed from person to person.

Losing a pet is so hard. As I said, he was my best friend. We would go on short road trips. He’d sleep in the passenger seat and I’d drive us to the park or the beach. I miss having that company with me.

So yeah, my partner has gone back “home” for a month. 2 days have passed. I am left in a big quiet house. I wish my dog was here with me… or that he could lay together in his chair and watch videos of animals. Or eat vegetables and fruit together. I go to the store and see all the things we used to eat together. I remember how excited he would get when he saw me come in with food bags. He knew I usually got him something… carrots, baby cucumbers, tomatoes, bananas… sometimes I am driving back from the store and realise that no one is going to get as excited as he does over bananas.

I’m just sad, I guess and that’s normal. It’s okay to process this feeling of loneliness at times. It makes me appreciate the people who stay or have stayed in my life. I’m lucky to have been able to look after such a wonderful, sweet dachshund.

I keep telling my partner that I’m going to find one while he’s away. My partner seems to think that I’m over losing my “puppy” in August. I’ve been sad for a while. I don’t know if this feeling will ever go away but what I do know is that it just takes time to process loss. I have to keep reminding myself how happy I will be to meet everyone (pets included) when my time is up.

Who knows how long I’ll be waiting.

Hi folks. Trying to write more often. I’m still kind of failing to get into the Christmas spirit while living in Australia. It’s been pretty hot over the past few days, so I’m just not feeling it.

My partner is flying back to his home country tomorrow so I’ll be over here by myself on Christmas. That’s not a bad thing though. I’d probably end up sitting on the couch eating hot dogs or something like I usually do when I’m in Australia at this time of year. I would be tempted to work, but I’m still on annual leave, so I haven’t been able to pick up any extra shifts. It’s not a big deal. I’m not really that sad at all.

My partner’s tried several times to get me to put up a tree or at least decorate. I just don’t have much of an interest in getting stuff out of boxes and throwing it around, and when Christmas rolls around, it’s hot enough to go to the beach.

I don’t think that I am going to ever get used to Christmas when it’s not cold. I am a bit too accustomed to it being cold on my birthday and Christmas. It’s a bummer when it’s not. Funnily enough, I get a bit homesick in July because it feels like Christmas to me.

Oh, and I’m also not very religious either, so Christmas seems to be just another day to work and make big money or when I’m back home, sitting around stuffing my face with food with my family.

Anyway, if you do the Christmas thing, I hope it’s great. If you don’t, like me, just think of it as a day to relax and do whatever you want. I know this time of the year can get pretty difficult for a lot of people, so you’re not forgotten. 🙂

Anyway, happy holidays. Get offended if you want to—or don’t. It’s up to you.

I’ve been away from home for a few days and working in a new area which can get very physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. It’s won’t go into details, but it’s very difficult seeing people you care for deteriorate before your eyes. A lot of this deterioration involves the brain and it’s hard to see people struggle to come to terms with their general decline.

I’m here for a total of five weeks and three have passed. (I was sick with COVID for one week.) So, two more weeks are left until I can go home permanently and join my usual workplace for a few weeks, then I get to come back here for an additional two weeks.

I’m here to complete a degree. I’m at the end of it. If I could just stop being sick, that would be fantastic. I hope that I won’t get some sort of respiratory issue because the allergens are in the air, and I can hardly breathe.

It’s getting there though. This has been a big goal for me for years and it’s finally coming to an end. I’m looking forward to the future and what 2026 will finally bring.

That is all for now. Everyone take care of yourself!