A bit of this, a bit of that...

I had a lie-in this morning as well as managing to do some housework and baking! (Not at the same time, sadly that's a talent I don't posses.)

Tonight it’s out with the boys and then tomorrow, I’m doing a roast and a job application. Hopefully I won’t get confused between the two...

We also need to go through some legal gubbins from the solicitor. Apparently you really do have to itemise and agree on EVERY fixture and fitting.

I started the Christmas cards last night, but abandoned them after we decided to watch a film in bed instead – St Trinian’s with Rupert Everett. It was gloriously silly and what with that, and the fish and chips we had, it was the perfect way to end what was, for my partner especially, a long and difficult week.

There’s also rugby and a nice long walk with the dogs to look forward to!

Yahoo

You gotta love Yahoo. The main story is “French need big condoms”. Basically Frenchmen are claiming they need the biggest condoms in Europe according to a new study. Underneath the story Yahoo have included two links, the first is ‘Book yourself a holiday to France’ and underneath that ‘Search the Web for tips on lying’.

Brilliant!

I'll take a side order of nap with my burger please...

Nooooo sleep... I had to take painkillers yesterday and weirdly they seem to speed up my brain but at the same time make me woozy. So I think I’m tired and I act tired and then I go to bed and lay awake all night!

That said, I’m loathe to whinge too much, my partner got in late last night from work and was up at 6am to get in early this morning. She also worked all weekend (right up until the point we left for Cambridge) and so this Saturday will be her first day off in over two weeks. Puts a sleepless night in perspective...

This weekend is the culmination of Movember. Ten of my finest and bravest male friends decided to fight prostate cancer by... sprouting unusual facial hair for the whole of Movember. If you watch international rugby, you’ll see that my friends were not to the only ones to get involved. Several rugby players were also sporting the sort of facial furniture that you can only hope is for a good cause. This weekend we get to party and judge the best – and worst – efforts. Should be a very fun evening and all for charidee too!

I got a great new pair of Merrell trainers yesterday for nought pence. Well, that's not strictly true, in fact that's not true at all. I had paid for them but over a year ago! We bought a tent July 07 and after three uses it broke, so despite it being over a year old, we took it back to the Millets, Lewisham where the customer service was as ever, great (we didn't exactly get what we wanted but they were friendly and efficient).

Because it was longer than a year since we bought it, they only offered us a free repair, or 60% of the value. We were a bit disappointed but knew we didn't want a repair because clearly there was a design flaw with the tent and we didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere, have it happen again, and be without a tent! So we accepted the 60% and decided it was probably fair in lieu of not having a receipt (but we did have the bank statement) and the age of the tent. (Although I did point out that it really wasn't acceptable to buy a product that you could only use three times, and then have it let you down on holiday!) Anyway, I decided to snap up some Merrell's that were on sale and my feet are very happy.

Right I have a job application to do. Enjoy your Friday and may it be the start of a great weekend.

Birthdays and surveys!

The woman from Pickfords came round yesterday and I was impressed. She was friendly and had an air of calmness about her, which when you consider what a stress-head I am about moving, was very welcome. She seemed completely unfazed by our legions of houseplants, a large chicken run and a 200 year old grandfather clock. We haven’t received a quote yet, and I will get at least one more, but Pickfords have made a good impression so far.

The survey on the cottage took place yesterday and so we’re waiting to receive the report, which should be sent sometime next week. Ironically, our letting agent (for the flat we live in now) called me a couple of days ago to ask whether a surveyor could come round this morning. Our owners might be re-mortgaging or selling, but either way it seems to be a sign that this is a good time to move on.

I’m planning my partner’s birthday. Its February next year and it will be her 30th. I’m potentially planning 3 events: dinner with friends in Cornwall, ‘birthday/we’re leaving London!’ drinks in London and a weekend in Berlin. Although all this planning – as enjoyable as it is – might need to be put on hold because I have another job application to do by tomorrow and some errands to run. Boring but necessary!

Cambridge

We had a great time in Cambridge. It was lovely to see our friends and their 2 year old son who is already a very charming young man. They’ve just bought a house, and with us in the process of buying, you can imagine what we talked about over a lovely dinner and a couple of bottles of wine!

Today my partner had a work meeting in Cambridge and our hosts also had to work so I was free to go into the city centre and explore. My partner went to Cambridge so I went along to Kings (her college) and stared in tourist like awe at the chapel and stunning architecture of the buildings. It makes my university look very ugly indeed! (Although to be fair, it was a pretty ugly campus even if you didn’t compare it to the splendour of Cambridge!)

I like Cambridge very much, nice bars and cafes, good shops, lovely second hand bookstores and of course, gorgeous buildings. It was a shame my partner couldn’t show me round today, but it’s an excuse to go back of course.

Now I’m back and shivering, the heating has been off for two days and the house is like an ice box. I’m waiting for the dogs to come home (they stayed with their boarding mum last night) and then I need to start thinking about making dinner. From the chapel of King's College – the finest and grandest example of late medieval Gothic architecture in England and the evocative Bridge of Sighs to... Sydenham, South East London! It’s amazing how far you can travel in a day!

Building a team

Apart from the Scotland result, there was little to cheer about for the home nations in rugby yesterday. I do think however, that England’s defeat was a little inevitable. This is not a Disney movie, you don’t bring in a coach and overnight you win the big game. You need to build up a team properly, and coaches and sports psychologist will tell you the best way to build a winning team, is to see how they cope with losing. What makes a team of elite sports men and women suddenly not start communicating with each other and performing below their best? What’s missing? What needs to be added, and just as importantly, what needs to be taken away...

We’re three years away from the World Cup and between now and then – as in Sir Clive Woodward’s era – it won’t all go according to plan and there will be some more defeats, but slowly a team will be built and begin to consistently achieve at the highest levels. Only this time, let’s hope for the sake of the team and the fans, England Rugby don’t see that as the end goal but rather as part of an ongoing process (albeit a rather spectacular part) and that there is a constant feed of exciting new players into the squad, and coaches and managers are supported and encouraged to be innovative, creative and constantly adapt to best-practice.

Oh and in the meantime can someone tell Cipriani that he’s a very good player, but people keep charging down his kicks and would he mind being just a teensy bit more careful? Thank you.

I’ve fox-proofed the chicken run and I slept much better last night. I don’t think you can ever truly fox-proof something, well, unless you keep the chickens in a concrete bunker but I’ve made things a lot more secure: weighting down the roof, fixing the run to the house more securely etc. I also cleaned them out and put loads of new fresh straw in yesterday. Just as well because it snowed last night. It’s a bit piddly but we’re driving up to Cambridge later and the snow is always more heavy there. Yay!

Right now I should be in the shower or packing my bag but I’m on the sofa, blogging and sandwiched between the pups. My partner is working in the kitchen. She worked from home all day yesterday and got up at 6.30am this morning all so she can meet a forthcoming deadline...

Makes me quite glad to be unemployed! (Just kidding!)

England rugby

Boys, what are you doing to me?

Weekends, pah!

I don’t like weekends at the moment, only because everything grinds to a halt and if you’re (a) buying a house (b) an impatient person, you find yourself drumming your fingers and for the first since I don’t know when, desperately waiting for Monday morning!

That said it's Rugby Saturday and we're off to Cambridge tomorrow to stay with friends. So it would be churlish to complain too much!

Champagne and toilet seats

The toilet seat is fixed!

My partner burst through the door last night and announced that our mortgage had been approved! So we opened up a bottle of champagne, made a lovely meal and did chores. Well, I did some laundry and she applied her considerable intellect into fixing the rogue toilet seat. And occasionally we squealed, hugged each other and had more champagne!

About five minutes before she got home, she got the call – and the decision – we had been waiting for all day!

Today I sorted out the survey and am just about to call the solicitor (he sends emails and letters longer than some novels I’ve read). And on Wednesday I have Pickfords coming round to do something called a home survey. That’s where they assess exactly what you want packed/moved and then provide an accurate quote. If we complete before Christmas we’re thinking of going down for a couple of days to camp at the cottage. It would certainly be a birthday to remember (I’m 35 on Christmas day!) We might not have heating or electricity but it should still be fun!

I’ve always wanted to own my own place but like a lot of people faced with spiralling house prices, I thought we would only be able to get what the American’s call a ‘fixer-upper’. To think we might soon be the very proud owners of a gorgeous cottage is very surreal...

Anyway, things to do and all that. Keep sending good thoughts and crossing your fingers. House buying is not known for its similarity to walking in the park...

And another thing...

The toilet seat is still broken.

These chickens are sent to try us...

We had a break-in this morning. A fox went for the chickens and we almost lost one. And it was my fault. I forgot to shut the lid of the run. I heard a strange noise and shot out of bed just before 6 this morning. I was half asleep but I knew something was very wrong. I could hear the dogs growling, whining and pacing as well. I raced to the kitchen and let Pluto and Bess out and sure enough, there was a fox in the garden and the dogs went for him – Bess even tried to get over the fence after it. A chicken shot past me and I grabbed a torch and went out into the garden. My heart was racing and I was dreading finding a bloody carcass or a trail of feathers, but luckily the other two were still in the hen house looking traumatised and then I remembered that the third chicken had run past. I went alongside the house shining my torch and eventually I heard very soft, very frightened noises and there was Tabitha hiding under some tarpaulin. I picked her up very gently and put her back in the run and this time closed the lid. I wanted to cuddle her but thought it was better she was back with the other girls who I’m sure are far more effective at comforting one of their own than I ever will be...

That wasn’t the end of the story. The bastard fox tried again about half an hour later and again we all rushed out; the dogs to chase the fox, my partner and I to protect the girls. They were fine and so we all traipsed in and back to bed – muddy footprints (dog and human) all over the flat – and this time we got to stay there until the alarm went off to get up.

The chooks are very quiet this morning and may have been put off egg laying for a couple of days because of the shock. Pluto is a bit anxious, reacting to any little sound or movement. Bess however, is asleep. She tends to live in the now and the now is telling her there is absolutely no reason to be awake.

It looks like the couple who are selling the cottage want to sell some furniture including a gorgeous dining room table and chairs which we are very interested in. I’ve asked them to email me everything they want to leave (they are moving somewhere smaller) and how much. We’re very pleased about the table. It’s huge and rather grand. In the midst of information for estate agents, solicitors and our mortgage people I have taken refuge in the little things, and in my head I am planning where to put all our pictures. It’s like a safety valve – when you’re transferring huge amounts of money from one account to the next, having your financial history gone through with a fine tooth comb, trying to remember where you lived six years ago and faxing off this that and the other, it all becomes too much and so I have decided to allow a small part of me to mentally retreat and concentrate on the fluff; candles and pictures! We’re all working to an impossibly tight deadline at the moment because the couple want to move before Christmas. The good thing is so far everyone is responding magnificently and working very hard to get everything done. The bad thing is I don’t know what day it is and am constantly fretting that I’ve forgotten to do something...

Chickens and mortgages – I am a sucker for punishment!

Glamour

I don’t know if you’ve ever bought a house, but there comes a point where you begin to feel like an observer. Once your solicitor gets involved, he or she talks to the agent and the mortgage people and they reply to your solicitor and then just occasionally someone asks you a question, which you desperately hope you can answer with confidence and accuracy. And then I guess at some point someone tells you you own a house... or at least you hope they do. Home buying is fraught with problems and hurdles and so until you’ve actually completed anything can go wrong.

Right now I have slightly more mundane issues to deal with, I have to wake the dogs up to go for a walk (when actually all I want to do is curl up and nap with them), I have to do the washing up (I had to make my coffee with a fork this morning) and we have a broken toilet seat.

My life is pure glamour...

Offer accepted!

It’s been a hell of a day. I had to go back to hospital this morning because about 4 weeks ago I had a sore neck and throat and having this lump in my neck (see previous entries), I’ve been advised to let the hospital know about any changes. I set off for my appointment feeling a little gloomy but thankfully, it’s good news – there have been no changes, and my last biopsy has confirmed the lump was benign (I have to have a biopsy every six months so the fun isn’t over yet.)

The doc thinks I had a throat infection and actually my symptoms were nothing to do with Larry the lump...

Then I got home and received a phone call from the estate agents representing the property we’ve put in an offer for. The couple who are selling have not only found a house they want, but they’ve put in an offer and it’s been accepted so they were prepared to drop the price of their house to ensure they could move quickly. We had to increase our offer but it was a fair compromise. I quickly called my partner and we decided we would accept the new price and I called them straight back. The agent is putting a ‘sale agreed’ letter in the post to us today and we have to phone back with all our mortgage info tomorrow. We are on the first step of buying our first ever house, how cool is that! (I was shaking like a leaf for about twenty minutes afterwards!)

Then I saw a really interesting job and thought, I’ll go for that! That was until my eye reached the bottom of the page and saw that the closing date was today. I called personnel and spoke to a really nice woman who said I could have until 5.30pm to submit my application and I did it with about 10 minutes to spare...

So you’ll perhaps understand when I say I am absolutely buggered!

A day best forgotten...

Oh dear. My beloved England lose to Australia. Scotland fight hard but it’s not enough against the Boks, and Ireland lose in a truly turgid game against the All Blacks...

Let’s hope there’s some better news next weekend!

Bond

I did end up getting out of bed after all. My partner took me out on a date to cheer me up – dinner and a movie. And she didn’t even wince when I choose James Bond! To be fair, she did enjoy the last one and it turned out that she enjoyed Quantum as well. It’s fab. Lots of explosions, fights, chases etc., etc. Interesting how Bond has always reflected society’s fears – Russians, nuclear power, rogue states, terrorism, media and now environmentalism and oil. Daniel Craig makes a fabulous Bond not just because frankly the man is gorgeous, and I say that as someone who takes another bus entirely, but because as polished and as adept as he is, he is the first to ever really show how flawed and damaged the character is. Which makes for the most interesting and engaging Bond ever. In my humble opinion that is... I’m sure uber Bond fans may agree/disagree with a passion and ferocity that makes me want to suggest they get a job, but regardless, I’m already looking forward to the next film!

My only criticism is you never see a Hyundai in a Bond film. Broccoli family take note...

Today we’re off to the Country Living Christmas fair, it was my mum’s birthday present as she loves stuff like that. And I must admit I share a huge weakness for craft and Christmas fairs. I shall try not to spend too much money, but don’t count on it...

Final word, COME ON ENGLAND!!

Good but not good enough?

We’ve just put an offer in and I didn’t get this job... my stress levels are teetering... I’m trying to take the day in small chunks, but the chunks are flying at me all at once...

The couple who own the house want to wait to see if they have any more viewings before accepting our offer which is fair enough but I’ve never been good at waiting. In fact I’m terrible at waiting and want to shout at someone. Perhaps this is because I didn’t get the job – who knows. I was actually told that I was a great candidate (they loved my personality!) and did really well, but they employed someone with a particularly type of marketing skills – and it’s true it’s an area that I am less strong in. But, and this is a bit weird, they asked me to please keep applying to them as I would be a real asset to the organisation with the skills and knowledge I have and they had already told colleagues about me and how good I was! They basically said please come and work for us, but just not in this role. I’m not sure what to make of that...

It’s true that I do want this other job that I’ve gone for far more than I wanted this one but rejection is beginning to piss me off. When you see how many stupid people have jobs you do have to wonder what kind of idiot you are to not be able to get one.

It was Pluto’s 4th birthday yesterday and I sang happy birthday to him when we got home, which he seemed to like. He also loved the toys we got him; a squeaky duck and a rubber ring and there are bits of both toys all over the flat this morning.

I may not get out of bed today. Lazy yes, but it just feels safer, for me, and a world that I want to shout at. Maybe the next interview I get I will be really crap at, that way when they turn me down, they won’t say, you were a fantastic candidate, but...

Devon

We’re in the middle of Devon near a place where you would be forgiven for thinking that a huge battle between the Scottish and English might have taken place in 1746. You’d be wrong of course, that was Culloden, this is Cullompton. Easy mistake to make!

We saw a gorgeous sunrise this morning and have just had a lovely breakfast at Newcourt Barton B&B. Nice rooms and Wi-Fi too. It was a little further away from Exeter than we realised but otherwise it’s perfect.

Yesterday we saw the house I mentioned in a previous entry and we’ve decided to put an offer in! It was as lovely as the pictures suggested. 3 beds, dining room, living room, sun room, great location... we would have liked a bigger garden and a slightly bigger bathroom but these are minor issues and there are far more boxes ticked than unticked...

Buying a house seems very daunting and already we’ve made several phone calls soliciting advice, but I think the idea is you just have to throw yourself into it and hope for the best, which brings me neatly onto my job interview in a couple of hours. I’m less nervous than I was at my last interview so I’ll just throw myself in and try and do my best!

Good morning world...

I couldn’t sleep so I decided to get up and start my day, even though it was only 4.30. I was thinking about houses and job interviews, and a million other things and just couldn’t relax enough to doze off. Still, it’s not all bad. I’ve polished my boots, and my interview shoes, I’ve done some laundry, printed out my presentation (including copies for the panel) and other stuff I need whilst we’re away, I’ve fed the dogs and done the washing up. And as my partner had to be up at 5.30 (she’s away to Leicester on business), I got to have a coffee with her and say a nice goodbye. Although I have discovered she is quite grumpy when she has to get up before 6am...

I’ve also discovered that with the noble exception of MASH, there is bugger all on telly that early in the morning, although I was almost tempted by the intriguingly titled “Beauty Queens Gone Wrong”.

No doubt I’ll be in desperate need of a nap by 3pm but I’m going to try and resist so that I sleep really well tonight. I do, after all, have over 6 hours of driving to do on Wednesday - first to Cornwall and then to Devon.

Bess and Pluto are a little alarmed at the flurry of early morning activity and so have decided to face their day by not facing it at all, choosing instead to go back to sleep, this time on the sofa.

Right now the best thing I can do is shower and have breakfast and then I may actually venture out into the world (even though it’s so windy it’s been setting off car alarms!)

Cottage

We’re off to see a gorgeous cottage in Cornwall on Wednesday. It appears to be everything we want: 3 beds, 2 reception rooms, huge garden, conservatory, shed in the garden, newly decorated and nice location. After the viewing we’ll drive up to Exeter and book into the B&B and then next day is my job interview... it could be a very interesting couple of days!

En-ger-land...

You can tell I'm out of the blogging habit, I didn't even mention the England result! Some slow ball, a few lapses in concentration, but a great omen for a new chapter in England rugby. Cips and Sackey (Wasps players!) were great but the Nick Kenndy and Lee Mears tries were also very lovely!

I thought Johnson was a fantastic player and I have every hope he will be an equally good manager. The chariot rumbles on with renewed power and pace!

Shame about Scotland - they showed some real guts and attacked well but couldn't convert that into points.

Preperation, preperation, preperation...

I’ve not really felt like blogging much recently. It’s been a difficult time and I’ve been concentrating on jobs applications. The good news is I have three really strong applications in at the moment. The even better news is that I already have an interview! Down in Exeter next Thursday – I shall be working on my presentation today. I couldn’t do it yesterday, the rugby was on! I’m hopeful that I shall get at least one other interview as well. My partner is coming down to Exeter with me on Wednesday night and we’ve booked into a gorgeous and very luxurious farm B&B.

My partner and I (and the dogs!) escaped to the New Forest on Friday. She is convalescing, so it was good to get away. I made a picnic (yes it was cold and wet but we ate in the car and it was very cosy!), took the dogs on a long walk and then went for a drink in a lovely pub with a roaring fire, which was very welcome. We ended the day in Mudeford where we got to use the car kettle that my mum bought us. We sat on the quay, had a cuppa and watched the moon on the water. It was very magical.

My Christmas campaign has reached new heights of efficiency. I have quite literally bought every single present. Every single one! We’ll need to start writing cards soon as well. I have a strange tradition of sending all my cards on December 1st. My partner takes all this in her stride but my excitement and yuletide planning skills are a foreign country to her. She would, if left alone, do all her shopping Christmas week, send out a few cards and generally go with the flow. But being a gracious and generous soul (as well as beautiful and kind) she lets me take up the reins and get far too excited and far too organised. It’s not that she doesn’t like Christmas, she does, very much. But sometimes you just have to let other people like it more!

We even have some decorations up! Actually, that’s not true, I picked some holly in the New Forest on Friday and it’s on the mantelpiece looking rather splendid and festive. Not sure it will last till Christmas but I’m calling it a winter decoration anyway...

There’s been lots going on – some of which I choose not to blog about – but I remain as ever stubbornly optimistic and hopeful. It helps that I am madly in love with my wife. I am not one of those ridiculous people that believe you have to be in a couple to achieve happiness and fulfilment, nonsense. Those things must come from within if you’re ever going to share your life with anyone anyway. But if you do choose to commit to someone, the unfairness and hardness that occasionally even the luckiest people have to face, does feel a little more manageable with someone you love by your side.

Today I plan to make some blueberry muffins, walk the dogs and do a killer presentation for my job interview. There’s also laundry to sort, dinner to make and rugby highlights to watch, better get on with it...