A new chapter for October ?

It seemed a bit weird not blogging a post on Monday morning and regaling tales from the weekend but I’m glad Phil offered to post because I imagined he had a few things to get off his chest, and well, I’ve been, a bit, for want of a better word, rather ‘flat’ recently.  I did ask a couple of girlfriends that I knew would give me an honest answer as to whether I was coming across as boring but both said “no not boring Clairabella, just not your usual self and perhaps a little repetitive”.  They are right as I’m already too painfully aware. Phil says I should limit my postings to once a week when you lead such a boring life such as the one I’m having at the moment and I suppose he is right but when you’ve been doing it for such a long time, it becomes somewhat of a habit.

Well, life hasn’t been that exciting but I don’t care, I’m posting anyway.  Friday was a busy day with housework, bed changing, shopping and generally getting the house ready in case of a second viewing.  I went to the oriental shop at Stacey Bushes to get some ingredients for some Thai dishes. When I was last at Papaya Thai restaurant I tried Panang chicken curry and it was simply delicious and I wanted to try and cook it at home.  Here is the link for some Thai recipes in case you’re interested http://www.onthaitime.com/panang-curry-recipe I love the oriental shop, as soon as I walk in, it reminds me of Bangkok.  After the Oriental Shop it was back to Dunelms to buy some dried flowers which I spotted on a previous visit.  I don’t know why I didn’t buy them before but I guess I didn’t because they weren’t that cheap.  Still, I was pleased with my arrangement and it has pride of place on my white gloss IKEA unit. Phil got home around half three after a strenuous drive back from Abingdon but he wasn’t grumpy.  No, not at all, he was totally elated having been given 2 weeks notice to leave work.  I haven’t seen him this cheerful for ages.  He’s still obsessed with his new phone and still downloading new weird and wonderful applications.  

Our weekend was rather stressful and I am not sure why.  My new  Cineworld card arrived in the post on Saturday morning so that was exciting. Phil spent ages on the telephone making appointments with agents arranging houses to view and he’d no sooner come off with a diary of viewings when the call came from Derek offering us his house at a reduced price.   I was pleased about this because we’d already had a considerable outlay what with the survey and all and also I felt bad letting him down at the last minute.  In spite of this latest development in the Krause portfolio, we decided to still go ahead with the viewings.   We started viewing at 11.30 and carried on throughout the day until 5.30pm.   I was slightly miffed that I didn’t have time to go to the gym but this was no bad thing because my hamstring was hurting as I think I’d overdone it on Friday.

Both Phil and I love viewing houses.  There were one or two right dumps that we saw and it makes me wonder why people don’t bother to clean up if they have their house on the market?   I think our house is quite cluttered but having done viewings on Saturday, I actually think I'm an extreme minimalist.  It doesn’t bother me seeing clutter and muck or sinks full of dirty dishes unwashed because I can see past all this.  In fact the grubbier it is, even better because a lot of the time its really just surface stuff.  But that said, I couldn’t someone look around my house if wasn’t tidy, in fact I go totally over the top with cleanliness but that’s just me, anal with a Capital ‘A’.  Anyway, there was a flat which had great potential and it turned out that it was owned by Dan, a guy that I used to work with.  Small world hey.    There was also a brand new development in Middleton that we liked but it was too expensive.  We viewed a lovely one bed in The Hub and I felt really sorry for the guy who was selling because prices have dropped so much since he brought it in 2007 that he’s actually lost £70k.  We would have been interested in putting in an offer but the monthly service charge was exuberant.  Our last viewing was a flat near Staples which was quite tidy.  Funnily enough the agent turned out to be Aaron that we have had many dealings with in the past when he worked at Morgans.  He disappeared quite suddenly and I always wondered what had become of him.   It was good to catch up after all this time and I was pleased to hear that he doing very well and recently got engaged.  Nice guy and we wish him all the best.  Saturday night was the usual X-Factor and a bottle of wine.   Boring once again, but sometimes boring is good. 

We had a luxurious lie in on Sunday morning catching up with all the papers.  It was lovely not to have a 5.30am alarm call, Phil got up for a pee at 4am but thank god we managed to get back to sleep.  By the time we did get up and downstairs there was no time for the gym. I set about cooking the Sunday roast which ended up being rushed because the agent called to bring forward are viewings which were previously scheduled for 2.45pm to 1pm.  Talk about rush;  We gobbled done lunch and were late leaving the house and unfortunately the sat nav couldn’t find the address of the flat we were meant to view which wasn’t altogether surprising because Phil had written down the wrong estate.   Anyway, to cut a long story short we had to miss one viewing and we also had to miss the cinema because we were way too late.  Instead we decided to cut our losses and returned home.   We needed to chat about finances and what we could make an offer on, so we dumped the car and walked to The Gifford.  It’s amazing how many life decisions that we’ve made in this pub over a pint and a glass of wine (or ten).   We chatted over the pros and cons and finally came to an agreement.

It was decided that Phil would make the offer on Monday morning but our offer was rejected.  Unfortunately money is tight and as the flat that we liked needed a new bathroom and kitchen we do not have the cash to up our offer.   That’s okay; I emailed Phil to say obviously it’s not meant to be.  In one way I’m quite pleased.  We have decided that Phil isn’t going to look for work for the rest of the year and so we need to have reserves.    I, on the other hand, do have some good news on the work front.   My perseverance with my job application has paid off and I have an interview today at 3pm for a job at Willen.  Wish me luck!  It’s only 3 days a week and the money isn’t great but it will do wonders for my self confidence and, well, if I get it, I can get my wrinkles sorted and buy me a new car.  There are loads of people being interviewed so my chances of being successful are not very high which pleases Phil, because as soon he finishes in Abingdon, he wants to go away on holiday.   I love the thought of flying off but the timing can’t be any worse.  

Sue & Alan popped round for a cup of tea yesterday afternoon; I had a bag full of books and DVD’s for them to borrow and Sue wanted a printout of an email.  It was nice to see them and a catch up over a mug of tea.   It’s not been an easy time for the pair of them, lots of waiting around and uncertainty but Alan has been referred to Oxford and has an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow.   At least then, they can get the recovery ball rolling and get on with living their lives.  Phil arrived home just as Sue & Alan were going home but at least he got a chance to say hello and cheerio and once he finishes in Oxfordshire hopefully we can together for supper, lunch or whatever.

Tomorrow I’m going down to Abingdon, for what will, be our very last stay in The Crown & Thistle.  We are going to have one last supper, which we have already decided will be an Indian meal.  And that will be the end of another chapter in Phil & Claire’s lives, a chapter which for Phil has been an ordeal.   Christine, when going through bereavement read a book which said that every new job, new house, or new relationship, signifies a new beginning and after 35 house moves, several jobs and 3 marriages I tend to believe in this theory.   Next week will signify a new chapter in our lives and for once, I think we will both embrace it.