A few days after I wrote the previous blog post on here, my life took a big jump to the left and I ended up moving house in less than a week. It was mayhem, exhausting, but wonderful at the same time. one of the hazards of social housing these days is that most councils have now adopted the practice of bidding for vacant homes. It means that only people who really want the home will be considered, which is good, but it also means that, at least where I live, you only get 24 hours to say yes or no when you are offered something.
I had bid on a smaller flat some weeks before, and had thought that I'd been unsuccessful as I hadn't heard anything from the council about my application. Little did I know that they had been carrying out background checks on me. The previous tenant of the new place had been a nightmare neighbour and the chap who lives below has Aspergers and they didn't want to give him another bad neighbour.
On the Tuesday I had a phone message left on my home phone, could I contact the council urgently. Wednesday I phoned, arranged to view the flat in my lunch hour, and the moment I walked in I knew I'd say yes. Council lady filled in the forms with me there and then, and because the Monday after next was a bank holiday she said I'd be able to take up to 3 weeks to move in, but I'd have to pay for both flats for that period. Or I could move in over the weekend and as long as the keys to my old place were handed in to the office by midday on the Monday, they wouldn't charge me rent for both flats. Challenge accepted!
Luckily, the two flats were just 10 minutes walk apart. I borrowed bags and holdalls from neighbours and carried as much as I could down in the evenings. Then friends from work helped with their big estate car and miraculously we managed to get even my bed and sofa moved down on the Sunday. And an amazing thing; moving from a 2 bedroom flat to a one bedroom flat with smaller rooms you'd think that I'd be falling over extra furniture. But with my daughter taking the spare bed to her place, everything else I have fits better here than it did in the old flat.
I've swapped a dark, cold, noisy flat in a block of 9, for a light, bright, warm first floor flat in a converted house - with a small garden - in a cul-de-sac. Downsizing is good!
And then I got offered a permanent position at work doing what I'd been seconded to do at the start of the year. So again, I said yes.
And then I got a bonus, which has meant booking my next trip to see my husband in March, and also a short break in Stockholm for me and my daughter in May - for EUROVISION! Oh my dog, we are so excited about that you would not believe.
So for the past 4 months I have been painting walls, tiling walls, throwing out the junk I didn't have time to sort through before I moved, working hard at a job I now love, and wandering round with a ridiculous smile on my face because I am so happy. I have decided that only "nice" things will come in to this flat - no more making do with stuff I don't really like. And this spring I will make a start on turning the square of grass that my bedroom window looks out onto into a pretty bird-friendly garden. So it may be a while again before my next post, but at least you'll know that I'll be keeping out of trouble and spending my time productively.
