Forgive me friends for I have sinned… it has been far too long since my last confession (aka blog) and so much has happened that I actually have no idea where to begin. I have sought the wisdom of others on where to start and they have been no use whatsoever (you know who you are!) and so I shall do my best to fill you in on the crazy mental rollercoaster of the past two months..
We got a house remember… yay!!! It was terrible… booo!!! And moved out. After 3 days, or was it 2. To the Holiday Inn. The house was heavenly Californian chic by day and a Steven King horror by night. It was utterly infested with giant cockroaches. Oh not for us the moderate everyday ones you see in the Raid ads, oh no, but great big ugly enormous ones the size of your hand – I lie not I swear to you! Moving faster than the speed of sound, at the first hint of night out they came from under skirting boards and floor boards, out of the air con and under doors, beneath the fridge and out of cupboards – all night long.. out they charged. Walk into any room and there would be others just waiting to head right for me at full speed. I am Legend? The Night Seekers? Will Smith curled up shaking like a leaf in the bath? That was me. I was in a state of complete mental trauma. Sitting up in bed for two nights with the lights on shaking from head to toe and holding a can of Raid. It was actually hades. Poor Alex was in trauma too, but not because of the damn cockroaches but because of my reaction to them. So, out we moved to the Holiday Inn – God bless it – and began the termination of our lease (I think that’s a juxtaposition I just did – and yes I know that was awful grammar there).
At the time we were leaving the house of hell - did I mention btw way it was on a street called Edinboro? We so should have known. Anyway at this time our new friends here in Perth were heading back over to Glasgow due to a family bereavement, and in the midst of their grief they very kindly offered us their house. Our Guardian Angels! My troubles were nothing, absolutely nothing, when I think of what they were going through and I was deeply humbled by their kindness. So we spent the two weeks over Christmas staying in their gorgeous home which was appreciated more than words could ever say. Grateful doesn’t come close. It meant that when Beverley arrived on Christmas morning we could bring her back to their home and have a fabulous and bug free holiday. And we did. It was so exciting meeting her at the airport, so much better than saying goodbye that’s for sure. My little Christmas elf!! We did loads of stuff over Christmas and New Year, and while I know I probably went on a bit more than I should have about the cockroaches, I believe she had a pretty fabulous time too! We had a ball.
I guess the one thing we couldn’t escape from though during this period was the fact that we were actually homeless. Our friends were due to return from Scotland and we had nowhere to go. Not exactly an ideal situation in a strange and foreign land. Well after a bit of head scratching, we arranged that we’d move back into the original city apartment when we’d need to and hoped that we’d find a place very very quickly. And so it is with huge thanks to Beverley that we did actually find a place, very very quickly. On Zoo day. We’d been to the Zoo – A M A Z I N G – and on the way back Beverley picked up a real estate brochure and there, right on page 4 staring up at us was our new home! We viewed, applied and tied it all up in a week. It is just a vision of loveliness. And we haven’t tried to recreate our life in Scotland like perhaps we were trying to do with the Edinboro Street one. It’s an apartment with 2.5 bedrooms, a pretty view and a handy pool for hot days. It’s just very nice and we love it. I keep teasing Alex that he’s P Diddy, this is his crib… and I’m his booty! So here we are in our apartment and have no plans on moving again until we get kicked out. The lease is up in July and I’m not so sure the owners are your serious landlord types, so we could be searching again in a few months, but I hope we are wiser now.
Since we moved here we’ve had our first visitor… Andy!!! It was so fun getting a visit so soon after Beverley. In fact January just raced by which was great because my biggest enemy without doubt is boredom and I thrive on people and new things. Interestingly, when Andy was here we didn’t do all the things we did when Beverley was over but this time kept it all a bit more low key, which was perfect because it gave me an opportunity to really get to know my new part of town – or hood as Alex might say. So by the time Andy left I’d found my favourite local coffee shop, bar and restaurant and had gotten to know a few faces around the area. Perfect.
Now I mentioned that my biggest enemy is boredom. I never knew just how much me and boredom really don’t mix. Seriously. This week is the first ordinary calm week since we moved in here and it’s been a hard one. I actually love my own company and am very comfortable with myself – which is just as well really isn’t it – but I have become increasingly aware that I need more. I need purpose. I know that I’ve spoken before about this, so I risk droning on. But, while we can, rightly or wrongly, just about manage to suppress a whole manner of things about ourselves, this need for purpose is a massive part of who I am. So with this increasing self knowledge, I continue on my voyage of global and self discovery (?!!?!) with a renewed certainty that I must be working or I risk my happiness. I have finally applied for my teaching registration here now, it took a while to get it off, but fingers crossed I’ll have my registration soon and will be working by springtime. Starting a new life here is like making a jigsaw, it takes time and it takes patience. I was never very good at jigsaws but from watching others, I do think it helps when there’s two of you..
Lots of love to you… Me & Alex
(Searching for Brigadoon. Or something like it)
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