Sometimes life gets in the way

I’m not impressed with my blogging output lately, even Mr Sunshine has commented/moaned.

The holidays are over and it’s time to get back in my routine.

The thing is I can’t get into a routine because life just keeps taking over. For example we’re still sticking to the Hairy Bikers Diet, 7 Kilos I’ve lost so far.  Honestly it feels like a miracle, I'm stunned. I keep doing a double take every time I walk past the mirror in the nude (too much information?). Where did the tummy go? I just read that back to myself and heard Arnold Schwarzenegger rusty catchphrase booming 'I'll be back' . The only downside to the Hairy Bikers diet is it takes time, buying fresh ingredients and cooking everything from scratch is a challenge for the culinary handicapped like me.

I'll be back 

On top of my special needs manoeuvres in the kitchen, my new Open University courses began this week. Last year I started a 60 point introduction at level one, this week begins 120 points a level two taking it to full time study (Creative Writing and Worlds of English). As usual whenever I start something new, a little bit of OCD worms its way into my personality. So I’m trying to limit my time I check the new forums to once an hour (it’s tough), I have pushed ahead to week 3 on the tasks and the beautiful crisp new books are already littered with post it notes and highlighter marks.

Perfect

There is one more thing I’ve been getting a little bit OCD about. Do you know the feeling when you want something to happen, something so good that it must be too good to be true, and something you’re scared to talk about in case it gets jinxes.

Pretty garden?

Well, last week we made an offer on a house. It’s the second house we've made an offer on, our makelaar Lennert (Special adviser for expats too stupid to understand Dutch after a year) said there was a reason we didn’t get the first house. He was right because ten days later our dream house turned up. The first day it went on the market 51 people rang for viewings, I was the eighth caller. By the time we viewed the house at 2pm the next day they already had three offers.

So what was so special about this house: the kitchen is badly designed, the garden full of dilapidated buildings topped with asbestos, the top floor is a death trap with a coffin sized hole that drops eight feet to the next floor.

Asbestos filled rotting outhouse

It’s perfect and it’s cheap!

I don’t care about badly designed kitchens as long as I have one, we can work on the garden and turn it into an Alfie friendly paradise. The death trip is a bit of an issue though but I’m trying not to think about that.

That's me in the corner, wondering how to open the oven that crammed in to the triangular kitchen.

So, the thing I’m afraid to whisper is – they accepted our offer!

It’s been through it building inspection already and passed despite a touch of woodworm in the cellar. As I write this I’m waiting for an email to say we got the mortgage and then if everything falls into place we’ll have the house by the 12^th of October.

So life is exciting, busy and every so very often getting in the way.

I wasn't kidding about the coffin shaped death trap