… both the new house and the box where the laptop was packed. Good start. Most of the boxes are cluttering up the garage so we give the impression that we are vaguely sorted. It’s all a lie.

No idea how we are going to arrange the living room – as usual the TV socket is in a really stupid place compared to available sofa wall space and I think we’re going to need to get creative. Haven’t even tackled the “where the hell are we going to build the new computer desk problem”. I’m sure our priorities are wrong somewhere. Overall though the house doesn’t seem as small as I feared – I think we’re just going to have to be imaginative with storage and do lots of throwing out.

Next door have already introduced themselves and given us a pot plant. I just hope I don’t follow my usual trend of killing it within two days of ownership.

Off tomorrow for the family barbecue. Oh for the heady days of staying in one place for more than five minutes…

Well, we now officially own our new house. YAY! Akra is currently trying to attack the mound of boxes and find new places for them – apparently we need Tardis like properties for the new kitchen, so I forsee a kitchen gadget cull once I join him.

Here at my mother’s house, it’s been quite a lazy day, but I’ve got very itchy feet. I want to go see the new place and stick my oar in on the furniture arrangement, etc. Not the most patient of people even at the best of times, it’s almost unbearable.

Daft thing is, Akra Jr and I will get there tomorrow, sleep one night there, then we all get to travel back to North London for the weekend for a family barbecue!

Some things are just destined never to run smoothly, don’t you think?

We are now officially moved out of our old house. However, we haven’t actually completed because the building society at the bottom of the chain screwed up and didn’t pass any actual money along until too late in the day. So we’re hoping to complete tomorrow instead. One day I’ll laugh…

… in the meantime, I’ve got a stinking cold and am feeling very grumpy indeed. I’m also having internet withdrawal symptoms. There’s nothing on the telly. And I’m very very bored.

Well, I’ve almost finished packing for the stay at my mother’s. Somehow Akra Jr has two huge bags compared to my one small one – something to do with him being physically unable to walk past an open suitcase without finding another toy to put in it.

It’s odd to think that in about an hour, I am walking out that door and not coming back. It’s rather unreal – this is home, seems nonsensical to not return after the stay with mum.

I’ve said goodbye to The House. I feel slightly less guilty now as we’ve heard that the new owner has hired roofing contractors to give it a brand new roof. We wouldn’t have been able to afford that for ages, so I’m glad The House is going to get some pampering when we’re gone, even though I secretly suspect it’s going to miss having a young family living between its four walls.

I found out the other day that someone died here. My next-door neighbour was keen to reassure me that the gentleman in question collapsed outside the front door and didn’t die inside the house itself, but strangely I don’t mind. He was elderly and I suspect he loved this house too. It sort of confirms the notion of presence that I’ve had since I moved in. I wonder if the new house will have such a defined personality – it’s only about 8 years old after all.

I should still update this blog over this week although internet access until after the weekend might be a bit flaky so if I don’t update every day I hope you will forgive me.

Now, please excuse me would you? Am going to find a corner and have a little sniffle…

Today was the last time Akra Jr and I went to our mother and baby group. It’s a very odd feeling. I’m almost not emotional enough because it doesn’t feel like the end – it was a normalish group, and it felt like I was saying “goodbye, see you next week” not “goodbye, see you I don’t know when”.

I shall miss them all horribly. I first met them all when Akra Jr was only five weeks old. It was a group arranged by the health visitors and it was amazing I even made it out of the house – it was a fair walk from home (about half an hour, forty-five minutes… can’t remember now) for someone who’d just been through the ravages of first birth. We were all still rather dazed and in awe of the responsibility of motherhood.

The children, now in varying stages of two-year-oldness (Akra Jr is the youngest) are playing together well and are firm friends as are their mothers. We’ve been through so much together. In some ways, I think I’m more sad that Akra Jr won’t actually remember these friends in a few years time than if I knew he was going to miss them as much as me.

Anyway. We had some wine, some cake… the other mums were naughty and checked on here for my wish list (About A Boy DVD for me, Pumpkin Soup book for Akra Jr and a beautiful framed photo of all his little friends. No that last one wasn’t on the wish list. Amazon doesn’t sell them for some strange reason). All the kids were unspeakably cute even when they were being stroppy.

I didn’t cry. After all, I’m seeing them next week? Aren’t I?

Since Akra started working away from home and I knew we’d be moving house, I’ve felt somewhat in limbo. I haven’t really made any plans, didn’t want to commit to anything, put everything on hold for that distant “when we’ve moved” date.

Now, all of a sudden, the move date is not that distant any more. As a result, my brain has gone nuts and come up with all these plans and projects that I really really want to do. That might sound a good thing, but I’m not very good at seeing things through and the amount of things I want to achieve just isn’t feasible with the amount of time I have. I need to narrow my focus, but at the same time I’m loathe to drop a single one of my plans. I’m doomed.

I’m enjoying messing around with photos at the moment. I know I’m a dismal photographer and I think half of that is I’ve never bothered to take any pictures other than family snaps. It’s something I’d like to have some fun with and I’m happy enough to just reach a level of “fairly competent” rather than achieve any brilliance. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but the 26 Things – the International Photographic Scavenger Hunt that starts tomorrow really appeals.

I’m getting itchy fingers – I want to get writing. I’ve proved to myself that I can make a consistent commitment to daily writing with this blog and actually enjoy myself too. I’ve been doing a Writer’s Bureau course for a little while now but was put on hold until after The Big Move[tm]. However, that’s mainly focussed (at the moment) on non-fiction articles and suchlike, which I’m finding a little tedious, so the motivation isn’t quite there. I do want to complete it, though, and it probably won’t take long to get to a more interesting module.

I also like the idea of the National Novel Writing Month which takes place in November. The idea being that you write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days – going for quantity over quality of course. I just like the idea that I could say “hey, I’ve written a novel – yes it’s utter utter tripe, but it’s written by me all the same.” According to the FAQ, you can do preparation work before November – just no actual writing of the book until then. Ideally I should be spending the next couple of months looking at genre research, characterisation and plotting. Eeep – that works out at about 1700 words a day. That’s a lot. Could I do it? Maybe. Maybe not. Do I want to try anyway? Hell, yes!

Then I’d like to do some more navel-gazing soul-searching. There’s a druidry course that I’ve been looking at and wondering whether to do. The more I look into this path, the more it feels right, and I’m really drawn to this course as something more tangible and committed (or maybe it’s me that needs committing… dunno). I have been faffing around on such a superficial level for so long, maybe it’s about time I did something about that. At the same time, I don’t want it to end up as being the whole focus of my existence. How to give more time without crowding everything else out?

Also, there’s the piano that’s been untouched for years, the half-formed idea of doing a psychology A-level as an evening course, the ever-expanding reading list, the so far unfulfilled determination to exercise more…

… I think you get the drift. I need about 20 more hours in my day.

We’ve now exchanged up the chain, so we have a house to move into on the 9th July!

Now all we’ve got to do is organise removal men, mail redirection, cancelling utilities….

*drum roll please*

WE HAVE EXCHANGED CONTRACTS! Well, underneath us anyway. That means that we’ve staved off bankruptcy and managed to commit our buyer to actually buying (which seems like a minor miracle as is).

All we have to do now is exchange contracts above us so we have a home to move to on the 9th July. However, we have been assured that everyone up the chain is happy and ready to exchange, it’s just that a couple of solicitors at the top of the chain buggered off home early today. Oh well, half way there.

I know it’s a cliche saying that I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, but I fully understand the root of the phrase. I really do feel like I’m standing another inch taller at the moment; it is going to happen, we are going to move. Of course, there’s a whole new set of issues now like organising the removal men, sorting out mail redirection, etc., but all that can wait until tomorrow.

Tonight I am drinking Archers, heating up a birds eye roast beef dinner, scoffing the last remaining cornettos and watching the Angel Season 4 Finale on Sky. Okay, that may not sound that exciting to you, but to me it’s a small slice of heaven.

Have since confirmed that it’s our buyer’s buyer who’s pissing about now (how I hate property chains, let me count the ways) so have agreed £2,500 off the price of the property if we exchange by end of tomorrow.

So, back to the telephone hovering all day tomorrow too. I so have to find another project to keep me occupied…

Waiting by the phone
Hoping to exchange contracts
No news is bad news

I am not patient
Imagining more delays
Why is there no news?

How hard can it be?
Three months have been and gone now
Naff solicitors

I’m trying to write
But my focus is elsewhere
Anticipation

Ah now there is news
Want a sudden drop in price
She can fuck right off

And exchange delay
Despite our warning last week
Time to remarket

Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls
Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls Balls
Balls Balls Balls Bollocks.