Goodbye to an old friend

How many of you have met my little car Oyf? How many of you have enjoyed a ride in the little fella? He is such a dear old friend to me - and yes, he is a he, I know all cars are supposed to be girls but he always was a boy to me! I have had to part ways with him and I must confess my heart is a little broken.

I sold him to a friend though, one who really wanted him, so I know he has gone to a good home and once in a while she'll send me updates and maybe even put him on the phone to me. Truth is he'll probably like being with her much better, she'll actually drive him regularly and not neglect him like I did, leaving him for so many lonely days on the driveway untouched. I barely drove him and now that we've moved somewhere with much better public transport connections and expensive and restricted parking, it had to be done. Pouring money down the drain is one of my better talents but even I could see how crazy this was!

So, goodbye dear little blue car, I miss you.

Something to look forward to

Our next Stateside trip is confirmed, we're over again in mid-May. I'm looking forward to getting away again. This trip was dictated by a business trip Jon has to make and I'm tagging along. He has to be in Milwaukee for a week and we figured it would make sense to take some extra days for a California jaunt so it'll be 10 days in SoCal and then a week in Milwaukee.

I'm looking forward to Cali and seeing everyone as always. It wouldn't kill us to get some decent warmth and sunshine either, after the miserable weather we've been enduring here lately. As for Milwaukee, I deliberated for a while as to whether or not I would go and decided after a little research it might not be so bad. I was surprised to discover that there is stuff to do there and I figured it might be nice to have some down time for myself there. As much as I love our Cali and other trips they are always really hectic, rushing around trying to see everyone and everything. The week in Milwaukee Jon will be working so I will get a chance to hang out and have a relaxing time. I plan to check out some museums, do some shopping, a spa day or two, walk and bike some of the trails around the lake shores etc. I think I can keep myself entertained. Plus, I bet the burgers are great!!

More surreal Turner moments

This morning my boss sent me an email asking me to find him the rabbit suit.
????????
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

New toy! Shiny new toy!! Some of you may have read in my previous post about moving that Jon impulsively bought us a shiny new larger-than-sensible TV for the new flat. Well, yesterday I behaved like a classic enabler and bought us a new Nintendo Wii, which we have both been hankering after for some time. I just got so excited because some stores have finally started re-stocking them and I had a crappy day at work yesterday so I caved to no pressure at all except my own consumer greed and love of shiny objects. Jon was SO excited.

It does also have the slight added bonus of encouraging us to unpack the rest of our stuff and get rid of the boxes and piles, to give us ample space to play the Wii games. If it facilitates that, then it's worth it. It is also SO MUCH FUN!!

Now I'm off home to check on my (hopefully) immaculately organised new flat and my game addict boyfriend who probably already has tennis elbow. (Luckily our ceiling lights are spotlights so there aren't any we can break!)

Moving day and other traumas

As most of you know, Jon and I moved into our new flat this weekend. Those of you for whom this is news, it's been talked about for a little while but nobody (including us) really thought we would make it to moving day!

It wasn't a huge heap of fun but we are very excited about the new place. We saw it a few weeks ago and took it immediately and then wondered if perhaps it wouldn't be quite as we'd remembered it, but I'm happy to report we walked in there on Friday and remembered why we didn't hesitate, we absolutely love it. It's small but the flat is great and the house it's in is beautiful too. It's in South Hampstead which is a great location for both of us and is also my old stomping ground from my Central days.

In fact, right now I'm feeling like I never want to move house ever again, I'd forgotten what a trauma moving is. I put up with a lot of jokes about there not being enough boxes or bags in London to hold all my clothes and crap, but I will point out that I have downsized quite effectively. Jon had a fair bit of crap too and we have been quite good at unpacking but are not quite there yet. This is the "before" picture of the place from Saturday.
The weekend was not without drama, there was one minor little falling down the stairs with a heavy box incident. It was the end of the day (and the second day of moving) so I was already tired but was a little ambitious attempting a box that was just a little too heavy for me and probably also a little too wide for my short litle arms. Luckily I was near the bottom and it was only a couple of steps but I did injure myself and as it was a box of Jon's stuff I was carrying at the time, I will be utilising the guilt for as long as possible. Here is the picture of my very bruised and swollen knee (swollen, not fat!!). Jon was very worried when I got the camera out, he thinks I'm going to:
a) Sue him
b) Tell people he beat me up

Being a chronic commitment-phobe this is the first time I've lived with someone full time and I have just had my first experience of what it's like to live with a boy. There I was focusing on unpacking the kitchen and he was sizing the place up for a large TV. And indeed, when we made a trip to Argos on Sunday to buy kitchen stuff what did we leave with? A shiny big flat screen TV! Check out the picture of Jon's main project for the day thereafter.Oh yes, chaos all around and he is putting the TV together! The boxes are still not unpacked, merely moved aside so they don't block the TV!! And of course the important thing is, all the games consoles are plugged in!

And, get this, it looks like we won't have internet for at least a couple of weeks. I know!!! Me and Jon, the two people voted most likely to wither and die without internet!! It's shocking. Oh well, at least we've got a bigger than necessary TV to keep us occupied. Oh yeah, and boxes to unpack!

Anyway, must get on and get those boxes taken care of. I'll be back soon with some "after" pictures once we get the place looking and feeling like home.