We’ve been in our new house for three weeks tomorrow and I can’t believe how happy, light and unburdened I feel. The new house is wonderful and I truly don’t miss the old one at all, despite all the love and attention we lavished upon it. It’s so big – even bigger than I remembered and certainly big enough to swing both cats and any feline friends they may have! Already I’ve redecorated the lounge and two bedrooms and restocked the garden. Our new bathrooms are on order and they should be in within the next few weeks, and John’s dad is helping refit the kitchen (lowering the raised floor and removing a dominating island unit) when he’s back off holiday in a fortnight. We’ve even bought a black Smeg fridge to finish off the new kitchen, so as you can imagine John is exited about having something else to clean. I wanted to post some photos, but I still can’t find the camera lead, so you’ll have to wait a bit for those.
But the move has brought more than just material goods. The drive to work for John is now 15 minutes, rather than 90, and it’s just made his life (and mine) so much happier. We’re both less stressed and have so much time on our hands. John still sets off for work at 8am, but he now gets there at 8.15, so is able to leave for home at 4.15 and back again at 4.30, rather than 6.30 plus!!! It mean we have time in the evenings to do nice thing together. I even went to watch my first football match last night – Farsley Celtic vs Kiddiminster Harriers!!! Moving to this house and the sense of unburdening that it’s brought has made me realise how uptight and stressed I was before and how much our quality of life has suffered. Since we have been here, I have slept uninterrupted for 8 hours a night – something I haven’t done for 8 years without the aid of a vat of red wine. I also didn’t realise how much the stress of our working lives had affected John and I as a couple – I’d forgotten that in the distant recesses we both used to be fun-loving and up for adventures, as most nights over the past few years were spent sat in the house together but alone in our stresses (if that makes sense). But since we’ve been here, I really do feel like we’re slowly becoming the people that we used to be – good God, work-like balance is such an important thing. I think I’m also on top of my weight neurosis too. Where we used to live was dominated by University students, all lithe and 18 – a guaranteed recipe to make an older, slightly preoccupied lass feel a middle-aged tubster (especially when you are teaching them all week too). I don’t even look old (27 but had been id’d 5 times this year), and am not overweight, but I have worried about it constantly for years – I even dieted to a little over 9 stone last year, which is a bit low for someone of my height (5′8″) and build (stocky). Getting away from this unrepresentative body of people has also been a good move as I have realised that I am perfectly normal – slim even. But I am a bit worried that I may pudge out a little as everyone round here permanantly seems to have a sausage roll or other pastry treat wedged in their gobs, so there’s plenty of running on the cards so that I can maintain my more acceptable weight of 9st5lb. I’m sorry if I sound shallow and vacuous, but I think I’ve got a real worry about getting older – I’ve been using anti-ageing cream since I was 18. Oh well. On a lighter note, I thought I would end with a picture of Pudsey’s most famous export.
