yes, I am still alive

Before I even get into it, many thanks to the lovely Lola, who, despite being in the middle of her own very rough patch at the moment, had the kindness to send me a message checking if I was okay.  Much appreciated, Miss Snow!!

Yes, still alive over here.  It’s been full on, what with one thing and another.  I managed to have a prang in the car the other day, on the way to work.  Neither myself nor the other guy are hurt, so that’s all good.  His car only has a few little scratches along his back bumper, so very minimal damage there.  My poor little buzzbox, on the other hand, has the front bumper banged in, and the bonnet is crumpled up.  The front lights have been pushed out, so it’s a very sad, googly-eyed little car at the moment.  It was all my fault, so I’m not giving myself any sympathy.  I’m just so glad that all the humans involved are okay, that’s the main thing.

Other than that, well, real estate stuff continues.  We’ve had some finance issues, but it looks like our current purchase will proceed.  My brother is also still on the property warpath.  He’s just discovered that places in his area and price bracket are going off the market as quickly as they come on.  He’s now agreed to listen to his big sister, and contact agents for viewings before the first home open happens.  I could’ve made a smart-arsed ‘I told you so’ comment to him when he told me, but I very maturely managed to refrain from rubbing it in.  Just.

It’s a long weekend this weekend, but SO and I are on a week’s leave anyhow.  We celebrated by buying some floor tiles this morning.  We got 20m2 of pale blue 200mm x 200mm (8″ by 8″) floor tiles for a total of $160 – cheap!!  We were going to use them in an investment property, but I like them so much I’ve decided we’ll do up the ensuite with them.  The ensuite is currently tiled in very dark green (almost black) tiles, and while it looks okay, it makes a small space really feel miniscule.  Pale blue floor tiles and white wall tiles will brighten it up and open it out.  SO did stipulate that he doesn’t want to do the tiling himself, so we will have to get somebody in, but I really think it’ll be worth it.  Not sure when we’ll get around to getting it done, but when it happens I’ll post pictures.

As a thank-you to SO for getting up early to get the tiles, I made him a big cooked breakfast.  Bacon, lightly fried eggs, mushrooms in butter, a tomato, the whole bit.  He gobbled it down with the biggest grin you’ve ever seen.  I had no idea that a fry-up could make a man so happy.  Mental note: must remember this for potential bribery in the future.  Apart from the mushrooms (of which I did steal some of the proceeds) this kind of thing leaves me cold.  I’m not a savoury person, and I grew up in a house where a) bacon and b) anything fried never actually happened.  The very first time in my life I tasted bacon was at a friend’s house when I was fifteen (her dad was cooking a hangover recovery breakfast).  So yes, SO’s love of cooked breakfasts mystifies me.  But it is entertaining to watch.

Otherwise, not a huge amount planned.  I’d like to get into the garden, it’s looking bad again, but we’ll see.  I also need to start getting into my counselling course.  I’ve done some work, but obviously there’s (lots) more to be done.  It’s all very well feeling virtuous about studying, but if I don’t actually do anything then I’ll never finish it.