I am going to try and keep this short as I really need to get to bed and to sleep …

The week following my trip to London, and last week has certainly been eventful.  A precis version is as follows:

I expected the job market to be very slow (as that is what I had heard from everyone else), and planned to start working at around the beginning of August or September, depending on how my search went.  I was not prepared to have 4 job interviews lined up within the space of a week, and be offered a job 2 days later.  Also, I wasn’t prepared for a Monday 11th July start.

A timeline was something like this:
– Monday morning:  interview
– Tuesday afternoon:  second interview
– Wednesday morning:  another interview/meeting with previous client
– Wednesday lunch time:  accepting a contract and cancelling 2 more interviews lined up for Wednesday afternoon and the following Monday
– Wednesday after my interview:  driving down to Kent to visit a friend for 2 nights.
– Friday:  driving back to Manchester in time for a (pretentious) theatre play, called “Dr Dee – An English Opera”
– Monday:  start new contract, which is moving at one million miles per hour
– Tuesday:  long and hard day at work.  Collapse for early night.
– Wednesday:  out with a friend straight from work.  Late night
– Thursday:  out with a friend straight from work. Not such a late night
– Friday:  friends for dinner.  Very late night
– Saturday:  administration day for purchase of new investment property including mortgage application,  pick up samples for flooring
– Sunday:  hour and a half nordic walk (not had time this week), administration continues, including visit to new property to do measuring up, prepare food for next week

Next week is going to be a busy one too:
Monday:  after work try and go to the doctor as 7 weeks later my cough is not getting better
Tuesday:  decorator coming around after work.  Try and finish admin left over from weekend.  See if there is time for a nordic walk.
Wednesday:  book club in the evening.  Pack for weekend.
Thursday:  go to work early so I can leave early to go to Paris for the weekend!!  Hurrah!
Friday – Sunday:  PARIS.  Please let the sun shine ….

When I get back from Paris, I have to plan for the new house in Sale:
– flooring quotes & installs
– source and deliver washing machine and fridge-freezer
– source furniture & lighting & arrange delivery, build and install
– source house ‘dressings’ and make house look beautiful
Complete legal process in allocated 28 days!
– get a rental quote and find tenants

Overlapping with the above, will be planning and organising Tim’s 50th birthday and getting ready for going on holiday for 2 weeks to Albania on 1 September.  I think it is going to be a very busy 6 weeks ahead…

But on the good news front:  We received a letter in the post this week.  Some kind person left our Children of Africa charity a legacy of £1,000!  Isn’t that fantastic?!

Over and out – bed is calling