The living room saga...

...continues.


As I was saying, we'd originally booked ourselves a weeks holiday that was supposed to be spent going away with Anthony's whole family to celebrate his parents 50th wedding anniversary later this year. It had to be that week because it was half term. Although since nobody could agree about where to go and how much it should cost, nothing happened.

I thought I'd get to spend a nice bit of time with Anthony and we could both unwind after the stress of the last few months.

Nope.

I went off to stay with my mother on the 13th, and Anthony came to stay for one night on the 18th and then drive me back on the 19th.

His dad came to stay for a week and they blitzed the living room. The old brown wall paper was pretty easy to remove, but the fact that the previous owner had removed, then added, then removed a succession of dado rails, and patched up any holes with concrete, made it not so straight forward after all.

But now I have a living room with walls painted in a lovely grey-white which makes it feel a million times bigger.

I also have a living room that contains the tv and its stand, the desk and computer, and the sofa.

It feels horribly big and empty. Pretty much like it has since work started on it over two months ago.

The next step is to get a new carpet. We've chosen it, and my lovely mother is contributing towards the cost (as A's parents paid for the floor renewal) (While I am grateful that they did, as we couldn't have afforded it, the fact that I am supposed to be grateful about something I had no choice about, makes it impossible to be grateful *enough*)

We just have to get it fitted. And my patience is rapidly vanishing.

After weeks of doing things based on other people making decisions, I suggested that we get the carpet fitted next week as otherwise it'll be another month before I can start getting any bookcases back in here. Of course, the timing isn't right for his dad to be able to pop over during the week for the hour that the carpet men will need. Even though we don't know which day they can do yet.

*head desk*

If the carpet goes down next week, then I can spend next weekend, when I'm not working, supervising people moving the bookcases in and refilling them. If it has to wait for my next weekday off work (the 9th of March), then either the bookcases will be moved and filled while I'm at work, (which I don't want, as I want to sort them out as they are moved), or the bookcases need to wait until the 17/18th March which is my next weekend off.

Oh, and the first Grand Prix of the year. Australia. 6am race start time Sunday morning.

Also the beginning of our last weeks holiday together before the baby arrives. Which is already filling up with eleventy-million things to do.

Also more than three months since the work in here started and 95% of my library became inaccessible.

Unsurprisingly, I'm a little itchy!

And ranty. But you hadn't spotted that, had you?

*NEWSFLASH*

After I got a little bit over emotional on Friday evening, we went to the carpet shop. They're fitting it between 9 and 12 on Monday. #happykate 

Blue, blue...

...blue.

January has me in its miserable grip.

Every single customer at work is rude and or abusive - the winner being the woman who called me a f**king cow when I asked her to put in her pin number while she was on the phone to a friend.

The blog I go to for happy thoughts and positive thinking, cjane, has had no end of crap being talked about it in various places due to her success (subject to confirmation) in the 2008 Weblog Awards.
This includes criticism of the fact that she has been fundraising for her sister, the fact she has been raising her sister's kids, the picture of herself as an angel in her blog header, and the fact that she has been moderating her comments over the last six months in an attempt to keep things positive and upbeat. Good grief. I worry about the world when people stop understanding jokes and sarcasm and decide that she's an evil person who only gave her nephew gum for his birthday.

Plus I'm feeling broody/empty, a currently unsolvable problem.

So tonight I have come home and dug out a song guaranteed to make me cry my eyes out.



Then I put on the song with the longest intro in the world (lyrics start at 3:24)



Then Anthony walked in the front door, I put on a song from my 150for30 play list and the world got brighter.



(Forgot today was Thursday, that goes a long way towards explaining me ranting!)

This evening...

...I had to work some unpaid overtime in order to get out on display the 13 big new titles that are being published tomorrow. This way as soon as we open in the morning people can start buying them.

One of the books was the new Jacqueline Wilson book, Cookie.

It's in a very nice pink tin (for you to keep your cookies in) which was easier to stack that I thought it would be.

Ahhh...Jacqueline Wilson, a signatory on this statement against age-banding on children's books.

Hang on a sec, what's this on the back, just next to the price and the bar code...

9+

Yup.

Jacqueline Wilson has been age-banded.

I am not a happy bunny.

Update: Wilson's Cookie age-banded (and yes, I know it's What Katy Did rather than Katie - I was typing fast.)