I know, I sound like an advert for British Rail!
The house has come on in leaps and bounds! The bathroom is all but done, we are just waiting for the flooring to arrive. The fitter will then come back, fit the flooring and then fit the toilet and it is all done!
The carpenter has arrived and started hanging doors and fitting skirting and architrave to our bedroom so it is looking more finished.
The decorator has painted the lounge and the second bedroom so they look great.
All in all, it is shaping up very nicely. I am very hopeful that we will be in within the next 2-3 weeks - yikes!!
The weight is doing okay, I lost another pound, I seem to be having days where either I can eat quite a bit or I can hardly eat anything - I guess it all evens out in the end! I am also wearing my first pair of jeans in about 5 years! They are a size 20 and they are massive around the waist but they fit nice and loosely on my legs which means they are very comfortable. They are not quite the size 12 ones I want to be in but they are a start and I feel great in them!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Decision made ...
After a sleepless night and lots of thinking (and talking it through with my boyfriend), I decided to have a conversation with the manager to whom the role would be reporting. I've always found him to be a bit intimidating and, since he is based in Ipswich, the conversation was over the phone which I always find a bit difficult. The last time we had a conversation he was telling me about how my current role would be changing and although he was pleasant enough, he did give the message that they would root out anyone not performing to standard which I found a bit scary! He was very pleasant when we spoke this time and put my mind at ease over the concerns I had about the role. He did tell me not to read anything into the conversations I'd had with him and the recruitment manager - I reassured him that I didn't, but in my mind it is a little hard not to!!!
I suppose I have to remember that they just want the best pool of candidates to choose from. I'm pretty confident that the temp is not a contender which leaves myself and the other girl who has been on secondment for the last year (hence the temp covering her work!). She is a strong candidate so I can't take anything for granted. At least now I know I am seen as a contender and they know that I am interested in progression.
Fingers crossed for me - please!!
I suppose I have to remember that they just want the best pool of candidates to choose from. I'm pretty confident that the temp is not a contender which leaves myself and the other girl who has been on secondment for the last year (hence the temp covering her work!). She is a strong candidate so I can't take anything for granted. At least now I know I am seen as a contender and they know that I am interested in progression.
Fingers crossed for me - please!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Quandry!
I know, posts are like buses you wait ages for one then two come along at once!!
I thought I would post this separately as it is nothing to do with the house.
I am in a bit of a dilemma. As you will have read, there has been a lot of upheaval at work with my boss being ousted and the temp being put in as an interim team leader. The vacancy was advertised last week and the closing date was Monday. I decided not to apply as I believed there were other candidates who would have better experience than me.
Well, I popped to the shop to get a packet of crisps this afternoon (what can I say, they are band friendly!!) and got ambushed by the recruitment team manager. He pulled me into a meeting room and asked me why I hadn't applied! To cut a long story short, he has said that although the vacancy has closed, they would still accept an application from me. He has asked me to give it some consideration and to speak to the person the role reports into tomorrow. I agreed to think about it tonight and speak to him tomorrow.
My boyfriend has said he would support me if I decide to go for it. I've spoken to my old boss who thinks I am probably the preferred candidate and that I should go for it. I almost feel I have to otherwise they will think I don't have any ambition. Either way, it is nice that they see me as a true contender, if I am honest I felt that wasn't the case when they asked the temp to cover instead of me.
What to do....?!!
I thought I would post this separately as it is nothing to do with the house.
I am in a bit of a dilemma. As you will have read, there has been a lot of upheaval at work with my boss being ousted and the temp being put in as an interim team leader. The vacancy was advertised last week and the closing date was Monday. I decided not to apply as I believed there were other candidates who would have better experience than me.
Well, I popped to the shop to get a packet of crisps this afternoon (what can I say, they are band friendly!!) and got ambushed by the recruitment team manager. He pulled me into a meeting room and asked me why I hadn't applied! To cut a long story short, he has said that although the vacancy has closed, they would still accept an application from me. He has asked me to give it some consideration and to speak to the person the role reports into tomorrow. I agreed to think about it tonight and speak to him tomorrow.
My boyfriend has said he would support me if I decide to go for it. I've spoken to my old boss who thinks I am probably the preferred candidate and that I should go for it. I almost feel I have to otherwise they will think I don't have any ambition. Either way, it is nice that they see me as a true contender, if I am honest I felt that wasn't the case when they asked the temp to cover instead of me.
What to do....?!!
Problems, problems!!
I know, this is a very long overdue post. I can't promise that it will be everything it should be but I'll try to cover the issues from the past few weeks!! As promised, here is the background on the main causes of our stress:
The tile problem - we decided that we would like to consider alternative borders for the bathroom as we weren't sure that we had picked the best option so we took one of our bathroom tiles to a showroom to compare. As we were doing this, my boyfriend noticed that the pattern on the tile was slightly out of focus and was making his eyes go a bit funny. This got worse as the day went on and ended up giving him a migraine. At one point it looked like we were going to have to ditch the tiles we had bought (costing us £350) and start again. Eventually, my boyfriend decided that it was down to him being over tired and so more sensitive to the pattern, so we are sticking with them - phew!!
The handbasin problem - the hand basin was fitted in the en-suite but there was a fault in it and the taps would not sit straight, also the pedestal was off centre so looked a bit odd. When we returned it, they conceded that there was a fault causing the taps to look off centre but advised that the pedestal was not designed to go with that basin. We ended up ordering the next size up which fits the pedestal and the taps are sitting correctly - result!!
The bathroom fitter problem - our bathroom fitter is a nice guy but he is soooo slow!! He is also very expensive!! We agreed a price at the beginning of the work which, in my opinon, was over the odds. However, I think he thinks we have money to throw away as he started to say it was going to be more for odd things that had to be redone. It all came to a head last week when we had to stand our ground and point out that he was being paid very good money to do the job and we expected there to be a contingency in that to cover unexpected hitches (ie having to refit the basin due to the fault). As it happened, it all smoothed over and is fine but that was stressful!
The floorboard problem - our plumber caused stress last week by sulking at being asked to put back the floorboards he had taken up!! It ended up with my boyfriend putting a lot of them back just to keep the peace!
Anyway, we are through most of worst of it now. It is lovely to have hot water and a flushing toilet - you don't appreciate these things until you don't have them!
The tile problem - we decided that we would like to consider alternative borders for the bathroom as we weren't sure that we had picked the best option so we took one of our bathroom tiles to a showroom to compare. As we were doing this, my boyfriend noticed that the pattern on the tile was slightly out of focus and was making his eyes go a bit funny. This got worse as the day went on and ended up giving him a migraine. At one point it looked like we were going to have to ditch the tiles we had bought (costing us £350) and start again. Eventually, my boyfriend decided that it was down to him being over tired and so more sensitive to the pattern, so we are sticking with them - phew!!
The handbasin problem - the hand basin was fitted in the en-suite but there was a fault in it and the taps would not sit straight, also the pedestal was off centre so looked a bit odd. When we returned it, they conceded that there was a fault causing the taps to look off centre but advised that the pedestal was not designed to go with that basin. We ended up ordering the next size up which fits the pedestal and the taps are sitting correctly - result!!
The bathroom fitter problem - our bathroom fitter is a nice guy but he is soooo slow!! He is also very expensive!! We agreed a price at the beginning of the work which, in my opinon, was over the odds. However, I think he thinks we have money to throw away as he started to say it was going to be more for odd things that had to be redone. It all came to a head last week when we had to stand our ground and point out that he was being paid very good money to do the job and we expected there to be a contingency in that to cover unexpected hitches (ie having to refit the basin due to the fault). As it happened, it all smoothed over and is fine but that was stressful!
The floorboard problem - our plumber caused stress last week by sulking at being asked to put back the floorboards he had taken up!! It ended up with my boyfriend putting a lot of them back just to keep the peace!
Anyway, we are through most of worst of it now. It is lovely to have hot water and a flushing toilet - you don't appreciate these things until you don't have them!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
All the best laid plans...
Well, despite my good intentions last week, I wasn't able to blog as I'd hoped. Things have been extremely stressful with the house! We have got over it now but at one point it looked like we were going to part company with the bathroom fitter. All sorted now but it was pretty horrible at the time.
The good news is that we finally have [drum roll] heating, hot water and a working toilet - HURRAH!!!! The en-suite is finished so we have a working shower and wash basin as well.
As you can see, it is late and much as I feel I need to do a full blog, I'm just too tired. If I tried, I think it would be only half a story and it probably wouldn't make much sense! I will try to blog again tomorrow and catch up on all the news from the last two weeks!
The good news is that we finally have [drum roll] heating, hot water and a working toilet - HURRAH!!!! The en-suite is finished so we have a working shower and wash basin as well.
As you can see, it is late and much as I feel I need to do a full blog, I'm just too tired. If I tried, I think it would be only half a story and it probably wouldn't make much sense! I will try to blog again tomorrow and catch up on all the news from the last two weeks!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Stress!!
It is extremely late so this will be a v short blog - I just wanted you to know I'm alive and well!! The house has been quite stressful this past week and I haven't been about much to post.
I will do a proper post later today, when I will tell you all about the tile problem, the handbasin problem, the plumber problem, the floorboard problem .... do you get the idea?!!!! That isn't to mention the problems at work!! Actually work isn't too bad at the moment, if the person acting up as team manager would stop patronising me!
All good fun!!
I will do a proper post later today, when I will tell you all about the tile problem, the handbasin problem, the plumber problem, the floorboard problem .... do you get the idea?!!!! That isn't to mention the problems at work!! Actually work isn't too bad at the moment, if the person acting up as team manager would stop patronising me!
All good fun!!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
D-Day - or rather G-Day!!
I am absolutely exhausted but thrilled as the gas connection has gone quite smoothly - so far!! My boyfriend kept worrying that they would not be able to lay the pipe where they planned and would not proceed but there were no issues at all and the pipe has been laid from the house to the boundary wall. They will connect it to the supply tomorrow. It is so clever, they have a machine that moles under the ground so there are only a few holes rather than a full trench.
It has been a full on day as we had the plasterer in doing various bits, the gas men and the bathroom fitter (who I feel has actually moved in now!!). It is really moving forward. Tomorrow we have everyone back again plus we have the plumber coming back to finish his work so it's going to be even busier - I'm going back to work for a rest!!
I can't stop smling - it is coming on in leaps and bounds now!!
It has been a full on day as we had the plasterer in doing various bits, the gas men and the bathroom fitter (who I feel has actually moved in now!!). It is really moving forward. Tomorrow we have everyone back again plus we have the plumber coming back to finish his work so it's going to be even busier - I'm going back to work for a rest!!
I can't stop smling - it is coming on in leaps and bounds now!!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Lovely weekend!
Sorry if my post yesterday seemed a little odd - I was sitting in the same room as my boyfriend and was feeling brave so thought I'd sneak a quick post in but then he started asking what I was typing and I panicked!!
It has been a lovely, long weekend and I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow - at least our new leader is off tomorrow so I don't have to bother with her! I'm off on Wednesday so I won't see her until Thursday and then she is off on Friday - life is good!!
We had a long lie-in this morning, which was fab. My boyfriend is working nights this week so wanted to get an extra bit of rest. We then went to the house at lunchtime and his cousin came over with her husband and baby. The baby is now four months old and so gorgeous, he was smiling and giggling.
The house is coming along, the gas is connected on Wednesday (hence my day off!) and I am very excited about that as it is a major step forward!
I had an unusual victory this week, I discovered that I can cross my legs again! I haven't been able to do that for a very long time as my thighs were too big! I also found a little jacket that I haven't worn for ages because it was too small, it now fits (just!) and I feel great in it! So, all looking good!
It has been a lovely, long weekend and I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow - at least our new leader is off tomorrow so I don't have to bother with her! I'm off on Wednesday so I won't see her until Thursday and then she is off on Friday - life is good!!
We had a long lie-in this morning, which was fab. My boyfriend is working nights this week so wanted to get an extra bit of rest. We then went to the house at lunchtime and his cousin came over with her husband and baby. The baby is now four months old and so gorgeous, he was smiling and giggling.
The house is coming along, the gas is connected on Wednesday (hence my day off!) and I am very excited about that as it is a major step forward!
I had an unusual victory this week, I discovered that I can cross my legs again! I haven't been able to do that for a very long time as my thighs were too big! I also found a little jacket that I haven't worn for ages because it was too small, it now fits (just!) and I feel great in it! So, all looking good!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Feeling better!
I'm getting over the shock of the events of last week - partly helped by having Friday off work to do housey stuff! I was planning to try to get some of my coursework done but I didn't get a moments peace!
My mum was unexpectedly free so she said she would come over as she hadn't seen the house for quite a while. Then my boyfriend's parents called to ask if I would like some company. When I said that would be lovely, they asked if they could bring my boyfriend's uncle over as he would love to see the house. So I ended up with a house full!! It was lovely, actually - just what a house should be, shame about the dust and mess!
I am so pleased with the work the bathroom fitter has done in the en-suite. The tiles look amazing!
I'm feeling very happy with my changing shape. I wore trousers on Friday and a few people commented on the difference they could see - sadly they all know about the band!
My mum was unexpectedly free so she said she would come over as she hadn't seen the house for quite a while. Then my boyfriend's parents called to ask if I would like some company. When I said that would be lovely, they asked if they could bring my boyfriend's uncle over as he would love to see the house. So I ended up with a house full!! It was lovely, actually - just what a house should be, shame about the dust and mess!
I am so pleased with the work the bathroom fitter has done in the en-suite. The tiles look amazing!
I'm feeling very happy with my changing shape. I wore trousers on Friday and a few people commented on the difference they could see - sadly they all know about the band!
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