Scratch that... change of moving date

Last Friday I posted that we would be moving house in a week. I then had a call from my solicitor around noon that day, saying that our vendors, the ones who have already completed on another purchase and are only staying on in the house until we need them to move out, are refusing to complete on 29 June. Something about not being able to find a removal company... Out of all the things we anticipated could go wrong in this whole process, our vendors didn't even feature in our list - the agent told us they'd have moved out long ago.

Needless to say I was not entirely happy about that, given that we'd spent most of the previous week getting ourselves into a position where we could complete this Friday so as to fit in with our buyers and their buyers. Sure, it was difficult to find a removal company for me too, and I had to ring 24 of them before one said they had availability, but I managed it in the end. Obviously our buyers weren't too pleased either, because they had done similar things to get themselves in a position to move out on 29 June, including booking a removal company and taking time off work.

Long story short, although they're not all happy about it, everyone in the chain has now agreed on a completion date of 6 July (which was my preferred date all along, so I've got back a week in Manchester and don't feel nearly so stressed about everything now). And our solicitor has just called to say that contracts have been exchanged, so there's no backing out now; everything is set!

Stupid English house-buying system... there has to be a better way.

Another Sunday, Another Race

This weekend it was the turn of the City of Manchester 10km. It's a much smaller event than the well-publicised Great Manchester Run, with about 2,000 runners, and it takes place around Sportcity, the sports complex built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. The route takes in the City of Manchester Stadium (Manchester City's football ground) and B of the Bang. Rick and Rob had both signed up to do the race, but then Rick arranged to visit his Mum in Scotland this weekend before realising he couldn't do both... so he ran a 10km route in Dundee while Rob ran the actual race in Manchester.

The weather was pretty perfect for running, much like last weekend, and Rob finished in a fantastic 54:39. He was aiming for under an hour, and was extremely pleased with his time. Here he is waving to us just after the start. His next goal now is a sub-50 10km.

I have run the 3km route we did last weekend twice more since then - on Tuesday I cut 15% off my original time, and yesterday I went slightly faster again. Yesterday my aim was to run all the way round (I walked for two stints the other two times) and I managed it, but I found it really hard. My next goal is to run the route a further five times without stopping to walk, then I'll look at increasing the distance.

We're Moving in a Week!

Our house purchase has progressed very quickly - our searches are done, our solicitor has received the contracts from the vendor's solicitor and we've got our mortgage offer - so we're in a position to complete. Ideally I would have liked to complete on 6 July, but our purchasers are pushing for completion by the end of June and seeing as we are able to complete next Friday, we've agreed to move out on 29 June.

I'm excited about moving, but at the same time I feel a bit harassed, because I've lost a week of time I thought I had in Manchester, and there's so much to do and so many people I'd like to see before I go. We had a really hard time finding a removals company with availability at less than 2 weeks' notice, but we managed to find one in the end. We're going to visit Rob's Grandma and Grandad on Saturday morning and he has a race in Manchester on Sunday morning, but the rest of the time between now and next Friday will be spent packing things up and seeing as many friends as possible to say goodbye. Wish us luck!

I Can See!

I had laser eye surgery yesterday afternoon. Rob was quite worried about it, whereas I wasn't worried at all. That is, until I got into the operating room... They did my right eye first, and it went really well, then when they came to do my left eye it didn't feel the same as before - I just felt pressure on my right eye, but I thought I could actually feel something happening on my left eye. I couldn't, because there was plenty of anaesthetic in there, but the fact that I thought I could made me quite anxious, so they stopped and waited for the nurse to come round and hold my hand before they carried on...

Rob went to Antwerp yesterday for SpringOne, his company's conference dedicated to its product, the Spring Framework, and associated technologies. This meant that he couldn't pick me up from my appointment so his Dad kindly agreed to come and get me. My eyes were watering a lot and, as a consequence, my nose got quite blocked and I spent the entire journey home with my eyes closed and a tissue under my nose. I had trouble opening my eyes for long enough to put my drops in, so after I'd done that I went straight to bed at 20:30, but I found it really difficult to get to sleep because I couldn't get my nose clear to breathe. Rob called me around 21:00, then my Mum called around 21:30, to see how I'd got on, and while I said I was fine, I probably didn't sound very convincing because quite honestly that period was probably the worst I'd felt - all I wanted to do was rub my stinging eyes and that's the one thing they told me not to do. I even have eye guards to wear during the night in case I rub my eyes inadvertently while I'm asleep.

I fell asleep soon after that and slept all the way through until 07:30 this morning, and I feel a million times better now. My nose is clear and my eyes have stopped stinging - they're still quite watery, but when it's not being blurred by water my vision is great! I've got a follow-up appointment this afternoon to check that everything's OK, then I'll have another one next week, then check-ups at one month, three months and six months. I'll be in Southampton soon so I'll have to go to a different clinic for the last three appointments. I'm not supposed to look at the computer screen for too long so had better post this now!

UPDATE 19:50 - My eyes stopped watering around noon and at my follow-up appointment this afternoon they said my vision was great, I was fine to start driving again and everything is healing nicely. Yeah!

Trail Race Round a Stately Home

Rob and Rick did another race this morning - a 6km trail race around the grounds of Castle Howard, the other side of York. There was a 10km race as well, but they picked the 6km because they'd only ever run on the road before and they weren't sure how hilly the course would be. Turns out it was the right decision, because the ground was fairly soft and muddy due to all the rain that had fallen over the past few days, and there were a couple of 'killer hills' along the way. Having said that, Rick managed a great time of 28:55 and Rob came not far behind at 32:28 - three and a half minutes under his target time, so he was really pleased. Here they are before the race - wearing matching tops was definitely not planned; they both bought a running top not knowing that the other had bought the same one...

The fact that the race was near York meant that we travelled there last night, and Rob & Rick stayed in a B&B nearby while I stayed with my sister in York. She very kindly drove us to the race this morning, getting up at 7am on a Sunday to do so. We had a great morning watching the race - and there was also a 1,000m dash for under-12s, which was great to watch. The winner finished in around 3 minutes (!), and there were 150 or so children behind him, some as young as 2 or 3 running round with their parents, who all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The weather was perfect for running - cool but not cold, cloudy and overcast but not raining. And considering it was teeming down with rain when we arrived in York yesterday, the weather this morning could have been a lot less kind.

On the subject of running, Rob took me out for a 3km run yesterday morning. I don't think I've ever been running on the road (other than to catch the bus - I don't think that counts), and the last time I ran round a track was probably at school, so about 15 years ago. It was SO much harder than the cross-trainer! Apparently I fared better than Rob did the first time he ran on the road - he started walking earlier on than I did - but I haven't been so out of breath as that for a long, long time. I'm going to keep at it, though - my first goal is to do the whole distance without having to walk, then I'll increase the distance then the speed. Here goes...

Catching up with friends - again

I met two university friends, Matt and Claire, in Leeds yesterday evening for a meal. They hadn't seen each other since October 2001, so there was plenty to catch up on. We had a great time reminiscing about university days - and wishing we'd done things differently while we were there. Having worked full-time and done a degree part-time, I can safely say that there's plenty of time at university to work hard and play hard and still get a first class degree. We spent most of the evening laughing, as I usually do when I see Matt, and wishing we'd met up sooner...

I went to secondary school with Matt, then to the same university, but I first met him when we were about 10 years old and both went to the same piano teacher, Miss Coates. Sadly she died late last year, and at the funeral her niece set out all the pictures of her pupils that Miss Coates had kept, either in frames or in albums. Lots of the pictures featured people that Matt still kept in touch with, including me, and she told him to take as many as possible and give them out to people when he saw them. So, for your enjoyment (and, no doubt, amusement), here I am at age 9, having won 5 first prizes at 4 music festivals in 1985. Cute, wasn't I? Don't ask me what happened, I wish I knew... I'd obviously been spending time in the sun as well - check out my farmer's tan!

Hello, can you hear me? I'm a first aider...

I attended a 'first aid at work' course this week, taught by St John Ambulance. I passed my assessment this afternoon, so I'm now a qualified first aider in the workplace for the next three years, when I'll have to be re-tested. I wasn't exactly a willing volunteer for this - it was suggested that I was the best person for the job as I spend more time in the office than anyone else - and I wasn't entirely keen on the idea at first, but now that I've done it, I'm very glad. I'm not likely to come across many accidents in the office (everyone else on the course worked in some sort of factory, usually with heavy machinery), but it's good to know that if anything did happen, I'd be able to deal with it until an ambulance arrived. Keri posted yesterday that she and Keith had attended a 'CPR for Infants' class this week, and I agree with her that it's so helpful to know the basics, just in case. If you haven't been on a first aid course, try and get to one if you can - and if it's a first aid at work course, get your company to pay for it!

And the Winner is...

16 Coltsfoot Close, Hedge End, Southampton. We went down to Southampton this weekend and viewed 20 houses - 9 on Friday and 11 on Saturday - and we found the perfect house, so we put in an offer and it was accepted! It has four bedrooms, the smallest of which we'll use as an office, then a lounge, dining room, kitchen, conservatory and extra room downstairs, which we'll use as a den for all Rob's console-related activities, with a big screen TV on the wall, comfy sofas, bean bags etc. The garden is lovely - not too big, with lots of sun in the afternoons - and the best part is that the current owners are moving out in two weeks regardless of whether the house is sold or not, so our chain stays quite short. So as long as we can keep our solicitor moving quickly on the purchase, we should be able to move in sometime in July, in time for the office opening on 1 August. It was a long weekend, but I'm so glad we've found a house we like! I also got a chance to see the new office in Chilworth (from the outside, at least), as well as the plans for the inside of the office, which is just one big space at the moment. It all looks great, and I'm looking forward to working and living in Southampton!