A bit of a personal update for my blog as once again, it’s been a while!

The most exciting bit of news that I have to share is that Greg and I are moving in together – hurrah! We started looking at the end of August and were lucky to find somewhere 5 weeks before we were planning on moving (29th September 2008). Therefore, the process involved in finding somewhere to live actually wasn’t all that stressful (well, I don’t think that it was!). The stress is really building up now though in preparation for the move – erk!

We’re moving to a really nice new-build development out in Zone 6 of London – everything is brand new and shiny – hurrah! I’m a big fan of new builds and so, after putting up with the general standard of housing in the Capital, I am really looking forward to something new again. Plus, you never find spiders in new build developments!

It’ll also be fab to get to live with Mister Greg too of course! Really looking forward to getting settled down with him – very exciting!:)

In other news, work seems to be going well for me with several new and interesting focuses being moved into my realm with one or two of the more ‘icky’ ones / ones which are no longer relevant to my role hopefully scheduled to be handed over to other colleagues in the near future.

I’ve adjusted my hours so that I now work on a Sunday, though I get Wednesdays off instead (most of the time, dependant on when Month End falls). Although some may baulk at the idea of this, it’s actually really beneficial and it was work that approached me to see if I could do it in the first place. Ultimately, the office is nice and quiet, I’m the only one in, and so I can have my music on full whack and dance around like a loon, I can get so much more work done and I can work to my own pace without interruption. It is also required for some of the new focuses I’ve been tasked with at the moment. This also fits in very nicely with Mister Greg’s working hours, plus I get Wednesdays off – always good to get a day out of the office during the normal working week! 🙂

The other day I realized that I’d been with my current employer for 4 years exactly – not a bad achievement I think considering my current age! It’s flown by, but yet dragged – it’s kinda weird to try and apportion it all out given the multitude of roles that I’ve had over the years and the constant move onwards and upwards. In another year, I get some vouchers – hurrah!

For the moment, I am really happy about everything and how it’s all going. Well, pretty much everything. A few times recently I’ve felt a little bit like I don’t get to see some of my friends as often as I used to. I’ve especially noticed this at parties whereby people have all re-grouped together and I feel like I’m being a little intrusive by being there and thus end up sitting on the sidelines on my own and feeling awkward. Sure it’s just me being stupid and that none of the group dynamics have actually changed, and so hopefully I’ll feel a bit better about everything on that score soon as I really do have a cracking set of friends that I enjoy spending time with. It’s probably due to the change in seasons or something equally as old-housewives-tales-y hehe.

TV wise, I’m currently enjoying Neighbours, Mock The Week, X Factor; Xtra Factor; Stargate Atlantis; Hairspray School Musical and am eagerly looking forward to Strictly Come Dancing and Merlin. Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, The Simpsons and Family Guy all start new seasons in the US at the end of the month, (not to be confused with the UK series’ – many of which are coming back mid-season from the writers strike earlier in the year) which again I am really looking forward to!

I keep on meaning to start playing on my PS2 again – I bought Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts II about 8 months ago, and despite being hugely excited about them, have yet to see anything other than the opening video on FFXII – grr @ me! The idea of having to spend 3 days building up my character is what’s currently putting me off I think, as I’ve not really got the time to do that anymore. Greg bought me Buzz for my birthday the other month, which we both really enjoyed playing. We also purchased a cheap geeky game where you get to race trains across various terrains/underground – it may be cheap and geeky, but it’s awesome!!! Hehe.

I’ve also gotten used to the new Facebook design, and on reflection, don’t think that it’s as bad as I had originally pegged it. That said, there have been numerous changes from when I first saw the site a few months ago and now that it’s a mandatory format for everyone.

Off out for a few drinks with a friend from Manchester this evening, I am at The Royal Albert Hall tomorrow to watch Mario Frangoulis with a couple of friends, and then doing the (dreaded?!) meet the parents thing on Saturday afternoon over a BBQ – which I’m sure won’t be half as bad as I worry that it will be hehe.

The nerves are really kicking in now though!!! I even went out and bought a whole new outfit and everything! From what I’ve heard of them, they sound very nice and so I’m looking forward to it. It can’t be any more car-crashy (in a good way though) than when I met Marc’s parents…. He’d not announced to them that I was coming and was planning to just spring me on them. Now me being me, I said that wasn’t really fair on them and so when we got there I went and hid around the corner as he was supposedly just nipping in for a quick minute to pick something up. Next thing I know, his Mum comes rooting through the hedge that I’d pressed myself into and said ‘So, you must be Gari then. Why on Earth are you hiding?!’ *BLUSH!* hehe! I blame my misguided sense of politeness kicking in and making me do strange things hehe – it does that quite frequently unfortunately. It goes without saying that the embarrassment of being found pressed into some bushes far out-weighted the embarrassment I may have felt being sprung to someone’s parents unannounced on their door-step! Still, that was about 4 years ago now… fortunately my bush hiding skills have developed a lot more since then :oP hehe.

So, there you have it; a snap-shot of how life is for me at the moment and some of my current thoughts. I think I’m perhaps the most relaxed and content that I’ve been since moving down to London – which is fantastic.

Long may that continue!

Thanks for reading xx