Normal Service has been resumed

Okay, back to normal.

I am going to stop worrying about the potential property tax in Greece because it has been voted through the Greek parliament tonight and no point in worrying now. I suppose I could worry about how much it is going to be as so far £ have just heard 'thousands'. So I will do my bit for my almost adopted country.

Jamal still hasn't heard about his job but hopefully by the end of this week......

Ahdel has an interview on Thursday for a job. I know there is a big gap between interview and job but he is very chirpy about it.

My missing manager appears to be back on Thursday. I really hope so. I have been doing appraisal for her staff this week, as well as my own staff. Looking on the bright side I could now teach the appraisal training instead of needing to receive it.

Other things to stop worrying about:
Fahed has decided that we wont be going on holiday to Syria and Jordan next summer whatever happens. In fact we are unlikely to visit for at least another 5 years and that is if things go well. I also think his holiday visits to his huge extended family without me and the kids might be behind him. He just cant cope with life very well without us. Bless his little cotton socks.

My car is dying on its feet (wheels) but I am eligible for an interest free loan from work when she finally gives up the ghost. My dad is also looking at new cars, despite saying this was his last car when he bought it at the age of 73. He doesn't like to sell his cars to strangers, so we see where I get my weirdness from, but I could get it at a bargain rate. That means we could trade in our two, very old, fairly uneconomic cars, with a combined mileage of about 210,000 miles, for two smaller, more economically viable motors without breaking the bank. Nice to know that we have a little safety net.

This is an old one but still counts. We are selling up all interests in Syria. We will make a small profit or maybe a loss but at least we wont have lost everything, which seems likely if we stay in. I will continue to worry about moving the actual money back to the UK at a later date! Anyway there is now longer enough to worry about.

Bit of therapy

I am having one of my 'feels like something is missing' days or maybe weeks.

I am no less on top of my housework than usual. I coloured my hair today so I don't look quite so much like an aging badger as yesterday (flashy new hair dye on special for £5 at ASDA). My kids and husband are lovely, although my eldest sons Sims infatuation is driving me a bit potty. I ought to be bouncing around like Tigger.

I think I am worrying about a few things which are out of my control. That's not a good thing for a closet control freak to have to admit too. My eldest son hasn't found another job since his contract ended. My youngest son is having a nerve wracking wait to see if he has a been accepted into the merchant navy with BP. I want to rent the house in Crete out but I am trying to do it from here, which is not a great success plus, the Greek economy is teetering on the edge and new taxes are likely to be arriving thick and fast. One of my managers at work is signed off as ill and has been for so many weeks. I am having trouble coping with all of her work as well as my own.


Actually now that I write it down it isn't actually so bad at all. I should have done this before.

Woo hoo, weekend

Tonight is Fahed's poker and Ahdel is at a friends house, just a couple of doors away. That leaves me and my baby at home for our special takeaway night. We ordered two curries but we have enough left foe tomorrow lunch, probably for all of us. Our food came from the Jalalabad takeaway so I am assuming that they we might be eating Afghan curry. I keep meaning to ask the guy but we only go there 3 times a year so I always forget.

I have stacked the dishwasher and set it going, we need to go again until Sunday night.
The laundry is all washed and just bit still to dry. I feel like I got a real head start on the stuff that wants doing over the weekend.
Last night I went to bed at 9.30 and this morning I slept right through switching the alarm off so I am feeling pretty good and not the usual washed out mess that I can be on a Friday.

I am making a list for tomorrow because I dont get half as much accomplished without a plan.

Dry the washing
Mow the last bit of the lawn
Prune rose bushes
Vacuum
Scrub bathroom
Put all of the laundry away
Return the sewing machine to mums house
Cooker dinners (of course) and make an apple crumble (requested by the kids)using apples form my own tree. Big yaay.

Sensible decision

I have decided we should rent out the Crete house whilst we are not there. It doesn't make much money and gives me the inconvenience of yet another tax return but I like the idea that someone lives there and it isn't wasted.

I have set up this little blog so direct people towards the photos and details of the area. http://villashamsea.blogspot.com/. I posted an ad on a couple of forums and have had a couple of enquiries so far. Fingers crossed.

Hi!

Feels like a lifetime since I was last here. we had a brilliant time. We worked really hard and built ourselves new stairs, fitted out the kitchen with new worktop etc, fitted ceiling fans, curtain tie backs, handles, painted, filled and painted some more. I cant remember working so hard on hols ever but it did start to look more like home by the end. Here are a few photos.