Our house, in the middle of our street …

Well, no photos as yet because my camera’s playing up a bit, but just so you all know what sort of place I’m living in these days, I’m going to give you a description of the house I’m living in for the next 9 and a bit months.

It’s a little back-to-back terrace, near the end of a row of other little terraces, in the nice end of Beeston. There’s a chippy nearby, and a cheap hairdressers, and plenty of fast food places, so I’m happy. It’s also very near a huge park, so if there’s any more sun while I’m living here I’ll have to explore it.

Our front garden is currently a little messy. It’s very small, mainly paved, with the unfortunate reminder that the former owner had rabbits to one side. Climb up a few steps and come through the front door (which I’ve just about got the knack of locking) and you’ll find yourself in a very pretty living room, in a pale green and cream décor, currently furnished with a two-seater cream sofa and a rocking chair. We’ll be getting another sofa soon, as the current sofa is really only big enough for one and a half people, so if Chris visits someone invariably has to sit on the floor. Anyway, on with the tour. To the left of the front door is the doorway into what I’ve labelled the ‘oojamaflip’ room – quite small, currently used as a storage room but will eventually become an office. Go through this room and down some stairs and you’ll get to the spacious kitchen, with a mahoosive oven that makes me feel bad for only ever cooking pasta and sauce. The kitchen still needs some work, but is in a pretty good state.

Back up, through the living room and up some more stairs, and you’re faced with a choice of three doors. Take the one in front of you and you’ll find Emma’s room, still a work in progress but she has a lovely bedspread. Take the one to your right and you’ll be in the bathroom – the less said about that the better. The other door will lead you to yet more stairs, at the top of which is my room. Spare a thought for my tortured legs. Simply decorated in white paint, with a cream double bed (currently with lilac linen but that will change). Bauble fairy lights are hung around the room, which makes me feel like a six-year-old. A spare mattress is set up to one side for Chris, although the mattress isn’t great so I’ll have to inflate the trusty airbed someday. Other work to be done is the need to hang the beautiful mirror Chris bought me as a housewarming present, and to get rid of the broken TV which the former owner kindly left for us (along with a wide array of other crap, apparently).

So that’s where I’m living for now. If you want to visit, let me know, I’d be very grateful to see some friendly faces. Think of it as a leg-toning weekend!

Things that annoy me about jobhunting ...

1. Application forms that tell you to refer to the employee specification when you haven't been sent one.
2. 'Please send an SAE' - please let me save my money, not pay out for three envelopes and first class stamps!
3. People who don't even call to let you know you were unsuccessful. Manners cost nothing.
4. People who invite you for an immediate interview then treat you rudely because you're not the 'ideal candidate'. If you're that picky, why didn't you give me a form to fill in first??!
5. The ArtsJobs mailing list - useful at times, but why don't the people mailing out vacancies state where it is? The amount of times I've worked it out from telephone area codes ...
6. Not getting anything through, so making other plans, then getting a call from your recruitment agency saying 'There's a full-time job starting tomorrow ...'
7. Five words. "So what do you do?" Well, I watch This Morning then Neighbours, then stare into space until my housemate gets back from work.
8. The fact that you have to wear a suit to interview. When you're unemployed you don't want to spend money on clothes you'll only ever wear for interviews!
9. Buying the local paper to discover there are barely any good jobs and you've just wasted 35p.
10. As above, but swap the local paper with the Big Issue, and swap 35p with £1.20.
11. Feeling guilty for buying sweets. Or cheese. Or peanut butter.

Any other suggestions, post a comment!!

I'm not dead ...

... I'm just in Leeds. Sorry it's all gone quiet, I've moved into my new home for the next 10 months, and have no internet. So whenever I want to use the net I have to nick Chris's PC.

I'll give you a more detailed run-through of the joys/perils of moving up north when I've settled and have some pics of my new place. For now I'll let you know what I've been up to since my last post:

- Finished knitting a scarf
- Seen my best friends Beth and Soosh for the last time in months (boohoo)
- Moved house (obviously)
- Pretended I'd be happy with a data entry job to a bloke in a recruitment agency
- Watched 'The Karen Carpenter Story'
- Painted a wall
- Eaten a whole bag of Swedish Fish
- Made cauliflower cheese

And many other things ... watch this space ...