So France = Here We Come

At last the eve of going to France - gee, it's been a wobbly old ride for me - I'm used to structure and order and this hasn't been structured and ordered but we are getting there.  To consider that at one time I got two days notice to go a week and a half I suppose has been good even though I've had to expand the time we are away as P doesn't really do early mornings.  Me, I'm used to them and getting up at 4 or earlier are OK.  Tomorrow it's a leisurely start and a slow drive down to Le Shuttle and then down to Chartres.

The next day down to Cahors and the next day into the Pyrenees.  I'm looking forward to some real time with P and for us to start to really get to know each other without some of the pressures we both have.

Mrs. F. has put the house on the market and has spoken to a solicitor and got some advice (it sounds good to me anyway) and hopefully we can get the sale of the house and all that good stuff under way.  That will make a big difference to me as I just frightened the life out of myself looking at my savings.  I've put a lot of my money into the business and into the house here (renting isn't a great idea!).   

The business should be ready to go when we get back and I'm targeting the 1st week in October.  I need to hit the Christmas market for unusual gifts I think and this may just be the right time to do that.  The web site is now visible to the outside world.....  Way Hay!!!

If you want to have a look here it is Unlock My Past - it works with smartphones and tablets (resizing) and I'm hopeful that it will soon start attracting visitors.  I may blog when I'm away, we have WiFi but in reality I hope I don't have time for that.  :-) 

2 days and a welcome break

Off on Thursday to France and taking it easy with a slow drive down there.  Not my preferred method - I like to do one long drive and one short but this way we are going to do a slow drive and take three days there and three days back.  It's a reasonable thing to do.

We, P & I, want to spend some real time together as we tend to be doing or tackling things mainly to do with her situation and a bit of mine and whilst we are together it is quite "business like" I suppose.  There's a number of things that need to be tackled including the business and how much effort needs to go into that.  Where to and how to live and so on.  At the moment we are, to all intents and purposes, living together but in a strange way as I am in a shared house with my friend and it isn't exactly how I want it to work either so perhaps we can work out all these things.  

We are now being addressed as a couple and have invites and the like from a number of people for both of us so it is all a bit strange I have to say :-) 

I'm sweating on some stuff from Amazon that I thought was under my Prime (next day) account but wasn't - I need it for the trip and so I have to make a few contingency plans in case they don't arrive today - they were all dispatched last week so fingers crossed. 

I'm feeling quite well but we've had the most incredible weekend including a trip to London where P had her bag stolen from right under our noses at the RA.  We've been at Local & Live most of the weekend and arriving home at 1 and then 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and a late night on Friday, plus P was there (Local & Live) yesterday too.  Today we need to focus on getting the holiday stuff sorted.

I'm looking forward to the break without doubt but with some trepidation as I've had to change some arrangements after I'd made them.  Things are very different and P is nothing at all like Mrs. F. so I'm getting to know some of the idiosyncrasies that I've not had to deal with previously.

Time Warping

Both P and I looked at each other this morning and wondered where July had gone.  Better than that I asked, where has August gone?  It's absolutely crazy that we've been together for 16 weeks or 4 months or whatever and it doesn't feel like that at all.  We finally managed to book a holiday and we are off next week for a couple of weeks to the South of France in a small village and an isolated, private studio apartment overlooked by no one.  Just what we need to spend time with each other.

We strangely are in each others company all day but we have been "working" tackling day-to-day stuff and working through a number of issues which, happily, seem to be coming to an end.  That means when I get back I can concentrate on the business and we can get on with life.  Quite what that means to us we have yet to define.  It's very very very very strange.  Neither of us were looking for anything and yet here we are quite fixed and living together.  That's a worry in some ways as it is so quick and yet it seems all OK and comfortable.

The huge gaps in time are worrying though but I can see where they've actually gone as we've been tackling some pretty messy stuff and some of the decisions have had to take days to work through.

Health wise I'm OK but somewhat concerned at the burn rate of my cash.  However, I need to recommence working on my return from holiday and that's a given.  Let's hope that I can generate sufficient funds?

The next thing I need to do is to lose some of the weight I've put on.  I've been feeding P up as she had lost a lot of weight worrying about things.  Well she's responded quite well to my food.  the trouble is that so have I :-) lol.  So I'm putting myself on a diet and dropping the carbs that I share with her.  Hopefully I will be able to drop a fair amount as long as I don't end up drinking beer in between.

Hot Day

Phew - it's hot in my little office - the fan is working overtime - bless it!

Still no decisions on major things and it is a waiting game - it's annoying for a planner like me.  i like to know what is going on and plan things.  It destabilises me when I don't know - it really is difficult and it's obviously a clash when a planned person meets a "seat of the pants" person.  

P has been away most of today so I've got stuck into some administration work.  I've finished off cleaning up the garden and chopping back invading Ivy and Lobelia.  I've put a few beers in the Fridge - I really shouldn't be drinking but at the moment it keeps me distracted whilst stuff goes on around me.  These things aren't my decision to make, I can advise, I can empathise, strategise and theorise but I can't make the decisions. 

Apart from the destabilising effects I am looking forward to going away with P and just chiling out for a couple of weeks.  We seem to have done nothing but working and haven't spent much time with each other.

I hope that she makes her decisions tomorrow and we just move on with things.  I can then set to and plan the holiday and the travelling etc.  

New Phone, Nearer Some Planning

But not quite there yet.  The car went in for service and at last it was a reasonable amount of money to pay and just a few items needed to sort the car out.  It is now ready for a trip to France, if that is what actually happens.  It's all up in the air at the moment for sure.

Poor P has to have a Cataract removed before they see what progress the eye they operated on has made.  That can happen as soon as this Saturday but she needs to make that decision.  The next available dates would affect any holiday plans for this and next month as we are constrained by other dates.

We were meant to go this Thursday - but I've planned and booked nothing at all.  It's procrastination drawn out to its worst possible definition.  Difficult decisions do need to be made and I can appreciate that having made those decisions exactly 1 year ago today!  for it is a year ago that I told Mrs. F. that things were over.  Ironically I am meeting her at lunchtime today to discuss the house and children, finances and all those sorts of things.

It's been a strange journey and I'm a lucky in some ways to be at the start of a new journey although with the hindsight of a previous one!  

I'm keeping well and enjoying myself - as much as I can.  INTJ types really prefer some decisive actions and certainty which is giving me the problems at them moment.