Sunset

These are just a few pictures of the sunset from the front of the new house. More pics to come. . .
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Hot Fun in the Summer Time!

The weather has been kicking up the heat here. I think it's making all of us so used to cold, damp, darkness a little crazy. Nobody wants to be stuck in the office yet all of the kids with behavior problems are kicking off and all their parents want them accommodated. Well, I say Hell No! to that, I'll be in my new back garden sipping wine and "catching the sun" (my newest English phrase to enter my vocabulary). Over the weekend I got moved into my new house with Brianna and I'm already feeling quite settled. I'm now coming to the flat to pick up last bits, gradually get it all cleaned out and check my email until it is transferred to the new house on the 9th. We enjoyed our evenings in this warm weather out at the pub gardens Friday and Saturday night and spent most of Sunday at the Silverdale getting sunburned while Martin BBQed. I headed to the flat in the evening for a few things and on my way the sunny day turned into torrential down pour and then to huge hail. I thought I was being shot at as I drove through the Brierley Hill High Street. Martin later said he has never seen hail like that on such a warm day. We experienced a whole new English weather phenomenon!

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This week has been busy, as I said, with all my boys (clients) who misbehave kicking off and their parents seeking to blame anyone but themselves. I have to say I didn't think I would be working with those type of families anymore and I'm feeling a little burnt out on it. But, I still love my fellas! I am just ready for my vacation home! I took Brianna, my new roommate to the airport this morning; she is headed home for a wedding. As much as I hate airports, I wished I was getting on a plane this morning.

But, I have the house to myself this weekend now to blast some music (not that Bri and I don't do that when she is home... we have quite a lot in common actually) and try and get the rest of my stuff settled. Hope you all Stateside enjoy your festering hot weather over the weekend. I can barely take it now if it gets above 25C here, I don't know how I'll handle it when I get home...but I'll manage!

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I hope to get pics up of the house before I leave mid-July, but in the meantime I am sure I will be able to post some from Live8 next weekend.

My Exciting News of the Day!

During my team meeting today, my phone beeped indicating I had a text message. I shut it off quickly before being chastised for having my phone on (no one usually calls me during the day. . .) and didn't look at it till in Sainsbury's buying a sandwich for lunch. The text was a notification that I had one two tickets to Live8 in Hyde Park in London on July 2. Check out the link for the expected artists performing. I can already feel the jealousy vibes!

An Update since Bank Holiday Weekend

That’s Memorial Day weekend for you all back home. Things have been busy; I haven’t been home much and when I am I don’t feel I have the energy to blog. I’ll have to write a long one now since I have left so much out . . . So, to start off with Thursday that weekend (26th of May), Brianna, the latest American Social Worker arrived. I met her that Thursday but she was obviously tired after the long flight and the airlines still weren’t sure where her luggage was. I told her I would take her to look at flats over the weekend so we arranged to do that Saturday. That morning as I was leisurely getting ready and having my huevos rancheros, Jackie (my friend that runs the Silverdale Hotel with her husband Martin) called and said I should get over there soon. Brianna was understandably upset because the airline, although they brought her luggage back, could not explain why her jewelry was missing from her suitcase. With it being a bank holiday weekend and half-term break for the school kids, everyone was off and the HR staff that would typically help to get us sorted with basics and flat hunting were on leave. The team she was preparing to work with had no plans in place to pick her up the first day and there was no set induction. I’ve thought quite a few times about complaining on her behalf because they prepared so poorly for her arrival . . . but it’s not my place. :-)




I took her to look at some flats that Saturday. The first was in Brierley Hill; in an area I work and would never recommend living. The last two were in Stourbridge and I thought would be very nice. They weren’t. The first had wallpaper peeling, nasty stained and dusty blue carpet, with a nasty pink carpet in the bathroom (and all fittings were pink, too). The second was huge for one person and reeked of curry. That night Martin made a chili for all of us, including Stacy and Teri- the original two that joined me in January- and we all proceeded to get a little toasty with some wine (except Stacy, she doesn’t drink).




The next day, while English born Dan Wheldon won the Indy 500, we all went to Birmingham for Pride Festival. We convinced Stacy to join us, who I don’t believe has had much exposure to gay culture- she’s definitely never been in a gay bar and has never seen a drag show (how she has survived this long without I will never know!). We took the tram in and when we arrived we were all hungry so we left the festival almost immediately in search of a restaurant. Once we found our way back Martin and I began drinking pints. This festival was not typical of pride festivals those of us who attend would be familiar with. There was a weird mix between a carnie atmosphere and what you would expect of a pride festival- drag queens and pretty boys. There was a whole area devoted to carnival rides and food. We stayed around that area for a while and people watched and then headed up toward the top of the street, were there was a DJ outside and all kinds of dancin’ going on! I hate the trans/techno music but it was bearable with the environment here. Martin and I continued to drink our pints while the other three drinkers had a few breezers. Stacy attempted to absorb the environment that is so foreign to her. As the evening went on we left the outdoor party and headed into a bar that was jam packed and had a drag review on. Martin continuously kept count of how often he got hit on and made sure us girls knew about it. We stumbled home at the end of the night on the last tram home and I spent yet another night sleeping at the Silverdale.




By Friday it was June all of the sudden and Brianna had found a place to live. We went to look at it Saturday and she invited me to house share with her. I made my lasagna that night for Brianna, Martin, Jackie and I and had, yes, another sleep over at the Silverdale. I officially decided the next day I would take Brianna up on her offer and move in with her. Over the past week since, I have been working to cancel/transfer my bills, terminate my current lease, and get furniture for the new place. Over the past weekend we stripped the Thomas the Train wallpaper border in my new bedroom, repainted the room, bought a dining room suite and bedroom suite for me and moved it all in. At night over the weekend I was at the pub and at Lesley’s birthday party (respectively); it seemed like I only stopped to sleep. By Sunday night I was knackered with a sore throat and have spent the last day and a half at home sick. I’ll be moving gradually over the next couple weeks and I’ll get pictures of the place up on the blog soon . . . Right after I am officially settled it will be time to head home for a visit!!!