What happens next...

Quick summary of the crazy life I've been leading for the past few days :

Saturday, at work all day : bay window smashed in the night, thankfully nothing was stolen apart from a plant pot (trophy?). The bad luck continues with the whole computer system breaking down ! We try several things all day (even my husband comes and tries before surgically removing the harddrive, bringing it home and writing on CDs all the vital stuff we need to transplant onto another machine...), nothing works, defeated we give up, the thing will have to go back to the suppliers, somewhere in Brittany ! After work I go to my parents to do the translating between them and the new English tenants at their neighbours. My parents are going to Corsica for three weeks and what a surprise, they leave me their house keys, first time that happens, I hope they are coming back...

Sunday, not at work : We survive the heat wave at home. Once more, not a breeze and 31°C inside ! 3 or 4 hours spent again on covering school books (no more "Magic Cover" in the shops !), fill in papers (more !), help with and check homework, teach my new secondary schooler how to get his school bag ready etc etc... They had a contest for the heaviest bag, each taking turns on the scales ! Peter's 6kg (13lb 4), Christopher's 7kg (15lb 8), Laura's 8kg(18lb) ! Kévin and Amandine didn't enter, they knew they would lose, haha ! Then, towards 7pm, the round of baths... Not very restfull that Sunday, never mind, I'm not working Monday.

Monday, peace at last : First day entirely to myself for weeks, well once the morning school runs over, but not a lot of time to take it easy. Morning: pick up the bus passes for my two "collégiens" (not done yet since we were supposed to move weren't we...), go to Auchan get some locks for their school lockers plus other forgotten bits, update the accounts and check the monthly budget (phew, still on track there !), cook nice little lunch for hubby and myself (even got really yummy freshly baked coffee "religieuses", yum yum). Afternoon: a little trip to Agen to get registered with "l'office des locataires" (sort of tenants office where you have access to advertised properties to rent) since they would apparently have 5 bedrooms houses to rent ! Got registered then (180 euros !) and made appointment to visit 5beds house in Monbalen for Tuesday night, 15mn away from current home and only 5mn from Steven's work. 565 euros per month and 2000m² garden , it sounds alright and it would bring me 15mn closer to my dear sis, good plan that lol. Anyway, better not get carried away, we'll see. I did a bit of shopping too, I did have to escape the oven outside (heavenly air-conditionning in the shops...) and it always perks me up. I found a really chic and sexy top hihi and a pair of jeans with embroidered flowers (very keen on hippy chic jeans me !) so my mood rose right up all of a sudden. I finished the day with the school runs, the homework, the school bags, the routine I'm afraid...

And then we get to today. At work all the computer equipment is being sent back to Brittany, even the printer-photocopier, a bit crazy but it is true that the network had never worked properly even once so they might as well set everything up properly over there so we can have some decent-working material ! We should get it back Monday or Tuesday, fingers crossed really tight ! In the meantime we're back to old-fashioned methods, fun to write all the listings by hand, I was so scared to make mistakes, I wrote everything in pencil, no option to print it again if I get it wrong!!! New bay window fitted this afternoon, I was getting used to working al fresco ! Luck is changing, we sold a second property hooray ! Contracts are being signed tomorrow and it looks like it's me who's going to have to represent the Agency at the signing because the boss will be busy with the Irish buyer who's buying the first property we sold but she's signing on Thursday ! Big week and big pressure but we should see some champagne Thursday night I think !

Anyway, the house in the country, I don't know. There are 7 bedrooms but it really is the house of Snow-White and the 7 dwarfs. The kitchen is more or less non-existant and tiny, the dining-room is attached to it, on the other side of an enormous chimney eating up the whole middle of the room, no sitting-room, only one bathroom with the only toilet in it (a bidet too as a comfort prize !), 5 bedrooms under the roof including one with no window, not much use to fit furniture in it and probably even smaller than the ones we have here. The two other bedrooms downstairs are of reasonable size but nothing to shout about. There is a garage as big as a barn attached to the house, absolutely huge, and that stays for the landlord's own use ! No sharing ! The garden needs a bit of care but it is very big with three different areas to eat outdoors, a potager, grass etc... and an area between two trees round the back for the landlord's spare bricks and tiles and builder's mess... On each side of the property and at the back we find cultivated fields and opposite the house, on the other side of the road is my favourite thing, an enormous plum orchard well cared for and full of charm. We are the 4th couple to visit the place and we should have the landlord's decision tomorrow but frankly I don't know what to wish for anymore, Steven neither. Having said that, Steven did pull all the stops during the visit ! More enthusiastic, not possible ! I could hardly talk between the two eccentric characters there lol.

It is a bit cooler and so much the better, back tomorrow maybe...