Sunday, May 20, 2007

Catch Up Part two



1. My dad's coming to town for a month.



2. My brother's marriage has broken down.



3. Am moving to Surrey.



Speaking with my dad on the phone yesterday, he mentioned that David had news for me. David is my brother.



Immediately, what came to mind was that he was having a baby. Why that came to mind first I'll never know? Since his wife had a complete hysterectomy about 10 years ago.



The next thing that came to mind was that his marriage had broken down.



Bingo.



Strange how two opposite sides of the spectrum can offer themselves up as viable alternatives. Reminds me of the time my top mate Andrew came out. We were driving along in Sydney, when he said he had something to tell me. It was an ominous intro, therefore my mind raced to topics that were important/touchy.



In reply I said that it was one of two things - either he wanted to start dating me or he was gay. He said gay and I was instantly relieved. Not that he's not a great catch or attractive (he's very much both), but he was such a top friend, and overstepping that line would have been wrong.



Dad coming to England will be great. I have already started planning the itinerary which includes an airshow at Duxford and a trip to Paris. It seems that climbing the Eiffel Tower is top of dad's 'Things To Do' list.



On the moving front, my next port of call is Dorking, Surrey. A lovely town.



It seems you can take the girl out of the city but..........



My reason for Dorking and choosing the flat we are moving to? Why, it's only 5 minutes walk to the high street which offers up a smorgasbord of unimaginative chain stores, supermarkets and coffee shops. "It has a Costa coffee", I cooed, whilst secretly despising myself for liking the fact that some bland coffee chain which is regurgitated up on many a high street around England is my symbol for success of an area.

We looked at a couple of other flats. One was just outside of Dorking. Just outside.....I shudder at the thought. As we drove, each second that ticked away seemed like an hour. The beautiful trees that form a canopy over the road, the lush gardens, the wide open spaces, the lack of bus stops, the absence of tube stations....the appalling lack of street-after-street of terraced little boxes and no greenery. Oh god, I was crawling within fighting the urge to scream. Of course Iain was in love with the place, ready to say yes, even before we had seen it. This would take a miracle for me to get out of.

And the miracle happened.

It was a dive. Three shades of brown and a kitchen that defied speech, and we were out of there as quick as you could say " You expect £1000 a month for that piece of shit?"

Anywho, here we are, in the process of moving, from being a city girl to a country girl (kind of), and although I am looking forward to it, I cant help singing the following to myself (Thomas you will get this)....

New York is where I'd rather stay
I get allergic smelling hay
I just adore a penthouse view
Darling, I love you,but give me Park Avenue.

Stay tuned.....