The calm after the storm

And just like that, I'm back.

I can't explain the reason behind this recent protracted absence. All I know is that one day, I was happily writing away at work, going to the gym and living a fairly standard existence. Then suddenly, I moved house, fell crazy in love, stopped exercising, started to overflow my waistbands, started falling asleep at my desk, started spending my lunchbreaks shopping for broom handles, electrical screws and light bulbs and simultaneously lost the ability to do anything in the evenings except potter about in my new abode sporting loungewear and slippers, rearranging small objects around on my shelves and smearing my kitchen counters with Danish wood oil.

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur, but this morning I went for a run in the beautiful, crisp sunshine, past St Paul's Cathedral, over the Millennium Bridge and back through the City and I felt springy as a gambolling lamb on crack. The pterodactyl wings need work and the combination of housewarming dinners and evenings out with a new boyf haven't been fantastic for my thigh girth, but I am filled with a sense that the dust is settling after a vigorous shake up and that, gradually, routine and normalcy might slink back in through the side door. Which, as a committed organiser / control freak, is something of a blessed relief.

The only slight blight on my otherwise calm horizon is my Amex bill, which looms ominously overhead like a meteor the size of the former USSR. It would all have been OK if I hadn't been absolutely, unarguably extravagant on Monday when I bought a heinously expensive bookshelf. Still, I think it may be the coolest thing I've ever seen and as soon as it arrives and I've erected it, I'll post a picture for your collective verdict. I'm not quite sure how I will pay off the debt but hey, it's not due for another six weeks and who knows what happy accident of financial joy may have occurred in the meantime? Admittedly, winning the lottery is unlikely given my distinct lack of lottery tickets but I am hoping for a council tax rebate and will be selling a few things on eBay in desperation so those combined incidents may between them raise several pence. From there I'll only need to generate another several hundred pounds or so... I feel an advertisement for a flatmate coming on...