family, and struggling with Jessica. My work permit was expiring in
April and I was seriously considering moving back to California (or
worse, Georgia).
Then in March everything fell into place. I changed jobs and joined a
real company, with real people and real projects. Spring came and I
realised how much the winter had been affecting me (in part because
I'd been stuck inside working from home the entire time). My uncle
got better, which had really been worrying me. I started And no doubt
in part because of all of the above, Jess and I stopped fighting and
started working together. And believe me, it was fantastic.
In May, we decided to take the next step: Buy a house together. By
August, we were despairing of ever finding a place we liked. London
is full of beautiful houses, all way out of our price range. What was
affordable were tiny terrace houses on ugly streets and backing onto
railroad tracks. We must have looked at 100 houses, if not more, and
didn't make a single offer.
In September, things changed again. First, we got engaged, and did so
on a beautiful clear evening on the banks of the Thames. Then we
found three -- three! -- houses we liked. We made offers on all three
and one was accepted. I told everyone we'd be closed by the end of
November.
Then our financing fell apart, thanks to our idiot mortgage advisor,
and we basically had to start over. And our solicitor took forever to
do the property searches. And generally buying a house in England
sucks. So now it's mid-December and we'll be lucky to close by the
end of January.
But of course that's only half the story, because the property hasn't
been updated since 1978, and the kitchen since the 1960s. In addition
to the electrical, we want to add a single-story extension to the
back, and create an open plan dining area. It's going to be lovely,
but it won't be March until we can move in.
In the meantime, we're desperately searching for a wedding venue that
isn't, technically, a wedding venue. In England, the wedding laws are
pretty bizarre: You can have a Christian ceremony in your local
Anglican church, you can have a Jewish wedding anywhere, or you can
have a civil wedding (like a justice of the peace) at a venue licensed
by the State. We don't want a Christian wedding, we can't have a
Jewish wedding, and a civil wedding is so rigid, I actually find it
offensive.
So we'll do the civil wedding privately, and have a larger ceremony
for friends and family. Hence the need for a non-wedding venue.
Obviously we don't have a date yet, but we're looking at May or June.
(I want June 15, as that is the day we met, but Jess is more
pragmatic.)
The rest of the year was rather uneventful, with the exception of
Jessica's new nephew. (Welcome, Asher!) In August, Jess was going to
visit them in Chicago while I was going to California to visit my
family, but then we were both bumped off our flights (the joys of
traveling standby) and so we spent the weekend in Amsterdam instead.
(Frustratingly, I have a friend in Amsterdam who I've been trying to
see all year -- but when we got there, my phone was dead, so I
couldn't get her phone number, and of course I'd brought a US
converter, not a European one, so I couldn't charge it, and we never
did meet up.)
Otherwise, we just had a few small trips -- New Year's in Wales,
weekends in Paris and Madrid, the Bristol balloon fiesta, and
Edinburgh fringe. We were planning on spending two weeks in
California over the holidays, but then I got put on a ridiculously
busy project, and won't be able to go anywhere until March. (Jess, on
the other hand, has already booked a week in the sun with a friend of
hers for January. Not that I'm jealous or anything.)
So that's my year. If judged by the difference between the beginning
and the end, it was probably the best year of my life. (And I'm
looking to break the record next year.)
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