Dear friends

As much as I would like to be here with you more often, off-line life took over.

When my husband accepted a new job and signed a new contract exactly a year ago, we knew that although the effort in securing that job had been finished, the major transition was still ahead of us. We were ready for it.

And we have gone through every stage, from wrapping up the old life, selling the old house and saying our goodbyes, to finding our feet at the new place... and then we decided to look for the house here. All my free time and energy had gone into that mission ever since.

Finding a house, the right house, is always a challenge, finding it in the new city, with little knowledge of the language and while everything else still falls into its place is double the challenge at least. What was initially just an attempt at learning what we could expect in current property market, had soon turned into a race at galloping speed - an opportunity presented itself which we didn't want to miss. Then came numerous and endless meetings with agents, as we were trying to find out more about the property which is yet to be built, followed by inquiring about financing, then negotiating. We are very fortunate that many of our new friends and Mr. O's work colleagues offered us help in this process, as whenever we had one question answered, three new ones had to be looked into. If someone told me what I'd need to go through to be in the position we're in right now, however good it appears to be, I am not sure I'd go for it, even if a nice family home is at the end of it all. It just felt too much to handle, too often. Too many decisions to be made while our new life is still rather new.

Long story short, we are at the closing stages of the process, with purchasing contract ready to be signed in the next 2 weeks if nothing critical comes up. But, one has to be cautious until the last minute.

But, the last 12 months of continuous pressure have been extremely draining. My patience levels have plummeted, my fuse is quite short. Sometimes I feel like I'm managing to keep my head above the water, but only just. So much stress, true system overload! I've done the silliest things, from breaking my camera (careless moment), to locking us out of the apartment (very careless moment), to sending my son to kindergarden in a new shirt with a tag still attached (??? moment) - to name just a few.

My one certain source of fun at stressful times is endless watching of period dramas. Thank you Jane Austen for brilliant heroines you've created, and thank you BBC for bringing them to life.

As for my other source of fun and relaxation, style experimenting, it had taken the back seat as I mainly dress with keeping warm in mind. One thing that really annoys me, now even more than ever, is this: hats and bangs are not the best of friends! Hats, in fact, are not friends with nice hairstyle, or with any hairstyle to be honest. I am now more than ever certain that style transformation, but even more detoriation, begins with the hair. How I miss my English hairstylist!

My last line of defense is lipgloss. I like how it wakens up my face. That, and some cheerful and warm scarves and gloves, are my attempts to stay in the game of showing to myself at least that I put care into my appearance.

However, when I cycle or ride on a bus, depending on the weather, my head is full - I think of a million things, epiphanies, ideas and questions I want to share with you. I think once this is all over and we sign our purchasing contracts, once the spring comes and once I start job search, it will result with some shifts in my own style.

Still, without turning this post to a major moan, I only really want to say I miss my active time here so much, I miss posting WIWs, discussions... So many birthdays have been celebrated here and I'm late to the parties. Inge, Diana, I've seen your threads when I briefly stopped by and thought I'll check in later when I can write something sensible, but later seemed just to slip away...

I'm here, reading, enjoying, thankful that you all counterbalance the mayhem in one part of my life, thankful also that have fun so I can enjoy in your fun... until, hopefully, (my) normal service resumes

p.s.
1. I've finally ordered a new camera, let's hope it's a keeper after I test it.
2. I have some purchases to share with you as soon as I find the right camera.