That's interesting. That's veeeeerry interesting.
I sort of wish I could go back a week or two and tell myself then that everything would be ok, because HOLY CRAP, it's been a bit of a ride.
So, where to begin. First things first - SHIT MY DRIVING TEST IS ON THE 27TH!!!! o_O EEP! I'M SCARED!!!ONEELEVENTY!!! *HOWLS*
And now, for the rest of the ride that has been my life lately. This may get a little complicated, but I'll try to explain it without the aid of a flow chart and slides.
My sister-in-law's mum (and now all three of her daughters) is a very wealthy woman since her husband died. And I mean seriously, rolling-in-it, 'I shit diamonds' rich. She is so obscenely full of moolah that she (along with my sis-in-l's older sister and family) decided to do a bunk from dear old Blighty to escape the tax man (to Singapore - lol - she is from there originally, I'll hasten to add). Very Not Good. My bro and s-i-l however, decided to declare their tax, and not live like crims or jeopardise my niece's future or their own. Kudos to them for being upright and awesome and not greedy. Aaaanyway, said tax-exile mother left an empty flat in West London, and my dear bro and s-i-l thought it would be a brilliant opportunity for me to move in there. I'd save money, because they wouldn't charge me much rent; someone would be there to look after the flat; tax-fraudster mum stands to actually get even MORE money - yadda yadda, you get the picture. Everybody wins. So, understandably, I was over the fucking moon about it.
BUUUUUUT (and why is it never a cute, sexy little but?), tax fraudster extraordinaire sees it differently. In fact, she sees it entirely unlike any normal, nice person might, because she's gone and done something stupid with the flat on the advice of her crooked financiers and handed it over to a managing agent rather than let anyone live there, and won't even tell her own daughter about the possible implications all this might have. As you can imagine, my s-i-l was absolutely livid with her mum. This isn't the first time they've argued, and this was pretty much the proverbial straw. Just to add to an already unpleasant situation, my brother, in his infinite wisdom, began ranting and raving and calling his mum-in-law every possible name under the sun, and some others that are probably only found under rocks. This did not help matters. I had a very distressing phone call with my s-i-l who was in tears, and completely lost about what to do. She felt like everyone had let her down. She's been in the middle of so much shit and animosity between my brother and her family for years, and she's pretty much had enough of it. She was even saying that she thought she couldn't make it right this time and that her marriage might be irrevocably damaged. I talked with her and tried to calm her down as much as I could, and assured her that none of this was her fault. SHE hadn't let me down, and my brother had no right to be name-calling. It only added to the hurt she already felt, when what she could have done with is a bit of support.
So, yeah, that was Thursday. I spent most of that evening feeling really shaky, and kind of feeling guilty myself because the last thing I want is to be some kind of catalyst in their marriage failing (especially as they've been together for 25 years, ffs). But just before I went to sleep, I don't know... I just had this strange sense of calm decend upon me, like all the tension suddenly drained out of me, and I just knew that everything was going to be ok. I think... I think I may be right. Some of Jack's luck must have rubbed off on me somewhere along the way. On Friday, I had another phone call from my bro and s-i-l. They said they still really wanted to be able to help me out. They get some more of the inheritance money through in December - enough to pay a large proportion of a mortgage on a property. They proposed that they'd buy somewhere in London, and the rent that I'd pay to live there would go towards paying off the rest of the mortgage. The property would be a great investment for them, and my niece, and I'll still have somewhere to live - somewhere that isn't dependent on some strange old woman across the other side of the world. I'm still sort of speechless about everything.
Once the lease is up on my flat, I'll move in with my mum until after Christmas, assuming they've found a place to buy and that it usually takes about a month to exchange contracts and complete on a property. It's going to be SO wierd living with my mum again, but also lovely. We get on well, and I'll save some more money to pay off debts. I thought about trying to find a short let on somewhere, but I just can't deal with the hassle and expense. I can stick pretty much all of my stuff up in the warehouse at work until need be.
This could turn out to be complete awesomeness. Also, they intend to get somewhere with two bedrooms. THIS MEANS I CAN HAVE PEOPLE COME TO STAY! Not sure about the cat, though. I may have to broach that subject with great caution, as they're not keen on animals.
Well, that's pretty much it. Sorry it was so long, and congratulations if you made it this far. Here, have some pretty as a reward:
I'm writing this from Romania. Yep, I'm back on the work trips again. There are three women singing a lovely traditional folk song outside my hotel window, for a wedding (drinks all round!) that's happening here. The night is warm but there's a cool breeze. I think I'm ready to turn in happy for the night. Love to you all xxx