Wednesday 16 February 2011

I'm on my way, I'm on my way Home sweet home, tonight tonight..(motley crue)


courtesy of Nelly Duff


I've been rather rubbish at this blogging lark haven't I. Sometimes it's a real struggle to think of something to say. Something of any interest anyway. 

Its been a busy month or so though, insomuch that I have moved house. (hurrah!)
At 28 years old, i am FINALLY in a living situation that I love. I moved out of home when i was 21, and ever since where ever i have lived i have not been truly happy. Now, i have moved in with one of my greatest friends, into the most BEAUTIFUL house. 

We are busy 'nesting' i suppose. The cupboards are full of chocolate and wine. And we've just had Sky installed. (goodbye life) - no really, Chocolate, Wine and Broadwalk Empire sounds just about the most perfect evening in the world. 

I am busy decorating my room. And SO SO SO excited to finally be able to buy household items. Seriously, our kitchen looks like Cath Kidson showroom.

I have homes for things. THAT IS EXCITING. not everything i posess has to live in my room. I put my medicines in the MEDICINE CABINET in the BATHROOM the other day. This thrilled me. (loser). my books are in a bookcase. I HAVE CUSHIONS. and we have a fish! oh and it's just all so exciting. 

I know this sounds pretty ridiculous to most people, but really i've had a pretty rough deal when it comes to living situations. Here is a brief overview:

2004: i moved out of home to live 100miles away with my then-boyfriends of 3 months (yeah, like that was going to work). I moved in with his parents. 

2005: we moved into our own house. perfect. kinda. except we had to live with one of his friends, so it wasn't 'ours' and the relationship was crap and i was unhappy anyway.

2006 - 2007: then-boyfriend I and i broke up and i lived in no less than 3 houses. given that the break up happened a bit like this: "so, we need to renew the lease in a few weeks?" "yeah, about that. i'm moving out" -so i had to take shelter where i could, i moved into a spare room at an acquaintances house. She had a mental mental cat that would screech at me and scratch me. I think it may have been the devil.

Next house was another houseshare with some "young professionals" - a couple and the guy's girlfriend. The duration of my stay there was heavily accented by a random french girl taking the other room except never actually sleeping in there as she was shagging the brother. 

Next, and it was a houseshare with two friends. Which started off pretty awesome until one of them smoked so much pot in the 6 months we were there that he developed psychosis and sold all his posessions at the boot fair, quit his job and spend his whole day sitting on his window cill in his pyjamas. 

After that failure, i moved back to my mums as i found a job in London, stayed there for about 2 months. mmmm... moving home. Well, didn't i just feel like the accomplished adult. So, when another aquaintance was looking for a housemate for the spare room at their house.. i went for it. I went for all 8ftx8ft2 space, with only a sofa bed and a PINK Argos canvas wardrobe. I mean, i did what i could with the place but when the floor space is so small you're tight rope walking to your bed and when the kitchen and bathroom haven't seen domestos in at least 5 years, what can you do? 
I stayed there 2 years, i wouldn't have but i spent my weekends in Canterbury so i was barely there. 

late 2009: after eventually finding a job back in Kent, I moved in with my then- boyfriend III. (There was a then-boyfriend II, but he doesn't really feature in any living situations - i can count. promise)
Yet again another mistake. This house was probably by far the worse (mostly because i actually have to live in it. 5yearabsentdomestoshouse i really only stayed in occasionally)
oh no, then-boyfriend III house was something special indeed.

first thing you need to know is that it was TINY. like, couldn't swing a gerbil let alone a cat, tiny. and in this space there lived a dog. not a small dog, a basset hound. a great big fuck off huge basset hound. who didn't know his own name. A special kind of stupid. and not just stupid. oh no, destructive, angry, bitey and generally loathsome.

Not that i blame him, i'd be an angry little motherfu**er if i had to live in a kitchen about as big as my arse (which although larger than the average, in terms of kitchen size probably not so big) on unwashed bedding, getting about an hours human contact a day, and that mostly through a grill separating the living room to the kitchen.

the kitchen floor wasn't cleaned. Angrydog would protest wee quite alot and it was mopped up with kitchen towel, maybe a spray of anti-bac spray and then left. he'd been there 4 years and i bought a mop about 6 months before i moved in. I recall it was used once with all the novelty of a 3 year old getting a new toy and then left to fester outside the back door until the handle went rusty, the water in the bucket fell stagnant and the mop itself, mouldy.

Then-boyfriend III also used to use wax in his hair daily, this resulted in a waxy film covering everything in the bathroom and the sofas (thus resulting in a lovely glue for Angrydogs' hair to affix too)
BASICALLY... he didn't clean. There was no room for any of my things. It didn't feel like home. 
But thankfully we broke up anyway. 

So... 2010: i moved (very quickly) into a houseshare nearby. To start with it was pretty good! the house was nice. and the one housemate that was already seemed nice too. (anything other than the word nice doesn't really fit here). Anyway.... it was... uh.. nice. then some more people moved in and it wasn't quite so nice. But  it was somewhere to lay my head. 

By now, i was 27, and as you can see from my 'tales 'o woe' i hadn't ever really had a place to call mine, or lived with anyone i actually really really wanted to live with. 
i'm not asking for sympathy.. i made all those decisions and without alot of them i wouldn't be where i am now (which is very happy by the way) but yes...I needed a Home.(with a capital H), stat. 

it came about, (in not the best way) that one of my best friends was looking to move too; so we decided to start looking together. it took a while of on/off searching, (mostly because we were indulging in a bit of post break up crazy) but we found it. Our House. and we moved in last week. 

I'd like to invite you all round for tea from polka dot teapots and cupcakes made in my new silicone cases and we can sit on our sofa and drink wine and watch tele. and in the summer, you can all come round for BBQ's in the MASSIVE garden that's ALL OURS!!!!!!!!

I'm hoping i'm writing well enough to make my relief and happiness at finally having a real home, palpable. and that it makes some sense how this isn't just another move. and even if we don't stay at that house for long its going to be one of my favourite experiences of my life. 

xo




1 comment:

  1. I feel so strongly about this - I really know how you feel. Having a HOME rather than a room in a house is so wonderful and when I moved into my first house where this was possible (when Alex & I were living with another couple) it was really amazing. I love having MY stuff in the kitchen, all my lovely little bits all over the lounge...everything. I'm so glad you're so settled and happy now! xxx

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