she sings and sighs as the shuttle flies

 Seen doing the rounds on Twitter, I snorted my coffee over this one:

"Rebekah Brooks resigned! Sky bid dropped! NotW extinct! Only four horcruxes left to go and Murdoch will be mortal again!"

 This might be a joke, but it's the funniest thing I've seen all week. The fish pedicure of births.

This consultation released today sets out the Tory plans for changing settlement to the UK. It suggests that any worker coming to the UK on a Tier 2 visa from April this year should be barred from settling permanently. Unless of course they have a salary over £150k. 

I'm not sure what I think about this. My current thoughts are mainly 'thank god I think they're not coming for us this time' and 'only a masochist would move to the UK under these rules.'  Who would subject themselves to the upheavals of emigration knowing, all along, they're not wanted.

If you think that discouraging skilled workers from filling posts in the UK is a bad idea, do consider responding.  For now, I'm going to go and let my palpitating heart settle down and get back to building a future.

 Contracts have been exchanged! We are now legally bound to buy a large pile of bricks, that I remember really really liking when I got to look around it 2 months ago.... Hopefully when we get the keys next Thursday I'll still love it. I'm sure I will. There was a bit of a saga over the conveyancing, which eventually came down to haggling over a $100 cost, which seemed ridiculous, but I can see how people break down a negotiation over irrational things.  However all is now resolved and full steam ahead.

I have a very, very long to do list, but we have a man with a van coming (there are at least 3 companies in this burg with names that feature along the lines of 'man and/with/in van'. Is this a UK thing?) This evening I began gleefully stuffing things in boxes. We're going to need more boxes.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts about my dad and my friend. Father has been forced to run on a treadmill with nary a peep from the heart, so he's OK, just needs is blood pressure a bit lower. Friend is out of hospital, home and cheerful, and seems in good shape, though she has a mandatory month off from saving babies from cancer.

PS
Does anyone know any good packing music? So far I've only got this, which is probably a little sadly reflective...

PPS Any recommendations for good internet providers (especially locally)?

I have some terribly, amazingly exciting news, and am just bursting to tell it. However since it's not just my news, I will wait till my beloved agrees to burst with me.

(No. we are not having a baby) 

 Life is better today. The sun is out. The equinox approaches. T is back, and we have just planned the Best Night Ever - we are going to get drunk and fill out our census form. Wine and ticky boxes, what's not to love?*

Also, in 6 weeks I'll be on a plane to Australia, and in 7 weeks, I'll be on one to San Francisco, and both of these thoughts are heartening. I will play my ukulele while drinking single origin siphon coffee and unleash my inner hipster as I cycle off into the sunset on a fixie cycle. Fuck yes.

* I suggested we should fight to see who gets to be person 1, but he said I could be. You might mine to be a hollow victory, but only if you misunderestimate my ability to see any positive step as #winning.

With the lead up to xmas, and many xmas parties, I've had to answer the question 'are you vegetarian' many times. That's because I often order the veggie meal,  because either I don't know the provenance of the meat or I don't agree with how it's been farmed.  
Similarly, when people invite me round for dinner, the question is asked 'do you guys eat meat?'

The answer, to quote one of my new favourite writers is 'it's a bit more complicated than that.'

But in the last two days, I have found two delightful sources to which I can point people who want a slightly more fulsome answer.

Mitchell and Webb give a persuasive take on the matter.
(you tube)

And Jay Rayner (via strangeraptors) on crimes against steak

 I can't help but emit a small squee.

Since I've been back from holiday life has been really good. My new resolutions are working well (I'm up past bedtime tonight, but that's because it was a big night and I'm winding down by catching up on glee). I'm sleeping more, I feel awake when it's time to get up. I've even managed breakfast at home every morning! My new ukulele arrived this week, and I'm getting better slowly. The bonfire night (during which I battled jetlag with extreme fortitude), and parties yesterday and today have meant catching up with many wonderful friends (and a cheerful amount of college wine). 

Most importantly, things are just wonderful with exactlyhalf. This week was our fourth wedding anniversary. We've had a week of good companionship and walks and cuddles and remembering how much we love each other. What I said tonight was true. There have been three great decisions I have made in my life, and the second and probably most important was choosing him. 

 Well would you look at that picture, Australia's head of state with Australia's head of government:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/08/3005452.htm

Isn't that awesome?

I wish...

That all the awesome people you meet in Oxford didn't have to/decide to go to other places. Saying goodbye is sucky.
That my many years of expensive education hadn't encouraged me to learn for an exam and then forget many basics. DNA is in many ways still a mystery to me.
That megavideo wouldn't keep cutting me off every 72 minutes. Damages is awesome!!!
That weekends were not so short
That we could have new eras without the old ones ending