Envy of snails

Snails carry their shells where ever they go, like a mobile house. I am going to be homeless come October in Oxford if I don't find a place.

We found a nice place with the coolest sounding landlord (climber, designer of disabilities friendly software, maker of soap, promoter of pressure group against over packaging), out in the country side surrounded by green space. It's also 11 miles out of town. I like the idea of cycling 22 miles a day, it sounds pleasantly hardcore. But the truth is there's a lot of rain here in Britain, and hardcore though it may be, I can forget about wearing anything fashionable, ever - and get used to go around soggy and wet all the time.

Hm.

There's several other options I'm going to have a look at on Wednesday. The price of everything gets me down though. So does the idea that unless we find the right place, Toph won't be able to move down to Oxford with me. We've already been apart for so long - and things are so good with us right now in Edinburgh. I loathe to think of not having him around to do the cooking, composting, bike fixing, laundry - er, I mean, to wake up to in the morning. Of course living apart may be more economical and productive for both of us... but...

I don't really want to go to Oxford - I don't mean the university, but the town. I'm a bit tired of moving around. Anders reckons that 3-4 years is a long time in one place, but I think for me that's the min. amount of time it takes to get comfortable. So I've had 4 year in Edinburgh, 1 in Taiwan, and now another in Oxford. I'm beginning to look forward to settling somewhere and having a good reason to buy home furnishings.

Speaking of settling down, I had a rather funny experience with Cathy, Toph's sister. We were talking about knitting and I said something about how I can't wait to get started on baby things, since my aunt is expecting and several others I know have wee bairns. She asked me if that was all and whether I had more news - I got a bit confused. Then she asked me outright if I was pregnant. I had to laugh. I'm a belt and braces girl, if you know what I mean. I'd like to think that accidents of that sort doesn't happen to people like me. Best piece of advice: be careful if you can't be good!

And I can't.