Novara - Milano - Novara

It's seriously windy here today. The curtain on our kitchen balcony keeps trying to free itself. I would tie it back, but then I would have to contend with the fierce midday sun (that being the point of the curtain to start with.. blocking out the sun). Anyway, lots, lots, LOTS has been going on.

I bought my annual train pass which cost a mere 570E!!! That's 47.5 a month - flippin bargainous!

We also bought a floor. Yep, a FLOOR. I don't know if you remember our hideous floor tiles in the living area? (if not, scroll down for a peek) Well, we went and bought some laminate to cover it all up. Yes, it's going to mean planing/sanding the bottom of the front and balcony doors down, and in all honesty, I think it's a hassle, but the floor is really nice! It's not your average beech or birch laminate that looks exactly like what it is... laminate. It's matte and greyish in tone, Rustic Pine I believe it's called. It cost a small fortune, but no more than a couple of huge rugs would have. Bring on the new flooring!

I went to work today to sign my official contract and met most of the other teachers in our school, they are all really lovely (2 Italian, 2 American 1 Scottish). Two of them worked there last year and the other three are new. It's all exciting and scary and I'm back tomorrow for training. Eep!

I still have a lot to do here in the house. We have a family friend (who is an artist out of work at the moment) coming to stay with us from Tuesday evening and he's going to paint our flat. Before he gets here, we need to remove all the nails in the walls and fill the holes (seriously, there are at least 50 nails in the walls here), we also need to dismantle all the empty boxes and put them in the cantina, and we need to tackle anything that hasn't been put away and some stuff that has been put away, so that it's as empty as possible for ease of painting. Hey, this time next week we should have colour :D

Also, this time next week is the first day of term and hopefully I will have overcome my nervousness by now!

Anyhoo, I must get on, I am off to Cameri in a bit to pack up the last of the stuff (which is all bits and bobs, sigh) and give the place a quick clean. And then to tackle the new sound. YAWN. It's never ending!