Catch up - skip this if you have been listening...

It has been a year of change, of that there can be no doubt.

A year ago i was living in a mouldy bedsit overlooking the roof of a Sainsbury's that had been built in the middle of the A23. I was in a job where i was about to go to Florida for a business meeting that would lead to me falling out of love with the company - although it was many more months until i would recognise that. The cat hated the lodger, the estate agent was showing round 3 people a day, every day of the week, and i was hoping he wouldnt flush the toilet and flood the lounge...

And then in November i moved out, and moved in with my gorgeous girlfriend into Great Betley, one of England's finest examples of early 16th / late 19th Century farmhouses. Acres of grass and hedge rows surrounded us, the driveway is a mile long, the neighbours have to drive to get to us, and the pond under the willow on a cold bright spring evening is possibly the most beautiful place i have ever stood by. And the changes came in bundles then - living in a building site for 6 months was always interesting - especially when the builder decides he wants to start every day just after 6. Cheers, George!

So i was living with someone again, for the xth time having sworn blind it would never happen to me again... I will rave about the wonderful Kitty another night, in another blog...But for the first time i became some kind of Dad. Two teenage boys were forced to share their space with me, which can not have been easy for them. And i had to share theirs, which they sometimes made easy for me!

As January came around we got a dog who proceeded to tunnel to France while traumatising the cat so completely that she peed on the bed 19 straight days. The start of the year was given over almost entirely to planning the wedding, and on April 26th a very obviously mad woman was committed at a public hearing to spend her remaining days as my chattel.

By June it was obvious that there was no place for me at XL, and following Peter Owen's lead I made for the dog. My exit was a bit more controlled, and after considering various offers and ideas Sabre seemed like the best place to be. A financially secure company (first i think i have ever worked at) with the opportunity to travel, teach and actually make some changes that would help people do their work better. So here i sit in Bodo above the Arctic Circle feeling rather happy with things, and feeling a lot more confident about the future.