The flat is never going to be clean enough……

This week has proved to be a trial of patience as our letting agency has decided that NOW is the time to begin repairs on our flat.  When they became aware we were moving, they took a sudden interest in addressing a number of the issues we brought to their attention previously, some from when we moved in TWO YEARS AGO.  Suddenly, our phones are ringing every morning with some contractor or maintenance man asking for an appointment to be made, as Leaders letting agency has told them they need to fix something in our flat.

Yesterday morning Mark called me and told me to be up and dressed as someone was coming around to check something in the flat , despite insistence it wasn’t a good time.  Let me ask you: have YOU ever stood in the doorway, having a contraction, while trying to carry on a conversation with a maintenance man about damp?  No. No you have not.  It’s not pleasant, by the way.  But at the end of the day, it’s not the maintenance man’s fault, and being rude to him would prove nothing.  So last night I emailed Leaders letting agency.  I don’t believe I was over the top rude, but I did make it clear that, chances were, we would still be here when the baby arrived and I was not going to work a newborn’s schedule around noisy and intrusive maintenance.

What really burns me about the situation is we gave them a long list of things that would need attending to when we first moved in August 2008. In fact, it was a list produced AT THEIR REQUEST.  Nothing ever came of anything that we listed for them.  Then, every 3 months or so when they come around to inspect the property, we brought up our concerns again and again, most of which were never addressed.  Now that they know they have to con someone else into renting the flat shortly, they have a bug up their collective asses to finally do something about the issues we outlined almost two years ago.

To this, I say no.

This seems to be a huge problem with a lot of businesses in the UK: sheer lack of customer service.  From what I hear from other people, they too are not happy with their letting agencies and the service they’ve received as well.  It’s almost as if certain industries got together and decided to just suck equally instead of actually trying to get renters / clients via good service.  And that’s where Leaders is: they don’t need to be the best, they just need to suck less than the worst in the industry.  Such an attitude towards people who throw hundreds of pounds a month at you for a service is piss poor, to say the least.

38 weeks today!  Over the past 48 hours I’ve been experiencing contractions on and off, some strong enough to make me wince, others just a tightening across my bump.  At some points it seems as though the start of labor is imminent, and as our excitement grows things start to slow down and come to a halt again.    I feel as though we are waiting on pins and needles for everything to kick off.  Mark and I are ready, ready to meet this little baby we’ve known about since November last year, ready to have her here in our lives.  Our bag is packed, the car seat is ready to go, and even though we are still waiting to move into our new place, we have the moses basket set up in our bedroom for whenever Maddie decides to join us.

Until then, we wait.

Gratitude is a funny thing.  It comes at you when you least expect it and hits you with such force that it causes you to stop and marvel at how lucky you are, and what you could’ve possibly done to deserve all this.  Lately, upon turning in for the night and snuggling up in our bed, I am hit with such gratitude for having this man as my husband.  I got to do something very special in my life: I married someone who is both my husband and my best friend, someone who is smart, funny, and kind.  I get to spend the rest of my days with someone I enjoy laughing with, enjoy snuggling with, and enjoy simply being with every single day.

This month makes four years since I first stepped off the plane and met Mark for the first time, and through all the uncertainty and long distance and trials of visas and immigration we have made it, and have been blessed with the last two and a half years that we have been able to be together every day.  Each day I find more things I love about him.

I’ve been reading a lot of pregnancy forums in the last couple of weeks, and inevitably there are always a few posts of women venting about how worthless their husbands are, how they say or do mean things, or simply have walked out on their own unborn child.  These posts make me feel so grateful for Mark, who is such a wonderful husband.  Throughout this pregnancy he has never once left my side.  He is always there for all of my appointments, always just as eager as I am to see the ultrasound or to hear the heartbeat.  He is always there for me, regardless of my emotional state and mood swings, always calm and collected and ready to give me a hug and make it all better again.  When I found certain things more and more difficult to do as my body has changed, he has stepped up and helped me, without question, with everything I needed.  And he tells me how beautiful I am, even when I feel huge and unattractive.

I have not felt as though I have solely carried this baby, but rather it’s been a partnership between us the entire way.  I could not imagine having gone through the past 9 months without the loving support of my husband.  And still, even though the zero hour swiftly approaches, I do not fear labor because I know Mark will be there, by my side, the entire way through.

And, in all of this, I know he will make such an awesome father to our little daughter.

I am so truly blessed.

Like Awesomeville.co.uk? I’ve decided to branch out and put my little blog on a baby blog list. If you like what you read on the blog, you can click the banner below and vote for me.

I’ve noticed a huge change in my hits, and this is the first month I’ve broken over 1000 hits in a single month! And the month isn’t even over yet! So help me keep it going!

1. Click the banner

2. On the brown page that opens, click “Click here and your vote will be added”

3. Done!

thanks!
-Nicky