First day in Leicester

I drove in to Leicester from London Monday morning, again it only took me 2 hours and there was absolutely no traffic. I decided to leave on Monday instead of Sunday so I could be with Kitan if the fireworks scared him on Sunday night. He slept like a log and did not need me at all. I had to wake up at 5:45am this morning to leave home for 6:30am.

My new boss (Francis) and colleagues all seemed very nice and friendly. As I had been recruited via a phone interview, my colleagues had placed bets on what I'd look like. They knew I was definitely black and figured I'd have a big bum as a result, I'm not sure how that's related to the job I have to do. Still it turned out I don't have a big bum so they all lost. We're all going out Tuesday night for a team building dinner. Should be fun.

Work finished about 4pm, they are really big on flexi-time and doing your own thing here and even try to wrap up Fridays by noon, which is good for me as I can be home in London by 3pm to start the weekend with my boys.

After work, I went over to my 'lodgings' and could not unpack because I had no hangers, I could not have a drink because nothing in the fridge or cupboard was mine. My landlady, Louise, was away on a course so I was on my own, lugging my huge suitcase up the stairs and dying of thirst. Horror of horrors, my suitcase then left a big black scuff mark on the landing wall and I had to rush to the kitchen to get something to wipe it off. Remember I mentioned that the house was like a show home.

The reality of this 'single-life' living dawned on me. I got back in my car and headed to Tesco. Of course I had the address of the nearest Tesco but because I did not know the area at all, it ended up being 15 miles from 'home'. That's like driving from Harrow to Bounds Green - crazy! Anyway, I got there and bought really basic stuff like milk, tea, toilet roll, water - it was weird.

When I got back, I realised that I had forgotten I was shopping for just me. My freezer space was too small for all the stuff I bought and I had to get rid of a bag of ice cubes and a few other things I had bought. By the time I put away my shopping, rustled something to eat, tidied and tidied to erase any sign of my having messed things up, I was shattered. Even when I settled down to watch Spooks at 10pm, by the time I figured out how to work the TV, I had missed 17 minutes of it, I could not catch up with the plot and decided to go to bed.

Still, I thank God that it's all started really well. By His grace it will get better and better. I thank God for the opportunity. I thank God for His protection upon me.