Developments

Well I am back from Greece and DH and I had a lovely time.

It was hotter than anticipated for that time of year, but we still managed to get some hiking in. I think we could all learn some lessons from the Greeks in term of quality of life and attitude. I felt a lot more relaxed being out of the city.

I did notice how expensive Greece had become. Certainly the poor exchange rate we were getting on the Euro did not help but there was something else going on. We were paying the equivalent of £6.00 for 2 pints which is about the same as we would pay here, if not more! Has there been a period of high inflation in Greece or were we just paying the "gringo" prices? It seemed to be that way right across the island.

Anyway, back to work and the boss has a surprise for me. He says I can stay, permanently, i.e. he wants to put me on the payroll as an employee as opposed to retaining me as an independent contractor. The money is less of course. Its great news. I will take the position of course.

I will be £1k worse off a month but it gives me certainty insofar as The Escape goes. Now DH and I can really put that 2 year countdown on the calender and just go for it. Actually, its less than 2 years, we plan on escaping in March 2011.

Although I will be losing in terms of less money, as an employee I will be entitled to paid annual leave and bank holidays. This does go someway to offset the drop in pay. Actually I am really looking forward to having paid time off again. When you are self employed it is tempting to take as little time off as possible in order to maximise income.

So 22 months and counting!