We found out yesterday that since 14th of February Helens decree absolute was granted so she is now a single woman again her divorce is final and her marriage is over for good , and I am no longer cohabiting or no longer living with a married woman.
I hope to be single again very soon myself; marriage certificates and houses didn’t keep us apart
I hope the woman I am now with and the woman I am madly in love with Helen is the woman I hope to stay with and live with no other woman comes close I am happy contented and for the next two years I maybe skint but we have a mortgage and we are buying a house that won’t be just bricks and mortar but a home we both want to be in until we sell it and buy a little cottage somewhere idyllic.

Two mates that I have worked with in the past one has in the last fortnight up rooted and gone to live with a girl that he meet a few months ago on face book she lives in Liverpool with her parents who own a B&B .
They have been meeting up for the past few months now he has packed his job in giving up the accommodation he was renting and shot of to Liverpool all in the name of love.

My second work mate from the past , got a computer a few years ago after he had to be talked in to getting one he didn’t see the point or the big attraction in being online or the Internet eBay etc, anyway he does now he can’t live without it he is constantly in front of his computer or laptop .

After being on his own for the last fifteen years he got chatting to a woman from America via chat rooms msn and speaking to her on the Internet phone skype.

He has jetted over a few times during the last two years he had never left England before this , she lives in a massive trailer caravan and is going through a divorce and she hopes to walk away with around 100k dollars settlement (my ex wife loves her already )which for around 80k you can buy a decent bungalow with a bit of land thrown in he is a vegetarian so growing his own food would appeal to him especially if he cant work and earn a wage .

He likewise is packing it all in, his job and flat he rents and has lived in for the last ten or so years to be with the woman he loves .with American employment laws I think he has to be a house husband for a few years even if they get married there will be issues regarding his right to work and live in the USA .It’s nice to know that love still makes the world go round or is that just me being sentimental romantic.

Friday
Helen went to see Steve Holbrook with my two sisters at Pudsey civic hall; I did some painting in the hallway giving the walls the first coat.

Saturday
Went to the red bus cafe on the A64 for breakfast had the full mashing with black pudding ,the actor who plays Zak Dingle in Emerdale called in for his breakfast.
Went to Lawnswood crematorium bought a wooden heart some small photo frame a big steel square lantern and a clock in a metal frame that is in a plant pot planted up with ivy so that it grows round the skeleton framework and hides it .
Went to garden centre at Guiseley and bought a weeping willow, magnolia, fern tree and a wisteria which we planted up once we got home.

Sunday
both of us back to work finished at three took a load of grass cuttings and carpets we had ripped up from the upstairs bedrooms to the local tip.
Went to B&Q and bought a Victorian archway for the back garden ordered pizza for tea did the rest of the painting in the down stair hallway and put everything back in its place before going to bed.

Monday
lost debit card somehow went in to the Halifax to use the cash machine i have some bills i pay via the cash machine set up which i did , i was then going to queue to cancel some direct debits but decided not to when i saw the amount of people already in the queue i walked down to the next branch where i found i had lost my card what a fcuking pain cancelled the direct debits and cancelled the lost card as well will take a few days to get a new one posted out hopefully.
The spindles came this morning first thing ,which i had ordered online Friday from screwfix be busy busy busy when i get home tonight need to get some undercoat.

Changing bank accounts went in to town at lunch to open a new building society account i can pay direct debits from but i don't get a atm card i have to go in and draw cash out from the branch itself with my payment book that be weird and take some getting use to will stop impulse buying i guess ,

I will have to set up all direct debits again this is because of a joint bank account and a £3000 overdraft that my ex wife ran up,i bank with the same bank and because of what i earn and wages going i from both jobs every month i think they will confiscate all my money to claw back this £3ooo, this would make life for me unlivable and would put in serious trouble with my mortgage and car loan.

Due to the fact that my wife wont pay a penny TO CLEAR THIS DEBT OFF so every month for the past six months i have been paying the bank charges and interest charges and every month she has paid nothing , basically i have had enough the bank don't seem to care and wont freeze the account they wont put half in my name and half in hers so i can pay my half back they want it all or nothing so i am getting wages diverted in to this new account and they cant touch my cash right or wrong i have been advised to do this by cccs http://www.cccs.co.uk/ i am stopping payments on credit cards and all other unsecured loans i have my mortgage sorted, my credit rating will dive but with the cash i pay for child maintenance £300 a month spousal maintenance of £85 a month and £2500 solicitor bill that i am paying back at £75 a month.

I have very little choice every body has got there finger in the pie some want a whole fcuking slice i have to control my finances if i don't ,then my debts will just escalate the first thing i was advised was to open a new bank account today i did just that.

Now the hard bit starts once my unsecured creditors find out that they are all going to get a quid a month i think i be on top of everybody contact list I think my postman will be doing over time and i think my mobile will go to constantly ringing hope i can battle the storm and get out the other side in less two years all maintenance stops and my house gets sold and i get half the profits THEN I WILL PAY EVERYONE OFF hope it flies bye.

All these photos are of dining room we have not decorated this room we are planing on knocking through the wall were the book case is in to the kitchen so we have a large kitchen dinner similar in size to what we had when we was renting the house at Rodley .

We need to buy units to go in to each of the alcove's , also we need the computer sorting out getting it off the floor after a while your knees start to hurt and tend to lean over which is no good for the back.

I have put the wireless router near the porch at the front of the house this is where the phone line comes in i have run the earth net cable under the carpet to the back dining room so there is no no visible wires ,well hardly so far so good Sky broadband seems to be ok.
would like to borrow a laptop to check the wireless router out and see what coverage we get through the house,i might invest in a net book or a cheap second hand laptop if it was decent enough download speeds .

Back on line at home we have finally got our Sky broadband connection sorted out ,not before time .
got the pan rack up too,still ain't got a cooker yet but we cant have everything straight away can we .

finally got the grass cut to the front and the rear of the house Helen is now suffering with her recurring back pains she has been working really hard painting walls and ceilings she doesn't stop plus she has been doing extra hours on her hospital shift.Her son Ste who lives with us as been laid off which is going to make life had going his board money will sadly be missed so far he has paid us up to date so no immediate worries.
Need to start budgeting money know for the next couple of years we have to be careful both gas and electric are on metres we need to make sure they are always topped up and that no matter what we always have gas and electric.But still in love with Helen have no regrets still smiling still miss her when she is not with me got a trip planned for Scotland in November and going to wedding on the isle of White next year plenty of things to forward to plenty of things that will take us nearer to January 2011 when i stop paying maintenance money every month of £386 a month

My solicitor charges £195 an hour plus £19.99 per letter he sends out or his firm sends out how do they expect anyone to pay a bill of three thousand pounds i earn less than £13 a hour.

You don't have to be a mathematician to work it out i have to work 60 hours to pay him four hours work i owe him for just over 15 hours work if he works a forty hour week he earns £7800 a week that's £405,600 a year plus costs of letters they send out his wife works with him as a solicitor as well i bet they don't worry about the price of gas and the rising cost of petrol.

The minimum they expect me to pay is a hundred pounds a month three hundred pounds and two hundred pounds was mentioned i will be hard pressed to manage a hundred pounds a month

I was back in court Monday over the divorce before Judge Lord ,Lord being his name .Helen came with me again like she had done previously the month before , the valuation of the house the court had asked for had been completed and it had been valued at 110k giving 35k profit if the house was sold for that price , we previous had an evaluation to sell the property by a local estate agent who knows the market at 125k which my ex wife didn't revel to the court.

After three hours of backwards and forward all parties had agreed a settlement, that i would pay child maintenance of £300 a month which is what i was paying anyway and that i would also pay spousal maintenance of £86 a month this amount covers the cost of the monthly mortgage repayments that is until until my son is eighteen which will be in January 30th 2011,so in effect she is living rent free for the next two years .

I am looking at it as a bar of chocolate that has twenty four pieces and every month i eat a piece and then there is one less.

After the two years or twenty four months the house is then is to be sold i will legally not be responsible for paying her anything and the profits from the sale split 50-50 , my wife didn't seem over the moon about this settlement and i had already offered her the same deal out of court two months ago and she refused to get to here as cost me over £2500 in legal fees my wife is receiving legal aid she could afford to drag it out i couldn't to take it to the next round would have cost me another £3000.

I came out of court and had a parking ticket such is life still rollin bye just . Helen was magnificent throughout the day AS ALWAYS SHE IS and supported me the whole way through i cant thank her enough , she had words with my ex wife and had ago with her said boyfriend, she makes everything worth while she makes me happier than i have ever been and she is worth more to me than anything, happiness makes us live longer and if it doesn't at least it makes the journey more worth while

Helen started painting the other bedroom yesterday are also going to take up the carpets and paint the floor in the other upstairs rooms and landings.
Sky are booked in for next Friday to activate the phone line then we can sort out are broadband connection and get back on line at long last.
Still have not got a cooker sorted out the one we are after may fall through we will give it another few weeks then decide what to do , we need a decent cooker we are very limited to what we can cook although to day we are cooking lamb and veggies in the slow cooker. Everything else is slowly being sorted i am back in court Monday due to the divorce proceedings and the valuation of the house we jointly own is being completed today and depending on the findings will impact on Mondays hearing. My wife wants a low valuation i need a high one to enable a forced sale although i think it wont be sold until my son is eighteen in two years time.

No work yesterday due to the snow so had a chance of a sleep in it was quite sunny and bright.We had to take Ellie our westie to the vets she was limping no major damage had occurred and the vet just gave her an injection and some tablets at a cost of £40 will have to get some pet insurance in place.Helen bought her a new coat for going out in the cold she is getting her coat cut today and will be all clipped and trimmed up plus she bought her a new collar and matching lead.

Friday went to my old house to see my son Guy it was his 16th birthday all the best have a good one.Also went over to Shipley to get more bedding from Laura Ashley .

Went to Ikea Saturday after work bought a mirror and a light fitting for the bedroom bought some hooks from B&Q for the doors also bought some things for the kitchen a new swing bin and plate drainer , pan and sweeping brush.

Worked until eight o clock again on Sunday we come out with just pence short of four hundred pounds for a weekend shift between us which most of goes on the house and things we need at the moment we want a radiator fitting in two of the bedrooms or for now just one in ours.

Finished decorating our bedroom the floor paint covered really well and it only took one coat to get it looking jet black the grain of the wood in parts is still showing through .We slept on the living room floor Wednesday night on two duvets and throws our bedroom was a no go area with the mess and smell of paint and it was three in the morning before the bay window was fully glossed .All we need is two lamp shades and some tie back brackets for the curtains and two rugs for each side off the bed and a mirror and one room should be completed.Hoping we can work late till eight both Saturday and Sunday and get some extra cash for paint and other stuff

Ripped the carpets the underlay the lino and the rugs from our bedroom last night took me until one o clock in the morning , bu the floorboards are immaculate as good as the day they were laid so we are going to use floor paint to paint them black .We will get some rugs for the side of the bed .Helen as bought paint for the walls and ceiling white and duck egg blue ,fixed the Gothic curtain pole above the bay window the will pull across the straight of the bay to close it all off and make the room smaller and warmer on a night .bought two new lamp stands and are looking at getting two new bedside cabinets as well .

Sunday we both worked seven am until eight pm it was a long day.Bought some more bedding from Laura Ashley at Shipley the one in Leeds as closed down . Helen bought a black Gothic wrought iron curtain pole for our bedroom yesterday and some fitted sheets and extra pillow cases.Its my Daughters 18th birthday today, it doesn't seem that long ago when she was playing with Polly pocket houses and figures and watching Walt Disney videos now she drinks and smokes like most of her friends her age do , so what ever your doing today sweet child of mine enjoy.Upset Helen last night for swearing at our dog sorry Helen and sorry dog no more swearing.

Signed up with sky for phone unlimited calls , TV and Internet package £28.50 for the first three months then it will rise to £38.50 a month . the TV side of the order will be commissioned this Tuesday and we will have three TV viewing packages , we didn't want films or sport channels , the phone line will take a further two weeks and will be activated around the 12th of February before we can get them to send us a wireless router and get back on line.

Helen has put curtains up at most of the windows and nets and has change furniture around and the house now looks totally different it is getting more like home every day.
we are hoping to get a range cooker in the next few weeks so we can cook proper meals and roasts, at the moment we are getting quote for new PVC windows and doors although we might not be in a position to get them installed straight away .

Did some work on the house opened up the panelling that was on the banister and exposed the original spindles every one was in its original place they will need filling and painting .

Bought a hat and coat rack shelve from Ikea that i fitted on the hallway wall opposite the mirror .and fitted the pine shelf rack on the dinning room wall.

still not got Internet connection in the new house and its been hard updating the blog.Thinking of going with sky for TV phone and Internet will have to sort it out asp .

The house is coming on fine and we have just had electric and gas payment metres installed to big bills and demands dropping through the letter box. The washer is working after the door wouldn't shut when it was plumbed in we got a new machine to replace it which is working fine .

So its 2009 and hopefully its going to be a great year , i have been to court last Monday and i might end up with nothing from the house i left with my x wife she could get the whole of the house i will have to wait and see.Twenty years and not one penny i wont be bitter life goes on i am still working and i wont be paying maintenance for ever i hope my Son goes to college and gets a well paid job when he leaves this summer .

We are buying a range style cooker for £500 that retails for £1399 the two ring hob i bought of eBay the biggest of the two rings has already burnt out , we do now have a slow cooker and a deep fat fryer which Helen has done a chicken stew and braising steak with dumplings.

Helen has cut the hedge at the front of the house and is waiting to tackle the grass once its dry enough Helen has plants and trees and shrubs waiting to go in to the garden at the front and rear .

We need the kitchen wall and chimney breast opening up , we then can start to plan the kitchen and dinning room area start buying and fitting kitchen units and work tops,get the dishwasher and cooker in and working.