It’s Wednesday and I’m back at work, all the christmas excitement has now been religated to the past and looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store for us.

I am back at work after a week away. I don’t really like taking leave to sit around and do nothing around the house, I prefer to take a day or two as and when necessary to do something or just have a recoup day but I only like the thought of taking a long leave to travel. However, doesn’t look like I will be doing that anytime soon unless I have a windfall but for now I am just trying to survive these next two months while reserving some for mortgage, car insurance and road worthy, phone bill which will all start coming to haunt me in the next few weeks. Dstv will have to wait until my bonus comes in March me thinks.

After not giving me a dime this christmas (although they promised me), the security company are now avoiding my calls. That cash would really be helpful right now. I don’t like making promises that I can’t keep but these people, at least, just tell me the truth, give me a realistic date and then stick to it. Instead they raise expectations and then let you down and disappear. But I shall peservere, luckily I have an office cell and I am entitled to limitless calls, well providing I don’t take the piss with it. I don’t have an issue with having to buy credit though so I will keep calling. At the moment I call him during office hours, I’m going to start calling him at odd hours, I will talk very calmly but just be a nuisance, maybe when his wife starts questioning him, he may pay me off just to get rid of me.

But in Ghana they say we are magicians, well those of us salaried workers who are not part of the 10% of stinking loaded people in the country. It’s true. After my mortgage and loan comes out, I am left to live on 500ghs. With that I have to eat, pay bills, fuel, and do personal things like my hair. But somehow I am managing to make it to the end of the month. The cost of living is just so high here, it is like living in Britain but without a British salary. Had I got what I was earning before which was only (she says) 24k, I would be ok but I’m earning half that. I really need to find me a second job or business. I was thinking about lecturing , but I am really crap at public speaking. Even in my current job I have done 22 monthly review presentations, and I still get tongue tied and lose my train of thought. I just need to do something, I was thinking of something like events management, or wedding planning or some kind of service which will bring in a couple of extra dollars so. At one point I was thinking about a brothel, but yeah that is still in the idea stage, wouldn’t know where to start anyway.

I just want to live a little. I haven’t bought clothes or shoes in 2 years, I haven’t seen my friends in London for the same amount of time. It costs around the equivalent of £700, but I barely have enough at the end of the month to actually save any money. Well let’s see, what 2012 has in store, miracles do happen. This morning, the office is empty. I left at 7.30 and got to work in 20 minutes. I love coming in this time of year, most people are on leave so are either in bed or have travelled and there is no traffic. All the expats in the office have gone for the holidays so I am here behind the PC listening to old N*Sync tracks. The memories, I for one loved them and I didn’t care and I know there are a lot of black folk that did like them but were afraid to admit it until Justin shaved off his mop and they became more R&B. I walked to a colleagues desk, he was chatting to his wife on facebook, another lady has bought in her kids. I read a few mails, I blog, I read a few more mails, I facebook I read more mails, then off to the mall. It’s the most stress-free working period of the year, I love it. By the second week of Jaunuary it’s meetings, and meeting preparations so I really do appreciate this quiet time in the office.

Yesterday was a day of nearly’s but never did. I was feeling quite lazy yesterday but I put it down to only having had 3 hours sleep and a cold that I couldn’t shift, but today I realize is because I am coming down with a bout of malaria, sucks as, what a time to get it. I’ve taken a course of medication, hopefully by Saturday I should be ok, the last thing I want is to be spending my New Years Eve sick and in bed.

I nearly went out to a friend’s engagement party (he called me today to ask why I never turned up, I felt bad), I didn’t go because for one, I did not receive the text message that he sent out. Then, I didn’t know where he lived and my boys had decided to take themselves off to the beach, I found out when I got to the house to find nobody there, so I couldn’t get the directions. I could have called my friend’s brother but we have history and stubborn me just didn’t want to call him so I left it.

Then I got a call from Jones, the married guy, asking if I would come over to his house. I don’t know why he is so adamant that I should go to his house, he’s a nice guy to talk to on the phone and everything but don’t want to lead him on or get myself in a position with somebody’s husband that I shouldn’t do, so I politely declined.

I nearly went to meet Mark. Mark is a Nigerian guy I met at Rhapsody’s. Not bad looking, we got chatting and he seemed nice. Smother would not approve purely on the basis that he is a Nigerian. I think I may have mentioned it on a forum, but she is old school and believes all Nigerians are 419 (scam artistes). My fingers have been burnt by plenty enough Ghanaian men, so even though ideally I would like to settle down with a Nice Ghanaian man, as long as the guy makes me happy and I make him happy, he could be from Timbuktu. So I nearly went out to meet him, but ended up having a text conversation with Jeff.

Jeff is a London guy here on holiday. I keep meeting all these guys from London, where were they exactly in the 31 years I was living there???? Very easy on the eye. We actually met at Bella Roma on Saturday and then I bumped into him on the Monday. I actually didn’t think I would hear from him again from our first meeting and then on Monday I saw him chatting to a lady with rather large hair, but he said that he promised to call me, so he did. He lives in Bromley, he works for the council, and teaches part time, sounds like a responsible guy. He would like to settle in Ghana but he wants a salary to match what he is making back home. He’s still single because he is too picky, he’s 33, it may have been good if he lived in this country or I was still over there, but it’s not, so oh well, nearly.

Still no word from Giles, maybe it’s a good thing. He is prone to throwing strops when he doesn’t get his own way, although as always I was starting to like him. I am always looking for the diamond in the rough, but really should see that there is no diamond in there, just glass, very sharp glass.

Well I hope that you all had a good Christmas , I will be out for a while to get over this malaria. However I am wishing you a wonderful new year, I hope all your hearts desires come to pass in 2012.

See you on the other side.