And the good news is...

1. The process of renting our house out is almost complete: to date the deal has been signed, sealed and will be delivered by the end of the month. Now I just need to effect all the repairs I've been busily ignoring for the past however-many-months and start sorting out our junk... (and with three kids, we sure do have a lot of junk - garage sale, anyone?)
2. I may have found a rental house for us to live in. It's not exactly the area I considered when I started my search but it's workable with it's own unique charm. The house itself is beyond charming and, brilliantly, has just been completely refurbished with a tasteful eye (not usually the case here in Dubai where, it seems, the majority of landlords consider bathrooms with tiles the color of chopped liver to be ultra-desirable)
3. I've been offered a job: just need to see if the terms are reasonable and the hours flexible before I decide one way or the other
4. Off to see British singer-songwriter and ex-lead singer of the Verve Richard Ashcroft on Friday night, a total nod to my disreputable youth. Listening to Bittersweet Symphony still makes me think of sitting on the top of London's Primrose Hill with my mates watching the sun come up after a hard night dancing at Hoxton's once-famous 333 club or one of the dodgy one-off nights they used to hold underneath the Arches in Vauxhall. The big difference is that this time I'll be 15 years older and dancing on the sand at Dubai's Nasimi Beach, hopefully with a complicated cocktail in my hand. I'm very much looking forward to it - after all, even an ancient mother-of-three needs to let her hair down now and then.