I'm sick of being poor!

When I moved I applied for tax credits and child benefit straightaway. The form did say that it could take up to eight weeks, but it also said that some claims get sorted as early as two weeks.

Being in an optimistic/stupid frame of mind, I reckoned on it being not much more than two weeks.

Well, now when I ring they say that it takes a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks. But that time-scale is calculated from a date some weeks after I applied. Apparently it can take up to 3 weeks to reach the office that processes it.

So why don't they say it can take up to 11 weeks, instead of 8? To give us false hope I suppose, so we don't actually jump off a bridge.

I'm very lucky in that I have grown-up sons and kind friends to offer financial and emotional support. But without that I would be in really big trouble, and as it is I'm fairly deep in the shit. I keep getting threatening letters from the council about the rent. I know the most important thing is to contact them and explain. But I can't afford to put credit on my phone, and I'm working in a tiny crowded office, and ringing from there is fairly unthinkable.

My daughter managed to pick up some belongings from her dad's house at the weekend. She brought what she thought was her little sister's nightdress from her bedroom floor, but it's a woman's pink top, too big for me, one of those mumsy things with a big appliqued flower near the shoulder and another near the hem.

I'm quite glad if he's found himself another woman. It could explain why he seems to be prepared to leave me alone, unlike other times when I've tried to leave. But it does scare me a bit to think I might well never have sex again, and it's a bit humiliating to think he can still pull!