Update

A quick update for you on what is happening around here. It has not been a good week. Things do not seem to be going our way at all. I have had a headache that I can't get rid of which descended into full blown migraine on Wednesday. I am a bit better today.

The situation regarding the house move is cautiously hopeful. The solicitor and estate agent are hopeful that we can exchange contracts on Monday although this is hinging on one bit of paper that our buyers solicitor needs which is their signed authority to release funds. They say it should be on their desk on Monday and if it is we can exchange.

If we exchange on Monday we can hopefully complete on Friday. Being the pessimist that I am, I can see this going on into the following week. That will not be good for us at all as Simon goes back to school on Monday and they just heard this week that they have Offsted coming in. For the benefit of my Merikan friends who may not have heard of Offsted........ This is from their website....................

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. We report directly to Parliament and we are independent and impartial. We inspect and regulate services which care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages.

Every week, we carry out hundreds of inspections and regulatory visits throughout England, and publish the results on our website.

The aim of all this work is to promote improvement, raise standards and value for money in the services we inspect and regulate, so that children and young people, parents and carers, adult learners and employers benefit.

It's a whole load of tosh of course and does nothing what so ever to raise standards. It does induce hysteria among teachers and other staff though who seem to act as if the end if the world is nigh. Personally I think, if you are doing your job properly in the first place then where is the problem? Not to mention that Offsted will never ever get a full picture of a school whilst they continue the practice of giving notice of their intended visit. If they really want to see what a school is like and what is going on then they need to arrive out of the blue without prior notice.

I initially thought Simon would be thrilled that he would miss a day of it as he is entitled to 1 day off for a house move. He has however told me that no way can he take time off that week even though he is entitled too! So if it is that week, I will be on my own. Just wonderful. The thought of locking up our empty home where we have been for 26 years for the last time all on my own is really upsetting. Not to mention going to the new one alone too. That is something we should be doing together.

The whole thing caused an almighty row between us on Tuesday which led to the migraine. I think he should take the day he is entitled to whatever. He says professional integrity doesn’t allow it and it would put pressure on others at school. What about the pressure on me? What about all the times when he has been placed under pressure to cover for teachers who he knows are just taking the pee? We didn't plan it this way, didn't know Offsted was coming.

This should be a time of great excitement for us both and instead it is just one long depressing nightmare. Please hope that we can go next Friday so that we can be there together.

The house is probably about half packed now. Joshua is supposedly moving out today although he is currently still in bed and it is a quarter past eleven in the morning. Once he has gone I will clean his room and then we intend to stack boxes in there to make it easier on the day. Still having trouble finding a removal company that can do the 28^th. Most can do the following week.

Other news this week is that Simon has now been diagnosed with a seriously under active thyroid in addition to the Pernicious Myeloblastic Anaemia. Apparently it is another auto immune thing. The doctor says it looks like his body is turning against itself. He starts on Thyroxine tablets today in addition to his injections. I understand that it can be quite difficult to get the dose of thyroxine just right so he will need to keep going back to them to make adjustments. In the mean time the tablets could make him even worse. Good enough reason to have a week off if you ask me. He really isn't well at all.

The rest of the family are OK. We are all trying to get to grips with the sad news we had at the start of this week. Hopefully better news will come along soon. Little Ev has had his blood tests now for the B12. Don't know the results yet.

I think that is about it for now. Simon starts the weeks half term break tomorrow and we will obviously be busy getting things organised. I will try to drop in next week to let you know how it is going. If I disappear totally then please assume that we have gone and that I will be back as soon as possible. I am sure that a few friends can keep you updated. My cousin Wendy will know.