It has been a busy few days.  I'v been trying to sort out some of the kids' stuff ready for the move.  Its going to be difficult moving in to a smaller house but I keep telling myself its only for a short time (hopefully) and will be better for us with a lift for Xander.
We get the keys tomorrow- very exciting - and hopefully the carpet for Xander's room will be fitted tomorrow too.  We drove past today and could see that there were workmen in sorting out the kitchen, which is a relief.
Saturday sees the cleaners coming in and giving it a really good scrub - seeing this house makes me realise that actually I am cleaner and tidier than I thought!
We have booked Paul and his van for next week, Mum and Dad are taking the kids to their house for a few days so we can just focus on moving and not have to worry about them being safe, occupied and Xander looked after.
We have sorted out storage for outside - losing the bedroom and 2 reception rooms was going to be hard enough but to lose the garage as well was going to prove almost impossible!
I think Simon and I are really looking forward to moving though - hard work aside.  The end of private landlords can't come soon enough!  We were talking about the studio flat we had when we were students and how lovely our landlord had been  - Chris - and hadn't tried to withhold any deposit because of a few bumps due to 2 years of living there.  I know that even though we have looked after this house and will make sure it is pristine when we move out the people who own it will still try to rip us off regarding deposit.  Hopefully they will have nothing to try to claim for.