Re-grouping

We have found a house to rent for 6 months in Crookes. Hopefully we will move in at the start of February, by which time Susannah should be in a local school and Noah in nursery. Until then, we're staying in a flat belonging to friends - we were there, briefly, before, when we sold our house last summer.

Although I lived in Sheffield for 14 years, I've never lived in Crookes. Jo did for a year when we were students. But we'll be well placed for friends around us as we try to discern the longer-term future. And in the meantime, I'm looking for work locally.

If all went according to plan, my sister - who is still in hospital - moved to a mother-and-baby accommodation within the Psychiatric Department today. It is, apparently, the only such facility in the country, and will allow her to have her 10-week old baby with her - supported - while the negative effects of the steroids work their course. Rachel did her psychiatric rotation (she is a GP) there not too long ago; knows the team; and is happy with the arrangement - which should be good for everyone involved.

A friend of ours is in the Hallamshire Hospital at the moment, with a painful condition the doctors can't, so far, identify. And just before Christmas another friend found out that she has breast cancer. I'm sick and tired of what feels like a massive increase in serious illness among those around us. But I'm not going down without a fight. Rally the Prayer Warriors! Like the imposing Gates of Mordor, the Gates of Hell will not prevail...