Snippets Of Daily Life

Middle (then aged 8) happily engrossed in his favourite activity

So, it's been almost a week since I posted - apologies.  As it turns out, scheduling one's posts during a launch week is quite the prudent thing to do, especially if you're like me, with the kind of luck that makes Murphy rub his hands with glee.  Of course, I did not do this!  There was one thing after another this week - bam, bam, BAM.  So here I am, late to my own party!

This is just a quick check in - it's 12:36 am here at the moment - to keep you up to speed with what's been happening around these parts.

We visited Eldest's potential high school on Monday.  For those not familiar, Eldest is autistic and due to start high school at the beginning of February 2012.  Until now, he has been in supported education (ie, a special ed class within a mainstream school) but the places simply do not exist for a similar set up at the high school level, so it's pretty likely he'll enter eighth grade as a mainstream student, the first time he's ever done this.  This is real heart-seizure kind of stuff for us, but of course we're thankful his development in recent years may have placed him out of contention for a special ed class placement.  He'll always have a disability, but so far he's coping well enough in school to survive with minimal intervention.  It also afforded us the opportunity to check out the school from a 'non-disability' standpoint for when Middle and Youngest take the leap into the bigger fishpond in 2013 and 2015 respectively.  Eldest also has an NEP (Negotiated Education Plan / Individual Education Plan) scheduled for tomorrow so we have lots to talk over.

Middle took a long overdue visit to a podiatrist on Friday.  Apparently he has one of the worst cases of 'flat feet' the podiatrist had ever seen, but to be fair, the young lad looked fresh out of university so perhaps not the best indicator :P Middle will be fitted for an orthotic shoe insert in a couple of weeks and will require more expensive shoes from now on.  This little exercise (the consult, the shoe insert, the return visit and the shopping expedition to procure the new shoes) will put us out of pocket around $300, with a 'rinse and repeat' due somewhere between 6 and 12 months from now.  Again, mighty thankful we have money saved for this kind of thing.

Charlie the Wonderdog saw the vet this week.  Dog's memories are short, I discovered - the last time he'd been on the vet's table was while he still had his, uh, 'bits' intact over a year ago and he spent the entire time showing us the whites of his eyes and shivering like a mad thing.  He did well though and the visit was just for his most recent shots, but there went another $86!  Coincidentally, we'd just finished counting up our coin jar stash the night before and had 'found' $84.  Providence perhaps?

I have been making a very conscious effort to expand my culinary repertoire this week.  Full report in my next Menu Plan Monday post but so far, the big hits of the week have been the homemade Thai Red Curry sauce and tonight's Bacon & Herb Stuffing.  Both used FRESH herbs!  These usually wilt away to nothing in the bottom of my crisper before I get off my backside to cook with them!

I'm really hoping for a quieter week.  With far less expenditure thanks!