Keep on Trying

Emily refused to go to school again yesterday saying she was sick.  She wasn't but there was an incident on Thursday morning with another girl at school and I can well understand her not wanting to front up to that again.  Phill was pretty pissed off and so was I at first.  He was all defeatist etc but these issues have been going on for a long time and they aren't going to get fixed overnight.  My attitude is that we got her to go back, a HUGE step when at one time we didn't think she ever would.  She had one and a half days at school this week when for weeks she wasn't there at all.  We will just keep on plugging away at it, encouraging her and keeping our eye on the prize, her school certificate.  Phill rang the school to let them know she was refusing again, and I want to keep them in the loop and keep asking for their support and help.  The internet was turned off most of the day and when it got turned on last night for us to do some banking and other stuff, she must have found out and when we turned it off again had the hide to come out and ask why.  We just laughed, we couldn't help it.
Phill went to put Josh's bed base together yesterday and found they'd given us the wrong parts so he had to drive all the way to Young to take it back and get the right ones.  Josh's mattress and our bed got delivered on time and I commented to the guys that we should always shop locally.  They were great as usual and even put my bed wrap on the bottom of the ensemble which was a struggle as this bed is taller than our old one.

Much easier to make as I don't have to bend down so far.  It's really comfortable but took a bit of getting used to as it's new and firm and not dippy and squishy like our old bed.

Josh's bed looks stupid with his single doona that barely covers the mattress let alone any overhang so we're going to walk down to the shops (Phill has the car) and get him a double woolleen doona as he doesn't like feathers, and a new cover set.  I ordered him a lambswool underblanket on the net last night, a magnetic one the same as the one I got for Emily's bed and it was on sale and really cheap so I was pretty happy with that.  Don't you just love online shopping?

  It was a really nice day yesterday, almost warm, so I hope that means the really cold weather is behind us.  Sydney is awash after days and days of relentless rain.  Why does it never seem to fall where it's needed the most?  I remember during the drought years watching the weather reports on the news of rain and floods in the cities and looking out our window at a dust storm as people lost their jobs (including Phill at one time) because there was no wheat or canola to haul, and farmers were topping themselves left right and centre.

I am feeling calm and centred, the new menopause supplement I am taking seems to be working well, and I'm eating properly and taking good care of me.  We have almost got this house just the way we want it and it's so comfortable and peaceful.  The old house had some really bad energy, we knew it but didn't realise how bad until we got out of it. 

I am proud of how I handled Emily yesterday, although I was disappointed and a little angry I stayed calm and told her we just wanted what is best for her and that staying away from school is letting the bullies win, and that she has so much potential.  She did say she would go on Monday so we'll assume that is going to happen and carry on regardless.  Phill was saying things like going ahead with this therapy is pointless but that could not be further from the truth.  We've been offered a lifeline and we are not going to throw it away.  We won't just get through these challenging times, we will SHINE, and not just Emily and me, but all four of us.  I wonder if Phill feels a bit threatened by the prospect of therapy and getting things out in the open and working on them?  He has never wanted to have any type of counselling even in our toughest times, like after we lost Sarah.  I can understand him feeling a bit scared but he has shown that he can change and rise to a challenge (which has often surprised me) so I know the potential is there for us all to just live the best lives we can, and if we need some help to do that, we'll take it gratefully.

Once we've done our shopping I might get the kids out into the garden and dig my beautiful compost into the vegie patch to get it ready for Spring plantings.  I bought a compost bin when we lived in Junee and it was just starting to be ready for the garden when we moved up here and Phill just left it there.  This time, he brought the compost with us and put it onto the vegie garden and it was just gorgeous, perfect even.  Our landlady dug a little rectangle right up the back by the gate out onto the lane and has it set up with reticulation so it's going to be lovely to grow our vegies here.  We haven't decided what to plant yet, we might sit outside this afternoon if the weather is still nice and go through our gardening books to see what would grow best and what we would actually eat.

We'll have our Saturday night bbq providing Phill gets home in time and maybe even listen to Saturday Night Juke Box on the radio like we used to do years ago.  I found a good chicken satay recipe in a magazine that doesn't just use peanut butter out of a jar, but peanuts blended with other tasty stuff.  Got some pork ribs and other mystery items in the freezer to use up.  And I think I'll do my hot baby vegetables with lemon and garlic dressing, an old WW recipe and a good Winter substitute for salad.

Life is gooooood.