Happy New Year!

A Quick Recap...

So I failed miserably at updating before Christmas, it all got a bit chaotic and although I was doing a lot online, not a lot of it was happening over here!

Our Christmas was a bit of a wonky affair, hubby was working away until the night of the 23rd, he got back really late. He was home for the 24th and then had to leave at 3pm on the 25th which meant our usual Christmas shenanigans was cut short!

And just o throw an extra spanner in the works, Ebi-kun is applying to a junior high school* where he had to hand his application form in, by hand on Christmas morning!

So yes, by all accounts it was a bit of a shambles. Couple that with the decision to get a turkey crown instead of the full thing, which turned out to be tiny and just about did Christmas dinner with a wee bit left over, I couldn't even console myself with turkey butties for the week!

The good thing was that I decided to take time off, I feel like I have been attached to the internet pretty much permanently over the last few months and really needed to get back to the real world. So over the break, I have cracked open the paints, started to practice hand lettering and read a lot!

The boy wanted a new jacket and had his eye on this one, I'm not sure I'm ready for all this, I think I'm going to need a shitty stick to beat off all the girls! Although he really is going to have to start brushing his hair at some point!

*about junior high school. I am really not a fan of the JH system here, and we have seriously looked into homeschooling. I have no issues with the syllabus and reckon we could manage the education side with no problem the problem is friends/socialization.

Homeschooling is kind of frowned upon here, it is seen as what happens to kids who can't 'fit in' to school life the outcasts and the ultra-religious. It's not like the US or UK where there are normal people homeschooling regular kids who meet up in a co-op and have social interactions. Far from it.

And when kids get to JH age they get involved with the school club activities (pack mentality here) and very little happens outside school. The Football club he is in only has classes up to 6th grade elementary and aikido the kids drop out when they hit JH. So it really is a struggle to find anyone to hangout with.

I haven't been able to find anyone around his age who is homeschooled anywhere near us and being a non-religious family, with open minds and a love of curiosity our values do not match the ultra-religious lot.

So... the compromise was to look at different schools, we are in luck that one of the local schools has an excellent reputation BUT it is quite hard to get in. He needs to take an exam and if passes that an interview and then there is a lottery... please send your good vibes this way!

We have a couple more days off before work and school start again, I'm trying to enjoy them by doing as little as possible!

I have missed blogging so I feel like this year will be a bit of a revival!