Cyber Life ? - update

Ok, what is going on with Face Book? I had never heard of it and have recieved 3 or 4 invites to join, then once I finally took the plunge about 6 other people wanted to be my friend on face book - all wihtin the last month- where do you all get the time to live a cyber life alongside your real life life?. I have enough difficulty managing blogger, which actually (probably becasue I have been using it for nearly a year) I find much easier. AND email, AND phone calls and actual face to face communications with people within the same suburb!

If any one can convince me to use it, please do. What is the atraction? perhaps I am missing something.

It is the end of another month. Winter is here - technically it is still Autumn but by golly 1 degree is certainly winter weather in my book. We have had a little frost and the mornings are pretty cold and dark already. Day light savings ends on the weekend, boo hoo.


Home schooling is going well. We still have days, like today when one of the children (usually W or M) decides they really do not want to do the work I have set for them. So today W did not go to school, I guess we all need mental health days. We had a bit of a chat and he reasures me that he does want to go to school and do the work I set and do it without fuss so that we have more time to do the stuff that he calls 'fun'. M is starting to write, read letters and is doing pretty well with his Maths (at about the right standard I think). J is doing well, trying to do all the work without fuss and enjoying having less pressure and no home work. I think of the three she is the one who can see the benefit to herself of being home schooled. W is improving in all the areas that he was reportedly 'behind' and most of the time compiant!

We have had visitors pretty much for 2 and 1/2 months. Now we are back on our own and should be able to get back into a good routine. Although we did pretty well whilst Grandma was here the temptation for me to take advantage of another pair of adult hands and get out and about was too much. Now that it is jsut me again, I might stay in a little more. Although a trip to Long Island to see a display of contemporary Aboriginal Art is on the cards and perhaps a stop off on the way at IKEA...

Last night we went into the City and met D at the clock in GRAND CENTRAL - never get enough of that. We were part of the audience for a recording of radio theatre for a radio show called The Night Kitchen. The story was "The Witches Child" by Aurthur Yorinks. He is also the person who established the Radio show and has written other children's books. This book is fabulous and we happened to be the lucky winners of a lucky seat draw to win a copy of the book. We had it autographed to which is very cool.

The tickets for the show were only $5- each. We had balcony (last row) seats but all of us could see the stage. For the children it was like listening to a really cool reading of a story book. There were 5 actors a couple of them playing more than one part and spooky sound effects. All 5 of us were captivated for the hour of the recording and made sure that we applauded when the applause sign was turned on.

I think I have updated everything for October, and just in time too since in less that 2 1/4 hours it will be November. I think it might be a little quieter than October. D will be away for a few days next week, just at a management course on Long Island (courtessy of the UN, he is also learning French and has a lesson every morning - gratis thanks also to the UN).

Oh, one more thing. J has been doing eye exercises for some time and over the last 6 weeks has been dilegently doing them 5 times a week. Her vision in her left eye has improved to almost equal that in her right eye. This is fabulous news, when she first was diagnosed with an extra long sighted left eye her brain had pretty much turned it off and was not bothering to use it at all. I remember the first time the health nurse (at 4 1/2 years old) covered her 'good' right eye she could not see out of her left eye and kept taking the patch off. She now has extra exercises and the Optomertrist is confident we can get even more improvement, she will always be long sighted but if both eyes see the same thing and have the same lense prescription we will have made huge progress, fingers crossed. She is still going well with her contact lenses, loves them and wears them every day.