Category: Useful Things I did Today

Since becoming in-valid…. I am really excited by every little thing that I can get done. No dishes yet, but I can stack the dishwasher!

80%

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I can swallow without painkillers, I can breathe, I can stay awake for more than an hour, and I can eat! I’m not feeling 100%, but after the past few months, 80% feels pretty damn good 🙂

Inigo and I took his paperwork up to school on Wednesday morning, and he is now on the road to being enrolled in big school. His school transition program starts next month, so we are gearing up for a big end of the year, and hopefully he is looking forward to the exciting elements of school rather than the scary ones. We’ve chosen a school that is just a bit further away than our local school, it’s just a bit smaller, a bit more diverse, and it has a school garden program, and no canteen. It’s still in easy cycling distance from home, and we’ve been attending playgroup and other activities there since before Inigo could walk, so he is very familiar with the environment.

I am trying super hard to be upbeat and positive, and not give in to the “he was only born about a week ago, and now I have to give his care over to the state, and he’s still my tiny baby” panic. He is sooo ready for the academic side of school life, and we are doing our best (with the help of his new preschool) to support his social interactions with kids his own age. He has no trouble holding long conversations with adults, but tends to find his peers pretty boring. Since that reminds me so much of me, I do worry, but I also know that we have made good choices for him, and that he will be well supported. And school for him will be worlds away from what I experienced in the mid 1970’s!

Uni is on a break for another week, so all I have to do is look after myself (and avoid getting sick again), and look after my lovely family. A new development that I would like to record for my own recollection is that in the past couple of weeks, bedtime has (touch wood) ceased to be a drama. After my very low point a few weeks ago, I’ve managed to institute a new routine that involves reading a long form story (starting with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and now James and the Giant Peach), after a few chapters of which he now snuggles in for a cuddle and drifts off to sleep in my arms. I hesitate to say that we have cracked the sleep problem, because it has been the bane of our existence for four and a half years, but the last two weeks have been great. Sleep time is now a time of loving connection and joy rather than a two hour screaming match that leaves everyone emotionally traumatised. Long may it last.

And tomorrow I am having friends over for a crafty morning. Mark has been going out on a Monday evening to follow his crazy hobbies, so I am co-opting Saturday mornings for mine. There is an open invitation to all, so if you are up for a bit of cake nibbling and yarn fondling, do pop over!

Happy 40th Birthday Mark

My darling husband turned 40 last week, and today I am throwing him a party. Now please don’t be offended if you didn’t get an invitation – this is a party for special people. Very special.

The type of “special” that still loves to play Dungeons and Dragons into their 40’s.

We’ve moved Cocky into the living room so that the players can take over the kitchen. I’ve made a huge pot of soup, and bread, and am bringing in pizza and making sausage rolls and popcorn. Perfect for a boys own adventure for grown ups, while the kids and widows take over the living room and watch movies 🙂 In my fantasy version of this party, the weather was good so the kids could play outdoors, but we’ll muddle through.

Happy Birthday darling. I love you.

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O Week

No tutorials or pracs this week, but thanks to Bev and Mum I am able to attend the first lectures of each of my two subjects (Social and Personality Psychology, and Cognition 1). So today all I had to do was get my student card, and try to borrow a book from the library.

After the walk from the carpark, I was already sweaty and lightheaded. I found the line for the student card, and quickly decided that I would either pass out or vomit if I had to stand there for more than a bout 5 minutes, so I gave up. The school leavers around me in the queue were outraged that I was planning on staying on campus without a valid student card. I thought one of them was going to hyperventilate because of the wild and unbuttoned anarchy. And that is clearly the problem with mature age students on campus 😉

I found myself some water, and joined the Dr Who society, the Greens, the Psychological Society, the Womens Collective, the LGBTI group (poor chap wasn’t quite ready for me), and the atheists. By which point I was ready to take to my chaise. I then came across the Campus Wellbeing stall, and it occurred to me that I might as well go and make friends with them, being that if this year goes well I’ll have a baby, and I may need extra support, and if things go badly, I won’t have a baby, and I will very shortly afterwards be certifiably insane…

So I staggered upstairs, explained my history to the lovely Jackie, and made an appointment to see a disability support officer in a few weeks time. She then offered to help me get my student card by taking me to the head of the queue. I almost protested, but better sense prevailed, and I gratefully accepted. And then, once I got it, I had another sit down for an hour to recover my strength to get back to the car.

So I spent about 3 hours in total, and managed to get 1 student card, drink about 2 litres of water, and book in to the wellbeing centre.

But I appear to have completely bypassed all of the promised O Week craziness.

Should I go back tomorrow? I still have a book to find!

Well…

That was about as much fun as stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork. And I am not done yet.

The subjects I have chosen all have prerequisites, which I will be exempted from because of previous studies, but that credit wont be applied until
Some time over the weekend. Once that is done, I should be able to apply online on Monday or Tuesday.

Then I can buy textbooks, and start the serious business of study. Finally!

Enrollment day

Tomorrow is enrolment day at Macquarie. I am all kinds of conflicted about the decision, but for now, I am going to stick with Macquarie. If it all goes pear shaped, I am pretty sure UNE would take me back, and give me credit for anything I achieve at Macquarie, so it’s a pretty low risk experiment.

That said, it’s a lot of hassle to avoid being away from my kid for one three day residential school. Now the wheels are in motion, and I am going to make the best of things, and try to be excited about my first ever experience as an on campus university student. At 42 years of age, I’ll be finding out what I missed out on by having my *head up my own arse at 18 years old.

*Disclaimer – while I think that most 18 year olds have their head up their own arses, I think there are exceptions, and some of them even pass first year. I also think it is fair to note that in the intervening years my head has not been entirely, or permanently removed from its place of lodging.

Wish me luck!

Was about to go to bed…

…when I realised that I had forgotten to check UAC for mid round offers, which were released today.

I’ve been offered a place in a Bachelor of Science at Macquarie.

Now I just have to decide if I’ll take it. Which probably sounds bizarre given the amount of stress I have been vibrating with over this issue.

I suppose the disappointment, and the waiting has taken its toll, and I am realising that Macquarie is a great big faceless institution, and UNE is a lot more student friendly. I’ll be swapping support for access. There are a lot of factors to weigh up – but at least now I have a CHOICE.

And in Squishy news, he came home last night declaring an unwillingness to go back to preschool today. So we talked a lot, and took it easy this morning. It turns out that he’s a bit overwhelmed with the busyness and noise of preschool. He’s only ever been with a maximum of four other kids at daycare, so it’s a big adjustment. And one of the kids said something mean to another kid, then Squish thought they were talking about him (he wasn’t), and he found the whole thing very upsetting.

We talked about how interpersonal relationships are hard, even for grown ups, and that the best you can do is use your manners and be kind and friendly. If you can do that, you will always find someone who wants to hang out with you. And that sometimes it can be hard to make new friends, but the rewards are great.

He agreed to go (we were nearly an hour late), and before we left home we rehearsed asking Christian if he would like to play.

This afternoon, when I went to pick him up, he was surrounded by kids, happily drawing away. About six of the kids piped up with, “Inigo, your mum’s here!”. He ran to me, and on the way home told me that he and Christian had played together.

It feels like a huge win. I am so proud of that kid, I could burst.

Ermentrude’s new friend

Mark took Inigo out for his first tandem bike ride today, most of the way to preschool. Hopefully, tomorrow will be dry enough that we can take all the bikes to the park so that we can go for a ride together 🙂

Thanks to mum for picking up the tool to install it, and getting Inigo a hat that actually fits his enormous head!

Update

Just spoke to Chad from the admissions center, told him the whole story, burst into tears, and he was really helpful.

Hes going to look further into it, and get back to me on Monday or Tuesday.

In the meantime, Im going to change my preferences to put a BA into the mix. With an entry ATAR of 75, its much more likely that I will get in, and the switch from there.

Uni update

I got a letter from UAC today – they needed me to provide a certified copy of my marriage certificate, and certified copies of both my ABA qualifications.

Much to my astonishment, I managed to find all the documents I needed (with a bit of help from mum), get copies, get the copies certified, and get them in the post – all in one day.

I also had another chat with a UAC phone jockey, who said that main round offers are not until the 18th of January. I have the option of paying about $120 and getting my application turned into an ATAR like number (so that I can have a rational assessment of my chances of getting in to the course I want at the uni I want). Or I can wait.

It’s going to be a long wait.