Goodbye August, What a full month you have been.

I can’t say I’m happy to say goodbye to August, we have had some incredible moments. But I can’t say that it hasn’t been all plain sailing either. I don’t always write up monthly round ups as my life can be pretty mundane most of the time, but this Summer has been pretty full on.

Week One

The first of August started on a Monday and it was also the day we went to Devon on holiday. We were there for a week and the weather was glorious. I know caravan holidays are not everyone’s cup of tea but I love them. I could live in a caravan, in fact I really wish I did. I don’t have to walk far to reach anywhere and they are easy to keep clean and tidy. I’d just have to learn to keep my hoarding under control though.

The holiday had it’s ups and downs, the weather was fabulous EVERY DAY, the beach was gorgeous, we found lots to do and had lots of lovely food. The downsides were Star getting poorly and Boo having her purse stolen. But overall we had a wonderful start to the month.

Here’s a beach photo from our holiday, one of the happier days.

Week Two.

We got back to our home city of Birmingham on the day of closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. We didn’t go, we were shattered, but we did watch it on television. The very next day was The Little Man’s birthday. The original plan was to go out for a family meal, but we’d had so many meals out on holiday it just didn’t feel special enough so we took him to the Sea Life Centre and Legoland Experience. (You get a real bargain on tickets if you buy them both together.) His Eldest sister tagged along because she’d been wanting to visit the Sea Life Centre for a while.

It was a really lovely day and he had a great time. His big sister bought him a couple of toys from the shop. The Legoland Experience was something new for us and I only wished I’d been there when the kids were younger.

Week Three

Then it was time for mine and Boo’s visit to the theatre. It was a belated birthday present (her birthday is the end of July) and she’d chosen to see Les Misérables. I have never seen it before but had heard quite a few of the songs (One More Day, I Dreamed a Dream, Bring Him Home and more.) I always thought it was quite a depressing story but it does have it’s lighter moments that make you laugh. I want to watch the film now (the one with Hugh Jackman.) Boo really enjoyed it and got dressed up for the occasion in the gothic lolita dress she’d requested for her birthday, she had so many compliments from strangers on it. (Although a lady in the lift thought it was from Sailor Moon which is a little before Boo’s time.)

This was also my hospital treatment week where I go in every day for IVIG (intravenous immuglobulins.) Because of the theatre trip we tried something different and instead of four days treatment I had two days of double doses with a day off in between. It worked out ok for the theatre but the end of the week saw me nursing a hemiplegic migraine.

Week Three to Four

Just as I getting over my migraine at the end of week three we had to rush Star to Accident and Emergency. She was really poorly and ended up spending nearly four days in hospital. She is still poorly but we are trying to keep going and keep things as normal as possible for her. Like her birthday which was the day after her hospital release!

She’d hoped to have been going out but we opted for having some friends over for computer games and food. She enjoyed a couple of hours bowling with her friends a few days later when she was feeling stronger.

Week Four to Five

August is a long month and this August seems to have been going forever, but here we are on the last day. So far this week we have been sorting out Star’s college application and our Motability Car. Usually we are off to the car dealers as soon as we get the letter for renewal, but we have left it really late this year…this is the last day and we have had to apply for an extension on our current car.

For those of you who don’t know what a Motability Car is, I am entitled to one because I can’t walk any distance. In fact, walking from the house to the car is about as far as I can go with my walking sticks. I get a benefit which pays for the hire of a brand new car every three years. If I choose not to have the car I get the money instead which works out to around £63 a week. The car is great though, it means we have reliable transport, we don’t have to pay for insurance, car tax, repairs, services, and breakdown cover, it’s all included. The car doesn’t belong to us though and I have to give it back after three years and choose a new one. We have to pay a down payment on the car which in the past has been around £600 to £1000. It’s much higher now so we may have to choose a much cheaper car. We also get one mobility aid added to the car for free and I was hoping to get my hand controls back so I could drive again. Sadly, I don’t have a licence anymore, it was taken away on medical grounds and I don’t know if I will get it back.

Back to School

We are thinking about the return to school but even this isn’t plain sailing this year. Boo doesn’t go back until 15th September which is really late. The school was in trouble with Ofsted towards the end of the last school year, so we can only hope that it is Actually going to open again.

We took the Little Man out of school because they couldn’t resolve his bullying issues or provide him with the support he needed. So now I have to find a new school for him and all the schools in the area are full. If they close Boo’s school the situation will be worse.

Star is applying for a college course, she has until the end of this week to get it finalised, but with her current health conditions I’m not sure if she will manage. My plan is to keep life as normal as possible for her for as long as possible so we will keep going for now. We have found a wonderful sounding support system and are planning a meeting with them next week. Fingers very tightly crossed.

So, Goodbye August, you have been sunny and bright (mostly) and very very full.

If you are looking to save some money on back to school items please read my post on my other blog, Save up to 70% off Back to School Essentials.