the eleventh day of Christmas

there is no such thing as the perfect decision.

when we all decided to go to school, we made the decision this time last year. it was a completely unknown entity, sending three little tackers off into the big wide world. it seemed an antithesis of our beliefs about family and education, yet the mamma and the papa needed our own togetherness oasis. i was up and down about the decision the whole of last summer, and yet, the sun has continued to shine. hotly and sweetly.

fast forward one amazingly eventful year.

last night and today, there have been a few celebrations:

Michael topped his whole class (he got a stickerfiKATE with a GOLD STAMP for Academic Excellence), and today both Raych and Joel walked across stage at Senior Prizegiving. Woozie for Soft Materials Technology (all her fabricky creativeness) and Charlie for French, Te Reo Maori; Excellence in Tutor Class (Service and special character award); and Excellence in Year Group (80% average across all subjects).

not bad for ex-homeskoolers, huh?

so tonight we are cracking the bubbly. and having a freaking weekend. cos The Dawg has worked around three hundred (oh alroight then, closer to four hundred) hours, day and night, since he started back a month ago. We've hardly seen him. and last night he had an epiphany, which is great timing, cos it's nearly his birthday, when he will turn the magic age of 42... which is, of course, the answer to life, the universe, and everything.