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As I write this for those of us in Sydney its already 2009, so Happy New to all of you.

All I can say is thank goodness 2008 is over. Its been one hell of a year – the highs have been really high and the lows really low and the in-between just felt like coasting between the two.

It all started on such a high (literally) when Hubby, the kids and I climbed Mt Kosciuszko on New Years Day 2008. All 2208 metres of it, and a 12km round trip of walking. Mostly it was hot too, so much for the altitude reducing the temperature!!!!

Then some of it stayed on a high and the rest just, well, collapsed. I did read in the paper a couple of weeks ago that its been a bad year all round because of the alignment of the planets and that next year is set to be better.

So to briefly tell you about the lows, the biggest one has been the journey with Daisy. Most, if not all of you, know that something has been going on, but maybe not what. I have been trying to find out if she is on the Autism spectrum, more specifically if she fits the description of someone with Asperger’s Syndrome. After 3 psychologist visits, 3 paediatrician appointments and 1 appointment with the Developmental Psychologist and 2 observations of her at school, I am really none the wiser. We have also had speech therapy every Saturday too. The whole process has felt like a rollercoaster ride and I still feel not much wiser in some ways, and in other ways a lot wiser. The latest from the Paediatrician is that he agrees with Aspergers but hasn’t diagnosed it formally, rather she is just “quirky”, but that she definitely has ADHD-Innattentive (ADHD-I) and ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder).  Apparently medication doesn’t work so well for ADHD-I so we need to try some other strategies to manage the every day things that we need to do at home. Also, because of the ODD, apparently normal discipline techniques don’t work (Yeah tell me about it when I have to get her out the door every morning) so we need to try some alternatives. I have spoken to her school about it and they will implement some more specific things for her next year, including access to the learning support teacher and the school counsellor.

This has been I guess not so much of a low but really an up and down emotional roller coaster ride. We at least have some direction for next year and the Paed wants to see us to review how things are going around March.

Then there was the marriage-stopping moment that we hit in August. Only through lots of talking, and a trip away, did we get through that one.

So, in an effort to not dwell on the negative, here are my positives for 2008:

1: The four of us climbed Mt Kosciuszko on New Years Day (no mean feat considering none of us were extremely fit)

2: Tiger recieved a Distinction and a Credit for his 1st and 2nd Grade Trumpet exams respectively, in only his 2 year of playing trumpet.

3: I started my blog, something that I had wanted to do for a long time. I can’t believe it has been almost a year already. I got to meet some wonderful people online through my blog, and even met some in the flesh. Amazing!!!!!!!

4: I was accepted into Uni and survived 2 semesters and 5 subjects with a very good result for all my subjects, and I am loving it

5: The rest of the family survived me studying

6: Daisy received an award at her end of year presentation day for “Most Outstanding Improvement”. This is big enough let alone everything that we have been through this year. Needless to say, I shed some tears when I found out she was getting an award, I think it was pure relief.

7: We had the best Christmas Day I can remember for a long time – we had my family and Hubby’s family here on Christmas Day. There was much food and alcohol consumed and everyone had a great time. That’s how it should be isn’t it?………

8: Hubby realised a long held dream and we got this as our family Christmas present:

Ours is a little different to the picture but it gives you an idea of what it is. For those that want the details, it is 18ft long, with a 2ft swim platform at the stern (back) and it has a V6 Mercruiser inboard (sterndrive) which just purrrrrrrrsssssss. And it goes FAST!!!!!  Hubby and I have worked on a happy medium of division of jobs and his job is to do the car and trailer bits and mine is to get the boat on and off the trailer and dock it so I can pick him up. With the exception of docking, the on and off the trailer bit really appeals to the revhead in me, cause I have to almost floor it to get it on and off *insert Tim the Toolman grunts*. All jokes aside, we are having great fun with it so far and it means that we have spent time as a family with little or no distraction. So far, we have put the boat in in the upper reaches of the Harbour and travelled down to the Harbour Bridge and also the Hawkesbury River, where the kids had their first go at water-skiing.

So I wish you all the best for 2009. I hope that you manage to see some dreams realised and that you and yours are healthy and happy. I know that for a lot of people 2008 has not been kind, including me, so I hope that 2009 is kinder to everyone, despite the forecasts for economic doom and gloom.

At the beginning of a New Year when we all face so much uncertainty, I hope that everyone finds some certainty in their lives.

Here’s to a virtual toast – Happy 2009 to all of you

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