A REAL red letter day...

Today I got the best piece of mail I've had all year!

When we last visited Utah (before Edith was born) Dylan had two seizures.  We'd upgraded our bank account to include travel insurance just one day before we left on the trip, but we found out after we got home that they'd signed us up for the wrong policy and Dylan wasn't covered.

We lodged an official complaint, which our bank denied.  So we took it to the next level, and lodged a complaint with the financial ombudsman.  It took a long time to recieve a decision, but we finally got it in the post today.

Our bank is going to have to pay the medical bills.  They are going to have to pay an additional 8% per annum interest.  In addition, they are going to have to pay us a small sum as compensation for the stress and inconvenience caused (I didn't ask for that part).  So we can finally pay those bills, and we can donate the sum that Primary Children's Medical Center wrote off for us back to them.  And my mom and dad can finally stop getting harassed by bill collectors who refuse to give up and also refuse to make an international phone call to pursue their cash.

I was so excited to get the letter, I literally cried. 

In parenting news, Dylan has been having a hard time at school.  He's been fighting with other students, hitting them, throwing things, and just generally disobeying his teachers.

Of course, this means that he hasn't been able to watch bedtime cartoons.  That's the standard punishment for bad behavior at school.  But Edith is old enough now that skipping bedtime cartoons all together is a punishment for her, too.  So last night I gave the kids their bath first and then sent Dylan up to bed.  Edith and I stayed downstairs and watched cartoons without him. 

Wow, he really did not like that at all.  He screamed for 45 minutes.  I didn't cave in, though.  I stuck to my guns. 

I was totally Zen!

(Thank you, Zumba, for wearing me out and helping me vent my anger and NOT take it out on my kids.)

Today when I dropped Dylan off at school, I told his teacher about his home punishment if he had to stand out at school so she could use it as an incentive for good behavior.  And guess what...it worked!  He was great at school.  So great that I agreed to let him have a sleepover with Nathan and Esaias Munday.

The neighbors are replacing the wall in the back garden.  It was falling over and the mortar was crubling to pieces.  I'm a bit sad, because they are replacing it with a modern panel fence.  No more secret garden brick wall--at least, not on the north side.  But it's going to look good.  Better than the back end of their cheap old fence they put in when they first bought the house.  We're just going to need to put some climbing plants on a trellis to get back some of the character.  They've spent the last two days ripping out the old wall, and the new fence is going in tomorrow.

I am also going to take Dylan to play football tomorrow morning.  I'm not sure if they'll let him play, because he is technically still too young.  But he certainly doesn't look or act too young.

Speaking of Dylan looking grown up, he got a new haircut today.  It's a bit Justin Beiber-ish, and he looks so adorable.  He asked me to start combing his hair flat instead of spiking it up, and this cut was the next step.  He's really starting to be interested in what he wears and how his hair looks.  And wow, he's going to be a looker.

I swear, next time I'll mention my daughter a bit more.

And that's the news.