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The image linked above is a picture of my dog Charlie.  He's a Schipperke, we think.  He looks a lot like our other Schipperkes, except he's bigger.  Note the huge Flying Nun ears! 

We rescued Charlie.  He was in a shelter on the East Coast and someone rescued him just before he would have been put down.  However, the initial rescuer could not keep him.  My husband found out about Charlie from some online Schipperke friends, so we had our "free" dog sent to us on the next available flight. 

I've had Charlie for several years now and he has come to occupy a very special place in my heart.  He also has some annoying habits (if you're reading this out loud, be sure to whine when you say "annoying").  He chews things up and he has to bark at anything he thinks is threatening my life, such as anyone at the door or within, say, a half-block of the door. 

But you should hear him sing!  He has a special song that he sings upon the arrival of family members and close friends.  If Charlie sings for you when you arrive at our house, you'll know you have achieved a very special status. 

Charlie is my "nap dog."  He sleeps on my feet whenever I nap on the couch, which is a nearly daily event.  I just say, "Hey, Nap Dog!" and he knows where to go and what to do.  The only problem with this is that he sometimes wakes up and guards me with loud barking during my nap.  He is annnnoyyyyyying, but very loyal. 

I am so pleasantly surprised.  This week my local school district agreed to pay my autistic daughter's private school tuition.  This is a big load off my mind and shoulders.  They are even going to send her to school on a bus each day.  I've been spending about two hours a day transporting Betsy to and from school, so this will provide me with more time for other things. 

I am so glad that the district agreed to do this without my having to take legal action.  The school psychologist from our local middle school visited my daughter's private school and agreed that it was providing her with some excellent opportunities to learn social skills which they could not give her at the public school.  It's really great for me as a mom to have my intuition about what's best for my child be affirmed by a professional like that. 

I do see some great changes in Betsy's ability to handle problems.  Initially she did not participate in the school's meetings where all sorts of issues are discussed and decisions are made.  But now she's been at the school long enough to have an interest in the outcome of some of the decisions, so she's showing up for the meetings when they are relevant to her interests.  And she discusses a lot of issues with her dad and me after school.  She seems to want to talk out problems instead of just holding stuff inside and getting frustrated.  This is really good development! 

I started this blog last spring to share information about homeschooling my daughter, but as you can see, things have changed and now she is nicely settled at a good school that is meeting her needs.  I guess I will change the focus of my blog now.  I don't have any brilliant ideas about what to write about, so I guess I'll take a few pictures of things that happen in my life and write about those.  I'm off to a flea market today, so I'll take my camera along!