Good morning, everyone! The last few months have been busy for us.
My family was hit with covid, which we’ve thankfully recovered from now for the most part. Mr. H and I had been double vaccinated but came down with it only a few days after our second Pfizer dose, so we weren’t fully protected. Punky, unfortunately, had it worse than we did as he hasn’t been vaccinated at all. He contracted covid at school, where it was running rampant through his class. Punky is still too young to receive the vaccine. After his 12th birthday, he will receive his full vaccine schedule. He is highly susceptible to respiratory illness due to his asthma, and I don’t want to take any more chances.
Mr. H has been working full time for the last four months. We’re still adjusting to his schedule while keeping to our own schedules here around the house. Punky is on a half-term October break for this week. So we haven’t been doing much other than playing card games, reading, and organizing our home.
I’ve started learning something new!
I’ve started a CPD course in Human Resources, so that’s keeping me pretty busy on its own. It’s not a degree course, but it allows me to learn something new while waiting for the enrollment period for my Open University courses to begin. I’m honestly ready to start a new adventure, whether it’s school, a long-awaited vacation, or something other than staring at these walls. You never really realize how quiet it is at home when your husband and kid(s) are all at work or school! The peace is nice but isolating.
I have some exciting news to share, though! I finally received my biometric residence permit after a 4-month long wait, so now I can start working! I’ve sent in countless applications, so hopefully, I’ll hear back from someone soon. Things have been tight financially for us for the last year and a half, so adding a second income will be greatly beneficial!
The Amanda Ho Designs Etsy Shop is Closing
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Etsy has started raising its fees yet again. They’re also dangling a carrot to their sellers by implementing the “Star Seller” program. Unfortunately, the Star Seller program seems to filter out all low sales shops so that you won’t find my awesome designs.
Seeing as I’m not making much money from my shop anyway, the increased fees are eating away too much into my profit margin. This leaves me with barely any income after the listings are paid for. So, I’ve made the difficult decision to close my Etsy shop.
However, that’s not bad news! My shop attached to the blog is still active, and I’m adding new digital prints regularly. I have a bunch of prints I’ve made to upload this week, and many of them are fall/Halloween themed. If you want to be notified of the new releases, please join me on my Facebook page or in my private Facebook group! I get more personal about my family life in the group, so I’d love to see you there and hear your stories.
I have also removed all of the physical items from the Amanda Ho Designs shop. If there was a physical item listed previously that you really want, I’d be happy to list it just for you. For the most part, I will be focusing on my digital downloadable art.
We’ve rejoined Twinkl for school resources
I will write another lengthy blog post about how amazing Twinkl resources are, so stay tuned for that. Right now, we’re continuing to work on Punky’s multiplication tables. He’s doing brilliantly in all other areas of math, but he still struggles with the 4, 7, and 9 times tables.
Another area that Punky is still struggling with is his handwriting. He has been in occupational therapy previously to strengthen the muscles in his hands and wrists, but it is an ongoing process. His teacher suggested we find more occupational therapy tools for him to use and continue working on his letter formation here at home. So, I bought some different pencil grips for him to try out and sent some to school with him. Did you know that the school had only a few therapy tools for him to use daily, despite knowing that Punky needed additional support in that area? I’m not happy that they didn’t tell me until well into the first term of school. How disappointing!
As you can see, the last few months have been busy! How have things been going for you? Let me know in the comments! Have a nice day, everyone!