Weekend Wrap-Up

It's been a fairly productive week.

The most important thing that happened is that Sylvia and I met with her new counselor. She never got off the waiting list, so I'm taking her to the facility. It costs less than our family therapist, is closer, and I really really like her therapist.

Sylvia, bless her heart, had no trouble opening up and speaking with the therapist (whom I'll call "B" here). She said some things in such a mature way, clearly aware of all the things going on with her, that I'm more confident that she'll be okay. She just needs a little help right now, and more help than I can give her.

B was very encouraging, and praised Sylvia's intelligence and sweetness and expressed a strong belief in Sylvia's ability to get through this. I think B will do a great job in filling the gaps that I can't - for a variety of reasons: time, energy, resources...I'm at peace with the concept that I can't give Sylvia everything she needs, but I can take her where she needs to go to get it.

Sylvia and I talked openly and honestly with B, and through that, I discovered that Sylvia really is taking in the things that I'm telling her; about her dad, about what Sylvia needs to do for herself...Sometimes, I'm not sure if she's listening, but now I know she is.

Of course, we still have our problems, but they're starting to feel more like the run-of-the-mill mother-daughter problems, and not just because of our circumstances.

Sylvia's in a cooking class, and together, Riley and Sylvia baked cookies last night. Today (Sunday), Sylvia and I made brunch together. Sylvia was also in a parade on Saturday with her cheer squad. (Once I take the time to upload pics from the camera, I'll post some.)

Riley had another soccer game, which they lost again. I think Riley's starting to get somewhat discouraged, and has considered quitting, but she also knows that either my dad or I will be there to cheer her on, so she's sticking with it. The oh-so-fun state testing starts next week at school for both of them. I think Riley's school has done a better job of preparing the kids for the tests and teaching them test-taking techniques than Sylvia's, but they're both aware that I don't care about their tests nearly as much as I do their overall performance in school. Sylvia doesn't seem to be displaying the anxiety that she has in years past when it comes to the state testing, and that's good.

I've heard rumors that there will most likely be more lay-offs coming at work, and I'm a little nervous about that. What can I do about it, though? Nothing but keep going to work, doing the best job I can, and just see what happens, right?

I got to speak with FreedomFirst today, and that was really nice. It's kind of funny because I've known her as long as i've known Kori, and yet this was the first time we've spoken on the phone. It's funny, too, because Sylvia was asking who I was on the phone with for so long, and she now gets it when I tell her it's one of my blogger friends.

Thanks to everyone who is also keeping up with me on Examiner. If you could subscribe, too, that would be great. Even if you don't have time to read it all, clicking on the links gets me a little $$, so I'd really appreciate it! And thanks to pisceshanna for helping me with that this week.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for JumpStart! It's a 3-month membership to educational games for kids from K-5.

And with that, I hope everyone has a great (or at least productive) week.