Quiet

I brought the teen to school at 7:15 and the 3-year-old to her mom's at 8:30. They didn't come back home until 7:45 tonight. The little one has spent that much time at her mom's on other days, but I think today was the first time I didn't have a TON of other things to do while she was gone.

Being alone in my house felt really strange.

Even though prior to June 5, I had been alone in my house for 3 1/2 years.

I did go to Curves for the first time in four months. I could barely do the circuit...it was really sad! I did, however, lose a couple of inches and maybe half a pound which is nice considering I haven't done any structured workouts in forever! I ended up being there for two hours catching everyone up on what's been going on the past four months. I felt kind of bad talking about myself for that long of a period of time, but I THINK people were interested :)

At home, I was somewhat productive, but at points throughout the day, I just sat and listened to the quiet.  It was actually sort of a bittersweet sound, because I know there will be a day in the not-so-distant future when my home will once again be quiet. However, I did rather enjoy the quiet moments, and decided that is one nice thing about being "mom" to someone else's kids...you can ship them off for a while ;)

I did laundry, some dishes, a little bit of vacuuming, and have a bag of the little one's clothes to give to her mom that are out-of-season or no longer fit. I did sneak in a short nap and mowed the lawn. I made lasagna for the first time, but ate leftovers, so will test it out tomorrow...hopefully it's good!

Last night, I helped the teen study for her Biology test after she reviewed the note cards she had made. I also went through them again with her this morning (after she had reviewed them). It seemed like she knew them pretty well, although I knew there would be a diagram of a cell and I never quizzed her on that. I checked her grades this evening and she received an "F" (as in, a 53% F) I don't know what else to do to help her, but have encouraged her to talk to her teachers (since she has a D in History and nearly a D in Health...and now nearly a D in Biology). She had a meeting with her advisor yesterday and they discussed tutoring, which MAY help, but I've been studying with her a LOT and I'm not sure how much more a peer tutor can do. I just hope that she continues to try and doesn't give up because she isn't getting the results she wants.

She has been doing better with taking charge of the school aspect of her stress by talking to her teachers and her advisor (and also asking me for help). However, I'm still not sure how anyone is going to break through the wall to find out what her family life was like and what she thinks about going back to it. She needs to talk to a counselor, someone completely outside of the situation. But, she has said there is nothing wrong with her, and she's really quiet so I doubt she'd say anything if she was forced into going. I talked to her a little bit about visits with her mom this weekend. It sounded like she was more wanting to stay home and study than go there, but eventually she WILL have to figure out how to get all her work and studying done with her mom and siblings there.

Well, I thought I should write something since it has been a few days. Today was a quiet day and that was nice. I'm hoping to bring the little one to her mom tomorrow as well (although she came back super tired/crabby since I doubt she got a nap). I have a few more things to do tomorrow that I didn't get done today, but I'm mostly hoping for another quiet day :)

Oh, by the way, the girls' mom now has a puppy. She got it from her neighbor since the little one had been wanting a puppy. I found out on Sunday and am completely irritated by the fact that she has no job, no vehicle, no suitable housing for her family, and no custody of her kids...seriously, a dog is the LAST thing she needs. Of course, the little one cried tonight when she had to leave the dog...not her mom, the dog.

Ok, there's my rant (for the hundredth time...sorry fb and twitter friends who already knew about the dog!)

Good night :)