Goodbye Funk. Hello Hope.

Well, Now that I have depressed the bejeezus out of all 4 of my readers, I thought I would bounce back with a little message of encouragement. But first I must do a little backpeddling to get you up to speed.

GirlyWoman is a chip off her fathers block. She is stubborn, determined, and acts before she thinks. She gets in too deep. She is flighty. And she's been making very bad choices in her life. The last three years have been *hard*. Even harder for us as parents to watch. She did alot of stupid things to try proving her independence, but she wound up regretting most of it. The highlights involve shutting out her family, an unsavory boyfriend, several insane roommates, the possibility of jail time, and a false alarm pregnancy. (not necessarily in that order)

Yep. It's been a trainwreck.

And yet. I see light at the end of the tunnel.

A few months ago, she turned 20. Then she landed a job. A nice job working as a personal assistant and receptionist. She dumped the boyfriend and decided to move into her own place. She paid off her car. She went to mandatory classes and paid a whopper of a fine, to avoid jail. And slowly but surely she is digging herself out. I can't help but feel that she's finally on the right road.

She called me today to tell me that she misses the family, and wants to come home for a few weeks in the summer.

For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful.