August 17, 2026 - Monday

First day of the '26-'27 school year!!! Woohoo! I was SO ready to get this week started. The kids were a little less eager, but today went really well anyway. Well, maybe not REALLY well, but it was okay. Good-ish. :) I lost my temper with Ollie at one point. Somehow, I guess I just forgot how difficult Ollie can be to teach. She whines. She whines SO MUCH. I had to count her today and told her she'd be going to bed early if she was going to insist on making our alone work time together miserable. She stopped crying instantly when I counted her, so she's either incredibly self-controlled or she was faking. I wonder which one it was. *eye roll* Anyway, it was a decent day and a good start to the school year. 

When I was finally sitting down for some relax time this evening, Justina texted me out of the blue telling me that her birthday is in two days and she's wondering if I will send her some money. So. That threw me off a little. I feel like I responded graciously and told her I know how difficult it is to have to ask for help and of course I could send her some money. I kind of wanted to throw in a, "don't make it a habit" or something like that *face palm* but, thankfully, I talked myself out of it. She doesn't ask for money often and I don't think I've ever said yes before. And, of course, I always feel terrible for the rough start she had in life. First, a childhood with two alcoholic, negligent parents, then her mom died like two months before she turned 18 and her dad stopped supporting her altogether. She's been trying to make it on her own since then and 17 is just such a young age to be doing adulthood on your own! She's honestly still just figuring it out. I'm just glad she's made friends down in Louisiana. For a while, she was very lonely. And she sent me some photos of art she's been creating! She's making a lot of fun stuff.