True Blessing and Busy Schedule

I feel like I have not been in touch with my Spark Friends like I usually am....you guys are my lifeline most of the time!!! There is just a lot of things going on besides Spark that currently need my attention.
Most of you know that I have 2 grown children. Some of you know that my 25 year old son has bipolar disorder. Needless to say - he required A LOT of extra attention growing up. I have carried a considerable amount of guilt for too many years - feeling like my daughter who is now 22 years old, often got less attention because her brother required so much. She has NEVER accused us of caring more about him...she has never said anything negative about what it was like to grow up in a house with a bipolar brother. And she NEVER gave her dad or I a moment's trouble. She was truly a good kid.
And guess what....that truly good kid is graduating from college on Friday night. And she did it in 4 years. MSU started a pilot program the year my daughter was a freshman. It was called the DayOne program and they took a small number of freshmanput them all in the same dorm, put them in color coded groups and they took one class together and also did some kind of community service. Out of her original group...she and one other girl are the only two that stayed on the "four year plan!" And with out-of- state tuition - boy are we grateful that she did.
I am so proud of her....for many reasons really - but one big reason is that despite being overlooked far too many times in her life due to her brother's illness...and despite the fact that she grew up in a home where craziness was the norm far too often, my girl has used those hardships to benefit her future. My daughter is going to be a Special Education teacher and she will be one of the best there is - I promise you that!!! She has more patience and compassion than anyone I have ever known and I am sure it's due in part to how and where she grew up.
And soon we will get to see her success in action because she already has a job!!! She has not even walked across the stage yet...and she has already been offered her first teaching opportunity. And it's at her first choice for school district and only about an hour and half from us!! Right now jobs are hard to come by. My company has laid off half of our staff over the past two years. I know kids with college degrees that are flipping burgers and very glad to have a job at all....and this girl already has her dream job in place. I am just so proud of her.
This week is going to be crazy for me. Trying to get ready to be at graduation and plan an open house at her apt which is 4 hours from our home is going to keep my head spinning I'm sure. It is also not going to be helpful for weight loss. I am already feeling stressed and frazzled. And I was already struggling to stay on track. No wait - in truth - after this weekend I am just off track. And I'm having a hard time getting back on already today!! SO - I am going to do the best I can....and not worry about the rest. I have decided that May is going to be my get on track month. And I will be checking back in with all of my wonderful SparkFriends very soon!!!
Attached (hopefully!) is a picture of this very special daughter of ours!!