What a year! It's been hard and started off with depression. Now it's nearly ended and I'm thrilled. "Keep taking the next right step" is what I read here many times over the years, and not to let the everyday business of living drag me down. I took both of those suggestions especially to heart and am so happy to report that things are looking up. I passed all of my papers this year and managed to pull up my GPA this semester enough to be eligible for a scholarship. This would mean being able to buy textbooks. Textbooks family! This year I had to beg and borrow required texts, catch buses to tutorials for the first quarter, wash clothes in the bathtub and generally start from scratch. It's been worth it though. School has been my one little beacon of hope throughout all of it and I held on to it even when i just wanted to quit life in general. The year has scrambled past and now I'm going to enjoy summer break before my course load doubles and I'm tearing out my hair forcing myself to study at night lol. It feels so great to be making progress and unlike a young family, at the conclusion of each aspect, you get a tangible little confirmation that achievement is happening. I love that feeling and appreciate it more than I ever have before, so that's the other upshot of temporary hardship. Gratitude. I'm grateful to all the support gained from this board too. I really needed it so thanks all! This weekend, I'm taking the children out for milkshakes and depositing a washing machine. Oh my goodness, I can't begin to tell you how great that will be! I'm pretty sure there will never again be loads forgotten in the machine haha! It's nice to share something happy again. Keep on keeping on all!