Goal setting.

We started our September session this morning, and it's going to be a doozie.

We were talking about goals in today's session, and one woman confessed that one of her goals is to have a better relationship with her child's father. I found this goal to be optimistic and respectable, but apparently not everyone did. Another student, Dutchess*, yelled, "Ain't no need! That ain't a goal! They ain't worth it!" Dutchess, in fact, has an opinion about everything. We made lifelines too, listing highs and lows of our lives and encouraging everyone to end on a high note because they were all in a program set up to make positive changes in their lives. Dutchess assured us that too much was going on in her life to list on one sheet of paper.

We get a lot of this particular personality, this mindset that "My life is harder than yours." These are the people I dub difficult. They're a walking contradiction: they're quick to tell you how terrible their situations are, how their lives are falling apart at the seams, but they've got it all together and they have all the answers and they're not interested in help.

It's days like today when I'm torn between laughter and frustration. The antics are funny, but the attitude is miserable.

I made my own lifeline....

O Cheerleading (Make fun if you want, but I looooooved it)
O The Squad-- my three best girl friends in high school
X Worst break up of my life
O High school graduation/move to Auburn
X Lauren went to another college far, far away
O Alpha Delta Pi
X Learning that I must study to be as successful in college as I was in high school
O Auburn. It's the happiest I've ever, ever been.
O Panhellenic Counselor.
O Evan
X Leaving Auburn
X/O Lauren gets married. Saying goodbye to a married best friend is so bittersweet.
O Living in the same town as Evan. World of difference.
O Internship.
O Making new friends in my new home.
O Looking forward to grad school....

That's what I wrote on my paper.

In other news... I'm going to be an aunt. Not biologically, but I'm going to claim Rachel's baby as my niece or nephew regardless. People all around me are getting pregnant or engaged. Literally, all of Evan's friends are engaged and a couple of mine are far behind. Now Rachel's pregnant, and so are two of the women at my internship site. Oh, and Evan's roommate... he's going to be a daddy.

I'm beyond starving. Must break for lunch.

*Dutchess is not her real name.