Family update...

I talked to my husband's sister over the weekend about the whole issue with her 8-year-old son. She and her husband had spoken with Branden who said the report from school was "No big deal." At this point, they think the guidance counselor overreacted, and they were going to try to set up a meeting with the school to find out exactly what is going on. So, no real information yet. From my perspective, I can see how violent behavior would be in keeping with Branden's life and various issues so far, but I wouldn't have expected it at this young age. Maybe things have been blown out of proportion. I kind of hope so.

Regarding my brother-in-law and his wife, they went to a counselling session last Thursday, but Heidi insisted on choosing a new counselor -- not sure why. I'm getting all this second-hand through my mother-in-law because my brother-in-law doesn't want to go over it again and again. My bil doesn't think the new counselor has enough background, nor does he think Heidi provided enough information during the session, like how she suddenly left for two weeks. He told my mil that there was a "95% chance" that things were not going to work out, but he's still shooting for that 5% of hope. Heidi told him she wasn't going to do the bar scene any more, but then she unexpectedly left their daughter with him on Thursday and Friday nights, both notorious "party nights" around here. Of course, it would be only speculation to assume that's why. No word on where Heidi is living or how their little girl is coping with all of this.

My family entered the fray a bit, too -- my brother Mike's father-in-law suffered a stroke late Sunday night. Norm is 73. Too soon to gauge the extent of the stroke or his ability to recover from it, but his family is obviously distraught. So prayers welcome for Norm, too, if you have a moment to spare for that.

--Sparki