Finals Week

And I've got a ton of stuff to do. But my life has been turned upside down kind of. My stepbrother and his daughter have moved in, temporarily. She is 4 years old and has not learned anything from her mother. She should be able to identify letters and numbers by this age, but she can't. Her mom has not helped her developmental growth at all. So she will be staying with Gramma and Grampa and Auntie for at least a month and I hope to get her up to speed so she is ready for preschool in the fall. She is a sweet little girl but mommy spent most of her days sleeping and using drugs...Her daddy is in the process of getting the paperwork started for a divorce and Dad and I have told him he needs to get a protection order against the mother to keep my neice safe. She can't be driven around in a vehicle which has been used to transport who knows what kind of drugs, perhaps metamphetmines (sp) or something. Whatever it is, if my neice were to put a straw, which had been dropped on the floorboard, into her mouth she could have a heart attack and die instantly. No 4 year old child should be in that environment. She hasn't been told "no" very often and she doesn't understand why she has to listen and not do whatever she wants to do. So she is learning that she has to listen to the adults around her. The first two days she asked for her mommy but now she doesn't hardly ask at all. I took her to Target to get some educational toys, not that LeapPad talking "educational" toy that she came here with, but puzzles and memory games to strengthen her brain. While we were in the store she called me "mommy" and I had to remind her that I am her "auntie".
So here I am at 8am on Sunday morning worrying about my neice when I've got a ton of work to do for this week. I have to turn in two papers and a group project. My group has had some internal strife and we are just trying to get it done. I forgot how intensive summer classes are...the time just flies and you have to cover what is normally covered in a 16 week course but in 1/3 the time. The only good thing is it will be one less class towards my k-12 licensure.
Am still waiting to hear if we are moving to Alaska or not. Talked to Dave last night and he still hasn't heard from Barrow. He is hoping to hear this week. Cuz if he doesn't get the job then he needs to let his renter know. Or maybe he will just live at the cabin?? It is all so up in the air and it is kind of frustrating.
The good news is the dog is learning to be nicer to people. He has become very protective of my neice, which is nice to see. He is very smart and is learning alot!

Ok I gotta go work on school stuff.