When I'm feeling down, I tend to drag all the bad stuff closer to me, to wallow in it, to confirm my belief that the world is not a good place.  Except that it's not true.  There is much good in the world, there are loving parents, there are people who dedicate their lives to helping others, and there are dogs.

I took this photo of Charlie last night.  It's hard to believe that a year ago I considered getting rid of him.  He's not without his issues but every morning he wags his tail and greets me as if I am his long lost best friend.  He loves me and I love him.

I worked yesterday and remembered how hard it is to care for dying people, both physically and mentally.  By the end of the day, the big guy and I were both exhausted when we picked up Jack from daycare.

On Wednesday, I served both Gracie and her mom with the court documents.  Gracie is angry as hell with her mom and me;  she didn't say a word to either of us when we stopped by her apartment to drop of the documents and a tablet.  Gracie is convinced that all will be resolved if she has a job.  In the last year and a half she has only worked two weeks.  I agree that she needs a job but she also needs to be sober.  She no longer recieves any money from the government for Jack.  We applied to the CRA to have Jack declared as our dependent and the CRA agreed, which means no more child benefits for her, about $900/month when they're all added up.

I had a long talk with Jack's grandma on Wednesday.  I drove out to her lake lot to pick her up and drive her home, as she has no car right now.  She agreed that she can't see Gracie ever being able to raise Jack, she can't even take care of herself.  That helped, hearing that.  I also told her that I made a conscious decision to give Jack the best care that I can, until he's an adult.  I hope that helped her as well.

Other than that, I have my garden, a good book and dogs to walk.