Katrina,

Now dry your tears and start thinking happy thoughts. Here are some stories that might make you smile--

NUDITY

I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a Woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom! That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!

HONESTY

My son Zachary, 4, came screaming out of the bathroom to tell me he'd dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. So I fished it out and threw it in the garbage. Zachary stood there thinking for a moment, then ran to my bathroom and came out with my toothbrush. He held it up and said with a charming little smile, "We better throw this one out too then, 'cause it fell in the toilet a few days ago.

OPINIONS

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a Note from his mother. The note read, "The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents."

KETCHUP

A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup to come out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. "It's the minister, Mommy," the child said to her mother. Then she added, "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle."

MORE NUDITY

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"

ELDERLY

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4- year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds The various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs, unfailingly intrigued her. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"

SCHOOL

A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read! , I can't write and they won't let me talk!"

BIBLE

A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found", the boy called out." What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear!"

Now that you're smiling, I have a question. Does your school give an aptitude test? You need to find out exactly where you best fit in. Perhaps it is not in criminology.

I'm sorry to hear that the one professor doesn't give A's, but do the best you can. Actually, that is my advice for all your other problems. Do the best you can.

Your cyber family is rooting for you.

Mema Vi

hey Katrina:

you are too hard on yourself. just do your best & finish your education. trust me in any job you won't use knowledge of 1 or 2 courses and rest you will learn on the job. you just need t be in a field where rate of return is higher. I did my engineering not because I was good in it. I did it because I just wanted to be engineer like my brother. luckily it paid well too. don't plan out so much in future. just take a day at a time. when will you learn you survived for a reason & this is situation you are left in today. so make best out of your lemonade. no point in crying why me. look at positives in your life. look at every day what you can do.

I pray tomorrow is better day for you.

Asha

Katrina dear, You are doing so good. Maybe you are trying to do too much. Like others have said, do the best you can and forget about the rest. No matter what happens, you will know in your heart you did the best yo could do. And when everything is said and done, nobody can ask more than that. You are feeling overwhelmed right now, maybe you need to pace yourself and get some rest, then everything won't look so bleak. Take care sweetie and don't worry so much(I know,like asking a dog not to bark) but try. You can't help what your father thinks but you can change what you do. If you do the best you can, others expectations belong to them so leave it where it belongs and concentrate on you. I wish you the best and Happy Thankgiving to you.

Marie-Claire

hi katrina,

i am sorry you are having a bad time. i do want to suggest you ask those strangers in line for help......most people are happy to help and want to help but not sure what you need. just as you like to help others .....others like to help. it can be hard on our EGO to accept the help but it is a good lesson and a way to perhaps make a new friend.

you are in a lot of pain regarding your school performance and i am afraid that until you relax and change your expectations of yourself and others you are going to continue to hurt.

i have known teachers that don't grade with an A.......so what? learning is NOT all or nothing or the grade you get. strive to be your best, learn the material and move on. Katrina the person is not a grade. you are not a reflection your brothers either. you are a very strong young woman who is dealing and living each day with issues and pain many people could not deal with.

please, please, please start to be kind to yourself and enjoy the process of school. only you can decide to love yourself and you are a terrific young woman. :friends: kathy

Hi Katrina,

I'm slipping; I missed your latest entry. For shame on me. Could be something to do with a recent fall and my own exile to the 4 walls of my room as I could not motor down steps to the computer.

You are being hard on yourself young lady. Being on the outside looking in we can all see that. Just as stroke does not dictate who we are, neither do grades. What is most important revolves around are you learning and retaining what you learn to help you in the future as you move into more studies.

We've all encouraged you to relax dear. Until you learn to do so, you are going to continue to feel overwhelmed. You are not your brothers and your success is for YOU not them or your Dad or even us.

Chin up and oodles of (((hugs)))