SD18 is just returned from a relaxing week at the beach with her mom, sisters and alcoholic grandparents. BM took off while they were all swimming in the ocean, and left with her boyfriend without telling anyone where they were going. SD20 apparently got stuck watching the younger cousins to make sure they didn't drown, Since SD20 is usually high as a kite on some drug or another, this seems like a bad choice on BM's part. So.... now that SD18 is back, she is in a manic phase of her bipolar, calling her dad every hour asking if he has found her a van to live in yet.

I am staying disengaged, but my SD's are really getting on my nerves this week. SD18 is not cleaning up her dishes, pots n pans, etc. She and her sister, SD16 love to constantly try to tell me how our house should look, where furniture should go, where I should keep on the kitchen counter vs in the pantry. They nitpick every little thing about my cat, saying that she needs her nails trimmed EVERY time they come over, or suggest giving her a bath. This is because they want to do these things because they are bored, and my cat is just a "plaything" for them.

Last night I had a talk with DH. We were going to follow our family therapist to her new employer - but their front desk team was so wierd and combative, that we decided to find a new family therapist. (SD18 has weird anger, depression, and mood swings and can't hold a job. She is making plans to "land" at our house forever, and I can't abide this.

So, it has been 2 weeks and still no effort on DH's part to find a new therapist, so I told him how I felt about that. 

My younger sister, who is in her early 40's, visited from out of state this weekend. We hadn't seen my youngest neice since she was born so we invited them over for a family BBQ. The skids were annoyed that they couldn't have a sleepover and wreck the house the night before, so they fled to BM's house. No big loss there. We had a great time, except for the facade of perfection that my sister tries so hard to maintain.....it fell apart.