Starting from Now

Brief description of who lives in my home: (All names are changed to protect confidentiality.)  Me, Anne (32) my husband, Paul (33) proctor daughter Trisha (17) and two bio kids, Andrew (9) and Madelyn (7). We also have an assortement of pets, usually aquired when Paul is out of town on business, in a moment of weakness, when the children take unfair advantage.
   Bio kids are least complicated, so I shall start there. Andrew (9) spends a great deal of time trying to be funny and sometimes succeeding. The rest of his time is occupied with making oragami ninja stars to give to kids at school and playing dance dance revolution on the Wii. Madelyn is currently going through a hypochondriac stage. She is constantly wrapping limbs in ace bandages and dragging out her crutches. We go through a box of band aids a week. When she forgets that she is injured or ill, she plays with friends in the neighborhood, until she catches me watching and then promptly aquires a limp...
   Husband travels a lot. 70% of the time on a bad month, 30% on a good month. His coming and going changes the family dynamics. When he is home, we are more relaxed about bedtime, schedule, rules, etc. When he is gone, I am a bedtime nazi.
   I manage the best I can whether he is home or gone. I try to be the consistent parent. The one who is here no matter what. I don't work outside the home so that I can be there for my children. I applied to (and was not accepted) to grad school. While this dissapointed me, I'm trying to take it as a shove in a different direction.
    Trisha has lived with us for eight months. Of the twelve kids I've proctor parented, she is the smartest, stubbornest, most complicated and most interesting to talk to. In the past eight months she has...
*aquired an entire new wardrobe (she came here with nothing. Literally just the clothes on her back).
*outlasted three roomates (one ran away, two were asked to leave)
*found and quit two jobs
*changed therapists twice
*had her dimples pierced
*is constantly where she says she will be, and has gained my trust
*been suspended from school three times
*punched a girl in the face at school and was subsequently expelled
*now attends an alternative high school and is completing packets to graduate
*applied to one college where I'm hoping she'll be accepted
*took the ACT and scored a 21, without having been to high school more than two semesters.
*wrote some amazing essays
*taught me about drug and gang culture and why people in this environment think the way they do
*is working hard on those packets and on track to graduate with her class in June