Yesterday, I had a tooth pulled. Today, I had an appointment for counseling. They're doing a psych evaluation. I finally admitted to myself that maybe I might need some extra help to deal with all the fallout from the abuse, even after I leave the shelter system. I called my local mental health/mental retardation/substance abuse office and made an appointment to see if I'd qualify for county mental health care/counseling. I did. Today was the second part of the evaluation - so far I've done about 6 hours worth of it. Next week, I'll go back and finish up. Then, I'll hopefully find out soon what, if anything, help/treatment might help me. I don't even know for sure whether there is something 'wrong', but I've had a few domestic violence counselors mention that my kids and I have been through a very traumatic experience, and I/we should be checked out for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. When they put it that way, it made perfect sense. I called, made the appointment, and am now working on sorting out the mess in my head.

Last night, the director of the shelter where I am mentioned to me that a local hair salon wanted to donate some time to doing something for the residents here. She set it up for us while I was running around for appointments today. I came home to find that my daughter and i were to go to this salon. Haircuts and manicures. I had been in the salon a few times since I came here, but never really had the money free to buy anything. I kept telling my daughter we needed to wait until things settled down, so I could see how much money we had to spare (if any at all). Between getting the dental damage dealth with, new glasses to replace the damaged ones, and haircuts/manicures... I'm starting to feel a bit more... like my old self. The best part was the little happy dance my daughter did when she found out - I didn't tell her anything about it last night because I wanted to surprise her. I think her reaction, how happy she obviously was made just about everybody's day. Definitely a high point for us.

It's been a long few days, between appointments and apartment searching. Still no luck with the apartments, but at least the appointments are (mostly) out of the way until Friday. Then I get to go and (hopefully) pick up my new glasses.

Labels: abuse, beauty, charity, children, domestic violence, recovery