The youthful offender has a job and seems to have made a turn-around in attitude - no more obvious lies or deviousness about where he's been or who he's been with.

David has completed his program at Job Corps in Indiana and it sounds like he will be going to Job Corps in NJ to become Microsoft Certified - an excellent fit for his interests and abilities, we think, and a neat opportunity for him. He'll be close to East Coast big cities, and he'll be able to get around because there is - gasp - accessible public transportation there! I think it will be a great experience and a big help in the growing up department - plus he'll have a skill that will earn him a comfortable living wage when he's done.

Mary's talking about enrolling in Job Corps in St. Louis. We'll see if it goes that far, but it would at least be a safe environment, with accountability and encouragement for her to get her GED, hopefully followed by job training. We keep telling her "six months of good behavior and accountability" before we'll talk about her moving home - this could be a good start on that.

On a lighter note, Pete could never wear a lot of David and Henry's hand-me-downs because they were "slim" sizes. Pete wasn't heavy, but he's never been a skinny guy, either. Until now. He is about 5'9" (or he was a month ago - it could have changed again by now!) and I'm buying him 30 / 32 pants - and there's still room at the waistline. Henry needed black pants for work the other night, so I told him to borrow Pete's new pants I bought him for orchestra concerts. They're the same inseam as Henry wears - but they were too tight for Henry. This cracks me up - that Pete is taller and thinner than David and Henry. We always knew he'd be taller - but thinner?? It's going to be entertaining when David and Mary come home at Thanksgiving.