A huge weight off my chest. The last appointment with Susan (the psychologist doing a non-binding report to the court) is over with. I posted planning to ask for help organizing points for her, but did not have any time for that in the end; I basically did searches in my inbox for emails sent to Susan and the month, and captured the points in a spreadsheet. I went from Dec 2013 to Aug of this year this way. I did not have time to go through the fall emails, but I know that some of them still made their way into the spreadsheet - say, if an email thread started in July and ended in Oct, my search for July emails "got" that thread, and I would review each thread as a whole. So, basically, the only emails I did not review were the ones that started in the fall. Still, I have such a long spreadsheet - it is enough.

Susan told me that I did a very good job with the spreadsheet. She said that even though she would not transfer all of it into her report due to its narrow scope, when the 730 starts (she clearly is recommending 730 to the court - this is not a speculation but her definitive statement), I would be in far less stress knowing that I have already organized my points and the supporting evidence.

My spreadsheet goes like this, column-by-column: a major point, a minor point within the major point, date, a quotation or an explanation, and a note. The quotation is mostly from email, and the date refers to the quoted email.

She told me that I could work as a forensic investigator! At first, I got scared - the word "forensic" sounded scary - but it turned out that she complimented me on the ability to organize information!

So now I will sit tight and wait for her to finish talking with Ted and the girls and issue her report.

Ted and his new attorney tried using the fact of my temp state disability to delay the process even further, but Susan told Ted's attorney that disability for the purposes of employment has no bearing on the ability to parent.

His new attorney also said that his parenting practices and mental health are not at issue and only my mental health is at issue. Susan told her that to see the whole picture, both parents must be assessed, and that is what she is recommending to the court - a thorough assessment of both parents. She told me that in her practice, she has never seen a 730 in which only one parent was evaluated from the mental health standpoint.

Ted also wanted to delay the process further by claiming that seeing Susan again would be too stressful for the girls, and that they are already under stress. Susan then called the girls' T and asked when they were last seen by the T. It turned out that it was many months ago. She then said to Ted's attorney that if the kids are under stress, they should be in regular T, and added to her list of recommendations to the court that the kids need regular T. She also is going to recommend a separate counsel for the minors to avoid triangulation.

All in all, the meeting went very well!

I am too tired to do anything tonight, but tomorrow morning I will mop the kitchen floors .