I am back, finally!

I am back. I was without any internet access for a week because Verizon stinks, but that is a whole other story. Let's see where to start. Jewel is now also receiving a one hour session of occupational therapy a week though the hospital. She has some auditory and tactile issues which we have been aware of for quite a while. Their main goal is going to be grooming and dressing. My littlest dainty daughter likes to go commando it seems because her panties bother her something terrible, but this is just not acceptable at all. Her little behind is always getting a contact rash from being bare against her pants. Not good! On a super positive note, the school has reviewed her augmentative communication device evaluation and it seems there are very seriously considering implementing it into her IEP which means they will be purchasing it! This is huge since out insurance plan does not cover durable medical equipment of educational technology devices. I have also been referred to sign up with the DDD for Jewel. They provide lots of great things for families of children with developmental disabilities, *if the money is available. I am going to push for her to receive hippotherapy which I think she would really love and benefit from.

I have reduced Amber's therapy from every week to every other week. She seems to really enjoy speaking to a neutral party in a neutral setting. She is still struggling with school a bit but I have noticed that her reading skills are improving. Lately I am a bit concerned about her self esteem as some things have come up with her peers that leaves her pretty darn upset. It is completely heartbreaking to see your child made so sad by their *friends.

Carlos' wrestling season is winding down, and it may be bad to say, but thank God! Between his wrestling for the school team, the township team, running back and forth to practice on weekends, in addition to all our appointments during the week for other things I am just beat. Carlos again seems to be slacking off with his homework and although he plans on running track this spring I am not so sure his grades will allow unless he pulls them up and quick.

I have decided, I think, for the time being I am going to return to home health care. Yup something I swore I would never do. Heck I may start and see I can't still do it. I hate working in the home setting, hate it. I know this is not the right thing to say but I totally preferred the conveyor belt setting of long term care and critical care at the hospital. No time to get to know a patient personal which kept me at a comfortable distance. But you got to do what you got to do I guess. Right now it looks like the housing market is a pipe dream. I am going to maintain my real estate license of course, and return in September of this year when day care is not an issue since all the kids will be in school a full day. But in the meantime I need to make a few bucks and going back to my "roots" seems to be the best idea. Work the hours I desire is very important right now.

So anyway that's about it update wise for me. Everything else is the same ole' same ole'. I promise to try to blog more often.

A Better Day

Yesterday was a horrible day. I certainly won't go into details because a great deal of it is more personal then I care to share. It was one of the most draining days I have had in years, seriously. I am determined to not ever have another day like yesterday, to never feel the feelings I felt yesterday. In any case my point is even when things look bleak, horrible, dark, lonely, like they are just not going to get better just remember tomorrow is another day and a day can change a lot. Today I woke up feeling refreshed and I am feeling really blessed and thankful for having another day to get it all right.

Red Light Red Light Is NOT Green

Yesterday I decided I needed different shelving in my closet. When we built this room we did very basic shelving in there for the time being, until we decided what we wanted. Well 4 years or so later it is still the same and I am outgrowing my closet. So John and I headed to Home Depot after dinner to decide what I wanted. I was driving and we weren't really talking much or anything, just the normal drive. We get to the light outside Home Depot which is a bit more complex then your average light. I saw a green light, watched for a spot in the oncoming traffic and turned left into Home Depot. John says you are going through a red light, whoa, whoa. I look up and sure enough the left turn lane is directed by a lighted arrow, not the actual light, and it is RED. I had no choice but to go as I was now more then halfway across the lanes I was crossing. John asks what I was thinking and I tell him to be quiet my stomach hurts, then I promptly felt like vomiting. No joke I was so freaked out that I went through a red light, even though I made sure nothing was coming, I was completely spazzing. Finally we park and I shut off the car and sit there a second and he asks if he can talk now. I do not believe I have ever run a red light, EVER, well now I have! Oh and we did get new shelving. I am going to have 4 new shelves, one the full length one my closet 7 feet up higher then the shelves in there now. And 3 2 foot shelves down along one side. I am excited! Hopefully we get so much ice tonight John has to stay home tomorrow and he can put them in.

Monday, Monday, La La, La, La ,La

The kids went back to school today and believe me when I say it, I am thrilled. They were getting on each other's nerves so badly, in turn getting on mine. They were all excited about going back so I do not feel that bad sending them on their merry way.

I *think I am going to stop Amber's therapy. She is not just a good match for Amber. They get along great and all but Amber plays her like a fiddle. I tried making it clear from day one Amber needed someone who was a bit firm. Well it didn't happen. I think a large part of Amber's issue was she wanted some of the same attention Jewel was getting and she got it. A lot of what were her problems have gone away, so I just don't know what to do at this point. I also have been meaning to post a video of Jewel talking on Myspace which I haven't done in forever. I think I'll try to get to that this week.

This week I will find out more about Jewel's therapy to train on a device. I have to find out if these devices are rented because if they are, I will gladly rent one and not travel. My van is dying such a slow death and we don't know when it is going to just give out on us. We do have the truck that I will be using but I do not want to travel that far with the truck. I hate driving it.

Today I am really starting to crack down on myself with portion control. I am not going to deprive myself of anything because that does not work for me at all, but I will be very careful about how much I eat. Also I will be working on the Wii Fit daily, now that the kids are gone for some time and I can have a chance with it. I am also going to blog more often, even if I have nothing exciting to say like today. I am going to use this as more of an outlet for me the way I used to when I first started blogging.

New Year and an update

Happy New Year!

Sorry I did not update abut Jewel's evaluation I have gotten a few emails regarding it and thought I should jump on and address it real quick and then maybe let the world be aware of my new year's resolutions so maybe I will be accountable with everyone watching (reading).

So the evaluation went well. Jewel woke up in a great mood, weather was awesome, and my van made it. (We were and are worried about the van because it seems my trans is going. Not fun.) Anyway we get there in plenty of time and good thing because I was informed upon checking in I needed a script and referral. UGH. I had to make a few phone calls and that is all straightened out I hope. The eval itself went great and Jewel scored very high, like we all expected her to. The final report should arrive to me in a few days. The short of it: I need to find an advocate for her in dealing with her schooling, she definitely should get an augmentative communication device, the device that she needs due to her intelligence level is a 120 space one (they start at like 20 space ones), I need to travel back up north for this 3 hour round trip once a week for her to begin training on this device to try to prove to whomever (school, insurance, organization, charity fundraiser) will be paying for this device her intelligence level supports such a complex device, the device she needs will cost approximately $8,000, and we need to start working on who will be paying for the device. So yup we have our work cut out for us in the next few months. The whole thing is going to be quite a process and I thank you all for all your well wishes and prayers.

Now onto my resolutions.
1. Stop biting my nails again. (I will go for months without biting them and then something makes me nervous and viola I have nubs again.) Gross, I know.
2. Loss 20 pounds. I need to loss far more then this but it took me a good 13 years to put it on so I don't think rushing it off is entirely fair or realistic.
3. Be nicer in general, stop wearing my heart on my sleeve and try to be more patient. I know some of this one may seem totally unnecessary to some people who know me since I am known as having nerves of steel, LOL, but I really need to run a tighter ship regarding my emotions.
4. Become a better wife and mother. Numbers 2 and 3 play a large part in this one.
5. Use less offensive words. I have a horrible habit of using words that are not appropriate and I am going to try to curb my use of them as best I can.