I QUIT.......temporarily.........

This past week turned into an appraisal-marathon with one goal in mind.......to get all pending reports out by the end of the business day on Friday. (I almost made it.....I had to take a break for a change-of-sports meeting at the school at 6:00, and then hit the computer again and completed the last one about 9:00 pm.) The reason this goal was so crucial is that I am now officially on vacation! For two whole weeks!!! WAHOO!!!!

I came to the realization about 3 weeks ago that I was running myself into the ground. Physically and mentally........I was on "empty". So, rather than just feel sorry for myself, I decided that it was time to make some decisions about resolving some issues. The answer was to take a lengthy vacation in early March, and do some really creative scheduling to maximize the time away from appraisals and still accomplish something productive. Hence, we have five doctors appointments scheduled for Jen in the next 10 days. Part of the appointments being done like this is just sheer coincidence that some of the specialists we've been trying to schedule just happened to fall into place in early March. And the other part was deliberate since I'm going to be off. I also am going to spend some leisurely time working on computer data exports and spreadsheets to prepare for some appraisal regualations that are set to change on April 1st. (Ah.......the joys of working in a declining economy where all the major players are placing the blame on someone else.)

Of course, I didn't exactly anticipate that Jennica was going to scale the kitchen walls on Friday while I was in the shower to feed a craving for a gluten-filled bagel. She is usually so incredibly good about respecting her dietary limits that this was totally out of the blue. Despite catching her munching about halfway through, and immediately giving her digestive enzymes, which are supposed to help her digestive system in case of an "accidental" ingestion of an allergen.......within about 30 minutes her neck was covered in little red dots, which slowly spread up her face and turned her into a radish. I don't understand why we didn't see rashes BEFORE we removed gluten from her diet, as she was just as allergic then, but we sure see them now. She got through the day at day care okay......but the behavioral impacts were raging by Friday evening. After 2-3 weeks of really drastic improvement, we plummeted back to sensory dysfunction in a hurry. She has been raging and screaming ever since. This morning, she couldn't even tolerate the physical sensation of a hairbrush. This afternoon, she is tactile/vestibular sensory-seeking to the utmost. She's stripped down to the panties and running around the house enjoying the feel of the air on her skin, rolling on the floor, climbing to high places.......anything she can do to gain input. I honestly hadn't really noticed that her sensory-seeking behaviors had subsided until now! And, oddly enough, her outbursts of rage today have been followed by tears of remorse, which pulls at my heartstrings. Its AWFUL to hear her crying, "I'm so sorry, Mommy! I'm so sorry! I don't want to yell at you!" I can only chalk it up to the fact that, after a few weeks of feeling like the world was "right", it must be so hard to feel so out of control again. And all over ingesting some wheat flour from a bagel??!!?? Its mind-boggling!!! But we're living it!!!

So, out of necessity, the white board is back out to get through a simple meal. Visual reinforcement.....visual visual visual. She will improve, with a best prediction of about Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Until then, we bite our tongues and be patient. And try to remember that she's out of control, and she doesn't like it either. Punishment would be like punishing an alzheimer's patient for forgetting things.

I'm going to enjoy the next two weeks. To the fullest. I might even take a nap. Or two. Or three. And sit and drink hot chocolate. And maybe even turn on the TV. :)

I'm a lousy sick person

For whatever reason, I got sick this weekend. Sinus crud, stomach crud, aching....and I do NOT like to be sick. It stresses me out, because all I can think about is all the things that I need to be doing and how I really don't have time for this bologna.

But......I ended up spending the vast majority of Sunday in bed. Sleeping. Accomplishing nothing. Now I'm behind on everything. UGH! Oh well....not much I can do about it.

Fortunately, I was scheduled to be in the office today, so I have been able to work today from home, without having to totally re-shuffle the calendar the rest of the week. Tomorrow, I have to be on the road, so I hope I feel more rested by then.

I am such a lousy sick person.

3 steps forward.......2 steps sideways.......

Jennica has had a very phenomenal week. She's been easier to reason with, slower to tantrum and much more likely to verbalize first (and then tantrum if she doesn't get what she wants), and has been showing some huge improvements in motor planning functions, which involve the multi-step progressions that we all tackle daily, but are often difficult for those with SPD due to the massive sensory input that comes common tasks such as getting dressed. (Most of us have done it so many times that we don't contemplate the sensory input involved with choosing articles of clothing based on weather outside, season, color, practicality of what our day will involve, and then undressing and dealing with the temperature change on the skin while we re-dress, the changes in gravitational input that our body experiences as we bend and twist to put on socks, shoes, etc. And the dexterity involved with fastening buttons. And on and on and on.)

The huge sudden progression is due to a variety of things. She has now been gluten-free for about 10 weeks, which is a logical place where the gluten may finally be almost totally out of her body. We've also "played" with some of her supplementation based on her lab results. And, finally and probably most significantly, our OT added a 5-minute routine into her therapy each week. Believe it or not.......a specially-designed music listening program that somehow gets her brain and her ears on speaking terms with each other. I know.......I know......I don't get it either. But its WORKING!!!

So we marched into therapy this morning feeling like we've made some really huge strides! Even better, the strides are really evident to other people in her life, so I know it is not just a case of parent-wishing-success-upon-their-child. The Day Care is wanting to know what has changed. The preschool teacher is asking why she's suddenly much more cooperative. And the OT is seeing physical and cognitive changes both. YES!!!!

And then our bubble was burst. With progress comes the unavoidable consequence of.....progression! While this is truly a good thing, we didn't get much time to bask in the glow of success. Our OT is taking full advantage of the open mind, and piled on a whole new set of information for us today. I had a real "lightbulb" moment at therapy today, as some information with Jennica's use of her hands and the "why" suddenly and totally clicked for me. She has always had very good dexterity with her hands, so some of the things that she is reluctant to do, such as handwriting for very long when she will color forever, hasn't made sense to me. Today, I got it! Tiny, subtle changes in hand position make all the difference as to what muscles are driving what. And, even better, I'm learning the tools to help her strengthen her good skills, and build on the weaker ones!

And the vision therapy is finally falling into place. Its taken a few weeks to get all the team members in position, but very shortly, we will be proceeding in a full-blown visual processing program.

So......progress is leading to new therapies and more work. It is so great to see the dark circles (a sign of severe food allergies that nobody ever mentions until AFTER you've been diagnosed......go figure) disappearing beneath her eyes, and she's FINALLY sleeping a continuous 10-11 hours per night. And the beat goes on.........

Mid-week madness!

Ah......Wednesday. The day where its too late to pretend I'm on vacation, and too soon to figuratively turn off the phone and go back to bed. This week, I'm trying to see the oddities in life as humorous, and just going with the flow.

1) I saw a camel today, while out inspecting a property. Yes......a camel. In a pasture. In Southwest Washington. He looked more than a tad out of place. Where do you buy a camel? How much do they cost? What do you feed them? What kind of veterinary care do they require? All questions to ponder when you're in the middle of nowhere and wonder if you're hallucinating. I took a picture.

2) I travelled today to a neighboring area with a strong wrestling team that competes against Dane's team. In fact, I saw several of their team members last weekend at the Regional wrestling meet. Their wrestling uniforms are solid black singlets with "Go Mules" written across the rear end in red writing. Whatever coach ordered this wording placed there should be shot, and I'm shocked and amazed that the boys actually wear them. And in public no less.

3) I made gluten-free/casein-free/egg-free biscuits for dinner last night. This is the second time I've made them, but the boys weren't home the last time. The flavor isn't bad, but they are made out of potato starch flour and an odd concoction of other ingredients that results in albino-white (will NOT brown at all) circular devices very similar to hockey pucks. I think the boys finally decided last night to refer to them as "Bulletproof Biscuits," as they are very hard on the outside. These aren't something I would ever subject anyone outside the family to, but Jennica devours them! And since this is the ONLY bread-type substance that she has been willing to eat since the first part of December......what the heck. I'm hoping that maybe if we keep feeding her these, maybe someday we'll get her to eat gluten-free bread of some sort. Even occasionally for a rare sandwich would be good.

4) And speaking of food........I'm fighting cravings. Bad. Cravings for things like Seafood Alfredo piled with creamy cheese. And garlic breadsticks. And PIZZA!!! We don't all eat strictly with Jen's regimen, but we try to stay pretty close out of respect for her. I think I'm due for some cheesy, gluten-filled binging. :)

5) And one last note on Jen........she was diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency. Very common and not real surprising. But like two days after the lab results, we also got an email that stated that Vitamin D deficiencies in children cause stunted growth and weight gains. So........if she wasn't deficient on Vitamin D, she would already be 6 feet tall? She is SO tall for her age that we just sort of laughed about this one. Not applicable here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For Mike,

My husband, partner, best friend, and knight in shining armor.

I love you!
Beth

Speechless!

Yep.......I know I try not to post political stuff. Particularly political stuff related to appraising. But this is just too darn important NOT to post!!! With unemployment lines and foreclosure lists lengthening daily.....the last thing that should be happening is a removal of safeguards. That's all I'm going to say. Read the article below and make up your own mind.

Fannie Mae Eases Appraisal Requirements; Too Early to Assess Impact
Starting April 4, Fannie Mae will no longer require appraisals or property inspections from some borrowers who are refinancing mortgages. Instead, Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter system will validate property values through automated valuation models. The new requirements most typically apply to existing appraisals on file and for loans that already contain risk for Fannie Mae.

Under the new guidelines, lenders will be required to enter an estimated value of the house, which would then be compared with an estimate from an automated valuation model. If the two values are comparable, Fannie Mae will grant the borrower an appraisal waiver. If the two are not comparable, it will trigger an appraisal requirement.

Fannie Mae also reduced some eligibility requirements for its Desktop Underwriter Refi Plus program. Borrowers with loan-to-value ratios of 80 percent or less will no longer be subject to a minimum credit score of 580 and adjustable-rate mortgage holders with loan-to-value ratios of 80 percent or less will no longer be subject to a minimum credit score of 680.

Fannie Mae representative Brian Faith said the changes would let “potentially millions of current mortgage holders” take advantage of low interest rates currently available. However, Derek Chen, an analyst at Barclays Capital Inc., believes the changes will have a minimal impact, only amounting to the automation of existing underwriting standards. According to Carla Bandy, a senior underwriter at Everett Financial, it is too early to determine the impact the changes will have. “If you have a Fannie loan and are trying to refinance, there’s probably a comfort level because they already have you in a loan and you’ve made your payments,” said Bandy. “I don’t know if our investors will go along with that because they often put on their own overlays [in addition to what Fannie Mae requires].”

Are you friggin' kidding me??

Today, we made the trek to Olympia (again) to visit with Jen's naturopath (again). But this time, with great anticipation! The lab results were back!!

A little high here..........a lot low there.........ya da ya da ya da. Drastically allergic to all things wheat, rye, and gluten, and all things dairy. Nice to know that we called that one correctly. And.......drum roll here........severely allergic to eggs and GARLIC. The eggs.....okay, as they're on the list of top 6 allergenic foods. But GARLIC!!!????!!! Who has ever heard of a garlic allergy? Is she related to Dracula???

In any case, the labs overall were about what we expected. Thankfully, the things that need fixing are relatively easy to fix. We shouldn't need any IVs of chelating agents to remove toxic metals, and we do NOT have to remove all forms of sugar (including fresh fruit) from her diet (I was really sweating this last one). We're adding a supplement or two to her daily dosage which, at this point, what's 2-4 more pills in a day? Sad.....but true.

And no more eggs or garlic. Go figure!!!

Survival skills by trial and error

My sense of humor these days has been a tad "spotty." Sometimes its right at hand......and sometimes I can't find it anywhere, no matter how hard I realize, at an intellectual level, that the situation is so ridiculous that it warrants a good laugh. Here.......let me share a few things:

1) We're a gluten-free house, right? No flour, right? WRONG! We have rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, expandex............we look like a canister factory. There are even MORE choices of GF flours, but so far, I've drawn the line at these. We tried garbanzo bean flour, but it has a nasty flavor. In fact, I carefully read the ingredients list now for anything we buy pre-made. If it has any form of bean flour, it stays at the store.

2) Jennica threw a fit at a basketball game one night this week. A fit like I truly have not seen her throw in a while. She has consistently been having a tough time getting through Grant's basketball games this year, and claims that the sound of the basketballs bouncing on the floor hurt her ears. She is typically considered sensory-seeking rather than sensory-defensive, (something I will try to explain in this blog at some point) and she's been doing a great job talking to us about it. So we've been using various "tools" to help her get through the games. Difficult....but not uncontrollable.

Well, she totally lost it the other night. If she were an elephant, people would have been trampled to death. Thankfully, I got her removed from the game and to a visually-blank and auditorilly-quiet little alcove down the hallway, and then held her until she was able to regain control.

In any case, we survived it and she was able to verbalize that it was the noise that she couldn't handle. This verbal connection is a HUGE step forward. So.......the very next night, of course, we had another game in exactly the same place. This time, we went prepared with headphones. The kind you wear when you run machinery. I was a bit skeptical as to whether she would wear them, but she LOVED them. She marched proudly into the gym wearing her snazzy headgear, and was all smiles through the whole game. An absolute breeze. Go figure.

So.....lesson learned. If she says that something bothers her ears, give her the benefit of the doubt and try the headphones. If anyone thinks she looks funny, they're welcome to deal with her sans headphones.

3) Jen has been very accepting overall of her diet. Amazingly so. One of the few things that has bugged her is having her syrup out of a different bottle in the morning than her brothers and sister. It doesn't make sense to me that she knows she is eating a different type of waffle than they are and is fine with that, but balks at the syrup issue. But, the days that we have syrup, its always an issue. So, I wised up. Her syrup has now been dumped into the bottle that the other kids emptied this week. The older kids have been clued to the little mark on the bottle that will tell them that it is hers, and she will be none the wiser. And, worst-case scenario, one of the big kids gets her syrup. Its not really that big of a deal.........its just that "her syrup" is $10.00 for an itty bitty bottle of organic pure maple syrup. The genuine deal. No corn syrup, no caramel coloring, no artificial flavors. The way these guys use syrup, we'd go through a bottle every few days, if they were to get on a "waffle kick". $40.00 a month for syrup seems a bit steep to me, so the big kids that don't have the severe nutritional issues get cheaper stuff.

In any case, I feel kind of sneaky and deceitful for putting her syrup in a different bottle. I know, I know, I know........I'm really living on the edge, aren't I? :)

A good plan that went awry

Mike and I have been struggling a bit with Jennica's new vitamin/mineral schedule. The whole regime (Oops.....should that be regimeN?) involves a total of 17 capsules or tablets absorbed at at some point through the day. My original response to this plan was, "Absolutely NO way! Thats too many pills for anyone to be popping, much less a 4-year-old!" And then came the reminder of what gluten and casein do to her neurological system. Followed by a reality check of the amount of food that she would need to consume during a day to get all of these nutrients in her diet. And lastly, the facts of what her body will do if these nutritional needs are not met. So.....here we are. It still feels WRONG to me, but the other options are much, much, much worse.

In any case, we actually started with powdered forms of many of these vitamins/minerals, with the intent of mixing it into her food. Yeah.......whatever. Great intent, but putting it into practice was an absolute disaster. We very quickly learned that we were going to waste hundreds of dollars mixing goop into her food and then having her refuse to eat it. Which accomplishes nothing. The smell/taste of some of this stuff is beyond vile. The marketing campaigns always claim, "New and improved taste". If thats new and improved, the original stuff must have tasted like nuclear waste. In the process of reaching a point that we knew we HAD to get this stuff into, we found out that our daughter can swallow pills like a pro. Finally, a positive point to the sensory-processing disorder--she has a very poor gag reflex. So......we've switched over to pills on everything. No more bad smells, no more bad tastes, and we know that she consumes the whole dose every day.

But, as previously-mentioned, its a total of 17 pills per day. UGH! We've split them up through the day to maximize absorption, but it doesn't work very well if we have to be at a basketball game in the evening, or somewhere else, as certain vitamins/minerals can't be taken too close to bedtime or there IS no bedtime until midnight or so. So......we read up and found out that there is actually no medical reason that the whole dose can't be taken at one time. After a few nights of missing the 2nd half in the day as we scrambled to pull together GFCF snacks for games, grab dinner, pick up girls, get boys to or from the school, etc.........we decided that today I would give her the dose of 16 all at once this morning (the 17th is taken AT bedtime). Great plan.........right?

WRONG! VERY WRONG! Jennica had therapy today in Olympia. Something in that heavy of a dose of something, didn't agree with her. About 30 minutes from our therapy appointment, she vomited all over the suburban. And vomited some more. And then some more. The kind that you instinctively know is going to be EVERYWHERE. As soon as it was all out of her stomach, she felt GREAT. Chatting to me that she needed new clothes. Asking how far it was to Renae's. Asking for paper towels, while I thought to myself that it was going to take a lot more than paper towels to fix this problem.

So, we got everything cleaned up and got through therapy. She has felt great ever since! Once we got back home, I dismantled the carseat (thank heavens that both girls still ride in carseats so I simply had her ride in Tiersten's after the "mess"), I cleaned the carpet, and cleaned the carpet some more, I cleaned the leather seat, I cleaned the back of the driver's seat, and I fumigated. And I briefly wished that I had traded in the suburban today rather than cleaning up this mess. :)

AAAHHHHHHhhhhhhh........The joys of parenthood. The vitamin/mineral supplement schedule is rigorously back to twice per day. Never again will I do those 16 little capsules all at once.

When the brain can't process what the eyes see...

Today went about as we had expected. Interesting, but oh-so-incredibly-overwhelming. I am quickly learning that with the higher level of doctors that we're seeing, we are getting into the people that have a true passion for what they do. This doctor fit that bill! This guy knows, but the complexity of this field of study is mind-boggling, even for someone like me that loves to dabble in really complex topics "just for fun".

So.......here's where we're at. Jennica's eyes can see very well. Her eyes are healthy and she has good vision out of both eyes. However, her eyes and her brain have a communication issue. A big one. Her brain is not correctly "reading" the information that her eyes are sending, or at least not fast enough to keep up. She's obviously able to walk, talk, write her name, and all those basic functions. But when the field of vision becomes busy (such as a grocery store, classroom, basketball game, etc.), her brain gets overwhelmed and confused by the vast amount of visual input and can't sort it all. And so.....we see the breakdown in "organization" in her behavior as she struggles to cope with a brain that isn't keeping up with input as fast as its coming. In order to seek organization, her brain requests input from other areas of her body so that it can rely upon that input to function. Which means that rather than relying on her vision to determine her body position, the brain looks to her movement (vestibular input) to determine gravitational influences, etc. Hence, we get a child in constant motion in highly-stimulating environments. It is her brain's coping mechanism to deal with a difficulty in interpreting the information coming from the eyes. Believe it or not, this makes HUGE sense to us!!! Add that the brain is probably having the same problem with the information coming from her ears (still to be determined for sure, but highly likely), and aaaaaaaahhhhhh..........we have a textbook case of Sensory Processing Disorder. Or Sensory Integration Dysfunction, as it is also sometimes called. Voila. Bingo.

But now........the important part. What do we do about it? We are on the leading edge of science in this field. Sounds cool in theory, but SCARY. We don't really like being in a "guinea pig" position, but to some extent........thats precisely where we are. What if 10 years from now they decide that the way they treated kids with SPD 10 years ago was all wrong? Jennica will have been one of those kids!! But the other choice is to not try to treat her at all? Obviously, that doesn't make sense either! And so, we move forward. With faith. And prayer. And simply hope that if something is wrong, we'll see it or feel it or somehow know. We just have to do the best we can with the information that is available and the best expertise that we can find.

I will admit to being surprised by a few things at this point. First, this doctor is a huge advocate of naturopathic medicine, GFCF diets, and was blatantly supportive of a biomedical approach. He was thrilled to hear that we were already on that path, and believes strongly that it will be crucial to Jen's success. Second, insurance coverage is now a great big question mark. We are travelling onto a "lightly-traveled road." Not because there are not a lot of kids needing these therapies, but because the pursuit for answers is still in process. Hence, insurance companies are hesitant. We won't deny care for our daughter, but boy howdy, we're going to be broke in a hurry. And third, today was the first time in 4 years that we've ever EVER had a medical professional look at us and say that we're going to integrate her care between all the therapists and professionals now in her life, and we're going to work TOGETHER. We're going to communicate, we're going to make sure that we arrange therapy to train her brain in the sequence that is logical to maximize her learning and your money, and we're going to HELP this little girl succeed.

Quite frankly, I cried at that point and a doctor that I had never met before hugged me. I'm overwhelmed at the road ahead of us, the demands on our time with three other children at home and a house and our jobs, and the cost that we know will be involved. But his words today also gave me hope. And that means a lot.

The complexities of vision

The below story is fairly lengthy, but is from an elderly pediatrician that underwent vision therapy with the doctor we are scheduled to see on Monday. The pediatrician that wrote it is now deceased, but it gives us a rough idea of what we could be facing. I haven't mentioned it in a while, but Jen saw a developmental optometrist a few times in 2007. The results at that time were pretty mixed, but that was a different doctor, and Jen was developmentally less mature. Monday should prove to be interesting!


Your child goes to school, has a good teacher, gets a good breakfast every day, gets love and support, but he is not keeping up with the schoolwork and is beginning to hate school, the teacher, you and himself. You give him some calcium , magnesium and B6. You stopped the milk, wheat, corn, soy, and eggs because you suspected food sensitivities. He doesn't even get chocolate anymore. What has gone wrong? You know he is bright enough. In September he had such enthusiasm and now, after a couple of months, he is giving up.
I recently received a letter from the PR firm of Fleishman and Hillard, of New York, reminding me that it is important that children should be able to SEE before they attempt to READ. I like that kind of no-nonsense, straightforward approach. In my pediatric practice, eye tests were given. If the child could read the 20 line at 20 feet, he had 20/20 vision. I told the parents that getting a good, sustaining kind of breakfast (protein, complex carbohydrate at least) into a child was the best or the main thing they could do to help their child achieve his potential. We looked at ear drums and did a rough hearing test. We checked for anemia and overall growth and development.
All my life I have had an eye problem. I was cross-eyed as a baby but nothing was done. This was in the 1920's: "He'll outgrow it; we'll wait and see." So I was 20/400 in my right eye by the time I was five years old, a condition called amblyopia exanopsia, or suppression blindness. (My confused brain got tired of seeing double so it blocked out the images coming from my right eye. It was a smart move on my brain's part, as it did not know which image to use.) The ophthalmologist surgically corrected the cross-eyed look, but the loss of vision remained. They tried to patch my left eye, but it was too late. Since I could not see well, I took off the patch. Third dimensional vision was lost to me.
A few years ago I visited Dr. Ted Kadet, a developmental optometrist in Seattle, Washington, who helped me improve my vision up to about 20/200. In the last few weeks I have continued this therapy with another O.D. here near Portland, Dr. Roger Tabb. He first checked for any pathology, and then I started to "play" with his toys: I put pegs in holes on a revolving turntable, I turned off lights on a 5x5 foot board as fast as they came on, I jumped on a trampoline while spelling out words both backwards and forwards, and I recited the alphabet while reading a chart (easy), but had to raise my right or left hand, depending upon whether there was an R or L under the letter (tough).
The message he revealed to me was that the eyes are connected to everything that we do: thinking, feeling, moving, planning, and most of the emotions we experience. The eye exam must be more than determining if the child can see the wall. The child must be able to get the whole picture, then he has to sequence that picture, then develop timing and rhythm. The teacher in the classroom must be able to take each of the children separately and get them all to move as one through the learning-to-read process.
Do you remember how easy the alphabet was to learn when you could sing it? A...B...C...D... etc.? The sequence of the letters was easier when it was sung. But it had to be done slowly and correctly at first until it became fixed in the circuits of the brain, and then it could be speeded up into a more rapid time, and then the rhythm was established.
This optometrist, Dr. Tabb, told me story after story of children who were called dyslexic, stupid, or emotionally blunted, but after a few short weeks of this perceptual sensory training, they were able to read fluently, and become cheerful, willing students. Dr. Tabb discovered one youngster, who had been retained in the special ed. class, had a sequencing problem. The boy could read a word in a sentence and then be flummoxed at to the next step. The space between the words was a barrier. Dr. Tabb had him catch and throw back a large soft beach ball as he said the words in a sentence. "The (catch) boy (throw) went (catch) home (throw)." The sequencing, the timing, and the rhythm were all involved, and the boy soon began to read smoothly. (He may have been so bored he had to do something).
Dr. Tabb knows about the benefits of the even blood sugar levels to nourish the brain, but he also knows about the interconnectedness of the visual apparatus with all the other nerves and circuits of the brain and spinal cord. It ties in with what chiropractors can do for patients with learning difficulties.
To give credence to what Dr. Tabb and others are finding with their dyslexic patients, Sandra Blakeslee, writer for the New York Times News Service (NY Times, September 15, 1991), has outlined the recent research. She reports on the work of Dr. Drake Duane of Arizona State University. He states with authority something that we all had suspected: "The nervous system of those who are dyslexic are atypical." That would help to explain why these basically bright children have so much trouble learning to read; something is wrong with the structure or the connections in the cerebral nervous system. Novel approaches to help these children before they turn off the whole academic scene are all appropriate: color filters in the glasses, trampoline and balance beam work, using the phonics method instead of the look-and-say approach.
Dr. Paula Tallal (Rutgers) emphasized that early poor language expression and clumsiness seem to be correlated with later dyslexia. Dr. Albert Galaburda (Boston) feels that dyslexics cannot break down words into basic word sounds. He said, "The role of vision in dyslexia has been ignored mainly because ophthalmologists could find no difference between the eyes of good readers and bad readers."
All this research shows that the visual system consists of more than one pathway into the brain, its association areas and the sections that put what we see and hear into something meaningful for our conscience and higher judgement centers. The brain distributes language processing over many areas. With modern sophisticated measuring devices, researchers have found different speeds of processing of incoming language and visual stimuli. All this reinforces the perceptual sensory way: get the whole picture, then sequence it, then get the timing down, and finally the rhythm. By George, I've got it.
I'm an old guy, but these methods are working. I can go upstairs to get a couple of things and remember to get both. (If you lose your keys or your glasses occasionally that's okay, but if you find them and don't know what they are for you are over the hill.)
Developmental optometry, and its special method called perceptual sensory training, is for young and old alike.
If you have tried all the nutritional changes that you can think of, and the teacher says that your child just cannot "get it," it would be smart to consult with a developmental optometrist. Nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, strabismus, amblyopia, and poor accommodation can often be figured out by the parents or the ophthalmologist, but how the child processes what is coming into the retina and on back to the brain for organization may have to be left to the optometrist, preferably one who does developmental optometry including perceptual sensory training.

Feeling less burdened

Wow! That was some rant in my last post here. I meant every single word and won't apologize for any of it, but also recognize that the people that really need to read it never will. But I knew that when I wrote it and it was a form of therapy to "let it all go."

In any case, I allowed myself to continue to stew and brew yesterday, but today, I'm pulled myself up by the bootstraps and given myself a needed kick in the butt. After all, I have much to be thankful for. Regardless of the issues that we are facing with Jennica, she is physically healthy and we are in a great position to help her make great progress. I also am very fortunate to have a very involved husband in this process, which many of my acquaintances dealing with similar issues most definitely do not! And my other three children are thriving in their endeavors, which allows me to focus more time on Jen and the myriad of appointments, treatments and therapies. There is so much to learn......

So..........I'm "bucking up." For now. I'm sure I will feel the need to unload another rant at some point. :)

Advice to the holier-than-thou

When you have one of those children, you are a constant target for unsolicited advice, looks of disbelief, and other things from the rest of the human population that really grate on your nerves. So, its been one of those days, my sarcasm is at its absolute worst, so you get to be the lucky recipient of my advice. I'll try to hold the profanity to the absolute minimum. And, since its been a while since I've reminded you poor helpless readers that keep showing up here, this is MY blog. You came here voluntarily and you can leave the same way. :)

1) First, if you are a person that feels inclined to give advice to a parent with a special needs child.......don't. Unless you are in a professional position to do so. No matter how well-intended the advice is, I maintain that 99.9999% of it is worthless, and probably has already been tried. Plus there is the little problem that the advice givers almost always wait to give the advice when the child is "putting on a show" somewhere. Frankly, if my daughter is wailing at me about wanting her 90th treat during a basketball game and I am holding my ground telling her "no", I don't really give a darn what you think I should do. Deal with it. And the fact that I gave her the first 89 treats trying to avoid this scene does not mean that I'm a bad parent. It just means that I'm very tired and was.....well.......trying to avoid this scene.

2) If my child is on a special diet meant to help her, do not act like I'm abusing her and do not ask rude questions such as, "What CAN she eat?" Nobody in their right mind goes out of their way to place their child on a restrictive diet without a good reason. Its a heckuva lot of work for the parents, and can be astronomically expensive to feed a child a restricted diet. And, while this isn't really "fun", it is also not abusive to feed your child fresh vegetables vs. hamburger helper. I'm not looking for your sympathy, but view my child's diet similarly to what you would a diabetic diet--it is medically necessary for my child's health. And do NOT sabotage my efforts by slipping my child one little cookie when you think I'm not looking. Just as an example, believe it or not, a little bit of gluten for a gluten-free child can do incredible damage to their GI system that takes days/weeks to reverse. This is not a game! If you are seriously interested in the health reasons behind our decisions, I'd be happy to share some information. Otherwise, bite your tongue. She gets plenty of cookies/candies/junk that falls within the parameters of the diet and I have to say, some of it tastes darn good. People think they could recognize GF food? Bet I could fool them!! :)

3) I don't want your sympathy. Period. This is my child and she has Sensory Processing Disorder. It is part of what makes her who she is, and to deny the SPD is to deny the person she was meant to be. My husband and I are dedicated to helping her succeed. This is not a terminal illness, so she will likely lead a lengthy life with this disorder. Don't try to convince us that we should just "relax" or that "everything will be fine". We get one shot at this. We can't wait until she is 12 and say, "Oh crap, lets go back to when she was 4 and do that therapy thing." I know of no parent that regrets doing everything they could for their child as early as possible. I know of lots of parents that wish they had done more. If we screw this up, it won't be you that she's living with at age 32, so nobody has a bigger stake in this than us.

4) If you want to help us, learn about SPD and how it applies to you. We ALL have sensory issues. Its part of what makes us human and different from one another. I can't tolerate the feeling of cottage cheese in my mouth. Cold....lumpy.......EEEEEWWWWW. That is a sensory issue. Mike hates the sound of chalk writing on a chalkboard. To the point that it raises goosebumps. That is a sensory issue. We all have them. It becomes a disorder when the sensory issues are so overwhelming that they interfere with normal daily functioning. Be attentive to other people. Sensory issues are everywhere and easy to spot, once you know what to look for. MANY children/adults with SPD are living life undiagnosed, and wondering why they are different. SPD doesn't go away, but with understanding and therapy, most people can learn to live normal lives. An auditorally-sensitive person may never be able to tolerate working in a noisy sawmill. A tactilely-sensitive person may not be able to tolerate working long days cutting hair due to the feel of the hair on their hands. But this is how we ALL choose our careers and make our life choices........we avoid the things we don't like and gravitate towards the things we do. It can be that simple. With comprehension and understanding of the disorder.

5) Lastly, if I am flippant, sarcastic, or rude to you--don't take it personally. The few below are actual questions I remember being asked with my own sarcastic responses below:

Q: Where's Jennica? Didn't you bring her to Dane's graduation?
My A: "Yeah.....but she's duct-taped to a flagpole out in front. We should probably go get her." (I got a great "look" for this one! :O And, heck NO, we didn't take her. Mike and I actually wanted to watch our son graduate rather than chase her around the gymnasium. )

Q: What CAN she eat?
My A: "Cashews. She eats a lot of cashews." (Folks.........there are a LOT of foods in the world that don't contain gluten and dairy products. Expand your horizons a bit.)

Q: We'll pray for you.
My A: "Great! God is already doing great things for us. He has given us the ability to read books, find specialists, and make solid decisions about the best course of action for her!" (This is not meant to offend those that DO pray for us. It is just a reflection of my sarcastic annoyance for people that seem to sit around helplessly waiting for God's healing hand. I believe that God gave us the brains to help ourselves, too. Its sort of a balance-thing for me. Praying for the money to pay for all the non-covered therapy tools/dietary supplements/books/etc. would be good!)

So forgive me a little sarcasm. We deal weekly with very heavy choices. This week, we learned that our daughter has a coping strategy for spinning that we never knew existed in anyone, much less her. (It allows her to shut out significant vestibular input to the inner ear and integrates with her vision. Confused? Join the crowd. We see that specialist on Monday so stay tuned.) We live a gluten-free/casein-free diet in this house and there are no days off. Pizza on a Friday night after a long week is not an option. There is no "run by McDonalds" on the way home. (French fries are soaked in milk and rolled in wheat flour.) We have four children and a minimum of 4 athletic events each week, not counting practices. We both work full-time jobs (mentally-necessary as well as monetarily). We are currently awaiting results on a wide variety of lab tests that will help us chart our course over the next 6-12 months for her physical health. She takes a massive amount of vitamins/minerals daily to replace what is not available in our watered-down, pesticide-ridden, antibiotic-filled food. (Short of moving to Timbuktu, starting a farm, and living in an old school bus, I haven't figured out a way yet to improve our food quality any more than we already have.) The best results for SPD and related neuro-based disorders come from an integrated medical approach. The body must be in its absolute best physical health for the brain to receive all the nutritional support it needs to get all the sensory input flowing through the synapse connections necessary. And while we get every part of the body functioning correctly, we continue to explore and define her strengths and weaknesses and discover where we need to focus our therapy. So.......forgive my sarcasm, smile, and talk about what a jerk I am later. Frankly, I'm too busy focusing on my family and whats truly important to care what you think anyway. :)

Who I am?

I've suddenly found myself in an odd place. Somehow..........I'm no longer sure where I fit in life. The world has shifted around me, so while I have not moved, my position in it certainly has. Let me explain:

First, there is the economy. Housing prices have dropped nationwide, jobs are being lost all over (just lost two mills permanently in our neighboring city yesterday), and people are scrambling to find stable financial ground. My job as an appraiser has always been mostly a positive one. People buying homes, people refinancing to remodel or do something else they want to do.......an appraiser has a hand in all of that and people are excited to see us arrive, as it means that their dreams are moving forward. Now.....with the economic downturn, my job has a negative side to it that has always been there on rare occasions, but is now a frequent occurence. Valuation of homes hanging on the brink of foreclosure, valuation of homes already foreclosed upon, refinances on homes to pay off other debts, sales of homes where the home is not worth the asking price........it goes on and on. I am legally and ethically bound to give an honest opinion of value, but it is pretty common these days that nobody really wants that honest truth.

And second, I am now spending a LOT of time caring for Jennica's needs. Shopping/cooking a GFCF buffet of foods for her, collecting lab specimens and delivering/shipping them, therapy exercises, brushing exercises, running her to and from appointments, meeting with teachers, making more appointments. In most ways, she fits the definition of a "special needs" child. Which makes me a parent of a "special needs" child. But if I would dare to attend a support meeting for a group of special needs parents, I wouldn't fit. My child communicates normally. My child potty-trained normally at age 2. My child races around a playground and swings from the trees with the greatest of ease. A "blip" in her sensory processing, no matter how big of a blip, is still just a blip compared to a parent that is carrying their 8-year-old to the toilet, pushing a wheelchair into McDonalds, or living between hospitals.

And, so, my life has changed and I'm not sure right now where I quite fit in. It might take me some time to find my identity in uncharted waters.

Thought-provoking

"When I was in grade school they told me to write down what I wanted to be when I grew up...... I wrote down happy. They told me I didn't understand the assignment. I told them they didn't understand life!" ~Author Unknown~"

Time marches on

Time is definitely marching on here in the Stevens' household. We came through the storms and flooding unscathed, and just mildly annoyed by the unexpected schedule changes. Most of the changes close to home involved road closures due to landslides. I've NEVER seen so many landslides! The clean-up continues, but all roads are now open.

Dane continues to wrestle and is at tournaments most weekends and some weeknights. Its a bit of a brutal schedule some days and, of course, I worry about him. Thursday night he was at a tournament and didn't get home until 11:00 pm. Spent all day at school on Friday, with practice after school, flew home for dinner, and then back to the school to play in the pep band for a basketball game. This morning, he left home at 6:00 a.m. for another wrestling tournament and, though we've talked to him via cell phone after each match all day, he's still not home and its 8:00 p.m. I don't expect to see him for a few more hours. While we would love to attend more of his tournaments, we've found that its just not practical. The tournament itself often lasts for 10+ hours and if he's doing well, he could wrestle up to three times in that 10+ hour period. WIAA rules require a minimum of one hour between each match. So........there is a LOT of waiting involved. Even when adults can be that patient, his sisters are definitely not! :)

And, Grant had his first basketball game today. The boys in his class have played pee-wee basketball together for several years already, and they have always done well. This year, they appear to be starting off with a bang. They won 45-15. Grant was pleased to score 7 points. They're a very athletic bunch with 2 boys over 5'10" (not bad for 7th graders) and they play a pretty fast-paced type of game. They're going to be fun to watch!

Tiersten seems to have suddenly taken a huge jump in maturity again. Its amazing how it always seems to go in spurts. Maybe it was that conversation about thong underwear. :) In any case, its fun to see her growing and changing. She's beginning to obsess about her ballet recital in June, and regularly asks when her costumes will be fitted, as she knows that they have been paid for. I think I'm going to get a calendar to hang on her bedroom wall with all the dates marked, so that she can count the days at leisure.

And Jennica, last but not least, is progressing. I think we've finally found our niche with the gluten-free/casein-free diet. We still haven't found a bread that she'll eat, but we're simply working around it. We've finally got a large number of foods and meals that she's eating regularly and, as much as I hate to admit it, its not nearly as tough as I had convinced myself it would be! We're actually ALL eating more of her food, which is truly better for all of us anyway. Basic meats, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables........nothing wrong with that! Obviously, we're eating out a lot less, which also doesn't hurt us any! We've also found a coconut milk yogurt that she loves, GF pretzels, GF peanut butter crunch cereal.......which all helps fill in the holes of her meals for things we don't do home-made. And the results? She hasn't turned into the perfect child, if thats what you're wondering. And I don't know quite how to explain it other than to say that her behavior is much more "raw". There is less "fog" in her reactions to things. Her anger and frustration is stronger at times, but she's expressing it more clearly. When she's happy, she's truly happy and able to express that as well. The mood swings are still wild, but at least now, we feel like we have CLEAR mood swings. I don't know how else to explain it. All the other parents with which I communicate about GFCF diets totally understand it. So, now we begin the next phase, which involves testing her system for a gazillion different issues. We've already submitted one test, and are waiting for results. We have three more to go, and then it will be a 2-4 week wait for results. I'm looking forward to it all! It will certainly be interesting to see where we're at.

And lastly, I guess with a chance to finally absorb the education, OT, diet, and all the other changes we've made in the last 2 months, I can finally see that Jennica has a genetic vulnerability for SOMETHING. There is no other way to explain that her biological mother, full brother, and half sister all live in different homes, in two totally different areas of the country, have no contact between them, and yet all have somewhat similar neurological conditions. From what we know, Jen is by far the highest-functioning. But an objective, scientifically-based outlook demands that we recognize that there HAS to be a common genetic link. The success of thousands of parents across the country in treating these conditions keeps us motivated that we need to continue. We're on the right track, so lead, follow, or get out of our way! :)

Conversations for which I am ill-prepared

Tiersten is a very bright and observant 5 1/2 year old with a desire to be 15 yesterday. No matter how hard I try to keep her a little girl, I keep finding myself in conversations with her that SHE may be ready for.........but I am certainly not. Like yesterday.....

Walmart has a habit of putting the skimpy underwear right on the aisle. Walking by yesterday, Tiersten's eyes landed on a pair that, due to the way they were folded on the hanger, looked like little panties. The print on the fabric was something very cute-sie, and they caught her eye. So, of course, she picked them up. Turning to Jennica, who is hanging over the side of the cart, "Hey look, these are little panties!" She was correct on the "little" part, but what she meant was panties for her size, which they were definitely not. When she asked me if she could get them, I pointed out that they were actually for "bigger girls." She gave me a quizzical look, so I had to point out that the string sides were folded and clipped in the hanger, so they would actually be too big around to fit her.

And then the moment of truth.......she turned the hanger around. Immediately, the brow wrinkled up in puzzlement. The question was unavoidable. "Why don't these panties have a back?"

I took a deep breath and decided that an honest question deserves an honest answer. "Well.....that string part in the back is supposed to go in your crack."

Big grin here in response. "In your BOTTOM crack?"

I had come this far. "Yep. It's called a thong." I started to move the cart on down the aisle.

She quickly hung them back on the rack, she and Jennica shared a look of.......I don't know......sisterly humor maybe......and they both absolutely cracked up laughing. There were a few quiet comments exchanged between the two of them about bottom cracks, and more giggling, all of which I chose to pretend not to hear in an effort to let them work through their new information.

UGH! I am SO not ready for teenage daughters. Is there a class I can take before they get there? Actually, I might need more than one class.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year All!

The last several years, Mike and I have always attended New Year's Eve parties with friends. This year, we were HOME! While a little boring, it was nice! I think we're still reeling from the wild schedule of December and we're still trying to get re-fueled. In any case, it was great to have a relaxing evening. The boys were elsewhere, so it was just us and the girls. :)

And on to 2009!! So much to look forward to!!

And since I haven't updated since Monday, yes.........Jennica came out of her "bad mood" at her occupational therapy appointment, as we knew somehow that she would. While we had attempted to mimic the OT exercises here at home in an effort to snap her out of it, I'm having to swallow my pride and admit that there IS a reason that our OT is an OT........she's FAR superior in recognizing the neuro-systems needs for specific types of sensory input and applying them. Even she was somewhat amazed at the level to which Jen brought to the trapeze bar on Monday! She swung on it back and forth some.........but what her brain really seemed to demand was the SPINNING! The trapeze is rigged on a swivel of sorts, and Jen really ripped it and spun and spun and spun. And then she tipped her head back and closed her eyes. Spinning like this with your eyes shut is the #1 most intense vestibular input, and Jen just smiled and soaked it all in. Fascinating to watch! She also participated in a variety of other therapy activities, and her mood improved continuously throughout the rest of the day. I know.........I don't totally "get it" either, but I'm learning!!

Also, one interesting sidenote........The little beast was in her very worst form on Monday morning. Breakfast has been our most difficult meal on the gluten-free/casein-free diet. She has refused virtually every form of breakfast we had come up with. All she wants is bagels or oatmeal which, of course, are both full of gluten. And, no, she flatly WILL NOT eat the gluten-free form of either. BLUK, is her response. So...........Monday morning, I had reached the end of my rope. She was HUNGRY, refusing food, and getting nastier by the minute. So.....I said "To heck with it!" and pulled out the apple-cinnamon oatmeal. She chowed two bowls of it, plus a banana, and an orange. This was the first blatantly gluten-filled food she had eaten in almost 30 days. Two hours later, we got out of the suburban at our therapy appointment, and her face is BEET RED.......a sign of a gluten reaction! We walked in the door and our OT took one look at her and said, "WOW! What did she have to eat this morning? She's in a full gluten reaction!" Confirmation of what I had already noticed. So..........I guess this is positive reinforcement that she needs to remain off the gluten! Obviously, the kid DOES have problems with gluten! Its just fascinating to me that less than 30 days of being on a gluten-free diet.......and she would react so quickly and strongly!?!? WOW! She showed other physical signs of reaction also, but less blatant to the outside world. She has been, once again, gluten-free since Monday and we now have the proof that she NEEDS to remain so. Once again........I'm learning! :)

Happy New Year!

Post-Christmas Cabin Fever

We had a great Christmas here! Oddly enough, it was a WHITE Christmas! I think its been about 30 years since our last one! Mike thought it was great.......I thought it was WEIRD. :) The kids had a great time, we had a good time with family and..........AH........its over! My neurotic housekeeping tendency took over on Friday morning and we got the tree out and the house is back to "normal." I know.......some of you think thats spoiling all the fun, but my neat and clean tendencies HAVE to have organization. I can only stand things being "out of place" for so long.

But I have to admit that we've all got more than a touch of cabin fever. While it is nice to be home for a few days, our family is just not used to being together quite this much. We're so often on the go-go-go.

And Jennica has had a rough weekend. She made it through Christmas fine, but the behavioral issues started a bit on Friday, worsened on Saturday, and came out with a vengeance today. It's very frustrating! We're busting our fannies to keep up on the "prescription" of the GFCF diet, the gross motor input with emphasis on rhythmic activities and upper body exercises, visual support, and on and on. It hasn't been working! I don't know. I wonder if maybe she would be even worse without our efforts. I try to remember what "the worst" was, and wonder if this compares and how. And we analyze and analyze and analyze. Is there noise that she's hearing that we don't? Is there visual support that we should be giving? Is there something we're missing?

We have made strides, which further makes us question when she is "off". We figured out that the smell of bacon sets off massive hiding-under-the-table type of behaviors. And we figured out that the sound frequency of the fan over our stove also causes a meltdown if there are multiple other noises ongoing. Okay......we've got that, and we need to understand some of the triggers in order to help her learn coping mechanisms to deal with these things. It is simple reality that she will again encounter the smell of bacon and the sound of an annoying fan running. But what about all the other gazillion million things that set her off? And what about the ones that she does to HERSELF? For example, she stripped her pajamas off before breakfast today. This is pretty normal, as she is a sensory-seeker and likes the feel of the air on her skin. Okay...........but then she was so cold at breakfast that she wouldn't eat, refused to put her pajamas back on or get dressed, but then was mad because she was hungry. Now.......its REALLY hard for me to not step back and say, "You're going to have to figure this one out!" I'm kind of a "logical consequences" sort of person. But then again, tactile processing issues are not necessarily going to allow her to make the "logical" connection that she can be warm AND get breakfast if she just puts her pajamas on. Her brain doesn't necessarily work like that! A lot of these logical connections have to be made for her right now!

And then there are all the things that I don't have a clue why she is reacting like she is. She's beginning to demand to come home in various settings in the outside world. While I know that the orderliness of our home is a great benefit to her, I'm also wondering if it is making her less tolerant of the lack of order in the outside world? I don't know! And what are the hings that her nervous system perceives as a lack of order? The singing in church? The visual stimulation in large groups of people? I don't know! The more I learn about Sensory Processing Disorder, the more confused I feel like I become!

So.........tomorrow, we have a visit with our OT. I can hardly wait! I have SO many questions and she calmly always seems to have the answers! It is wonderfully soothing to spend time with our OT, as her sheer existence is a huge reminder that Jennica is not alone in the world! And for the moment, I need to know that we're not alone! Because this weekend has felt like we're busting our fannies cooking a GFCF diet, our house is beginning to look like an occupational therapy clinic with all the "stuff" we are gathering for exercises, and yet...........it sure as heck doesn't seem to be helping!!! At least not today. It will get better, but boy oh boy oh boy.........the places we go to get there!

The "fun" is wearing off

Coastal Washington State is not used to much snow. If any. The cities/counties here don't have an abundance of snow plows. People don't own snow-blowers and snow shovels. There is no such thing as a snowmobile here. So......when we get snow, its a novelty that wears off very quickly.

Well....we've got snow. Its been here for about a week and the "fun" is receding quickly. We've got over 12 inches at our house and its a big fat pain. I have to put the suburban in 4-wheel drive just to get out our rather lengthy driveway. Our shetland sheepdogs HATE the snow, and beg to spend all day every day in the garage.

And, amusingly enough, my sister and her family arrived on Sunday after a long drive from Minnesota. Yes......they DROVE. Across the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, and all of Washington. From the snow. Across the snow. To the snow. We're actually feeling really sorry for them as they enjoy coming for Christmas to thaw out a bit from their frigid winter. Welcome to another frigid winter. But at least its not 10 degrees below 0 here.

But for a few days, it was fun. Mike took the attached photo last Friday in North Cove when he was there for a work-related appointment. Snow on the ocean beach...........WEIRD. And pretty!

Wherever you are.......stay warm!

Dane's latest project

Note added by me: The video clip at the bottom has an issue! It works, but the frames have been compressed. In the original version done by Dane, the little man walks smoothly across the screen and sets up the chair. In the version loaded here, it appears choppy. Apparently, I need my computer expert (Dane) to mess with it. I'll have him work on it later!

As I've mentioned before, each incoming freshman at RHS is given a laptop at the beginning of the school year. At the end of the school year, the laptops are returned to the school for maintenance, and returned to the student when school resumes. This occurs each year until they graduate, at which point the students exit out one door, while the computer heads into the "land of the obsolete". This is a pretty darn cool opportunity, as it makes a huge difference in leveling the playing field in an economically-diverse district. There are no issues between the "haves" and the "have-nots" being able to research on the internet, etc. Most of their textbooks are loaded on their computers, the kids submit a large amount of their homework by email, and they all function off of wireless internet access. Printers are available on campus as needed for the kids that don't have them at home. The school has wisely even acknowledged that it is unavoidable that the kids WILL use them as toys, to some extent, so they have wisely loaded a few games for the entire group, and many of them play large involved games via the internet.

I admit to being a tad worried about the social-networking end of things when this school year started. My boys are no strangers to computers, but there is a big difference to using the home computer vs. having your OWN that goes everywhere with you, and all of your school mates having the exact same programs, etc. Dane has gotten involved with the social networking, but so far (fingers crossed), it has been a positive thing. He chats online in the evenings and weekends with friends about upcoming athletic events, assignments, and other normal freshman-type stuff. The potential for problems is certainly there, but that is typical to life in general, isn't it? As long as he continues to behave responsibly........it is actually putting him in touch with kids that he otherwise wouldn't normally probably communicate with, simply due to a difference in activities. So......all the more power to them!

The school also has acknowledged that, since they are putting a lot of money and effort into this computer commitment, they want the kids to learn how to do a bit more than play and email assignments. So, all the kids take a course in computer applications. The instructor is very well-liked and, as a parent, I have great respect for his course content! The kids get to use a lot of individuality in their assignments and scheduling, so the content doesn't seem like work to them! Dane has had a blast so far, and I'm impressed with what he is accomplishing! He finished all of his required assignment submissions early, so he ended up with a work or two of "play time" before Christmas break. The below clip is an example of his work, and my personal favorite! I sincerely hope that our district is able to continue the laptop program despite the coming economic cuts. Computers are in the world to stay! If we can provide these kids with a solid basis in computer skills, they've got a great advantage as they head off to college and the job markets!

Ramblings of the snowbound

We have snow. For those of you that don't live in Coastal Washington State, you probably don't grasp the oddity of this situation. It's December.......it's winter.......you have snow. No big deal, right? But in places that don't get much snow (like here), the whole world comes to a screaching halt in total shock. People forget how to drive. Schools start late or close entirely for one lousy inch of accumulation. And we all dig out hats and gloves that we didn't remember owning. Its a great excuse to change the agenda!

Take me, for example. Today was supposed to be my #1 busiest day of December. Jennica had an OT appointment in Olympia this morning. And then I was going to drive home to "swap kids" and take two back to Montesano (halfway to Olympia) for dental appointments. And back home again. Tonight, we have the elementary Christmas concert at the school, right after Grant has a meeting for Junior High basketball that starts after January 1st. And somewhere in there, Jennica had a preschool party, I had an appraisal to deliver, and Mike had his office xmas party. Thanks to the snow..........no OT appt, no dental appts, no preschool party. As of this writing, the concert tonight is still happening and Grant's basketball meeting is still on. And Mike still has his office party. And I will get my appraisal delivered. But still...........the snow definitely lightened my load! So sad! :)

So, I'm going to ramble about a couple of odd things that have happened in the last couple of days. Grab a cup of coffee. None of them are earth-shattering. But I think they're interesting.

1) First of all, the boys' mid-term grades arrived in the mail yesterday. They have always been good students, and Tiersten is following in their footsteps already. Grant has a 4.0 GPA, and Dane has a 3.981. Not too shabby--especially considering their heavy athletic schedules! As well as participating in football and wrestling, they are both now playing in the pep band through basketball season. Several nights each week, they are at the school until quite late with either wrestling meets or basketball games. I'm very proud that they have learned some good time-management skills, do a GREAT job of getting homework done in class whenever possible, and are diligent about doing it in the evenings as necessary. Which brings me to the "interesting" point--I had TWO separate parents talk to me at the band concert last night, attempting to commiserate about different teachers and how their children are struggling with a lack of teacher organization, assignment schedules, etc. This is happening to me increasingly often. I try to lend a sympathetic ear, but its really awkward! The parents always act like I must be aware that the teachers are so awful, but I don't hear any of those complaints from my boys. In fact, I had JUST spoken with Grant about one of these specific teachers, as I had had them as a teacher when I was in school. We talked about what a tremendously organized teacher she had been when I had her umpteen years ago and I asked if she was still so organized. Grant said, "Yes!" and expressed that assignment due dates were always given a week in advance, etc. So..........????? I'm lost. I know my boys are responsible. But they aren't THAT much more responsible than other kids. Are they? They make mistakes and screw off, too. Sometimes. So I don't know what to say to these other parents. I don't want to come across as nasty and say, "Oh, my kid is doing GREAT in that class!" But on the other hand, if I were the parent of the struggling child, I would want to know if my child needed to "buck up" and start listening better. So......??? Oy. I think I'll just keep saying, "Ummm-hhhmmmm." They can't say that their kids are busier than mine, and thus, must be just too overloaded. I don't know......

2) We had another stray cat show up on our porch. Yes.......another. To the person that dumped it off in the coldest week of the year, you are a dirtbag. This cat was really a kitten. Maximum of ten weeks old. So, of course, we took it in out of the cold. Covered in fleas and ear mites. It immediately got dumped in the kitchen sink for a flea-killing bath, treated for ear mites, received a good dinner, and spent the night in our warm laundry room. My hospitality didn't extend as far as letting it too close to Mooch, as she is a permanent fixture now and we don't really need to spread any "bugs." We have always taken in these goofy strays, doctored them, fattened them up, and then helped them find new homes. Its kind of a fun project and lets me utilize all my vet skills that I no longer have much opportunity to use on the horses. However, when this kitten refused to use a litter box and showed obvious signs of......hmmm......let's say "internal parasites", my willingness to doctor this poor little thing came to an end. We've just got too much on our plates already to deal with cleaning up after a cat every day. Mentally, I just couldn't do it. So, kitty got a ride to the shelter where, thankfully, they were happy to take her in. They will take care of her until she finds a new home. And one more time, let me repeat, whoever dropped her off.........you ARE a dirtbag. JERK!

I need to get to work, as there is still plenty to do today, even with the lightened load. We're supposed to be getting more snow over the next few days. I'm sure glad my Christmas shopping is done! :)

Ballet Schmallet

Tiersten enthusiastically insisted on joining ballet this fall and she greatly anticipates every Tuesday afternoon, where she gets to dress up in her pink leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet slippers, and head off to an hour of flitting about with other pink-clad ballerinas. This is totally "up her alley" and she is loving every minute of it. A friend of mine from my childhood runs our local dance school, and she does a terrific job with all of the kids!

Yesterday afternoon was "parent visitation day" at ballet. So, of course, I attended and watched Tiersten and the other girls perform the routines they are learning for the recital scheduled for next June. We even got a preview of the recital costumes. Tiersten will be in a patriotic-type number with a red-white-and-blue costume, she'll be a purple butterfly, and then finally, a diamond (very sparkly.....she's going to LOVE this costume!). I've attended several of this dance school's recitals, but I'm amazed at how far before the recital they begin pulling all this together and how much work is done "behind the scenes". I've never been a participant before--only a specatator of the final fabulous product.

I also found myself eternally grateful that, after two weeks of ballet class in October, Jennica announced that she hated ballet and wasn't going back. One child in this recital with the hair details and costume details is going to be overwhelming enough! But when she first wanted to quit, we tried to talk to her about it and figure out why. She just emphatically stated that she was not going, and we decided to respect her choice on this issue. Even now, when she goes with me to drop off and pick up Tiersten each week, she confirms each week that she's not going to have to stay there, right? At first, this was very odd to us. She had been SO excited to start ballet, right along with Tiersten. She is very physically well-coordinated with great fine and gross motor skills. She loves music. So why did she hate ballet?

Yesterday, after 8 sessions of occupational therapy for SPD, I was able to view ballet class as it must have appeared to Jennica. The entire class is presented auditorilly (spoken) and there are a million noises happening at once. The teacher is working over here with a few girls, there is music going, there are a few other groups of girls that are supposed to be stretching or working on an exercise in other areas of the room. To Jennica, who hears everything at the same volume and has difficulty determining which conversation is the one she is supposed to be hearing, she probably felt like she was in the middle of total chaos. There is no set schedule for her to be able to anticipate what comes next. The teacher changes the plan and moves children in and out of different groups depending on who needs to work on what, or who is going to stand next to whom for the next routine. There is a "method in the madness" from the teacher's standpoint, but once again, from Jennica's viewpoint, more chaos. And finally, the motor planning--Jen is wonderfully coordinated, communicative, and has great intelligence. But the ability to physically "mimic" someone else's motions to learn a routine? No way! Children with SPD typically struggle with learning motion songs like the "Hokey Pokey" or "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" for exactly this reason. It is often misunderstood by teachers and parents as a lack of coordination, or an unwillingness to participate. Thats not it! It is just that the sensory requirements to intake instructions visually and/or auditorilly and put them into action with physical movement requires a coordination of the senses that just doesn't come easily to these kids. But turn these kids loose on the playground, and they are often the ones that want/can spin the merry-go-round the fastest, jump the farthest, climb the highest, and yell the loudest. If you don't understand SPD, it very confusing to watch these kids. Why do they exhibit such great coordination in free play, but won't participate in a song with motions? Its all about how the brain takes information, and spits back out response.

So I greatly enjoyed attending ballet with Tiersten! Ballet is not MY thing, which I think makes me appreciate her love of it that much more. Nobody in my family growing up understood my love of horses and everything to do with horses. It was MY thing. So I appreciate that Tiersten has HER thing. It is special JUST TO HER! It's wonderful to watch the joy on her face!

And I came home and gave Jennica a hug. I understood, finally, why ballet was miserable for her. Perhaps, Occupational Therapy is helping me more than it is helping her. :)

Finding the humor in everyday life

I'm not going to repeat myself and drag on and on about the difficulties of our last few weeks. Anyone that reads this blog knows how much I've been struggling. Today has been a good day and I'm basking in it! I'm also seeing the humor in my current place in life, and laughing a bit at my own expense.

First, now that I finally comprehend the true reason/necessity for a GF/CF diet, I'm 100% on board. We had, of course, been casein-free(dairy) since February, but the gluten is a much harder commitment. Despite hearing occasional smatterings of information on how beneficial a gluten-free diet can be, I think I was sub-consciously sticking my fingers in my ears and yelling "La La La La!!" anytime the issue came up just because I mentally wasn't ready to deal with it. When the information was thrust upon me recently, I obviously changed my tune and here we are. The humorous part? I'm now shopping at health-food grocery stores and buying things like xanthan gum, garbanzo bean flour, agave, soymage, and other bizarre things I never knew existed. Me. The self-proclaimed hater of grocery shopping.

Which brings me to the next humorous point. I'm cooking and baking like you wouldn't believe. And, for the moment, I'm actually enjoying it and its going very well! (We'll see if the novelty wears off!) My GF bread has improved greatly and I will actually eat it! No starving goats in sight! And I've learned that almond milk is much better for baking (flavor and texture both) than soy milk. Go figure, and who would've thought that I would ever care! My big pot of home-made chili tonight was quite good and leftovers will be great GF lunches for Jennica for a couple of days! Even Tiersten (the pickiest of all) was demanding more of my GF cornbread at dinner! Cool!

Perhaps best of all, I'm viewing Jennica's world much differently these days. While the fact that she has SPD is not going to get her a "free ticket" to monsterhood (we're well aware that a 4-year-old with SPD can still be a total brat for non-SPD reasons), I'm more empathetic to some of her responses to stimuli, and I'm noticing that I'm more patient as a result. We're using proprioceptive input (heavy work) before times when we know that she's going to have to be quiet or still for awhile. Is it working really well? No.......not yet. But at least we feel like we finally have some tools.

Lastly, I'm finding humor in the way complete and total strangers respond to rambunctious, outgoing children. Jennica is extremely friendly to strangers and loves to ride in a shopping cart and tell passersby whatever should pop into her mind at the moment. Some people ignore her, and others respond and will chat kindly with her (Ahhhh........how SWEET she is!). And she is sweet! And then 30 seconds later she may do something totally "off the wall." She might decide to lick all the items we have in our shopping cart. Or might decide to make a leap for a box on a shelf 4 feet away. You just NEVER KNOW!

I'm even laughing a bit that 4 weeks ago, I honestly thought we may be headed for a diagnosis with her somewhere on the autism spectrum. While this is NOT funny, there is humor in the pace that we are gathering knowledge and learning. We now have it in official terms.........she is NOT going to test anywhere on the autism spectrum. NO way.......NO how. For the moment, she is just considered to have Sensory Processing Disorder. That may lead somewhere else eventually, but for now, thats where we are. A tad confusing, as ALL autistic people have SPD, but not all people with SPD are autistic. But now, I finally see clearly why autism is not a possibility. A miracle in itself as both of her biological siblings are autistic.

Ah............life is good! And if we can't laugh at ourselves.......I don't want to live in that world.

I'm learning......

I started my day with a tantrum. Thankfully, Tiersten was in a decisive mood today and stuck with the first outfit she put on, because I would not have had the patience to deal with a 5-year-old's drama of multiple clothing choices AND maintain my sanity with Jennica's shrieking. You see, in Jennica's mind, I committed a horrible offense this morning. When she finished her GF/CF waffle, she politely asked for some of her new coconut milk yogurt. All was good.....right up until I dumped only 1/3 of the yogurt "bucket" into a bowl and gave it to her in the bowl. At that point, she skipped the complaining and whining stage, and went straight to rage. Welcome to the world of SPD.

I used to feel guilty that I have become numb to my daughter's fits of temper. However, with the guidance of our terrific OT, I'm letting go of some of my guilt. While Jennica lacks the coping strategies to exist in an over-stimulating world, those of us that live with her have developed coping strategies to live......well.........with her. Sometimes, that means we just have to go about our business until she is ready to communicate in a form that makes sense. With that said, the rest of us also have to HELP her learn to communicate in forms that make sense. So.....there is a middle ground.

This morning, it was rather interesting to watch, in a rather detached sort of way. Tiersten is zipping around loudly complimenting herself on her excellent choice of ensemble for her day at kindergarten (In Tiersten's world, clothes DO make the woman.), Grant disappears to brush his teeth when the screaming starts (he's the one that deals the least well with Jennica's fits), Dane steps back and tries to analyze aloud why she would care that her yogurt is in a bowl rather than the "bucket", and I'm calmly loading the dishwasher, wiping down the countertops, and trying to explain to Jennica over her screaming that its the same yogurt whether its in a bowl or the "bucket". And then I stopped.

I have to say, that I'm rather proud of the end result that we reached this morning. Rather than continue to try to talk to her or ignore her, I grabbed the little white board that now occupies a constant spot in our kitchen for exactly this reason. I quickly drew her a picture of a bowl with something in it, followed by an empty bowl, followed by another quick sketch of the bowl with something in it. And simply told her, "Eat whats in your bowl. When its gone, I'll give you some more." She looked at the pictures, thought for about three seconds, climbed up on the barstool, and that was the end of the fit. She ate three bowls of yogurt without another gripe. Dane (always the analyst) scratched his head and told me to explain to him later why that worked. I'm just so ecstatic that it DID work and that we're beginning to understand her world that I was ready to turn cartwheels. A huge "thank you" to Renae (our OT) for her guidance.

I still don't know what caused Jen to "freak out" over me putting her yogurt in a bowl. That part I don't understand yet, but for some reason, her brain "saw" her yogurt in the "bucket". When I put her yogurt in the bowl and gave her the bowl, her visual perception of what was going to happen had to change and she wasn't able to make that adjustment. When I briefly tried to explain aloud to her that she could eat the yogurt in a bowl just the same as eating it from the "bucket", she couldn't make the necessary perceptual change based on hearing me explain it. She needed the VISUAL picture showing her what would happen if she ate the yogurt from the bowl.........she would get more when the bowl was empty. The VISUAL input makes sense to her, the AUDITORY input does not. I'm beginning to get it!!! And best of all, I could see her process the visual information in the sketch and the logic was there for her!!! WAHOO!!! If you've ever worked (and fought) with a child with SPD, you know the thrill of breaking through! We've been using visual schedules for months, but until Renae, we didn't really realize just how much of the world is auditory and if you have a child that resists auditory input, you have to put the information in a different form. In Jennica's case, the visual form WORKS!

Of course, the nay-sayers will say that if the world is auditory, this child is going to have to learn to take auditory input. I agree..........but in time. For the moment, I'm just excited to see her learning some tools, and to see US learning some tools to help her process all types of sensory input. Its a big step in the right direction with a marathon still to run.

Hours and hours and hours...

Its a "given" in life that TIME is of great value. But interestingly, regardless of where I have been in my life, I have always felt busy. Before children, I was training and showing horses 24/7 (or so it felt). With each step and change in my life, time has taken on new meaning. Looking back, the busiest time in my life was right after taking custody of Tiersten, which added a 16-month-old with serious lung issues into a family with a 4-month old infant, plus the boys at ages 9 & 11, and Mike & I both working full-time jobs outside the home. I still look back at that first 3-4 months she was with us and remember it as a blur. Thankfully, her lungs cleared for the first time in her life after just a few months in her new environment, and things got easier once the 3x daily breathing treatments stopped..........until now.

Now......suddenly, I feel like I've been thrust back into the blender. Our schedule is an absolute nightmare. While I believe that we're making the best choices with the options we have available, its taking a toll on our sanity. Yesterday, I even forgot a crucial component to Tiersten's day. When my cell phone rang from the school, we were in Olympia at the OT and couldn't do a darn thing about it and I just wanted to CRY! (Thankfully.....our school staff bailed me out and Tiersten was fine. Bless their hearts!) Bottom line.........Jennica's special needs DO require some additional time, which has to come from somewhere. The time that we previously spent in the early mornings/late afternoons/evenings doing the random chores that allowed us to collapse and have some "down-time" after the girls went to bed are now spent doing therapy exercises with her, cooking GF/CF foods, and reading a ton of literature on sensory processing disorders. Once the girls are in bed, we still have to catch up with all the other laundry, dishes, making lunches, emptying backpacks, grocery shopping, and the bazillion other things that every busy family requires. And then we fall into bed exhausted just to get up and do it all over again. I won't even touch on the subject of Christmas and how everything associated with that is going to play out, or the boys' wrestling meets.

So......WHEW! I'm tired.......and I admit it. I'm having to schedule work around Jennica's appointments and other things that can't be ignored, which means that I'm working less. I'm grateful to be self-employed and HAVE that option (although my "boss" isn't real happy at the business financials at the moment.....oh wait.........that's ME). Its a little scary to take the hit in my income on top of the hit that it has already taken from the floundering real estate market. But........it is what it is and my daughter MUST come first. We'll just have to figure the rest out later. I can't control the future, so I'm just having to live in the "here and now"--a very hard thing to do for a self-professed control freak.

But, in the meantime, if anybody sees my Fairy Godmother, could you send her over to my house? My floors could really use a vacuum!!!

A stinky, smelly loaf of bread

Last night, I baked my first loaf of gluten-free bread. The final product looks like bread and feels like bread, which my expert sources say is an accomplishment in itself. But it stinks! It smelled okay during the mixing and baking processes, but the bread smells........and not in a good way! I doubt I'm going to get it close enough to Jennica for her to even try a bite! I tasted it and the flavor is not nearly as bad as the smell would indicate, but I doubt I'm going to be able to convince Jen of that!

We've got Jennica eating a certain type of store-bought GF bread, but as the only store that sells it is 90 minutes away, we need another option. We've tried several other types of store-bought GF breads and they aren't something I would expect a starving goat to eat. So.......the adventure continues.

In the meantime, Jennica is eating us out of house and home with her new diet, which is awesome! Once we get the bread issue ironed out, which is rather important in the life of a 4-year-old that likes PB & J, we'll be set. Let's just hope that we see some concrete results that make all this worth the effort! :)

A little Ho-Ho-Ho Humor

Christmas dinner is always at our house. The sheer logistics of moving four kids and their newly-unwrapped "stuff" that they don't want to leave behind to go to someone else's house is a nightmare of epic proportions, so this is just a simple solution. My parents and whatever other family happens to be in town descends on our place. Our home is 2400 square feet on a single story with vaulted ceilings, so there is lots of room. I cook a very traditional Christmas dinner, we eat and party the holiday away, and enjoy ourselves to the fullest. (For you doubters out there, I never said I can't cook......I'm actually quite good at it. I just CHOOSE not to cook most of the time!)

This year, my oldest (very old, Hi Marj!) sister probably won't be able to come over, but my middle-old sister (Hi Susan!) and her family will be driving from Minnesota. Its always great to have them all here for the holidays and we're looking forward to Christmas with them! (I just realized that I may have insulted the sister that picked my name in the Christmas draw......hhhmmmmmm......you're really not THAT old Marj!)

So.........yeah, I'm getting there...........the humor part. Mike and I were debating last night how to incorporate Jennica's gluten-free/casein free diet into Christmas dinner. We want her to feel included to the utmost, but its going to take a little extra planning to keep her away from all things containing any form of gluten. She's been doing the dairy part for so long that she's got that down pat on her own and politely refuses anything that someone accidentally offers with cheese, butter, and all that jazz. She misses some of the more subtle forms of casein, but she's pretty darn reliable! However, she's probably going to lack that "fluency" with gluten in three weeks. Honestly.........I'm still going to lack that fluency in gluten in three months and I'm not four years old. So......things to think about.........And then Mike had a BRILLIANT suggestion! We'll prepare a VEGAN Christmas dinner! Experience a "traditional" Christmas of the sort that I can't imagine anyone in my family history has eaten since..........oh.....maybe since the Garden of Eden? Or......the potato famine? Or.........never?? Would you like me to pass the carrots?

After having a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing experience at the thought of my Dad pulling up to a Christmas dinner with no gravy, no turkey, or any other form of meat or animal product in any form, I think it dawned on me that GF/CF could be a whole lot worse than it is! Suddenly, when compared to a vegan diet, GF/CF looks downright revolutionary. We can do this!

But, in the distant future, when I no longer look forward to a large family Christmas in our home, I'm going to "go out with a bang" and prepare a final Christmas Dinner......VEGAN. That should cure the entire family of ever wanting to come back for Christmas! Would you like some celery to go with that fruit salad? Makes me laugh just thinking about it!!!

Determination

Today.........its all about one single word. Determination!

As of December 1st, Jennica is gluten-free and dairy-free. For those that follow this blog regularly, you know that she's been on a casein(dairy)-free diet since February. We've had the threat hanging over our heads that we probably needed to be gluten-free also, but the sheer thought of attempting to feed a four-year-old a gluten-free/casein-free diet, while holding down demanding careers and raising our other three children as well, was enough to give Mike and I both a serious case of the "screamin' meemies". However, the thought has remained in the backs of minds, and with further scientific research as to WHY some children need a GF/CF diet, we have finally reached a level of acceptance. It took a couple of weeks to get organized and ready, and yesterday was our first day. Bottom line....how do you tell your special needs child that you have a proven method to help them improve their functioning in life, but you aren't willing to make the sacrifices of time and organization necessary to help them succeed?

Now.........for those of you that know my hatred of meal planning, I know you all are laughing yourselves silly at the thought of me preparing GF/CF meals. To those of you that don't know me all that well, I'm an obsessive-compulsive organizer and housekeeper in every single area of life to such an extreme that my sons know they can annoy me simply by turning the pillows on the couch the "wrong" direction. Dane also likes to write things like "Dane was here!" on our microfiber chair with his finger against the grain of the fabric, just because he knows I see it and it bugs me! So with that said.........the one area of life that I have REFUSED to organize is meal-planning, which I approach with complete and total haphazard abandon. Until now.

So...........determination. I am determined to help my daughter overcome her sensory processing disorders. If a GF/CF diet can help her do that...........I'm all in. Heaven help us all!

The First of December

Wow! Already the first of December! Where did 2008 go? Anybody else feel like it whizzed by?

In any case, we had a great and low-key Thanksgiving weekend here! Ahhhh.......very nice. Thanks to some time cyber-shopping, over half of our Christmas shopping is done. Just gotta sit back and wait for the boxes to be delivered. Mike and I have always taken a day off together and enjoyed spending a day shopping for the majority of our gifts, but this year's schedule is just not going to be conducive to that whole idea.........so we went to Plan B. Its nice to live in a world where there IS a Plan B! :)

As for this December's schedule, the best way to describe it is "wild." All families with young children can relate to school parties, school programs, church programs, etc. And then we add in two boys competing in wrestling.......one in Junior High and the other in High School........so two different sets of meets. We're actually laughing because their teams practice in the same place, but not at the same time, so we even have to make multiple trips for drop-offs and pick-ups in the evening on practice days. (Laughing just because its really not a big deal and you just DO it.) Then on top of kid activities, Mike's work schedule is rather crazy this month with public hearings and meetings and stuff, which raises his stress level. And my work schedule is.....well.....what it is. And, last but not least, today we start driving Jennica twice weekly to therapy appointments to begin working on her sensory processing issues. This is a great opportunity, very much needed, and we're excited to be working with this particular occupational therapist, but its a three-hour round-trip 2 times per week, and that only counts the drive time. The therapy appointment is an additional 60 minutes or so. Whew!

But, once again, its great to have a life full of purpose and activity. Some days I wonder if I'm turning into an adrenaline junky, as its hard to sit down and relax anymore, even when I can sit down and relax.

And finally, just an important note--In the next week or so, I will be removing the link between my business website and this blog page. No.......I'm not closing either one. Its just that I'm feeling the need to protect the privacy of my family (particularly as we move through therapy with Jen and toward a diagnosis) from the random lender/broker looking for a real property appraiser, so I'm going to remove the link. However, I know there are several regular visitors here that access this blog through my Precision Appraisals home-page, so please be aware that you need to save this blog address somewhere so you can still access it. I want you all still to be able to find me here!

Love you all!
Beth