Hi out there

You know, sometimes I come up to the computer, and I have so much I want to say I don't know where to start.

So, I'll start with thanking everyone who commented on that last post....I very much appreciate your kindness and support.  It has just been a rough few weeks; I just had gotten to a point where I had just had enough.  Do you ever have those moments, where you just feel like not saying anything to anyone, ever again?  That's where I had gotten to....so I just couldn't come here and write much, because in my day-to-day life I've had a few very negative reactions to things I had said.  I realize that having opinions about things, and then actually voicing those opinions, does make me vulnerable to negative reactions - but I've had too many of those, too close together.  I got pretty nervous about saying much of anything, about anything!  But, I'm not the kind of person who will just shut down for good.  So here I am.  Hopefully I won't piss anybody off this week, but I am treading veeeerrrry carefully.

Our visit at our PWS clinic with Sophie a week or two ago went really well, thankfully!  Her BMI number went down a bit - probably helped some by her having gotten just a wee bit taller - so that was really good news. And, while we do need to work on her weight, I was still glad to see that her weight has stayed pretty consistent over the past year-and-a-half.  This is a good thing - she's been weighed at various doctor's appointments over the past six months and it has stayed about the same.  Big jumps in weight for children with PWS are a big cause of concern, and mean a big decrease in the amount of calories the child can have in a day.  So, I'm glad we are not in that place.  We did talk with the behavioral psychologist about S's recent behavior issues.  It was good to talk with her but I'm not sure she gave us suggestions that were altogether helpful.  Well, I shouldn't say that - we have tried one of her suggestions and, most days, it has helped;
S earns a quarter when she gets herself ready for school quickly, with no dawdling or yelling at people.  She has earned about $1.50 so far, and we may use this technique for bedtime routines as well.  I didn't think it would work for S because she doesn't exactly understand money at this point.  But, because she absolutely LOVES animals, I borrowed an idea from another PWS family and told her that the money she earns could be used to buy supplies for a local animal rescue, and then we could go there to drop off the supplies, and then she could visit with the animals!!   She seemed to like that idea, and I know she would enjoy it, so we'll see.  At any rate, a psychologist can't actually prescribe medications, so if we needed to go that route we will have to call her back and get a referral to a psychiatrist.  But, that is an option I'd like to put off, if we can.

Mother's Day for me was pretty nice, I have to say!  (Rachel, thank you for the Mother's Day wishes!! :-) )
I did a fundraiser at my church in the morning - sold my "Zen.tangle" artwork.  People responded pretty well to it and seemed to like it.  I did miss going to lunch with Brad and the girls and his parents, but he ordered some take-out Oli.ve Garden for me which I ate at my in-law's house.  We then had Chinese for dinner, so yay, a whole day without having to make a meal!  Plus Brad and the girls got me some lovely-smelling shower gels, a food processor, and two cds (Adele and Sugarland).  I'm not sure if I'll keep the food processor, in truth I really may not cook enough to get enough use out of it!  So it is still in the box.  I always aspire to cook more but it just never seems to happen!

Well, thanks for reading my meandering thoughts.  I am better but I'm still feeling pretty burned from various situations.  But I will continue writing!

Later,
Jen