Still a Little Nuts... But What Else Is New... Oh... And a Giveaway!

So in my last post I was near the end of my rope, but someone was kind enough to send me a new one...  more on that later!

Anyway, as with a lot of families with a child or 3 who have special needs, the last two weeks have been filled with IEP meetings, SSI issues and Medicaid stuff. Just what I needed to help me de-stress... if you consider a blood pressure reading of 145 over 95 good. (Yeah - that's on my 5 different meds AND immediately following a meditation journey to my "happy place.")......  Visit my *Happy Place*

Having an all-new understanding as to why some species eat their young, we are now seeking respite care for Iraq. I have mentioned in earlier blogs that I have not been away from Iraq in 6 years (except for the two different times that Broadway and then The Skink were in the hospital... different stories, and hardly vacations). 

See The Skink's summer hospital story here, here, here, here, here, here and here (because just saying "here and here" somehow just seems abbreviated... abbreviated... kind of a long word to describe something condensed, huh?)

So I've been wading through the process of getting a Medicaid waiver set up, but there is a waiting list for services. (Nebraska's Safe Haven law is sounding better every day). Also with the bad economy and all the budget cuts, they are really short-handed around the Social Services department.

I've been using all the techniques in all the autism books I can find to avoid Iraq-style nuclear meltdown. I should probably pronounce it "nuke-you-lar" like George Dubbyah... after all, Iraq was born in Texas. On one hand I could brag that we only had 3-4 nukeyoular-meltdowns over the last week - yay... or I could tell you that Iraq didn't have her hair brushed all week, went out in the freezing cold without a coat, jumped on the couch all weekend and ate nothing but brownies and tomato slices all day on Sunday. We'll stick with the cup being half full, kay?

Yup - I could really use that respite help pretty quick here!

As for The Skink, aside from learning how to mimic an Iraqi nukyoular meltdown, she's been great. I feel like a rarely blog about her - I suppose it's because she's just so darn easy! Yes - lately she's been copying her sister's crying-meltdown-thing, but nowhere near to the degree Iraq does it. I put The Skink in her room, tell her she can come out when she's done, and that's it. She cries a little, starts playing with her toys, and is in a great mood for the rest of the day.

The *worst* thing The Skink started doing over the last couple weeks was getting out of bed at night and falling asleep in front of her bedroom door. That was a pain because then we couldn't OPEN the door... and darn if The Skink isn't one of the heaviest sleepers I've ever known. Second only to Broadway, I think. To remedy the situation, we set up her PeaPod on her bed and zip her up for the night. 

Problem solved!

This picture was from the summer - but you get the idea. This thing is *Awesome!*

Nothing at all like Iraq's night time antics. We have now installed strong locks waaaaay up high on our doors because Iraq has been known to get up in the middle of the night and explore. It's not fun waking up to a wide-open front door in the morning! I have to say - ever since Iraq broke off her bedroom doorknob, life has been much easier in that sense. We just lock her in her room, and sleep much better knowing that at very least, she's still in the house.

As for Broadway, he has been in a number of Thanksgiving and Christmas parades with his Jr.ROTC unit over the past weeks. We made it to the one just before Thanksgiving, but I'm sorry to say I had to miss the BIG Christmas parade last Friday. My hubby had to work, and sorry, but I draw the line at standing in the freezing cold with an autistic child and a child with Down syndrome and NO back-up!

So, after everything that has been going on, I'm still clinging to the end of my frayed rope. Did I mention I'm having a giveaway this week? This week I'm giving you a chance to win an un-frayed rope... with a pendant on it! Lisa Austin of Crazy4PonyTails.com has been kind enough to send me this cool necklace:

This is a pendant on a braided necklace - I'm not sure what the necklace portion is made of - either leather or some sort of vinyl cord... at any rate, it seems to be sturdy enough to hold up whether you enjoy barrel racing, jumping or just hanging around the house. The message is universal...

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And I will send it to one lucky commenter on this blog. Lisa also makes custom horsehair jewelry. As luck would have it, I still have the hair cut from the tail of the best horse I ever had, and someday when I can afford it, I'm going to send it to Lisa so she can make me a bracelet from it. She also embellishes these beautifully braided pieces with decorative clasps and even pendants.  

Are those awesome, or what?

Please visit Lisa's web site and leave me a comment telling me which pendant is your favorite. I'll use a randomly generated number to determine the winner on Friday. Happy commenting!

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