Category Archives: Politics

{five favourites}: Miscellanea (LXXVI)

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#5Faves

One

Seeing my community come together following the local shooting on Friday. (For those who don’t read my blog normally, the Cascade Mall shooting was local for me.) The small shrine at the mall sign is growing still, the vigil held on Monday night was very well-attended, and there’s even a prayer wall composed of two pieces of butcher paper at the college.

Sarai Lara, the 15 year old killed in the shooting, was a student at my town’s high school and the principal created a GofundMe account for memorial t-shirts for all the students. After only two days, it’s been fully funded and I feel really blessed to have gotten to be one of the donors.

Two

This fact-check of Monday’s debate from NPR. I like that they included a transcript of the debate and nested the fact-check blurbs into it so that you can read the transcript and see the various blurbs in context. (Props to Laura of Coptic Dad and Mom for bringing it to my attention.)

Three

This piece on Philip Yancey from HuffPo Religion. Apparently, I’m in good company in being baffled by evangelical support of Donald Trump. Yancey comes from a fundamentalist background and went more mainstream evangelical so I’m not surprised that he is not a fan of Trump. For an understanding of why I’m saying this, read What’s So Amazing About Grace? and Vanishing Grace.

Four

This piece on the value of being alone. Who knew that my need for “mama time” was such a good thing? 🙂

Five

Singing in my church choir. Getting to go sing for 60-90 minutes on Wednesday nights and on Sunday mornings is divine. (No pun intended.) Tonight involved some Mendelssohn, Holst, and gospel.

Go love up Bonnie, DeBalino, and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 25, 2016

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For Today… September 25, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was in the low 60’s today and very nice.

I am thinking… about how to structure my study time this week.

I am thankful… that they arrested a suspect in the Cascade Mall shooting.

One of my favorite things… Homer being a snuggly kitteh.

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes today were a black cardigan and jeans from Kohl’s, a black t-shirt from Old Navy, and my black flats. I ditched the flats and cardigan after church. I was also wearing my 49’ers necklace that Rebecca made for me so I could rep my boys at church.

I am creating… plans for Write 31 Days.

I am watching… “Lock-Up: San Antonio — Extended Stay”. I’m kind of addicted to police/jail/forensic shows.

I am hoping… the Giants make it to the wild card game!

I am learning… how to write and solve problems with T accounts in my Practical Accounting I class.

In my kitchen… Mom made Guinness stew tonight.

In the school room… Daniel continues to do well in his autism program.

Post Script… I love this piece on how to live through anything.

Shared Quote… I seriously feel like this is a fitting quote that refers to everyone who tells me that Daniel’s autism is due to us vaccinating him. (For the 1500th time, vaccines do not cause autism.) Let’s also not even get into the political applications of it…

A fitting quote for these days.

A moment from my day… I’m enjoying the various videos on bullet journals out there. I would love to have one but I am too much of a perfectionist and I lack the ability to draw a straight line.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: First Week of School Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

My Practical Accounting class. I love the class so much that I made myself late for choir practice last night so I could get the worksheet of class examples to balance. (The fact that Mount Vernon has the crappiest way of doing street repairs and closures also made me late because a large chunk of Division was closed and I had to take Fir to Riverside to Fulton to some other street to Kincaid to get to my church on 18th.) I also worked through some things in my workbook that aren’t required just to give myself some extra practice.

— 2 —

My Excel class. The book and workbook are still MIA so we have some temporary online codes for the e-book and SNAP. I’m really wanting my print book because it’s kind of annoying to have to jump between the window with the e-book and Excel while working on projects and exercises.

— 3 —

Fitting in. I thought I’d be the oldest in a class of 18-20 year olds. I was wrong. My Practical Accounting class is a good mix of ages and I’m liking this mixture a lot. We do have some youngsters but also people my age and some who are older.

— 4 —

CCF. When I walked into the student center on Tuesday at noon, the Campus Christian Fellowship was tabling. (“Tabling” means that they had a table with information and a sign-up sheet for emails about activities.) I signed up to get emails on events and I’ll be heading to hang out with them for dinner and Bible study tonight. They also have a chapel service on Tuesday during the noon hour and I will definitely attend those as they seem like a nice break in my day.

Honestly, I’m looking forward to religious activities like this where I’m just going as “Jen” and not “Pastor Jon’s wife Jen who we expect to know everything about all that is happening despite the fact that we did not call HER as the pastor and she has her hands full with a full-time job or a kiddo with special needs”.

— 5 —

Prayer request. Please keep my dear friend Eileen and her family in prayer as she deals with the passing of her father. She is one of the deepest and wisest people and I hate that she is having to grieve, though she would be one of the first to tell me that it is a part of life.

— 6 —

The Skittles meme from Donald Trump Jr. In case you didn’t read my post from Tuesday, let me explain why Donald Trump Jr.’s Skittles meme is so horrific.

1.) Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. Wrigley, the maker of Skittles, responded as such to Trump Jr.

2.) Trump Jr. used the picture from a refugee photographer without said photographer’s permission. The photographer is horrified by how his picture was used and has emphatically said that Trump Jr. did not have permission to use it. Seriously, Junior. Didn’t your dad teach you not to take things without permission??? Oh wait…

3.) The idea behind the Skittles example originated with a children’s book by Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher. Lest you think I am making this up, the link to my source is here and Snopes.Com backs me up.

And for the record, I would totally eat a handful of Skittles and I would joyfully accept every refugee. SKITTLES ARE CANDY AND REFUGEES ARE PEOPLE, CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD WHO DESERVE BETTER THAN TO BE TREATED LIKE A DISPOSABLE COMMODITY.

— 7 —

Srsly?!?!? My backpack with my accounting book and working papers fell off the chair next to me at Starbux and the two people in my part of the restaurant gave me nasty looks even after I said, “Sorry.” Y’all, I’m sorry that my accounting book weighs more than Daniel does and that the sound disturbed you sitting there and drinking coffee. To be fair, the two of you are now having incredibly loud conversations with other people and I’m not giving you snotty looks. Try to show a modicum of compassion, m’kay?

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

{five favourites}: Miscellanea (LXXV)

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#5Faves

One

Tim Hawkins’ “Hedge of Protection” bit. I have spit coffee out of my nose before when people have prayed for a “hedge of protection” for me because of this video.

Two

My boys winning tonight. It’s always wonderful when my boys (the San Francisco Giants) annihilate the Dodgers. #BeatLA

Three

My accounting class. I hated math. Let me make that more emphatic — HATED math. I got through Calculus by the skin of my teeth and swore I would never do anything else involving it once I ran screaming from Organic Chemistry. My Macroeconomics class in college had a little bit but it was just computation and a little bit of basic algebra.

Well… I discovered that I loved the accounting work I had to do at UPS-SCS when I worked for them and all the tax/records/reimbursement stuff I did as a pastor’s wife. I think it says something that I’m going to campus on my day off from class to curl up in the library and start my Practical Accounting homework early!

Four

My friend Gina. Girlfriend wrote an amazing piece on autism and suicide.

Five

Wrigley (maker of Skittles). Wrigley, maker of Skittles, weighed in today on Donald Trump Jr.’s odious Skittles analogy (which I am not sharing here because I don’t believe in posting hate on this blog):

Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing.

By the way, the photographer who took the picture says that he is horrified that Trump Jr. is using the picture for his malevolent purposes because he (the photographer) is a refugee and Trump Jr. used it without his permission.

And for those who are ignorant as to why I’m making a big to-do over this, the origin of the Skittles analogy was a picture book in Germany called Der Giftpilz (The Toadstool) which was used to explain to children why it would only take one Jew to ruin the German people. The author, Julius Streicher, was hanged at Nuremburg for crimes against humanity.

Go love up Bonnie, DeBalino, and the others.

7 Quick Takes: My Somewhat Boring Life Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Write 31 Days. I’ve decided to participate in Write 31 Days again this year. I tried to make all 31 days last year but had to quit at Day 17 due to Daniel and I being forced to move up to San Jose.

My topic this year will probably be special needs parenting.

— 2 —

For girls who aren’t afraid to make some noise! A friend of mine told me about Kazoo Magazine and I wanted to share the link with y’all in case you have daughters. It’s a magazine for girls that isn’t based around the beauty paradigm and it has interesting things to do like building rafts and cracking codes. I think it’s something that would have been awesome to have when I was growing up!

— 3 —

The way the cookie crumbles. For those of you studying piano or music in general, you might be interested in what music theory looks like using Oreos. 🙂

— 4 —

The faces of some of the men who fought for independence from Britain. There exists a handful of photos of soldiers who fought in the American Revolution. All of the men were ~100 years old when these pictures were taken. I’m greatly amused by the Rev. Levi Hayes who settled in Granville, Ohio because my grandfather’s family were some of the founders of the town and I lived next door in Newark for about a year and a half!

— 5 —

Prerequisite politics take. I really feel like this is the worst election I’ve voted in thus far. Considering that my first presidential election as a voter was the 2000 election that George Bush and the Supreme Court stole, that says something. It surprises me that I’m honestly offended by Trump stickers on cars. To be fair, I’m sure that there are voters that dislike Hillary stickers on cars.

November can’t come fast enough.

— 6 —

Back to school? I’m looking at taking a couple classes online at the local community college this fall to make me more marketable when I start job-hunting again. One is on Excel and Access and the other one is practical accounting. Both are things I’ve learned on the job but it would probably be good to actually take the classes so I have something to put on my resumé. It’s been 14 years since I was in school so this should be fun.

— 7 —

125 years. My church celebrates its quasquicentennial anniversary on Sunday. It’s the second time I’ve been attending a church when this particular anniversary has rolled around so I’m pretty excited! I’m also hopefully going to be singing with the choir for it as well.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 4, 2016

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For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… partly cloudy and in the 60’s. An absolutely gorgeous day.

I am thinking… about this prayer someone posted in one of my Facebook groups and how it describes a couple people with whom I no longer have a relationship.

A Narcissist's Prayer

I am thankful… that the Decadron from last week is finally out of my body — lots of BAAAAAD side effects though they were almost worth it to not end up in the ER again from asthma issues.

One of my favorite things… soft grey kitties like the one in my window. 🙂

I am wearing… an indigo v-neck shirt and jeans.

I am creating… this entry and trying to motivate myself to work on various crocheting projects.

I am reading… Just Desserts by G.A. McKevett and Arriving at Amen by Leah Libresco.

I am hoping… my throat heals soon and this cough goes away. I’ve had it for the last month and it is miserable!
,
I am learning… not to try to eat past when I’m full. Holy serious stomach aches, Batman!

In my kitchen… my uncle is bringing Grandma for dinner tonight so my mom has made lasagna from scratch, sourdough bread, a pear-gorgonzola salad, and a fresh apple pie for dessert.

In the school room… the kidlet had a good first week of school and we seem to have worked out all the transportation issues.

Post Script… This is the fruit of all the helicopter parents and participation trophies — kids get to college and can’t deal with failure of any kind.

Shared Quote… This fits the election this year!

My thoughts on the 2016 election.

A moment from my day… Because it’s all about the short-necked Peruvian mongooses!

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Coming Off the Steroids Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Prayer request. The ER doc put me on a 5-day course of Decadron to help heal my lungs from my virus after I ended up in the ER last week with asthma exacerbation. It *did* help heal the inflammation in my lungs and has helped with my throat… but it’s also making me feel really manic and wired even though I finished the last dose 48 hours ago. Monday and Tuesday were hard days for functioning because the Decadron was taking me out of my head and I had to function as an adult. Yesterday, I slept most of the time Daniel was in school because of the weird dreams and insomnia from the steroids. Last night, I ended up using the mania to get through a huge pile of paperwork and then hunkered down in my room in as calm an environment as I could make to try and deal with my body having the shakes.

I’m still dealing with the shakes and feeling really wired so if y’all could please pray that my body could regulate again, I’d appreciate it greatly. Thanks!

— 2 —

Yearly explanation of WHY Daniel is in his program. Every year, I have at least one person ask if I’ve considered homeschooling Daniel. The answer has not changed in four years: OH. HELL. NO. Homeschooling has never and will never be something I ever want to do with Daniel and I honestly can’t understand why anyone would suggest it. I have the personality of a drill seargeant, no training in elementary or early childhood education or special education, and I hate being a housewife and stay-at-home-mom. (I stay home with Daniel because I have no choice, not because I want to.) We’ve always had options for public school for Daniel that have included an autism program and I’d much rather have him in a classroom with a teacher trained to work with him, kids his own age, and therapists who can help get him caught up on developmental things.

There are families for whom homeschooling works but we’re not one of them.

— 3 —

Regarding Colin Kaepernick… Rachel has a point.

Rachel Held Evans on Colin Kaepernick.

— 4 —

Facebook. So does anyone else hate the way Facebook has changed the trending topics so that there’s really no context? Just wondering.

— 5 —

Happy Jen. Last night, we had some real WEATHER going over us so I decided to just shut off the TV news, open the windows, and listen to the rain pounding on the roof outside my window as well as the thunder and lightning. It was glorious and it helped to keep me calm as I was dealing with the steroid shakes.

— 6 —

Prerequisite politics take. #NeverTrump was in my state on Tuesday night and I am so thankful that he’s gone. My mom managed to find a way back up from Seattle that avoided I-5 — a good thing because I have a feeling traffic would have been worse than usual going through Everett because of his presence. I’m still hoping for a meteor to hit the earth before the election so that I don’t have to deal with the possibility of someone as horrible as Trump winning.

— 7 —

Wow… I realized today that for the first time in years, I’m not dreading the fact that Daniel has a four day weekend. We’ll find things to do outside the house if we have to, but I’m not having to worry about finding ways to get out of the house or keep Daniel quiet like I did when I was living with my former in-laws.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.