Category Archives: Books/Magazines

7 Quick Takes: Migraines, Eye Exams, and Secret Trump Apologists, Oh My!

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

*facepalm* Let me explain this in small words so that people understand because apparently, there are people on Facebook who are depriving a village somewhere of their chief idiot:

If your reaction to the news that he’s groped women, harassed them, and treated them horribly is anything other than “that’s horrible!” and possibly “I’m not voting for him” (I’m not saying that you have to like or vote for Hillary)… YOU’RE A TRUMP APOLOGIST.

If your reaction to this news is “well, I’ve been dealing with that all my life so why is this any different”, you’re missing the freaking point and… YOU’RE A TRUMP APOLOGIST.

If your reaction to the news is to deflect to Bill Clinton and what happened during his administrations, you’re missing the point (yet again) and *surprise surprise*… YOU’RE A TRUMP APOLOGIST. (And for the record, I was not old enough to vote in the 1992 and 1996 elections so you can stop claiming that I’m responsible for whatever he did.)

If your reaction is to cite 50 Shades of Grey as evidence that women are asking for it, you’re a disgusting human being and (not shockingly)… YOU’RE A TRUMP APOLOGIST.

If you’re reaction is to say “yeah, it’s horrible but I’m voting for him anyway”, you need a filter between your mouth and brain and *drumroll*… YOU’RE A TRUMP APOLOGIST.

— 2 —

And speaking of the stupid deflection to 50 Shades of Grey… This meme explains the problem in that logic very succinctly. It also illustrates why I am *INCREDIBLY* proud to have contributed money to the effort to kick Joe Walsh out of office and replace him with the amazingly wonderful Tammy Duckworth. 😀

Joe Walsh is a moron.

— 3 —

And for the record… You are not required to vote for either Trump or Hillary. If you find them both repugnant and are of the opinion that third parties take votes away from your chosen candidate, you have the option of simply not voting for a presidential choice on the ballot. HOWEVER… you *DO* need to vote for someone for the House, Senate (if there’s a Senate race in your state this year), governor, and for any local races because those people do the day-to-day governing. In the case of your House member and your senator, they’re part of one of the checks and balances on the President’s power.

— 4 —

Eye exams. One of the temple pieces on the frames of my glasses snapped on Tuesday and I had to find someone who could do an eye exam because I haven’t seen either an optometrist or ophthalmologist in probably 2 years. (They get pissy if you go in for glasses and your prescription isn’t current.) One local place was able to get me in this afternoon and when they checked my vision, we discovered that my distance prescription on my sunglasses corrects to better than 20/20 in terms of reading as well. As I’ve had reading glasses for 23 years and bifocals for 22 of them, this was a surprise. It’s also another sign that my vision improved after the HELLP Syndrome which is almost unheard of — usually, women have to get a stronger prescription for their vision after having it.

— 5 —

The timing is impeccable. Can I just tell you how fun it is to have an eye exam while dealing with a migraine? It’s just fabulous. The tech and the optician were both apologizing for putting stuff in my eyes and shining lights in because light sensitivity is one of my migraine symptoms.

— 6 —

Stormy weather. The Pacific Northwest is supposed to get hit with several *MASSIVE* storms this weekend with insane winds and atmospheric pressures that are apparently reminding one forecaster of what was seen during the 1962 Columbus Day storm that killed 46 people. (My Practical Accounting professor had me look it up during class today because I was bored and done checking my homework. It’s nice to be useful.)

I and the rest of God’s country would appreciate it if you’d keep us in prayer that there are no fatalities and no widespread power losses.

— 7 —

A kindred spirit. You know your professor is a kindred spirit when you get all the references to literature, movies, and TV shows that she throws into quizzes/pre-tests/tests. Our last test had the business owners named after characters on The Office and our pre-test for the chapter test this coming Monday had names from Pride and Prejudice.

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

{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.

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.

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.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 28, 2016

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For Today… August 28, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was lovely and in the 60’s with a minor rainstorm in the afternoon. It’s so wonderful after a week of humidity and temps in the 80’s.

I am thinking… about all the calls I have to make tomorrow to structure my week around Daniel’s school schedule as his bus transportation seems to be messed up.

I am thankful… for my church and the Spanish ministry to whom a bunch of school supplies were donated and for the people who offered to buy backpacks for the kids who need them. It was also wonderful watching Rev. Helen kneeling in front of the non-Communing kids at the altar rail and giving them the best blessing she could in Spanish. She is an asset to us in many ways.

One of my favorite things… being able to breathe normally. I miss it with this stupid asthma exacerbation.

I am wearing… jammies. Church was my indigo shirt from Fred Meyer, black capris from Kohl’s, and black flats from the Naturalizer website.. I exchanged the shirt and the flats for my blue-green shirt and black flip-flops from Old Navy.

I am creating… a prayer shawl on one of my hooks.

I am reading… Just Desserts by G.A. McKevvett.

I am hoping… I don’t have too much of a problem getting a follow-up appointment this week after my ER visit on Thursday. I’m still having asthma issues and I need to talk about my med list.

I am learning… the ropes of getting Daniel’s services up here.

In my kitchen… we had Sunday dinner here with my uncle and my grandma so we had pork chops, chopped salad, mixed veggies, corn on the cob, and apple pie for dessert.

In the school room… Daniel starts back on Tuesday and I’m trying to get his transportation sitch resolved.

Post Script… I wanted to share this for my musically-inclined friends.

Shared Quote… “I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality…asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says ‘Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology…’ But excusing says ‘I see that you couldn’t help it or didn’t mean it; you weren’t really to blame.’ …And if we forget this, we shall go away imagining that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves.” — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

A moment from my day… From one of our hymns this morning which I was bummed not to be able to sing because of my voice and lungs.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 22, 2016

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For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… the sun should be setting soon. It was in the 70’s today. That’s totally better than the 90F temperatures we were having in Seattle on Saturday!

I am thinking… about various things that have to get done this week.

I am thankful… Jon brought his hotspot up with him because we still don’t have Internet at home.

One of my favorite things… a quiet evening.

I am wearing… jammies. It was my “We Will Not Be Silent” shirt and jeans earlier.

I am creating… bags to shred, to take to Best Buy for electronics recycling, and to take to Goodwill.

I am reading… Just Desserts by G.A. McKevvett.

I am hoping… they get internet turned on tomorrow.

I am learning… to just take the Ativan if I can’t sleep.

In my kitchen… we got pizza because Jon is visiting.

In the school room… Daniel starts back in a week. I need to find out what his school supply list is.

Post Script… this is my friend Gina’s new Etsy shop.

Shared Quote… “Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?” — from one of the hymns last Sunday

A moment from my day… the actual hymn from which the quote comes.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: The No Internet Edition

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7 Quick Takes

This blog post is being written on Saturday night and will be posted on Sunday when I can get to $tarbux for some Internet time. Our ISP shut off our service because we were supposed to be switching to satellite but they screwed up on a pretty large scale and we’ve been without Internet until Wednesday — something very hard for my family of geeks. So… here is a list of things I’ve done that don’t require Internet.

— 1 —

Play lots of solitare. My laptop came up with Microsoft Solitare Collection and I’ve played every type in the last few days except for Freecell. I’m finding that the ordering aspect of Spider Solitare is helpful when I’m pondering things.

— 2 —

Hang out with family. My evil twin and his long-suffering wife came up on Friday and stayed until mid-afternoon when the six of us headed south for the 30th anniversary party for one of my mom’s college friend who is like an adopted aunt to us. Other than Daniel being a pill and having a couple meltdowns, it was fun.

— 3 —

Visit farm stands for produce and local food. If I drive a couple miles west and cross the Skagit River, I’m in farmland and there are some really cool produce places around here. My goal: find some plain cheese curds and a good Italian soda. (Schuh Farms is fabulous for this.) It’s berry season here and people are picking lots of them.

— 4 —

Deep clean the house. We’re having a lot of company these days between the twin and the girl coming up as well as Jon’s visit up here next week. Mom has commented as well that she’s getting a lot more done because she can’t really spend time on the computer.

— 5 —

Watch the Olympics. The events I care about are largely over but I always like rooting for the underdog. It was also fabulous to see Simone Biles WIN ALL THE MEDALS!!!

— 6 —

Read. I had to put down Fear Babe because it stopped keeping my attention and I’m reading a Savannah Reid murder mystery right now.

— 7 —

Organize my room. I’ve got piles of papers to file, hole-punch, and/or shred. Not being able to be online means that I’m getting a lot done.

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