Category Archives: School

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 28, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 28, 2015

Outside my window… gray. Daniel and I walked to the library earlier and Mom and I did a Target/Costco run; but it looks like anything else will require a car, headlights, and windshield wipers. Bring it, El Niño!

I am thinking… about things I have to get done this week, emails I need to write, and calls I need to make. Thankfully, Daniel is being quiet right now so I can get things done.

I am thankful… for getting to eat pizza with my parents in front of a fire in the fireplace last night while Daniel played in the living room and eventually fell asleep next to me. Good times.

In the kitchen… probably a frozen dinner so I can get caught up from being gone for 5 days and not have to think about food.

I am wearing… black shirt and jeans. I’m discalced as usual.

I am going… back to Target later to drop off my prescription.

I am wondering… why the Saint’s Name Generator gave me Josemaria Escriva for 2016.

I am reading… the last part of Zechariah and all of Malachi this week in my read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. I’ll probably be starting Parchment and Old Lace by Laura Childs this week as well.

I am hoping… to have a peaceful New Year’s Eve at home.

I am looking forward to… Daniel going back to school on the 5th.

I am hearing… the fish tank behind me.

A Daniel story for today… kiddo has been falling asleep on the heating vent in our room and gravitates there any time the furnace is on, especially in the morning.

Around the house… fairly quiet as my dad is in his office and my mom is watching TV in her room with the cats. Daniel is in a closet in Mom’s office playing.

One of my favorite things… being home.

A few plans for the rest of the week: errands with the kid and whatever comes up.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Musings While Watching the Sun Bowl

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7 Quick Takes

I’m sitting here composing these in EditPad while watching the Sun Bowl. I’m in Washington at my grandmother’s house without Internet (which is why I’ve been quieter than usual) and I’ll get these posted (and backdated to the correct time) on Sunday when I get home.

— 1 —

Stupid commercials. I’m already grumpy that they’re not showing the Washington State Marching Band’s tuba section. The only reason I’m actually watching it (I hate football and the Washington State Cougars are the archenemy of my beloved Washington Huskies) is my youngest cousin Sarah is a tuba player and the president of the band. Instead of actually showing something I *WANT* to see, they’re showing Chik-Fil-A commercials. I find Chik-Fil-A to be a reprehensible company for various reasons but the fact that I’m being forced to watch their lame commercials instead of seeing Sarah is making me stabby. Boo you stupid company! I want to see Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!

**UPDATE** I did get to see the Washington State tubas briefly and I caught a glimpse of Sarah. We’re so proud of you, sweetie!

— 2 —

Stupid announcers. Enough whining about the weather! You’re in a heated announcer booth. The players, fans, and the band are down in the snow. Get down on the field and report from there! (The sideline announcers are fine — I’m mostly grumping at the idiots in the booth.)

— 3 —

Legit weather complaints. My aunt and her boyfriend are there watching Sarah and they’re texting my mom to complain about the cold. To be fair to them, the snow has turned into a blizzard (4th quarter now) so they’ve got a right to complain. I’m hoping they get back to Washington safely tomorrow. Sitting up in northwestern Washington right now, it’s cloudy and near freezing but I don’t think we’re getting any moisture. If Washington does, I hope it holds off until we fly out and my aunt gets back tomorrow.

— 4 —

Favorite Christmas memory. Answering the question posed by Laura of Coptic Dad and Mom, my favorite Christmas memory would have to be from 1996 when we got snowed in up here and my parents actually made the local news when Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) shut down and they were seen walking across the screen. We ended up having to borrow my grandparents’ van to drive back home to San Jose. It was pretty fun for a California kid to be able to play in the snow. I also remember Midnight Mass at my grandparents’ Episcopal church that year being particularly pretty.

— 5 —

Daniel’s Christmas. When we got to my grandmother’s house, Daniel started saying, “Dollhouse!” and my mom assumed he meant the one downstairs. (My grandparents kept outgrown toys for the grandkids and great-grandkids that were visiting.) It turns out that he saw part of my grandmother’s birdhouse collection. Oops! We went to Fred Meyer and found him a dollhouse set up the next day. In addition, Jon’s aunt and uncle sent me an Amazon.Com gift card to get Daniel something from them so I ordered some Legos. Kiddo was quite happy to find them under the tree.

— 6 —

Doh! The Miami Hurricanes just scored with 5 minutes to go! Oh good… penalty thrown and a 10 yard penalty given to Miami so the touchdown is undone. Hopefully Washington doesn’t Coug it! (“Coug” refers to the Washington State Cougars just *barely* missing the win as they did in their game against Stanford.) Thankfully, my University of Washington Huskies are kicking some Southern Mississippi butt in the Heart of Dallas bowl! GO DAWGS!

**UPDATE** Washington State wins 20-14! Against my better judgement, GO COUGS!!!

— 7 —

Tiny terrorist. Daniel played with his Legos all day yesterday and didn’t eat. While this meant that I got a much-needed nap, it also meant that the little monster didn’t go to sleep last night and decided to wake me up at 1:30 a.m. demanding milk. My response: “No. Go back to bed.” He responded by turning on both the overhead light and the reading lamp. I reluctantly got up, stuffed some milk and cheese into him, and went back to bed. He woke me up a few minutes later demanding more cheese. I realized at that point that I had several bags of goldfish crackers in the room and handed him a bag before pulling the covers back over my head. He finished that bag and eventually went to sleep on top of me around 2 a.m. I woke up with leg cramps at 5:00 a.m. because of the position I was in with Daniel on my (twin) bed so I carried him over to his bed and tucked him in. Thankfully, the little beastling let me sleep in until 10:00 a.m. When my mom woke me up because the precious sweetling had come upstairs, I told her I wouldn’t get up unless there was an iced venti vanilla latté with whole milk in it for me. She told me that $tarbux wasn’t open on December 26th. I may or may not have growled at her. (I got my latté.) Daniel’s new nickname is the “tiny terrorist”.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 8, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 8, 2015

Outside my window… Dark and down in the 40’s right now. I love that I’m getting to feel winter in northern California. The only more perfect thing would be my dad building a fire in the fireplace.

I am thinking… about the stupidity erupting over the holiday cups at $tarbux. There’s even a wacko calling for people to go to $tarbux and give their name as “Merry Christmas” to force the baristas to say it… which is pretty ludicrous when you consider that all their baristas are literate (and many have probably read this or other pieces on the subject) and the practice in most of the ones I visit is to call out “I have a [insert name of drink] for [insert first name]!” It isn’t going to force them to say “Merry Christmas” more than anything else will.

Another thing: $tarbux still gets your money if you do that so you’re basically funding a company whose morals you hate. Wouldn’t it be better to patronize your local independent coffee shops or to just make your coffee at home and donate what you would have spent to charity? Just a thought!

I am thankful… for rain and cold weather. Bring it, El Niño!

In the kitchen… Dad made shrimp pasta with lemon, basil, garlic, and prosciutto. *swoons*

I am wearing… navy blue fitted tee from Old Navy and blue/white striped pj bottoms from Tarzhay.

I am going… to be calling and annoying the Special Ed peeps at San Jose Unified again tomorrow morning to see if I can get them moving faster on finding Daniel a placement.

I am wondering… how many words I can get through tonight for my NaNo piece.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I finished Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson on Tuesday during my two hour wait at the local Social Security office to find out that they don’t do what I needed them to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I would have to come back on Friday. (I prevailed on Friday thankfully.)

I am hoping… for Daniel to get placed in a school program this week.

I am looking forward to… seeing some family friends for the first time in 9 years on Friday.

I am hearing… my mom watching The Librarians.

A Daniel story for today… Mom took him to a local park while I was at church and partway through their park date, she heard him howl. She rushed over and he was covered in blood and one of his front teeth was missing. We think he likely was grinding his teeth and bit it strangely so it came out sideways because he’s still a bit bloody in that spot and has a dark bruise there. His other front tooth is loose as well!

Around the house… I can hear the furnace. It’s making me feel all koselig, which is a Norwegian word for a sense of coziness. (HT: this article)

A favorite quote for today… “TIL that Starbucks is rounding Christians up into coffee death camps and making them drink Pagan Spice Lattes.” — Mark Jaquith snarking about the flipping out over the $tarbux holiday cups. (Just for the record, I really prefer Peet’s and It’s A Grind over $tarbux any day.)

One of my favorite things… coffee with Rebecca… at $tarbux. 😉

A few plans for the rest of the week: park dates with Daniel, Bible study and choir on Thursday, dinner with friends on Friday, and a game night with a good friend from childhood on Saturday night.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 2, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 2, 2015

Outside my window… dark. It was raining when I woke up this morning and I was overjoyed to see this. It was a little chilly the rest of the day but not bad. I didn’t even freeze when I went to go drop Halloween candy off for Operation Gratitude.

I am thinking… about my NaNoWriMo characters and how to best catch up on my word count. I only got about 500 words written yesterday instead of the 1667 they recommend for the starting day. Oh well! If my sweet boy EVER goes to sleep, I might be able to catch up. *looks at the squirming kid next to me who is shredding his blankie*

I am thankful… for the chance to reconnect with my home congregation yesterday even if I’m seriously missing St. John’s (my church in La Verne). Also thankful for coffee with mi amiga Rebecca yesterday who gets me… way too well.

In the kitchen… minestrone soup and sourdough bread.

I am wearing… navy blue shirt from Old Navy and pajama bottoms from Kohl’s.

I am going… down to the local Social Security office tomorrow morning in hopes that they can fix the SSI-Medicaid issue we’re having with Daniel. *shakes fist at LA County for refusing to answer the phone and fix the freaking problem on their end and at Social Security for making me waste my morning by meeting with them because they won’t communicate with LA County*

I am wondering… why Daniel has been such a bear to get to sleep tonight.

I am reading… the epilogue of Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson and then (likely) Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I am hoping… we can get Daniel in school this week. Special Ed for San Jose Unified needs to get on this!

I am looking forward to… maybe getting to go the the knitting/crocheting group at church this week.

I am hearing… Daniel squeaking and shredding his blankie.

A Daniel story for today… he has been curling up in one of the recliners in the living room watching TV with his Grandpa Jim (my dad). It is insanely cute because the two of them have always seemed to have this unspoken bond.

Around the house… mostly quiet except for my wee bairn refusing to sleep and my parents watching different TV shows at opposite ends of the house.

A favorite quote for today… “Getting sober never felt like I had pulled myself up by my own spiritual bootstraps. It felt instead like I was on one path toward destruction and God pulled me off of it by the scruff of my collar, me hopelessly kicking and flailing and saying, ‘Screw you. I’ll take the destruction please.’ God looked at tiny, little red-faced me and said, ‘that’s adorable,’ and then plunked me down on an entirely different path.” — Nadia Bolz-Weber (I’ve actually seen her talk about this on a YouTube video and you have to hear her say it.)

One of my favorite things… sleeping kids. *looks at my child and ponders finding a recording of the Go the F to Sleep book to play for him*

A few plans for the rest of the week: Social Security tomorrow, hopefully an IEP meeting for Daniel at some point this week, and whatever else life decides to throw at me.

A peek into my day… The prerequisite Halloween pic of Daniel as a soccer player and me as a soccer mom.

Daniel and I dressed up (or not) for Halloween 2015

Post Script…

I’m doing NaNoWriMo this summer so I might be hard to find this month. If you are participating too, find me and let me know — I’m “khouria”.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: School Enrollment Woes, the Latest Disrespect Toward Black Women, and Books to Which I Look Forward

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Srsly?!?!?!?! San Jose Unified sprung a new requirement on me: a TB test for Daniel. Apparently, they (not every other school district) require it of kids transferring from outside the district. I get it (sort of) but it seriously would have been nice to know that BEFORE TUESDAY. We found a CVS Minute Clinic and got it done this week but it knocked off our ability to enroll Daniel by a few days.

— 2 —

Prayer Request. I have an enrollment appointment with the district tomorrow morning at 8. Could y’all please pray that they’re happy with all my documentation (especially since Daniel’s withdrawal form may not be what they want)? He has to be enrolled before they will even look at his IEP and determine placement. I’m also praying that wherever he gets assigned has an autism program because a special day class (SDC) doesn’t guarantee that the teacher has any experience with autism.

— 3 —

WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!? Here’s the video and commentary on the young African-American woman who was thrown to the ground and handcuffed in South Carolina. She had just been orphaned and was acting out by refusing to put her cell phone away or let the teacher confiscate it. Still, that was no excuse to have the police called, be thrown in her desk to the floor, and then be dragged across the room with her desk to be handcuffed. Seriously, I question the humanity of anyone who can justify all of that!

— 4 —

Sage advice. Dear Abby answered a non-believing teenager in Alabama who was pondering becoming Christian to fit in. My take on her answer: brilliant. (HT: Friendly Atheist)

— 5 —

Seriously looking forward to this! I’ve known Maria through various channels for a couple years now and am *seriously* looking forward to her book on saints. I encourage you to check it out.

— 6 —

Fighting the fearmongerers. There is a new book called The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House that takes down the Food Babe. Given that I’ve seen only a handful of Hari’s schlock and she makes me stabby, I’m seriously looking forward to reading this.

— 7 —

Why I don’t watch daytime TV. My mom told me today that there are some anti-vax groups that are taking out ads on daytime TV to spread their deceit.

…

Because, you know, none of the people in these groups actually *REMEMBER* a world with measles outbreaks or serious widespread fear of polio because… THEIR PARENTS VACCINATED THEM!!!!! Why the fur would anyone *willingly* choose to subject your kids to these diseases?!?!?!?!?!?

VACCINATE YOUR FREAKING KIDS!!!!

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

7 Quick Takes: Church Secretaries, Books, and Going Gluten-Free

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Church office fun. I’m subbing for the church secretary this week and having fun doing it. Wednesday involved getting to be present for Bible study before immersing myself in Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Word. Today was more Microsoft Publisher fun, Microsoft Word, and whatever my priest needed to be done. Tomorrow, I get to do bulletins. I am so excited!

— 2 —

The County Fair. Daniel’s class is heading to the LA County Fair next Friday. We had a note come home asking if we wanted to volunteer to go too. My answer: “no.”. (It will be hot and I hate heat. Yes, I live in a desert; but I didn’t get a say in that.) Jon’s answer: “yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” You gotta love a non-traditional family where the dad is the field trip chaperone. 🙂 I think they’ll have a fabulous time.

— 3 —

Holy Mirth. Fr. James Martin, S.J. posted something for Joke with the Pope which has people donating their favorite jokes in the name of charity. I’m thinking of all my favorite religious ones (that aren’t in Fr. Jim’s book, Between Heaven and Mirth) and the cause for which it will go.

— 4 —

Take me out to the ballgame. Jon and I are headed to a Dodgers game tomorrow for Episcopal Dodgers night. It will be the first professional sporting event that I have ever attended so I’m excited. I wish it was the Giants or Mariners or the Cards (or pretty much any other team besides the Dodgers or the Yankees) instead; but hey, at least I will be able to say that I’ve been to an MLB game. I’ll probably root for the Pirates since it is against my sports allegiances to root for the Dodgers. (For those not in the know, the Dodgers are the mortal enemies of my Giants.)

On my to-do list today: acquire some Giants socks so I can represent my boys at the game. (According to Jon and my priest, I am not allowed to wear any Giants shirts.)

— 5 —

A book launch party for introverts. The latest book from The Bloggess is coming out next week and she’s having a book launch party via Google Plus. The launch party and the book are very likely both going to be NSFW but any fan of The Bloggess already knows that. 🙂

— 6 —

G.K Chesterton. Someone donated a book of Father Brown mysteries to my mother-in-law’s Little Free Library and she set it aside for me. I’ve only read a handful so far but they’ve kept my attention. This might be a book that I can pick up and put down every so often while I wait for my favorite authors to come out with their latest works.

— 7 —

Mmmmm… gluten-free. My bloodwork did not come back positive for celiac disease so it’s fairly likely that I don’t have it. Even if the biopsies from the endoscopy/colonoscopy don’t come back positive for it, I am considering going gluten-free for a month to see if it makes any difference with my stomach issues.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 30, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY August 30, 2015

Outside my window… 88F. It’s vastly better than the high 90’s and triple digits we’ve been having!

I am thinking… about some financial things.

I am thankful… for the wonderful sermon this morning on Mark 7 that referenced parts of the Collect for Purity that we say every Sunday morning.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the kitchen… I haven’t decided on dinner yet but I think my MIL is making liver and onions for my FIL.

I am wearing… my Run for the Little Flowers shirt and black shorts.

I am going… to Pep Boys tomorrow for new tires. I had a blowout on Friday and Jon had one today. Thank God for AAA! (I could have changed mine by myself but it was over 100F and I had Daniel with me.)

I am wondering… if Daniel will sleep through the night and not come into my room at 1 a.m. to start bouncing on the bed. (Not that this has happened the last two nights or anything…)

I am reading… Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews. I finished Friendship Cake by Lynne Hinton last week and made it through Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron as well.

I am hoping… my G-I appointment bears fruit this week even though I haven’t gotten to have the abdominal ultrasound appointment yet.

I am looking forward to… to having all the medical appointments for Daniel over this week.

I am hearing… Daniel on his toy laptop.

A Daniel story for today… when he was quite a bit younger (2 or 3), he wanted to go for a walk at my parents’ house. When I wasn’t responding quickly enough, he started bringing me every shoe he could find.

Around the house… air-conditioning. Yay!

A favorite quote for today… “Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .'” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… cool air.

A few plans for the rest of the week: getting tires tomorrow, PT on Tuesday, G-I specialist on Wednesday, Daniel’s sedated dentist appointment and probably orthopedics x-rays on Thursday, and his orthopedist appointment on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.