7 Quick Takes: Random Act of Kindness, Baseball, and Lullabies

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Do you see these three darling children?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are in the homestudy stage. Kaia has met her family and they are in love with her!!! πŸ™‚

Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 2 —

Consider this. I know most of the people who participate in this link-up/meme are Catholic but these apply to priests as well.

— 3 —

Random Act of Kindness. Those who know me on Facebook or Twitter have heard this already but I’ll tell it again.

I’ve been having a really tough week. My brother is moving out of state at the end of the month and he and I had a tough conversation this weekend because he’s stressed and I unfortunately can’t fix it. (Nothing really bad — I just can’t get into the details until he makes some of them public on Facebook.) Everyone who I talk to about the move mentions Sean (my brother) being at the hospital with me the night they almost put Daniel on ECMO and I hit the breaking point with that on Monday night. I had a serious cry and barely got sleep so Tuesday, I was tired to the point of nausea. (I had to cancel Daniel’s ENT appointment because I was in no shape to drive.)

Wednesday, I had the radio off while I was driving up to Sacramento and was praying aloud about how stressed I was and how I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the day because it was going to be long. I was also praying about Daniel’s peds appointment because doctor’s appointments with him can be either hellish or good — there’s no in between. I stopped at the drive-thru $tarbux because I needed caffeine and the car in front of me was blocking me from being close to the speaker so it took a few tries to communicate my order. When I got up there, I was reaching for my debit card when the barista told me that the car in front of me had paid for my drink.

I started sobbing and probably scared the barista but it was seriously what I needed. Given that coffee is usually on my no-no list (stupid ulcers!), you can definitely say I enjoyed my lattΓ© a whole lot more. Seriously though, it was a total answer to prayer.

— 4 —

The appointment. Daniel’s appointment went well — he’s high-maintenance enough health-wise that we have to check in with his pediatrician more often than just the yearly Well-Child appointments. When we were there on Wednesday, she had made sure her scheduler put us in when the clinic was likely to be fairly empty so Daniel could run around and open/close doors to his heart’s content while she and I followed him and talked. He allowed her to examine him without objecting too much and she’s satisfied with his growth at the moment. She had also FINALLY (!!!!!) received Daniel’s MRI’s from his previous neurologist at Sutter and was amazed when I told her exactly what was going on in the report using words like “demyelination” and talked about how the lack of myelin on the neurons meant that the information wasn’t being transmitted as quickly. (My undergrad Biology classes were definitely not a waste of my time even if I didn’t end up being pre-med and heading to medical school.) I should have told her about pwning the residents who made up the entourage of Daniel’s pediatric neurologist last year when I was using words like “methodology” and “antecedent” to explain ABA to them after the neurology resident dealing with us had spoken to me condescendingly.

— 5 —

Cuddlebug time. I had another opportunity to have a sleepy boy in my lap and sing him to sleep on Tuesday night. He didn’t feel the need to nap yesterday or today and is still (at 9:50 p.m. as I’m typing these) running around the living room like a live wire. Oh well… there will be other opportunities.

— 6 —

Baseball. My Giants play Marie’s Orioles tomorrow. I have a feeling that there will be some trash talking over Twitter during the game. πŸ˜‰ Then again, my Giants have been sucking lately so some of it will probably be warranted. Of course, the worst thing is that I live with a Dodgers fan… and they’re at the top of their division while my boys are at the bottom.

— 7 —

Inside Westboro Baptist Church. I’m currently reading Banished by Lauren Drain and while it is disturbing because of the sheer crap that church teaches their young, it is fascinating how they lived “normally” in the world but were also completely separated from it. It shouldn’t astound me how severely brainwashed those poor people are but it does. I haven’t gotten to the part where she has a change of heart and I’m kind of looking forward to that.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Praying Compline, Harry Potter as An Adult, and a Prayer Request for a Friend

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Praying Compline. It was suggested to me a time ago that praying one of the Offices daily would scratch a liturgical itch. I chose Compline because I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll have some quiet time after Jon puts Daniel to bed to sit and pray. It’s been a really good discipline because it gives me something that calms me at the end of the day and a time when I can really let loose and pray about the things on my heart. Seeing this article today just affirms what I’ve been feeling with this.

— 2 —

The story behind “Lord, I Need You” from Matt Maher. Why yes, I’m obsessed with this song. How can you tell? Anyway, the song reminded me of the hymn I Need Thee Every Hour. It turns out that I was right and there is a connection.

— 3 —

My yearly donor call from Planned Parenthood. I was talking with Thomas when the phone rang.

J: Jen
C: Caller

*phone rings*
J: Hello?
C: Hi, my name is _________. I’m from _____________ and we’re calling on behalf of Planned Parenthood.
J: Can I cut to the chase? I’m pro-life so I’m afraid I’m not the person you want to be asking for a donation.
C: Thanks for letting me know that. You do realize that only 3% of what we do is abortions, right?
J: Totally aware of that. I also know exactly which facilities perform abortions, which perform aftercare, and which just do clinical things. I’ve worked with kids for 10 years and considered that knowledge valuable.
C: I’m glad you’re so informed. Anyway, I’m calling to ask if you can make a $150 donation today.
J: I can’t. It’s not in the budget and it’s not a donation I could make without talking to my husband and I’m positive that he wouldn’t approve of it.
C: *haggles with me a bit more on maybe making a smaller donation* Well, thank you for not hanging up on me and hearing me out. I also appreciate you being so polite.
J: No problem. Have a nice night.

I’m not posting about this to glorify myself or paint myself as a virtuous person. I had someone actually ask me to post my transcript of the call.

— 4 —

Orphans. Do you see these three adorable children?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are in the homestudy stage. Kaia has met her family and they are in love with her!!! πŸ™‚

Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 5 —

Prayer Request. The middle brother of a high school classmate passed away almost two weeks ago from a series of seizures. His memorial service and funeral Mass are on Friday and Saturday. I know Craig (my classmate) would really appreciate if you would keep him, his sister-in-law Krystine, his niece Nicole, his nephew Dante, and his parents in prayer because these next few days will be brutal.

— 6 —

Prerequisite baseball Quick Take. the Giants have won two games in a row to take their series with Philadelphia this week. They have been the cellar-dwelling team of the NL West lately so I’m hoping this starts an up trend.

— 7 —

Will all the Harry Potter fans please stand up? I saw this on the Internet today and loved it. I wish J.K. Rowling would write some books about the characters’ adult lives.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Eclectic Stuff Week

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Ziva leaves NCIS. Yep, it’s true. Cote de Pablo, the actress who plays Ziva David, is leaving the show after her character is wrapped up this fall. Ziva isn’t my favorite character so I’m not as bummed as I’d be if Abby (Pauley Perrette) but still kinda bummed nevertheless. I’m just wondering what will be done with her character and how they’ll tie that particular end up.

— 2 —

Orphans. Do you see these three sweet peas?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her. Kaia has a family committed to her who will be traveling to her country to meet her on July 26th! Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 3 —

A benefit to singing. According to CNN, choir singers’ hearts beat as one. It isn’t completely surprising to me — when you’re that focused on your breathing and modulation of tone, your body gets into it. The best choirs function as a unit rather than as individual singers, after all.

— 4 —

Prerequisite baseball take. My Giants are at the bottom of the NL West. The freaking DODGERS are doing better and this is a fact that has not gone unmentioned by the fan of said team to whom I am wed. C’mon boys! Knock off the Padres tonight!

The All-Star Game is this weekend. Why yes, I will be annoyingly tweeting the entire game. πŸ™‚ (Those who follow me on Twitter might want want to unfollow me temporarily.) Go NL!

— 5 —

Daniel’s ABA therapy. We’re back on track with ABA therapy for Daniel. He has established that he’ll work for tickles and he’ll try to get those tickles for free if he can. πŸ™‚ It’s too bad his lead consultant is quitting next week because he loves her tickling him. We’re working on getting rapport built up with his normal tutor right now and I think he (the tutor) will do well once he and Daniel are used to each other.

— 6 —

Stop hating on millenials. If you haven’t read this, surf on over and do so. (Please surf back though.) It’s fascinating and I love how the author communicated his message.

— 7 —

For those who missed it… This is the zucchini of light from last week:

The zucchini of light

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 8, 2013

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window… sunny. I’m told the temperature outside was supposed to be 95F today and Weather.Com confirms it.

I am thinking… about the crash at SFO and how amazing it is that more people didn’t die. (SFO is 2 hours away so this is major news here.)

I am thankful… for the first responders and passengers who risked their life to rescue people on that flight.

In the kitchen… turkey in the fridge defrosting and marinating overnight.

I am wearing… my black “Governator” shirt and black capri sweats.

I am creating… blog entries.

I am going… to hope that Daniel doesn’t have any more night terrors like he has had the last few nights.

I am wondering… way too many things to list.

I am reading… Apologia pro vita sua by Cardinal John Henry Newman. I’m a fan of spiritual autobiographies and this one was recommended to me. I also finished Between Heaven and Mirth by James Martin, S.J. and The Diva Frosts a Cupcake by Krista Davis while I was in southern California.

I am hoping… that Hunter Pence is voted into the All-Star Game. Go vote! Do it now!

I am looking forward to… my hair cut on Thursday and my massage on Friday.

Around the house… I need to get the Roomba fixed.

I am pondering… too many things in my heart.

A favorite quote for today… “… I ever kept before me that there was something greater than the Established Church and that was the Church Catholic and Apostolic, set up from the beginning, of which she was but the local presence and the organ. She was nothing unless she was this. She must be dealt with strongly, or she would be lost. There was need of a second reformation.” — Newman (I’m taking “the Church Catholic and Apostolic” to be the Church on earth which includes all of us — Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox — as Newman had not become Catholic when he was writing this.)

One of my favorite things… my mani-pedi today. My fingers and toes are so pretty!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorrow, ABA therapy for Daniel on Wednesday, haircut on Thursday, massage and ABA therapy for Daniel on Friday.

A peek into my day… The zucchini of light.

The zucchini of light

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Independence Day

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Independence Day. Happy Independence Day to all my US readers. I hope you had a lovely day filled with parades, patriotism, good food, and fun while watching things explode.

— 2 —

Thankful. I’m down in southern California with my in-laws for a couple days. I got to meet my nephew Patrick this morning at his (SECRET BAPTISM) and enjoy some squishy baby cuddles. Unfortunately, there are no pics for this blog post because I left the transfer cable for my camera at home (!!!!!!) He is a cutie though and I thoroughly enjoyed having a sleeping baby in my arms for the first time since Daniel was that age.

Oh yes… it’s also 106F up where we live today. Down in southern California, it’s only 94F. So happy to be down here instead!

— 3 —

Zucchini of Light. My mother-in-law has a massive zucchini which she set on the counter with some patriotic candles stuck in it. When I asked her what it was, she explained that it was the “zucchini of light”. Apparently, she grew a huge zucchini one year and the family recoiled at the sight of it because they envisioned the hell of zucchini bread, zucchini pickles, zucchini pancakes, zucchini coleslaw, zucchini fries, etc. She put it on the coffee table with some Hannukah candles in it as a decoration piece and when some people came over for an Indian Princesses meeting, they asked what it was. My father-in-law replied sarcastically, “The Zucchini of Light”. Anywhere else, people would have caught the joke, However, in uber-PC California, nobody did. So… I guess we’re having a “zucchini of light” tonight in place of firecrackers. (It’s more than a little dangerous to have fireworks in southern California.)

— 4 —

She knows me well. While we were stopping by the church yesterday to pick up supplies for the (SECRET BAPTISM) today, I got a message from my mother-in-law telling me that she had bought TWO BOXES of Trader Joe’s Coffee LattΓ© and Creme Bars for my 3 day stay in southern California. Every time I’ve had one since in her presence, I’ve been stroking it Gollum-style and saying, “My precioussssssss…”

— 5 —

Kitty kitty kitty. There is a tabby attempting to get my in-laws to adopt him. He has gorgeous stripes and beautiful green eyes but he’s skittish. I’d love to play with some string with him but he’s too afraid, especially since a small screaming creature (a.k.a. Daniel) tends to follow me places. *sighs*

— 6 —

Itchy. Something bit me or got me some other way because Tuesday night, I started breaking out in hives and when I scratched them, the burning started. I ran into the kitchen and begged Jon to go out and get me some Cortizone-10 at 11:00 p.m. After a tube of that, a bottle of Sarna, and some Benadryl, it stopped. Well… it started up down here so I took some Benadryl and just showered. I’m hoping it’s not my shower gel or something — that would be really bad.

— 7 —

*grumblegrumblegrumble* The only thing worse than being married to a Dodgers fan when the Giants are playing the Dodgers is to be married to one when the Giants are at the bottom of the NL West. C’mon boys! #BeatLA

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: How Many Controversial Things Can I Say This Week, Promise Walk Sponsorships, and Grumping About Basketball

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

o.O I will readily admit that I had never pondered the theological powers of Superman before. The questions posed by Cari’s oldest son sound like the question from teaching Confirmation about whether or not God could create a boulder so big that He couldn’t lift it Himself. For the record, I’m with Lotus — Jesus is stronger than Superman.

— 2 —

The “Why I Am Not Homeschooling Daniel” post series. Post #1 started some good discussion and brought a few trolls to the blog. Post #2 served as some kind of explanation. Post #3 was all about my reasons for not homeschooling him. I’m also inviting people to email and tell me succinctly (75 words or less) what decision you made (public/private/parochial/homeschool) and why you made it so that we can crowdsource some ideas for Bonnie. Email me by Wednesday of next week (the email address is jen @ this domain) and I’ll print all the things that fit. **UPDATE** Someone just emailed me to tell me that Elena rebutted what I had to say to her. In the interest of fairness, I’m linking the rebuttal here. I still stand by everything I said 100% but I also would rather let y’all see what she has to say and let you draw your own conclusions.

— 3 —

More obsessing about food. Actually, it isn’t really obsessing as much as it’s reporting that if I eat in such a fashion as to not irritate the ulcers (which may have healed by now), my IBS symptoms go away. If I eat one thing on the forbidden list, I return to IBS hell. I haven’t had any Coke in almost a month and I still miss it even though I’ve found some alternatives that have less of a carb load and aren’t going to corrode my insides. I haven’t checked to see if I have celiac issues yet, mostly because I’m already having to limit my diet and I’m trying not to do too much at once. I’ll be with my parents this weekend and they have a scale so I’ll see if I’ve actually lost any weight at that point.

— 4 —

Orphans. Do you see these three adorable munchkins?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her. Kaia has a family committed to her who will be traveling to her country at the end of July to meet her on July 26th! Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 5 —

Hmph. Wipeout! was pre-empted by some stupid basketball game. NBA basketball is overrated and I say this even coming from a city that just fought tooth-and-claw to keep their team.

— 6 —

*facepalm* Could I ask a favor of the Catholic blogosphere? Could you please actually *READ* a news story in its entirety and not look for random soundbites to use as evidence that Obama is Satan? The FULL TEXT of the quote that everyone got so flipped out about yesterday is…

If towns remain divided ?? if Catholics have their schools and buildings, and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another, if fear or resentment are allowed to harden ?? that too encourages division. It discourages cooperation. (Source)

The word “theirs” in the phrase “Protestants have theirs” replaces “their schools and buildings”. He is referring to the fact that in most places, Catholics and Protestants live in separate neighborhoods divided by “peace lines” — barricades made of bricks, steel, and barbed wire. (I actually saw these in Belfast when I was there in 1998.) He is not calling for an end to Catholic education in general in either Northern Ireland or in the USA — he is calling for Catholics to integrate with Protestants for the purposes of working for peace the same way whites had to integrate with blacks in this country 50 years ago. Mining articles like that for soundbites is juvenile and shows an inability to play well with others, so can y’all please behave in a Christ-like fashion? I refrained from mining stories for Romney soundbites during the last election and I know y’all can do the same regarding Obama.

— 7 —

Promise Walk for Preeclampsia. Wanna sponsor me in the Promise Walk this weekend? Preeclampsia affects 1 in 8 pregnancies in some fashion and 1/5 of affected women lose their babies because the only cure is to deliver the baby, regardless of how premature they are. I’m blessed in that I had a doctor who caught it in time and got me transferred to the BIG hospital in Great Falls where my awesome high-risk specialist could do an emergency c-section and where there was a Level III NICU for Daniel. If you can’t sponsor me, please at least keep me and the other participants in prayer on Sunday morning.

Daniel and I at the 2012 Promise Walk.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Season Finales, Pretty Toes, and Guilty Pleasures

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

OMG Big Bang Theory! Raj can talk to women without resorting to booze!!! So crazy. It was a bummer about Lucy but I guess she was a good thing in his life if it means he can talk women now. It’s also sad that Leonard and Penny are going to be separated for a few months but it will be interesting to see if they do shows on the research vessel like the shows they did when Howard was in space.

— 2 —

OMG NCIS: Los Angeles!!! The last 5-10 minutes made me queasy and I had a class where judicial torture was part of the reading list! I’m definitely going to be wondering how things will come back this fall. And OMG… the Deeks/Kensi kiss!!! *fans myself*

— 3 —

I’ll take “Guilty Pleasures” for $1000, Alex! Wipeout is back. It’s my favorite show to watch at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights. (The Big Bang Theory is on at 7 p.m. where I am because our CBS affiliate does the news at 10 p.m.) The humor is incredibly sophomoric and it’s essentially watching people fall off of things but we don’t have satellite so I can’t watch this.

— 4 —

prerequisite baseball update. We (the Giants) pulled three of four off against the Braves, fell twice in Toronto, and pulled off an insane save tonight over the Rockies. Woohooo!!! I’m hoping we can sweep Colorado this weekend.

— 5 —

“Objection! #2 ripped my flesh!” I was petting the demon spawn Freya this morning and I had some loose hair in my face… which Freya decided to move… with her talons claws. It reminded me of this line from the following episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?:

The little monster got a pedicure shortly after.

— 6 —

Speaking of pedicures… Aren’t my toes pretty?

My pretty toes.

The pedicure was my Mother’s Day present from Jon and Daniel. My manicurist was lovely and next time, I’m going to *gasp* let her do my nails too!

— 7 —

Orphans Do you see these two darlings?

BrettKaia

Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home so she can start kindergarten (hopefully this autumn). If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com. Just a reminder: my birthday is Sunday so you only have a few more shopping days! πŸ˜€ (Hint: I *love* Barnes & Noble gift cards.)