Category Archives: Sports

7 Quick Takes: Twittering Cats and Baseball

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

My Giants are headed to the NLCS! They came back from 2 games under to win the series over the Reds. We’re waiting to find out if they’re playing the Nationals or the Cardinals. I’m also waiting to find out if the A’s made it in as then there would be the possibility of a Bay Bridge Series. If that happens, I’ll be checking my earthquake insurance policy after what happened the last time… The A’s lost to the Tigers so we’ll be waiting to see who the Tiger’s play. I’m kind of glad not to have the A’s playing the Giants in the World Series — less chance of an earthquake.

— 2 —

There was a debate on tonight or something, right? Just kidding. I didn’t watch it. I watched an hour of syndicated Big Bang Theory reruns instead. I think it was probably a better use of my time.

— 3 —

One of the Cathsorority chicas posted a link to a webcam of a giraffe about to have a baby. We’re all watching it and commenting on it. I’m incredibly amused that our group of women who are located in a number of states between the east and west coast are so fascinated with this. Then again, we’re women — we dig birth.

— 4 —

I get to go to a wedding this weekend. One of my good friends from college is finally (!!!) marrying his girlfriend. My parents are going to baby-sit while Jon and I head to San Francisco for it. I’m looking forward to seeing some of my college friends again, some of them for the first time since graduation and others for the first time since my wedding 10 years ago. Tomorrow morning, I need to go shoe-shopping and pick up some nude pantyhose as well as pack up some laundry to do at my parents’ house. (I don’t think it will get done before we have to leave for San Jose.)

— 5 —

It’s finally cold enough here to need the furnace tonight. A week ago, we were in the 90’s. Today, it was in the 70’s and it’s chilly tonight. I’m hoping this is a trend. I hate hot weather. The only thing that would make it better would be rain.

— 6 —

I created a Twitter for my black cat Edda. Why yes, I have no life. Why yes, I have insomnia. I figured a Twitter was easier than remembering to update her blog daily. She is @eddapuss.

— 7 —

I still haven’t figured out Daniel’s Halloween costume yet. Not having a verbal child, his Halloween costume is up to me. I might go to Goodwill and see if I can’t put one together that I like. The last three years have been bear-related so Paddington might be an option.

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

7 Quick Takes: School Situations and Weekend Plans

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Daniel’s school situation is messed up. I’d prefer not to go into it in detail here because this is a public blog so if you want details, just email me. Please pray that we can get it fixed expediently. It got fixed today without me having to fire a shot (figuratively). Apparently, I used the right three words yesterday while screaming at speaking with the school district (again, email me if you want details) so he’ll be back with his old (and VASTLY superior) teacher starting Wednesday when they come back from a 4-day weekend. I’m glad this is fixed because it was making me physically ill.

— 2 —

I’m currently editing a book of devotions for a friend of Jon’s family. I’m grateful that my mother-in-law went through and standardized everything so all I have to do is type, cut n’ paste, and format. It’s not professional by any stretch of the imagination but it’s fulfilling a dream of theirs so I’m happy to help.

— 3 —

I’m breaking my stance on keeping my mouth shut on politics for this take only. You know a candidate is deserving of the “liar liar pants on fire” label when almost every Republican on your Twitter (and I have many) as well as FOX News comments on how completely blatant the lies in Paul Ryan’s speech were.

— 4 —

“The Big Bang Theory” was pre-empted for Mitt Romney’s speech. RNC, you suck!!! And yes, I’d totally be saying this if President Obama was pre-empting it. Nobody messes with my shows, darn it!!!! I will be so happy when the stupid election is over so I can watch actual TV instead of Netflix and endless loops of “Winnie the Pooh”. There is one small benefit to being a very blue part of a blue state: I’ve seen only a handful of political ads outside of the primary season and the ones during the Olympics. Unfortunately, that’s probably going to change in a few days.

— 5 —

I’m planning to cut my hair tomorrow. Why is this newsworthy? It’s been 5 months (not purposely) and I’d like to get back to chin-length hair instead of looking like I’m 12 with my shoulder-length hair now. Well… either looking like I’m 12 or giving off the hippie vibe. Not that the last one is a problem. Nooooooo…

— 6 —

Daniel has Tuesday off next week in addition to Monday (Labor Day). Apparently, it’s an in-service day for teachers. As Jon’s craziest day as a pastor is Tuesday (go figure!), Daniel and I might head to the zoo as he’s not going to stay quiet if I go to Morning Prayer.

— 7 —

My little cousin Sarah is now at the OTHER school in Washington so there has started to be some major trash-talking over Facebook on game days. So far, the discussion has included comments on purple and gold being better colors than the OTHER school’s colors and how we can’t wait for the Apple Cup this year. (I’m seriously expecting Jessica to comment on this one. :p)

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

7 Quick Takes: More Olympics, Some Cookies, and Thoughts on the Sikh Temple Shooting

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

My sleep schedule is completely knocked off from staying up and watching Olympic events. I’m totally jazzed that Gabby Douglas took All-Around honors, McKayla Moroney got a silver on vault, and that Aly Raisman cleaned up on beam (bronze) and floor (gold). I’d love it if the commentators would shut up about Jordyn Wieber not taking home anything but the team gold — she’s being totally graceful about it and I wish others would learn from her example. I’d also like people to shut up with all the criticism about Gabby Douglas’ hair and that she didn’t take home any medals in the apparatus finals. Unless said commentators can do the gymnastics these women (and men) are doing, they need to shut the duck up.

— 2 —

Speaking of Olympics, did you see the story about the 4×400 relay member for the USA who broke his leg and still finished his part of the relay? Dude… Manteo Mitchell, you are freaking awesome. Way to go regarding finishing!!! We still qualified in the 4×400 relay despite all this though I’m not sure who we’re going to get who can sub for him. Oh well… we’ll figure something out.

— 3 —

I saw my FNP on Monday and she figured out the source of my lingering ear pain. The raging ear infection was healed with some Augmentin last week but I was having lingering pain. Her examination showed that my ears were normal but that my sinuses were still inflamed and thus putting pressure on my ears. Some Sudafed and Flonase have taken care of it.

— 4 —

I haven’t shared my thoughts on the shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. I find this picture that was going around Facebook sums them up quite nicely.

Don't shoot people.

The blogging Tasoni of Coptic Dad and Mom also has some worthwhile thoughts.

— 5 —

I still have no regrets for not eating at Chick-Fil-A last week. I don’t feel that eating a certain restaurant’s food should demonstrate how well I treat my fellow human being. Regardless of how I feel about same-sex marriage, I also don’t believe companies should take political stances like that. Besides, I was sick and not feeling like putting myself out to drive 20 minutes to Chick-Fil-A even if I wanted to eat there.

— 6 —

It’s supposed to be 107 this weekend. I hate heat. I have to go out tomorrow for lots of errands but I think I’ll stay in on Saturday and enjoy my A/C. Did I mention that I hate heat?

— 7 —

My church has a booth at the Tuesday night farmer’s market in town for the next few weeks. This means that I’ll be baking a few batches of cookies this weekend. I’ll probably make the dough on Saturday and bake on Sunday while Daniel is down for his nap or something. I also have to package them with the pertinent labels that have our church’s contact info and service times. Oy vey…

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

7 Quick Takes: Olympic Musings and Purging My Brain

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7 Quick Takes

I was blogathonning last week so I didn’t get to purge my brain at all. For that reason, these quick takes might not be especially quick.

— 1 —

OMG… the Opening Ceremonies!!!!! The Opening Ceremonies were awesome even if NBC messed up its coverage of them. I would have preferred if Cwm Rhondda was sung in Welsh but the children’s choirs were breathtaking. I loved the transition from the pastoral scene to the smoke stacks to the firing of the Olympic Rings. The queen was a wonderful Bond girl and Rowan Atkinson was delightful. I had a great time critiquing the uniforms chosen by each country for the Parade of Nations and I loved the way they lit the torch. It was so much better than Beijing.

— 2 —

One thing that blew me away was how beautiful the Muslim women athletes were. I’m not going to lie — I was live-tweeting my thoughts on the uniforms. Canada didn’t seem to get the memo on dressing up for the occasion and Germany’s uniforms were… different. The Muslim women, though, were just stunning. The Jordanian flag bearer wasn’t wearing her hijab but her dress was beautiful. Other Muslim women were wearing the most beautiful scarves and dresses or pants suits that just looked so elegant. Given that there’s all the hullabaloo over laws in Europe banning the burqa, it was awesome to see the athletes proving that they could be faithful to their beliefs and still just blow everyone else out of the water in terms of dress. I also loved the bermuda shorts of the delegation from Bermuda, the saris on the Indian women (again, very elegant), and the dashikis worn by the African women.

— 3 —

I am thankful to have seen the events that I’ve been able to watch. I was home sick from church on Sunday so I got to watch the women’s road race. It was making me jealous because I would have loved to be in the British countryside. All of the gymnastics has been worth watching, especially seeing the British men get bronze on Monday and the US women mopping the floor with the competition to win the gold on Tuesday. Swimming has yet to disappoint (I’m also happy to see new blood on the podium though I’m still a fan of Michael Phelps) and I’ve loved soccer and the diving competitions.

— 4 —

There’s a new priest’s wife in town! Coptic Dad & Mom is the blog of a tasoni, the wife of a Coptic Orthodox priest’s wife. For those not in the know, Copts are the native Christians in Egypt who had been there for centuries when the Muslims arrived. Their spiritual head used to be Pope Shenouda (I just discovered that he passed away a few months ago), their Holy See is Alexandria, and their worship language is Coptic. There’s a Wikipedia article on them here though I don’t know how accurate it is in total. Go visit her blog and show her some love.

— 5 —

For kicks, I looked into what I’d have to do to become part of the Sacramento Choral Society. I’ve been missing being part of a choir like that and in the event that I could get all my ducks in a row, I wanted to see if it would be even possible to pass the audition. Their fall concert is Fauré’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Yeah… been there, sung those — or at least I’ve sung the Requiem and the first movement of the Vivaldi. It made it bearable to listen to someone blather on about their (non-existent) musical skills last night because I knew that I could actually be part of an elite choir in Sacramento if I so chose.

— 6 —

I actually hit the point where I don’t really care about watching Big Brother tonight. I’ll probably go online and check out the ending to see who goes home and if the coaches get to play, but the thought of watching Mike Boogie, Joe, and Frank has kind of turned me off of this season. There are also other things I could be watching this week besides a show in which people try to lie/cheat/screw each other out of $500K.

— 7 —

Tomorrow is looking like a long day. Daniel has an audiology appointment tomorrow morning and then I have to come home and pack really quickly for San Jose. I’ve basically got to be at my parents’ house by 3 which means I want to leave my house by 12:30. Hopefully Jon can get some laundry done while I’m gone tomorrow morning…

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

7 Quick Takes: All Star Game, Whining, and A New Addiction

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

I finally did the post-mortem on my 101-in-1001 list… two months after my deadline. Recapping for those who don’t usually read my blog, I completed 19/101 goals and that means a $82 donation to charity. (As an incentive to complete as many goals as possible, I donate $1 for every goal I fail to complete.) My charity choice this time: Brett’s adoption account at Reece’s Rainbow. I’m glad that I accomplished almost 20% of my goals this time — they’re all about bettering myself so it’s all good in the end.

— 2 —

I got just a *little* bit mouthy while watching the All Star Game on Tuesday. All those who follow me on Twitter are probably saying, “A little, Jen?” Can I help it if the evil teams are all in the American League? I mean, you’ve got the Texas Rangers, the New York Yankees (evil personified), and the LA Angels. (OK… technically, they’re the Anaheim Angels. They’re still evil.) I do enjoy a good skunking and this was a glorious one. I’m also amazed they let the minor league team from Oakland send players. [/trash-talk]

— 3 —

I hate heat. It has been in the triple digits here. Did I mention that I hate heat? I think that relocating to Alaska for summers would be a capital idea. Did I mention that this heat is oppressive and that I’d prefer it to be -20F?

— 4 —

Seriously, why is me flipping on my turn signal to change lanes a sign that people should speed up and keep me from passing? Someone did this to me last weekend in Elk Grove and nearly caused an accident. As I swerved back into my lane, the driver flipped me off. Um yeah… YOU almost caused the accident and you’re flipping *me* off? Great one. They’re freaking lucky that I didn’t call the police and report them for reckless driving.

— 5 —

We have an abundance of mulberry pollen. Did I mention that I’m allergic to mulberry pollen? This has led to lots of sneezing on my part as the A/C has to be on (and seems to be the entry point of it into the house) and Daniel is laughing uproariously every time I sneeze.

— 6 —

Oh great… I have a new addiction. I managed to kill 90 minutes of Daniel’s naptime today by surfing PassiveAggressiveNotes.Com. This is not a good thing for me to discover, especially as I think I could outdo some of them. (I learned passive-aggressiveness from the BEST.)

— 7 —

Argh. I did not find a short URL where you can donate to Brett’s adoption account. My bad. Meanwhile, you have 19 days to go if you want to participate in the Bottle Challenge and 15 days until Brett’s Blogathon 2012.

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

7 Quick Takes — Fruit of a Grumpy Week

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7 Quick Takes

It’s been a tough week for blogging. AT&T screwed with our Internet and forced me to have to put posts on hold while I found alternate methods of posting them. When I did get back to posting, I found I had tremendous writer’s block. Oy vey…

— 1 —

I just saw that “The Big Bang Theory” is being pre-empted by some stupid basketball games. I don’t care who is playing — this is simply unacceptable. The egregiousness of this is on par with CBS News cutting into NCIS: Los Angeles to announce election returns.

— 2 —

Our router seems to be having hiccups. It worked perfectly fine in Montana and I don’t think it has anything to do with being 2.5 years old. I’m wondering if it’s issues because of the weather (again, it’s curious) or what it is. The package said not to let it near cordless phones or microwaves but as I don’t know of another phone jack in the house, I’m not sure we have a choice. It’s kind of irritating because I’d *like* decent wi-fi. (And yes, I’m aware that this is yet another first world problem.)

— 3 —

I’m finding that I could probably quote and analyze the entirety of every Sojourners article I read. They manage to speak to me on a level that I rarely find in faith-based publications. There have been articles on discourse, tithing, and retention of 20somethings that are just brilliant beyond anything else I see on those subjects.

— 4 —

I got the rest of the devotionals written for the family friend of my in-laws. Again, I ended up with weird passages from Acts and in some cases, it was a struggle to find ways to make them applicable. I’ve been asked if I’m going to post any of them on here and the answer is probably “no” because they’re going to be part of a book and I don’t want to deal with copyright issues.

— 5 —

Daniel is doing better. Those who are on Twitter with me know that he and I made a trip to Urgent Care yesterday at UCD Pediatrics. He had been coughing and after our nap (he fell asleep on top of me and I was “forced” to take a nap with him), he had a low grade fever. This a kid who can go from normal to critical in the period of an hour so I called the advice nurse at UCD Pediatrics and asked her sweetly for a same-day appointment. They had one so I got us dressed, packed what I’d need overnight (basically figuring that he wouldn’t be admitted to the hospital if I came prepared), and drove to Sacramento. The med student who saw us first could hear him wheezing and breathing quickly but her attending couldn’t, mostly because my precious sweetling was in full-on tantrum mode by the time she came in. Her thought was that his cold/allergies exacerbated his asthma and advised us to keep giving him his inhaler over the next 24 hours. (During his tantrum, he worked himself into a gagging fit and coughed up a decent chunk of phlegm so I think that was part of it.) They told me that it was good that I brought him in considering his history (two hospitalizations in a year) but that they wouldn’t have to admit him. Yay. We came home, bathed him, and spent the evening bonding.

— 6 —

We’ve got a busy couple days ahead of us. We’re headed up north to have dinner with friends tomorrow night and on Saturday, we’re headed to my evil twin’s house for my dad’s birthday celebration. (Yes, he was actually born on St. Patrick’s Day and we are indeed Irish.) He should already have received his present (a gift certificate from Oceanside Photo and Telescope) but I should probably find an irreverant card. (It’s not a milestone birthday so that narrows it down a bit.)

— 7 —

Do you love babies? I do. I also love their mommies. Preeclampsia is a pregnancy disorder that strikes 5-8% of pregnant women in some shape or form. The only cure is to deliver the baby and if it happens early enough in the pregnancy (earliest is 16 weeks), the baby will not survive. Help mommies keep their babies in the womb longer — sponsor me

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

7 Quick Takes — Coughs, Books, and Women’s Health Politics

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7 Quick Takes

Dude… everyone and their mother did Quick Takes last week! It took me DAYS to get through all the entries with me reading 40 entries a day. It was good to see some new people as well as some who haven’t participated for awhile.

— 1 —

I finally went to see the doctor about the cough that has been lingering from my MUTANT DEATH COLD at Thanksgiving. I ended up seeing Dr. Passive Aggressive and his thought was that it was probably a side effect of the Lisinopril (my blood pressure medication — I am the phenotypical embodiment of every negative gene on both sides of the family). He switched me to another one (whose name I can’t remember and should learn in the event that I end up in the E.R.), put me on Doxycycline to nuke any potential bronchitis as bronchitis and asthma don’t mix well (apparently, I actually looked like I was sick because of the sleep deprivation), and gave me a lab slip which I’ll deal with next week when I’m not binging on cough drops. (That whole fasting from midnight onward doesn’t work when you require cough drops to numb your throat so that maybe you can sleep.) I am also having to sleep in the recliner because I have coughing spasms when I lie down. OK… end of whining about this particular thing.

— 2 —

I finally finished Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. The siege of Galbatorix’ capital and the fight between him and Eragon is maddening to read because it feels like it stalls but it was good. The chapters after the demise of Galbatorix kind of drag because you want things decided and wrapped up quickly. (OK… spoiler there but seriously, the book’s ending is going to suck if Eragon doesn’t win.) Still, it was a wonderful read and I will be downloading the other three books onto my NOOK so that one fine day, I can read all four in order.

— 3 —

I guest-posted on A Day in the Life this week. Emily put out the invitation for the married ladies (and single ones too if they had anything to say on the subject) to do a guest post on the subject of our vocations as wives. It’s kind of scary that I’m probably the oldest contributor and I’m only 31 (32 in May)! Do some women who have been married longer than I have (10 years in March) have anything to add? If you do, please talk to Emily.

— 4 —

The home visit portion of ABA training is tomorrow (Friday) morning at 11:00. I’m having an attack of “OMG-I-suck-as-a-mother-because-Daniel-doesn’t-fit-into-this-little-box” flipping out because I’m not getting exactly three seconds of eye contact and OMG Daniel isn’t at 100% for putting on his shirt (the skill I’m teaching for it). My mom talked me off the ledge on Tuesday night and explained that none of this means that I’m a loser mother and that they do understand that kids (especially autistic ones) do not perform on command. The whole reason I’m flipping out is that Friday’s visit determines whether or not we receive services for Daniel through the Regional Center.

**UPDATE** We passed with flying colors. The person doing the home visit was impressed with the work I’d done with Daniel and with his skill level. This is one more check off my list as I trudge toward March 26th and his IEP.

— 5 —

I signed the petition to have the HHS mandate rescinded. I know that my pro-choice friends probably think I’m traitorous for doing so but… while I support the idea that health plans need to provide access to birth control that isn’t prohibitively expensive, I also believe that there should be a way for those whose conscience is violated by this to opt out. It’s not just THE CATHOLICS but also Jews and some conservative Protestant groups. If President Obama or Secretary Sebelius could come up with a way to do this, the firestorm would probably die down. I think their idea is good in theory (my birth control pills are mitigating out the PMS that can land me in bed for a week out of the month) but they failed to take the faith issue into account.

I also wanted to share this piece that was written by my favorite KU med student Katie of NFP and Me. Katie, thanks for letting your combox be taken over for discussions.

— 6 —

My new laptop arrived today (Thursday). It was worth being woken up from my nap to answer the door. I’m glad it’s here so that I don’t have to keep harassing the Fed Ex drivers that stop on my block. It’s an HP dvt6 and I’ll be transferring stuff over this weekend after I can get myself to Best Buy to get a migration cable. In the tradition of naming my personal electronics after titles for Orthodox priests’ wives, this one will be “Presbytera” which is the Greek Orthodox title. (My iPod is “Panimatushka” and my NOOK is “Popadija”.)

— 7 —

Given that my homeboys (the 49’ers) got knocked out by the Giants last week, I think I’ll be rooting for New England this weekend. I’m not a football person and I don’t understand how the game works. However, the 49’ers game the weekend before last was excellent (and I actually watched it) so I might watch the Super Bowl to see if it’s even close. Of course, there’s the most important thing: THE COMMERCIALS!!!!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Hallie at Betty Beguiles who is graciously taking over hosting for the next few weeks.