Category Archives: Health

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 4)

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{Virtual Coffee Date}

Once you’re done here, go visit Karianna and the other coffee drinkers.

If we were having coffee, I’d let you know that the professor behind Bible Students Say… is grading and you need to go check it out. It’s definitely face-palming to read but that’s what makes it so entertaining.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my endocrinologist would be a great person with whom to share a cup of coffee but as a medical professional, she makes me roll my eyes. She keeps making helpful suggestions that would work… if they were actually practical for me with my food issues and my life. Example: suggesting eggs as a possible breakfast for someone who is allergic to eggs (which is on my chart) or making suggestions for stuff to cut up and take with me. I can do things like ziploc snack bags of nuts for a snack but some of the meal plan stuff she gave me just left me incredibly hungry. I get that a 1200 calorie diet would cause me to lose a boatload of weight quickly but that’s also not totally reasonable for me. (FitDay has me at around 1500.)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m bummed that the evil twin and his wife are now Washington-bound and how I’m secretly jealous because I’d love to live in the Pacific Northwest. I hate heat so living in Sacramento is hideous from about late May to early October. I’m also bummed because I was enjoying being close to family for a change. Oh well… this is another excuse to get to Washington on vacation.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Daniel was his normal self today and I could probably have sent him to preschool but I didn’t want him giving whatever he had to the other kids or getting something else while his immunity was down. I also wish his ER doc had given him something that didn’t require improvising a mortar and pestle before dissolving it in 1 ml of water, and syringing it to him. (I’m glad to have the mad chemistry skillz but still!)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you to go read Hallie’s Tell Me All About YOU! entry. I’m a wannabe sociologist and people-watcher and this is one of the few ways to do it online.

Thanks for having coffee (or tea) with me. See you next week!

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: I Said I Would Never…

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This week’s topic: I said I would never…

I actually rarely say “I would never” about most things because I parent pretty much on the fly — I have to with a kid like Daniel. I’m the completely permissive parent who lets her kid do things that Jon wouldn’t, mostly because I’m the one home with him most of the time and there are only so many battles I can fight.

I pondered this topic (in between prayers for the ER visit this morning to not completely suck) and the only thing I came up with was…

I said I would never let my kids misbehave in church the way _____________________’s kids seemed to be allowed to do.

Does anyone have a good recipe for crow? Because, seriously, I have a kid who opens and closes the sanctuary doors, the bathroom doors, turns the lights on and off in the bathrooms, slams the cabinet doors in the narthex, does laps in the aisles, and melts down if his daddy preaches too long and his mommy hasn’t taken him around the block enough times. I used to sit and mentally glare at the kids who messed around in church and the parents who let them. Let’s just say that my attitude has changed since becoming a parent.

(Oh yes, the ER visit went fine. Daniel was coughing badly and refusing to eat or drink which is not a good sign. After being on hold with Urgent Care at UCD Pediatrics for 30 minutes, I decided to cut out the middleman and just haul tail to the pediatric ER at UCD Medical Center. Four hours, two breathing treatments, a dose of steroids, and one nap later, Daniel was his normal self again and he did not have to be admitted.)

Now go see Becky and what everyone else said they would never let their kids do.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 25, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY August 25, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It was a sunny day though.

I am thinking… about the craziness that will be my next three days.

I am thankful… for the chance to see my brother one more time before he moves north on Tuesday.

I am wearing… light blue preeclampsia survivor shirt and black running shorts.

I am creating… blog posts.

I am going… to pray Compline soon.

I am reading… Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I also finished Confessions of a GP by Dr. Benjamin Daniels and read Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs.

I am hoping… Daniel’s cold doesn’t get worse.

I am looking forward to… Thursday when I’ll have a free morning.

I am pondering… too much internally.

A favorite quote for today… ??… We begin to notice besides our particular sinful act, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in the cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light. ?? – C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Silence.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ENT appt and ABA therapy for Daniel tomorrow, hearing aid appointment on Tuesday, ripping the SSA a new one on Wednesday morning and ABA therapy that afternoon, nothing (yet) on Thursday, and ABA therapy on Friday.

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7 Quick Takes: Virtual 5K’s, Harmless Political Fun, and Overheating Laptops

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Slow going. My laptop is overheating despite being on a cooling pad so Facebook is being slow (and of course, I have 15 hours of status updates to read) so I’m switching over here to write a Quick Take every time Facebook has to load more stuff. Whee! This is what I get for not being at my laptop for 12 hours.

— 2 —

Endocrinology grumping. I cleaned up my diet and my A1C got worse. (I didn’t see my other numbers though my liver enzymes apparently continue to be beautiful — thank God for that!) I think my endocrinologist would be an awesome coffee date but she has no clue about what my life entails. I was able to test a little bit after eating lunch today but dinner eluded me because I’m sipping on tea a lot of the time. (I need to move from my Lipton Pure Leaf stuff to Crystal Light or something because the Lipton stuff *will* up my carb load.) My thyroid function is also the lower boundary of normal (thanks Mom!) so we’re going to up my Synthroid by half and see if that makes a difference. There was the usual fight over trying new drugs because my insurance company hates me so she gave me samples while a prior authorization could be worked out and also a discount co-pay card for the meds she wanted to give me. My glucose meter had died so they found me a new one (I use a Freestyle Light) and it had a $15 co-pay card attached for test strips. (They can be between $50-$150 if you have to pay for them at the pharmacy.) I see her again in 3 months and God willing, she’ll be happier with results. I mean, I dropped 10 lbs while sitting on my butt so my dietary changes actually did something.

— 3 —

Wow. For those who are fans of the musical Les Miserables, you have to watch this.

He also does an amazing parody of Disney princesses after their “happy endings”.

— 4 —

Humorous Amazon.Com reviews. Amazon.Com has done the world a favor and has compiled a list of their products with fake reviews. George Takei also should have a decent list on his Facebook page and you might even be able to find him as a reviewer on Amazon.Com’s website.

— 5 —

Some political fun. Al Franken is up for re-election in 2014 for one of Minnesota’s US Senate seats and he is engaging in a little political fun. He is letting people vote on what Minnesota State Fair food he will be eating in a virtual postcard to supporters. Choices are things like alligator, tater tot hot dish, a chocolate-covered pickle, a steak dinner-on-a-stick, ostrich, and walleye-on-a-stick. I’m linking it here because I think it’s creative and it’s some harmless fun where Republicans and Democrats alike can vote on something. It’s the 21st century equivalent of putting him on a dunk tank or a pie-throwing booth.

— 6 —

Run for Little Flowers Giveaway. Katie at Blessed with Full Hands is organizing the Run for Little Flowers again and is having a giveaway. There’s running gear, a $20 gift card (put up by me), and other things available. The virtual 5K raises money for the Little Flower Projects.

— 7 —

More on The Bloggess’ book. Like Jenny Lawson (the Bloggess), I deal with generalized anxiety disorder but I’m not quite as humorous about it. I haven’t told people about swallowing a needle at parties but I tend to be more likely to focus on one or two people and just have a conversation with them. Like her, I also sound so much more normal online than I do in person. I was interviewing a respite worker for Daniel and it was probably one of the more uncomfortable 2-hour blocks of my life. It’s been interesting to read her book because I can totally see myself doing the stuff she has… well, kind of but with less dead animals.

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

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XII)

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Five Favorites

One

Sleep. I’m wishing I was getting more of it. Today was an insane day where I was going from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a short break in between my (crappy) endocrinologist appointment and my mani/pedi. (I know… I live a tough life. I’ll be making up for it by having to call Social Security tomorrow and find out how the duck they managed to screw up Daniel’s SSI this time.) It was hard this morning because my tabby really wanted to have Mama time but I wasn’t able to go back to sleep with him on top of me purring. #tabbyproblems On the plus side, I got to see my evil twin and my sister-in-law before they move to Washington. I’ll be seeing them again this weekend to bring them dinner and return their coolers. (They brought over all the beer and frozen food they weren’t going to be able to take with them.)

Two

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Like almost everything The Bloggess says, this is MAJORLY NSFW but incredibly funny.

Three

My mother-in-law. My very wonderful mother-in-law took over Daniel care for me this weekend so I could get a break and get some rest. This is a woman who is taking care of her terminally ill husband and getting even less sleep than me so it was amazingly sacrificial of her to do this. She also got me FOUR boxes of Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Cream Bars.

Four

$tarbux Fruit and Cheese Bistro Boxes. Seriously, this is like the best bistro box made by $tarbux. (OK… it’s the only one I can eat for allergy purposes or because lettuce is rabbit food.) If I pair it with a venti ice water, it even works to fill me up without doing bad things to my blood sugar.

Five

The creativity of some of the people at Metanoia. We have a couple women (Gladys and Hortense) who are creative in a completely amazing and scary way. Last summer, they built a fountain with its own water source in the church parking lot. They transform the office/classroom wing into a Haunted Hallway for Halloween and transform our fellowship hall into a five-star restaurant. As a fundraiser for the congregation, they created a 50’s diner in our fellowship hall… complete with booths, checkered flooring, costumes for the wait staff, and actual records hanging as decorations. Duuuuuuuude…

Go love up Hallie and the others.

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 3)

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{Virtual Coffee Date}

Karianna at Caffeinated Catholic Mama made this into a link-up. Woohoo! Once you’re done here, go visit her and the other coffee drinkers.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about my father-in-law having hip replacement surgery tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. PDT and how it’s a bit more dangerous because of the cancer. I’d also ask if you could pray for him/send positive energy/good thoughts. I had a

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about how much I appreciated my mother-in-law taking care of me this weekend by watching Daniel and letting him get filthy and covered with Greek yogurt. I appreciated that she took over Daniel duty so I could sleep, rest, and go shopping for Jon’s birthday presents. She also put on an incredible spread for a small family birthday gathering at a moment’s notice.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about the book I’m currently reading, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (a.k.a. The Bloggess) and how I feel like I’m totally going to hell for reading it because it is so incredibly wrong but so insanely funny. Let’s just say that it explains her fondness for taxidermied animals doing weird things and leave it at that.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m kind of nervous for my endocrinologist appointment tomorrow because I haven’t been testing my sugars regularly, I haven’t lost a boatload of weight, and haven’t been obsessively tracking my food intake.

Thanks for having coffee (or tea) with me. I promise I’ll try to be less depressing next week.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 18, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY August 18, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It’s a full moon tonight though and I’m pretty sure my in-laws’ mew-mews are out being lions or something.

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

I am thankful… for a good visit down here and for my mother-in-law who has taken on a lot of Daniel duty so I can sleep in and take naps. She keeps me sane on these visits.

In the kitchen… cleaned up the leftovers from the manicotti that a neighbor brought over for Jon’s birthday dinner.

I am wearing… charcoal shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… blog entries.

I am going… to have a long drive back up to northern California tomorrow. I’ll actually be reading through most of it so I should hopefully be able to clear some of the “Mount TBR” on my NOOK.

I am wondering… what my kitties are up to back home.

I am reading… Confessions of a GP by Benjamin Daniels MD. It’s an interesting look at how the NHS looks in Britain in addition to anecdotes about his experiences as a doctor.

I am hoping… all goes well with my father-in-law’s surgery on Wednesday. If you could spare a prayer on his behalf, I’d appreciate it. His name is Ray.

I am looking forward to… my mani/pedi on Wednesday.

Around the house… nothing to report because my mother-in-law keeps a completely sterile house to the point that I could eat off of her kitchen floor.

I am pondering… what things to talk about for Thomas’ link-up. (If you have any thoughts/blog posts/etc on what was helpful when your kids were babies, go participate in the link-up. Thomas’ wife Alison is pregnant with twins and he’s picking the brain of the Internet on what to use.)

A favorite quote for today… ??When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of ‘No answer.’ It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.?? ? C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… solitude.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel starts back to school on Tuesday, Morning Prayer on Tuesday, endocrinologist appointment and mani/pedi on Wednesday as well as my brother visiting, nothing on Thursday (thank God!), and ABA therapy on both Wednesday and Friday for Daniel

A peek into my day… My bed kitty while I’ve been down here. My cats are going to kill me.

Arthur

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