Category Archives: Southern California Dreaming

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 18, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY June 18, 2012

Outside my window… sunny and hot but we’ve got a “Delta breeze” unlike the last two days when it was 105 and 100 respectively with no wind.

I am thinking… that I’m glad Daniel heads back to preschool on Friday even though we’ve had some fun while he has been on break.

I am thankful… for my secret trip to southern California to see my in-laws last week. My father-in-law was definitely surprised and it was the first time he had seen Daniel in 10 months.

In the kitchen… leftover pizza from yesterday’s Father’s Day dinner.

I am wearing… charcoal shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… stuff for Brett’s Blogathon 2012 and this entry.

I am going… to Target and probably Michael’s at some point this week.

I am reading… Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart.

I am hoping… my neck/back pain goes away.

I am looking forward to… maybe doing errands tomorrow.

Around the house… unpacking to do.

I am pondering… things related to my faith.

One of my favorite things… quiet.

A few plans for the rest of the week: WIC appointment Thursday morning, Daniel starting school again on Friday, and hopefully a lot of unscheduled time.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Pulling Off A Coup

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By the time you are reading this, I have flown down to LA and am surprising my father-in-law with his grandson for 2 days. Massive props to my mother-in-law Victoria for being my co-conspirator in this, my parents for encouraging me to do this, and Jon for letting Daniel and I go for a couple days.

Pray that it’s a good couple days down here. My Quick Takes are scheduled for tonight but I won’t be on Twitter much or around until Saturday.

101-in-1001: Catching Up

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Last night, I was having difficulty sleeping so I decided to go through my 101-in-1001 list and see what I could tick off.

007. Yearly exams every year until deadline. (2009, 2010, 2011)

My deadline is May and I’m not due for my 2012 one until October.

010. Keep Lenten discipline faithfully once during this time.

This would be my Occupying Lent posts?

018. Perform a serious classical work for voice.

Vivaldi’s Gloria, a Hallelujah Chorus flash mob, and parts of other classical works during my time in the choir at Christ Lutheran Church in West Covina.

024. Grow an herb garden.
025. Plant a garden and harvest it one year.
026. Grow my own pumpkins for Halloween.

Did this in 2011 and will do it again in 2012.

028. Teach Daniel sign language.

Finally got him to use “more” and “all done”.

036. Give a speech or presentation of some nature.

I do this semi-monthly for Ladies’ Night Out because I usually get tapped to do the devotional.

038. Send out Christmas cards every year. (2009, 2010, 2011)

I’ve sent out picture ones all three years. Thank God for reward points from Pampers.

059. Twitter daily for three months.

That would be December 2011 to present.

095. Do a walk/run for charity.

I did the Promise Walk last year and am doing it again this year.

100. Blog daily for a month.

By the time Lent is over, this will be accomplished.

7 Quick Takes — Brought to You by Fibromyalgia Grumping

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7 Quick Takes

I haven’t gotten half decent sleep since… yeah, it’s been that long but it’s been especially bad this week which means that my fibromyalgia is flaring up. This means that I’m in a boatload of pain and in an extra cranky mood. Jon had to be in the office and doing visits today but his day off is tomorrow and that means I get to sleep in guilt-free. (OK… so I also slept in on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but that had to do with having problems sleeping and having to be more than semi-comatose to take care of Daniel.)

— 1 —

I still have remnants of the mutant death cold from Thanksgiving. I still have random coughing spasms that wake me up and keep me up at night. I was almost coughing to the point of vomiting on Tuesday night and my dad ended up bringing a couple packages of Ricola to the guestroom — I guess I was waking him up and keeping him up. I don’t know what specifically is irritated and causing it — it’s not asthma-related so my inhaler and nebulizer are useless against it.

— 2 —

I see that the Rose Parade is being held on Monday. The joke is that it (almost) never rains on the Rose Parade because the organizers have a deal with God: they don’t hold it on Sunday and God gives them good weather. It illustrates the fallacy of prayer making God into the Cosmic Vending Machine but it is curious that they usually have amazing weather even though it falls during the rainy season.

— 3 —

There’s a new season of The Biggest Loser starting. The only problem is that it’s on at the same time as NCIS:Los Angeles. I missed pretty much all of last season — I only caught the Thanksgiving show where they showed who kept the weight off. I think I’m going to have to pick a night to watch it online or something.

— 4 —

My resolution for 2012: be more active. Fibro can be a catch-22. It helps to be active and get moderate exercise but… the pain makes doing so difficult, especially with me because I’m also under a huge amount of stress and that exacerbates things. I think I’m going to have to be super intentional about taking the time out to go for a walk, do playground stuff with Daniel, or just… DO SOMETHING.

— 5 —

I’m getting a ton of political fundraising emails. Apparently, there’s a huge FEC deadline on December 31, 2011 and all the political stuff I support are hitting me up for money. Can I honestly say that I’m really not looking forward to all the politics and media crud that will be coming soon?

— 6 —

I had to put down The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It was interesting in the beginning but it seems like Grossman took the whole Harry Potter thing and twisted into this dark and fatalist thing. It did sort of keep my attention but it was also depressing how hopeless the characters attitudes were. I still haven’t used up my whole gift certificate from my birthday and I have an additional one from my sister-in-law that she gave me for Christmas so I think it’s time that I invested in some stuff that I do want to read. I also finally figured out how to “close” books on my Nook. Go me!

— 7 —

I did the Saint’s Name Generator again this year. For 2011, I had St. Gianna Beretta Molla which was good because I did need to get to know her better, especially as she also had a killer pregnancy (which unlike me, did eventually kill her). My saint for 2012 is St. Luke which should be interesting. I think this will be a year of reading his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. As a Lutheran, we don’t revere saints in the same way as Catholics or Orthodox do — for us, it’s more of “this is a person we should emulate”. I think I’ll be pondering some of these things internally for awhile.

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

7 Quick Takes: Driving Rules That I Wish People Followed

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7 Quick Takes

I’ve been back in California for a year and a half and I’m not sure who is worse: L.A. drivers or Sacramento drivers. There do seem to be some universal rules, however, that both break.

–1–

Use your freaking turn signal before changing lanes. I can’t read your mind and believe me, there’s going to be a whole lot going through it (like shards of glass and metal) if you decide randomly to change lanes in front of me and don’t signal first.

–2–

Put your *expletive* cell phone down. I wish I had the power to ticket people on the CHP’s behalf because if I did, California wouldn’t have a budget problem. You can’t steer one-handed, as is evidenced by the fact that you’re swerving everywhere. Yes, the people on your left and right are giving you the finger. I would too if I didn’t have my two year old in the car with me.

–3–

The parking lot is not your personal autobahn. Yes, I see you have a bright red Mini Cooper with the top down. Judging from your looks, it’s a mid-life crisis car. Trust me sweetie, you don’t look young and hip taking the lanes of parking lots at 60 mph. In fact, you look pretty stupid and the dirty looks you’re getting are from the people who you almost T-boned and the parents of the kids you almost ran over.

–4–

The car pool lane is for vehicles with 2+ people (or on some L.A. freeways, 3+). It isn’t for you driving solo in your Hummer, especially during rush hour. I will laugh like a hyena when that motorcycle cop behind you pulls you over because of your inability to count.

–5–

Your Chevy Suburban is not a compact car. That parking spot says COMPACT in big letters. That would be my car (Dodge Stratus) and other cars that size. I really don’t appreciate having to climb out the passenger side or having to pray that you don’t hit me while trying to maneuver your behemoth around. I’m sorry that you have to walk an extra 20 feet. Suck it up.

–6–

Honking your horn at me at a red light is not going to make me move. I’m perfectly aware that I can legally make a right turn on a red light. However, it is not safe to do so. Once it is safe, I will proceed into the intersection but not before that point in time. All honking does is make you look moronic to other drivers.

–7–

Flying around me at a stop sign (because you don’t want to stop) is really not a good idea. I’m sorry that I’m following the rules and that you in your black Porsche Boxster have a problem with that. However, it would be a real tragedy if someone T-boned you because you failed to stop. Driving like that is also likely to cause you to roll your Porsche (especially in the rain) and I really don’t think that’s going to end well, given the lack of space between you and the roof. Spinal cord injuries are no fun and I’m sure your insurance company is going to LOVE paying for your stupidity.

(For more quick takes, go see Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.)

Rules for Driving in L.A.

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I’ve lived in the LA area for over six months now and have driven on freeways and city streets. In keeping with my reputation as a grouch and cynic, here are my rules (and requests) for those sharing the road with me.

1.) FOR THE LOVE OF [insert deity], DON’T TEXT AND DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was on the 60 on Wednesday and was about to change lanes when a car decided to change right next to me. She didn’t signal or give any warning… because she was texting. Yes… she was texting… ON A FREEWAY DURING RUSH HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This, by the way, is extremely illegal as is operating a cell phone while driving. It’s already dangerous enough on those freeways without morons like her texting and driving.

2.) Try to have some idea of what exit you need to take and when you need to move over to exit. Really… they do tell you how far it is until your exit. Try not to be in the farthest left lane and then play the MOVE OVER NOW!!!!!!!!!! game, especially during rush hour. And when you do miss your exit, do not just stop randomly on the freeway which will eventually cause a chain reaction crash. Trust me… you can probably take the next exit and get back on the freeway going the other direction to get to where you need to go.

3.) You might not be able to turn right just because you’re in a right-turn lane. Yes, the light is red and I’m in a right-turn lane. However, there are cars coming at me that are ALSO turning and going out into the intersection right now would not be the best move. Pay attention to traffic, you morons!!!

4.) Honking your horn at me in the above situation is not an effective way to get me to move. I don’t care if you wear out your horn — I’m not moving if it’s not safe for me to do so.

More to come…