Category Archives: The A-Word

{five favorites}: Miscellanea (LXI)

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#5Faves

One

Orthodox Celts. This is another installment of “Jen is a music snob” but I love the vocal harmonies that are reminiscent of what I hear when I’m listening to Eastern Orthodox liturgical music to fall asleep at night. And seriously, what is with the step-dancing on the cliffs in “Rocky Road to Dublin”?!?!?!?

Two

The High Kings. They are probably my favorite for “Rocky Road of Dublin” and “The Little Beggarman”. I like their version of “Màiri’s Wedding” but not as much as the version by Van Morrison and the Chieftains.

Three

Austism-friendly activity bags. Two ELCA congregations in Pennsylvania made autism-friendly activity bags. I’m seriously wanting one for my kiddo!

Four

Office supplies. Staples is my idea of nirvana. 🙂 I got a back-up set of pens for my planner (because it’s color-coded) and I almost started drooling in the three aisles of Tar-zhay that had binders and notebooks and pens.

Five

My friend John. I did something somewhat stupid and got into a fight with someone on his Facebook wall over an asinine statement that Muslims have to stop using the name Allah because it’s the Arabic word for “God” and they should have to use a different word. (Trust me… it was pretty bad.) I had history and linguistics on my side but the guy was seriously nasty to me. John not only backed me up but unfriended the guy for his treatment of me. John is the guy I trusted to be Daniel’s buddy last summer during VBS — he is a stand-up guy and the person I go to if I have *ANY* weaponry questions because he knows his stuff. 🙂 I know he’ll catch flak from some of his Facebook groups for backing me up and I appreciate it especially because of that.

Go love up Ashley and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 13, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 13, 2016

Outside my window… rainy. It’s absolutely spectacular to have a rainy weekend here.

I am thinking… about some of the things that are happening this week. It’s not going to be as abnormal as last week but it will be relatively busy.

I am thankful… for the Dimetapp which finally helped get the kiddo to sleep at 1 a.m. after he woke up coughing. *shakes fist at all the pollen in the air*

In the kitchen… I think Dad is making steak tonight.

I am wearing… burgundy top from Old Navy and black sweats from Target.

I am going… to try and get caught up on my temperature afghan this week or at least get caught up with recording the temperatures. (My illness threw me off a bit.)

I am wondering… the structure of the readings in the Coptic lectionary. (Laura will have an email in her box tonight. :))

I am reading… Calmness by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. I still have Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber on my NOOK and got a little bit of that read this past week.

I am hoping… to get some walks in this week now that the bronchitis is (almost) gone and the rain should be going away. Now if only the bursitis would take a hike!

I am looking forward to… the games night on Saturday. Bob is making red beans and rice and someone else is bringing corn bread.

I am hearing… Coptic liturgical music (I’m keeping their Lenten fast so I’m checking out their music) and my dad drilling various things into walls.

A Daniel story for today… when I took the precious sweetling to Target on Friday to get his happy meds refilled, I was telling him “first shopping, then toys.” (First/then statements are an ABA thing.) Daniel’s response: “OK. Buh-bye.” I seriously need to record myself saying it the way he does because it was ADORABLE.

Around the house… Dad is attaching towel rods now that the painting of various bathrooms is done.

A favorite quote for today… I found this on Facebook and thought it was appropriate.

Political wisdom from the Lakota.

One of my favorite things… a fire in the fireplace on a rainy night.

A few plans for the rest of the week: catching up on things tomorrow morning, psych appointment for the kid on Tuesday, knitting/crocheting group on Tuesday night, morning prayer/Bible study/choir on Thursday, psych appointment for me on Friday, and games night on Saturday.

A peek into my day… I love this cover of “The Sounds of Silence” by the artist Disturbed. I’m a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan so I appreciate how he was faithful to the original song while giving it kind of a metal spin.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 31, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 31, 2016

Outside my window… sunny. The sun came out while I was at church this morning and it’s warm enough for shirt sleeves outside. Weather Underground says it’s in the low 50’s.

I am thinking… about the data I’m putting into spreadsheets for tax purposes. I’m trying to get them done super early in case we owe so that we have time to come up with the money.

I am thankful… for the lady in my Bible study who rang my doorbell on Thursday night and handed me $tarbux cards that she had gotten for being a science fair judge. She’s not a coffee drinker so she passed them on to me. I appreciate that she thought of me.

In the kitchen… nothing from scratch tonight. I’ll probably heat up something frozen.

I am wearing… a blue-green shirt and jeans.

I am going… to take Daniel for a haircut in a little bit. The local barber does well with him.

I am wondering… about a lot of things right now.

I am reading… A Lesson in Hope by Phillip Gulley. I’m hoping to pick Accidental Saints back up before too long.

I am hoping… my week goes well and I can get done what I need to get done.

I am looking forward to… the knitting/crocheting group that meets at my church this coming Tuesday night.

I am hearing… Daniel chattering.

A Daniel story for today… he will point to the CD player and say an approximation of “music”. There is one specific CD by Altan that he loves and that CD needs to be the first in the rotation. (He is *TOTALLY* my kid.)

Around the house… mom is painting, Dad is puttering, Daniel is playing, and I am doing taxes.

A favorite quote for today… “You know you’re an adult when you can be right without proving the other person wrong.” — #1 on this list.

One of my favorite things… club soda. It’s standing in for Coca-Cola right now.

A few plans for the rest of the week: haircut for the kid, intake interview for the group managing Daniel’s meds tomorrow, mental health screening for me on Tuesday (my doctor up here doesn’t prescribe psychiatric meds so I’m having to get a psychiatrist referral through the county), follow-up doctor’s appointment for my lab work on Wednesday, Bible study on Thursday, and whatever else comes up.

A peek into my day… Someone in the Temperature Blanket Group on Facebook was sharing about a woman whose kids took a crochet hook and a chain she had made and framed it for her. I thought it was a fabulous way of remembering her and remembering her crocheting.

A crochet hook and chain framed.

Post Script…

You have four days left to pick my Lenten discipline. As much as it seems like I’m making a game out of this, I have honestly been stretched and have grown because of the disciplines people have assigned me so go pick one for me! It’s also open to everyone regardless of religious tradition.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Some New Year’s Musings

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Appropriate music. Rather than find a new and cool version “Auld Lang Syne” (which I think I have maybe sung once in my life, if at all), here’s a beautiful song for the New Year sung by Golden Bough, one of my favorite Celtic ensembles in northern California. You’re welcome. 🙂

— 2 —

Final update on resolutions. If my sweet angel decides to sleep tonight, I’ll be reading the last chapter of Zechariah and all of Malachi tonight. I recommend reading the Bible in a year and two good programs for that are here and here.

**UPDATE** Finished at 11:45 p.m. Boo yah!

My planking challenges were craptastic at best. Not to mention, who the heck does planks for fun?!?!?!?!?

— 3 —

Another Golden Bough song. This one is the song I associate with Golden Bough. The ensemble has been around since the time of my birth. My parents used to hear them perform at an Irish pub in Campbell. Enjoy!

— 4 —

Book suggestions for 2016. Kelly asked for book suggestions for 2016. My suggestions: anything by Rachel Held Evans (I read Searching for Sunday by her this year and loved it), Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson, and Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber if you can deal with the profanity. (Nadia is nothing if not fluent in cursing like a sailor.) For murder mysteries that are completely absurd, check out Donna Andrews.

— 5 —

Resolutions for 2016. Here are some resolutions for 2016:

-Make a temperature afghan. Thankfully, Herrschners has good sales because my local Michael’s is sub-par and my ethics don’t allow me to shop at Hobby Lobby.

-Potty-train the munchkin. Because autism and living skills.

-Finish the various yarn things on my plate and make my parents their Christmas presents. I’ve got sock yarn for my mom’s striped socks and fleece to tie for my dad’s John Deere blankie. (My dad is a retired mechanical engineer and loves farm equipment so I get him all manner of John Deere things.) I also need to finish a stuffed animal for a friend who had a baby last year (aiming for the kiddo’s 1st birthday because I’ve managed to miss their birth and 6 month birthdays) and finish the munchkin’s big boy blankie.

-Get my prayer life back on track.

There are some others but I can’t talk about them yet.

— 6 —

Coming up on the blog. I’d like to do a series on parenting kids with special needs and get some guest posts (*coughcoughcough* Kelly *coughcoughcough* Kathleen) on the subject as well.

— 7 —

My plans for the evening. Dinner will be served as soon as I hit “publish”. Dad grilled up some steak and there are tater tots and Caesar salad. Dessert are some double chocolate Magnum bars. There’s a party and dancing at church tonight but I’m kind of looking forward to a quiet evening at home. If I beg hard enough, Dad might even make me a fire in the fireplace. I’ll be up at midnight but no champagne — I can’t drink.

**UPDATE** Dad fell asleep in his recliner early so little Miss Gold Award Girl Scout here tried to build her own fire, the first one in 17 years… and failed. I uttered the magic word (“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!”) and he woke up, shook his head at me, and opened a secret case that had special aged tinder used to start a fire. Thankfully, he did not comment on how I should know how to do this.

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

7 Quick Takes: More Islamophobia, UPS Screws Up, and Autism Studies

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Really? Apparently, schools in Augusta County, Virginia will be closed tomorrow over the “tone and content” of messages received about a high school lesson in which students were presented with an example of Arabic calligraphy and told to try and copy it to help them understand the artistry involved. It was a World Geography class so it wasn’t like the assignment wasn’t topical. The problem: it was the shahada or statement of belief in Islam and I guess some people erroneously interpreted it as the teacher trying to convert the students even though students were not asked to translate it, recite it or otherwise adopt or pronounce it as a personal belief.

I’m sitting here scratching my head because we did this thing ALL THE TIME in my elementary and middle school classes when we studied Islam as part of world history. As far as I know, nobody ever felt the need or pressure to convert and we understood that the calligraphy was a form of art, kind of like having a lesson in which we were copying Chinese characters.

*starts making tin foil hats for all the people flipping out in Virginia*

— 2 —

More Islamophobia. Last week, a nasty woman made derogatory comments to some Muslims praying at Lake Chabot Regional Park, hit one of them with an umbrella, and threw coffee at them. Today, she was charged. Props to the Alameda County District Attorney for bringing charges! The woman is entitled to believe whatever the heck she wants about Islam but assaulting people over it is crossing a number of lines.

— 3 —

Brain chemical linked to autism. Scientists have discovered that the breakdown of the signaling pathway used by the neurotransmitter GABA is linked to autistic behavior. Wow. I guess it had been shown to be the case in animal models but this is the first time it’s been linked to it in humans.

Maybe research will eventually lead to a medication that can help avoid the breakdown of that particular pathway?

— 4 —

Prerequisite weather take. We’re supposed to be getting rain this weekend. I am positively giddy! Rain can be a migraine trigger for me but I still love it.

— 5 —

Self-promotion. I wrote a blog post about how I put together my Christmas cards every year. Go read it!

— 6 —

UPS is on my naughty list. My Shutterfly cards were supposed to arrive today and were even in San Jose. I logged on to the UPS site to see if they were out for delivery and got the following message:

We’ve incorrectly sorted the package at our facility. This may cause at least one business day delay.

Guess where the package is? Kalispell, Montana! That’s NOT in California, much less probably 10 miles from where I live (or wherever UPS has their sorting facility here). I’m thinking it will be at least Saturday before I can get my cards assembled… and Daniel’s last day of school is tomorrow! (In other words, I’m losing a free morning.) *shakes fist at my former employer*

— 7 —

One more autism study. This one links autism with moms taking anti-depressants during pregnancy. Oops! In my case, I didn’t really have a choice as taking me off of my Effexor XR caused severe nausea, panic attacks, vertigo, and other problems that led to a late night ER run and me being hospitalized to get fluids into me while they tried to get me stabilized. My high-risk doctor instructed them to PUT ME BACK ON MY MEDS WITH ALL POSSIBLE SPEED. Lucky for me, the benefit to the mom outweighs the risk for the baby so I got my Effexor XR back and they dropped me to the lowest possible dose that was still therapeutically beneficial.

As for it being the cause of Daniel’s autism, his genetic testing showed that his autism is the result of some additions and deletions on different genes so I’m off the hook for this one.

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

{five favorites}: Favorite Regional Center Workers

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{five favorites}

Unless you’ve been living under a rock today, you probably heard about the shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernadino. This completely horrifies me because my son Daniel receives services through the local Regional Centers where we’ve lived in California. For an explanation of what they do, click here. In the mean time, here are my 5 favorite Regional Center workers.

One

Pat. Pat was our service coordinator through the Alta California Regional Center until Daniel’s 3rd birthday. She got us hooked up with Easter Seals who provided him with an infant program, physical therapy, and speech therapy. She also got us an occupational therapist when Easter Seals couldn’t provide one. I think the best thing she did was get me through Daniel’s autism diagnosis, being present with me for the ADOS and then getting me ABA training.

Two

Rose. Rose was the respite worker who the San Gabriel-Pomona Regional Center provided through one of the agencies with whom they contract. She allowed Jon and I to have date nights and also hooked us up with VIP Soccer. She loved Daniel and was just the perfect person for him.

Three

Jennifer. Jennifer was the occupational therapist provided by the Alta California Regional Center. A lot of her job was getting Daniel to engage and experience new textures and work on his grips. She also got him drinking from a sippy cup.

Four

Maggie. Maggie was our service coordinator with San Gabriel-Pomona Regional Center. She was incredibly patient with Daniel, rejoiced when I’d call and give her progress reports, and was instrumental in helping us find a dentist for him in southern California.

Five

Sara. Sara was the physical therapist we got through Easter Seals which is the provider used by Alta California Regional Center so I count her in this. I loved her so much and she was so good with my kiddo that I kept her as a Facebook friend after Daniel turned 3 and the school district took over the physical/speech/occupational therapy. She talked me down off of numerous figurative ledges every time Daniel got a scary diagnosis. I repeat her words frequently: “we treat the kids, not the diagnoses.”

Go love up Ashley.

7 Quick Takes: Refugee Takes, School, and Choral Evensong

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Refugee take #1. The French are suggesting that we use “Da’esh” instead of ISIS. This is why. It actually makes sense.

— 2 —

Refugee take #2. Not all Muslims agree with Da’esh. (The vast, vast majority find them despicable.) The closest Muslims to what they believe are the Wahhabis who control things in Saudi Arabia. This piece explains why. It’s also why Saudi Arabia has not taken any refugees thus far — they don’t take Christians (the country is officially 100% Muslim and those who convert to something else face death) and it’s a Sunni Muslim theocracy so any Shi’a Muslims are out of luck.

— 3 —

Refugee take #3. I have seen some pretty foul behavior from my fellow Christians over the whole refugee issue in talking about how we should not welcome refugees to the USA and this is one of those times when I actually *AM* calling out people in my own life for their behavior. (I’m usually pretty reserved, but not on this subject.) Jamie the Very Worst Missionary actually has a pretty good take on all of this. Ditto with Ryan Dueck.

I think my friend Sarah of Fumbling toward Grace put it best when she quoted something she had read at the beginning of the refugee crisis (and she would like me to clarify that she can’t remember who said it):

“We don’t help refugees because they are Christian. We help refugees because we are Christian.” (emphasis mine)

— 4 —

Refugee take #4. To maybe shut a few people up and remove the complete atmosphere of unfounded fear that seems to be pervasive, here is what *ACTUALLY* happens with refugees and immigration from an *ACTUAL* immigration attorney.

Now can the fearmongering stop?

— 5 —

The school sitch. Daniel *FINALLY* started school up here this week. He was a little nervous on Monday (his first day) but when he saw the toys, he looked at me and said “bye!” which was my cue to leave. He seems to like his class, his teachers, his aides, and his therapists thus far and I’m hoping it remains a good school and a good program for him.

— 6 —

Choral Evensong. We have a new rector at my church in San Jose and she is a fan of choral evensong so we’re doing it for the Thanksgiving service next Tuesday night. If you’re in the area, let me know and I’ll give you the details!

— 7 —

Gary Haugen’s TED talk. Fifteen years ago, I heard Gary Haugen of International Justice Mission speak at Urbana 2000. It changed my life and the way I look at a lot of the world. (You can watch it here.) He’s done a TED talk. Go watch it! Do it now!

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