Category Archives: The A-Word

#FiveFaves: Miscellanea (XXXIII)

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#5Faves

One

WordPress. I never cease being thankful for the ability to choose that all comments from an unapproved email address go into moderation. It saves me from soooooooo much spam and so many trolling attempts.

Two

UC Davis MIND Institute. This is where we took Daniel for developmental pediatrics appointments and where they told me that if I wasn’t having the ADOS done the next week, they’d be administering it themselves. They were started by some families of autistic kids who wanted to help the community by finding out more about autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. If you want the latest research on autism, it’s a good place to start. Their website is here.

Three

Doctors offices that send the paperwork to you before you see them. Bonus points are awarded if they email it to you along with driving directions. As much as I really wanted to go to bed and stop having to be a responsible adult tonight when I got home from choir, it was a lot easier to fill out all the info while having a Coke and not having to corral my kid while doing it.

Four

The new S’mores Frappucino at $tarbux. I tried it yesterday and loved it. I had to force myself to go with my usual order at $tarbux today (venti water with extra ice) instead of having another one because I knew I’d be going out to dinner tonight and wanted to conserve my calories for that.

Five

Jon putting Daniel back to bed instead of me. My wee bairn is climbing into bed with us around midnight or 1 a.m. and usually I’m the one who has to put him back in his own bed and get him back to sleep in it. Last night, Jon took care of that so I could sleep. Tonight, he fell asleep in Daniel’s bed so I might have my own bed tonight. *crosses fingers*

Go love up Rachel and the others.

7 Quick Takes: What I Write About When It’s Hotter Than Hell

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7 Quick Takes

It has been in the high 90’s here (I’m not kidding) and I’m up trying to get Daniel back to sleep in his own bed because I can’t sleep well when he is in mine. In other words, forgive any misspellings and grammatical errors — it’s late here and I’ll try to clean them up tomorrow.

— 1 —

Vaccine Take #1. Instead of trying to write an entire post on vaccination/the ethics involved/why Andrew Wakefield should be shot for what he did, I think I’ll do one or+ two Quick Takes a week on some things that the anti-vaxxers are saying. So…

One of the flip-outs I hear frequently is that vaccines contain thimerosal and OMG thimerosal has mercury in it and it causes autism. Ummm… no. Most vaccines are thimerosal-free (the exception being the flu shot and there is even a version that is free of it) and even after it was shown NOT to cause autism, it was still taken out of infant vaccines in 1999. In the mean time, autism rates have continued to rise.

As for the OMG-it-contains-mercury argument, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The mercury present in it is ethyl mercury (C2H5Hg+) which passes out of your body in 18 days. Methyl mercury (CH3Hg+) is the freaky nasty form of mercury that is bioaccumulative in the human body (as in “never goes away”) and in the environment. You are in more danger of mercury poisoning from a piece of kappa maki (a tuna sushi roll) than you are from the MMR vaccine. #OrganicChemistryFTW

— 2 —

Vaccine Take #2. Since I announced that I was doing a post on vaccination, I’ve had a couple people send me links to sites talking about how Andrew Wakefield is *gasp* SOOOOOO MISUNDERSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOD and HOW HE IS EXPOSING THE EVIIIIIILLLLL PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIIIIIIIIEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

Cry me a freaking river.

The man falsified results, paid children for blood samples at his kid’s birthday party, testified as an “expert” witness against MMR manufacturers (being paid handsomely by UK Legal Aid Fund in undeclared money), and filed a patent for his own version of the MMR vaccine prior to publishing his falsified study in The Lancet. Pardon me if I call out your testimony of his brilliance and wonderfulness as complete and utter B.S. #sorrynotsorry

— 3 —

Bridal shower present done! I finished the afghan for Jon’s cousin’s bridal shower on Wednesday. I’m incredibly grateful to my wonderful and awesome mother-in-law Victoria who helped me figure out how to weave in all the loose ends.

— 4 —

Vaccine Take #3. I was talking with some of the CathSo chicas about this and one of the other women mentioned that her daughters’ autism is likely genetic as there are other cases in the girls in the family. I’m perking my ears up at this not only because of the possible genetic link (Daniel’s is unquestionably at least partially a genetic thing) but mostly because about 80% of autism cases are found in boys. (I don’t think there is actually a girl in Daniel’s kindergarten class which is a special K-3 for kids on the spectrum.)

How does this relate to vaccines? Simple. I HAVE A KID WITH MODERATE AUTISM. DO PEOPLE REALLY THINK I’M STUPID ENOUGH NOT TO HAVE DONE THE RESEARCH ON THIS BEFORE VACCINATING HIM?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? #firstworldproblems

— 5 —

I wish I was making this up… I saw this news story about a Florida teenager bitten on the face by the water moccasin he kept in a pillowcase on his bed when I was reading comments on the ViperKeeper page and I’m honestly wanting bang my head against a wall. Srsly?!?!?!?!?!? YOU KEEP A FREAKING POISONOUS SNAKE IN YOUR PILLOWCASE ON YOUR BED?!?!?!?!?!?!? There is a reason it’s illegal to keep one without a permit!!!!!!

— 6 —

Prayer request. Please keep my mom’s family in prayer. Her cousin John passed away last night. It’s not all that surprising (at least to me) and it was a blessed release but it is still very sad. The one and only time I met him was almost 9 years ago at my grandfather’s funeral. Most of his ashes will be sprinkled in the mountains though some of them will go to the pioneer cemetery in Oregon where my grandfather and his siblings are buried. (John’s mother was my grandfather’s older sister and she passed away over 10 years ago.)

— 7 —

For parents of kids with autism. My friend Krystin tagged me when she shared this on Facebook. It’s a wristband for kids with autism that has a place to put phone numbers so parents can be alerted if the kid is found alone. Daniel’s last ID bracelet has a faded place where his name and our phone numbers are so I ordered one of these for him.

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

7 Quick Takes: Me Running My Mouth Again…

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Can we say “duh”? News flash: Measles Vaccine Still Doesn’t Cause Autism. The paper on this is here. I will be writing more about this in order to explain the scientific bases of all of this in the next week or so.

Until then… VACCINATE YOUR FREAKING KIDS!!!! And for those who claim a selective/delayed vaccine schedule is a good thing, your argument has been proven invalid in this study.

— 2 —

Wonderful concert. I was blessed to be able to hear the Claremont Chamber Choir sing tonight at the Drinkward Recital Hall at Harvey Mudd College. One of the basses was conducting it as part of his studies toward a DMA in Conducting. It was interesting to watch Dr. Charles Kamm (the actual director) sing because he was so expressive and looked like he was having a lovely time.

Seriously, one of the positives of my living situation is that I have free concerts in the community that are of serious quality. Tonight’s concert was a collection of madrigals and folk music from around the world and it was heavenly.

— 3 —

Rachel Held Evans’ most recent book. I finished Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans today and I highly recommend it to anyone wondering why Millenials are leaving the faith in droves as well to those who have left the faith and might be slightly amenable. Rachel’s sister Amanda is a singer/songwriter and she composed a few songs based on the sacraments framing the book. Everyone who pre-ordered the book received a download code for the album and I found them to be positively fabulous.

Another person created seven pictures of birds based on things they read in the book. I think my favorite one is for “Communion” and involves hummingbirds drinking around a flower.

— 4 —

A thank you. I was at Target with Daniel this afternoon and decided to have him put stuff on the belt to practice good behavior while shopping. The woman in front of us watched for a bit and complimented him on how he was doing. She then looked up at me and said, “You’re a good mother.”

I honestly don’t think she realized how much I needed to hear that after Daniel had a rather public tantrum on Sunday.

— 5 —

On the subject of kids and cats… I saw this online a few days ago and had to share. It’s a tongue-in-cheek list of reasons that kids should never have cats. It’s amusing to say the least.

— 6 —

Love. I’ve missed two Sundays due to fibro-related fatigue so Bible study on Wednesday was one of my chances to connect to church. I ended up sitting next to one of our founding members M who is 94 and reminds me so much of my grandma. Our priest was passing around pictures she took while walking the Camino de Santiago last year and M had just gotten shots in her eyes so she couldn’t see them. I spent much of Bible study taking her hand and pointing out various things in the pictures for her. When Bible study ended, she gave me a hug and told me she loved me.

No lie, it brought me to tears at that point and remembering it brings me to tears now because she reminds me so much of my grandma who I thankfully got to see a few months ago (for the first time in 4 1/2 years) but who I miss dreadfully. (She’s in Washington and I’m in southern California.)

— 7 —

Weekly trash-talking regarding baseball. I do believe my boys (the Giants) done swept my husband’s boys (the Dodgers). And wait… don’t I recall Jon saying that he’d get a pedicure in Giants’ colors if they swept like that? To the nail place we go!

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

7 Quick Takes: Thank God It’s Almost Friday!

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Because I *TOTALLY* want to start a battle on here today! Seriously, who has natural births these days? It’s, like, so primitive of people. [/snark]

BabyCenter: Why no one should ever throw shade at c-sections

Seriously, I hope y’all can have the birth experience you want and if you didn’t for whatever reason, it doesn’t make you any less of a mama. So please, for the love of all things holy, stop whining about how c-sections are so crappy and unnecessary and going off on how natural birth is *SO* much superior. My c-section was the best birth experience possible: mama lived and baby lived. End of story.

— 2 —

If you send a mom an email… Angie of The Jammie Girl had a delightful post about what happens if you send a mom an email. (It’s a parody of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.)

— 3 —

Getting Ella some wheels. There has been some crowdsourcing this week to try and get a sport wheelchair for the daughter of blogger Rebecca Frech. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas has been being buttheaded about approving an appropriate wheelchair for Ella and so some bloggers decided to do something about it. Since Rebecca gave up cursing for Lent, people created an online swear jar for the purpose of raising the $$$$ for Ella’s chair. Blue Cross/Blue Shield has since relented (after a brief Twitter campaign) and is working with Rebecca but if you’d like to help out, you can go here.

Kelly of This Ain’t The Lyceum put together a positively *LOVELY* video on the subject (being more than familiar with “negotiating” these things):

— 4 —

Update on the Lenten disciplines. I seriously almost cried yesterday morning because I had a late night on Tuesday night while working on taxes and had to be at Daniel’s school at 8 to meet with the school psychologist about some IEP-related things before heading to Bible study. A can of Coke would have been *REALLY* useful… but I promised Jesus not to consume any until April 5th at midnight. *grumbles* Instead, I stopped at the $tarbux inside one of the local grocery stores and got my iced vanilla latté with whole milk.

The offering up of my day on behalf of someone else has been a blessing as it’s allowing me to try and do something to benefit others even if I don’t have the time and resources to do it in person.

— 5 —

Good customer service. I had to go to Staples on Monday for a new “binder of fun” because the one I use for education was getting too full. When I was checking out, I was having to get my debit card out one-handed because my other hand was holding on to Daniel. The assistant manager took it upon herself to talk to him and try to entertain him while I was doing this. I thanked her for this and she told me that when I come in, he will always be treated like a person.

If you’re in the La Verne area, please go patronize them. 🙂

— 6 —

Plans for my 35th birthday. I turn 35 years old on May 19th and I decided to do a Promise Walk for Preeclampsia instead of getting a mid-life crisis tattoo. Details (and my SUPER-SECRET last name) are here.

And yes, I am *TOTALLY* taking a page from Kelly on this one. 😉

— 7 —

Love. As I was leaving Bible study on Wednesday, one of the women called after me that she hadn’t received her hug. Given that this woman is 94 years old and reminds me so incredibly much of my grandma, I definitely raced back to hug her. She kissed my cheek and told me that she loved me.

My day was totally made. 🙂

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

7 Quick Takes: A Somewhat Better Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Daniel’s IEP. Daniel’s IEP meeting was yesterday and it was the triennial one so there was a pretty significant amount of testing done. I learned that I should have really pushed for more OT and PT when he was in preschool because they’re still working on a lot of foundational skills and he is still pretty delayed. He’s doing some normal kindergarten work but he has the potential to get behind his age group peers so I’ll be working with him on age-appropriate curriculum when he comes home from school so that they can focus on catching him up in other ways.

One thing everyone mentioned: how sweet he is, how happy he is, and how compliant he is. It’s not a guarantee with a lot of autistic kids so I’m pretty thankful I have a sweet one.

— 2 —

Sweetness. I missed Bible study on Wednesday because I woke up with a migraine and when I walked into the midweek Lenten soup supper, some of the members hugged me and told me that they had missed me that morning. It’s so nice to be loved because I’m Jen and not just because I happen to be married to the pastor. It’s also nice to be welcome to do what I want instead of what people thing the perfect pastor’s wife should do.

— 3 —

Gah. Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday. Does anyone else hate this weekend of the year besides me? Let the sleep deprivation begin (or continue if that’s the case for you)!

— 4 —

PSA on the current challenges to the Affordable Care Act. The challenges to the Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court are not just an attempt to get rid of the birth control provisions. It would roll back care for people like me who cannot get healthcare except by the public exchanges. While Covered California’s website is a piece of crap, the insurance I have is covering all of my medications which are for things that are hereditary and things that arose as complications from my pregnancy with Daniel. It could also mean that insurance companies would not have to cover maternity care which would screw just about every woman who has a baby because none of their prenatal care would be covered as well as the hospital bill from the birth. Seriously, I cannot understand how politicians who are pro-life and against birth control can support this because what it’s doing is giving women another reason to consider abortion.

As far as the federal subsidies in question, they exist for people in the 34 states that have refused to set up exchanges where people can buy insurance. My insurance is subsidized currently because of my income and without that subsidy, we couldn’t afford insurance. (We qualify for Medi-Cal but the system is so overtaxed and for some incredibly stupid reason, the plan we were assigned has no doctors within an hour’s drive of us.)

I’m seriously not trying to start a fight here or play one political party against another — I’m trying to get people to see that this issue does have a face and said face is me.

— 5 —

Spring is here. It’s in the 80’s here today. While I miss four distinct seasons (and I’m sure people in New England and places in the southeast with the ice storm are wanting to throttle me right now), it is kind of nice to have flip-flop weather.

— 6 —

My baby is growing up. The changing table/dresser we had for Daniel was pretty much irrepairable and he had outgrown his toddler bed so we disassembled both of them on Monday for a dump pick-up on Tuesday. We’re now using one of the dressers in the room that he’s occupying and we’ve got the futon pulled out so he has a full-sized bed. It was sad in a way because he will probably be our only child and this means that his “baby years” are over, even though he’s definitely not functioning at an almost six year old level these days.

One downside for the cats: Freya now doesn’t have a perch where she can snoopervise the neighborhood and watch birds. She has taken over my desk but I can tell that it isn’t the same for her.

— 7 —

Adorableness. One last cool thing from my Confirmation on Sunday: since the bishop was present, we had festival-level worship which meant that we had flags and incense in addition to the normal crucifer and torchbearers. Incense in worship means a thurifer (to swing the thurible with the incense) and a boat boy to carry the boat (bowl with the incense). The thurifer was one of the young fathers and the boat boy was his oldest son who I am guessing is probably 6 or 7 years old. It was seriously adorable to see the two of them together!

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 1, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 1, 2015

Outside my window… dark. It’s technically past midnight and officially March 2nd but I’m doing this for March 1st.

I am thinking… about some discussions I’ve been having with people on Facebook.

I am thankful… for so many things today but mostly that I have a church that supports me and who loves me because I am “Jen”, not because I’m “Jen the pastor’s wife”.

In the kitchen… nothing at the moment as we’re all in bed. I’ll be baking more cookies this week for the Lenten soup supper on Wednesday.

I am wearing… my Run for the Little Flowers 5K shirt and black sweats.

I am praying for… a full-time call for Jon, discernment for me, various special intentions,
and how to balance out our finances.

I am going… to hopefully get to sleep soon.

I am wondering… what this week will hold for me.

I am reading… The Hen of the Baskervilles by Donna Andrews.

I am hoping… to finish my amigurumi project this week and get it mailed off to the person for whom it is a gift.

I am looking forward to… Wednesday night when we have midweek Lenten stuff.

I am hearing… The Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox church of Antioch. It’s relaxing to listen to it.

Around the house… silence. dead quiet. It’s lovely.

A favorite quote for today… “Before I became a Christian I do not think I fully realized that one’s life, after conversion, would inevitably consist in doing most of the same things one had been doing before, one hopes, in a new spirit, but still the same things.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… my in-laws’ cat Felicity who is a tiny little fluffball.

A few plans for the rest of the week: work on taxes, church stuff on Wednesday, Daniel’s IEP on Thursday, BYOF day at IKEA on Saturday, and whatever else comes up.

A peek into my day… So, I was confirmed today that the Episcopal church that I’m attending at the moment…

The laying on of hands.

Can you see Jon in his best clerical Hawaiian shirt? :)

All of us who were being baptized/confirmed/received/renewing Confirmation vows with the bishop and some clergy.

Backside view of everyone laying on hands. Since my parents and godparents weren't there, my choir jumped in to be my people.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 31, 2014.

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 31, 2015

Outside my window… cold. According to my dad’s weather station, it’s in the mid-40’s outside. I wondered how I managed -20F (not counting wind chill) when I lived in the Midwest until I realized that I never spent any significant time outside when it was that cold.

I am thinking… about the various things I might attempt to change about myself in the new year.

I am thankful… for many things: Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood episodes on YouTube so I can catnap in the mornings while Daniel is off school, a shopping trip to Kohl’s for new jeans that fit (my old ones are falling off of me), and an opportunity to go visit my grandma in Seattle over MLK Day weekend. (I haven’t seen her in 4 years and she’s 94 years old.)

In the kitchen… instant breakfast for me, oatmeal with various stuff for Mom, and various greasy things for Dad. I had to politely veto him making bacon and potatoes for me (no eggs due to my allergy) because my body does not do well with grease. (My gallbladder gave up the ghost 9.5 years ago.)

I am wearing… my jammies (my Run for the Little Flowers shirt and black sweats) and my Jameson fleece because I had to go out and take something to the trash this morning.

I am praying for… the Lenaburgs as they bury Courtney today. I’m grateful for Mary’s honesty (especially during this time) because I think it’s a ministry to a lot of us mamas who don’t know how we’re going to parent our kids with special needs and scary conditions. I know she gives me a lot of hope and encouragement and I’m wishing I could do the same for her.

I am going… on a walk to the store in a bit for milk. Long walks with Daniel to do errands are a benefit of visiting my parents.

I am wondering… about how my SSI appeal for Daniel will go.

I am reading… Cast On, Kill Off by Maggie Sefton. It’s the last of the murder mysteries in that series. After I finish, I’ll probably re-read something on my NOOK.

I am hoping… for an easy drive back home on Saturday.

I am looking forward to… Daniel going back to school on Monday. As much as I love spending time with him, he needs to get back into a routine… badly.

I am hearing… Daniel playing with his trolley from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. He is bringing me the characters individually and telling me their names as best he can. (For those not familiar with Daniel, he deals with apraxia due to his autism so him attempting to speak and tell me all of this is beyond cool.)

Around the house… smelling wood smoke from my dad’s fire in the fireplace last night. It’s a wonderful smell that I associate with my grandparents’ house.

A favorite quote for today… “The Incarnation is the manifestation of the love of God, not merely in the person of the Child of Bethlehem, but in the persons of all whom Christ attaches to himself. We are each of us incarnations of divine love, since we are members of Christ.” — Richard Meux Benson, SSJE

One of my favorite things… my silly boy snuggling with me.

A few plans for the rest of the week: decorating a gingerbread house, walks with the boy child, driving home on Saturday, and whatever else comes up.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.