Category Archives: The A-Word

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 12, 2014

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 12, 2014

Outside my window… dark. It was fairly warm today.

I am thinking… about my nutritionist consult tomorrow that I’ll have to reschedule because Daniel has diarrhea.

I am thankful… for being able to get away for a little bit the last couple days.

In the kitchen… chicken hotdish that I made and portioned out to be frozen.

I am wearing… brown shirt with a ruched collar and black running shorts.

I am creating… this entry and a baby blanket.

I am going… out to replace my headphones when Jon gets home from his concert.

I am wondering… what injury Daniel is going to give me this week. He gave me a minor concussion last week and he almost hit me with my lapdesk a few minutes ago.

I am reading… The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by James Martin, S.J. — I’m almost done with it.

I am hoping… my stomach calms down.

I am looking forward to… my massage this Friday. (It got rescheduled from last week because my massage therapist had the flu.)

I am learning how to remove gel nail polish.

Around the house… *puts fingers in ears* I can’t hear youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!

I am pondering… waaaaaaay too many things.

A favorite quote for today… After seeing Fr. Jim Martin, S.J. on the Colbert Report talking about income inequality, I though of the following:

??If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.?? — Stephen Colbert

One of my favorite things… quiet so I can pray.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy for Daniel Monday to Friday, possibly Morning Prayer on Tuesday, and my massage on Friday.

A peek into my day… I still don’t have my laptop (and thus can’t upload pics) so we’ll just go with a funny Youtube video.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Done with My Sabbatical But Still No Laptop

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Jon has offered his laptop to me until mine comes back from the repair facility. My mother-in-law lent me hers while I was down there so I’ve been able to read the guest posts during my sabbatical. My deepest thanks to Kym, Mandi, and Beth Anne for doing some guest posts while I was with family. I appreciate the three of you so much!

While I was gone…

-I read some good books: Mysteries of the Middle Ages And the Beginning of the Modern World by Thomas Cahill, Death’s Parallel by Oakley Jordan, and the first chapter of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin, S.J. (the official chaplain of Colbert Nation).

-I spent some time with family and friends: December 25-28 in San Jose where I spent time with my parents, had coffee with my friend Rebecca, and took some walks with Daniel. December 28-January 2nd was spent in Claremont with my in-laws. I got to see my nephew Patrick (who at 7 months outweighs Daniel at 2 years old — he’s a chubby baby but I also have a seriously underweight child) and some of Jon’s extended family as well as get some rest while my mother-in-law took over Daniel care.

-I’ve been limited in my Facebook and Twitter time which isn’t a bad thing.

-I’ve escalated things with HP to the point where I now have my own case manager. I’m calling them daily to get updates on my laptop since nobody seems to know what’s going on. I think Kelly is right — this is customer service hell!

I uploaded all my text files onto my cloud before I sent in my laptop so I thankfully have everything necessary to participate in memes. Now, I think I’ll go hit up Target for some latches to replace the ones that Daniel has figured out. (Life with an autistic kid is not boring in the slightest.)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 15, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 15, 2013

Outside my window… dark. As usual, I’m doing this at night once every other creature in the house is asleep. It was maybe in the 50’s today — definitely warmer than a week ago!

I am thinking… about Thomas‘ twins who were born this weekend.

I am thankful… that I have less Christmas crocheting than I anticipated.

In the kitchen… I baked 3 batches of cookies yesterday, most of which disappeared after church this morning.

I am wearing… black t-shirt with constellations and my blue striped fleece pajama bottoms.

I am creating… cotton snowflake ornaments for the family gift drawing this year. The theme is “homemade”.

I am going… to be starching these ornaments tomorrow.

I am wondering… if I missed anyone on my Christmas card list. I got all of them done this afternoon while sitting at $tarbux and listening to a talk by Fr. James Martin, S.J. on humor and faith.

I am reading… Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill. I don’t get a lot of reading time right now (my own fault) so this might be a book I finish on the way down to southern California after Christmas.

I am hoping… I can get all my shopping done and everything mailed off in time for Christmas.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Friday.

Around the house… my Roomba just finished cleaning the floors. (It was a gift from my mother-in-law for my last birthday.)

I am pondering… many things.

A favorite quote for today… ??For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning – not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last.?? — Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

One of my favorite things… my Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar.

A few plans for the rest of the week: installing my new keyboard whenever it arrives (a certain little blond boy decided to remove the keys from my current one and broke the Tab key), ABA therapy for Daniel in the afternoons from Monday to Friday, doctor’s appointment for the wee bairn on Tuesday morning, quarterly meeting with all of Daniel’s ABA staff, my massage on Friday afternoon, and a respite night on Saturday night.

A peek into my day… the talk I was watching while compiling Christmas cards.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: My Christmas Wishlist

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7 Quick Takes

Linking up with Mary Kate as well for her gift-giving link-up.

— 1 —

Gift cards from Barnes & Noble. I have a NOOK. I like to read. Enough said. 🙂 I’m also having to replace books which were damaged while they were being stored and it makes more sense to get them on my NOOK.

— 2 —

Gift cards for Kohl’s. I’m slowly having to replace out my wardrobe and I’m fond of the stuff at Kohl’s. I can try stuff on in-store and I’ve actually found clothes that I would wear when I’ve shopped there.

— 3 —

Peace on earth. A girl can dream, right?

— 4 —

A Kiva loan. Kiva loans allow you to loan money to entrepreneurs all over the world to help them become self-sufficient. I’ve made 17 loans and only $200 has been my own funds or new loans that people have given me as present. This means that those funds have been loaned out several times over and it’s honestly the highlight of my month to get an email saying that I have Kiva credit. I’ve made loans to 12 different countries on 3 continents and 16 of those 17 loans has been paid back or is in the process of being paid back. (One person did default and unfortunately that does happen on occasion.)

— 5 —

A Target gift card. Daniel needs some long-sleeved shirts and I’m a fan of Target’s clothes on him. I love the Circo and Cherokee brands and I find that they hold up to lots of abuse.

— 6 —

For Daniel to develop speech. He’s making so much progress right now in that area but it’s hard to be patient sometimes. I did get to see him say the letters in his name when I was dropping him off at school on Tuesday. When his ABA tutors have been working with him, they make him sound out words.

— 7 —

For Brett and Iris to have families adopt them. Do you see these lovely children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier has been submitted to her country.

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

7 Quick Takes: Jeans, Snow, and Advent Music.

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Orphans. Do you see these precious children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier has been submitted to her country.

— 2 —

Because, you know, speaking normal English would defeat the point. My tasoni friend sent me this. I understood and resonated with all the jargon spoken by the blogger about his autistic son and am shaking my head because my people use a whole different set.

— 3 —

Let it snow. We might actually get a trace amount of snow in Sacramento on Friday night. It’s down in the 20’s at night right now which is freaking out a lot of people and making me laugh because the 20’s are a walk in the park compared to some of the temps in Minnesota and Montana when I lived there. (It was -25F in Great Falls this morning according to some of my friends there.) The hard thing for me is that our washer/dryer are in a laundry shed so I’m going to be getting up shortly, putting on fleece, and going out there to sort through clothes and find something for my wee bairn to wear to school tomorrow.

— 4 —

Jeans. Last week, I was getting a pair of my 4 year old jeans from Lands’ End out of the dryer to wear them to the airport to pick up Jon and discovered that they had a massive hole in the rear end. (Thankfully, I discovered this BEFORE I wore them.) I went onto the Kohl’s website to order more, figuring that I wouldn’t be able to go shopping before Black Friday (when I wanted nothing to do with retail) only to find out that Jon was fine with watching Daniel so I could go after his eye appointment the next day. OK… It was too late to cancel the order on the Kohl’s website so I just kept those and went out to shop the next day. End result: 4 pairs of jeans that fit me (after taking them to my seamstress to be hemmed) for less than the cost of 2 pairs of jeans from Lands’ End. I still have one pair of 4 year old jeans from Lands’ End left so I actually have enough pants for a change.

— 5 —

Advent music. My friend Thomas of Fuller Life put together an amazing playlist for Advent.

— 6 —

More Advent music. Bonnie of A Knotted Life has a great playlist as well that she shared a few weeks ago.

— 7 —

Potty-training. I think I should be getting time off of Purgatory for the time I spend potty-training Daniel. We’re on our second shot of it and it’s a headache for me, especially as nothing we try seems to be working. I have his ABA therapists working with me on it and even they are a bit stumped because this is definitely not anything they’re used to (and these are people who have been in the business for a fairly long time). Pray for me.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 17, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 17, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It’s 11:00 p.m. and I’m writing this to kick my brain into moving around the writer’s block with my NaNoWriMo piece.

I am thinking… about various things I need to do to some of my NaNoWriMo characters. I also need to kill a few donors off creatively.

I am thankful… for a good weekend with my parents and a good nap today.

In the kitchen… dishes. 🙁

I am wearing… plum colored t-shirt from Old Navy and my Left Behind shorts.

I am creating… a NaNoWriMo piece that might be worth publishing… eventually.

I am going… to meet with a woman interested in cleaning for me once or twice a week.

I am wondering… how to best write flashback scenes in… *drumroll* my NaNoWriMo piece.

I am reading… Pope Awesome and Other Stories by Cari Donaldson. Run not walk to get your copy! (Seriously, I love Cari to pieces even if she does have a strange interest in fisher cats.)

I am hoping… I make it to 34K words tonight.

I am looking forward to… seeing my evil twin and his wife at Thanksgiving.

I am learning that I cannot write scenes with dialogue well at all!

Around the house… cats being nocturnal.

I am pondering… the wonderfulness of rain possibly arriving on Tuesday.

A favorite quote for today… ??There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.?? – Maya Angelou

One of my favorite things… chilled Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea.

A few plans for the rest of the week: writing, ABA therapy for Daniel every day from Monday to possibly Saturday, massage on Friday, funeral for Gordon Smith on Thursday, and… yeah.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Quick Takes: Lots of NaNo Stuff, Justice Being Served, and Daniel Being Ornery

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Orphans. Do you see these sweet children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier has been submitted to her country.

— 2 —

NaNo Update. So far, I’m a bit ahead in my “2000-words-a-day” plan and as I’m going to be with my family this weekend, it’s probably good to have that cushion though I’ll be focusing like mad tomorrow so that I don’t get too far behind. I’m also probably going to give up Facebook this weekend with a few exceptions so I can spend my computer time writing my NaNo piece. We’ll see.

— 3 —

Justice being served. Those of you who read my {Virtual} Coffee Date for this week know that one of my college group leaders at the church I attended from 1998-2001 was murdered in his office and found on Saturday morning. On Wednesday, we got the news that they arrested two people suspected of killing him. I’m not angry at his killers as much as I’m just sad.

— 4 —

Fundraiser for Brett. I’m willing to kill people off creatively for a donation to the adoption grant of the precious boy on my sidebar. $10 gets you killed off creatively with a couple caveats. If you give $25, I’ll send you the manuscript of my NaNo piece. Just make the donation to Brett and email the receipt and how you’d like to die to jen @ grace-filled dot net.

— 5 —

Thankful. One of the people doing NaNo is a CSI and she offered to answer all of our questions. There are 8 pages of questions and her answers in the NaNo forums. I’m incredibly grateful that she offered this because it means that my novel went from “no chance” to theoretically possible.

— 6 —

Boundaries. My precious sweetling is testing the patience of his ABA tutors this week. He tried going up against his lead tutor and consultant today… and failed. Both of them have been doing this for a while and have absolutely *NO* problem saying the dreaded n-word (a.k.a. “no”). He has tried going to Jon or me when his tutors are refusing to back down and we just turn him around and send him right back to them. Oh well… it’s developmentally appropriate to test boundaries — just no fun for the parents.

— 7 —

“Bones” moving to Fridays. I’ll have to start watching Bones on Hulu or something because they’re moving it to Fridays… which is when I watch 3 hours of CBS stuff. As much as I like Bones, I like Hawaii Five-O more.

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