7 Quick Takes: Facebook Foxes, Patrick’s Arrival, and Prayer Requests

Posted on May 23, 2013 by jen

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Firefox in the real world. A family of California grey foxes has made its home in the Zen Garden at Facebook’s Menlo Park campus. The Facebook peeps set up a special Facebook page for them as well as an Instagram.

— 2 —

What the what?!?!?!?!?!?!? In the last 2 1/2 hours, there has been a bridge collapse near where I have family in Washington (my dad is up there right now and actually drove over it earlier) and there was an earthquake 3 hours north of me. It’s also a full moon tonight. This is eerie.

— 3 —

OMG Hawaii Five-O!!!! I’m bummed that Kono will be out for at lease a chunk of next season and I’m wondering if Grace Park (the actress) is pregnant or if her contract was just not renewed. It was still an interesting episode and I’m wondering who is breaking in to kill Wo Fat.

— 4 —

I’m an auntie!!!!! Jon’s sister Joanna had her baby today!!!!! His name is Patrick and he was born at 1:19 p.m. by c-section. He is 19 inches long and weighs 9.5 lbs. I’m totally excited to be an auntie. We’ll probably head down in a few weeks to see them once Joanna heals and they have things a little more on schedule.

My new nephew!!!!!

— 5 —

Diagnosis time. I had my endocrinology consult this Wednesday and the diagnosis is PCOS based on my bloodwork. We’re going to clean up my diet (see #7 for details on that) and discuss medication changes at my next appointment in August. If any of you are on FitDay.Com, email me (jen @ grace-filled dot net) and let me know. (My username is my incredibly long and complex last name.)

— 6 —

Do you see these two precious children?

Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home so she can start kindergarten (hopefully this autumn). If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!

— 7 —

Prayer request. I will be having an endoscopy tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:30 a.m. PDT (Pacific Daylight Time). Even if you don’t see this before then, I’d appreciate your prayers that the procedure goes well, that they find SOMETHING, and that anything they find is treatable. I’ve been having nausea and loss of appetite since January and it took forever to get the G-I consult (May 8th) where this procedure was scheduled. Any findings will hopefully enable me to eat again and being able to do that will help me clean up my diet. My endocrinologist suspects that I might have celiac disease and this might be what shows it.

**UPDATE** The endoscopy went well and they *did* find something — mild esophagitis and erosive gastritis in the form of 20 smallish ulcers in the lower part of my stomach. It’s all treatable and I’m just relieved that they found SOMETHING because it’s been annoying not to be able to eat without problems for the last few months.

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

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (IV)

Posted on May 22, 2013 by jen

Egy

Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. I can finally get individual bottles of this at my local store. I am positively giddy with delight. It’s my “not Coke” drink of choice these days, especially as the Crystal Light version seems to have disappeared from my local store.

Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea

Kettö

Gloria Vanderbilt shorts. I got mine 3 years ago at a Kohl’s in southern California and I still love them. It’s been in the 80′s and 90′s here and these shorts are incredibly comfortable and allow me to be active with my son Daniel.

Gloria Vanderbilt shorts

Három

Bamboo Compost Pail. My parents have one of these in their kitchen and I wanted one so they told me where to go on Amazon.Com to find it. The interior is plastic and there’s a vent at the top with activated charcoal so it doesn’t stink up the kitchen or get moldy (at least in my experience).

Bamboo compost pail

Négy

My latest book. I’m reading cheapy fluffy murder mysteries these days with my spare time. I just read the book before this one in the series and I was constantly pondering who the killer was. It was definitely a good read and I’m expecting this one to be as well.

The Diva Digs Up the Dirt

Öt

The Big Bang Theory. As I was going through the folder of pictures, I realized that I showed this one last week. Oh well. It was a lovely episode though I’m bummed that Raj lost Lucy. On the other hand, having the relationship with her somehow re-wired Raj’s brain so that he can talk to women. That’s going to be interesting in the next season. I also wonder if they’ll do scenes of Leonard on the research vessel like they did of Howard in space.

Leonard's going away party

Go love up Hallie and the others. My thanks go to Hevel of Kosher Kola for help with the Hungarian numbers.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 20, 2013

Posted on May 20, 2013 by jen

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 20, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and in the 80′s.

I am thinking… about the tornadoes in Oklahoma and all the first responders. I’m hoping and praying the death toll doesn’t go up any higher..

I am thankful… for a good birthday weekend.

I am wearing… preeclampsia survivor shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… plot ideas for NaNo.

I am going… to hope I can get some editing done this week in the midst of everything else.

I am wondering… what Friday morning will show. (I’m having an endoscopy.)

I am reading… I just finished Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay.

I am hoping… that my endocrinology appointment goes well on Wednesday.

I am looking forward to… Daniel’s bedtime tonight. (Jon is at a meeting and the wee bairn refused to nap.)

Around the house… I’m loving the Roomba that I got from my in-laws even if I have to clean it out perfectly each night.

A favorite quote for today… “Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. I can get it in individual bottles at the store. Boo yah!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorow, endocrinologist appointment on Wednesday morning and meeting with austism therapy people for Daniel’s evaluation on Wednesday afternoon, and the endoscopy on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

What I Wore on Sunday: May 19, 2013

Posted on May 19, 2013 by jen

~~Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…~~

What I Wore on Sunday

Pentecost is kind of a hard birthday to have if you’re a pastor’s wife because it means festival worship (smells and bells though one step below Christmas and Easter) and it frequently means that it’s Confirmation Sunday so there’s usually a special reception afterwards which doesn’t work well with a child like Daniel.

Moving on…

Red and I don’t do well unless it’s a more brickish red and that shirt in my wardrobe is long-sleeved, making it incompatible with the temperatures in the 80′s today. Daniel also decided to disable my alarm clock (!!!) so I woke up at 9:45 and had to come up with clothes for both of us really quickly. Thankfully, I’d showered last night so my hair was manageable and I had clean clothes! Church also started late because of a recording malfunction that had to be fixed.

So… here are the outfits:

Jen with Daniel upside down

I need something to use as a prop because I feel strange posing by myself.

Just resetting the bear...

Daniel was more than happy to be my prop. He also had no problem being upside down.

Jon with his guitar.

I decided to make this a family affair and hit Jon up for his picture before he headed out to his afternoon/evening engagements.

Here are the details on the outfits:

Jen
Shirt: Kohl’s
Pants: Kohl’s
Sandals: Naturalizer

Daniel
Shirt: Target
Shorts: Kohl’s

Jon
Shirt: Auton (hand-me-down from one of his father’s colleagues)
Pants: Nordstroms (hand-me-down from a colleague)
Belt: Kohl’s
Shoes: Kohl’s

Go visit Fine Linen and Purple and see what everyone else wore today.

7 Quick Takes: Season Finales, Pretty Toes, and Guilty Pleasures

Posted on May 16, 2013 by jen

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

OMG Big Bang Theory! Raj can talk to women without resorting to booze!!! So crazy. It was a bummer about Lucy but I guess she was a good thing in his life if it means he can talk women now. It’s also sad that Leonard and Penny are going to be separated for a few months but it will be interesting to see if they do shows on the research vessel like the shows they did when Howard was in space.

— 2 —

OMG NCIS: Los Angeles!!! The last 5-10 minutes made me queasy and I had a class where judicial torture was part of the reading list! I’m definitely going to be wondering how things will come back this fall. And OMG… the Deeks/Kensi kiss!!! *fans myself*

— 3 —

I’ll take “Guilty Pleasures” for $1000, Alex! Wipeout is back. It’s my favorite show to watch at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights. (The Big Bang Theory is on at 7 p.m. where I am because our CBS affiliate does the news at 10 p.m.) The humor is incredibly sophomoric and it’s essentially watching people fall off of things but we don’t have satellite so I can’t watch this.

— 4 —

prerequisite baseball update. We (the Giants) pulled three of four off against the Braves, fell twice in Toronto, and pulled off an insane save tonight over the Rockies. Woohooo!!! I’m hoping we can sweep Colorado this weekend.

— 5 —

“Objection! #2 ripped my flesh!” I was petting ~~the demon spawn~~ Freya this morning and I had some loose hair in my face… which Freya decided to move… with her ~~talons~~ claws. It reminded me of this line from the following episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?:

The little monster got a pedicure shortly after.

— 6 —

Speaking of pedicures… Aren’t my toes pretty?

My pretty toes.

The pedicure was my Mother’s Day present from Jon and Daniel. My manicurist was lovely and next time, I’m going to *gasp* let her do my nails too!

— 7 —

Orphans Do you see these two darlings?

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com. Just a reminder: my birthday is Sunday so you only have a few more shopping days! (Hint: I *love* Barnes & Noble gift cards.)

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (III)

Posted on May 14, 2013 by jen

My bodywash these days. At Christmas, my parents assembled a bunch of samples in our stockings and there were a couple sample sizes of this bodywash among them. It was a lovely surprise when I put together my “just in case” kit in my laptop bag and had something sweet-smelling that I liked when Daniel was in the hospital in January. (Potential hospital stays are WHY I have the “just in case” kit.)

Softsoap Juicy Pomegranate and Mango Infusions Moisturizing Bodywash

Dau

My normal shampoo. I’ve used Suave since college and this scent for at least the last 5-6 years. I think it has cat pheromones in it because Freya goes crazy when she smells it on me and feels compelled to lick and try to eat me.

Suave Naturals Ocean Breeze Shampoo and Conditioner

Tri

NCIS, yo. NCIS season finale in 15 minutes!!! Totally excited here. I’m sure it’s going to be a cliffhanger of some kind (they always are) but it will mean that I’ll be totally excited to find out what happens in September.

Fancy meeting you here!

Pedwar

It all started with a big bang! I haven’t gotten a straight story on what the plot of The Big Bang Theory season finale is all about. I know it has to do with someone leaving for a period of time (Leonard?) but that’s about all I know.

The boys and their ladies.

Pump

My plans for tomorrow. I have a manicure scheduled for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. It’s my Mother’s Day present and I’m looking forward to it though I’m admittedly kind of nervous to have my calluses removed with a Dremmel. I haven’t decided what color to have them redo my toenails but the bottle below is the current color on them from my last pedicure in April.

The approximate color of the chipping polish on my toenails.

Go love up Hallie and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 13, 2013

Posted on May 13, 2013 by jen

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 13, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and hot. I do not approve of 90F before June 21st (or really at all).

I am thinking… about the things I would totally say on this blog if I didn’t have to self-censor for pastor’s wife reasons.

I am thankful… for getting so much sleep yesterday and for Jon getting me dinner at Subway.

In the kitchen… spinach salad.

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

I am creating… plot ideas for NaNoWriMo in November.

I am going… to have a pedicure on Wednesday morning. I can’t wait.

I am wondering… some really snarky things about people.

I am reading… Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke. I’m reading a bunch of silly murder mysteries these days and it’s giving me a break from my regular life.

I am hoping… it doesn’t hurt too much when they use the Dremel on the calluses on my feet. (I’m a discalced kind of girl.)

I am looking forward to… seeing my parents/evil twin/sister-in-law this weekend for the communal birthday celebration.

Around the house… next question!

I am pondering… why people like to call me a “lib” or a “liberal” as an insult but get so incredibly worked up when I call them a “fascist moron”.

A favorite quote for today… “…My idea of God is a not divine idea. It has to be shattered from time to time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence?..” — C.S. Lewis

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

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorrow, pedicure on Wednesday, autism team meeting on Thursday, and communal birthday celebration on Saturday.