Category Archives: Memes and Link-Ups

What I Wore on Sunday: August 4, 2013

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What I Wore On Sunday

The bear child was up at 6:45 (!!!!!!) this morning so I had no excuse for not making it to church except for sheer sloth on my part.

My normal Sunday look.

Ahem.

Daniel and I made it with a few minutes to spare and other than pitching a fit when one of the teens tried to take him out into the hallway to slam doors (his favorite thing in the world), he was fairly good today. We skipped the special music and part of the sermon in favor of doing a few laps around the block and he let me stay until the end when he melted down rather spectacularly after he ran into the fellowship hall and realized that I hadn’t followed him. Oops! At least I actually made it through without having to have Jon bring me the Eucharist at home today?

Sam and I.

Dress: Kohl’s.
Flip-flops: (not shown) Old Navy

(Ignore my double chin. It only appears when I look down.)

This was actually my Easter dress from last year but it’s one of my go-to dresses for church because it makes me feel pretty. It has an empire-waist and a really swingy skirt which I think looks kind of vintage. I’ve used it for a Broadway touring company show in Los Angeles as well as for a funeral and a wedding because it tends to be dressy enough that I can pair it with heels but also something that allows me to move which is essential when I’m having to keep tabs on Daniel.

My cats made themselves scarce for picture-taking today so I had to settle for my hospital cat Sam. My mom got him for me when I was stuck in Good Samaritan Hospital (known as “Good Sam” to the locals) for 5 days around my 21st birthday and I’ve had him with me every time I’ve ended up in the hospital since then with the exception of my c-section (though Jon brought him up for the last night of my hospital stay).

My necklace

Necklace: made by my friend (and maid-of-honor and Daniel’s godmother) Rebecca. It went well with my dress and I’m glad I got to wear it today.

Go visit Kendra and the other beautiful people at Fine Linen and Purple.

7 Quick Takes: Praying Compline, Harry Potter as An Adult, and a Prayer Request for a Friend

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Praying Compline. It was suggested to me a time ago that praying one of the Offices daily would scratch a liturgical itch. I chose Compline because I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll have some quiet time after Jon puts Daniel to bed to sit and pray. It’s been a really good discipline because it gives me something that calms me at the end of the day and a time when I can really let loose and pray about the things on my heart. Seeing this article today just affirms what I’ve been feeling with this.

— 2 —

The story behind “Lord, I Need You” from Matt Maher. Why yes, I’m obsessed with this song. How can you tell? Anyway, the song reminded me of the hymn I Need Thee Every Hour. It turns out that I was right and there is a connection.

— 3 —

My yearly donor call from Planned Parenthood. I was talking with Thomas when the phone rang.

J: Jen
C: Caller

*phone rings*
J: Hello?
C: Hi, my name is _________. I’m from _____________ and we’re calling on behalf of Planned Parenthood.
J: Can I cut to the chase? I’m pro-life so I’m afraid I’m not the person you want to be asking for a donation.
C: Thanks for letting me know that. You do realize that only 3% of what we do is abortions, right?
J: Totally aware of that. I also know exactly which facilities perform abortions, which perform aftercare, and which just do clinical things. I’ve worked with kids for 10 years and considered that knowledge valuable.
C: I’m glad you’re so informed. Anyway, I’m calling to ask if you can make a $150 donation today.
J: I can’t. It’s not in the budget and it’s not a donation I could make without talking to my husband and I’m positive that he wouldn’t approve of it.
C: *haggles with me a bit more on maybe making a smaller donation* Well, thank you for not hanging up on me and hearing me out. I also appreciate you being so polite.
J: No problem. Have a nice night.

I’m not posting about this to glorify myself or paint myself as a virtuous person. I had someone actually ask me to post my transcript of the call.

— 4 —

Orphans. Do you see these three adorable children?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are in the homestudy stage. Kaia has met her family and they are in love with her!!! 🙂

Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 5 —

Prayer Request. The middle brother of a high school classmate passed away almost two weeks ago from a series of seizures. His memorial service and funeral Mass are on Friday and Saturday. I know Craig (my classmate) would really appreciate if you would keep him, his sister-in-law Krystine, his niece Nicole, his nephew Dante, and his parents in prayer because these next few days will be brutal.

— 6 —

Prerequisite baseball Quick Take. the Giants have won two games in a row to take their series with Philadelphia this week. They have been the cellar-dwelling team of the NL West lately so I’m hoping this starts an up trend.

— 7 —

Will all the Harry Potter fans please stand up? I saw this on the Internet today and loved it. I wish J.K. Rowling would write some books about the characters’ adult lives.

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

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (X)

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Five Favorites

Einn

Litany Run. I’ve been involved in the fundraising for Jenn’s Litany Run. She did a marathon a few months ago and is doing the Water to Wine half marathon in a few weeks. She’s got 28 days to get $25K of debt paid off so she can enter as a postulant. I have not met her in person but I have received the nicest thank you letters from her, telling me that she is praying for Daniel (he was one of her prayer requests that she prayed for during her marathon) and encouraging me in my vocation as a mom. If you could share this on your pages and/or donate to the cause, that would be awesome.

Tveir

“We All Sing the Same Song” Please raise your hand if you remember this from watching Sesame Street in the 80’s.

Þrjár

“I Don’t Want To Live On the Moon” This one is part of a classic Sesame Street episode on Netflix and I’m trying to memorize it so I can sing it to Daniel when he ends up in the hospital again. (Music is calming to him.)

Fjórir

My nail person. I love Tina to death. My massage therapist recommended her and I have nothing but appreciation for her. Not only does she remove my callouses with a Dremel tool, she does hot stone massage on my legs and makes my toes pretty. I like her so much that I’ve even allowed her to do gel nails on my hands. My fingers and toes are currently various shades of plum with pretty designs in white and silver on my thumbs and big toes.

Fimm

Husbands who bring their wives Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. Just sayin’. 🙂 (Yes, I have a wonderful husband who puts up with me being a princess about things.)

Go love up Hallie and the others.

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: If I Could Turn Back Time…

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This week’s topic: if I could turn back time…

I try to live my life without regrets but there are things in my past that I wish I could do over.

If I could turn back time, I would make sure Daniel got the high-risk screening in Montana. Granted, our lives were in such chaos at the time that it would have been ONE MORE THING but it would have let us know that there was a problem before we reached southern California and had to figure out how to get him help.

If I could turn back time, I would not have compared Daniel to every other child I encountered. Doing all the comparing just made me feel like the worst mommy ever… and for things that weren’t my fault.

If I could turn back time, I would not have been so jealous of moms with normally-developing kids. This has been another source of stress in my life and it’s one that kept me from appreciating Daniel as much as I should have. I’m not going to lie — it is hard having a kid with special needs — but it is ten times cooler when he hits those milestones.

If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t have procrastinated as much in high school. I did get good grades but they could have been better if I hadn’t put things off until the last minute.

If I could turn back time, I would have gone with my strengths in college and double majored in History and Linguistics. I’m glad I had all the Biology and Chemistry but my college GPA would have been better if I had gone with history classes and language classes, areas where I excel.

If I could turn back time, I would have learned NFP before I got married. The Pill had some negative effects on me and other forms of contraception don’t appeal to me. I wish I would have learned how to read my body to know what my fertile signs were so that I wasn’t in the dark about how my body works.

If I could turn back time, I would tell myself not to sweat the fact that I was never invited to Homecoming because it was overrated and I had better times at the formals in college. It really depressed me in my junior and senior years not to be invited and I spent a lot of time wondering what was wrong with me. The answer: nothing. The really awesome guys who I hoped would ask me all turned out to be gay. Yeah… didn’t see that one coming.

If I could turn back time, I would take better care of myself. I’m having to drop a chunk of weight and am finding that doing so is a catch-22. My fibromyalgia is better with exercise… but the exhaustion makes it hard to exercise. I really need to find something I like doing and stick to it.

If I could turn back time, I would ignore the lies I was being told by Satan that any church I attended would give me crap because my parents weren’t there. I was thoroughly welcomed when I *did* start attending church and they were fine with the fact that I attended by myself.

Now go see Becky and what everyone else would do if they could turn back time.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 29, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY July 29, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and cool for this time of year — only in the 80’s.

I am thinking… that naps are wasted on cats and on the young.

I am thankful… for access to good medical care.

In the kitchen… chicken marinating.

I am wearing… green “Online Debate Team” t-shirt and black running shorts.

I am creating… blog entries and devotions.

I am going… to have a crazy day on Friday with parent training for Daniel’s ABA therapy, a doctor’s appointment, and a massage.

I am wondering… if Daniel will nap today as he’ll have had school plus 3 hours of ABA therapy.

I am reading… Going Going Ganache by Jenn McKinlay. I still have Apologia pro vita sua on my NOOK but I needed something light for a little bit.

I am hoping… for a quiet night.

I am looking forward to… my nail appointment on Wednesday.

Around the house… got vacuuming done today.

I am pondering… too many things internally.

A favorite quote for today… ??You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth of falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it??? ? C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

One of my favorite things… quiet. I don’t have it at the moment and probably won’t have it until Daniel goes to bed unless he decides to nap after therapy today.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorrow with Anne, mani/pedi on Wednesday morning (I feel like a yuppie suburban mom), and my crazy insane Friday of activities. Daniel also has therapy today, Wednesday, and Friday.

A peek into my day… Sharing the video of Matt Maher at World Youth Day again. What can I say? It’s powerful.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

11 Things Meme Reloaded

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I’m redoing this meme in order to have something fresh for the 7 Posts in 7 Days challenge over at ConversionDiary.Com. The one I did last year is here. I was tagged by Ann of House of Estrogen.

Rules
1.) The first rule is to post these rules.
2.) Post a photo of yourself then write 11 things about you/your life.
3.) Answer the questions for you set in the original post.
4.) Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5.) Go to their blog/twitter to tell them you have tagged them.

OK… so let me find a picture I like.

Daniel and I.

OK… 11 things about me

01.) I’m a fraternal twin. My brother Sean (usually referred to as “the evil twin” on here) is 6 minutes older and 9 inches taller.
02.) I unashamedly sing along to whatever is on the radio when I’m in the car.
03.) I have kissed the Blarney Stone when I was in Ireland with my family in 1998. I don’t recommend doing it if you’re afraid of heights.
04.) I hate cooked vegetables. I love them raw though.
05.) I don’t have a smartphone. Reception inside the house is iffy at best and I’m not out of the house enough to justify a data plan. I live off my laptop instead.
06.) If I’m sitting anywhere (including traffic), I have a habit of twirling my hair.
07.) I love being in the water. I joke that I’m part fish.
08.) I’m an IXFJ. My N and S are almost exactly on the line and flip every time I take the test.
09.) I collect Celtic crosses.
10.) I love things to be organized but HATE cleaning.
11.) I can’t stand having long fingernails.

OK… my questions to answer!

1.) What is your favorite movie? It varies. I like the classic Disney cartoons like ??The Aristocats?? and ??The Sword and the Stone?? as well as ??Forrest Gump??, ??The Birdcage??, ??The Spitfire Grill??, ??Whale Rider??, and ??Saved??. (Same answer as last year because I’m not a movie person.)

2.) If you could go back and give your 16 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be? Hang in there. Life gets so much better when you hit college.

3.) Why do you blog? It’s cheaper than therapy and has allowed me to meet so many interesting people.

4.) What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that? At different times, I wanted to be a princess, a lawyer, or a doctor. I’m currently a stay-at-home-mom and cat slave, so I’m definitely not doing that. The jobs I’ve had that I’ve loved have been working as a library assistant in seminary and working as an admin assistant for an import brokerage.

5.) M&M’s – plain or peanut? Mint.

6.) What was your first car? 1984 Volvo 240 GL.

7.) What is your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn? My cat ears and tail from 2007 and 2008. My father-in-law actually wore my ears at his Ph.D hooding ceremony in 2008.

8.) What are your favorite blogs to read? Personal ones. The bloggers vary from Canadian pastors to Mormon housewives to authors like Rachel Held Evans.

9.) If you were to have a boy and a girl tomorrow, what would you name them? Aidan Michael and Hannah Grace. (Same answers as last year.)

10.) What was your favorite class in college? My advisor’s classes (European religious history and the cult of the saints) and “Making of the Modern Middle East”.

11.) What celebrity do you think it would be fun to be friends with? Still going with Pauley Perrette (“Abby Sciuto” on NCIS). She’s in her 40’s but can pull off the goth look so well. She’s also very much like her character on NCIS in her real life temperment — at least from what I’ve gleaned from interviews on TV.

OK… now my questions!

01.) What food would you never eat even if you were paid to eat it?
02.) What is your favorite Bible verse or quote?
03.) Should jello at church be in the proper liturgical color?
04.) What was your high school or college mascot?
05.) What do you wish you could do?
06.) What book should everyone read?
07.) What is the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
08.) Pretend I magically arrived on your doorstep. How would we spend your ideal day?
09.) Manicure or pedicure? (Thomas, you might want to consult Alison on this one!)
10.) What is the best type of ethnic food (i.e. Italian, Japanese, Indonesian)?
11.) Grey or orange tabby cats?

Now for the tagging!

Beth Anne @ Beth Anne’s Best because she didn’t do it last year when I tagged her.

Thomas @ Fuller Life so he can have some interesting post topics for the 7 Posts in 7 Days challenge. (I also just totally want to see his answer on the manicure/pedicure question.)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 22, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY July 22, 2013

Outside my window… cloudy. I’m kind of hoping for some rain as that may explain my headache earlier or it could just be the Rocephen shot from this morning.

I am thinking… that I really hope Daniel doesn’t get the cold that turned into bronchitis for me.

I am thankful… for my parents being able to get me home yesterday when I was in no shape to drive because of the bronchitis. I’m also thankful for access to good medical care this morning to get treated.

In the kitchen… chicken marinating.

I am wearing… a black t-shirt with white Freya fur and black running shorts.

I am creating… blog posts.

I am going… nowhere exciting this week. I’m kind of glad — I had enough excitement this weekend.

I am wondering… if Cullen will stop shunning me tonight.

I am reading… Newman’s Apologia pro vita sua still. It’s a long work and I haven’t gotten much reading time these days.

I am hoping… I sleep well tonight. I have to sleep sitting up because being flat or even tilted makes me start coughing.

I am looking forward to… feeling better and being able to breathe again.

Around the house… cleaning to do for tomorrow’s visit from the respite person.

I am pondering… way too many things internally.

A favorite quote for today… “God is love, and that love works through men ?? especially through the whole community of Christians.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… naps. They are wasted on cats and on the young.

A few plans for the rest of the week: trying to get copyediting done, blogging daily as part of ConversionDiary.Com’s 7-posts-in-7-days link-up, interviewing respite people on Tuesday and Thursday, as well as Daniel having ABA on Wednesday and Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook