Category Archives: Memes and Link-Ups

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 1, 2019

Posted on by

For Today… January 1, 2019

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… clear and chilly (at least to me) with temps in the 30’s F.

I am thinking… about this coming year.

I am thankful… for Daniel going back to school tomorrow. He’s been chomping at the bit for a few days.

One of my favorite things… ice chips.

I am wearing… long-sleeved blue-green shirt and capris. (I’m home doing a ton of laundry.)

I am creating… things for the parish Lenten devotional book.

I am watching… Daniel play Legos.

I am hoping… Washington beats Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. (The evil team is leading at the moment.)

I am learning… some interesting plays on Words with Friends.

In my kitchen… probably Hot Pockets tonight. Comfort food is bomb.

In the school room… Daniel starts back tomorrow.

Post Script… Svaha: dresses with pockets FTW!

Shared Quote… “Never once did Jesus scan the room for the best example of holy living and send that person out to tell others about him. He always sent stumblers and sinners. I find that comforting.” — Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints

Closing Notes:

Word of the Year: “Faith”
Saint for the Year: St. Joseph of Cupertino

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: What’s Been Going On Edition

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

December 18. Daniel had an appointment at the Center for Pediatric Dentistry in Seattle. Verdict: there will be a sedated exam where they can do x-rays, an exam, and a cleaning as well as fix anything that needs to be fixed. This is pretty much exactly what I expected. The dental resident we saw was incredibly good, and I think he’ll be an amazing pediatric dentist when he is done training.

— 2 —

December 19. We had a hearing loss clinic appointment at Seattle Children’s. Some idiot (me) forgot to give Daniel his Adderall before we left, and this made being stuck with him in an exam room for FOUR HOURS (!!!) really fun. We saw speech therapists, an otolaryngologist, an educational specialist, and a genetic counselor.

The genetic counselor was the only one telling us something we didn’t already know — she explained the genetic abnormality that causes his autism, ADHD, and learning disability… and it turns out that Seattle Children’s has a clinic for it. The providers there hadn’t ever seen Daniel’s genetic report before that day, so the genetic counselor was like a kid in a candy store because there were SOOOOOO many cool things in it, enough that she is still studying it and figuring things out. Woohoo.

Also… the genetic abnormality is inherited from a parent (70%) or present when the baby is forming (30%). In other words, all those who claim that vaccines cause autism can shut your pieholes because YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID.

— 3 —

December 22. My evil twin, The Girl (his wife), and my nephew Braden arrived. Braden is still cute and a total flirt. He also didn’t want to let his parents sleep and got mouthy (as only a 6 month old can) at midnight, letting them know about his displeasure.

— 4 —

December 23. The evil twin woke up with his eyes red and drippy. He hauled butt to Urgent Care while I was at church, and the nice PA diagnosed him with “ninja pink eye”. Thus began his regimen of having to put nasty ointment in his eyes, wash his hands every time he touched his face, and apply enough hand sanitizer that his hands started to look as bad as mine. Because I am a nice sister, I dug through my collection of hand gels and found the only one that wasn’t pink to give to him. (My favorite scent is Apple and the Walgreens version is either neon green or pink.)

— 5 —

December 24. My little cherub woke up with a rash spreading on his face that my mom thought might be impetigo. Because I am an obedient daughter (and because it was my mommy’s birthday), I tossed clothes on and headed to the closest Urgent Care with the shortest wait time. I was remarking to the triage nurse that Daniel hates being in small rooms (as to why he was flipping out), and she asked if we wanted to wait in the waiting area that has floor-to-ceiling windows and an open plan. (I almost kissed her feet.) The nice nurse practitioner in the elf onesie (no, I am not kidding) said it was *PROBABLY* not impetigo, but the treatment she wanted to do would take care of it if it was. We now have goop to put on his face three times a day until the 3rd. Fun.

Once I got home, got a feed into my sweet child, and got his antibiotics, I made my mama a batch of these cookies as her birthday cake. Because I am awesome. Also… I had to be at church at 6:30 for choir and was going to be ditching her birthday dinner, so they were my apology. (Dicing the rings of sweetened dried pineapples with Mom’s kitchen scissors also probably worked off some time from Purgatory.)

Church was awesome… of course.

— 6 —

December 25. We had 15 people at the house for an early Christmas dinner. T’was epic… with some amazing ham, potatoes, some veggie dishes that I avoided, and two kinds of cheesecake for dessert (white chocolate peppermint for the win!). The Evil Twin, The Girl, and The Nephew headed home.

Mom and I decided to just stare at walls for a few hours… because lots of people + introverts = brain 404.

— 7 —

December 27. The kidlet and I were invited to go to my fairy godmother’s house for lunch with my parents, but I decided to skip it because her house isn’t Daniel-friendly and I needed a day of quiet in between two doctor days. (We had his ADHD appointment yesterday morning with his regular pediatrician and tomorrow is sleep medicine in Bellevue.) We got me coffee, wrote thank-you notes, went to the grocery store, and had a chill day. No regrets on skipping lunch at all!

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

7 Quick Takes: Windy Edition

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

It’s a little windy here and I am trying to conserve power (in case we lose it and I have limited battery life on my laptop), so here are some random YouTube videos.

— 1 —

— 2 —

— 3 —

— 4 —

— 5 —

— 6 —

— 7 —

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

7 Quick Takes: G-Tube Questions Edition

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

Daniel has had his G-tube for four months now, so I thought I would answer some of the questions I have gotten from people about it.

— 1 —

How easy is it to change the tube? I have only done one change (November 9th, three months post-surgery), and I had a nurse giving me instructions. Having said that, it took maybe 5 minutes at most. It is held in place with a balloon under the skin that has 6 ml of water in it. To change it, we draw the water out with a syringe, pull the tube out, put a new tube in (that has been lubricated), and then refill the balloon with 6 ml of new water. Insurance only pays for four tubes per year, so this is a quarterly occurrence at most.

— 2 —

What does it look like? This is the closed version.

Daniel's G-tube

This is open:

Daniel's G-tube open.

This is with the feeding extension in place:

Daniel's G-tube with the feeding extension in place.

— 3 —

Does it gross you out to have to work with it? Not really. After 9 1/2 years of being Daniel’s mom, I’m used to bodily fluids. The only really gross part (for me, at least) is when scabby material builds up around it (stomach contents and stuff), and scabs don’t freak me out. Even if it did gross me out, I’d have to suck it up because I’m his parent and have to take care of him.

— 4 —

Do your parents help at all? Mom helps me by holding his hands when I’m having to put ointment on it or when I have to clean around the opening on his abdomen, but I do everything else otherwise. From about Day 2 onward, I had to do feedings in the hospital with nurses watching and helping if needed, so I’m used to it and maybe have to interact with the tube for 30 seconds per feeding.

If I were to know that I would be gone for a couple days for surgery or something, Mom would learn how to do stuff but her preference is that he would take his calories by mouth. She’d probably give him milk with heavy whipping cream in it a couple times a day and whatever else he wanted to eat. (He likes strong cheeses like Swiss or sharp cheddar.)

— 5 —

Does he object to you working with it? He doesn’t like having it manipulated too much (he’s non-verbal so I don’t know if it’s painful or if it’s a weird sensation), but he’s fine with me attaching the feeding extension to it. Cleaning around it is probably not comfortable, but he’s getting better about it.

— 6 —

What do you give him through his tube? There are parents who blend their own foods and places online where you can buy blenderized diet stuff, but I stick to the Boost Kids Essentials 1.5 stuff we were given in the hospital. Insurance pays for everything (his feed bags, feeding extensions, syringes, formula, etc.) so I just call the Home Health department at Seattle Children’s Hospital when I need more of something. You can get the formula on Amazon.Com as well and a case of it (27 juice boxes) costs around $60.

If I have to, I can also give him medication through his tube. The only medication of his that doesn’t work that way is his Adderall ER which has to be given by mouth. (The beads in the capsule can’t be pulverized and the capsule is what does the extended release.) Otherwise, I use a syringe for liquid meds and crush pills up to mix in water to give with the syringe. There’s even a special port on the feeding extension for medication.

— 7 —

How does the food get into the tube? Some people do syringe feeds, and others use gravity bags (the bag hangs above the opening and you control the droplet rate, letting gravity do the work). Seattle Children’s Hospital has a pump that we rent on a monthly basis (insurance deals with them directly so I have no idea what the rent is per month), and we use that. It’s not complicated to use, and I had to learn how to use it without problems before they discharged us from the hospital. (Home Health came and worked with me for an hour before the first hands-on feeding I did.) The formula gets poured into a bolus (the plastic IV bag) and the particular feed bag we use is manufactured for the pump, so it has some special tubing attached that fits into the pump. I can prime it with my fingers if I have to (and do a little bit that way to get the air out of the bolus), but I usually just hold down the prime button on the pump to get it all the way through the tubing before I attach it to Daniel.

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

7 Quick Takes: Why I’m Tired Edition

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

It’s my Friday. I work Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It was a pretty intense week because finals have been released and students are panicking. I can’t help any of them other than pointing out what they are allowed to use if they get stuck. Thankfully, one of the instructors was present on campus today and her office is right off my classroom. She chose to give one person a lot of help, which is great — it’s her final, not mine.

— 2 —

My child is communicating in shrieks this week. We’re really hoping the bio-behavioral therapy people get us in sooner than later.

— 3 —

I’m not sleeping well. Between the cold messing with my arthritis and having an IBS flare-up this week, sleep has eluded me.

— 4 —

I’ve been trying to get some internship hours. My internship paperwork is due tomorrow. Thankfully, I got all of my hours done and submitted my paperwork this afternoon.

— 5 —

My bed keeps breaking. IKEA has crappy bed design, and the slats keep jumping out of track.

— 6 —

I’ve been worrying about one of my students. She was having contractions and coughing up a lung last week. She sounded better on Tuesday, and they induced her today. Thankfully, her daughter is here and they are doing very well. 🙂

— 7 —

I keep having things in the mornings. Kiddo has a hearing aid fitting tomorrow morning and then I have Finance Committee. I have to be out the door at 7:30 a.m. Oh freaking joy.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 2, 2018

Posted on by

For Today… December 2, 2018

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was sunny, but chilly today.

I am thinking… about how to work it so that I get the maximum number of assessments done on the computers in F110 for Keyboarding. I tend to be faster on those than on my laptop.

I am thankful… for the beginning of Advent and that I’ve largely been able to avoid stepping into retail establishments playing insipid secular Christmas music.

One of my favorite things… Advent music.

I am wearing… jammies. It’s late.

I am creating… typing session certificates.

I am listening to… Advent hymnody.

I am hoping… tomorrow goes well, and I don’t have to deal with an obnoxious student in my Keyboarding class too much.

I am learning… flexibility in my internship.

In my kitchen… Greek chicken from Trader Joe’s.

In the school room… Daniel is doing well and loved by his teacher and staff.

Post Script… some thoughts on missionary John Allan Chau and how the mission organization who sent him has some serious explaining to do. I rarely agree with my dad’s anti-Christian thoughts, but I’m with him 100% that going to the Sentinelese people was stupid. I’m also profoundly happy that India is refusing to recover his body, as doing so would be dangerous for both them and the Sentinelese.

Shared Quote… “Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide.”
? Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

A moment from my day… “Mama, I’m not in the tree. #fakenews”

I'm not in the tree. You can't prove it. #fakenews

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: What I Did Not Do in November 2018

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

I took November off from blogging this year to do NaNoWriMo. (Yes, I know that there is one more day in November. I do own a planner.) Here is what I did NOT do during that time.

— 1 —

I did not “win” NaNoWriMo. To win, you have to complete 50,000 words by 11:59 on November 30th. I hit just under 11,000. Blame it on my internship, work, and school. There is always next year, and I can use my notes from this year in addition to doing some plot development.

— 2 —

I did not vote for any Republicans. Seriously, if the GOP ever decides to endorse a candidate who isn’t either stupid or crazy, I *might* consider voting for them. (Contrary to popular belief, I *HAVE* voted Republican before… twice. I voted for John McCain in the 2000 California primary to try and knock Dubya out of the race, and I voted for Bob Taft in the 2002 Ohio governor’s race because the Democrat was not all that great.) Thankfully, the Democrats took the house, and only one senator I liked (Claire McCaskill) was defeated. (She had the hardest race in the country to win, so it wasn’t a surprise.) I live in a navy blue district in the indigo part of a blue state, so obviously my Congresscritters were re-elected.

— 3 —

I did not get married. Like I have time to date?

— 4 —

I did not take crap from any students. I had a student mouth off at me this month for not answering her “quick question”. (There is no such thing as a “quick question”, and I am not required to answer questions at all unless I am working a drop-in or one-on-one shift.) I told her that I wasn’t working, and she got nasty. It’s probably a good thing that one of the BIIIIIIG rules in my department is “don’t abuse the tutors” because her instructor backed me up 100%. Did I mention that my department co-chair was present for this?

Thankfully, said student is not part of my department, which means that I don’t have to deal with her after this quarter. (The class she was taking is a requirement for a couple of different departments, so we get some non-OBT students.)

— 5 —

I did not get a neck tattoo. Again, serious lack of time to hang out in a tattoo parlor.

— 6 —

I did not give birth. One of my favorite students, however, is probably going to give birth in the next few days and I’d love prayers for her because I love this girl like a sister.

— 7 —

I did not have a quiet Thanksgiving. We had 17 for dinner on Thursday, the Apple Cup on Friday, and company on Saturday. At least, the Huskies won the Apple Cup for the 6th year in a row.

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