Category Archives: Memes and Link-Ups

7 Quick Takes: Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

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7 Quick Takes

Everyone is talking about how thankful they are for food and family and stuff like that today. I’m thankful for all those things as well but I’m also thankful for some more… non-traditional things today. 😉

— 1 —

Priests who start impromptu Godspell singalongs after Thanksgiving Eve Eucharist. Worship was already done acapella (and done beautifully) because our organist had the night off and we were trying to find Thanksgiving hymns to sing. Someone suggested “Day By Day” out of the 1982 Hymnal and Rev. Helen said we should do it to the tune from Godspell. Okie dokie. Then we started singing parts of the finale and went on to “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”. It was awesome.

— 2 —

Evil twin brothers who restrain small children so that their moms can clean the black Sharpie pen off of their faces, arms, hands, necks, feet, and toes. Let’s just say that Daniel went for the Maori tribal look and leave it at that. 🙂 Rubbing alcohol prep wipes are what gets it off well. I think we went through 40 of them? He was also chill with Sean (my evil twin) restraining him while I worked on him. I’m sure the purplish color from the ink/alcohol mixture will leave my nail beds eventually…

— 3 —

Coffeeshops that are open on Thanksgiving for emergency latté runs. I had a migraine this morning, OK?

— 4 —

Soft grey chest kittehs. This is especially true of ones who prevent their humans from doing anything other than watching the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory.

— 5 —

Those who create Biden memes. Y’all make America a greater place to live.

— 6 —

Mythbusters marathons. Because science.

— 7 —

Accounting problems that balance. My homework is refusing to balance right now so I’m thankful for times when things have worked correctly.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 20, 2016

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For Today… November 20, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was chilly today with some scattered showers and temperatures in the 40’s Fahrenheit. I am really hoping my boots arrive from L.L. Bean before the snow comes!

I am thinking… about some of the political news and how to deal with it appropriately.

I am thankful… for the chance to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law later this week when they come up for Thanksgiving. There will be football involved as the Apple Cup is happening on Friday and there are some inter-family rivalries between the UW and WSU. My cousin Sarah is the president of the WSU Marching Band and my parents are UW alums so Facebook should be really fun this week!

One of my favorite things… Daniel calmly curled up asleep. I’m enjoying the quiet time to blog before I go back to sleep.

I am wearing… my Online Debate Team shirt and black capri sweats. (In other words, my jammies.) Church clothes from this morning were the usual shirt from Old Navy (charcoal today) with my black slacks and cardigan from Kohl’s. When I got home, I switched out the slacks and cardigan for jeans and a light grey hoodie.

I am creating… Excel files for my Practical Accounting homework and Access forms for my online class. Whee!

I am watching… The Big Bang Theory re-runs.

I am hoping… the advising thing I have to attend tomorrow isn’t a brain-numbing waste of my time. I’m going because it’s a hoop I have to jump through in order to register for classes but I’m not happy about being forced to do it.

I am learning… about employer taxes.

In my kitchen… we chose to just get some pizza for Sunday dinner tonight with my aunt, my uncle, and my grandmother.

In the school room… Daniel’s speech is exploding.

Post Script… someone shared this 12-step program for responding to president-elect Trump.

Shared Quote… I wrote one of my college admissions essays on this fragment of an Enya song:

My life flows on in endless song
Above earth’s lamentation
I hear the sweet though far off hymn
That hails a new creation
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing
It finds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing
— “How Can I Keep From Singing”

A moment from my day… I love this Audrey Assad cover of “How Can I Keep From Singing”.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Dead Exhausted Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Dead exhausted. My sleep debt now is substantial enough that I’m spending any spare time trying to catch up. Daniel is having sleep issues and that’s meaning that I’m up at weird hours during the night and it’s really messing with me. It’s bad enough that I skipped Mary’s Guild yesterday morning to nap and that’s usually the highlight of my week!

— 2 —

Political and faith links. Here are two wonderful pieces courtesy of my friend Laura of Coptic Dad and Mom. She didn’t write the first one but she did write the second one.

— 3 —

*facepalm* Just a head’s up from a conversation I had today with a classmate: clean water is a necessity, not a privilege afforded to the victors of a war. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has a right to object to the pipeline being routed through their land because of the risk to their water supply… just as the people in Bismarck had a right to object to it going near their reservoir. The rights of the white people in Bismarck do not supersede the rights of the Sioux.

Also, interrupt my conversation with a remark like that again and you *WILL* feel my wrath, you weapons-grade spoon!

— 4 —

Mad computer skillz. The program I use for assessments for my online class and my laptop do not get along so I usually go do assessments at school in the computer lab. Well… in the process of doing my 15-minute assessment, I froze three of the computers in the lab and my professor’s computer. We finally pieced a score together for me, but I.T. will have to update the Adobe Acrobat plugin on Chrome on every computer in the lab now because the failure of the Acrobat plugin trips up the program I use for my assessments. (Granted, the program is already pretty catty so it’s not like it takes much to piss it off and make it lock-up a computer.)

While we were waiting for tech support to try and fix things, I showed her the Excel spreadsheet form I had created last night which involved a bunch of things we learned in Excel this quarter. She was impressed.

— 5 —

Mad tenor skillz. The high schooler who sings tenor was on his own last night (not that he needs another person — dude can cantor and hold the men together) and wasn’t feeling good so I sang a little bit of tenor with him on one of our pieces. Apparently, he was pretty impressed that the lower part of my range is tenor quality. I’ll be switching to tenor for part of our anthem on Sunday to give him and his dad (the other tenor) some support on a note that requires helium for them to hit with any measurable volume.

— 6 —

Some music for this week. I heard this tonight and it’s resonating with me. Enjoy!

— 7 —

Cold weather. It’s supposed to get down to freezing temperatures tonight!!! I am so excited!!! I’m kind of hoping that the snow doesn’t fly until my boots arrive but I’m looking forward to my first winter in six years where I get to experience four distinct seasons.

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

{five favourites}: Doing Your Christmas Shopping And Saving the World At the Same Time

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#5Faves

One

Heifer International. I have loved Heifer International for years because they have affordable gifting solutions and the animals (or shares of an animal) you give help to pay for food, school fees, medicine for AIDS patients, and so much more. When the animals reproduce, the recipients pass on the offspring to someone else and “pass on the gift”. They have expanded in recent years and you can give gifts of plants for sustainable farming and stoves for villages. Their gift catalog is here.

Two

Kiva loans. Kiva.Org is another wonderful site. They do microlending all around the world and you can buy $25 loans for someone which they can choose to loan out to the individual of their choice. When the individual pays the loan back, you can either have Kiva send you a check or you can re-loan out the funds. I just looked at my lender stats and I have $225 invested (loans that have been given as gifts) with those funds re-lent two and three times. My loans tend to be to women in the Middle East but the borrowers are from all over the world. Seriously, I’d be overjoyed to get these as Christmas presents because it is such a cool concept and organization.

Three

Samaritan’s Purse. While I frequently dislike Franklin Graham and the crap he spouts about Muslims, GLBTQ people, and anyone he disagrees with, his organization does some amazing work. A family friend has gone abroad with them and provided respite for a missionary doctor and their gift catalog is wonderful if you’re into giving religious gifts. You can feed starving children, bless the weddings of military couples, provide clean water, and help out refugees.

Four

International Rescue Committee. I saw a random link for Rescue Gifts on Facebook and bookmarked it immediately to share. I wish I had millions of dollars to spend because I would buy everything on the list. You can help refugees, give a mom a safe birth, provide teddy bears for kids…

Five

Donors Choose. I have friends who have had things through their classroom funded through Donors Choose and it is an amazing program. You pick a classroom and donate whatever amount you want toward their project. They even have gift cards so that the recipient can pick the classroom they want to support. Stephen Colbert is one of their board members and he took the proceeds from auctioning off his anchor desk from “The Colbert Report” and used them to fund every classroom project in his home state of South Carolina. I think that’s a definite endorsement of this charity!

Go love up Bonnie, DeBalino, and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 13, 2016

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For Today… November 13, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… grey and rainy. It’s quite delightful, actually.

I am thinking… about the news that Donald Trump named a white supremacist as his counselor and chief strategist. This jerk and his followers attacked Kristen of Rage Against the Minivan, doxxed her, and sent some of the most vulgar tweets I have ever read. I was one of the people going through her Twitter account and reporting this profoundly sick people to Twitter for harassment. We’re talking tweets about nasty things these men wanted to do to her daughters, calling Kristen and her family sickening names, and a whole lot of things that will require me to take more Ativan if I speak of further.

I am thankful… for IRIS being inundated with calls asking how to help out with their immigration and refugee services. (I know someone who works with them and she reported this on Facebook.) It’s good to know that not all of the country have lost their minds.

One of my favorite things… worship today at St. Paul’s. I love being part of a community that is so alive.

I am wearing… a charcoal shirt from Old Navy and black jeans from Fred Meyer. Church clothes were the shirt with black slacks and a black cardigan from Kohl’s.

I am creating… a chapter outline for my Practical Accounting class and a blog post about political stuff.

I am listening to… chamber music on one of the Dish Network channels.

I am hoping… Trump finds better advisors than his current band of jokers.

I am learning… about employer earnings and deductions.

In my kitchen… Dad made garlic shrimp pasta for Sunday dinner.

In the school room… Daniel came home smelling like Old Spice because they were doing OT stuff with shaving cream on Friday.

Post Script… Do me a favor and read the following links and tell me if I’m overreacting to Trump being elected: this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. Keep in mind that this is just the tip of the iceberg as to what I’ve seen on Twitter and Facebook.

Shared Quote…

“Empathy challenge: Imagine if we’d just elected a man who said he’d shut down churches and force Christians to register with the government.” — Rachel Held Evans

A moment from my day… One of the many Joe Biden memes going around.

*snickers*

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: AMERICA, YOU HAD ONLY ONE JOB!!!!! Edition

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7 Quick Takes

I wrote these on Tuesday night after the presidential election was called for Trump so forgive some of the cattiness and be thankful that I’m getting it out of my system. 😉

— 1 —

Political Take #1. Am I irritated that Hillary didn’t win? Yes. Did I lose sleep over it? No. I’m an insomniac — I never sleep!

Am I surprised that Trump won? No. I have never doubted the propensity of the American people to vote against their own best interests. Example: a number of people in Kentucky rely on government aid and yet they continually vote politicians into office who cut that aid.

Is my life over? No. The sun still rose on Wednesday morning and was not blocked by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse so I’m counting that as a win.

— 2 —

Political Take #2. Interestingly enough, the date on this post is November 8, 2012… and the 2016 election was on November 8, 2016. #spookycoincidence

And yes, I’ll be taking my own advice from that particular post.

— 3 —

Political Take #3. As I will *READILY* admit that I am a snarky wench who can be petty and partisan to the nth degree when it suits my purposes, I’ve decided that I need a title for Trump once he takes office. My friend Katja suggested the “Idiot-in-Chief”. What do y’all think? Leave any suggestions in the comments if you have them.

— 4 —

Political Take #4. Having said all of that (including getting the partisanship and snarkiness out of my system), we all need to work on healing from the seeds of discord that have been sown in this election. Only when we can heal and work for the common good (and not just for those things that benefit us or for our own pet issues) can we make America (which was *ALREADY* great) a greater country. We are truly *STRONGER TOGETHER*.

— 5 —

Political Take #5. The one good thing coming out of Trump’s win is that Alec Baldwin now has job security on SNL for the next four years.

— 6 —

On to other topics! *in my usual valley girl accent* Like OHMIGOSH!!!! I’m creating queries in my Access class and they are SOOOO COOL! *proceeds to geek out about the various types of queries she can write and information she can sort with them*

— 7 —

OK… one last political take! I saw this in my Facebook memories a couple days ago and it resonated with me.

Finally done!

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

{five favourites}: Favorite 2016 Election Winners

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#5Faves

I needed to do something while waiting for the presidential race to be called (so much for the media fast!) so I put this together.

One

Kamala Harris. She’ll be the new senator from California. She’s the current state attorney general and the person I would have voted for if I was still living in California.

Two

Patty Murray. She’s the incumbent senator running from Washington and I’m not surprised that she was re-elected. She’s known for reaching across the aisle to get stuff done and I had to double-check a couple days ago that she wasn’t running unopposed because I hadn’t heard anything about her opponent or even their existence. (I think the Washington GOP gave up on him when she came out so far ahead in the primary in August.)

Three

Suzan DelBene. She’s my Congresscritter and her office has actually called me personally to let me know that she has voted the way I’ve asked her to vote on disability issues instead of just sending a stupid form letter. This is pretty rare for a House member and hers was only campaign I supported financially (other than maybe a couple bucks thrown at Hillary) this year because of her personal contact. She won by quite a decent margin so I’m thinking this is how she treats all of her constituents. 🙂

Four

Tammy Duckworth. I love her for a number of reasons. The first one: she kicked a Republican out of the Senate in this year’s election. The second reason: she kicked the moronic Joe “You Lie” Walsh out of the House.

The biggest reason: she has pwned contractors exploiting their “disability” ratings to do business:

You don’t tell someone who lost their legs in combat and had her right arm blown off that your twisted ankle gives you a higher disability rating than hers!

Five

Paul Penzone. He knocked out Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is a Trump-surrogate, pro-birther, a human rights abuser, anti-immigration, and who has made a mockery of the office for 20+ years. Arpaio is also facing criminal charges for contempt of court and could be serving some jail time. Friends of mine in Arizona are positively giddy.

Go love up Bonnie, DeBalino, and the others.