Category Archives: Memes and Link-Ups

#5Faves: Miscellanea (L)

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#5Faves

One

Canticle of the Turning. It’s on of my favorite newer hymns and it probably doesn’t hurt that I like the folk song from which its tune comes.

Two

Concerts with my father-in-law. I’ve been blessed to be able to attend a lot of different classical concerts in the area because of escorting my father-in-law. It has ranged from the select choirs at the Claremont colleges to lunchtime harp recitals to Claremont Symphony Orchestra concerts such as the one we attended last Sunday. These are definitely not concerts I would have attended on my own, so I am incredibly grateful to my father-in-law Ray for helping me expand my taste in classical music.

Three

Early music with harps. Another pretty one by la harpe de melodie. This one is “O Viridissima Virga” by St. Hildegard of Bingen.

Four

Jenny Lawson. I am so incredibly thankful for Jenny Lawson, a.k.a. The Bloggess because she is giving mental illness a face and her latest book is educating people about what it looks like. As one dealing with depression and an anxiety disorder, I appreciate this more than most.

Five

The hymn tune “THAXTED”. It comes from Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite “The Planets” and is the tune for “Jupiter”. I think I’ve only sung it once in church but you tend to hear it a lot in British choral music.

Go love up Jenna and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 19, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 19, 2015

Outside my window… gray. It’s been sprinkling on and off which is making me happy. I’m hoping for a serious El Niño this year!

I am thinking… about the changes coming up this next week and what I have to do this week to prepare.

I am thankful… for the rain and the cooler weather.

In the kitchen… veggie chips and pub cheese from Trader Joe’s.

I am wearing… blue-green shirt (the color of my eyes) and jeans. As usual, I have bare feet.

I am going… to have a lot of errands tomorrow morning.

I am wondering… about some things going on in my life.

I am reading… still Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.

I am hoping… for a smooth week this week.

I am looking forward to… the Fall Fundraiser for church on Saturday night.

I am hearing… Daniel bouncing on my bed.

A Daniel story for today… his doctor prescribed Clonidine for him to help calm him down at night and it’s such a small pill that I tried putting it in a little bit of peanut butter to see if he could swallow it that way without me having to grind it into powder. Mission accomplished. 🙂

Around the house… windows open and fans on. It’s gray outside but it’s still humid and warm.

A favorite quote for today… “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” — Robert Frost

One of my favorite things… carrots and garlic hummus.

A few plans for the rest of the week: errands and packing tomorrow, Bible study and packing on Wednesday, packing on and possibly soccer practice on Thursday, errands and packing on Friday, and possibly soccer and Fall Fundraiser on Saturday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Mining My Links Collection and a Post-Season Baseball Take

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Very interesting. My priest’s husband shared this article on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing. If Oklahoma City can lose a million pounds, what is stopping other cities with at-risk health populations from doing the same?

— 2 —

#MedicatedAndMighty Because there is no shame in me taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to keep myself healthy and I am not alone.

Me and my meds.

— 3 —

Impressed. I don’t know who shared the Fat Girl Running blog with me; but dang it, y’all need to go read it and give Mirna some love. She is freaking amazing!

— 4 —

Holy frivolous lawsuits, Batman! Did you hear about the woman who sued her 12 year old nephew for $127,000 because he was overly effusive in greeting her when he was 8 and accidentally knocked her down and broke her wrist? I mean, he injured her so badly that this “severely disrupted her life in Manhattan” and she was at a party the week before where couldn’t hold her hors d’ouevres plate. Yeah… I’m thinking she’s childless because HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD!!!!!

— 5 —

Prerequisite baseball take. The Mets play the Dodgers tonight in LA to determine who gets to go on and face the Cubs. Go Mets! #BeatLA (Bummed that the Cards were knocked out by the Cubs but I’ll live.)

— 6 —

Calvinism humor. Jessica posted this link to a page about the warning signs of adult onset Calvinism. This is totally tongue-in-cheek and scarily reminds me of some people I knew in college!

— 7 —

IKEA contest. I saw this IKEA contest in my email and wanted to share. I’m probably going to enter a recipe my dad made for my mom when they were dating. (They’ve been married for 43 years.)

— Bonus —

Link-toberfest: Week 3. Kelly’s bonus question this week is: “Who is your favorite blogger that you discovered through Quick Takes?” She shared me as hers and she is definitely mine — as she said, we’ve bonded over the struggles of special needs parenting, I love her off-the-wall sense of humor, and the fact that she doesn’t gloss over the good and bad in her life. She is very truly the definition of “authentic”. I also am pretty sure that there isn’t a place that can contain all the AWESOME if the two of us get a chance to meet. 🙂

Some others who make my favorites list are… Kathleen (another mama who I defer to when it comes to parenting a kiddo with special needs), Jeanne, Angie, Thomas (not blogging these days as being the dad of twins occupies his spare time), Emily, Kate, Jessica (a fellow CofE person and southern Californian), Beth Anne, Mandi, Bonnie, Jennifer (I prayed Joshua home), Marie, Bobbi, and so many others. My Bloglovin overflows on Friday because of Quick Takes! 🙂

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

#5Faves: Miscellanea (XLIX)

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#5Faves

One

la harpe de melodie. This is the YouTube channel of a woman who is a fabulous harpist and vocalist. From what I can tell of her channel, she does Celtic music and early/medieval/renaissance music which are two of my favorite genres. Here are two songs I am liking after discovering her only 15 minutes ago.

Two

My mom. She made sure I got some down time to watch NCIS and crochet this weekend as well as backing me up with Daniel when needed.

Three

This piece on the Rosary. This piece in America magazine resonates with me though I am more introverted when I pray. I have a full Catholic rosary in my purse from Sara, a chaplet from Rebecca that I use on my walks when I pray, and a couple Anglican rosaries from my priest and from a class I took at church during Lent. I find that the beads help me to focus and pray when I need to not be distracted. I am using the Jesus Prayer more often than the Rosary these days but both provide me with words for prayer when I have none.

Four

Sara Groves. I first heard of her on Valentine’s Day 2008 when I was driving to work and listening to Your Network of Praise. It seems like every time I find a new song that seems to describe my life, she is singing it. She has also teamed up with International Justice Mission, one of my favorite charities for advocacy purposes. Her website is here.

Five

Words with Friends. It’s brainless enough to let me think through things while I play and I enjoy trying to put together fabulous moves.

Go love up Jenna and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 12, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 12, 2015

Outside my window… dark. I have no idea what temperatures were here because I was gone from Friday morning until tonight but I heard something about triple digits. Yuck!

I am thinking… about whether I would have stood up and proclaimed my Christian faith had I been in the room with the Umpqua Community College shooter. I probably would have done so… which I’m pretty sure would scare the pants off my non-believer parents.

I am thankful… for Promise FM. I’m in the midst of making some hard decisions and it was really helpful to have songs outlining God’s promises for my life while I was driving through central California today!

In the kitchen… didn’t cook today but probably some gluten-free mac n’ cheese tomorrow.

I am wearing… green shirt and capri sweats.

I am going… to be playing “catch up” tomorrow after being gone for four days.

I am wondering… about a lot of things right now.

I am reading… Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.

I am hoping… school goes well for Daniel tomorrow.

I am looking forward to… Bible study on Wednesday!

I am hearing… nothing.

A Daniel story for today… Mr. Boy usually comes and crawls onto my bed around 11 pm or midnight and he even tucked himself in tonight.

Around the house… silence — everyone but me is asleep.

A favorite quote for today… “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt. I chose this one because my mom quotes it to me frequently. (Dealing with social service agencies is not for the faint-hearted!)

One of my favorite things… discovering new artists or lesser known works by established artists of the musical variety.

A few plans for the rest of the week: catching up on errands and paperwork tomorrow, Bible study and probably a quiet service on Wednesday, soccer practice on Thursday, and Matt’s Run on Saturday before Daniel’s soccer game.

A peek into my day… Some of the new songs I heard this weekend:

“This Little Light of Mine” by Addison Road

“Painting Pictures of Egypt” by Sara Groves

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Only 5 This Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Greater Church of Lucifer opening. A friend put this on her wall and commented on the nature of them calling themselves a “church”. I’m truthfully more amused by the $25 catered luncheon. Apparently, Satanists now have the sensibilities of Episcopal church women or something. I would have expected alcohol and debauchery for them, not a catered affair.

— 2 —

Travel. Daniel has a long weekend so he and I are road-tripping to San Jose from Friday to Monday. I’d love prayers for good traveling mercies on our way if you are so inclined.

— 3 —

Update on Kim Davis/Pope Francis. I think I called it. It’s a pity when people play stupid games like this.

— 4 —

Speaking of stupid… I actually had someone cite this study to me. The scary thing: I could have refuted the SafeMinds people as a sophomore taking high school chemistry.

Neil Degrasse Tyson on science.

— 5 —

In case you missed it… At the neurology appointment on Monday, we found out that Daniel’s autism is genetic (he has some duplications in genes on a couple of chromosomes and a deletion in a gene on another one) which means that I can actually tell people that his autism is *NOT* due to us immunizing him for MMR and that their argument is invalid.

That’s it for this week — I’m a bit distracted and have also run out of things to say!

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 6, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 6, 2015

Outside my window… sunny and brisk. We had two days of rain and it seems like fall-ish weather might be here. I’m giddy to not have temps in the 90’s in October.

I am thinking… about some things going on in my life.

I am thankful… for the neurology appointment yesterday where the neurologist handed me a prescription for Adderall for Daniel. I’d been hedging on medicating him to calm him down but he doesn’t have an off-switch and he’s getting a little too big to be bouncing off walls and out of control. Now to figure out how to get him to take it…

In the kitchen… making pesto quinoa again tonight.

I am wearing… burgundy long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

I am going… to San Jose for the weekend with Daniel. He has a long weekend and I thought it might be nice to go see my parents and have a coffee/church date with Rebecca, Daniel’s godmother.

I am wondering… what I’ll do with Daniel for the next two afternoons. Wednesday is a compact day as usual (he gets out at 12:25) but Thursday is also one which means I have to keep him occupied for an entire afternoon. IKEA may be involved.

I am reading… Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. If you deal with depression, anxiety, or self-injury in any form, you need to read the book. The off-the-wall stuff she does during her lucid moments is funny but she also writes some pretty accurate stuff on her normal life.

I am hoping… to get to work out in some form every day this week even if it’s just a walk with Daniel or kicking soccer balls at the park.

I am looking forward to… seeing my parents.

I am hearing… the washer, dryer, and various tools outside.

A Daniel story for today… Little boy was so tired when he climbed onto my bed at 11 p.m. on Saturday that he had forgotten his blankie. (This kid is Linus when it comes to blankies.) I went to his room, retrieved his mommy blankie and his Dodgers fleece (my mother-in-law’s creation — he also has a Giants fleece from me) and made him a little boy nest on Jon’s side of the bed because Jon wasn’t going to be home until super late and I figured Jon would probably do better in Daniel’s bed.

Around the house… machines doing, mother-in-law cooking, cat on the table. (My in-laws’ cats have very bad table manners.)

A favorite quote for today… “When depression sufferers fight, recover, and go into remission we seldom even know, simply because so many suffer in the dark … ashamed to admit something they see as a personal weakness … afraid that people will worry, and more afraid that they won’t. We find ourselves unable to do anything but cling to the couch and force ourselves to breathe.” — Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy

One of my favorite things… sleep. I’m not getting enough right now.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Bible study tomorrow, date night and choir tomorrow, soccer practice with my kiddo on Thursday, and driving up to San Jose on Friday.

A peek into my day… A meme I sometimes feel like posting…

Apology to the tree.

Post Script…

We took Daniel to a pediatric neurologist yesterday to talk about ADHD meds for him. I think within 30 seconds of being in the room with him, the neurologist had made up his mind to prescribe them. 🙂 Anyway, I was handing him all of the neurology notes that were present in Daniel’s Medical Binder of Fun and he stopped in the middle of reading the genetic testing report from 4 1/2 years ago and looked at me. Apparently, there was one paragraph in there that contained information about genetic mutations on several chromosomes that are frequently found in kids with autism and developmental delays. In other words, kiddo was born this way and this is not the result of the MMR vaccine or aliens messing with his brain waves, or any of the other crackpot theories out there. So please, for the love of God, STOP BELIEVING MORONS LIKE JENNY McCARTHY WHO HAVE NO SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND OR OTHER PSEUDOSCIENTISTS!!!!

I would be willing to wager serious money that if you did genetic testing on all of the kids who “suddenly” had autism around the time of their first MMR vaccine, you would find similar results.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.