Monthly Archives: October 2012

7 Quick Takes: Twittering Cats and Baseball

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

My Giants are headed to the NLCS! They came back from 2 games under to win the series over the Reds. We’re waiting to find out if they’re playing the Nationals or the Cardinals. I’m also waiting to find out if the A’s made it in as then there would be the possibility of a Bay Bridge Series. If that happens, I’ll be checking my earthquake insurance policy after what happened the last time… The A’s lost to the Tigers so we’ll be waiting to see who the Tiger’s play. I’m kind of glad not to have the A’s playing the Giants in the World Series — less chance of an earthquake.

— 2 —

There was a debate on tonight or something, right? Just kidding. I didn’t watch it. I watched an hour of syndicated Big Bang Theory reruns instead. I think it was probably a better use of my time.

— 3 —

One of the Cathsorority chicas posted a link to a webcam of a giraffe about to have a baby. We’re all watching it and commenting on it. I’m incredibly amused that our group of women who are located in a number of states between the east and west coast are so fascinated with this. Then again, we’re women — we dig birth.

— 4 —

I get to go to a wedding this weekend. One of my good friends from college is finally (!!!) marrying his girlfriend. My parents are going to baby-sit while Jon and I head to San Francisco for it. I’m looking forward to seeing some of my college friends again, some of them for the first time since graduation and others for the first time since my wedding 10 years ago. Tomorrow morning, I need to go shoe-shopping and pick up some nude pantyhose as well as pack up some laundry to do at my parents’ house. (I don’t think it will get done before we have to leave for San Jose.)

— 5 —

It’s finally cold enough here to need the furnace tonight. A week ago, we were in the 90’s. Today, it was in the 70’s and it’s chilly tonight. I’m hoping this is a trend. I hate hot weather. The only thing that would make it better would be rain.

— 6 —

I created a Twitter for my black cat Edda. Why yes, I have no life. Why yes, I have insomnia. I figured a Twitter was easier than remembering to update her blog daily. She is @eddapuss.

— 7 —

I still haven’t figured out Daniel’s Halloween costume yet. Not having a verbal child, his Halloween costume is up to me. I might go to Goodwill and see if I can’t put one together that I like. The last three years have been bear-related so Paddington might be an option.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 9, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 9, 2012

Outside my window… dark and cloudy. It was only 75F today which is glorious. I’m kind of bummed that the temperatures are going back up to normal (80’s) next week.

I am thinking… that I miss fall in the Midwest (Minnesota and Ohio). I loved 4 distinct seasons and seeing the trees looking like they were on fire with color.

I am thankful… for Jessica’s baby being born healthy. Go visit her and show her some love!!!

In the kitchen… failed ravioli with pesto. Let’s just not talk about it again, m’kay?

I am wearing… grey maternity shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… ideas for various things.

I am going… to get some quality time with a friend tomorrow.

I am wondering… how I’m going to make it until the election. The attack ads are wounding my soul. I’m seriously pondering the idea of sending tinfoil hats to the National Republican Congressional Committee based on the conspiracy theory ads they’re running. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also on my sh*t list.

I am reading… Bossypants by Tina Fey. Hopefully, I’ll be able to finish it this weekend with all the driving going on.

I am hoping… my absentee ballot arrives soon. I can’t wait to vote! I just wish they included an “I voted!” sticker with it.

I am looking forward to… Morning Prayer and hanging out with Anne.

Around the house… *sticks fingers in ear* Lalalalalalala! I can’t hear you!

I am pondering…

A favorite quote for today… “Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.” — Martin Luther

One of my favorite things… the quiet time after everyone goes to bed.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorrow, shoe-shopping and finishing paperwork on Thursday, heading to San Jose on Friday, and wedding of a good friend on Saturday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Coming Together

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You remember my friend Thomas who guest-posted for me? Would you be surprised to learn that we’re political opposites? I mean, *gasp* we can actually work together and come up with some solutions on an issue. Isn’t that impossible in our very polarized country?

I think the reason Thomas and I get along is that at the end of the day, the two of us truly respect each other. We might doubt the other person’s sanity in choosing to vote for the candidates we do but we both believe that the other person is capable of making an informed choice that has resulted from much prayer and deliberation. I have other friends like this as well. Mi amiga Jessica is a yellow dog Republican in the same way that I’m a yellow dog Democrat. We totally disagree on politics (and she doesn’t pull punches) but somehow we get through it. (We also are rivals when it comes to college football but that’s another story.)

As we are going through the next four weeks, could I ask that we (myself and my readership) resolve to not label each other as “libs”, “fascists”, or “bigots”? I know that a number of us disagree on abortion, contraception, homosexuality, economic stimulus, and other issues but we have to trust that the “other person” is making the best decision we can and is doing so after much deliberation.

Who is with me?

Regarding My Quick Takes on Being the 47% (V)

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I’m picking this thread back up after a week or so off to take care of my sick toddler who then gave me his cold. Anyway, I wanted to do a post with tips on dealing with foodstamps, Medicaid, SSA, and similar programs.

[+] Keep all your necessary documents in one folder. It will help when you have to bring in birth certificates, marriage certificates, copies of social security cards, copies of driver’s licenses, copies of your lease/mortgage, utility bill, or whatever else they require.

[+] Never give them original documents if you’re just dropping paperwork off. Believe me, you will never see said documentation again because they will lose it, especially if this is a document that is completely essential for your taxes. Your bank can print out copies of statements for various accounts and you can make copies of paystubs. Make two copies of everything so that you have another copy to submit after they lose all your documentation for the first time.

[+] Get the name of the person you meet with or talk to each time. I know that when I was fighting with the SSA last year, I would talk to a different person each time because my assigned person never answered her phone. I kept track of everyone I talked to and the time I spoke to them because it was ammo I could use when I requested a supervisor.

[+] If you aren’t satisfied, ask for a supervisor. My never-fail trick for getting stuff done is to call my case worker and then her supervisor and then her supervisor’s supervisor, adding a new level of supervisor each time I call and get nowhere. I’ve even left messages on all these peoples’ answering services twice a day if necessary. It might take a few days but eventually, you will get enough people irritated with your messages that they will do whatever you want in order to get you to leave them alone. 🙂

[+] In the process of making a nuisance of yourself, be polite to a fault. I’ve heard it said that if you haven’t been kicked out of your local SSA office, you aren’t trying hard enough. (This holds true for the Pomona office of the SSA.) Rather than ripping people a new one (which is totally understandable given the process and hoops one has to jump through), be insanely polite. Better yet, be passive-aggressively sweet when you leave voicemails telling people to get off their butts, when you explain that it has been two months and this is unacceptable, and when you explain that you have left messages on their supervisor’s voicemail telling them how incompetent said worker is. It makes it harder for them to say that you are being abusive and to make up excuses as to why they’re not playing ball.

[+] Remember that some of these workers are counting on you giving up before your benefits are approved. There are some genuinely wonderful social workers out there and I want to say that the majority of them really do give a crap about the people they help. The others, however, are of the opinion that the harder you make it, the less likely the person will make it through the gauntlet. As hard as it is to do, keep the pressure on your worker if they seem to be working against you. If you do indeed qualify for benefits, fight for them.

The thing that keeps me fighting and actually gives me hope is a talk given by a fellow pastor’s wife in Montana who works for the Department of Human Services in Great Falls. I think the best thing she said is that she explains to her clients that it could easily be her sitting in their chair. Her empathy struck me and it gives me faith when I have to deal with some form of social services.

OK… any other topics I should be covering with this? I’d love your feedback.

7 Quick Takes: Useful Political Links

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7 Quick Takes

The first presidential debate was last night and the election season is getting real. As my life this week has largely been taking care of Daniel while he was home with a bad cold (which he was nice enough to share with me), I don’t have much to talk about in terms of my own life. For this reason, I figured I’d do another themed set of quick takes and focus on voting things.

— 1 —

OurTime.Org is my website of choice when it comes to this. They have a list of state election dates and deadlines, links to check your voter registration status, a FAQ answering basic voting questions, and an online process to help you register to vote. They’re non-partisan and their aim is to get young people to get out there and vote.

— 2 —

I love the League of Women Voters site as well. When I entered my address, I got a button for a personalized ballot with my particular candidates and issues, a notification that October 22nd was the deadline to register to vote in California, and a polling place locator. On my ballot was the ability to enter two candidates and compare them. This is an organization that I’ve heard recommended since I was in high school and one where I would go if I had questions on who the candidates in my area were and where they stood.

— 3 —

FactCheck.Org is a place I go when I want to see if a claim made by a candidate is actually true. It is non-partisan and non-profit which means that it’s not skewed toward any particular candidate. They list various falsehoods and exaggerations from both candidates.

— 4 —

FiveThirtyEight is the blog I go to for election news. It has lots of data to crunch, results of opinion polls, and a ton of information that would be great if I actually cared about the minutiae of this particular election.

— 5 —

There is, of course, always the candidate websites. We have MittRomney.Com and BarackObama.Com — any surprises there? I thought not. If your candidate is an incumbent member of the House or Senate, their websites will generally be http://lastname.house.gov or http://lastname.senate.gov — otherwise, you can just do a Google search for them.

— 6 —

There is one Bible verse that I turn to during election season. It’s Romans 13:1: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (NIV) As much as I might strongly disagree with whoever is elected president or senator or House representative, I believe I’m still called to submit to their authority and respect it. This doesn’t mean that I give up my right to petition (as I’m sure my Congressman *really* wishes I’d do) — it means that I accept that God is sovereign in all these things and His will is what is going to happen. I despised George W. Bush and did everything in my power to petition for what I thought should be public policy but I acknowledged that he was the person God put in office. (OK, I did the second time.) I know that there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Quick Takes participants if President Obama is re-elected. Keep in mind, however, that you still have the right to petition your elected officials and that petitioning can frequently result in a change you might want.

— 7 —

And above all, VOTE!!!!! If you complain about the election results and you failed to vote, I will point and laugh at you as well as leaving comments on your blog reminding you of your mistake in not taking part in the electoral process. Your vote is your voice and if you want to be heard, you need to vote. There are very few excuses not to — you can vote by absentee ballot (OurTime.Org will help you with that) and employers are required by law to give their employees time off on Election Day to vote.

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

Run for Courage/Catholic Exchange Virtual 5K

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When Cari of Clan Donaldson posted about the Catholic Exchange Virtual 5K, I thought it looked interesting. I mean, what other 5K’s offer the option of limping or crawling — it was totally a win-win for me.

Catholic Exchange Virtual 5K

Around the middle to end of August, I started paying attention to what S (Daniel’s former physical therapist from Easter Seals) was posting on Facebook about Run for Courage that would be taking place on the same day as the Virtual 5K. She and I are both fans of International Justice Mission and it seemed like a cool event in which I could participate. An added bonus: they offered a 5K option which meant that I would be able to do the Virtual 5K without having to figure out a place to run with a route that would be around 5K so I went ahead and signed up. Over the next month, I blegged for sponsors and raised $150. I always meant to go for a walk and actually train but things like my fibromyalgia got in the way.

On Saturday, I got up at 5:20 a.m. and packed Daniel’s dude bag with diapers, wipes, Cheerios, goldfish, and apple juice while Jon (who had come out to the living room around 5 a.m.) got Daniel ready. We were out of the house by 5:50 and in Elk Grove by 6:15 where we would be meeting S and the members of her church that were taking part. It was the first time she had seen Daniel since he turned 3 (almost 6 months ago) and she was impressed by his progress. While we waited for people to come, I installed Daniel’s car seat in her car and tried to be chipper even though it was seriously too early for me to be charming. After stashing Daniel’s stroller in someone else’s car, we prayed and headed to Folsom where the race was going to be held. Since I wasn’t driving, I was able to eat my bagel and drink my latté. (Our rendezvous point was right next to $tarbux. Woo.) We got to the park around 7:00 a.m. and parked about 1/4 mile away. (There were probably 5000 people there — parking was insane.)

After getting our bibs and changing shirts, we lined up according to the race we’d be running (or walking in my case) and they had people warm up. The 10K people went first and then the 5K runners were allowed to leave. The walkers (like me) were last and I managed to start out well. My goal was to be under an hour and it seemed attainable. I started doubting it though when we hit the first mile marker and I was already feeling the burn. I kept moving though and grabbed water when we hit the water station around halfway through. One really cool thing was that the race organizers had recruited volunteers to be cheerleaders and as pathetic as it sounds, they were a blessing.

Once I hit the second mile marker, I realized that I had forgotten to take my inhaler before starting. (Bad asthmatic! No cookie!) I was starting to get pain across my chest and I probably should have stopped at that point. Then again, this is me we’re talking about and I’m notorious for ignoring my body and just pushing myself like nothing else. I almost cried when we hit the third mile marker and the sign said, “You’re almost done!” Yeah, I seriously wanted to *be* done at that point and I was resenting the perkiness of that sign. I kept moving (I did the whole 5K without stopping) and with 30 yards to go, S spied me at the finish line and opted to join me and push Daniel’s stroller for the last little bit. My time was 1:04:24 — a little over 4 minutes more than my goal of being under an hour but I had also been pushing probably 45 lbs of kid + stroller for 3.1 miles. (I would have easily been under 45 minutes if it had been just me walking.) Before we had crossed the line, S had tossed me a water bottle and once I was over the finish line, she took Daniel while I grabbed some fruit and a cereal bar. I also discovered that my inhaler had fallen out of my cosmetic case in my purse and it took a few minutes to find the canister portion so I could take a few hits off of it. Once I had drained my water bottle, my chest stopped hurting so much and the pain largely vanished after two puffs of Albuterol.

I was definitely the last one over the finish line of the church group with which I was hanging out but that was fine — my goal was to complete it, not vie for a good finishing time. One of the women had come in 3rd overall in the 10K and first in her age group so we stayed around to cheer for her when she got her prize. After this, we loaded up and headed back to Elk Grove. Once I had been dropped off and done my Elk Grove errands, I headed home and tossed Daniel and myself into the shower. (Both of us are allergic to grass and we were in stubble all morning.)

Me after the race.
My bibs.

The top picture is me (un-Photoshopped or airbrushed) before my shower. The bottom picture is my race bib next to the Virtual 5K graphic.