Monthly Archives: October 2013

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: Random Facts About Your Other Half

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This week’s topic: random facts about Jon.

[+] His foreign language in high school was Scots-Gaelic. Seriously. His teacher was at our wedding. He even did some study abroad in college on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

[+] He loves jazz. I got him a membership in the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society for his birthday which is something he can do on his own… because I hate jazz. Oh yes… I also got him a CD of some jazz I could mildly stand and let him listen to it in the car on the way back to northern California.

[+] He is about 9 inches taller than me. I’m 5’1″… on a bad hair day. He’s 5’10”. He dwarfs me in pictures.

[+] He is an extrovert. About 80% of clergy are introverts so he’s the exception. I’m an introvert so before we had Daniel, we used to go to events in separate cars so I could leave when I was overstimulated.

[+] When he is on a long phone call, he micro-folds pieces of paper. I’ll find pieces of paper folded into really tight squares around the house. I need to get him an origami book or something.

[+] He is a Dodger fan. Don’t look at me! I don’t understand it either. I mean, it works this year when his team isn’t “cellar-dwelling” but usually, they’re sucktastic at best!

[+] He is an Ole. Translation: he is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Um Ya Ya! Like most Oles, he studied abroad. (Seriously, the first question I ask people when I find out that they’re an Ole is where they studied abroad or will be studying.)

Now go see Becky and what everyone else shared.

Please Say It: Things to Say and Ways to Help Moms with Kids Who Have Special Needs

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This past week, I had a guest post over at Worthy of Agape about things not to say to the mom of a child with special needs. In one of the comments, my friend Mandi suggested that I write a post about things to say/things to do to help moms like me. Here you go, Mandi!

I really try not to complain about life with Daniel because I love him and there are so many amazing moments in life with him. However, it *is* hard at times and there are days when I’m not sure how I’m going to make it until bedtime. I know that there are a lot of really well-meaning people who would like to help and don’t know how, so here are a few things you can say/do that will make my life easier:

Compliment me on something… ANYTHING related to Daniel. Seriously, hearing that I’m doing something right in raising Daniel does help. I have a wonderful woman in the parish who finds something to compliment me on every Sunday that I make it to church, even if she’s just saying that Daniel was… exuberant that day.

Tell me how good it is to see me when I’m out doing errands by myself. If you see me at the grocery store by myself, it means that I either found a qualified respite worker to watch Daniel or that Jon is home with him. Asking me pointedly where Daniel is and mentioning that you never got to go do errands by yourself when you had kids is not going to do anything except make me ponder how best to make you shut up. Pleasepleaseplease ask me how I’m doing, compliment me on the fact that I escaped the house to go shopping, and if all else fails, compliment me on the fact that I’m wearing pants and managed to slap on some deodorant before heading out in public.

If you see me struggling with a door or having trouble wrangling the bear child, please ask me how you can help. I don’t know when it stopped being common courtesy to hold doors open for people who are having trouble entering a room or building; but I wish it would come back into fashion. Seriously, opening the door for me and keeping it open while I wrangle a stroller or try to keep my hands on Daniel will make my day better. If I’m in the checkout line at the grocery store and am having trouble getting my items on the belt, feel free to ask if I need help. It might just mean entertaining Daniel in the cart for a minute while I quickly empty all my purchases from the cart’s basket.

Treat Daniel like you would treat any other 4 year old. The people at the Trader Joe’s in Elk Grove are great examples of this. One of my favorite workers will stop and have a conversation with Daniel (albeit a one-sided one) on his way to the back of the store for something and another worker will make race car noises when he’s pushing the cart as he helps us out to the car. Both of these things will make Daniel smile and make my day nicer.

Be patient with us. I know that you’re probably in a hurry and we’re blocking your exit — I’ve been in that situation as well. However, I’m doing my best to keep things moving and if I have the stroller with me, I’m pushing close to 45-50 pounds of dead weight. If you have to brush past us, just say “excuse me”. It’s the polite thing to do.

These are my two cents. I know there are other mamas like Mary, Kelly, and Kathleen who could probably add to this list.

7 Quick Takes: Dinner Fail, Malala on The Daily Show, and Cute Animals

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Only in Montana… I found the following stories in the Great Falls Tribune today:

Canadian man ticketed for driving 154 mph in Montana. (Did he forget that our speed limits are in miles, not kilometers???)

Montana woman too drunk to get out of her car calls 911. (I shouldn’t laugh because drunk driving isn’t a joke. However, this one just boggles the mind.)

— 2 —

A worthy cause. Malala Yousafzai was on The Daily Show this week. She rendered John Stewart speechless. There is an organization started in her name to advocate and raise money for women to receive education around the world. Go check out the Malala Fund. She is also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and I’m hoping she wins. (She’s the youngest person ever nominated.)

— 3 —

Orphans. Do you see these two precious children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are compiling their dossier to send to her country.

— 4 —

Prerequisite baseball take. I’m rooting for the Cardinals because the Giants didn’t make it to the post season. They knocked out the Pirates and will be facing Jon’s team (and mortal enemies of the Giants) the Dodgers. There will be lots of good-natured trash-talking over Twitter and Facebook during this series.

I also just saw that the Tigers beat Oakland. Things are as they should be. 😉 (Oakland is the OTHER Bay Area team and I’m still grumpy about the 1989 World Series.)

— 5 —

The zoo zoo zoo. I saw footage of the surgery that was done on the Sacramento Zoo’s tiger and the pictures don’t do justice to his size. He was sitting in the window of his enclosure and his paw was bigger than my hand! His son, CJ, is getting so big as well!

There’s also the red panda blog. We saw Kodari, the baby last month and he is adorbs!!!

— 6 —

Dinner fail. I got some of ciopinno from Trader Joe’s which I’m sure is lovely but it was too fishy for me. (It’s a seafood stew. Imagine that!) OK… onto the Gardenburgers in my freezer… which tasted weird. I finally gave up and nuked some Morningstar Farms stuff and added some baby carrots to it.

— 7 —

Research study. I got to talk to a researcher doing a project on PCOS on Friday. I wish I’d had better answers for her but it was nice to be part of a study and get to do something that might help out with eventually finding a cure for it someday.

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

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol.10)

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{Virtual Coffee Date}

Once you’re done here, go visit Karianna and the other coffee drinkers.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how thankful I was that the traffic to UCD Medical Center this morning stayed moving. We were still late but not as late as we could have been. I think my guardian angel is a little irritated with me though (rush hour traffic was a bit daunting) so I’m going to humor them and not try to do any more travel today.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that Daniel’s peds appointment went well today. He does have toes pointed inward due to an issue with his femur but it’s not something that needs surgical correction. (His doctor even has it.) It’s a PT thing so we’ll find out what exercises to do with him after the PT for the school district takes a look.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about how Daniel’s hearing aids have made a difference and how we’ve seen the start of him talking. He’s getting LOTS of praise every time he says a word (or tries to say one) so, God willing, he might be talking by the end of this school year.

Thanks for joining me for coffee (or tea) this week. See you next week!

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: The Meaning of Marriage

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This week’s topic: the meaning of marriage.

Yeah… here’s one of my wedding readings:

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
–Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Now go see Becky and what everyone else thinks marriage means.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 6, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 6, 2013

Outside my window… dark. I meant to finish this earlier. Oops!

I am thinking… about the traffic to Daniel’s peds appointment tomorrow. Not looking forward to it!

I am thankful… for the time this weekend with my family.

In the kitchen… nothing new.

I am wearing… grey maternity shirt and black capri sweats.

I am creating… novel plans for NaNoWriMo.

I am going… to hope for a quiet day with no surprises tomorrow.

I am wondering… what the heck is with drivers who assume that your turn signal is a request for them to pull up next to you and refuse to let you pass?!?!?!?!?

I am reading… Pastorix by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I am hoping… Daniel goes down easily tonight.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Wednesday morning.

I am learning to ask for help.

Around the house… cleaned up real good.

I am pondering… many many things.

A favorite quote for today… ??What does seem to me poisonous, what breeds a type of patriotism that is pernicious if it lasts but not likely to last long in an educated adult, is the perfectly serious indoctrination of the young in knowably false or biased history – the heroic legend drably disguised as text-book fact. With this creeps in the tacit assumption that other nations have not equally their heroes; perhaps even the belief – surely it is very bad biology – that we can literally ‘inherit’ tradition.?? — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… flour taquitos.

A few plans for the rest of the week: peds appintment for Daniel tomorrow, massage and errands on Wednesday, and ABA therapy every day from Tuesday to Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook