Monthly Archives: December 2013

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 15, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 15, 2013

Outside my window… dark. As usual, I’m doing this at night once every other creature in the house is asleep. It was maybe in the 50’s today — definitely warmer than a week ago!

I am thinking… about Thomas‘ twins who were born this weekend.

I am thankful… that I have less Christmas crocheting than I anticipated.

In the kitchen… I baked 3 batches of cookies yesterday, most of which disappeared after church this morning.

I am wearing… black t-shirt with constellations and my blue striped fleece pajama bottoms.

I am creating… cotton snowflake ornaments for the family gift drawing this year. The theme is “homemade”.

I am going… to be starching these ornaments tomorrow.

I am wondering… if I missed anyone on my Christmas card list. I got all of them done this afternoon while sitting at $tarbux and listening to a talk by Fr. James Martin, S.J. on humor and faith.

I am reading… Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill. I don’t get a lot of reading time right now (my own fault) so this might be a book I finish on the way down to southern California after Christmas.

I am hoping… I can get all my shopping done and everything mailed off in time for Christmas.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Friday.

Around the house… my Roomba just finished cleaning the floors. (It was a gift from my mother-in-law for my last birthday.)

I am pondering… many things.

A favorite quote for today… ??For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning – not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last.?? — Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

One of my favorite things… my Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar.

A few plans for the rest of the week: installing my new keyboard whenever it arrives (a certain little blond boy decided to remove the keys from my current one and broke the Tab key), ABA therapy for Daniel in the afternoons from Monday to Friday, doctor’s appointment for the wee bairn on Tuesday morning, quarterly meeting with all of Daniel’s ABA staff, my massage on Friday afternoon, and a respite night on Saturday night.

A peek into my day… the talk I was watching while compiling Christmas cards.

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7 Quick Takes: My Christmas Wishlist

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7 Quick Takes

Linking up with Mary Kate as well for her gift-giving link-up.

— 1 —

Gift cards from Barnes & Noble. I have a NOOK. I like to read. Enough said. 🙂 I’m also having to replace books which were damaged while they were being stored and it makes more sense to get them on my NOOK.

— 2 —

Gift cards for Kohl’s. I’m slowly having to replace out my wardrobe and I’m fond of the stuff at Kohl’s. I can try stuff on in-store and I’ve actually found clothes that I would wear when I’ve shopped there.

— 3 —

Peace on earth. A girl can dream, right?

— 4 —

A Kiva loan. Kiva loans allow you to loan money to entrepreneurs all over the world to help them become self-sufficient. I’ve made 17 loans and only $200 has been my own funds or new loans that people have given me as present. This means that those funds have been loaned out several times over and it’s honestly the highlight of my month to get an email saying that I have Kiva credit. I’ve made loans to 12 different countries on 3 continents and 16 of those 17 loans has been paid back or is in the process of being paid back. (One person did default and unfortunately that does happen on occasion.)

— 5 —

A Target gift card. Daniel needs some long-sleeved shirts and I’m a fan of Target’s clothes on him. I love the Circo and Cherokee brands and I find that they hold up to lots of abuse.

— 6 —

For Daniel to develop speech. He’s making so much progress right now in that area but it’s hard to be patient sometimes. I did get to see him say the letters in his name when I was dropping him off at school on Tuesday. When his ABA tutors have been working with him, they make him sound out words.

— 7 —

For Brett and Iris to have families adopt them. Do you see these lovely children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier has been submitted to her country.

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

Five Favorites: {Virtual} Coffee Date

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{Virtual Coffee Date}

I’ve been a bit busy so I’m combining memes. Once you’re done here, go visit Karianna and the see what she has to say as well as visiting Hallie and the others doing Five Favorites.

If we were having coffee, I would share my favorite settings of the Magnificat with you.

One

Holden Evening Prayer. I used to lead this in seminary.

Two

“My Savior’s Love Endures” by J.J. Heller. I found this because of Bonnie at A Knotted Life. It’s the song I would probably do if I were to do “special music” this month.

Three

Nicola Porpora’s 17th century setting for women. I sang this with the Women’s Chorale at UC Santa Cruz in the fall of 1998. The only problem is that I couldn’t find the entire work in one video so you’re stuck with watching the first five videos on this playlist.

Four

Charles Pachelbel’s 18th century setting. I did a chunk of this with my church choir in December 1997. This isn’t the Pachelbel who wrote “Canon in D” — it’s his son who emigrated to America.

Five

“Holy Is Your Name” by David Haas. The hymn tune is “Wild Mountain Thyme”, one of my favorite Irish folk songs, and it’s Mark Haas singing it.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how much I do not want to go to my endocrinology appointment tomorrow. My endocrinologist has no clue about how much I’m constantly moving and having to be flexible which means that the diet and food plans she recommends aren’t a good option. There’s also the fact that most of the food on there makes me gag and some of the things also irritate my stomach. *sighs* I’m bribing myself to go with the promise of a Target shopping trip afterwards.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you how completely scrooge-esque I’m feeling right now. Our Christmas stuff is down in LA at my in-laws’ house and I haven’t set the kid-friendly nativity scene (the one thing I do have up here) up yet. Eventually, I guess.

Thanks for having coffee with me! See you next week.

Five Favorites

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 9, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 9, 2013

Outside my window… dark and cold. It’s definitely winter here even if the solstice hasn’t happened yet. I’m watching the news and the hard freeze is scaring citrus growers in the area because the temperatures have been dipping into the 20’s at night.

I am thinking… about what needs to get done this week.

I am thankful… for my parents helping us to clean out the cat cave on Saturday.

In the kitchen… lasagna.

I am wearing… blue shirt and navy blue striped fleece pajama bottoms. I’m also under a comforter.

I am creating… entries and such for the blog.

I am going… to hope my bloodwork reaches my endocrinologist for my appointment on Thursday. It will be drawn tomorrow.

I am wondering… how to explain to someone that their attitude and words are driving people away from the Church because they act like such a scold.

I am reading… Mysteries of the Middle Ages: And the Beginning of the Modern World by Thomas Cahill. I find that the odd-numbered books in his “Hinges of History” series tend to be the good one which is kind of too bad because #6 is out and it’s partially about the Reformation.

I am hoping… Daniel goes down without a fight tonight. Jon is out of town and I’d like to be able to get him to bed so he won’t be grumpy tomorrow.

I am looking forward to… Ladies’ Night Out tomorrow — hopefully, we all have a good time.

I am learning to pick my battles.

Around the house… my Roomba will get a workout tonight.

I am pondering… many things — it’s Advent after all.

A favorite quote for today… “If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (sin boldly), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign.” — Martin Luther

One of my favorite things… Daniel’s laugh.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy Tuesday-Friday afternoons, bloodwork tomorrow morning, Ladies’ Night Out tomorrow night, Advent midweek worship on Wednesday, WIC and endocrinology appointments on Thursday morning, and thankfully nothing on Friday.

A peek into my day… Our Christmas picture for this year which was taken on my birthday in May.

This year's Christmas picture.

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7 Quick Takes: Jeans, Snow, and Advent Music.

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Orphans. Do you see these precious children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier has been submitted to her country.

— 2 —

Because, you know, speaking normal English would defeat the point. My tasoni friend sent me this. I understood and resonated with all the jargon spoken by the blogger about his autistic son and am shaking my head because my people use a whole different set.

— 3 —

Let it snow. We might actually get a trace amount of snow in Sacramento on Friday night. It’s down in the 20’s at night right now which is freaking out a lot of people and making me laugh because the 20’s are a walk in the park compared to some of the temps in Minnesota and Montana when I lived there. (It was -25F in Great Falls this morning according to some of my friends there.) The hard thing for me is that our washer/dryer are in a laundry shed so I’m going to be getting up shortly, putting on fleece, and going out there to sort through clothes and find something for my wee bairn to wear to school tomorrow.

— 4 —

Jeans. Last week, I was getting a pair of my 4 year old jeans from Lands’ End out of the dryer to wear them to the airport to pick up Jon and discovered that they had a massive hole in the rear end. (Thankfully, I discovered this BEFORE I wore them.) I went onto the Kohl’s website to order more, figuring that I wouldn’t be able to go shopping before Black Friday (when I wanted nothing to do with retail) only to find out that Jon was fine with watching Daniel so I could go after his eye appointment the next day. OK… It was too late to cancel the order on the Kohl’s website so I just kept those and went out to shop the next day. End result: 4 pairs of jeans that fit me (after taking them to my seamstress to be hemmed) for less than the cost of 2 pairs of jeans from Lands’ End. I still have one pair of 4 year old jeans from Lands’ End left so I actually have enough pants for a change.

— 5 —

Advent music. My friend Thomas of Fuller Life put together an amazing playlist for Advent.

— 6 —

More Advent music. Bonnie of A Knotted Life has a great playlist as well that she shared a few weeks ago.

— 7 —

Potty-training. I think I should be getting time off of Purgatory for the time I spend potty-training Daniel. We’re on our second shot of it and it’s a headache for me, especially as nothing we try seems to be working. I have his ABA therapists working with me on it and even they are a bit stumped because this is definitely not anything they’re used to (and these are people who have been in the business for a fairly long time). Pray for me.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 1, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 1, 2013

Outside my window… dark now though it was sunny and in the 60’s earlier. It’s gotten cold lately and I’m loving it.

I am thinking… about what’s going to be coming up this week. For a change, my mornings are free of Daniel appointments.

I am thankful… for a good time with family this weekend.

In the kitchen… made lasagna from scratch today.

I am wearing… black shirt and blue striped fleece pajama bottoms.

I am creating… this entry and Christmas card mailing lists.

I am going… to try and knock out as much editing as possible tomorrow morning.

I am wondering… if my precious sweetling will go to bed on his own or if drastic measures will have to be taken.

I am reading… Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale. It’s about a New Jersey marketing director who moves to a 500 acre beef farm. It’s very typically “fish out of water” but it’s cute.

I am hoping… this new attempt at potty-training goes better.

I am looking forward to… my mani-pedi on Friday. I never dreamed I’d be saying this a year ago.

Around the house… laundry to be folded.

I am pondering… too many things.

A favorite quote for today… ??Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.?? – Benjamin Franklin

One of my favorite things… peppermint taffy.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy for Daniel, mani-pedi and massage for me on Friday, and my parents coming up to help clean out Jon’s study on Saturday.

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