7 Quick Takes: Olympic Musings and Purging My Brain

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7 Quick Takes

I was blogathonning last week so I didn’t get to purge my brain at all. For that reason, these quick takes might not be especially quick.

— 1 —

OMG… the Opening Ceremonies!!!!! The Opening Ceremonies were awesome even if NBC messed up its coverage of them. I would have preferred if Cwm Rhondda was sung in Welsh but the children’s choirs were breathtaking. I loved the transition from the pastoral scene to the smoke stacks to the firing of the Olympic Rings. The queen was a wonderful Bond girl and Rowan Atkinson was delightful. I had a great time critiquing the uniforms chosen by each country for the Parade of Nations and I loved the way they lit the torch. It was so much better than Beijing.

— 2 —

One thing that blew me away was how beautiful the Muslim women athletes were. I’m not going to lie — I was live-tweeting my thoughts on the uniforms. Canada didn’t seem to get the memo on dressing up for the occasion and Germany’s uniforms were… different. The Muslim women, though, were just stunning. The Jordanian flag bearer wasn’t wearing her hijab but her dress was beautiful. Other Muslim women were wearing the most beautiful scarves and dresses or pants suits that just looked so elegant. Given that there’s all the hullabaloo over laws in Europe banning the burqa, it was awesome to see the athletes proving that they could be faithful to their beliefs and still just blow everyone else out of the water in terms of dress. I also loved the bermuda shorts of the delegation from Bermuda, the saris on the Indian women (again, very elegant), and the dashikis worn by the African women.

— 3 —

I am thankful to have seen the events that I’ve been able to watch. I was home sick from church on Sunday so I got to watch the women’s road race. It was making me jealous because I would have loved to be in the British countryside. All of the gymnastics has been worth watching, especially seeing the British men get bronze on Monday and the US women mopping the floor with the competition to win the gold on Tuesday. Swimming has yet to disappoint (I’m also happy to see new blood on the podium though I’m still a fan of Michael Phelps) and I’ve loved soccer and the diving competitions.

— 4 —

There’s a new priest’s wife in town! Coptic Dad & Mom is the blog of a tasoni, the wife of a Coptic Orthodox priest’s wife. For those not in the know, Copts are the native Christians in Egypt who had been there for centuries when the Muslims arrived. Their spiritual head used to be Pope Shenouda (I just discovered that he passed away a few months ago), their Holy See is Alexandria, and their worship language is Coptic. There’s a Wikipedia article on them here though I don’t know how accurate it is in total. Go visit her blog and show her some love.

— 5 —

For kicks, I looked into what I’d have to do to become part of the Sacramento Choral Society. I’ve been missing being part of a choir like that and in the event that I could get all my ducks in a row, I wanted to see if it would be even possible to pass the audition. Their fall concert is Fauré’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Yeah… been there, sung those — or at least I’ve sung the Requiem and the first movement of the Vivaldi. It made it bearable to listen to someone blather on about their (non-existent) musical skills last night because I knew that I could actually be part of an elite choir in Sacramento if I so chose.

— 6 —

I actually hit the point where I don’t really care about watching Big Brother tonight. I’ll probably go online and check out the ending to see who goes home and if the coaches get to play, but the thought of watching Mike Boogie, Joe, and Frank has kind of turned me off of this season. There are also other things I could be watching this week besides a show in which people try to lie/cheat/screw each other out of $500K.

— 7 —

Tomorrow is looking like a long day. Daniel has an audiology appointment tomorrow morning and then I have to come home and pack really quickly for San Jose. I’ve basically got to be at my parents’ house by 3 which means I want to leave my house by 12:30. Hopefully Jon can get some laundry done while I’m gone tomorrow morning…

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 30, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY July 30, 2012

Outside my window… hot. It’s in the high 90’s and supposed to be triple digits by the end of the week.

I am thinking… that I violated the laws of the universe in some way to be so afflicted with this ear infection in addition to my sinus being infected. [/whining]

I am thankful… for sleep this morning and for Daniel playing so nicely while I curled up in my fetal position.

In the kitchen… nothing from scratch.

I am wearing… preeclampsia survior shirt and black soccer sweats.

I am creating… some crocheting.

I am going… to Daniel’s audiology appointment on Thursday and then San Jose on Friday.

I am wondering… how the women’s gymnastic team do tomorrow night. I know the men’s team did not to as well as hoped. (I’m being vague because I don’t want to blog any spoilers after viewing results online before they are broadcast in the States.)

I am reading… Death on Demand by Carolyn Hart.

I am hoping… they show more of other countries’ gymnasts tonight and tomorrow. The USA is great but I’d like to see what others are doing as well.

I am looking forward to… watching some of the lesser watched sports this week.

Around the house… a parishioner thankfully has come and helped with cleaning a few times. This is good because I’ve been fighting a fever and sleep deprivation from my weekend isn’t helping.

I am pondering… too much to mention.

A favorite quote for today… ??You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.?? — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Daniel’s laugh.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel’s audiology appointment on Thursday and a trip to San Jose for the weekend on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Reasons You Should Come Hang Out Online With Me Tomorrow

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7 Quick Takes

So tomorrow (or today if you see this on Friday) is Brett’s Blogathon 2012 and I’ll be blogging for 24 hours straight on things starting with the letter B. Here are 7 reasons to come join me and make a donation.

— 1 —

The funds go toward helping Brett’s adoptive mommy and daddy bring him home. Is this not a cute kid?

Brett

Let’s talk about getting him to the States so he can have some physical therapy and stop having to crawl everywhere.

— 2 —

I might actually post a webcam video of me doing something embarrassing hilarious. C’mon… YOU KNOW you want to see me dancing the Timewarp at 3:00 a.m. or singing camp songs at 5 a.m. to keep myself awake. No promises that I’m going to do any of that — it’s a small house and I’d like both Jon and Daniel to get adequate sleep — but something cool might get posted and you don’t want to miss that, especially if it might be useful for future blackmail. 🙂

— 3 —

My evil twin is guest-posting and talking about beer-making. You think *I’m* delightfully snarky? I don’t hold a candle to him! And yes, he is seriously talking about beer-making, which is one of his hobbies. My task tonight is shrinking the pics he sent me of the process.

— 4 —

I’m giving away an Amazon.Com gift card to a lucky donor. It’s not a Keurig or a Kindle Fire but it will enable you to buy books, music, household appliances, or anything else that Amazon.Com sells. It’s not based on your donation amount so you could actually end up coming out ahead on this.

— 5 —

Brett’s mommy and daddy are out there somewhere and they need to see him. Seriously, I fully believe that Brett’s adoptive parents are out there somewhere and that they could possibly find him via my Blogathon for him. If you visit, make a donation and let people know what’s going on over there.

— 6 —

What else are you going to do on a Friday night? It’s not like the Olympic opening ceremonies are on or anything. Oh wait, they are. Darn! Still, you should totally come on over and see what I’m posting. It might be something interesting to do during the Parade of Nations when some unpronounceable country is parading through.

— 7 —

Again, someone needs to get to the States for care. Dude… this kid needs a mommy and a daddy. He also needs physical therapy for his CP. Let’s look at Brett again.

Brett!

Can you really say “no” to this kid?

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

Tips For Surviving Your First Year (Or Ten) Of Marriage

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Katie, the awesome chica behind NFP and Me is hosting a link-up as a way of celebrating her 2nd wedding anniversary. As I’ve now been married for 10 years, I figured that I’d toss in my $0.02 on the subject.

[+] Respect your spouse’s limitations. I’m a serious introvert (which may/may not surprise people) and I’m married to someone who is the exact opposite — an off-the-charts extrovert. Jon *likes* being around people and gets recharged that way. I, on the other hand, need to have time in a dark and quiet room after sharing the Peace at church. As it would look really wrong if people found me in the coat room reading a book during coffee hour in Montana, we used to take two cars to church. This way, I could leave when I felt “peopled-out” and Jon could stay and have all the conversations he needed. It also means that I need much more “alone” time than he does and I have to be really intentional about communicating this in a way that does not come across as “I don’t want to be around you”.

[+] It is occasionally OK to go to bed angry. There’s a point at which things have been discussed to death and no good is going to come out of talking/fighting about it any more for that night. There are also times when one person needs to decompress before they can really deal with the situation. In those occasions, it is actually better to just get some sleep and deal with things in the morning when everyone is not cranky and tired. I know that there is the verse in Ephesians 4 about not letting the sun go down on your anger but the point that Paul is making to them is not to let things fester. As long as you do plan to deal with it in the morning or at some point the next day, just go to bed. It will work out better.

[+] If you really can’t live without something being done a certain way, just do it yourself. You’re each going to come into the marriage with a specific way of doing things from folding laundry to loading the dishwasher. If something has to be done a specific way or at a specific time and asking your spouse to do it your way is going to start a fight, just do it yourself. It’s easier in the long run and spares the two of you a fight over why not matching socks while folding laundry is a crime that should be punishable by death.

[+] You need to be on the same page when it comes to starting a family. This was one of the reasons why Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert divorced her husband. The idea was that she would give up her career at age 30 to start a family and she wasn’t ready to do it. There were other things that contributed to her divorce (like her adultery) but that was the main one she listed. Is the wife going to stay home with the kids? Is there a compelling reason to avoid a pregnancy? (I’m assuming that anyone clicking over here from Katie’s blog is probably going to be Catholic and an NFP advocate.) Is a home birth an option? The only piece of advice I can give (other than to be on the same page) is to give yourselves some time to enjoy each other before you start having kids. It’s not to say that there isn’t life after kids — it just becomes a bit harder to get that weekend away once kids are in the picture.

Those are my thoughts on the subject. Happy “not-killing-Steven” anniversary, Katie!

Publicity Blitz

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OK… here’s the sitch. Brett’s Blogathon 2012 is on Friday and I need some publicity… fast. I’m willing to put up a $20.12 Amazon.Com gift card to someone who is willing to do one or more of the following:

1.) Mention it on your blog.
2.) Mention it on your Facebook.
3.) Mention it on Twitter.
4.) Mention it on any other social media that you are part of.

The details are thus:

Site: Blogging for Brett — http://peacefulwaters.org/brett
Time: 7/27 @ 700 PDT to 7/28 @ 700 PDT
What: 24 hours of blogging to raise money for Brett’s adoption account.

Leave me a comment telling me what you have done and you’ll be entered into a drawing for the gift card. You get one entry per thing on the list that you have done.

Some Thoughts on the Shooting in Colorado

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I’m honestly rendered speechless by what happened in Colorado and I don’t feel qualified to really make any comment on how I know how they feel because I honestly don’t. Sojourners contacted a Colorado pastor to make a statement and here is the statement in its entirety with all his formatting because he is in a position to speak on this in a way that many of us aren’t. His opinions aren’t necessarily mine but he’s in Colorado and is sticking his neck out to speak so I’m copying everything as he states it, regardless of whether or not I share his views.

Here is his bio:

The Rev. Roger Wolsey is an ordained United Methodist pastor. He is the author of Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don??t like christianity. In addition to contributing to God’s Politics, Roger also blogs for Patheos, Huffington Post, and Elephant Journal.

Here is what he has to say:

It’s a sad day in Colorado. Our collective hearts hurt.

I didn’t want to blog today. Blogging in response to everything that happens in the news can come across as knee-jerk, reactionary, self-serving, and exploitive. We’re called to “pray without ceasing” ?? not to blog without ceasing. Sometimes reverent silence is what is needed.

The staff at Sojourners contacted me and invited me to write something in response to what just happened. So, I’m not writing a blog. I’m providing a Public Service Announcement:

1. The single best way for us to respond at this time is to give blood and/or plasma at your local Red Cross or similar agency. This saves lives.

** Colorado Locals: Bonfils Blood Center is asking for blood donations, especially O neg, A neg and plasma. The need will continue for many days, so if you can??t get in today, call 303.366.2000 to make an appointment for early next week.

2. It’s time to end the antiquated prohibition that ban gay men from giving blood. Here’s how to contact HHS and urge them to end the antiquated ban that prevents gay men from giving blood. They bleed red too and I’ll happily welcome their blood should my son or I need it. http://www.hhs.gov/ash/contactus/contactus.html. Capital punishment isn’t the answer.

3. Killing people to teach people that killing people is wrong is oxymoronic. It also costs more to the taxpayers than incarcerating someone for life. But most importantly, it goes against our faith and cheapens human life and perpetuates the failed myth of redemptive violence.

4. Calls for an increase in concealed carry handguns isn’t the answer.

One out of every five Americans will suffer mental illness at some point in their lives. Who are any of us to think that we won’t be one of that number?

Studies also show that people’s handguns are more likely end up harming them, or one of their loved ones, than it will be used to “shoot a bad guy.” Moreover, James Holmes was wearing a helmet, a gas mask, and body armor.

5. What would help a lot is to enact true universal health care in this country that provides mental health coverage. Here’s how to write our congresspeople and urge them to do that: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

6. Another thing that can surely help is for each of us to smile at more people more often, hug more people more often, and tell more people that we love them more often.

7. Pray for the victims and their families and loved ones ?? and also for the shooter and his family and loved ones.

8. Finally, here’s a song by my friend Amy Steinberg that may help soothe some tender hearts.

Thank you for your prayers for the people of our state during this difficult time.

Peace.
Roger

If you want to comment on what Roger has to say, do so on the Sojourner’s page with the article. Comments are closed on this entry because my combox is not a place to parse out what he has to say.

Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.

7 Quick Takes: Big Brother, Roasting Beasts, and Not Reading 50 Shades

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

To those of you trolling the “Catholics for Choice” group on Facebook: CUT IT OUT! I’m aware that you feel that they’re raging heretics and hypocrites and you’re entitled to that opinion. I’m not going to argue with you on that one. What I will argue with you on is the efficacy of getting yourselves banned from the group. All you’re doing is giving them ammo to say that pro-life Catholics are intolerant, so cut it out! It’s also really bad manners.

— 2 —

REMINDER: Brett’s Blogathon 2012 is next Friday. It goes from 7 a.m. on Friday the 27th to 7 a.m. on the 28th over at Blogging for Brett. I’ll have information on how to donate on a sticky post at the top of the blog during the event.

— 3 —

Big Brother is back on. I don’t have a contestant I dislike thus far as much as I disliked Rachel on the last two iterations but Mike Boogie is starting to be a contender. I’m glad Frank got HOH for this coming week though — it will be interesting to see if he puts Willie up.

— 4 —

My evil twin and hopefully my sister-in-law are coming over for a barbecue on Saturday. If Jeanette (my sister-in-law) is coming, I’ll be needing to find a My Little Pony to put on her birthday cake as well as acquiring some cake mix. I also have to figure out the menu which means figuring out which beast to roast and how I want to roast it.

— 5 —

Going back to #1, I got a call from Planned Parenthood a few weeks ago. It was interesting because I never heard from them during the years when I was sympathetic to them. (I’m not unsympathetic to their practice of providing care to impoverished women — I’m just not in favor of abortion.) I’m guessing that they got my name from the campaign to take down Dan Lungren (my Congresscritter who I loathe because he’s a tool, not because he’s Republican). I don’t know exactly what they were calling about because after the person explained who they were, I politely said, “I should probably tell you that I’m pro-life and I’m not really interested.” I said good-bye and hung up. I’m sure there are some who would argue that I should have tried to debate with them but I had the bear child clamoring for my attention and I had no desire to pick a fight with someone who was probably trying to be nice and volunteer their time for their charity of choice.

— 6 —

Facebook had an interesting Yusef/Cat Stevens question this week. The question was which song you’d want to hear if he ever toured again and sang his secular stuff. It was interesting because a number of my Facebook friends commented who had absolutely no connection to each other. (My answer, by the way, is “Peace Train”.) I still can’t listen to “Moonshadow” with a straight face after the parody someone did on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me after Cat Stevens was taken off a plane in Maine for being on the no-fly list. “I’m being followed by an air marshall/Air marshall/Air marshall…”

— 7 —

I finally had a parishioner ask about 50 Shades of Grey today. She couldn’t understand why I was laughing so hard until I explained about the review that described it as “Twilight with spanking and no sparkly vampires”. What I told her was that she’s an adult and can read whatever she wants but I didn’t think it would benefit her Christian witness. It was at that point that I found out that she had joked about me having it on my NOOK during Bible study that morning. Yeah… not so much. 🙂 I’m generally not into reading whatever is popular with the exception of the Harry Potter books. I didn’t read the Twilight books until they had been out for awhile.

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