The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 2, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 2, 2012

Outside my window… foggy this morning and sunny in the afternoon. It was supposed to be near 60 today but I don’t think I noticed while I was outside.

I am thinking… about what to suggest to use next for Bible Studies.

I am thankful… for Jon being home today. It’s why I’m able to do this now instead of after 9:00 tonight when Daniel is in bed.

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

I am wearing… grey shirt and my penguin pajama bottoms.

I am going… to hopefully have a quiet night tonight with Daniel not in a bearish mood.

I am wondering… where the people on CA-99 learned to drive.

I am reading… just finished In Stitches by Anthony Youn M.D. He had an article on CNN a few weeks ago and it mentioned that he had written this book. It’s pretty light in terms of tone though he does talk about his lack of sex in college and medical school. Despite that, I enjoyed it.

I am hoping… Daniel either goes down for his nap now or goes to sleep early tonight.

I am looking forward to… having nothing on Wednesday because Tuesday is going to be packed.

I am hearing… Daniel pushing his shopping cart around and Catholic Weekend on iTunes.

Around the house… dishes and stuff to do.

I am pondering… things in my heart.

One of my favorite things… veggie chips and pub cheese.

A few plans for the rest of the week… doctor’s appointment and PT for Daniel tomorrow, nothing on Wednesday, and OT on Thursday.

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New Year’s Intention

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Wow… I actually kept my resolution last year which was to participate in at least one 5K though I didn’t end up walking the 10K by the end of the year.

So… my intention this year (yes, the wording is a complete cop-out) is to walk/run at least two 5K’s for charity or otherwise. I’m 99% sure that I’ll be doing the Promise Walk again this year so I just need to find one more.

7 Quick Takes — Brought to You by Fibromyalgia Grumping

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7 Quick Takes

I haven’t gotten half decent sleep since… yeah, it’s been that long but it’s been especially bad this week which means that my fibromyalgia is flaring up. This means that I’m in a boatload of pain and in an extra cranky mood. Jon had to be in the office and doing visits today but his day off is tomorrow and that means I get to sleep in guilt-free. (OK… so I also slept in on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but that had to do with having problems sleeping and having to be more than semi-comatose to take care of Daniel.)

— 1 —

I still have remnants of the mutant death cold from Thanksgiving. I still have random coughing spasms that wake me up and keep me up at night. I was almost coughing to the point of vomiting on Tuesday night and my dad ended up bringing a couple packages of Ricola to the guestroom — I guess I was waking him up and keeping him up. I don’t know what specifically is irritated and causing it — it’s not asthma-related so my inhaler and nebulizer are useless against it.

— 2 —

I see that the Rose Parade is being held on Monday. The joke is that it (almost) never rains on the Rose Parade because the organizers have a deal with God: they don’t hold it on Sunday and God gives them good weather. It illustrates the fallacy of prayer making God into the Cosmic Vending Machine but it is curious that they usually have amazing weather even though it falls during the rainy season.

— 3 —

There’s a new season of The Biggest Loser starting. The only problem is that it’s on at the same time as NCIS:Los Angeles. I missed pretty much all of last season — I only caught the Thanksgiving show where they showed who kept the weight off. I think I’m going to have to pick a night to watch it online or something.

— 4 —

My resolution for 2012: be more active. Fibro can be a catch-22. It helps to be active and get moderate exercise but… the pain makes doing so difficult, especially with me because I’m also under a huge amount of stress and that exacerbates things. I think I’m going to have to be super intentional about taking the time out to go for a walk, do playground stuff with Daniel, or just… DO SOMETHING.

— 5 —

I’m getting a ton of political fundraising emails. Apparently, there’s a huge FEC deadline on December 31, 2011 and all the political stuff I support are hitting me up for money. Can I honestly say that I’m really not looking forward to all the politics and media crud that will be coming soon?

— 6 —

I had to put down The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It was interesting in the beginning but it seems like Grossman took the whole Harry Potter thing and twisted into this dark and fatalist thing. It did sort of keep my attention but it was also depressing how hopeless the characters attitudes were. I still haven’t used up my whole gift certificate from my birthday and I have an additional one from my sister-in-law that she gave me for Christmas so I think it’s time that I invested in some stuff that I do want to read. I also finally figured out how to “close” books on my Nook. Go me!

— 7 —

I did the Saint’s Name Generator again this year. For 2011, I had St. Gianna Beretta Molla which was good because I did need to get to know her better, especially as she also had a killer pregnancy (which unlike me, did eventually kill her). My saint for 2012 is St. Luke which should be interesting. I think this will be a year of reading his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. As a Lutheran, we don’t revere saints in the same way as Catholics or Orthodox do — for us, it’s more of “this is a person we should emulate”. I think I’ll be pondering some of these things internally for awhile.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 26, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 26, 2011

Outside my window… dark. I’m in San Jose with my parents and it stayed cold today.

I am thankful… that Daniel was angel for church yesterday and that last week’s crankiness did not repeat. It was the longest time I’ve gotten to be in the actual church service since February.

In the kitchen… leftover roast beast and mushroom risotto from Christmas dinner. Jon gets leftover pizza. 🙂

I am wearing… my blue Jameson fleece (from the distillery in Dublin), sea green shirt, jeans, and mismatched cat socks.

I am creating… this entry.

I am going… for walks and playground time tomorrow.

I am wondering… if the most recent Golden Bough CD is indeed blank or if it will play in the car. If it’s blank, I’ll just email them and see if I can get a download card.

I am reading… The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Still haven’t finished it. I did finish Three Day Town by Margaret Maron and it was quite good.

I am hoping… Daniel is in good form tonight.

I am looking forward to… more playground time with Daniel tomorrow.

I am hearing… “Christmas in Celtic Land” by Golden Bough. I’m a bit perturbed that “When Winter Comes” seems to be reading as blank on my laptop.

Around the house… not home though we did clean before we left.

One of my favorite things… mushroom risotto that we have for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A few plans for the rest of the week… hang-out time with Daniel, maybe a Target run, possibly OT on Thursday, and maybe a trip to the Train Museum in Sacramento.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… Daniel at Miwok Park in Elk Grove. His physical therapist was playing paparazzi and got a number of good pictures. This is one of them.

Daniel looking around a corner at Miwok Park.

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7 Quick Takes — Awkward!

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7 Quick Takes

Yeah… it’s been one of those weeks.

— 1 —

I drove back from San Jose on Sunday morning to try and make it to church in time for the Christmas pageant. Unfortunately, a certain two year old decided to be grumpy and throw tantrums. I’m thankful that people at church understand that he is acting his age and didn’t get too crabby about it.

— 2 —

I got my Christmas cards done on Monday night. The first 75 people on my list got cards with an un-Photoshopped picture on it. It’s not a bad picture — it’s Jon, Daniel, and I walking around at the Sacramento Zoo… with me wearing a shirt that exposed my navel. Oops! I didn’t think it would be glaringly obvious when I ordered the cards but it was. I tried coloring it with a sharpie pen. No luck. Oh well. If people are going to flip out over this, they don’t need to be on my Christmas card list.

— 3 —

I had a WIC appointment on Tuesday morning. The new office is only a few blocks from home which is good. However, it’s cold and foggy in the mornings these days so we drove. Daniel did not want to play with the toys there — he wanted to open and close doors/drawers and play with the printer. Cue tantrums. The scale was also being catty and it was hard to get a good weight on him until we just decided to use the baby scale. I’m thankful that the WIC people were chill about him wanting to take apart the office and that the dietician was great about him tantruming. She gave us some suggestions for things to try with him and one of them (a tortilla roll-up with pub cheese or cream cheese) works.

— 4 —

After physical therapy on Tuesday, we went to Trader Joe’s. We got some yogurt-covered stars and cat cookies for Daniel. I discovered after eating a couple star cookies that they aren’t good for those who are lactose-intolerant. Oops!

— 5 —

I had to deal with flea market traffic on Wednesday. I despise the trading/flea market in the town where I live, especially because people see no problem with taking up library parking spaces because they are too lazy to try to find them in the regular places to park. (I wish they would ticket the cars, especially on Tuesdays when there is no reason that parking lot should be full before 11:50 a.m. as the library isn’t open until noon that day.) Anyway, I was turning to go toward the freeway when three cars sped up and almost hit me. I leaned in on my horn and leaned in on it again when the last car was weaving. About the time that I finished honking at them, a community police car passed me. I was really hoping that he wasn’t going to try and pull me over because I was in a hurry and trying to get to Elk Grove to pick something up before heading on to speech in Sacramento.

— 6 —

House Republicans passed the payroll tax cut. I think my representative’s office has put me on the “please for the love of God stop calling — we’ll do whatever it is you want!!!!!!!!!” list. 🙂 Considering that the Republicans had to re-convene, this is kind of AWKWARD for them.

— 7 —

I don’t have a #7 for you. Oh well… maybe next week.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 19, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 19, 2011

Outside my window… dark. It was completely foggy until noon and then sunny with a chill.

I am thankful… for my mom baby-sitting Daniel so I could take in a concert with my dad on Saturday night.

In the kitchen… a lovely Hot Pocket for dinner. It’s not the best for me but it’s fast and easy.

I am wearing… my black Arabic shirt and my blue penguin pajama bottoms.

I am creating… this entry. 🙂 I’m done with Christmas cards.

I am going… to relax tonight instead of having to stamp and seal cards.

I am wondering… what else I forgot at the store today.

I am reading… Three Day Town by Margaret Maron. I put The Magicians down for the moment because this one is due back at the library eventually.

I am hoping… Daniel’s playground date tomorrow goes well.

I am looking forward to… the Christmas season being over and being able to go to the post office or to the store without it being mobbed.

I am hearing… our Winnie the Pooh DVD (which kept Daniel’s attention so I could finish the Christmas cards).

Around the house… Jon cleaned. I’m happy.

One of my favorite things… Coca Cola. So bad for me but I crave it during stressful times.

A few plans for the rest of the week… therapies, errands, and… yeah.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… My dad decorating for Christmas. The explanation: my dad is a mechanical engineer and he has a fascination with farm equipment, especially John Deere. When I lived in Minnesota, our parsonage was down the street from the John Deere store so I would walk down there and get him various miniature versions of machinery and John Deere gear (a hat). I even tied a John Deere blankie for him in 2009. He keeps the machinery in the guest bathroom and occasionally changes things up, replacing stuff in the trailer and hopper with M&M’s, rose petals, and now Christmas balls. After I took this picture, he added plough furrows using colored sprinkles.

Dad decorating for Christmas.

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7 Quick Takes — Brain Purge

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7 Quick Takes

As I had themed Quick Takes last week, you all will be subjected to the purging of my brain this week.

— 1 —

PROJECT SIPPY CUP: Successfully completed. Last Thursday, I moved Daniel from exclusively bottles to exclusively sippy cups. He was biting the nipples in half and after he sprayed the living room with milk, I decided it was time. Thanks to all those who told me to stay the course and that this would be the “new normal” within a couple days. He finally relented at about 7:00 p.m. that night and hasn’t had a bottle since.

— 2 —

My retail Christmas shopping (at least in brick and mortar stores) got done last Friday. I had to buy for my kid at church and for my mom. It took three tries but I got it all done. Additionally, I found some nice soft socks for my father-in-law that we hadn’t been able to find a year earlier at Kohl’s. Given how much I hate being in any retail establishment at Christmas time, I’m glad that the rest of my stuff just involves giving my credit card number to Amazon.Com and the place where my dad buys his telescope stuff.

— 3 —

I managed to piss off a psychopath at the grocery store on Saturday. She nearly ran me over with her cart when I stopped by the exit to see if there were any bell ringers and started cursing at me. OK… whatever. I get in the car and am turning to get to the exit of the shopping center that is nearest where I was going when she comes tearing through the parking lot in her SUV. She almost hit me, flipped me off, and started screaming obscenities out of her open window. I probably could have called police but she had left too fast for me to get her license plate number. I have no idea what her problem was or why she was in a hurry.

— 4 —

I head down to San Jose tomorrow (Friday) for a concert. Mom and Dad saw Golden Bough in concert this summer as part of the concert series that takes place at Lick Observatory during the summer. When they found out that they were going to be playing at a church in Los Gatos, they asked if I wanted to go. Originally, we thought that we’d all go and Mom would take Daniel out if he got fussy but she decided to just keep him at home with her and let me have a date with Dad. (This will be the first “date” for the two of us in 25 years — since I was 5 or 6.)

— 5 —

I’m glad that there were two episodes of “Hart of Dixie” this week but they weren’t the best episodes. I’m kind of hoping for two more next week and hoping that they’re good episodes. I know that I can watch them live on the CW website but it’s kind of nice to hang out with Daniel and watch them with him snuggled on my lap.

— 6 —

I probably have enough material for another Judge Judy set of Quick Takes. Seriously… I had bonus items last week and could probably write seven more based on this week. From tonight’s episode: if you no longer reside at a place and your ex tells you not to come over, DON’T COME OVER!!!!!! Doing so is trespassing. I was also happy that Judge Judy gave some dog owner a stern lecture on keeping the dog chained up because they’re liable if the dog attacks people. (We have too many unchained dogs around here.)

— 7 —

I’m wishing for rain. This probably will sound weird because I get weather-change migraines and the pressure changes wreak havoc on my joints but I love the sound of rain beating against the windows and on the roof. We got a little bit this morning but it wasn’t worth mentioning. I’m wishing for a decent rainstorm with thunder and lightning.

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