{five favorites}: Miscellanea (LVIII)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Jen

One

Nights when Daniel goes down to sleep easily. Kiddo came over to me in the living room and cuddled up just about the time my laptop registered the battery being low. I suggested we head for bed and after climbing into bed, he tucked himself in and was asleep within maybe five minutes. I wish it were always this easy!

Two

Club soda. I’m a Coca-Cola junkie but the effect of Coke on my blood sugar is no bueno so I drink club soda most of the time. (There’s also the fact that my parents don’t let Coke into the house and I live with them…)

Three

These awards. Anyone else resonate with the 19 Small Awards Anyone With Anxiety Deserves To Receive? It’s all about #7, #10, #13, and #14 for me.

Four

These crochet patterns. Amigurumi cat patterns are a legit need, right? Just wondering. *plots new crochet projects*

Five

Thursday morning Bible study. I am seriously looking forward to going and drinking coffee and looking at the Gospel for the week with my church ladies tomorrow!

Go love up Ashley and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 24, 2016

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Jen

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 24, 2016

Outside my window… sunny after several days of heavy rain. It’s in the high 50’s and I took Daniel for a walk without a jacket.

I am thinking… about the income analysis and tax prep from which I am taking a break.

I am thankful… for the opportunity to be a part of the ordination of my parish’s deacon yesterday as a priest in the Episcopal Church. It was at Trinity Cathedral in downtown San Jose and it was fun to be part of the choir which had members from the different parishes with which she had been affiliated. There was no incense but we had serious organ music, a harp prelude from our administrative assistant who plays harp professionally, torchbearers, a crucifer from our parish, a verger making sure we were all where we were supposed to be, and the bishop presiding.

In the kitchen… probably leftover shrimp pasta from Friday night. I was too full from lunch yesterday to eat last night!

I am wearing… blue-green shirt and jeans. As is my usual custom, I am barefoot.

I am going… out later to get more wipes for Daniel.

I am wondering… if I can get the curating of Daniel’s exhibit file done tomorrow and set the date for the appeal.

I am reading… A Lesson in Hope by Phillip Gulley. Accidental Saints is still on hold.

I am hoping… to get all the income analysis done today so I can start doing the taxes once I get all of Jon’s W-2’s and 1099 statements.

I am looking forward to… Thursday morning Bible study with my ladies.

I am hearing… some Bach being played on my laptop.

A Daniel story for today… kiddo came to me last night and said, “Mama, beyuh.” (Translation: “Mama, bed.”) I asked if he wanted to snuggle up under the fleece blanket with me out in the living room to fall asleep and he said, “No, beyuh.” So I went and tucked him (and myself) into bed. I thought I’d be getting up later and working on the income analysis but I fell asleep instead!

Around the house… Mom is painting, Dad is in the kitchen, and I’m in the living room with Daniel.

A favorite quote for today… “God’s grace is not defined as God being forgiving to us even though we sin. Grace is when God is a source of wholeness, which makes up for my failings. My failings hurt me and others and even the planet, and God’s grace to me is that my brokenness is not the final word … it’s that God makes beautiful things out of even my own sh*t. Grace isn’t about God creating humans and flawed beings and then acting all hurt when we inevitably fail and then stepping in like the hero to grant us grace – like saying, ‘Oh, it’s OK, I’ll be the good guy and forgive you.’ It’s God saying, ‘I love the world too much to let your sin define you and be the final word. I am a God who makes all things new.'” — Nadia Bolz-Weber

One of my favorite things… my daily latté from $tarbux and the people who have been sending me money on Paypal to fund my habit.

A few plans for the rest of the week: curating Daniel’s SSI file on Monday, possible coffee with Rebecca on Tuesday, Bible study and choir on Thursday, and whatever else comes up.

Post Script…

I fixed the Rafflecopter box for those who want to pick my Lenten discipline. It’s open to everyone regardless of their religious tradition.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

Pick Jen’s Lenten Discipline!

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Jen

It’s that time of year again!

What time of year is that, Jen?

It’s time to pick my Lenten discipline!

But why would I do that?

Because…

a.) It’s fun.

b.) I have no spiritual father to suggest one for me.

c.) It helps me grow.

d.) Why not?

So… here’s how it works: You go down below and click on the Rafflecopter. The only mandatory one is to leave me a blog comment with what you would pick for me. You also have the option of going and liking my Facebook page and doing a daily tweet about the giveaway. A winner is chosen on February 5th and has until noon PST on February 9th to give me my Lenten discipline.

A couple rules/requests though.

1.) Whatever you pick needs to be something possible for me to do.

2.) If you want to suggest something dietary for me, keep in mind that I’m pre-diabetic (*shakes fist at PCOS for making me insulin resistant*) so I *DO* need to eat at regular intervals and I can’t do a bread and water fast.

3.) I have a kiddo with sleep issues so please don’t make me give up coffee. That would be cruel and unusual punishment for me and for those who have to live with me and interact with me on a daily basis.

4.) If you want to assign me spiritual reading, please make sure that whatever you assign me is downloadable onto my NOOK. (Just go check to see if it’s a NOOK book on BarnesandNoble.Com.)

I look forward to seeing what y’all pick for me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

7 Quick Takes: Trying to Come Up With These At 1 A.M.

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Jen

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Temperature afghan update. I’ve gotten a few more stripes added. I’m still about 2 weeks behind but if I can get some sit-down time this weekend, I should be able to rectify that pretty quickly after my switch to straight double crochet. The big thing is remembering to get the high temperature off of Weather Underground daily!

The current state of the temperature afghan.

— 2 —

The sitch with the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Unlike what the Washington Post article said, the Episcopal Church did *NOT* get kicked out of the Anglican Communion. (The body who would decide that sort of thing was not meeting at the time. Seriously, what is it with the mainstream media and getting religious doctrine and polity issues wrong?) If you want a decent article that does a good job of addressing the nuances of what happened, read this one.

— 3 —

Srsly?!?!?!? When I went downtown on Wednesday to curate the exhibit file for Daniel’s SSI appeal, my file was locked in the office of someone who was out for the day so I had effectively wasted my time. I was standing on the light rail platform calling my mom to let her know I’d be home in about 30 minutes when a gentleman walked by and decided to comment on my sighing, chastising me for expressing my displeasure and telling me that God was here in that space at that time. When I told him that I believed in God, he responded that if I did, I wouldn’t be sighing.

….

OK… my belief in God is separate from the fact that the ODAR office downtown just wasted my time. Also, dude might not want to INTERRUPT A PHONE CALL next time he wants to correct someone’s religious beliefs.

— 4 —

It’s that time of year again! My “Pick Jen’s Lenten Discipline” competition will be starting tomorrow or Saturday or whenever I have the time to create the post and put up the Rafflecopter. ~~I’ll update this take with the link as soon as I have it.~~ It’s here.

— 5 —

Thing I’m Not Doing in 2016 #1 I am not giving up coffee for Lent. My kiddo is having sleep issues and I’m already puking from sleep deprivation.

— 6 —

Thing I’m Not Doing in 2016 #2 I am not reading the Bible over the course of a year. I did this last year and while I’m thankful I did, I’m happy to be able to switch around between a bunch of different devotional reading sources.

— 7 —

Thing I’m Not Doing in 2016 #3 I am not giving up gluten unless I actually have to do it on doctor’s orders for my health. I did this in October and had a heck of a time with it.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

{five favorites}: Miscellanea (LVII)

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Jen

One

Days when I have enough time to crochet. I’m only 13 days behind right now and I’d probably be caught up already if I hadn’t started my temperature afghan in a stitch pattern that was time-consuming. #crocheterproblems #temperatureafghan

Two

This man. A Kenyan Muslim man who was shot while trying to protect Kenyan Christians in an attack on a bus by Al-Shabab died today from his injuries, a month after the attack. He was truly a hero and his family hopes that his death will inspire Kenyans to live as one community regardless of religion.

Three

Sleep. I am not getting enough of it these days due to a certain young man who has decided that 1 a.m. is a superb time to wake up, party, and demand milk or cheese. He also intensely dislikes hearing the words “no” and “go back to sleep”. Hmph!

Four

The idea of voting for the president in the style of the TV show Survivor. I broached this idea in a thread on the Facebook of one of my younger cousins. Basically, every candidate would be split into teams (let’s mix up members of the political parties for fun), live communally, participate in legislative challenges that would show whether or not they actually grasp basic governmental/legislative/judicial knowledge, and then the country gets to vote one off each week. Who knows? We might actually end up with a president that everybody likes and who actually knows what they’re doing. 😉 (And yes, I *LIKE* President Obama and I’m suggesting this… though it’s mostly to knock blowhards like Trump and Hillary out of the race.) #Bernie2016

Five

Pesto bagels with garlic shmear. This is my happy food from the local bagel shop. It doesn’t pair well with coffee but it makes an interesting lunch.

Go love up Ashley and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 17, 2016

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Jen

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 17, 2016

Outside my window… gray and rainy. According to Weather Underground, we topped off at 60F around noon. It was lovely.

I am thinking… about the SSI and legal stuff for Daniel I have to do this week.

I am thankful… for the creators of Legos. Their projects enabled me to get some crocheting done today by occupying Daniel while I worked.

In the kitchen… a frozen dinner. Not much appeals to me food-wise right now.

I am wearing… a charcoal v-neck shirt and black sweats. I’m waiting for the kiddo to go to sleep so I can shower.

I am going… to the store tomorrow to get more milk. Daniel wants some and is being irritable because I told him there was none left.

I am wondering… how much more rain we’ll get for this 3-day weekend.

I am reading… A Lesson in Hope by Phillip Gulley.

I am hoping… Daniel sleeps through tonight. I’m not happy at getting woken up at 1 a.m. for cheese or milk.

I am looking forward to… the kiddo going to sleep so I can shower, do the readings for today (I missed church), and go back to crocheting.

I am hearing… the rain on the roof.

A Daniel story for today… kiddo would build Lego creations today and then come and sit on my lap so I could disassemble them for him.

Around the house… silence. I am a fan of this.

One of my favorite things… sleep though I am not getting much of it these days.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel is off of school tomorrow, SSI work at some point this week, possibly Knit Wits on Tuesday night, Bible study on Thursday, choir on Thursday, and singing for an ordination on Saturday.

A peek into my day… progress on the temperature afghan after frogging it and redoing it in straight double crochet. It has taken me the same amount of time to do almost 5 rows of double crochet as it took to do 1 1/2 rows of the pattern.

Current progress on the temperature afghan.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Temperature Afghans, Chuck Jones, and Why I Don’t Homeschool Daniel

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Jen

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Temperature afghan progress. My yarn finally arrived yesterday and I did all the calculations on how many to chain for the correct width for this pattern. Let me tell you… it’s so much easier to chain 402 stitches in groups of 16 than it is to count to 400 and then have to put stitch markers in various places! (Don’t worry — I just counted to 16 every time and then counted the stitch markers, 25 in all, plus the two extra chains for turning.) I’m in the part I hate most right now (the first row) but when I’m done with that, things will be a lot easier!

The chain last night with stitch markers:

The chain with stitch markers.

The first row (yarn is Herrschner’s 2-Ply Afghan Yarn in “Forest”):

Row #1

What I have left to do on the first row:

What I have left on Row #1

— 2 —

Beep-beep! I did not know that Chuck Jones had 9 sacred rules for every episode with Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. This explains *SO* much.

— 3 —

The immigrant experience. Reddit users were asked what the most pleasant surprise they experienced when they came to America as immigrants. Here are their answers.

— 4 —

A political sign I can stand behind. Godless in Dixie shared this on Facebook and it cracked me up!

Anyone but Trump 2016!

— 5 —

To the twits who give me a hard time for not homeschooling Daniel. Seriously, I still get people asking me why I don’t homeschool Daniel because he’s autistic. For the last time…

#1: I don’t have a degree in education with specializations in special education and rare conditions. I believe that whoever is teaching my kid needs to have a 4-year college degree in the subject and the specialized knowledge to do so. (Most of the people I know who turned out brilliantly from being homeschooled were that way because their parents had college or graduate degrees which gave them the mindset and skills to teach them well. I’ve also seen some people come out almost completely illiterate when the parents have barely a high school diploma and decide that it’s enough to be able to teach their children.) This would apply even if Daniel was neurotypical — I’d still send him to school because… I DON’T HAVE AN EDUCATION DEGREE.

#2: I have the patience of a Marine drill sergeant. Can we say “not a good combination with a kid who does not respond to conventional tactics”?

#3: I am a serious introvert and already am pretty taxed by the amount of intensive time I spend with Daniel and what that time constitutes. You can’t give what you don’t have and if I don’t have some Daniel-free time to myself to recharge (even if that means I’m working a 9-5 job outside of the home), I have a really hard time being the mom I need to be. I’m good with spending time away from my kid — it means I get to miss him a little bit and it makes the time we do spend better.