Author Archives: Jen

About Jen

Jen isn't quite sure when she lost her mind, but it is probably documented here on Meditatio. She blogs because the world needs her snark at all hours of the night... and she probably can't sleep anyway.

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 12)

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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 that I’m ahead of my game on my NanoWriMo piece. This is good because I’ll be with family this weekend and possibly attending a funeral in Santa Cruz so I won’t have much time to write.

If we were having coffee, I would ask you to pray for the family of Gordon Smith who was found dead in his office in Capitola on Saturday morning. He was one of the leaders of the college group at my church when I attended UC Santa Cruz. He leaves behind a wife, a daughter, and numerous college kids they adopted during their time in Santa Cruz. I’m still pretty stunned and part of me wants to cry but can’t at this time.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how much I’m hoping we have rain soon. We’re in a drought and really need the moisture. I could also use a quiet rainy day.

Thank you for having coffee (or tea) with me this week! Join me next week at the same time more more coffee.

7 Quick Takes: C.S. Lewis Plaque at Poet’s Corner, Grousing About Politics, and NaNoWriMo Updates

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Quiet here. Becky of From Mrs. to Mama didn’t post a link-up this week so I didn’t post on Monday and as I’m doing NaNoWriMo, I’m focusing my writing time on my murder mystery for this year. I’m about 10,000 words in and kinda-sorta on schedule. I’m going to start trying to do around 2,000 words a day so I can finish early because I know I won’t be able to write much over Thanksgiving due to family commitments.

— 2 —

There will be a plaque in memory of C.S. Lewis placed in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey on November 22nd (the 50th anniversary of his death). Westminster Abbey does not finance the plaque (they just give permission to place it) so various academic societies dedicated to the study of Lewis’ works are trying to raise the funds for it. The cost will be ?20,000 (about $30,000 in USD) and there’s a link here where you can donate to the cause. I have vivid memories of Westminster Abbey from a 24-hour layover in London 15.5 years ago on the way to Ireland and I remember Poet’s Corner so I’ve donated.

— 3 —

Fascinating. From Facebook, here are stunning portraits of remote tribes before they pass away. It’s NSFW due to cultural beauty standards being what they are but it’s amazing.

— 4 —

Shaking my head… I had someone snarkily remark last night that I should know what’s going on with the parish because, after all, I’m the pastor’s wife. Ummm… if she’d been paying attention for the last 2.5 years, she would probably have heard me say *MONTHLY* that being the pastor’s wife just means I’m married to Jon — he doesn’t tell me anything.

*smh*

— 5 —

Orphans. Do you see these darling 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.

— 6 —

Just wondering… If the Affordable Care Act was the work of a Republican president (let’s call it “Romneycare” because it was based on that legislation), would there be as many people engaging in partisan grousing about the website not working? Because as anyone who has ever dealt with the roll-out of software or a website knows, you don’t know what bugs exist until you have a high volume of users. (I grew up in Silicon Valley. This is in my blood.)

It’s also completely unsurprising that insurance companies are engaging in shenanigans. When Jon and I were having to insure ourselves 10 years ago, maternity coverage was an extra $490 per month. It was cheaper to be on the Pill. I also have to laugh when Blue Cross of California claims to be “not for profit” because they are making a bundle on insuring people in California now that insurance companies who don’t want to be regulated have fled the state.

— 7 —

Fundraising for Brett. I’m planning to use NaNoWriMo to help raise funds for Brett. Once I have things figured out, I will let y’all know.

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

7 Quick Takes: Pumpkins, 90’s Nostalgia, and My Bizarre Life

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Blogging cutbacks. I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year so I’ll be cutting back my blogging to twice a week: 52 Weeks of Blogging with Purpose on Mondays and then my Quick Takes here on Thursday nights/Fridays. Once November finishes and I’ve (God willing) won NaNoWriMo, I’ll be back to posting more frequently.

— 2 —

Nostalgia. Someone shared this list of things only 90’s teenage girls can understand and I got probably 45+ of them. I feel so old!

— 3 —

I don’t think I could make this up if I tried! So I saw this news story…

CBS Sacramento: Auburn Man Arrested For Bringing Chain Saw To Bar Fight

Yeah. I live in a freaking horror movie or something. (This isn’t close to where I live but it’s in the local news area.)

— 4 —

Zoo animals and pumpkins! Did anyone need cute animal pictures to distract them from something? Here you go!

I aim to please. 🙂

— 5 —

Halloween pics. Here are a couple pictures from today.

Costumes from today.
Jon as a Jedi and Daniel as Thomas the Tank Engine.

Jack o'lanterns from this year.
Our pumpkins from this year. The tall one is the old rugged cross and the smaller one is just crosses.

— 6 —

My philosophy on pumpkins. I believe that Jesus is the Light of the World so at least one of my pumpkins is always a cross of some nature. Part of this is that I went to college at a school that had a sizable Wiccan population and Halloween night was a scary time to have to walk home on campus by myself. Having a cross to ward off any evil spirits (which I believe exist but not much past that) helped. I also don’t do scary pumpkins because I know there are kids that have a really hard time with them. (I actually went out to the sidewalk to bring candy to a couple toddlers who were too afraid to come up to the porch because of the pumpkins.)

— 7 —

An offer I might not want to refuse. I got the following email today. It’s a fake so I’m sharing it.

Become a member of the Great Illuminati and posses riches, connections and fame. all the power you ever wanted, don’t miss this opportunity grab it because there may not be another chance.

We open door of acceptance once in ten years, and few are chosen. I really congratulate you for this great offer on your door step. We choose people, people don??t choose us. You can be among the chosen this year. The great association as been in existence since May 1, 1776 named The Illuminati (aka Bavarian Illuminati). What does this mean? The name derives from the Latin illuminatur, which means ??the enlightened?? Who are the Illuminati? They are, in essence, a cartel or groups of elite people. These people are basically rich, intelligent, or possessed special skills of various kinds and industrialists based in Western Europe and North America. The names of certain families persist over long periods of time. Some of the most important names are Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan, Lazard, Warburg, Schroder and Schiff.

We make people great and we rule the world. many of the world’s political leaders & celebrities are members. When you become a member you will have the opportunity to be great and dine with great men from different nations. We rule every social part of the world, music, sports and politics, the second essential component is control of the media. It is controlled through business fashion. We choose men with potentials and we made them what they are today. We are here for you to make your dream come through; if you dream it you can achieve it.

These are opportunity the celebrities and the richest men had, they utilize it and became idol.’s You have more to know when you finally become a full member.

You are advised to fill all the stated information below and submitted to our in charge Co-ordinator on the email given below, for further instructions and direction.

Name: Co-ordinator Rev. Jack Deng
Address: Empire State Building – 350 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10118[1] United States
Email: invitation_illuminati@usa.com

Personal Details:
1) Your full name
2) Phone, fax and mobile#
3) Address:
4) Profession:
5) Age/Sex:
6) Marital status:
7) Scanned copy of your I.D card

In two months the story of your life will change. Do not be the killer of your dream.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your membership invitation confidential till your membership is processed and you’re made a member. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claimants or unwarranted membership claims by unqualified persons. Please be warned.

Remember, you are expected to complete your membership process immediately and not more than 7 days to the date of notification. Any claim not made at the appropriate time will be canceled.

All the members and staffs of the great ILLUMINATI. wishes to congratulates you and thank you for being a part of our International membership program.

We wish you continued good fortunes.

Thanks.
JANICE BROWN.
Online announcer

How do I know that this is a fake? The Illuminati would have their own domain for email and their grammar would be better.

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

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: My Letter to Newlyweds

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I’m back this week and writing this before (and probably a little after) Bible study.

Dear newlywed friends,

By now you’ve survived the intense time that is wedding planning and you’ve made it through the ceremony, reception, and possibly (if you chose to go somewhere that rendered you incommunicado) the honeymoon. You might have the “what’s next?” feeling. Here’s some advice for what lies ahead:

01.) You will fight. I don’t care if you lived together for a time before marriage or if you did the “living apart until holy matrimony” thing. Once you said those vows, it all became real and you now have to learn how to share your life and house with one other person. This means arguments over how to the dishes, the correct way to face the toilet paper, probably some words exchanged about finances, and tiffs over things you thought were totally self-explanatory. Guess what? They aren’t.

02.) You will learn to fight correctly. This could be part of the paragraph above but I’m keeping it a separate thing. You might have heard the Bible verse about not letting the sun go down on your anger. Don’t let your anger fester for days but there are times when it’s better to just go to sleep and hash things out in the morning when you both have level heads rather than fighting until 2 a.m. (Ask me how I know this.) You’ll also learn to pick your battles, especially ones where neither one of you will give any ground.

03.) You will learn new ways of doing things. Maybe your spouse has a more efficient way of washing dishes or loading the dishwasher. Maybe they know how to fold fitted sheets rather than just wadding them up and putting them in the linen closet. Maybe it is easier to just toss your wrinkled shirt in the dryer. Learn from your spouse if you expect them to learn from you.

04.) Your relationship will change. As I said, things become real once you’ve said the vows and you’re no longer that cute engaged couple — you’re now those adorable newlyweds. This could be a small change or a drastic change but it’s change nevertheless and you will go crazy trying to make things “like they used to be”. Live in the time/space where your butt is at that moment and you will enjoy things much more. This also applies to when you have kids — lots of change there.

05.) You will learn things about yourself. Living with someone else teaches you things about yourself that are useful to know. You might discover that you actually *like* folding clothes if you can do it with your spouse. You might never have tried parasailing on your own but you tried it on your honeymoon and you can’t wait until you get a chance to do it again.

Above all, you will find out that the curves life throws at you will be easier to handle with someone else there who has your back and you will be a better person for it.

Blessings,
jen

Now go see Becky and what everyone else wrote.

7 Quick Takes: My Week, Requests for Help, and World Series Musings

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Relief. Jon is home after being gone since Monday to our denomination’s pastor’s conference. It’s good to have him home and I’m not just saying that because I now have someone to do the laundry/dishes/cat care. I’ve had a sick kid since Tuesday night and had to haul butt to UCD Pediatrics Urgent Care yesterday — it’s good to not be handling this alone.

— 2 —

The sick kid. Daniel refused to go to sleep on time on Sunday and Monday nights. I thought that it was probably due to Jon being gone on Monday night but he went down super early on Tuesday night which would have been great had I not been hit with restless leg syndrome. (Fibromyalgia, you suck!) Wednesday, he got sent home from school with a fever of 100F and I got the call right as I was putting my feet in the warm water for my pedicure. (I know… #firstworldproblems) His temperature started spiking so that it was 102F by mid-afternoon and I called the advice nurse at UCD Pediatrics Urgent Care to ask what they wanted me to do. The answer: “GET. UP. HERE. NOW!!!!” Diagnosis: a bad ear infection in his left ear and an upper respiratory infection which was setting off his asthma. He’s on antibiotics and I was alternating Motrin and Tylenol to lower his fever. I’m hoping he’ll be back to school tomorrow.

— 3 —

Forty to Forever. From my Facebook wall:

OK… I’m the social media person for the Forty to Forever fundraiser and we’re trying to raise money for families adopting kids internationally who have special needs. We need two things:

1.) We desperately need churches who are willing to sponsor families with prayer and also with funding to a degree. This doesn’t have to be costly and there is information on the website about what to do. If you ladies could talk to you church councils/pro-life groups/ missions people/women’s ministries/whoever, I’d greatly appreciate it. If you can’t find the answer to one of your questions, let me know and I’ll get the information for you. You can find most of what you need here.

2.) We need people who can commit to being prayer warriors and praying for us/the families/the kids one day a week during Lent. (We could also really use it right now.) It’s a fifteen minutes per week commitment and if it would help, I can send you prayers, a litany, or whatever you need in terms of help in how to pray. The page for sign-ups is here.

The website is http://www.fortytoforever.com/ and we’re also present on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks!

— 4 —

NaNoWriMo fundraiser. I’m taking part in NaNoWriMo this year and I’m pondering the idea of making it into a fundraiser for Brett. I’m thinking of offering to let people read my manuscript for a $10 donation. What say you, readers?

— 5 —

World Series. The Cards just took Game 2 and I was happy that they showed up to play tonight instead of sending their middle school doppelgangers. (Obviously, I’m rooting for them and not Boston.) The series goes to St. Louis next and I’m hoping the Cards do better on their home field.

— 6 —

Orphans. Do you see these two cute children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier is on its way to Iris’ country.

— 7 —

World Series fun. You have to love it when the *ORCHESTRAS* from the cities of the World Series teams start trash-talking. 🙂

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

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 11)

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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’d tell you about having to get Daniel to go to bed while Jon is out of town. He didn’t sleep well on Sunday or Monday night (as in not asleep until almost midnight) so he crashed around 6:00 tonight and I had to call my mom to see what I should do. Her advice: let him sleep.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I skipped this week’s topic for 52 Weeks of Blogging with Purpose. It required more thought than I was capable of giving it last night (especially with a kid who did not want to go to bed) and something had to give in terms of blogging on a schedule.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m thinking of decreasing my November blogging so I can focus on NaNoWriMo. I’d probably take part in 52 Weeks of Blogging with Purpose and the 7 Quick Takes at ConversionDiary.Com but that would be it.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m pondering ways to make my NaNoWriMo piece into a fundraiser for Brett. His adoption grant is doing well because of the money transferred to it after Russia’s adoption ban went into place (families with kids had the option of donating their grants to waiting kids who were adoptable) but it would be good to raise a little more to help his forever family out a bit.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 20, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 20, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and in the low 80’s.

I am thinking… about NaNoWriMo and possibly making mine into a fundraiser.

I am thankful… for the chance to have ice cream last night. (It’s a rare treat for me.)

I am wearing… gray “Run for Hope” shirt and black shorts.

I am creating… NaNoWriMo plans and blog post skeletons for the week.

I am going… to focus on getting through this week with Jon gone. At least he’s only a couple hours away by car instead of across the country.

I am wondering… why drivers in Elk Grove and on CA-99 heading to Sacramento are of the opinion that my turn signal indicates that they should pull up alongside me and refuse to let me change lanes. Seriously y’all, it’s not a race.

I am reading… Pastorix by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I am hoping… my nausea goes away because it has made today miserable.

I am looking forward to… my pedicure on Wednesday.

Around the house… vacuuming and mopping to do tomorrow while Daniel is at school.

I am pondering… various plot devices to use.

A favorite quote for today… “??…my idea of God is a not divine idea. It has to be shattered from time to time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence?..?? — C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

One of my favorite things… Daniel bringing me blocks and practicing saying words or letters with me. The hearing aids are helping.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy every afternoon from Monday to Friday, pedicure on Wednesday, leading Bible study on Thursday, and massage on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook