Author Archives: Jen
The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 1, 2013
FOR TODAY September 1, 2013
Outside my window… dark. It was a warm day though.
I am thinking… about all the stuff that has to be done around the house.
I am thankful… for the 5 minute downpour last night. I enjoyed the “after the rain” scent for the first time in probably 6 months. (It has been really dry here this year which has contributed to the massive Rim fire 100 miles away.)
In the kitchen… I need to figure out a meal plan.
I am wearing… blue shirt from Old Navy and blue plaid boxers.
I am creating… entry outlines for the week.
I am going… to my parents’ house this weekend.
I am wondering… when I’ll actually desire to eat normally again.
I am reading… Sundays in America by Suzanne Strempek Shea. I finished Jenny Lawson’s book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, last night. It was absolutely lovely and irreverent and crossed so many lines but in completely charming ways.
I am hoping… my stomach settles down. I am no longer able to eat fast food.
I am looking forward to… Ladies’ Night Out.
I am learning life with having to test my sugars.
Around the house… *pulls the covers over my head*
I am pondering… too many things.
A favorite quote for today… ??In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets… Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, “Here comes one who will augment our loves.” For in this love “to divide is not to take away.?? – C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… the smell of rain.
A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy and Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday, ABA therapy on Friday as well as heading to San Jose to see my parents.
Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook
The Picture in My Header and What It Means To Me
I’ve had a couple people comment on the picture in my header. It’s a cropped version of this picture:
The man on the left is my very beloved grandpa. I’m on the right and judging from the hair and that I’m wearing a dress, I think I’m 4 years old which would have made this Thanksgiving or Christmas of 1984. It’s been 7 1/2 years since he joined the Church Triumphant and I still really miss him. I was (and still am — death cannot cancel out love) a very beloved granddaughter and was the only granddaughter until my cousin Kristin was born a few days before I turned 12.
I think the hardest Christmas other than the one after he passed was in 2009 when I came to Washington for Christmas with Daniel. I really wish he could have known his great-grandfather who fought in World War II, didn’t finish college because of the war but still spent his life learning, had volumes of poetry memorized, learned how to use the Internet in his 80’s, would instant message me every afternoon until he ended up in the hospital to say “hi” and “ich liebe dich” (“I love you” in German), piloted planes for United Airlines for 30+ years, traveled the world in his retirement, raised 4 kids, provided funds for us for college, taught us all the necessary knots for tying up boats on the dock in Canada, announced the banns of my marriage in church in September 2000, was married to the love of his life for just short of 63 years (and gave me excellent role models in terms of enduring hardship as a couple), and took me to Midnight Mass almost every year from when I was 13 until I was married. He adopted all of the spouses of the kids and grandchildren as a member of the family, including those who later left the family through divorce.
When I needed a header and was going through the pictures on my laptop, this one jumped out at me because it makes me smile to think of this amazing man who would be turning 95 this year.
This poem was read at his interment in June 2006:
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, ?? and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of ?? wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew ??
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
?? “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr
7 Quick Takes: Prayer Set to Pop Music, Back to School Night, and News on Kaia
More than one way to pray. Mayim Bialik (“Amy Farrah Fowler” on The Big Bang Theory) linked up this video of the Listen Up! Jewish Vocal Band singing the Adon Olam to the tune of the Cup Song from “Pitch Perfect”. (There’s also a video of how they made the video.)
I remember teaching various “graces” to tunes like “Zippety Doodah” and “The Addams Family” theme song so it’s not surprising that you can fit various prayers into songs. “Amazing Grace” is another one that works well. I also remember figuring out how to set the Lutheran table grace (the linked version is all fancy, done in canon and then in 4-part harmony) to the tune of “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors when Jon and I were off doing errands in Watertown, back when he was pastoring in Minnesota.
Camp song fun. The actions for the Cup Song remind me of the camp song, “It’s Not Hard I Tell You So”:
(And yes, I was totally the CIT and counselor who led the really off-the-wall camp songs. Fortunately for me, no recorded proof of this exists because I’d be paying major dollars to keep those quiet.)
Jim Gaffigan’s video “Mr. Universe”. I’ve been listening/watching “Mr. Universe” while I go to sleep lately. It’s positively lovely and it’s clean comedy. (I have it on at 2 a.m. as I’m typing this.) My tabby has been getting grumpy about this because it means that I’m not positioned correctly for him to climb on my side and displace my hips. Currently, he’s talking about McDonalds and is making me crave a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, some fries. and a Coke. (Yes, I’ve seen Supersize Me. I don’t think I ate anything from there for 5 years after that.)
Orphans Do you see these two darling children?
Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are in the homestudy stage.
Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.
Miss Kaia. I haven’t forgotten about Kaia.
Her mama (and, I think, also her papa) are in her country to spring her from her orphanage either today or tomorrow. Once they’re all back in the States, I’ll update people with details of her actual name and everything.
Back to School Night. Daniel’s preschool had Back to School Night tonight and I went on behalf of Jon. It was good to go because I got the hand-out that Daniel’s teacher has given out to other parents before and that was helpful because it talks a little more about autism and ways to work with the kids. The parents of one of the kids who went off to kindergarten were there (their younger son is also autistic and in the class) so it was good to see them again and talk to them. It was also nice to find out that Daniel’s teacher prays for her kids and their families.
One other cool thing: they have an English class for some of the moms at the preschool and are looking for volunteers to help. I am not fluent in Spanish (the other mom is — she’s Mexican and her husband is Anglo) but I have experience teaching ESL so I’m going to email the principal about helping.
New Music. I realized this week that I had never heard “Fat-Bottomed Girls” by Queen so I went on YouTube to find it. Can we just say that I think it is freaking awesome? (I predict Jon cringing when he reads that last sentence.) I also realized that I hadn’t heard “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele before (it turns out that I’ve heard part it) so it’s playing on YouTube.
For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.
Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XIII)
The parishioner who called me on Monday night. I’m not supposed to have favorites but she is definitely one. The reason she’s on my “Five Favorites” this week: she called not to ask how Daniel was doing but to ask how *I* was doing. I realize that this is actually paying back the calls I made to her when her husband was in the hospital last fall and when she was in the hospital this spring; but it just really helps me to be strong when I know that I can call her or her husband and they’re standing behind me and praying for strength for *me* during times like Monday when stuff is going down and I really don’t know how I’m going to make it.
This is not to say that I don’t have other people in the congregation who pray for me and take care of me — she just happened to be that person on Monday.
The parishioners who transformed our fellowship hall into a 50’s diner last Wednesday. They created a booth out of some spare pews and a table, they laid down checkered floor stuff, they hung records from the ceiling, the waitstaff was all in 50’s garb… It was freaking awesome and the evil twin and his wife were impressed. Then again, these are the same people who put together a Haunted Hallway for Halloween, a four-star restaurant in the fellowship hall for Valentine’s Day (and it seriously looks like something out of Sunset magazine, and built a fountain in our parking lot last summer for the parish picnic.
Jenny Lawson’s book. She is freaking awesome, y’all. I haven’t had as many chances to read as I would have liked this past week but every time I sit down to read, I howl with laughter. I’m currently reading the chapters about her move to rural west Texas with the foxen, the scorpions, the squirrels, and everything else.
Daniel’s laugh and smile. I know I’m totally biased because it’s my kid but seriously, it can both make me smile and bring me to tears (in a good way). He is the light of my life.
Silence. It’s been sorely needed the last couple days. It’s why this post is being written at 2:00 a.m. — I need some time where Jon and Daniel are asleep and I can be alone in my thoughts. Daniel has school tomorrow/today (it *is* technically Wednesday) so I’ll get some needed quiet time then as well.
Go love up Hallie and the others.
{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 4)
Once you’re done here, go visit Karianna and the other coffee drinkers.
If we were having coffee, I’d let you know that the professor behind Bible Students Say… is grading and you need to go check it out. It’s definitely face-palming to read but that’s what makes it so entertaining.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my endocrinologist would be a great person with whom to share a cup of coffee but as a medical professional, she makes me roll my eyes. She keeps making helpful suggestions that would work… if they were actually practical for me with my food issues and my life. Example: suggesting eggs as a possible breakfast for someone who is allergic to eggs (which is on my chart) or making suggestions for stuff to cut up and take with me. I can do things like ziploc snack bags of nuts for a snack but some of the meal plan stuff she gave me just left me incredibly hungry. I get that a 1200 calorie diet would cause me to lose a boatload of weight quickly but that’s also not totally reasonable for me. (FitDay has me at around 1500.)
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m bummed that the evil twin and his wife are now Washington-bound and how I’m secretly jealous because I’d love to live in the Pacific Northwest. I hate heat so living in Sacramento is hideous from about late May to early October. I’m also bummed because I was enjoying being close to family for a change. Oh well… this is another excuse to get to Washington on vacation.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Daniel was his normal self today and I could probably have sent him to preschool but I didn’t want him giving whatever he had to the other kids or getting something else while his immunity was down. I also wish his ER doc had given him something that didn’t require improvising a mortar and pestle before dissolving it in 1 ml of water, and syringing it to him. (I’m glad to have the mad chemistry skillz but still!)
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you to go read Hallie’s Tell Me All About YOU! entry. I’m a wannabe sociologist and people-watcher and this is one of the few ways to do it online.
Thanks for having coffee (or tea) with me. See you next week!
52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: I Said I Would Never…
This week’s topic: I said I would never…
I actually rarely say “I would never” about most things because I parent pretty much on the fly — I have to with a kid like Daniel. I’m the completely permissive parent who lets her kid do things that Jon wouldn’t, mostly because I’m the one home with him most of the time and there are only so many battles I can fight.
I pondered this topic (in between prayers for the ER visit this morning to not completely suck) and the only thing I came up with was…
I said I would never let my kids misbehave in church the way _____________________’s kids seemed to be allowed to do.
Does anyone have a good recipe for crow? Because, seriously, I have a kid who opens and closes the sanctuary doors, the bathroom doors, turns the lights on and off in the bathrooms, slams the cabinet doors in the narthex, does laps in the aisles, and melts down if his daddy preaches too long and his mommy hasn’t taken him around the block enough times. I used to sit and mentally glare at the kids who messed around in church and the parents who let them. Let’s just say that my attitude has changed since becoming a parent.
(Oh yes, the ER visit went fine. Daniel was coughing badly and refusing to eat or drink which is not a good sign. After being on hold with Urgent Care at UCD Pediatrics for 30 minutes, I decided to cut out the middleman and just haul tail to the pediatric ER at UCD Medical Center. Four hours, two breathing treatments, a dose of steroids, and one nap later, Daniel was his normal self again and he did not have to be admitted.)
Now go see Becky and what everyone else said they would never let their kids do.