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.
Outside my window… dark. It was in the high 80’s today and it’s supposed to be 105-110F this weekend. I’m pondering the idea of relocating to Alaska.
I am thinking… about what I need to get done tomorrow while Daniel is in school.
I am thankful… for my weekend in San Jose with my parents. Oh yes… also *incredibly* thankful for air-conditioning.
In the kitchen… chicken on my new George Forman grill.
I am wearing… navy blue maternity shirt and black running shorts.
I am creating… not much of anything at the moment.
I am going… to hope Words With Friends is back up. I haven’t been able to play in a few days.
I am wondering… when Daniel will go to sleep. Granted, he did have a long nap this afternoon (thanks to me taking a long one).
I am reading…Maphead by Ken Jennings. I’m on a chapter about geo-caching.
I am hoping… I sleep well tonight.
I am looking forward to… my massage on Friday.
Around the house… my Roomba is doing the floors. (It’s either that or a really helpful Dalek.)
I am pondering… too many things.
A favorite quote for today… “If we are skeptical we shall teach skepticism to our pupils, if fools only folly, if vulgar vulgarity, if saints sanctity, if heroes heroism.” — C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer and errands tomorrow, Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday, Autism meeting on Friday morning, and a massage on Friday afternoon.
A peek into my day… Laptime with the bear child this weekend.
Tom Lehrer’s “Irish Ballad”. Only certain schools have internationally-renowned mathematics professors also teaching Musical Theater. UC Santa Cruz is one of those schools and Tom Lehrer is that professor. (Yes, I am totally proud to be a fighting banana slug!) Some of my friends were in the last university class he taught in 2001 and he used to sing his songs in class. My favorite of his songs has to be his “Irish Ballad” which talks about an Irish girl murdering her family in gruesome way and when the police come around, she admits to everything… because she knew lying was a sin.
It’s most likely NSFW and definitely NSFK (not safe for kids), especially if your last name is Donaldson.
This is Lehrer himself singing it.
In looking for a video of Tom Lehrer, I found this version by Ann Murray. I love it because she’s dressed up in her operatic finery… and singing something silly.
Messy Faith.This article had me at the title. I find that very few things are black and white — there’s too much grey in my world. I also have found that the more I read the Gospels, the more I am convinced that Jesus did not live in a nice little sanitized bubble. He lived in a world with very severe differences between the haves and have-nots and where those in power abused it. In other words, it was a world much like today. His means of death was also messy — crucifixion is the last punishment you’d want if you wanted a sterile environment. Lots of blood, lots of sweat, lots of tears.
— 3 —
Orphans. Do you see these two darling children?
Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home so she can start kindergarten (hopefully this autumn). If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!
— 4 —
Cleaning up my diet. I can totally believe that the claims made in Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss are true. I’ve been focusing on a clean diet this week because of the ulcers and I’m totally craving a quarter pounder with cheese/fries/Coke right now. Our brains are being rewired to crave all these things and it’s disasterous for our waists, our health, and our environment. Granted, I am still using a marinade on my chicken that is produced by Wishbone but I’m finding that I like the plain chicken without the bun, the sauces, etc. Coke has been the hardest to give up but my fear of the ulcers in my stomach causing bleeding is keeping me on track. (Fear is a serious motivator.) It’s been hard to do this because it creates even more food issues and food guilt for me and I probably need to blog this out at a later time. I’m thankful for FitDay.Com — it’s been enlightening to see what I’m eating and what the actual portion sizes, carb counts, etc. are.
— 5 —
Not the stereotypical California girl. I’m fleeing to my parents’ house this weekend because it will be cooler than Sacramento. We’re supposed to come close to hitting triple digits this weekend where I live while the temperatures will be in the high 80’s at my parents’ house. I’m not the stereotypical California girl — I hate heat and I love rain. I also love four distinct seasons and actually miss snow.
— 6 —
Being so young to be so sick. I can guarantee you that I will start thinking about ways to kill you if you tell me that I’m too young to be so sick. Believe me… I’m totally aware of this and it just makes me resent it when you vocalize it.
— 7 —
Support me in the Promise Walk. I’m participating in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia on June 23rd for my third year in a row. You know you TOTALLY want to sponsor me, right? I’m a survivor of HELLP Syndrome and doing this helps me to ensure that other women aren’t going to face the severe illness that I did or the after effects of high blood pressure and “preeclampsia brain” where I have short term memory loss to the point where my normally photograpic memory is no longer that way.
Fitday My endocrinologist wants me tracking my diet and carbs and such. I started using FitDay many moons ago (OK… like maybe 7.5 years) and abandoned it after a few weeks because I didn’t necessarily need to track my eating. I wish I’d gone back to using it 6 years ago when they diagnosed me with pre-diabetes because I think I would have done a lot better and maybe even lost some weight. I don’t have a smartphone so the app my doctor suggested is a moot point and I just went with FitDay again. I’m already finding it useful because it has shown me some bad patterns in terms of my carb consumption.
Ob
Patrick This is my new nephew Patrick who was born last Thursday to Jon’s sister Joanna. This is a picture of Jon holding him.
Peb
Agony of the Leaves This is the latest in Laura Childs’ mysteries about the owner of a tea shop in Charleston. (My favorite genre of mysteries are the “cozies”.) I got addicted to her books a few years ago and in addition to this one, I have another one on request at the local library.
Plaub
NOOK A family friend gifted me with a NOOK two years ago and I’m still loving it. It doesn’t have a glow screen (which is probably not a bad thing — I’d be up all night reading otherwise) and it’s first generation (I think) but that’s fine for me. I probably would have bought a Kindle if I’d spent my own money but now I can’t imagine life without it. It’s indispensable on long car trips (I have a flashlight in the glove compartment specifically for reading at night with it) and it saves a huge amount of space on my bookshelves. Best of all, they have a free book every Friday and I’ve found some pretty interesting books that way.
Tsib
George Foreman Super Champ Family Size Grill With having to watch my diet, I decided to break out my George Forman Grill again… only to find out that the teflon is coming off and it doesn’t heat up as fast. Given that it’s 11 years old and not all that expensive to replace, I put some Amazon.Com giftcards toward it. I’m looking forward to its arrival because I tend to grill something daily right now. (It’s quick and allows me to have flavor without the calories.) Now if I could keep a certain black cat off the counter after I use it… *glares at the pair of glowing eyes at my feet*
Outside my window… dark though it’s a full moon or something so it’s fairly light out despite it being 1 a.m.
I am thinking… that I really shouldn’t have finished that bottle of iced tea. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping any time soon which is why I’m doing this now.
I am thankful… we figured out what was going on with my stomach.
In the kitchen… attempting to find a happy medium between the meal plan my endocrinologist gave me and the restrictions I have because of the esophagitis and ulcers.
I am wearing… faded charcoal grey shirt from Foot Locker and my blue penguin pajama bottoms.
I am going… to pray that tomorrow is a quiet day for Daniel and I.
I am wondering… how people can claim that Christians are hated and persecuted and then turn around and be equally hateful toward those not like them.
I am reading… nothing — just finished The Diva Digs Up the Dirt by Krista Davis on the way to the airport today.
I am hoping… Daniel sleeps in tomorrow. He was certainly up late tonight.
I am looking forward to… Jon getting home on Tuesday and having another set of hands. Daniel is at the stage where it’s hard to get things done because he’s actively destroying things while I’m trying to get housework done or even run to the bathroom.
Around the house… dishes to do and a mountain of laundry to do as I’m low on clean clothes.
I am pondering… way too much.
One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea even though it’s messing up my carb counts for the day.
A few plans for the rest of the week: LAUNDRY, grocery shopping tomorrow, Morning Prayer on Tuesday, PCP appointment on Wednesday, end of school for Daniel on Friday, and my massage on Friday as well.
What the what?!?!?!?!?!?!? In the last 2 1/2 hours, there has been a bridge collapse near where I have family in Washington (my dad is up there right now and actually drove over it earlier) and there was an earthquake 3 hours north of me. It’s also a full moon tonight. This is eerie.
— 3 —
OMG Hawaii Five-O!!!! I’m bummed that Kono will be out for at lease a chunk of next season and I’m wondering if Grace Park (the actress) is pregnant or if her contract was just not renewed. It was still an interesting episode and I’m wondering who is breaking in to kill Wo Fat.
— 4 —
I’m an auntie!!!!! Jon’s sister Joanna had her baby today!!!!! His name is Patrick and he was born at 1:19 p.m. by c-section. He is 19 inches long and weighs 9.5 lbs. I’m totally excited to be an auntie. We’ll probably head down in a few weeks to see them once Joanna heals and they have things a little more on schedule.
— 5 —
Diagnosis time. I had my endocrinology consult this Wednesday and the diagnosis is PCOS based on my bloodwork. We’re going to clean up my diet (see #7 for details on that) and discuss medication changes at my next appointment in August. If any of you are on FitDay.Com, email me (jen @ grace-filled dot net) and let me know. (My username is my incredibly long and complex last name.)
— 6 —
Orphans. Do you see these two precious children?
Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home so she can start kindergarten (hopefully this autumn). If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!
— 7 —
Prayer request. I will be having an endoscopy tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:30 a.m. PDT (Pacific Daylight Time). Even if you don’t see this before then, I’d appreciate your prayers that the procedure goes well, that they find SOMETHING, and that anything they find is treatable. I’ve been having nausea and loss of appetite since January and it took forever to get the G-I consult (May 8th) where this procedure was scheduled. Any findings will hopefully enable me to eat again and being able to do that will help me clean up my diet. My endocrinologist suspects that I might have celiac disease and this might be what shows it.
**UPDATE** The endoscopy went well and they *did* find something — mild esophagitis and erosive gastritis in the form of 20 smallish ulcers in the lower part of my stomach. It’s all treatable and I’m just relieved that they found SOMETHING because it’s been annoying not to be able to eat without problems for the last few months.
Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. I can finally get individual bottles of this at my local store. I am positively giddy with delight. It’s my “not Coke” drink of choice these days, especially as the Crystal Light version seems to have disappeared from my local store.
Kettö
Gloria Vanderbilt shorts. I got mine 3 years ago at a Kohl’s in southern California and I still love them. It’s been in the 80’s and 90’s here and these shorts are incredibly comfortable and allow me to be active with my son Daniel.
Három
Bamboo Compost Pail. My parents have one of these in their kitchen and I wanted one so they told me where to go on Amazon.Com to find it. The interior is plastic and there’s a vent at the top with activated charcoal so it doesn’t stink up the kitchen or get moldy (at least in my experience).
Négy
My latest book. I’m reading cheapy fluffy murder mysteries these days with my spare time. I just read the book before this one in the series and I was constantly pondering who the killer was. It was definitely a good read and I’m expecting this one to be as well.
Öt
The Big Bang Theory. As I was going through the folder of pictures, I realized that I showed this one last week. Oh well. It was a lovely episode though I’m bummed that Raj lost Lucy. On the other hand, having the relationship with her somehow re-wired Raj’s brain so that he can talk to women. That’s going to be interesting in the next season. I also wonder if they’ll do scenes of Leonard on the research vessel like they did of Howard in space.
I am going… to hope I can get some editing done this week in the midst of everything else.
I am wondering… what Friday morning will show. (I’m having an endoscopy.)
I am reading… I just finished Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay.
I am hoping… that my endocrinology appointment goes well on Wednesday.
I am looking forward to… Daniel’s bedtime tonight. (Jon is at a meeting and the wee bairn refused to nap.)
Around the house… I’m loving the Roomba that I got from my in-laws even if I have to clean it out perfectly each night.
A favorite quote for today… “Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse.” — C.S. Lewis
One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. I can get it in individual bottles at the store. Boo yah!
A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorow, endocrinologist appointment on Wednesday morning and meeting with austism therapy people for Daniel’s evaluation on Wednesday afternoon, and the endoscopy on Friday.
