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.

7 Quick Takes: Picnic on the Green, Pizzas for Doctors, and Blasting Music

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Facebook. I have a tendency to post a *few* cat memes on Facebook every day. I didn’t quite realize how… well-received they were until I got this message from Kelly of This Ain’t The Lyceum:

Jen, I haven’t seen anything humorous about cats pop up in my News Feed for the last hour; are you alright??

I’m sorry, Kelly. I’ll try to post many many more cat memes for you. 😉

— 2 —

Payback. Various people have posted pictures of this on Facebook so I thought I’d share. An E.R. doctor at Mass General Boston (site of the Boston Marathon bombings) called a pizzeria in Waco (the nearest big city to the town where the fertilizer plant explosion happened) and ordered pizzas for all the surgeons in the ER at Hillcrest with the message, “Thanks for all your hard work!”

Awesome payback.

Dr. Chris Kabrhel, you are awesome and I hope people took as good care of you on Monday night as you did of the Hillcrest docs.

— 3 —

I’m a t-shirt person. Adidas has created some shirts whose proceeds will go to One Fund Boston. Go here to order. (HT: Emily)

— 4 —

Just a tip. To the person behind me at the stop sign by the library:

Honking your horn to kindly remind me to move (especially when it isn’t safe to do so and you apparently can’t see this) will cause me to adhere *strictly* to the speed limit (25 mph) for as long as you are behind me or until I hit Highway 99 — whichever would drive you more batty. I’m perfectly aware that it has been 3 seconds but there’s an older woman who is trying to decide whether to cross or not and I’m quite sure that the nice police officer coming the other way would prefer that I not run her over.

Cuddles,
jen

— 5 —

Remedying the situation. Last Saturday night, I was getting gas as a Shell station in Elk Grove after dropping Daniel off at Respite Night. While I was pumping gas, a young man drove up in a car with the windows rolled down and some foul hiphop/R&B thing blasting loudly. Why was it foul? Let’s just say that I’m not sure many young women like to be referred to as prostitutes and female dogs. (Substitute the foul language words for those things and you’ll understand why.) I wasn’t amenable to being forced to listen to this while the guy went in and tried to convince the clerk to hook him up with some gas so I finished pumping my gas, got in my car, turned my stereo up to 11, and started blasting the chorus of “The Way” by Jeremy Camp

I regret nothing.

— 6 —

Orphans. Do you see these adorable kids?

BrettKaia

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. If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!

— 7 —

Picnic. Daniel’s preschool has “Picnic on the Green” tomorrow where the parents bring a picnic lunch for themselves and their kids and eat with them on the lawn. The ABA class(es) seem to get the playground and shady area by their portable to themselves so I’m looking forward to it. The parents usually bring McDonalds stuff for their kids but I think I’ll go with Subway. Daniel has actually tasted McDonalds once (this week, I let him try a bite of my double cheeseburger) but I know he’ll probably eat Subway’s food. (I’m also trying to keep my fake crunchy mom cred which falls short because of Subway’s dough conditioners.)

For more Quick Takes, visit Grace at Camp Patton. She is guest-hosting for Jen again this week while Jen is (hopefully) enjoying having little Joseph home from the NICU.

Five Favorites: Boston and Fictitious Twitters

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Five Favorites

Before I post my favorite fictitious Twitter accounts, I want to say this:

BOSTON, YOU FREAKING ROCK!

Your blood banks were already full before the explosion happened and you stepped up to house/feed/take care of displaced marathoners. Seeing the spreadsheet of people who volunteered to transport people, house people in spare rooms, and feed people brought tears to my eyes. May God reward your efforts and may your city experience healing.

OK… onto my five favorites…

Uno

@UnvirtuousAbbey. I love these irreverent Canadians who inspire myself and many others not to take ourselves too seriously as Christians. Whether it be Star Wars prayers, Beatles prayers, or 80’s prayers, they never cease to make me laugh.

Dos

@CatFoodBreath. I have no doubt that there is a real cat inspiring the account but whoever writes it is hilarious. The user info describes the cat as “a 17 pound Siamese cat with a sushi habit” and this doesn’t surprise me given that Siamese cats are considered to be the pitbulls of the domestic cat world. I can imagine my monsters saying just about everything CFB tweets though mine definitely haven’t discovered buttered toast unless Jon has been feeding it to them.

Tres

@Rev_Norespect. I think he has my experience in ministry covered except for the Lutheran-specific parts. It’s not all bad but there are some things like getting a boatload of produce during the summer from people (or canned fruits/jams/salsa in our current parish) that are unique to it. I also love his You Might Be a Small Church Pastor If… list because many of them are true.

Quatro

@AnonChurchSec. I’m not the church secretary here for many reasons but I’ve helped out in Jon’s previous calls so I love Church Secretary. In the parishes where we’ve actually had one, I’ve made friends with them because they frequently are a source of support and also can sometimes be the gatekeeper to keep the crazies at bay. Having helped out, I can totally identify with a lot of what she says, especially her advice to get a guy from the church to come fix something. (I am totally not opposed to batting my eyelashes to get my way.)

Cinco

@ThePastors_Wife. I most solemnly swear that I am up to no good that this is not my Twitter account. I do identify with a lot of what she writes though, especially on the words she doesn’t want to hear, how to get people to shut up and stop feeding me information that I shouldn’t be privy to, and she also loves (and retweets) Grumpy Cat.

Go love up Hallie and the others.

7 Quick Takes: Cartacacoethes, Baseball, and the Ring Theory

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7 Quick Takes

Before we start, please lift up some prayers for Jen (our usual hostess) and her son Joseph Thomas who was born on Monday and is in the NICU 30 minutes away with lung/breathing issues. We’re well acquainted with the NICU here at ::Meditatio:: and I hope Jen knows that my husband Jon, our son Daniel, and I are praying for her and her family.

— 1 —

The Ring Theory. This article was published in the L.A. Times and shared around Facebook this week. The premise is making a dot in the center (the person suffering) and drawing concentric circles outward representing different subsets of people ranging from the spouse/family to close friends to colleagues etc. The rule is that any negative comments can only be directed to the outer rings from wherever you happen to be while comforting words can be directed to everyone inward.

Example of ring theory
(HT: LA Times website)

Can I just say that I love this and wish I could have had it for some special people in Montana?

— 2 —

Search term fun. Thanks to the installation of the Jetpack plugin for WordPress, I can engage in sharing interesting search terms. The vast majority of mine have to do with famous brothers in literature because of a post I wrote 9 years ago while trying to find names for my mom’s boys. The interesting ones in the last three months have been…

gallbladder soy cheese
mentos tsa
darius rucker pat tillman memorial
i hate niacin
jack nicholson “as good as it gets” candy in jars
sergio romo tastic t shirts
spanking and fibromyalgia

— 3 —

Update on Ian. Some of you might remember me asking for prayer for Ian Brown, one of my college classmates. The last time I updated, he was dealing with sinusoidal obstructive syndrome which is a rare liver disease associated with his bone marrow transplant. The only hope was an experimental drug called Defibrotide which is only made in Italy. They procured some for him and after a 21 day course, he is doing MUCH better. The latest blog post had a picture of him walking to the local Farmer’s Market which required a 3 1/2 mile walk there and back. For those of us who know Ian, this is nothing new. He is the embodiment of “abundant life”.

— 4 —

Brett. This is Brett. He needs a mama.

Brett

Could you possibly be his mama? Click his picture to learn more about him.

— 5 —

Kaia. Do you have a bunch of loose change lying around? Want to use it to make a BIG difference?

Kaia's Kindergarten Fund

Click on the picture of this beautiful young lady (Kaia) to find out about how your loose change can help her family bring her home and let her go to kindergarten this fall.

— 6 —

Baseball. The Giants did not do well against the Cardinals last weekend (a 14-3 loss on the 7th was the most embarrassing) but they swept their series with the Rockies and have done well against the Cubs thus far. I’m kind of bummed that the games aren’t usually shown up here in Sacramento except on rare occasions but I appreciate that I can usually catch them online.

— 7 —

Cartacacoethes. A few weeks ago, Leah of Unequally Yoked mentioned the book Maphead by Ken Jennings. I’ve stopped and started it a couple times because I’m finding that I can’t be reading anything else at the same time and my local library seems to have cleared the backlog on my request list. I’m aiming to read it during my spare moments this weekend (which may just be Saturday night — Jon has Acquire the Fire and Daniel will be at a Respite Night). Meanwhile, I’m having major cartacacoethes.

For more Quick Takes, visit the fabulous Grace at Camp Patton.

Surviving the NICU

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For those who don’t know, Jen Fulwiler of ConversionDiary.Com had her baby on April 8th. He has some breathing issues (unrelated to Jen’s pulmonary emboli) and is at a different hospital with better NICU facilities. She’s out of the original hospital but Joseph’s hospital is 30 minutes away. Priest’s Wife of Fear Not Little Flock put together a post on surviving the NICU and I thought I’d share my own wisdom as the picture below represents life for us 4 years ago.

Daniel being baptized on April 10, 2009

[+] Be gentle with yourself. It’s hard having a kid in the NICU. You get to cry as much as you want. If nothing else, you’re post-partum and it’s in the job description. You also need to take care of yourself though which means that you need to make an effort to eat, sleep, and do whatever you have to do to be functional.

[+] Ask LOTS and LOTS of questions. If you have qustionas and the doctor isn’t around, write them down and ask him when he rounds. (Oh yes… find out what time rounds are and be present for them.) There are no stupid questions when it comes to your baby. Want to know why they’re giving your baby a transfusion? Want to know what your child’s blood volume is? (I’m not kidding — I did actually ask the last one.) Ask away.

[+] Be as hands-on as you can. My son Daniel had specific care times at specific intervals. Our NICU encouraged me to be as involved as possible with them so I would take his temperature, change his diaper, and do anything else they needed done. It was good for me because I got to know what his baselines were and learned how to do things like bathe him without having to take a class. It also helps you know when there is something going on that needs attention. Something I didn’t know was that blood oxygen levels for preemies should be between 85-95% — anything higher can cause blindness.

[+] Engage in as much “kangaroo care” as possible. It has been empirically proven that “kangaroo care” (skin-to-skin contact with mom or dad) is beneficial to your baby as it helps them regulate their temperature and breathing. One of the best memories I have is of Daniel falling asleep on my chest. I also had the experience of him puking on my chest and having to remove my bra because of all the puke. 🙂

[+] Get the number for the NICU so you can call if you can’t room in with your baby. We couldn’t room in with Daniel until the end so I’d call the NICU before I left for the hospital and then when I got home. (I had a 2 hour commute each way so my favorite nurse actually instructed me to call when I got home.) I even called at 3 a.m. a few times when I needed an update.

These are my thoughts 4 years later. If you have any wisdom to offer, leave it over at Fear Not Little Flock.

Five Favorites: Literary Small Towns

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Five Favorites

My brain is consumed with literary devices and plot details for a NaNo piece so you’re getting another meme. Yay!!! This one is created and hosted by the illustrious Hallie Lord of Moxie Wife. When you finish reading this, go congratulate Hallie on her new baby Charlie who was born on April 4th.

Anyway, here are five of my favorite literary small towns where I enjoy disappearing when I read.

Un

Alpine, WA. It’s a former logging town that disappeared when the mill closed in the 1920’s. Author Mary Daheim’s family lived there and one of her series of murder mysteries takes place in the town with the premise that the town would still exist today. I think the closest real place would be the town of Skykomish along US-2 going over Stevens Pass. Having lived in small towns, I can completely picture it in my mind’s eye and being a wannabe Washingtonian, it’s one of my favorite places to escape.

Deux

Partonville, IL. This is the fictitious town created by Charlene Ann Baumbich (who used to read this blog) where Dorothy Wetstra lives in the “Dearest Dorothy” books. It’s halfway between Chicago and St. Louis and other than Dorothy, the main characters are Katie Durbin, a city slicker from Chicago who moves there to find her roots, Katie’s son Josh, and a number of other townspeople. It’s another small town where I can picture the layout and I can totally see myself sitting at the counter at Harry’s Grill with Arthur Landers and acting mayor Gladys McKern.

Trois

Pickax. This is the small town setting of “The Cat Who…” mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun. Local millionaire James “Qwill” Qwilleran solves mysteries with the help of his Siamese cats KoKo and YumYum. I can also see the offices of “The Moose County Something”, the library where Qwill’s beloved Polly Duncan works, the theater in the old Klingenschoen mansion where plays take place and the apple barn where Qwill lives during the more temperate seasons of the year.

Quatre

Colleton County, NC. This is the setting for the Margaret Maron mysteries that deal with Judge Deborah Knott. I would argue that these are some of the best murder mysteries you will ever read. She’s the youngest and only girl of 12 kids, married to a sheriff’s deputy, and step-mom to his son. I love reading about the cases brought before her and some of the places she is sent to fill in for district judges around the state. The stories about her family are awesome and I can get completely lost in one of the mysteries and picture myself there.

Cinq

Mitford, NC. I would be a bad pastor’s wife if I didn’t mention Mitford, especially as I have the Jan Karon books almost completely committed to memory and my copies are falling apart. Having been in a ministry position (well… psuedo-ministry because I’m not ordained), some of the things that Father Tim does show a lack of boundaries, codependency, and a host of other things… but it’s also its own place and you minister to the people you have in front of you. I have a mental image of Lord’s Chapel, Fernbank, the hospital, the rectory, and all the other places you encounter.

OK now… go congratulate Hallie and read the lists of some other people.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: April 8, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY April 8, 2013

Outside my window… dark. We just got back from So Cal where it rained hard this morning, blew the car around going over the passes on I-5 between LA and Bakersfield. It was windy during most of the drive home and temperate when we rolled in around 7:45 p.m.

I am thinking… about way too many things right now which is why I’m blogging to empty my brain.

I am thankful… for our house sitter who shampooed our carpet in the living room. Can we say “going above and beyond the call of duty?”

In the kitchen… food brought home from my in-laws.

I am wearing… black Arabic “We will not be silent” shirt and navy blue “Left Behind” shorts.

I am creating… nothing at the moment.

I am going… to hope my packed week stays relatively quiet.

I am wondering… what my dreams will hold tonight.

I am reading… Maphead by Ken Jennings. I also finished a bunch of Mary Daheim “Alpine” murder mysteries this weekend.

I am hoping… for interesting dreams tonight.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Friday.

Around the house… unpacking to do.

I am pondering… too many things.

A favorite quote for today… “I must say my prayers today whether I feel devout or not; but that is only as I must learn my grammar if I am ever to read the poets.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Coca Cola.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer/editing tomorrow, Daniel’s well-child appointment on Wednesday, WIC appointment on Thursday, eye appointment and massage on Friday, and Respite Night on Saturday night.

A peek into my day… My in-laws’ new cat Tony.

My in-laws' new cat Tony.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

What I Wore on Sunday: April 7, 2013

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What I Wore on Sunday

I’m down in southern California with my in-laws for Daniel’s FOURTH BIRTHDAY right now so my very awesome mother-in-law watched the little bear while Jon and I went to our old church down here. (Let’s just say that after last week’s behavior, my mother-in-law thought it best to let us have a Sunday off from chasing him and all.)

Me with Miss Felicity

Jon was my photographer again and he didn’t get my feet. Oh well. It was cold when we left so I have my nice warm Jameson fleece on over my shirt. Describing my outfit,. it was a green v-neck shirt, a long (ankle-length on me) denim skirt with slits in the sides, and my brown sandals that are probably… 8 years old.

Fleece: Jameson distillery in Ireland (hand-me-down from my parents).
Shirt: Foot Locker.
Long denim skirt: hand-me-down from my sister-in-law.
Sandals: Naturalizer.
Cat: Felicity, one of my in-laws’ 5 cats.

Go see some MUCH better-dressed ladies over at Fine Linen and Purple.