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.

101-in-1001: Recap

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My deadline was May 12, 2012 and obviously this post is 2 months late. Go me.

Here’s the list:

Faith
001. Keep a prayer journal for 3 months.
002. Read through the entire Bible in a year.
003. Participate in Taize prayer at least yearly.
004. Lead worship at least once.
005. Taebo six days a week for six weeks.
006. No soda for a month.
007. Yearly exams every year until deadline. (2009, 2010, 2011)
008. Get crown done on root-canal tooth in lower jaw.
009. Eat properly vegetarian for one Lent.
010. Keep Lenten discipline faithfully once during this time.
011. Do couch-to-5K.
012. Run in 5K race.
013. Participate in a triathlon.
014. Prepare all meals from scratch for a week.
015. Camp at least 5 times. (0/5)
016. Cook a 3-course meal over a campfire.
017. Lead a camp-style singalong.
018. Perform a serious classical work for voice.
019. Accompany a worship service on piano.
020. Play some Lorie Line as a prelude.
021. Write a Sunday school curriculum.
022. Write a VBS curriculum.
023. Write a Confirmation curriculum.
024. Grow an herb garden.
025. Plant a garden and harvest it one year.
026. Grow my own pumpkins for Halloween.
027. Make Daniel a Halloween costume.
028. Teach Daniel sign language.
029. Pottytrain Daniel.
030. Teach Daniel to read.
031. Have another child (if it is feasible health-wise).
032. Get my living will in order.
033. Participate in NaNoWriMo.
034. Raise at least $500 for Blogathon blogging on my own.
035. Do an independent blogathon for a worthy cause.
036. Give a speech or presentation of some nature.
037. Create a Powerpoint presentation for something.
038. Send out Christmas cards every year. (2009, 2010, 2011)
039. Learn how to tell what kind of wine goes with what kind of meal.
040. Bake a cake from scratch.
041. Visit Calgary.
042. Visit Seattle.
043. Visit the Woodland Park Zoo.
044. Visit Santa Cruz.
045. Visit the redwoods.
046. Visit Toronto.
047. Create a podcast and do 20 weekly episodes.
048. Stay caught up on dental care for two years.
049. Improve my BMI.
050. Meet three online friends. (1/3)
051. Attend an Orthodox Pascha.
052. Re-read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
053. Re-read all the Baby-sitter’s Club books.
054. Read the works of Beatrix Potter to Daniel.
055. Write an “I Believe” statement.
056. Write an article and have it published in a reputable non-web publication.
057. Write a “letter to the editor” and have it published.
058. Sort and cull book collection.
059. Twitter daily for three months.
060. Learn how to make decent iced vanilla lattés at home.
061. Learn to sew by machine.
062. Learn to knit.
063. Crochet at least three garments and wear them regularly. (0/3)
064. Crochet 4 items for Daniel. (0/4)
065. Acquire 3 UCSC garments. (0/3)
066. Read at least one semi-serious book per month for a year. (0/12)
067. Create a WordPress design for ::Meditatio:: from scratch.
068. Learn how to change my own oil.
069. Change a tire by myself at least once.
070. Eat venison.
071. Eat rattlesnake.
072. Eat elk.
073. Eat moose.
074. Create a crocheting pattern.
075. Make at least 5 wedding/baby shower presents from scratch. (0/5)
076. Write 10 Amazon.Com book reviews. (6/10)
077. Read at least 5 books recommended by Oprah. (1/5)
078. Host a game night.
079. Have a dinner party 5 times. (0/5)
080. Wear earrings on every work day for a week. (0/5)
081. Get a second piercing in my ears.
082. Make 3 pairs of my own earrings. (0/3)
083. Acquire 3 pieces of furniture from IKEA and put them together solo. (0/3)
084. Do ELW/LBW/BCP Morning Prayer six days a week for a month.
085. Give money to public radio during a pledge drive.
086. Give money to public television during a pledge drive.
087. Call in on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.
088. Eight glasses of water a day for a week.
089. See Great Big Sea in concert.
090. Attend a symphony concert.
091. Sing Handel’s Messiah.
092. Learn Arabic.
093. Learn Spanish.
094. Teach a Bible study utilizing a Koine Greek text.
095. Do a walk/run for charity.
096. Heal my knee.
097. Live without any regrets during this time.
098. Compile a recipe book.
099. Attend a professional sporting event.
100. Blog daily for a month.
101. Participate in a snowball fight.

I completed 19/101 which means that $82 will be going to charity. In this case, it will be Brett’s adoption account on Reece’s Rainbow.

Am I mad that I didn’t get more accomplished? Nope. It’s about setting goals to better myself and the fact that I got almost 1/5 of them accomplished is pretty good, given that I wrote this at a time when I was at a crossroads and had no idea where we’d be living in a matter of months or of what challenges we would face with Daniel.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 9, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY July 9, 2012

Outside my window… 93F right now. They’re predicting triple digits for the next few days so I really hope they’re wrong.

I am thinking… about this.

I am thankful… for Morning Prayer with Anne+ this morning.

In the kitchen… trying to use up contents of the freezer.

I am wearing… Survivor shirt, running shorts, and my Celtic cross necklace.

I am creating… this entry and stuff for Brett’s Blogathon 2012.

I am going… to stay inside with the A/C until we cool down.

I am wondering… how much of a nap I can get when I finish this entry.

I am reading… Death on Demand by Carolyn Hart.

I am hoping… my IBS issues settle down.

I am looking forward to… Ladies’ Night Out this week.

Around the house… dishes, dishes, and more dishes.

I am pondering… too many things internally. I need to purge my brain.

A favorite quote for today… “When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Crystal Light Peach Tea.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorrow and Wednesday, Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday night, Bible study on Thursday, and an Elk Grove trip on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

My Letter to the Editor

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Here is the letter I submitted in various forms to several Montana newspapers regarding the couple suing because their daughter was born with cystic fibrosis and they didn’t get to terminate their pregnancy with her. The papers were the Great Falls Tribune, the Spokesman-Review, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Since hearing about the lawsuit brought forward by Kerrie and Joe Evans of Gardiner, alleging that Kerrie??s right to the information that her daughter had cystic fibrosis was not given and thus her right to terminate her pregnancy was violated, I have struggled with the decision that it should be heard in court.

You see, I am the mother of a son with developmental delays and autism who was born 11 weeks prematurely when I developed HELLP Syndrome. It was only because my doctor caught it that both of us lived and my son ended up staying in the NICU at Benefis for two months. Two years later, he caught a cold which landed him in the PICU at UC Davis Medical Center with him intubated and me having to sign paperwork to put him on ECMO. ECMO was thankfully avoided when some simple ventilator changes caused an improvement but that night will haunt me forever. Another cold landed him in the hospital over Thanksgiving and we live our lives having to be careful of every cold or virus people contract around us.

What irritates me about all of this is that if my son had died in March 2011, every hour spent sleeping in the PICU bay, standing outside while codes were called on him, having to blog news on him because talking to people on the phone would cause me to weep uncontrollably would have more than worth it. Being his mother has made me an immeasurably better person.

I don??t doubt the emotional toll that having a sick daughter has taken on the Evans but I can??t help but sense that they view their daughter as merely an inconvenience rather than a child whom they love. I hope to God that I am wrong.

I don’t know if any of them will print it but I will keep all of you updated if they do.

**UPDATE** They printed it.

7 Quick Takes: 50 Shades of Guest Posting

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Beth Anne at Beth Anne’s Best allowed me to take over her blog this week. I’m not sure she’s going to let me do that again but hey… I did make the point that we can all help each other out. Maybe I should have published the parody of “The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends” about Catholics and Lutherans?

— 2 —

Thomas at Listening for the Shepherd is having me post his Quick Takes. He didn’t entrust me with his password which might be a good thing. It would be bad if I did a post of sheep jokes there. (Not that I would…) He and I did have a lovely snark fest on the Twitter regarding fundie things like eschatology, the creation/evolution debate, and The Da Vinci Code.

— 3 —

Something occurred to me regarding 50 Shades of Grey. If we as a culture stopped acting like sex was this big mysterious thing that is totally subversive and adopted the attitude that it has its place in the context of marriage, we probably wouldn’t bat an eyelash about the stuff in that book. Meanwhile, it’s a bestseller and there are off-color jokes made frequently alluding to it because we treat sex as this totally evil thing. I do like this Amazon.Com review though, especially the part where she summarizes it as “Twilight, plus some spanking, minus the sparkly vampires.”

— 4 —

I had to have my quarterly stabbing for blood on Tuesday and the venti mocha coconut frappucino with 2 shots blended in and protein power was both a good and bad thing. The good thing: it kept my blood sugar up so that I wouldn’t start puking during Morning Prayer, it helped me be productive, and it kept away the migraine that can happen when a fibro flare starts. The bad thing: it made me twitchier than a ferret and while I was able to be productive that morning, I completely crashed that afternoon and it triggered an IBS flare that I’m still fighting. (Blood work can trigger a flare of fibromyalgia and associated conditions in me.)

— 5 —

I’ve actually been turning the TV off at 9 p.m. lately. This means no “CSI” and no “The Mentalist”. I’m actually kind of enjoying it right now because it’s some quiet time which my soul has been craving. Instead, I listen to music or podcasts while working on writing, web stuff, or playing Facebook games.

— 6 —

Brett’s Blogathon 2012 is coming! It will be taking place at http://peacefulwaters.org/brett on July 27th starting at 7 a.m. I’ll have all my messengers posted and information on how to sponsor me next week.

— 7 —

Anderson Cooper is gay. Really? Huh. *goes on with the rest of my life*

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

Struggling Here

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Four months ago, I blogged about a Montana couple who had filed a lawsuit because their daughter was born with cystic fibrosis. They contend that the doctor, hospital, and childrens’ hospitals should have tested them so they could have aborted her and saved themselves emotional and financial stress. A judge ruled a week or two ago no the case (no link to the article because the Great Falls Tribune now requires a paid subscription) and said that the lawsuit could go forward.

W.T.F.??????????

Do they hate their child that much?!?!?!?!?!? I mean, it sucks to be them or the parent of any child with special needs but guess what… YOU DON’T GET TO PICK YOUR F-ING DESIGNER BABIES!!!!!!!!! Yes, their life sucks and yes, it is stressful to have a kid that sick; but their daughter will eventually grow up and learn to read and she’s going to discover that her parents would have aborted her if they’d had the chance. How exactly are they going to explain THAT?

As the mom of a son with autism and developmental delays, I can tell you that it is a really hard life and there are a lot of days when it is an absolute struggle to drag myself out of bed because I feel overwhelmed. It’s why I’ve built up a support system around me where I can call someone and say, “I really need prayer today” or “I really need to vent about how frustrated I am.” I’m far from perfect, I throw the best pity parties around, but I can’t imagine my life without Daniel. Almost losing him last March almost killed me and I still tear up and cry a year later at the memory of that night. My life is so much immeasurably better with him in it and his laugh makes up for all the stress of the emergency c-section, my pregnancy from hell, the NICU stay, the PICU stays last year, and the struggles to get him where he is now. IT. IS. ALL. WORTH. IT.

I just want to ask people to pray for this couple that they get out of their selfish mindset. Right now, it’s a struggle for me not to curse about them any more than I have.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 2, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY July 2, 2012

Outside my window… sunny and hot — probably near 90F.

I am thinking… that I hate heat.

I am thankful… for Morning Prayer with Anne.

In the kitchen… English muffin pizzas.

I am wearing… cammo green shirt and capri sweats.

I am creating… crocheting and a topic list for Brett’s Blogathon 2012.

I am going… to probably have to take Daniel for a drive to pacify him because he woke up grumpy from his nap.

I am wondering… if I’m going to make it until 9:00 (Daniel’s bedtime) — I’m sleepy.

I am reading… Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart and the latest Leslie Meier book.

I am hoping… Daniel calms down and I don’t need to take him for a drive.

I am looking forward to… Ladies’ Night Out on the 11th.

Around the house… a Cheerios tornado on the living room floor among other things.

I am pondering… many things internally.

A favorite quote for today… “You don??t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” — C. S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… sitting in the quiet and listening to the birds sing in the morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Bible study on Thursday and various errands throughout the week.

A peek into my day… My bottle for the Bottle Challenge for Brett.

My bottle for the Bottle Challenge for Brett

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Categorizing Myself

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Daniel went down early so after I had gone through all my bookmarked blogs, I started surfing around and came upon Patheos.Com. A few of the bloggers in my feed reader (Unequally Yoked and Barefoot and Pregnant) have their blogs there and as I’m an established blogger (almost 12 years of blogging), I’d probably be a good candidate, right?

Yeah… not so much.

I haven’t actually submitted a sample blog to them for consideration so it isn’t like they’ve rejected me but there are a few things that would have to be different for me to probably qualify to blog there.

[+] I’d have to actually fit into one of their channels. OK… obviously, I’m not Muslim/atheist/Buddhist/Jewish/Mormon so that part is easy enough. However, I’m an anomaly of a Christian. I’m not an Evangelical per se but I’m too theologically conservative to be part of the Progressive Christianity channel. I’m Lutheran so I definitely don’t fit in the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox channels either. I could probably fit the Family channel… except that my blog doesn’t always cover family topics (though I keep it family-friendly). I might be able to get in on the Spirituality channel but I abhor pop-culture religion. Sigh…

[+] I’d have to become better about updating here. I write only about twice a week on average. It’s not that I’m lazy — OK, actually I am most of the time — it’s just that I can sit here and look at a blank post for an hour and have no idea about what I want to write. Doing The Simple Woman’s Daybook is easy because I have prompts. Doing Quick Takes are harder because I have to find seven salient points on which to write.

[+] I’d have to be topical all the time. ::Meditatio:: is a blog whose purpose is to provide me with halfway-decent therapy and to “work out my salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b). While I’m definitely a religious sociologist and it interests me to watch people practicing their faiths and praying, I’m also a mom, a sacred music snob, a cat herder, a khouria, a preeclampsia survivor, someone who reads whatever they can get their paws on, and most importantly, I am a child of God who is doing her best to give her Father a good name. This blog is about all those things, not just the faith dimension of my life which is very fluid at this point and well… has been since I came to Christ (inasmuch as one can per the explanation of the third article of the Creed in the Small Catechism).

I guess I’ll be remaining here. It has been my home for almost 7 of the 12 I have been blogging and I quite like it.