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: A Week of Being A Single Mother

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7 Quick Takes

Jon gets in tomorrow afternoon after having been in St. Louis for our denomination’s National Convention. It’s been a better week for Daniel and I than it was last October.

— 1 —

I’m actually making an effort to see people. I did Morning Prayer with someone two mornings this week, I went to Breakfast Bunch (usually the senior citizens of the church getting together), and I led Bible study on Thursday. I also had someone coming over to help with Mt. Dish Pile on Wednesday even if I spent the rest of that time by myself with Daniel. Even this little introvert needs to see people.

— 2 —

Daniel is in summer school. It actually freed me up to get things done that I wasn’t having to entertain a three year old for 14 hours straight minus any therapy times. School is 4 hours and it makes him tired enough that he needs a nap. That gives me about 2-3 more hours to get things done at home. We also have a set routine down so I don’t have to worry about him going to sleep. Jon calls and I put him on speakerphone so he can pray with Daniel which is the cue for the bear child to hibernate.

— 3 —

I know certain things about Daniel that I didn’t know then. I didn’t know how much Pediasure 1.5 would make him throw up so I ended up cleaning up kid barf multiple times. Now I know that I need to space out any cans of it that he drinks. I know how to keep him entertained now (especially as I don’t have to do it for 14 hours straight) and we’ve got more at our fingertips than just our worn-out Winnie the Pooh DVD. (God bless Netflix!)

— 4 —

I’m getting better at self-care. OK… I’ll admit that I didn’t get a shower until Wednesday night again but it was because I forgot rather than I couldn’t leave Daniel to do it. I have also been keeping up my habit of retreating to the living room after he goes to bed to work on web things and just have some “mama time”. The only downside is that I keep falling asleep in the recliner after I pray and waking up with a stiff neck.

— 5 —

I’m less concerned with making everything perfect. I’ve lost my perfectionist streak when it comes to life with Daniel, mostly because I just end up making myself overly fatigued and there are so many things that just don’t matter. Daniel ripped off his diaper and shorts? He can run around bottomless for a few minutes. I fall asleep in the recliner? The living room and hallway are Daniel-proofed and he’ll hand me his wet diaper if he needs it changed. (He’ll also hand me his sippy cup, snack cup, and whatever else he wants fixed.)

— 6 —

I have some projects to engage my mind. I’ve been crocheting and working on a Bottle Challenge as part of Brett’s Blogathon 2012. I also led Bible study this morning and working on that gave my mind something with which to engage itself. (It was Acts 17, one of my favorite passages.)

— 7 —

I have some house help. We’ve been helping out a young family in our parish by paying them to help with yard work, housework, and stuff like that. It doesn’t amount to a lot of money in the long run and it helps me out tremendously on days when moving is painful. The mother called yesterday and asked if she could come work for me and I told her that it was fine as long as she stayed and hung out a bit afterwards. She did all my dishes (we had a ton of them to do as we entertained over the weekend and don’t have a dishwasher) and did cat care stuff. It was worth every penny I paid her not to have to deal with those things while my joints were achy yesterday.

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

The Winners in the SCOTUS Decision on “Obamacare”

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I should probably mention that the Obama administration *likes* it being called “Obamacare” because it shows that they do care.

So… I thought I’d post a picture of the winners of the Supreme Court decision.

We win!

Wait… isn’t that — yes, that’s Jon and I with Daniel 3 years ago. Obama had only been in office for 2 1/2 months when Daniel was born prematurely. His NICU bill alone was $254K and with all the x-rays and specialists, the bills were close to $300K. Last year’s hospital stay in March totaled more than $500K when all was said and done. The provisions of the Affordable Care Act keep there from being limits on lifetime medical coverage (which I’m pretty sure we could hit easily with Daniel) as well as there being laws prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions which is actually in place in California today. This means that my little medical mystery child will always be covered. (Medicaid is also a lovely thing as they’ve paid the majority of what insurance hasn’t covered.)

I didn’t ask for all the pre-existing condition designations placed on me after having HELLP Syndrome with Daniel and I didn’t ask for Daniel to have to be delivered prematurely at 29 weeks. God willing, insurance companies will not be able to deny me coverage based on pre-existing conditions come 2014. I am thankful, however, that the provisions in place now cover Daniel and I’m thankful to every representative and senator who voted it through.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 25, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY June 25, 2012

Outside my window… sunset. No idea how warm it was today — I wasn’t really outside for much of it.

I am thankful… for Sara’s package.

In the kitchen… dishes, dishes, and more dishes.

I am wearing… charcoal shirt and black sweats.

I am creating… assorted things.

I am going… to the store for apple juice. (Back now.)

I am wondering… why some people think that someone signalling a lane change with a turn signal is a cue to speed up and keep them from doing so safely.

I am reading… Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart.

I am hoping… this week goes smoothly with Jon gone.

I am looking forward to… Bible study on Thursday.

Around the house… dishes to do from Saturday’s dinner party. My kingdom for a dishwasher!

I am pondering… way too many things internally.

One of my favorite things… snuggling with Daniel after his bath.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Breakfast Bunch on Wednesday and Bible study on Thursday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

I Might Be A Geek…

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I was surfing the Quick Takes on ConversionDiary.Com and one set from Angie of Many Little Blessings mentions the question of whether the city of Constantinople is still called “Constantinople”.

The first thing in my head was…

(wait for it)

OMG THE “THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS” SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I frantically searched through my iTunes and discovered that it had gotten deleted somehow so I *IMMEDIATELY* went to iTunes and downloaded it. Then I proceeded to sing along with it TWICE while swing-dancing with Finian (my excessively fluffy cat who did NOT approve of this foolishness) and then with Daniel (who enjoyed it immensely). We had to pause “Winnie the Pooh” for all this.

(And yes, Finian is irritated and not speaking to me at the moment. He also still hasn’t forgiven me for the “Zoot Suit Riot” Incident of 2003.)

**UPDATE** I realized there are people who might not have *gasp* heard of either song. So….

7 Quick Takes: Travel Memories, Prayer Requests, and a Trivia Question

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Daniel starts back to school tomorrow. It’s not the regular school year — it’s summer school (an hour shorter each day) and goes for a month but it will be a good thing. Daniel needs structure and consistency and it’s a bit hard to get that when he’s home with me. I do my best to replicate his schedule at school (and to keep his naps consistent) but it’s better to have him with teachers who know what they’re doing. During the summer, they have water days on Fridays so we’re supposed to send a swimsuit and swim diapers to school with him. Daniel should enjoy that.

— 2 —

My trip down to southern California last week was awesome. The flights were mostly good — Daniel learned how to take off his seat belt on the way back so I had to hold it on and howled about that — but he slept most of the flight home. My father-in-law was ecstatic to have us down there and he spent as much time as he could with Daniel. We’ll back down in two months and I’m going to try and have us go down on long weekends if at all possible during the school year even if it’s just Daniel and I.

— 3 —

Brett’s Blogathon will be on July 27th starting at 7 a.m. I’m trying to come up with ideas like having a spare change challenge and all this will be announced on the Blogging for Brett site.

— 4 —

The [insert expletive] heat has started. It was 105 on Saturday when I flew in from Ontario and 102 the next day. On Wednesday (the first day of summer), it was 97. I’m thankful that it’s cooling down for the moment. I *need* to do some walking and it’s hard to do when it’s eleventy billion degrees outside.

— 5 —

After my grumpy post on Tuesday, I should probably enumerate some *good* things that happened on Tuesday. Les Schwab fixed my tire for free because it was my first time there. (We had been at the park while the tire was changed.) The woman at Michael’s gave me a really cool bag left over from their giveaway for me to use for the yarn I bought. (The recipient of the yarn product reads this blog so this is all I can currently say…)

— 6 —

I have a prayer request for y’all. My college friend Brian just had back surgery and is in a world of pain. This is the guy who carried me like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder to the health center whenever I’d sprain my ankle, forced food down my throat when I was too depressed to eat, and who is my incredibly wonderful surrogate big brother. Please pray for healing for him.

— 7 —

I have a trivia question for you. Where are the pictures used in my profiles taken? Here are the three I use:

A statue of Our Lady
Sunflowers
The ruins of the original church.

First person to answer correctly and tell me why this place is famous gets bragging rights. You may not guess if you are married to me or are related by blood or marriage. Combing my Facebook albums is also prohibited.

OK… Hevel got it right. It’s Mission San Juan Capistrano and it is the only mission in Orange County. There is one more trivia fact about why it is famous. Who can tell me? In an email, he got the return of the swallows. Thanks for playing everybody!

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