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.

5 A.M. Musings

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For some odd reason lately, I’ve been waking up at 5 a.m. and it takes me forever to get back to sleep because my brain won’t shut up. I’m finally being proactive about it and getting up, using the bathroom, making myself some instant breakfast, and putting on a podcast. However, these are my thoughts this morning.

Michael Morris, one of the Quick Takes bloggers, has blogged on occasion about his son Tommy who has holoprosencephaly, a brain abnormality that occurred in utero. (Basically, the brain didn’t separate into hemispheres or something? His blog has an entry that explains it.) One of his posts from June talks about how he would just like to be Tommy’s dad and not his advocate and I totally resonate with that. One thing mentioned is going to Applebees and having to explain the situation to the waitresses and the looks he would receive.

I mention all that because I deal with it when it comes to Daniel. He’s not verbal yet (though he has figured out ways of communicating) and I have to explain to people that he isn’t going to wave at them. What has been really wonderful is that there are some for whom that doesn’t matter. Some of the people in the drive-thru at McDonald’s wave and talk to him anyway and the people at Trader Joe’s will have conversations (albeit one-sided) with him. I can’t put into words how much better it makes my day when people do that. Doing it grants him personhood in a way that seems kind of duuuuuuh… but that people forget to do.

OK… back to sleep for me!

7 Quick Takes — Reformation Day, NaNoWriMo, and Anything Else That Comes to Mind

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7 Quick Takes

I was a bit enamored with baseball last week so I think this Quick Takes might just combine two weeks into one. Seriously though, it was an awesome World Series and I’m glad St. Louis messed with Texas and that David Freese was MVP.

— 1 —

Reformation Day was Monday. It’s the 494th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. (Yes, I’m linking this on a Catholic blog. I’m Lutheran, so deal with it!) It’s the closest thing Lutherans have to a Catholic saint’s feast day so we live it up. (Yes, we like the saints. We revere them. We’re not so big into asking them for intercession though.) Since we observe it on the Sunday preceeding October 31st, the altar is red/white which led to some jokes this year about it being a celebration of the Cardinals winning the World Series. Here’s a link to some Reformation Day humor. Keep in mind that all these things are meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

— 2 —

I’m on track to win NaNo so far. I’ve made my minimum word counts each day and am trying to actually go slightly over so that I have a cushion on days when writing that much isn’t possible. I don’t have any 8 hour drives coming up so I should have plenty of writing time.

— 3 —

Plotting for NaNo is a little harder this year. I’m trying my hand at general fiction and this means not having people to kill off like I would in a murder mystery. (I’d do a murder mystery but nobody has pissed me off enough to want to kill them… yet.) Ideas are always welcome.

— 4 —

The creative killings for charity are back again this year. Make a food pantry donation, let me know where you made it, and tell me how you want to be killed off. I’m jen at grace-filled dot net. The only rule is that there can’t be any ritual cannibalism, galatining, or anything too gruesome. We’re killing people creatively for fun here, not for a slasher horror competition.

— 5 —

I’m trying out PangurPad this year. So far, I’m kind of unimpressed. It’s not letting me do any fonts and very little formatting which is annoying me. Then again, I have a free account for NaNo and I doubt they’re rolling out the good stuff for someone who isn’t paying for it. A founding membership is only $45 AUD which is $46.79 USD and it’s a one-time payment so I may consider that if I win NaNo this year.

— 6 —

Daniel was Pooh Bear for Halloween. I seriously should have done a dry run with getting his costume on because it took tears on his part and almost on my part to get his head through the zipper hole. He was very cute though and we had a good time. The only problem was that we ran out of candy and I had to raid his stash to take care of the last trick-or-treaters. (On the other hand, it got rid of some of the candies I hate.)

Pooh Bear

— 7 —

I just looked over and saw that Jon had gotten horse shampoo for himself at the dollar store. When I questioned him about it, he said he liked what it promoted: longer hair. (For the first time in his life, he has more hair than I do.) He’s asked me to stock up on carrots and oats. I’m getting scared…

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 31, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 31, 2011

Outside my window… sunny.

I am thinking… that I need to head to CVS at some point to get a postcard to send to Russia for Postcrossing.

I am thankful… for my weekend with my parents. Mom and I watched Game 7 of the World Series on Friday night (an unusual bonding activity since neither of my parents are sports fans), we went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday, we got Daniel some cool new shoes, and we went to the local playground on Sunday. Oh yes… there was also the NCIS marathon on USA on Saturday. 🙂 (We don’t have cable or satellite so it was a treat to be able to watch it.)

From the learning rooms… a good session with Daniel’s child development person today.

In the kitchen… tuna that my dad put together for me this weekend. (He makes the best tuna EVER.)

I am wearing… black shirt and Jon’s Left Behind shorts. (My standard “around the house” clothes.)

I am creating… NaNo stuff and the super-secret crocheting project.

I am going… to carve up some pumpkins today.

I am wondering… what to dress as when I take Daniel trick-or-treating tonight.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame by Heather King. It’s amazing — I just have to read each chapter in its entirety.

I am hoping… I can hit 50K words in November for NaNo.

I am looking forward to… trick-or-treating tonight.

I am hearing… Daniel rearranging stuff in the living room and Catholic Weekend on iTunes. (Why yes… I’m Lutheran and I listen to Catholic podcasts.)

Around the house… vacuuming that I need to do.

I am pondering… many things in my heart.

One of my favorite things… Almond Joy candy bars. I’ve got two bags of the mini ones on top of the fridge that I’m trying not to eat. So far I’ve succeeded.

A few plans for the rest of the week… trick-or-treating tonight, therapies this week, and Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… My parents’ grey cat Homer somehow sustained a gaping wound to his right front leg that took forever to find. They had to sedate him to stitch him up and the poor grey Pooh Bear has to wear an Elizabethan collar until his stitches come out in a week and a half. He decided that he would take up residence under their bed so every few hours, I would extract him and brush him before escorting him to the garage for his commode. The love paid off — he was Mr. Tummy for me on Saturday night (and he is the best tummy ever) and he was actually out and social on Sunday.

Homer

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — The World Series

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7 Quick Takes

I related my major massive news yesterday. As this is the first time I’ve watched the whole World Series, I figured I’d make it the subject of the Quick Takes.

— 1 —

OMG GAME SIX!!!!!!! I was hoping the Cardinals would pull it out of the bag but I never expected them to go into two extra innings, for so many errors to be committed early in the game, and for so many runs to happen in the last innings. It was freaking INSANITY.

— 2 —

Derek Holland is from the town where Jon did his pastoral internship. When we discovered this, we started playing “6 Degrees of Separation”. We think that he probably had some of Jon’s parishioners at the internship site as teachers. I don’t remember hearing about him when I was there but I also didn’t follow high school sports because none of our kids played anything.

— 3 —

We’ve been trying to figure out who the MVP will be. For the Rangers, we’re thinking Derek Holland and possibly Mike Napoli or maybe Neftali Feliz. For St. Louis, it would be Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, or David Freese. I’ll be interested to see whether I’m right.

— 4 —

I’m rooting for the Cardinals as the Rangers used to be owned by our former president and I am trying not to hold that against them. It would be a nice thing if Texas won because they never have but I’m glad that St. Louis is giving them a run for their money. Both teams seem to be equally matched so it’s been fun to watch.

— 5 —

Game 4 on Sunday was pretty impressive. Derek Holland should really get the MVP honors if the Rangers win. He pitched 8 1/3 innings which is hugely impressive and he shut out the Cardinals. It will be interesting to follow his career because he’s only 25 and has some of the best years to come.

— 6 —

I was a little perturbed at a St. Louis fan. One of the Rangers players was retrieving a ball that had gone into the stands and a St. Louis player called out, “you missed it!” I honestly wouldn’t have blamed the Rangers player for throwing a punch and it showed class on the part of the Rangers player that he didn’t respond back. Seriously dude (referring to the fan), learn some manners.

— 7 —

I’ll be in San Jose with my parents tomorrow and am hoping to be able to watch the game. My parents aren’t big sports fans and I’m hoping we can have the game on so I can listen. If tonight is any indication, it should be an awesome game.

**UPDATE**
I got to watch the game with my mom (a rare bonding thing for us because my parents aren’t into sports and we were happy to see St. Louis win. It was a great series and I do feel some pangs for Texas because it would have been cool to watch them get their first win. David Freese was the MVP (called it!) and it was, I think, even cooler because he’s a hometown boy.

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

Massive Major News

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Daniel has been walking with his physical therapist for about the last month, the last few weeks holding on to an object in the false idea that he’s holding on to something to help him balance. (Think Dumbo’s feather.) Well, he walked all by himself with S (his physical therapist), Jon, and I following him. I thought that this is great but it would be awhile before he walked on his own and of his own intention.

Well… last night, he just walked over to me. He let go of whatever he was holding and walked by himself. (Yes, I know he’s 2.5 years old and most kids walk by the time they’re 1.) This is massive major news for us and a BIG development toward him being independent and catching up with his peers. I am so incredibly thankful to God that we’ve FINALLY hit this milestone. Granted, he’s not doing this 100% of the time… but he can!

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 24, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window… sunny and in the 70’s.

I am thinking… that it’s almost November and we need some cooler weather and maybe even some rain.

I am thankful… that Daniel is taking his nap.

In the kitchen… nothing cooked yet though I’m sitting here eating garlic-stuffed olives from WinCo.

I am wearing… black shirt and Jon’s Left Behind shorts.

I am creating… NaNo plots and the second half of the super-secret crocheting project.

I am going… to Bible study tonight.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux by Heather King.

I am hoping… that it’s a quiet week.

I am looking forward to… heading to San Jose for the weekend.

I am hearing… Catholic Weekend on iTunes. I’m their token Protestant listener.

Around the house… floors to clean.

One of my favorite things… Crystal Light lemonade.

A few plans for the rest of the week… Daniel’s therapies, errands, and heading to San Jose on Friday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… Daniel at the pumpkin patch yesterday.

Daniel at the pumpkin patch.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — More of the Same

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

I need to apologize to someone. Elia of ConservaMom has been referring to the Occupy protesters as “dopes” and instead of just ignoring her site and not reading it (which is what I do when I come across sites that make me want to throw things), I left a really terse comment. She responded to all my points more gracefully than I deserved and I owe her an apology for the comment I left. Elia, I’m sorry. In the future, I’ll just skip her blog on the Quick Takes list. I also still resent her calling the Occupy protesters “dopes” but it’s something on which I’ll have to agree to disagree with her.

— 2 —

The shots of Morgan at the end of CSI this week reminds me of the way I feel like I look at the end of the day. For those who aren’t CSI addicts like I am, she had been in a helicopter that had been hijacked and shot down. There are a lot of days where I feel like I’ve had all those things happen during the day. Yes, I’m a stay-at-home mom and yes, I only have one child. However, Daniel isn’t your normal child and I feel like I’m constantly on my toes trying to reinforce what we do in therapies and also trying to keep the “terrible two’s destructiveness” to a minimum.

— 3 —

KFC has a new famous bowl which features bacon and cheese. I can’t believe people eat stuff like this. It’s mashed potatoes, chicken, cheese, and bacon in a bowl. They were talking about it on KLOVE on Wednesday with people calling in and playing “can you top this?” with worse foods. One mentioned was on the Denny’s menu and it’s a patty melt with mac n’ cheese in it. My dearly departed gallbladder is seizing in a specimen jar someplace.

— 4 —

Speaking of food, I made quinoa for the first time this week. For those not in the know, it’s a “pseudo-cereal” grain-type plant from South America that is a complete protein and has a number of nutrients like iron and calcium. It looks like birdseed and it has a nutty flavor that’s kind of like that of some wild rice components. Daniel didn’t care for the texture though I ate it quite willingly. (I had made my family’s chicken recipe and the sauce will make anything taste good.) I’m scanning all my recipe websites for other things to do with it because it’s not something that would work with pesto. (The grains are too small — it really does look like birdseed.)

— 5 —

I’m currently reading Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux by Heather King. I’ve gotten partway into the introduction and I think I’m going to have to read the chapters in their entirety like I would an essay. It’s so new that it’s not available for my e-reader so I have an actual paper copy. (I like my Nook but I also love real books.)

— 6 —

We have a new speech therapist for Daniel. His former speech therapist is having surgery so Easter Seals put us with a new one. She’s a sweetheart and just engaged Daniel in whatever he wanted to do, which was putting things into a sorter and opening/closing the doors of it. (I learned the signs for “open” and “close” today.) It was educational for me because it showed me that I need to stop flipping out about Daniel not engaging and going with the program. As my mom reminded me, these therapists get paid to do this and it’s not the first time they’ve dealt with an obstinate child. His new therapist is also just going to piggy-back on whatever we’re doing in other therapies.

— 7 —

I have had to change some of the names in my NaNo piece to protect the stupid. If I were to ever edit my piece and submit it for publication, I would have to go back in and redo all the names of the stupid people because I based them on the initials of the real life people from whom I was drawing the inspiration. (Believe me… there could be some really good slander suits if the real life people could reasonably connect themselves to what I wrote.) So… I’m having to go back into my plans and do a “find and replace” — I just wish OneNote gave me the option to replace whatever I found.

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