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: Bright Week Musings

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Bright Week. Bright Week is the week following Pascha (Easter) in the Orthodox Church and some other Christians use the term as well. Why am I using it instead of “Easter Week” or “the Octave of Easter”? No idea — I just like it.

— 2 —

Finally done! I took my last dose of Cipro today. Given how much nausea it has caused me in the last few days, I’m pretty thankful to be done with it. The bronchitis is wiped out as far as I can tell — I honestly didn’t realize how sick I felt all month until after the Cipro took effect and I started feeling *GOOD* for a change.

— 3 —

Interesting Easter song #1. I’m always looking for interesting Easter hymns to post at this time of year and this one is a flash mob Easter hymn from Lebanon.

— 4 —

Interesting Easter song #2. Here’s one from Serbia that seems to make the rounds on the pages of some of my friends who are Lutheran pastors. (I seem to have a fair number of Lutheran pastor friends who are closeted Eastern Orthodox.)

— 5 —

My favorite Easter hymn. This is an Easter hymn that has a special place in my heart because we sang it frequently at my high school church which is actually the church I am attending right now.

— 6 —

The prerequisite take on vaccination. Because, ya know, non-vaccinators don’t care if you die. I’m so thankful to live in a state that does not allow personal exemptions to being vaccinated and where many doctor’s offices are kicking out unvaccinated patients or requiring that they come into compliance with the vaccination schedule because of the risk to the vulnerable patients in the waiting room posed by kids with measles/mumps/rubella/pertussis whose parents were selfish enough not to vaccinate them or who listened to quacks online or on talk shows.

— 7 —

Mother Angelica. I was never a fan of Mother Angelica and I never watched EWTN other than during the Papal Conclave of 2013. However, she was quite a witty person and I found these sayings of hers quite humorous.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

{five favorites}: Miscellanea (LX)

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#5Faves

One

World’s Strictest Parents. It’s been enlightening to see how some of the parents are able to work with the kids that are sent to them. It’s further evidence to me of the need for very strong boundaries and expectations.

Two

Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry Juice. The Cipro tastes foul and this masks the taste of it. Thankfully, I only have one dose of it left!

Three

Being able to breathe again. I didn’t realize how incredibly sick I was until I started feeling better. Last week was definitely scary on that front.

Four

Laura of Coptic Dad and Mom. Girlfriend mothered me by Facebook messenger and email all last week, making sure I was eating and getting medical treatment. Her title “tasoni” means “my sister” and she is truly a sister to me, which I appreciate more than she will ever know.

Five

Jenny Lawson’s tribe. On Saturday, someone tweeted Jenny to say that they know depression lies but they were having trouble holding on. Not only did Jenny respond but so did a number of her readers. This resulted in Jenny’s Easter post in which she invited people to leave their Twitter handles and a description of themselves in the comments. I now have some new friends as a result. 🙂 I am also TOTALLY fangirling over Jenny sending me a follow request on Twitter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go love up Ashley and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 27, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 27, 2016

Outside my window… sunny. I think it’s supposed to get to 69F today according to Weather Underground.

I am thinking… about the wrap-up post on my Lent that I’ll be writing for Laura.

I am thankful… that Christ is risen and the world is different as a result.

In the kitchen… my dad will be making tenderloin tonight and we’ll probably have it with tater tots and caesar salad.

I am wearing… charcoal fitted shirt from Old Navy and khaki shorts from Kohl’s.

This morning’s Easter finery was a dress I got at Goodwill 6 years ago and have worn on a couple of other occasions. Don’t worry — I had a choir robe on over it for most of the morning so my shoulders were covered! (Pardon the messy room and unmade bed in the first picture.)

A full-length shot. Pardon the messy room and unmade bed.
Head shot c/o Rebecca.

I am going… nowhere else today. I’m enjoying being home.

I am wondering… if Daniel is going to get my bronchitis.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. Calmness is being shelved for the moment.

I am hoping… that I’m DONE with this bronchitis. I had flare-up #2 while by myself with Daniel this past week and was panicking about what I would do if I had to go to the hospital. Thankfully, Symbicort and a monster dose of Cipro seem to be knocking this remnant out. I *NEVER* get as sick as I’ve been this month so it has been really scary.

I am looking forward to… not being this sick.

I am hearing… Enya on the stereo, Daniel playing some game with Enya on his tablet, and the dishwasher running.

A Daniel story for today… I came home from church to find my parents’ two cats “nannying” Daniel:

Homer and Jethro taking care of Daniel.

Around the house… renovation projects being completed.

A favorite quote for today…

Dave Barry on coffee

One of my favorite things… Cadbury mini-eggs.

A few plans for the rest of the week: collateral services appointment tomorrow and games night on Saturday.

A peek into my day… Let’s just say that everyone is in agreement that I get to be the Easter Bunny again next year. (Yes, those are cans of Guinness in the Easter basket on the right. The recipient was over the age of 21 and allegedly doesn’t like sweets.)

Easter baskets for 2016.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

Taxes for Those Without Money Management Software

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April 15th (Tax Day) will be here in about three weeks and since my taxes are done and my method for keeping track of stuff worked, I thought I’d share it here.

You will need:

1 box business envelopes
1 manilla envelope
1 sheet blank address labels

What you need

You can do 1 of 2 things with the labels. You can either write on them very neatly or you can go into a Word program and create a new sheet of labels.

Here is my list of the generic labels I create:

Car Registration/Maintenance
Medical — Doctors/Dentists
Medical — Laboratory
Medical — Glasses
Medical — Equipment
Medical — Clinics/Hospitals
Education
Charitable Donations — Items
Charitable Donations — Money
Pay Stubs
W-2’s
Medical Insurance

Since Jon is a pastor, he is considered to be self-employed by the government and his labels include the following:

Travel
Meals Out (work purposes)
Gas (January to March 2016)
Gas (April to June 2016)
Gas (July to September 2016)
Gas (October to December 2016)
Dry Cleaning (his suits and alb are uniforms)
Post Office
Ministry Expenses
Wedding Expenses
Office Expenses

Create labels, print them out and put them on your business envelopes.

Write “Taxes 2016” on your manilla envelope or make another label for it.

The finished product

Use these labelled envelopes to keep track of your receipts and documents. Did you take a trunk full of stuff to Goodwill? Fill out that receipt (making sure to attach an itemized list of what you donated) and stick it in the “Charitable Donations — Items” envelope. Did you have to take some continuing education classes? Stick it in the “Education” envelope. Are you self-employed and had to drive 50 miles for something job-related? Write down your mileage and stick that gas receipt in the proper envelope.

What I love about the business envelopes is that they all fit in the big manilla envelope which means keeping track of them is easier.

The stuffed manilla envelope

At the end of the year, you can go through the envelopes and total everything up. I like to use Excel for this because I can actually just highlight a column and click the “sum” button to tally everything up. I am also a huge fan of It’s Deductible for helping me tally up my charitable giving. It helps you figure out what all your donated items are worth and how much you’ve given through the year. Best of all, it’s free so you’re getting to use the same software that all the Turbo Tax people use and not having to pay through the nose for it.

As far as doing your actual taxes, you can take them to an accountant or you can use tax software. When I was married to Jon, we had to use Turbo Tax Home/Business which can be pricey but I can usually get it for 40% off if I buy it at Costco or on Amazon and use the coupons that Intuit sends out in late January. I’ve been using it for our taxes for 10 years now and I can’t say enough about how much I love it. When I needed help with something in February, one of the Intuit people stayed on the phone with me for an hour as we troubleshot my problem and made sure I was able to get everything e-filed without a problem. TurboTax.Com even has a free option if your taxes are relatively uncomplicated.

This is what worked for me last year. I hope some of it is helpful to those who are reading it.

7 Quick Takes: Unofficial Quick Takes on Good Friday

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7 Quick Takes

Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum is on hiatus this week as her laptop is kaput and it is also the holiest day of the year during the holiest week of the year. Some of us are still posting unofficial quick takes though.

— 1 —

It’s baaaaack!!! Apparently, my bronchitis from earlier in the month never completely left and after being just a lingering cough for a couple weeks, it hit with a vengeance on Monday night which sent me into respiratory distress on Tuesday. Thankfully, the receptionist at my provider’s office handed him the phone and he told me that they would see me the second I walked in the door. They handed me over to the PA student doing an internship there who was absolutely wonderful, came up with a good treatment plan, sat there with his hand on my knee while I sobbed because I was so scared and had no back-up person to watch Daniel if I ended up in the hospital (my parents were out of town), got me hooked up with a nebulizer, and tried to find something he could prescribe that *wasn’t* Prednisone which gives a fairly volatile reaction. (It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire — we’re talking the mother of all panic attacks that results from Prednisone with me.) I saw the actual PA at the clinic on Thursday who said that my lungs are clear and the fact that I feel like I’m being waterboarded is probably because I have pretty bad bronchitis. After excoriating me for refusing Prednisone, he put me on a heavy-duty steroid inhaler and some Cipro to knock out the infection that the Z-Pack seems to have missed. I still feel really weak and I spent much of the day in bed or on the couch sleeping, but it does feel like something is finally working.

— 2 —

Pictures for today. Instead of posting Quick Takes, Kelly posted images of the crucifixion. Go check them out.

— 3 —

Some relevant music. Here is my favorite chorus from Handel’s Messiah that is pertinent to this day:

— 4 —

The specialness of this day. This is the last time in my lifetime that the Annunciation and Good Friday will fall on the same day (March 25th). It presents an interesting situation in which you have both a fast (Good Friday) and a feast (the Annunciation) and the interplay between Mary learning that she will bear a child and then sees him on the Cross 33 years later. I recommend reading this post on it as well as Jessica’s blog post for today which includes the pertient John Dunne poem written in 1608 when these two events fell on the same day.

— 5 —

The question of Christian seder meals. Simcha Fisher writes thoughtfully on why her family has a seder meal but the rest of us probably shouldn’t do it. Short answer: cultural appropriation which is something that has only occurred to me in the last couple years. I also did something stupid and read the combox. Big mistake. It’s annoying to me when people ignore what is written and try to insert their own rationalization for things and I have to give Simcha some credit for not going in there and completely shutting some of the people down.

For the record, I’ve been to seders at churches that have been reverent and well done and I’ve helped put on one at the medium security prison where I volunteered in Montana. I think the most meaningful Maundy Thursday food event for me was at my church in San Jose in 1997 when we had a potluck with readings and Taizé music interspersed it in it. I also echo Simcha’s words:

“If you want to engage your senses on Holy Thursday (beyond the foot washing, which let’s not even talk about. Feet feet feet. Lady feet, Muslim feet, more and more feet, twenty-four feet!), it would be fine to make some unleavened bread and some lamb and serve it with wine in your home. That will give you a small idea of what it felt like to be in that room on Holy Thursday, or what it felt like to be waiting with girded loins for the sign to flee Egypt.”

— 6 —

Another beautiful Good Friday hymn. I love the beautiful harmonies on this version.

— 7 —

So, um… about that Lenten discipline thing… My modified Coptic fast ended pretty abruptly on Monday when I realized that large amounts of chicken soup were going to be in my future. In all honesty, it’s one of the few things I haven’t cough/vomited up from the coughing. I’ll probably write a post for Laura talking about what I’ve learned. After all, she mothered me from afar all week — it’s the least I can do to thank her. 🙂

Have a blessed weekend, y’all!

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 20, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 20, 2016

Outside my window… dark. It was cloudy and around 71F earlier today. We had a couple sprinkles in my area and I think there was some rain in the hills.

I am thinking… that I’ll be happy with some more rain to tamp down the pollen. Everyone in the house who is awake is having to lie back propped up on pillows because we’re all coughing from allergies.

I am thankful… for a chance to be a reader for the Passion reading at the end of worship today. I did well enough that my priest is going to put me in the rotation to be a lector. Woohoo!!!

In the kitchen… my dad made steak tonight and it was incredibly tender. So good.

I am wearing… charcoal v-neck and black sweats. (I’m lying in bed in my jammies.)

I am going… to Target tomorrow for my prescriptions and some more cough drops!

I am wondering… when Jahi McMath’s family is going to accept that she is not going to wake up. I remember when her case happened in Oakland 2 years ago — there were pediatric intensive care specialists from all over northern California who were brought in to do tests (three who were not affiliated at all with the hospital) and all of them declared her brain dead. If they were to take her off of life support, she would be dead in a very short period of time. Her mom is arguing that her kid has the same rights as any other disabled kid and I understand her argument; but her “disability” isn’t the same as a kid who has cerebral palsy or Tay-Sachs or a kid who just needs oxygen at night. The machines are breathing for her and keeping her alive and at a prohibitively high cost of care. (Seriously, I don’t know how her family is affording that level of care.) It would be nore merciful to just her go gently into this good night… and I say this as someone who has had to sign paperwork for ECMO and who has watched their kid code.

I am reading… Calmness by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. I’m only at about 20% completion so my Holy Week is going to involve a bit of reading!

I am hoping… this bleeping cough goes away!

I am looking forward to… quiet tomorrow while Daniel is at school.

I am hearing… my dad knocking on my bedroom door. He just handed me a bag of Ricola and told me to start sucking on those because obviously my cough drops aren’t doing squat for me!

A Daniel story for today… Kiddo ended up with contact dermatitis as a result of playing on grass in shorts for a long time on Friday. The hives are better but I feel so bad for the kid that it even happened!

Around the house… people trying to go to sleep. So far, I think only my mom and Daniel have succeeded!

A favorite quote for today… “If you’d like to experience a profound #passionlive, please attend a local Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, or other church for the Triduum.” — a tweet from Rev. Laurie Brock while she was live-tweeting “The Passion”

One of my favorite things… my parents’ grey cat Homer who was asleep on my bed up until a few minutes ago. (He had appointments…)

A few plans for the rest of the week: errands tomorrow, collateral services meeting on Tuesday, Morning Prayer with Stations of the Cross on Wednesday, possibly Maundy Thursday worship on Thursday (I would have to bring the kid and it’s during his bedtime), Good Friday worship at noon on Friday, and Easter Vigil on Saturday.

A peek into my day… regardless of whether or not you believe in evolution, this is an interesting video.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.