Category Archives: Daily Life

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 3, 2016

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For Today… July 3, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dusk. It was sunny and around 74F this afternoon.

I am thinking… about what I have on my plate this week.

I am thankful… that Daniel is falling asleep, especially as we’re out of one of his evening ADHD meds and we can’t get another supply until Tuesday because the script I have for it is written by an out-of-state doctor. Due to all the [insert expletive] who get scripts from out-of-state doctors to abuse meds or who steal prescription pads to get meds to abuse, they have to call and verify that Daniel’s psych actually wrote the prescriptions and is authorized to prescribe them. I seriously bite my thumb at these [insert expletive].

One of my favorite things… re-runs of Leverage.

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes were a wrap dress with a camisole and a cardigan with black flats. The rest of the day, it was my “We will not be silent” shirt and jeans.

I am creating… furniture and boxes of stuff for Goodwill.

I am reading… Fear Babe still. I have a decent drive to the house where we are having dinner tomorrow so I’m hoping to get a chunk read during that time.

I am hoping… that I can do reasonably well in all the Workweek Hustle challenges for Fitbit that I am part of this week.

I am learning… how handy I actually am these days. I managed to assemble furniture largely on my own (some of the holes were badly drilled so I had to borrow my dad’s drilling skillz) and I can do some repairs on my own.

In my kitchen… dinners with family for the next couple days. Tonight was fish, potatoes, salad, and pie.

In the school room… Daniel starts ESY up here this week!

Post Script… I’m finding that this post hits every note I was trying to hit while writing a post with my reaction to things in the news.

Shared Quote…

Opinions and coffee.

A moment from my day… What can I say? I’m not even remotely a morning person.

Why you really shouldn't mess with me before my morning coffee...

Closing Notes: If you’re considering a vote for Trump this fall, read this. You need to know what your candidate and his minions support.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Mississippi State Reps, Donald Trump Insults, and the Like

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Out of touch. So I haven’t actually read my Bloglovin’ feed in probably… a month? If anything fabulously interesting has happened and you’re someone whose blog I read regularly, could you leave me a comment? Please and thank you! 🙂

— 2 —

Why I am thankful I don’t live in Mississippi… The mother of a little girl with type 1 diabetes was having a tough time getting Medicaid/CHIPS to pay for her daughter’s insulin and diabetes supplies (which cost ~ $2500/month) so she wrote to her state lawmakers to see if they could help. One of them, Rep. Jeffrey Guice decided to reply:

“I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?”

*facepalm*

Simcha Fisher responds more politely than I would.

— 3 —

Scottish insults to Donald Trump read by a true Scotsman. I’ll throw up a trigger warning for language and for negative Donald Trump content because some people don’t like reading that their presumptive candidate is a bloody moron. In any case, it’s incredibly funny and involves David Tennant.

The next night, there was some follow-up discourse on Brexit. Again, there’s a trigger warning for language.

— 4 —

I have mad skillz, yo! I took this lovely Buzzfeed skills inventory and got 81 out of 100 based on my inability to cook eggs (to which I am allergic), drive a stick-shift, change my own oil, and sew. My great-aunt Jean saw it on my Facebook wall, took the inventory herself, scored a 92, and left a note on my Facebook wall to let me know her score and that I need to keep learning these skills all my life. Yes folks, she’s she’s 93 years old and she’s on Facebook. She still lives on a farm outside of Kalispell, Montana and raises ornamental chickens to show. If I was close by her again, I would totally declare a girls weekend and road-trip across Highway 2 (through Glacier National Park) for some one-on-one time to learn the skills I don’t have which I’d love to have her teach me.

— 5 —

Nice kitty… A video of a cougar swimming in a lake has gone viral.

What a bucolic scen– wait… I know where that lake is! (It’s an hour from me.)

— 6 —

Required baseball take. THE GIANTS BEAT THE A’S. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! THE GIANTS ARE 6 GAMES AHEAD OF THE LOSERS IN LA IN THE NL WEST STANDINGS. YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

— 7 —

A well-deserved shout-out. I showed up for worship at my grandparents’ church here and the priest spoke before worship… well, actually she *chanted* before worship that the organist was out of town so all of us sitting the pews were the musicians for the day. The hymns were all very well-known ones and one of the choir members played the opening notes so we could at least start in tune. Rev. Helen is an amazing vocalist and she led us in chanting the psalm. I think the best part was the recessional hymn which was “Amazing Grace” and people were singing it in 4-part harmony. It was awesome to have people there other than myself who can sing and lead music!

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

{five favourites}: Christian Music That I Need to Hear

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#5Faves

I was all ready to do a miscellanea post and was having a hard time coming up with things until I was searching for YouTube videos for “No Longer Slaves”. My search convinced me that I needed to do another post of my favorite Christian songs that I’ve heard on the radio lately or that speak to some part of me.

One

“Diamonds” by Hawk Nelson. I was switching between radio stations on my drive north from San Jose to northern Washington and this one kept coming on. Pretty soon, I was driving up I-5 singing it. 🙂 (Why yes, I *DO* sing along to the radio while I drive.)

Two

“My Lighthouse” by Rend Collective. I love the metaphor of God as a lighthouse that I look to for guidance of what lies on the shoreline and how to get to a place of safety in a storm. Them filming the video on a working fishing boat was also pretty cool.

Three

“Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective. I seem to share this one every few months but I seriously love the video for it. I mean, incorporating Salvation Army trumpeters and fire jugglers into the same video is pretty creative. Not to mention, they’re from Belfast and I love their accents.

Four

“To Live is Christ” by Sidewalk Prophets. With the amount of life changes I’ve faced this year, I can always use a reminder that I need to be focusing on Jesus in all of this and that my suffering is not something that He doesn’t know. One of the things drawing me closer to Catholicism on my faith journey is their understanding of suffering and how it is a part of life but can be redeemed.

Five

“No Longer Slaves” from Bethel Music. The song has been out for awhile but it came on the local Christian radio station this weekend and I fell in love with it yet again. It’s one that I need to listen to often to remind me that I don’t have to be afraid and that I am a beloved child of the Most High. It can bring me to tears, y’all.

The radio version is here:

Go love up Bonnie, babystylista, and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 26, 2016

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For Today… June 26, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was a beautiful and sunny day with temps in the 70’s.

I am thinking… about the re-assembly of some pieces of her bedroom furniture which will be taking place tomorrow with the help of her dad and a drill. *bites thumb at IKEA* Mom might want to hide the flame thrower for another few days…

I am thankful… for the soft grey beast at my feet. He’s not the brightest cat in the world but he is a love.

One of my favorite things… Tillamook ice cream. *drools*

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes this morning were a black patterned top, my black slacks, and my very awesome Naturalizer flats. (These are seriously the best dress shoes I have ever owned.) After church, I went with my charcoal shirt from Old Navy and my black capris from Kohl’s. (Yes, I was wearing this last week. I have a tiny wardrobe, OK?)

I am creating… this blog entry. 🙂

I am watching… Mythbusters. I heart science, engineering, and big explosions.

I am hoping… we can get my dresser and nightstand fixed tomorrow. Failing that, I’m hoping IKEA is willing to ship some new parts.

I am learning… that it’s a bit painful to pound a wire nail into one’s finger. (Don’t ask. Just don’t ask.)

In my kitchen… frozen dinners tonight. We’re still not in the groove in terms of cooking here.

In the school room… Daniel starts ESY next week. Yay!

Post Script… Here are some interesting conspiracy theories in which people believe. *goes off to make some tinfoil hats for people she knows that do actually believe that stuff*

A moment from my day… Daniel helping my mom with the yard.

Daniel helping with the yard.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Assembling Furniture and Other Events This Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Brexit. So the UK just voted to leave the European Union, Scotland voted to stay in, and Ireland is talking about unifying.

Yeah, I think the next Mad Max film will have something to do with the British Isles.

— 2 —

Furniture assembling. My IKEA furniture arrived on Tuesday so I spent Tuesday night and Wednesday assembling the furniture. I got 4 pieces of furniture assembled, managed to hammer a wire nail into one of my fingers, poked another finger with another nail, and hammered one of my thumbs. Given that my fingers are grumpy and stiff right now, my mom might want to hide the flamethrower for another few days until everything is assembled and my boxes are completely unpacked.

— 3 —

Prerequisite baseball take. The Giants are 6 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West standings. Just sayin’.

— 4 —

Required basketball take. I’m from the Bay Area so OBVIOUSLY I was watching the game on Sunday… and booing the Cavaliers like mad because LeBron James is seriously lame compared to Steph Curry and the Warriors still had a better regular season than the Cavs could ever hope to have. It was a close game to the last minute and I’m looking at seeing what the Warriors can do next year!

— 5 —

The Senate sit-in. Y’all, I’m proud of the Democratic Congresscritters for their sit-in (especially as it was for an actual issue instead of Ted Cruz’s filibuster which was purely for the sake of filibustering and not for any discernible reason) but seriously, singing “We Shall Overcome” was a bit too campy. Could you pick a more appropriate song?

— 6 —

Oooohhh… flannelgraph. The Babylon Bee story about Trump aides hurriedly teaching him Bible stories ahead of his meeting with evangelicals sounded a whole lot like the truth instead of satire. Again, just sayin’.

— 7 —

A big reason to move to Washington. It’s been chilly and rainy here for the last few days and every so often, I’ll look at my phone and thank my lucky stars that I’m not in northern California or southern California where it will be in the 90’s or in the 100’s in the next few days. I seriously prefer cold to excessive heat. I have found my tribe up here.

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

{five favourites}: Miscellanea (LXVI)

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#5Faves

One

Jet City Pizza. Our new next door neighbor always brings pizza to his new neighbors and brought us a large Hawaiian pizza (pineapple and Canadian bacon) from this pizza place. It was A-FREAKIN-MAZING! The crust was insane and was like pizza done on a loaf of French bread. I’m having a really hard time deciding which pizza to try next.

Two

Whidbey Coffee Company. I had another latté from Whidbey Coffee Company yesterday and it was fabulous. I’m all about supporting the local coffee companies. 🙂

Three

Tillamook ice cream. Did y’all know that the people responsible for the good cheese also make ice cream? Not surprisingly, it’s pretty awesome.

Four

Thunderstorms. I’ve really missed living in a place with actual weather. Even better, it hasn’t gotten above 80F since we moved up here. I will totally take the migraine from the pressure changes any day over triple digit heat!

Five

Grey cats. I have one exploring my room at the moment and probably inspecting the underside of the bed I put together tonight. Hopefully, he decides to come and be snuggly.

Go love up Bonnie and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: Father’s Day 2016

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For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… a nice sunny day with temperatures in the low 60’s. I’m loving the climate here in Washington.

I am thinking… about my to-do list this week and what needs to go in my brain planner.

I am thankful… for this quiet morning.

One of my favorite things… a decent vanilla latté. I got mine from Whidbey Coffee Company this morning.

I am wearing… a charcoal shirt from Old Navy and capris from Kohl’s.

I am creating… this blog entry. 🙂

I am listening to… the Intermezzo channel on Dish Network. It’s peaceful chamber music.

I am hoping… we’ll have Internet this Tuesday!

I am learning… my way around Skagit County.

In my kitchen… dinner for 16 at my grandmother’s house tonight!

In the school room… met with the school district this week about Daniel. I expected 4-5 people. There were 12 (!!!!) comprising every type of support possible for him. I’m pretty excited for next year. 🙂

Post Script… I thought this was kind of interesting. 😉

Shared Quote… “Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and go well with ketchup.”

A moment from my day… Today’s Psalm from church (Psalm 43).

Closing Notes: I’m going to be writing a post about various events in the media at some point in the next week. Stay tuned!

Hosted by The Simple Woman.