Category Archives: Media/TV

#FiveFaves: Miscellanea (XXXIV)

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#5Faves

One

My Bible study. One of the ladies put on a tea for me this morning and we had quite a feast between the treats my mother-in-law sent for me, the scones/lemon curd/jam/tea that M brought, and the brownies that one of my choir people brought. There were only five of us but I couldn’t ask for five more wonderful women.

Two

A Screwtape Letter for the Unappreciated Mom. Someone in #Cathsorority posted this and I resonate with it so very much. Another way that Screwtape and Wormwood tend to work is through older women I encounter who start harping about how *THEY* never got to read books when their kiddos were little or how *THEIR* husbands never watched the kids so they could go have an hour or two of respite. Seriously, I wish these women knew how much their kvetching makes the young moms want to distance themselves as far from them as possible, causing them (in some cases) to leave the Church.

Three

This article on the measles. Because of my vaccine postings, several people pointed out this article on measles to me. For those in a “tl;dr” mindset, the gist is that scientists have discovered that measles effectively erases immunity to many diseases to which the body has seen before. When kids are vaccinated against measles, they’ve found a drop in mortality to other diseases. This, to me, is a pretty compelling reason to VACCINATE YOUR KIDS.

Four

Murder mysteries. Seriously, I’m loving my “cozies” (the genre of murder mysteries I tend to read) because they give my brain a vacation from the day-to-day stuff I’m forever thinking about and working through internally.

Five

The NCIS franchises. I got caught up on NCIS while I was in San Jose and I’ll be working on getting caught up on NCIS: New Orleans starting this week. I have some crocheting to finish and it should give me something to watch while I do.

Go love up Rachel and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 17, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 17, 2015

Outside my window… gray and cloudy. I’m wondering if more rain is in the future for my parents. (I’m up in San Jose with them for my birthday weekend.)

I am thinking… about a situation in my life right now. Unfortunately, I can’t give details.

I am thankful… for the visit with my parents and with my evil twin and his wife who came down from Washington for the weekend. They flew back north today so it’s just my parents, Daniel, and I tonight. The child and I head back down south tomorrow.

In the kitchen… steak on the barbecue and I think I smell potatoes in the kitchen.

I am wearing… light green shirt and black capris.

I am praying for… a full-time call for Jon, a safe trip back down tomorrow, for Daniel to acquire more speech, and for some special intentions.

I am going… to be walking a 5K on my 35th birthday (Tuesday) to raise money and awareness for preeclampsia research. Details are here.

I am wondering… about some things that need to be worked out when I get home.

I am reading… Tragic Toppings by Jessica Beck. I also finished Sinister Sprinkles and read Evil Eclairs this past week as well.

I am hoping… Daniel goes to bed without a fight tonight. Putting him to bed will be a chance for me to catch up on my NCIS backlog. Before we moved back down to southern California (and gave up having a TV), he used to fall asleep in my lap watching NCIS on Tuesdays while Jon had council meetings or Lutheranism 101. At my parents’ house, this is usually the easiest way to get him to sleep because it relaxes him.

I am looking forward to… my birthday on Tuesday.

I am hearing… Daniel’s tablet.

Crocheting… Daniel’s big boy blankie and the amigurumi stuffie.

A favorite quote for today… “Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’”
— Bob Dylan

One of my favorite things… Ghiradelli brownies with caramel. (It’s what we got instead of a birthday cake last night because neither Sean nor I like cake.)

A few plans for the rest of the week: driving home tomorrow, doing my 5K and PT on Tuesday, various things and my physical on Wednesday, and my nephew’s second birthday on Saturday.

A peek into my day… Sean and I playing on the swings at the park yesterday.

Sean and I on the swings.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: What I Write About When It’s Hotter Than Hell

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7 Quick Takes

It has been in the high 90’s here (I’m not kidding) and I’m up trying to get Daniel back to sleep in his own bed because I can’t sleep well when he is in mine. In other words, forgive any misspellings and grammatical errors — it’s late here and I’ll try to clean them up tomorrow.

— 1 —

Vaccine Take #1. Instead of trying to write an entire post on vaccination/the ethics involved/why Andrew Wakefield should be shot for what he did, I think I’ll do one or+ two Quick Takes a week on some things that the anti-vaxxers are saying. So…

One of the flip-outs I hear frequently is that vaccines contain thimerosal and OMG thimerosal has mercury in it and it causes autism. Ummm… no. Most vaccines are thimerosal-free (the exception being the flu shot and there is even a version that is free of it) and even after it was shown NOT to cause autism, it was still taken out of infant vaccines in 1999. In the mean time, autism rates have continued to rise.

As for the OMG-it-contains-mercury argument, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The mercury present in it is ethyl mercury (C2H5Hg+) which passes out of your body in 18 days. Methyl mercury (CH3Hg+) is the freaky nasty form of mercury that is bioaccumulative in the human body (as in “never goes away”) and in the environment. You are in more danger of mercury poisoning from a piece of kappa maki (a tuna sushi roll) than you are from the MMR vaccine. #OrganicChemistryFTW

— 2 —

Vaccine Take #2. Since I announced that I was doing a post on vaccination, I’ve had a couple people send me links to sites talking about how Andrew Wakefield is *gasp* SOOOOOO MISUNDERSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOD and HOW HE IS EXPOSING THE EVIIIIIILLLLL PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIIIIIIIIEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

Cry me a freaking river.

The man falsified results, paid children for blood samples at his kid’s birthday party, testified as an “expert” witness against MMR manufacturers (being paid handsomely by UK Legal Aid Fund in undeclared money), and filed a patent for his own version of the MMR vaccine prior to publishing his falsified study in The Lancet. Pardon me if I call out your testimony of his brilliance and wonderfulness as complete and utter B.S. #sorrynotsorry

— 3 —

Bridal shower present done! I finished the afghan for Jon’s cousin’s bridal shower on Wednesday. I’m incredibly grateful to my wonderful and awesome mother-in-law Victoria who helped me figure out how to weave in all the loose ends.

— 4 —

Vaccine Take #3. I was talking with some of the CathSo chicas about this and one of the other women mentioned that her daughters’ autism is likely genetic as there are other cases in the girls in the family. I’m perking my ears up at this not only because of the possible genetic link (Daniel’s is unquestionably at least partially a genetic thing) but mostly because about 80% of autism cases are found in boys. (I don’t think there is actually a girl in Daniel’s kindergarten class which is a special K-3 for kids on the spectrum.)

How does this relate to vaccines? Simple. I HAVE A KID WITH MODERATE AUTISM. DO PEOPLE REALLY THINK I’M STUPID ENOUGH NOT TO HAVE DONE THE RESEARCH ON THIS BEFORE VACCINATING HIM?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? #firstworldproblems

— 5 —

I wish I was making this up… I saw this news story about a Florida teenager bitten on the face by the water moccasin he kept in a pillowcase on his bed when I was reading comments on the ViperKeeper page and I’m honestly wanting bang my head against a wall. Srsly?!?!?!?!?!? YOU KEEP A FREAKING POISONOUS SNAKE IN YOUR PILLOWCASE ON YOUR BED?!?!?!?!?!?!? There is a reason it’s illegal to keep one without a permit!!!!!!

— 6 —

Prayer request. Please keep my mom’s family in prayer. Her cousin John passed away last night. It’s not all that surprising (at least to me) and it was a blessed release but it is still very sad. The one and only time I met him was almost 9 years ago at my grandfather’s funeral. Most of his ashes will be sprinkled in the mountains though some of them will go to the pioneer cemetery in Oregon where my grandfather and his siblings are buried. (John’s mother was my grandfather’s older sister and she passed away over 10 years ago.)

— 7 —

For parents of kids with autism. My friend Krystin tagged me when she shared this on Facebook. It’s a wristband for kids with autism that has a place to put phone numbers so parents can be alerted if the kid is found alone. Daniel’s last ID bracelet has a faded place where his name and our phone numbers are so I ordered one of these for him.

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

7 Quick Takes: Books, Funeral Fun, and One Last Adventure for Elizabeth

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Oh. Em. Gee. Rachel Held Evans’ new book!!!!! I mentioned the publication of said book in my Favorites a few days ago. I finally finished what I was reading and started it today. Let’s just say that I would publish some of my favorite quotes from it on this blog… but that would involve typing the entire book verbatim. I recommend that y’all go acquire a copy of it, especially those who are having conniptions over your kids “leaving the Church”.

— 2 —

Love. I helped out with a funeral at church on Wednesday and it was fun. (I know… how can a funeral be fun?) It reinforced the awesomeness of the community of which I am part and the part that pulled on my heartstrings the most were when members of the Wednesday morning Bible study saw me and gave me hugs, calling me their “sweet girl” and one of them telling me how much I enrich her life. (One of them is 94 and reminds me so much of my grandma that it almost brings me to tears when I get hugs from her.) Considering I’ve known most of them for only 3 1/2 months (as most of them attend the 8:00 service while I’m part of the choir at the 10:00 service), this is really sweet of them.

— 3 —

Kitchen cheat sheets. I saw this on Facebook and bookmarked it to share in my Quick Takes because it was pretty amazing and something I would totally laminate and use for myself. I’m almost tempted to laminate them and make a book with them for Jon’s cousin who is getting married this summer — they’re that good.

— 4 —

Going back to Rachel’s book… This article was linked and I think it would be something good for my mainline Christian friends to read — it’s about how to welcome disenfranchised evangelicals to your church.

— 5 —

Moved almost to tears. I was catching up on podcasts yesterday and was listening to some things that Frederica Mathewes-Green (one of my favorite authors) had to say. (She’s an Antiochian Orthodox priest’s wife — a *real* khouria unlike my poseur self.) One of the podcast episodes I heard was the Nativity Paraklesis done at her parish in Maryland. It was hauntingly beautiful — very foreign sounding musical settings to my decidedly western ears but just stunning in such a way that it almost brought me to tears in the middle of Starbux. You can listen to it here.

— 6 —

One last adventure for Elizabeth. I first found Elizabeth Dehority through Ginny’s blog a few years ago so I was tickled to see that Ginny and her family made it to Elizabeth’s funeral. Go read about it! Do it now!

— 7 —

Instead of a tattoo. Instead of getting a tattoo for my 35th birthday this year, I’ll be walking a 5K to raise money and awareness for the Preeclampsia Foundation. Details are here.

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

#FiveFaves: Miscellanea (XXX)

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#5Faves

One

People-watching in church. My B.A. in Religious Studies was focused around history and practice of various religions which fit into the fact that I love people-watching. I’ve found that my spot in the choir allows me to watch everyone and see what they do at various times in the liturgy. It’s pretty moving to watch a dad kneeling to light a candle with his 3 year old daughter or to see the guitarist I work with for the Contemporary Service kneeling and praying if he gets to church late. (I also love him because he kneels during all the parts I kneel for and it’s nice not to be the only one searching for a kneeler during the prayers.)

Two

“Hiding in plain sight”. A friend of mine coined this term to describe me sitting at Starbux by myself, listening to my iTunes, and just blocking out the outside world for a bit. It’s something I do on my Wednesdays off.

Three

Coca Cola. I gave it up for Lent but it’s St. Patrick’s Day today and a number of people I know usually relax their Lenten fast today. I ended up getting a Coke while I was out with my mother-in-law because I had a splitting headache from all the atmospheric pressure changes. (Weather-change migraines bite!)

Four

Donna Andrews. I’m reading her Meg Langslow murder mysteries and I am very hopelessly addicted. All of the titles have something to do with birds and the later ones usually involve some play on a saying or the title of an old movie. I’m currently reading We’ll Always Have Parrots.

Five

This Guinness commercial. When I visted Ireland almost 17 years ago, Guinness signs welcomed us into just about every town. I’m not a fan of it but the rest of my family are.

Go love up Melody (our hostess this week while Jenna loves on her behbeh) and the others.

7 Quick Takes: An End to an Intense Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

The color of the dress. There was a debate online today about the color of the dress that someone posted on Tumblr. (Here’s a link to one of the articles on it for those who are interested.) The answer: it’s blue/black or white/gold depending on the light and angle at which you are viewing the picture.

— 2 —

Thank you. Thank you to those who have emailed or messaged me on Facebook over the last few days to express your condolences on the deaths of Trail Kitty and Cullen. It means a great deal to me. I think I’m dealing better with Cullen’s death than Jon is because I was present for it and I know he didn’t suffer. It was also the humane thing to do because apparently, he was having problems moving.

I am eternally grateful to Audrey, the woman who adopted my boys, because she’s given them a wonderful retirement home as they are now retired church cats. She lives in a retirement community for church workers so it is definitely fitting.

— 3 —

Midweek Lenten Soup Suppers. For those of my readership who are Catholic or Orthodox, a number of liturgical Protestant denominations have midweek Lenten soup suppers where people sign up to bring soup and other people bring salads and desserts. (My husband’s internship supervisor commented on Ash Wednesday 2003 that “Catholics fast, Lutherans eat.” At my Episcopal church, 4-5 people sign up to bring soup (homemade or store-bought — both are acceptable), 2 people bring salads, 2 people bring bread, and 2 people bring cookies. Last night, we had four options: egg drop, tomato bisque, chicken tortilla soup, and goulash. I went with the goulash as I’m allergic to eggs and the tomato base of the other two doesn’t sit well with my stomach. It was different than the goulash I was picturing — it was macaroni, ground beef, tomato paste, and a little bit of cheese to hold it together. I definitely needed some comfort food and it did not disappoint! We also do “Lenten interest groups” and mine is on prayer, so that was pretty fun.

— 4 —

A “liberal” reason to hate Susan G. Komen. Some of my Catholic friends are against Susan G. Komen because they get funds from Planned Parenthood. Well… now there’s a “liberal” reason to hate them: they’re partnered with Baker Hughes, a fracking company. They made a $100,000 donation to Komen and are passing out pink drill bits to their fracking sites.

If you’re disgusted by this (especially as 25% of the more than 700 chemicals used in fracking are carcinogenic), sign this petition.

— 5 —

An update on the whole “read the Bible in a year” thing. I just got through Leviticus in the Old Testament which was pretty dry and I’m in Numbers right now which is only marginally better. This is probably why my AP English teacher told us to to read Exodus but not take note of all the specs for the ark of the covenant unless we wanted to build one. 🙂 I continue to be introduced to some wonderful Psalms (strangely, there are some I haven’t read before even though there’s at least one in the lectionary every Sunday) and I’m now into Luke’s Gospel in the New Testament.

— 6 —

Update on Lenten disciplines. When my mother-in-law saw me opening the last can of Coke in the house on Sunday, I may or may not have said something along the lines of “Yes, this is a can of Coke. Sundays are mini-Easters. Don’t judge me!!!!” Yeah… I’m doing just *SO* well at my abstaining of Coke for Lent. 🙂 Otherwise, my prayers are at least happening and I’m getting the extra reading done daily.

— 7 —

Keeping myself sane. Megan at Clearing the Sill of the World introduced me to the wonderfulness that is Tim Hawkins 3 Lents ago and I’m re-posting his “hedge of protection” sketch because it’s one of my go-to YouTube videos when I need some levity.

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

#FiveFaves: Things To Distract Me from the Suckiness of My Life At the Moment

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#5Faves

In the last 48 hours, the following things have happened: I’ve had to fight with Social Security only to discover that I’m being penalized for their screw-up, my parents’ Maine Coon passed away, I got a call from Cullen’s new mommy telling me that he would be having to be put to sleep today due to advanced cancer of the intestine, I took Cullen with his new mommy to his vet appointment where he crossed the Rainbow Bridge (so glad I did — he went peacefully within a minute and a half with his new mommy and I stroking him and scratching his ears), and I’m dealing with financial issues.

So… right now, I’m wanting anything and everything that can distract me from my desire to just pull the covers over my head and hide. Here are some things that are keeping me from losing my mind.

One

Crocheting. I’m sitting at $tarbux working on some amigurumi crocheting for a friend while catching up on some of my favorite shows.

Two

“All About That Bass” rendered by Straight No Chaser. Because tenors can be *SUCH* primadonnas!

Three

Inquirer’s Class. I’ve been attending an Episcopal Church since we moved down to southern California in June and I was invited to attend the Inquirer’s Class in preparation for the bishop’s visit in March to figure out what steps I would need to take to join. The answer is apparently Confirmation. So… I’m being confirmed on Sunday after 20 years of being Christian. (My mother-in-law’s response: “It’s about time you were confirmed!”)

Four

Tim Hawkins on going to a “hand-raising” church. If you’re familiar with megachurch worship, this will cause you to die of laughter. It’s one of YouTube videos I go to when I need a pick-me-up.

Five

Rice Krispies treats. They are my kryptonite.

Go love up Jenna and the others.