Category Archives: Personal Issues

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 8, 2015

Posted on by

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 8, 2015

Outside my window… dark. It was lovely and in the 70’s today though I kind of wish we could have had the storm that hit my parents’ house in the Bay Area.

I am thinking… about my friend Katie who is 38 weeks pregnant with her daughter and a pre-e survivor like me. I’m hoping she can carry to term and have a successful VBAC.

I am thankful… for my church community and for our leadership who really try to foster a family atmosphere.

In the kitchen… sitting here in darkness. I had some teryaki chicken and potatoes from Trader Joe’s earlier.

I am wearing… my Online Debate Team shirt and capri-length sweats.

I am praying for… the right call for Jon to come up, for some of my friends who are due this month, for healing of the flare-up of my foot injury, and for help in discerning various aspects of my life.

I am going… to bed soon. It’s 10:30 already.

I am wondering… whether I should do the virtual walk for the Promise Walk this year or do it in the Bay Area with my mom or head down to San Diego. The one in San Diego is over my birthday weekend so it might be kind of fun to spend the weekend down there with just Jon.

I am reading… Murder with Puffins by Donna Andrews. I’m also doing this Bible-reading program. Right now, I’m just finishing Exodus in the Old Testament and starting Mark in the New Testament.

I am hoping… to get my Lenten discipline nailed down soon.

I am looking forward to… Wednesday when I have some church things. Yippee!

I am hearing… the fan on my laptop. The house is silent otherwise.

Around the house… stillness.

One of my favorite things… sleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week: taking my mother-in-law to allergy shots tomorrow, doing all my church stuff on Wednesday, and whatever comes up in the course of the week.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

New Year’s Questions!

Posted on by

Beth Anne tagged me for this meme (that she procrastinated in filling out). I have no desire to tag anyone so I’m just doing this for fun and to have something to do while icing a swollen foot.

Four names that people call me:

1. Jen

2. Jenni

3. Lepicat (college email address)

4. Jenni-fur (mother-in-law)

Four jobs I have had:

1. Camp counselor

2. Library Assistant

3. Bookseller (Barnes & Noble)

4. Administrative assistant for an import brokerage owned by UPS

Four movies I have seen more than once:

1. Forrest Gump

2. The Princess Bride

3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

4. The Birdcage

Four books I’d recommend:

1. Surprised by Joy

2. What’s So Amazing about Grace?

3. A Year of Biblical Womanhood

4. The Chronicles of Narnia

Four Places I’ve Lived:

1. Santa Cruz, CA

2. Bexley, OH

3. Madison, MN

4. Galata, MT

Four Places I Have Been:

1. Dublin, Ireland

2. Lethbridge, Alberta

3. London, England

4. Salt Lake City, UT (Not Mormon but I seriously love SLC!)

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:

1. A redwood forest

2. Asleep

3. Seattle

4. Not staring at laundry to be put away

Four Things I Don’t Eat:

1. Broccoli

2. Spam

3. Thai food

4. Mexican food

Four of My Favorite Foods:

1. Sushi

2. Lamb gyros

3. Lamb kebab

4. My mother-in-law’s chocolate peppermint vegan cupcakes

Four Things I’m Looking Forward to This Year:

1. Making healthier choices

2. Possibly getting my mid-life crisis tattoo

3. Seeing what God has in store for me 🙂

4. Daniel hopefully starting to talk more.

Four Things I’m Saying:

1. “Seriously?!?!?!?!?”

2. “Yeah… no.”

3. “What the fur?!?!?!?!?” (I live in a house of cat-punsters.)

4. “Gentle hands!”

Four People I’m tagging:

Nobody. 🙂

7 Quick Takes: Latin Woes, Why You Should Not Watch the Jordanian Pilot Execution Video, and More.

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

I despair at the state of our public education system. An eighth grade girl in Vermont suggested that Vermont adopt a Latin motto and the Senate minority leader of the state decided to take her suggestion up in the state legislature. Things go horribly awry as various Vermont citizens flip out about adopting a state motto in “Latin” because *gasp* it might have something to do with Latin-Americans, also known as “illegal immigrants”. Reading some of the comments made my inner grammar Nazi convulse.

— 2 —

New Year’s resolution update: plank challenge. As I mentioned last week, I didn’t get to finish the plank challenge and I am not able to hold a plank for 5 minutes straight. However, I am still able to consistently plank for more than 60 seconds each and that in itself is pretty amazing. I might repeat the challenge again later this year and see if I can do better then.

— 3 —

There’s sane and then there’s Kelly. I’m sure many of you have seen the 23 tips for sane eating, right? Kelly of This Ain’t the Lyceum decided to add a few of her own. 🙂

— 4 —

New Year’s resolution update: Bible reading. In the Old Testament, I’m through Genesis and into Exodus now which means lots and lots of information on the various commandments and laws being put into play. (My reading on Wednesday had to do with the priestly garments and how to make them as well as the various specifications of the altars and the sacrifices offered.) In the New Testament, we crucified Jesus. Definitely not the most uplifting reading! On the plus side, we got to resurrect Him today and I’m loving all the Psalms I get to read.

— 5 —

Pick my Lenten discipline for me. I’m raffling off the right to choose my Lenten discipline for me. Click here for more information. The only rules are that it has to be doable (bread and water is not as I’ve got health conditions that preclude that) and I have to be able to do it around my schedule with Daniel. Otherwise, BRING IT!

— 6 —

Got picky eaters? Here are 32 kids who are hilariously picky eaters. Scarily enough, I know some adults who are worse! I’ve had co-workers who will not eat foods that are touching other foods on principle.
*

— 7 —

Simcha nails it again! I really recommend the piece by Simcha Fisher where she talks about the dangers in watching the execution video of the Jordanian pilot and ties in the watching of Fifty Shades of Gray. She mentions this post by Marge Fenelon and I agree wholeheartedly with it. There is no good that can come from watching it.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 1, 2015

Posted on by

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 1, 2015

Outside my window… dark. Yet again, I’m writing after everyone else has gone to bed.

I am thinking… about some of the things I’m hearing in the Rachel Held Evans video I am listening to. I seriously want to be her when I grow up.

I am thankful… for the snuggle and nap with Daniel during the Super Bowl.

In the kitchen… darkness as I sit in here typing.

I am wearing… my Online Debate Team shirt and black sweats from Target.

I am praying for… healing from my fibro flare-up, a call for Jon, some special intentions, and for the needs of my #Cathso chicas.

I am going… to be spending tomorrow morning scanning auto loan paperwork to email to my credit union.

I am wondering… if I need to order more yarn for Daniel’s “big boy blankie”.

I am reading… Yarn Over Murder by Maggie Sefton.

I am hoping… I get some entries for my giveaway in which I’m offering the winner the option to pick my Lenten discipline.

I am looking forward to… Bible study at church on Wednesday morning. I’m the youngest by quite a bit but it’s fun to go and listen and the other women there are wonderful.

I am hearing… the Rachel Held Evans talk.

Around the house… darkness.

A favorite quote for today… “Now invariably after I’ve gone through this whole litany of things [on what millenials want in the church in terms of social justice], someone in the back will raise their hand and say, ‘So what you’re saying is we need a cooler band?’ And I proceed to bang my head against the podium.” — Rachel Held Evans

One of my favorite things… time to just sit and read.

A few plans for the rest of the week: lots of walks (with my foot taped up — gotta love bursitis!), bonding with my core ball, errands, Bible study and inquirers class on Wednesday, and whatever else come up.

A peek into my day… the video I have been referencing!

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Car Buying, Sick Kids, and Jen Hating Planks

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Pick Jen’s Lenten Discipline 2015. The second annual “Pick Jen’s Lenten Discipline” giveaway starts today and goes for ~2 weeks. Click here for details.

— 2 —

Panic attack myths. If you get panic attacks or love someone who gets them, I highly recommend you read this.

— 3 —

Progress on the plank challenge. I accidentally abandoned it this weekend as I had too much going on and then was taking care of Daniel who decided to scare the pants off of me and spike a fever of 104F. Instead of going back and making up missed days, I decided to just do 4 60-second planks this morning… and found that being up for 60 seconds was a piece of cake… something that it hadn’t been at the beginning of the month.

— 4 —

Some interesting perspectives on the vaccination debate. There is an outbreak of measles stemming from an unvaccinated person and I’m seeing a lot of things left and right about it. There are parents writing letters to parents with unvaccinated children, someone on BuzzFeed showing what measles looks like, and someone talks about their kid having to be quarantined because someone brought a measles patient to the doctor and the kid was too young to vaccinate, forcing the parents to quarantine her for a month.

And as always, here’s the opposing viewpoint (who I do not endorse and think is seriously misguided).

— 5 —

Small world. I was my father-in-law’s “plus-one” for the Respect Life Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Saturday and was walking with him to an accessible ramp for his walker when I hear the words, “Hello Jen!” I look up and it’s a seminary classmate of mine who is apparently representing the same pan-Lutheran group as my father-in-law. Once we found our assigned seats, he came back to where I was sitting and we caught up on the last 12 years since we have run into each other. It’s pretty pathetic that this is the first we’ve seen of each other because right now we live about 5 miles apart. Still, it was good to see him.

— 6 —

New Year’s resolution update. The read through the Bible is going well. I’ve gotten through Genesis and am in Exodus in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, I’m almost to the crucifixion scene in Matthew. I’ve also discovered some new Psalms (new to me, that is) that are really pretty.

— 7 —

Car-buying. Jon’s car decided to die on the 57 last Friday and repairs were going to be $3000. The car was only worth $1000 so we had to come up with another car for transportation. (The situation we’re in at the moment makes being a one-car family pretty impossible.) Thankfully, his mechanic had a used 2003 Volvo station wagon for sale and allowed us to purchase it for under the Kelly Blue Book value. (It is in impeccable condition.) Currently, I’m trying to get loan stuff done so I’d appreciate your prayers as I’m working on all of this over the weekend.

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

7 Quick Takes: NFC Championship Game, Police Lip-Syncing, and

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

NFC Championship Game. I was watching the game in Seattle with my extended family which was pretty entertaining because Green Bay was shutting out Seattle until almost the 4th Quarter… and then came back to win in OT. I think it’s probably for the best that my long-suffering sister-in-law (she’s married to my evil twin) wasn’t watching the game with us — she’s a Green Bay fan and there would have been some good-natured abuse directed at her.

— 2 —

Crocheting. The yarn for Daniel’s big boy blanket arrived just as I was leaving on Friday so I stuffed a couple skeins into my laptop bag and started the blanket while flying to Seattle. I’m almost two skeins in and had to order more because I’m pretty sure that the 5 skeins I have are not enough. Oh well… I’ve got about 2.5 months to get this done and I can catch-up on all my TV stuff while I work on it.

— 3 —

Apparently, some people think I’m “sheenazing”. Click on the image to vote for me in the “Best Blog by a Non-Papist” category. Please and thank you. 🙂

I'm Sheenazing.

While you’re voting, I’d really appreciate your votes for Mary of Passionate Perseverance in the “Most Inspiring Blog” and the “Miss Congeniality” categories. She deserves to win both this year purely because of how much encouragement she gave to us other moms of special needs kids while she was watching her daughter Courtney slowly die. She is honestly a bright spot in the Catholic blogosphere.

— 4 —

Totes amused. I have relatives who are in law enforcement so I’m finding this pretty awesome. 🙂

I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I know a Taylor Swift song…

— 5 —

This is pretty cool. A Massachusetts teacher won $150,000 and donated it all back to the school. Ellen had her on the show and gave her a few surprises. This video seriously restores some of my faith in humanity and it also makes me love Target even more.

— 6 —

Coming attractions. I tried writing the post on being a Titus 2 woman last night but fell asleep. I’m going to try and get it up this weekend.

— 7 —

New Year’s resolution updates. Today’s plank time was 3 minutes. I am having some bursitis issues so I’m having to do a modified version of it. I tried being up for the whole 3 minutes but had to quit halfway because Jon needed to get into our room to get ready for pastoral meetings. (I was doing the plank on the floor of our bedroom.) Oh well… I can try for the whole 3 minutes tomorrow!

The Bible reading is on track and I’m really enjoying it.

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

7 Quick Takes: Let’s Pretend This Has An Interesting Title

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Washington bound! I’m flying to Seattle with Daniel tomorrow to see my grandmother. She’s doing OK right now (for the most part) but she’s 94 years old and my mom and I are of the opinion that it would be good to see her before it’s “too late”. (My mom is paying for our tickets and is going to be watching Daniel so I can spend some uninterrupted time with my grandmother and not have to chase him down the hall.) I’ll also get to see my evil twin and his wife again as well as other members of my extended family who I haven’t gotten to see in a really long time.

— 2 —

Ellen Degeneres pwns a critic. A pastor and self-proclaimed cultural commentator published something in the Christian Post about Hollywood and the gay agenda allegedly espoused by the entertainment industry, calling out Ellen Degeneres for “celebrat[ing] her lesbianism and ‘marriage’ in between appearances of guests like Taylor Swift to attract young girls.” Ellen replies in the video below.

— 3 —

Thankful. My mother-in-law offered to let me take yesterday afternoon for myself while she watched Daniel. I was able to get some prayer time in and get some computer work done before heading to something at church. Thanks Victoria! You are the best mother-in-law in the world!

— 4 —

MapMyRun. Is anyone else on MapMyRun? I’m definitely not a runner but I track my walking mileage on the site. If you are, let me know and I can add you as a friend.

— 5 —

Seriously?!?!?!? Seriously?!?!?!?!? I don’t know how many of you heard about the woman’s funeral that was halted 15 minutes into it because the pastor found a picture of her kissing her partner. This is probably not going to be a popular opinion but… I am seriously pissed off by this.

Why am I pissed off?

Because the church where this took place was founded by the pastor and his wife to be a place where people fighting drug/alcohol addictions and gang violence — it’s a place that was founded to minister to outsiders. Yet, the pastor (who could have refused the funeral up until the time it started) decided that this woman was not worth his time once he found out that she was a lesbian. Seriously dude, she was a child of God and you were being asked to help her family pray for her and remember her, not perform her wedding.

— 6 —

Prayer request. This is related to the first Quick Take. I’m flying by myself with Daniel and would appreciate prayers for good travel, ease in getting through security, and ease in boarding the plane with him. Please and thank you! 🙂

— 7 —

Progress on my New Year’s resolutions. Let me just say that I *HATE* planks and my persistence in doing them is due to stubbornness on my part and not actual stamina. On the other hand, the Bible reading is going well and I *am* making it out to walk or at least do *something* most mornings that Daniel is in school.

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