Category Archives: Faith

7 Quick Takes — TV, Minivans, and ABA Training

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7 Quick Takes

It’s been a week of interesting TV, discovering my inner soccer mom (she doesn’t exist), and trying to figure out how to fit ABA techniques into my day with Daniel.

— 1 —

Being part of Quick Takes has been a blessing to me. I’ve learned a lot about myself, about interacting with others who may believe differently than I do, and I’ve found a community of people with whom I can discuss life. There are people who have helped me through Daniel’s autism diagnosis and others who I’ve been able to help through some things in their lives. Thank you to everyone who has emailed me and commented. You’ve helped me out a lot.

— 2 —

OMG CSI!!!! The episodes the last two weeks have been insane and I’m glad I got to see them though I had to watch the last part of this week’s episode online because I was dealing with Daniel puke during the last 20 minutes of it when it was on TV. Obviously, I’m sad Catherine is leaving the show but I’m excited to see what they do after her departure. I’m especially excited to see what they have in store for Brody.

— 3 —

The interaction at the end of Hart of Dixie this week between Zoe and Brick was touching. I’m sure that we’ll see that he still wants her to leave Bluebell but he was actually really warm and tender with her as he told her about Harley’s family. He had watched her put herself out there for ridicule in order to prove herself worthy of being part of “The Belles” and that included watching Lemon treat her like dirt. The best exchange of the episode was probably Lemon telling her to go out and milk the cow and not come back unless she had two gallons. Brick walks in and comments, “We have a cow?” Lemon’s response: “Today we do.”

— 4 —

I’m within the last 150 pages of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. Honestly, it’s like pulling teeth right now that they’re in with Galbatorix. I think we’re going to get the two views of the battle: Eragon’s and Roran’s for awhile. We know that either Eragon is going down or Galbatorix is going down — the two can’t be alive together. Part of me is dying to know what happens and another part of me is having problems reading about things not going well.

— 5 —

I did not watch the State of the Union address or the GOP response. Considering the number of my friends who live-tweeted it, I don’t really think I needed to. Instead, I had to deal with a sub-par episode of NCIS and a crappy episode of The Big Bang Theory afterwards. I decided to see what was on other channels rather than watch and I got to see ABC’s “Last Man Standing”. It’s OK — sort of on-par with “Home Improvement” but not quite.

— 6 —

ABA training went well. I understand the theories behind this method and I can see its benefits. The problem for me is that Daniel isn’t completely at the point yet where it is really effective. He isn’t exhibiting a lot of the behaviors that need to be extinguished so I’m having to find something/anything where I need to fix his behavior. Our home visit is on the 3rd and I’m afraid that all my efforts won’t be good enough. The idea is that we teach a skill and the skill I’m working on with Daniel is one of the base skills that have to be in place to teach the kind of skills they want us to teach. OK… enough being neurotic.

— 7 —

My car was in the body shop this week so I had a rental. They didn’t have any cars like mine at Enterprise so… they asked if a minivan would be OK. Having a cranky toddler with me, I said “sure”. The result: I have a Chrysler Town and Country to drive this week. It’s a soccer mom car and it’s a lot more car than I need even though it’s nice to have Sirius radio and the ability to sync my iPod with the car’s computer. Truthfully, I miss my Dodge Stratus.

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

7 Quick Takes — Laptop Shopping, The A-Word, and Other Parts of My Week

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7 Quick Takes

Daniel broke the W key off my laptop last night and I can’t get it back on — the key itself has plastic parts broken off. I can type well enough — it just feels weird to hit the little rubber knob for that key. So…

— 1 —

There is probably laptop shopping in my future. I’m looking at Lenovo and HP/Compaq. Jon has a Dell and I feel like my laptop (which truthfully is starting to have problems after three years) has fared better than his. Mine has also been transported a whole lot of places so I think all that transport has added to the normal abuse I put it through. I’ll let y’all know what I end up getting if/when I purchase something.

— 2 —

Daniel’s autism diagnosis was confirmed on Monday. A clinical psychologist administered the ADOS and she concurred with the previous suspicions of the MIND Institute and our Regional Center case worker. It was 4 hours from start to finish and I liked the psychologist doing the testing. She was really kind and you could tell that she cared and that she really viewed her job as a way of helping others. It was, however, mentally intense even though I was able to get into my NOOK during some of the testing. (I’m in the middle of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini and I think I’m going to download the entire series onto my NOOK, mostly to save bookshelf space.) My Regional Center case worker was with me through it which was good — I did need someone else there.

— 3 —

On Wednesday, I met with my local school district to start the transition from the Regional Center to the school district. Per the Lanterman Act, Daniel becomes the responsibility of the local school district at age 3 and will remain that way up to the age of 21 if necessary. (The reason is that at age 3, they transfer the focus from a medical one to an educational one.) As he turns 3 in a matter of months, we needed to get the ball rolling on what has to happen to get him transitioned. They told me about the various options, had me sign something authorizing testing, and set up the date/time for the IEP meeting. I also have specialized ABA (applied behavior analysis) training to go through for an in-home component of Daniel’s autism program next weekend. As I have to do it over Sunday, I’m in the process of putting together a team of people to take care of Daniel during church.

— 4 —

I finally found a copy of “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” on iTunes. You can find a Youtube video of it here. (I’d embed the video but WordPress is being cranky.) I love the hymn and we never sing it which saddens me. I’m sure it’s not as theologically brilliant as others but its simplicity is what makes it so appealing to me.

— 5 —

I’m so glad that Pauley Perette got to be one of the presenters for the People’s Choice Awards. I love her character on NCIS and she’s a prolific Twitter user. She’s also socially responsible and a Christian to boot. I also loved Kaley Cuoco hosting the show though I think either she or Tina Fey deserved to win more than the girl from “Glee”. (I’m not a “Gleek”.) Oh yes… the part of the opening with Neil Patrick Harris was awesome. The “Gleehab” pun was perfect.

— 6 —

Amy Wellborn has an interesting rant on “small groups”. It is indeed curious that the search terms leading to her blog recently have involved small groups because they’re kind of a Protestant thing, especially prevalent in megachurches or in chapters of national Christian organizations like Intervarsity. (Intervarsity, by the way, is not exclusively Protestant. My chapter had a sizeable Catholic minority in it, especially during my last year of college.) In those situations, corporate worship services are so incredibly large (both in terms of people and in number of services) that one can get lost in them, purposely or otherwise. The purpose of “small groups” are to have a more intimate gathering for informal worship and Scripture study. Amy has a point — daily Mass is an excellent example of a small group, though I wouldn’t say it’s the original one. It’s a small group of people gathered for worship, the Word, and the Eucharist. I recommend reading her thoughts — they’re excellent and as one who has participated in them, I totally see her point.

— 7 —

You know… I’d totally be OK with some rain about now. It’s a La Nina year so things are going to be dry but it also means that the jet stream has been shifted waaaaaay north and towns like Cordova, Alaska are getting snowed in. I checked Weather.Com and I’m going to have to wait 5 days for rain. So NOT amused by this.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 9, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY January 9, 2012

Outside my window… dark. It’s 10:40 p.m. It started out cold this morning and ended up fairly warm — the 60’s maybe.

I am thinking… about the ADOS testing today and Daniel’s diagnosis of autism.

I am thankful… for getting through today even if I was completely drained of energy when I got home. I’m also thankful for the guy on the motorcycle who waited until Daniel was in the car and the door was closed so that him starting the motorcycle wouldn’t scare Daniel.

In the kitchen… next question.

I am wearing… black Arabic shirt and black capri sweats.

I am creating… this entry.

I am going… to enjoy having tomorrow as a quiet day.

I am wondering… what the future holds with Daniel’s diagnosis.

I am reading… Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I think I’m going to download the other three books onto my NOOK so I can read them in order when I’m done with this one.

I am hoping… I sleep well tonight.

I am looking forward to… lobster feed this weekend with one of my amazing church ladies.

I am learning a lot about autism.

Around the house… curtain rods being replaced.

I am pondering… many things that I can’t vocalize.

A favorite quote for today… “A person’s a person no matter how small.” — Dr. Suess

One of my favorite things… Crystal Light Peach Tea

A few plans for the rest of the week: therapies, meeting with the school district regarding Daniel, lobster feed on Saturday night.

A peek into my day… My boy and I at Miwok Park in Elk Grove.

Daniel and I

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7 Quick Takes — The A Word

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7 Quick Takes

We’re almost 6 days into January and already I want a restart on the year. This can’t be good.

— 1 —

It’s looking like Daniel has a diagnosis someplace on the autism spectrum. The appointment on Tuesday morning did not go well as he did not cooperate for the pediatric developmental fellow who was administering a developmental assessment. Everyone came in and talked to me afterwards and explained the reasoning for their suspicions. It makes sense and would explain the language delay, the problems engaging with people, and the obsession with doors and drawers. Their pediatric resident came in afterwards and gave me hugs. She had been the one who coordinated all of Daniel’s care in the PICU in March so I was really happy to see her again and I hope she had gotten to play with Daniel a little bit when he was out of the room and I was giving the pediatric developmental fellow his health history. Jon is happy with the fact that we likely have a diagnosis and some answers. I was truthfully pretty devastated though I managed to make it out to the car before crying.

— 2 —

Please, for the love of [insert deity], do not tell me about your mother’s cousin’s neighbor’s college roommate’s husband who has a child with autism. Seriously, I get that you’re trying to make me feel better but unless you have the kid with the condition, I honestly just wish you would stop talking. The spectrum is pretty big and unless you have the kid, you don’t know really where on the spectrum they are. It’s also a whole lot more helpful for me to hear from someone who is raising a kid or two with said conditions.

— 3 —

It’s actually quite rude and incredibly tactless to butt into a conversation and ask nastily, “Why are you so surprised?” (Yes, this actually happened to me last night and it took every ounce of self-control not to toss the contents of the pot of tea between us across the table at her.) This person had already gotten herself on my spit list in the first five minutes of dinner last night and that comment was really inappropriate. I responded politely because I was flanked by the person’s step-sister and our council president (as this was at our monthly Ladies’ Night Out where all the church women go out to dinner). Otherwise, she would have had hot tea flung at her and I probably would have slapped the living daylights out of her. (I’m seriously trying to avoid foul language on this take because this is a family-friendly blog.)

— 4 —

The diagnosis isn’t the worst thing on the planet but it doesn’t make it any easier. I’m fully aware that Daniel isn’t going to die from being on the autism spectrum and thankfully California has laws in place requiring insurance companies to cover autism therapies. (I love my socialist paradise at times as well as Governor Moonbeam.) It was devastating because I thought we were done with obstacles being thrown in our path and it’s ONE. MORE. OBSTACLE. that we have to tackle. Thankfully, he qualifies for a lot of programs and we’re hooked up with a group at UCD Medical Center who actually does autism specifically. He hasn’t had the ADOS administered yet (that will be Monday) but it’s almost a forgone conclusion that he’s on the spectrum… though you could put anyone on the spectrum on any given day given how broad it is. And yes, I do know about the website Autism Speaks.

— 5 —

In addition to all this, I’m having fibro pain. Last week, I lost a battle with my parents’ ice maker and had a gouge taken out of my hand. Well… said injury is causing hand and finger pain — not a good thing when you’re a blogger and have to use your hands as much as I do. Add in tendonitis in my thumb from a Cipro or Levaquin prescription, and you have a grumpy Jen. Whine whine whine WHINE!!!!

— 6 —

I apparently witnessed part of a high-speed chase last night without knowing it. I was in the parking lot finding a parking space when I saw a low-flying chopper with its searchlight on. I hadn’t seen one of those since I lived in Pomona and we’d get them lighting up the apartment and rattling the walls. I wondered what was going on and saw this story on several news stations when I got home. Duuuuude…

— 7 —

Yesterday, Daniel and I headed to Miwok Park in Elk Grove after doing a Target run. He did really well on the big kids’ playground and conquered the 2-5 year old area as well. The only downside was a really rude little boy who went on the suspension bridge and started jumping up and down to try and knock Daniel off. I told him to cut it out and play nicely. He replied that he didn’t have to listen because I wasn’t his mother. So… I went and found his mom and told her what had happened. Daniel and I headed out and when I looked over my shoulder, his mom was putting him in a time-out. I do appreciate it when parents actually discipline their kids.

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

7 Quick Takes — Brought to You by Fibromyalgia Grumping

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7 Quick Takes

I haven’t gotten half decent sleep since… yeah, it’s been that long but it’s been especially bad this week which means that my fibromyalgia is flaring up. This means that I’m in a boatload of pain and in an extra cranky mood. Jon had to be in the office and doing visits today but his day off is tomorrow and that means I get to sleep in guilt-free. (OK… so I also slept in on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but that had to do with having problems sleeping and having to be more than semi-comatose to take care of Daniel.)

— 1 —

I still have remnants of the mutant death cold from Thanksgiving. I still have random coughing spasms that wake me up and keep me up at night. I was almost coughing to the point of vomiting on Tuesday night and my dad ended up bringing a couple packages of Ricola to the guestroom — I guess I was waking him up and keeping him up. I don’t know what specifically is irritated and causing it — it’s not asthma-related so my inhaler and nebulizer are useless against it.

— 2 —

I see that the Rose Parade is being held on Monday. The joke is that it (almost) never rains on the Rose Parade because the organizers have a deal with God: they don’t hold it on Sunday and God gives them good weather. It illustrates the fallacy of prayer making God into the Cosmic Vending Machine but it is curious that they usually have amazing weather even though it falls during the rainy season.

— 3 —

There’s a new season of The Biggest Loser starting. The only problem is that it’s on at the same time as NCIS:Los Angeles. I missed pretty much all of last season — I only caught the Thanksgiving show where they showed who kept the weight off. I think I’m going to have to pick a night to watch it online or something.

— 4 —

My resolution for 2012: be more active. Fibro can be a catch-22. It helps to be active and get moderate exercise but… the pain makes doing so difficult, especially with me because I’m also under a huge amount of stress and that exacerbates things. I think I’m going to have to be super intentional about taking the time out to go for a walk, do playground stuff with Daniel, or just… DO SOMETHING.

— 5 —

I’m getting a ton of political fundraising emails. Apparently, there’s a huge FEC deadline on December 31, 2011 and all the political stuff I support are hitting me up for money. Can I honestly say that I’m really not looking forward to all the politics and media crud that will be coming soon?

— 6 —

I had to put down The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It was interesting in the beginning but it seems like Grossman took the whole Harry Potter thing and twisted into this dark and fatalist thing. It did sort of keep my attention but it was also depressing how hopeless the characters attitudes were. I still haven’t used up my whole gift certificate from my birthday and I have an additional one from my sister-in-law that she gave me for Christmas so I think it’s time that I invested in some stuff that I do want to read. I also finally figured out how to “close” books on my Nook. Go me!

— 7 —

I did the Saint’s Name Generator again this year. For 2011, I had St. Gianna Beretta Molla which was good because I did need to get to know her better, especially as she also had a killer pregnancy (which unlike me, did eventually kill her). My saint for 2012 is St. Luke which should be interesting. I think this will be a year of reading his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. As a Lutheran, we don’t revere saints in the same way as Catholics or Orthodox do — for us, it’s more of “this is a person we should emulate”. I think I’ll be pondering some of these things internally for awhile.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 26, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 26, 2011

Outside my window… dark. I’m in San Jose with my parents and it stayed cold today.

I am thankful… that Daniel was angel for church yesterday and that last week’s crankiness did not repeat. It was the longest time I’ve gotten to be in the actual church service since February.

In the kitchen… leftover roast beast and mushroom risotto from Christmas dinner. Jon gets leftover pizza. 🙂

I am wearing… my blue Jameson fleece (from the distillery in Dublin), sea green shirt, jeans, and mismatched cat socks.

I am creating… this entry.

I am going… for walks and playground time tomorrow.

I am wondering… if the most recent Golden Bough CD is indeed blank or if it will play in the car. If it’s blank, I’ll just email them and see if I can get a download card.

I am reading… The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Still haven’t finished it. I did finish Three Day Town by Margaret Maron and it was quite good.

I am hoping… Daniel is in good form tonight.

I am looking forward to… more playground time with Daniel tomorrow.

I am hearing… “Christmas in Celtic Land” by Golden Bough. I’m a bit perturbed that “When Winter Comes” seems to be reading as blank on my laptop.

Around the house… not home though we did clean before we left.

One of my favorite things… mushroom risotto that we have for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A few plans for the rest of the week… hang-out time with Daniel, maybe a Target run, possibly OT on Thursday, and maybe a trip to the Train Museum in Sacramento.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… Daniel at Miwok Park in Elk Grove. His physical therapist was playing paparazzi and got a number of good pictures. This is one of them.

Daniel looking around a corner at Miwok Park.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook