Category Archives: Faith

Purging My Brain

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It’s 7:52 a.m. — an hour at which I have never risen joyfully, even when I worked at UPS and loved my job. (This also includes the times I got up at 6 to kick-box before work.) I woke up at 4:15 and couldn’t get back to sleep. Instead of going and making myself some Instant Breakfast, I played online and listened to podcasts. Bad idea. So… I’m going to purge my brain so that I can go back to sleep (if Jon does office hours from home this morning) or at least cat-nap (if he doesn’t).

[+] Lowe’s, you suck. I could understand if you pulled advertising from “All-American Muslim” because you disagreed with how the show portrayed Muslims and felt that it was not a correct representation of life in America in a Muslim household. (I’ve read non-biased opinions of the show that say that it isn’t really all that accurate. Then again, Islam is as diverse as Christianity in terms of practice and how people observe the tenets of the faith.) Instead, you caved into a group that claims that all Muslims are terrorists. I’ve signed eleventy billion petitions to boycott you and have your CEO removed. Apologize, OK?

[+] Daniel had a good park date with his physical therapist yesterday. We met S at a park in Elk Grove that’s tailored for younger kids and we got him working on climbing things, going down slides, doing steps, going on suspension bridges… It was great. S is also trying to hook us up with a play group in Elk Grove so he can be around other kids.

[+] I’m finally getting over the mutant death cold that landed Daniel in the hospital and gave me a sinus/bronchial infection. We have an appointment with his pediatrician today to re-check him and to maybe try and come up with a strategy so that we don’t have another hospitalization.

[+] Ahem CW… you picked two of the crappier episodes of “Hart of Dixie” to show on Monday. Could we remedy this please?

[+] We got Daniel on a sippy cup and off the bottle cold turkey on Thursday. This meant TODDLER RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but it was worth it.

[+] I have online shopping to do once Jon gets paid tomorrow and then I’ll be DONE for Christmas. I have to toss a box in the mail to Claremont today but that will be once I have brain cells to spare.

OK… going back to bed.

Cleaning Out My Brain

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My Quick Takes this week are themed ones so here are some things in my brain that I need to talk about so I can fill it with other material.

[+] Please lift up a prayer or two for my friend Kathleen Basi and her son Michael who was born 3 weeks early and is in the NICU with lung issues.

[+] This is an interesting article on why some who identify as atheists go to church — it’s for their children. Some want to give their children exposure to different ideas so they can be freethinkers and maybe decide for themselves what they believe. I think we (the Church) have more than a few people who are atheist/agnostic in the pews but who attend for the purpose of having a community. I’m not arguing that they should or shouldn’t attend or whether it’s ethical to — I just simply think this interesting from a religious scholar standpoint.

[+] Apparently, Egyptian ballots had symbols for the candidates in addition to their names. (HT: CNN.Com) According to Fareed Zakaria, almost half of Egyptian adults are illiterate so having the symbols was a way of identifying the candidates on billboards for those who couldn’t read. This brings up thoughts of the purpose of stained glass windows in the Middle Ages: a means of teaching the faith to those who were illiterate.

[+] I’m taking Daniel off of his bottle cold turkey and putting him on sippy cups. I am in serious disgrace in his eyes but I’ve been backed up by his occupational therapist and child development specialist who told me that if he’s thirsty enough, he’ll drink from them.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: December 5, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY December 5, 2011

Outside my window… night and supposed to dip down below freezing. I am positively giddy.

I am thinking… that I should probably start pondering what to get people for Christmas.

I am thankful… that Daniel is occupying himself right now so I can do this entry.

In the kitchen… I haven’t had to cook today — I had something frozen for breakfast, Jon brought home some awesome veggie pizza from a meeting, and he brought me home fries for dinner tonight.

I am wearing… blue maternity shirt (no, I am not pregnant — it’s just comfortable) and my blue striped pajama bottoms.

I am creating… entries and Postcrossing postcards.

I am going… to be doing a fair amount of laundry tomorrow.

I am wondering… if I’ll ever get into the Christmas spirit this year. (I am seriously a Scrooge.)

I am reading… The Alpine Winter by Mary Daheim. Technically, I finished it last night but it could use a re-read.

I am hoping… Daniel doesn’t have another puke fest tonight.

I am looking forward to… Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday.

I am hearing… Daniel playing with remote controls and “The Magic School Bus” on TV.

Around the house… *whistles innocently*

I am pondering… many things in my heart.

One of my favorite things… black cats who aren’t routing around in the laundry pile.

A few plans for the rest of the week… “Hart of Dixie” tonight, PT tomorrow, neuro appointment/speech therapy/Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday, OT and child development on Thursday, and hopefully nothing on Friday or Saturday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — Updating Since Thanksgiving

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7 Quick Takes

Daniel is out of the hospital and we’re finally back home. (Only a 4 day hospital stay instead of 19. Yay!) Time for updates on the rest of my life!

— 1 —

I had to give up on “winning” NaNoWriMo. I had worked a little ahead to compensate for being gone for a couple days at Thanksgiving but Daniel in the hospital and the sheer sleep deprivation of all of it completely shot my chances of finishing and validating by November 30th. I probably could have squeezed it in but I had a really fussy and angry toddler during the hospital stay and I would have had to do two 5000 word days when I got home. Both options were unreasonable so I’m settling for just making it to 40K again. Nothing I wrote is wasted though — I have a setting and characters for a murder mystery next year.

— 2 —

Kathleen of So Much to Say, So Little Time… had her baby. Go congratulate her. Do it now.

— 3 —

I have a massage tomorrow. Due to timing issues last month, it worked out that I only ended up getting one massage. I will hopefully have a chance to see my massage therapist more this month. It’s keeping the fibro at bay until I can get in to see a rheumatologist and it’s benefiting a small business owner in town — a win-win situation.

— 4 —

I am enjoying “Judge Judy” waaaaaay too much. I did feel sorry for a plaintiff today who thought she had a legal contract and whose cousin/aunt took advantage for her but the vast majority of people really need a good dose of reality. I could totally do a quick takes post on lessons that one can learn from watching her show, the most popular one being not to co-sign for a loan for someone unless you are married to that person. Almost every other case is someone who co-signed for a car loan with their boyfriend/for their spoiled adult child/for a sibling…

— 5 —

Daniel has taken to coming over and taking my hand to lead me wherever he wants me to go. Usually, it involves going into a forbidden room at which point I have to fake an inability to open that particular door. In one case, he led me to my parents’ room on Monday and he started flipping out by the bed under which their sissy Maine Coon was hiding. I didn’t realize it was possible to fluff a Maine Coon (especially this one) but it can happen. Sorry Bubba Cat! (I scritched his ears and his shoulder blades before I let him out and apologized to him.)

— 6 —

My local CVS has Cadbury Dairy Milk bars. It’s hard to find these outside of the Commonwealth so I took FULL advantage of the “buy 2 get one free” deals on them. I’m having to force myself to limit it to one (or part of one) per day though.

— 7 —

Here’s another plug for Postcrossing. I seriously recommend it for teaching your homeschooled kids geography or starting a postcard collection for your child. (I’ve got one started for Daniel.) I got a postcard almost every day this week from Belarus, Singapore, Finland, and Australia. Part of the reason for being at CVS was to get postcards to send out.

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

7 Quick Takes — Thanksgiving In the Midst of the PICU

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7 Quick Takes

So I’m sitting on my fold-out bed in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) with Daniel. (He got my cold. Chest colds and him don’t mix well. He spiked a 102F fever and started having problems breathing. I think the rest of the story is self-explanatory.) In an effort to ward off the pity party that I’m so incredibly tempted to throw for myself, here are seven things I’m thankful for right now. Oh yeah… updates on his condition and what’s going on can be found here.

— 1 —

Daniel having Medi-Cal through SSI. It’s paying for what our insurance doesn’t. Given that our last PICU trip involved a 19 day hospital stay, this could add up pretty quickly.

— 2 —

My mom. She drove us to the hospital (we’re down with my parents) and stayed with us until they brought Daniel upstairs. This entailed reciting loads of poetry and nursery rhymes and helping to hold the little bear down while they did unpleasant things to him. Words can’t express my gratitude.

— 3 —

My evil twin. He brought Jon down with a container of Mushroom Risotto for me. Last time we had a PICU stay, he stayed with Jon and I through the worst night and hosted my parents on the weekends so they could be with Daniel and I.

— 4 —

Jon. He read to Daniel and came upstairs with us and prayed with him. He also brought me clean underwear and pajamas as well as part of my prescriptions. I’m loving the clean underwear, the jammies, and the Klonopin.

— 5 —

The speed of the ER peeps once the words “respiratory distress” were uttered. We were only down in the ER for 3.5 hours. (Normal is 4+.) We had a doctor checking him within 10 minutes. That’s impressive.

— 6 —

People praying. I put out the word to my people and there should be prayers ascending. Please also add yours in. We can’t get enough prayer right now.

— 7 —

Being ahead on NaNo. It’s meaning that I might actually make it to 50K before 11/30 this year.

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

You Know You’re The Mom of A Developmentally Delayed Kid…

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Daniel had a pediatrics appointment today. After it was over, I seriously felt like I should be putting together a “You Know You’re A _____ If” list. So without further adieu…

You know you’re the mother of a developmentally delayed kid when…

[+] You rejoice because your kid is at the 25th percentile for height/weight/head circumference because they can finally plot the points on their growth chart.
[+] You can succinctly describe your horrendous pregnancy and birth experience in under 10 words but most of them have three or more syllables.
[+] The sight of your kid walking at 2.5 years old makes their pediatrician clap with joy because, dude, this is HUGE.
[+] You aren’t fazed by your kid’s abysmal MRI results because you got the report six months ago and your child’s physical therapist from Easter Seals talked you off the (figurative) ledge at that point.
[+] Your child’s pediatrician tells you that your child’s brain has many abnormalities (see “MRI results above”) and will never be like the brains of other kids their age. Your response: “We’ll see” while thinking to yourself that your child has a habit of defying predictions like these.
[+] Those abysmal MRI results get you a consult to every specialist you ask to see.
[+] Your child has more specialists in their lives than most hospitals have on staff. (Josh’s mother Susan is my former IV area director.)

Now for the ones that don’t apply to the peds appointment today!

[+] You know that you will cry when your child turns three and (in California) you lose your Easter Seals therapists. (Under the Lanterman Act in California, your child becomes the problem of their local school district once they turn three.)
[+] All your child’s developmental milestones are VERY BIG DEALS!!!!!!!
[+] You have stories from the NICU, PICU, and Peds wards of the hospital.
[+] You’ve had to explain to people why your kid is not waving at them, why your kid does not need a children’s menu, or why your kid isn’t doing ____ when other kids their age can do it.
[+] You finally just learned how to (joyfully) suppress the urge to say “Bite me!” to the person who asks the third question on that last item. (OK… again this is probably just me.)
[+] It makes you happy when people acknowledge your child/have a normal conversation with them instead of talking over them.
[+] You read the blogs of other mothers who have kids with developmental delays/Down’s Syndrome/autism spectrum disorders and can identify with their posts.