Category Archives: Faith

7 Quick Takes: So Glad The Week Is Almost Over

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

A soundtrack for today. A perfect storm of sleep deprivation, Daniel being a pill, stress in my life, and PMS has left me seriously panicky and drained today. I still have to be a functional adult (!!!!!) but this would be my soundtrack to get me through the day and remind me that God is present.

Pray for me. It’s been a really hard couple of days with Daniel and I still have to get through his peds appointment tomorrow before things might let up. Prayers that we can get through it without him hitting, kicking, breaking my fingers, or having a spectacular screaming meltdown in terror would be appreciated because he has gotten to be terrified of doctors in the last few months. (Then again, he keeps having to be poked with needles so I don’t blame him.)

— 2 —

This is so true. My friend Jamie shared this image today which perfectly summed up all the stupidity I see in the blogging world and on Facebook.

All the stupidity on the Internet refuted in one image.

— 3 —

Just a heads up. One of my friends shared this on Facebook. Before the gun nuts who troll this blog dismiss it, I should probably mention that said friend is an expert marksman, knows more about guns and weaponry than probably 90% of the NRA, and teaches gun safety. 🙂 (Yes, I do have friends who disagree with me on 2nd Amendment issues. I don’t live in a bubble with only those people who agree with me — that would be stupid.)

Why you don't take your gun out in an active shooter situation.

— 4 —

Offering this in light of the events of the last 48 hours. I’m reminded of the lyric from “Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel:

“Fools,” said I, “you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

Black lives matter.

**UPDATE** I just flipped to the local news and saw the story about the 11 officers shot in Dallas. I’m profoundly saddened, y’all. As much as I am angry about the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, I am so utterly pissed at those who chose to pick off these police officers. Every life is precious and nobody deserves to have their life taken away –THAT’S THE EFFING POINT OF THE “BLACK LIVES MATTER” CAMPAIGN!!!!!

— 5 —

This needs to be said. I think this needs to be reiterated.

Not Islam.

— 6 —

ESY Daniel started his extended school year (ESY) this week. He’s got a class of three kids and some aides. According to his teacher, he’s been a cooperative boy and is liking it thus far. I’m happy for some normalcy in his life.

— 7 —

Why it doesn’t pay to be sanctimonious. I know this is satire but it’s pretty accurate as well. I’ve encountered a lot of people who act similarly sanctimonious and wonder why people shy away from them or who can’t understand why their kids do what they do. It may not have to with raising their kids on only wooden toys or a vegan diet — I’ve seen similar people with respect to things like homeschooling, vaccinating their kids, paleo diets, or essential oils.

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

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.

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.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 29, 2016

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For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was in the 80’s today which is not to my taste as I hate hot weather and it’s only supposed to get hotter this week.

I am thinking… about the move.

I am thankful… for a nice dinner with family friends last night.

One of my favorite things… the San Francisco Giants winning and the LA Dodgers losing games

I am wearing… jammies. Today’s outfit for both church and afterwards was the same as it was Folk Choir Sunday which tends to be more casual with people wearing jeans. I went with a blue-green fitted tee from Old Navy and black capris from Kohl’s.

I am creating change-of-address postcards

I am reading… The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House by by Marc Draco, Kavin Senapathy, and Mark Alsip. I haven’t gotten a chance to read this weekend but I’m enjoying the book.

I am hoping… Daniel sleeps through tonight and let’s me sleep in tomorrow morning. Getting by on an average of 6 hours of sleep a night is not doing good things for me.

I am learning… about all the disability services in Washington state.

In my kitchen… hamburgers tonight.

In the school room… Daniel’s last week of school. He finishes on Thursday.

Post Script… for anyone who read this article, there is good news.

Shared Quote…

Some sage advice.

A moment from my day… Another amazing version of Baba Yetu.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.