Category Archives: Faith

7 Quick Takes: Prison Inmates Who Crochet, The Fear Babe, and THE GIANTS ARE 4.5 GAMES AHEAD OF THE DODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Hooks behind bars. There is a knitting/crocheting group at Folsom Prison and they make toys for needy kids, hats for cancer patients, and find it to be therapeutic. The story is here.

— 2 —

Debunking the Food Babe and other fools on vaccine science. I’m in the first chapter of The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House and I’m seriously loving it. The first chapter deals with her stupidity surrounding the flu shot and you can actually read this chapter for free here. Pages 2-4 describe how vaccines actually work and they even go more in-depth into the issues surrounding thimersol and how it actually breaks down and is excreted from the body. (Spoiler alert: it does not decompose into methylmercury and it does not pass through the blood-brain barrier.) I wish this book had been around when I was doing chemistry in high school and college — I’m pretty sure it would have been on the reading list for at least one or two of my classes and it might have helped me stay pre-med longer.

By the way, this article and this article are useful in debunking anti-vaxxers.

— 3 —

All-Star game ballot time! It’s time to vote for the players who will get to take part in the MLB All-Star Game. You can go here to cast your vote — 1 vote for each position in the American League and 1 vote for each position in the National League. If you have no clue as to who to vote for, a good rule of thumb is to pick any player with “SEA” by their name for the American League and “SF” by their name in the National League. 😉

— 4 —

Rivalries. Just in case anyone hadn’t heard… THE GIANTS ARE CURRENTLY 4.5 GAMES AHEAD OF THE DODGERS AND ARE AT THE TOP OF THE STANDINGS IN THE NL WEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just thought I should point that out. 😀 My Mariners are at the top of the AL West so I’m pretty happy about that as well.

— 5 —

Gluten intolerance comedy and a caveat. My cousin’s wife shared this a few days ago and it reminds me so much of some of the people I’ve encountered who have claimed to be “gluten-intolerant” because it’s the new and hot diet trend…

My caveat to you: if you don’t actually *HAVE* gluten sensitivities and you act like a complete jerk when you go to a restaurant and send your food back because you were too stupid to actually read up on the menu ahead of time, everyone with an actual gluten sensitivity will want to beat the bloody tar out of you (and should be allowed to do so) because you are screwing it up for them. If you have celiac disease or a legit gluten sensitivity, the smallest trace amount of gluten will make you violently ill and you know to actually do your research on the menu and *TELL* the waitstaff ahead of time because they will have to take extra precautions with your food to prevent cross-contamination. Sending your food back because you “forgot” to tell your waitstaff or you “didn’t know it had gluten in it” means that they have to toss everything on the plate they’ve prepared for you and then take all those extra precautions to with your food because they can’t risk the lawsuit. I’ve had friends who have been treated really icily at restaurants when they’ve politely told the waiter their food allergies and sensitivities because so many people have claimed to have an allergy or sensitivity issue when they haven’t actually had one. Better yet, forgo the pizzerias and bakeries and any place that uses lots of ingredients that contain gluten. (I have a weird egg allergy so I tend to skip breakfast joints and having anything but juice or coffee for breakfast while eating out.)

So please… don’t pull the stunts depicted in the video. I and everyone else in my situation will thank you.

— 6 —

Prayer request. Daniel has been having lots of behaviors and sleep disturbances in the last few weeks. Please pray that we can get to the bottom of this as well as for my ability to function. I’ve had a couple mornings when I shouldn’t be allowed to *WALK* unsupervised, let alone drive, because I’ve gotten so little sleep and I’m bumping into walls.

— 7 —

Another prayer request. Please pray for the move to Washington. Everything is falling into place nicely but moving still unnerves me greatly.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 22, 2016

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For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… cloudy and in the 60’s. It’s been cool all day and threatening to rain. Given how much I hate hot weather, I’m all in favor of it even if it gives me migraines.

I am thinking… about the move in 2 1/2 weeks.

Oh yeah… this is what the vague-blogging has been about. My parents and Daniel and I are moving to Washington in June. It’s been in works since November. We had to be out of the house for two weeks in April while the floors were redone, the doors replaced, and the trim replaced. After that, we had a week of realtor showings that required vacating the house at a moment’s notice. The house sold fast and Mom and Dad spent a couple days in Washington house-shopping. They put in an offer which was accepted and closing is on June 3rd.

I am thankful… for today’s choir anthem going well.

One of my favorite things… office supply stores. Staples is my idea of nirvana.

I am wearing… long-sleeved green striped shirt and jeans. For church this morning, I traded my jeans for my black dress slacks and black flats.

I am creating change-of-address postcards.

I am reading… The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House by Marc Draco, Kavin Senapathy, and Mark Alsip. The book takes all of the Food Babe’s pseudo-scientific stupidity and deconstructs it using facts, actual science, and logic.

I am hoping… a friend comes home from his missions trip safely.

I am learning… about the various state agencies that work with kiddos like Daniel in Washington.

In my kitchen… Dad is making hot dogs tonight.

In the school room… Daniel has two weeks left and I’m starting to scan paperwork to send to the school district in Washington.

Post Script… if you know someone with fibromyalgia, I recommend reading this.

Shared Quote… From Facebook…

I couldn't resist sharing this one from Facebook...

A moment from my day… As it is Trinity Sunday I thought I’d share this.

Closing Notes: I saw a blog post shared on Facebook this weekend in which a mommy blogger who had done lots of giveaways and earned money from her blog was telling all the other mommy bloggers to give up their blogs because she had seen the error of her ways and, like, nobody cares or is reading mommy blogs anymore. I’d disagree that mommy bloggers need to stop writing and give up their blogs. Readership of blogs is down across the board but if it brings you joy to blog and scratches that itch, go for it. Unless you are saying something dangerous, something seriously untrue, or being a complete and utter Sanctimommy, I’ll generally ignore you if your blog has too many sponsored posts or if you bore me to pieces.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 15, 2016

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For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… sunny and breezy with temps in the mid 70’s. (I’m doing this during daylight hours for a change.)

I am thinking… grumpy thoughts about the hospital pharmacy who made a typo when they transferred one of my prescriptions to Target which caused the prescription to expire 11 months early. (Prescriptions expire after a year — they said it was written on April 13, 2015 instead of April 13, 2016. I only have one dose of it left and I’m not feeling optimistic about it getting fixed tomorrow. Hmph!

I am thankful… for one of my favorite church kids doing a flawless job reading the Acts 2 passage this morning. I usually have to sit in the pew and cringe while adult lectors butcher all the names and nationalities of the people so it was wonderful to hear it done well. I’m kind of hoping my priest puts her in the lector rotation even though she’s only in elementary school because I think she’d do a fabulous job.

One of my favorite things… the smell of star jasmine in the morning when Daniel is leaving for school or I am leaving for church.

I am wearing… a burgundy fitted tee from Old Navy in honor of Pentecost and jeans from Kohl’s. I swapped out my jeans for my black dress slacks this morning for church.

I am creating my temperature afghan during my spare moments.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I need to swap out my e-reader for my laptop at night so I can finish the book and move on to my mountain of books-to-be-read.

I am hoping… Daniel sleeps through tonight and doesn’t wake me up wanting milk/juice/cheese/my credit card.

I am learning… about social services in other states. Woohoo.

In my kitchen… something grilled for tonight. It’s Sunday family dinner and Dad is in charge of the food.

In the school room… working on various speech things with the kid.

Shared Quote…

Wise words on the bathroom debate.

I have friends who are transgendered and most of them have been using the bathroom of the gender with whom they identify for years without issue. In fact, one of them shared the story of a woman in Kentucky who was attacked for looking too masculine while people looked on without helping her. This terrifies me. There is no excuse for violence.

And for the record, the man that strangled the 8 year old girl in the bathroom in the Chicago deli was not transgendered. Most pedophiles are statistically married and heterosexual, not transgendered.

A moment from my day… Kiddo climbing one of the apple trees while helping my mom in the garden.

A boy in a tree.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Is The Week Over Yet????

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

The Pope and female deacons. I’m seeing some flipping out over the announcement by the National Catholic Reporter that the Pope is creating a commission to study women deacons. Yeah… not a world-changing issue. If the Pope does anything, the result will probably look like what deaconesses do in the LCMS, effectively just being dedicated church workers who happen to be female. I don’t think female deacons/deaconesses will do any baptisms/weddings/funerals or anything like that.

— 2 —

#NeverTrump I just want to make it incredibly clear that there is no valid reason for voting for Donald Trump. NONE. Seriously, neither former president Bush is endorsing him and neither is Paul Ryan. These are three people with knowledge of the job and of how the government works. (Yes, I am siding with those three. Hell has indeed frozen over.)

#NeverTrump

Oh… and in case anyone was wondering, I would say the same things about the Cruz/Carly ticket, if not making worse criticisms. Trump is a blowhard saying what he says — Ted Cruz actually *BELIEVES* it. I’m honestly not sure who is more unfit of the Cruz/Carly duo — even John Boehner had foul things to say about Ted Cruz (with whom he *WORKED* and who was on THE SAME SIDE) and I tend to side with Boehner on this. (And yes, I actually said I was agreeing with John Boehner. Start watching for the four horsemen of the apocalypse to appear in the sky.) Carly Fiorina has no legislative experience and she completely screwed up Hewlett-Packard, laying off a number of my classmates’ parents. In short, that ticket would have screwed up the country as much as Trump will if he is elected.

— 3 —

So… who to vote for instead of Trump? Do what all the other intelligent Republicans are doing — FIND ANOTHER CANDIDATE. Here is a lovely story on the subject. And Republicans, if you actually want my vote and my support, try running someone articulate and intelligent who has more than a middle school knowledge of how the government works.

— 4 —

Yet another reason the pro-life movement can be an embarrassment. Simcha Fisher had this lovely tweet a few days ago:

Dear #prolife organizations: If there’s no one good to endorse, you don’t have to endorse anyone. Easy peasy, no soul-selling necessary.

Their endorsement of Trump is one of many reasons I will *NEVER* give money to Priests for Life or the Susan B. Anthony List. Shame on you!

— 5 —

Drop boxes for babies. Simcha had a fabulous piece on the Safe Haven drop boxes for babies that are being put into place in Indiana. It’s a good idea because they would allow mothers to surrender their babies in such a way as to put them in a safe place that protects the child and also allows authorities to automatically be notified that the child is there. The mom could remain anonymous and it would mean that there would not be any babies left in toilets or dumpsters. (The founder of the company making the boxes, herself, was a child conceived from a rape and her mom abandoned her at the hospital as a newborn.)

She also describes the combox on the original Gawker piece and it’s definitely one that I would not read even if I was paid to do so.

— 6 —

Prayer request. I managed to get a rheumatology appointment for next week. Could you please pray that we can get records sent to them so that I’m not walking in there without any documentation of my fibromyalgia? Thanks! This is really my only shot of getting a gabapentin prescription and I’m definitely having issues with the lowered dose.

— 7 —

Special intention. I know I’m vague-blogging again but I could use prayer for a special intention. Please and thank you!

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 8, 2016

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For Today… May 8, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was cloudy for most of the day and Lick Observatory was quite socked in with fog when we went up there in the afternoon. It got sunny in the late afternoon though.

I am thinking… about grade inflation in the homeschool world and misreporting of class values in portfolios for college. Long story, trust me.

I am thankful… for the chance to see the big telescope at Lick Observatory and for the volunteer who let us walk around on the platform while he was talking. Keith, you rock!

One of my favorite things… a quiet evening after a busy day.

I am wearing… jammies. (It’s 8:45 p.m.) Church clothes were a black decorative top, black pants, black flats, and my burgundy choir robe. After-church clothes were a charcoal fitted tee from Old Navy and black capris from Kohl’s with my running shoes.

I am creating my temperature afghan. I’m about two months behind but I might be able to get a little caught up this week, depending on how long a couple tasks take me and if I can get them done at the beginning of the week.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I might be able to finish this week if I read during lunch instead of being on my laptop.

I am hoping… to get a lot of my errands done in the first part of the week.

I am learning… to ask for help and not act like everything in the next month is completely for me to do.

In my kitchen… Dad made the usual Sunday fare for us for Mother’s Day — steak, tater tots, and caesar salad. It was what Mom and I both chose as it was our day.

In the school room… I’m working on fine motor tasks with Daniel to strengthen his hands and help him maintain his tripod grip while writing without special grips on the pencil.

Post Script… This is an interesting piece on missions and why you shouldn’t build a house on your next mission trip.

Shared Quote…

This week's quote found on Facebook.

A moment from my day… A picture from my first Mother’s Day in 2009.

Hard to believe this kid is now only a foot shorter than I am!

Closing Notes: May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month. Learn more here.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: TGIAF!

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7 Quick Takes

It’s been an insane week here and I have one more thing tomorrow before I feel like I can breathe again. Thank goodness it’s almost Friday!

— 1 —

Prayer request. The person assigned to Daniel at the Lodi Social Security Office fouled up his SSI payments and I have an appeal hearing tomorrow on some issues related to them. Please lift me in prayer around noon PDT. Thanks!

— 2 —

Climate change deniers. This video explains climate change in a way that even Donald Trump supporters can understand. 😉

— 3 —

One last political take. While I am completely overjoyed at Ted Cruz dropping out of the race and Carly Fiorina being an even bigger loser than before, I’m kind of bummed that I won’t be using this picture more often…

Thank goodness this isn't a possible combination in the White House!

— 4 —

I want this shirt! My birthday is two weeks from today and I will be your BFF if you get me this shirt in green and XL.

— 5 —

On the homeschooling front… Dawn of Ladydusk wrote this amazing piece on starting to homeschool and what she learned from it. I recommend reading it if you think you eventually want to homeschool your kids as Dawn is a mom I trust for this kind of thing.

— 6 —

Making a crossbow out of office supplies. This is kind of cool.

— 7 —

Doctrine vs. discipline. Simcha nails it with her post on Ascension, the crazy go nuts schedule of her kids, and why it actually matters to make it to Mass if it’s a holy day in your diocese. (San Jose abrogates it to Sunday.)

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

The Simple Woman’s Day Book: May 2, 2016

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**NOTE** I did one yesterday and then found that the prompts had changed a bit when I went to link up. I’ve got some spare time this morning so I’m redoing it for today. Also, for anyone that needs the new prompts and wants some code for them to insert into an entry, click here and copy/paste into a text editor so that you can create a text file (*.txt file) with them for use every week.

For Today… May 2, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… sunny and clear. I think it is supposed to be in the 80’s.

I am thinking… about the things that are supposed to be happening this week. I apologize for vague-blogging but I can’t talk about the upheaval in my life until things are more set in stone. (It’s nothing bad — just a lot of uncertainty.)

I am thankful… for the day trips with my parents and Daniel this weekend. We went to Henry Cowell Redwoods on Saturday and the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Sunday.

One of my favorite things… café vanilla frappucinos at Starbucks. I’m also a fan of functional Internet and functional plumbing but that’s another story for another day!

I am wearing… charcoal fitted shirt from Old Navy and jeans from Kohl’s.

I am creating my temperature afghan. I’m 2 months behind now but I will eventually get caught up.

I am listening to… the Reply All podcast which was recommended to me by a couple friends. This episode involves an email malfunction that tangents into stories of survival in a Chinese concentration camp during World War II. The story that the woman tells is told in a very cheerful and matter of fact way that seems to be somewhat common among survivors of concentration camps in Europe and Indonesia that I’ve met. (If you have a sizeable Jewish population, you probably have someone of that generation who survived and emigrated from Europe afterwards, so I remember hearing probably 5-10 of them speaking to us in middle school and high school. The one I know who was in the Indonesian one was one of my seminary professors.)

I am hoping… my fibromyalgia medication snafu gets resolved soon. (My PA is being a jerk about refilling my meds and is referring me to a rheumatologist. After he mansplained fibromyalgia to me on Thursday, I may or may not have ripped his head off and got a ONE TIME LAST REFILL because I managed to make logical sense. Of course, he cut my dose in half but half a dose is better than no dose.)

I am learning… to just shake things off. It helped me when I came out of the house this morning and found a flat tire. I rolled my eyes, went back in the house to drop my stuff off, and got ready to change it on my own. My mom saw this and replied, “Just call AAA. It’s why we have them.” OK. They had someone out to change it in 15 minutes and while I missed my meeting this morning, it wasn’t an essential one and we were able to just check in by phone.

In my kitchen… no clue on dinner tonight. Dad did the normal Sunday fare of steak, tater tots, and Caesar salad last night and all the adults ate outside by lantern light. Fun fun fun.

In the school room… I have an IEP amendment meeting for Daniel on Thursday afternoon to go over occupational therapy goals.

Post Script… for all who read the selfish essay on “meternity leave” from the NY Post, there are some good rebuttals and satires here, here (tw: language), and here (tw: mention of body parts). I think the last one is the best one of all.

Shared Quote… I think I’ll share my Facebook commentary on the above foolishness!

“Is of the opinion that she can have a “meternity” leave for self-discovery and growth if she is willing to gain 50+ lbs over a 7-month period, have emergency surgery requiring at least a 8 week recovery (from which she returns 2.5 weeks early for financial reasons), deal with scar tissue adhesions on her abdomen every time she moves, and then give up regular sleep for a year following it.”

Because, you know, it’s not like that all happened to me or anything…

A moment from my day… Here’s a picture of my very silly and ticklish boy and me at the Monterey Bay Aquarium yesterday.

My silly boy and me at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Closing Notes: Someone shared this story on the winners of the Biggest Loser and their weight gain battles in one of my Facebook groups and it makes SO. MUCH. SENSE.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.