Category Archives: Creativity

7 Quick Takes: VBS Edition

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7 Quick Takes

I’ve been helping Resurreccion with VBS this week. Here are the highlights!

— 1 —

Being able to be useful. I’m one of the few native Californians that doesn’t speak Spanish (I understand it but can’t speak it) and there was already a church youth group doing the program so I offered to just be an extra set of hands whenever I was able this week. This meant washing dishes for Christ. 🙂 They needed someone to do the breakfast dishes so I jumped to it. I may or may not have flooded the kitchen (twice) on Tuesday but I figured stuff out so that I was able to do all of it on my own on Wednesday. I’m bummed that I woke up with a migraine this morning and didn’t get to help. 🙁

— 2 —

Learning how to play Uno in Spanish. The church doing the program had math board games and card games for the kids and that included Uno. Most of the kids knew how to play it but one little girl didn’t… and didn’t understand a lot of English. I learned (and in a few cases reinforced) my colors in Spanish and learned the word for “zero” in order to explain what card she needed to play. (Like most kids who grew up watching Sesame Street, I did know how to count to ten.)

— 3 —

Doing the “Penguin Song” with some of the kiddos. Because it is *ALWAYS* appropriate to sing at VBS!

— 4 —

Teaching my kiddos to sing “When I Was One”. We had kids as young as 3 and it’s kind of hard to find math boardgames to do with them (they eventually just had them do extra playground time) so I did “When I Was One” with my younger kids to reinforce their numbers in English and because it’s fun. 🙂

— 5 —

Learned my numbers up to 20 in Spanish. One of the helpers with the math games had the same idea I had: drilling the younger kids on numbers and having them yell them back in Spanish.

— 6 —

Learned some new games. This one was popular with the kiddos.

— 7 —

Gave a lot of high fives to kids. When I was playing “Set” with some of the littler kids, I’d give them high-fives when they made a set because social praise is a fabulous reinforcer. Their smiles were so incredibly wonderful.

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

7 Quick Takes: State of the Jen Edition

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7 Quick Takes

I’ve been wanting to do something a little different for a few weeks, especially as I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging again after giving it up for Lent. I probably would have blogged more upon my return but I had a crazy quarter — it’s amazing how having two classes “on the ground” (translation: in person instead of online) can kill one’s posting schedule!

So…

— 1 —

I have a new ministry. My priest has asked me to help out the Spanish-speaking congregation that shares our building with some bookkeeping. It should be interesting givem that I don’t speak Spanish but accounting tends to be the same in every language — assets = liabilities + owner’s equity.

— 2 —

I start a new quarter next week. I’ll be officially taking Interpersonal Communication which is described thusly:

Uses theory and practice to develop self-awareness, confidence, and skill in communicating effectively, building healthy relationships with others, and managing conflict. Explores the impact of self-concept, perception, language, emotions, and nonverbal behavior on communication.

Additionally, I will be outlining the Business English book to prepare to challenge both quarters of it in the fall and winter. (I have to challenge it in a quarter in which it is offered.) It’s basic grammar so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

— 3 —

AMA. Given my newfound Reddit addiction, I’m up for doing an AMA (ask me anything) next week for my Quick Takes. Leave questions in the comments or email me or Facebook me.

— 4 —

The divorce. I’ve been asked by some long-time readers about where I am in the divorce. The answer: it is not final yet and that’s all I’m saying.

Next topic!

— 5 —

My dating life. I’ve been asked if I’m dating anyone. Hahahahahahahaha… people think I talk about my private life on here?!?!?

Next topic!

— 6 —

I’m apparently apolitical. I haven’t talked much about politics lately… mostly because I avoid consuming media that depresses me and everything involving 45 and his minions is extremely depressing. We actually *HAD* international goodwill under Obama and now the entire world is pointing at us and laughing because 45 throws tantrums over Twitter, shoves other world leaders out of the way so he’s at the front of the pack (this happened at the NATO meeting), is being sued by members of Congress for his fraudulent business dealings, and loses every court case with which he is involved.

Seriously, all my Republican friends are depressed as hell at what has become of their party, especially when Republican Congressional leaders are acting so incredibly unethically.

— 7 —

On my hook. Current crocheting projects include a pair of socks, a pussy hat (I’m apparently now the hatmaker for the Resistance!), a prayer shawl, a temperature afghan, and a baby blanket. I don’t have a lot of time to crochet these days so I’m aiming to finish the pussyhat and the baby blanket before the end of the year.

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

7 Quick Takes: Staring At a Blank Wall Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

End of the quarter. I am two tests, two quizzes, a discussion post, a report, and an amended PowerPoint presentation away from being done with the quarter. The quizzes, discussion post, and report will be tackled on Sunday. PowerPoint will be amended either tomorrow or Saturday. The tests will be taken on Monday and Tuesday. After that, I AM DONE!!!

— 2 —

Parenting advice. Parenting advice has indeed changed.

— 3 —

An interesting idea. Crocheted water balloons? What a novel idea!

— 4 —

Unbelievable. I’ve been getting a lot of “On This Day” things on Facebook about Daniel this week because it has been 8 years (as of the 7th) since we were able to bring him home from the hospital. It’s so amazing to think that my tiny baby is now only a foot shorter than I am!

— 5 —

Getting fur out of my keyboard. Homer, my gorgeous grey loaner cat, is being extra affectionate tonight which is wonderful… except that my keyboard now has quite a bit of fur in it! *goes off to find a can of compressed air to clean it*

— 6 —

Trinity fun. Some fun because this Sunday is Trinity Sunday…

— 7 —

Sports take. Go Dubs!!!! Sweep the Cavs!!!!

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

{five favourites}: Miscellanea (LXXXI)

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#5Faves

One

Listening to Gregorian chant in a dark room. It’s been a stressy few weeks with Daniel having medication issue and being sick. I slept most of Sunday and Monday and I took some Ativan tonight to chill me out. The sounds of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles are very therapeutic.

Two

My MS Word midterm. I was going to challenge the class to see if I could avoid taking it but I’m seriously glad I chose to just take it. I’ve learned so many things about how to put together documents and make them pretty. The next time I do a NaNoWriMo challenge, I could probably make my manuscript publishable on LuLu or whatever Amazon’s self-publishing arm is.

Anyway, one of the four required projects was to create a specials sheet for a restaurant and we were told to just go in and have fun with what we were given. There’s a midterm discussion and it has been a blast to see what other people have done and why they chose to go certain directions with their project.

Three

The beauty of where I live. I cannot express in words how much I love northern Washington and the sight of evergreen trees outside my window every morning. There are also beavers, deer, and other animals that come and hang out in the area. Trees are calming and I love that it’s only a short drive to Puget Sound where I can watch the water.

Four

The word “wholeness”. It’s my word for the year. The unraveling of my marriage last year left me very fractured internally and I’m trying to figure out how to put the pieces back together. It’s definitely going to be a journey this year but a worthwhile one.

Five

My morning latté. There are people boycotting $tarbux over their declaration that they’re going to hire 10,000 refugees in the next 5 years after the immigration ban was announced by the Trump administration.

My response:

My opinion on the Starbucks boycott.
#coffeewithouthate

(The bottom is supposed to read #coffeewithouthate.)

Go love up Bonnie, DeBalino, and the others.

{five favourites}: Things To Do Instead of Watching the Inauguration

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#5Faves

It’s probably no secret that I find T-Rump to be a distasteful deplorable person and his administration to be a trainwreck in the making. Instead of watching the inauguration on Friday, I thought I’d let y’all know what I’m planning to do.

One

Make a pussy hat (or two). Technically, I’ll be doing that this week in between homework assignments. (For those who don’t know what one is, the website is here. They aren’t pornographic — they’re pink hats with cat ears.) I’m hoping to get two made this week: one for me and one for my priest because if I can’t march on Saturday because of my bum foot/ankle, at least a part of me will be at the march in the form of a hat I made.

Two

Get ahead on homework. I don’t have class on Friday so I try to get ahead on homework if I can. I’ll have a test on Monday/Tuesday so I’ll also need to get a pre-test done.

Three

Watch all the NCIS re-runs I have on the DVR. Mark Harmon is dreamy and I freaking love Pauley Perrette!

Four

Pray. With someone like T-Rump taking over, we need all the prayers we can get!

Five

Pretty much anything else. Yeah, even having my fingernails removed with pliers sounds better than watching T-Rump lie his pants off while swearing on a Bible.

Go love up Bonnie and DeBalino.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: January 1, 2017

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For Today… January 1, 2017

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. I don’t think it’s snowing right now — it’s just down in the low 20’s.

I am thinking… about how to get all of my school errands done on Tuesday in addition to everything else on my plate. I have to buy books and get another parking pass.

I am thankful… that Daniel goes back to school on Tuesday morning. Kiddo has cabin fever.

One of my favorite things… quiet time in a dark room. Daniel just woke up so my chances of that for the rest of the night are shot.

I am wearing… jammies. Clothes today for church and the rest of the time were a charcoal grey/white speckled shirt, jeans, and my black boots. I usually dress up for church but we had enough new snow and the prospect of crappy roads so I decided to keep it simple.

I am creating… socks for my mom.

I am reading… The Abbey by James Martin, S.J.

I am hoping… using my phone as an e-reader ends up being helpful for me. (My NOOK died tonight.)

I am learning… how to drive in snow again.

In my kitchen… mom made pork chops, risotto, and salad for dinner tonight. Dessert was a Grand Marnier bundt cake.

In the school room… Daniel goes back to school on Tuesday and I start back on Wednesday.

Shared Quote… “Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out.” — J.K. Rowling

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Things I Resolve To Do in 2017

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Make healthier choices. I’ll be doing a plank challenge with some friends starting on January 1st and I’ll be trying to hit my college’s gym once I get over this stupid cold. I’m also going to try and cook more of my own food from scratch.

— 2 —

Annoy the crap out of T-Rump and his administration. I have the freedom to petition and I plan on making good use of it. 🙂 All of my favorite petition sites are locked and loaded and I have plans to attend a few protest marches.

— 3 —

Fill out a boatload of scholarship applications. I don’t qualify for grant-based aid because I already have a B.A. and I’d like to get as much of my Accounting program paid for without having to take out loans.

— 4 —

Get through as much of my Accounting program as I can. I am soooo excited for classes to start next week!!! I’m taking the second classes in my Practical Accounting series, a class on records management, and a class on Microsoft Word. The class on Word should be easy but I’ll appreciate that with two other classes.

— 5 —

Participate in Write 31 Days again. I have had so much fun in the last two years of participating in the challenge that I’d really like to do it again.

— 6 —

Finish some crocheting projects. I’d like to start some new projects but that means finishing some other ones first! First on the list to finish: my mom’s Christmas socks from last year.

— 7 —

Not eat any yellow paint. This one is a tribute to my friend Rick. He passed away four years ago and he used to resolve not to eat any [insert color] paint every year.

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