Category Archives: Creativity

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 28, 2016

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For Today… August 28, 2016

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was lovely and in the 60’s with a minor rainstorm in the afternoon. It’s so wonderful after a week of humidity and temps in the 80’s.

I am thinking… about all the calls I have to make tomorrow to structure my week around Daniel’s school schedule as his bus transportation seems to be messed up.

I am thankful… for my church and the Spanish ministry to whom a bunch of school supplies were donated and for the people who offered to buy backpacks for the kids who need them. It was also wonderful watching Rev. Helen kneeling in front of the non-Communing kids at the altar rail and giving them the best blessing she could in Spanish. She is an asset to us in many ways.

One of my favorite things… being able to breathe normally. I miss it with this stupid asthma exacerbation.

I am wearing… jammies. Church was my indigo shirt from Fred Meyer, black capris from Kohl’s, and black flats from the Naturalizer website.. I exchanged the shirt and the flats for my blue-green shirt and black flip-flops from Old Navy.

I am creating… a prayer shawl on one of my hooks.

I am reading… Just Desserts by G.A. McKevvett.

I am hoping… I don’t have too much of a problem getting a follow-up appointment this week after my ER visit on Thursday. I’m still having asthma issues and I need to talk about my med list.

I am learning… the ropes of getting Daniel’s services up here.

In my kitchen… we had Sunday dinner here with my uncle and my grandma so we had pork chops, chopped salad, mixed veggies, corn on the cob, and apple pie for dessert.

In the school room… Daniel starts back on Tuesday and I’m trying to get his transportation sitch resolved.

Post Script… I wanted to share this for my musically-inclined friends.

Shared Quote… “I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality…asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says ‘Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology…’ But excusing says ‘I see that you couldn’t help it or didn’t mean it; you weren’t really to blame.’ …And if we forget this, we shall go away imagining that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves.” — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

A moment from my day… From one of our hymns this morning which I was bummed not to be able to sing because of my voice and lungs.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

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.

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.

7 Quick Takes: I Can Haz Quick Takes???

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Planner nerd. I finally got my planner filled out with numbered days and stuff today. (I was up to August and somehow got waylaid from finishing for 3 months. A small child might have something to do with it.) Of course, because it’s me, it’s also color-coded. 🙂

Then today, I started drooling over the planner section while at Staples giving the kid a pre-dinner run to work off energy until he could have his ADHD meds. None of the ones being sold there really work for what I need but visions of rulers and colored pens and schedules were dancing in my head.

— 2 —

Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh!!! Bunmi Laditan has a YouTube channel now!!!! (I may or may not be dancing around the room at this discovery.)

— 3 —

*sighs* The #DemDebate hashtag is trending on Twitter. While the Democratic field doesn’t entice me to take a screwdriver to my temple as much as the Republican field does, I would REALLYREALLYREALLY like the various political conventions to please take place so there can be only TWO candidates to block out instead of eleventy billion of them.

— 4 —

Clickbait fun. I love this list of 16 times Dad won at life. #4 and #10 are the best ones.

— 5 —

How did I not know about this?!?!?!?!? I just discovered the 50 Days of Fabulous page on Rev. Tim Schenck’s Twitter. (Fr. Tim is the founder of Lent Madness, for those who are unaware of his awesomeness.) I really need to pay better attention to Forward Movement. #badepiscopalian

— 6 —

Because Ben and Jerry’s. It’s been a stressy week so I picked up some ice cream at Target and was encouraged to see some non-dairy Chunky Monkey. I just had a little bit and it is AWESOME!!!! I highly recommend it to my vegan and non-dairy people.

— 7 —

So much grace. It was revealed in the last week that the father of Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury (head of the Church of England and Anglican Communion), is not the person he thought he was and is instead the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne, secretary to Winston Churchill. Archbishop Welby released this beautiful and grace-filled statement that I think needs to be read by everyone. He makes me proud to be Anglican.

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