Category Archives: Creativity

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.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 14, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 14, 2011

Outside my window… night and supposed to be a bit chilly.

I am thinking… that I’m pretty exhausted even though it’s only 7:05 p.m.

I am thankful… that “Hart of Dixie” is on tonight.

From the learning rooms… speech therapy today.

In the kitchen… potato soup at some point this week.

I am wearing… black Arabic shirt and blue striped pajama bottoms.

I am creating… my NaNo piece and some prayer shawls (the secret came out).

I am going… to hopefully grab a shower tonight.

I am wondering… how awful a person’s life had to be for them to shoot and wound a CHP officer and then be shot by cops for refusing to show their hands. (Story here.)

I am reading… still Shirt of Flame by Heather King though I did just finish Time Crunch by Diane Mott Davidson.

I am hoping… we can get some occupational therapy rescheduled this week.

I am looking forward to… Thanksgiving with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law.

I am hearing… Daniel’s LeapPad and “Willa’s Wild Life” on TV.

Around the house… just did a sink of dishes. More to do once those dry. I really want an automatic dishwasher.

I am pondering… plot things for my NaNo piece.

One of my favorite things… “Hart of Dixie” on the CW. I wish it was 2 hours long or that I had the season on DVR because it’s a great show in which to lose myself.

A few plans for the rest of the week… physical therapy tomorrow, peds appointment on Wednesday, WIC and nutritionist on Thursday, and hopefully some reading time on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — Purging My Brain

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7 Quick Takes

This is a week of quick takes for purging my brain, It’s been crazy here and I have too much ruminating in my head.

— 1 —

I’m almost done with Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux by Heather King. It’s been an interesting read and I have 3 chapters (October to December) to go. I highly recommend it as I believe King stays true to the spirit of St. Therese’s writings. I got mine from Barnes & Noble though Amazon also has it and has a Kindle version available.

— 2 —

NaNo has been going well. I’ve been able to keep up with my word counts though I need to find some things for my characters to do. This is my first year of writing straight fiction instead of a murder mystery so it’s been interesting.

— 3 —

We’re prepping for Daniel’s yearly IFSP. “IFSP” stands for “Individualized Family Services Plan” and it’s essentially an IEP for the Regional Center in California when they’re providing early intervention services for kids like Daniel. It involves reports from his occupational, physical, and speech therapists as well as a status report on where things are medically. The meeting with our case worker from the Regional Center is the 22nd and I’ll be doing LOTS of cleaning before that.

— 4 —

My Christian witness is being completely eroded by having to drive in Sacramento. OK… not just Sac but also around town. We’ve got teenagers who are under the mistaken impression that they are the only ones on the roads, people who drive according to the rules of their country of origin, and the traffic mess that are the Tuesday and Wednesday markets. My horn has become my friend and I’m having to force myself not to use my driving finger. Geez… I live in a bedroom community of Sacramento, not a third world country.

— 5 —

We’re getting back to normal in terms of Daniel’s bedtimes. During the week Jon was gone last month, he got used to staying up late with me. It’s taken about a month to get him back to normal and the days when he doesn’t nap are actually the ones where he goes down with less of a fight. We’ve also learned that after his story and prayer, he’ll stay calm if we put some classical music or instrumental hymns on. (I recommend “Guitar Prayer” which is put out through GIA Music.)

— 6 —

I am seriously in love with “Hart of Dixie”. I wish we had it on DVR so I could watch hours of it on end. Oh well… I could probably go onto the CW website and do it. Still, I find myself wishing that each episode was two hours long because I find myself getting lost in them.

— 7 —

I was totally amused by CBS actors/actresses taking over Facebook and Twitter this week on the day of their big shows. My favorite was probably Mayim Bialek talking about her character and how it worked out. She’s actually a neuroscientist in real life and they actually changed the character of Amy Farrah Fowler to reflect that.

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

7 Quick Takes — Reformation Day, NaNoWriMo, and Anything Else That Comes to Mind

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7 Quick Takes

I was a bit enamored with baseball last week so I think this Quick Takes might just combine two weeks into one. Seriously though, it was an awesome World Series and I’m glad St. Louis messed with Texas and that David Freese was MVP.

— 1 —

Reformation Day was Monday. It’s the 494th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. (Yes, I’m linking this on a Catholic blog. I’m Lutheran, so deal with it!) It’s the closest thing Lutherans have to a Catholic saint’s feast day so we live it up. (Yes, we like the saints. We revere them. We’re not so big into asking them for intercession though.) Since we observe it on the Sunday preceeding October 31st, the altar is red/white which led to some jokes this year about it being a celebration of the Cardinals winning the World Series. Here’s a link to some Reformation Day humor. Keep in mind that all these things are meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

— 2 —

I’m on track to win NaNo so far. I’ve made my minimum word counts each day and am trying to actually go slightly over so that I have a cushion on days when writing that much isn’t possible. I don’t have any 8 hour drives coming up so I should have plenty of writing time.

— 3 —

Plotting for NaNo is a little harder this year. I’m trying my hand at general fiction and this means not having people to kill off like I would in a murder mystery. (I’d do a murder mystery but nobody has pissed me off enough to want to kill them… yet.) Ideas are always welcome.

— 4 —

The creative killings for charity are back again this year. Make a food pantry donation, let me know where you made it, and tell me how you want to be killed off. I’m jen at grace-filled dot net. The only rule is that there can’t be any ritual cannibalism, galatining, or anything too gruesome. We’re killing people creatively for fun here, not for a slasher horror competition.

— 5 —

I’m trying out PangurPad this year. So far, I’m kind of unimpressed. It’s not letting me do any fonts and very little formatting which is annoying me. Then again, I have a free account for NaNo and I doubt they’re rolling out the good stuff for someone who isn’t paying for it. A founding membership is only $45 AUD which is $46.79 USD and it’s a one-time payment so I may consider that if I win NaNo this year.

— 6 —

Daniel was Pooh Bear for Halloween. I seriously should have done a dry run with getting his costume on because it took tears on his part and almost on my part to get his head through the zipper hole. He was very cute though and we had a good time. The only problem was that we ran out of candy and I had to raid his stash to take care of the last trick-or-treaters. (On the other hand, it got rid of some of the candies I hate.)

Pooh Bear

— 7 —

I just looked over and saw that Jon had gotten horse shampoo for himself at the dollar store. When I questioned him about it, he said he liked what it promoted: longer hair. (For the first time in his life, he has more hair than I do.) He’s asked me to stock up on carrots and oats. I’m getting scared…

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 31, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 31, 2011

Outside my window… sunny.

I am thinking… that I need to head to CVS at some point to get a postcard to send to Russia for Postcrossing.

I am thankful… for my weekend with my parents. Mom and I watched Game 7 of the World Series on Friday night (an unusual bonding activity since neither of my parents are sports fans), we went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday, we got Daniel some cool new shoes, and we went to the local playground on Sunday. Oh yes… there was also the NCIS marathon on USA on Saturday. 🙂 (We don’t have cable or satellite so it was a treat to be able to watch it.)

From the learning rooms… a good session with Daniel’s child development person today.

In the kitchen… tuna that my dad put together for me this weekend. (He makes the best tuna EVER.)

I am wearing… black shirt and Jon’s Left Behind shorts. (My standard “around the house” clothes.)

I am creating… NaNo stuff and the super-secret crocheting project.

I am going… to carve up some pumpkins today.

I am wondering… what to dress as when I take Daniel trick-or-treating tonight.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame by Heather King. It’s amazing — I just have to read each chapter in its entirety.

I am hoping… I can hit 50K words in November for NaNo.

I am looking forward to… trick-or-treating tonight.

I am hearing… Daniel rearranging stuff in the living room and Catholic Weekend on iTunes. (Why yes… I’m Lutheran and I listen to Catholic podcasts.)

Around the house… vacuuming that I need to do.

I am pondering… many things in my heart.

One of my favorite things… Almond Joy candy bars. I’ve got two bags of the mini ones on top of the fridge that I’m trying not to eat. So far I’ve succeeded.

A few plans for the rest of the week… trick-or-treating tonight, therapies this week, and Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… My parents’ grey cat Homer somehow sustained a gaping wound to his right front leg that took forever to find. They had to sedate him to stitch him up and the poor grey Pooh Bear has to wear an Elizabethan collar until his stitches come out in a week and a half. He decided that he would take up residence under their bed so every few hours, I would extract him and brush him before escorting him to the garage for his commode. The love paid off — he was Mr. Tummy for me on Saturday night (and he is the best tummy ever) and he was actually out and social on Sunday.

Homer

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 24, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window… sunny and in the 70’s.

I am thinking… that it’s almost November and we need some cooler weather and maybe even some rain.

I am thankful… that Daniel is taking his nap.

In the kitchen… nothing cooked yet though I’m sitting here eating garlic-stuffed olives from WinCo.

I am wearing… black shirt and Jon’s Left Behind shorts.

I am creating… NaNo plots and the second half of the super-secret crocheting project.

I am going… to Bible study tonight.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux by Heather King.

I am hoping… that it’s a quiet week.

I am looking forward to… heading to San Jose for the weekend.

I am hearing… Catholic Weekend on iTunes. I’m their token Protestant listener.

Around the house… floors to clean.

One of my favorite things… Crystal Light lemonade.

A few plans for the rest of the week… Daniel’s therapies, errands, and heading to San Jose on Friday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… Daniel at the pumpkin patch yesterday.

Daniel at the pumpkin patch.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: NaNoWriMo Prep and Alone with the Kid

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7 Quick Takes

Jon was in St. Louis for a denominational pastor’s retreat so I had Daniel by myself this week.

— 1 —

Bathroom breaks were a privilege this week and showers were a luxury. Daniel was a little clingy. I’m usually home with him during the day but he knew that Jon was gone and I think he was a little afraid of me leaving as well. We’d play the “knock knock” game where I’d be in the bathroom and knock on the door. He’d knock back and this would let him know that I was still here. However, I didn’t get a shower until his nap on Wednesday. That night, he puked on me (as well as pretty much every surface in the house) and managed to remove the faucet head for the hot water in the bath/shower. I had to make do with Clorox wipes to clean myself up.

— 2 —

Daniel walked the length of the driveway TWICE while holding on to a leaf. His physical therapist calls this “Dumbo’s feather”. (I haven’t seen “Dumbo” in 20+ years but I guess he could fly while holding on to a feather?) Basically, he can balance and be confident if he has something in his hand, regardless of whether it’s actually helping him balance. The key now is to build his confidence so that he can do it without holding something.

— 3 —

The hardest time this week has been bedtime. Jon usually puts Daniel to bed while I chill, crochet, and/or work on NaNoWriMo prep. With him gone, I’m the one putting him to bed and his bedtime seems to coincide with my 9:00 shows. We watched “Hart of Dixie” together on Monday and “He-Man” last night. When Jon called to read Daniel his Winnie the Pooh story, Daniel gave me a look as to say, “Woman! You’re disturbing ‘She-Ra’!” (“She-Ra” comes right after “He-Man” on Qubo Night Owl.)

— 4 —

The NaNoWriMo is updated for the event this year. This is good because it forced me to get my mind back on my novel and choose a title. Given that I don’t have enough hatred built up to do a murder mystery this year, it will be chick lit. (They actually have “chick lit” as a genre on the NaNo website which kind of scares me.)

— 5 —

One of the corporate sponsors for NaNo this year is PangurPad. I’m sure that PangurPad provides great software and I may try a trial membership with them; but that isn’t the reason why they are unbelievably cool. The reason they’re that cool: their name comes from the 9th century Old Irish poem written by an Irish monk about his cat Pangur Bán. Why yes… I am that kind of geek. What was your first clue?

— 6 —

I’m taking requests for gratuitous killings again. (Sorry to Pisco and Anita — I didn’t get you killed off last year. I’ll kill you for free this year unless you want to donate to the cause.) I haven’t decided what the charity donation will be but I’ll announce it on this page as soon as I decide on one. (For those who haven’t read my blog during a NaNo attempt before, I’ll kill you off in the creative way you choose in exchange for a charity donation of some kind. One year, we did food bank donations and last year, it was to Daniel’s band for March of Dimes.)

— 7 —

I think we’ll have another He-Man/She-Ra marathon tonight. I’m sleep-deprived enough that I don’t know if I can deal with Daniel refusing to go down again (Thursday night) so I’m willing to wait until Jon gets in and can put Daniel down himself. This might mean some Qubo Night Owl watching but I think Daniel will probably consent to cuddle during that. He’s the age I was when He-Man was popular in the first place.

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