The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 27, 2019

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Jen

For Today… October 27, 2019

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… sunny. It’s deceptive because it looks warm while it is a bit chilly–about 46F.

I am thinking… about all those affected by the wildfires in California.

I am thankful… to not be in California right now with the fires and power outages. PG&E should be facing criminal charges for the crap their horrible equipment is creating. If they had actually maintained their equipment appropriately and updated safety measures, California wouldn’t be facing this problem.

One of my favorite things… crocheting while watching YouTube.

I am wearing… blue long-sleeved shirt and black khaki-type pants. As usual, I am barefoot.

I am creating… a charcoal-colored ribbed hat.

I am watching… various things on YouTube.

I am hoping… for a good resolution to a situation on my mind. (I’d talk about it, but that would violate some privacy policies and put me at risk of litigation.)

I am learning… that I really need to read EVERY part of a pattern.

In my kitchen… yet to be determined for dinner tonight.

Shared Quote… “Crowley had always known that he would be around when the world ended, because he was immortal and wouldn’t have any alternative. But he hoped it was a long way off. Because he rather liked people. It was major failing in a demon. Oh, he did his best to make their short lives miserable, because that was his job, but nothing he could think up was half as bad as the stuff they thought up themselves. They seemed to have a talent for it. It was built into the design, somehow. They were born into a world that was against them in a thousand little ways, and then devoted most of their energies to making it worse. Over the years Crowley had found it increasingly difficult to find anything demonic to do which showed up against the natural background of generalized nastiness. There had been times, over the past millennium, when he’d felt like sending a message back Below saying, Look we may as well give up right now, we might as well shut down Dis and Pandemonium and everywhere and move up here, there’s nothing we can do to them that they don’t do to themselves and they do things we’ve never even thought of, often involving electrodes. They’ve got what we lack. They’ve got imagination. And electricity, of course. One of them had written it, hadn’t he… ‘Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.'”
? Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

A moment from my day… A lot of churches are celebrating Reformation Day today and my former priest posted this today. I’m kind of dying of laughter while watching this…

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: YouTube Channel Edition

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Jen

I thought I’d share some of my favorite YouTube channels with you.

— 1 —

SixBlindKids SixBlindKids is quite literally a family with six blind kids. 🙂 They have a biological son who is older and sighted, Joe (the dad) has a son from a previous marriage, and the rest of the kiddos were adopted overseas from various countries except for one who was adopted domestically. Most of the younger six have at least one other issue (autism, CP, intellectual disabilities, etc.), and all but one are young adults now. They are the coolest people and it’s amazing to see how they do things. The episode posted today is them wandering the Homesteaders of America 2019 Conference.

— 2 —

World’s Strictest Parents. World’s Strictest Parents is a 10+ year TV show in which unruly teenagers from various countries are sent to families with strict parents to learn what it is like to live in a strict family with rules and boundaries. The American version used to be broadcast on CMT. Every Saturday, they have a full episode from one of the international versions.

— 3 —

Megan Fox Unlocked. Megan Fox is a Mennonite millenial mom with two precious kids in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I love watching her videos because she’s interesting, she’s always really upbeat and positive, and she’s great about answering questions based on her life.

— 4 —

Lynette Yoder. Lynette Yoder grew up Amish until she was a teenager when her ENTIRE CHURCH went Mennonite. She grew up in Ohio and Canada, but she now lives in Florida. I love watching her videos to learn about sewing, food, homemaking, and Mennonite life. She was one of Megan Fox’s inspirations in starting a YouTube channel, and the two of them did a collaboration this year!

— 5 —

Vinteheiro. Lord Vinteheiro is a Brazilian pianist. I can identify a lot more classical music that isn’t by my favorite composers after watching some of his videos. What impresses me is that he plays while staring sideways at the camera… which involves an insane amount of muscle memory!

— 6 —

Talking Kitty Cat. Sylvester is a snarky black kitty cat whose human puts voices and words in his mouth. He reminds me of someone, but I can’t think of who…

— 7 —

la harpe de melodie. This is the channel of a harpist who was a doctoral music student at USC. (I found out who she actually is online, but I am not linking her by name as she does not attach her name to her YouTube site.) I love her channel for lots of early music and folk music.

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

Yarn-Along: October 2, 2019

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Jen

Joining Ginny for a Yarn-Along for the first time in years!

My blanket and book for this week.

I am working on my nephew Braden’s baby/big boy blankie. I started it in January 2018 when I found out my sister-in-law was pregnant, but I never got more than a foot done due to school, work, and developing arthritis in my hands. When Daniel started his behavioral therapy this summer, my mom was the one driving, so I would bring it and just crochet on the drive down, while we were waiting to see his psychologist, and on the long drive back (thank you for having horrible rush hour traffic, Seattle!).

Right now, I’m a little bit into Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I’m also trying to be faithful at reading each day’s devotion from Nailed It! 365 Devotions for Angry and Worn-Out People by Anne Kennedy.

To see the amazing projects other people are making and what they’re reading, go visit Ginny.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 23, 2019

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Jen

For Today… September 23, 2019

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… grey. We had a rainy day today, and it was lovely.

I am thinking… about things related to my pre-op appointment and how to deal with getting my family information if both of my parents need to be home with Daniel on surgery day, leaving me at the hospital alone. (The surgery isn’t until October 8th.)

I am thankful… that my pre-op appointment went well and there was no pelvic exam involved!

One of my favorite things… quiet. It’s not happening for another two hours given Daniel being sick with the cold going around his class and me having to give him fluids in small doses every 30 minutes so he doesn’t cough his meds up. #gtubekidproblems

I am wearing… jammies. Clothes today were a long-sleeved blue shirt and jeans.

I am creating… letters and an Advent devotional booklet. Oh… I’m also making lovely progress on my nephew’s baby/big boy blankie.

I am reading… Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It’s delightful, so much so that I really don’t want to watch the TV series.

I am hoping… Daniel doesn’t puke up anything tomorrow morning and make me miss my doctor’s appointment.

I am learning… that I really need to practice better sleep hygiene. (Sleep hygiene is defined as turning off electronics and doing things to create a better sleeping environment.)

In my kitchen… defrosting some pesto and tomato linguine from Trader Joe’s.

In the school room… Daniel is happy to be back at school after being out sick on Friday.

Post Script… this is the apple cake I made for church on Sunday.

Shared Quote… “[describing Crowley] An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards.” – Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

A moment from my day… Duuuuuuude…

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 17, 2019

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Jen

For Today…

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. We’ve been having a lot of rain lately. We even had a serious thunder and lightning storm a week and a half ago.

I am thinking… about the Advent devotional book I’m putting together for church. I’m trying to put together the instruction sheet and ask letter.

I am thankful… for the overpayment of a bill 5-6 years ago that was sent to me this week. It is helping out.

One of my favorite things… sleep.

I am wearing… my jammies as it is 12:30 a.m.

I am creating… devotion examples for the ask letter.

I am reading… Nailed It by Anne Kennedy.

I am hoping… to be productive this week.

I am learning… about bullet journals and what spreads work for me.

In my kitchen… scampi linguine.

In the school room… Daniel is loving school being back in session.

Post Script… the rules for posting about a death on social media.

Shared Quote… “It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.” –Neil Gaiman, Good Omens

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: BuJo Edition

Posted on September 12, 2019 by Jen

— 1 —

What the heck is BuJo? “BuJo” stands for bullet journaling. It was created by this dude. This is what the system looks like. This is what it looks like if you have design sense and are not OCD about errors like I am!

— 2 —

Wait… what? It’s a combination of a diary, notetaking system, planner, and… stuff. This is what mine looks like.

My monocolor bullet journal.

— 3 —

You do know there are these amazing things called “colors”, right Jen? Yes. However, my erasable pens in colors other than black have bitten the dust, and I’m waiting until I have this amazing thing called “disposable income that is not child support or Daniel’s SSI” to replace them. So, black it is!

But yeah, there’s cool stuff you can buy to make your bullet journal look nifty.

— 4 —

So what do you use for yours? I use this notebook, these pens, and a small ruler. Most hardcore people use this notebook or this one, but I figured I’d go for an inexpensive one until I could see bullet-journaling fit my needs.

— 5 —

So why did you start? It looked cool, and I reallyreallyreally wanted to pretend that I’m capable of cool calligraphy and artsy things. I’m obviously not, but I’m finding what works for me.

I finally made myself start last Friday after I convinced myself that it wasn’t going to get any easier if I waited. I found some spreads that worked for me in this book:

What I read to teach me stuff.

The Amazon link is here.

— 6 —

So are you ever going to do anything cool with yours? Probably. These ideas look kind of fun.

— 7 —

You’re just addicted to stuff on Buzzfeed! Um, ok… *backs away slowly*

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

7 Quick Takes: Random Songs Edition

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Jen

Jon is here visiting this week, and we have just gotten back from one of Daniel’s appointments at the Autism Center in Seattle. My brain isn’t putting together coherent thoughts, so here are 7 songs that are in my head right now.

— 1 —

“The Boxer” with Shawn Colvin, Alison Kraus, and Jerry Douglas.