Category Archives: Health

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: I Said I Would Never…

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This week’s topic: I said I would never…

I actually rarely say “I would never” about most things because I parent pretty much on the fly — I have to with a kid like Daniel. I’m the completely permissive parent who lets her kid do things that Jon wouldn’t, mostly because I’m the one home with him most of the time and there are only so many battles I can fight.

I pondered this topic (in between prayers for the ER visit this morning to not completely suck) and the only thing I came up with was…

I said I would never let my kids misbehave in church the way _____________________’s kids seemed to be allowed to do.

Does anyone have a good recipe for crow? Because, seriously, I have a kid who opens and closes the sanctuary doors, the bathroom doors, turns the lights on and off in the bathrooms, slams the cabinet doors in the narthex, does laps in the aisles, and melts down if his daddy preaches too long and his mommy hasn’t taken him around the block enough times. I used to sit and mentally glare at the kids who messed around in church and the parents who let them. Let’s just say that my attitude has changed since becoming a parent.

(Oh yes, the ER visit went fine. Daniel was coughing badly and refusing to eat or drink which is not a good sign. After being on hold with Urgent Care at UCD Pediatrics for 30 minutes, I decided to cut out the middleman and just haul tail to the pediatric ER at UCD Medical Center. Four hours, two breathing treatments, a dose of steroids, and one nap later, Daniel was his normal self again and he did not have to be admitted.)

Now go see Becky and what everyone else said they would never let their kids do.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 25, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY August 25, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It was a sunny day though.

I am thinking… about the craziness that will be my next three days.

I am thankful… for the chance to see my brother one more time before he moves north on Tuesday.

I am wearing… light blue preeclampsia survivor shirt and black running shorts.

I am creating… blog posts.

I am going… to pray Compline soon.

I am reading… Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I also finished Confessions of a GP by Dr. Benjamin Daniels and read Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs.

I am hoping… Daniel’s cold doesn’t get worse.

I am looking forward to… Thursday when I’ll have a free morning.

I am pondering… too much internally.

A favorite quote for today… ??… We begin to notice besides our particular sinful act, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in the cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light. ?? – C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Silence.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ENT appt and ABA therapy for Daniel tomorrow, hearing aid appointment on Tuesday, ripping the SSA a new one on Wednesday morning and ABA therapy that afternoon, nothing (yet) on Thursday, and ABA therapy on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Virtual 5K’s, Harmless Political Fun, and Overheating Laptops

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Slow going. My laptop is overheating despite being on a cooling pad so Facebook is being slow (and of course, I have 15 hours of status updates to read) so I’m switching over here to write a Quick Take every time Facebook has to load more stuff. Whee! This is what I get for not being at my laptop for 12 hours.

— 2 —

Endocrinology grumping. I cleaned up my diet and my A1C got worse. (I didn’t see my other numbers though my liver enzymes apparently continue to be beautiful — thank God for that!) I think my endocrinologist would be an awesome coffee date but she has no clue about what my life entails. I was able to test a little bit after eating lunch today but dinner eluded me because I’m sipping on tea a lot of the time. (I need to move from my Lipton Pure Leaf stuff to Crystal Light or something because the Lipton stuff *will* up my carb load.) My thyroid function is also the lower boundary of normal (thanks Mom!) so we’re going to up my Synthroid by half and see if that makes a difference. There was the usual fight over trying new drugs because my insurance company hates me so she gave me samples while a prior authorization could be worked out and also a discount co-pay card for the meds she wanted to give me. My glucose meter had died so they found me a new one (I use a Freestyle Light) and it had a $15 co-pay card attached for test strips. (They can be between $50-$150 if you have to pay for them at the pharmacy.) I see her again in 3 months and God willing, she’ll be happier with results. I mean, I dropped 10 lbs while sitting on my butt so my dietary changes actually did something.

— 3 —

Wow. For those who are fans of the musical Les Miserables, you have to watch this.

He also does an amazing parody of Disney princesses after their “happy endings”.

— 4 —

Humorous Amazon.Com reviews. Amazon.Com has done the world a favor and has compiled a list of their products with fake reviews. George Takei also should have a decent list on his Facebook page and you might even be able to find him as a reviewer on Amazon.Com’s website.

— 5 —

Some political fun. Al Franken is up for re-election in 2014 for one of Minnesota’s US Senate seats and he is engaging in a little political fun. He is letting people vote on what Minnesota State Fair food he will be eating in a virtual postcard to supporters. Choices are things like alligator, tater tot hot dish, a chocolate-covered pickle, a steak dinner-on-a-stick, ostrich, and walleye-on-a-stick. I’m linking it here because I think it’s creative and it’s some harmless fun where Republicans and Democrats alike can vote on something. It’s the 21st century equivalent of putting him on a dunk tank or a pie-throwing booth.

— 6 —

Run for Little Flowers Giveaway. Katie at Blessed with Full Hands is organizing the Run for Little Flowers again and is having a giveaway. There’s running gear, a $20 gift card (put up by me), and other things available. The virtual 5K raises money for the Little Flower Projects.

— 7 —

More on The Bloggess’ book. Like Jenny Lawson (the Bloggess), I deal with generalized anxiety disorder but I’m not quite as humorous about it. I haven’t told people about swallowing a needle at parties but I tend to be more likely to focus on one or two people and just have a conversation with them. Like her, I also sound so much more normal online than I do in person. I was interviewing a respite worker for Daniel and it was probably one of the more uncomfortable 2-hour blocks of my life. It’s been interesting to read her book because I can totally see myself doing the stuff she has… well, kind of but with less dead animals.

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

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XII)

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Five Favorites

One

Sleep. I’m wishing I was getting more of it. Today was an insane day where I was going from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a short break in between my (crappy) endocrinologist appointment and my mani/pedi. (I know… I live a tough life. I’ll be making up for it by having to call Social Security tomorrow and find out how the duck they managed to screw up Daniel’s SSI this time.) It was hard this morning because my tabby really wanted to have Mama time but I wasn’t able to go back to sleep with him on top of me purring. #tabbyproblems On the plus side, I got to see my evil twin and my sister-in-law before they move to Washington. I’ll be seeing them again this weekend to bring them dinner and return their coolers. (They brought over all the beer and frozen food they weren’t going to be able to take with them.)

Two

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Like almost everything The Bloggess says, this is MAJORLY NSFW but incredibly funny.

Three

My mother-in-law. My very wonderful mother-in-law took over Daniel care for me this weekend so I could get a break and get some rest. This is a woman who is taking care of her terminally ill husband and getting even less sleep than me so it was amazingly sacrificial of her to do this. She also got me FOUR boxes of Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Cream Bars.

Four

$tarbux Fruit and Cheese Bistro Boxes. Seriously, this is like the best bistro box made by $tarbux. (OK… it’s the only one I can eat for allergy purposes or because lettuce is rabbit food.) If I pair it with a venti ice water, it even works to fill me up without doing bad things to my blood sugar.

Five

The creativity of some of the people at Metanoia. We have a couple women (Gladys and Hortense) who are creative in a completely amazing and scary way. Last summer, they built a fountain with its own water source in the church parking lot. They transform the office/classroom wing into a Haunted Hallway for Halloween and transform our fellowship hall into a five-star restaurant. As a fundraiser for the congregation, they created a 50’s diner in our fellowship hall… complete with booths, checkered flooring, costumes for the wait staff, and actual records hanging as decorations. Duuuuuuuude…

Go love up Hallie and the others.

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 3)

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{Virtual Coffee Date}

Karianna at Caffeinated Catholic Mama made this into a link-up. Woohoo! Once you’re done here, go visit her and the other coffee drinkers.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about my father-in-law having hip replacement surgery tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. PDT and how it’s a bit more dangerous because of the cancer. I’d also ask if you could pray for him/send positive energy/good thoughts. I had a

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about how much I appreciated my mother-in-law taking care of me this weekend by watching Daniel and letting him get filthy and covered with Greek yogurt. I appreciated that she took over Daniel duty so I could sleep, rest, and go shopping for Jon’s birthday presents. She also put on an incredible spread for a small family birthday gathering at a moment’s notice.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about the book I’m currently reading, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (a.k.a. The Bloggess) and how I feel like I’m totally going to hell for reading it because it is so incredibly wrong but so insanely funny. Let’s just say that it explains her fondness for taxidermied animals doing weird things and leave it at that.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m kind of nervous for my endocrinologist appointment tomorrow because I haven’t been testing my sugars regularly, I haven’t lost a boatload of weight, and haven’t been obsessively tracking my food intake.

Thanks for having coffee (or tea) with me. I promise I’ll try to be less depressing next week.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 18, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY August 18, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It’s a full moon tonight though and I’m pretty sure my in-laws’ mew-mews are out being lions or something.

I am thinking… about all that I have to get done this week.

I am thankful… for a good visit down here and for my mother-in-law who has taken on a lot of Daniel duty so I can sleep in and take naps. She keeps me sane on these visits.

In the kitchen… cleaned up the leftovers from the manicotti that a neighbor brought over for Jon’s birthday dinner.

I am wearing… charcoal shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… blog entries.

I am going… to have a long drive back up to northern California tomorrow. I’ll actually be reading through most of it so I should hopefully be able to clear some of the “Mount TBR” on my NOOK.

I am wondering… what my kitties are up to back home.

I am reading… Confessions of a GP by Benjamin Daniels MD. It’s an interesting look at how the NHS looks in Britain in addition to anecdotes about his experiences as a doctor.

I am hoping… all goes well with my father-in-law’s surgery on Wednesday. If you could spare a prayer on his behalf, I’d appreciate it. His name is Ray.

I am looking forward to… my mani/pedi on Wednesday.

Around the house… nothing to report because my mother-in-law keeps a completely sterile house to the point that I could eat off of her kitchen floor.

I am pondering… what things to talk about for Thomas’ link-up. (If you have any thoughts/blog posts/etc on what was helpful when your kids were babies, go participate in the link-up. Thomas’ wife Alison is pregnant with twins and he’s picking the brain of the Internet on what to use.)

A favorite quote for today… ??When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of ‘No answer.’ It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.?? ? C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… solitude.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel starts back to school on Tuesday, Morning Prayer on Tuesday, endocrinologist appointment and mani/pedi on Wednesday as well as my brother visiting, nothing on Thursday (thank God!), and ABA therapy on both Wednesday and Friday for Daniel

A peek into my day… My bed kitty while I’ve been down here. My cats are going to kill me.

Arthur

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: ELCA Presiding Bishops, Helping Jenn Become a Nun, and Cat Bribing.

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

A wine alternative. We have several winemakers in our parish (we’re a cow town in wine country) and Jon will sometimes be gifted wine by some of them. A couple of them know that I don’t drink so I was surprised when I got a call from the wife of one of the winemakers, telling me that she had something for me. The “something” turned out to be two bottles of really good sparkling cider because she didn’t feel it was fair that Jon always got wine and I never got anything. I was seriously touched by this but this person is incredibly conscientious about making sure that people feel included so I shouldn’t have been surprised.. She is one of the few people in the parish who is allowed to have my cell phone number and I keep a couple messages from her on there to listen to when I really need to hear that I’m loved. (She left a message the first night Daniel was in the hospital in January and I cried when I heard it because I totally needed to hear that she and her husband love us and were praying for us.)

— 2 —

Helping Jenn become a nun. I am blessed to have been a part of this.

A family (wishing to remain anonymous) offered to take over her student loans so that she could enter on August 28th. This is a huge sacrifice on their part and Jenn has asked that if people would like to make a gift toward paying them down, it would help them out tremendously. (She writes the BEST thank you emails too.) She has a blog here if you’d like to keep up with what is going on until her entrance on August 28th.

— 3 —

Send Liliana a birthday card. This kid kicked cancer’s butt and all she wants is a birthday card. She loves receiving mail and this would really make her happy. Details are here.

— 4 —

Orphans.Do you see these three darling children?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are in the homestudy stage. Kaia has met her family and they are in love with her!!! 🙂

Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 5 —

It’s a girl! Some of you know that I used to be part of the ELCA so I was watching news of Churchwide Assembly with a cocked ear because we would be electing a new presiding bishop (the head of the ELCA). On the fifth ballot, Elizabeth Eaton, the bishop of Northeastern Ohio Synod was elected, beating out Mark Hanson (our current presiding bishop) and Jessica Crist (my former bishop from Montana).

I was never a fan of Mark Hanson for many reasons so I’m glad that he’ll be gone. My feelings about Jessica are mixed. Her assistant to the bishop threw us under the bus in Montana and there are some who feel that more could have been done for us. Thing is… Jessica always treated me like an actual person vs. “the wife of the pastor at _____________ Parish” and I appreciated that. The reason I would have been chill with her being elected bishop was that when she found out about me having Daniel, she hauled butt to the hospital (at 7 a.m.) and my first lucid memory after my night of trauma and c-section is her sitting by my bed, holding my hand and explaining to me that I had just had a baby. I don’t know that I will ever be able to express how much it helped to have her there, considering that it was during a period of 36-48 hours where my memories are hazy. That kind of pastoral care is rare. She also did a good job of talking to the congregations who wanted to leave over the sexuality decisions in 2009 despite the fact that they were really rude to her and pretty much just came to the meeting to find out the process to leave the ELCA.

Anyway, my friends who have served with Presiding Bishop-Elect Eaton are happy for her but are really sad to lose her because she was an awesome bishop for them. I think that speaks volumes about her fitness for the job — that her pastors are bummed to no longer have her as bishop. I also have Facebook friends who are talking about “the stained glass ceiling being broken” and I’m trying not to roll my eyes too much. It’s a church that is used to female bishops — Jessica Crist is the head of the Council of Bishops so you can’t tell me that there are no women in leadership. I mean, it’s cool that Presiding Bishop-Elect Eaton is the first female presiding bishop in the ELCA but it’s hardly surprising.

— 6 —

Cat-bribing. I’m down in southern California with my in-laws for Jon’s birthday and I have their cat Arthur in the guest room with me. Once he realized my mother-in-law wasn’t going to come sleep with him, he vanished under the bed. I grabbed a thing of cat treats and shook some onto the cat spread next to me. Guess which kitty is now next to me munching on cat treats? Yep… Mr. Mama’s Boy. I’m hoping he stays. He is a fabulous cuddler even if I did get a cat bite infection from him in January.

— 7 —

Why I love my mother-in-law. She stocked the freezer with 4 boxes of Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Cream Bars. Enough said.

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