Category Archives: Health

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XI)

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Five Favorites

One

This video. It’s handy for those married to introverts so they can understand their spouses.

Two

Breaking Pointe. This show takes place at Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had a 10-12 episode run last summer and it was interesting so I decided to watch again this year. The weird thing is that the principals in the company are all my age so you’re seeing people at the height of their careers while they’re relatively young by the world’s standards.

Three

CycleProGo. I’m learning the Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP and my temperature is consistently too low to chart on paper so I’m charting online. This has been really good because it asks me a lot of really important questions and it might actually help whoever my teaching couple is (I’m doing the Home Study Course so I think they’re randomly assigned?) to get my data more quickly.

Four

Jim Gaffigan. I recognized him because he was on That 70’s Show and I had no idea that he was so funny on his own. He’s kind of the Catholic “it guy” right now because he’s got 5 kids, is faithful to the Magisterium, and is open about his life. I think his book will be one of the next ones I download.

Five

Gingerbread tabbies. I refer to Cullen, my boldly-striped orange tiger cat as my “gingerbread tabby”. He’s my buddy at night as he’ll climb on my hips and purr asthmatically. When I was pregnant with Daniel and Cullen would climb on my stomach and purr, it was enough to make Daniel start kicking him. 4 years later, Daniel still terrorizes him though I’m holding out some hope that the two of them will eventually be friends. This is a cat who has a Hobbes personality but most resembles Cringer (the green tiger from “He Man” who becomes Battle Cat) in practice — he is afraid of days that end in the letter Y and months with numbered days.

Go love up Hallie and the others.

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 2)

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I’m stealing borrowing this idea from Karianna at Caffeinated Catholic Mama again. Go check out her site and find out what she’d tell you if you were having coffee with her. Starting next week, this will be a weekly link-up. 🙂

If we were having coffee, I would explain that I’m sipping on Pellegrini because I’m nauseated from bloodwork this morning. The nurse did a good job at having it be painless but I’m still feeling the effects of it. The garlicky shrimp chow main I had for breakfast didn’t help.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I’m not sleeping well because I can’t get to sleep before a certain hour. I think if I were to do Compline on time, I’d be OK but my brain is hard to shut off at times. It’s a reason I tend to journal and blog at night — it makes my brain shut up quicker.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I’m nervous about seeing my father-in-law because I know the progress of his cancer and it is making me really sad. I love him and I want to see him but I’m also a bit afraid. It’s complicated.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about Daniel vocalizing and babbling using various consonant sounds. I will admit I’m looking forward to him learning to talk and am tempted to smack the people who warn me that he’ll never shut up.

Thanks for having coffee (or tea) with me. See you next week!

7 Quick Takes: Random Act of Kindness, Baseball, and Lullabies

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

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.

— 2 —

Consider this. I know most of the people who participate in this link-up/meme are Catholic but these apply to priests as well.

— 3 —

Random Act of Kindness. Those who know me on Facebook or Twitter have heard this already but I’ll tell it again.

I’ve been having a really tough week. My brother is moving out of state at the end of the month and he and I had a tough conversation this weekend because he’s stressed and I unfortunately can’t fix it. (Nothing really bad — I just can’t get into the details until he makes some of them public on Facebook.) Everyone who I talk to about the move mentions Sean (my brother) being at the hospital with me the night they almost put Daniel on ECMO and I hit the breaking point with that on Monday night. I had a serious cry and barely got sleep so Tuesday, I was tired to the point of nausea. (I had to cancel Daniel’s ENT appointment because I was in no shape to drive.)

Wednesday, I had the radio off while I was driving up to Sacramento and was praying aloud about how stressed I was and how I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the day because it was going to be long. I was also praying about Daniel’s peds appointment because doctor’s appointments with him can be either hellish or good — there’s no in between. I stopped at the drive-thru $tarbux because I needed caffeine and the car in front of me was blocking me from being close to the speaker so it took a few tries to communicate my order. When I got up there, I was reaching for my debit card when the barista told me that the car in front of me had paid for my drink.

…

I started sobbing and probably scared the barista but it was seriously what I needed. Given that coffee is usually on my no-no list (stupid ulcers!), you can definitely say I enjoyed my latté a whole lot more. Seriously though, it was a total answer to prayer.

— 4 —

The appointment. Daniel’s appointment went well — he’s high-maintenance enough health-wise that we have to check in with his pediatrician more often than just the yearly Well-Child appointments. When we were there on Wednesday, she had made sure her scheduler put us in when the clinic was likely to be fairly empty so Daniel could run around and open/close doors to his heart’s content while she and I followed him and talked. He allowed her to examine him without objecting too much and she’s satisfied with his growth at the moment. She had also FINALLY (!!!!!) received Daniel’s MRI’s from his previous neurologist at Sutter and was amazed when I told her exactly what was going on in the report using words like “demyelination” and talked about how the lack of myelin on the neurons meant that the information wasn’t being transmitted as quickly. (My undergrad Biology classes were definitely not a waste of my time even if I didn’t end up being pre-med and heading to medical school.) I should have told her about pwning the residents who made up the entourage of Daniel’s pediatric neurologist last year when I was using words like “methodology” and “antecedent” to explain ABA to them after the neurology resident dealing with us had spoken to me condescendingly.

— 5 —

Cuddlebug time. I had another opportunity to have a sleepy boy in my lap and sing him to sleep on Tuesday night. He didn’t feel the need to nap yesterday or today and is still (at 9:50 p.m. as I’m typing these) running around the living room like a live wire. Oh well… there will be other opportunities.

— 6 —

Baseball. My Giants play Marie’s Orioles tomorrow. I have a feeling that there will be some trash talking over Twitter during the game. 😉 Then again, my Giants have been sucking lately so some of it will probably be warranted. Of course, the worst thing is that I live with a Dodgers fan… and they’re at the top of their division while my boys are at the bottom.

— 7 —

Inside Westboro Baptist Church. I’m currently reading Banished by Lauren Drain and while it is disturbing because of the sheer crap that church teaches their young, it is fascinating how they lived “normally” in the world but were also completely separated from it. It shouldn’t astound me how severely brainwashed those poor people are but it does. I haven’t gotten to the part where she has a change of heart and I’m kind of looking forward to that.

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

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 1)

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I’m stealing borrowing this idea from Karianna at Caffeinated Catholic Mama. Go check out her site and find out what she’d tell you if you were having coffee with her. Tell her also to make this a weekly link-up. 🙂

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about the dietary changes I’ve been having to make because of my PCOS and how there are a lot of days when I’ve maxed out my calories and am still hungry. I’m also getting sick of grilled shrimp and grilled chicken. I’m hoping that there’s enough weight loss to make my endocrinologist happy when I see her in a few weeks and that my sugars are good enough even though I’m not testing because meals tend to not be scheduled affairs.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about Daniel’s in-home ABA therapy and how he seems to be doing really well with his primary tutor. I’m present for sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays and Jon is there for Fridays. We’re trying to find a tutor to do Tuesdays and Thursdays so right now, it’s just 3 days a week.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about how hard I sobbed when I saw Katy Perry singing that duet of “Firework” with Jodi, a little girl with autism because it seriously illustrates some my frustrations at being the parent of a child with special needs and how much ambiguity there is in his future.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about Daniel falling asleep in my lap with me singing to him and how I’m resolving to do more of it after I realized that the only time I’ve done it has been when he’s been in the hospital. That realization led to a lot of crying on Monday night on my part but that’s OK. Crying is a stress release for me.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about how doing Compline has helped my faith and enables me to go to sleep. Edda even joined me for it yesterday which was very helpful — she is a meditative panther and petting her was a nice addition to prayer.

Thank you for having coffee (or tea) with me today. Shall we do this next week?

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: August 5, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY August 5, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and warm. It’s in the 80’s so we’ll probably go play outside during therapy today.

I am thinking… about the devotions I’m trying to get written.

I am thankful… for Daniel falling asleep in my lap while I sang to him.

In the kitchen… chicken marinating.

I am wearing… green “Online Debate Team” shirt, running shorts, and my Celtic cross.

I am creating… devotions for the book.

I am going… to be seeing a lot of the Glassrock Building at UCD Medical Center this week — Daniel has a peds check-up and an ENT appointment.

I am wondering… if penguins have knees. (It’s related to a Facebook picture.)

I am reading… Banished by Lauren Drain. I finished Going Going Ganache by Jenn McKinlay last week and Apologia pro vita sua is still on hold.

I am hoping… Daniel’s ENT goes well tomorrow and we’re not stuck waiting in the exam room for a long time.

I am looking forward to… saying Compline tonight. It’s actually gotten to be the highlight of my night.

Around the house… trying to channel my inner Flylady and get the clutter under control.

I am pondering… many things internally.

A favorite quote for today… “All the world is made of faith and trust, and pixie dust.” — J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

One of my favorite things… quiet mornings which don’t exist in my house at the moment with Daniel on break from school.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ENT appointment for Daniel tomorrow, peds appointment and ABA therapy for Daniel on Wednesday as well as Ladies’ Night Out for me, a rheumatology appointment on Friday, and Date Night for Jon and I on Saturday night thanks to Respite Night at a church in Elk Grove..

A peek into my day… I’ll share the image involving penguin knees.

Do penguins have knees?????

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (X)

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Five Favorites

Einn

Litany Run. I’ve been involved in the fundraising for Jenn’s Litany Run. She did a marathon a few months ago and is doing the Water to Wine half marathon in a few weeks. She’s got 28 days to get $25K of debt paid off so she can enter as a postulant. I have not met her in person but I have received the nicest thank you letters from her, telling me that she is praying for Daniel (he was one of her prayer requests that she prayed for during her marathon) and encouraging me in my vocation as a mom. If you could share this on your pages and/or donate to the cause, that would be awesome.

Tveir

“We All Sing the Same Song” Please raise your hand if you remember this from watching Sesame Street in the 80’s.

Þrjár

“I Don’t Want To Live On the Moon” This one is part of a classic Sesame Street episode on Netflix and I’m trying to memorize it so I can sing it to Daniel when he ends up in the hospital again. (Music is calming to him.)

Fjórir

My nail person. I love Tina to death. My massage therapist recommended her and I have nothing but appreciation for her. Not only does she remove my callouses with a Dremel tool, she does hot stone massage on my legs and makes my toes pretty. I like her so much that I’ve even allowed her to do gel nails on my hands. My fingers and toes are currently various shades of plum with pretty designs in white and silver on my thumbs and big toes.

Fimm

Husbands who bring their wives Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. Just sayin’. 🙂 (Yes, I have a wonderful husband who puts up with me being a princess about things.)

Go love up Hallie and the others.

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: If I Could Turn Back Time…

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This week’s topic: if I could turn back time…

I try to live my life without regrets but there are things in my past that I wish I could do over.

If I could turn back time, I would make sure Daniel got the high-risk screening in Montana. Granted, our lives were in such chaos at the time that it would have been ONE MORE THING but it would have let us know that there was a problem before we reached southern California and had to figure out how to get him help.

If I could turn back time, I would not have compared Daniel to every other child I encountered. Doing all the comparing just made me feel like the worst mommy ever… and for things that weren’t my fault.

If I could turn back time, I would not have been so jealous of moms with normally-developing kids. This has been another source of stress in my life and it’s one that kept me from appreciating Daniel as much as I should have. I’m not going to lie — it is hard having a kid with special needs — but it is ten times cooler when he hits those milestones.

If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t have procrastinated as much in high school. I did get good grades but they could have been better if I hadn’t put things off until the last minute.

If I could turn back time, I would have gone with my strengths in college and double majored in History and Linguistics. I’m glad I had all the Biology and Chemistry but my college GPA would have been better if I had gone with history classes and language classes, areas where I excel.

If I could turn back time, I would have learned NFP before I got married. The Pill had some negative effects on me and other forms of contraception don’t appeal to me. I wish I would have learned how to read my body to know what my fertile signs were so that I wasn’t in the dark about how my body works.

If I could turn back time, I would tell myself not to sweat the fact that I was never invited to Homecoming because it was overrated and I had better times at the formals in college. It really depressed me in my junior and senior years not to be invited and I spent a lot of time wondering what was wrong with me. The answer: nothing. The really awesome guys who I hoped would ask me all turned out to be gay. Yeah… didn’t see that one coming.

If I could turn back time, I would take better care of myself. I’m having to drop a chunk of weight and am finding that doing so is a catch-22. My fibromyalgia is better with exercise… but the exhaustion makes it hard to exercise. I really need to find something I like doing and stick to it.

If I could turn back time, I would ignore the lies I was being told by Satan that any church I attended would give me crap because my parents weren’t there. I was thoroughly welcomed when I *did* start attending church and they were fine with the fact that I attended by myself.

Now go see Becky and what everyone else would do if they could turn back time.