Reading Twitter instead of watching #RNCinCLE. My deepest thanks to all of my friends who are watching the Convention and live-tweeting it so that I can get the salient points without having to watch any of the foolishness. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Two
Padilla Bay Walking Trail. It’s an easy mile each way along the slough and depending on when you hit the trail, you’ll either see water lapping at the rocks or bare sea floor for miles. It’s a good place to go and think.
Three
Quiet. I crave it and rarely get it unless the kid is asleep or nobody is home. I’ve had a couple nights of Daniel falling asleep in his own bed (!!!) so I’ve managed to get a little bit of it in the last few days.
Four
The church I am currently attending. I’m hanging out at my grandparents’ church and while I’m still figuring out if/when I’m going to swim the Tiber, they are feeding my soul richly. Rev. Helen is a masterful preacher and it’s pretty awesome to see people singing as they’re headed to the rail to receive the Eucharist.
Five
Praise FM 106.5 I can’t get KLOVE or Air1 clearly where I am so I was station-surfing and discovered them the first week I moved up here. They play a little more variety than the other two national stations and I also discover local events that I might want to attend.
Looking out my window… sunny and in the 70’s today. I’m loving the climate here.
I am thinking… about my week and some things I’m having to sort through in my personal life.
I am thankful… for an amazing service at St. Paul’s. I felt connected and present in worship for the first time in a long time.
One of my favorite things…looking out of my bedroom window and seeing all the trees. Washington really is the Evergreen State and I am so lucky to be in a place where the developers have left some intentional green space.
I am wearing… an emerald green shirt from Fred Meyer and black slacks from Kohl’s for church this morning with my black flats from Naturalizer that have worked incredibly well for the last two years. (This is the shoe for those who are wondering.) After church, I swapped the slacks out for my black capris from Kohl’s and flip-flops from Old Navy.
I am hoping… some of the ick in my mood and in my life goes away. It’s been a hard week and a half in some respects.
I am learning… to take a really long walk before writing a difficult email or letter.
In my kitchen… frozen dinner tonight. I need to go through my cookbook collection and find stuff I can cook that actually makes me want to eat. My appetite is getting zapped by the nausea I’m having because of nerves.
In the school room… Daniel is loving ESY and continues to have good days. He seems to work well with the teachers and aides. School is definitely a positive in his life and I’m glad I resisted the pressure to homeschool him.
Post Script… I wanted to share this for all the introverts like me out there: our brains need silence!
Shared Quote… I’ve been reminding myself of this in the last few weeks on the really hard days:
A moment from my day… Some wonderful music from Matt Maher that is speaking to my soul:
*facepalm* Because, you know, it’s so appropriate to see grown men with AK-47’s strapped to their backs to prove a point while 40 feet away, kids are playing on a splash pad. Again… JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD!!!!!!!
Seriously, Cleveland? According to CNN.Com, guns are allowed at the Republican National Convention but tennis balls are not. There is an entire list of banned items and some of them make sense (bombs, lasers, grappling, hooks, and crowbars for example) while others are just stupid (ice chests and tennis balls). Guns seem to be missing from the “ban” list. Just because you *CAN* open carry in Ohio doesn’t mean you *SHOULD*, especially in a politically-charged atmosphere with large crowds of people.
They needed some meddling kids. The FBI just closed the D.B. Cooper skyjacking case. Whether or not D.B. Cooper lived, he got away with it. The event meant that airliners now have doors that can’t be opened from the inside (the device is named after Cooper) and there have been episodes of shows like Leverage which have touched on the case in some way.
Prerequisite baseball take #1. Was anyone else wondering what the MLB was thinking with those UGLY uniforms for the All-Star game? I mean, seriously? Yellow and brown together like that??? And the lettering? I’m thinking that they need fire whoever came up with those!!!
Prerequisite baseball take #2. Anyone want to guess whose baseball team has the best record in the country currently? 🙂 Yep… that would be my Giants. 🙂 I should also mention that THEY ARE 6.5 GAMES IN FRONT OF THE LOSERS FROM LA RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!! Just sayin’.
Grey kitties. My parents’ grey kitty Homer really wants to be Daniel’s friend. Daniel is afraid of him. If Homer is on the bed passed out on my chest, Daniel will stay off my bed. Guess how I’m enforcing the expectation of Daniel sleeping in his own room? You guessed it — lots of Homer snuggles at night. Homer seems to be a fan. 😉
Two
The MLB All-Star Game roster. While I’d prefer to have the infield all be from the Giants, I’m happy that Buster Posey is the starting catcher. The best part about the ASG starting roster? NO DODGERS ARE STARTING PLAYERS!!!! #BeatLA #GoNationalLeague
You can also vote for the final player from each league to be added. My recommendation: Brandon Belt from the Giants for the NL spot. He’s a fabulous hitter and a good first baseman.
Three
Schuh Farms. They’re a local farm that Mom and I discovered while making a run to the county recycling facility with a load of paper and cardboard. They were advertising homemade pie and ice cream. We went back to find it a few weeks later and have patronized them a couple times a week since. I normally hate pie (I loathe pie crusts) but their cherry pies are amazingly good. We also got some cheese curds there from another local farm and they were good enough that they barely made it into the house!
Out of touch. So I haven’t actually read my Bloglovin’ feed in probably… a month? If anything fabulously interesting has happened and you’re someone whose blog I read regularly, could you leave me a comment? Please and thank you! 🙂
Why I am thankful I don’t live in Mississippi… The mother of a little girl with type 1 diabetes was having a tough time getting Medicaid/CHIPS to pay for her daughter’s insulin and diabetes supplies (which cost ~ $2500/month) so she wrote to her state lawmakers to see if they could help. One of them, Rep. Jeffrey Guice decided to reply:
“I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?”
Scottish insults to Donald Trump read by a true Scotsman. I’ll throw up a trigger warning for language and for negative Donald Trump content because some people don’t like reading that their presumptive candidate is a bloody moron. In any case, it’s incredibly funny and involves David Tennant.
The next night, there was some follow-up discourse on Brexit. Again, there’s a trigger warning for language.
I have mad skillz, yo! I took this lovely Buzzfeed skills inventory and got 81 out of 100 based on my inability to cook eggs (to which I am allergic), drive a stick-shift, change my own oil, and sew. My great-aunt Jean saw it on my Facebook wall, took the inventory herself, scored a 92, and left a note on my Facebook wall to let me know her score and that I need to keep learning these skills all my life. Yes folks, she’s she’s 93 years old and she’s on Facebook. She still lives on a farm outside of Kalispell, Montana and raises ornamental chickens to show. If I was close by her again, I would totally declare a girls weekend and road-trip across Highway 2 (through Glacier National Park) for some one-on-one time to learn the skills I don’t have which I’d love to have her teach me.
Required baseball take. THE GIANTS BEAT THE A’S. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! THE GIANTS ARE 6 GAMES AHEAD OF THE LOSERS IN LA IN THE NL WEST STANDINGS. YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
A well-deserved shout-out. I showed up for worship at my grandparents’ church here and the priest spoke before worship… well, actually she *chanted* before worship that the organist was out of town so all of us sitting the pews were the musicians for the day. The hymns were all very well-known ones and one of the choir members played the opening notes so we could at least start in tune. Rev. Helen is an amazing vocalist and she led us in chanting the psalm. I think the best part was the recessional hymn which was “Amazing Grace” and people were singing it in 4-part harmony. It was awesome to have people there other than myself who can sing and lead music!
I was all ready to do a miscellanea post and was having a hard time coming up with things until I was searching for YouTube videos for “No Longer Slaves”. My search convinced me that I needed to do another post of my favorite Christian songs that I’ve heard on the radio lately or that speak to some part of me.
One
“Diamonds” by Hawk Nelson. I was switching between radio stations on my drive north from San Jose to northern Washington and this one kept coming on. Pretty soon, I was driving up I-5 singing it. 🙂 (Why yes, I *DO* sing along to the radio while I drive.)
Two
“My Lighthouse” by Rend Collective. I love the metaphor of God as a lighthouse that I look to for guidance of what lies on the shoreline and how to get to a place of safety in a storm. Them filming the video on a working fishing boat was also pretty cool.
Three
“Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective. I seem to share this one every few months but I seriously love the video for it. I mean, incorporating Salvation Army trumpeters and fire jugglers into the same video is pretty creative. Not to mention, they’re from Belfast and I love their accents.
Four
“To Live is Christ” by Sidewalk Prophets. With the amount of life changes I’ve faced this year, I can always use a reminder that I need to be focusing on Jesus in all of this and that my suffering is not something that He doesn’t know. One of the things drawing me closer to Catholicism on my faith journey is their understanding of suffering and how it is a part of life but can be redeemed.
Five
“No Longer Slaves” from Bethel Music. The song has been out for awhile but it came on the local Christian radio station this weekend and I fell in love with it yet again. It’s one that I need to listen to often to remind me that I don’t have to be afraid and that I am a beloved child of the Most High. It can bring me to tears, y’all.
I am wearing… a charcoal shirt from Old Navy and capris from Kohl’s.
I am creating… this blog entry. 🙂
I am listening to… the Intermezzo channel on Dish Network. It’s peaceful chamber music.
I am hoping… we’ll have Internet this Tuesday!
I am learning… my way around Skagit County.
In my kitchen… dinner for 16 at my grandmother’s house tonight!
In the school room… met with the school district this week about Daniel. I expected 4-5 people. There were 12 (!!!!) comprising every type of support possible for him. I’m pretty excited for next year. 🙂
Post Script… I thought this was kind of interesting. 😉
Shared Quote… “Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and go well with ketchup.”
A moment from my day… Today’s Psalm from church (Psalm 43).
Closing Notes: I’m going to be writing a post about various events in the media at some point in the next week. Stay tuned!
