Category Archives: Music

7 Quick Takes: YouTube Channel Edition

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7 Quick Takes

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.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 23, 2019

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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.

7 Quick Takes: Language Acquisition Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Interesting… Apparently, we communicate information at roughly the same rate across languages. Once my brain has a rest from therapy with Daniel today, I will have to think through this regarding the languages I speak. #polyglotproblems

— 2 —

First day of school. I didn’t get any cute First Day of School pics, partly because my spawn is not cooperative and partly because we were having the usual issues with transportation on that day where Daniel’s bus didn’t show up. It was slightly better this morning, so I’m hoping that we’ll have it figured out tomorrow morning.

— 3 —

*snickers* If you have a kiddo on the spectrum and you don’t follow “Autism with a side of fries” on Facebook, I really recommend subscribing.

An answer to those who ask if we've tried essential oils to cure our kiddos on the spectrum.

— 4 —

I’m getting spayed. The surgery scheduler for my OB/GYN’s office called. I’m scheduled for my hysterectomy on 10/8. I’m positively giddy about being done with my period and feeling like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck every month. Not having to worry about getting pregnant and possibly dying is also going to be nice.

— 5 —

A heads-up for homeschoolers. If you want your kids to do a language for homeschooling, consider looking at Duolingo. I’ve been using it to learn Spanish and Arabic and to review my French, and I really like it. I know a lot of you do Latin, and they just rolled out their Latin course. Bonus: it’s also free.

— 6 —

Prayer request. If you could please pray for a special intention regarding Daniel’s behavioral therapy, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

— 7 —

Some music. I’ve liked “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas since childhood, but I finally saw the video of it a few weeks ago and was impressed that they include a violin in it.

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

7 Quick Takes: Random Songs Edition

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7 Quick Takes

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.

— 2 —

“Kyrie Eleison” by Mr. Mister.

— 3 —

“Stella splendens” by Llibre Vermell.

— 4 —

“Yet Not I But Christ Through Me” by City Alight.

— 5 —

“How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” by Fernando Ortega.

— 6 —

“It Is Well With My Soul” by Audrey Assad.

— 7 —

“I Shall Not Want” by Audrey Assad.

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

7 Quick Takes: Choosing to Find Joy Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Prayer request. My friend Bekah had her son Declan at 28 weeks due to preeclampsia. She and Declan are doing OK, but Mr. D is going to be in the NICU for a bit. Prayers would be appreciated.

Please and thank you! 😀

— 2 —

So I was thinking… I was looking over some entries from 13 years ago, and I used to be a more whiny and negative person than I am today. Granted, there was a lot that wasn’t going well at the time, but a lot of stuff used to derail my day pretty easily. This changed a lot with my pregnancy with Daniel.

— 3 —

Sickness. It was hard a lot of the time. I didn’t know when I got pneumonia in October 2008 that I was pregnant at the time, and that definitely would have changed the treatment I sought for it. Thankfully, none of what I took hurt Daniel that we know of. I also got some pretty serious colds, and I was very much limited in what I could take.

— 4 —

Something about Mary. I started thinking about the Virgin Mary that December when it was -20F for weeks at a time, and I would be driving into work with gloves on with socks over them, trying to keep my hands warm and to keep them from aching. It struck me one day how hard her last few months of pregnancy must have been, especially the journey to Bethlehem.

— 5 —

Daniel’s birth. The traumatic experience of Daniel’s birth and the shock it gave me in so many ways changed how I approached each day. That first week, I was so shell-shocked that it seemed like things were getting worse by the day, but my little creature held on. Despite everything getting thrown at him, he was able to persevere through. One of the nurses told me to start finding those little joys in each day because we were in for a marathon with him. Her advice proved helpful as it gave me something on which I could focus to hold onto hope that he would eventually make it home, given that it took a month before I could even form the words to pray, and I had to work through A LOT of anger.

— 6 —

10 years later… I have held onto that practice of seeking out the joy in every day, even when we went through Daniel’s epic hospitalization 8 1/2 years ago, and that joy was sometimes that he didn’t die that day. It has stayed with me through more hospitalizations, Daniel’s autism diagnosis, the end of my marriage, and the divorce process that took two years. Even on the worst days, I choose to seek out some small joy in something. I don’t know that I would have survived if I could not do this.

— 7 —

New music. I heard this song last night and thought I’d share.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 21, 2019

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For Today… July 21, 2019

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… sunny and in the 80’s. It’s also humid, which is not making me feel good. I don’t do heat well.

I am thinking… about my Camp NaNoWriMo piece. I’m around 3,000 words behind, so I think my character is going to have a long conversation or write a long letter.

I am thankful… for the opportunity to help with VBS for the last two weeks. I was washing dishes for it, and it was fun though exhausting!

Me in dishwashing clothes.

One of my favorite things… calm and quiet. It’s in short supply in these parts with Daniel.

I am wearing… my “All Together Now” shirt from Old Navy and jeans capris.

I am creating… my my Camp NaNoWriMo piece.

I am reading… Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchet. I’m just a few pages in but very much enjoying it.

I finished Inspired by Rachel Held Evans on our 3 (!!!!) hour drive home from Seattle last Tuesday. It was wonderful though bittersweet as it is her last book with her passing on May 4.

I am hoping… the intensive ABA therapy with Daniel works. We are really struggling here.

I am learning… that my sleep deprivation is at a point where my body is just dropping into sleep at night, regardless of my plans to get some writing done.

In my kitchen… Cherry Delicious, a cherry cobbler recipe where the crust is made with cake mix and butter. I made two pans of it for coffee hour this morning, and I think I had one serving left of the gluten-free pan. (It was as good as the regular one, though the crust wasn’t as soft.)

In the school room… Daniel has ESY this week and then he’s off until the first week of September.

Post Script… an excellent guide to tipping.

Shared Quote… “What I love about the Bible is that the story isn’t over. There are still prophets in our midst. There are still dragons and beasts. It might not look like it, but the Resistance is winning. The light is breaking through.
So listen to the weirdos. Listen to the voices crying from the wilderness. They are pointing us to a new King and a better kingdom.” – Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

A moment from my day…

Hosted by The Simple Woman.