Category Archives: Cats

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (V)

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Five Favorites

Ib

Fitday My endocrinologist wants me tracking my diet and carbs and such. I started using FitDay many moons ago (OK… like maybe 7.5 years) and abandoned it after a few weeks because I didn’t necessarily need to track my eating. I wish I’d gone back to using it 6 years ago when they diagnosed me with pre-diabetes because I think I would have done a lot better and maybe even lost some weight. I don’t have a smartphone so the app my doctor suggested is a moot point and I just went with FitDay again. I’m already finding it useful because it has shown me some bad patterns in terms of my carb consumption.

Ob

Patrick This is my new nephew Patrick who was born last Thursday to Jon’s sister Joanna. This is a picture of Jon holding him.

Jon holding Patrick for the first time.

Peb

Agony of the Leaves This is the latest in Laura Childs’ mysteries about the owner of a tea shop in Charleston. (My favorite genre of mysteries are the “cozies”.) I got addicted to her books a few years ago and in addition to this one, I have another one on request at the local library.

Agony of the Leaves by Laura Childs

Plaub

NOOK A family friend gifted me with a NOOK two years ago and I’m still loving it. It doesn’t have a glow screen (which is probably not a bad thing — I’d be up all night reading otherwise) and it’s first generation (I think) but that’s fine for me. I probably would have bought a Kindle if I’d spent my own money but now I can’t imagine life without it. It’s indispensable on long car trips (I have a flashlight in the glove compartment specifically for reading at night with it) and it saves a huge amount of space on my bookshelves. Best of all, they have a free book every Friday and I’ve found some pretty interesting books that way.

Tsib

George Foreman Super Champ Family Size Grill With having to watch my diet, I decided to break out my George Forman Grill again… only to find out that the teflon is coming off and it doesn’t heat up as fast. Given that it’s 11 years old and not all that expensive to replace, I put some Amazon.Com giftcards toward it. I’m looking forward to its arrival because I tend to grill something daily right now. (It’s quick and allows me to have flavor without the calories.) Now if I could keep a certain black cat off the counter after I use it… *glares at the pair of glowing eyes at my feet*

George Forman Super Champ Family Size Grill

Go love up Hallie and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 27, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 27, 2013

Outside my window… dark though it’s a full moon or something so it’s fairly light out despite it being 1 a.m.

I am thinking… that I really shouldn’t have finished that bottle of iced tea. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping any time soon which is why I’m doing this now.

I am thankful… we figured out what was going on with my stomach.

In the kitchen… attempting to find a happy medium between the meal plan my endocrinologist gave me and the restrictions I have because of the esophagitis and ulcers.

I am wearing… faded charcoal grey shirt from Foot Locker and my blue penguin pajama bottoms.

I am creating… plans for NaNo this fall.

I am going… to pray that tomorrow is a quiet day for Daniel and I.

I am wondering… how people can claim that Christians are hated and persecuted and then turn around and be equally hateful toward those not like them.

I am reading… nothing — just finished The Diva Digs Up the Dirt by Krista Davis on the way to the airport today.

I am hoping… Daniel sleeps in tomorrow. He was certainly up late tonight.

I am looking forward to… Jon getting home on Tuesday and having another set of hands. Daniel is at the stage where it’s hard to get things done because he’s actively destroying things while I’m trying to get housework done or even run to the bathroom.

I am learning the ins and outs of my Roomba.

Around the house… dishes to do and a mountain of laundry to do as I’m low on clean clothes.

I am pondering… way too much.

One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea even though it’s messing up my carb counts for the day.

A few plans for the rest of the week: LAUNDRY, grocery shopping tomorrow, Morning Prayer on Tuesday, PCP appointment on Wednesday, end of school for Daniel on Friday, and my massage on Friday as well.

A peek into my day… Cullen helping me with my auction for Little Bear.

Cullen helping me with the $tarbux card auction.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Season Finales, Pretty Toes, and Guilty Pleasures

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

OMG Big Bang Theory! Raj can talk to women without resorting to booze!!! So crazy. It was a bummer about Lucy but I guess she was a good thing in his life if it means he can talk women now. It’s also sad that Leonard and Penny are going to be separated for a few months but it will be interesting to see if they do shows on the research vessel like the shows they did when Howard was in space.

— 2 —

OMG NCIS: Los Angeles!!! The last 5-10 minutes made me queasy and I had a class where judicial torture was part of the reading list! I’m definitely going to be wondering how things will come back this fall. And OMG… the Deeks/Kensi kiss!!! *fans myself*

— 3 —

I’ll take “Guilty Pleasures” for $1000, Alex! Wipeout is back. It’s my favorite show to watch at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights. (The Big Bang Theory is on at 7 p.m. where I am because our CBS affiliate does the news at 10 p.m.) The humor is incredibly sophomoric and it’s essentially watching people fall off of things but we don’t have satellite so I can’t watch this.

— 4 —

prerequisite baseball update. We (the Giants) pulled three of four off against the Braves, fell twice in Toronto, and pulled off an insane save tonight over the Rockies. Woohooo!!! I’m hoping we can sweep Colorado this weekend.

— 5 —

“Objection! #2 ripped my flesh!” I was petting the demon spawn Freya this morning and I had some loose hair in my face… which Freya decided to move… with her talons claws. It reminded me of this line from the following episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?:

The little monster got a pedicure shortly after.

— 6 —

Speaking of pedicures… Aren’t my toes pretty?

My pretty toes.

The pedicure was my Mother’s Day present from Jon and Daniel. My manicurist was lovely and next time, I’m going to *gasp* let her do my nails too!

— 7 —

Orphans Do you see these two darlings?

BrettKaia

Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home so she can start kindergarten (hopefully this autumn). If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com. Just a reminder: my birthday is Sunday so you only have a few more shopping days! 😀 (Hint: I *love* Barnes & Noble gift cards.)

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (I)

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Five Favorites

Un

TED talk on PostSecret This is just awesome on many levels. Frank Warren talks about how PostSecret started and some of the postcards he received. If you’ve been a fan of it, I highly recommend you watch this.

Dous

Sergio Romo. He’s tied for #1 in the National League for saves. I wish I had a shirt with 54 on it for him because he is awesome.

That's what's up!

Tres

Litany Run. I have mad respect for Jenn for several reasons:

1.) She is dedicating her life to God.
2.) She is running a marathon. This is something I will probably never do given that I can’t run the length of my blog without dying.
3.) Her name is Jenn. That alone makes her awesome.

Jenn the potential Norbertine Cannoness

Y’all need to go sponsor her. Do it now.

Catro

Tostitos Multi-Grain Scoops. I told my IBS to take a hike because I wanted chips and salsa. These seemed like an OK compromise.

Tostitos Multi-Grain Scoops

Coupled with some decent salsa and cottage cheese, I’ve been able to enjoy my chips and salsa with the least amount of… G-I unpleasantness.

Cinco

NCIS. Is anyone who knows me surprised? Last night’s episode was pure awesomeness. Ziva is my homegirl. I heart Gibbs.

Gibbs
(HT: CBS)

My house panther has announced that I’m waaaaaaay up past my bedtime as well as hers. Go love up Hallie and the others.

7 Quick Takes: Picnic on the Green, Pizzas for Doctors, and Blasting Music

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Facebook. I have a tendency to post a *few* cat memes on Facebook every day. I didn’t quite realize how… well-received they were until I got this message from Kelly of This Ain’t The Lyceum:

Jen, I haven’t seen anything humorous about cats pop up in my News Feed for the last hour; are you alright??

I’m sorry, Kelly. I’ll try to post many many more cat memes for you. 😉

— 2 —

Payback. Various people have posted pictures of this on Facebook so I thought I’d share. An E.R. doctor at Mass General Boston (site of the Boston Marathon bombings) called a pizzeria in Waco (the nearest big city to the town where the fertilizer plant explosion happened) and ordered pizzas for all the surgeons in the ER at Hillcrest with the message, “Thanks for all your hard work!”

Awesome payback.

Dr. Chris Kabrhel, you are awesome and I hope people took as good care of you on Monday night as you did of the Hillcrest docs.

— 3 —

I’m a t-shirt person. Adidas has created some shirts whose proceeds will go to One Fund Boston. Go here to order. (HT: Emily)

— 4 —

Just a tip. To the person behind me at the stop sign by the library:

Honking your horn to kindly remind me to move (especially when it isn’t safe to do so and you apparently can’t see this) will cause me to adhere *strictly* to the speed limit (25 mph) for as long as you are behind me or until I hit Highway 99 — whichever would drive you more batty. I’m perfectly aware that it has been 3 seconds but there’s an older woman who is trying to decide whether to cross or not and I’m quite sure that the nice police officer coming the other way would prefer that I not run her over.

Cuddles,
jen

— 5 —

Remedying the situation. Last Saturday night, I was getting gas as a Shell station in Elk Grove after dropping Daniel off at Respite Night. While I was pumping gas, a young man drove up in a car with the windows rolled down and some foul hiphop/R&B thing blasting loudly. Why was it foul? Let’s just say that I’m not sure many young women like to be referred to as prostitutes and female dogs. (Substitute the foul language words for those things and you’ll understand why.) I wasn’t amenable to being forced to listen to this while the guy went in and tried to convince the clerk to hook him up with some gas so I finished pumping my gas, got in my car, turned my stereo up to 11, and started blasting the chorus of “The Way” by Jeremy Camp

I regret nothing.

— 6 —

Orphans. Do you see these adorable kids?

BrettKaia

Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home. If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!

— 7 —

Picnic. Daniel’s preschool has “Picnic on the Green” tomorrow where the parents bring a picnic lunch for themselves and their kids and eat with them on the lawn. The ABA class(es) seem to get the playground and shady area by their portable to themselves so I’m looking forward to it. The parents usually bring McDonalds stuff for their kids but I think I’ll go with Subway. Daniel has actually tasted McDonalds once (this week, I let him try a bite of my double cheeseburger) but I know he’ll probably eat Subway’s food. (I’m also trying to keep my fake crunchy mom cred which falls short because of Subway’s dough conditioners.)

For more Quick Takes, visit Grace at Camp Patton. She is guest-hosting for Jen again this week while Jen is (hopefully) enjoying having little Joseph home from the NICU.

Five Favorites: Boston and Fictitious Twitters

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Five Favorites

Before I post my favorite fictitious Twitter accounts, I want to say this:

BOSTON, YOU FREAKING ROCK!

Your blood banks were already full before the explosion happened and you stepped up to house/feed/take care of displaced marathoners. Seeing the spreadsheet of people who volunteered to transport people, house people in spare rooms, and feed people brought tears to my eyes. May God reward your efforts and may your city experience healing.

OK… onto my five favorites…

Uno

@UnvirtuousAbbey. I love these irreverent Canadians who inspire myself and many others not to take ourselves too seriously as Christians. Whether it be Star Wars prayers, Beatles prayers, or 80’s prayers, they never cease to make me laugh.

Dos

@CatFoodBreath. I have no doubt that there is a real cat inspiring the account but whoever writes it is hilarious. The user info describes the cat as “a 17 pound Siamese cat with a sushi habit” and this doesn’t surprise me given that Siamese cats are considered to be the pitbulls of the domestic cat world. I can imagine my monsters saying just about everything CFB tweets though mine definitely haven’t discovered buttered toast unless Jon has been feeding it to them.

Tres

@Rev_Norespect. I think he has my experience in ministry covered except for the Lutheran-specific parts. It’s not all bad but there are some things like getting a boatload of produce during the summer from people (or canned fruits/jams/salsa in our current parish) that are unique to it. I also love his You Might Be a Small Church Pastor If… list because many of them are true.

Quatro

@AnonChurchSec. I’m not the church secretary here for many reasons but I’ve helped out in Jon’s previous calls so I love Church Secretary. In the parishes where we’ve actually had one, I’ve made friends with them because they frequently are a source of support and also can sometimes be the gatekeeper to keep the crazies at bay. Having helped out, I can totally identify with a lot of what she says, especially her advice to get a guy from the church to come fix something. (I am totally not opposed to batting my eyelashes to get my way.)

Cinco

@ThePastors_Wife. I most solemnly swear that I am up to no good that this is not my Twitter account. I do identify with a lot of what she writes though, especially on the words she doesn’t want to hear, how to get people to shut up and stop feeding me information that I shouldn’t be privy to, and she also loves (and retweets) Grumpy Cat.

Go love up Hallie and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: April 8, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY April 8, 2013

Outside my window… dark. We just got back from So Cal where it rained hard this morning, blew the car around going over the passes on I-5 between LA and Bakersfield. It was windy during most of the drive home and temperate when we rolled in around 7:45 p.m.

I am thinking… about way too many things right now which is why I’m blogging to empty my brain.

I am thankful… for our house sitter who shampooed our carpet in the living room. Can we say “going above and beyond the call of duty?”

In the kitchen… food brought home from my in-laws.

I am wearing… black Arabic “We will not be silent” shirt and navy blue “Left Behind” shorts.

I am creating… nothing at the moment.

I am going… to hope my packed week stays relatively quiet.

I am wondering… what my dreams will hold tonight.

I am reading… Maphead by Ken Jennings. I also finished a bunch of Mary Daheim “Alpine” murder mysteries this weekend.

I am hoping… for interesting dreams tonight.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Friday.

Around the house… unpacking to do.

I am pondering… too many things.

A favorite quote for today… “I must say my prayers today whether I feel devout or not; but that is only as I must learn my grammar if I am ever to read the poets.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Coca Cola.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer/editing tomorrow, Daniel’s well-child appointment on Wednesday, WIC appointment on Thursday, eye appointment and massage on Friday, and Respite Night on Saturday night.

A peek into my day… My in-laws’ new cat Tony.

My in-laws' new cat Tony.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook