Category Archives: Daniel

7 Quick Takes: A Smelly Box, Pick My Lenten Discipline, and California Rain

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Pick my Lenten discipline! I’ve decided to take a page from Fr. James Martin, S.J. and allow *someone else* to pick my Lenten discipline for this year. To enter the contest, click here to find the lovely Rafflecopter. The pre-reqs are super easy: leave me a comment and like this blog’s page on Facebook. I suck at updating it so it’s minimal as far as impact to your Facebook wall.

— 2 —

Orphans. Do you see these sweet children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they were supposed to have met her on the 29th.

— 3 —

Rain! I replaced my Old Navy flip-flops a couple days ago and wore them out. It started raining shortly after. You’re welcome, northern California. It’s not stopping me from wearing my flip-flops though. 😉

— 4 —

Sibling rivalry. Daniel climbed into my lap a few minutes ago, wrapped in the afghan my mother-in-law made for my husband when she was pregnant with him 36+ years ago. I sent Jon to go fetch Daniel’s own “mommy blankie” which I made for him when he was a red panda cublet in utero 5 (!!!) years ago. Daniel followed after him, dragging Jon’s afghan like Linus with his blankie. The little monster is back on my lap snuggled up with his own blankie. Edda is sitting on the back of the recliner meowing at me to make Daniel go away because I am *HER* mommy.

— 5 —

Smelly box. One of Daniel’s ABA tutors noticed him smelling his feet and getting excited about me putting alcohol gel on his hands so she suggested a “smelly box” where I put stuff like lip gloss, lotion, and other things he can smell instead of his feet or a pen. (He gets a rather “colorful” face from markers.) Any ideas for things to stick in there or what scents to put in?

And yes, I did get “Smelly Cat” stuck in my head while typing this.

— 6 —

Interesting idea. I was reading Beth Anne’s site and saw this on her sidebar. For those needing a system for keeping track of bills and mail, go check it out!

— 7 —

Special intention. For those praying for my special intention, especially in regard to forgiveness, I wanted to let you know that the prayers for forgiveness are working. Please continue praying for discernment. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

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

7 Posts in 7 Days: Baby Names

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Many of the people doing 7 Posts in 7 Days are taking part in Kathryn’s baby name link-up so I thought I’d share.

My son Daniel James is named after Jon’s great-uncle Daniel (a WWII hero) and my father James. If Daniel had been a girl, he would have been Kathleen Moira after my mom (Kathleen) and Mary, the Mother of God. We made this decision on the second day of Jon’s trip to visit me for the first time in college and I know part of it was inspired by my aunt’s practice of giving her daughters the names of their great-grandmothers as their middle name.

I can’t remember what our second boy would be named but if we have another child and it’s a girl, she’ll be Hannah Grace. Hannah comes from Samuel’s mother Hannah who was strong in her faith. Grace is from one of my great-grandmothers. The other option for a girl would be Annika Leah with Annika being a name we like and Leah being another of my great-grandmothers.

7 Posts in 7 Days: The Big Purse Dump!

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Kendra at Catholic All Year had the idea of doing a purse dump. So…

My black purse.
My lovely purse from Thirty One.

The contents.
The contents

Let’s see…

[+] Wallet. This would be my driver’s license, credit cards, store discount cards, some stamps, and a couple gift cards.

[+] My WIC paperwork. My WIC checks, booklet, some necessary paperwork like my husband’s paystubs, and proof of Daniel’s tests for lead and iron are in this packet.

[+]Cosmetic case. This would be my Lactaid pills, Immodium AD, nail clippers, emery board, some chapstick from Burt’s Bees, lotion, my inhaler, a comb, and a mirror.

[+] Religious paraphernalia. This would be my Rosary (made by Sara of A Shower of Roses) and a chaplet (made by Rebecca of Literary Spring Designs). Can you tell that I (the Lutheran pastor’s wife) hang with Catholics?

[+] Contents of the front zippered pocket. This would be my checkbook and passport. I have my passport in there because my driver’s license is a royal pain to get out of my wallet when I’m buying wine at Trader Joe’s. (Not that they card me anymore…)

[+] Contents of the front pocket. This is where my sunglasses, cell phone, alcohol gel, keys, and day planner live. There were also a few assorted receipts but nothing half as bad as my old purse. (I switched in November.) Oh yes… the “pocket ruby” (to remind me that my worth is far above rubies) from the Bible study I attended last week is in here as well.

[+] Main zippered pocket. I keep my wallet, WIC stuff, cosmetic case, and the spacer for my inhaler in here.

[+] Back pocket. In this pocket, I have some maxi pads, Kleenex (I switched purses the night before a funeral), a picture of Daniel on Santa’s lap looking like “WTF???” (we don’t do Santa with him), a blank thank-you card, two Salvation Army suckers, and a menu for my favorite gyro place in Elk Grove.

7 Quick Takes: A John 17 Moment, Birth Announcement, and a Fundraiser

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Calling all NFP people! My friend Kate is trying to raise the funds for her tuition to become a Creighton practitioner. For those who aren’t NFP people, the Creighton model is one of the methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP). I know a number of people who have used it to successfully avoid pregnancy as well as some who have used it to achieve pregnancy. There’s a need for practitioners in the Portland area and Kate would fill that need perfectly. I know the $4000 she has to raise seems like a lot but that’s 400 people giving $10 or 40 people giving $100 or some kind of combination like that.

**UPDATE** She has a giveaway to help raise the funds.

— 2 —

That Lenten discipline that I should probably be choosing. Lent is coming up during the first full week of March and there are starting to be posts about what to choose for your discipline. Two good ones are here and here.

— 3 —

Penny is here!!!! I am so happy to announce the birth of “Penny”, the daughter of Stacy of Catholic and Crunchy. She is absolutely precious and her safe birth is the answer to 9 months of prayer.

— 4 —

Argh. Daniel decided to poke the lenses out of his glasses and I can’t find them. Could you pray that we find them? I’m also open to people talking to St. Anthony of Padua about this one. 😉

— 5 —

A John 17 moment. Bishop Tony Palmer of the CEEC has connections to both Kenneth Copeland and the Roman Catholic Church. This video explains the convergence of those ties as Pope Francis recorded a video and it was shown at the KCM Winter Revival. This is a long video but it’s worth it to see how Catholicism and Pentecostalism converge.

If you can’t wait to see the video from Pope Francis, it can be found below but I really think you need to watch the whole 45 minutes above because the back story is fifteen times better than the video of Francis himself.

— 6 —

Orphans. Do you see these beautiful children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they were supposed to have met her on the 29th.

— 7 —

Special intention. For those who are praying for us, please pray for me to forgive those who I perceive as having wronged me and for discernment for all parties in how to proceed. Thanks!

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 16, 2014

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 16, 2014

Outside my window… dark. It was in the 60’s today though and it rained overnight in San Jose where I was this weekend.

I am thinking… about too many things that I can’t change right now. I’m reminding myself that nothing looks good at 11:30 p.m. at all.

I am thankful… for the weekend with my parents and that Mom took over Daniel care this morning when I fell asleep on the couch.

In the kitchen… nothing as I’m too stressed to eat.

I am wearing… light blue v-neck and running shorts.

I am praying for… peace, strength, consolation, and discernment concerning a situation in my personal life. (Translation: I can’t talk about it on the blog.)

I am going… to hope Daniel sleeps in tomorrow as it took an act of God to get him to go to sleep tonight.

I am reading… nothing this minute. I read In Good Company by James Martin, S.J. over the weekend and need to charge my NOOK.

I am hoping… to be productive tomorrow.

I am looking forward to… my nail appointment on Wednesday.

I am hearing the Roomba vacuuming the living room and hallway.

Around the house… Jon will be cleaning as my Valentine’s Day gift. (My “love language” is acts of service.)

A favorite quote for today… “I think I’ll invite a curling team over, equip them with Swiffers and a Roomba, see how clean my house can get.” — my friend Ann

One of my favorite things… ginger ale. My mom sent me home with some to see if it would help my stomach.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy in the afternoons from Tuesday to Friday, Morning Prayer on Tuesday, nail appointment on Wednesday, and heading back down to San Jose on Friday evening.

A peek into my day… Daniel with my parents’ cat Homer.

Homer and Daniel

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Secret $tarbux Menu, Health Grumping, and the Olympics.

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Secret menu at $tarbux. This is probably not as cool as the secret menu at In-n-Out but it’s cool to know that $tarbux has a secret menu of drinks that baristas can make.

— 2 —

Tom Brokaw. Tom Brokaw is battling multiple myeloma which is the same cancer that my father-in-law has been fighting for 4 years. I’ll be interested to hear the various ways he will treat it, having been privy to what is going on in research on this cancer in the last few years.

— 3 —

Olympics. The Opening Ceremony was interesting and I’ve had fun watching the snowboarding and slopestyle-skiing. I’m kind of meh about the figure-skating in all honesty though I’m kind of amused that Yevegny Plushenko had to drop out, especially because there was a controversy with him being given too generous scores in the team competition. I’m kind of rooting for the Filipino male skater who qualified for the medals round because it would be cool if he made the podium.

— 4 —

Grumping. The mutant death cold that took my voice away last week evolved into a respiratory infection so I was put on Augmentin. Well, Augmentin caused ummm… a secondary problem so I had to have two doses of Diflucan called in. Have I mentioned that taking Augmentin and Diflucan together does not do good things to my stomach? I’m hoping that all of this eventually gets cleared up — I’m not getting much done on errands because I’m so tired and needing to sleep. Let’s not even go into why my fibro started flaring at this point…

— 5 —

Special intention. For those praying for my special intention, we’re still needing prayers for discernment. Please and thank-you. 🙂

— 6 —

The Jen Lancaster book. I’m having to put The Tao of Martha aside because it’s just really not holding my attention. I mean, it’s funny in its own way but it’s not really piquing my interest because I hate domestic things and Martha Stewart falls into that category. I’ll be sending it back to my mother-in-law who is a Martha Stewart groupie and will get a whole lot more out of it.

— 7 —

Orphans. Do you see these beautiful children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they were supposed to have met her on the 29th.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 9, 2014

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 9, 2014

Outside my window… dark. It’s only 6:45 p.m. instead of midnight like it usually is when I’m doing this. It was lovely and rainy today. I don’t know how much this will help us with the drought but it’s at least something.

I am thinking… that I need to go on Pinterest and find some stuff for Daniel to do tomorrow. He doesn’t have school and it’s too wet to go outside. He’s been acting out all day today because of boredom.

I am thankful… for the rain.

In the kitchen… dishes dishes dishes. My kingdom for a dishwasher!

I am wearing… my online debate team shirt and black leggings.

I am praying for… discernment related to my special intention.

I am going… too many places this week.

I am wondering… if Daniel will go to bed at a normal hour tonight.

I am reading… nothing at this moment. I just finished Tattoos on the Heart by Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. last night and haven’t chosen the next book. It will probably be The Tao of Martha by Jen Lancaster though — my mother-in-law sent it to me and I need to start it.

I am hoping… for less drama in my life this week.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Friday.

I am hearing “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher.

Around the house… *puts fingers in ears* I can’t hear youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!

I am pondering… the difficulty of being a saint.

A favorite quote for today… “I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun – not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else.” – C.S. Lewis

(This was my email signature for a long time.)

One of my favorite things… lamb gyros with onions, tomatoes, and extra tzatziki from the Kabob & Gyro Grill.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy for Daniel every afternoon this week, Morning Prayer and PTM on Tuesday morning, peds appointment on Wednesday morning, WIC on Thursday morning, date breakfast, massage, and heading to my parents’ house on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook