Category Archives: Gold Country Life

7 Quick Takes Friday — Weird Things About Me

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7 Quick Takes

I figured I’d do one of these posts where I name some quirks that I have.

–1–

I separate M&M’s, Skittles, jelly beans, and other candies by color and number. Why yes, I have seen “As Good As It Gets” and the jars of separated candies in Jack Nicholson’s apartment. Shut up.

–2–

I like my drinks cold. Stuff has to be refrigerated and cold for me to drink it. I even chill my glass.

–3–

I like my sheets cold. Jon knows not to “warm my spot” on the bed. The sheets have to be reasonably chilly. Cat-warmed sheets are acceptable however.

–4–

I hate watching movies of books that I’ve read. I’d prefer to use my imagination to visualize characters and watching someone’s interpretation of them ruins it for me. (I’m also a stickler for following the book which is why I haven’t gone beyond the third Harry Potter movie.)

–5–

I’m not a fan of pop-culture Christianity. Many people swear by The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. I’d rather swear AT it. (Seriously, I hated the book so much that I had to stop at Day 32 because I was going to burn the thing if I didn’t.) I’m also not a fan of Joel Osteen (long rant there), Joyce Meyers, T.D. Jakes, or anyone else like that. I am, however, a fan of Billy Graham and Tony Campolo because they preach the Cross and repentance and not the patsy crap that the others espouse.

–6–

I have to have the tabs on scrollbar (or whatever that bottom thing is) in a specific order. I think we’ve established that I’m a little OCD.

–7–

I prefer the older hymns to modern worship music. Give me a good hymnal any day. I could care less about overhead projectors — I want to read the music and words and turn the pages. The older the hymn, the better.

(For more of this, head to Conversion Diary.)

7 Quick Takes Friday — 7 Things That Drive Me Batty

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7 Quick Takes

I’m in a car heading south so I’m putting this in the queue on Thursday to post Friday morning. I thought I’d take a break from atheism to post on things that drive me batty.

–1–

Allergies. Nothing is working for them this year. I can’t remember a year where they’ve caused me insomnia like they are now.

–2–

People who get to the front of line and then dither about what they want to eat. Seriously… you just stood in line for 10 minutes, had menus available to you, and you can’t figure out what you want?!?!?!?!? Mind moving aside and letting the rest of us get on with our lives while you dither?

–3–

People who stick their carts in the center of the aisle. You’d think this would be self-explanatory but I encounter it every freaking time I go to the grocery store or Target. It takes all my self-control not to have an icy tone when I say “excuse me” and much of the time, I don’t succeed.

–4–

Insurance companies. This bumper sticker applies.

–5–

People who fail to control their dogs. I’m not a dog person for a reason — I’ve dealt with too many stupid people who think that their dog charging me and jumping on me is funny. I wonder how funny it will be when I call the city and have their dog impounded.

–6–

People who park in the library parking lot on flea market days. The sign says “library parking only” in two languages (this is California after all) and I’m pretty sure you can read at least one of them. I’m sorry that you’re too lazy to find parking on the street but you’re really screwing things up for those of us that want to use the library and not have to lug our heavy tote bags of books 4 blocks.

–7–

People who smoke right outside public buildings. I think I’ve explained this before: smokers have no rights where my air supply is concerned. They need to be at least 15 feet from the entrance to a building and you had better darn well believe that I’m going to make sure that the distance is enforced as strictly as possible. Their filthy habit is not worth an asthma attack on my part.

(For more of this, head to Conversion Diary.)

Flattened (XV)

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Daniel has been home for two weeks and is doing great. I’m still fighting exhaustion though so we’re still “flattened”.

[+] We had to hit up UCD Medical Center on Thursday For Daniel’s Lovenox. We ran into his speech therapist on the way back out and she was very impressed with how he looked. I was asked by a couple people if we’d gone up to the PICU or the Peds Unit and the answer is “no”. For one thing, I don’t know that we would have been welcome on the PICU because of the infection risk and all that. For another thing, we’re going to send pictures of Daniel at his second birthday party with a thank-you note.

[+] I’ve witnessed a fair amount of cattiness between atheists and Catholics over Jennifer Fulwiler’s guide to atheists for Catholics. Atheist blogger PZ Myers (who is quite anti-Catholic) took her on and managed to make himself look like a complete jerk (as did the majority of his commenters). Jennifer asked her readers if she should have responded and the majority of us said “no” though there was some fisking of PZ Myers in the process. One person who did emerge from all of this (at least in my reading) is Leah at Unequally-Yoked who I’m finding to be pretty amazing (the girl is a Yale student so she’s obviously wicked smart). She actually wrote an impressive guide to Catholics for atheists (which could actually apply to Lutherans and Episcopalians) and does a really fantastic job of engaging Catholicism (and Christianity) in a respectful way. Her blog started as a way to argue faith with her Catholic boyfriend (she is an atheist) and she actually participates in the weekly 7 Quick Takes (a largely Catholic meme). Anyway, go check her out.

[+] All the reading of atheist blogs and the wiki article on Anberlin I read recently (the chorus of “A Whisper & A Clamor” was stuck in my head for three months) made me want to affirm something: this is not a Christian blog. I am a blogger who happens to be Christian. I do talk about faith issues on here inasmuch as they’re affecting my daily life though less so over the last year due to the lack of Internet access from March 2010 to February 2011. I’m not really in a complacent place with my faith — just not vocalizing a lot of what I’m dealing with internally. I also really have no interest in fighting with people about whether or not God exists and whether or not Christianity is a pack of lies. There’s a point at which people cannot be convinced without something very drastic happening and until that happens for people like PZ Myers or Jen McCreight (who I do read on a daily basis), I think there will continue to be people who want to have fights over this stuff.

[+] I started some seeds yesterday. I planted pumpkins, sunflowers, tomatoes, basil, cat grass, oregano, lavender, spinach, and cucumbers. I’m hoping they do germinate and I have seedlings in the next week or so.

[+] I made it to church today. Go me. (Actually, the deciding factor was that I needed a parishioner to look at the knot on Daniel’s leg. She’s a nurse and her daughter is diabetic so I figured she’d know something about it.)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 21, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 21, 2011

Outside my window… Sunny and chilly. I got spoiled by southern California — I need to grow a winter coat!

I am thinking… that it’s worth it to have Daniel tear up the kitchen in order to get this post done. I’m also thinking that the table cloth and pretty arrangement are going to be gone imminently because he likes to pull on them.

I am thankful for… naptime. Enough said.

From the kitchen… Kraft Deluxe Mac n’ Cheese. Yes, it’s horrifically bad for me. It was also what I craved this morning.

I am wearing… light green v-neck shirt, black sweats.

I am creating… this entry. Also formulating an interesting idea for NaNoWriMo. Too bad that it isn’t until November.

I am going… to the store for diapers right after I write this.

I am reading… nothing at the moment. Also going to stop at the library.

I am hoping… that this two year old molar teething stops soon for Daniel.

I am hearing… Daniel wailing. His fangs hurt.

Around the house… boxes still abound but we’re working on it.

One of my favorite things… Cullen being a snuggle kitty at night.

A few plans for the rest of the week: unpacking as much as I can when I can.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… Daniel’s new nursery

Daniel's new nursery

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