Category Archives: Family

7 Quick Takes — Updating Since Thanksgiving

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

Daniel is out of the hospital and we’re finally back home. (Only a 4 day hospital stay instead of 19. Yay!) Time for updates on the rest of my life!

— 1 —

I had to give up on “winning” NaNoWriMo. I had worked a little ahead to compensate for being gone for a couple days at Thanksgiving but Daniel in the hospital and the sheer sleep deprivation of all of it completely shot my chances of finishing and validating by November 30th. I probably could have squeezed it in but I had a really fussy and angry toddler during the hospital stay and I would have had to do two 5000 word days when I got home. Both options were unreasonable so I’m settling for just making it to 40K again. Nothing I wrote is wasted though — I have a setting and characters for a murder mystery next year.

— 2 —

Kathleen of So Much to Say, So Little Time… had her baby. Go congratulate her. Do it now.

— 3 —

I have a massage tomorrow. Due to timing issues last month, it worked out that I only ended up getting one massage. I will hopefully have a chance to see my massage therapist more this month. It’s keeping the fibro at bay until I can get in to see a rheumatologist and it’s benefiting a small business owner in town — a win-win situation.

— 4 —

I am enjoying “Judge Judy” waaaaaay too much. I did feel sorry for a plaintiff today who thought she had a legal contract and whose cousin/aunt took advantage for her but the vast majority of people really need a good dose of reality. I could totally do a quick takes post on lessons that one can learn from watching her show, the most popular one being not to co-sign for a loan for someone unless you are married to that person. Almost every other case is someone who co-signed for a car loan with their boyfriend/for their spoiled adult child/for a sibling…

— 5 —

Daniel has taken to coming over and taking my hand to lead me wherever he wants me to go. Usually, it involves going into a forbidden room at which point I have to fake an inability to open that particular door. In one case, he led me to my parents’ room on Monday and he started flipping out by the bed under which their sissy Maine Coon was hiding. I didn’t realize it was possible to fluff a Maine Coon (especially this one) but it can happen. Sorry Bubba Cat! (I scritched his ears and his shoulder blades before I let him out and apologized to him.)

— 6 —

My local CVS has Cadbury Dairy Milk bars. It’s hard to find these outside of the Commonwealth so I took FULL advantage of the “buy 2 get one free” deals on them. I’m having to force myself to limit it to one (or part of one) per day though.

— 7 —

Here’s another plug for Postcrossing. I seriously recommend it for teaching your homeschooled kids geography or starting a postcard collection for your child. (I’ve got one started for Daniel.) I got a postcard almost every day this week from Belarus, Singapore, Finland, and Australia. Part of the reason for being at CVS was to get postcards to send out.

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

7 Quick Takes — Thanksgiving In the Midst of the PICU

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

So I’m sitting on my fold-out bed in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) with Daniel. (He got my cold. Chest colds and him don’t mix well. He spiked a 102F fever and started having problems breathing. I think the rest of the story is self-explanatory.) In an effort to ward off the pity party that I’m so incredibly tempted to throw for myself, here are seven things I’m thankful for right now. Oh yeah… updates on his condition and what’s going on can be found here.

— 1 —

Daniel having Medi-Cal through SSI. It’s paying for what our insurance doesn’t. Given that our last PICU trip involved a 19 day hospital stay, this could add up pretty quickly.

— 2 —

My mom. She drove us to the hospital (we’re down with my parents) and stayed with us until they brought Daniel upstairs. This entailed reciting loads of poetry and nursery rhymes and helping to hold the little bear down while they did unpleasant things to him. Words can’t express my gratitude.

— 3 —

My evil twin. He brought Jon down with a container of Mushroom Risotto for me. Last time we had a PICU stay, he stayed with Jon and I through the worst night and hosted my parents on the weekends so they could be with Daniel and I.

— 4 —

Jon. He read to Daniel and came upstairs with us and prayed with him. He also brought me clean underwear and pajamas as well as part of my prescriptions. I’m loving the clean underwear, the jammies, and the Klonopin.

— 5 —

The speed of the ER peeps once the words “respiratory distress” were uttered. We were only down in the ER for 3.5 hours. (Normal is 4+.) We had a doctor checking him within 10 minutes. That’s impressive.

— 6 —

People praying. I put out the word to my people and there should be prayers ascending. Please also add yours in. We can’t get enough prayer right now.

— 7 —

Being ahead on NaNo. It’s meaning that I might actually make it to 50K before 11/30 this year.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 21, 2011

Posted on by

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 21, 2011

Outside my window… foggy this morning but now sunny and a bit chilly.

I am thinking… about plots for NaNoWriMo.

I am thankful… that Daniel hasn’t gotten into my flour supply.

In the kitchen… instant stuff because we’re going to be gone for part of this week.

I am wearing… black Arabic shirt and my blue penguin pajama bottoms.

I am creating… my NaNo piece and prayer shawls.

I am going… to San Jose on Thursday. I actually just spent the weekend there — it was a rough week last week.

I am wondering… why Edda is so scabby.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame by Heather King. I think I can finish it on the drive to San Jose on Thursday and hopefully the library will have books in for me before then.

I am hoping… Daniel takes his full nap today.

I am looking forward to… seeing my evil twin and my sister-in-law. (We don’t see each other that much even though we only live 40 minutes apart.)

I am hearing… Qubo on TV. I’m hoping that the CW stops being static-y. I will be grumping if I miss “Hart of Dixie” tonight.

Around the house… Jon deep-cleaned.

I am pondering… if this is a cold or allergies. I’m currently a walking advertisement for Dayquil.

One of my favorite things… my parent’s cat Homer’s tummy.

A few plans for the rest of the week… women’s Bible study tonight, IFSP for the Regional Center tomorrow, speech therapy on Wednesday, going and socializing before the Thanksgiving service on Wednesday night (it conflicts with Daniel’s bathtime and he is a bear of a set schedule — thus we’re missing the service), and Thanksgiving weekend with family.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — Reformation Day, NaNoWriMo, and Anything Else That Comes to Mind

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

I was a bit enamored with baseball last week so I think this Quick Takes might just combine two weeks into one. Seriously though, it was an awesome World Series and I’m glad St. Louis messed with Texas and that David Freese was MVP.

— 1 —

Reformation Day was Monday. It’s the 494th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. (Yes, I’m linking this on a Catholic blog. I’m Lutheran, so deal with it!) It’s the closest thing Lutherans have to a Catholic saint’s feast day so we live it up. (Yes, we like the saints. We revere them. We’re not so big into asking them for intercession though.) Since we observe it on the Sunday preceeding October 31st, the altar is red/white which led to some jokes this year about it being a celebration of the Cardinals winning the World Series. Here’s a link to some Reformation Day humor. Keep in mind that all these things are meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

— 2 —

I’m on track to win NaNo so far. I’ve made my minimum word counts each day and am trying to actually go slightly over so that I have a cushion on days when writing that much isn’t possible. I don’t have any 8 hour drives coming up so I should have plenty of writing time.

— 3 —

Plotting for NaNo is a little harder this year. I’m trying my hand at general fiction and this means not having people to kill off like I would in a murder mystery. (I’d do a murder mystery but nobody has pissed me off enough to want to kill them… yet.) Ideas are always welcome.

— 4 —

The creative killings for charity are back again this year. Make a food pantry donation, let me know where you made it, and tell me how you want to be killed off. I’m jen at grace-filled dot net. The only rule is that there can’t be any ritual cannibalism, galatining, or anything too gruesome. We’re killing people creatively for fun here, not for a slasher horror competition.

— 5 —

I’m trying out PangurPad this year. So far, I’m kind of unimpressed. It’s not letting me do any fonts and very little formatting which is annoying me. Then again, I have a free account for NaNo and I doubt they’re rolling out the good stuff for someone who isn’t paying for it. A founding membership is only $45 AUD which is $46.79 USD and it’s a one-time payment so I may consider that if I win NaNo this year.

— 6 —

Daniel was Pooh Bear for Halloween. I seriously should have done a dry run with getting his costume on because it took tears on his part and almost on my part to get his head through the zipper hole. He was very cute though and we had a good time. The only problem was that we ran out of candy and I had to raid his stash to take care of the last trick-or-treaters. (On the other hand, it got rid of some of the candies I hate.)

Pooh Bear

— 7 —

I just looked over and saw that Jon had gotten horse shampoo for himself at the dollar store. When I questioned him about it, he said he liked what it promoted: longer hair. (For the first time in his life, he has more hair than I do.) He’s asked me to stock up on carrots and oats. I’m getting scared…

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 31, 2011

Posted on by

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 31, 2011

Outside my window… sunny.

I am thinking… that I need to head to CVS at some point to get a postcard to send to Russia for Postcrossing.

I am thankful… for my weekend with my parents. Mom and I watched Game 7 of the World Series on Friday night (an unusual bonding activity since neither of my parents are sports fans), we went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday, we got Daniel some cool new shoes, and we went to the local playground on Sunday. Oh yes… there was also the NCIS marathon on USA on Saturday. 🙂 (We don’t have cable or satellite so it was a treat to be able to watch it.)

From the learning rooms… a good session with Daniel’s child development person today.

In the kitchen… tuna that my dad put together for me this weekend. (He makes the best tuna EVER.)

I am wearing… black shirt and Jon’s Left Behind shorts. (My standard “around the house” clothes.)

I am creating… NaNo stuff and the super-secret crocheting project.

I am going… to carve up some pumpkins today.

I am wondering… what to dress as when I take Daniel trick-or-treating tonight.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame by Heather King. It’s amazing — I just have to read each chapter in its entirety.

I am hoping… I can hit 50K words in November for NaNo.

I am looking forward to… trick-or-treating tonight.

I am hearing… Daniel rearranging stuff in the living room and Catholic Weekend on iTunes. (Why yes… I’m Lutheran and I listen to Catholic podcasts.)

Around the house… vacuuming that I need to do.

I am pondering… many things in my heart.

One of my favorite things… Almond Joy candy bars. I’ve got two bags of the mini ones on top of the fridge that I’m trying not to eat. So far I’ve succeeded.

A few plans for the rest of the week… trick-or-treating tonight, therapies this week, and Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… My parents’ grey cat Homer somehow sustained a gaping wound to his right front leg that took forever to find. They had to sedate him to stitch him up and the poor grey Pooh Bear has to wear an Elizabethan collar until his stitches come out in a week and a half. He decided that he would take up residence under their bed so every few hours, I would extract him and brush him before escorting him to the garage for his commode. The love paid off — he was Mr. Tummy for me on Saturday night (and he is the best tummy ever) and he was actually out and social on Sunday.

Homer

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — Miscellaneous

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

I was thinking about themes for this week and decided to just go with miscellaneous things on my mind from the last few days.

— 1 —

For those who homeschool, may I *HIGHLY* recommend Postcrossing.Com as a way of supplementing geography instruction? The premise is simple. You sign up for an account and put in it as much personal information that you want to reveal, any preferences you have for postcards, and then you click on “send a postcard”. It gives you the name of someone in the world who has also signed up and you send them a postcard. Once that person gets the postcard, they register it and your name is given to someone else for them to send you a postcard. As an example, my profile is here. I even have one set up for Daniel if you want to see what a child’s account could look like. It’s been amazing to be part of this and I’m putting the ones for Daniel in an album for him to have when he’s older. I’ve also sent quite a few postcards to people who register their account for their family (i.e. “The Johnson Family” instead of “Bob Johnson”).

— 2 —

We’ve been getting our first rain of the fall this week. Despite the fact that the pressure changes can be migraine triggers for me, I’m loving this. I just kind of wish that the rain was beating on the windows instead of dripping from the carport. This weekend is supposed to be “good” weather though. I’m hoping for no temperatures above 75. This is October, for crying out loud.

— 3 —

Is anybody else irritated with seeing Christmas stuff in shops? OK… granted it was Michael’s and crafters have to get a leg up on Christmas but I’m going to be very stern and flustered if I see it anywhere else. Oh yeah… I also had to switch the CD playing machine off of Christmas music at Bed, Bath, and Beyond last Saturday.

— 4 —

“Hart of Dixie” is proving to be a pretty good series. The last CW series I liked or even really watched (because CW wasn’t part of cable or satellite when I lived in Minnesota and Montana) was “7th Heaven”. I can identify with Zoe feeling like a fish out of water and wanting to know what to do to fit into the town. I’ve had that everywhere I’ve lived and one of the things I learned to do was to do what the people do. I crafted with the women in the area every Tuesday morning in Montana until I got my job at UPS-SCS and I went to basketball games at the high school in Minnesota.

— 5 —

I ended up making the best pizza on the planet last Friday night. My parents and evil twin were joining us for dinner and there wasn’t going to be time for everyone’s pizza to cook on the pizza stone on the barbecue so Mom and I just baked ours in the oven. Tomatoes can incite IBS in me (it’s a 50/50 shot) so I eschewed tomato sauce in favor of homemade pesto, mozzarella cheese, feta, and black olives. The crust was the bulk mix from WinCo and it ended up being some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. And for the record, there is no such thing as too much pesto. Just wanted to make that last thing clear.

— 6 —

According to CNN, Bank of America is defending their “right to make a profit”. This is true — they have a right to make a profit. I also have a right not to bank with them. 🙂 My own bank (Wells Fargo) is trying out new fees on accounts as well. There are a number of banks doing this because new regulations cut into their profit margins. An alternative is to bank with a credit union.

— 7 —

I’m still standing with those protesting on Wall Street. I’m aware that protesters are being arrested and some of the arrests are due to them doing things like blocking off the Brooklyn Bridge or jumping over barriers. There are some unwarranted arrests and police officers using unnecessary force but it would be wrong of me to say that it was all the police’s fault and that the protesters are completely blameless.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 19, 2011

Posted on by

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY September 19, 2011

Outside my window… sunny and in the 90’s. I’m seriously jonesing for four distinct seasons here — 97 F in September is unacceptable.

I am thinking… that I hope “the Buffet plan” passes and the millionaires and billionaires start paying their fair share.

I am thankful… for our “Winnie the Pooh” DVD. It kept Daniel quiet last week and it’s allowing me to get some web work done.

In the kitchen… nothing exceptional. Lunch for me was a baked Yukon gold potato. (I prefer them because they’re smaller and they have a better flavor than the russet ones.)

I am wearing… black Arabic shirt and black shorts (my “around the house” clothes).

I am creating… details for my NaNo piece.

I am going… to Walgreens today if my doctor’s office calls in my prescriptions.

I am wondering… where my regular cookbooks are and when I’m actually going to feel like cooking from scratch again.

I am reading… Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser. The A.J. Jacobs book isn’t keeping my attention and I have the Lumby books until October so I’m re-reading them now that I’ve read the first one.

I am hoping… that I’m over Daniel’s bug though I haven’t had the issues that he has — in my case, it’s just a fever.

I am looking forward to… the fall season priemieres on CBS this week.

I am hearing… the refrigerator humming and “Winnie the Pooh” on the DVD player.

Around the house… echoing Dawn on this: don’t ask.

I am pondering… how people can call themselves Christians and yet support Tea Party politics. I’m not trying to start a fight here — the Tea Party rhetoric goes against EVERYTHING in the Bible about taking care of each other in both the Old and New Testaments. They truthfully disgust me.

One of my favorite things… the quiet time I get after Daniel goes to bed.

A few plans for the rest of the week… Daniel’s various therapies on Tuesday and Thursday and the Sacramento Zoo on Friday with my parents.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook