Category Archives: Food/Drink

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 15, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY September 15, 2013

Outside my window… dark here. It was warm and sunny today.

I am thinking… that it’s going to be a crazy week.

I am thankful… for those praying for Thomas.

In the kitchen… dishes to do.

I am wearing… Jon’s “Red Green” shirt and black sweats.

I am creating… blog post coding for the week.

I am going… to hope I can be productive tomorrow.

I am wondering… what this week holds.

I am reading… Sundays in America by Suzanne Strempek Shea.

I am hoping… our beginning of toilet-training Daniel this week goes well.

I am looking forward to… an iced vanilla latté at some point this week.

I am learning to read labels better so I don’t accidentally buy the wrong thing. (Not that it happened to me…)

Around the house… decluttering and shredding to do.

I am pondering… too many things internally.

A favorite quote for today… ??Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.?? ? C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… calm and quiet.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy on Monday/Wednesday/Friday, a pediatrics appointment for Daniel on Wednesday, and (I think) a massage for me on Friday.

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The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 8, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY September 8, 2013

Outside my window… dark right now. Bloody hot even down in San Jose (got back up to my neck of the woods about 9:30 p.m.) and close to 100 up where I live. I’m watching the weather for Dallas right now because my evil twin is there for a training class and I’m laughing because he bragged about getting away to the Pacific Northwest to escape the heat… only to be sent to Dallas after a week of work!

I am thinking… about the situation in Syria.

I am thankful… for a wonderful weekend with my parents.

In the kitchen… lemon cupcakes from Friday and lots of dishes to wash.

I am wearing… my “Online Debate Team” t-shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… various posts.

I am going… to hopefully sleep better tonight.

I am wondering… when Edda will stop licking me. (Do I taste like shower gel? Is it a good taste?)

I am reading… Sundays in America by Suzanne Strempek Shea. There are points when I want to smack her but it’s been interesting to see her church visits through the lens of her experience and upbringing.

I am hoping… my new keyboard arrives soon. (I accidentally broke my H key off my laptop keyboard.)

I am looking forward to… my mani/pedi on Thursday. It will be a quiet morning and I have craziness for the next few days.

Around the house… unpacking and consolidating to do.

I am pondering… too many things.

A favorite quote for today… “There are three ways of taking the command to turn the other cheek. One is the Pacifist interpretation; it means what it says and imposes a duty of nonresistance on all men in all circumstances. Another is the minimising interpretation; it does not mean what it says but is merely an orientally
hyperbolical way of saying that you should put up with a lot and be placable. Both you and I agree in rejecting this view. The conflict is therefore between the Pacifist interpretation and a third one which I am now going to propound.
I think the text means exactly what it says, but with an understood reservation in favour of those obviously exceptional cases which every hearer would naturally assume to be exceptions without being told. . . . . That is,
insofar as the only relevant factors in the case are an injury to me by my neighbour and a desire on my part to retaliate, then I hold that Christianity commands the absolute mortification of that desire. No quarter whatever is
given to the voice within us which says, ‘He??s done it to me, so I??ll do the same to him.'” — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

One of my favorite things… silence. I have it right now and it is glorious.

A few plans for the rest of the week: hearing aid appointments for Daniel tomorrow, Morning Prayer on Tuesday and possibly a Target run, haircut on Wednesday and ABA therapy for Daniel, mani/pedi on Thursday, quarterly meeting with Daniel’s autism people and the Regional Center in the morning on Friday as well as ABA therapy that afternoon.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Edda Helps This Week

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7 Quick Takes

Edda is taking refuge from Daniel on my lap (where he has to use gentle hands to pet her) so she’s going to help me with my quick takes this week.

— 1 —

Orphans. Do you see these two sweet children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are compiling their dossier to send to her country.

Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 2 —

“Mom of the Year” material here. Just a word of advice: if your child has been terrified of car washes in the past, it’s not incredibly good to take him through one because “he might have gotten over his fear”. It’s sensory hell and in addition to your kid flipping out to the point that they puke, you’ll also have a headache from the screaming.

Totally the “Mom of the Year” here.

— 3 —

Fasting for peace. I’m not sure what I’ll be fasting from because I’ll be with my parents but I’m taking part. There’s also a beautiful prayer here. (HT: Fr. James Martin, S.J)

Fasting for peace on September 7th.

— 4 —

Where bloggers blog. There’s a Tumblr that is showing pictures of where bloggers blog. I haven’t submitted one yet but I’m considering it.

— 5 —

Al Franken delivers. A couple weeks ago, I posted about some harmless political fun. He offered to let people vote on what Minnesota State Fair food he would eat in a virtual postcard to supporters. The verdict: deep-fried pickles with chocolate sauce. To spare you having to surf to one of his donation pages, I’m embedding the video below. (The actual eating of the pickles is at 1:18.)

And no, I don’t live in Minnesota — I just like Al Franken. 🙂

— 6 —

Wow. When Jon went to pick Daniel up today, his teacher asked why we hadn’t told her that he knew all his capital letters. Ummm… because we didn’t know? It sounds like someone has been paying attention during Circle Time! Go Daniel!

— 7 —

Hot hot hot! It’s supposed to be in the triple digits this weekend. Seriously, I’m wishing it was December in Montana with sub-zero temperatures. I hate heat. At least when it’s that cold, you can put a ton of layers on. When it’s this hot, you can only take so much off.

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

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: September 1, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY September 1, 2013

Outside my window… dark. It was a warm day though.

I am thinking… about all the stuff that has to be done around the house.

I am thankful… for the 5 minute downpour last night. I enjoyed the “after the rain” scent for the first time in probably 6 months. (It has been really dry here this year which has contributed to the massive Rim fire 100 miles away.)

In the kitchen… I need to figure out a meal plan.

I am wearing… blue shirt from Old Navy and blue plaid boxers.

I am creating… entry outlines for the week.

I am going… to my parents’ house this weekend.

I am wondering… when I’ll actually desire to eat normally again.

I am reading… Sundays in America by Suzanne Strempek Shea. I finished Jenny Lawson’s book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, last night. It was absolutely lovely and irreverent and crossed so many lines but in completely charming ways.

I am hoping… my stomach settles down. I am no longer able to eat fast food.

I am looking forward to… Ladies’ Night Out.

I am learning life with having to test my sugars.

Around the house… *pulls the covers over my head*

I am pondering… too many things.

A favorite quote for today… ??In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets… Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, “Here comes one who will augment our loves.” For in this love “to divide is not to take away.?? – C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… the smell of rain.

A few plans for the rest of the week: ABA therapy and Ladies’ Night Out on Wednesday, ABA therapy on Friday as well as heading to San Jose to see my parents.

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{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 4)

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{Virtual Coffee Date}

Once you’re done here, go visit Karianna and the other coffee drinkers.

If we were having coffee, I’d let you know that the professor behind Bible Students Say… is grading and you need to go check it out. It’s definitely face-palming to read but that’s what makes it so entertaining.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my endocrinologist would be a great person with whom to share a cup of coffee but as a medical professional, she makes me roll my eyes. She keeps making helpful suggestions that would work… if they were actually practical for me with my food issues and my life. Example: suggesting eggs as a possible breakfast for someone who is allergic to eggs (which is on my chart) or making suggestions for stuff to cut up and take with me. I can do things like ziploc snack bags of nuts for a snack but some of the meal plan stuff she gave me just left me incredibly hungry. I get that a 1200 calorie diet would cause me to lose a boatload of weight quickly but that’s also not totally reasonable for me. (FitDay has me at around 1500.)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m bummed that the evil twin and his wife are now Washington-bound and how I’m secretly jealous because I’d love to live in the Pacific Northwest. I hate heat so living in Sacramento is hideous from about late May to early October. I’m also bummed because I was enjoying being close to family for a change. Oh well… this is another excuse to get to Washington on vacation.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Daniel was his normal self today and I could probably have sent him to preschool but I didn’t want him giving whatever he had to the other kids or getting something else while his immunity was down. I also wish his ER doc had given him something that didn’t require improvising a mortar and pestle before dissolving it in 1 ml of water, and syringing it to him. (I’m glad to have the mad chemistry skillz but still!)

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you to go read Hallie’s Tell Me All About YOU! entry. I’m a wannabe sociologist and people-watcher and this is one of the few ways to do it online.

Thanks for having coffee (or tea) with me. See you next week!

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (XII)

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Five Favorites

One

Sleep. I’m wishing I was getting more of it. Today was an insane day where I was going from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a short break in between my (crappy) endocrinologist appointment and my mani/pedi. (I know… I live a tough life. I’ll be making up for it by having to call Social Security tomorrow and find out how the duck they managed to screw up Daniel’s SSI this time.) It was hard this morning because my tabby really wanted to have Mama time but I wasn’t able to go back to sleep with him on top of me purring. #tabbyproblems On the plus side, I got to see my evil twin and my sister-in-law before they move to Washington. I’ll be seeing them again this weekend to bring them dinner and return their coolers. (They brought over all the beer and frozen food they weren’t going to be able to take with them.)

Two

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Like almost everything The Bloggess says, this is MAJORLY NSFW but incredibly funny.

Three

My mother-in-law. My very wonderful mother-in-law took over Daniel care for me this weekend so I could get a break and get some rest. This is a woman who is taking care of her terminally ill husband and getting even less sleep than me so it was amazingly sacrificial of her to do this. She also got me FOUR boxes of Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Cream Bars.

Four

$tarbux Fruit and Cheese Bistro Boxes. Seriously, this is like the best bistro box made by $tarbux. (OK… it’s the only one I can eat for allergy purposes or because lettuce is rabbit food.) If I pair it with a venti ice water, it even works to fill me up without doing bad things to my blood sugar.

Five

The creativity of some of the people at Metanoia. We have a couple women (Gladys and Hortense) who are creative in a completely amazing and scary way. Last summer, they built a fountain with its own water source in the church parking lot. They transform the office/classroom wing into a Haunted Hallway for Halloween and transform our fellowship hall into a five-star restaurant. As a fundraiser for the congregation, they created a 50’s diner in our fellowship hall… complete with booths, checkered flooring, costumes for the wait staff, and actual records hanging as decorations. Duuuuuuuude…

Go love up Hallie and the others.

7 Quick Takes: ELCA Presiding Bishops, Helping Jenn Become a Nun, and Cat Bribing.

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

A wine alternative. We have several winemakers in our parish (we’re a cow town in wine country) and Jon will sometimes be gifted wine by some of them. A couple of them know that I don’t drink so I was surprised when I got a call from the wife of one of the winemakers, telling me that she had something for me. The “something” turned out to be two bottles of really good sparkling cider because she didn’t feel it was fair that Jon always got wine and I never got anything. I was seriously touched by this but this person is incredibly conscientious about making sure that people feel included so I shouldn’t have been surprised.. She is one of the few people in the parish who is allowed to have my cell phone number and I keep a couple messages from her on there to listen to when I really need to hear that I’m loved. (She left a message the first night Daniel was in the hospital in January and I cried when I heard it because I totally needed to hear that she and her husband love us and were praying for us.)

— 2 —

Helping Jenn become a nun. I am blessed to have been a part of this.

A family (wishing to remain anonymous) offered to take over her student loans so that she could enter on August 28th. This is a huge sacrifice on their part and Jenn has asked that if people would like to make a gift toward paying them down, it would help them out tremendously. (She writes the BEST thank you emails too.) She has a blog here if you’d like to keep up with what is going on until her entrance on August 28th.

— 3 —

Send Liliana a birthday card. This kid kicked cancer’s butt and all she wants is a birthday card. She loves receiving mail and this would really make her happy. Details are here.

— 4 —

Orphans.Do you see these three darling children?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and they are in the homestudy stage. Kaia has met her family and they are in love with her!!! 🙂

Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 5 —

It’s a girl! Some of you know that I used to be part of the ELCA so I was watching news of Churchwide Assembly with a cocked ear because we would be electing a new presiding bishop (the head of the ELCA). On the fifth ballot, Elizabeth Eaton, the bishop of Northeastern Ohio Synod was elected, beating out Mark Hanson (our current presiding bishop) and Jessica Crist (my former bishop from Montana).

I was never a fan of Mark Hanson for many reasons so I’m glad that he’ll be gone. My feelings about Jessica are mixed. Her assistant to the bishop threw us under the bus in Montana and there are some who feel that more could have been done for us. Thing is… Jessica always treated me like an actual person vs. “the wife of the pastor at _____________ Parish” and I appreciated that. The reason I would have been chill with her being elected bishop was that when she found out about me having Daniel, she hauled butt to the hospital (at 7 a.m.) and my first lucid memory after my night of trauma and c-section is her sitting by my bed, holding my hand and explaining to me that I had just had a baby. I don’t know that I will ever be able to express how much it helped to have her there, considering that it was during a period of 36-48 hours where my memories are hazy. That kind of pastoral care is rare. She also did a good job of talking to the congregations who wanted to leave over the sexuality decisions in 2009 despite the fact that they were really rude to her and pretty much just came to the meeting to find out the process to leave the ELCA.

Anyway, my friends who have served with Presiding Bishop-Elect Eaton are happy for her but are really sad to lose her because she was an awesome bishop for them. I think that speaks volumes about her fitness for the job — that her pastors are bummed to no longer have her as bishop. I also have Facebook friends who are talking about “the stained glass ceiling being broken” and I’m trying not to roll my eyes too much. It’s a church that is used to female bishops — Jessica Crist is the head of the Council of Bishops so you can’t tell me that there are no women in leadership. I mean, it’s cool that Presiding Bishop-Elect Eaton is the first female presiding bishop in the ELCA but it’s hardly surprising.

— 6 —

Cat-bribing. I’m down in southern California with my in-laws for Jon’s birthday and I have their cat Arthur in the guest room with me. Once he realized my mother-in-law wasn’t going to come sleep with him, he vanished under the bed. I grabbed a thing of cat treats and shook some onto the cat spread next to me. Guess which kitty is now next to me munching on cat treats? Yep… Mr. Mama’s Boy. I’m hoping he stays. He is a fabulous cuddler even if I did get a cat bite infection from him in January.

— 7 —

Why I love my mother-in-law. She stocked the freezer with 4 boxes of Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Cream Bars. Enough said.

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