Category Archives: The A-Word

7 Quick Takes: Active Shooter Drill Edition

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7 Quick Takes

Yes, my Quick Takes are late. I had homework due tonight for Excel/Access.

— 1 —

Active shooter drill. We had an active shooter drill during my Excel/Access class today. It’s in a computer lab so we had to turn off all of the monitors in addition to flipping the lights, drawing the blinds, and locking the door. This made for a dark room (which was kind of the point) and I had to code something, so we were using my cell phone as a flashlight because an actual flashlight would have been too bright.

A message also flashes onto all of the screens in the event of an active shooter (in addition to sirens going off and an automated message playing over the loudspeakers) so it’s inconceivable that someone wouldn’t know unless they were both blind and deaf.

— 2 —

Shelter-in-place drill. My school does a shelter-in-place drill quarterly and today’s happened to be an active shooter drill specifically because of the school shooting in Florida on Valentine’s Day. They take these drills very seriously and it paid off during Fall Quarter when they had to lockdown campus for a manhunt.

I find them unnerving (and today was only the second time I’ve been on campus for one), but they’re necessary these days given the fact that our government is in the pocket of the NRA and will not pass commonsense gun control legislation. (Gun control does not equal taking all of people’s guns away, contrary to what some on the rightmost fringe of the political spectrum might think.) Each instructor also has a very clear plan for what needs to happen in each classroom where they teach, and my Practical Accounting instructor admitted to spending her commute coming up with plans for these situations.

— 3 —

Book recommendation. A seminary classmate of mine wrote a book. Go check it out because she is freaking awesome. Seriously. Do it now.

— 4 —

Speaking of books… Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. has a new one out. It is now on my wish list.

— 5 —

Must print this out to hand to people. My instructor jokes about all of us standing in the back of the room shotgunning our coffee before class. I need to print this (and a few other coffee memes) out for her.

Personning is hard without caffeine.

— 6 —

Mea culpa. Why no! This one totally doesn’t describe my morning! Never!

Mea culpa.

— 7 —

I need to put this on my door. It really was THAT kind of morning here…

RUN!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 26, 2018

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For Today… February 26, 2018

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was cold this morning but was shirt-sleeves weather this afternoon.

I am thinking… my challenge test for Business English on Wednesday and the 7th anniversary of this on Thursday. I’m more than a little weepy about the latter.

I am thankful… for the people in my life who are praying me through this week.

One of my favorite things… this Facebook page.

I am wearing… jammies. Clothes for today were a grey heather shirt and jeans.

I am creating… forms in Access.

I am listening to… some Michael W. Smith.

I am hoping… I end up with a good group for my Access in-class project.

I am learning… how to do fun things with forms.

In my kitchen… Dad made steak last night.

In the school room… we’re trying to put together a triennial IEP in a matter of weeks instead of months.

Post Script… an amazing article by Emma González, one of the Parkland shooting survivors who is speaking out.

Shared Quote… “We are children who are being expected to act like adults, while the adults are proving themselves to behave like children.” — Emma González

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 18, 2018

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For Today… February 18, 2018

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. It was snowing here this morning and then was nice and sunny (though still quite chilly in the afternoon).

I am thinking… about an email I just wrote to my attorney.

I am thankful… for the witness of the survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and their commitment to making the shooting at their high school the last one.

One of my favorite things… the Great Litany. We sang it this morning as it is the First Sunday in Lent.

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes were my new black cardigan, black skirt, my blue-green fitted tee, black tights, and black flats. After church, I tossed on my charcoal long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

I am creating… electronic deposit slips for Payroll.

I am listening to… the Great Litany on YouTube.

I am hoping… to get both Access and Payroll completed tomorrow.

I am learning… relationship structure in databases.

In my kitchen… my dad made steak tonight.

In the school room… I caught the school district’s mistake in putting in a wrong date which would have made next year’s IEP the triennial one instead of this year’s. My “reward” is a meeting with the school psych on Tuesday to get the papers signed for testing. Oh freaking joy!

Post Script… March for Our Lives, a march on Washington to get Congress to take gun control legislation seriously.

Shared Quote… “Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving. But instead we are up here standing together because if all our government and President can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see.” — Emma Gonzalez, student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (Full remarks are here.)

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: February 12, 2018

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For Today… February 12, 2018

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… dark. Temps were in the mid 40’s today and sunny.

I am thinking… about the Excel final I’m trying to finish by tomorrow night.

I am thankful… to FINALLY be done with the Payroll project that’s due in 2 hours. We got a bad check figure this week, leading the majority of us to be swearing and ripping our hair out this weekend.

One of my favorite things… my payroll balancing. 🙂

I am wearing… jammies. Clothes today were a blue-green long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

I am creating… Excel formulas. Woo.

I am listening to… Donovan’s music. I was watching the Olympics earlier and saw Chloe Kim decimate the competition in the Women’s Halfpipe. USA! USA!

I am hoping… I can get a lot of work done tomorrow in between classes. I have one Excel assessment left on the final and then I need to go through my work with the rubric and make sure I have everything correct.

I am learning… building table structures in Access.

In my kitchen… I’ve been surviving on Subway. It’s not great but it works for right now.

In the school room… Daniel is apparently being cuter than usual and his people are smitten with him. We also have a triennial IEP this year so I’m sure I’ll be given reports to send back to school in a few weeks.

Post Script… some printables for Valentine’s Day treats.

Shared Quote…

Take a walk today!

A moment from my day… My current earworm. (You’re welcome!)

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

31 Days of My World As It Is Sung: Pouring from My Empty Cup

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While I was living with my former in-laws, my (hopefully soon-to-be) former mother-in-law made the suggestion that I could start a ministry for families with kids with special needs in Jon’s next parish. When I told her why that was really not a good idea, she was less than pleased and told me that I was being incredibly selfish.

Huh.

A year later, I was fighting bout #2 of bronchitis which was caused partially by the stress of ending my marriage. My parents were out of town and my idiot PA told me he wanted to admit me to the hospital immediately for Prednisone and antibiotics. When I told him that I couldn’t be admitted to the hospital because I had nobody to watch my child, he excoriated me for refusing the prednisone (which, by the way, IS BLACK-BOXED ON MY CHART FOR THE REACTION I HAVE TO IT!!!!!) and for refusing hospital admission, telling me that I had to take care of myself and learn to ask for help.

Huh.

What these two things have in common is that both of them assumed that I have far more in terms of resources than I actually had. My former mother-in-law assumed that I would have the emotional, mental, and physical resources to take care of Daniel at church AND several other kids with varying levels of special needs. In churches that have such ministries, THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS. You have rotating groups of people who are trained that take turns helping out one Sunday a month. You never ask the parents to be the ones doing it because Sunday worship might be the one time a week they get to replenish their emotional/mental reserves for the week.

My idiot PA assumed that I had people who could help and I was just refusing to ask. Yeah… if I had people who could take over my difficult child, DON’T YOU THINK I WOULD ASK?!?!?!? So many single mamas like me with difficult kids are frequently flying by the seat of our pants. Yes, my parents could take over… unless they’re not available and then I’m very much SOL. I had a control journal for Daniel and if I had been hooked up with the local Regional Center, I might have had a respite worker… but we were in the process of moving so I never got hooked up. So I was taking care of my kid and getting him to school on no sleep and I’d be coughing so badly I was puking while he was at school. I probably should have been hospitalized (no Prednisone though!) but I had no choice but to refuse. (My BFF and my tasoni both mothered me by remote control that week and it helped immensely.)

I wish the world could understand that a lot of us moms with special kiddos are pouring from empty cups, not because we want to, but because we have no other choice. I want Daniel at church with me but by the same token, church is one of those times when I try to fill my cup for the next week. I managed to get through church with him a few weeks ago… but that was because my priest and my parish surrounded me and supported me so I could be a lector and I could sing with the choir. People asked me what I needed and gave me grace when my kid didn’t act like they wanted him to. That helped me fill up my cup a little bit.

Pouring from an empty cup.

31 Days of My World As It Is Sung: Autism and Changelings

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31 Days of My World As It Is Sung

Someone posted this picture on Facebook a few days ago and it resonated with me. I have friends with kiddos on the spectrum that are thoroughly convinced that their children are vaccine-injured based on when the autism manifested. It’s really hard for me to understand their viewpoint because I never had that normal child who was seemingly taken by fairies and replaced with a child who did not seem like mine. Not to mention, all of the peer-reviewed studies on vaccines and autism have come back saying that they don’t trigger it.

I think we need to be aware that microdeletions and genetic issues happen and we need to be open to the neurodiversity of people, rather than saying that people on the spectrum are damaged.

Autism and changelings.

31 Days of My World As It Is Sung: 7 Quick Takes on ADHD, Greek Food, and Other Fun Things

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

ADHD anniversary. 2 years ago today, Daniel was diagnosed with ADHD and put on medication. As controversial as that decision was, it’s been a good one — he sleeps better at night (and goes to sleep on his own) and he can play independently.

— 2 —

Greek food. I made the comment at choir practice that I would give up Greek food in order to not have to deal with Seattle-Everett traffic. People started throwing out suggestions of closer options and I realized that I could go up to Bellingham. Apparently, there are several up there and there is also an Ethiopian restaurant. Yay!

— 3 —

An Epic issue. The local hospital system just got a new computer system which is kind of a pain in the butt. However, they sent me my code to login and sign myself up so I did that on Monday and got to populate my chart with information. It was geeky fun and I didn’t have to worry about transcription errors or Dragon Dictate problems or anything else that I’ve had to deal with in the past.

— 4 —

Special intention. Please pray for a special intention. Thanks!

— 5 —

Baseball take. So I know in the postseason, these will be the teams I support:
Cubs
Red Sox
Nationals
Diamondbacks

I can’t root for the Astros because they’re a Texas team (I LOVELOVELOVE messing with Texas), the Dodgers are the archenemies of my boys in San Francisco, the Yankees are evil, and I’m pretty sure the Indians made one with Satan again this year to get into the post season because… CLEVELAND SUCKS!!!!

— 6 —

NCAA football. My Huskies are at the top of the PAC-12 and 6th in the nation. Duuuuuude…

— 7 —

On a parting note… Here’s some amazing music and scenery.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

31 Days of My World As It Is Sung