Category Archives: The A-Word

Quick Takes: Lots of NaNo Stuff, Justice Being Served, and Daniel Being Ornery

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

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 their dossier has been submitted to her country.

— 2 —

NaNo Update. So far, I’m a bit ahead in my “2000-words-a-day” plan and as I’m going to be with my family this weekend, it’s probably good to have that cushion though I’ll be focusing like mad tomorrow so that I don’t get too far behind. I’m also probably going to give up Facebook this weekend with a few exceptions so I can spend my computer time writing my NaNo piece. We’ll see.

— 3 —

Justice being served. Those of you who read my {Virtual} Coffee Date for this week know that one of my college group leaders at the church I attended from 1998-2001 was murdered in his office and found on Saturday morning. On Wednesday, we got the news that they arrested two people suspected of killing him. I’m not angry at his killers as much as I’m just sad.

— 4 —

Fundraiser for Brett. I’m willing to kill people off creatively for a donation to the adoption grant of the precious boy on my sidebar. $10 gets you killed off creatively with a couple caveats. If you give $25, I’ll send you the manuscript of my NaNo piece. Just make the donation to Brett and email the receipt and how you’d like to die to jen @ grace-filled dot net.

— 5 —

Thankful. One of the people doing NaNo is a CSI and she offered to answer all of our questions. There are 8 pages of questions and her answers in the NaNo forums. I’m incredibly grateful that she offered this because it means that my novel went from “no chance” to theoretically possible.

— 6 —

Boundaries. My precious sweetling is testing the patience of his ABA tutors this week. He tried going up against his lead tutor and consultant today… and failed. Both of them have been doing this for a while and have absolutely *NO* problem saying the dreaded n-word (a.k.a. “no”). He has tried going to Jon or me when his tutors are refusing to back down and we just turn him around and send him right back to them. Oh well… it’s developmentally appropriate to test boundaries — just no fun for the parents.

— 7 —

“Bones” moving to Fridays. I’ll have to start watching Bones on Hulu or something because they’re moving it to Fridays… which is when I watch 3 hours of CBS stuff. As much as I like Bones, I like Hawaii Five-O more.

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

7 Quick Takes: Posts To Write, Prayer Requests, and A Favor

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

No guarantees. Probably 7 years ago (maybe more?), I received a comment on my old Livejournal from a young Russian woman named Anna who runs a Christian website called Pravmir. (The English site is here.)I helped her edit a few English translations of articles for the site before I ended up with a job and ran out of time; but I’ve kept track of her on Livejournal. A few months ago, her husband died suddenly, leaving her widowed in her 30’s (I think she’s my age) with a little daughter named Natasha. She has been a beautiful example of faith in the midst of all of this and wrote a beautiful piece called “No Guarantees” today. You can find it (in Russian) here. If you open it in Chrome, the browser will translate it for you.

— 2 —

Posts to come: Birch Box. I registered for a Birch Box and received it on Tuesday. I’ll try a couple of the products out this weekend and let you know how it goes. 🙂

— 3 —

Forty to Forever. From my Facebook wall:

OK… I’m the social media person for the Forty to Forever fundraiser and we’re trying to raise money for families adopting kids internationally who have special needs. We need two things:

1.) We desperately need churches who are willing to sponsor families with prayer and also with funding to a degree. This doesn’t have to be costly and there is information on the website about what to do. If you ladies could talk to you church councils/pro-life groups/ missions people/women’s ministries/whoever, I’d greatly appreciate it. If you can’t find the answer to one of your questions, let me know and I’ll get the information for you. You can find most of what you need here.

2.) We need people who can commit to being prayer warriors and praying for us/the families/the kids one day a week during Lent. (We could also really use it right now.) It’s a fifteen minutes per week commitment and if it would help, I can send you prayers, a litany, or whatever you need in terms of help in how to pray. The page for sign-ups is here.

The website is http://www.fortytoforever.com/ and we’re also present on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks!

— 4 —

Orphans. Do you see these two precious 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.

— 5 —

Wow. A couple weeks ago, I posted a prayer request for Elizabeth of Keep on Spinning. She’s been fighting breast cancer for the last 5 years and the cancer this time is back with a vengeance. She was supposed to get chemo on Tuesday but her white cell count had tanked and made her ineligible. Instead, she showed pictures of her son Danny (who is looking GOOD despite his own medical issues) and her husband Dixon shaving her head.

OK… seriously, it’s incredibly humbling to see a woman brave enough to show her head being shaved. I mean, this is probably totally normal for her now but still… I don’t know that I would have the courage to show mine being shaved if I was in her position. Keep praying for her because she’s got a “hard row to hoe”.

— 6 —

Posts to write (maybe): potty-training. This isn’t a for sure yet but I might be writing on potty-training Daniel. I haven’t decided because I don’t know if I want to let some things in my life be private and if that is really one of them yet. In the meantime, I’d love tips if y’all have any.

— 7 —

The shutdown. Attention Congress:

YOU. SUCK. BOTH PARTIES. (Note: I’m a blue dog Democrat and I am criticizing my own party. That’s how pissed I am.)

This was 16 days and billions of dollars flushed down the toilet that did not have to happen. There are people who had to borrow money to pay their rent and mortgage, feed their kids, and keep utilities on while Congress got paid and got to keep their gym memberships. To the Congresspersons who either gave up their paycheck or is donating it: you rock and I will gladly support y’all with fundraising if I happen to find your arguments convincing. To everyone else, let me reiterate that YOU. ALL. SUCK. I will make it my mission to get your butts out of office in 2014. Count on it.

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

Please Say It: Things to Say and Ways to Help Moms with Kids Who Have Special Needs

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This past week, I had a guest post over at Worthy of Agape about things not to say to the mom of a child with special needs. In one of the comments, my friend Mandi suggested that I write a post about things to say/things to do to help moms like me. Here you go, Mandi!

I really try not to complain about life with Daniel because I love him and there are so many amazing moments in life with him. However, it *is* hard at times and there are days when I’m not sure how I’m going to make it until bedtime. I know that there are a lot of really well-meaning people who would like to help and don’t know how, so here are a few things you can say/do that will make my life easier:

Compliment me on something… ANYTHING related to Daniel. Seriously, hearing that I’m doing something right in raising Daniel does help. I have a wonderful woman in the parish who finds something to compliment me on every Sunday that I make it to church, even if she’s just saying that Daniel was… exuberant that day.

Tell me how good it is to see me when I’m out doing errands by myself. If you see me at the grocery store by myself, it means that I either found a qualified respite worker to watch Daniel or that Jon is home with him. Asking me pointedly where Daniel is and mentioning that you never got to go do errands by yourself when you had kids is not going to do anything except make me ponder how best to make you shut up. Pleasepleaseplease ask me how I’m doing, compliment me on the fact that I escaped the house to go shopping, and if all else fails, compliment me on the fact that I’m wearing pants and managed to slap on some deodorant before heading out in public.

If you see me struggling with a door or having trouble wrangling the bear child, please ask me how you can help. I don’t know when it stopped being common courtesy to hold doors open for people who are having trouble entering a room or building; but I wish it would come back into fashion. Seriously, opening the door for me and keeping it open while I wrangle a stroller or try to keep my hands on Daniel will make my day better. If I’m in the checkout line at the grocery store and am having trouble getting my items on the belt, feel free to ask if I need help. It might just mean entertaining Daniel in the cart for a minute while I quickly empty all my purchases from the cart’s basket.

Treat Daniel like you would treat any other 4 year old. The people at the Trader Joe’s in Elk Grove are great examples of this. One of my favorite workers will stop and have a conversation with Daniel (albeit a one-sided one) on his way to the back of the store for something and another worker will make race car noises when he’s pushing the cart as he helps us out to the car. Both of these things will make Daniel smile and make my day nicer.

Be patient with us. I know that you’re probably in a hurry and we’re blocking your exit — I’ve been in that situation as well. However, I’m doing my best to keep things moving and if I have the stroller with me, I’m pushing close to 45-50 pounds of dead weight. If you have to brush past us, just say “excuse me”. It’s the polite thing to do.

These are my two cents. I know there are other mamas like Mary, Kelly, and Kathleen who could probably add to this list.

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol.10)

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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 would tell you how thankful I was that the traffic to UCD Medical Center this morning stayed moving. We were still late but not as late as we could have been. I think my guardian angel is a little irritated with me though (rush hour traffic was a bit daunting) so I’m going to humor them and not try to do any more travel today.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that Daniel’s peds appointment went well today. He does have toes pointed inward due to an issue with his femur but it’s not something that needs surgical correction. (His doctor even has it.) It’s a PT thing so we’ll find out what exercises to do with him after the PT for the school district takes a look.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about how Daniel’s hearing aids have made a difference and how we’ve seen the start of him talking. He’s getting LOTS of praise every time he says a word (or tries to say one) so, God willing, he might be talking by the end of this school year.

Thanks for joining me for coffee (or tea) this week. See you next week!

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 6, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY October 6, 2013

Outside my window… dark. I meant to finish this earlier. Oops!

I am thinking… about the traffic to Daniel’s peds appointment tomorrow. Not looking forward to it!

I am thankful… for the time this weekend with my family.

In the kitchen… nothing new.

I am wearing… grey maternity shirt and black capri sweats.

I am creating… novel plans for NaNoWriMo.

I am going… to hope for a quiet day with no surprises tomorrow.

I am wondering… what the heck is with drivers who assume that your turn signal is a request for them to pull up next to you and refuse to let you pass?!?!?!?!?

I am reading… Pastorix by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I am hoping… Daniel goes down easily tonight.

I am looking forward to… my massage on Wednesday morning.

I am learning to ask for help.

Around the house… cleaned up real good.

I am pondering… many many things.

A favorite quote for today… ??What does seem to me poisonous, what breeds a type of patriotism that is pernicious if it lasts but not likely to last long in an educated adult, is the perfectly serious indoctrination of the young in knowably false or biased history – the heroic legend drably disguised as text-book fact. With this creeps in the tacit assumption that other nations have not equally their heroes; perhaps even the belief – surely it is very bad biology – that we can literally ‘inherit’ tradition.?? — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… flour taquitos.

A few plans for the rest of the week: peds appintment for Daniel tomorrow, massage and errands on Wednesday, and ABA therapy every day from Tuesday to Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 8)

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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 would tell you that I’m pondering the idea of doing NaNoWriMo again this year though I’m not sure if it would be a murder mystery or just chick lit. I’m also going to offer to kill people off for a charity donation again.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I kind of wish the NCIS sitch was resolved in one episode instead of two. I’m glad that NCIS: Los Angeles resolved themselves in one episode tonight.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have to go yell at Social Security tomorrow though my appointment is supposed to be with someone who has a brain. Hopefully, this gets them off my back and lets me know what I need to do in the future to keep them happy.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you how much I loved the rain, the hail, the thunder, and the lightning on Saturday. I don’t think we’d seen decent moisture since maybe March or April.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I’m happy that Thomas’ boys have made it to 22 weeks and how I’m praying that they’ll make it to at least 24 weeks in utero to give them the best shot at life.

Thanks for having coffee with me. I, like Karianna, am burning the midnight oil. See you next week!