Category Archives: Reece’s Rainbow

7 Quick Takes: My Week, Requests for Help, and World Series Musings

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Relief. Jon is home after being gone since Monday to our denomination’s pastor’s conference. It’s good to have him home and I’m not just saying that because I now have someone to do the laundry/dishes/cat care. I’ve had a sick kid since Tuesday night and had to haul butt to UCD Pediatrics Urgent Care yesterday — it’s good to not be handling this alone.

— 2 —

The sick kid. Daniel refused to go to sleep on time on Sunday and Monday nights. I thought that it was probably due to Jon being gone on Monday night but he went down super early on Tuesday night which would have been great had I not been hit with restless leg syndrome. (Fibromyalgia, you suck!) Wednesday, he got sent home from school with a fever of 100F and I got the call right as I was putting my feet in the warm water for my pedicure. (I know… #firstworldproblems) His temperature started spiking so that it was 102F by mid-afternoon and I called the advice nurse at UCD Pediatrics Urgent Care to ask what they wanted me to do. The answer: “GET. UP. HERE. NOW!!!!” Diagnosis: a bad ear infection in his left ear and an upper respiratory infection which was setting off his asthma. He’s on antibiotics and I was alternating Motrin and Tylenol to lower his fever. I’m hoping he’ll be back to school tomorrow.

— 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 —

NaNoWriMo fundraiser. I’m taking part in NaNoWriMo this year and I’m pondering the idea of making it into a fundraiser for Brett. I’m thinking of offering to let people read my manuscript for a $10 donation. What say you, readers?

— 5 —

World Series. The Cards just took Game 2 and I was happy that they showed up to play tonight instead of sending their middle school doppelgangers. (Obviously, I’m rooting for them and not Boston.) The series goes to St. Louis next and I’m hoping the Cards do better on their home field.

— 6 —

Orphans. Do you see these two cute children?

L-R: Brett and Iris
BrettIris

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her and their dossier is on its way to Iris’ country.

— 7 —

World Series fun. You have to love it when the *ORCHESTRAS* from the cities of the World Series teams start trash-talking. 🙂

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

{Virtual} Coffee Date (vol. 11)

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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 tell you about having to get Daniel to go to bed while Jon is out of town. He didn’t sleep well on Sunday or Monday night (as in not asleep until almost midnight) so he crashed around 6:00 tonight and I had to call my mom to see what I should do. Her advice: let him sleep.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I skipped this week’s topic for 52 Weeks of Blogging with Purpose. It required more thought than I was capable of giving it last night (especially with a kid who did not want to go to bed) and something had to give in terms of blogging on a schedule.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m thinking of decreasing my November blogging so I can focus on NaNoWriMo. I’d probably take part in 52 Weeks of Blogging with Purpose and the 7 Quick Takes at ConversionDiary.Com but that would be it.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’m pondering ways to make my NaNoWriMo piece into a fundraiser for Brett. His adoption grant is doing well because of the money transferred to it after Russia’s adoption ban went into place (families with kids had the option of donating their grants to waiting kids who were adoptable) but it would be good to raise a little more to help his forever family out a bit.

Thanks for having coffee with me! See you next week!

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.

7 Quick Takes: A Relatively Boring Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Take that, Joel Osteen! I don’t remember who shared this during the week but I love it! It’s a series of /joel Osteen tweets with responses taken from some of Luther’s more *interesting* responses. As I despise Joel Osteen for many reasons, this made me proud to be Lutheran.

— 2 —

A useful tool. One of the parody accounts I follow mentioned Perfect Potluck. If my church wasn’t an older congregation, I would totally suggest this for the next gathering. I might even suggest it for the next family gathering.

— 3 —

Orphans. Do you see these two darling 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.

— 4 —

OMG NCIS!!!! I’ve loved the episodes of NCIS from the last two weeks. It was sad to see Ziva that dejected but I think it was a good way to wrap things up with her. I also love that the new NAVSEC is female. I forsee that this will be an interesting thing for story lines.

— 5 —

The Millers. I’m currently watching it and it’s interesting enough. The mom is kind of like an American version of Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances. The father is incompetent in a comic way. It’s not addicting like The Big Bang Theory is but it works for 30 minutes.

— 6 —

Respite. I’m headed to San Jose for the weekend for some respite. It’s been an insane week with some less than pleasant portions. My parents will be happy to see Daniel and I could use some TLC from my mom as well.

— 7 —

Bliss. Daniel’s latest “falling asleep” thing has been curling up in our laps while we’re watching TV and cuddling until he falls asleep. I know this isn’t a forever thing so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

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

7 Quick Takes: Stylite Monks, Acapella Wonderfulness, and Prayer Requests

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Stylite monk in Georgia. I remember reading about stylite saints in college and it’s interesting to know that they still exist. It’s a fascinating article and they mention St. Simeon Stylite who was on his pillar for 33 years and used to chew out those who came to him for advice (at least according to the hagiography I read in college).

— 2 —

Sandwiches are beautiful/Sandwiches are fine/I like sandwiches/I eat them all the time. A man told his girlfriend, after she made him a sandwich, that she was three hundred sandwiches away from an engagement ring. The woman decided to blog about her sandwich-making exploits and just got featured on a bunch of news sites. Her adventure has been decried as “anti-feminist” and “1950’s housewife” but I think the way she is going about it is actually kind of cool. She’s blogging new and interesting recipes and figures that if she doesn’t have an engagement ring by the end of it, she’ll at least know how to make a bunch of different foods.

— 3 —

NaNoWriMo. Because I totally don’t have enough on my plate already, I’m thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year. I’m thinking of doing a murder mystery again and this means that I need to get my editing project done in the next month and start compiling plot points, characters, setting, etc. Oh yes… I also need to remember to back up my progress daily so I don’t lose it if my hard drive fails like last year.

— 4 —

Amazing. Priest’s Wife shared the first video with me. This choral music snob found it amazing! (The song is “One Thing Remains” by Kristian Stanfill.) The second video (“In Christ Alone”) was featured as well.

— 5 —

This makes me smile. This video of Jimmy Fallon and The Roots has been going around Facebook today. I love how they’re playing preschool rhythm instruments and the Muppets are interspersed between them.

— 6 —

Horrible. Last night, a Dodgers fan was stabbed outside of AT&T Park. (AT&T Park is where the Giants play.) It follows the beating of a Giants fan outside of Dodgers Stadium 2 1/2 years ago. Seriously y’all, if you have to engage in violence to prove your superiority in baseball rivalries, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!!!

— 7 —

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.

— Bonus —

Prayers for the Fuller twins. Please keep praying for Thomas’ twin sons that they can stay in utero until 24 weeks at least. Our prayers have gotten them to 22.5 weeks and the longer they can stay in the womb, the better.

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

7 Quick Takes: Jaguars, Prayer Requests, and Twitter Personalities

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Colbert does it again. Stephen Colbert takes on allegations by FOX Noise that the Syria conflict is a sign that the apocalypse is coming. You know, I’d believe the verses they were citing… if they didn’t refer to the fall of Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive

— 2 —

Orphans. Do you see these two lovely 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.

— 3 —

Prayer Request. One of the benefits of blogging is that you get to meet interesting people as well as people who you swear live inside your brain. Thomas in both of those categories. He has the strange habit of saying things to me that make total sense after I’ve been struggling with them and I think the two of us could probably solve the problems of the world if we could sit down for an extended period of time.

Right now, Thomas is dealing with some devastating news. His wife is pregnant with their twin boys and having complications at 21.5 weeks that might cause her to lose the babies. We’ve been asked to take part in a novena to St. Gerard on their behalf, ending on September 24th. If novenas aren’t your thing, please just pray HARD.

— 4 —

Another prayer request. Elizabeth of Keep On Spinning got some craptastic news: the cancer is back. She’s been fighting this for 5 years — since just after the birth of her son George. They’re doing a massive amount of testing but it’s looking like this is a fast-growing one. Prayer is needed.

— 5 —

Anonymous Twitter profiles. Christianity Today interviewed Rev. No Respect and Church Curmudgeon in a two-part interview. Part I is here. Part II is here. I recommend both parts.

— 6 —

Forty to Forever. Wanna help out some orphans? I’m part of the Forty to Forever fundraiser and we need prayer warriors. If you’re interested, here’s the sign-up page.

— 7 —

New jaguar. Nope. Not the car. The Sacramento Zoo is getting a new one and the old one is shipping out on Sunday. I might be persuaded to make a trip to the zoo this weekend to say good-bye. Once the new one comes, it will be mentored by the zoo’s female jaguar, Tina.

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

7 Quick Takes: eScapegoat, What I’m Reading, and Problems With Halloween Costumes

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7 Quick Takes

— 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 —

eScapegoat. Do you need to atone for your sins? You’re in luck! In Biblical times, the high priest would attach the sins of Israel to a goat and set it free in the wilderness. These days, you can do it all online!

— 3 —

A note to my black cat. Edda, I love you very much. You are a wonderful house panther with a coat made of satin. Having said that, you are very difficult to see at 1 a.m. when I’m staggering to the bathroom and it means that I might accidentally step on your tail. I’m sorry if I do but you should have let me put that glow-in-the-dark collar on you so I could know where you are.

Snuggles,
Mommy

— 4 —

Hiccups. I’ve got pretty bad hiccups right now. Sometimes, I’ll get them pretty badly and I guess this is one of those times. Want to leave me your favorite hiccup cures in the comment section? Please and thank you. 🙂

— 5 —

Word, Kelly. Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum has a wonderful post on the problems with Halloween costume companies. Seriously? A zombie sock monkey costume? A bat fairy? Sexy “Oscar the Grouch”? I am so not looking forward to picking out Daniel’s Halloween costume.

— 6 —

Book Club. (No, I’m not part of one.) I’m currently reading Sundays in America by Suzanne Strempek Shea and I still want to smack her every time she brings up how gays and lesbians would not be welcome at the churches. Princess, you don’t know that! Of course, next on Mount TBR is Pastorix by Nadia Bolz-Weber who has a habit of not being safe for work… or admitting I know in the presence of parishioners. (If you don’t know who she is and why this might be controversial, the website for the book is here.) I don’t necessarily agree with her on many things but she has a habit of saying things that I think the Church at large needs to hear about grace.

— 7 —

Sigh. The Giants are playing the Dodgers and the Dodgers are ahead by a run. It’s going to be a rather irritating night if they win. (For those who are new, I grew up rooting for the Giants and my husband Jon is a fan of the Other Team.) Then again, the Giants could pull this out of the bag but I’m not holding my breath given their current season and place in the standings.

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