— 1 —

More on dismantling Dr. Deisher’s autism/vaccine study. Simcha Fisher has more on the dismantling of Dr. Deisher’s study which links vaccines to autism. As the mom of a kid with autism who is also immunosuppressed, I’m thankful someone is doing it. Bad science drives me crazy, especially since I do have the scientific background to read the studies.

And no, I’m not mentioning this to piss people off — I’m honestly really perturbed at people who make stupid remarks about causation and autism. I have access to more resources on the subject than the average person because of my relationship with UC Davis Medical Center and the MIND Institute (which was created for the purpose of studying this subject) so I also have access to some of the latest information.

And seriously, I will throttle the next person who tells me that Daniel would be cured if I fed him a gluten-free diet. It helps with some kids but not mine. I’m also dealing with him being incredibly underweight so I have to really maximize the calories and carbs are one way to do that.

— 2 —

The traits of kids who stay in church. I saw this on Facebook and thought it was pretty accurate. It’s why I never force my kids to get confirmed when I teach confirmation — their faith needs to be THEIRS and not just something that their parents are forcing them to do. (Seriously, promising your kids that they can stop going to church if they go through Confirmation does not change their minds so please, for the love of all things holy, STOP IT!!!!)

— 3 —

Two Truths and a Lie. So I decided to play this last week and got a few comments on here and a whole bunch of guesses on Facebook. I think I’ll devote a Quick Take to each statement in the interest of telling some interesting stories.

— 4 —

I’ve been thrown and passed around by the fish throwers at Pike Place Market in Seattle. This one is actually true. I was on a Girl Scout trip to Seattle and British Columbia and we were at Pike Place Market. Being the ditz that I was at 17, I asked the guys at Pike Place Fish if they were the ones who threw the fish at people. One of them replied, “No, we’re the people who throw the people at the fish. See?” He then proceeds to pick me up (at the time, I was 5’1″ and probably 120 lbs) and started passing me like a sack of potatoes to some of the other guys who did actually throw me a bit.

— 5 —

I’ve kissed a banana slug. Actually, I have… several times while being a camp counselor when I was 18. And yes, it is true… your lips and tongue do go numb.

— 6 —

I’ve never voted Republican in a California election. This one is the lie and only Kym got it right. (Then again, she’s known me for a really long time and we’ve actually met in person.) I *have* voted Republican in a California election for the purpose of knocking out a candidate I really didn’t like. (I voted for John McCain in 2000 to try to knock George Bush out of contention… and we all know how badly that turned out for me.)

— 7 —

My weekend plans. Jon and I are headed down to San Diego this weekend so he can supply preach at the church that his great-grandfather started. He also has two weddings and it made no sense for him to drive back up from one wedding to go down the next morning and preach so we’re getting a hotel room. Daniel will be staying with my in-laws and I’m excited to get a weekend away.

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