Five Favorites: Miscellanea (V)

Five Favorites

Ib

Fitday My endocrinologist wants me tracking my diet and carbs and such. I started using FitDay many moons ago (OK… like maybe 7.5 years) and abandoned it after a few weeks because I didn’t necessarily need to track my eating. I wish I’d gone back to using it 6 years ago when they diagnosed me with pre-diabetes because I think I would have done a lot better and maybe even lost some weight. I don’t have a smartphone so the app my doctor suggested is a moot point and I just went with FitDay again. I’m already finding it useful because it has shown me some bad patterns in terms of my carb consumption.

Ob

Patrick This is my new nephew Patrick who was born last Thursday to Jon’s sister Joanna. This is a picture of Jon holding him.

Jon holding Patrick for the first time.

Peb

Agony of the Leaves This is the latest in Laura Childs’ mysteries about the owner of a tea shop in Charleston. (My favorite genre of mysteries are the “cozies”.) I got addicted to her books a few years ago and in addition to this one, I have another one on request at the local library.

Agony of the Leaves by Laura Childs

Plaub

NOOK A family friend gifted me with a NOOK two years ago and I’m still loving it. It doesn’t have a glow screen (which is probably not a bad thing — I’d be up all night reading otherwise) and it’s first generation (I think) but that’s fine for me. I probably would have bought a Kindle if I’d spent my own money but now I can’t imagine life without it. It’s indispensable on long car trips (I have a flashlight in the glove compartment specifically for reading at night with it) and it saves a huge amount of space on my bookshelves. Best of all, they have a free book every Friday and I’ve found some pretty interesting books that way.

Tsib

George Foreman Super Champ Family Size Grill With having to watch my diet, I decided to break out my George Forman Grill again… only to find out that the teflon is coming off and it doesn’t heat up as fast. Given that it’s 11 years old and not all that expensive to replace, I put some Amazon.Com giftcards toward it. I’m looking forward to its arrival because I tend to grill something daily right now. (It’s quick and allows me to have flavor without the calories.) Now if I could keep a certain black cat off the counter after I use it… *glares at the pair of glowing eyes at my feet*

George Forman Super Champ Family Size Grill

Go love up Hallie and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 27, 2013

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 27, 2013

Outside my window… dark though it’s a full moon or something so it’s fairly light out despite it being 1 a.m.

I am thinking… that I really shouldn’t have finished that bottle of iced tea. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping any time soon which is why I’m doing this now.

I am thankful… we figured out what was going on with my stomach.

In the kitchen… attempting to find a happy medium between the meal plan my endocrinologist gave me and the restrictions I have because of the esophagitis and ulcers.

I am wearing… faded charcoal grey shirt from Foot Locker and my blue penguin pajama bottoms.

I am creating… plans for NaNo this fall.

I am going… to pray that tomorrow is a quiet day for Daniel and I.

I am wondering… how people can claim that Christians are hated and persecuted and then turn around and be equally hateful toward those not like them.

I am reading… nothing — just finished The Diva Digs Up the Dirt by Krista Davis on the way to the airport today.

I am hoping… Daniel sleeps in tomorrow. He was certainly up late tonight.

I am looking forward to… Jon getting home on Tuesday and having another set of hands. Daniel is at the stage where it’s hard to get things done because he’s actively destroying things while I’m trying to get housework done or even run to the bathroom.

I am learning the ins and outs of my Roomba.

Around the house… dishes to do and a mountain of laundry to do as I’m low on clean clothes.

I am pondering… way too much.

One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea even though it’s messing up my carb counts for the day.

A few plans for the rest of the week: LAUNDRY, grocery shopping tomorrow, Morning Prayer on Tuesday, PCP appointment on Wednesday, end of school for Daniel on Friday, and my massage on Friday as well.

A peek into my day… Cullen helping me with my auction for Little Bear.

Cullen helping me with the $tarbux card auction.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Facebook Foxes, Patrick’s Arrival, and Prayer Requests

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Firefox in the real world. A family of California grey foxes has made its home in the Zen Garden at Facebook’s Menlo Park campus. The Facebook peeps set up a special Facebook page for them as well as an Instagram.

— 2 —

What the what?!?!?!?!?!?!? In the last 2 1/2 hours, there has been a bridge collapse near where I have family in Washington (my dad is up there right now and actually drove over it earlier) and there was an earthquake 3 hours north of me. It’s also a full moon tonight. This is eerie.

— 3 —

OMG Hawaii Five-O!!!! I’m bummed that Kono will be out for at lease a chunk of next season and I’m wondering if Grace Park (the actress) is pregnant or if her contract was just not renewed. It was still an interesting episode and I’m wondering who is breaking in to kill Wo Fat.

— 4 —

I’m an auntie!!!!! Jon’s sister Joanna had her baby today!!!!! His name is Patrick and he was born at 1:19 p.m. by c-section. He is 19 inches long and weighs 9.5 lbs. I’m totally excited to be an auntie. We’ll probably head down in a few weeks to see them once Joanna heals and they have things a little more on schedule.

My new nephew!!!!!

— 5 —

Diagnosis time. I had my endocrinology consult this Wednesday and the diagnosis is PCOS based on my bloodwork. We’re going to clean up my diet (see #7 for details on that) and discuss medication changes at my next appointment in August. If any of you are on FitDay.Com, email me (jen @ grace-filled dot net) and let me know. (My username is my incredibly long and complex last name.)

— 6 —

Orphans. Do you see these two precious children?

BrettKaia

Brett (on the left) needs a mama and Kaia (on the right) has a family who needs help raising the funds to bring her home so she can start kindergarten (hopefully this autumn). If you can help out at all, click on their pictures. Please and thank you!

— 7 —

Prayer request. I will be having an endoscopy tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7:30 a.m. PDT (Pacific Daylight Time). Even if you don’t see this before then, I’d appreciate your prayers that the procedure goes well, that they find SOMETHING, and that anything they find is treatable. I’ve been having nausea and loss of appetite since January and it took forever to get the G-I consult (May 8th) where this procedure was scheduled. Any findings will hopefully enable me to eat again and being able to do that will help me clean up my diet. My endocrinologist suspects that I might have celiac disease and this might be what shows it.

**UPDATE** The endoscopy went well and they *did* find something — mild esophagitis and erosive gastritis in the form of 20 smallish ulcers in the lower part of my stomach. It’s all treatable and I’m just relieved that they found SOMETHING because it’s been annoying not to be able to eat without problems for the last few months.

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

Five Favorites: Miscellanea (IV)

Five Favorites

Egy

Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. I can finally get individual bottles of this at my local store. I am positively giddy with delight. It’s my “not Coke” drink of choice these days, especially as the Crystal Light version seems to have disappeared from my local store.

Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea

Kettö

Gloria Vanderbilt shorts. I got mine 3 years ago at a Kohl’s in southern California and I still love them. It’s been in the 80’s and 90’s here and these shorts are incredibly comfortable and allow me to be active with my son Daniel.

Gloria Vanderbilt shorts

Három

Bamboo Compost Pail. My parents have one of these in their kitchen and I wanted one so they told me where to go on Amazon.Com to find it. The interior is plastic and there’s a vent at the top with activated charcoal so it doesn’t stink up the kitchen or get moldy (at least in my experience).

Bamboo compost pail

Négy

My latest book. I’m reading cheapy fluffy murder mysteries these days with my spare time. I just read the book before this one in the series and I was constantly pondering who the killer was. It was definitely a good read and I’m expecting this one to be as well.

The Diva Digs Up the Dirt

Öt

The Big Bang Theory. As I was going through the folder of pictures, I realized that I showed this one last week. Oh well. It was a lovely episode though I’m bummed that Raj lost Lucy. On the other hand, having the relationship with her somehow re-wired Raj’s brain so that he can talk to women. That’s going to be interesting in the next season. I also wonder if they’ll do scenes of Leonard on the research vessel like they did of Howard in space.

Leonard's going away party

Go love up Hallie and the others. My thanks go to Hevel of Kosher Kola for help with the Hungarian numbers.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 20, 2013

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 20, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and in the 80’s.

I am thinking… about the tornadoes in Oklahoma and all the first responders. I’m hoping and praying the death toll doesn’t go up any higher..

I am thankful… for a good birthday weekend.

I am wearing… preeclampsia survivor shirt and running shorts.

I am creating… plot ideas for NaNo.

I am going… to hope I can get some editing done this week in the midst of everything else.

I am wondering… what Friday morning will show. (I’m having an endoscopy.)

I am reading… I just finished Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay.

I am hoping… that my endocrinology appointment goes well on Wednesday.

I am looking forward to… Daniel’s bedtime tonight. (Jon is at a meeting and the wee bairn refused to nap.)

Around the house… I’m loving the Roomba that I got from my in-laws even if I have to clean it out perfectly each night.

A favorite quote for today… “Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse.” — C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite things… Lipton Pure Leaf Raspberry Tea. I can get it in individual bottles at the store. Boo yah!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Morning Prayer tomorow, endocrinologist appointment on Wednesday morning and meeting with austism therapy people for Daniel’s evaluation on Wednesday afternoon, and the endoscopy on Friday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

I Will Not Apologize

I’ve been wanting to write this particular post for month, especially after an election season where people on both sides were beaten up and bloodied by the time all was said and done. I’ve held off because I was afraid of losing friendships but it’s also meant that I’m walking around on eggshells on what should be my blog and that I’m only posting memes because I don’t want to offend people.

So here it is..

I refuse to apologize for the following things.

[-] For believing homosexuality is a sin. I have looked at this issue from top to bottom in multiple Biblical languages, read various theologians on this, prayed about it, and I’m still of the conviction that it is a sin. This doesn’t put me on the same level with the members of Westboro Baptist Church or the pastors in the US and Uganda who believe that all GLBTQ folks should be executed. It’s a hard position to hold because I do have friends who are GLBTQ whom I love dearly. Some of them know where I stand and some of them don’t — I don’t make a huge issue out of it. I also honestly don’t know what to do with same-sex marriage because some of my GLBTQ friends have been in committed relationships longer than some of my hetero friends have been married and I’m not touching that. It would be easy to just come down one way or another but I can’t do that. Instead, I’m sitting in ambiguity, praying for guidance on each specific situation, and trying to have patience with online friends who are sifting this blog for any sign of me not towing their particular doctrinal line (on either side because I have friends on both sides of the issue).

[-] For voting for Obama. Does anyone reading this entry *not* know that I as a conservative Christian voted for Obama? If this shocks you and disgusts you, feel free to go read blogs that are more soothing to you. I could not, in good conscience, vote for Romney/Ryan because I honestly did not support some parts of their platform which apparently have been turned into a religious dividing line. Guess what? God is not a Democrat or a Republican and while I sometimes wonder how people can vote the way they do and call themselves Christians, I know that they’re probably saying the same thing about me. God gave me a brain and intended me to use it. I did and I have no regrets.

[-] For supporting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) a.k.a. Obamacare. I find it ironic that Republicans went through 33 wasteful votes (which cost 7 figures a piece) to repeal it when the essences of it are from Gingrich’s “Contract with America” from the 1990’s and Romneycare in Massachusetts. I have a child with special needs and this means that his healthcare is prohibitively expensive. The PPACA provisions mean that insurance companies can’t place a lifetime cap on my million dollar baby and that he can never be denied insurance. I am positively giddy and counting down the days until the rest of the provisions go into place in 2014 which prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions for me which would render me uninsurable right now if I didn’t have insurance through Jon’s denomination.

[-] For not giving out the password for protected entries. I’ve actually had people email me and harass me because I won’t give them the password. Really? Do they honestly think that I’m protecting those entries purely out of selfish enjoyment? Unless I trust you, you aren’t getting the password.

Capeche?

What I Wore on Sunday: May 19, 2013

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

What I Wore on Sunday

Pentecost is kind of a hard birthday to have if you’re a pastor’s wife because it means festival worship (smells and bells though one step below Christmas and Easter) and it frequently means that it’s Confirmation Sunday so there’s usually a special reception afterwards which doesn’t work well with a child like Daniel.

Moving on…

Red and I don’t do well unless it’s a more brickish red and that shirt in my wardrobe is long-sleeved, making it incompatible with the temperatures in the 80’s today. Daniel also decided to disable my alarm clock (!!!) so I woke up at 9:45 and had to come up with clothes for both of us really quickly. Thankfully, I’d showered last night so my hair was manageable and I had clean clothes! Church also started late because of a recording malfunction that had to be fixed.

So… here are the outfits:

Jen with Daniel upside down

I need something to use as a prop because I feel strange posing by myself.

Just resetting the bear...

Daniel was more than happy to be my prop. 🙂 He also had no problem being upside down.

Jon with his guitar.

I decided to make this a family affair and hit Jon up for his picture before he headed out to his afternoon/evening engagements.

Here are the details on the outfits:

Jen
Shirt: Kohl’s
Pants: Kohl’s
Sandals: Naturalizer

Daniel
Shirt: Target
Shorts: Kohl’s

Jon
Shirt: Auton (hand-me-down from one of his father’s colleagues)
Pants: Nordstroms (hand-me-down from a colleague)
Belt: Kohl’s
Shoes: Kohl’s

Go visit Fine Linen and Purple and see what everyone else wore today.