Hello Readers!
I am so honored that you keep coming to check and see if there is anything new here. My apologies for posting so infrequently. Life has been busy and routine all at the same time. The semester is wrapping up and that naturally makes everything busier. The weather is getting nicer and that makes me less eager to be inside...though it is significantly cooler and ickier out than it was a few weeks ago.
Easter even came and went without a post from me. Quick recap:
The week before Easter I traveled to Iowa to hang out with David (my fiance, for those who haven't caught up that far yet). We were on spring break and it seemed like a good way to spend my spring break, especially since we hadn't seen each other since January. The tulips in Pella were beautiful, but a month ahead of schedule! David and I spent much quality time together, and I got to see some other friends from my time at Central.
While I was there we also got some engagement pictures taken by a friend. Once they are ready, I'll post a couple. I'm excited for them.
Another high point of that week were bacon wrapped dates with a maple glaze. They were heavenly. And I think I found a recipe to make them myself so we'll see if we can replicate them.
I was back in (little) Holland for Easter Sunday and enjoyed a lovely Easter service at my teaching church. It involved lots of bubble wrap and some of my favorite verses from Romans 17. First Reformed church of Holland is not a boring church!
After church I came home and had a delightful nap. Easter was only missing a few things this year. (Like my family and David).
This last week was mostly school and sleeping. I've been doing a lot of sleeping lately. I think I'm battling a bit of an infection in my sinuses/ears that is causing some pain/dizziness/nausea. So my body needs the extra sleep. Hopefully it will run it's course soon.
A look ahead to the coming week shows inter-seminary soccer tournament tomorrow, which I will be at, but not allowed to play because my knee isn't quite up to par. And then more class and other school stuff.
I will be meeting a relative for the first time this week, which is always exciting. She is my mom's cousin's daughter and has recently returned from Africa so we are getting together and having dinner. I think for simplicity's sake I'm just going to pretend that she is my cousin, especially since I call her mom aunt. (I sometimes call my own mother aunt too though...)
Other than that, nothing new or exciting here. Blessings to you all!
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Please Listen
To those of you who work in food service, whether high end or fast fast food, to those of you who cook for other people, to those of you who share food with anyone, whether it is for a price or free. Please read this.
If someone asks you what is in something. Please tell them. Tell them everything. If you don't know, tell them that. If they are taking the time to ask, the probably have a good reason. They aren't just trying to be annoying or steal your secret family recipe. So tell them. Don't leave things out because there is a just a "little bit" of it in there or because you don't usually put that in there. Be open and be honest.
If someone asks you to leave a specific ingredient out, for example cheese or croutons on a salad, please listen. They are trusting you. Don't assume they want it left off just because they are picky. Sometimes that might be the case, but not always. If they say no croutons and you forget and put them on, don't just pick them off. Make a new salad. Same if they say no cheese. Sometimes it's a matter of life and death.
Think I'm exaggerating? Mom and I stopped at a place where traditionally we've been able to get "Joy-friendly" food to eat. I was tired and hungry after an afternoon of wedding dress shopping and also crashing from too many carbs at lunch, so I needed carbs to prevent the grumps from taking over the rest of the evening. We went through the drive through. Mom ordered and three times stated that we wanted no cheese on the salad. No cheese. The person taking our order repeated it back to her. No cheese. We got our meal and I opened my salad and began to eat. I spit most of my first bite back out. There was cheese on the salad. It was dark so I hadn't seen it. Mom took the salad back in and complained. I took my first two doses of benadryl and a dose of ventolin. They remade the salad and we continued home (maybe 5-10 minutes). Shortly there after I took my third and last permissible dose of benadryl. Followed very quickly by an EpiPen. The next three hours were spent at the hospital while they tried to stabilize me and observed me. One bite is all it takes.
So if you are giving food to anyone, for any reason, at any time. Please, listen to them. It could change their life.
If someone asks you what is in something. Please tell them. Tell them everything. If you don't know, tell them that. If they are taking the time to ask, the probably have a good reason. They aren't just trying to be annoying or steal your secret family recipe. So tell them. Don't leave things out because there is a just a "little bit" of it in there or because you don't usually put that in there. Be open and be honest.
If someone asks you to leave a specific ingredient out, for example cheese or croutons on a salad, please listen. They are trusting you. Don't assume they want it left off just because they are picky. Sometimes that might be the case, but not always. If they say no croutons and you forget and put them on, don't just pick them off. Make a new salad. Same if they say no cheese. Sometimes it's a matter of life and death.
Think I'm exaggerating? Mom and I stopped at a place where traditionally we've been able to get "Joy-friendly" food to eat. I was tired and hungry after an afternoon of wedding dress shopping and also crashing from too many carbs at lunch, so I needed carbs to prevent the grumps from taking over the rest of the evening. We went through the drive through. Mom ordered and three times stated that we wanted no cheese on the salad. No cheese. The person taking our order repeated it back to her. No cheese. We got our meal and I opened my salad and began to eat. I spit most of my first bite back out. There was cheese on the salad. It was dark so I hadn't seen it. Mom took the salad back in and complained. I took my first two doses of benadryl and a dose of ventolin. They remade the salad and we continued home (maybe 5-10 minutes). Shortly there after I took my third and last permissible dose of benadryl. Followed very quickly by an EpiPen. The next three hours were spent at the hospital while they tried to stabilize me and observed me. One bite is all it takes.
So if you are giving food to anyone, for any reason, at any time. Please, listen to them. It could change their life.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Finals Week
Every now and then Finals week and/or midterms come around. About once a semester each. And sometimes they don't quite as planned. Blog posts like "How to Study for Finals" or "How to write a paper in 45 simple steps" or this one about midterms get written. And then there are those really terribly awful midterm/final times like last spring when I ended up in the hospital for brain stuff. Every time I have a bad bought of it, I assure myself that it can't get worse. Except, it can. And it does.
I write this because I know many of you are praying people and I covet your prayers (not only for me but for everyone in this finals season).
Sometime between (American) Thanksgiving and the beginning of December I got a migraine. I didn't think much about it since I get migraines every now and then. Typically I ignore them and they got away. If they refuse, a good dose of Tylenol and some extra sleep sends them packing. This one didn't like those ideas. I tried everything I knew to do. It would let up a little every now and then, but then flare right back up. The pain was keeping me from class and making me cry (something I don't do often in response to physical pain). On the 8th I finally gave in and went to Urgent Care. They gave me drugs for the nausea and a shot for the pain. They told me to go home and sleep it off. They were wrong. I took more drugs at home (really strong stuff) and they didn't help either. I ended up cancelling my babysitting job for the evening (which made me feel even worse). By early evening I had tears running down my face again. The drugs weren't working. A tearful call to my neurologist landed me in the emergency room for some IV drugs, a CT and other tests. The IV drugs succeeding in knocking me out (the 50mg of IV Benadryl may have had an effect on that). I slept that night, but woke up in just as much pain as before.
Monday was another call to the neurologist and Thursday morning found me sitting in his office. There was no more playing around with normal drugs. It was time for the big guns. He hit me with everything he could think of and was successful. The headache was gone by Wednesday. But, so was my consciousness and wakefulness.
I slept from Wednesday through Saturday, pretty much nonstop. A friend was over to help me out with something on Friday or so and while I was eating my dinner I fell asleep more times than we care to count...
Things haven't equalized yet and won't for awhile. There will be another med change later this week.
Also, one of the meds that I was on to wipe out the migraine also wiped out my immune system and I've got a good case of the crud (which makes it harder to tell if I'm reacting to my new meds or not...just for fun)
It's also Advent; the second busiest season in the church year.
And it's finals week.
Prayers are much coveted. Prayers for strength and for healing, for coherence and focus, for wakefulness at appropriate times and rest at appropriate times. Praise for understanding professors and friends who help out with the little things and the big things. Praise that our G-d is good. All the time.
I write this because I know many of you are praying people and I covet your prayers (not only for me but for everyone in this finals season).
Sometime between (American) Thanksgiving and the beginning of December I got a migraine. I didn't think much about it since I get migraines every now and then. Typically I ignore them and they got away. If they refuse, a good dose of Tylenol and some extra sleep sends them packing. This one didn't like those ideas. I tried everything I knew to do. It would let up a little every now and then, but then flare right back up. The pain was keeping me from class and making me cry (something I don't do often in response to physical pain). On the 8th I finally gave in and went to Urgent Care. They gave me drugs for the nausea and a shot for the pain. They told me to go home and sleep it off. They were wrong. I took more drugs at home (really strong stuff) and they didn't help either. I ended up cancelling my babysitting job for the evening (which made me feel even worse). By early evening I had tears running down my face again. The drugs weren't working. A tearful call to my neurologist landed me in the emergency room for some IV drugs, a CT and other tests. The IV drugs succeeding in knocking me out (the 50mg of IV Benadryl may have had an effect on that). I slept that night, but woke up in just as much pain as before.
Monday was another call to the neurologist and Thursday morning found me sitting in his office. There was no more playing around with normal drugs. It was time for the big guns. He hit me with everything he could think of and was successful. The headache was gone by Wednesday. But, so was my consciousness and wakefulness.
I slept from Wednesday through Saturday, pretty much nonstop. A friend was over to help me out with something on Friday or so and while I was eating my dinner I fell asleep more times than we care to count...
Things haven't equalized yet and won't for awhile. There will be another med change later this week.
Also, one of the meds that I was on to wipe out the migraine also wiped out my immune system and I've got a good case of the crud (which makes it harder to tell if I'm reacting to my new meds or not...just for fun)
It's also Advent; the second busiest season in the church year.
And it's finals week.
Prayers are much coveted. Prayers for strength and for healing, for coherence and focus, for wakefulness at appropriate times and rest at appropriate times. Praise for understanding professors and friends who help out with the little things and the big things. Praise that our G-d is good. All the time.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Leave it Home!
A Toronto district school recently sent home a letter (and follow-up ) banning playground bars on the basis of a couple injuries and near injuries. Children were asked to leave their balls at home. It made me think (one of my pastimes). Playground balls are required to be left home because of injury they might cause or have caused. But what else are children bringing to school that can cause injury.
Maybe these are things that ought to be banned:
Bullying - It hurts upfront and in the long term it can be very damaging. Almost weekly we read reports of students who have been driven to suicide because of prolonged bullying. As someone who has survived a fair bit of bullying, I can personally attest to this.
Homophobia - really, homophobia gets no one anywhere. You don't have to agree with everyone and not everyone has to agree with you. That's just the way things are. But you do have to be kind.
Peanut Butter and Nut Products - Mostly because these things are not allowed in most Ontario schools and because I understand life with nut allergies and how hard it can be to be in a lunch room surrounded by PB&J sandwiches and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Racism - Racism is old fashioned, but it still run rampart in many places. Leave it home and look beyond skin color. You might be amazed at what you find.
Hate - do I really need to elaborate?
Pets - Although pets can be fun, the can also be really distracting at school.
Mean names - As many of these things are, mean names are a subdivision of bullying. They have no place at school.
Bad attitudes - the bad attitude of one student can have a large impact on the whole learning environment. Bad attitudes are contagious, just as good attitudes are. Yeah, sometimes school sucks. Sometimes we don't want to be there. But for every student that doesn't want to be there, there are many more who do want to be there and can't be.
That's only a partial list, but it's what I have for now. What do you think students should leave at home?
Maybe these are things that ought to be banned:
Bullying - It hurts upfront and in the long term it can be very damaging. Almost weekly we read reports of students who have been driven to suicide because of prolonged bullying. As someone who has survived a fair bit of bullying, I can personally attest to this.
Homophobia - really, homophobia gets no one anywhere. You don't have to agree with everyone and not everyone has to agree with you. That's just the way things are. But you do have to be kind.
Peanut Butter and Nut Products - Mostly because these things are not allowed in most Ontario schools and because I understand life with nut allergies and how hard it can be to be in a lunch room surrounded by PB&J sandwiches and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Racism - Racism is old fashioned, but it still run rampart in many places. Leave it home and look beyond skin color. You might be amazed at what you find.
Hate - do I really need to elaborate?
Pets - Although pets can be fun, the can also be really distracting at school.
Mean names - As many of these things are, mean names are a subdivision of bullying. They have no place at school.
Bad attitudes - the bad attitude of one student can have a large impact on the whole learning environment. Bad attitudes are contagious, just as good attitudes are. Yeah, sometimes school sucks. Sometimes we don't want to be there. But for every student that doesn't want to be there, there are many more who do want to be there and can't be.
That's only a partial list, but it's what I have for now. What do you think students should leave at home?
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