Seven Quick Takes: Mostly Cooking and Cleaning

~~ 1 ~~

I take back what I said about next semester being easy. I just put it all into an actual weekly calendar with colored in blocks (the only way schedules make sense to me) and there's a LOT of color and not very much white space. (Well, right now there's a lot of white space, but I know most of that is going to be colored in once I finish scheduling lab and work hours.) I guess I'll buy a crock pot and learn how to make crock pot meals that last for a week! Just kidding.

~~ 2 ~~

Actually, speaking of cooking, I'm going to try going gluten free this summer and see what happens. My sister has just gone gluten free and it's made a big difference to her overall health. That kind of stuff tends to run in families, we are (suspected identical) twins, and I have a lot of the same symptoms. For the record, I hope the experiment totally fails because I LOVE NOODLES and I don't want to stop eating them.

~~ 3 ~~

I'm also on the lookout for recipes that are easy to make ahead of time and then pack. I'm lactose intolerant, so combined with the gluten experiment, my old strategy of cheese sandwich is going to need to be rethought, as will my "noodles and cheese" strategy. Suggestions welcome. Easy and cheap suggestions very welcome.

~~ 4 ~~

I'm in the middle of tidying for move-out. For some reason that I don't quite get, our rooms are supposed to be ready for inspection (i.e., reasonably tidy and posters down) by Sunday night. Inspections are on Thursday. Are they just trying to make sure we get things done in time? I don't know. Whatever! Saves me some of the last minute rush to turn my disaster of a room into neatly stacked boxes. (Of course, I'll create a different last minute rush. That's just how I roll.)

~~ 5 ~~

Speaking of mess, packing, and rushing, what's the best organization book you've ever read? I have trouble staying organized and I finally figured out one big reason why: I like to have things where I can see them. If I can't see something, I won't remember it. So things that I need to remember to use on a regular basis, such as medication and toothbrushes, need to be visible. Something can only stay hidden if I only need it when I know I need it (e.g., Tylenol, spoons). But if I just set things around on top of tables and shelves, I start putting everything I have on there until my horizontal surfaces are piles of mess. Is anyone else like this? What do you do about it?

~~ 6 ~~

Did you see that the Boy Scouts now allow gay boys to be scouts? They still require leaders to be heterosexual. I will write a more in-depth post about this later, but I think this was a wise move pastorally.

~~ 7 ~~

Lastly, in orphan news (you thought I would have a SQT without orphans, didn't you? Ha, not likely): Recent negotiations with Russia have not yielded any results, and Russia will not reopen to American adoption in the foreseeable future. (Of course, with international adoption, the future is always uncertain.) Because of this, Reece's Rainbow decided to give the grants of waiting Russian children to children in other countries. Because she was my Christmas child, I got to decide which child would receive Aisha's grant. I was asked to give her grant to a child with DS who was in greater need, and I chose Mark in Latin America. He already had a significant grant, so his adoption is now nearly half paid for. He needs a family quickly--he is an older boy, and he has leukemia as well as Down syndrome. I have absolutely no idea what conditions are like in his country; I hope he is getting treatment for his cancer. But he still needs a family.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Seven Quick Takes

~~ 1 ~~

I am very sorry that I haven't posted recently. (Maybe I should make that the name of my blog. Somebody help me think of a catchy way to say "Sorry I haven't posted, but I am allergic to everything in the world and have a chronic sinus infection from it! Also I'm busy and lazy!")

~~ 2 ~~

Here's Kurt's family! Go check them out--they seem awesome to me. I am Facebook friends with his mother and he's going to have some adorable siblings. ETA Here's their blog! They need to raise about $20,000! Please consider helping them out.

~~ 3 ~~

Look at these adorable little girls: Nadia and Nancy. I love them! I'm going to help Kurt's family home and then probably start advocating more heavily for these two. FAS and siblings both scare a lot of people, so they'll need a lot of exposure to find a family.

~~ 4 ~~

Want more adorableness? Bert and Ernie. AWWW. Ernie looks like he could have been my fiance's brother. These two will also probably be on my list. Siblings and boys--another hard combination to overcome.

~~ 5 ~~

I realized that so far, everyone I've advocated or fundraised for has gotten a family except for Aisha. (Her country's new rules, which you may have read about in the news, make the chances of her ever finding a family much lower. But I'm still hoping she'll get adopted by a domestic family or a non-US family.) I would like to say that I'm a great advocate, but truthfully I think I just tend to pick adorable kids with mild needs.

~~ 6 ~~

I have figured out my schedule for next semester and it looks like I'll be taking 14 credits. This is unusual for me--a regular courseload is 15, and I have almost always had 16 or 17. I feel, however, that I have been spreading myself too thin, so I'm just going to take four courses plus my thesis and try to do a good job on less rather than a poor job on more. (Of course the danger is a poor job on less. Please pray that that doesn't happen.)

~~ 7 ~~

I'm sure you all (all two of you readers) are dying to know what my thesis topic is, now that I've mentioned I'm writing one. I haven't finalized yet, but the general topic is going to be autism from a Thomistic/Aristotelian perspective. How does autism limit or enhance flourishing? Can we talk about "autism" as a whole in this context or do we have to look at specific deficits and skills that come alongside autism? I'm hoping it will have broader applicability in the theology of disability field, but we'll see.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!