When I showed my dad the pattern we’d picked for my nephew’s baby quilt, he warned me solemnly:
“You’d best not let this get around or you’ll have women lining up for a chance to be your sister-in-law.”
I told him that was fine with me so long as said women had brothers who were suitable and amenable to the idea.
I don’t think that’s what he meant.
Even so, if you’re drooling for a baby quilt and want to try your chances at becoming my sister-in-law, I’m amenable to set-ups.
I’m a sucker for epic projects.
And I’m not exaggerating.
epic
of unusually great size or extent
Trying to read every book in her local library is a project of epic proportions
Yes, I definitely go for epic projects.
I’m four-and-a-half years into this one–and probably not even one tenth of one percent done. (Purely a guess, I have no idea how massive this project is. I don’t know how big my library’s collection is–and I don’t know how fast it’s growing either.)
But I am moving towards my goal, reading with unabashed abandon.
| Per Year | Per Month | Per Week | Per Day | |
| Total items | 550 | 45.8 | 10.6 | 1.5 |
| Total books | 468.7 | 39.1 | 9.0 | 1.3 |
| Books (excluding children’s picture books) | 200.7 | 16.7 | 3.9 | .6 |
| Items over 4.5 years | Items in last 6 months | Notes: | |
| Juvenile Picture Books | 756 | 160 | Authors “Babcock” through “Bartoletti”. Reviews found under the category Reading My Library |
| Juvenile First Readers | 49 | 0 | I have not read a juvenile first reader since September 9, 2009 |
| Juvenile Chapter Books | 79 | 0 | I have not read a juvenile chapter book since October 22, 2009 |
| Juvenile Fiction | 243 | 5 | |
| Juvenile Nonfiction | 76 | 8 | I’ve read more juvenile nonfiction in the past 6 months than I did in the year prior. |
| Adult Fiction | 323 | 26 | |
| Adult Nonfiction | 523 | 20 | I’m reading nonfiction at less than half the rate of last year. Then again, last year was my year for “exercising my mind towards the things of God” |
| Videos/DVDs | 137 | 12 | About two per month, not bad for someone who really doesn’t DO movies. |
| Cassette Tapes/Compact Discs | 227 | 70 | More than I listened to in the entire year prior-It’s amazing what a commute can do for your listening practices. |
| Periodicals | 57 | 0 | Although I’m going to add another in the next 6 months, since I found the quilt I’ll be making for my little nephew in a quilting periodical! |
So there you have it–4.5 years into an epic project (and still going strong!)
“But he’s like a brother” she said.
“Except that he’s not.” I thought.
It’s a sentiment I hear a lot–and use plenty myself. I talk of brothers and sister in Christ. I quote the Scripture about treating young women as sisters. I talk about not causing my “brother” to stumble.
But sometimes I think we take the analogy (or even the spiritual reality) too far in our everyday lives.
We forget, perhaps, that there’s at least one critical distinction between a brother-in-the-Lord and a brother-by-blood.
You can’t marry a brother-by-blood.
Which allows a certain liberty to be taken in thought and action.
I don’t really think much about whether my brothers-by-blood like me or how they’re reading my behavior towards them. I don’t have to. My siblings all know that none of our intentions towards one another are sexual–or heading towards marital intimacy.
As such, I am often candid with my brothers-by-blood when discussing my heart or even my body. I share my heartaches with them. I talk about my cycles in their presence (not that they’re ever too pleased by that line of conversation.) Likewise, I punch, pinch, tease, or hug my brothers-by-blood–with little thought to how it is perceived. So what if I sit on my little brother when he beats me to the chair I wanted?
But this is not how I ought to treat my brother-in-the-Lord who is not my brother-by-blood.
Even if my intention towards my brother-in-the-Lord is completely platonic, there is no guarantee that our relationship will always be platonic.
There is nothing biologically keeping me from having a more than platonic relationship with my brother-in-the-Lord.
And there’s nothing biologically keeping him from thinking or feeling towards me in a manner that is not platonic.
Which means that treating my brother-in-the-Lord as a brother means more than just treating him the exact way I treat my brothers-by-blood.
I need to not lust after him (just as I would not lust after my brothers-by-blood)–but beyond, I need to take deliberate steps to guard his heart (the heart that is not guarded by the natural platonicity that siblings-by-blood have towards one another.)
I need to act deliberately towards my brothers-in-Christ.
It’s not enough to dismiss them as “but he’s like a brother.”
He’s also a single man that could potentially marry me (or want to).
Which means I need to treat him not quite like a brother.
I realize that some people do struggle with physical attraction towards their brothers-by-blood. In these cases, extra caution should be taken with them as well. But the normative experience is that siblings not only have the implicit understanding that they cannot marry by law but explicit biological deterrents to sexual awareness of their siblings. One famous study found that women were “turned off” by the sweat of their biological relations, while the sweat of unrelated men (believe it or not) can be aphrodisiac (related to pheromones found in said sweat.)
My main facility went through their “mock survey” yesterday and today–the time of the year when people from other facilities and from the regional and district offices come to rip us up and down in preparation for state surveys.
The goal is to find what needs to be fixed and either fix it or at least have a plan in place by the time state comes knocking at our doors.
But what mock survey usually means is a whole lot of stress and coming out feeling like you’ve been chewed up and spit out.
Which is why, this week I’m thankful…
…for a limited amount of tags (Tags are the “gotchas” the survey team hands out.)
…for a dietitian surveyor who is a former classmate (It’s always nice to catch up–and Lindsay was very good to walk me through my first mock survey.)
…for no holes in my documentation (I generally find at least one thing per day that I think I probably should be doing, doing more of, or doing better at. I am grateful that the mock survey did not point out anything more.)
…for a wonderful management team that I truly enjoy being a part of
…for great charge nurses who do a fantastic job of notifying me of changes, allowing me to catch problems before they become huge issues
…for getting something done in the last couple of days–I never dreamed I would actually be able to do some of my own work while surveyors were here!
…for non-busy times at the other facilities and accommodating Executive Directors who are willing to let me spend an extra day in Columbus in the upcoming few weeks so that I can stay on top of changes in this facility.
…for the Sovereign God who directs the cosmos and takes the time to work out the details of MY little-ole-mock-survey. :-)
One of the most routine parts of my daily life is pulling out my calculator and determining someone’s energy and protein needs.
The process I use most frequently looks like this:
1.) Determine person’s BMI
To do this, I need to know their weight in pounds and height in inches. I divide their weight in pounds by their height in inches, then divide that number by their height in inches again. Finally, I multiply this number by 705.
To use myself as an example (which is why I’m doing this anyway), I would take my weight (142#) and divide it by my height (70″).
142/70=2.02857 (don’t round at this point)
This number needs to be divided by my height again:
2.02857/70=.028979 (still no rounding)
Now I multiply this by 705:
.028979*705=20.4 (now is where I round to one decimal place).
2.) Use BMI to determine whether a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese
This can be easily done using the following schema:
–BMI <18.5 is underweight
--BMI 18.5-24.9 is normal weight
--BMI 25.0-29.9 is overweight
--BMI >30.0 is obese
By this categorization, we can see that with a BMI of 20.4, I am in the “normal weight” category.
3.) If the person is obese, determine their ideal body weight and develop an “adjusted body weight”
To determine an ideal body weight, you need to know whether your person is a woman or a man.
Women get 100 lbs to start with and then add on 5 lbs for every inch in height over 5 feet (60 inches)–or take away 5 lbs for every inch in height less than 5 feet.
Since I’m 70 inches tall, I get 100# for the first 60″ and add on 10*5=50 for the final 10 inches. So my ideal body weight is 150#.
Men start with 106 lbs and get 6 lbs for every inch in height over 6 feet.
Which means that if I was a man, I’d get 106# for my first 60″ and add on 10*6=60 for my final 10 inches, making my ideal body weight 166#.
Now, I can make an “adjusted body weight” for my obese residents. I take their actual body weight and subtract their ideal body weight to get the approximate pounds of fat on their bodies. I divide this by four and then add that number to their ideal body weight. This is their adjusted body weight (I do this because fat requires fewer Calories to keep it going–and I don’t want to overfeed the fat!)
Because I’m not obese, I can’t do this for me for real, but I can pretend that I’m only 60″ tall, with an ideal body weight of 100#.
Then I’d take my actual body weight (142#) and subtract my ideal body weight (100# in this example)
142-100=42
I’d take this answer and divide it by four
42/4=10.5
Then I’d add it to my ideal body weight
10.5+100=110.5
And there we have it–my adjusted body weight (if I were 60″ tall) is 110.5#
4) Convert the person’s body weight (or adjusted body weight, if the person is obese) into kilograms.
This is pretty easy. Just divide by 2.2.
So my weight in kilograms is 142/2.2=64.6
5) Finally, multiply the person’s body weight in kilograms by a defined factor to determine an estimate of daily energy needs
Generally, the factors I use are as follows:
…if the person is underweight, multiply actual body weight in kg by 30 to 35 (30 is lower range, 35 is upper range)
…if the person is in the normal range, multiply actual body weight in kg by 28 to 30
…if the person is in the overweight range, multiply actual body weight in kg by 25 to 28
…if the person is in the obese range, multiply adjusted body weight in kg by 25 to 30
Thus, if I were underweight, my energy needs would be 64.6*30=1938 kcal/day to 64.6*35=2261 kcal/day
Since I’m in the normal weight range, my energy needs are actually closer to 64.6*28=1808 kcal/day to 64.6*30=1938 kcal/day
If I were overweight, I’d calculate my needs at 64.6*25=1612 kcal/day to 64.6*28=1808 kcal/day.
And if I were obese, using the adjusted body weight determined above, I’d need 50.2*25=1255 kcal/day to 50.2*30=1506 kcal/day
Of course, the above factors are simply generalities. I would adjust them further if, for instance, an individual had a disease that increased or decreased energy needs or if an individual had recently lost a lot of weight (or gained a lot of weight). And even once I’ve calculated all this, I still have to monitor other indicators (such as weight) to make sure that what I’m providing is sufficient.
While it looks complicated when all typed out like this, this process is about as natural to me as breathing. I make these calculations at least a dozen times a day–with hardly any conscious thought.
Just one (tiny) piece of what it means to be a Registered Dietitian.
(Of course, this is just one of many ways to estimate nutrient needs. I could use others, but feel that this is one of the simplest and most effective for adjusting to the needs of a mostly elderly, long term care population–many of whom are overweight or obese.)
Some people fondly remember Saturday morning cartoons. I remember Saturday morning radio.
In my youngest years, it was Mr. Nick and Jungle Jam and Adventures in Odyssey on KGBI-our local Christian radio station. Later, it was Reasons to Believe’s weekly radio program streaming from my Dad’s laptop as he prepared his breakfast or took his shower.
RTB has since dropped its radio format–but I’m still listening. Now I’m listening to RTB’s resident theologian and philosopher Kenneth Samples on his “Straight Thinking” podcast.
I have a lot to learn about logic and philosophy and theology, but one thing Ken has taught me is the components of an argument.
First, an argument requires an assertion (a truth claim). Second, an argument requires facts to support its assertion.
If all you have is facts, you don’t have an argument–you have only information. If all you have is assertions, you don’t have an argument–you have only opinions.
Which is exactly what you’ll find in Joan Chittister’s The Liturgical Year: the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life.
Chittister makes plenty of claims about the liturgical year…
“…The liturgical year is one of the teaching dimensions of the church. It is a lesson in life.”
“In the liturgy, then, is the standard of what it means to live a Christian life both as the church and as individuals. The seasons and cycles and solemnities put before us in the liturgical year are more than representations of time past; they are an unending sign–a veritable sacrament of life. It is through them that the Christ-life becomes present in our own lives in the here and now.”
“In every age, the liturgical year exists to immerse its world in the current as well as the eternal meanings of the Christian life.”
“Like the voices of loved ones gone before us, the liturgical year is the voice of Jesus calling to us every day of our lives to wake our sleeping selves from the drowsing effects of purposelessness and meaninglessness, materialism and hedonism, rationalism and indifference, to attend to the life of the Jesus who cries within us for fulfillment.”
but she rarely, if ever offers any information to support her claims.
I explained/complained about this to my little sister when I was four chapters in–and Grace urged me to read the rest of the book. Maybe it would get better.
I was certainly hopeful that once Chittister finished her introduction she’d get down to presenting some real arguments–or at least some useful facts with which I could build my own arguments.
Alas, my hopes were futile.
I’ve forced my way through two-thirds of this book, feeling obligated to give it a fair shot since I’d received my copy free from the publisher in exchange for my review.
But the truth is, if I hadn’t received this for free, I wouldn’t have wasted my time. I’d have read my obligatory 50 pages and called it quits.
The few bits of actual information found within these pages are pretty interesting–or would be if they’d have been extracted and presented as a five page essay. As a 200 page book, split by Chittister’s continued ramblings and unsupported assertions, they’re worthless.
I can’t in good conscience recommend this book.
Rating: 0 stars
Category:Spirituality
Synopsis:Chittister gives lots of opinions about what the liturgical year is–without a lot of information to back it up
Recommendation: No.
I think it probably goes without saying that the views provided in this review are my own–but for the sake of full disclosure, I received this book for free via the Book Sneeze blogger program at Thomas Nelson.
I drive west in the morning, the sun rising behind me.
In the evening, as I drive home, the sun sinks until at last I see it in my rearview mirror, bidding me farewell.
I am blessed to never have the sun in my eyes, to not have to squint into its unrelenting gaze.
But sometimes I feel as if I were running from the sun, turning and fleeing instead of chasing it, embracing it as I would like.
I’d like, for just once, to stop my car, to stop my purposeful retreat from the sun’s glare.
I’d like to step into a cornfield and dance with the sun’s warm touch on my face.
I’d like to play hide-and-seek with the sun, dashing through the trees that line the river.
I’d like to read a book as the sun peeks over my shoulder, reading a few sentences ahead.
Romantic thoughts, perhaps, dreams of me and the sun both quitting our day’s work to merely play.
But in the wistful thought of such an idyllic day, I cannot forget the quiet romance of this, our day-to-day.
The sun’s soft hand upon my shoulder as I drive to and fro. His gentle kiss to my cheek when the road’s curve let’s us speak.
The kind service he offers me in illumining my way. And the fiery, passionate, sometimes wistful way he waves goodbye until at last we fade from each other’s view.