Scotland: Day Four--Vermeer, St. Andrew, and....more fire!

I’d never had a building I’d been in catch on fire, I’d never had a fire alarm go off at a hotel I was staying in….

and then both things happened on this vacation. Ha!

Party outside….

Anyway, everything was fine, so we went inside and went to bed for a bit.

One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was visit the Scottish National Gallery, because they have the Vermeer “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.” Vermeer is one of my favorite artists, and this is one of my favorite paintings, so I was absolutely wild to see it.

We had lunch at the museum (which also had free admission)—it was a beautiful day in Scotland and we had a gorgeous view of the crowd on the Mound and the Scott Monument.

View of the Scott Monument from the museum cafe.

Prince Albert is everywhere.

The National Gallery downplays their collection, but it’s pretty amazing…they have Botticelli, Vermeer, Da Vinci, two Raphaels, Monets, Renoirs, Rembrandts, and of course lots of Scottish artists like Ramsey. When we were visiting the Impressionists were being overhauled so we couldn’t see those paintings.

A taste of the museum….

Botticelli

Da Vinci, Madonna of the Yarn Winder

El Greco, Christ blessing the world

I think I looked at the Vermeer for about 10 to 15 minutes. I wanted to haul other tourists who just glanced at it and moved on back in front of it and make them appreciate it, hahah.

I was surprised at how big the painting was—most of Vermeer’s paintings are much smaller. Being in its presence was remarkable.

The there was tea—of course there was tea—at Eteaket.

Cream scones!

We had cream tea, which is tea and scones (plain or with fruit—I chose plain) and I also chose their sea buckthorn tea, which I really liked! There was definitely some shopping here, too.

(And yes, you get a timer with your tea—sometimes they offer options, like at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (below)

where you can pour the tea depending on ho strong you like your tea and also what kind of tea you have—you can brew herbal tea for a much longer time than say, a white tea.)

Eteaket was really cute and I loved being able to shop after!

The tea at the hotel and Mimi’s was from Eteaket, so they’re well-known around Edinburgh. While I was there, I had their Peppermint, Lemon and Ginger, Sea Buckthorn, Cranberry and Apple, and Isle of Harris Gin tea. (You can order tea from the online shop as well).

After tea it was time to change and head to 6:00 Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

(The organ was amazing, btw)

The really special thing abut this church? The National Shrine of St. Andrew is located here, with some of his bones. (St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.)

His relics in the St. Andrew altar

Getting to pray in the presence of the relics of someone who knew Our Lord so intimately was a very special experience. This was the first time I’d been to Mass outside of the US, and as soon as the Mass started the same way every other Mass has…that hit me as something special as well. I was saying the same prayers, hearing the same readings, as my parents back in Ohio, as Catholics back in the US, as Catholics in London and Dublin and Paris. The universality of the Church hit me in a way that it never had before, because I was actually living it. It was truly moving.

Dinner was at Badger and Co., located in the former home of Wind and the Willows author Kenneth Grahame and near Edinburgh Castle. We met Richelle again for dinner and had another great meal!

The mushy peas were….pretty good!

Edinburgh Castle lit up purple—unsure why. :)

Scotland: Day 3--"It Comes In Pints?!" (Edinburgh Castle, a pub, and Mowgli!)

some sketching

On Friday, Amilia went to the Real Mary King’s Close at 10 and then met me for our trip to Edinburgh Castle. We had pre-booked those tickets, too, and it was a good thing, because it was sold out—it was unseasonably warm and also Accession Day (ie, the day Queen Elizabeth II died and Charles III became king) so there was going to be a special gun salute at the castle that day.

The Royal Mile is VERY STEEP going up, so we asked our taxi to get us as close as possible, which was pretty close, thankfully.

Heading to the ticket booth

The Wi-fi wasn’t working here, so I wasn’t able to access our tickets, so we had to take them to a staffer, who told us to just head up.

You walk across the esplanade, which is about 5% incline, to get to the entrance.

Bleachers from the Military Tattoo being taken down.

I was always somewhat iffy about Edinburgh Castle, because of the issues with hills and steps, and I knew the only way I’d be able to visit was by using their “mobility vehicle”, which I assume was something like a golf cart.

Because of the special gun salute, the cart wasn’t running until 1:15.

It was very hot in the esplanade, and 1:15 was over an hour away. I didn’t want to walk down the hill just to come back up, and I’d rather do something else. So we watched the special salute, and then Amilia went for her tour, and I headed to a pub down the mile called the Ensign Ewart, which was a great place to sketch.

The Accession Day changing of the guard

Edinburgh Castle wasn’t very well run. One of the staffers kept asking us “Do you have internet?” on our phones, which, yes, we did, but the castle did not have accessible internet! It wasn’t a problem on our end! (I also realize it was very crowded that day and that probably impacted the staffers.)

There was a woman sitting in a wheelchair in an area full of sunshine, waiting for the mobility vehicle. There were no umbrellas, no covers, nothing, over her, and she looked miserable. There really needs to be some sort of cover for people waiting for the cart. So I really can’t recommend the castle for people who have any sort of mobility issues, because there are times during the walk when it’s a 15% hill you’re going up, and if the cart isn’t running…..

Be sure to look at what the website says and think about how much you actually want to see the castle. For my money, Holyrood was run a lot better, and it’s the actual residence of the king when he’s in Scotland. Anyway, buyer beware when it comes to accessibility here. I’m very glad I wasn’t set on seeing the castle.

Anyway, I went to the pub!

Americans, why do we not make the fronts of our restaurants look pretty?! I loved this!

And yes, this is where I discovered that Diet Coke comes in pints. :) And there will always be lemon or lime with it. Not entirely sure why, but it wasn’t bad, so…I didn’t ask! (Also, hot chocolate is served everywhere! America, please do this!)

Cheeseboard!!

After Amilia toured the castle she met me here and we had some lunch (I had a Scotch egg, yummm) before heading down the Mile a bit more and then going back to the hotel to get ready for dinner—we were meeting an old friend of mine, Richelle, for dinner!

Spread in The Scotsman about accession day.

The Mile was VERY crowded and the most “touristy” I felt during our entire trip. The Mile is a road that functions, so please beware when you’re tying to take selfies in the middle of the road with your selfie stick (yes, I did see this.). I also noticed that vaping and smoking are quite common, more so than what I’ve noticed at home.

We met Richelle at Waterstones (the UK version of Barnes and Noble), did some shopping, and then headed to Mowgli, an Indian restaurant Richelle had recommended. She’s lived in London for almost ten years, and I hadn’t seen her since she’d moved across the pond, so this was very exciting for me.

Paneer is SO DARN GOOD.

We had a ball at Mowgli. The food was absolutely insanely delicious, the atmosphere was gorgeous, and it was a very, very fun night. This was my favorite dinner of the trip (and it was very close—the food the entire trip was insanely good). We all ordered a main dish and sides but shared the rice and a side dish of greens. There was also, of course, dessert.

Outside Mowgli, looking at the National Portrait Gallery.

Another thing to note was that every restaurant had vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. If you have any sort of food sensitivities, it seems like Edinburgh is a town where that’s very well taken care of. (None of us had really dangerous allergies or sensitivities, though, so don’t just take my word for it!)

Scotland: Day 2 (A Palace, yarn, and a fire alarm)

A Very Scottish Morning! (This is looking onto Market Street from our room)

I woke up at 7:00 AM—so after almost 12 hours of sleep—and took this very foggy photo. Breakfast in our hotel was served from 8-10 on the weekdays and 8-11 on the weekends, so I had time to write in my journal and also to stretch out my very cranky legs!

We had breakfast every day at the hotel; you could choose from the Scottish Breakfast buffet or order off the menu. I ordered porridge (aka, oatmeal) a few times, and yes, I did have haggis from the buffet bar! And I liked it! Amilia and I both really liked the tattle scones (ie, potato scones). Also something I really liked? Sugar cubes! I miss sugar cubes! I want them back!

On our first full day in Scotland, we had afternoon tea at the Palace of Holyroodhouse scheduled for 1:00. Since we finished breakfast around 10, we went to Ginger Twist Yarn (Amilia put up with me, haha) where Emily went INSANE.

This yarn shop is truly a closet of wonders. Jess, the proprietor, dyes of much of the yarn herself!

Close ups of some of the DELICIOUS YARN.

There’s going to be an entire post on the delicious yarn, trust me. :)

After yarn shopping we went back to the hotel and prepared for the first thing we’d booked: Afternoon tea and a tour at the Palace of Holyroodhouse!

Cafe at the Palace, with Arthur’s Seat in the background. To the left of this is the entrance to the palace.

We pre-booked our tickets to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and I HIGHLY recommend you do that, because they might sell out the day you’re there. This happened when we visited Edinburgh Castle, so if you really want to see anything, pre-book the tickets. This will also save you a bit of money as well. (A pound 50 per person, so around $3). I also highly recommend pre-booking the afternoon tea because it is superbly well done—I think it was the best one we had in Edinburgh. It served as our lunch and it was plenty of food for two people!

We chose the thistle tea, and I wish we could’ve bought it because it was truly delicious, unlike any tea I’ve ever had. So if anyone knows where it can be bought, please tell me! :) My favorite thing here was probably the chutney and cheddar. I could eat that for the rest of my life.

After tea, we had our tour of the palace. Photos aren't allowed on the first floor, so you won't see any of the public rooms, but I can tell you that there is a stag that Prince Albert shot which looks dolefully at you over a doorway, and you will also see Queen Victoria’s bedroom and the Throne Room on your tour, as well as a beautiful Bible Pope Benedict XVI gave to Queen Elizabeth II on his visit to England! There is an audio guide that you get included in your tour cost. Obviously I did not use this, but they did have one that was a video done in British Sign Language! (ASL and British SL are different so I couldn’t use this but I loved that they had it!)

outside of the palace

The doorway into the palace proper.

the courtyard

In terms of accessibility: YES, there is an elevator (a secret one!) that will take you up to the second (to Americans, first) floor of the palace to the public rooms! Just ask one of the tour guides/workers and they’ll bring you up. There is also a doorway out if you can’t or don’t want to go up to Mary Queen of Scots’ rooms (they’re reached by a very steep, narrow staircase).

The entrance to the palace itself is wide open, no steps, so you can get in, and the corridor around the courtyard (above) is very wide. To get through the stone gate, you might have to check the dimensions if you have a very wide chair. The gift shop is accessible (to a point—you might not able to get to certain areas because of how tables are crowded together), as is the cafe at the palace.

After the tours, we shopped—I did a lot of Christmas shopping on this trip—including buying a traditional Scottish sweet called tablet (think of fudge, but not chocolate, and slightly sweeter).

Tablet from Holyrood

For families, they also had an adorable little room where they had dress up clothes, some displays, and a "mockup” of the queen’s desk—including a corgi in his bed. :)

Dinner that night was at Howie’s on Victoria Street. It started well but then…..in the words of A Christmas Story, “Holy cow, it’s the fire department!”

Fortunately we had had our dinner—venison stew, which was delicious!—and after we were cleared out of the restaurant and told to disperse by the firemen, we wandered down Victoria Street in search of a cab….

We definitely had a full—and not at all boring—first day!

Scotland: Day 1 (taxis, wi-fi, and more!)

Getting to Scotland required two flights, one from Columbus to Boston, and one from Boston to Edinburgh. I’d never flown internationally, so I wasn’t sure how sleeping on the plane was going to work, or how flying on a “big” plane would work. (The largest plane I’ve ever been on are the normal three seats on each side of the aisle sort of plane.) Before this trip, the farthest east I’d ever been was Boston!

Dinner in Boston

The flight had a bit of turbulence, which my stomach didn’t like, but we landed, got through customs/immigration, got out bags, and then headed to the taxi stand (which is not like in American airports—we had to walk to a taxi stand after getting out of the airport. They don’t have the “bays” that we have where you walk to different ones for taxis or Ubers or shuttles or whatever.) We arrived at our hotel, the Scotsman, around 10:00 that morning.

The Scotsman is right in the middle of the Royal Mile, directly across from Waverly Station, and it is a great place to use as your city base.

The Scotsman lobby.

Our room wouldn’t be ready until the afternoon, but the hotel stored our luggage and we headed to a Mimi’s Bakehouse that was near the hotel on Market Street.

And I personally couldn’t wait anymore, so after Mimi’s we grabbed a cab and headed to Golden Hare Books in the Stockbridge section of the city.

Here is a VERY important thing to know: Edinburgh cabs are a lot like Uber, in that you call a cab on the app and it comes. We used City Cabs the entire time we were there and they worked really well. Sometimes the wi-fi was spotty so we had to call the actual number (which is on the cab app icon which is very handy!). Most cab rides were under 10 pounds—also, have some cash on hand, because if the wi-fi isn’t working at the place you get out, they can’t use your card to pay! It was very helpful to have cash in those cases. You also do not tip taxi drivers (or waiters). Sometimes I gave them a little more, especially at the airport because the poor cabbie lifted my insanely heavy suitcase!

(You can hail taxis—if the light is on it's available just like anywhere else, but it’s much easier to download the app and order one.)

Wi-fi in Edinburgh could be spotty—I turned on roaming and that made it much better. So when you get there, turn on roaming! I also used Verizon’s Travel Pass and had no problem making FaceTime calls back to the States or texting, or accessing email.

Anyway, back to shopping!

Golden Hare Books is a delightful bookshop! I’m so glad we stopped here first. I picked up a book for my nieces called The Piper and the Penguin, a biography on Flora MacDonald (who is probably best known for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape Scotland after the Rising), a journal, tote bag, and a new Natalie Hayes book that I’ve not seen in the States yet. And also, chocolate because….duh.

Stockbridge is so cute.

Our room was ready when we got back from Stockbridge, yay! We’d booked a Feature Suite with a City view but I had no idea our room as going to be this nice:

Ivor, one of the hotel employees, showing Amilia the room.

The beds were so comfortable—I immediately took a Phenergan-induced nap, haha, and then we had a light lunch in the hotel restaurant—I thought I’d made reservations for tea but apparently I had not!

My “lunch”, haha. What the body wants it wants!

The lemon-ginger tea was amazing. (I’ll have a lot to say about tea on this trip along with links!)

After this I took yet another very long nap while Amilia went to explore and eventually get her dinner. My stomach wasn’t really feeling dinner so I skipped that, and we were both in bed around 8 PM.

Thus ended the first day!

Scotland

Scotland was an amazing experience and once I’m over jet lag I will have so much to tell you but I’ll give you some teaser photos first!

One Year of Peloton

You might remember that are my yearly appointment in 2022, my team told me that I had to—definitely—start an exercise program.

Up until that point, I’d never really had one. I’d done some things sporadically, I’d done a 5K the year after my transplant, and I’d gone to barre, ballet, and yoga classes on and off. But I’d never really had a set program that I did consistently.

Now it was time to get one.

Today I’m going to walk you through my program, do some before and afters, and talk about general fitness-y things.

The first thing I did was sign up for the Peloton app. Two things, right off the bat:

• This post is in no way sponsored by Peloton. It’s what works for me so I’m talking about it, but I don’t get paid to say any of this.

• I do not have any of the Peloton equipment (the bike, the tread, the row). I use the app exclusively, and use the treadmill in my complex gym for my walks.

The “super goal” as it’s called in the goal setting world, is to be working out every day for 30 minutes, with one rest day (Sunday) per week.

I was starting at zero, so this goal is still in progress. I am working out almost every day, but not for 30 minutes, generally.

As I’ve talked about before, my body is weird. I have about 54% lung function, which is good for me, but it’s half of a normal person’s. I have a wonky right knee and right Achilles’ tendon, as well as tight hamstrings. I say this to lay out what I am dealing with and how my routine has helped me here.

So, all that aside, here’s how it goes:

I break my workouts down into several areas: cardio (swimming, yoga, walks), strength, stretching and mobility, and I use the peloton meditation classes. (I don’t meditate, per se. I use these to help with stress and relaxation before bed, because keeping stress low/manageable is a big part of keeping blood glucose levels in check.)

For cardio: I do the treadmill walks on the app—usually 20 minutes, but sometimes 15 if my day is packed and I need to get a workout in. I have done one 30 minute session so far.

When I first started—being totally honest here—I could barely hit 1.0 on the treadmill. Now I’m at 2. (On my treadmill. The app says I’m going about 2.5 on my speed, but speed varies on treadmills).

When I first started, I couldn’t follow any instructor cues (to go faster or to increase incline). Now, I do follow them (within reason—I’m not ready for 6 or 8% incline—yet), and I like them. The app also offers hikes, which I’m going to try for the first time this week! The highest incline I’ve hit so far is 4%.

I also swim in the complex pool, which is a little harder to do regularly, because I have to have room to swim, and in a shared pool, that can be hard to do. I don’t swim fast enough to feel comfortable at a Y or JCC pool doing laps. As you can see above I’ve started tracking my swims with my Apple Watch. I’m hoping the pool will be open for a few more weeks so I can get in more sessions, because swimming really is my favorite cardio. (It’s generally open May-September.)

I count yoga as cardio; I know some people don’t, but when you have the lung function I have, even slow flow classes count for getting the heart rate up. I’m trying to be more consistent here after doing a week long yoga program on the app earlier this summer. There are a wide variety of classes. I almost always do a restorative yoga class once a week because these are great for opening up my chest (very important in the pulmonary world), releasing tight areas, and also reducing stress. (There is actual science that backs up how yoga can help lots of health conditions, CF being one of them; check out the book Yoga as Medicine* for more on this.) Obviously restorative yoga is not cardio, but my body really likes it.

A look at the yoga classes I’ve taken.

For strength, I do the 10 minute arms and light weights on the app. For these you use 1-3 pound weights, with the objective being lower weights but higher reps. I’m currently using the 2 pound weights and I might be ready for the threes, so that’s a huge improvement from the no weights I used when I first started. I love these classes. I’ve dropped a shirt size since I’ve started doing these.

For leg and core exercises (which are also works in all the other things I do) I do things like wall sits, plies, pelvic tilts, etc.

Stretching and mobility is also really important to me. I always do a lower body stretch after a treadmill session and I stretch out my arms after weights. Sometimes I do a really focused 10 or 20 minute stretch like you see above with the “hip mobility”. My legs get very cranky if they do not get stretched out regularly.

Here’s what this looks like in a normal week:

Monday: Restorative Yoga

Tuesday: 10 minute arms and light weights

Wednesday: Treadmill session with stretch after

Thursday: 10 minute arms and light weights

Friday: Treadmill session, restorative yoga.

Saturday: 10 minute arms and light weights.

Stretching and swims are added in as possible.

I want to add in more dedicated yoga classes, possibly on T or Th, and I also want to experiment with some other strength classes on the app.

I am much stronger and fitter than I was a year ago, an I can’t wait to see what gains I can accomplish in the next year!

Yearly Transplant Appointment Recap!

A little petit déjeuner after the first part of the day!

The Yearly Transplant Appointment Day is a LONG day, so it’s always a good idea to have some treats sprinkled in. :)

The first part of the day is testing, and the second is my doctor appointment. The first part looks like this:

—CT scan, just to see how things are going inside.

—Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs). I do “regular” PFTs, called spirometry, every three months. These measure my lung capacity, among other things. But annually we do what’s called “full” PFTs, which means there are two other tests added on to spirometry.

—A six minute walk; this test measures stamina and how your pulse and oxygen saturation do while being active. You pick your own speed and walk along a pre-set track (usually a hallway) for six minutes.

—Blood work (also done every month).

So after the first part was done, Dad and I (dad is a good sport who came with me) had a little French snack before a trip to the yarn store for therapeutic yarn shopping, and lunch at 11:30 at a local restaurant.

Dad’s very cute strawberry basil lemonade at lunch.

Finally we headed over to the hospital, where my appointment is, and waited…and waited….and waited….

BUT I was finally seen. Doctor is pleased with all things!

My PFTs went up four points which is really amazing, because my PFTs don’t generally go up—go my workout program, go (more on this in the next post) ! My six minute walk results were also right smack in the normal range. There’s a “low normal” and a “high normal” and I was right in the middle, which is great (this is for everyone, by the way—it’s not a special transplant range. It’s normal person range.). Labs also look very normal.

So all in all, a good appointment with good results! Yay!

July In The Garden

July in the garden was when I saw my tomatoes really get ripe! I had (barely) enough to make one of my favorite summer pasta salads (with some tweaks. I use fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, and lots of fresh basil, and no olives). The tomatoes have been so good—amazingly sweet and perfect.

Right now the tomatoes are struggling a bit. We’ve had a lot of rain and also my apartment complex (for some reason) has decided to turn on the sprinklers, so my tomatoes are getting lots more water than they need and that’s causing some problems. But I have four little green tomatoes on the vines right now, so I’ll get at least a few more this season.

The basil has done well, the mint has been OK—sort of straggly so I have to prune it back a fair bit. I had to really prune back the lavender, which did not do well with all the rain at all, but maybe it’ll revive with the pruning I’ve done. Growing lavender in a pot here is always a hit or miss proposition. It’s warm enough here for it to do well but it doesn’t like a lot of rain.

Next year I definitely want to get two tomato plants, two basil plants (two plants in one big pot), and possibly get a bigger pot for both the lavender and the mint, so they have more room to spread out. Growing the tomatoes has been really fun for me and I think with two plants I’ll get a more usable harvest, instead of having to wait to have barely enough for a meal. (Although don’t get me wrong, I love just eating them fresh off the vine!)

If you have good tips for storing/freezing/drying basil, please let me know. I don’t really like pesto so making it isn’t an option for me.

Yarn Along: The Summer of I-Cord

This summer I have been diving into the fabulous world of knitting I-cords.

What is an I-cord, you may ask? It’s the border and loop you see in the mini washcloths above (knit during Modern Daily Knitting Summer Camp, which was all about dishcloths that use I-cords!). They are delightful and pretty and sometimes functional, as we see here!

The I-Cord obsession began with the Sophie Scarf and Sophie Shawl—if you knit, you need to knit these patterns because they are truly delightful and adaptable. These projects use applied I-cord for the pretty edging. All this means is that you slip two stitches with the yarn in front at the end of every row, and voila! I-Cord!

The large Sophie shawl n Quince and Co. Phoebe—colorway Orion.

I’ve made three Sophie scarves (one as a gift, two for me), and one shawl. They make fabulous gifts!

Using La Bien Aimee’s merino boucle

I-Cord is also used in Andrea Mowry’s Everyday Cowl—both for edging and bind-off. I-cord bind off is sort of the equivalent of one step forward, two steps back, but it does look nice and tidy.

Close up of the I-cord bind off.

Then I decided to get really crazy, and learn how to do two color I-cord bind off for Andrea Mowry’s The Shift cowl!

This wasn’t in my plans. I’ve been trying to work down my Ravelry queue of patterns and use up stash, which is what happened with both the Sophie Scarf above and the Everyday Cowl. But when I saw that Andrea had designed this pattern for the Edinburgh yarn festival, and since I’m going to Edinburgh in September, and all the colors she used were named after places in Edinburgh, I not only had to make this, but I had to use the original colors. (They’re the bottom three colors here.)

From the bottom: The Meadows, Leith, and The Castle.

I also learned mosaic knitting with this project (Mosaic knitting is basically slipping stitches in various patterns.)

While on the needles. Check those gorgeous colors!

This is about to go in the bath and be blocked, then seamed, to create the finished object. Keep your eyes peeled for an update!

And then finally, I learned to knit a single I-cord during the Modern Daily Knitting (MDK) Summer Camp held last Friday. This was pretty amazing; if you’ve never taken a class with them, I highly recommend it! Lorilee Beltman taught us all sorts of tricks using her Sinkmates Suite dishcloths, which use I-cord and various stitch techniques to create beautiful dishcloths. I generally hate working with cotton yarn, but the Rowan Handknit Cotton we used for this class is great!

I’m addicted, I’m just going to admit it. So far I’ve knit one basic, one striped, and I’m about to start a mosaic one. The other great thing about these patterns is that they help me master a technique that’s stifled me—picking up stitches from a cast-off edge. I’m really bad at this! But I get lots of practice while I knit these dishcloths, and this will definitely come in handy for future projects, especially cardigans that have a shawl collar!

In the non I-cor world, I’m also working on a blanket for a friend’s little boy, and there’s another MDK online class coming up in August where I’ll be knitting a cowl that looks scrumptious.

Have you ever fallen in love with a certain type of technique, recipe, or music, and then just couldn’t stop doing it? :) Tell me about it!

ICYMI: Signed book sale!

In case you missed it here, my annual anniversary signed book sale is on!

For $15, you get: a signed copy of my book, Living Memento Mori; a specially created bookmark and prayer card, and free shipping! (Normally this package is $20.)

To order, email me with your address (or the address of the recipient, if it’s a gift) and I’ll send you a PayPal invoice from there! (We can also figure out other ways to pay if you’re not on PayPal).

The sale runs through July 20.

Eighteen

This is a photo of me and my godson, Ryan. (He’s also my cousin.)

I was fifteen when he was born. When I received my transplant, he was seven years old.

I loved him insanely. I kept his photos in my locker, and my friend Amilia remembers that we used to call him “baby.” (I still love him insanely, don’t get me wrong. The insanity of love does’t wane.)

He’s 25 now. He works in Pittsburgh and has a degree in economics. He’s learning Japanese.

When I was on the list, when I thought I might not get to see him grow up, one of the things I wrote during that time was a letter to him—things I wanted him to know.

Fortunately he never received that letter, because I did get to see him grow up. I saw him lose teeth, make his first communion, heard his voice break and his body shoot up in height, and I went to his high school graduation party and I know him as an adult.

Patty is three years old. When I had my transplant, her mother (my cousin) wasn’t even married. Neither were my siblings.

My nieces—sweet Madeleine and Hailey—weren’t even possibilities at that point.

Melanie and Madeleine (aka, Maddie, Baby Bear, Sweetheart, Baby Maddie….)

Bryan and Hailey (aka, Hails, Hailey Bug, Baby Bear, Munchkin, Baby Girl…)

Cheering on her favorite baseball player with Mommy!

There are so many gifts. So many things I didn’t even think of when I was twenty-three.

So many things I would have missed.

For some reason, I didn’t miss them. I got to experience them.

“I am, among all men, most richly blessed.”

---

Please consider becoming an organ donor, so that more families like mine can be blessed.

Also, my annual signed book sale is on! Get a signed copy of my book, a specially designed bookmark and prayer card, and free shipping, for $15! Email me with your address.

"When in the course of human events..."

If you’ve never read the Declaration of Independence, I highly recommend you do so—perhaps today, on the “Glorious Fourth”?

I’ve even pasted it all here for you! :) (And at the end, a clip from 1776—the final vote.)

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Georgia

Button Gwinnett

Lyman Hall

George Walton

North Carolina

William Hooper

Joseph Hewes

John Penn

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts

John Hancock

Maryland

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Franklin

John Morton

George Clymer

James Smith

George Taylor

James Wilson

George Ross

Delaware

Caesar Rodney

George Read

Thomas McKean

New York

William Floyd

Philip Livingston

Francis Lewis

Lewis Morris

New Jersey

Richard Stockton

John Witherspoon

Francis Hopkinson

John Hart

Abraham Clark

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett

William Whipple

Massachusetts

Samuel Adams

John Adams

Robert Treat Paine

Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins

William Ellery

Connecticut

Roger Sherman

Samuel Huntington

William Williams

Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire

Matthew Thornton

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This Moment of June

I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh celebrating my grandma’s ninety-third birthday. I hadn’t seen her since 2021, and I’m missed her; one of my cousins got married last summer but there was COVID so I wasn’t able to attend the wedding. (Boo hiss) It was so nice to see her again and give her a big hug!

I also loved seeing my aunts and uncles and catching up with my cousins. My godson is learning Japanese!

On Sunday we went to Mass with my Aunt Chris (who is also my godmother) and Uncle Tom, and one of their grandchildren, who is adorable. We had brunch at Eat ‘n Park afterwards. It’s never a bad day when you an have Eat ‘n Park, in my estimation.

I came home to find the first perfect cherry tomato was ready on the vines, and it was delicious. I can’t wait for the rest of them to ripen. There are about 30 tomatoes in various stages of growth out there right now.

How’s your June been?

I'm In Public Discourse! (And a sale!)

I’m very excited to share that an essay of mine has been published in Public Discourse!

This is my first journal piece, and I’m very excited about it. In it I talk about how transplants work, the gift of more time, and (yes, of course) memento mori!

Let me know what you think!

And speaking of the book…

The Ave Maria Press Memorial Day sale is here! Through Monday, use the code REMEMBER23 for 25% off and free shipping. This is a great time to pick up a copy of Living Memento Mori (or get gifts for people!)

I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Putterings

My garden grows!

Long time no write! Time is just slipping by and I realized it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. So here we go!

My garden, as you can see above, flourishes—I even have my first tomato!

It’s little but it’s there!

**In the garden this year I’m growing lavender, sweet basil, mint, and cherry tomatoes. I’ve never grown any vegetables before but when I saw that this type of cherry tomato grows well in containers I thought I’d give it a whirl. My grandpa grew tomatoes in his backyard, and I loved helping him take care of them and seeing the ripe tomatoes lined up on the kitchen windowsill. I didn’t really think they’d grow, but behold! So today I’m off to the hardware store to get a bigger planter, a tomato cage, and a trowel.

I’m hoping to dry a lot of the basil so I can have it on hand throughout the year. The mint is doing well, and the lavender is too, but I know the lavender is really going to be dependent on our weather. I tried to grow it a few years ago and the summer was so wet that it killed it. So I’m hoping we only have a moderately wet summer so it doesn’t drown. I had to really cut the mint back a few weeks ago because it had gone all leggy, but it’s doing better now.

**I’m going to have an essay published in The Public Discourse, probably at the beginning of June! It’s about transplants, gratitude, and memento mori (because I do think about that!) When the article is up I’ll post a link here and on my social media (you can find the links to all my accounts on the blog sidebar).

**Scotland trip planning continues! We’ve booked our tickets for Britannia, The Palace of Holyrood House, as well as some afternoon teas and meals. Can you tell I’m EXCITED?

Hive mind: Best tips for a long flight? I’ve never taken a trans-Atlantic flight! Tell me what I need to know/pack/do!

**In Knitting, I’m obsessed with the Sophie Scarf and the Sophie Shawl. So easy, so elegant, and so fun.

Here’s a completed Sophie Scarf in La Bien Aimee’s Merino Boucle “There Goes My Yarn Diet”

I’m currently knitting the Sophie Shawl in Quince and Co’s gorgeous Phoebe Yarn in the Orion color way. I’m doing the largest size, so you’d need two skeins of Phoebe to knit this up. These are perfect accessories for adding a little bit of flair to an outfit or for keeping the A/C chill off!

Phoebe in Orion

How’s your May going?

Transplant 101: How Transplants Work

One of the best parts of post-transplant life—having nieces!

It’s the end of Donate Life month, and I’ve realized that a lot of people don’t know how transplants actually work. As in, I think a lot of people think that you have the transplant and….that’s it! Poof! Magic!

As much as I wish it were Poof! Magic!, it’s not quite that simple.

The big barrier for transplant wasn’t the actual surgery; surgeons knew how to do that part. The issue was keeping the body from destroying a foreign object, ie, the donated organ (s).

Your immune system is exquisitely calibrated. It knows what’s “you” and what isn’t you, and that’s why it works—it fights things that aren’t you (ie, pathogens) so that you don’t get sick. It likes to kill things that don’t belong, and while that’s great when it’s germs it’s killing, it’s not so great when it’s a vital organ.

So transplants couldn’t happen until immunosuppressive drugs were found. These drugs do what their name says—they suppress the immune system, basically hacking it so that it doesn’t work as well, which means it doesn’t try to kill the thing that “isn’t you”, but is keeping “you” alive. When the body tries to kick out the transplanted part, that’s called rejection. (Rejection is complicated, and there are different types. I’m trying to keep this simple, so I’m just calling it all rejection.)

Your chances for rejection are highest immediately after transplant. At this point in my post-transplant life, rejection isn't really a huge concern. Bu right after, it definitely is the highest concern. So the immunosuppressive meds are at their highest doses immediately post-transplant, and in the years following. As you get father out, the meds decrease.

I’m on three types of medications, broadly:

• Prograf (tacrolimus), aka, “tac.” This is my immunosuppressant. I will take it the rest of my life. When I first had my transplant, I was on a higher dose than I am now, and I was also on another immunosuppressant, which we dropped many years ago now.

• Steroids, which are also immunosuppressive. I am on five milligrams of prednisone, and I will be on that for the rest of my life. Doctors are now starting to experiment with taking people off steroids a few years post-transplant. We tried that with me, but my body did not cooperate. (My body likes steroids, because I have CF related arthritis. Steroids make joints happy!)

• Prophylactic antibiotics, meaning, I’m taking these not because I’m sick, but so I don’t get sick. I take azithromycin (if you’e had a Z-pack, you’ve had this med) every day. I like to compare myself to a chlorinated pool.

• I also take a few other things that aren’t directly related to transplant/immunosuppression.

Now, keep in mind that we have to “hack” my immune system on a daily basis so that it won’t figure out that my lungs aren’t mine. That’s what these drugs do. I will take them forever and ever, amen.

It is a delicate dance—we want to keep my immune system in the dark, so to speak, but we also don’t want it to be so suppressed that I’m getting every single germ that’s out there. That’s not good.

At this point, what my team and I are worried about treating are the side effects of these medications. If you hack your immune system for seventeen plus years, as we’ve done for me, it’s going to….well, not work right! This puts me at a much higher risk of cancer, especially skin cancer, which is why I see my dermatologist for a full body check every six months, and why I check myself over regularly and am very aware of anything strange that pops up on my skin. (I’m going to my doctor on Friday, actually, to get a spot checked out. Better safe than sorry.) I am diabetic because of the meds. The meds cause other side effects, too, which vary from person to person.

But if you stop taking these meds, BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

And this isn’t just transplant meds. I lost my hearing because of ototoxic (toxic to the ear) medications pre-transplant. We needed strong IV antibiotics to keep me alive, and that has the effect of me losing my hearing and needing my cochlear implant. But, that’s what I chose. (Now, CF doctors are working to be more cognizant of this, yay! I like!) Chemotherapy is probably the best known treatment that causes a lot of side effects that are not, to put it mildly, great.

But these are the choices we make to stay alive.

I’m on many fewer meds than I was at the beginning. At the beginning of my transplant life, I was on four antibiotics daily—now it’s one. I was on at least 40 milligrams of steroids—now it’s 5.

All of this is a big part of why finding the best possible donor match is so imperative. The closer the match is, the lower your dose of suppression can be, because we don’t have to “hack” it as much. I am very lucky that I have a very good match.

So, that’s how transplants work! If you have any questions, drop them below and I’ll try to answer them as best I can! :)

If there's a reason I'm still alive when so many have died

Miss Madeleine at Easter

It’s Donate Life month, so I thought it would be a propos to talk about something that seems simple, but is often not—gratitude post-transplant.

I will celebrate my eighteenth transplant anniversary in July. To me, that is mind blowing. I am eternally grateful that my donor, Suzanne, decided to donate her organs. Otherwise, I would be dead. I would’ve died at age 23, eighteen years ago.

I would’ve missed so many things, not the least of which is seeing my siblings get married, seeing my godson grow up, getting a new goddaughter in Patty, and meeting my two precious nieces.

Miss Hailey

Now, that being said, that doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days. If you’ve read my book, you know this. There are days when I am sick of doctors, sick of meds, sick of spending time in hospital waiting rooms. That’s normal. Med side effects can be really terrible.

But the thing is, I’m alive. I never come out of an appointment going, I wish I hadn’t had my transplant.

Post transplant life isn’t a life with no health problems. It’s different health problems, but I’ll take it because I am alive. The meds cause problems—we’ve been over this here. Diabetes, early menopause, weight gain, messed up joints—it’s happened to me. I deal with it, some days more gracefully than others. But I never wish away my life.

My friend Sage never got the chance I got. I think about her so often, and when I see people saying that they aren’t grateful for their transplant, I get really angry because I miss her so much.

To me, that dishonors your donor. That dishonors the gift.

Seventeen people die daily waiting for an organ that will never come. Every nine minutes, someone else is added to the national list.

I don’t understand how I got so lucky. I don’t know why I’m alive when so many have died. (If you don’t get that reference, here you go:

To not realize how lucky you are, to not be grateful that you are still alive every single day post transplant, is….unconscionable. (And most of the recipients I know are so grateful. We are.)

I could’ve been one of the 6,000 people who die every year waiting. I wasn’t. I don’t know why. But as long as this ride lasts, I will be eternally grateful for it, even on the days when I want to SCREAM at the incompetence of medical professionals and the insanity that is parking at the New Resort.

Because I’m here, when I could very well not be.

Easter birthday!

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

This year my birthday fell on Easter (for the first time!) and that was pretty exciting. I was born on Good Friday but my birthday has been all sorts of days—Holy Thursdays, Palm Sundays, days in the Octave, and once even the Annunciation! (Transferred because it fell during Holy Week.) And sometimes it’s just in “plain old” Easter or Lent.

This year mom and dad and I went to dinner at the Barn, where I had the ost delicious halibut with handmade lemon ricotta ravioli…

Followed by dessert at my brother and SIL’s house, where I got to snuggle Hailey (an excellent birthday gift!)

AND I got to talk to Melanie and Maddie!

Giggles everywhere.

So it was a very good birthday.

Holy Week: Binding Up Jesus' Wounds

“The greatest acts of fidelity are the silent ones. We must never allow ourselves to underestimate the value of those supposed small acts of fidelity…In our day Christ is suffering much, both from members of His Church and from those outside it. By humble, silent fidelity, we are in our measure trying to heal these wounds that Christ receives. He must not be wounded by us. Let us take this deeply into our hearts. Where are we going in Holy Week? To heal the wounds of Christ in His Mystical Body, the wounds we too have inflicted on Him. …

“May this week be, by our manner of living and our silent fidelity, a week of great renewal for the Church.”

—Mother Mary Francis, PCC

A REALLY big sale!

My book is currently on MASSIVE sale at Ave Maria Press—it’s $2.

That’s right, folks. TWO BUCKS. That’s it!

That makes it a great time to get not only a copy for you, if you haven’t done it yet, but also copies for other people. Early Christmas gifts! Easter baskets! Presents just-because!

This is only happening at the AMP website, so go shop. Do it!