Yarn Along No. 65

This is a little different. :) I'm working on a new project! Rejoice! (I still have basketweave scarves being worked on, too, though. So if you've ordered one, don't despair. The knitting machine works overtime around here.) 

One of my Christmas gifts is yarn for a big shawl pattern. But before I begin that pattern, I needed to learn different ways of increasing. So, my lovely friend Sarah taught me two ways to increase stitches, and now I feel like an expert! 

I made this project to help get the technique in my head. 

This is the Urban Wrap shawl. It's knit on size 15 Caspian circulars, and the yarn is Sugar Bush Yarns' Canoe in the Whitewater colorway. I love the tweedy goodness of this yarn, and it's very soft and warm, which is great for this shawl. 

Check out that tweedy goodness!

The original pattern called for this to be done in Stockinette stitch, however, since my big shawl is in garter stitch, I made this all garter stitch, too. But I love this pattern so much that I think I will make another and add it to the Barton Cottage Crafts inventory! So keep an eye out, if you want a shawl. 

The book I'm reading is A Gentleman in Moscow, which I finally got ahold of. I'm liking it so far. Russian history has always been something I've enjoyed, so this book taps that niche in my reading list quite nicely. 

Various and Sundry:

My piece on living a painless life was picked up by ForEveryMom.com! I'm so honored to be featured there. You can read it here. 

Don't forget to pick up your copy of Catholic 101! It has great tips for Advent and Christmastime inside, plus the St. Andrew Christmas novena! If you're a subscriber, you can still use your offer code until the end of the year to save 15%. If you're not a subscriber, subscribe to get the code! You can buy Catholic 101 here. (Don't forget that you can also give it as a gift!) 

The Fiction of a Painless Life

Me with my best friend, Anne (on the right), after our First Communion Mass in April 1990. I had just turned eight years old. I wouldn't be diagnosed with CF until three years later. 

I have almost died five times. 

This is what it feels like. 

It is very easy, for starters. All you'd have to do is...nothing. Just sleep more, let the energy and life flow away. It's silent, it's simple. It really is like falling asleep. It's so easy.

It's much harder to be alive, because in life, you have to fight for it. 

I have almost died five times. 

I almost lost my right arm. 

I've lost most of my hearing. 

I have almost no vein access, anywhere but via the port-a-cath that's surgically implanted in my chest. 

I've learned to give myself insulin injections. 

My parents and siblings know how to re-constitute IV meds. 

I've had an IV line bleed out the night before my Algebra II final. 

I've had skin cancer, epilepsy, cystic fibrosis, thalessimia minor, and a double lung transplant. I've had tuberculosis and an infection that only one other person in the world had had. 

I've been to the ER so many times that it's like Cheers. 

I've had pancreatitis eight times. If you haven't had it, be glad you haven't had it. 

I've had four chest tubes. 

I've taken pills every day of my life since I was two years old. 

I could probably give myself chest X-rays by now. 

I'm surprised I don't glow in the dark, due to all the radiation exposure I've had. 

I've been twenty years old and planned my own funeral. 

I've spent most holidays in the hospital except Christmas and my birthday. 

I use the word "contraindicated" like most people use the word "like". 

Every month, my mom pokes me with a needle and I don't hit her for it. :) 

I have coughed up blood. 

I have had 17% lung function. 

I have been in a medically-induced coma for two weeks. 

I've had people tell me that my CF treatments, which kept me alive, annoyed them. I've had people say injecting insulin is gross--to my face. I've had people ask rude questions, time and time again. I had a classmate tell me that there wasn't any point in me studying, because I was going to die. 

But you know what? 

I am still alive. 

And I love my life, even with all its imperfection, even when it would've been easier to just let go and sail off into the West like Frodo. 

But this life is exquisite, no matter what. 

This world isn't my home. I know that. But it's so beautiful. 

Because you know what's beautiful? 

That I'm freaking typing this. 

That I am breathing. 

That I'm going to see my brother get married. That I've seen my godson grow up--because there was a time when I thought I wouldn't. 

Standing in the Pacific Ocean. 

Learning to knit. 

Watching little kids smear Oreo crumbs on their faces. 

Editing. 

Writing. 

Snuggling in bed. 

Reading books. 

Tickling babies. 

Reading Robin Hood to enraptured small children and doing all the voices. 

Christmas shopping. 

Watching hockey games, and yelling at my team when they suck. 

Learning to draw. 

Eating a Duck Donut. 

Eating anything, at all. 

The couch I'm sitting on. 

Godless on Netflix.

The Outlander series. 

The Wizard of Oz.

Elizabeth Bennet. 

Pretty dresses. 

My sister's cat. 

My siblings.

Fish and chips. 

All of those things--all of those beautiful things--do not exist without the list of ugly things. 

There is no life without suffering. There is no life without pain. 

And yet, people try to limit it by killing people like me. By eliminating people with CF, or Down Syndrome, or by saying that assisted suicide, euthanasia, and abortion is the compassionate choice. That it's better to be dead than alive with a hard life. That it's better to not exist than to exist with pain. 

I will never believe that. And I will never stop fighting for my right to exist, for my right to be here and to live the life that God has given me to live. And I will fight for all the other people like me, who are told that we shouldn't be here, that our lives are worthless because they are painful, because they make other people's lives hard, because we suffer. 

Suffering has made me better. It has made me stronger. Without it, I would've been a pale imitation of myself. 

My parents didn't kill me, obviously. My parents never went to court and said that my birth was "wrongful". They never made me feel like I was a drain on them, even though at times I've felt that way. They've always told me that I am worth it. 

We are all worth it. 

If you think that living with pain means life isn't worth living, then what are you doing here? 

"Life is pain, princess," said Dread Pirate Roberts. He was right. 

But there is also so much beauty in it. 

The very chance to exist--to be brought into existence--the chance to have this life? This is everything. 

And if you don't understand that, I pity you. 

Poems for St. Cecilia's Day

Guido Reni, St. Cecilia

Today is St. Cecilia's Day: she's an early Church martyr who is also the patroness of musicians. (Singers also have Pope St. Gregory the Great--the guy who invented Gregorian chant.) She's the patron saint of music and musicians because, as she walked toward her groom on her wedding day, she heard heavenly music playing, reminding her of her vow to be the Bride of Christ. (She was marrying against her will--and she managed to convince her husband to live in a celibate marriage. So she must've been a pretty gifted speaker, as well!) 

She inspires a lot of poetry, so I thought I'd share some of them here today. 

The first one is by WH Auden, and can be found here. 

Alexander Pope wrote a very long poem called "Ode for Music on St. Cecilia's Day". I won't quote the whole thing, but the last stanza is very nice: 

  Music the fiercest grief can charm,

  And Fate’s severest rage disarm:

  Music can soften pain to ease,        

  And make despair and madness please:

    Our joys below it can improve,

    And antedate the bliss above.

  This the divine Cecilia found,

And to her Maker’s praise confin’d the sound.        

When the full organ joins the tuneful quire,

  Th’ immortal Powers incline their ear;

Borne on the swelling notes our souls aspire,

While solemn airs improve the sacred fire,

  And Angels lean from Heav’n to hear.        

Of Orpheus now no more let poets tell;

To bright Cecilia greater power is giv’n:

  His numbers rais’d a shade from Hell,

    Hers lift the soul to Heav’n.

Detail of John William Waterhouse's St. Cecilia

And finally, Dryden's "Song for St. Cecilia's Day", in its entirety: 

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687

by John Dryden 

Stanza 1 

From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony 

               This universal frame began. 

       When Nature underneath a heap 

               Of jarring atoms lay, 

       And could not heave her head, 

The tuneful voice was heard from high, 

               Arise ye more than dead. 

Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry, 

       In order to their stations leap, 

               And music's pow'r obey. 

From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony 

               This universal frame began: 

               From harmony to harmony 

Through all the compass of the notes it ran, 

       The diapason closing full in man. 

What passion cannot music raise and quell! 

                When Jubal struck the corded shell, 

         His list'ning brethren stood around 

         And wond'ring, on their faces fell 

         To worship that celestial sound: 

Less than a god they thought there could not dwell 

                Within the hollow of that shell 

                That spoke so sweetly and so well. 

What passion cannot music raise and quell! 

         The trumpet's loud clangor 

                Excites us to arms 

         With shrill notes of anger 

                        And mortal alarms. 

         The double double double beat 

                Of the thund'ring drum 

         Cries, hark the foes come; 

Charge, charge, 'tis too late to retreat. 

         The soft complaining flute 

         In dying notes discovers 

         The woes of hopeless lovers, 

Whose dirge is whisper'd by the warbling lute. 

         Sharp violins proclaim 

Their jealous pangs, and desperation, 

Fury, frantic indignation, 

Depth of pains and height of passion, 

         For the fair, disdainful dame. 

But oh! what art can teach 

         What human voice can reach 

The sacred organ's praise? 

Notes inspiring holy love, 

Notes that wing their Heav'nly ways 

         To mend the choirs above. 

Orpheus could lead the savage race; 

And trees unrooted left their place; 

                Sequacious of the lyre: 

But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder high'r; 

         When to her organ, vocal breath was giv'n, 

An angel heard, and straight appear'd 

                Mistaking earth for Heav'n. 

GRAND CHORUS 

As from the pow'r of sacred lays 

         The spheres began to move, 

And sung the great Creator's praise 

         To all the bless'd above; 

So when the last and dreadful hour 

   This crumbling pageant shall devour, 

The trumpet shall be heard on high, 

         The dead shall live, the living die, 

         And music shall untune the sky.

Catholic 101: FAQs and Gift Giving!

I've been getting some questions about Catholic 101--mostly about downloading it--so I thought I'd devote a blog post to it! 

1) Why are there two different products to download? What does that mean?!

There are two different choices for downloading Catholic 101, and I did that on purpose. 

Once you've bought the product, two options are available to you for download: one is a PDF, and one is an ePub file. 

The PDF works anywhere, but is best for reading on a laptop/desktop, or if you want to print it out. It will download to your device. You can read a PDF on an iPad. It's just not the best format for it, because....

The ePub  file is especially designed for all e-readers EXCEPT KINDLE. (Kindle is weird.) With the ePub file, you get access to the embedded web links, as well as the interactive table of contents, where you can click on a chapter to read it. The footnotes are also linked, too. Basically it's a much easier reading experience than on the PDF if you like links and things like that. 

If you have an iPad, this is how you get it to open in iBooks: 

*On your device, go to the Gumroad website in your web browser of choice. Log in to your account, and select Catholic 101. 

*Select the ePub format. When this downloads, it'll ask you what you want to open it in. Select iBooks.

*Open iBooks. It should be right there. Select it, and there you go! 

If this still doesn't work for you, there is Gumroad help, or I can help you. :) 

2) But there's no difference in content, right?

Right. The content is exactly the same in each format. It's just a matter of preference, and if you don't have an e-reader, then obviously you'll want the PDF, or if you want to print it out. 

Now, gifting the book! If you've already bought Catholic 101, but you want to give it to people as a gift, this is how you do it. 

* Click the Catholic 101 bar at the top of my site (or log into Gumroad. If you do that, click "Buy it again!)

*You will be at the Gumroad purchase page. Click, "I want this!" 

*On the next page, you'll see payment information. 

See that little gift box? Click that! Then you can enter the recipient's email information and pay! Yay!!!! 

So that's it for today's FAQ installment. As always, I greatly appreciate all of my customers! :) Thank you for supporting my little book! If you have more questions, drop them in the comments!

Stitch Fix Number Two

Yes, my fashion friends, it is time for Stitch Fix! (If you don't care about fashion, go read Catholic 101 instead. ) 

This is my second Stitch Fix box. If you're new, hop over here to see what Stitch Fix is and what it's about in detail. But in brief, it's a personal styling service. You fill out a very detailed style profile, pay $20, and a stylist will personally select five pieces based on your preferences and what you've told her you'd like to see. (You don't have to do the stylist note, but it helps!) The $20 is taken off whatever you keep from the Fix. After the Fix is styled, it's sent to you, and you try on all the pieces in the comfort of your own home, with your entire wardrobe at your disposal! 

So this time, I had asked to try another striped top, some more cardigans, and a scarf in the seasonal favorite berry color. I love a good scarf! Above, you can see what I was sent in this month's box. So, without further ado....

Item Number 1: Crescent Leeanne Textured Knit Dress, $68

Since my brother is getting married in the spring, I've kept a note in my style profile that I'd love to see dresses for that. And I just love a good dress anyway! This is a knit dress, which has some lovely stretch, and a fuller skirt than the dress in my last fix, which I love. This dress is great on its own, but when it's kicked up a notch....

Then it really becomes special, to me. That's the great thing about this dress. It's so versatile. So this is now my Christmas outfit. 

Styled with: black patent leather Mary Janes (for that Downton Abbey vibe), red merino Banana Republic cardigan, and Touchstone Crystal earrings. 

A better look at the earrings I wore--the middle pair. The top is J.Crew, the middle and bottom are Touchstone Crystal. These are my earrings, but Stitch Fix does also style jewelry!

You can probably guess the verdict on this one. :) 

Verdict: Kept

Number Two: Colette Chavez Pop Color Cuff Knit Top, $48

I love a good striped top, and I love the colors in this one. However, it's a really thin fabric (you can see my jeans through the top in that second photo), and it's also the type of fabric that snags easily. I know I'll snag it on something and ruin it. Plus, it's so clingy that it makes me look rounder than I am. 

Styled with: Talbots jeans

Verdict: Returned

Number 3: Dreamers/Debut Barton Cable Trim Cocoon Cardigan $58

 

When I first saw this in my Fix, I thought, ehhhh. I sort of have a cardigan like this. 

I was so wrong. 

This guy is so soft, with intricate little details tucked in the ribbing that make it really stand out. It's long and feels like a hug when you put it on. Really, it does! I can fit t-shirts under it without weird lines happening, which makes this very versatile for turning my summer t-shirts into things I can wear in the fall and winter without freezing. And I love the shaping at the bottom. 

Styled with: Talbots jeans, J. Crew Perfect V-neck tee (black)

Verdict: Kept

Number 4: Market & Spruce Marcello Cable Knit Cardigan $78

This guy was just...too too. We had the "Little arms" problem again here--I had to roll the cuffs, which is fine, but the other problem is how low the cardigan hits, and how the buttons draw eyes RIGHT to my middle, which is not really where I want eyes. It was very warm and I loved the color (I'm a sucker for gray!), but, sadly, not for me. 

Styled with the same items as above. 

Verdict: Returned

Number Five: Octavia Russo Plaid Reversible Infinity Scarf, $34 

I love the colors of this scarf. However...I feel like it's eating my head! If this had been a regular scarf I would've kept it, because it has great potential for being a great accessory. However, it was so big that it's only real purpose would've been to keep me warm if I was going to a Packers game in December, and I have my Hufflepuff scarf to do that for me already! 

Verdict: Returned

And now, for TIPS and FAQs. 

You do not have to receive a fix every month. You can receive one every 2-3 weeks, every month, every other month, quarterly...there's a bunch of ways to set it up! There is NO obligation to buy another box after your first one--it's completely up to you. I have heard that it can take two boxes to get you and your stylist to jell. (Christine and I are on the save wavelength, which I adore.) You can also adjust your Fix shipment schedule at any time. 

If you want to try Stitch Fix, I'd appreciate it if you'd use my referral link: I get a $25 credit for every Fix purchased via my link. However, my opinions in this post are totally my own. Stitch Fix didn't pay me to write this! 

Once you check out, your card will be charged for what you kept. The $20 styling fee will be credited to your purchases. 

If a piece in your fix isn't your size, you can ask for an exchange--sizes only, not colors. (At least not yet.) 

My Tips for Getting a Great Fix

1. Be VERY specific when filling out your Style Profile. I wrote things like "I hate pencil skirts, distressed/ripped items, dolman sleeves, and stilettos." I also dislike skinny jeans and ponchos, so I wrote that as well. I also noted that my brother is getting married in the spring, so I'd like to see spring dresses, and that I love flats and A-lines. 

In addition, you can write a note to your stylist after you schedule a fix. I wrote I'd like to try v-neck cardigans again, and see things that I can wear to holiday gatherings. I'd also like to see a scarf or two, since I love to accessorize with them. And what did I get in this Fix? Those things. :) Christine is really awesome that way. Of course you don't have to do this. But if there are specific things you want to try or need in your wardrobe, it's worth doing. 

2. Do a Pinterest board. Here is mine, and you can see, my stylist definitely looked at it! If you don't have Pinterest, it's worth it to get it just to do this board. If you type in "women's fashion" in the search bar, five million pins will come up. I love how Duchess Kate dresses, so she figures in a lot of my pins. I have a fairly classic, pretty style, and that's reflected in what I've pinned. Take the time to do it; it's fun, anyway. At least I thought so. Also put "Stitch Fix" in the title, so if the link is wonky, your stylist can still find it. 

3. Do not lie about your measurements. Come on, ladies. Put your real weight, your real bra size, your real height. Just be honest. :) And update it! If you've lost or gained weight, put that in there. Always give the most recent information so you can get your best fix. This also applies to the Pinterest board--keep it current. If you search "Stitch Fix" on Pinterest, you'll get lots of ideas and see items that Stitch Fix has, so your stylist can pull them for you (if it's available)! 

So that's box number two in the books! The next one will be in December or January--I haven't decided yet. :) 

Simplifying the Holidays: The Gift of Presence

We're heading into the Holiday Season: Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, etc. All the joy. All the wonder. 

ALL THE STUFF TO DO!

Right? I currently have a very long list of things to do, and some of them need done this week, because my Thanksgiving is shaping up to be busier than my Christmas will be, in terms of guests in town and people I want to see. 

So, while I am doing some things to prepare (making people's favorite chocolate gingerbread, deep cleaning the kitchen floor, and writing out Christmas cards), I want to remember that the most important thing is to FOCUS. 

I want to give people my presence this holiday. 

That means, putting the phone away (Other than to take photos!). It means engaging in conversation, listening, having fun with people that I love. It means sharing stories and watching Christmas movies together, or playing Euchre, or getting hot chocolate at Barnes and Noble on Black Friday.

Gifts are great, but let's try to really focus on the people around us this holiday. Why are we working ourselves like crazy to get ready, if it's not so we can make magic for people in our lives? 

Let's focus less on magic, and more on memories that don't require a perfect living room, a perfect tree, or the perfect cards. 

Put your phones away. Talk to each other. Engage. Make memories. 

How you spend your time is how you spend your life. Spend it wisely. 

*****************

Today is the feast day of Bl. Lucy of Narni. Yes, that Lucy, and that Narni-a. So avoid Turkish Delight, tea with fauns, and any white witches. But you can have tea with the beavers! Read about the real Lucy of Narni here. 

If you would like a great Advent devotional, may I suggest this one? (I'm editing the Lenten one!) 

And finally, Catholic 101 can be purchased here! 

I am not brave

Let's just get this out of the way. 

I am not brave. 

I am not courageous. 

I am definitely not a saint. 

Yet, people call me, and people like me, these things. 

This makes me really uncomfortable. 

Having CF, and having a transplant, do not make me brave. 

Are you brave when you get up, get dressed, have your breakfast, and go to work? When you do the dishes and get the mail and pay the bills? No. You're living your life and being responsible. 

When I did my treatments, took my enzymes, went to clinic, did IV meds...that was my life. When I take my meds in the morning, when I go to clinic now, that's my life. That's completely normal to me. It's not brave. It's not courageous. 

Deciding to have a transplant? It was just deciding to live my life, to do what I needed to do to extend it. I wasn't afraid of dying on the table, because I knew without the surgery, I'd die anyway. So, choosing transplant wasn't brave. It was pragmatic. 

Going to college? Getting my degree? Working? Again, no brave. Not courageous. Living my life. That's all.

When I see stories about how "Brave" people like me are, because we live with illness, I want to scream. It's not brave. It's just doing what you have to do with the hand you're dealt. What would you do? Curl up in a ball and refuse to leave your room? Refuse to do treatments? I guess. I knew CF people who did. 

Bravery and courage are not what I have. I hated selling Girl Scout cookies. I'm not brave. I won't sky dive or even do a high-ropes course. I'm NOT A SAINT. I just am. I live my life the way all the rest of you do. This morning, I took my pills with my coffee. I've been taking pills with my breakfast since I was about two years old. It's not out of the ordinary. It's not brave. I'm not brave when I "let" people stick me multiple times to get an IV in. That's not bravery. That's what I have to do. What's my other option? 

My parents are brave. They hold it together when everything is threatening to fly apart. I am not brave. I'm just doggedly stubborn. 

Brave people are the people who rushed into the World Trade Centers on 9/11 to save the people inside, knowing they would probably die.  Navy SEALs are brave people. Soldiers, firemen, nurses, first responders--they're brave. I don't put my life on the line. I don't do anything to save other people. 

So please don't call me brave. I'm not. 

********************************************

(Catholic 101 is now available! Pick up your copy here: https://gum.co/RMkqu) 

Yarn Along No. 64

It's back! Whew!

Knitting definitely took a back seat during the frenetic pre-release period of Catholic 101. (Which you can purchase right here!)  But now that it's out in the world, I've got a bunch of orders to work on, starting with this little guy: 

This is the Sugar Cookie Colorway, called "Lady Sibyl" in Barton Cottage Crafts parlance, because it mirrors a lot of the colors and personality of the youngest Downton Abbey sister, Sibyl Branson. And this is  tied with Lady Mary ("Red Velvet" colorway) as my top seller, so the Crawley sisters are dominating the BCC world these days. 

The book is Be The Gift, a photography book based on Ann Voskamp's The Broken Way. I really adore this little, pretty devotional, especially as we head into the holidays. Ann gives concrete ways to bless people's lives that don't involve a lot of time or talent expenditure--just a little bit of heart. 

And if you'd like a Basketweave scarf of your own, I'm currently taking orders! I have a pile of scarves to knit right now, so any orders will be ready late December/January, at this point (I think). I work on projects in the order I receive them, so first come, first served. So if you'd like a scarf, just drop me a comment and I'll email you back and we'll talk! The scarves are $35 each, about 40x6", and you get to pick your colorway. Just let me know! 

Making Life Accessible for All

 (I've written about the Americans with Disabilities Act here and here. ) 

I'm a big fan of the Americans with Disabilities Act. But I also don't think it goes far enough. And when people say, oh, we don't need it, it's unnecessary government intervention, I want to use this post as an example of how it doesn't go nearly far enough. 

I've never used a wheelchair on a daily basis. I've spent time in them in hospitals, but I've never had to move one myself. * My disabilities are invisible, for the most part. But I've become sensitive to how the ADA's application meets only the letter of the law, and not the spirit, and it was never more pronounced to me than this weekend, while I was out enjoying a day with my friends. 

Most people think that people in wheelchairs get pushed around by someone else. That's not entirely true. With car adaptations, different types of wheelchairs, and other innovations, people who rely on a wheelchair for mobility can get around by themselves--if the world decides to help them out. 

This weekend, I went to several places: a Mexican restaurant, a grocery store, a bookstore, and a movie theater. Only one of these places would've allowed someone who was in a wheelchair, or used a walker or crutches, easy access to the building. 

The Mexican restaurant had no handicapped button for the entrance, and there are two doors. The first one opens to a vestibule that has stools in it, and usually people waiting, and it's sort of narrow. You then have to open another set of doors to get into the restaurant, proper. And then you can get a seat, because they have wheelchair accessible tables. But if you're a person trying to get around without help, you're sort of stuck. 

The grocery store had sliding doors. Win. 

The bookstore is a local Barnes and Noble, and this is where I really noticed the problem. Barnes and Nobles have two sets of doors, in all their buildings, so they can sell discount books in the entryway. But the doors aren't power doors. So the person would have to pull open the door with one hand, somehow keep it propped open enough to wheel through, then open the second door, wheel through, all without, you know, hitting themselves, and assuming this can even be done. I'm guessing it can be, but it's probably difficult. 

The trip to the bookstore actually illustrated the problem I"m writing about here. There was a woman pushing another woman in a wheelchair. The woman pushing would've had to step in front of the chair, open the door, prop it open while someone else pushed the woman and her chair through, then prop open the next door and do the same thing. Instead, I held open the first door, and someone else held open the second. 

But think about this. This is madness. Why have a curb cut in the sidewalk leading up to the store, why have handicapped parking spaces, if there's no easy way for a handicapped person to enter without help? 

And then I decided to start taking photos. 

The next stop was the movie theater. This is where it got ridiculous. 

This is the handicapped entrance, tucked off to the side. So at least there is one. 

But then this is the way into the theater from that entrance: 

Do you see a problem here? 

When I started to think about it, it just got insane. We have curb cuts, but we don't have doors that allow easy access for wheelchair/walker/crutches users. What madness is this?! 

We need to start expanding the idea of disability. People who are disabled are also independent--or would like to be. But on my Saturday wanderings, my day would've been a lot harder if I'd been mobility-impaired. Now, I guess, if I was in a wheelchair, I'd be used to it, but that doesn't mean I'd like it. 

And of course there's all the other things. Stores having counters that are level so someone in a wheelchair can see over. Having accessible tables at restaurants (although I've seen this on the rise). The list goes on. 

The next time you're out, look around. How easy would life be if suddenly you couldn't walk? If you broke your leg or something? I'm betting your life would get a lot harder. And it doesn't have to be that way. 

We don't need these double entry doors. Put power doors on your entrances, if you're going to do that. Make it easy to find handicapped accessible entrances, and then don't block them! 

There is so much more work that needs to be done to give access to all people. So, yes, we need the ADA. We need it to be stronger, if anything--not done away with. 

*I have moved the chair, briefly, in hospitals. But not for long--they usually don't let you do that. 

Release Day Report

It was incredibly busy, unnerving, nerve-wracking, and awesome, in the week leading up to releasing Catholic 101. There was so much to do--I spent Halloween night doing 20 PDF versions and I kept finding flaws in each one, but finally, on All Saints' Day, uploaded the FINAL version of the book to Gumroad. I was sort of terrified. What if no one buys it? (Other than the pre-orders, and I especially love you guys.) What if it's terrible and people buy it and hate it?

But I was so happy on release day--thank you all for your support and encouragement, and an especial thanks to everyone who has bought the book so far. I appreciate it so much. Really, I could just write thank you posts for the next five years and I don't think it would feel like enough, but...that would get boring for you guys to read. 

On release day, I popped confetti, I did a Facebook live, and I took a very relaxing bubble bath. 

My computer after the confetti pop. It was special confetti and I LOVE IT. 

On Saturday, I had Chuy's with my intrepid editor, Mary, and fabulous pal, Alissa (who is also like my unofficial publicist). 

Alissa and I even DRESS the same! 

And then I had the luxury of a movie (Thor: Ragnarok) with Tiff and Bill. It was a great Day of Jubilee, and just what I needed after the last month!

I am going to keep promoting the book on my social media channels, but I do other things there, too. I can write about new things here on the blog again! I can bring back Yarn Along! I'm doing NaNo this month too--at first the idea of staring at a screen and writing words was repellant, but I'm really enjoying this novel so far and I have very low expectations on myself fir this particular piece. And of course Thanksgiving and Christmas are rapidly approaching--my favorite time of year--so that'll bring fun things to talk about. And my parents went to Universal Studios and visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so I have all that stuff to talk about. 

But, for today, I'm really thankful for all of you who have read, commented, encouraged, and supported my writing. It means so much to me. Thank you!

(If you want to order, you can do it on the side bar--there's the image of Catholic 101--and there's also the bar at the top of the page. Those are going to remain there for awhile!)

It is here! Catholic 101 RELEASE DAY!!!

Cue the confetti! 

It's the release day for Catholic 101!

This project has been years in the making. I'm so proud of it, and I'm so grateful for all the people who have already pre-ordered and have offered support and encouragement. 

If you haven't pre-ordered, you can grab it here. 

Have questions? Check out the answers here. 

I've been doing a lot of social media videos, so it's a good time to follow me on Instagram or Facebook to get all the goodness!

Thanks again for all the support. I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy the book!