Emily M. DeArdo

author

Book Updates: My Podcast with Lindsay Schlegel Is Up and Book Signing This Weekend!

the bookEmily DeArdoComment
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So, some updates!

Above, you can see the quote that I discussed on Lindsay Schlegel’s Quote Me podcast! I loved talking to Lindsay (she’s a fellow Ave Author!) and we had such a good time talking about my book, St. Thomas More, and all sorts of other things! Take a listen!

Also, a reminder that I will be signing my book at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference on SATURDAY! You can still get tickets or you can get them at the door! I am signing during the breakfast break (and I’ll stay at the table as long as people want me to sign, lol.)

And FINALLY, my book is 25% off on Ave Maria Press’s site through THURSDAY!

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Enter MEMENTO at check out to save 25%!



Seven Quick Takes--My baby is two weeks old, upcoming events, knitting, and common sense

7 Quick Takes, health, knitting, links, the bookEmily DeArdoComment
seven quick takes.jpg

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It’s Seven Quick Takes time, YAYYYY!

Posts from this week:

Know Your Body, Meds Have Side Effects, and Being Your Own Health Care Advocate

Yarn Along


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The first post is important, I think. Yes, it’s long. But people need to know that you have to be your own medical advocate—you can’t depend on other people all the time, sadly!—and, yes, medicines have side effects that you may or may not get. I think a lot of people freak out at the idea that meds can cause bad things to happen to you, and yes, that is true. I lost my hearing because of meds. But, um, also, alive. It’s a trade off.

Anyway, it’s a long post but I think it’s worth reading as just a general part of adulting. Know your body!

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My book is two weeks old! Yayyyyy!

I’ve been doing a lot of interviews, getting lots of good reviews, and I’m really happy about all of that. If you want to get a copy, go here for all the options.

Also, if you buy it at Ave Maria Press, you can get 25% off! Yay! Enter MEMENTO at check out!

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I still haven’t checked out bookstores to see if my book is there, so hopefully I’ll see it “in the wild” soon. :) If you do, take a picture and tag me on Instagram!

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It’s actually going to snow tonight. We’ve had a pretty mild winter so the idea of snow is like, oh, cold? Snow? Winter? What is this madness? Oh well.

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I’m going to be at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference next weekend signing my book! Come join me!

If you want to read articles or listen to podcasts and interviews, I’m linking them on the “media” page under Living Memento Mori at the top of the site. So you won’t miss anything. If the story or interview can be linked, I will link it, and I’ll also post on social media (and here, of course) about interviews as they air!

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If you’ve read the book, you know about Rita, one of the best nurses at The Resort and a great friend. She and I are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate the publication, so yay!!!!

Have a good weekend!

Yarn Along #94--completed WIPs and more WIPs!

yarn along, knittingEmily DeArdoComment

It’s time for the FEBRUARY YARN ALONG! Yay!

Linking up with Ginny, who is also talking about my book, so thank you Ginny! :)

It’s a mega yarn along today, which is perfect because it’s cold outside (It’s actually like, winter-y here! We’ve had a really mild winter!) and windy, so let’s get hot drinks and talk about yarn and warm things!

Here we go!

Finished Projects

Oh boy oh boy!

First up is the Isla scarf, where I used Quince and Co Lark in lupine:

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Second, the Sully blanket, for a friend who’s having a baby. The photo is of it off the needles but not finished (ends aren’t woven in and it’s not blocked). I didn’t add the border, because reading the instructions sort of freaked me out!

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The yarn is Knit Picks Shine Sport in (L-R) Sky, French Blue, Clarity (a really pale blue), and Robot.


In Progress

The November Blanket, from Quince, made with their Puffin yarn in twig (a lovely milk chocolate/hot cocoa color). The yarn was a Christmas gift.

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It’s a really lovely project to work on because it’s on big needles so it goes quickly and the blanket grows as you knit it, so your lap gets progressively warmer! A nice winter knit.

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The Elementary Wrap, from Purl Soho, a shop in New York City, that I just discovered (I’m heading to NYC in April!). I’m in love with their free patterns and their gorgeous yarn! They have several versions of this wrap (all of them free), and I’m doing the one that uses their linen quill yarn.

This project fills a gap in my knitting wardrobe—sometimes I don’t want a shawl or a scarf, I want a wrap, you know? This is basic stockinette stitch with a pretty little border. The only problem, of course, is that the knitting doesn’t lay flat when you put it down, so it’s hard to photograph well. Here’s a look at in with me holding down the edges:

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Isn’t that gorgeous yarn? I love the heathered quality of it. It’s their Linen Quill (alpaca, linen, and wool) in fresh nutmeg. Gorgeous! And I like that it’s neutral, but it’s not the usual suspects—black, white, gray, navy. It’ll go with a lot of what I wear.


And finally, a teapot cozy…

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This is made with Malabrigo Metcha yarn in anniversario. I got the pattern from the 2018 Love Knitting. It’s a one skein project but it involves cable needles! So I’m going to get a chance to try that technique out here.

I’m re-reading Little Women, not because of the movie (which I haven’t seen), but because I generally read it a lot. It’s one of my favorite books. And it was the Well-Read Mom Book Club choice for January. I belong to the club, even though I’m not a mom, and January got so away from me in terms of everything that I didn’t read it then. So I’ll read it now, and then move to the February selection!

How to be your own health care advocate

CF, essays, health, how to, transplantEmily DeArdoComment
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Today I’m going to share some hard won wisdom with you!

A friend of mine who also has CF said that we’re the “marines of health care.” And that’s true. We’ve had decades of experience working closely with doctors, hospitals, and medication regimens. And what we think of as obvious is not so obvious to the rest of humanity.

So I’m going to share some tips with you today to help you have better health!

I’m going to start with what is probably the most important tip:

Know your baseline.

What I mean by that is know yourself. How do you normally feel? What’s your general energy level? How much sleep do you normally need—and get—and what do you feel best with? (For me, it’s about nine hours.) How does caffeine affect you? (Or doesn’t it?)

All these things are your baseline—how you normally feel when you’re healthy and everything is chugging along just fine. This even includes stuff like how many times you normally go to the bathroom. (I’m not kidding. For a diabetic, this is important to know—and same with CF.)

You might not have thought about this before, but when you feel “off”, it’s because you’re unconsciously comparing your state to how you normally feel—aka, your baseline.

For example, my right hip tends to bother me on and off. It’s not a big deal, I’m aware of it, it’s been checked out. But if it suddenly became really painful, that would be an anomaly.

I knew that my blood glucose was really high, without even testing it, when I was dropping weight really easily and going to the bathroom more often, and carrying water around with me. Those are all not normal feelings for me.

Knowing how you feel—both physically and emotionally and mentally-is key to judging if something is wrong with you.

I knew that the type of insulin I was on over the summer was wrong for me—on a lot of levels—because I became a really awful person! I was snappy and lost my temper at everything and just hated everything, and this is not me!

So you have to know how you feel normally, so you know how you feel when you’re sick, or when something is off.

All drugs have side effects

The questions are: will you get side effects, and if you do, how bad are they?

People are generally shocked to hear that meds can cause problems. Yes, they can. Heck, water can cause problems if you drink too much of it. If you take too much Tylenol, your kidneys are not gonna be happy with you!

Every medication has side effects. Not every person will experience any, or all, of them.

But a side effect alone is not enough to not take the med.

For example: I used to take cipro for infections. People were always shocked. “Don’t you know that class of meds can cause tendon issues?!” they would cry.

Well, yes, I did (do) know that. But the thing is, I didn’t have a choice. This was what I had to take so, to be honest, I didn’t die.

I lost my hearing because of ototoxic meds. That was a choice we made, so I would not die.

Now, I can’t take cipro or any drugs in its class anymore, because my tendons are starting to get weird with it. I can’t tolerate it anymore. So that means I have fewer options for when I get sick.

I take prednisone daily. I have taken it for 15 years and I will take it until I die. It’s what’s causing all my blood glucose issues. But I can’t not take the pred. I tried to go off it. My body hated it. My joints, in particular, were not really happy. I take nexium, a proton pump inhibitor, even though I know it might cause bone issues and all sorts of other things, but reflux can lead to cancer and rejection, so, again—balancing act. I take immunosuppression meds, because I have to to stay alive, even though it ups my cancer risk by about a factor of ten, especially skin cancer.

Sometimes you start a med, have a rough few days, and then your body adjusts. Pre-transplant, I was on bactrim and cipro and a million other meds every day. At first, this was rough. Eventually, I got used to it.

The lesson here is, if you’re having side effect from a med, and it’s severe, then you need to talk to your doctor about it—especially if you’re having any sort of depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation. Then, you must call your doctor IMMEDIATELY. This isn’t something to mess around with. Stop the med, talk to the doctor, figure out another plan! There are lots of meds out there! Find what works for you!

You have to be aware of how a med affects you. That goes back to knowing your baseline.

But yes, when you are taking a medication, your body might not like it. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad drug. It just isn’t working for you, and that’s fine.

If you want to know the side effects of a med, they are easily google-able, or you can ask your pharmacist or your doctor. Every time I go to pick up meds, I get asked if I want to talk to the pharmacist about it. EVERY TIME. So, if you want to know, do that!

You have to know your medical history

You—as in, you yourself—must know your medical history. You must know what drugs you take and why. You must know the dosages. You must know what drugs you cannot take (if any). You have to know what is contraindicated for you.

For example: I can’t have MRIs. I can’t have PICC lines (it’s PICC, not PIC. Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter, folks.), because there aren’t any more spots for them! I can’t have zofran because it makes me vomit. These are all things I have learned and I often have to tell medical professionals these things. Because, they don’t know. Or they haven’t read my chart. (grumble grumble.)

My parents know these things as well. I have my med list and issue list on my phone so I can just whip it out in an ER or a new doctor’s office. It is a good idea to have someone else know your medical history so if you have to go somewhere in an emergency, that person can either say, yes, here’s the deal, or, “here it is on her phone.” (Now, for me, anyone who has read the book knows basically all of my medical history, ha!) I don’t expect people to be able to spout off all of it—except my parents, and they can do it—but I do have friends who know, OK, this is the deal. Especially when I travel with people, I have to tell them things that are relevant, like, me and the sun are not friends. I might have to stay inside for certain hours. I have to check my blood sugar. I might need you to get me juice. Etc.

But you have to be your own advocate. You have to say, I’m sorry, I can’t do that—and why. You have to say, I cannot take that med, or have that procedure, or whatever. (For Catholics, this also includes why you’re not taking birth control pills for contraceptive purposes! Not that you need to go all Humane Vitae on the doctor!)

Sometimes you have to talk doctors off ledges. Sometimes I get a new doctor who doesn’t realize I’m genetically anemic (I have thalassemia minor.) He’ll freak out when he sees my iron counts. But I’ve always been anemic, and we don’t do anything about it. It just is. I’m used to it!

And finally….

Be aware of change

Sometimes you’ll be on a med for awhile and you’ll be fine, and then you’ll notice…issues. That can happen. Sometimes a med builds up in your system and then it causes issues that were not apparent in the beginning. (Ototoxic meds, looking at you!) So if you have a chronic condition, you do need to evaluate. Again, know your baseline. Know what you’re being treated for. Sometimes I have to say, guys, this med isn’t working anymore. And we figure out something else.

Essentially, we all have to be aware of how we normally feel, what we’re taking, why we’re taking it, and our own health history. This enables you to be your own best advocate, which is vitally important.

Book Doings!

the bookEmily DeArdoComment

OK, I promise I won’t become That Person who only writes about her literary triumphs, but, it’s my first book, so you know, I might be a little over the top. Sorry. :)

OK so first of all, Ave Maria Press is having a sale!

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If you go to Ave Maria Press’s page for my book, add it to your cart, and enter MEMENTO at check out— you’ll get 25% off the cover price! Yay! So go get it! The offer is good through 2/13/20.


Second, my book is in the Columbus Library System!

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The Columbus Library system is one of the largest libraries (by circulation) in the country—as well as being a top-ranked library—and I am thrilled that they ordered six copies! Six! I would’ve been happy if they got one, but six!

So as you can see, they are on order, meaning: Not in the stacks yet (but you can see where it will be, once they’re in!). If you’re in the Columbus area, be on the look out! (If you’re not, you can probably get it through inter library loan? I think?)

Obviously I’m very excited about all this. :) I’ve been doing interviews, too, which are added to the media page as they are published or go live, in the case of podcasts. Reviews for the book are there too.

And if you’re coming to the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, I’ll be doing a signing there during the breakfast break! (at the Ave Maria Press table, which is usually right by the eating area.) I’d love to see you!

I think that’s it for this edition of Book Doings. :) Have a good weekend!

A Little Retrospective: A Decade Past

fun, essays, journalEmily DeArdoComment
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After reading Erin Napier’s journal post on a decade in the rearview, I felt inspired to do my own, and honestly, these last ten years of my life have been pretty nuts, and thus worthy of a retrospective!

Here we go….

2010: Five Years Into It

In 2010, I hit my five year transplant anniversary, which I celebrated by doing the show Oliver! I went to Duck for the second time with my parents and my sister and enjoyed it just as much as I had the first time I went with Tiffany and her family in 2008. I was blogging but I didn’t have this site yet. I knew I wanted to write a book , but at the time it was sort of an ephemeral idea with me writing a few things here and there.

2011: Unbreak my heart

The year began with The Importance of Being earnest, and heart issues. I had Afib/SVT—we never really figured out which—which led to an admit in January and a second ablation at OSU in April, but I was released before my birthday, continuing my streak of not being in the hospital for my birthday. I did Ragtime that summer, we went to Williamsburg, VA, for family vacation and I loved it. I also moved into Barton Cottage (the townhouse) that year.

2012: New Job

I moved to the Clerk’s office after the 2012 elections, was in The House of Bernarda Alba, and was still writing. I turned 30! :)

2013: So much travel

I went to NYC for my first Jeopardy! audition and saw Once with my cousin Jack. We had a lot of fun that trip. I went to Disney World with my dad and was in Les Miserables that summer and And Then There Were None in the fall.

2014: The last working year

I began the process of taking disability retirement from the Senate, because working full-time was just not working with what my body needed. March 14 was my last day, and I saw The Phantom of the Opera that night with my friend Mary. I went back to Disney World with Dad , was in The Music Man and Hello, Dolly! and made life promises as a Lay Dominican.

2015: Getting it all on paper

I began the process of writing The Book by getting my entire story on paper, thus creating the very first complete draft. Edel 2015 was awesome—I spent my 10th anniversary there and was interviewed by Hallie Lord and Jen Fulwiler for Jen’s radio show. It was a great experience! I had my second Jeopardy! audition in Boston. Dad and I ate at Legal Seafood, Cheers, and a great Italian Restaurant in the North End. I also set up this website! So it’s five years old this year!

2016: Jeopardy!

I was in the hospital in January with pneumonia (booo!) but went to SoCal in April (yay!) to be on Jeopardy!

2017: Digging into my writing

I attended the Making Things Happen Conference and made great progress in my writing from that. I started writing and editing for Take Up & Read. We went to Williamsburg and Duck for vacation!

2018: Working

I started sending out book proposals….and more proposals….and more proposals…..My brother got married!

2019: Gold, Jerry, Gold!

I got my contact with Ave Maria Press, wrote the book in about three months, and my sister got married in Colorado. I was in the hospital when my book cover was revealed and pre-orders opened! And I moved to Orchard House! Oh, and Dad and I went to a Blue Jackets playoff game—another thing I could check off my bucket list! :)

2020: The book!!

The book was published. I’m going to New York in April. And it’s my 15 year anniversary in July.

Also coming up: Seeing My Fair Lady with Dad in March!

Woooooo!

Publication Day

the bookEmily DeArdoComment

It’s here.

Publication Day.

Books that were pre-ordered should be arriving in mailboxes all over the place, and now you can walk into a store and request my book.

Wow. That’s a really weird, and yet amazing, feeling.

I mean, my book is on the Target website! (and part of a 3 for 2 deal….)

Pub day flowers from Farmgirl Flowers

Pub day flowers from Farmgirl Flowers

I spent five years shopping the proposal for what became my book. I was sad, frustrated, I never thought anyone would want my story—was my story no good? Was it just bad?

I am so thankful that Ave Maria Press accepted it and they have been a fabulous team to work with!

I am so thankful for all of you readers—without you this would not have happened! (really. It’s true!)

I hope that you love the book. I hope it helps you in your own life.

Today, I am just really, really, really thankful.



It's Publication Week! Instagram LIVE Tomorrow!

the bookEmily DeArdoComment

It’s PUBLICATION WEEK!!!!!!

I can’t believe it—Friday is the big day!

(If you haven’t pre-ordered yet….do it! )

I wanted to let you know about a few things that are happening:

First, tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST, I’m doing an Instagram Live!

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My account is @emily_deardo, so come on over! I will be going through the book, showing you all the features and talking a little bit about the genesis of the book and some behind-the-scenes things of an “easter egg” nature.

If you can’t come at 2, a live is available on IG for 24 hours, and I’ll try to cross-post it here and also on Facebook.

Second, I have a Media page now on the blog

This page is where I’ll post reviews, media pieces, interviews, and things of that nature, so if you miss something, it’s all there for you to read!

Third, I’m recording a podcast episode!

I’ll be talking with the lovely Lindsay Schlegel on her podcast, “Quote Me” . The episode date is TBD, but I will let you know when it happens!

So that’s what’s on the docket for this week….I’m so excited!

SQT--ONE WEEK until pub date!!!!!!!

Emily DeArdoComment
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Linking up with Kelly!


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GUYS.

NEXT WEEK IS PUB DATE. (Preorder here!)

I really can’t even handle it right now, I am so excited. I know I’ve shared this GIF a lot, but it really sums up all my feelings:

It’s just….weird. I mean, great, and weird, and surreal to have the thing you’ve always wanted actually happen.

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It’s also surreal to have a cardinal want to interview you—-in April I’m going to NYC to be on Cardinal Dolan’s radio show! Since I love NYC, this is a real treat for me and I can’t wait to do this. I hope the weather cooperates and it’s nice because I’d like to visit Central Park, which I’ve never actually done. I’ve driven through it in a cab, but I’ve never properly been in it.


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Yesterday I had a call with the marketing department and we talked about all sorts of ideas and fun things. There are going to be book plates! And other fun things! Some of these things are just for email subscribers though, so if you want all the goodies, then be sure to subscribe! (Mail chimp is being silly right now, so I might have to manually add you if your email doesn’t go through. I’m working on it. But if that happens I’ll add you manually so you won’t miss anything!)

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In health news: I’ve got insulin now and my blood glucose levels (BGLs) are doing better, YAY.

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I want to share some of the great endorsement graphics that AMP did for me. If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen these, but they’re too good not to share here, too.

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I’m so honored by these endorsements (and the others I’ll be sharing in the coming weeks!)

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I had my first radio interview this week, so that was scary, because I wasn’t sure how the CI would do, but it was fabulous. So yay! I have a few more in the coming weeks. When these things go live, I’ll post them on the book page and share them on social media!

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Finally—movies. I used to be really into the Oscar race, and it’s been a few years since I have been. But I’m jumping back in this year. I saw Joker yesterday.

The score is superb, and Joaquin Phoenix does a fabulous job as Arthur. It’s definitely a different take on the Joker than anything I’ve seen before in cinema—the arch mastermind cleverness really isn’t there. This is a rawness, a desire to hurt people who have hurt him, and I think it works for the character and the storyline of this particular film.

There is violence, and it is jarring. I don’t understand where people were getting the idea that this is an anti-woman film—it’s not. I do think that it springboards into discussions of: what do we tell kids about themselves? Do we lie to make them feel better? Or do we tell them the truth, even if it’s painful? How do our small actions impact other people? So I think it’s valuable from that aspect. It definitely made me think about these things, and at one point I was talking to the screen, telling characters to just behave! Don’t be so mean! Etc.

I tried to watch The Irishman and I lasted about 15 minutes. I am just not a Scorcese fan. I can’t tolerate his movies. They’re just too long and too rambling for me. The only one of his movies I was able to watch completely was Silence. And even that one is…..rambling.

I’m hoping to watch Ford v. Ferrari next, and then Judy and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood for the acting nominations.

SQT--A reaaaaaallly interesting week!

7 Quick Takes, health, hearing loss, the bookEmily DeArdo3 Comments
seven quick takes.jpg

Linking up with Kelly!

And it’s gonna be fast quick takes today!

  1. OK, so my body does weird things before big events. Jeopardy taping? Pneumonia. I guess for the book release month, my blood sugars will go nuts! But it’s OK, we’ve got them under control now.

  2. But to get them under control, Dad and I spent 25 hours at OSU, in the ER/observation, so that was….fun. Best not discussed.

  3. So I’m taking two types of insulin right now—a rapid acting one before I eat, and an “intermediate” acting one. These have both made my body much happier! There is sleep! There is energy! My cells rejoice in insulin!

  4. But……sigh. OK, doctors’ offices. You must have a system for the hearing impaired to contact you. MyChart doesn’t always work. You must have ways of contact that a patient can do independently! I couldn’t directly contact my doctor’s office last Friday and that led to a really crappy weekend! Today, I can’t select my doctor on MyChart, so I had to contact my FABULOUS transplant coordinator, who will send them numbers that I emailed her! Guys, you can’t think that your lovely “secure system” is going to be the best way for people to get care if they’re hearing impaired! I RAGE ABOUT THIS.

  5. STATE OF THE BOOK WICKET is here!

  6. Maybe this is the time to show everyone the handy chart about emergency room vs urgent care usage…..

  7. OK, that’s it for this week, go read the link at point 5! YAY BOOK! Two weeks to PUB DAY!!!!!!

The State of the Wicket

the bookEmily DeArdo1 Comment
My babies on IG! :) You can follow me there @emily_deardo.

My babies on IG! :) You can follow me there @emily_deardo.

Oh, my babies are in the house!!!!!

Really, it’s so weird. It almost doesn’t feel real. I just like to look at them.

They are coming off the presses. There are two weeks until the publication date! Aghhhh!

This post is titled “The State of the Wicket” after a Diana Gabaldon blog post of the same name, where she updated her readers on what was going on with books. So I’m doing the same thing today.

Here’s what’s going on:

  • My first event has been scheduled! I’ll be doing a book signing at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference. As more events are added, they’ll be on the event page here on the site.

  • I’m also lining up some interviews. When those are released, they’ll be noted here on the blog, on social media, and I’ll link them on the book page. I’m probably going to create a separate media page for interview links and such. Some interviews have been done already, and I can’t wait for them to come out!

Here are some ways you can help promote the book….

  • Add it to your Goodreads to-read list if you’re on Goodreads!

  • Ask your library to order a copy.

  • Ask your local Catholic bookstore and “regular” bookstore to stock it!

  • Once you get your copy, share a picture of it on social media, tagged #livingmementomori

  • Leave a review on Amazon once you get it and read it!

Preorder links are all here, so you can choose your bookstore of choice!

I know, I’m talking about pre-ordering all the time here, but it really is important. It helps the press know how many copies to print, and it helps build up buzz for the book, which is tres important in getting the word out so as many people as possible can get a copy!

If you want to read something I’ve already written while you’re waiting for your book, Catholic 101, my ebook, is available!

If you are subscribed to the newsletter, you get everything first. Links to interviews, first opportunities to buy signed books (once I figure out logistics), any fun things, etc.

I would love to come speak to your group!! just drop me an email and we’ll connect!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, MY BOOK ARRIVED

7 Quick Takes, the bookEmily DeArdo4 Comments
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There she is, guys.

She really exists.

It’s so hard to explain what goes into a book. Years of work, in my case. I started writing my story when I was in college. Sending out queries and proposals and getting nothing back, or form rejection letters. Freaking out over sample chapters.

And now it’s here.

It’s been written. It’s been published. It’s beautiful.

It’s just like when Jo March opened her package at the end of Little Women and whispers, “My book!”

It’s really real.

So yeah, today was pretty exciting….

And then I took the book to Chuy’s for lunch with my best friend Tiffany.

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And showed her to Jesus….


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Over the next month—the official pub date is January 24—I will be talking about the book in IG videos and Facebook lives, as well as sharing endorsements and telling you what is exactly in the book, because it’s not just my story. There are tools for you to use!

If you haven’t pre-ordered, please do so, because if I want to write another book (and I do), then this one has to sell like hot cakes. :)

I was going to write about Christmas for quick takes this week, but this just takes the cake over everything else.

I’m just so excited!!!



The Top Ten Posts of 2019

Emily DeArdoComment
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What did you guys like to read the best in 2019? Saints, Jane, and Stitch Fix…..

Drum roll, please…….

10) Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

9) Poems for St. Cecilia’s Day

8) The About Me Page

7) “Happiness in Marriage Is Entirely A Matter of Chance: Jane Austen and Married Soulmates” (this one had 425 views, so go Janeites!)

6) Stitch Fix Box #4

5) Stitch Fix: When You’re Not Happy With Your Stylist

4) Hospital Hair Salons

3) The Forgotten Demographic: Catholic Single Women

2) St. Martha and the Dragons (this is ALWAYS in the top 10 posts. I have no idea why!)

And number one is….

the main blog page. :) So I guess it’s good that people are coming to see what’s new!

Christmas is Practically Here Seven Quick Takes

7 Quick Takes, holidays, movies, knittingEmily DeArdo2 Comments

Linking up with Kelly!


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So gonna start off with—I saw Star Wars last night. No, not at midnight. At a special 5:00 “fan screening”—I did get a cool opening night pin (sorry, bad photo in dark theater!):

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So that was pretty cool. And there were heated seats in the theater—talk about decadence. I’d actually been wanting to try this out, and it was like a nice heating pad feel in your lower back, so I have to say, enjoyable. And you could turn it on and off! Yes, I am easily amused.

Anyway, no spoilers here, but I think it’s the best Star Wars movie since Empire. The critics who are giving it crap? What are they watching? No idea. But it’s good.

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I am going to start Christmas baking this weekend, because I only have to make two things—Ina’s Hermit Bars, and her crumble bars—for the family to nosh on over Christmas Day. I’ve made the hermit bars every Christmas for a few years now, they’re easy and delightfully good. I don’t do the glaze thing. To me, it’s an easy way to cut down on sugar intake by removing it and thus we can have more sugar later. Right? :)

For the crumble bars, I leave out the almonds, and you can use any type of jam you like. I’m using blueberry this time.

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I’ve started a baby blanket for a friend’s baby….

Bad apartment carpet, forgive me. :)

Bad apartment carpet, forgive me. :)


The yarn is Knitpicks Shine Sport, which I really like (L-R: Robot, Clarity, Sky, and French Blue). It’s so smooth in my hands, but it’s not sliding all over the place (One reason I love using wooden needles. When I tried metal ones, disaster.). It’s 60% cotton and 40% beechwood fiber, whatever that is, but I figured this would be good for a baby. And it’s washable!

The pattern is….another story.

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I’m making the Quince Sully blanket pattern. Pretty, right? I looked at the “skills needed” section and thought, OK, I have all those skills. I can pick up stitches and change colors and knit and purl and totally long tail cast on (that’s the only one I do…..)….

Bought the pattern.

then read the pattern.

The pattern calls for binding off the main color sequence (stripes), and then picking up the border and increasing stitches and god knows what else, and the number 600 something popped up, and I just went oh….


Whhyyyyy pattern writer? WHYYYYYY?????

Anyway, besides that bit of crazy, it’s really easy to do, with a nice seed stitch row with every color change. I really like doing it. I’m just scared of the border. It might not happen.

I do not think the baby will mind if there is no border, right? Because, um, my skills may not be up to it.

Sigh….
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It’s that time….if you haven’t pre-ordered the book, please do so! If you have, MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Next week….well, OK, in January, there are fun graphics coming!!! I’m excited about them!
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Two more gifts to wrap. Well, three. Two of them go in gift bags, and one requires actually wrapping, at which I AM TERRIBLE. Oh well!

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Are y’all done shopping? Sort of done? Haven’t even started? :)










Seven Quick Takes --Second Friday of Advent

7 Quick Takes, goal setting, yarn alongEmily DeArdo2 Comments
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Around these parts this week:

Yarn Along #93

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Soooo this week. It was pretty quiet, which was nice. I got my hair cut on Wednesday. The reason this is notable is because I am terrible at doing hair cuts. I gone like once a year, and I really should go more often. Resolution for 2020—have better hair? (As in, don’t let split ends go one for months and months without end….)

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speaking of resolutions—do you set them? I generally don’t. I use Lara Casey’s powersheets to set goals for the year, and that’s incredibly effective for me. I’m in the middle of doing the prep work for the 2020 sheets. If you haven’t used powersheets before, or have trouble setting and achieving your goals, I highly recommend these. I doubt my book would’ve been published without the work I did with the powersheets. That’s how important they’ve been to me over the last five years.

Her blog is also full of great tips and she walks through doing the prep work with you! So it’s really lovely and I highly highly recommend this way of goal setting.

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Let’s talk about Advent? In my house, I have my tree, nativity, and Advent wreath up. Baby Jesus isn’t in the manager yet, and the Wise Men are making their way to the manager (they’re currently living on the living room bookcase). I keep my tree up until Candlemas (Feb. 2), pretty much. If not the tree, then the nativity for sure. I love Christmas, the whole Christmas season, and so I will celebrate it to the hilt.

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How are you doing on shopping? Are you done? I am, yay! (And yes, from every take until the book is published, there will be a link to buy the book—it makes a great gift, go get it….)

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In terms of Christmas movies, I watched The Nutcracker and the Four Realms last night, and it was pretty good. I think kids would like it. It got really iffy reviews, which I don’t really understand. It’s a fine movie. (Fine as in, perfectly acceptable and you don’t feel like you’ve wasted two hours of your life when it’s over.) If you have never seen Muppet Christmas Carol, you must. (It’s on Disney+!). That’s all I’m gonna say about that. You have to watch it.

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It’s almost Gaudete Sunday! Yayyyy! I love lighting that pink candle.

How was your week? What are you up to this weekend?

Yarn Along #93--new project, finished project, project in progress.....

yarn along, books, knittingEmily DeArdo1 Comment

I missed this last week, so was happy that Ginny didn’t have the link up and I missed it, because last week was insane (see here for why). But now I’m (knock wood!) feeling like I am ready to get back into rhythm in all ways, and that includes knitting! (I’m not sure if Ginny will have a link-up this week either, but here’s my knitting and reading anyway!

New project

For some reason, I always cast on some new project Thanksgiving weekend. I don’t know why. It must be some sort of switch in my brain. “Ah! Turkey! Must cast on new project!”

So this year it’s one I’ve already done before—the Skye cowl—but in a deliciously autumnal color that I ordered while I was in the Resort. (My journal is full of knitting scribbles—some of which are really just that, scribbles!—about projects and colors and types of yarn….the meds obviously made me go nuts in this department!) The color is Quince’s malbec, in their puffin yarn, which is so nice and squishy and knits up beautifully. I think I twisted stitches somewhere, but honestly, I don’t really want to rip it out. I don’t mind a cowl with a twist in it. If it was a hat, obviously, I would’ve had to start again. But with a basic cowl? Meh. So I didn’t and I just keep knitting.

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Finished project

My Felicity scarf, made of Colonial Williamsburg yarn! Yay!

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Simple, but I really liked working with this yarn. It’s thick enough that you can cross it over your upper chest but not so thick that a coat won’t close nicely over it. It’s also nice to grab if I’m just running out to get the mail and want something a little warmer over my top, but not a whole coat.


In Progress Project

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Yup, I’m still working on the Isla scarf. This takes four skeins of yarn, so it’s a long process, but I’m about halfway through the third skein, so the end is nigh!

Reading….

You can see my pile there. I read When Less Becomes More last month, and it’s probably my favorite of Emily’s books to date. My Aunt Mary got me The Dutch House when I was in the hospital and I (sadly) have not started it yet, but it’s the next book I’ll start! A Single Thread was a Christmas gift (early) and that’s after The Dutch House.

(Speaking of books—pre-orders for Living Memento Mori are open…..)

How about you? Are you knitting any Christmas gifts? What are you reading?



Seven Quick Takes--The Medical Saga Endeth (we think)

7 Quick Takes, CF, health, hearing loss, the bookEmily DeArdo1 Comment
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Linking up with Kelly!


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So, here’s a spicy take I wrote this week about Medicare!


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And here’s the follow up:

So, we got the great folks at the CFF involved (they have a team that just looks at insurance stuff). They came to the same conclusion we did: that there really is no plan that covers everything, but that hospitals and doctors and I will make it work. (think Cinderella’s sisters: “I’ll make it fit!”) NCH doesn’t normally have a lot of Medicare people (because, it’s a, um, Children’s hospital), but….”they’ll take it”, says the finance office. (Thank you finance office!)

What I kept hearing from everyone was “well, we haven’t had to deal with this before.” Yes, I am the one that is trail blazing for everyone else. Future generations, YOU ARE WELCOME! I expect copious floral arrangements on my grave and Masses offered after I die. :-p

So, my hospitals are (sort of) covered. My main doctors—as in, the Big Three—are covered. The next issue?

The Prograf (or, THE GRAF).


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The prograf is the med that basically keeps me alive. It keeps my lungs from realizing that they aren’t actually, um, the factory setting. :-D

Now, when I was emailing my nurse about this, she said, “Well, we can always try generic.”

“What do you mean?” quoth I. “Generic doesn’t work for me!”

“Well, the formulation is a lot better now, and the hospital is even considering switching its formulary to the generic,” nurse said.

AH! Well, that would solve problems!

Or….would it????

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So I go to the insurance site. I plug in generic prograf, expecting to see massive cost savings and ease of access!

Hahahaha.

NO.

Generic Prograf is covered—but as a tier 4 med, meaning it’s like, non-preferred, no one wants to use it, and then I see, oh, step therapy may be applied.

Step therapy, for you new people, is when you have to try other drugs first before the company will pay for the med you want.

Yeah, we’re not doing that with the drug that keeps me alive.

So, what we’re going to do is go through prior authoritzation stuff, and we won’t have to pay out the nose, because I qualify for the Medicare Extra Help program (which is a great thing, so kudos there), so we can’t pay more than a certain very low amount.

So.

I have picked a plan. The saga is over. (For this year!)


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In other news, my tree is up, and Susan the Corgi is ready to celebrate….

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And I think I’m doing buying gifts. That’s exciting. :)

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I had my first book interview on Wednesday with the delightful Fr. Patrick, O.P. We talked for forty-five minutes about all sorts of good stuff! The interview probably won’t be up until January, but when it is, I’ll let you know! I’ll be posting all media related to the book on the book’s page. . (And pre-order links, to a variety of retaliers, are there are well! Amazon US, Canada, and UK; Barnes and Noble; Indiebound….)

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Just a note about what Kelly wrote about today—how we tell the stories of the disabled.

One of the things I’ve noticed, especially as the practice euthanasia almost on demand rises, is that people don’t really understand life with a disability, or an illness. They think they do. They imagine the horrors of it.

But honestly, that isn’t the way it works.

When I lost my hearing, it was very gradual, over a period of years. It was gradual. Now, if I’d lost it all at once, yes, that would’ve been traumatic, and highly so.

Did I grieve losing my hearing? Um, yes. A lot.

But when it came to CF stuff, it was gradual. I still enjoyed my life, and I do enjoy my life, even with insanely stressful weeks like this week.

Being disabled makes things harder, but it doesn’t make my life worthless or less.



Why Medicare for All Is a Terrible Idea

health, politicsEmily DeArdo3 Comments
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OK, I know, some of you don’t like political posts.

And this is political, in the sense that, all the candidates who are pushing “Medicare for All” are not candidates that should be voted for, amen.

But, really, this is a look at how Medicare “works”—as someone who is currently going through the incredibly difficult work of selecting a plan.

Here’s why it’s hard:

  1. I take a medication that must be the brand medication. I cannot take the generic because we can’t get what’s called a “therapeutic level” with it. The drug in question? Prograf. The drug that basically keeps me alive. So, I have to take brand name Prograf, which is expensive.

  2. I see all the normal doctors people see—dentist, eye doctor, etc. But I also see special specialists. Meaning, doctors that are not normal run of the mill doctors.

  3. I also see these doctors in two separate hospital systems—The Resort, and OSU (Ohio State).

So, we must find a plan that covers my meds, my doctors, and my hospitals.

Under private insurance, this was not hard at all. I just typed in names and meds, saw they were covered, signed up. Done. It took less than a half hour.

Private insurance did not like to pay for prograf, but it did. And if it didn’t, then the manufacturer had a Prograf saver card I could use to reduce the out of pocket costs.

Now, I have Medicare.

And here are all the problems.

  1. There are plans that refuse to cover prograf. It’s not even in their formulary. It just says, “not covered.” Even though this med is basically what keeps me alive. There are many, many plans who do not cover it in any way, shape, or form.

  2. There are plans that cover the med, but not my doctors. As in, one entire group of plans refuses to cover any OSU doctors. OHIO STATE! One of the top-ranked systems in the country!

These are, to put it mildly, big problems.

My dad and I have spent at least three days—as in, hours upon hours!—on the phone with people, looking at plans on line, until our eyes have crossed and our brains have melted.

Because a plan will cover some of these things—but then we’ll see, oh, there’s no out of pocket max. Well, that’s gonna get expensive, quickly.

They’ll cover my endocrinologist, but not my transplant doctor!

They’ll cover doctors, but not meds!

Or meds, but not doctors or hospitals!

Do we see the problem here?

Oh, and to make it even better, Medicaid will cover Prograf. But Medicare plans don’t!

And the copay card? Doesn’t work for Medicare patients. Only private insurance patients—when Prograf was covered by my private insurance!

This is insanity.

They’ll cover things like acupuncture and chiropractic, but not the med that keeps me alive. Not top doctors at top medical facilities. Nah. That’s too hard.

Also, it’s insanely complicated to compare plans. They don’t always list what doctors are covered, or what meds are covered. They don’t mention facilities. They put in stuff like Silver Sneakers—well, goodie, a free gym pass!—but not stuff that is actually life saving and vital!

How about we not cover gym costs, and instead, cover medications that keep people alive?

Oh, and. This is the good part.

Here’s an NYT story on this issue. Medicare will cover transplant meds if the transplant occurred while the person was on Medicare. NOT BEFORE.

This is the biggest piece of insanity I have ever seen. These are drugs that we know work. They are not new therapies, they’re not snake oil. They are proven. And yet, no, I’m sorry, we won’t cover that.

We have presidential candidates saying that this insanely complicated, twisted, insane system should be the one health care provider for the entire nation?

No.

Or, to be spicy, HELL NO.

Thanksgiving

holidaysEmily DeArdoComment
“Freedom from Want”, Norman Rockwell

“Freedom from Want”, Norman Rockwell

The Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 (with original spellings)

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Seven Quick Takes--My Book's First Picture, Gallbladder test, and more!

7 Quick Takes, writing, the book, Take Up and ReadEmily DeArdo4 Comments
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linking up with Kelly!

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Look at my beautiful baby’s first picture! Thank you Ave Maria Design Department!

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Isn’t she pretty?!

So yeah, I love this a lot. They also made me new graphics for Facebook and Twitter so if you follow me there, you’ll see those lovelies!

THANK YOU to everyone who has pre-ordered! If you want to, go here. (It makes a good Christmas present!!!! It’ll just come later, which extends Christmas joy!)




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So on Monday I had a HIDA scan at OSU East hospital. The test wasn’t terrible. Well, at the time. But it did require an IV—to stay in for a few hours.

Well, that was a lovely piece of information….

It’s also a two part test, which I didn’t know.

So, the first part is: Put in IV (poor guy who had to do it…I was laying on the gurney [which was supremely comfortable! Really!] thinking, if we don’t get access, we can’t do this test….) We got access. It wasn’t very comfortable. I have bruises all over my arms right now, so my veins need a break for like, two weeks, minimum.

Anyway!

So we got the IV in. The contrast was pushed in. Then I went out to waiting room for an hour while the contrast worked. OK .

Came back into the room, took the pictures, took about four minutes. Great.

Then we went to part two: AKA, nap time. (I had woken up at 6 AM for this test. I was ready for a nap.)

This part is the “stress test”. They take was is basically the fat content of an Ensure drink and drip it very very slowly —as in it takes an hour—through the IV. This stresses the gallbladder. Then pictures are taken to see how it is moving through.

So I took a nap, then woke up an hour later when the IV beeped. A nurse came, rolled me back to the scan room, took the photos, took out the IV, and I was free.

I was insanely thirsty because I couldn’t drink anything, so I got some Sprite Zeros from the cafeteria, and Dad and I went to lunch. (He had to drive me, per their rules.)

Fortunately I had some phenergan left over from my previous hospital adventures….

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because over the next few days, my stomach was not happy with the stuff that had been forced into me. So I felt nauseated, tired, and just weird for two days. Sigh. But I feel better now, so I hope that I don’t need to darken a medical doorway for the next few months!




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With the newfound energy, I have written out all my Christmas cards and begun mailing Christmas gifts. I want to mail them early. I also live right down the street from the post office so it makes mailing things and getting more stamps insanely convenient.




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I take Christmas so seriously that I have a gift and card spreadsheet.

Yup. I’m weird.




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If you missed it: my post on how girls need a plan!

And: The Real Lucy Pevensie (whose feast day was last week!)

It’s also St. Cecilia’s Day, so here’s some music! And the poem by Dryden!

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Still looking for an Advent journal? You can get Take Up & Read’s!!!! And it’s on sale RIGHT NOW! (as of this writing, Thursday night. I hope it still is when this goes live!)

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