Seven Quick Takes--Gallbladder Surgery Scheduled, Cheers Throwback, and More!

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Hi, y’all!

So the big news is that I am having gallbladder surgery on September 3. This isn’t actual big news, per se. I mean, yeah, my gallbladder needs to come out, but this is more of “removing a thing that is annoying” vs. “removing something that will make me feel a lot better”, because it really doesn’t bother me that much. And seriously, when you’ve had pancreatitis as much as I’ve had it (at least 10 times), abdominal pain isn’t new. I’ve been dealing with it for 20 years now, and we can’t take out my pancreas. But it is nice to have an annoying thing taken care of, that’s for sure.

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Couple quick notes re: the blog!

I have a newsletter that goes out once a month to subscribers. Subscribers also get special discounts and other goodies. If you’re not a subscriber, fix that here.

Also if you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori—Christmas is coming, people!—email me. They’re $20 and that includes shipping, a bookmark, and a prayer card, both of which were specialyl designed by Ave Maria Press for the book!

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Was sad to see that the Cheers bar in Fanueil Hall Marketplace in Boston is closing—Dad and I went there after my Jeopardy! tryout in 2015.

Some snapshots:

It was a dang good burger! Dad basically ate Boston Clam Chowder whenever he could that weekend. :)

(Quick bit of Cheers and Emily medical history trivia: I was in the ER for a broken wrist the night of the Cheers finale. My softball team was in the playoffs and we’d been practicing. I played third base, and the left fielder and I got into a tussle about the ball. We both went for it, and my wrist hit the ground. I had CF at the time but we didn’t know it, so that’s probably why the wrist broke. But yes, I did play a sport, and we were undefeated in the regular season that year!)

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Speaking of exercise….I found this article to have some good tips. She’s definitely right about making it part of your routine. Starting last month I really focused on creating a good daily routine that works for me. Obviously, it’s still in progress, but this is what I do so far:

• I prep the coffee and my insulin pens the night before—KEY. Even if I do nothing else before I go to bed in terms of cleaning or prep, I do this, because it makes the next morning go much more smoothly.

• In the morning, I switch on the coffee and dose myself with insulin. I have to wait 10 minutes before breakfast (so the insulin can take effect) and while that’s happening…

• I say lauds from the Liturgy of the Hours and read the daily Mass readings.

• After that, 10 minutes is usually up, so I eat breakfast. While I eat breakfast I check my email and social media and do any blog or “business” stuff I want to do that day, like setting up the newsletter or updating a mailing list.

• After that I do my duolingo—I’m learning Italian and Scottish Gaelic!

• And after that, I exercise.

That’s my morning so far! After exercising it’s usually time for lectio, spiritual reading, or a bit of knitting before lunch. Sometimes this is where I do some cleaning/tidying too—I’ll start the dishes if they need it, or the laundry if it needs it.

(I’ll actually write more about this in an upcoming blog post, so keep your eyes peeled. :) )

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This piece, on Fanny Price and Mansfield Park, is basically a shorter version of my undergraduate thesis. Fanny is awesome and more people need to appreciate her! Read Mansfield Park!

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Patty’s blanket is moving along—I’m about done with the first set of four stripes, so YAY! I’ll. have some updated photos for you soon, I hope. :) I keep forgetting to take pictures!

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Have you gone back to Mass/church yet? How is it? I’m thinking about going back because honestly I MISS IT!

Yarn Along #100! --Cardigan sleeves and two finished WIPs!

Garter Graffiti shawl—Ravelry notes here

So, before we get to #emilyknitsacardigan progress, here’s some finished objects!

The first is the Garter Graffiti shawl, featured above, and here’s a closer look at the design:

I loved the yarn. I’d used the Mad Hatter speckled tea party yarn before in another shawl, but the Snowdrop yarn, which is the purple, is amazing. It’s 45% Alpaca, 45% merino, and 10% silk, and it’s wonderful to work with! I ended up with more yarn than the pattern called for and actually ended up using only one skein of the purple (called “ Piece of Rudeness”, isn't that great? They all have Alice In Wonderland inspired names), so I have a whole skein left and I’ll have to ponder what to do with it, because it’s great. Highly recommend!

This is also a great project for a beginner. It’s a great way to learn color work, and the only “tricky” stitch is a KFB (knit front and back) at the beginning of every row. This is a stitch I’ve used a lot in shawl making, so it’s a good one to pick up!

The second is the Puck Scarf, which I made for my friend Kathleen, using Quince’s Ospery in Peaks Ferry. If you’re an OSU fan, this would be great for a Scarlet and Gray themed item, because it’s bright scarlet! The only thing I do differently here is I weave in the ends (why are ends loose, Quince pattern people???)

OK so, onto #emilyknitsacardigan!

The first sleeve is completed, and the second is in progress!

(Ravelry notes here)

I’m glad that I get to do the second sleeve because I can use what I learned from the first one! After this sleeve, it’s on to mattress stitching the pieces together, and then picking up the collar, which you can see here:

From Home and Away

I really like how the cuffs and collar have the garter stitch detail; I think that adds something special to the overall project.

One tip I’d have for a big project like this: print out a clean copy of the pattern or make a copy from the pattern book, so that you can mark it up and make notes and HIGHLIGHT your measurements! It can be confusing seeing all the numbers, so I highlighted the ones for my size so that I knew what to do. I also made notes on the different stitches I needed to do and wrote out how to do them, and other notes as I went along.

And the other project in progress is a baby blanket for my goddaughter Patty!

The pattern is Quince and Co’s Sully, using their willet yarn (which is a Cleaner Cotton, which is better for the environment!) I chose colors haze, regatta, sail, and bowsprit, because I wanted some feminine colors, but ones that weren’t too juvenile, so that she could hold on to this blanket for awhile.

So here you see Haze (the strawberry ice cream pink) with regatta. I really love this pattern and I hope Patty likes it! (Not that she’ll be expressing an opinion for awhile yet!)

Dominicana

Happy Feast of St. Dominic!

Here are some links regarding Dominican life I’ve written over the years:

Why I’m A Dominican

St. Dominic, The Innkeeper, and Twenty-First Century Preaching (which I wrote last year, but is super relevant right now!)

A Day In the Life of A Lay Dominican

Seven Quick Takes: Bioethics and Knitting!

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Hi! Tomorrow is St. Dominic’s Day! YAYYYY!

The Virgin Mary with St. Dominic and St. Hyacinth

So pray the rosary today, because the DOMINICANS GOT IT FROM MARY. :) One of the reasons I love being a Dominican!

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Sometimes I talk about bioethics here. Today is a crash course.

One of the things I get a lot of is, “Does the Church [The Catholic Church] permit organ transplants and organ donation?”

Quick answer: Yes.

“What about from brain dead people?” (aka, neurological criteria)

Answer: yes

This…is a point of contention for some Catholics.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center talks about this all in detail. Here, to make it one-stop shopping, I am listing the following for you!:

organ donation: Church documents, Ethics & Medics, FAQ and Summaries, podcasts, Press Releases and News, Statements, book store items

the most important, and probably useful thing, to most of you, is this: FAQ On the Determination of Death Using Neurological Criteria.

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So, if you don’t want to read all that…..cut and paste!

What is brain death?

“Brain death” refers to the medical judgment that a person is dead, determined by neurological criteria. Properly diagnosed, brain death means the complete cessation of all organized neurological activity throughout the entire brain, including the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem. When all brain activity has ceased, the body irrevocably ceases to function as a unified whole. The appropriate phraseology here is “the determination of death using neurological criteria.”

It is appropriate to use this criteria?

The customary criteria for determining death are "cardio-pulmonary," i.e., death is declared after breathing and heart-beat cease. Technological advancements in critical care, however, have made continued circulation and respiration possible through mechanical means even after brain function has ceased. The use of neurological criteria for the determination of death can be legitimate according to the Catholic Church. In an address he gave to the [18th International Conference of Organ Transplant Specialists][1] in August 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II observed that their application, if rigorous, “does not seem to conflict with the essential elements of a sound anthropology.” He further stated that “a health-worker professionally responsible for ascertaining death can use these criteria in each individual case as the basis for arriving at that degree of assurance in ethical judgement which moral teaching describes as ‘moral certainty.’ This moral certainty is considered the necessary and sufficient basis for an ethically correct course of action.” Neurological criteria consist of three basic signs: deep coma or unarousable unresponsiveness, absence of cerebral and brain stem reflexes, and apnea. Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II both said the Church has no competency in determining death; this properly belongs to medical science. [1]: http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2000/jul-sep/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20000829_transplants.html

Can a Catholic receive an organ transplant?

Yes, a faithful Catholic may receive organs from a donor who is declared dead by neurological criteria. A faithful Catholic may also make provisions for the donation of his own organs in the event of his death whether it is determined by cardio-pulmonary or neurological criteria. Reasonable doubts about the rigor with which the determination of death would be made, however, may warrant caution.

Now, note that last part. In some places, like China, organ harvesting takes place in, um, less that salubrious ways. (To put it REALLY mildly.) So yeah, if you’re in a. place where there was be questions about this…..then yes. You can ask. You can say you don’t want a transplant.

I can say, myself, that if the Church said no to transplants, I would not have gotten one. Full stop. End of discussion. I’m dead serious. (Really, dead serious, because I would’ve…been dead! Oh, my black humor sometimes.)

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OK I think we’re done with the serious now. :) But yes, the Church, like the rabbi said in Fiddler on the Roof, has a position on everything! :)

(In Fiddler, it’s, “Rabbi, Is there a blessing for the Czar?” “There is a blessing for everything my son!…May God bless and keep the czar….far away from us!” )

Check the Catechism. In fact, you do have a Catechism at home, right????? (Because seriously, you should.)

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I didn’t do a yarn along this week, but next week! Yarn! But here’s a peek at Patty’s baby blanket….

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If you want a signed book, email me; they’re $20 and include a book mark, prayer card, AND shipping! It’s time to start thinking about Christmas! :) :) I also have an ebook!

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Book club is still happening! My BGLs have been nuts so it’s sort of thrown off the schedule, but it you want to jump in, you can! All the previous videos are on my Facebook page. On Tuesday we’ll be meeting at 3:00 EST!

Seven Quick Takes--bits and pieces AND FOOD

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So I made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen his week. If you’re like me, you want to eat more veggies but you don’t want to make “salad” or, when it’s this hot, roast vegetables. So this one is perfect! It’s a great side and it literally takes about 10 minutes to prep. I did get sumac from the store in a tiny container—I’ve seen other recipes that use it but that’s fairly rare. But, since I like this recipe, I might have to invest in a larger container of sumac!

I also made chicken gyro salad for lunch yesterday. This is another way to eat more veggies and healthy things and it’s easy. I don’t have a grill, so I prepped the chicken the night before, and then set my oven to 350 and cooked the chicken for 30 minutes. I also used plain ol’ chicken breasts instead of the thighs the recipe called for and didn’t use pitas, but I used pita chips to serve with the tzatziki (which is one of my favorite summer snacks and so good for you!)

(If you’re bored, click the Surprise Me! button on the smitten kitchen website [at the top] and see what fun things pop up!)

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Since St. Martha’s feast day was on Wednesday, I give you: St. Martha and the Dragons

(Really, St. Martha needs more love!)

Vermeer, Christ in the house of Mary and Martha

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As you’re reading this, I might be receiving sacraments! A good friend of mine is a Dominican friar and while he’s home for vacation, he offered to bring me the Eucharist and hear my confession, and also give me anointing of the sick (because why not?). So I was insanely grateful because I have not had any sacraments since March, which is the longest I’ve gone without them in my life. (Yes, lots of italics, sorry not sorry.) So I am very, very thankful for his offer! Right now, the diocese is “still working” on how to bring sacraments to people like me….apparently it’s hard? (I know we want to be safe vis-a-vis the virus, but….it’s also very hard to go without the sacraments!)

Here in Ohio the requirement to attend Mass is still abrogated until September (not sure of the date, I think it’s mid-September?). I do want to go back and I keep thinking about it. What I might do is go every other week, to start? Or once a month? Not sure. Or maybe every three weeks. I like every two weeks better, honestly… and with social distancing and mask wearing and no sign of peace, this is actually safer for me probably than a normal Mass!

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Next week in the Yarn Along there will be a cardigan update! Yay! And also details on this guy…

Isn’t she pretty?

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I’m also re-doing the watercolor class I took a few years ago. Since I have all this time, I might as well use it, right? Fortunately I have a lot of paints here (So I don’t have to go out to top up my palette!) and a sketchbook that’s mostly free—I don’t buy tons of sketchbooks at a time, so I generally only have the one I’m currently using. It’s also a nice way to deepen my watercolor and sketching skills. I’d also like to take the teacher’s foundational sketching class, but I gotta save up for that.

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Reading: working on Pride and Prejudice. I haven’t been reading much lately which is a total BOO EMILY moment! I’m thinking Friday night will be a Pride and Prejudice read night. I did read Sense and Sensibility earlier this month, and Mansfield Park will be next up after P&P.

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HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!! The Pens had an exhibition game on Tuesday—which they lost, but I don’t care because hockey is back— and they play the Canadiens in a best of five series starting Saturday. The Blue Jackets play Boston in an exhibition tonight, and they play Montreal starting Sunday. Basically, the NHL is gonna be like March Madness, and it’s gonna be glorious.

via GIPHY

Seven Quick Takes--Trust Verses

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A slightly different 7QT than usual….

First, what I wrote this week:

“Comparisons are Odious”

A Wednesday Notebook on a Monday!

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Botticelli, “Madonna of the Book”

OK so the first piece—on comparisons—is sort of what inspired this entry. There’s a lot of stress going around. A Lot of worry. And I know about worry and stress. BUT I am also a big believer in the fact that we need to trust in God and His good provision and plan for us.

So this week I want to give you some Bible verses on Trust. Some of these I will make up into pretty things you can download! But I have a doctor appt. .today that I have to get ready for, so for right now, you’re getting the verses and that’s that. :)

Some of these are also hope-tinged—the relationship of trust and hope is a tight one.

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This first one is my favorite, and what really inspired me to begin having wholehearted trust in God:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

—Romans 15:13, NIV

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Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?…No, in all those things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, not powers, not heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Romans 8:35, 37-39

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

-Proverbs 3:5-6

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 This I know, that God is for me.
 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
 in God I trust; I am not afraid.
    What can a mere mortal do to me?

Psalm 56:9-11

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 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 29: 11-14

And bonus tip on something I’ve learned? That when we pray, pray for God’s will to be done. Because as we see here, his plan is better than anything we can come up with. Even if we want something good, it might not be in God’s plan for us to have it.

I hope these verses give you some restored trust and hope during this crazy time!

"Comparisons are odious"

“Smelling a rose”, Waterhouse

Have you read Madeleine L’Engle’s Austin family series? If not, get to it.

One of the things the characters say to each other frequently is, “Comparisons are odious.”

And they are.

I remember before my transplant how I used to talk to my therapist and say things like, “Oh, all my friends are going off to get their masters or going to law school and getting apartments and I’m just stuck at my parents’!”

I felt so stuck. I was angry that I was stuck waiting. I wasn’t happy about it.

But.

In hindsight, I have seen that things worked out the best way they could. The best way possible, really. I have no college debt. I have my own place now that I love. As usual, God knew what He was about, but I, er usual, didn’t, because I can’t see what He sees.

One of the things I am glad has not happened to me is that I have not become bitter. We can “rage against the dying of the light”, but bitterness is poison that ruins your life. Comparison is a great way to let bitterness into your veins.

Your life is your life. It’s not anyone else’s. You have no idea what God is going to do with your life. There have been many times when I have been frustrated or angry, but those moments pass, and I realize that God knows the plan, even if I don’t. (Sometimes it takes a LONG TIME for those moments to pass!)

I wanted very much to be married and to have my own children. That has not happened, and I will never be able to have children. At least, biologically. This has been a cross. I talk about it in my book.

But if I allowed this to become bitterness and envy, that would poison me. It would make me less Christ-like and a worse Christian.

There are losses we have that should be grieved. There are things that happen that we cannot change, and we wish we could. It’s healthy to say, I wanted this, and it is good, and it will not happen.

BUT

To look at other people’s lives and say, I want what THEY have….is looking a book you know nothing about and not reading it. You don’t know what their marriage is like, what their kids are like, what their finances are like, etc. You only see the outside.

And you also have no idea what God has planned for either of you.

We will all suffer losses. We will all suffer pain. It’s life.

But God created you, and your circumstances, particularly to fulfill a special place on this planet. No one else can do what you can uniquely do.

I have seen a lot of bitter CF folk. They hate CF. They curse it. They wish their lives were different.

But to have a different life is….to not be you.

And I would never wish myself out of existence.

Even in the hard places, your life was created by God to do something specific in His plan.

As Galadriel said in Lord of the Rings, “This task was appointed to you, Frodo of the Shire. And if you do not find a way, no one will.”

In a vision, Galadriel helps Frodo while in Shelob’s cave.

Your tasks are appointed to you. No one else.

It’s fine to be angry and upset—but only for awhile. Otherwise, bitterness will eat away at you and poison you and those around you.

Envy is a deadly sin for a reason.

Remember that you can’t see everything. When I’m knitting and I start on a pattern, I don’t see the end. When I’ve been working on my cardigan there are times I’ve gone, this cannot be right.

But as the pieces come together, I see. I see what the designer saw.

Why do we trust knitwear designers more than God?

If there’s one thing I want people to get out of reading my book, it’s that darkness does not last, and even in it, Jesus is with you.

Don’t give in to darkness, to envy, to despair.

Have courage. And remember St. Thomas More, who wrote this to his daughter Meg shortly before he was beheaded on Tower Green:

Bits and Pieces for Monday (A Wednesday Notebook on a Monday)

I didn’t do my normal 7QT post because I’m doing a ‘staycation’ and I didn’t really have anything to write about, so I thought I’d check in on Monday and give you more of a bits and pieces/notebook on a Monday.

(Staycation-staying in my house….but doing things I enjoy along with things that need done, and mostly staying off SM!)

• I love Vermeer, so this story which goes in-depth into the painter’s “View of Delft” was a fun read for me. Scientists figuring out exactly where Vermeer painted the scene from, how cool!

• I took a short break from the Cardigan Project to knit up a really quick shawl, featuring yarn I’d gotten over Memorial Day weekend. It’s very easy —just basic KFB at the beginning of every other row, and all garter stitch. The yarn I’m using, from Frabjous Fibers, is insanely fun and delightful. Ravelry notes here. (Sorry, no picture, but soon!)

• Unlike some folks, I am a huge Andrew Lloyd Webber fan, probably because the first musical I fell in love with was The Phantom of the Opera. So I signed up for the Broadway HD channel on Prime Video, and I finally saw Cats—which, OK, really does not have more than the barest plot, so I was a bit….confused….when I first saw it. Second viewing was better. (And seriously, as a child of the 80s, “Memory” holds a big place in my musical psyche. My grandparents had the sheet music and I remember playing it on their piano many times.)
  
  I also watched Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (with Donny Osmond, very cute, why don’t more community theaters do this, it’s FABULOUSSS).
  
  I haven’t seen Jesus Christ Superstar onstage (Or in a stadium, as ALW intended), so that’s up next. The channel isn’t all “movie” versions—a lot of them look to be recorded live version or recorded theater versions without an audience (like Cats—this is not the 2019 one!).
  
  And yes, I love the music for Jesus Christ Superstar—I actually first heard it on my parents’ two album recording—all four sides, baby! I dimly remember seeing the film version at my friend Anne’s house when we were freshmen in high school, and since I don’t remember much of it I must not have thought it was that great! But I do love the music.
  
  

• It’s been so hot that cooking has defeated me, but then I remembered a recipe from Magnolia Table Volume 2……Greek Pasta salad. The only think you have to cook is the pasta and it’s served COLD. Heavenly delights! And so good it’s well worth the cost of the book. Farfalle pasta, rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, basil….I change the recipe by adding cherry tomatoes cut in half as opposed to the recommended stewed tomatoes, and I add 6 oz of feta, not 4, because in my world more feta is better. It’s SO GOOD. And it serves so many, you can eat it for lunch for a week if you’re a singleton like me (not even kidding.).
  
  

• From my sketchbook….I saw the Canticle of Zechariah antiphon for the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and then had to sketch it. This is one of the view times I’d done direct watercolor and I really like how it turned out!

And congratulations, Princess Beatrice!

Her dress is a vintage Norman Hartnell from the queen’s collection, and the tiara is the Queen Mary Fringe tiara, also on loan from the queen. Only married women can wear tiaras, so that’s one reason for the excitement surrounding the first time a royal bride wears one. That, and seeing all the goodies from the queen’s vault!

More photos here—you can see the dress better in these photos. It’s one the queen wore to the opening of parliament back in the day, and Beatrice has had the Anne of Green Gables-ish puff sleeves added to it. The tiara that she’s wearing is the same one Queen Elizabeth wore on her own wedding day!

(And seriously, why don’t more of the queen’s granddaughters raid her closets?! She must have so many gorgeous vintage dresses in there!)

Seven Quick Takes--Fifteen years, and a signed book sale!

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On the blog this week:

COVID and lung function!

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The big news is that it’s my fifteenth transplant anniversary!

via GIPHY

Fifteen years, folks!

As I write this, 15 years ago it was my last day with my “old” (or factory original?) model lungs. It was a long, hot, HOT day. (Hot like this summer has been hot) I woke up feeling very, very, tired and very beat. I ended the day feeling….well, mixed feelings.

It’s always mixed feelings, right? Because for me to live, Suzanne—my donor—died. She died of a brain aneurysm and her brother gave the OK for her organs to be donated, and she saved my life.

I will repeat the call I repeat every year. If you are not an organ donor, please, be one? Every major religion supports organ donation. (Yes, including the Catholic Church….) If you have any questions, here are some FAQs.

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Here’s a list of what’s happened in fifteen years:

Both my siblings got married

My parents celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary, and my grandma turned 90!

My godson graduated from college

I have a new goddaughter!

I wrote a book…..(more on a special sale a bit further down)

I’ve been able to do some pretty awesome theater

I’ve made new friends and traveled to new places

I did that Jeopardy thing

I’ve traveled to lots of states—traveling was so hard pre-transplant!

I became a Lay Dominican

I wrote an ebook

I’ve spent time with people—family, friends, new family and new friends!

And really, time is the important thing. That’s the gift.

Winning trivia night

My first hockey playoff game!!! (And they won!)

Me and Di at Christmas

Visiting Williamsburg has definitely been one of my favorite things. And learning to knit with the wool of these sheep!

Mel and I on the beach on Galveston

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OK, so not 7 today, four but we’ll end with: SIGNED BOOK SALE!

Until Sunday at midnight EST (7/12/20), I’m selling SIGNED copies of Living Memento Mori for $15! That’s $5 off the regular price. You get shipping, inscription of your choice (as in I’ll dedicate it to someone or to you!), and a specially designed prayer card and bookmark!

Want one? Email me!

Have a great weekend everyone!

COVID and Lung Function (ie, you can recover lung function!)

One of the things I keep seeing about COVID is that people recover but have a loss of lung function. And every time I see this, I roll my eyes.

Here’s why.

(For new folks: I have CF, I had a double lung transplant 15 years ago. Pulmonary issues are my bag.)

So, let’s talk about lung funciton.

There are actually different types of lung function, but the type most people are probably talk about it spirometry, which is how much air your lungs can hold, and how much you can blow out in a second. It diagnoses various things and it can tell how much function you have—ie, how many liters of air you can get in your lungs, ie, a percentage.

So, right now, my lung function is about 54%. For me, this is good. This is where I’ve been pretty much since transplant.

Lungs are essentially really strong balloons. If you have normal lungs (ie, not CF lungs), then when you get sick with something like pneumonia, you do lose some lung function. For example, when I had pneumonia a few years ago, my lung function dropped to about 30%. Now, it’s not at 30%—it’s at 54%. Your lungs do recover, just like any other cells in your body. Damaged cells out, new cells in.

As you get older, obviously, this process slows down, and if you’re a smoker, you’re ruining your lungs all the time, STOP IT.

For something like COVID, yes, you will lose lung function initially. We don’t know enough about it to see if this lasts permanently, but my guess is that it doesn’t. Lungs do take awhile to recover. They just do. It’s part of their charm. (Not.) But unless you have CF, which impedes the lungs from healing, then you’re going to be fine, eventually. And even my old, crappy CF lungs recovered to an extent, even after I’d been in a medically induced coma, on a ventilator, for two weeks.

So, if my old crappy lungs could do that, yours can too!

Losing lung function is not the end of the world. Even with 21% lung function, I was in college, I double majored, I had an internship. You can live on it. The problem for a lot of you will be that you’re used to having really good lung function and suddenly it’s gone.

It will—most likely—come back. You have to be patient with the process.

So when I see people freaking about losing lung function, I want to tell them to relax. It will come back. The fact that you’re alive is a miracle, to quote Hamilton. You can get lung function back. It does happen—pretty much all the time, folks. There are also things like pulmonary rehab, which can help you gain back lung function via exercise. There are ways!

So, if you get COVID and you recover, your lungs will recover too. Give them time.

Seven Quick Takes--Welcome July!!!!! (And a baby!!!)

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Welcome, July!!!!

Fireworks at Colonial Williamburg

Gosh, I’m so glad we’re in July. Yayyyy July!

So much to talk about today!!!

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OK first, WELCOME TO MY NEW GODDAUGHTER!

Patricia Mary

6/30/20

7 lbs 15 oz.

She’s my cousin’s daughter, and my first goddaughter! She was born on our grandma’s 90th birthday, and, coincidentially, has the same name as our Grandmother—full name, I mean. The Patricia was for my grandmother, but the Mary is also our grandmother’s middle name!! So how nice is that? Grandma got a pretty awesome present!

You can’t tell in the photos, but she’s a ginger, like her mom!

So she’s been in the hospital for a few days because they had to make sure she tested negative for COVID after a few tests. She’s passing with flying colors though so yay! My cousin can nurse her but she has to gown up because she actually tested positive for COVID—even though she has no symptoms. BIZARRE.

Anyway, I hope by the time this is live, they’re able to go home!

She’s the fifth child in my cousin’s family. They have two daughters—Susie and Bridget—and two boys—Frankie and Johnny. Bridget, in particular, is very happy to have another sister!

So, yes, as her godmother, I am going to spam you all with photos of her because that is my job as godmother.

(And to spoil her rotten….)

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(OK she’s ADORABLE, RIGHT?!?!!?)

I already have a godson, who will be 23 this year. So I’m really happy to have another godbaby, and my first goddaughter. It’s so fun to spoil the littles. Not that I couldn’t spoil my godson, but it’s harder since he’s all grown up and I can’t pay him $1 to see if he knows his prayers anymore. :) He recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh (A semester early!), so yes, I am insanely proud of him too. :)

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So it’s Fourth of July Weekend! I recommend watching Gettysburg, John Adams, and 1776! (SIT DOWN, JOHN!)

via GIPHY

Also reading John Adams, The Killer Angels, and 1776 are great reads for July, especially the latter. For kids, the Felicty series from American Girl is great for learning about colonial history, and I also really like the Revolutionary War series from Laurie Halse Anderson, told from the perspective of a young slave girl, Isabel, and her friend, Curzon. This is fabulous trilogy: Chains, Forge, and Ashes. (and these are also great books for adults, too! Anderson is a great writer.) Learning history is so important and fiction is a great way to spark interest and learn things!

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Also, reading the Declaration of Independence is a good idea….

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I’ve never been a huge fireworks person, but I did top this with a picture of the CW fireworks because….awesome, right?

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And finally, if you missed the posts from this week, here they are:

There are sleeves on the cardigan!

Glorious Scars

A New Review of Living Memento Mori!

Yarn Along #99: Emily Knits A Cardigan--Sleeves!

Previous posts in this series:

The Back is Done

Update!

Emily Knits A Cardigan

My notes on ravelry

June has been busy in cardigan land! I managed to knit both front pieces and learned how to M1L, which was not a lot of fun but now I’ve got it and I am proud. They lay sort of oddly so it’s hard to see here how they fit, but you can see the place where the sleeves will go. All around the cardigan border will be a garter stitch collar.

Above you can see the three pieces together; they’re not lined up appropriately yet, so it’s a rough estimate of what it looks like! (especially the front on the right, just go with it! )

So now I have begun the sleeves! YAY SLEEVES! These have a nice garter stitch cuff detail that I like.

Garter stitch cuff

So the sleeves increase every six rows, on both sides, gradually getting bigger, and then I shape the raglan and it gradually gets smaller, to fit in with the pieces you see above.

After both sleeves are done, then it’s time to SEAM!!!!

I am actually really excited about this, can you tell?

As to what I’m reading….

I got The Ten Thousand Doors of January after Christmas, because it was on sale at B&N (see the sticker? :) ), and yes , I’m just now reading it. Quarantine (which for me is going on and on and on, like the Journey song) is giving me time to read all the books I have stockpiled! This book starts off….oddly. I’m hoping it sort of evens out and we get into a groove, because right now it’s the main character, January, reading a book about someone else who discovered these doors (portals?)…so yeah. It’s sort of weird but I’m hopeful! (really, it’s that gorgeous cover that sucked me in. Well that, and 50% off.)

Glorious Scars

Caravaggio, “The Incredulity of St. Thomas”, oil on canvas, 1601-1602.

For my spiritual reading, I’m re-reading Fulton Sheen’s Life of Christ. And as I was reading yesterday, I came across this great bit:

Satan never has and never will appear with scars.

And this struck me so deeply, and I’ll tell you why.

I talk about this in my book (in the epilogue)—the idea that Christ has glorious scars, that we see, in His glory, the scars of His crucifixion and the things he has endured. The hymn “Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending” talks about this:

With what rapture

With what rapture

With what rapture

Gaze we on those glorious scars!

But we don’t like scars, right? We try to cover them up or remove them or have them lasered away, because they’re imperfect, they’re ugly, they’re not pretty.

But they’re also signs that we survived. Chris Cleave, in his novel Little Bee, writes that scars don’t form on dead people. Scars are signs of life. And they are.

I have a lot of scars, in a lot of places. But they’re signs of life. Just like Christ’s are, they’re signs of triumph in battle, of overcoming, of survival and glory.

Satan doesn’t have scars, because he doesn’t fight the battle. He causes the battle.

Christ fought the battle and won. Thomas poked his fingers into the scars and saw them and believed.

To me, scars aren’t ugly. They’re glorious. And they’re glorious for Jesus, too.

(Here’s my favorite version of “Lo He Comes”—by the Dominican student brothers of the Province of St. Joseph. You can get the CD here. )

A new review of Living Memento Mori

Hi, everyone!

I wanted to share with you a lovely blog post about Living Memento Mori from my SM pal Therese Zoe Williams, which she put up over at her blog.

Go check it out!

Reminder that if you’d like a signed copy, email me. They’re $20 and include shipping and book goodies! Signed book plates are $3 and also include goodies!

If you’re a priest or religious, also email me for a discounted price! :)

Seven Quick Takes--the June Finish Line!!!!

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OK so first, here’s a lovely interview I did with my friend and fellow author Andrea Green Burton!

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Oh my goodness folks. It’s been Doctor Month around here, but I am so glad to be done. Done done DOOOOOONE!

A picture of the New Resort!

Behold, the NEW RESORT.

My new clinic is beneath the walkway bridge you see in this photo on the left. Hi clinic! :)

So, last week I had my first round of Yearly Transplant Testing at the new resort. This was not here, it was at another building slightly off campus. (OSU is very very large)

Here’s what I had done:

PFTs—spirometry (aka, basic PFTs where we check how much lung function I have), a gas diffusion test (which tells you how various gasses diffuse in my lungs and such) and another test called “the box” (where you sit…in a box), and to be honest I’m not entirely sure what that does. I want to say it measures tidal volume or something like that, but I only do it once a year, so….

I met a new respiratory tech (RTs). She was nice. At the time I didn’t know this, but now I know that my PFTs and chest X-rays and blood work will all be happening at this building, so I ‘ll probably get very familiar with the RTs, infusion nurses (because blood work=port access=infusion clinic!), and radiologists here! The building is pretty nice, and it has food, so that’s a good thing, and free parking.

Anyway, PFTs were fine/good. So yay there.

The Six Minute Walk, which I was sort of dreading. Basically a course of a certain length in a hallway is marked and you just walk around the two cones that mark the ends, doing laps for six minutes while your oxygen saturation (sats) are checked via a pulse ox. I was i the normal range, hallelujah!!!! I was really nervous about this test because, you know, haven’t really been getting out all that much….

Then I had a CT scan, which was fine except for two things—one, they had me move on my stomach for some of them, which was uncomfy because I’m a stomach breather and so I couldn’t really hold my breath that well or that long and they kept doing them back to back, so I couldn’t really catch my breath, and two, they just shoved me back out in the hospital without letting me stop to put my bra back on. WEIRD.

So I had to go into the bathroom and, you know, get dressed again. (I had my shirt on, just not my bra. So, weird.)

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OK so after this, I went to another building for the cardiology tests. I was really early—we were booking it today—but once they adjusted to a patient being early, they took me early. I had an ECHO which I loathe with all my being because it HURTS having someone push a transducer INTO YOUR RIBS. For a half hour!

But we ended the day with an EKG, which was fine. Both these tests were fine. SO YAY WINNING AT LIFE.

via GIPHY

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And then I went and got lunch at a French cafe and sketched! (Yes, I wore a mask. There was no one in the dining room. Everyone was out on the patio or in the little bar because it was a really nice day, so I had the whole dining room to myself and I sketched and had quiche lorraine and a chocolate croissant and it was LIFE.)

via GIPHY

See? NO ONE AROUND. Also social distancing markers!!!!

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OK so, that was Friday, which was also my daddy’s birthday. And then mom’s birthday was on Monday. So here are my cute parents:

and their 41st wedding anniversary is on Tuesday! And that’s also my grandma’s NINETIETH birthday!!!!!

(here’s grandma)

At my sister’s wedding last year in Estes Park, CO.

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OK so lots of parties.

Anyway, yesterday, I had my first appointment at the new lung transplant clinic (pictured above!). It was my same doctor, which was great, and my new coordinator is really nice, so I think we’ll get along just great.

The clinic is….weird. Actually, OSU itself is sort of weird, in that it has these programs, but then it doesn’t have ancillary services that they need. Like, they have a ton of immunocompromised patients, because they have a huge cancer center and transplant section, but there’s no special waiting room for us in the ER.

via GIPHY

So, yeah. Why.

Also, the waiting room is basically in the hospital’s atrium, which also makes me go…..why. That doesn’t seem awesome. It’s also incredibly noisy so it makes it very hard for the hearing impaired like moi!

ANYWAY.

Eventually I will adjust to these things.

So the way it works now is I will still be seen every three months. Clinics are in the afternoon, so a few days before my appointment I’ll go to the other offices in the AM for blood draws, PFTs, and chest x-rays (CXRs). Then I have clinic. And we’ll go from there. I do sort of like not having both on the same day.

I will also meet at least one other doctor in the clinic so that someone else has met me and is familiar with all my specialness! :)

(See: CF. Menopause. CI that counter indicates MRIs. Port. Hearing loss! Anemia! Weird diabetes!)

We asked questions, we got answers, and Dad went with me too so he has also met the new folk and seen the clinic.

Also, there is plentiful parking at this location! YAY!!!!! (and it’s free for patients! DOUBLE YAY!)

So now, I’m done with doctor appointments until like, September, and I rejoice in this, and will now take a long weekend to recover from all the madness of the past month! :)

An Interview with Andrea Green Burton

I’m such a bad book blogger!

My friend and fellow author Andrea Green Burton interviewed me about Living Memento Mori months ago, and I never posted it, and wow, I am terrible! :)

But, I’m posting it today! Andrea asked me some great questions and I had a lot of fun doing this. I hope you enjoy reading our conversation!

(Also, check out her other blog posts—she’s working on a historical fiction novel now and it’s fabulous!)

Seven Quick Takes--Doctor Week

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OK so, this isn’t really going to be a quick takes, I don’t think, it’s really going to be more of a “this is what happened in Emily’s world!” this week. :)

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MONDAY

I contacted my endocrinologist b/c I think, per usual, that we changed too many things about my insulin at one time and it was MAKING ME CRAZY.

Really. It was “Emily hates the world for no apparent reason and also WANTS TO CRY FOR NO APPARENT REASON.”

Not fun.

So yeah, we made a few small tweaky things—as in, we’re just slowing down the insulin train. Hopefully that will help. (And will also help my weight….sigh….because yeah, I HATE gaining weight b/c of insulin adjustments. HATE IT.

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Time to visit my ENT!

While in the waiting room, I snapped this picture!

First, yes, those are lovely old school Resort face masks, because TEDDY BEARS!!!!

Second, that’s how you wear a mask! It must cover your nose! It must adjust to your face!

Please don’t be stupid. If you’re gonna wear a mask, wear it properly.

Anyway, the ENT was fine. Thank goodness, because I’d had a sinus infection during all this and apparently it left nothing but a little bit of “debris” (his word) that we got rid of. Yay!

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Wednesday: Dermatologist! Apparently she wants me to use some sort of cream on my arms. So I’m waiting for that to be delivered, but the good news is that we didn’t see any sort of new skin cancers, so yay there!

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Today was book club. I’ve also been really sore all week because of the new workout I’m doing. It’s ROUGH. I mean it’s hard cardio, so the legs are adjusting, but cranky.

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And finally, (so 6, not 7, takes) tomorrow I have all my yearly transplant tests at the New Resort and I’m a little nervous about that. One, because I don’t know if people will take off their masks to talk to me. Two, I’ll have to explain all sorts of things to these people. Like, my PFTs are generally a little weird. They’ve always been that way. Etc. Third, I’ve actually had respiratory techs yell at me because I haven’t been able to do the tests “properly”. Um…..I’m doing the best I can here!!!!!! So yeah, I’m afraid of new techs.

The tests will take all day (full PFTs, 6 minute walk test—UGH, dreading this—a CT scan, and then an EKG and an Echo.). Afterwards I head to my parents’ so we can celebrate my dad’s birthday!

So that’s it from around here! How are you doing?

Seven Quick Takes--June Is Bustin' Out All Over

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Since it’s Corpus Christi this weekend….

Gosh I love Corpus Christi! Of course I’m not going back to Mass yet. So I’ll have to celebrate at home. I might go back to Mass in July. I have a doctor appointment later this month and we’ll talk about those things.

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From the blog this week

Heart Note

I’ve stopped the Wednesday Notebooks—did you like them? Because I can bring them back. Let me know in the comments!

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Also, one of my perennial favorite posts: The Real Lucy Pevensie

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So this week is sort of the “calm before the storm” in a sense. I had nothing scheduled all week. I’ve enjoyed it. :) Next week, however, it gets a little crazy: I see my ENT on Tuesday and I’m really happy about that because man, do things need checked and cleaned out. I see my dermatologist on Wednesday. And on Friday, I have my yearly transplant tests, but they’re at the New Center, so it’ll be….interesting. I mean the tests are all tests I’ve done before. But it’s new people and a new setting and I have no idea how The Mask Thing will go—because usually, medical professionals take them off so I. can understand them. Will that fly here? No idea. Sigh. I’m a little nervous about that.

Friday is also my dad’s birthday! And then my BIL’s birthday is on the 21st, and Mom’s is on the 22nd, and their anniversary (Mom and Dad’s) is the 30th, and that’s also my grandma’s 90th birthday!!! (And my sister and BIL have their anniversary on Saturday!)

whew!

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The week after I have my first appointment at the New Center. Same doctor, but a much larger team—with more doctors as well, so it’ll really be like my old CF center, where you have multiple docs but there’s one who usually follows you. I will report back on how this goes.

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I’m also adjusting my insulin, and wow, whenever I adjust it, my body gets cranky. I had some sort of bug on Tuesday this week, so that’s why no book club. And I’m hungry. Which is normal when you adjust insulin but it doesn’t make me any happier to know that it’s normal!

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Finally some book business!

If you would like a signed copy: They are $20. Email me here. The price includes shipping and book gooides!

If you have a copy and would like a signed book plate, those are $3. Again, email me. You also get book goodies.

I also have an ebook, Catholic 101, that is $5!

Book Club is on THURSDAY next week because of the various doctor appointments. :) So Thursday at 3:00 on my Facebook Writer Page. Previous book club videos are also there, so you can catch up to your heart’s content!

Heart note

(There have been a few—very few—times in my life when I’ve internally felt that God wanted me to write something. This is one of those times. I’ve lightly edited the post, to remove typos. )

As I write this, it’s 8:00 on Sunday evening. The sun is going down and turning leaves to gold. Sunsets in my part of the world are beautiful. The herb garden on my porch is in shadow. I’m listening to piano music and I’ve just gotten out of the tub, so I’m in my pajamas and a deep pine colored robe that my sister got all the bridesmaids for her wedding last June.

I think everyone has hard months in their year. I know for one friend of mine, it’s February. TS Elliot said that April was the cruelest month. For me—and it’s taken me a few years to realize this—it’s June.

I didn’t really notice this until about three or four years ago, but I was always tetchy in June. I was angry, sad, depressed—I just wanted to be away from everyone. I felt sad for no reason. June was—and is—hard.

But now that I’ve thought about it, I think it’s because it was the month before my transplant. It was a month I spent in the hospital, on the knife edge of death. My body was so worn out that I slept most of the time, and the nurses and doctors didn’t even tell me to eat or schedule PT. Looking back, that was a huge red flag. It was like everyone really knew what was going on but me. I had just finished working my first state budget in the Senate. I thought I was just tired. But really, I was very close to dying.

So June has seared itself on my brain and in my body as a rough month. It was a very prolonged near-death experience and I don’t think I’m being dramatic to say that. I had the daily energy to brush my teeth and maybe get dressed. That was it, most days.

June is a lovely month, with a lot of celebration in it—both my parents’ birthdays, my grandmother’s birthday, my sister’s wedding anniversary, and my parents’ wedding anniversary.

But it’s also really hard for me.

And right now, it seems to be extra hard for all of us.

A former priest from my parish wrote this letter in his parish’s bulletin, and as I read it, I kept thinking, yes. Yes. This is what I’ve been wanting to say and had no idea how to say it.

Normally in this month I ask for—and get—a lot of grace from my people. I usually up my dose of anti-anxiety medication in June. I give myself lots of grace. By the time July rolls around, I feel better.

What I’m suggesting is that we all give each other, right now, lots of grace.

*

The reason I chose the art at the top of this post is because when I write here, I write like I talk. I write to you like I would talk to you if you were here at Orchard House and we were sitting at my table having tea or coffee or cocoa. I’m not trying to impress you with my words and logic. I’m just talking, sharing myself with you. That’s what I’m doing now. I’m sharing these thoughts that have been in my heart for the past eight days, and longer.

It is OK to be quiet, to think, to withdraw and not know what to do or what is going on. Jesus did this, often, in the Gospels. I know that’s a somewhat controversial point right now. And I don’t say it to mean stick your head in the sand and pretend everything is fine. Because, Lord knows, all of us have had a really rocky last three months or so. A lot of things aren’t fine.

Give yourself grace. Give your friends and family and neighbors grace. Give space. Take your own space. We do not have to have every answer to every problem right now. If you’re feeling compassion fatigue, I gotcha.

If you’ve ever read The Secret Life of Bees, you might remember the character of May, who felt things so deeply that she had to write the horrors she saw or heard about on a piece of paper and put them in her wailing wall in the backyard. And one night, she felt so much, and was so lost in the pain, that she went into a river and drowned herself.

I don’t want you to drown yourself. I don’t want to drown my own self.

Feeling things is good. Working to change things is good and necessary. As Christians, we are called to be light to the world and salt of the earth. We are called to love. St. Teresa of Avila said that Christ has no body now but yours, and that’s true. We are his body, his millions of bodies, in the world.

But—If you feel yourself being a meaner, harder version of yourself, you might need some quiet.

It’s all too easy in our world to get caught up in the 24 hour news cycle, in social media, in constant alerts. Lord knows I’ve been there, and I do use social media. But I always try to use it intentionally.

One of the things I always want to do, in anything I write or post, is show you that even in hard times, in darkness, God is with us. He doesn’t abandon us. An imperfect life can still have joy.

We have to fight for joy. And we have to trust God, that His promises hold, and that He is going to taken care of us, the way he takes care of the sparrows. We are made in his image—all of us—and we are inestimably valuable to him.

Have you seen Jesus of Nazareth? It’s one of my family’s favorite movies. There’s a scene where someone has asked Jesus some question—I forget what it was—and Jesus rounds on the man, his eyes flashing, and he says “Everyone! Everyone is welcome at my father’s table!”

That’s the truth, y’all. EVERYONE IS WELCOME. EVERYONE IS ALLOWED. EVERYONE IS LOVED AND CHERISHED AND OF INESTIMABLE WORTH.

So, we remember that. We know that. And if we don’t know it, we need to learn it quick.

So, what do we do with this?

What did Gandalf say? “All we can do is decide what to do with the time that is given us”?

Light drives out darkness. Love drives out hate.

Only God can save any of us.

What does God what you to do? What is His call for you, reader? How do you spread light and love into your own little corner of the world?

If the world is “too much with [you], late and soon”, it is OK to step back. Sometimes that’s even necessary. I remember after a really bad clinic appointment, the social worker once told me to go to a bookshop, get a coffee, and then drive home and read.

This isn’t the same as saying, “Ignore what bugs you! IGNORE IGNORE LA LA LA IGNORANCE!”

It’s, “Right now, you are wounded. You are broken. You are sad. You need to do something to stop the bleeding—physical or metaphorical-and heal yourself. Then, and only then, can you go out and face the dragons you need to face.” Someone who is bleeding out in an ER cannot serve anyone, because he is close to death. He needs others to serve him, so that he can live.

Mother Teresa had this written on her “business cards”:

To serve, we have to have all the other steps. We have to be able to serve. We don’t have to be perfect people to serve. But we do have to be able to give, and we can’t give if we aren’t full ourselves.

Nothing can be done without prayer, which happens in silence. “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15) Our actions must always be rooted in Christ. That’s why even active orders have hours of prayer before they go into the world to serve every day. The Nashville Dominicans of St. Cecilia start their day with meditation, lauds, and Mass—they give ninety minutes to God before breakfast and the work of teaching.

“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage—I have overcome the world,” is one of my favorite quotes from the Gospel of John (16:33). I think that right now, in your “June”, you might need this. Tuck it into your heart. Remember that you have to root yourself in Christ, we have to draw everything we do from Him.

Whatever our trouble is, whatever injustice is happening, whatever scourge we’re trying to eradicate—we do it with Christ. We do it with our hearts firm and strong. We follow a Man who often went away by Himself to pray, to get strength and courage. We have to do the same.

If someone doesn’t respond the way you do, that’s OK. God calls us to many different ways. Right now, in this month, I am personally very emotionally fragile. Normally I will get in there and do my bit with gusto and fearlessness. But right now, I don’t have the resources for that, and that’s okay.

Build yourself up. Ask God what His plan is for you. Care about the people in front of you, around you. Change your corner of the world. Do it with God, and do it with the support of other Christians. Let’s build each other up.

Let’s give grace, encouragement, and prayer to each other. Let’s be the church that was known, in the early days, by its love.

Jesus lives. Jesus reigns. Jesus conquers.

That’s what we need to remember.

Wherever you go into battle, take Jesus with you. Root yourself deeply in him. And then do his will.

Seven Quick Takes--I went to the dentist!!!!!

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It’s that kinda time when going to the dentist is considered to be A THING.

So I went to the dentist—my first IN PERSON DOCTOR APPOINTMENT—since this all started. Fortunately, my teeth are in excellent shape, no cavities, and my mouth is behaving.

The reason this is A Thing is because dental health is actually connected to health, in general, which some people don’t know. If you’d heard all the horror stories from my transplant team about dental health they’ve seen, you’d be nervous about missing dental appointments, too!

But, fortunately, teeth are good, and we’re back on a regular schedule.

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The cardigan progresses nicely!

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Just about everything is opening up here, or on the way—zoos and such are the next thing to open, and movie theaters are in there, too. The movie theater in my town is a big economic driver, so it’s been really weird to see it sitting empty for all these months.

Churches are open, but I still haven’t gone. I don’t know if I’ll go until next month—I’m just not sure.

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Here’s a little graphic I made last night. Actually, two of them.

I was re-reading Christy last night—one of my favorites—and these two quotes jumped out at me.

To me, this first quote is essential. We have to decide, every day, how we’re going to live our lives. How we’re going to treat people, how we’re going to bring Christ to people. That can be as simple as a smile, or as complex as being a martyr. What does God want for you? This is something that we each have to listen for in prayer. Not everyone’s way of bringing the Gospel is the same. All the saints are fabulously different, and thank God for that. The variety is what makes us Catholic—worldwide, universal.

Here’s the next one….

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This is a big thing for me. If you’ve read Living Memento Mori, you know that! God can handle our anger. God can handle our fears and our screams and our fury. Engage honestly with God.

If you don’t think this is true—then, like Miss Alice in the book, I’m going to tell you to read Job and to read The Psalms. There’s a lot of crying and despair in those. But what happens?

The Lord lifts David and Job back up.

So, those are two quotes I thought I’d share with you, and I made them pretty! :)

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Book business: If you would like a signed copy, email me. For $20, you get shipping and book goodies included. I can also sign the book to your person of choice, if it’s a gift. If you have a copy and you’d like a book plate and other goodies, email me as well. That’s $3—shipping also included.

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How are you doing? What’s going on in your life?