Emily M. DeArdo's Blog, page 33

Seven Quick Takes--Second Friday of Lent

Linking up with Kelly!

I took this picture before Mass last week—I couldn’t resist the light.

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On the blog this week:

Virus Lent

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There’s a story about St. Teresa of Avila and Lent that I think is a propos. She once had a great program of Lenten penances planned. She was going to do everything. It was going to be great!

Then she was sick. For all of Lent. And she complained to the Lord about this. “Lord, I had so many great penances to offer you,” etc.

“This is my Lent for you,” He told her.

Looks like, no matter what our penances and plans were, we’re getting the Lent that Jesus wants for us right now.

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Like I wrote in my last post, I’m essentially living like I did right after my transplant—not really leaving my house, people coming to me. I’m not actually opposed to this, but what makes it scary for me is that the world around me is caught up in it, too. Whenever I’ve been sick before, there’s always been some sense of normalcy around me to cling to—school went on, I could go to the movies when I felt better, etc.

Now, nothing’s normal. Here, schools are closed starting Monday. The bishops’ conference of Ohio has dispensed us all from the obligation to attend Mass—and I wasn’t going to do that anyway, on the advice of my doctors. It’s just weird.

Last night after dinner I went and stood on my porch for a minute. It was a lovely night—the sun was setting, it was warm, I could hear the train coming through town. But it felt so eerily calm, like it does before a big storm.

All that to say, that it’s a weird time.

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If you’re in the same boat I am and can’t go to Mass, make a spiritual communion! And also try to keep the Sabbath holy—which we should be doing anyway, but if nothing else, this gives us time to really use Sunday as a day of rest. We all need rest right now! There are no sports to watch, and probably no sports games to go to. There’s nothing else. So let’s bring back the Sabbath! Let’s live it! (book recommendation: Souls at Rest.)

And also, let’s pray with our families! We should be doing that anyway, but let’s bring it back, because man do we all need prayer right now! (Book recommendation: The Little Oratory)

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If we’re doing book recs, um, mine? :)

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So while I’m here in my cloister I’ve made a list of things to do—writing, of course, so there will be ore writing here on the blog! I’m going to do the long awaited Outlander and Catholicism series, so be on the lookout for that! I’ll also be writing about illness and virtue—how we practice faith in times like this—and I’ll be doing a post on St. Damien of Molokai, who seems appropriate right now.

I’m also going to be baking a lot—mostly bread. I’ve been wanting to get in to the habit of making my own bread, and now I have the time to do it….and I also have time to knit like a crazy person. I have all this time…of course there is prayer, also. Lenten practices are still going. And cleaning the house, of course.

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I’ll also be watching a lot of movies, starting with the Hobbit series, because, why not, and also Knives Out, which I never saw in the theaters but am excited to watch now. I have to have some exciement, right?

Virus Lent

My porch, enjoying some nice late winter sun!

OK, NO, I AM NOT SICK.

So if you were worried about that, relax. :)

However, my team is being abundantly cautious, so I am essentially living like I did immediately post-transplant, which means I”m not really going anywhere and no one sick can come to me. Which is actually the general rule, but now it’s just more….heightened. Fortunately my family members who are local work from home and don’t travel much, except my sister in law, but her travel is domestic and so far she’s fine (thankfully!).

So, for me, no Mass. No My Fair Lady on Saturday (sadness!). No doctor appointments like my diabetes education class. And I’m fine: I mean I’ve got the things I need here to keep the house going and clean, to keep myself fed and medicated.

Which brings me to—-

If you have any burning issues that you want me to write about, let me know because now I have time! :) I think my long-thought-about Outlander and Catholicism series might finally take flight!

I am hoping to keep my adoration hour. I chose it because I am the only one there at the time, and if I’m not going to Mass then I want to be at adoration. Also there are enough seats in there that we don’t have to be cheek and jowl, so there’s plenty of SPACE, and I can wipe down chairs and such with wipes if I want to/have to.

My diocese hasn’t—as of this writing (3/12 at 12:31 PM) cancelled Masses. So Masses are still going on.The governor is limiting big events with crowds and I think he’ll probably come out with an order about that today, banning big gatherings and such to prevent the spread. So far in Ohio we’ve got four cases—three in Cleveland and one in Summit County, which is near Cleveland. I don’t blame the governor for wanting to be cautious.

Let’s keep each other in prayer and let’s be smart, OK? Don’t go to Mass if you’re sick at all. Don’t shake hands at the sign of peace! Don’t crowd people at Mass—let’s give each other room, if at all possible.

I hope we all come through this OK. Praying for all of you—pray for me too? :)

Seven Quick Takes Jumble Bag

linking up with Kelly!

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Around these parts this week…

Yarn Along

My interview for the Ave Explores Lent Podcast is live!

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I’ve started Bullet Journaling again—I’ve missed how it keeps all my lists and various things together, so I’m back to doing that. It’s fun! At least I think it is. I’m a big believer in having my life in one place. I still use my Emily Ley Simplified Planner, but my bullet journal is a place to keep my lists, medical information, travel plans, all sorts of things like that in one place as opposed to scattered throughout the house on pieces of paper.

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Trying to get back in the workout groove—I’ve worked out three days this week so far and hoping I can do it today. I’m just so darn tired. Maybe it’s the weather? It’s really gray here. Hopefully I’ll perk up in a little bit and manage to do something!

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Next Saturday I’m going to see the touring production of My Fair Lady and I am really excited about that. I haven’t been to a show in forever. Really. And I’ve never seen My Fair Lady on stage. So I’m excited about that!

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Favorite thing I’ve cooked this week: Outlander KItchen’s Scotch Broth. Give it a try, it’s really good! (If you can’t find pot or pearl barley, you can use quinoa or couscous instead!) And it’s so not hard. It cooks for a while—so it takes awhile—but it’s mostly hands-off cooking.

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A photo I took last week of Venus and the moon:

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How’s your Lent going? Did we all make it through the first week OK? :)

Yarn Along #95: The blanket is almost done!

Linking up with Ginny!

So the biggest project—literally—is the November blanket. I’m on the last 25% of it so yay! It’s actually pretty heavy to work with now, and I have to settle in for long periods of knitting with it because it’s just so hard to move on and off my lap!

The thing that makes me nervous is trying to block this baby—for people who have knit blankets, do you block them? I just have this image of it being heavy and unwieldly….

The book I’m reading is Sonja Corbitt’s Exalted, which takes us through the Magnificat. I am loving this book—it’s one of my many Lenten reads. I’m reading a chapter a day so I don’t completely devour it in one sitting!

What are you reading and working on right now?

My "Ave Explores: Lent" podcast interview is live!

My conversation with Katie Prejean McGrady for the Ave Explores Lent series is live today! I had a great time talking to her and I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation!

Seven Quick Takes--Friday after Ash Wednesday

Linking up with Kelly!

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So first, around the blog this week:

My Interview with Danielle Bean is live, and the book is a Lenten Pick!

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My interview with Kyle Heimann is now live: listen to it here!

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This week’s Memento Mori art: El Greco, St. Francis Venerating the Crucifix

(Yes, I’m going to try to have Memento Mori art during Lent!)

Speaking of Lent, how’s it going for you? We’re two days in….are you feeling OK? Keeping up with penances and prayers? Remember, no meat today! Go to your parish fish fry!

My Lent has been going pretty well so far. I’m doing a lot of study—a lot of Lenten reading. One of the things I’m trying to do is order my day around the monastic timetable of the nuns in Summit, NJ (I had discerned entering with them back in the day—fun fact!). No, I am not (yet) getting up at 5:00. No, I probably will never voluntarily get up at 5:00! But I do stick to the times of work and study that are here, and that gives me set times to get things done, as it were-household chores, and my Lenten reading and such.

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Currently I’m reading Union with God, Exalted, Consecration to St. Joseph, and 33 Days to Greater Glory. Oh, and using the Memento Mori devotional and journal in the evening right before bed. Whew! It’s a lot. But Union with God and Exalted are for study—I read a chapter a day and take notes—while the Consecration and 33 Days are devotional. That helps break it down.

I’m also saying my breviary—lauds and vespers, of course, and on days when I’m home and can do it, the Office of Readings and None around 3:00.

It probably sounds like a lot, but remember I’m not married and my job is….well, writing. :) And to write, you gotta read and study! It’s very Dominican, my Lent plan.

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Obviously if you’re still looking for Lent reading, um, my book is good for that! ALSO, Take Up and Read’s Hosanna study, of the Gospel of Matthew, is GREAT, go get that too! (It is also, at the time I’m writing this, on sale!)

Also, if you’ve read my book, can you take a second to leave a review on Amazon? The more reviews, the more publicity it gets on Amazon, which means more sales! Yay!

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We actually had a snow day yesterday. As in, it was cold and there was snow. Amazing. It’s been such a milk winter (I AM NOT COMPLAINING!) that I actually wanted a snow day, and I got it. I did a lot of work on my November Blanket (which is a ginormous monster right now but really close to being done!), because when it’s cold you want a big fat knitting project that will keep you warm while you work on it!

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Can you believe it’s March on Sunday? Where did February go? January always seems so long and then February is just gone, and it’s even a leap year! But I’m excited for March, because I’m going to get to see the touring production of My Fair Lady!

"Girlfriends" Podcast Is Live, and "Living Memento Mori" Is a Lenten Reading Pick!

Some book news for you!

First, my interview with Danielle Bean is live! You can catch our conversation about my book and life and other things here. It was great to be on her show—I’ve loved Danielle’s writing for a long time, and she’s a fellow Steelers fan.

Second, Kathryn Lopez (who blurbed my book, see above) recommended my book in her National Review post on Lenten Reading. If you’re an NRO-ite and have been for awhile, you will understand why I’m excited to be in The Corner!

If you haven’t picked up your copy of Living Memento Mori yet, you can do so here.

How’s everyone’s Lent going so far?

Seven Quick Takes, the PRE LENT edition!

linking up with Kelly!

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OK so Ash Wednesday—and Lent—are NEXT WEEK.

Let’s get ready to Leeeeeeeeeeeeeent!

First off I assume you have my book in hand, yes? :) Because it’s perfect for Lent! (If not, go get it at any of these fine retailers! [scroll down to the bottom] Or ask your local Catholic bookshop to get it for you!)

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Penitent Mary Magdalene, El Greco (notice memento mori!)

OK, so, that’s one thing you can do for Lent and I would greatly appreciate it. :)

But let’s talk other things.

Before we start, here is the USCCB’s Lent homepage, with resources and documents and all sorts of things.

There are the three “pillars” of Lent: Fasting, Almsgiving, and Prayer. Let’s talk fasting first.

Fasting normally means food. It means one full meal and two “snacky meals” that do not equal a full meal. Obviously no snacking in between meals. This applies to Catholics 18-59, and Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only required days of fast.

If you are like me, and fasting from food is not permitted for medical reasons, then you can fast from other things. I will “fast” from social media on these days—facebook, IG, Twitter, etc.

In this category you can also include what you’re giving up for Lent. For me, it’s book buying, and yes, that is hard. This year I’m expanding that to cover things that aren’t necessary. (The one exception to this is the NYC trip in April. It’s during Holy Week, it’s Birthday Week, and I’m going to buy scrummy yarn at Purl Soho. I JUST AM.)

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Let’s talk almsgiving. Obviously tithing to your parish needs to happen. St. John Paul II said that when we tithe, it should feel like a sacrifice. So maybe take a look at your charitable giving and see if you can up it—maybe not permanently, but for Lent? Can you drop some money in the church poor box (if you have one), or give to the charitable works collection?

Let’s also remember to support charities that do work both domestically and internationally. Mary’s Meals is a great example and one of my favorite charities. For $21, they can provide food for one child at a place of education for a year. A year! For the cost of three months of Disney Plus! Or, in my case, a hardback book. That’s amazing.

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And finally, prayer.

This can include, of course, The Stations of the Cross. You can perhaps get to Mass a bit earlier to spend time in prayer before the tabernacle. You could add a holy hour (holy 15 minutes, if you’ve never done a holy hour before?). You could add a daily rosary with your family. There are so many things you can do here.

Some good Lenten reading in this stack!

Here’s my general plan: I’m going to add another hour of the Liturgy of the Hours, either Office of Readings or Compline or one of the midday little hours. My spiritual reading is going way up: I’m reading The Dark Night of the Soul and also Union With God According to St. John of the Cross. (So I’m doing a little Carmelite spirituality this Lent!)

I’m also using Sonja Corbitt’s Exalted: How the Power of the Magnificat Can Transform Us as a guide to lectio/study. Not sure which it will be yet. Maybe both! I’ll also be reading Fr. Gaitley’s 33 Days to Greater Glory, because I adore John’s Gospel—it’s my favorite—so this book is perfect for me.

Generally, I want to re-direct my reading and make it more spiritually-based and I need to study a bit more. Lent is a great time for that.

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In order to have more time for this, I’m cutting back on social media, not entirely like on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but…partially. I’ll be implementing the Advent rule of a “social media cutoff time” in the evening. For Advent, it was 9:45. For Lent, it’s 9:15—unless there is hockey on, and then I’ll stay on Twitter to the end of the game so I can follow. No hockey, no extra tweet time. I’ll also be on social media in “chunks” during the day—like a fifteen minute block here or there, to do things and check notifications or whatever—but not sort of continually. I’m still thinking about how that will go. Since I have book promotion to do and book events to talk about, I do have to be on SM to share all of that with you, and I want to share it, so that’ll be part of what happens when I am on. It’s more about being intentional with the use, I think.

So that brings me to….

What are you doing for Lent?

Tell me in the comments! :)

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I have a diabetes education class today which’ll be interesting, because my type of diabetes is interesting. I take insulin, but I’m not a true Type I. My body doesn’t use insulin correctly, but I’m not a true Type 2. Sigh. It’s a mess and a half. And it’s not even true CF Related Diabetes (CFRD), because my pancreas does make insulin and my body does use it to a certain extent! Aye caramba!

I’m hoping that the educator will be able to answer some of my burning questions, though!

We’re tweaking the insulin a bit—I’ve added some intermediate acting at night which has had a nice effect on my morning BGLs. So that’s good!

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Post from the last week:

Signing at the CCWC!

Also, if you want a signed copy of the book, email me! They’re $20 and that includes shipping. If you have a copy and would like a bookplate (which I sign), email me as well!

Signing at the CCWC

Saturday was a big day—my first ever book signing!

I was sort of nervous—what if no one wanted it, what if I just sat there like an idiot?—but that evaporated pretty quickly. The signing began during the breakfast break, so right after Mass ended I was at the Ave Maria Press table with fellow Ave Author Elizabeth Tomlin. We joked that the conference could have been sponsored by Ave Maria Press, since almost all of the speakers (4/5!) were Ave authors, and thus there were book signings all day! The Ave table was huge.

Even before Mass, I was prowling around the table, checking on my babies, which the AMP ladies had so nicely displayed….

(No, the book is not $12—that’s the conference price. :) It’s $13.95.)

I really loved the Ave ladies—they were so fun and so encouraging!

Fellow Ave Author Elizabeth Tomlin and I with our books! And yes, that’s Sister Miriam James’ books next to ours—she spoke at the conference and is a fellow Ave Author.

I have no idea how many books I signed, but I loved meeting people and talking about my book. Since this is my “home” conference I saw a lot of people I knew , which made it even better.

And I got to see the materials the fabulous Ave art department had made for me: now I have book marks and prayer cards!

You can sort of see them in this picture—this was taken from my vantage point behind the AMP table. I’ll take better photos and share them later because they are great. I also have bookplates! So if you bought a copy of the book and want my signature in it, I can send you a signed book plate! Just email me and we’ll get that done. You can also contact me for signed books!

I managed to do my conference shopping before the day really began—an advantage to getting up at 5:15 and getting to the center at 6:15!—and I’ll share with you the great shops I found in another post. But here’s one of the things I just loved:

My Dominican loving heart was overjoyed by this great sticker!

I also managed to steal away to have some time in the adoration chapel (vital!) and listen to some of the day’s great speakers. It was a long but great day!

Seven Quick Takes--Authenticity, Book Signings, Etc.

linking up with Kelly!

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From the blog this week:

“Quote Me” podcast and book signing on Saturday!

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So, authenticity.

In one of my interviews for Living Memento Mori, I was asked if it was hard to be so open about my health in the book.

“No.” I said. I didn’t even have to think about this. To me, it wasn’t hard, it was necessary. For me to be real, to really reach the reader, I had to be authentic. And that meant showing what really goes on.

I don’t show everything in the book. The book is limited in scope, to an extent, and so not everything is there, and not everything ever will be. There are things that are private.

But for the most part, I wanted to share how I really feel. I do yell at God. I get mad. I get angry. I throw things. Sometimes I act like a five year old. Like last night.

There were a lot of nit-picky things going on. I had whiffed an interview question. It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m single. And I really really really didn’t want to be a pincushion last night. I didn’t want to test my blood sugar before I went to bed. I didn’t want to shoot insulin into myself with crappy pen needles. I just did not want to.

I grouched a bit. I cried some. And then I did it. And I shared how I felt on Twitter.

Why?

Not for pity or sympathy of whatever. But because I want to be authentic with people. I want to be real. And while I do, generally, handle things with some degree of aplomb, sometimes I am just done. Sometimes, in the words of the musical Side Show, “I want to be like everyone else.”

I’m not.

So every so often, I have a breakdown, but then I just do it again. I feel a lot better today.

But I always want to be honest with my readers. I don’t want you to think I just sail along on a boat of Saint-like acceptance and Oh, everything is wonderful all the time!

It’s not. And that’s just fine. It’s OK to get angry. The key is to do it and then pick up again.

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OK, so, whew, got that done. :)

BOOK SIGNING TOMORROW! Catholic Women’s Conference here in town! YES, you can get tickets at the door!

I am signing during the breakfast break after Mass at the Ave Maria Press table, which is usually right by the eating area. Come say hi! I would love to meet you and sign your book!

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Next week I think two things happen—my Girlfriends interview with Danielle Bean goes live, and I think an interview for Aleteia (Catholic news/lifestyle website) goes up. I will link to them here and on SM and on the media page when they do!

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If you would like a signed book, email me and we’ll do it! They’re $20 and that includes shipping!

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OUTLANDER is back!

I love Outlander. It’s my favorite. I flew threw the series when I was having all my heart thythm issues in 2010—so much so that the clerk at the local B&N told my dad, “Does she know that this is the last one?” when I got to the (then) last installment.

The TV series airs on Starz and season 5 starts on Sunday—but if you have the Starz app, like I do, you can watch the season premiere now! Yay!

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Normal reminders to buy the book, sign up for the newsletter, etc. And please leave a review on Amazon if you’ve read the book! Thank you thank you!