We all need our friends right now, even if we can't see them in person...

Hi all! This will be a quick check-in for the week, as if I'm being honest, things aren't so great right now. I'm worried sick about the kids, who are struggling mightily with being cooped up in the house all the time, and with zero routine or social interaction with anybody but us. We're all struggling with it, and there are no easy answers. This isn't to complain, just to say that my time is pressed quite a bit right now giving them the attention that they need. 

What I'd like to do is come up with a posting plan/theme for Easter season, and that'll take a week or so. In the meantime, my monthly post is up at Catholic Mom, and it really speaks to what is on my heart right now:

Even though I haven't seen my local friends in over a month, their presence in my life has been joy-giving to the utmost. Checking in with differnet groups of them each day has kept me sane and given me little smiles to look forward to throughout each day. It means the world to me.

I'm performing in an online dance show this weekend, that should be...interesting, and perhaps fodder for next week. :-) I'm not used to dancing for an "audience" in the middle of my living room, to be sure. But that's been a welcome distraction. In the meantime, hang in there, everyone. Each week perhaps I'll spotlight some small joy that we can revel in while we are at home? My wheels are turning, for sure. :-) Do you have any ideas for the blog community this Easter season? Drop them into the comments!

The power of friendship in the face of anxiety...

Hello ALL! So nice to be with you again. It's been quite a month, hasn't it? :-) I have some more updates on that front, plus general musings on stress and anxiety in general. Have your coffee or tea? Let's chat!

I do miss our official Tea Time together on the podcast. But rest assured that it was the right decision to go on hiatus. :0 No time, right now, my friends, no time. Work has been crazy. Lots of teaching, lots of emails, lots of grading, and lots of the dreaded Course Management System changes in all 90 sections of the library lab we are teaching.

😱

You know, it's going. But it's all fairly monotonous, uninteresting, uninspiring, yet time consuming. In the midst of all of that, both kids are going through growth spurts, and Anne in particular seems to still be very much adjusting to her new school year. I've been worried about her. Henry is wanting to tour high schools, which is FREAKING ME THE HECK OUT. I finally know how to drive my new car (the whole stick shift saga), but I had some setbacks last week in the form of loss of confidence and general panic at making mistakes while out in traffic. It all took a definite toll.

Last Thursday, I had...just a terrible time of things. I couldn't control my anxiety. I was in tears, and I couldn't make myself feel better. I needed help.

And I got it. From Mike. From my close cadre of friends. Everyone rushed in to support me emotionally, and to encourage me. I took a much needed sick day from work. I slept a lot, a sure sign that my body was at far less than 100%. I prayed, and did some self-evaluating.

It helped. It really did. I realized that I had been feeling like my life was spiraling out of control, and the new car was just the tip of the ice berg: the kids are growing, my life is changing, and I felt like I couldn't get a good handle on ANYTHING. I have always had a difficult time with change, and things are changing now in ways that I just never really thought about when I was younger. I think that generally speaking, people envision their lives up to certain milestones. After that...you just think you'll never get there, you'll never be dealing with those things. It's a privilege to be sharing this part of my life with Mike, experiencing this all with him. I just never foresaw us getting older than 40, as ridiculous as that sounds. :0

This all made me realize that I was avoiding dealing with certain things in my life: that my kids are going to grow up, that Mike and I are going to get older, that my job is my job and is likely not going to change much before until I retire, that sometimes I will still make mistakes and do things poorly. It's not easy to accept change, but I must do it. Not only that, there is joy in it, if only I allow myself to experience it.

Ever since this all unfolded last Thursday, I have felt calmer and more myself. Driving has been going great. The problem was never the car. It was ME. I allowed anxiety and fear to take root and begin to take over my life. In a way, I'm grateful to the car for helping me to realize how much I was avoiding dealing with my much more generalized problem with anxiety.

So, I'm thinking this is a God thing. :) God speaks to us in many different ways, and in this instance, he spoke to me via my Honda Fit.

😀

Last Thursday was a turning point. Since then, I'm seeing things in a fresh new light. And in that vein, I'm going to be praying the St. Jude novena, which starts October 19th. Would you like to join in? I'm going to be praying for interior peace, and St. Jude can really come through for us for pretty much any intention. He is, after all, patron saint of impossible causes!

How has your week been, dear readers? Will you be praying along with the St. Jude novena? I'd love to hear from you!

Tea Time with Tiffany #104 - Summer meetups, and summer creativity!

It's a super sticky and humid edition of:

Today I talk about tears following Sam's departure, a writing progress update, summer dancing gigs in full swing, a spurt of baby knitting, and tons of good novenas coming up. Join me!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Feelin' Good" from http://www.purple-planet.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

Sam's visit!

On my Bookshelf - Harry Potter for the foreseeable future, and of course, The Well. Also saw The Photograph by Beverly Lewis on sale this week, she's one of my original Amish authors! The Kindle edition is currently $1.99.

Prayer Closet - My Catholic Mom piece on St. Dymphna's patronage and chaplet. And happy feast of St. Kateri! Also, St. Anne novena starts soon.

Creative Commons - Knitted a striped baby hat for a friend. The pattern is free, and is Baby Bow Tie Hat. (I eliminated the bow tie for this particular hat, I've made it many times! Easy to customize). The yarn is self striping, and is Felici, available from Knit Picks.  Here is the link to the worsted weight version, now on very good sale!

Love Knitting Christmas in July email, with baby projects! 

What's going on with you, dear ones? Write in and let us know!

Our Lady of Fatima and lots of Harry Potter movie watching - it's a nerdy weekend meetup edition!

When you get to be a certain age, you recognize that you are a nerd. I recognized this very early on in my life, right around mid-grade school, I'd estimate. ;-) At that time, nerdom was not seen in very high regard, it is true. I tried to hide aforementioned nerdom, and saw it as yet another thing that was wrong with me. Then one traverses the difficult teenage years and move into young adulthood. Sometime around there, I recognized that I was still a nerd. However, by that point you realize that maybe it's not so bad after all. Suddenly, you meet lots of other nerds and they are COOL. You want to be just like them. Oh, and you also realize that in terms of what other non-nerdy people think about nerds?

You don't care. And THAT is such a glorious thing.

This weekend, I had all kinds of nerdy things planned for my exciting meetup with Samantha, and I couldn't have been more happy and content. We affectionately called it the Great Weekend of Catholic Geekdom.

*heart*

Sam and I met nearly 2 years ago via various channels of new and social media. We met in person for the first time back in May, but only for a brief lunch. This was our first opportunity to hang out in person for any length of time, 

Sam arrived on Friday afternoon, and everyone was all excited to greet her.

Immediate photo op :0

The kids were shy at first, but everyone came out of their shells pretty quickly:

Mike, to me privately: "Do you think I'm talking enough? Am I making good conversation? I want Sam to feel comfortable. I'm so bad at socializing!"

Me: "You're doing fine, sweetheart. I like the teaching conversation you initiated!"

I married another nerdy introvert. I love him. :-)

Our nerdy weekend started out with the entire family watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince over a large pizza, and the lot of us couldn't have been happier. Saturday, we journeyed about a half hour north to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima:

Our Lady, looking lovely at the top of the church

The kids absolutely love climbing up to the top of the church and hanging out with Our lady for a spell, so I attempted a photo:

Henry always looks like he's in a hostage photo

And the view of the grounds and the rosary pond is sublime:

Rosary pond

We spent some time exploring the grounds (after procuring various Catholic tchotkes in the gift shop, of course) and found a little spring that the kids waded in. I'm not certain they were SUPPOSED to do that, but there you have it:

They don't look guilty at all

And we enjoyed looking at all of the saint statuary that covers the grounds:

They bonded with Moses and the Ten Commandments

After heading home, Sam and I had a girls night dinner, which was an absolute *delight*, and we later watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, because you know, NERDS.

Sunday was a lovely quiet morning of puzzles and cards, followed by Mass and the Farmers Market. There were a lot of long faces when Sam had to pack up and leave us. Anne actually woke up crying that night, saying she missed Sam. :-\

I so treasure opportunities like this to meet up with friends I have met online! God is so good to us, no? What did YOU do this weekend, dear reader?!

Tea Time with Tiffany #103 - Tornadoing cleanliness when houseguests approach...

Happy Friday everyone! It's an exciting meetup edition of:

Today I talk about the avalanche of dancing events I have coming up this summer, Samantha's exciting visit, lots of exciting craft inspiration, and how I read what feels like hundreds of pages each night, yet I advance so little in my Kindle progression percentage. :0





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Feelin' Good" from http://www.purple-planet.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

My first meet up with Sam!

On my Bookshelf - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Well, as part of our Summer Book Club.
Prayer Corner - St. Kateri novena. Also, novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel begins Saturday!
Creative Commons: 

• I finished the Hermione hat. Pattern is Hermione Hearts Ron, and is free! 

• Also, Anne has a new owl hat! Pattern is called Owl Hat, and is another freebie! I highly recommend this one if you are a crocheter.

How are your summer holidays going, dear reader?  What new books are on your bookshelf, and which July novena are you praying? Any fun summer crafting projects? I'd love to hear about it!

Tea Time with Tiffany #55 - I seem to pray better when I am not praying for myself...

Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome to a perky, book and prayer-filled edition of:

Today I talk about my current reads (of which there are several), my Kindle Francis makes his debut appearance, and why I find praying for others so much easier than praying for myself.




**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• PNS Late Summer Book Club. We're aiming to have the first 9 chapters read by the week of July 11th!
• Catholic Book Club most recent post on the conclusion of Church of Spies.
• I Am Margaret series, by Corinna Turner. I wrote reviews of books 1 and 2 (The original I Am Margaret, and The Three Most Wanted). I am embarking on books 3 and 4 now (Liberation and Bane's Eyes).
• DrawNames.com if you want to start your own Secret Santa prayer circle!

What are you doing this weekend, dear listener? What are you reading? Do you have book suggestions for the fall installment of our book club? Do write in and let us know!

Life is good when you are awash in delightful Tweetups

Hi all! I had a JAM PACKED weekend, filled with the funnest of activities, and I've been anxious to fill you all in! Let's settle in with our beverages.

The weekend began with a Twitter meetup, but we also had a dance performance in there and a Father's Day with that was busy enough to exhaust the children for the duration of the summer. ;-) Soooo, what I think I'll do is talk about my SUPER FANTASTIC Tweetup on Saturday afternoon, then save the dance hafla for either a separate post or episode of Tea Time. What do you think? Do you prefer the dance frivolity in post form or podcast? I want your input, so do write in.

All right, so the Tweetup! You all know how much I love and value our Catholic community on Twitter. I find it incredibly supportive and soothing. And through the years, I have had the privilege of meeting some of my Twitter friends in real life. It's not as often as I like, but when it happens it really packs a punch.

Some years ago, I became Twitter friends with a very nice fellow named Mike Gannon. We shared other common Twitter friends, as well as a Catholic podcast we both loved called This Catholic Life. I knew that Mike was potentially interested in the religious life, and had a deep love of the Carmelites, so it wasn't a huge surprise in the fall of 2014 when he joined a community of Carmelite brothers as a Postulant. We missed him quite a bit when he was off of social media for the duration of his postulancy, but he happily has been back since he became a Novice.

Several months back, Mike (who is now Brother Joseph!) let me know that he'd be in my area visiting some family during his vacation time. Naturally, I leapt at the chance to meet him in person!

And so Saturday afternoon, Henry and I traveled to a local Mexican restaurant to meet up with Brother Joseph. Mike (my husband that is, this is terribly confusing with all these Mikes, isn't it?!) offered to entertain the kids elsewhere so that I could eat lunch uninterrupted, and let's face it, that's a TEMPTING offer. You mean, I can eat lunch without someone crawling around under the table in search of lost crayons, and Anne telling Henry to "STOP IT!!!!" on constant repeat for 60 straight minutes?

What I ended up doing was having Mike take Anne for a Daddy/daughter date, and I brought Henry with me solo. I figured: when else am I going to get a free, up close and personal, advertisement for the religious life? So I asked Henry if he wanted to come, and he asked what kind of food the restaurant served. That shows you where Henry's mind is at in terms of this process, but no matter. He wanted to come, and that was good enough for me.

So we arrive. We peer into all of the other cars in the parking lot as we circle, trying to be discreet. Henry offered to go and physically look into the window of one intriguing-looking contender, but I told him that we were trying to be clandestine. :0 We headed into the restaurant and texted Brother Joseph. Two minutes later:

ALL the excitement!! How cool do you feel when your friends wear habits?!?!

I think that anytime you meet someone in real life whom you have only ever communicated with on social media, you're curious as to what they will be like. Will they be exactly as you picture in your mind? Or will they be completely different?

Brother Joseph was exactly as I pictured. :) We had a lovely, easily flowing conversation, and enjoyed good Mexican food and beer. We talked about religious life like there was no tomorrow, and Henry asked some thoughtful and interesting questions.

Granted, sometime after Henry had scarfed down his entire quesadilla, plus chips, plus a churro for dessert, he grew bored. I suppose there is only so much in-depth talk of Carmelite spirituality a 10 year old can take. ;-)

It was smashing. Anew, I felt intense gratitude for the gift of friendships that God has given me. Some of our Twitter friends I may never meet in this life, yet I know that if I ask for their prayers they will give them to me in a heartbeat, and that if I need some levity in my day all I have to do is log on and check my timeline.

Glorious, I tell you, glorious! It is such a rush to meet social media friends in person for the first time. And we may get another opportunity next fall! Craft beer will be involved, for sure and for certain.

If you're ever in Western New York, you MUST let me know. I will be hurt and offended if you do not. :0

You know things are bad when your new dryer is too wide to fit down your stairs...

Well hello there, favorite reader that you are!! I am glad to be with you again. After I penned yesterday's post about feeling a bit overwhelmed of late, want to know what happened? Get your tea, especially if you too have struggled with feelings of anxiety and/or being overwhelmed. We need this time together to soothe each other, you and I. *heart*

And here's an accompanying cutout cookie for you, too...

So I went home after work, and you know what? The evening kind of sucked. :0 Just keeping it real here, like always. The kids were being SUPER challenging, picking fights with each other and generally arguing in an annoying-like fashion. We recently ordered a new washer and dryer set, as both of our older models were on their last gasps of life. The new ones were delivered yesterday, and GUESS WHAT? The dryer won't fit down our basement stairwell. Of course it won't, because that would have been far too simple. There is no laundry area in our house on the main level, only the basement. And our house was built in 1930. They did not foresee this narrow stairwell as being a problem back then.

*sigh*

So Mike, precious soul that he is, took on finding a new dryer model that would fit the size specifications, and ordered it from Lowe's. Guess when Lowe's can deliver it?

June 29th.

Yep, you read that correctly, a full 3 weeks away. In the meantime, we have no working dryer, and no outdoor clothesline in our tiny backyard, so the Laundromat will be our friend for the short term.

*another sigh*

There's just SO MUCH going on right now. In addition to the above, we have had major events planned on the weekends for the past 6 weeks. They've all been fun, excellent events, but no down time, you know?

For the past week, I have been struggling with my mind constantly racing, not sleeping well, and repeatedly forgetting things. Repeatedly forgetting things. Did I just repeat that?

It's bad. I mean, epic bad. Over the course of the past 7 days, I have forgotten my travel coffee mug and left it in my car *4 times*. In my defense, I have a new purse, which lacks a water bottle holder thingy that I used to stick the coffee mug in. Now, I need to remember to grab the mug before I leave the car, and well, THAT AIN'T HAPPENIN'.

So, what happens is that I walk into the library (and you know the parking situation here, that is at least a 5 minute walk. Not a problem, I like to walk, but it's not a situation in which the lot is beside the door you need to go into), then I go up to my office. Then I unload my stuff. Then I boot up my computer and sit down. Then I reach for the coffee mug. And inevitably, it is not there. Then I say a bad word. Then I get upset with myself for saying aforementioned bad word and feel guilty. Then I fear that I have scandalized my office neighbors. Then I crankily get my keys and walk back downstairs, and out to my car. If I realize that while I have remembered my office keys, I have forgotten my car keys (1 time out of the 4), another scandalizing episode of profanity ensues.

:0

It's just a vicious, vicious cycle, my friends. The more overwhelmed I feel, the more I forget things. And the more I forget things, the more overwhelmed I feel.

And then do you want to know what happened? If you're still reading this post, a decade has just been shortened from your future time in purgatory. This morning, I was rushing around because I had to take Anne to school. Mike usually takes her, but he had an appointment this morning. I load Anne into the car, my mind awhirl about how I have to stop at the store and pick up envelopes to mail a birthday gift to a friend, and a broken rosary to Allison for repair. I drop her off, and get back into the car, grabbing my phone so that I can setup my podcast listening for the commute. I have a new text message. It's from Sam:

"Don't forget your coffee!"

She knows me so well. :0 And it made me smile SO MUCH. And you know what? I didn't forget my coffee when I got to work. All of this is to say that when things seem crazy, it's our friends who get us through.

This post brought to you by a Grateful Blogger. What are you grateful for today, dear friends?

Tea Time with Tiffany #51 - Friendship, good times, & maybe a few tears...

Hi all! Sorry for the delay this week, but you know how that goes, right? Such is life! So here we are together for another Friday session of:

Today I talk about the feast of the Sacred Heart, and my glorious Memorial Day weekend. Join us!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Fr. John Croiset
• Sacred Heart Chaplet prayers!

What are you up to this early June weekend coming up, dear listener? Chime in and let me know!

Tea Time with Tiffany #50 - VISITING COMPANY FREAK OUT!

This feels like a milestone, doesn't it?

Today I talk about  my tornado-like cleaning frenzy leading up to company coming to visit us. Also, the Sacred Heart novena, backyard bird excitement, and please report in on the book club!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• Sacred Heart novena. It just started yesterday, you can easily catch up!
• Catholic Book Club post reviewing chapters 1-5 of Church of Spies is up and ready for your thoughts to be added in the comments.
• Guide to North American birds.

What are YOU doing this Memorial Day weekend, dear listener? Please write in and let me know!

Tea Time with Tiffany #40 - New podcast happiness, a few sappy tears, the importance of fellowship, & seeking your feedback!

Ooooohh, uh oh, this almost got to be another emotional (in a good way!) episode of:

I really enjoyed this one. I talk basketball, mystery shawls revealed, new podcast euphoria, the blessing of friendship, and how I need help planning my reading schedule. ;-) View on, dear viewer!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice.

Items mentioned in this episode:

• NCAA Tournament! Is your bracket filled out? ;-)
• My finished Downton Abbey Mystery Knit-Along shawl:
  
  
  
• Rosaries by Allison on Etsy
• Book Club plans? I need help, friends. ;-) Let's brainstorm!
• Divine Mercy for Moms: Sharing the Lessons of St. Faustina 

 What's going on with you, guys and gals? How's your Lent going? What are your Holy Week plans? How have online friendships impacted your life? Any reading plan suggestions? I'd love to hear all about it!!