Ordinary Time heralds lots of new things in my life, including my glasses...

Happy Tuesday all! And I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I did. For the most part. The kids fought a lot, that always brings everybody down, but on the whole it was really nice. ;-)

This section of Ordinary Time has felt really refreshing to me, sort of like a new start in my spiritual life in a lot of ways. I've been novena'ing along nicely (new verb, coined right there), and Adoration has been going pretty smoothly, which is great. But I've also noticed some changes with my kids and their spirituality. Anne is suddenly...such a big girl!

*sob!*

She goes up every week now during Mass with the Children's Liturgy of the Word crowd, and is all excited to do so, coloring pictures ahead of time to give to the teacher. I mean, did you ever? She is so cute. This frees me up to actually be able to HEAR the Gospel and the Homily, which I will admit, is a nice amenity. She also brings me rosary beads at home, and asks to pray with me. I'll recite the prayers, and she keeps track of where we are on the beads. Just...

So precious. She keeps asking to go to church, she loves it. Henry, on the other hand, while a very good boy, is definitely going through that "church is boring!" phase. Very age appropriate, to be sure. And he's acting very stubbornly as a result, taking forever to get ready for Mass and to accompany us out to the car. He still loves learning about the saints, but connecting the lives of the saints with Mass attendance just hasn't happened for him yet. I have been praying for him to make a more personal connection with his faith and with God.

As for me, I can feel myself having to adjust and adapt to these new emotions going on with my children. As ever, I'm doing the best that I can, but I fear that I'm screwing it all up somehow. :) Thank God for the guidance that comes from Adoration.

#ThePiecesComeTogether

But in other weekend/changes news, I had my yearly ophthalmology appointment, and we all know how these appointments seem to somehow form an annual ode to my aging process. New year, new me, right? Especially with a milestone birthday coming up in a month. ;-) Happily, I have found a doctor at the practice who is gentle and soft spoken, doesn't tell me I'm old, and also doesn't mandate drops for his patients, so I can actually see to drive home. Brilliant!

I arrived Friday afternoon apprehensive as ever, because I feared that this would be the year. You know what I'm talking about, right? THE 'B' WORD. Bifocals.

*glares*

I have reading glasses, and at work I'm constantly taking them on and off my face. I need them to see my computer screen crisply, but they makes the person coming to the reference desk to talk to me somewhat blurry, so then I have to remove them. But I don't want to move to bifocals. I'm afraid of change, OK, don't judge me. :0

At any rate, I was called back, and the nurse first had me do this peripheral vision test whereby I had to click a clicker thingy whenever I saw a flicker of movement on this little screen. This test is my favorite part of every appointment, because it involves zero discomfort, and I'm certain that I scored 100%. *gold star!* I then had to do the chart reading thing, which I hate, because my left eye is so much weaker and it's depressing how the letters jump around when that eye is the only one I'm using. This is followed by the ever fun pressure test wherein a large wand is pressed to your eyeball and you're told to "just relax!" as if that was remotely a possibility. Then I moved over to the doctor, and he did the usual: "A, or B? B? Ok. B or...C!" thing. The verdict?

"Just a small change. Head out to Ed and he'll help you order new glasses."

Weellllll, that sounds *not bad* I suppose, but small changes in the negative direction over time could mean I'm blind by age 60, right? That's a little worrisome.

Ed is helping someone else when I make my appearance, so I busy myself looking at new frames. It's a good thing I started early, because I took a freakishly long time to make a decision, finally just deciding to be done with it and go with my instinct. Which was to text selfies to a friend:

"Do you like the brown? Or purple?" Wait. Maybe I should ditch both the brown AND purple and go back to the thicker red ones. What about...

Ed was amused. But I finally made a decision:

This is my scholarly look :0

Then Ed tried to ruin my day:

"Oh. Did you know that he wrote the prescription for progressive lenses?"

*look of pity*

("Progressive," you see, is ophthalmology code speak for "BIFOCAL.")

"Oh. Well. I guess that's what I'll get then."

*look of misery*

"For progressive lenses, there is a minimum size, so let's see if these frames meet that..."

Uh oh. After 30 minutes of agonizing frame-trying-on, now they might be too small?! I definitely favor narrow lens sizes in my frames. Luckily for both Ed and I, my selected frames squeaked in at the minimum. Now to wait two weeks for them and see if I hate them when they come in, huzzah!

How was your weekend, dear reader?

7 Quick Takes {Take 65} Winter crafts & hobbies edition!

Happy Friday everybody, and wow! It's been a long time since I've been able to link up with 7 Quick Takes. A month, I think.

*tragic!*

But here I am, back and perky. So, what's on tap for today? I've been doing a lot of crafty things, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to that. I've already mentioned a few of them, but believe me, there are others. I'm OCD, remember? So I'll post photos with patterns/instructions where applicable so that you can add these projects to your own queue is you feel so inspired. Some of them are back from Christmas season, but it's never too early to start your holiday crafting!

;-)

-1- Snowflakes abound

I've been in a real snowflake state of mind this winter. I made a bunch of snowflake ornaments, and my favorite is this one that I made for my aunt and uncle:

"Ice Storm Snowflake" supplies and instructions available from Fusion Beads

It turned out cute, though I really should have taken a photo of it *on* the tree, huh? That would have looked better. But I liked it, save for the earring wire used for the hook. It looks a bit like an earring for that gigantic snowman Elsa conjured up in Frozen, but there you have it.

-2- And speaking of Elsa...

Da da DAAAAHHHH!

Free pattern available as "Anna and Elsa Crochet Hats"

Adorable model, I know. :) I made a few of these, intending them as little girl dress up fun for Anne and a giftee. Darling, yes? I'm also going to make the Anna version. The yarn hair was a bit of a pain, but not difficult at all. Just time consuming. And bless my husband for helping to cut all these bits of yarn hair and then LETTING ME PUT IT ON HIS HEAD so that I could braid it when it was all attached. There is a man very secure in his masculinity, right there. I was watching Ken Burns' "Baseball" with him, so I'm sure this was part of why he was so amenable. :)

-3- It's not Christmas anymore, but Tiffany is still talking about The Nutcracker

I love The Nutcracker, I can't help it. When I saw these earrings, I knew I simply HAD to make them:

"Nutcracker Earrings" supplies and instructions available at Fusion Beads

I wore them both before and after Christmas Day, thank you very much. :) I haven't worn them since Christmas season officially ended, *sniffle*. But I will return to you next December, faithful Nutcrackers! When I made these, I accidentally left off one of the blue cube beads, so one Nutcracker was significantly shorter than the other, can't have that, poor guy. He would get a complex. Thankfully, I had spare supplies to redo earring #2.

-4- Back to snowflakes!

This technically *isn't* a snowflake, but I call it the snowflake bracelet, because that's the color palette I was going for. I made this as part of my Secret Santa gift in my craft group:

"Everyday Gem Bracelet" supplies and instructions at Fusion Beads

The inspiration project used lilac beads, and I went with turquoise and crystal AB. I also used a lobster clasp rather than a toggle, those things make me nervous that I'll lose bracelets. I lose so many other things, it's the next logical step. :)

-5- What would January be without Downton Abbey knitting?

I wish that we could watch Downton Abbey in the fall like our friends in the UK, but that's a topic for another post. Downton Abbey always starts in the US right around my wedding anniversary, and the whole situation just gives me happy memories. This year, I chose to participate in a Mystery Knit-along associated with the show, and I'm now done with the first two "clues":

"Downton Abbey Mystery Knit-along 2015" pattern is $6

My fledgling shawl is looking quite large these days, and it's been giving me hints that it feels the cord I'm using on my circular needles is too short. I may need to switch to a longer cable to let it spread it's wings a bit. Since we've used so much of one of the two colors (for me, the variegated colorway), I'm excited to see what will happen next involving the other color, and if aforementioned exciting thing will be lace.

*happy*

-6- Winter dancing!

My troupe generally has less performances in the winter (busy time is summer festival season) so we use the winter to solidify existing choreographies and craft new ones to bust out when we have some bookings. We're planning to rework out tray/wings number, because, you know...

...so many wings. There are 10 of us now, and few venues can house that many of us sweeping gigantic iridescent wings everywhere. Claire mentioned having half of us balance trays, while the other half does wing work. Should be interesting. We're also plotting a new choreography to a classic Middle Eastern piece of music, I always love those. I have rehearsal tonight and am super excited.

-7- So what's next?

Valentine jewelry! I'm compiling my Fusion Beads cart right now. Not that I have fun Valentine's Day plans, granted, I'm working on the reference desk that day.

*heartbreaking music plays*

But that was by design. We all have to pick a few weekends to work, and I knew that Mike and I wouldn't be going out to dinner right on Valentine's Day, so it was a "safe" day for me claim. I swear, the instant I pick "free" weekend days to work, the funnest plans in the universe come to light on the exact days I'm doomed to be sitting at a desk for four hours wearing my glasses and a pitiful expression. But Valentine's Day is safe. Why? It's not because my husband is unfeeling and not making me feel special on that day. It's just that we're both introverts and do not want to deal with the capacity situation going to a restaurant on Valentine's Day entails. Plus, my birthday is February 18th, so we end up going out to a really nice dinner right after Valentine's Day for that. We're planning to have a special dinner at home on the 14th that Mike will prepare while I'm working. That was WAY too long of a story as a foundation for making Valentine jewelry, but you know this about me by now. I will post Valentine jewelry photos as events transpire. ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off on Monday, so not sure if I'll blog or not. I'll definitely talk to you on Tuesday. In the mean time, head over to This Ain't the Lyceum for more 7 Quick Takes!

Saint themes for kids! St. Francis de Sales novena, and adventures in not-so-perpetual Adoration chapels...

Happy beginning to the St. Francis de Sales novena, everyone! :) This novena starts today, and runs through January 23rd. It is perfect for anyone with an intention regarding teaching or writing. Do pray along with us! If you have an intention that you'd like me to include in my own prayers during this novena, just leave a comment on the novena page linked above. :)

Before I get into the saint theme business, I wanted to mention my winter Ordinary Time goals in general, since the novenas are a part of that. I have a weekly Adoration goal, and so far things are going great, but I tell you, the perpetual Adoration chapel I go to isn't making it easy for me. :0 I mentioned that it was closed over the holidays, which is totally understandable. I stopped last week, no problems whatsoever, so I was lulled into a sense of confidence.

*ominous music plays*

Tuesday I hustled out to my car early so that I would have time for a holy 15 minutes prior to heading home. I zoom to the chapel. I park. I walk briskly to the back door of the church near the Adoration chapel. It is locked. I peek inside the window kind of creepily. Right! There is another door along the side. I've been outside for a whole 30 seconds by this point and am getting cold, so I start to hightail it to the side door. As this was ongoing, another car had zipped into the parking lot and made a big sweeping motion to back into the parking spot that I was currently transversing. I was already in the middle of the spot, so it's not like I could go anywhere except to hurry to the other side. Which is what I did, making a "sorry!" face as I did so, but they still nearly mowed me down. :0 But I made it to the side door unscathed, and...it too was locked.

!

This time I wasn't at all subtle about peering in the windows, and I saw a large sign hung on the chapel door saying that it was closed "for construction in the church hallway," whatever that means. So that was a huge bummer, but it did open back up yesterday, so I stopped then. No zoomy cars in the parking lot, so all was well. I love Adoration. It's not like I ever see visions or hear voices when I'm in there or anything, but I feel like the rest of the week following that is just smoother and it's more clear to me what decisions I should make along the way. So, that's going well. :)

For the kids, I mentioned this "saint theme" idea I had. Henry mentioned that he'd like a St. Stephen wooden peg doll to add to his collection, so I've made St. Stephen his theme for the year. :) What I plan to do is read his story with Henry throughout the year in all of the various saint books that he has, and then gift him with some St. Stephen sacramentals as a way of remembering his example. I'm going to ask my favorite Etsy saint doll artist, Gary of St. Luke's Brush, to paint him a St. Stephen doll. He doesn't have a current listing for St. Stephen, but he'll custom make whatever saint you ask, and it would be similar in style to this handsome St. Francis de Sales:

I also have a St. Stephen rosary for him, created by Allison of Rosaries by Allison:

Anne's theme is Our Lady of Lourdes. She's a huge fan of Our Lady (Our Lady Star of the Sea is a real favorite of hers), so I thought this would be a nice one for her. We'll read her story, and she'll receive a felt Our Lady of Lourdes in her Easter basket (shop is Saintly Silver on Etsy):

And an Our Lady of Lourdes rosary:

I'm planning to emphasize these feast days this year, so December 26th for St. Stephen, and upcoming February 11th for Our Lady of Lourdes. In fact, I'm planning on praying the Our Lady of Lourdes novena and trying to include Anne in that as much as I can, I will report in on how that goes. :)

I have some other saint ideas for the kids this year, the first of which involves the feast of St. Blaise, February 3rd. I will devote a whole post to St. Blaise in about two weeks, just after his novena starts on January 25th!

What are your saint traditions with your kids, or that you grew up with? Do report in the comments. :)

Catholic Book Club: Humbled by the Journey

Morning everyone! It's a cccoooollllldddd start to the day here in Western New York. We're all wearing fleece jackets and slippers in our house pretty much full time right now.  But we're persevering! And Anne battled a "monster" for me in the dining room before I left for work, apparently monsters thrive in cold weather. ;-)

But today is book review day, and the climate discussed in the book is considerably warmer than where I am right now, so let's focus on that. :) I was asked to review the memoir of a man who walked the historic Camino de Santiago entitled Humbled by the Journey: Life Lessons For My Family...and Yours, by Miguel Benito Fernandez. Fascinating topic, yes? I have never read a book about the Camino and have always wanted to, and thus I was quick to agree, and received the beautifully illustrated volume you see at left.

The story behind this book is quite compelling, and I'll excerpt the description from the sales page:

In Humbled By the Journey: Life Lessons For My Family...and Yours, from which the proceeds will go to the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, Miguel "Mike" Benito Fernandez takes readers on parallel journeys: A 508-mile pilgrimage across El Camino de Santiago from France through Spain - and from a dirt road Cuban town to the pinnacles of U.S. business success. The book shines a light on the lessons Mike has learned over a lifetime of working tirelessly, overcoming obstacles and "showing up." The most important lesson: "You have to take care of those who come after you."

In 2013, Mike hiked along El Camino - an ancient, spiritual trail that attracts pilgrims from around the world - with a pledge for each mile that led to more than $5 million for a children's hospital. The experience was challenging and rigorous and provided Mike with a unique opportunity to embrace his life in a deep, meaningful way. In fact he has done this trip three times. Humbled By the Journey is part self-portrait, part adventure story, and shuttles readers back and forth between Mike's path on El Camino and his journey through life. El Camino becomes a metaphorical backdrop as Mike narrates the details of his 62 years of living.

This is a large and gorgeous book, a true work of art. It is what I would term a "coffee table book," because it would be appropriate to leave out for interested guests to flip through, the illustrations in it are so eye-catching. This is not a book with a leaf of photographs in the center, which we all have seen before in non-fiction titles. This book has photographs on every single page, and the text is inserted around them. It is visually striking, and the story that unfolds will grab a reader right away.

We have parallel stories here, and each chapter contains parts of each. We begin with details of the author's personal life, from his years growing up in revolution-era Cuba and subsequent family expulsion to New York City, to his adulthood as a successful entrepreneur. The end of each chapter contains journal entries chronicling his walk along the Camino. Although not a Catholic, the author was strongly influenced by his time at a Catholic school and a Jesuit priest he encountered there. As he grew into adulthood, Mr. Fernandez made his way with ingenuity and determination, wanting to make a strong career for himself after seeing how his father's business suffered under the oppressive Cuban regime. His ultimate success put him in the position to generate sponsorship for a children's hospital, a cause very close to his heart, via his walk on the Camino de Santiago. I loved how he noted that he carried small photos of some of the chronically ill children at the hospital, and each day he would select one photo and offer up his walk for that child.

This is certainly an inspiring book, both emotionally and spiritually, and the photos and details of the locations the author visited along the Camino moved me greatly. Mr. Fernandez also includes a lot of discussion of his business strategies and wisdom, and efforts in philanthropy.

This book would be a beautiful gift for anyone who is interested in business and entrepreneurship, or anyone who enjoys a good memoir. Despite it's large size, I read it very quickly, the story really captures your imagination. This was a different style from other memoirs that I've read, and I'm so pleased that I added this to my collection. :) If you're interested in purchasing a copy of this book (and supporting a very good cause!), they are available at Books and Books for $29.95.

Check back tomorrow for a saint post I've been looking forward to writing! Until then!

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Winter Ordinary Time, how shall we spend it?

Happy Tuesday everybody! Still cold here :) but a beautiful, sunny winter day. I was thinking as I was driving into work today about the fact that we are now officially back in Ordinary Time. Yet far from being boring, this beginning segment (if you will) of Ordinary Time is always interesting to me because it varies in length each year depending upon the placement of Easter. This year we have from now until February 18th to savor the non-penitential nature and saint feast days Ordinary Time has to offer. So, even though it isn't a "special" liturgical time the way Advent and Lent are, this period of Ordinary Time has a lot going for it. So, what are my plans (and yours!) for how to spend it?

As I mentioned, there are some rather awesome saint feast days coming up, so the first thing(s) that came to mind are novenas. Keep an eye on the top navigation bar on the blog for what I'll be praying in case you want to join in! :) You'll notice that the current listing is for the novena to St. Francis de Sales, and that starts this Thursday, January 15th! He is the patron of teachers and writers, so lots of great fodder there to work with in terms of intentions. As soon as his feast day rolls around on January 24th, it's time to start another novena, this time St. Blaise (feast: February 3rd), and then Our Lady of Lourdes (feast: February 11th) and I plan to incorporate the kids into both of these, so stay tuned for information!

I'm very excited about all of this, and I will be incorporating in some feast day celebrations with the kids which I will also write about. I have decided that each year (I will try) to set "saint themes" for each child, and select a few other feast days to draw special attention to. I think I can write a whole post just on this whole nerdy saint theme business, so we'll come back to that. ;-) I'll have a big reveal as to who Henry and Anne's theme is for the year, oohhhhh...

*excited!*

But there is one other thing I want to focus on for this stretch of Ordinary Time, and that is Eucharistic Adoration. Over Christmas I started going weekly, and I am quite determined to keep this habit up. What a *difference* it makes in terms of how I feel spiritually and emotionally when I'm able to work this into my weekly schedule. It's almost guaranteed that I won't be able to make it at the same time each week, but just so long as I get it in once per week, I'm a happy girl.

So, those are my goals. How about you? Any ideas for this short stretch of winter Ordinary Time?

I wanted to mention that I have a book review coming tomorrow, a non-fiction title about a man who walked the Camino de Santiago called Humbled by the Journey, a fascinating subject, to be sure. I hope that you'll join me tomorrow to hear more about it!

A smashing anniversary getaway for the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord...

Happy Monday everyone! I am back and absolutely aglow from my anniversary weekend trip. I hope that you all had a beautiful feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and last weekend in the Christmas season. We're now back on Ordinary Time until Ash Wednesday in mid-February, but no need to worry about that just yet. ;-)

So, my weekend! Mike and I traveled north to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, and I wanted to describe the highlights, since we had such a sublime time. I realize now that I should have taken more photos, I'm so bad about that. But I was busily enjoying the moments, so I guess I can't be too hard on myself for that. Let's begin at the beginning, and I usually tell you to get your tea for these long posts, which is extremely appropriate given how we started our weekend.

*levitates*

I mean...Oh my. As soon as we checked in (at a quaint inn, our room had a fireplace!) we headed to the historic Prince of Wales hotel and their Drawing Room for afternoon tea. To say that it was magnificent doesn't even come CLOSE to describing it. Mike and I had the place to ourselves, and chose to sit in a cozy nook by the fire. Here's Mike, displaying our table. :)

We each selected a tea, and can I tell you, it's all downhill from here with regard to tea. :0 NOTHING can live up to the tea that we had there, and I would have bought a boatload to bring back if the prices hadn't made one gasp in discreet shock. DIVINE, that's the only way to describe it. We also were brought a tiered platter of tiny sandwiches, warm scones, cookies, macaroons, fruit, quiche, and other pastries, all served with clotted cream, butter and fresh raspberry jam. I mean...

I was so cozy, happy and absolutely contented, I was just beside myself. It was *magnificent*.

Mike: "You're really happy, aren't you?"

Me: "Are these fresh pink roses?! What? Oh my, yes!"

I was beaming the entire day. And our room at the inn was just adorable, I had that fireplace going day and night. And isn't it refreshing to know that even over the course of 10 years, some things never change?

Mike: "Are you warm enough yet, sweetie?" *beads of sweat appear on forehead*

Me: *bundled in fleece from head to toe* "Yes, FINALLY! But don't turn the fire off! I'll get cold again."

Women and the cold body temperature thing, I definitely have that, while Mike is the exact male opposite. :)

It wasn't all my own cold chemistry this weekend though. A cold front had moved in off of Lake Ontario, and hello! There is Niagara-on-the-Lake. We knew it would be cold, and I packed my new giant wool cowl, which I wore constantly:

And we're hearty Western New Yorkers, we're used to cold. Right?

Well. :) There is cold, and there is COLD. This was cold that we're not really used to. We'd get outside, bundled in our wool and fleece accessories, and have this conversation about a half dozen times over the course of the weekend:

"This isn't so bad! I mean, it's cold, but..."

*walk to intersection of street*

BAM!

Wind that felt like icy knives assaulted our faces.

"Oh. We'd better go back inside. Else, we may die."

It as *insane,* everyone was talking about it. I have rarely felt wind chill quite like that. People were *running* from store to store, because being outside, even all bundled up, was just unbearable. We did what we could to see a few sights, but we did stay inside a lot. :)

But our outings did include a vineyard (ice wine season, come to mama!) and a trip to the local fudge shop for the kids. We enjoyed some wonderful meals, including our Saturday night official anniversary dinner at a winery. AND, we went to the vigil Mass at the very cute local parish for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord:

Mike: "Is this Mass going to be any different because we're in Canada?"

Me: "Um, no. There may be a slightly different scripture translation used for the readings...oh HELLO cute Canadian missal!"

Upon entering our pew I espied the hymnal plus a missal that I'd never seen before. It was much smaller and squatter than the missalettes I'm used to at our parish. I liked the way it fit into my hands so easily. Sure enough, when I opened it, I noticed that the reading translations were slightly different than in my Magnificat, and the copyright page noted that this missal was "approved for use in Canada." It included a lovely monthly calendar of saint feast days celebrated in Canada, and each Sunday had a reflection written by a Canadian. I kind of loved it. :0 I immediately bonded with it and placed my prayer cards in it to use as bookmarks for the readings and our place in the Order of Mass. I wished that I could take it home with me. ;-)

And the Mass was lovely. I missed my own parish, but I could tell that this was a close community of members. Loved.

I was sad when Sunday morning rolled around and it was time for us to leave. The wind chill had finally normalized somewhat, so we walked to a breakfast spot, and then were able to take a walk closer to the water before packing up to head home. I miss our little winter oasis. :)

I am SO glad that we went on this trip, and we've vowed to go back to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a weekend, just the two of us, when we get to our 12 year anniversary. The freedom to just spend uninterrupted time together and spontaneously do what we pleased for two days, it was just wonderful.

We got back Sunday to a happy reunion with the kids, and all is well. How was your weekend, dear reader? Leave me a comment. :)

10 years ago today...

This is what I was doing:

:0

On my way to my (very wintry) wedding! We were delayed a bit by fresh snowfall, but all was well. We arrived at the church right on time, but started 10 minutes late to accommodate guests who had to take it slower on the roads. And the church looked perfectly lovely, decorated to reflect that our anniversary always falls within the Christmas season, just prior to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord:

And here we are, following the conclusion of our nuptial Mass:

We look younger, lol! But we still look plenty young (she tells herself, with feeling... ;-)) And 10 years in, I can say that I have been, and am, very happily married. It isn't always easy living with another person and taking their needs into consideration ahead of your own. But it is very, very worth it. I can't imagine my life without Mike in it. I just remember being at the Basilica of St. Anne-de-Beaupre just prior to when Mike and I started dating, and praying for the right man to enter my life if it was God's will for me to marry. And there Mike appeared. :)

There have been times in our marriage where things were more challenging than others. But we always knew that things would get easier, and they did. And no matter what, we were always committed to each other and to the life we were building together for ourselves and our kids. My marriage is indeed a blessing.

So, for the big milestone, and for the first time since our honeymoon, we're going away by ourselves.

*beams*

We're not going far. We always talked about going back to San Francisco, which is where we honeymooned, but that just isn't feasible right now. So we're spending the weekend about an hour north of here in a cute lakeside area known for it's ice wine. Yes, we got married in the dead of winter in Western New York, yet we keep going northward, we're nuts that way. :) We have reservations at a cute inn, and plan to go to High Tea at a historic hotel there, and to some wineries. Saturday night we're going to the vigil Mass at the local parish (excited to check that out!) and then out for dinner, and almost assuredly, more wine. ;-)

So it'll be romantic and fun, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I won't be blogging tomorrow (someday, I will come back to you, my 7 Quick Takes Fridays...) but I will check in on Monday for sure. Until then dear readers! Happy feast of the Baptism of Our Lord! :)

Read and Stitch: Haunted yarn shops and winter shawls...

Hello everybody, and welcome to the first edition of Read and Stitch! I'm not certain this will be a regular feature, just whenever I have appropriate titles to discuss! So these posts will focus on cozy crafty fiction, knitting or crocheting. For all of you crafty readers out there, these posts are for you! I'll discuss not only a book, but a current project or two that I'm working on. Are you excited?! I am. :)

So, today I'm going to be reviewing Last Wool and Testament: A Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery by Molly MacRae. Lots of mysteries abound. :0 Let's get started!

This book sat on my wish list for ages, I absolutely loved the premise and really wanted to read it. And speaking of the premise...

Kath Rutledge is about to learn the true meaning of TGIF—Thank Goodness It’s Fiber.…

That’s the name of the spunky group of fiber and needlework artists founded by Ivy McClellan, Kath’s beloved grandmother. Though Ivy has recently passed on, the members still meet regularly at her fiber and fabric shop, The Weaver’s Cat, which Kath has now inherited. But that’s only the first in a series of surprises when Kath returns to the small town of Blue Plum, Tennessee, to settle her grandmother’s affairs.

There’s been a murder, and it turns out her grandmother was the prime suspect. Before she can begin to clear Ivy’s name, Kath encounters a looming presence in the form of a gloomy ghost. It turns out the specter has just as much interest in solving the murder as Kath. So, with a little help from the members of TGIF—and a stubborn spirit from beyond—she sets out to unravel the clues and hook the real killer.…

It had been so long time since I read the synopsis that when I started the book, and an actual ghost appeared, I was caught a bit off guard. :0 I guess I was assuming "haunted yarn shop" meant a creepy store with a chilling sense that something untoward had happened there, and the mystery was figuring out what that was. I was wrong. There is an actual ghost, who converses with Kath, our main character.

So, let's talk about Kath and her ghost. I actually...didn't love them. :0 They were a bit annoying. Kath tried too hard to be funny, and the ghost whined a lot. And it felt like nothing happened for three quarters of the story. In fact, we were *in* the yarn shop very little. Most of the "action" took place in the house Kath was staying in or other places around town. I generally like "around the town" types of books, where we meet a motley assortment of characters and get a glimpse of their daily lives, that's all good. But given that "haunted yarn shop" was in the title, I expected us to be there a lot more than we actually were. There were some interesting sequences having to do with weaving, which was Kath's grandma's specialty, and I found that enjoyable. But I definitely did not bond with Kath. And her nemeses in the book also grated on my nerves. If you read the book, just get to the Spivey twins and you'll know precisely what I'm talking about. :0

This book felt like a "set up" for a series, and in fact that is what it is. At least a half dozen other titles follow this one, and it seems to me (based upon the ending, which I will not give away) that Kath and the ghost will now be spending more time in the yarn shop. So, that could make future installments more interesting.

Thus, bottom line: I didn't love this book. I also didn't hate it, it wasn't terribly hard to finish it. It was a cute and fun read. But will I read others in this series? Likely not.

There were knitters in this book, though Kath didn't seem to love knitting overly much. I felt a bit betrayed by this, but never mind. :0 I've been very busily knitting this winter, and I have a few seasonal projects that I'm super excited about!

This January and February, Jimmy Beans Wool is sponsoring a Downton Abbey Mystery Knitalong! Can you hear it, can you hear it?!

*angels sing!*

We knew that it would be a shawl, but the pattern itself is an evolving mystery that we receive via weekly clues. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I ended up treating myself to the official Knitalong colors of a variegated colorway called "Edith's Secret," and then pairing it with the solid colorway of Old Rose. Here is what I have so far, midway through Clue #1:

Pretty! I'm happy with how it's turning out, and I can't wait to receive the second clue on Sunday. I also recently finished a winter shawl from a pattern called "Color Affection" in what I have termed Frozen colors. Here is it unblocked:

I ended up being able to get my hot little hands on a skein of the (out-of-stock) icy blue colorway which is named "Frozen" via a friendly Ravelry member. The top color is a silvery gray, and the second stripe is called "Platinum." I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I need to block it so that it will stretch out to it's full potential and wrap myself in it's warmth. :) Living where I do, I have come to realize the value of warm handknit accessories such as shawls and cowls. They really lend a lot of warmth without adding bulk.

So that's what I've been working on! Has anybody else read The Haunted Yarn Shop series, or working on any crafty winter projects? Leave me a comment!

Book recommendations from our Christmas & Epiphany stash...

Morning all! I had a better overnight and wake up this morning, my second day of being back to work post-holiday break. Sunday night, I woke up every 60 minutes, looking at the clock in a panic. I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. Last night was much improved, even after staying up a little later than planned with Mike and my glass of wine to catch up on Downton Abbey.

But I digress (no surprise there...) Before I get on with the main topic for today's post, I wanted to mention the lovely write up Cam has over at A Woman's Place for an Epiphany blessing for your home. There is a link for the prayers to bless a piece of chalk with Holy Water and then bless your house with it, and you can do this yourself in the absence of a priest. Today *is* technically the feast of the Epiphany, although the Church observes it on the Sunday following the feast of the Holy Family. I printed all of the prayers, and so long as I can scare up some Holy Water and a piece of chalk tonight, I plan to do this with the kids!

Ok, so books. I wanted to mention some of the books that I received this Christmas, and some that I gifted this Christmas and Epiphany, since I'm so pleased with them. And yes, I did an Epiphany gift for each child this year! We're celebrating all 12 Days of Christmas over here in our efforts toward incorporating the liturgical year into family life more. Fun. :)

Here are the books that I wanted to mention, figuring that one or more of them might capture your attention as well. I'm going to get all librarian on you and organize them into categories, it's a regular Readers' Advisory over here..

*adjusts bun*

Dance 

I love dance memoirs (I absolutely raved about Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet several months back), and my sister gifted me Dancing on Water: A Life in Ballet, from the Kirov to the ABT:

 This one is intriguing enough to warrant including the description from Amazon:

Dancing on Water is both a personal coming-of-age story and a sweeping look at ballet life in Russia and the United States during the golden age of dance. Elena Tchernichova takes us from her childhood during the siege of Leningrad to her mother’s alcoholism and suicide, and from her adoption by Kirov ballerina Tatiana Vecheslova, who entered her into the state ballet school, to her career in the American Ballet Theatre.

As a student and young dancer with the Kirov, she witnessed the company’s achievements as a citadel of classic ballet, home to legendary names—Shelest, Nureyev, Dudinskaya, Baryshnikov—but also a hotbed of intrigue and ambition run amok. As ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre from 1978 to 1990, Elena was called “the most important behind-the-scenes force for change in ballet today,” by Vogue magazine. She coached stars and corps de ballet alike, and helped mold the careers of some of the great dancers of the age, including Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Natalia Makarova, and Alexander Godunov. Dancing on Water is a tour de force, exploring the highest levels of the world of dance.

Yes? I can't wait to read it. I also used a gift card to download a book concerning a sub-category of dance fascination to me, Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World:

The Nutcracker is the most popular ballet in the world, adopted and adapted by hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada every Christmas season. In this entertainingly informative book, Jennifer Fisher offers new insights into the Nutcracker phenomenon, examining it as a dance scholar and critic, a former participant, an observer of popular culture, and an interviewer of those who dance, present, and watch the beloved ballet.

Fisher traces The Nutcracker’s history from its St. Petersburg premiere in 1892 through its emigration to North America in the mid-twentieth century to the many productions of recent years. She notes that after it was choreographed by another Russian immigrant to the New World, George Balanchine, the ballet began to thrive and variegate: Hawaiians added hula, Canadians added hockey, Mark Morris set it in the swinging sixties, and Donald Byrd placed it in Harlem. The dance world underestimates The Nutcracker at its peril, Fisher suggests, because the ballet is one of its most powerfully resonant traditions. After starting life as a Russian ballet based on a German tale about a little girl’s imagination, The Nutcracker has become a way for Americans to tell a story about their communal values and themselves.

Tradition, dance, Christmas?! *swoons* I'm planning to start this this weekend when Mike and I are away on our second honeymoon trip. :)

Pioneering & Other Historical Classics

I've been into a pioneering theme lately, and Mike bought me the new annotated Laura Ingalls Wilder autobiography, Pioneer Girl:

It's on backorder at Amazon, so I haven't received it yet, but I'm super excited to read this when it comes.

Along this theme, I have become obsessed with a series I discovered in early December for children ages 4-8. They are the My First Little House books, and I absolutely LOVE reading these to Anne. I got her several for both Christmas and Epiphany, including Winter Days in the Big Woods:

I plan to add to her collection at Easter. I think Anne looks a lot like the illustrations of Laura, and she agrees. *heart*

My sister Shauna'h bought Anne Ox-Cart Man, an absolutely charming story about a year in the life of a farming family:

And at the last minute, I ended up purchasing  A Little Women Christmas for Anne, and I am SO glad that I did:

The illustrations are absolutely breathtaking, and the story heartwarming. Every morning I find this book in Anne's bed, as she wanted to look through it via her nightlight before falling asleep. :)

Cozy Fiction

This is always a favorite category of mine, and I can't wait to read the new Mitford novel, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, which my in-laws gave me:

For those who haven't read this series:

           After five hectic years of retirement from Lord’s Chapel, Father Tim Kavanagh returns with his wife, Cynthia, from a so-called pleasure trip to the land of his Irish ancestors.

            While glad to be at home in Mitford, something is definitely missing: a pulpit. But when he’s offered one, he decides he doesn’t want it. Maybe he’s lost his passion.

            His adopted son, Dooley, wrestles with his own passion—for the beautiful and gifted Lace Turner, and his vision to become a successful country vet. Dooley’s brother, Sammy, still enraged by his mother’s abandonment, destroys one of Father Tim’s prized possessions. And Hope Murphy, owner of Happy Endings bookstore, struggles with the potential loss of her unborn child and her hard-won business.

            All this as Wanda’s Feel Good Café opens, a romance catches fire through an Internet word game, their former mayor hatches a reelection campaign to throw the bums out, and the weekly Muse poses a probing inquiry: Does Mitford still take care of its own?

As well, I received as a gift Last Wool and Testament: A Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery:

AND I'm going to be reviewing it tomorrow as part of a new series!

Catholic Young Adult Fiction

You all know that I'm a big fan of Catholic YA books, and my in-laws gave me Olivia's Gift to add to my collection:

You may remember that I reviewed Nancy Carabio Belanger's The Gate back in July and just loved it.  I'm very excited to read one of her other books.

Relatedly, I heard about the latest John Paul 2 High book, Near Occasions (John Paul 2 High Book 5), the other day and immediately used my gift card to download it:

I've written about these books before, I just adore them. I'm looking forward to diving into the latest installment.

Dot-to-Dot Books

For Henry, he's been really into challenging dot-to-dot books, so I picked up several for him including The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Adventure Book 1:

These are perfect for kids his age and he's working his way through them at an alarming clip. :0 I have two more on order for him as a late Epiphany gift from the Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book in the World series. 

And lest you think dot-to-dot puzzles are just for kids, 1000 Dot-to-Dot: Cities,was one of Mike's gifts:

 ...and he LOVES it! Each one takes him days to do, so challenging they are indeed.

Saints for Middle Readers

Henry is a huge saint story fan, and he has several books that I've bought him over the years. He had a few books in the St. Joseph Picture Books series, and he told me that those were his favorites. Thus, I decided to complete his collection so that he now has all 12 books:

We read a story each night before he goes to bed, it's become a lovely tradition.

Well. This post certainly got longer than I intended, but I hope it was helpful and gave you some ideas for yourself or your kids! Did you get any new books for Christmas? Do let me know in the comments. :)

I'm back, and I don't even know where to start!!

:0

A blogging hiatus is necessary for me each year during the Christmas season, but I tell you, it throws me off. I feel all weird when I don't blog. And there was so much that happened that I am certain much of it will get glossed over due to sheer overwhelment (is that a word? it is now :)) but hey, one does what one can. ;-) I will summarize all of the family and liturgical goings on as best I can and call it My Very First Post of 2015!

*streamers!*

I hope that you all had a beautiful and blessed Christmas season, ALTHOUGH aforementioned season technically extends until Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. So we're still celebrating! I really, really focused on that this year, the fact that Christmas is a season and not just a single day. I think I felt it so deeply this year in particular because with small kids, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day take on a chaotic quality. But beginning with the feast of St. Stephen on December 26th, my Christmas season was absolutely sublime. :) I kept mentioning this to Mike and the kids ("Christmas is a season, we should still be playing Christmas music!!") and they humored me very nicely. 

Ok, so! Last we spoke it was Christmas Eve. We spend Christmas Eve with my family, which is much larger than Mike's, hence the chaos. Earlier that day I wanted to go to Adoration to maintain a serene and sacred feel to the day, and Henry actually wanted to go with me. We made the journey out to one of the two parishes in the area that has a Perpetual Adoration chapel and...

It was closed. :0

Not so perpetual, but understandably, they had a hard time finding enough adorers to fill the slots over the holidays so they closed it for a few days. The church itself was open, with the organist practicing for the Vigil Mass that evening, so Henry and I went and prayed in there for a few minutes. Well, I prayed, and Henry prowled around :) but I thought that was just fine. He was all excited to be in the darkened church and able to find fascinating saint-related hidey holes, and he brought me over to a nook with a St. Therese statue and a candle stand. He expressed interest in going to Adoration with me again when the chapel re-opens, and I couldn't be more pleased.

So, the morning and afternoon went well. While Henry and I were on our Adoration Adventure, Mike texted me to pitch the idea that instead of our traditional pilgrimage to a Christmas Vigil Mass, in which we need to arrive 30 minutes early to get a seat and are smashed into a pew for about an hour and a half with a wiggly Anne, maybe we could consider attending Christmas Day Mass? I was skeptical at first, but he talked me into it. And how did that go? Read on, kind visitors.

So, no Vigil Mass meant that getting ready for our family dinner was easier, and Anne napped right up until we left anyway. She predictably woke up on the wrong side of her little stuffed animal infested bed, and then refused to wear the Christmas Eve dress my mom bought for her. She left the house with a pouty face. Henry was in good spirits, but you know, this is Henry's excited face:

Looks like he's about to undergo involuntary medical testing :0

For my part, I was wearing a black velvet dress and a snowflake necklace that I made just for the occasion:

No photo of me *in* said items, Anne was making me too stressed for selfies. :0 But off we went, and dinner was lovely. I got to see all four of my nephews, including the 2 year old twins, who are so cute you could just kiss their little faces off. I'm certain that they wouldn't appreciate an effort in that regard, so I restrained myself.

Christmas morning found us opening gifts, and then headed to 10 am Mass, and can I just say, Christmas Day Mass =

*Hallelujah!*

I couldn't believe it when we walked in. As opposed to the Vigil Mass, which is beautiful, but suffocating, this Mass didn't even have as many people as a Sunday during Ordinary Time. And we went to our home parish, so it was just SUBLIME. Anne immediately gravitated to the large nativity set, and we went up before Mass started to adore the Newborn King. :)

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Lots of family visiting followed that afternoon and evening, and we were all a bit exhausted by the end of the day.

The kids, of course, were very happy with their gifts, as was I. I received a lot of great books, and I plan to spotlight those tomorrow. But I also received some beautiful new Catholic gifts. Shauna'h gave me this St. Kateri rosary:

I squealed when I saw it. :0 Such fabulousness (another word I just made up...) Anne received another saint softie to add to her collection, and here she is showing off St. Therese now joined in prayer power with Our Lady Star of the Sea:

On the feast of St. Stephen, we got together with my parents to exchange gifts, and they gave me a gorgeous new iPod Nano, which I really needed, since my old one is showing major signs of wear and tear, and I rely on it so heavily for my large music collection and Catholic podcasts. She's purple, and I've named her Cecelia :0

Also on that day, we have Anne posing with our dog nephew, Roscoe:

Cuteness. She's modeling her new Elsa necklace, crafted by my sister Shauna'h. We spent some more time that weekend (Holy Family weekend, appropriately :)) visiting with my sisters and nephews before everyone headed home.

On New Year's Eve we went to the vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God amid a winter storm blowing into Western New York, and coziness was experienced by all. :) I used a new cookbook that I received for Christmas to prepare potato soup in the crock pot, and we also had a shrimp/cheese/olives/bread combo spread after we returned. And on New Year's Day, Mike and Henry finished a 3D puzzle of St. Basil's Cathedral that had been one of his gifts, and just in time for St. Basil's feast day January 2nd :0

In honor of the 2015 patron of this blog!

 Impressive, yes? It was an absolutely wonderful week, and now here I am, back at work.

*sniffle*

But I'm hanging in there, getting back into my routine. And can I say that I am SO excited for 2015? I have never in my (very good and happy) life felt so optimistic about a new year before. Life is good, my friends. I'm looking forward to all of the spiritual opportunities the new liturgical year has to offer, to celebrating 10 years of marriage to Mike this weekend (post on that coming Thursday!), to spending time with my family, to hopefully attending the Catholic New Media Conference in June...There is so much to look forward to. And I look forward to experiencing and sharing it all with YOU, dear reader!

How was your Christmas season so far? Do leave a comment to share it with me!