Distractions from Studying

While I should be studying for my Boards, I "happened" upon this report from the Onion; read it for an ironic--although somewhat irreverent--chuckle. Every once in a while I remember that The Onion exists, and I make a visit to allow myself a break from serious news. No, I'm not an escapist!

Meant to share these a while ago...

Over Easter, Colin and I went back to St. Patrick's Church in D.C. where we first met over Thanksgiving.
It was neat to be there with him again, remembering that day to each other from our individual perspectives, and appreciating the beauty of the church again, this time completely at ease in each others' company.
I remember that Friday in November, standing next to him at Mass, marveling at the likelihood that I would look back someday and smile at how unfamiliar and shy I felt with him right then.
Funny how little time it took....


Just to illustrate the point, I would've never allowed myself to look this the first day I met him!

Pray for our Priests

We have always been encouraged to pray for priests, who are mortal men answering a divine call. They carry heavy responsibilities, as well as high expectations from a world that at the same time, generally despises what they stand for and espouse.
Recently, I have become more in tune with the need to pray for these men. The parish priest here in Chapel Hill consistently concludes Confession with, "And please pray for this sinner, too."
While visiting Colin's parents in D.C. over Easter, the priest who heard my confession there on Holy Saturday specifically asked for prayers. And I was again reminded by an email that my spiritual father in Connecticut sent yesterday. We have been phoning and emailing back and forth, and I had recently sent him an extensive email citing all the possible ways that we could coordinate his visit to Charlotte in July with Colin and my work schedules. I had then ended my message with a promise of prayers and an eagerness to see him. His reply was one line, and its simplicity struck me:
"Many thanks, [Sephora], especially for the prayers. God will provide."(emphasis mine)

Colin and I have recently added this simple prayer to our evening prayers--although this is from a tiny pocket-sized prayer book, and I believe it is an abridged version of a more extensive prayer. It is just one of many possible prayers, but it is a reminder of what a gift our priests are, and how much they depend on our spiritual support for their strength.

O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests; for your unfaithful and tepid priests; for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for your tempted priests; for your lonely and desolate priests; for your young priests; for your dying priests; for the souls of your priests in purgatory. But above all, I commend to you the priests dearest to me, the priest who baptized me, the priests who have absolved me from my sins, the priests at whose Masses I have assisted and who have offered me your Body and Blood in Holy Communion, the priests who have taught and instructed me or helped and encouraged me, and the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.
O Jesus, keep them all close to your Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

Lease signed!

Today I met my roommate for the next year or so. Her name is Heather, she just graduated from nursing school, she'll be working at the hospital where I'll be working, and she's really sweet. We both liked the places we looked at, for the same reasons; so our tastes are similar. Plus, she really likes coffee and enjoys breakfast food--so we're going to get along GREAT!

We finally decided--after much deliberation, phone calls with further questions, and pro/con list-making on a napkin over lunch!--on a cute little 3-bedroom house (yes, we are encouraging visitors--family and friends a-HEM!) situated about 3 miles north of the hospital. That puts me a full 6 miles away from Colin--which, after getting used to the mere 2 and 1/2 mile bike ride, is somewhat significant! But the extra exercise, or five minutes in the car, will be worth it! Boo, hoo, I know! I'm so blest, and I am really very grateful for my state in life right now. To tell the truth, I couldn't ask for more.

The house has two lovely great-rooms; one with a fireplace, and one with 3 big windows along one wall that look out over the back garden. There is plenty of natural light, as well as light fixtures. It is nice and cool in the house, even without the A/C on, because it was originally made of cement blocks, and later covered over with dry wall, etc.
The older couple who is renting it to us is so sweet. When we wanted to go back today to take measurements of the bedrooms (for Heather's furniture) the wife told us over the phone where the spare key was, so that we could let ourselves in! Then when I called back later to say that we'd like to rent the place, the husband got on the other line and gave me directions to their house to sign the lease! So cute.

I'm so excited. Pictures in a few weeks!

Requesting prayers...

At 2pm: Colin has his committee meeting, where he presents all of his current data to his board members, answers their questions, and receives feedback and "ideas" about his dissertation. His advisor and one of his board members are here at UNC and so they will attend in person, but two of the board members are back at his school in Houston. So a video conference to Houston has to be set up--also his responsibility today.

Apparently, not all faculty are as nurturing and supportive as mine have been. From what Colin tells me, it sounds as though professors of science make it a point to grill their graduate students as hard as they can to make sure they know what they're talking about.

Colin has been working on this presentation for several weeks now. We spent this past "holiday weekend" in his lab building--him at his desk working on his "figures," which is what they call confocal microscope images--and me a few floors below, studying for my boards.

After today, if all goes well, plenty of stress will be lifted from his shoulders. Of course, then he'll start working full-force on a "first author" paper which his advisor would like turned in by the end of July to be published. I never realized that the order of authors' names in scientific journal articles matter.
The first author listed in a scientific journal article is the one primarily responsible for the data collection, analysis, and writing of the paper. The last author is the Primary Investigator, or PI, in the lab where the data is collected and analyzed (in this case, Colin's advisor). This is the person who decides what research is being done, who consents to, changes, or rejects ideas of everyone working in the lab, and who ultimately has to answer to the NIH about what goes on in the lab.
The authors in between the first and last authors are other people working in the lab--also under the PI--who indirectly contribute by the work that they all do as a team, but do not necessarily contribute specifically to the writing of that paper.
Interesting....

Please keep him in your prayers today.

Random Memory...

My lease is up on June 30th. After that, I will be living with a young woman who was also hired at UNC hospital, having just graduated from nursing school. We will be looking at different places on Wednesday, and it's my job--since I'm already in the area--to set up appointments at different places to investigate.
While searching for housing possibilities, thoughts have been coming to me regarding single-bathroom homes. There are plenty of 2- and 3-BR homes up for rent now that each have one full bathroom. That's well and good for a family, I always think, but my roommate and I would each like our own bathroom. And although this is more her preference than mine, I don't mind being responsible only for my own bathroom's cleaniness. One thing that makes my skin crawl is an icky bathroom....

So during these musings and hunts for 2-BR, 2-Bath rentals, a random memory came to mind, of a framed embroidered poem in my grandparents' bathroom, which I remember staring at as a child:

WHO WAITS OUTSIDE THE DOOR
ONE MAY NEVER KNOW
SO TARRY NOT MY FRIEND
HE TOO MAY HAVE TO GO

Not fully versed in all English vocabulary at "that" age (whatever age it was!), and having no punctuation to guide me, I remember time after time, reading and re-reading that wall hanging, trying to decipher what it meant.

My primary difficulty, given the names of all of my father's siblings, was figuring out who the heck Tarry was.... and after that, why he was "not my friend"...

Happy Day!

Please congratulate this beautiful sister of mine and her DH on their 11th anniversary!

...and...

Please pray for this lovely friend, her husband, and their little baby girl who is coming into the world today!

Purpley purpled purpleness

What Your Favorite Color Purple Says About You:

Intuitive --- Seeking --- Creative Kind --- Self-Sacrificing --- Growth Oriented Strong --- Very Wise --- Rare

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

I never knew my favorite color was so meaningful!

File under...

Classic Quotes:

While watching Sweet Home Alabama:

Colin: "Do you hear that warbling vireo in the background?"

Yes, the movie was my choice, and I did sort of coerce my boyfriend into watching it with me, but still.... he was DEAD SERIOUS.

Gotta love 'im.

Need I say more...?

Here I am, pictured with the two primary players who made it happen, thanks be to God!

Graduation: May 12th

"I stood on faith and the corner of ambition
I came here to sink or swim..."

~Alison Krauss, Broadway

In three days, I will graduate from my program and receive my degree, DPT:
Doctor of Physical Therapy

These past three years have led me down several paths and back again, and I am so grateful for all of the experiences, but also that it's all almost over.
It's funny how I seem to have been waiting, all my life, for life to really "begin." Meanwhile, it's racing by. I remember one point last spring when I really understood how important it is to live in the present. This is life, right now, with all of its uncertainty, expectancy, and adventure.

One event will not change the overall uncertainty of life; it will only serve as yet another stepping stone in the crossing to eternity.
This is true for graduation from my doctoral program, and it will continue to be true as other major events of life come along: my wedding day... the birth of my first child... my husband's new job... the purchase of a house... my final student loan payment... my children's graduations... retirement...

So I am determined to realize the present, live it to the fullest, and be grateful for all of my many blessings.

~Which means, this weekend is one of great rejoicing!~

Funny Hospital Story

Add this one to the books...

Here at the hospital, I'm on the "Surgery Team," so I see patients on any services where surgery is provided--transplant, abdominal, trauma, ortho, plastics, general, women's, etc--all except for neurosurgery, oncology, cardiac, and pediatric surgery.

One of my patients this past week was on the trauma service--after a bicycle crash she had lots of different injuries. One day this past week, I went into her room for a treatment session and found her gradually slipping down in her recliner. So I brought the recliner up to upright and helped her bring her trunk forward so that I could help her with a "hips backward in the chair" trick. Well, I really had to help her--we call it "max-assist" in PT lingo--, she couldn't help out that much because of her injuries, she wasn't really "all there" anyway, and the brakes on the recliner were not all that stellar.
NO, ...I didn't drop her!!
But we didn't achieve very much "hips backward," either, cause the chair was moving back with us.
Suddenly (dun, dun, dun, ...the plot thickens) a gentleman in scrubs, complete with cloth hat, walked in, said, "how's it goin'," then proceeded to ask my patient a few "mental status" questions. Which means, he asked her where she was, why she was here, what year it was, etc. After she tried to answer, I introduced myself and identified myself with PT, hoping he would also introduce himself. He didn't, but asked what we were working on, and whether I needed help.
Bingo... just what I needed. "Well, right now, we're just trying to get her hips back farther in the chair. Yeah...actually, would you hold the chair? It keeps moving," I said, glad that this would actually work now.
After a successful shift was accomplished, he started to leave. Determined to find out who he was, I said quickly, "And you are...?"
"John Ufmerk*," was all he replied.
"Oh, okay. Well, thanks for your help," I said. I had no idea who that was, ...so I asked my clinical instructor later. "He said his name was Something-Oferk? or -Omferd?" I tried to remember.
She told me she had no idea who who that would be, and I assured her that I only had him hold the chair for me (anybody with two arms and two legs can do that, and at least he had scrubs on!). I told her I thought he was maybe a Neurology resident or something, because he asked my patient mental status questions. Very convincing, I know--everyone in the hospital asks those questions to patients!

A few days later, I went back to the step-down unit, and discovered that an MRI finally came back positive, that this woman had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and that she'd been switched to the Neurology service.
I saw her chart, and there was her name on it with the name of her new attending physician: DOE,J / UFMERK
"Oh!!" I immediately thought to myself. "Ufmerk! That's what that guy was saying!" It also made sense that I hadn't known who he was, because he was an attending physician on another service in the hospital.

Only later did it hit me that I asked --not some intern or some random resident, not even a senior resident, no,... I asked-- the Chief of Neurosurgery for the hospital to "hold the chair" ...while this little student physical therapist does her "hips back in the chair" trick with a patient!!

The humor of this makes more sense --and is funnier-- if you are familiar with the hierarchy that exists among M.D.s in the hospital setting. Roughly, it goes like this, from lowest to highest:

1st, 2nd, and 3rd -year medical students (MS1, MS2, MS3)
Interns - this is where real clinical responsibility for real patients begins
Residents, numbered according to post-grad year (PGY1, PGY2, etc, ...up to even PGY6).
Fellows
Attendings, who have the final say, and are responsible for the actions of all the residents and interns under them.

So there are not many attending physicians on each service--you can usually count them on one hand. Each of the attending physicians has plenty of residents working under them, and then a few interns. And the residents and interns all rotate on a regular basis. Here, all the interns rotate every four weeks, and the residents every few months.

The physical therapists usually communicate all of their needs for their patients to the interns, and naturally, the interns get a lot of pressure from above, as well. It's a high learning curve for them, since they're only on each service about 4 weeks. So in dealing with the interns, I've learned to respect the amount of stress they're under, and to try only to ask them for things that I really need.

I'm not hearing the end of this situation, though, from my CI.... She loves it: "Hey! Maybe you can get him to wash your car for you this weekend!"
and
"How about for this next week, we make it a goal that you boss around a few more Attendings..."

Can I just say that this truly is a teaching hospital, where the Attendings will stop and discuss patients with you, explain things to you, and even help you out (case in point here!). I'm so excited that I have a job here after I graduate in May!


*name has been changed

Grateful to be a PT

Before I left the hospital today, I checked up on one of my patients that I noticed had been transferred to the Medical ICU. I found his chart outside his room, and was looking through it to try to figure out what had happened to send him there.
While standing there, 2 residents coming from different directions stopped in the hallway almost next to me.

And this is what I overheard:
Resident Guy: What's this?
Resident Gal: Mr. [So and So]'s blood gases. ...
(silence as they solemnly review them together)
Then followed some unintelligible conversation, partly because I was doing my own thing, partly because I didn't see what they were talking about. Basically, they were discussing what they might do next.

Attending Physician (or Senior Resident, who knows which Big Shot) approaches.
Big Shot: What are you guys thinking about over here? ...looks at the paper they're examining. Who is this?
Resident Gal: Mr. [So and So]. I guess we have to [insert unintelligible phrase here]
Resident Guy leaves

Resident Gal, confiding to the Big Shot: I just hate it. I hate my job with him. I'm just basically slowly, ...slowly, ...
Big Shot: ...slowly letting him die?
Resident 2: Yes! And it's just awful. I feel so helpless.
Big Shot (sympathetic): It's a tough job. But it is your job. And you're doing really well. Sometimes the job is to let them die.

They slowly begin to walk away. I think Resident Gal noticed my thoughtful glance in her direction, because she quickly added, "Not this patient (referring to the guy whose chart I was holding), in case you were wondering!"

Grateful that "letting someone die" is not in the direct job description of a PT, I finished reading the chart, closed my binder for the week and headed home.

Hurray! I knew it must be.

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Thanks, 'Meg!

North Carolina Bird Sightings

I am finally here in (sunny!!) North Carolina, and after three weeks, I'm loving it. I bought a few bird feeders and have enjoyed watching the many birds that live in the wooded area behind my apartment. On Wednesday mornings that's what I do: sit and watch the birds on my porch with my tea and breakfast. It's a super-nice break in the week to work 4 10-hour days and have Wednesdays off.
I also bought some seeds (herbs and flowers, mostly, but also some lettuce shoots in case the seeds all fail!) and potted them out on my porch. This is a true indication that I will be "staying put" for a while. I don't travel with plants.

Below are a few pictures of my recent observations in North Carolina (on the wish-list, of course, is a better camera!)
This is a goldfinch at my little disposable thistle feeder. They are getting to be brighter and brighter shades of yellow as the weeks progress. Usually there are about 2 or 3 there at a time. They're very timid, and will didsappear immediately if I so much as walk by the sliding glass door. When I'm sitting on the porch, they will fly toward the feeder and then suddenly vear away in a sharp zooming arch--I guess they don't see me until they get a little closer!


These goldfinches are on two different feeders. The one on the big feeder will inevitably join the other one, since they all prefer the smaller thistle seed.




This Carolina wren is watching me, because I have the sliding door open and I'm just sitting there looking at him. He's very hesitant to take anything from the feeder, because he'll have to divert his attention away from me! He has such a beautiful song, and I heard him long before he ventured over to my porch.
The house finch, which has a beautiful red head and breast, won't even appear when he sees me out on the porch, or right inside with the door open!







You can barely see the Carolina Chickadee at my suet feeder. Besides this little guy, I see Downy and Red-breasted Woodpeckers there often, which is a lot of fun. Below is a Downy, although the red cap can't be seen very well. I know it's more fun to see birds live, anyway--but it's sad that my camera really isn't a very good tool for capturing their charm.


This female cardinal will come to my railing (where I leave a bunch of seed) or right onto the floor of my porch. The male generally follows and they sit there together for a while, but he didn't show up this time.

What also didn't show up to pose for my photo-session today was the Red-bellied woodpecker, the house finch (which has a beautiful red face and breast), and the dark-eyed junko. They're all daily regulars, as well.


Here's a final bird-sighting, just 'cause he's my favorite one to watch!

This is known as the Doodle-bird, or Doo for short. His call sounds like a short "Erp!" but you'll only here it occasionally, as a greeting when he enters a familiar environment. He has funny behaviors, which include putting on swimming goggles when he's miles away from any water. He also has a habit of regularly mistaking socks for mittens. This is the most common behavior of the Doo, as you can see here.
This bird can handle high levels of graduate-level research stress, always maintaining a cheery smile and keeping a dry but silly sense of humor. He keeps the ecosystem of Chapel Hill, North Carolina fun and interesting.

In short, I'm having an awesome time here, and couldn't be happier. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where I'm supposed to be right now. And no question in my mind that Doo will continue to be my favorite bird to sight for the rest of my life.

Veggie Tales, Anyone?

It's so wonderful to be living in a house full of young children again. Of course, "wonderful" was not the term I would have thought to use when I was actually an older sister in the house with younger siblings. In my present situation, I definitely have the "out-of-family" advantage of experiencing the celebrity-esque admiration of the youngest darlings!


But all the same, ...

In a house with young children, everyone stops to laugh at the two year-old when, at the dinner table, he drops a piece of meat off of his fork and exclaims in his young baby-accent, "Oh, man!"

In a house with young children, you begin to remember what it was like to hear--but not really hear--the warnings of "stop jumping off the furniture, or somebody's going to get hurt." But now you marvel at the daily routine of after-dinner jumping and rough-housing and getting hurt; you marvel at the patience and love of mothers who daily comfort the hurts that they were just warning against; and you realize that mothers never stop doing this, even after their children have become adults.

In a house with young children, it is magical to see the older siblings play with the younger siblings. Every game can be stretched across the age gaps. These brothers, who are eight years apart, will only become closer as they grow older:


In a house with young children, everything becomes make-believe. It's fun to play a game called "Orphanage," where the "Orphanage Keeper" tells everyone to go to sleep and then uses a broom to bop those on the head who make noise.

In a house with young children, there is plenty of imagination to go around. "Hospital" is a game achieved with a few sisters, a few pieces of wood, a shower cap, and a tissue:


In a house with young children, even the older siblings can come to know and love the innocence of childhood programs. Everyone learns to sing along with Bob and Larry and Junior Asparagus in the car on the way to and from Mass on Sundays. And even when no one's looking, the teenagers cuddle up with Veggie Tales characters...!


And in a house with small children, you never know where you'll find the best graffiti of these powerful role models:


Can you see that? Look closely:


I am going to miss living with this family in a few weeks!

Ahh, the purple flowers of winter!

It finally snowed this past week in Massachusetts!

And boy, did it snow! It took me over an hour to drive to work on Wednesday, which is usually about a 40-minute commute. The second car ahead of me on the highway at one point suddenly spun out and completed a 360+ degree turn, while those of us behind him fishtailed to a stop until he resumed control of his car. He did it again about a half mile down the highway, before we all decided to stay as far behind him as possible, until he pulled off at the next exit, his hazards flashing!

The snow came blowing down all day, and looking out the window, you could see the wind swirling the big flakes in circles around the hospital building.
All of my patients expressed concern about me getting home safely. All the therapists did whatever they could to leave as soon as the day was over. I switched a few patients around in my schedule so that I could leave a little early to go back home that afternoon. As it turned out, the drive home was not nearly as treacherous as the drive in. And the next day, although I left early because of predicted icy conditions, that drive pleasantly required much less wheel-gripping and eye-squinting!

It puzzled me why salt was not pre-emptively laid down on the roads before the snowfall on Wednesday. Or why the plows were not ready to be out as soon as the clouds rolled in. Weather forecasters across the country had been predicting this storm all during the entire previous weekend.
The flower shops were prepared; they made their deliveries for Valentine's Day on Tuesday, just in case they wouldn't be able to make it out on Wednesday. Why didn't the department of transportation act as wisely?

Anyway, because of the snowstorm, I received a lovely purple-themed bouquet upon my return home from work on Tuesday:


And now I appreciate why we celebrate Valentine's Day in the middle of February. A bouquet of fresh flowers in the middle of a winter storm really does a lot to raise mournful spirits and off-set the dread of waking up while it's still dark to go scrape off the car.

And purple flowers, ...well, they're even better!

Had to share...

This is a compelling article that I had to share.... It makes me want to go back and read some Dr. Seuss again!

In other news, the goal for my clinical rotation next week is to have 5 patients for whom I am primarily responsible; in other words, on their chart it will say that I am their physical therapist. Exciting! Things are moving along well, and I'm discovering how much I enjoy inpatient neuro rehabilitation.

It looks like I found an apartment for the [first] few months that I'll be down in North Carolina. Colin went to look at a sublet I discovered via Craigslist (I love the internet these days), and proclaimed it to be cleaner than his place--which I thought to be quite an impressive description! Apparently, my roommate-to-be is a very laid back graduate student of geology, who recently bought a motor bike. Hmmm... I'm sure we'll have tons in common...! Hey, you never know!! :)

Life in Massachusetts is getting cold; today the thermometer outside read -5 degrees when I went out to start my car at 7am. On my drive home in the evening, the bank sign read that it had become a balmy 5 degrees above zero! The kids I live with are, of course, predicting snow. Wishful thinking more than educated guessing, as far as I can tell. Nevertheless, my 5 year-old friend Hannah and I are going to have to bundle up to take our Saturday morning walk over to the library tomorrow!

Contemplative thoughts and subsequent actions over the past few weeks:

1. Purgatory is said to be suffering worse than any human suffering on earth--note, that means any human suffering, not just the worst suffering I have personally experienced.

2. I see plenty of people everyday who are dealing with agonizing pain; they try to describe their nerve pain to me, and it sounds terrible. "Like a toothache shooting directly down my arm..." "Like someone is piercing me with a long, stinging needle..." I sympathize with them, but I really cannot imagine or appreciate what they're going through.

3. Reading the "Saints of Today and Yesterday" out of Magnificat in the evenings, it is amazing to consider the martyrdoms that some of these holy people went through. Such physical pain! It's no wonder that a martyr's crown is said to merit heaven. The sufferings described are probably among the worst possible on earth.

4. I thank God for my health everyday; I think of and pray for the souls in Purgatory much more often; and while scrubbing my hands between seeing patients, I say two Hail Mary's... one for the patient I just saw, and one for the patient I am on my way to see.

Working in healthcare--as well as reading the lives of the saints--really helps me to appreciate my blessings.

Happy New Year!

So I'm a little late.
It's a different world, not having internet always at my fingertips. I think it's good for me, though. It makes my time online more productive.

I'm in Massachusetts now--staying in the home of my brother-in-law's brother, his wife, and their seven children. Except the eldest left to go back to TAC on Saturday. I go to my internsihp during the day, and then come home in the evening to a busy household, where a hot meal is being prepared and the table is being set for dinner! I love it. This family has already been so wonderful to me; I am so grateful for their generosity.
After dinner, I join the older children in cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen. Then we generally chat over a cup of tea before I head upstairs to do some studying or work for the next day. Inevitably, the 4 year-old will come in and say goodnight before she goes to bed. Otherwise, I wait for my phone-call from Carolina for Evening Prayers, then turn in after an all-too-brief chat.

It doesn't feel like I'm starting the third week of my clinical rotation tomorrow. These first few weeks went by quickly--probably because of the holidays shortening the actual time spent in the clinic. And last weekend, I did not stay in Massachusetts, so that broke up the timing, as well.

By the way, here are a few pictures of last weekend, which already seems so long ago:

What better way to spend New Year's Eve than standing around and periodically checking bags for food and weapons outside a UNC basketball game--especially if that means watching the second half of the game for FREE! Yep, Colin's got the whole fun-on-a-student-budget figured out!

Then a rousing country-western style New Year's celebration, complete with "specialty drinks," which Colin's friend Patrick insisted on buying for us! Hmmm... some kind of blue liquor in perfectly fine-by-itself champagne. My guess is that they were trying to get rid of some overstock.


And these were the two pictures taken last weekend! It seems that both of us--but especially Colin--are better at taking a lot of pictures of other people, and not necessarily ourselves.

Meanwhile, the weather feels like springtime. I'm not impressed by the supposed "harsh" Massachusetts winters. Although maybe I should save my skepticism until I leave in March!

Eight more weeks, and I'll be headed down to North Carolina!

Tagged

I have been tagged by Nutmeg. Which means that a regular "Sephora update" will have to wait.

1. Favorite devotion or prayer to Jesus?
Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (it's become my favorite since Colin introduced it to me)

2. Favorite Marian devotion or prayer?
The Memorare

3. Do you wear a scapular or medal?
Yes; a scapular.

4. Do you have holy water in your home?
Not holy water of my own. But I'm sure the home that I'm currently living in has its own store of holy water!

5. Do you ‘offer up’ your sufferings?
Yes. Something about working in healthcare makes it easy to remember to be grateful for everything I have, and to always have someone to offer things up for.

6. Do you observe First Fridays and First Saturdays?
No, unfortunately.

7. Do you go to Eucharistic Adoration?
I used to, intermittently, when I had time. I've never actually signed up for my own time, although this is definitely something I'd like to do, once I settle down somewhere.

8. Are you a Saturday evening Mass person or Sunday morning Mass person?
Sunday morning. I love keeping Sundays as my holy day of the week, generally speaking.

9. Do you say prayers at mealtime?
Yes.

10. Favorite Saint(s)?
Saint Cecilia, Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Padre Pio, Saint Sebastian

11. Can you recite the Apostles Creed by heart?
Yes.

12. Do you usually say short prayers (aspirations) during the course of the day?
Yes--usually things like, "Jesus, I love you," or "Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on him/her/me."

13. Where is your favorite place to pray?
On my bed--recently, while I'm on the phone...

14. Bonus Question: When you pass by an automobile accident or other serious mishap, do you say a quick prayer for the folks involved?
Yes--I've been trained since childhood, and I generally go into automatic Hail Mary's.

Tag? There's no one left to tag! Tim?