7 Quick Takes Vol. 15: I Shall Be Irish Edition

-- 1 -- 

I've been pretty much confined to my bed over the last couple of days for a number of reasons (one after another) so I've been distracting my anxiety over being sick with genealogy. My mother is adopted but I've been able to get up to my 3rd great-grandparents on her side, which is exciting. I'm currently in the 4th great-grandparents on my dad's side through my granddad. It's all terribly fascinating though sometimes it's really hard to decipher the priests' handwriting... or even read it because the ink is so faded. Still, a fun pastime for me.

-- 2 --

If you've read this blog long enough, you know that I'm a hardcore Hibernophile. A hibernophile is someone who is fond of Ireland, Irish culture, etc. If my trying to win a trip to Ireland by posting the link on Twitter (which is super rare for me; I hate doing that) didn't tip you off, then I don't know what to tell you. lol. Anyway, I have always loved Ireland and I've always had a feeling that we had an Irish branch somewhere in the family. There's too many light-eyed (grey to blue), redheaded people in the family not to have some connection. Just take a look at my middle brother who is uber ginger and proud. Anyway, last night I found that my 4th great-grandmother on granddad's side has a weird surname that has links to both Spain and Ireland... and Ireland as far back as 1139 AD. I am hoping this is what I'm looking for. I shall be Irish somehow... lol.

-- 3 -- 

Speaking of Ireland, I've been doing the St. Patrick novena with Allison and Jane of The Cath Sisters' Blog. It's been a good novena; the first I've done for St. Patrick. It's one of three I have going on at the same time, St. Patrick, St. Joseph, and St. Benedict all have their novenas being prayed. :D I can't remember the last time I did three at a time but I like it. It helps me with my prayer procrastination.

-- 4 --

I was planning on going to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress tomorrow but between my cold and my car deciding not to start, it looks like it won't happen. Of course. Every year something comes up and I end up not being able to go. Something tells me I shouldn't go... for whatever reason. Maybe I won't be able to handle the reported liturgical abuses that occur at it. I say "reported" because I've never attended one and so I can't say if it's true for myself.

-- 5 --

It's too bad about the L.A. REC since I was looking forward to having a staring contest with the reps from my CINO college alma mater. (side note: for those who don't know, CINO stands for Catholic in Name Only.) They have a booth there every year and, more likely than not, my former academic adviser (who called Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI a 'super rat with red shoes') was going to be there. They've been sending stuff to my house and email about going back for my Master's. Ha! Never going to happen. I had enough nights of panic attacks and almost nervous breakdowns to last a lifetime. That and I'm almost positive they'll kick me out for being "too traditional", something I barely got away with last time.

-- 6 -- 

Is it just me or is Lent going by really fast this year? It feels like it. Sure, I keep struggling to write and to keep all my other Lenten penances but I am trying. Still, I am learning to be easier on myself, which, funny enough, is something priests have often left me as penance after confession. It seems I'm too hard on myself and I don't give myself enough slack so... I'm trying. I think it's just the perfectionist in me.

-- 7 --

Words of wisdom from tumblr. How many of us can say we've forgiven every person who has done us wrong? Think about it.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

And that's it for now. I'm going to to ask a mechanic neighbor of mine to take a look at my car. The AAA tow guy (who, by the way, was kind enough to remind us that we don't eat meat today when we saw that we got stranded on our way from Jack in the Box; we had fries and fish filet) thinks it may be something connected with the gas tank or it isn't getting enough 'spark' or something. Either way, L.A. is a very car-oriented city and my little Honda is necessary so... gotta have it looked at.

I hope you all have a great start of the weekend. If you have any prayer requests, send them my way.

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

Mea Culpa

I got so caught up in doing more genealogical research on the family that I missed posting earlier today. Whoops. However, I'm kind of excited because I think I've finally found the Irish branch of the family. I'm basing that on the surname of my 4th great-grandmother via my paternal grandfather's side. I looked up the surname and saw that the origins are based in Ireland (in Galway *swoon* of all places). So, that's my excuse. However, it is sort of still Catholic related since, once again, I am using old church records of baptisms and marriages that Catholic priests kept. I'm sort of stuck in the early 1800s (1800-1830) right now but here's hoping I get unstuck soon.

Anyway, I've just spent hours doing this so I'm going to take a break from the laptop and eat (yes, I eat up until 10:30 p.m. sometimes) before I say my prayers. Oh, and I totally got back into praying the morning prayers today. Score!

That's it for now. As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This honorary, "adopted" Irish lass wishes you all a happy St. Patrick's Day. I say I'm adopted being I was officially named an honorary Irish lady (hello repetition) by Corey from the awesome podcast and website, Irish Fireside, two Christmas' ago. I have the note with the Shamrock Christmas ornament he sent me to keep that lovely memory. I have been mentioned on the podcast before but I won't say which one because he says my full name and y'all know I'm a bit wary about that (for now, at least).

I'm sure all the other Catholic blogs have been writing similar things about St. Patrick so I'm not going to. All I will say is that I LOVE this holiday and it surpasses many other holidays (including Valentine's Day, *gasp*). I've always loved the Irish culture and people, and I used to lament not being Irish as far back as junior high, so this particular day makes me very happy. Many of my favorite saints are Irish as well: St. Dymphna, St. Fiacre, St. Brigid of Ireland/Kildare, and (of course) St. Patrick. I hope to one day visit the places where they once lived/preached/breathed. I also have a great wish to go visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock at some point in my lifetime. :D

Before I end this post, let me just say a Happy St. Patrick Feast Day to all those named Patrick, including Patrick Madrid and my friend Melissa's infant son whose middle name is Patrick. :D

That's all for today. I'm attempting to get all my homework done early so I can focus on my big Humanities paper which is due on Saturday night. So far, I've finished all the work for my Art class (including the quiz, whoo! :D) and am not too far from finishing my Creative Writing work. :D

Until next time, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

Miss C.N.W. Karate Chops Boredom with Prayer.

I am in the midst of summer cleaning. It's my version of spring cleaning, only I do it in the summer to fight off boredom. Okay, and I also do it so that when I start my classes I am organized and not overwhelmed. It's taken me 3 days to finish just my desk alone... because I have been plagued with this annoying boredom induced busyness that won't go away. If you didn't get that (friends often say I have my own language and way of saying things), basically, I've been busying myself with the most mundane things to fight off the boredom that has gotten a hold of me.

One thing that all of this is doing is that I get so focused on other things that I lose track of time and then by the time I'm ready to say the Rosary or something else, I'm too exhausted (sleepy) to properly pray. I just realized that it's been a good 2 weeks since I last said the Rosary and I absolutely HATE IT! It's funny (in an unfunny sort of way), I've been feeling physically well and the anxiety's gone down pretty drastically lately, but spiritually I feel horrible. I LOVE praying the Rosary (even though every Tuesday and Friday you are guaranteed tears from me) and realizing that I haven't been keeping that up is horrible! I do, throughout the day, say a little something to Our Lord but not the way I should be praying. One of the novels I'm working on is based on devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe... and I haven't written in that for weeks (and I'm several pages behind my goal for the day). I have been trying to finish St. Teresa of Avila's autobiography for months (I haven't read anything for months, lol) and I am gonna start all over again because I've forgotten a few things that were in the book that I will want to talk about on this blog. Ugh. I am a mess when it comes to praying but I have a plan that will combat my boredom AND help me get back on track with prayer, reading St. Teresa's book, and working on my novel(s).

My plan of attack? Reading the book, writing in the novel, and praying. Sounds so simple, right? It does but actually executing the plan when you're tempted to get online and waste your time on mind numbing things like that darn Hatchling's game on facebook (man, I need to uninstall that!), it's tough. So, that is what I'm going to do. I'm going to read St. Teresa's words, write at least 5 pages from each novel, and praying for all the things I need to pray for. What better thing to do than to pray for help and comfort for those who need it, right? I'm going to keep alternating those things around (with an occasional soccer game or movie thrown in) until I get things done. When I am done with the autobiography, I'll focus on the novels and praying until I'm done. When I am done with the novels (which I am estimating to be done by late next-month, if things go according to plan), I'll keep praying, and I'll add more intentions until I go back to school. Then, it'll be coursework and prayers. Bottom line is that I am NOT going to let my praying fall behind, like I've been letting it happen, from now on. And now that I've semi-ranted about that, lol, I think I will get offline to finish cleaning and then get on to my reading, writing, and praying. And, for those of you who follow my "Currently Listening To" list (or my last.fm page)... no, that is not semi-cheesy Europop I'm listening to while I clean. That's all in your imaginations *ahem*; yes, that is Celtic music I am listening to. I can't help it, I love Celtic/Irish things. :D

Well, that's it for now. I'll try to write about my St. Bernadette dream (she saved me from danger), and my Our Lady of Lourdes dream -- both were on separate occasions -- next time. I think some people will be interested in them. :D. 'Til next time, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Fasting, Niceness and England.

Well... I did it. I fasted longer than I did last weekend, and it ended in tears. I... am... weak! lol. I tried to hold out as long as I could but about 2 hours ago I just started crying because I was so hungry and hunger apparently makes me emotional. lol. Yeeaah. It's kinda funny. lol. I ate twice earlier today but I just ate to have food in my stomach. I didn't actually eat until I was full. It sucks that all the food in the house either a) makes me sick because I'm allergic to it or b) is meat. Actually, there's a long story there but it's kinda personal so, not going there. :D Anyway, I am going to be SO HAPPY when I get to go vegan/vegetarian shopping tomorrow -- that means I will be grocery shopping at organic stores that specialize in foods for vegans/vegetarians. ABOUT STINKIN' TIME! lol. Okay, I'm going to change topics because I still have like 10 hours before I go shopping and I am still hungry here!

Today was a lovely day and people were being super nice to me for some reason. Not just people I know... but complete strangers. I had the door opened for me by a total stranger, which was nice. What I thought was super nice was the fact that he saw me heading for the door, rushed ahead of me to open it for (he was in another section), and once I was out he went back in the direction he was originally going in. That's never happened to me before. It was very sweet. I also received a pretty out-of-the-blue gift from one of my best friends. I'm surprised it got here so soon because it usually takes a long time for things to get here from England. :D

And, speaking of England... how is it that some of the nicest people I've ever met come from that country or choose to be in that country? I'm serious. Two of my best friends are English and a few of my best American friends are there (or in Scotland) for either school or work. I was chatting with a good friend of mine a few days ago about how we both feel more at home in London, and England as a whole, than we do here in Southern California. I believe he is thinking about living out there sometime in the future. If I ever end up living there, I'd love to live in the English countryside. I'm just in love with Bath and that area. I actually almost attended Bath Spa University (and was very excited about it) but dad got sick, money issues came up and the plans were scrapped. Oh well. I don't regret it because I know I will be out there, even if it's just visiting, the first chance I get.

Just like my love of the Irish culture (which I wrote about 2 entries back), my love of England began at a young age. You can thank the literature for that. :D What I find very funny is that I've dreamt myself in certain parts of England way before I've visited them... or even known about them. In my teens, I had a dream I was vacationing in St. Ives (in Cornwall) years before I saw it on the show Passport to Europe. I remember the first time I watched the episode I went "*jaw drops* I WAS THERE IN MY DREAM!" Just as Samantha Brown was walking around the streets, talking about the town, I saw things I'd seen in my dreams. In another dream a while after my first dream, I saw another thing that was featured in the Cornwall episode of that show... St. Michael's Mount. I still remember the dream and how I was walking on the water, away from the island, and thinking to myself "This is so cool! I hope to come back and do this again someday." I was around 17 years old when I had this year and I didn't see this episode until about a year ago or two. It's very weird but it's the little things like this that make me feel that I'm somehow connected to England. It's comforting too, because I've never felt at home in my hometown so to have a feeling like that with another country is awesome. :D

Alright, well... I am going to go geek out over the music playlist I made on my facebook account. Except for the top 10 songs, I shuffled the rest so it's fun to go through all 70+ songs because I have no idea in what ordered they were shuffled in. :D 'Til next time... thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

MIA from Mass, Lent Surprises, Irish-ness and Awards Shows.

I haven't written in 5 days. Sorry. I've been so caught up with all the medical stuff (tests and news, etc) that I've been either concentrating on that or sleeping. lol. I got sick again for a couple of days (usual fatigue, lightheaded feeling, etc) so I stayed in bed most days last week. I was sick up until yesterday, too. I actually missed Mass which sucked. I was there for less than 5 minutes before I knew I wouldn't make it through the entire mass and I had to leave... of course, teary eyed and all. I HATE that I've been missing mass but it's beyond my control at this point. :( Hopefully I will get strength to make it to mass sometime this week and I will definitely try again next Sunday.

Even though I've started Lent on a bummer, I am getting little surprises here and there that totally make my day. On Ash Wednesday I received the book "The Life of Teresa of Jesus" along with 2 bookmarks with her picture on it and 2 St. Dymphna prayer cards (which I have been wanting for a while now). (ed. And I need to remember to write about my crazy dream involving St. Teresa of Avila, tomorrow.) I actually ordered these things a month ago and they were actually 2 weeks late. It was awesome that I received these things on Ash Wednesday. Totally made me feel better about not getting my ashes, even though it's obviously not the same. Ooh, and I found out a Santo Niño de Atocha website featured one of my first blogs (from December) and I had no clue about it. lol. Seriously, I have no idea people outside my group of friends would read this blog. :D Well, thanks. :D

I received these really good candies from my good friend in Germany. Of course, I don't speak or read much German so I have no idea what's in them, but they sure are good. Haha. These candies took almost 2 months to get here too. They were a Christmas gift (Christmas letter included) that I just received. Good thing the candies didn't expire or get all weird in transit. lol. And, now I have sweets to last me through Lent... and beyond. Whoo! Today was also pretty awesome because my eldest brother came to visit... and because it was a "cool" 82 degrees Fahrenheit in the city which meant that I didn't have to wear a sweater. :D

You know what I just realized? Valentine's Day is coming up in less than 3 days. You know what else? I'm looking forward to St. Patrick's Day more than V-Day. Haha. I'm serious. Though I do consider myself a hopeless romantic and a sucker for romance and mushiness, I don't make a big deal out of this particular holiday. If I do, it's usually because I've planned a Spa Day with my girl friends. Who says it has to be a day only about romantic love and not platonic or familial love? I actually have a guest blogger who will write about that in the coming days. But, for me... give me St. Patrick's Day and I will be happy.

I have always been in love with the Irish culture. I remember how happy I was when I first sang "Carrickfergus." I absolutely loved it, and I actually still do. I also remember a very young me telling my friends how I wished I was Irish to avoid getting pinched for not wearing green on St. Patrick's day. lol. I don't know why but I've found the culture fascinating and have also felt connected to it somehow. The music (both folk and contemporary), the customs, the mythology... just everything about Ireland seems beautiful to me. I was recently talking to my friend about how we both love the country so much, we're going to go have a bachelorette trip out there as soon as one of us gets engaged to be married (money's on her to get married before I do). I remember when I found out St. Dymphna (one of my patron saints) was Irish, I almost did a cartwheel. Yes, I'm that much of a dork. :D I wanted to study in Ireland for the semester abroad but, sadly, none of the schools have an agreement with my school so it's been ruled out. Well, that is, until I find a loophole which I bet I can find. :D Anyway, before I move on from this topic I have one more thing to say/post about subject...

You're 65% Irish

You're very Irish, and most likely from Ireland. (And if you're not, you should be!)

How Irish Are You?

There you have it. haha.

Well, yesterday I caught two shows in between sobs (caused by not being able to attend mass properly)... the BAFTAs and the Grammys. This is the second year I've been able to watch the BAFTAs (thank you, BBC America). "Atonement" won, which I was happy about. James McAvoy didn't win (grr!) but, to be fair, the person who did win did a stellar job on his film so I can't be too peeved about it all. lol. The Grammys were MUCH better than they have been in years. I usually just tune it to watch for certain categories but this year, I couldn't stop watching it. I liked most of the performances (including the one of Alicia Keys duetting with Frank Sinatra). A few people I wanted to win, actually won... which was awesome. And, how incredible is it that Herbie Hancock won Album of the Year? Which other jazz artist (not counting Norah Jones) has won Album of the Year in the last 3-4 decades? As a jazz junkie, I was thrilled. I was also SO happy they played "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin during the telecast. If there was ever a song that could describe me (without any lyrics), that would be the one. I cannot think of a more perfect song; totally love it.

Alright, well. I will stop boring people for now. lol. I am still planning on doing a Valentine's Day themed blog on Wednesday. I have no clue what I will write about tomorrow... but that's the fun part in writing a blog. :D Until the next time... thanks for reading and God Bless.