500

Bedtime Story, 1883

My 500th post is dedicated to the memory of my “Poppop”, John S. Nagy. It was he who passed on to me a love of newspapers, especially the “funnies” section. Every summer I would visit him and Nanna in their Apollo Beach, Florida home for two weeks. He would wake up at around 5:00 every morning, make coffee for Nanna, and walk with Penny to get the newspaper. Then he would make eggs and sausages for breakfast. He taught me how to do the cryptoquote, and would cut them out for me and mail them in an envelope because we didn’t get the paper at home. To this day I do the cryptoquote and read Peanuts daily, and recently published a Wordy Gurdy rhyme in Newsday. When Poppop learned that I was a writer, he became one of my biggest fans and encouraged me to do it professionally. I know he is up in Heaven cheering me on.

As great as the Internet is, I hope that newspapers never die. We love to spread ours out on the kitchen table as we eat breakfast. The kids read the sports section, I read the weather and news headlines, and my husband goes through pretty much the whole thing. We cut out Peanuts cartoons that have to do with baseball and put them up on the fridge. Newspapers are also great for wrapping presents, lining pets’ cages, making kites, insulating drafty garages, and making you feel like you’re doing something for the world by recycling them.

My friend Leticia has been my greatest inspiration when it comes to publishing on the Internet. Loren Christie leaves uplifting comments on almost every one of my posts. My mom is my biggest fan and is helping me to build a book that is based on my best devotional essays. Julie lets me know when she really likes what I’ve written, and passes it on to others. My siblings Joanna and James have always encouraged me. My husband supports me in all my endeavors and my kids of course are the source of all my writing ideas. Last but not least are my readers. Knowing that you are clicking over expecting another post keeps me writing every day. Thank you.

The Honest Scrap Blogger Award

Thank you Leticia for awarding me the HONEST SCRAP blogger award.. I have now officially known her for a rather long time (over 5 years) and honesty is one of her outstanding virtues.

Now...to keep this award, I must do the following:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.

2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.

3) Present this award to 4 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

4) Tell those 4 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving it.

Ten honest things about myself.

Here goes:

1.) When I get overwhelmed with demands from everyone I sometimes make comments (not in front of the kids) the like of, “What was I thinking having four kids?” to which my husband says, “Don’t you write a blog called The Divine Gift of Motherhood?” and I am forced to be quiet.

2.) My garage is an absolute mess. I kept it tidy until I was pregnant with my second daughter and when it started to get cluttered I could not safely walk in there. From then on it would get worse, then a little better, and then worse again.

3.) I haven’t worked on my novel in a really long time (months, I guess).

4.) I used to be a perfectionist, but have become much more mellow due to being married to a very mellow guy and having kids who prevent me from doing things perfectly.

5.) I wanted to major in English but my Dad said I wouldn’t make any money, so I majored in Psychology instead.

6.) I was an atheist for a few years in college. I even argued against Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica (5 proofs of God’s existence) in my Philosophy of Theology class. It was one of the things that made me interesting to my husband-to-be the night we met, and he always knew I would change my mind. That happened when I became a mother.

7.) I have difficulty saying the rosary by myself, but love saying it with others.

8.) I’m lifting this one from Leticia, who says, “I have WAY too many books and stuff”. I have been donating things in dribs and drabs to Birthright, St. Vincent de Paul, and my local library. I don’t buy anything except books and food, so I’m not sure where it all comes from. I got rid of 100 cubic feet of stuff during Lent.

9.) I didn’t know anything about baseball/softball until I met my husband, and now I am obsessed with it because my kids love it.

10.) I barely ever talk on the telephone and only use a cell phone for emergencies. I delete voice mails without listening to them.

Now, I nominate the following honest bloggers:

1. Loren Christie, at Dude Where Am I, for her daily essays in which she examines herself with excruciating honesty.

2. Karen at Karen’s Adventures in Mommyland, whose refreshing descriptions of her daughters’ antics always make me smile.

3. Lisa at Unexpected Journeys, whose photography lets us in to her California backyard and even her kitchen in progress.

4. Leticia at Cause of Our Joy. I know you were nominated for Causa Nostra Laetitiae. Now you can post ten more telling things about yourself on your family blog.

The Friendly Blogger Award

Winnie the Pooh - Friends

My good friend Loren at "Dude Where Am I" has bestowed upon me The Friendly Blogger Award. She has so many really nice things to say about me here. I have watched her writing abilities really blossom as she explores the inner working of her own mind and shares her discoveries with her readers. I am blessed to have such a soul not only as my colleague, but as my friend. Thank you!

I am passing on this award to another good friend Leticia. She is the one who inspired me to start blogging. She is gradually becoming more and more of a success as a published writer through her own hard work and determination. She stands up for what she believes in and does all she can to protect the lives of the littlest among us. Thank you!

Premio Dardos!

Leticia Velasquez of Cause of Our Joy has given me the Premio Dardos Award.

Premio Dardos means ‘prize darts’ in Italian and it is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.

The rules are:
1) Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person who has granted the award and a link to his/her blog.
2) Pass the award to another 7 bloggers that are worthy of this acknowledgement, remembering to contact each of them to let them know.

I hereby pass this distinguished award to the following outstanding Catholic bloggers for their literary flair while sharing the treasure of our Catholic faith and culture.

1. Loren Christie at Dude Where Am I?

2. Bonnie Way at Koala Bear Writer

3. Ebeth at A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars

4. Literary Chic at Words, Words

5. Jennifer F. at Conversion Diary

6. Pat Gohn at Write in Between

7. Lisa at Unexpected Journey

The Lovely Award

I have been awarded the Lovely Award by Charlotte at Cheeky Pink Girl.

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

I award the Lovely Award to

1. Leticia Velasquez at Cause of Our Joy
2. Loren Christie at Dude, Where am I?
3. Macbeth Derham at Macbeth’s Opinion
4. Heather at Doodle Acres
5. Alice Gunther at Cottage Blessings

Thank you for your lovely writing.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Proverbs 25:11

I Have Walked in Many Shoes

25 Random Thoughts Game

I was tagged for this meme by Loren Christie.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end, choose people to be tagged. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you. (copy this paragraph to start your note)

Call me a conundrum if you like. Although I consider myself to be a traditional sort of person, I also eschew having to play by strict rules. When I thought of a list of 25 things, what first came to mind was a list of all the types of jobs I have held in my lifetime. So here is a list of 25 jobs I have held. They are also not random. I have put them in chronological order, starting with the first job I ever had. For temporary jobs I have put the length of time in parentheses. For jobs I still hold in some capacity, I mention no time period.

The only one of my readers I can think of who might want to carry on this meme is Leticia. If any other bloggers read this and think it might be fun, consider yourself tagged.

My 25 Jobs:

1. Babysitter
2. Birthday party puppet show entertainer (self-employed, 6 months)
3. Chocolate house maker
4. Leaf raker
5. Religious education instructor
6. Lector
7. Piano accompanist at a ballet school (3 months – they neglected to tell me it was a non-paying position)
8. Lifeguard and swim instructor (3 years)
9. Bank teller (2 years)
10. Chimney company dispatcher/office manager (2 years)
11. Pizza delivery-person (1 week – they only paid you if you got sent out on a run)
12. Research assistant (2 years, during my MA at SJU)
13. Aerobics instructor (3 months – to pay bills in between semesters)
14. Door-to-door environmentalist (1 hour – I had no idea what this job entailed. They dropped me off in a random neighborhood; I found the nearest telephone and called my husband to pick me up.)
15. Teacher’s assistant (1 year, during my post-MA credits)
16. Junior High School Teacher (1 year – I left to be a stay-at-home mom)
17. Stay-at-home mom
18. Daycare teacher (1 month – they thought the program I put together was too advanced for little minds to grasp)
19. Church nursery coordinator (6 months – I was expected to tolerate children kicking me)
20. Bookkeeper (for my husband’s business)
21. Notary (for my husband’s business)
22. Home school teacher
23. Leader of homeschool field trip group (2 years – until I sent my kids to Catholic school)
24. E-bay seller
25. Freelance writer!

My Friend was on Television!

I am so proud of my esteemed friend and colleague Leticia Velasquez for appearing on the television show "Faces of Pro-Life" to talk about the upcoming March for Life. View it here.

I Love Your Blog Award

Leticia Velasquez, my blogger model, has given me this award.
As a recipient of this award, there are rules to follow. I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others!

The questions are as follows:
1. Where is your cell phone? unsure
2. Where is dh? couch
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? home
5. Your father? home
6. Your favorite thing? silence
7. Your dream last night? rain
8. Your dream/goal? novel
9. The room you're in? study
10. Your hobby? gardening
11. Your fear? unpublished
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? published
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? patient
15. One of your wish-list items? Kitchen-aid
16. Where you grew up? NY
17. The last thing you did? track
18. What are you wearing? shorts
19. Your TV? news
20. Your pet? Bear
21. Your computer? annoying
22. Your mood? irritated
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? Mini-van
25. Something you're not wearing? Make-up
26. Favorite store? King Kullen
27. Your summer? lazy
28. Love someone? yes!
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? summer

I nominate the following bloggers:
1. Loren Elizabeth Christie at Dude Where Am I?
2. Angie at Many Little Blessings
3. Heather at Doodle Acres
Now, for you recipients of this award, here's the deal:
* Display your award.
* Link back to the person who gave you the award.
* Nominate at least 3 other blogs.
* Put links to those blogs on yours.
* Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.
* Enjoy your award!

A New Blogger is Born!

Check out this new blog, “There’s No Place Like Home”, by Loren Elizabeth Christie.
Loren is a Catholic stay-at-home mother of three with a journalism background. She has also taught English Literature, and it shows in her quite literary style. She is active in youth ministry and the pro-life community here on Long Island. Her writing is both insightful and humorous! I have met two of her children and can tell you they are quite a hoot, as you will see from her stories.

Excellent Blog Award

I am extremely honored to accept the nomination for Excellent Blog Award from Leticia Velasquez. She writes, “Elizabeth is so graceful and professional in her writing; she reminds me of the privilege of being both a mother and a writer.” This is exactly what I hope to accomplish through my blogging. Leticia has been a great inspiration to me and I consider her to be my writing mentor.

Over the past month, I have given great consideration to which bloggers to nominate for the Excellent Blog Award. Thank you to these wonderful writers for serving as an inspiration to others through your excellent writing.

DEAR HONOREES
By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 or more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want-even those that have received it already, but please award at least 10 people.

1. Leticia Velasquez for her daring and intelligent socio-political blog, Causa Nostrae Laetitiae, her beautiful blog devoted to her Christ-centered family, Cause of our Joy, The Catholic Down Syndrome Society for the advancement of the rights of children with Down Syndrome, as well as scientific research in this area, and the blog to help keep Christ in Christmas. , The True Meaning of Christmas.

2. “M” at The Sparrows Nest . Her writing is funny and encouraging. The web site is very pretty too!

3. “Ebeth”, at A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars. She combines scripture, poetry, and prose to gently speak about the Catholic family life.

4. Angie, who also hosts Catholic Mothers Online, at Many Little Blessings. Thank you for your lovely blog and your dedication to the Catholic online community!

5. Alice Gunther, at Cottage Blessings, whom I originally knew as host of Immaculate Holy Mother Homeschool Yahoo Group. That she is able to homeschool seven children and write to benefit the homeschool community and Catholics at large is an amazing feat!

6. Natalie, from British Columbia, Canada, hosts a blog called Bigger Families; Faces from the Past, where she features old photos of bigger families. She is looking for contributions from other family archives.

7. Michelle Harmon at Downblogger for her blog dedicated to children with Downs’ Syndrome.

8. Donna-Marie Cooper O-Boyle, whose writing I am so happy to have recently discovered. She is a prolific writer and mother of five, author of The Catholic Saints Prayer Book and The Heart of Motherhood, and has three uplifting blogs: Embracing Motherhood, Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration, and Moments of Inspiration from Your Favorite Saints

9. Alyice Edrich of “DM Speaks”. Alyice is owner of the award-winning Christian website The Dabbling Mum. She writes what she lives, in all the shoes she fills, to inspire writers, entrepreneurs, and parents in their vocations.

10. The host of award-winning bloggers over at Catholic Media Review:
Christine of The World – IMHO,
Jean of The Catholic Fire,
Jeff Miller of The Curt Jester ,
Jeff Vehige of Thursday Night Gumbo,
Jessica of A Catholic Mom’s Guide to Books,
Julie of Happy Catholic,
Leticia of all the blogs mentioned in #1,
March Hare of Mad Tea Party,
And Scott Nehring of Good News Film Reviews.

Just for Fun (?)

I received this meme from my dear friend Leticia over at Cause of Our Joy, Causa Nostrae Laetitiae, The Dr.Jerome Lejeune Society , and The True Meaning of Christmas.
Here's a fun quiz made up especially for bloggers. The rules are easy. Just post the quiz on your blog and answer the questions, then pass it on to five other bloggers, and link to them in your post. Be sure to link back to the one who sent it to you.

1. Do you attend the Traditional Latin Mass or the Novus Ordo?
Novus Ordo, because that is what is held in our parish. They also have a Spanish Mass, which perhaps is linguistically closer to Latin, but I don’t think that counts.
2. If you attend the TLM, how far do you drive to get there?
The nearest TLM is about 45 minutes away. We all get up at 10:00 on Sundays, so they would have to have a very late mass in order for us to get there on time.
3. If you had to apply a Catholic label to yourself, what would it be? How about Devout Roman Catholic?
We were made for the glorification of God. Therefore I believe in living one’s life as a prayer. Every single one of our thoughts and actions are to be guided by our Maker. If we know the Word, and live by it, there should be no question about what to do or say in a given situation. I look to Christ implicitly in every second of my day. I believe Christ founded one Holy Catholic Apostolic Church; its doctrine is carefully founded upon His Word; therefore I do consider myself a Devout Roman Catholic.
4. Are you a comment junkie? I love getting comments and try to leave comments whenever I read something that truly touches me.
5. Do you go back to read the comments on the blogs you’ve commented on?
Occasionally, if it was a comment that stood out in my memory as something that might draw another comment.
6. Have you ever left an anonymous comment on another blog? My very first comment was listed as “anonymous” but I listed my name. A minute later I became a blogger.
7. Which blogroll would you most like to be on?
I am too new to this to answer this one intelligently.
8. Which blog is the first one you check? causa nostrae laetitiae
9. Have you met any other bloggers in person? I know Leticia Velasquez at Causa Nostrae Laetitiae and my sister, Joanna Gerold, at Part of Something. I hope to meet some more of my fellow Catholic Long Island Blogger Moms at a Stand Up for Life Walk this Sunday.
10. What are you reading? Currently on my night table are “Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings”, “The Gentle Art of Communicating with Kids”, Jane Austen’s “Sanditon and Other Stories”, and “A Visit to Highbury: Another View of Emma”, by Joan Austen-Leigh; and, of course, my Bible and Concordance.
Bonus Question! Has your site been banned by Spirit of Vatican II? No, but I am actively trying to get myself banned. Apparently, it is a "good" thing to be banned. I thought that banning went out with Capernicus and Galileo. I am afraid I do not have a very good sense of humour.
If it has, who do you think Father Tim really is? I do not know.

Picture Above:
Blind Man's Buff
by Auguste Joseph Trupheme, 1836-1898

A Thank You to my Readers

“But you must understand that no one ever gives anything to another properly and really without keeping it… Of one thing you may be sure, that while you hold it, I hold it too.”

These are the words spoken by Princess Irene’s great-great-grandmother in “The Princess and the Goblin”, by George MacDonald, when she gifts her a ring that holds one end of a magical string, the ball of which the old lady keeps within her own cabinet.

On this the eve of my 35th birthday, I am honored to accept an award from my friend Leticia. She has nominated me for the Nice Matters Bloggers Award.

“This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award”.

I in turn would like to nominate the following bloggers who have both inspired and encouraged me:

1. Leticia Velasquez, my dear friend, at Cause of Our Joy

2. Joanna Gerold, my sister, at Part of Something

3. Chris Cummings, her fiancé, at Inside Out

4. Angie, who also hosts Catholic Mothers Online, at Many Little Blessings

5. Alice Gunther, at Cottage Blessings, whom I originally knew as host of Immaculate Holy Mother Homeschool Yahoo Group.

6. Natalie, one of my new readers from British Columbia, Canada, hosts a blog called Bigger Families; Faces from the Past, where she features old photos of bigger families. She is looking for contributions from other family archives.

7. Michelle Harmon at Downblogger for her beautiful poem, "No Greater Love than to Lay Down Your Life".

What is a writer? Or, more correctly, who is a writer?

If you have a child, you are a mother. Noone asks, “Have I heard of your child? Is he famous? How many children have you had? What do the critics think of your children? Are you a good mother?” to qualify you as worthy of the title Mother.

For many years I have shied away from calling myself a writer. I knew I was one, for a writer is one who writes, but I was embarrassed. I did not want to be perceived as a “wannabe”. I had not done much publishing since my college years, when I wrote for the student paper and published a thesis. So I was afraid of the polite questions people ask when you pronounce yourself a writer.

I longed to tell the world, “I am a writer! I am a writer!” I yearned to talk about what I was writing, yet was afraid it would interfere with the “creative process”. And so I kept it secret, confiding my dreams to only a select few friends.

When I declared my intentions to stop homeschooling, people started asking me what I planned to do with my “spare time”. Never mind that I had a new baby coming – I still felt I had to explain away my time. For Mothers are not seen as productive – we just are who we are.

And so I “came out”, in a gradual way. I told people I would be working on my unfinished novels. On the children’s school applications, I put down my occupation as “Freelance Writer”.

How much writing did I really do during the last school year? Not much - other than keeping my daily journal. I have written in earlier posts about the difficulties I had to battle this year. When one is tired from a baby who refuses to sleep all night, and in chronic pain from recovery from a car accident, it is hard to be be creative with your words, and physically difficult to sit at a computer for long periods of time.

As June approached, I realized with horror that I had not mailed out any proposals all year. In that last week before school let out, the fire got into my belly. I turned out five items and sent them out – hoping a little in their success, but mostly just proud that I had produced them and put them out there.

Then I took out every library book that could be had on marketing. By the time I got through those, I had had enough of reading about writing. I was ready to just write.

And then I heard about the blogosphere, through my friend Leticia. It took just five minutes to set up my own account, and I was thrust into a new phase of my writing career. Frankly, I was surprised at the amount of writing I was able to do with all of the kids home. Yet I would write in my head all day and the moment the kids were in bed I would turn on my computer. And I would be doing what I loved. (One of these days someone will come up with a thought recorder that you can attach to your head. Then you could write with ease while cooking, swimming, and playing with your kids.)

In just over a month of blogging, I have received much more than the public recognition I had long hoped for. I feel I have been liberated in such a fundamental way. My readers and I have both given and received encouragement and inspiration to and from each other. And so I thank you, my readers, for without you this would not have been possible.

“Edify one another.” – St. Paul