What’s going on with the Svells right meow.

I’m one of those people who become enraged when someone “forgets to eat”.  How do you FORGET TO EAT?

Craig is one of those.  I’ll be talking to him on the phone in the afternoon and he’ll suddenly inform me of his hunger and that he forgot to eat lunch. I have no sympathy.  Did you also forget to use the toilet today? Do you need clean pants? TOO BAD.

One might think my rage would place me in a category of people who like to eat.  And one would be correct.  The thing is when I’m not pregnant, I eat when I’m hungry, and no more.  I choose what I eat marginally wisely, with a side of home made cookie.

But when I’m pregnant?  Let us ponder the moment when Craig comes home and has not brought in the food I requested he pick up.   This being my fourth pregnancy, he’s learned that if baby wants a bag of mini Twix bars, baby gets them or else there might be tears and there will be gnashing of teeth.  I dream of galaxies filled with doughnut holes, and fruit snacks suddenly become something I will make a special trip to the grocery store to buy.

With Emmett, in the last few weeks of his pregnancy, every evening, I drank a glass filled half with milk, half with vanilla creamer, over ice, topped with whipped cream.  And I crunched every last ice cube.

GAG ME WITH A SPORK to all of those items, says the un-pregnant Carolyn. Every day.

I know, I know.  All of those Mr. Hyde-like cravings mean I’m lacking in some nutrient or mineral.  I’m taking my vitamins, and whether pregnant or not, peanut butter makes me think less of the world, but I still try to choke it down in lieu of the delicious partially hydrogenated Caramel dipping sauce with a delicious Honeycrisp.

…All that to say that we just got finished making and eating a few handfuls of make-at-home-box of Auntie Anne’s soft pretzels for dinner.  It’s Craig’s late night.

So that’s what just went on.

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Unrelated but of more important note:

Olivia of the beautiful To The Heights blog invited me to participate in a 12 week blog series contemplating the 10 Virtues of Mary, hosted by To The Heights.

Honored, and happy to be given a prompt about something other than diapers and pregnancy cravings, I am so excited to talk a little about the Blessed Mother and how she always points us to Jesus with her virtues.

Here’s a little blurb from Olivia’s Intro post from yesterday (Yay! You haven’t missed anything, it’s just starting!):

So what’s the deal with this series?

Each Tuesday from now until mid-December, one blogger will host the series at her place and focus on one particular virtue. She will share the definitions of both the virtue and its modifying adjective and why that matters, she’ll reflect on how Mary lived it in her own life, she will offer insight into how we can live that virtue as women, and she’ll divulge how that virtue kicks us in the butt.

I’m so looking forward to reading each reflection because all of these women have amazing hearts and varied personalities, and I’m confident that we will all grow from their particular viewpoints.

At the end of series, we will be celebrating with a big Marian-themed giveaway back here at the Heights! We would love for you to join us every Tuesday to learn about Mary and how we can imitate her goodness simply each day, in every situation, and in the tiniest, most mundane moments.

Check out the schedule below to see who’s covering what can’t wait to see you there!

This post is part of a series on the Ten Virtues of Mary, hosted by To the Heights and running every Tuesday until the middle of December. So if you need some help in the virtue department, here’s a great place to start

October 7 – An Introduction to the Ten Virtues of Mary – Olivia of To the Heights

October 14 – Lively Faith – Molly of Molly Makes Do

October 21 – Blind Obedience – Kendra of Catholic All Year

October 28 – Constant Mental Prayer – Jenna of Call Her Happy

November 4 – Heroic Patience – Kelly of This Ain’t the Lyceum

November 11 – Profound Humility – Carolyn of Svellerella

November 18 – Angelic Sweetness – Regina of Good One God

November 25 – Divine Wisdom – Britt of The Fisk Files

December 2 – Universal Mortification – Abbey of Surviving Our Blessings

December 9 – Divine Purity – Gina of Someday Saints

December 16 – Ardent Charity – Christy of Fountains of Home

December 17 – Massive GIVEAWAY at To the Heights – Just in time for Christmas

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So I’ll be doing PROFOUND HUMILITY right around my birthday.  How’d I get that one? As soon as I saw the words I laughed and knew I’d be needing to write on it.

Because Carolyn, you sit yourself next to the Blessed Mother and would she have gotten rage over St. Joseph forgetting to eat his lunch? No, thy name ain’t profound humility. So stay tuned for that.

Until and after then, I’ll drop a reminder each Tuesday where you can read up on the other 9 virtues.  These ladies are at the top of my favorites, and I’m humbled to see my picture next to theirs.  It’s going to be a great way to reflect inward on how we live our life as we near the celebration of Christ’s birth.

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Next:

Craig and I are in the throws of finding somewhere to rent, and then moving there in the next few weeks.  We could use your prayers.  I have a hard time dealing with change and my whole person tends to go into shut-down mode where I get sickly and need to sleep a lot.  You’d think the amount of moving we’ve done would render me less sensitive to it all, but no.

I just want to cram my people into a tiny rustic cottage with AC, away from people, but close to a Starbucks, and be done with it. You know?

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Also:  

If you’re getting all your Catholic information about the Bishops chitchatting on the Synod on the Family from the NYT, and you’re believing it… how does that song go?  Don’t know much about history, don’t know much Synod-ogy… yeah.

NYT don’t know what they’re talking about and they don’t know much about Catholicism, but they do know what kind of headlines will get people running around like chickens with their heads cut off so if you wanna chicken off your head, please garner all of your Catholic info from there.

Otherwise, try here.  Basically look at the Synod as a gathering of the Ents from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  It’s a long long long long long discussion which is going to take lots of time, and still might amount to no change at all, but rather a clarification of what the Church has always taught on love, sexuality, and human dignity.

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Finally:

I’m considering lipstick.  I only ever use a lip balm, if even a lip gloss.  But anything with color and I feel like the most awkward 13 year old trying to look 30 –even though I almost am– who just ends up with it smudged onto her front teeth and down her chin.

Also, I kiss my babies a lot and I hate getting makeup on their pure little faces.

AND! The kicker, I try to avoid cancer-giving ingredients like talc, petrolatum, sodium laurel/laureth sulfates, anything ending in “paraben”, the mysterious “parfum” or “fragrance”, and any toxic metals.  This cuts out most drugstore and name brand lipsticks.  So I’m just like okay then, I’ll have another mini Twix bar.

Nude’s in, right?

Yet I persist. Who’s got a healthy happy recommendation (if it exists)?