A Day in the Life of Kate

Here we are at another week of the A Day in the Life series! The series is meant to give us a glimpse into each others' lives... the parts we might not normally show or might not fit the 'theme' of our blogs. It's also meant to help us get to know each other even more, to inspire us, and to let us know that life isn't quite as glamorous as blogs make them out to be :). Up this week is Kate's Wednesday from Imperfect Kate. If you've never checked her blog out, head over. I love her very real way of writing, and her humor is right up my alley. Welcome to a Wednesday in the life of Kate- and not just any Wednesday, but Ash Wednesday!

This last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, so it wasn't a normal day - but, then again, we don't have many normal days.

My alarm went off at 4:45, and I promptly turned it off. It sounded again at 4:50, and I flailed around on the bedside table for my thermometer. While I waited for it to register my temp, I opened my charting app, Link Femcal to chart my temp and to record it. Knowing I was going to write this for you, I made sure to open my Liturgy of the Hours app.

While Adam slept beside me, and Chewbacca stayed curled up on my feet, I prayed Morning Prayer. Then, just a little after 5:30, I slid out of bed and headed downstairs. Since we fast on Ash Wednesday, and Adam takes fasting very seriously, I headed downstairs to make us some morning smoothies. I made sure to use plenty of protein powder, flaxseed, and greek yogurt - protein and fiber to keep us full for a long day of fasting. I brought the smoothie upstairs to wake up Adam and hopped in the shower. This year I was going to go to Mass before work, and wear my ashes all day. This would be a first for me since high school. I was excited.

The only downside was that Mass started at 6:30. So I hurried.

I dressed nicely (Mt 6:17) in one of my favorite blue dresses, a nice blazer, and a pair of work-appropriate pumps, with vintage-style wooden shoes.

I arrived at 6:34, halfway through the responsorial Psalm, and I had to tiptoe up the marble aisle to avoid clip-clipping like a horse. I enjoyed mass - a lot. Since I cantor at Santa Catalina, I don't get many opportunities to be a passive recipient at Mass. I love singing, but I also love the freedom to kneel through the Consecration, to really focus and just receive Grace.

Anyway. so I got my ashes - a beautiful dark smudge - and I got to work a half hour early. So, I figured, why not start working? My boss (the company owner) arrived a few minutes after me, and was highly impressed by my early hours.

Throughout the morning, I had plenty of opportunities to discuss Lent and Catholicism with the people I work with. The ashes on my head were a great evangelization tool. It turns out a lot of people I work with - even atheists and agnostics - participate in Lent, simply because they believe that self-discipline and austerity are good for them. God is good, and He works good everywhere - even in the lives of people who haven't been given the gift of faith.

We even had a client meeting that I (surprise) was pulled into, and while I was a little chagrined at the idea of going in ashy-headed, but this was why I went to mass that morning, so in I went.

Well, I'm not very good at fasting, and I still had to take my fistful of PCOS meds (metformin, fish oil, two different vitamins, calcium, fiber, etc, etc ...) and thanks to PCOS my blood sugar can go a little wonky, so it's not good for me to not eat all day. So I had an apple, a string cheese, and some almonds so I could down all my horsepills. Then, at one, I went for a run. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! The sun was shining, flowers blooming, children playing in the park. I was buoyant with joy and deep contentment. That's the thing about exercise and sunshine, everything is better after you've had some. I'm a member of a gym next door, so I showered before heading back to work - but a pre-shower glance in the mirror proved that I'd sweated my ashes right off. Such is the life of a #Cathlete.

After work on Wednesdays, I usually head home to an empty house. Adam teaches Confirmation on Wednesdays, and so I usually do yoga, fold laundry, watch Downton Abbey (or Law & Order, or Psych, or any other show Adam doesn't particularly enjoy) and just hang out. But, this being Ash Wednesday, he was taking the kids to Mass, and we thought it would be a good idea to have both of us go to Mass together. Not every kid has a role model for a good, God-centered relationship in their parents, and every opportunity Adam and I have to model that is one we ought to take. Plus, the very fact that I didn't usually come for class, but I did come up for mass reinforced what we always told them - that Mass is the most important thing we'll ever do.

I offer this as defense, because I worry that it appears too holier-than-thou that I went to mass twice.

After Mass we had a dinner for some friends who were moving away (You may know Brittany of The Greatest of These is Love) and we all had some marvelous, meat-free meals. Everyone was starving, and everyone dove into their food with full force. It was rough, since Brittany is - er, now was - one of my very few female friends here in Tucson, but I'm happy for them and the new opportunities they'll have (And, thanks to the #Cathsorority, I know I'll stay in touch with her ;-).

After dinner, Adam and I were exhausted. We went home, washed our faces, brushed our teeth, and barely made it through night prayer before we fell asleep. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I'm pretty sure I fell asleep partway through. In my defense, I'd been going for 18 hours.

So, I guess, in a lot of ways, even though it was Ash Wednesday, it was a pretty typical day for us.

Kate lives and works in Tucson, AZ, with her husband Adam and
Chewbacca the dog. She eats too many carbs, swears too frequently, and
is incredibly grateful that she might get to heaven anyway. If you're
not tired of her yammering yet, you can find more
athttp://imperfectkate.wordpress.com/