Fumbling Toward Grace

Visit Jen for more quick takes.

I’ve decided to dedicate this quick takes to things I wish I’d known or discovered sooner.

7.

I don’t have to wear high heels to be stylish.

I’ve worked my way through boxes of band-aids and Dr. Scholl’s before I figured that one out.

Oh Louboutin’s. You have a siren song that’s hard to ignore, but in the interest of not looking like this in 25 years:

I’m sticking with these:

or these:

The end.

6.

That you can upload photos onto your computer and then order prints on Walgreen’s website, then pick them up in the store the same day!

 All along I’ve been making cd’s like a chump and taking them into the store, then I have to go back again to get my pictures. Hardship. Did you know about this?

5.

That pregnancy ruins your teeth.

Or at least, it can. Apparently the combination of (1) diabetes medication that blocks calcium absorption (wish I’d known that one sooner too!), plus (2) natural haywireness of pregnancy equals

$7,000 in dental work.

Now, you might be wondering what kind of dental work costs 7 grand. Let me tell you:

2 root canals
1 crown
8 fillings

Apparently Maggie needed to grow bones or something like that, and she took the calcium to do so from my teeth. So now I’m super calcium lady. I take my daily supplements, and drink two glasses of milk a day. Ha! I will win, I will have teeth. At least until I’m 40. I hope.

4.

Magnificat.

I did discover this about a year or so ago, but I wish I’d found it sooner. It’s such a great resource for daily prayer.I love that it has a morning and evening prayer for each day, the Mass readings, and a reflection. We have a household subscription, and it’s well worth the price.

Would make a great Christmas present.

3.

How much of a difference filling in eyebrows can make.

I was skeptical. However, the woman at Sephora showed me how to do it, and my goodness, it makes such a difference. I use a brow kit from Benefit. It was pricey, but I use such a small amount that it will probably last me two or three years.

This video is a pretty good tutorial on how to fill in brows, though she is a bit more complicated than what I do. My brows have a generally good shape, so I just lightly go over the shape with the powder.

I know, you all fear this:

But I promise, it’s easy to do it subtly.

2.

The importance of Kegels.

Am I right? I’m right.

1.

Coffee.

How does it always know just what I need? Thanks, coffee.

Seriously though. Before the last year I had drank maybe ten cups of coffee in my whole life. Now I drink a cup a day.

As cliche as it sounds, I’m left wondering, “Where has coffee been all my life?”

Lorelai knows.

What do you wish you had known sooner?