Here's 12 great episodes of Among Women from 2011... Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming up in 2012!

Here's an even dozen selected for your listening pleasure. Just click on the link to listen on your computer, or download via iTunes. Subscribe to the podcast here, and subscribe to the blog in the sidebar at right.

If you're new to Among Women, or you haven't been around for a while, here's a look back at some of what we've covered together in the last 12 months.

AW 85 with Elizabeth Scalia... Stand Up for the Faith

AW 92 Special Edition... The Bible and You -- a round-up with our listeners as guests!

AW 93 with a panel of guests... Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

AW 94 with Jennifer Willits... Ringing Around the Rosary

AW 99 with Julie Davis... Happy to be Catholic

AW 100... Celebrating 100 Episodes... with the guest from Episode 1: Dr. Virginia Kimball and a cast of thousands... (ok, not 1000's but a bunch of beloved listeners giving their two cents about AW.)

AW 103 with Rosario Rodriguez... When Forgiveness is Hard

AW 109 Metanoia... Listener Erin Miller talks about her conversion and the road to Carmelite spirituality.

AW 112 Special Edition... What I love about the Rosary! -- more fun with our listeners!

AW 113 with Lisa Hendey... Communing with the Saints

AW 118 with Teresa Tomeo... A Women's Relationship with the Media

AW 119 with Dorothy Pilarski... The Interior Life of Mothers

I'm over at Catholic Mom today, with another installment of what I'm loosely calling "Tales from the Empty Nest"

Have I told you how much I love CatholicMom.com, and its intrepid and wise founder-turned-author Lisa Hendey? Sure, you've probably heard me sing those praises before. But, no joke, check it out if you are a Catholic Mom and you're looking for information, inspiration, and a dose of fun for your Catholic Mommy Years. Back in the dark ages of CatholicMom, oh I'd say about two website iterations ago, I started writing for Lisa, and it continues to be a favorite stop for me, even tho' I'm not in the trenches anymore with small children. So, I'm writing about what I do now as a Mom....

Here's a snippet from "The Letter to the College Freshmen":

Dear Peter, 

I hope your life at college is going well. Your last email and your Facebook statuses all sound pretty positive. Your departure as the youngest child off to college means that there are a few new things going on around here. So I thought I’d let you know about them before you arrive home between semesters. 

After 24 years of parenting, I’ve gotten rid of the infamous lost sock bag. That’s right. Let the purging begin. I matched what could be matched, and the rest will be recycled into grease rags for Dad’s auto repair kit, dust cloths, and doggie chew toys. There are only two people here now, one guy, one gal. Finding mated sock pairs is pretty easy. But I almost caved on the whole project when I got to the bottom of the bag and found blue socks from when you were little. No lie! Blue uniform socks from grade school! *sniff* Unmatched in size, of course! But I could not throw them away. Not quite yet. I am keeping them in an undisclosed location since there is no more random sock bag.

Oh there's more. Find it here.

The Gohn "kiddos"

(That's Peter's high school graduation.)

Here's an earlier installment on the launching and sending off of sons. (Um, and another one about the oldest finishing college and leaving home.)

This makes me think... nothing we do is wasted...

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.


Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.


Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks 
Compassion on this world. 
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

--- St Teresa of Avila, as cited in A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey

Got saints? Here are some great podcasts on the saints.

Happy All Saints Day!

We love the saints around here. If you're looking for some of our previous shows on saints, check out these:

AW 113 with Lisa Hendey, talking about her new book A Book of Saints for Catholic Mom

AW 51 with Ronda Chervin, discussing her Treasury of Women Saints. 

AW 17 with Gina Loehr, conversing about Real Women, Real Saints. 

 Of course, Among Women has an entire master index/archive listed by the saints we have covered.

And don't forget the Saint Cast with Paul Cammarata - an archive of over 140 podcasts!

Lisa Hendey comes to Boston & I'm happy to tag along!

Lisa Hendey, my longtime friend and editor at CatholicMom.com, fellow SQPN podcaster at Catholic Moments, and author of The Catholic Mom Handbook, is coming to the Boston area in two weeks! 

Naturally, I can't keep that good news all to my self, so here are the details:


Sunday, October 17 – “Meet and Greet” with Lisa Hendey (and me!) at John Harvard’s in Cambridge – 2:30 – 4:30 pm.  Join us for a “no host” gathering with Boston area friends.  Come for as long as your schedule permits. 


If you haven't gone to Mass that day, join us in attending the 5:00 pm Mass that evening at St. Paul Parish in Cambridge... a short walkable distance from the pub.

Monday, October 18 – St. Paul Parish, Wellesley – Join Lisa Hendey and musical guest Susan Bailey for a special evening sponsored by the St. Paul’s WINGS group.  The event begins at 7:00 pm and the charge is $10 per person.  WINGS is a women's ministry.

Event Details:

502 Washington Street   Wellesley, MA 02482

Get Google directions here.

For more information please contact: Kay Kociuba at 781-237-1243 or kayeli43@yahoo.com or Eva Russell at 508-620-7632 or eva.russell@verizon.net.

And if you've yet to pick up a copy of Lisa's book, you can get it right here.

(And if you bring it along, I'm sure she'll gladly sign your copy.  Yes, she really is very nice!)

And on the lighter side of things for Mother's Day...

...I was a guest on this week's edition of Catholic Weekend over at SQPN, with host Capt. Jeff Nielsen, and a few of my favorite fellow cyber-Moms and MomsIRL, Maria Johnson and Lisa Hendey.

Together, among other things, we talked about motherhood, driving carpools, not having to cook on Mother's Day, plus Lisa's great new book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms, and the upcoming Catholic New Media Celebration. 

The podcast will be posted here sometime later today. Otherwise, look for episode 25 of Catholic Weekend on SQPN or over at iTunes.

Among Women Podcast #56

Among Women 56 welcomes Lisa Hendey of CatholicMom.com back for another visit to talk about her book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms.  Plus, we turn back the hands of time and look at the life of Lydia, a woman of faith from the New Testament, as found in Acts 16: 11-15.

Also, it's time to register for the Catholic New Media Celebration coming to Boston Aug. 6-8, 2010.  Don't miss CNMC "mmx"!

You can also hear an earlier podcast with Lisa Hendey as a guest, here.

The Handbook for Catholic Moms

Okay, there are just a few gals for whom I'd be willing to stick my neck out, not looking before I leap. (Or puting their book on my blog before I actually got to the last chapter of my pre-view copy... but hey, when its right, its right...)

But I'm here to recommend a wonderful still-to-come book from Lisa Hendey for you Catholic mothers and mothers-to-be! If you are actively parenting children from babies to teens, this is a must-have for your bookshelf.

Here's it is:

Author Lisa Hendey, the founder of CatholicMom.com, and the Catholic Moments Podcast, and  contributor and columnist at Faith and Family Live, and Today's Catholic Woman, and now the producer of Kids Gospel Moments, among other great projects, has been a source of inspiration to me for years. She's the kind of honest-to-goodness girl-next-store you just wanna have around as a BFF. Not to mention, she really IS that nice when you get to know her in person (as I have)!

Lisa's solid dedication to the Catholic Church and her desire to keep growing in her faith as she continues to find and share the best Catholic family resources out there, well, it's just amazing...  So Lisa's finally stockpiling all that wisdom and those resources and putting it in one handy volume for the likes of you and me.

Here's a synopsis.  And here's Lisa's recent guest appearance on Among Women. (Go listen now if you missed it!)

Lisa Hendey's book doesn't come out until February, but wouldn't it be cool to put her over the top with the first edition selling out before it hits the bookstores???

Now, go order it here.

And yours truly was honored to add a little sidebar in the book too.

Among Women Podcast #27

Among Women #27 features the story of St. Frances of Rome who could see her guardian angel, and the AW interview of interviewer extraordinaire, Lisa Hendey of CatholicMOM.com and the Catholic Moments Podcast!

AW celebrates 6 months of podcasting! Meanwhile, your host, Pat Gohn fights seasonal allergies that have turned her usual baritone into a bass!