10 Rounds of Applause...

1. Please join me in welcoming my most-recent blogging sibling to the sphere (note the updated sidebar). She happens to be gifted with a refreshingly enthusiastic perspective on life, and is also an entertaining writer, worthy of periodic pageloads and comments!

2. A Connecticut ex-roommate and her husband recently found out that she's pregnant!! Hurray for Kyla! And they even started a baby blog for updates! Please keep them in your prayers...

3. A very dear friend and Colorado ex-roommate was married to this new-"er" dear friend last weekend. They are now touring Ireland and the Netherlands before finishing up another year of graduate school and then saving what is left of the civilised world. Please take a moment to say a prayer for them, for a lifetime of blessings and love.

4. On Father's Day this year, another Colorado ex-roommate and her husband welcomed a little son into the world! Awesome name, Connor Patrick. Her mother arrived for a visit this week from missionary work in Singapore, so it looks to be a joyful July for that family!

5. Some disappointment for another Colorado ex-roommate (gosh there are a lot of them!), her husband, and their son, that moving to Scotland will not happen this year. However, that means I get to see them a lot this summer. Little baby Alex and I have such fun together. Hurray for friends' babies! There are so many around this year--wherever I go!

6. Starting today, smoking is officially illegal in all public places in the state of Colorado. Say what you will of constitutional rights and Big Brother nonsense--it's gross, smelly, and unhealthy--here's to cleaner air and more fun without the secondhand stuff in my face.

7. Finished a long, extensive email recently in reply to a request for explanation about the Brown Scapular I wear around my neck. With prayer to the Holy Spirit, Our Lady, and St. Simon Stock, and with the Catechism open next to me, I think it might have been writtten coherently for one who is not Catholic. We'll see. In the same email, I also tried to explain how it might be possible to build an ice sculpture to include fire--kudos to Portia for that one--and I actually expect to see it one day, when this person gets his engineering degree! That's not the craziest thing he's built....

8. This was my last week of consistent work as a bartender (translation: last week of getting paid for working!). My clinical rotation begins Monday. I am undecided as to whether I should send out email updates this summer. I am living at home, and besides a few dedicated souls who assured me of their patronage, I am unsure if many except my mother read through my entire emails last summer. ...we'll see.

9. Mom and Dad have the entire day of July 4th off, and I (as well as at least one other sibling) have the evening off. I am so excited to celebrate at home this year with a barbeque, rather than by myself in a Kentucky apartment or with co-workers at a restaurant somewhere downtown!

10. Happy 4th of July, everyone! Have a blessed and safe weekend.