Yes, I got to meet Amy Welborn!

... and no, this isn't a PPOTD! :-)

As you may know, I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting (the great) Amy Welborn this weekend when she visited my own parish to give a talk on the Da Vinci Code. I also was able to meet her husband Michael Dubruiel, and (briefly) her three children.

I must say, little Joseph was an absolute riot, though I made the mistake of asking him to deliver a cup of water to his mom - I'd forgotten what a difficult task that can be for a five year old! Luckily he spilled most of it on the ground and not the book display...

Amy's talk was excellent, very informative and appropriate to the audience. She has a true gift for multitasking (at one point she was signing books, fielding questions and juggling a microphone). Having witnessed that, it's not hard to see how she manages to update her blog, run a household and write on a continual basis! I hope our paths cross again (and knowing how small the Catholic world is - I'm sure they will).

I also was able to meet Jim Manney of People of the Book. He has been involved with OSV and now works for Loyola Press. Regular AmericanPapist reader Tim Ferguson was also in attendance, it was very nice to see him again. One of the professors at my old school was there, but his name slips my mind as does the URL for his blog.

Anyways, meeting "the Matriarch of Catholic Blogs" (as I like to call her) was a real treat. She's doing great work for the Church right now, and it was enjoyable to finally meet her (like other contacts I've made through St. Blogs) in person. I recommend you all go listen to her speak the next time she comes to a city near you.

Chicago, Houston, Cleveland, Columbia City, Fort Wayne, Troy, Milwaukee, St. Louis - I'm talking to you!

... oh! and by the way, this weekend also marked another semi-milestone for me, namely, finishing my last major assignment for my first year as a graduate student of theology. Granted, I still have one exam and one paper to finish - but the topic for those is bioethics. And that's just pure fun.

In the meantime, however, I'm going to start catching up on about four months of overdue sleep.