Yes--we met Amy Welborn and Michael Dubruiel yesterday!

At Amy's presentation at St. Thomas the Apostle in Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor: Where Driving Around The Cannabis-Inspired Road Grid Is Half The Fun!

Free Advice: Don't get lost in Ann Arbor. Ever. I don't know how many times variations of the phrase "degenerate/dirty hippies" were murmured by yours truly, but I suspect I'll found out the next time I attend St. Josaphat's and it comes tumbling out The Boy during the consecration.

Let me clarify slightly--I sorta met them. I said about three disjointed words to Amy (punctuated by "Rachel!" in my Warning Voice), and made sure Heather had Michael autograph the two books I wanted, and that may have been it. More one of those "in passing/in the same room" things.

You see, even at her young age, Rachel already knows The DaVinci Code is ten pounds of crap in a five pound bag, so she decided to go exploring instead of listening to the presentation, and I rode shotgun.

Why didn't you restrain her? you ask.

You've never had toddlers, I reply.

So, I followed her like a Secret Service agent. Into the parish kitchen, down the hall, out the locked doors leading to the outside (oooops), into the brick-lined street (I played goalie to ensure she didn't get much past the curb), up the stairs to where fruit tree blossoms were raining down in the wind, back down the stairs into the parish conference room, back up the stairs...

I think I said "Hi" to Amy and then raced off to prevent Rachel from doing something potentially tragic. She also tried to unplug the microphone wire twice, but was again thwarted by her no-fun-allowed father. I think--hope--Heather heard more, but apparently the elder two had BB bladder syndrome, so she had to race for the toilets at least twice.

[To clarify, yes, Heather is the primary writer of Blog No. 2--her contributions are in red.]

But, the napless managed to settle down enough for us to purchase three books (two fine ones on the Mass and the Eucharist by Michael, and a devotional by Amy that Heather lunged for) and get our previously purchased books autographed. Which lead to The Boy's shining moment, referenced in Amy's post.

Heather told him he could take it to Amy for autographing. But not while she was up at the mike answering questions....

Have I left the impression that patience is not his strong suit?

But Amy laughingly and graciously signed it, and Heather retrieved the copy, to the laughter of the audience.

Ah, well--a good time had by all.