Live, from Chicago...

it's Catholic Mom Moments!

OK, I couldn't resist!! I'm actually sitting, perched high above the city on the 9th floor of the Chicago Public Library, enjoying a bit of free wireless internet access.

I've been here in the city since last Wednesday, when I arrived for a weeklong visit. It's been a fabulous blending of "business" and pleasure, mostly the latter!

I've been staying with Erin, David, Evan and Tyler, enjoying as much nephew time as I can possibly pack into a few days. On Thursday, I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with Sister Julie of A Nun's Life fame and to be treated by her to a tour of Loyola Press. While I was with Sister Julie meeting many of the staff at Loyola, I was teasing her that I should have brought my autograph book, as I found myself in the company of some of my favorite authors! What a treat! I'm so happy I had the chance to learn about Loyola Press' upcoming plans as well as Sister Julie's plans for her own writing. She is simply incredible and will be featured on an upcoming episode of Catholic Moments podcast!

Next up, Greg, Eric and Adam winged in on a redeye Friday morning and we headed straight to Notre Dame. While there, I was fortunate enough to have a meeting with Tom Grady and his staff at Ave Maria Press. Once again, it was a treat to meet in person with folks I've corresponded with online and admire greatly. Watch out for future updates on great books coming soon from both publishers!

While at Notre Dame, one of our major focuses was to introduce Eric to campus life at our favorite University. We attended an information session and had a great campus tour. We dined in South Dining Hall, tromped all over our old stomping grounds, and subjected the boys to a lot of our memories. The game on Saturday, a victory over Stanford, was the icing on the cake. While at the game, we spent the weekend at Erin and David's lakehouse in Michigan City and enjoyed meeting with Michael and Meg (and their new puppy Ollie) on Saturday.

Greg and the boys have now jetted back to "the real world" but I get to spend a few more days here in the City. Today, I had the treat of visiting with Sister Helena Burns of the Daughters of St. Paul at the Chicago Pauline Book and Media Center. While in the facility, I met up again with Sister Anne, who many of us know as "NunBlogger" on the net. When I was speaking with Sister Helena, I had this strange sense of familiarity and comfort. She is so passionate about the use of new media in sharing our faith - a passion I share greatly. For many reasons, I wish I lived closer to Chicago - if I did, I'm certain I would be a groupie of the Daughters of St. Paul. I hope to spend more time with them during future visits to the city.

Over at Faith and Family Live, my blog posts for this week will feature reflections from this trip. Head over there for a few of the happenings of the week. I'm not certain what the rest of the week will hold, but I'll be back home on Thursday and resuming some semblance of my routine.

Being here has been such a blessing in so many ways. The best thing in the world is being able to spend time with my family whom I miss so greatly when we are not together. My nephews are just about the sweetest, cutest kids around so it's a true treat to have time with them.