Saturday (St Monnica)

Allowed myself a bit of a "lie-in" in my office encampment. Emerged around 0800 to read Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Then motored over to IHOP on the west side for a leisurely breakfast. Returned, did my personal ablutions, continued processing hard-copy items on my desk, took care of a handful of emails. At 1100, met for about 90 minutes with one of our postulants, to discuss his theological formation process. Changed into casual attire and headed out for some personal shopping errands (my old familiar Springfield patterns still appeal to me more than my newer Chicago ones.) Back to the office, packed up, and hit the road southbound around 3pm. Arrived at the Hampton Inn in Alton about 90 minutes later. Got settled, changed back into uniform, send a couple of texts, and made my way down the hill to "lower Alton" (which is having a too-close encounter with the Mississippi River at the moment) and joined the MLT and Rector (and spouses) of Alton Parish for dinner. I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all.

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