New Year, New Quick Takes

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Practically everyone in New Orleans celebrated 2012 by setting off tons of fireworks in their driveways and backyards. I approve - it's like 4th of July in 360 stereo.

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An example of why The Beau and I are a perfect match: he suggested we spend an entire day in the French Quarter...touring a 1740s convent and two historic houses. He saved me from dec arts withdrawal.

Taking photos of the 1830s Hermann-Grima House courtyard, with a n EWTN photobomb appearence. 

As an added bonus, a minor Catholic celebrity was on our last tour.
"Hey, doesn't that guy look like EWTN news anchor Raymond Arroyo?....OMG IT IS Raymond Arroyo!!" I'd recognize that distinctive diction anywhere. (Once upon a time, I wanted to be him when I grew up and get the best seat for papal events.) He and his wife were very nice and commiserated with The Beau about being NOLA expats.

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Since I graduated from college I've become obsessed with hot wings. Blame it on that one karaoke night in a south city St. Louis dive bar. I'm going to attempt a baked version on Monday for the BCS championship. (Geaux Tigers!)

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Elsewhere in the kitchen, my family just bought an electric juicer, one of the most fun toys ever. We tried it yesterday and went nuts throwing in anything we could think of - broccoli, carrots, oranges, a pear. It all came out frothy and creamy. I could marvel at this thing all day.

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Please pray for J.T., a teenage boy at my high school who was just diagnosed with the same chronic circulatory condition that caused The Year I Was Sick. I talked to him and his mom on the phone yesterday, and learned that he's got a way worse case than I did.
Do I even know how to talk to teenage boys without sounding stupid? Will he even remember our random convo in which he was too tired to say much? Who knows. But I feel blessed to have been able to reach out to them.

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The Anglophile and religious historian in me is totally stoked for the new Anglican Ordinariate. Fr. Dwight Longenecker, my favorite married-Anglican-cleric-turned-Catholic-priest, had a great post last week about what the Roman and Anglican traditions can give each other. I geeked out when he mentioned needlepoint kneelers and altar frontals. Also Our Lady of Walsingham, the patroness of the my college's Catholic chapel.

William and Mary likes to maintain its English roots. 

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