Notes from the whirlwind

Whew... where did June go? Not that I'm displeased to be at summer solstice already, but seriously, wasn't Memorial Day just yesterday?

Since my last post, I have:

• attended graduation ceremonies for my alma mater - great to see lots of people who forgot I was still in town, sad that several of them are moving away now
• traveled back to New England for a big step in my ordination process: Commissioning as a Probationary Deacon. This means that I am now "probationary" clergy - and (I think) available for weddings and funerals!
• visited Evanston, Wyoming for Wyoming Philanthropy Days. I can almost say it with a straight face. Actually, it was a great learning experience with several helpful workshops and a good chance to network with others in the community service/nonprofit world in the wide open spaces of Wyoming. And the Evanston area is really beautiful (it's right on the western border with Utah, just 80 miles from Salt Lake City).
• helped out with the street fair in my church's neighborhood (and got sunburnt, but not too badly)
• completely given up on having a remotely tidy house for at least another week.

This week is Rocky Mountain's annual conference, which means presentations and legislative committee petitions and worship participation and young adult council meetings for me. Woohoo! Okay, it will probably be pretty fun once I finish procrastinating and have the presentations ready to go.

Now that I am United Methodist clergy (sort of... three years until full ordination), I was not very excited (but also not that surprised) to learn from UMC.org and Time that I've just entered one of the least healthy professional groups in the U.S. No wonder my pants all feel tighter now...