Providence, indeed.

There have been some big updates on my calendar this week. First, I have a date in Rhode Island in mid-March, and more importantly, I'll be back in Kansas for Holy Week and Easter! How lucky can I get?

It's also been one of those weeks where a few great people have appeared to provide inspiration, encouragement, and just plain happiness exactly when I needed it. Like Monday night: I was hosting my pro-life meeting in the chaplaincy, as usual, and none of my few regulars showed up, for various reasons. I was feeling pretty down until a new friend came along, a guy who isn't quite ready to take a firm anti-abortion stance but cared enough about life to come along and talk about the issues. He turned out to be just the right person to help me set aside a lot of frustration and get re-focused, and he completely turned my day around, right out of the blue.

Yesterday, I walked down to the city centre for my appointment to apply for a National Insurance Number, which I'll need in order to get a job. It turned out to be the highlight of my day. Two people interviewed me, one woman and one older man in his first week on the job who was sitting in as part of his training. They had to take information from a whole pile of documents I'd brought in, and the process should have been dry and bureaucratic, but it turned out to be relaxing and fun. The man told me stories about his other jobs as a part-time engineering lecturer and his travels in the U.S., and when another woman came in to look over my paperwork we all got to talking about how lovely Edinburgh is and how she and I have the same name (which should always be spelled with an "e" at the end). I felt like I'd made three new friends when I left.

Tonight I cooked dinner for the house plus the younger sister of my housemate Laura, an adorable red-haired second-year named Emily who has become my adopted little sister for the year. I very courageously made beef stroganoff (a new and fairly complicated recipe for me -- I actually marinaded steak strips in white wine), which was a big hit, although I practically destroyed the kitchen. It was a fun, sociable dinner, and I got to have a nice chat with Emily as she helped me do all the masses of washing up.

So, those have been the high points of the week, and I'm happy to have a couple more to look forward to in the weeks to come. Back to the books, now, to see what further inspiration I can dig up.