ex(PR)essed

…and you are so grateful that it just doesn’t matter.

In the PR world, you are bound to have “those days” that throw you a curve ball and leave you running all day. Today is such a day for this PR girl. You see, last night, a group from Messiah — 24 students and two faculty members — were returning from their three-week cross-cultural trip to the French West Indies when their airplane encountered difficulty. When I say difficulty, I mean smoke in the cockpit, a cracked windshield, and the distrinct smell of burning plastic…things that are not comforting when you’re 10,000+ feet in the air and 90 minutes from land. The flight attendants prepared the travelers for an evacuation and a water landing while they waited to see whether the plane could make it to West Palm Beach for an emergency landing.

Thankfully, the plane did make it to WPB and only a few members of the flight crew experienced minor injuries. At Messiah, we are absolutely celebrating the safety of our students; God was clearly with them. And, we hear that our students were an incredible, calming influence on the other passengers.

So, all this excitement definitely makes for news, and we are managing a fair amount of media attention today. I am happily coordinating as many interviews as I can, and this work has kept me from having lunch today (unless you count Cream of Wheat at 11:30 and peanut butter crackers at 2:30!). But, when I consider how drastically different the emergency landing could have gone, I am grateful for my vending machine lunch.

It has been twelve days since the Lorows started reading “War and Peace,” and, as you can tell, I am about 1/12 of my way through this monster of a book. (Translated: bottom of page 121.) Alright…so it only amounts to about 10 pages a day, but, no joke, it takes at least half an hour to read 10 pages. There will be no flying through this book at the pace at which I’m accustomed to reading. Plus, every few pages, I must flip to the character listing to make sure that I’m clear which prince, princess, count, or troublemaker I’m meeting now. Don’t get me wrong; I’m enjoying the book so far. I don’t dread reading it. Rather, I look forward to that half hour of quiet reading time each night when I’m tucked snuggly between the flannel sheets and elbow-to-elbow with Jeff and his copy of “War and Peace.” (He’s a few pages behind me…maybe while I’m scrapbooking with Rachel tonight, he’ll want to devote some time to catching up?!)

Did you enjoy the weekend? Friday was a great day at Messiah — hard not to be thrilled about the news that Kai Kasiguran was drafted by the Chicago Fire to play major league soccer! Then, it was off to serve at my church’s annual sportsmen’s banquet. Jeff and I went out to breakfast Saturday morning — one of my favorite weekend treats. Saturday night was spent shopping and watching a movie with “the square,” a.k.a. my senior high girls small group. Sunday, Jeff and I watched “Akeelah and the Bee,” before heading back to the church for youth group. Whew.

In other exciting news — today is four days past my blogging anniversary! Wahoo!

When I was uploading the pictures of our “cosmetically-upgraded” bathroom yesterday, I stumbled upon these pictures from New Year’s Eve. These girls make me so happy that I just had to share these two pictures. (Four-year-old Natalie took the picture of me and Emma. It’s a bit of a stylistic change from her earlier “scalp” work, but I believe she shows tremedous artistic promise.)

What’s a couple of crazy, rather newly married kids to do with a long weekend? Why cosmetically upgrade their master bathroom, of course! For more than a year, Jeff and I have talked about turning our boring master bathroom into a room with some pizzazz — cozy and colorful was the goal. So, we committed to spending our long weekend making improvements such as replacing the light fixture, swapping out the mirror, adding a new sink faucet, and painting. And, for all you naive, ambitious folks out there, here are a few lessons learned by the Lorows.

1. Lowe’s is 5.26 miles from our house. We made nearly a dozen trips there over a period of four days. (Jamie: We could never live in Damascus. We just couldn’t.)

2. Even when wrapped completely in duct tape and wailed on with a hammer, some mirrors don’t break. They are, however, easily pryed off with a putty knife. Go figure.

3. You can’t replace fixtures in your tub unless you have an access panel. We have a hallway, and, therefore, the same fixtures we had when we started.

4. Paint comes off the floor, sink, and tub, but it does not come off the ceiling.

5. After spending 3.5 days in a rather small bathroom and being rather frustrated by any number of surprises, the Lorows can get a bit testy with each other. But, upon viewing the finished product, they realize that their love can conquer all…even plumbing issues.

We will tackle future projects with adjusted expectations. But, for now, we love the bathroom –the color is “woven flax” and it makes the room seem warmer and cozier. The shower curtain is fabulous — an $80 shower curtain purchased for $17.99 at Kohls. The fixtures look great — I find myself polishing the sink faucet after every use. And, the mirror; well, it really adds an element of class, in my opinion.

And, for those of you tracking my “War and Peace” progress, I’m on page 64. Jeff is just a few pages behind me. So far all peace with only talk of war.

Starting tonight, Jeff and I are embarking on a great adventure together. Having each finished our Christmas Break reads (him: Tony Dungy’s book; me: “The Little Friend” by Donna Tartt), we are both going to read Leo Tolstoy’s mammoth novel “War and Peace.” We’ve been talking about doing this for a few months. I think we’d both like to add this classic to our “Already read that” list, but we’re a bit intimidated by the sheer number of pages–1200!–involved in finishing this book. So, perhaps if we can discuss the book together, we’ll each be motivated to keep plowing…er, I mean reading.

Actually, I’m a fan of Russian literature. In AP English in high school, I loved “Crime and Punishment,” my first introduction to Russian authors. I will never forget the thrill of being asked to read my essay about Polenka, a minor character in the story, aloud to the entire class. I read “The Brothers Karamazov” while home during Christmas break from college, and I enjoyed “Anna Karenina” when I read it a few years ago. (I read it before Oprah recommended it, thank you very much.) So, I’m fully prepared to like “War and Peace.” (Re-reading this paragraph, I’m wondering how many of you think I’m a total dork. Reading huge novels during Christmas break? Well, I did stuff with friends too. Really. Geez.)

So, wish us luck (and patience as we sort out all the names) as we crack the covers on “War and Peace” tonight!

It is the eighth of January, year of our Lord 2008, and it is 67 degrees outside. For the second day in a row. No joke. My window is wide open — I can hear every motorcycle, the gentle breeze, and crickets…lots and lots of crickets. (Actually, just kiddin’ about the cricket thing; it’s really my computer that sounds like a bathtub full of crickets. I’m sure that’s normal, right?)

Anyhow, I just wanted to celebrate this beautiful weather with you, my friends! While I know I will be wearing my scarf again soon, I can’t help but thank God for this glimpse of Spring. We all need a bright spot as we struggle to settle back into the work routine.

Students are returning — J-Term starts tomorrow!

We’re only seven days into 2008, but it already feels like Christmas was eons ago. The routine of hurried mornings, work, housework, church activities, bed has washed over me in a way that is both comfortingly familar and annoyingly familar. I find that I am longing for more vacation while at the same time relaxing in the familarity of routine.

But, I must admit, if I have to be at work, I’m pretty glad that I spend my days at Messiah College. My colleagues and I already celebrating a huge media success on 2008 — Mike True, director of the Internship Center, is quoted in yesterday’s edition of “The New York Times.” This is huge! As the PR geek that you all know me to be, I spent a fair amount of time tracking down my own copy of the paper yesterday because I still get such a thrill when I see the College’s name in print. (Don’t even me get started about how ridiculous I think it is that Borders doesn’t carry the NY Times…)

In other good news, Yonette made delicious Starbucks coffee for us this morning. A good way to start the day! And, our office’s new promotional writer started today! Welcome, Laurie!