ex(PR)essed

I have my second cold in four weeks. It might be an exaggeration, or it might be fair to say, that I have done more than my part to keep Kleenex in business this month (and, really, throughout my whole life).

There are many benefits to being employed in higher education, but there are a few drawbacks too. This time of the year, the main downer is the presence of so many germs. I work in an office that employs 11 germ merchants, er…I mean students, so there is no shortage of germs. Most of the students have been sick with colds and other nasty nose and throat infections; therefore, many employees get sick as well. And, when I was a college student, I was sick frequently. As a matter of fact, I was sick so much my sophomore year that I’m amazed my roommate opted to live with me again.

I do seem far more prone to nose-related illnesses than others. And, after battling two or three colds in a short period of time, like now, I always start to feel bad for myself. I mean, what’s the deal? I wash my hands, eat rather healthily, refrain from licking doorknobs or using other people’s telephones. Yet, it never fails that I repeatedly get sick.

A few years ago, I decided to take my troubles to an ear, nose, and throat specialist. He scoped my nose, listened (somewhat) to my complaints, and stared directly at my chest throughout every appointment. Therefore, when he very seriously counseled me that I would need surgery to straighten my septum and clean out the air pockets in my nose, I could hardly take him seriously. As a matter of fact, by that point I was ready to give him a good, hard shove.

So, maybe I am cursed with a defunct nose that needs some serious attention. But, until I find a nose, ear, and throat doctor that believes in eye contact, I’m not going under the knife.

I guess that means that I’m in for another long, sniffly winter.

Both Jeff and I celebrated birthdays this week. While we didn’t do anything extravagant or out of the ordinary, we did enjoy receiving birthday greetings from family and friends and eating at a nice restaurant last night. Simply put, I had a great birthday, and here’s why.

1) A stack of cards waiting on the table for me when I got home from work on my birthday.

2) Three of those cards were from my parents, including a musical card from my dad that played “My Girl,” the song we danced to at my wedding. Though I’m not normally overly-emotional, I cried. It was such a sweet gesture.

3) Lots and lots of singing! Thank you Kim, Yon, Dwayne, Rachel, Mike, Susan, the OMPR team, and the youth group for serenading me on my birthday!

4) Perfect birthday cards — some with squirrels, some with Muppets, and some with wonderfully nice messages. Each thoughtfully chosen.

5) Cupcakes with sprinkles — mmmmmm!

6) Faceboook greetings from far and wide! This was my first birthday on Facebook, and I was floored by the number of friends that sent happy birthday greetings to me. Wow.

7) The most adorable earrings you’ll ever want to see! Thanks for the acorns, Jamie!
An ocassion to reflect — to be grateful for my 32 years of life, for the profound impact my parents have had on me; to celebrate having Jeff in my life for four years; and to eagerly look ahead and wonder what the next year will bring.

After months of wonderfully fun planning and creating, Jamie’s baby shower was a smashing success! Our nesting theme, rich with browns and greens, proved to be a welcome change from the usual baby shower colors, and Karen and I heard nothing but kind compliments about our hard work and evident love for the beautiful mother-to-be.

I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I had hoped, but I have a few good ones to give a sense of what the shower looked like. Sadlly, at this point, I’m missing photos of the guest of honor, so you’ll just have to trust me that she looked absolutely adorable in her brown party dress.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to Hostess with the Mostess for originally posting a the “modern nesting” baby shower theme. It certainly got our wheels turning!

This is what my car looked like when I left for Jamie’s on Friday afternoon.

For several months, I have been searching for a variety of used books for Jamie’s baby. As someone who loves to read, I find that I always want to buy books for kids in hopes that they, too, will love to read.

Much to Jamie’s surprise, her yellow lab Sydney got in on the baby shower action and purchased an adorable “I love my puppy” bib for the baby. I helped with the wrapping.

A nesting theme was perfect — Jamie is so creative in the kitchen and her craft room, and it has been fun to watch her nesting instincts fully in place with the promised arrival of her little one. I wanted to get Jamie something that was just for her and would help her remember the fun of her shower. I found these earrings on Etsy — perfect little copper nests with tiny little bead eggs. She loved them.

Because of the distance, my mom couldn’t make the shower, so she sent her gift through the mail. This adorable mobile was on Brad and Jamie’s registry, but it was even cuter in person. Here the proud parents display a new addition to their already cozy and cute nursery.

Once the nesting theme was determined, I began to paint and decorate birdhouses for the table centerpieces. I really enjoyed this project, and I couldn’t have been happier with how they looked on the tables. You’ll notice baby food jar votices around the birdhouses. Thanks to the on-campus Early Learning Center and several other friends, Karen and I had plenty of recycled votives to decorate the whole room with.

This is what the place settings looked like. A little box of Cadbury eggs served as the favors.

Because we were expecting a large crowd for this shower, we opted for a light luncheon that included this fabulous dessert table! Jamie’s mom made many of these sweet treats, and the ladies enjoyed sampling many of the delicious goodies!

Instead of a cake, we had cupcakes made that reflected the nesting theme. This particular cupcake was Jamie’s — a mama bird with her baby. Too cute!

The food table was covered with delicious finger sandwiches and salads. Each table had a plate of apples, cheese, and crackers, and I think all the guests just enjoyed snacking and sampling everything throughout the shower.

It’s hard to believe that the big event is over! I must admit that I feel a bit out of sorts today. But, it was such an honor to contribute to such a joyous ocassion in celebration of someone I care about very much.

The best compliment I received the whole weekend was from someone who noted that the shower was a “beautiful expression of my friendship with and love for Jamie.” Yes, that’s it exactly.

What a spectacular fall weekend! The weather was so fabulous that Jeff and I felt obligated to spend lots of time outside soaking up the warm, afternoon sun. Yesterday, we spent a few hours hiking the Appalachian Trail up Peters Mountain. The key word is UP. My calves were aching about 20 minutes into the hike, and my legs were trembling by the time we reached the peak, but these types of views made the hard work totally worth it.

We both spent so much time staring at the rock-strewn trail that we lamented that we had probably missed a great deal of beautiful scenery. On the descent we noticed a few squirrels (I love how busy they are this time of the year), a couple of eerily twirling leaves, and two trees completely stripped of their bark. I also noticed a single leaf stuck to the side of the tree and found the composition simply stunning.

After a thoughtful Sunday morning service, it was nice to spend the afternoon soaking up the creation that God so lovingly created for our enjoyment. I’m thankful to Him for the changing leaves, mammoth rocks, and trees that seem to stretch beyond my vision. And, I’m thankful too for the ache in my legs that reminds me that I drew a bit closer to Him.

Today is like the most perfect fall day, and I am fighting the urge to rush out of work, grab my new camera, and head for a roadside farmstand for photos of pumpkins and mums! We woke up to a slight frost, but now the sun is warm and it’s a glorious day! The sky is unbelievably blue.

Since skipping an afternoon of work is really out of question, I’ll have to get today’s autumnal delight by sipping a cup of chai tea and snacking on a snickerdoodle cookie that my friend Sandy made.

Yesterday, sweet Natalie celebrated her fifth birthday, and the Lorows were pleased as punch to be invited to her party. It’s hard for me to believe that it was five years ago that I sat with her parents in the Carlisle Hospital the day after their little miracle entered the world. It took me about 30 minutes to warm up to the idea of holding her that day — she was so tiny! Now, I have no qualms about running around the yard with her on my back or hanging her upside down!

I always love taking photos of the Natalie and Emma, but yesterday I was especially excited because the party gave me the perfect opportunity try out my brand new camera! I am the proud owner of a Nikon Coolpix P80, and so far, I LOVE IT! If people thought I was obnoxious with my camera before, they won’t know what to do with me now!

Anyhow, Emma, Natalie, and Erick brought much happiness to my day yesterday. I hope you enjoy reliving the day with these photos as much as I enjoyed being there to take them!

It’s a sad day for the squirrel community here in Grantham. This morning, around 8 a.m., a squirrel, probably over-anxious to stockpile his nest with delicious acorns, “investigated” a transformer and lost his life. How do I know this, you ask? Well, at 8 a.m., I was trudging up the stairs to my third floor office in Old Main. The lights went off. They flickered back on; they went off again. Then it was just dark, save for the emergency lights.

Turns out, the squirrel’s misfortune brought misfortune to the entire campus in the form of a campus-wide power outage. A little after 9 a.m., just when we were all anticipating an early dismissal, the electricity came back on and has stayed on ever since.

As my cute friend Kim said, “I had really hoped that no innocent animals had been harmed.” Me too, but, sadly, we were wrong.

The loss of a life has put my own disappointment about this morning into perspective. I was supposed to lead a mock news conference in a 10 a.m. newswriting class. Morning classes were cancelled, so obviously my plans got changed. Now, I’ve got to look my PR best on Monday too. But really, it’s a small price to pay. After all, some paid the ultimate price this morning.

RIP, Grantham Road squirrel, RIP.