Please don't get sick

There's nothing like working at a school to kind of make you a germaphobe. So with the new season of germs, once again shoring up my theory of students bringing germs back to school with them, here are some guidelines to help you keep healthy (and me too!):

1. Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer with 60% or more alcohol in it. Don't just wash your hands once a day and think that's going to work... no, wash it after you pee (you've just touched the same door everyone else did... and who knows what else!), a lot when you're sick, after you've been shaking hands with tons of people, after you've gone to and fro classes (once again, you're touching the same door everyone else has), etc, etc, etc.

2. Avoid sick people and encourage them to go to the doctor. If you live with them, make them take care of themselves. I know it’s not nice, but if you want to get sick, sure take care of your roommate who brought strep home with them from thanksgiving. It'll totally help you pass your finals that first week in December. (This totally happened to me junior year of college, thanks Amy!)

3. Eat lots of veggies, fruits, drink lots of water, and take your vitamins. You'll be happy that you had that salad instead of that cookie when your roommate comes down sick with a cold/flu.

4. If you do get sick, stay home, take care of yourself, yada yada yada. Don't bring your germs to class, if you can help it. On the other hand, if you're deathly ill from partying the night before, you still need to come to class. Hangovers are NOT contagious... just gross.

Shoes

Ok, I'll admit, I started this post about something less shallow, but changed my mind to blog about shoes. Why, do you ask? Because shoes are amazing, they can make your day. Yes, they are the last thing you see when you check out a woman's outfit, but they can totally make or break an outfit.
You see a woman on the street and think "nice navy suit, matching shirt, matching purse...etc, shoes, wait, they're black/brown. Ok, but definitely not a home run outfit."

Why am I preoccupied with this topic? Because my cute little niece discovered shoes this weekend. She's totally going to be in her mom's shoes before too long. My sister bought her a pair of pink fuzzy slippers this weekend. My niece put them on, and wham! - she was obsessed. It was just so cute, I had to share. She would put them on, pull them off, and then bring me one and stick out her foot for me to put back on. It was just adorable.

I love shoes. Everything about them just makes my day. :)

Is it Sci Fi or SyFy?

Ok, so this is going to be a bit of a rant. Why the heck has the Sci Fi Channel changed its name to Syfy? Sci Fi was cool to start with, but rebranding for the sake of rebranding? What the heck man? What, are they worried that people won't get how to say sci fi and so they feel the need to spell it phonetically? Are they worried Canadians will be confused by sci fi and pronounce it "sky fee"... if that was the case, they should have changed it a long time ago when they first came out with the sci fi channel. Any who, I'm home sick today and there's a Dr. Who Marathon on so I'm watching lots of Dr. Who episodes... YAY!

My recently favorite TV(ish) show:

DORM LIFE

Catch it on Hulu, its awesome. I'm not sure if there is a script or if it's a "reality" show, but the episodes are short (5-10 minutes in length) and thus easier to watch. I'm hoping they come back for a 3rd season, as its an internet tv series. But its a good series, especially for the higher ed. setting, because it captures so much of what happens in a school year. The good, the bad, and the ugly... it's great!

10 Reasons why I'm in love with Aiken Community Playhouse:

10. Acting is a great natural thrill. You stay up late, get so freaking tired, then deliver that performance you didn't even know you had in you and it feels great!
9. I've learned to build so many things with just wood and screws.
8. Paint really doesn't come out of clothes.
7. The people are awesome!
6. Acting takes up the time when I'm unproductive and hating on Aiken. Now I like it a little more.
5. "Ding!" 'nuff said.
4. Seeing the awards show was awesome, even better was:
3. Performing at an awards show... kinda a big deal, I get it.
2. I'm doing something I was passionate about as a kid and it feels great.
1. Insta-Friends! The people are truly warm and welcoming and want to help everyone grow (in a developmental sense. I think growing up is over for me).

If you haven't already think about getting tickets to the next upcoming play, opening on Sept. 11.
http://www.aikencommunityplayhouse.com/

My friends, family, and boyfriend have been very supportive and patient with me while I've indulged my creative side. I promise you'll get me back soon. I feel really blessed to have such understanding people in my life... I know I've got it good. :)

Freshman year...

School started last week and it got me thinking about when I started college in the Fall of 2002. I was living away from home and pretty darn excited about it. I was having fun making friends with other students I had met at orientation, my roommate, and other students in my classes. I was excited to be away from home and living on my own the first time... the midnight visits to Denny’s, walks around the campus, watching movies until the wee hours of the morning were all frequent occurrences in my life. I called my mom at the end of the 2nd week of classes and told her "I don't know who said that you should live up life in high school, because clearly, they didn't go to college. I swear this is the best time of my life!"

Every August, sleepy campuses wake up from their summer siesta and prepare to welcome a new group of freshmen and the returning students from years past. It's a great time of year. It rejuvenates the scholars, educators, and administrators on the campus. Students come in refreshened, excited, and joyous to be in an atmosphere of learning. It was great to be a student while I was in college, there was so much to do, to see, to experience, but now I'm an administrator it's wondrous to watch young adults learn and grow... not just in the classroom. I think it's incredible to see what they learn living with new people, living on their own, joining clubs and organizations, taking up the mantle of leadership. It's just mind boggling to know I've been there, I've done that. It's a lot to accomplish in 4 years, but man, it was amazing. I hope everyone starting school this year can have a wondrous, joyful, and adventurous experience going to college.

Blog a Day Challenge

So last May I had a few friends engage in a battle of the wills and wits. They challenged each other to blog every day during the month of May with the exceptions of weekends. I like this idea so much I have done what every self respecting higher education professional does when they like something someone else has done... I'm going to take it, tweek it very little, and use it with my first year seminar students. So here goes, and the credit goes to my friend Kelly and her collegues at FSU. (Thank you Kelly, et al)

Whew, what a week! I've been through so many events and experiences the past few days that I'm just going to relax tonight and do very little. Battery Re-charge, here I come! I hope my First Year Seminar students get into this challenge and blog every day because I hope it will help them grow in their minds and improve their writing skills, not to mention their common sense abillities. -AV

Oh Whooops!

So I haven't blogged in a while, and there's good reason why. This summer has been super crazy busy (and I like it) and I just haven't found time to prioritize blogging sooner. And I just got internet at home.

So- here's my super duper, if you've been following me on twitter, or my friend on facebook, you already know all about. So you, lucky friend, can skip to the end where I'll begin my several blog fictional story.

This year I promised myself I'd get back to my roots and do something outside of work which fulfilled me in some way. So I looked back on my life and the times I had really strong goals and dreams. Guess what? My dream hasn't always been to be a Tutoring Coordinator at small public liberal arts institution. Far from it. I used to have dreams of making it big, being a known name, yes, I wanted to go to Hollywood and be an actor/director. Maybe the occasional violin playing member of a rock band (if only violins were so cool). So I looked around at my opportunities here in small town, SC. Community orchestra where if you haven't played much in years and you're welcome... Nope. Community theater where no experience is necessary... BINGO! Next thing I know I'm volunteering my Saturdays to build and paint sets, I'm auditioning for Doubt, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Mere Mortals. I ended up getting two out of three parts, which I figure is not too shabby. (For those wondering, I didn't get the part of the nun in Doubt... go figure. Instead I'm a very innocent looking whore.)

So my summer days have included Monday thru Thursday, working 7:30-5:30 for the university, going home for about 15-30 minutes, running off to rehearsal and dancing, singing, or memorizing lines, coming home, crawling like the living dead into bed, and falling asleep. I'll have to say, I've had some of the best rest over the past couple months.

I am loving it. I've made some new friends, which is what I needed. I'm starting to like Aiken a whole hell of a lot better. Every day I find out just how small a town Aiken is. I'm feeling motivated to do interesting things outside of work, and I'm remaining fairly modest about my accomplishments. I'm definitely going to keep auditioning for plays at the Aiken Community Playhouse. I'm thinking of giving more time to practicing violin and starting to give free lessons to middle and high school students who can't afford them. It feels great. I'm feeling much more upbeat about living in the south and getting great exposure to everything that makes it a unique and interesting place to live.

Finally, the story.

Again, she sighed. Marie stood up tall, reached toward the ceiling and stretched her aching muscles. It was so tiring to stand there all day long in a practically empty store. Marie silently thanked her lucky stars she didn't work on commission, and the wished for a book to read to pass the time.

Ding, ding. Marie looked up at the door as a little old couple walked in the store. Mentally, Marie rolled her eyes, knowing they were only in there because the skies had just opened up and dumped down water from the heavens. It was like a deluge out there.

"Sandy- I'ma gonna go outside and get me some fresh air," Marie said. "Why don't you watch the register while I'm gone?"

Marie walked around the counter, opened the door, and walked out on the porch. There stood a young man, about 20-ish, dishwater blond hair, brown eyes, and a decent tan.

"Hi, can I help you with anything, sir?" Marie asked of him.

"No, ma'am, I'm just standing here so I don't get wet," He replied.

"Well, feel comfortable to take a load off and relax in the hammock," She told him. "Where you from?"

"Maine," he replied. "Where are you from?"

"I've lived here in Pawleys all my life," she replied. "Are you here for vacation?"

"Yeah, my family got a beach house over on the island. We come here every year for the 4th of July," He answered.

"Well then, you already know all about the parade on the 4th that you just can't miss. Well, would you look at that. Five minutes and the rain's all done. You have a nice afternoon," Marie told him.

As she headed back inside he asked her, "What's your name?"

"Marie," she told him. She opened the door. She didn't hear it shut back. As she walked around the counter she noticed he had followed her in. He was looking at the chimes by the front door.

"what kind of stuff does your store sell?" he asked.

"we're a gift store. If you want anything that has Pawleys on it, we've got it on the other side of the shop. In this room we've got garden type of stuff, " She babbled. Damn it, I need to stop running my mouth or he's just goin' to think I'm just another one of the hicks from around here.

"Hey, Marie," He started. "When do you get off of work?"

"I'll be done when the store closes at 6," she told him.

"Wanna come over to our beach house? My parents are having a lot of people over tonight, mostly their age or their small kids. I don't have anyone to hang out with, and I thought it might be fun to have someone my age to talk to," He asked. "What do you say? Are you game?"

To be continued...