The joy of working with college kids is the crazy stuff they discover on a daily basis and insist on sharing with you. Four student workers and I huddled around my iMac the other day at the insistence on another student to watch this short film. Now that I’ve been subjected to it… I insist you watch it, too!

I have a simple love/hate relationship with most of my student employees. I love them them, and deep down they despise me.  Ok, despise is probably too harsh of a word, but let’s just say sometimes they look at me like I’m the mom that drives them and their friends to the mall while singing along to Britney Spears.  (Oh yeah, I’m gonna be that mom, but that’s beside the point.)  While I don’t have favorites, I do have a certain handful of students who we share an equal amount of tolerance for each other.

One of these students in particular might be a long-lost cousin of mine and our similar musical and entertainment choices can be a bit frightening at times.  But more than anything I enjoy giving her a hard time and watching her dramatic reactions to being fake fired or making fun of her whatever shenanigan we can dream up at 5:10 on a Thursday afternoon.  Well recently she mentioned that she needed to get off work early for a volunteer project she was heading up.  Knowing that she’d have to get the approval of her supervisor, I sent her to him to ask for this favor.  Before she had the chance to plead her case and without her knowing, I asked him to deny her request and play along with me.

Confidently, she pleaded her case and seemed stunned when he told her ‘no’.  (Guess I shouldn’t have told her it would be no big deal.)  I came back into the room as she was leaving with her head down completely floored that her boss was being so unresonable.  I put my arm around her and told her I’d plead her case for her.  Again I enlisted the support of her supervisor and our boss, as I called her back into the full-time staff office and told her with a lil work I’d been able to broker a deal that would allow her to get the time off she needed.  All she had to do was dance for at least 60 seconds to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Now the guys had no clue that she had learned the whole dance last semester and didn’t think she’d go along with my plan.  But after convincing her it was the only way she could get the time off, we opened up the youtube video of Thriller and watched as she worked through her shame and embarrassment to give us a brilliant performance that riveled Jennifer Garner’s in 13 Going On 30.  By the end of her minute of glory, I couldn’t stop laughing and she quickly realized she had been played.  Being the great sport she is she laughed it off and headed back to finish her shift.  Now I just gotta keep my eyes open to her retaliation.

The simple fact about working with college kids is this they are a breeding ground for every virus and illness known to mankind. In the past week, we’ve had an outbreak of pink-eye, the stomach flu, and some nasty cold that has sent at least three kids to the on-campus health facility. So it’s really no wonder I woke up this morning with a pounding headache and swallowing razor blade sore throat. Even Airborne wasn’t able to save me. I’m hoping though that this strain of joy that I’ve been gifted with is mild… I mean, I’ve got Zacapalooza next week.

It’s been almost 6 months since we officially moved into my new office and our new work space, and while my area is decorated and colorful, the lack of color on the remaining walls has been driving me up the proverbial wall. So after getting approval from my boss and wrangling my student workers into assisting this afternoon, we created a 9 ft by 16 ft representation of our weekly schedule on the way. The color alone makes me feel a bit more at home. Plus, it has the added bonus of attendance accountability. Look at me… so organized.

Because receiving gifts like these from my student workers totally makes my millennium.

Yeah, I’m talking to you, Office haters. I don’t know why exactly you’re still hesitant to give into the peer pressure of one of the funniest shows on tv, but I’m thinking that if I put it out there in blog form you might just take a peek… and it just takes one peek to get hooked. So indulge yourself in humor. You’re worth it.

Spring semester at the university begins tomorrow which means my co-workers, student staff and I are at work on this fine Sunday.  Because we ask our student staff to be back early before classes begin and most of the dining options aren’t available, I try to feed all thirty of them during the move-in weekend.  This time around I made a huge 24 lb. roaster oven full of chili for them with Mexican cornbread and a coconut cream and chocolate-peppermint bundt cakes.  What I didn’t account for was the fact that these are starving college kids who had polished up two cakes and all of the chili in one day.  So with help from Cory we threw together another oven full of chili this morning and are keeping our fingers crossed that it lasts til the end of the day.  If not, I may have to pick up a second job so that I can afford to feed them. 

Of all of the Christmas gifts I was blessed with this Christmas, the one that might mean the most to me is a pearl necklace given to me from my parents.  The ‘Purity Pearl’ necklace was at the top of Christmas wish list this year.  You see, one of my student workers, Phil, is the creator and founder of climatepearl.com, and from the first time I saw his signature pearl I was in love with it.  Not only is the pearl my birthstone, but this necklace has a special story attached to it.  Back when I was a CaresTeam, I had the privilege of meeting and working with Melodee who was one-half on a neighboring team.  As interconnected as we all are, Phil and Melodee are friends, also, and Mel’s story is one that truly parallels the lifecycle of the pearl.  Phil even called to make sure the pearl arrived before Christmas once he realized that my mom was my mom.  Because I believe in supporting great ideas and have fallen in love with my new necklace and matching earrings, I think you should take a second and check out climate pearl and read Mel’s story.  Then bookmark CP for the next time you need a special birthday, Valentine’s or Mother’s Day gift.

The game just changed.

RIAA says, “No more lawsuits: ISPs to work with RIAA, cut off P2P users.”

I love when the University closes due to winter weather, and I still am expected to report to work.

I’ve always considered myself to be a math person, so I should have realized this bloggin’ everyday thing would eventually lead to a large number of posts.  However, when I noticed a few days ago that I was approaching the big 5-0-0, it was more of a suprise than it should have been.  Let’s not tell Mr. Laduke (my HS math teacher) that I’ve slipped so far down the arithmatic chain, k?  With my ankle propped up and icing (see, Mom, I am taking care of myself) I spent a few hours this evening reading back again through the last year and a half of my life, and as much as I’m still Laurel, I find hope in the growth and change that has happened.  So to commemorate this slightly momentous posting occasion, I thought I’d share back with you five of my favorite/truest/funniest posts of our time together.

5)  Happy Birthday, Spacewolf!  (Zac’s 25th Birthday video)

4) My mom’s love of telling time, my dad’s ADD confessions, and Zac’s pranks… humor… and awesomeness.

3)  The time I was called a lesbian, saw Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, John Mayer, Ingrid, the Crows and Matty Nay to name a few, fed the masses, begged my bffs take over, and celebrated my 27th in style.

2) Written back at the beginning of the great CaresTeam departure/Laurel moving out on her own.

Change is still headed my way. I’m still gonna have moments of complete and utter collapse, and what needs to happen in the next few months will still overwhelm me. But, I’ve stopped playing the reality peek-a-boo game because I know that time marches on whether or not you want it to. For now, let’s go ahead and schedule a time this fall where we can all sit back and laugh at my drama queen distress today. We’ll watch the Arizona sun set as we sip iced tea, and I won’t be offended when you remind how we all knew deep down… it would be okay.

Say it with me now… you were right. It was/ok better than ok.

1) The great Charlie abduction, ransom note, detective work, and New World Order video.

So last night I’m leaving work heading to my car when I step off the concrete ledge onto the pavement between my car and another. Except instead of there being flat, wonderfully solid pavement there is a huge crack and pothole in the solid ground I wasn’t expecting.  Needless to say, my right ankle rolled and popped under me, and I face-planted it.  I must have sat on the ground in the dark between two cars crying for what seemed like an hour but was probably ten minutes wiling myself to stand up and begging my ankle to stop throbbing.  Eventually, I hobbled to my car unlocked the door and crawled to safety, but driving with my busted right foot wasn’t going to happen.  So I did the only logical thing… I drove home with my left.  After the slowest three mile drive of my life, I finally made it home and into my bed to survey the damage.  Upon seeing how swollen it had become so quickly, I called Cory, and after a quick game of phone tag, he was on his way to help me decide if I needed to be hospital bound.  With a quick consult of WebMD, we decided it was probably just a sprain, and ice and elevation with a side of multiple episodes of House and some good company/nursing was what any doctor would have called for to be better by morning.

Sleep did not come easily, and by the time I woke up this morning, I had zero mobility and could barely even stand.  When it took me over an hour to get to the bathroom, get dressed, brush my hair, and put my hair in a ponytale, I realized that maybe I needed to seek medical attention.  Once again, Cory saved the day and chauffeured me to the ER.  Lucky for me, the place was almost empty at just after 8am, and I was back in radiology within 15 minutes of arriving.  After repeating ‘no, I’m not pregnant’ at least four times, x-rays were taken and I was headed to a room.  Somehow I should have known that being put in a room so quickly would not end as well as I had hoped, but my judgement was so clouded with pain that I didn’t find it as odd as I should have when the nurse instructed me to undress for my full exam.  I’m sure somewhere in the back of my brain an alarm usually would have been going off that ankle injuries do not require clothes-less exams, but the batteries had died in that alarm when I ate pavement last night.

So like a good patient (something I rarely am) I disrobed and went to put on the gown they had left me.  Have you ever seen Tommy Boy???  Remember the Fat Guy In A Lil Coat scene.  Well, welcome to my gown experience. This gown was small, but I followed orders and shoved my arms through the arm holes like a dutiful child.  However, there was not enough fabric to cover my chest.  So while the gown was on, my arms were sticking straight out the front, and my back was left completely exposed.  Looking like some freak, one-legged robot, I climbed into bed to wait.  Twenty minutes and a round of text messages to family and friends to let them know where I was later, the nurse came back in with a chart in hand looked at me and then the chart before confessing that there had been a patient mix-up.  Since I did not have a kidney stone and wasn’t twelve years old, I could put my clothes back on, and my real doctor (not the kidney one but the ankle one) would be in shortly.

The next hour was spent looking at my films (no breaks), prepping me with an air cast for my severely sprained ankle with minor ligament damage, and teaching me how to use crutches properly.  Mmmm an air cast and crutches, what a great way to spend the holidays!  To make a long story a tad bit shorter with Cory’s help, I made it to work for over five hours (haha to taking 3-4 days off of work) and am now resting with my leg elevated and ice on my ankle.  Just to prove that I’m not making it all up, I’m including pictures of my awesome ankle, badass crutches, and soon to be pink air cast.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… who wouldn’t wanna be me?!?!

My ankle this am. Notice the awesome swelling and bruising. If only I could find an eyeshadow in that pretty lavender shade.

Who wants to help decorate my air cast??? I bought it. Might as well, Laurel-fy it.

Oh, hospital wristband. Truly the perfect accessory to wear to an interview you’re helping conduct. Nothing says, ‘wanna come work with us’ like the chance that your newest coworker has just escaped from the hospital.

I have never wanted anything more than to get to use a bullhorn.  This is my life’s dream.  A dream that almost became a realization last week when we thought a student info session might draw enough of a crowd that we would move outside.  I was promised ‘bullhorn’ duty.  I spent a good part of my morning on a quest for the great mega-horn.  I asked everyone on campus that I could think with no luck.  Then randomly I ran into the track and field head coach (a friend) who made a quick phone call and sent me to the dome to retrieve my prize.  I had never before stood on the floor of the empty dome and almost wanted to practice my Heisman pose but had more important priorities…  my bullhorn.  After a quick stop for batteries, I was ready to rock and roll.  I might have even turned it on in ’siren mode’ in the car and temporary deafened Cory. ( Sorry:( ) But, despite all of my excitement… all of my hard work… all my lifelong… I did not get to use the bullhorn and had to return it.  I wonder if my mom and dad will buy me one for Christmas, or if the end to that story will be much like the time we let Zac have an airhorn.  Nevermind.

Just purchased 12 of these (mini lightsaber keychains) bad boys for my student workers for Christmas. They are gonna be so thrilled. Now just gotta find something as equally cool for the other 30 of them who won’t be getting these.

Convincing college kids that giving up a few hours of their precious free time is not one of the easiest parts of my job. Most of the time I have to bribe them with some form of a prize or reward. With the semester almost half-way over, it’s time for student staff meetings again and I’m equipped with my fluffy chocolate chip cookies and my new favorite Dreamsicle Delights.

Dreamsicle Delights

1 cup Tang orange drink mix
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups white chocolate/vanilla baking chips

-Beat together all ingredients, except the vanilla chips.
-Stir in vanilla chips.
-Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
-Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes.