She takes a deep breath...

...and revels in the relative calm of the day. Last week was a busy, stressful week but the long, wonderful weekend with my family made everything better. That and Preterm is over, so my obligations to the Orientation Committee are significantly scaled back.

Last Week's Stresses:

• The OCs: Oh my goodness. In addition to just having to supervise them and help them plan three off-campus trips, we had two major communication breakdowns that resulted in program changes and cancellations. I literally took two whole mornings to straighten things out. The lesson: as much as they may chafe against it, I'm going to be shortening the leash even more this year and requiring formal reports from them at the end of each day. Ugh...
• Publications: They're pretty much done now, but last week was a flurry of hasty revisions and "I-need-this-now" projects. Whew.
• Travel planning: I probably have half my appointments for this fall confirmed, but it's always challenging to juggle appointments around when things don't work out according to my plan!

Great Things About Labor Day Weekend:

• We stayed at my aunt and uncle's cottage in Boyne City and had a great time at the festivities surrounding the Red Fox Regatta on Lake Charlevoix.
• The wind was crazy on Sunday, so we went to Petoskey State Park to play in the huge waves. I even tried surfing and was semi-successful!
• Mitch and I had rode two good mountain biking trails: Hanson Hills in Grayling (actually, I rode that one on my own because Mitch bent his rim a mile and a half in and had to walk out while I finished) and Aspen Park in Gaylord. We tried Hartwick Pines in Grayling on the way home, but it wasn't a good trail so we turned around.

Things I'm Looking Forward To:

• Tonight Mitch and I are taking both sets of parents to look at a house in St Johns that we really like. I'll take lots of pictures and will try to post them. Unless something is seriously wrong with this place (and we don't think there is, because we've already been to see it once), we'll probably start the process of putting in an offer later this week!
• I requested some vacation time at the end of this week, and Mitch and I are hoping to take a trip up North for some hiking. Rain is in the forecast, but we're still planning to go and then make adjustments as needed.
• It's apple season in Michigan, and the U-Pick orchards are gearing up. Right before I start fall travel, Mitch and I always go pick a nice big bag of apples; I know it's a funny thing to look forward to, but I always love those afternoons!

OK, I need to prep for arts and crafts time - a.k.a. our rep work meeting, where today we're putting together our display boards!