Aunticipation

I’ve been sitting in this hospital for 5 1/2 hours now with just a brief intermission to eat dinner, waiting on the most precious little sweet pea in the world to be born.  The anticipation of becoming an aunt has been heavy on my mind since September when I found out my sister-in-law was pregnant, and this past week has been absolute torture.  Just waiting and waiting.  I’m not even the mother.  God help me whenever I’m pregnant.  More importantly, help my husband and anyone else who comes near me.  Not that I’ll be crabby or irritable.  That won’t be the case.  I’ll just be so impatient.

I have horrible patience, and the fact that I’ll have no control over the situation will make things even worse.

Anyway, sitting here waiting for the babe to be born has given me time to blog, so I’m taking advantage of it.

There’s another family in the waiting room as well, and it’s funny how universal some things can be.  Every one of us are on our phones, and when we’ve gotten bored with that, we’ve told corny jokes, walked up and down the hallway, walked to the cafeteria, played hangman, watched YouTube videos, and the other family is doing the exact same thing.  The Today Show did this #samemorning gimmick today where twitterverse was to take a photo of what they were looking at at 8:07 this morning to see how similar lives really were despite how different individual people really may be.  It was pretty eye-opening.

With this being the first baby in our immediate family, it’s really the first time I’ve been exposed to the birthing process at all, and it’s really surreal.  Thinking back on waiting for this baby for so long, and now it’s here.  This baby that will be such a big part of my life will be here in hopefully just minutes to hours from now.  My brother and sister-in-law’s lives will be turned upside down, but really, so will mine.  And I can’t wait. Obviously.

Passing the time with my favorite marshmallow.

Networking’s not so bad

My job has a lot of perks, but one thing I’ve come to appreciate more and more lately is the opportunity to network almost everyday.  George Gasser, I know you’re rolling your eyes.  Ever since I went to conferences through the NCAA as a student-athlete, I’ve heard of taking advantage of networking, maintain contact with the people you meet through networking, blah, blah.

I’ve known the importance of it, obviously.  In athletics especially, finding a career is about who you know and then having the reputation and qualifications to support yourself, but getting the resume in front of a hiring committee typically won’t even happen unless you have someone speaking up for you and handing the committee your resume in the first place.

Because of this, a lot of people feel like networking is obligatory–something you have to do just to get a leg up on the competition.  I felt the same way.  But in the last year or so, I’ve come to really value and invest in the conversations I’ve had with the most random set of people.  I’ve realized that networking isn’t just about finding people who can help you move up the chain.  It’s about developing relationships that help you grow as a person, learn different outlooks, and most importantly, open yourself to opportunities that you’d never have if you chose to be a wallflower.

I’ve got a lot of my dad in me; Joe Mac can strike up a conversation with a mute.  I’m sure this plays a part in my appreciation for networking, but everyone has a story, something interesting about them you’d never expect.  It’s incredibly rewarding to find out what that is.

Like father, like daughter.

50 before 50–part three

Alright, I’ve had a hard time being loyal to this blog the past few months.  Grad school classes, work, Leadership Cape, and the anticipation of becoming an aunt have kept me pretty occupied. I really haven’t had many worthwhile stories to tell from my travels, either, although there have been plenty of laughs along the way.

Now that the semester is wrapping up and I won’t have to suffer through Admin Law any longer, I plan to blog a little more regularly.  I’ll start today.  I’m going take it easy by updating my 50 before 50 list.  I’ve accomplished some things in the past 6 months, but I better get going–I only have 26 more years to beat the 50 year mark!

V1) Run a 1/2 marathon — Check!  February 25, 2012 in Oxford, Mississippi.  I crossed the finish line in 1:50:56.  I aimed for right under 2 hours, so I was pleased.  I’m in the process of searching for another course–I signed up for a 1/2 in the end of March, and it was cancelled because of snow.  Probably the first 1/2 marathon ever cancelled because of extreme weather in mid-March. Now it’s time for the full.

2)Visit all 50 states — 20 down, 30 to go…

3) Go on a cruise

V4) Drive/own a Fiat — Thank you, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, for always reserving this little marshmallow for me.  LOVE IT.

Look at this little snowball. I want!

5) Get a master’s degree — ALMOST FINISHED. 3 classes this summer, 1 more in the fall.

6) Take tennis lessons

7) Take couples’ dance lessons

8) Find a man to join me in the dance lessons

9) Sit in a suite at a professional game with my own ticket — Sneaking in with a press pass no longer counts.

10) Go to a Patriots game — Hopefully I can get this done this fall.

11) Go to a World Series game –preferably the Cardinals and inside the gate

Unfortunately I didn’t get into the stadium until AFTER the game, so this doesn’t count. Talk about utopia, though.

V12)Make something really crafty — Not only did I make this wreath, but I also just made my first pair of cut-off jean shorts. Maybe not so crafty, but it took time to get each leg the same length.

V13) Make creme brulee —

Not too shabby for my first creme brulee

14) Meet the man of my dreams — This could be my dancing partner, but it doesn’t have to be.

15) Marry that guy

16) Have kids — This will occur AFTER #15.

17) Adopt a kid — This will also occur AFTER #15.

18) Host a foreign exchange student — preferably Spanish-speaking

\/ 19) Own a bike with a basket — Thank you, Mom and Dad, for enabling me to check this off the list.

My pride and joy.

V20) Join a town committee–Leadership Cape 2013 and plan to join the Jaycees next month.

21) Chair a charitable event/organization

22) Volunteer in a third world country

23) Visit at least one country in each continent besides Antarctica

24) Do “Word of the Day” and stick to it — The longest I have been able to do this was in Spain, and I made it the entire four months.  My goal is at least a year.

25) Golf in a foreign country

26) Ski on a real mountain — Sorry Hidden Valley, you just don’t cut it.

27) Go on a hiking trip

28) Attend the Kentucky Derby — and wear a fabulous hat.

29) Go sailing

V30) Be a commencement speaker for at least a high school but hopefully a university — Literally 2 days after I posted this list in January, my high school principal called me and asked me to speak at the Clinton County Honors Reception.  Check.

31) Read an entire book in Spanish — I’ve read a few small books, but I’d like to read a substantial one.

32) Be someone’s boss

33) Have a job in athletics — ideally as a community outreach coordinator

34) Live in a city — It would be great for that city to be Madrid for a while, but anywhere in the U.S. will suffice

\/35) Attend a gala —   Thank you, Faja, for making this possible.

Cardinals Winter Warm-Up-only way this could have been better was if I was seated next to Jaime G.

36) Tend to my own garden

37) Own a house with a huge porch or patio

38) Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal — When the time comes for me to actually do this, I probably won’t want this as a 50 before 50 idea.

\/39) Ride a bike in a foreign country — Done in Ireland and Dominican Republic.

More than just a leisurely ride…

40) Visit New England in the fall — This will be a great trip if I can pair it with a Patriots game even though it wouldn’t be the Super Bowl.

41) Attend the Albuquerque ballon festival

42) Ride in a hot air balloon — It doesn’t have to be at the festival, but I’d like it to be some place scenic outside of the Midwest.

43) Go to Valencia for Las Fallas — although I may need to get a hearing aid shortly after, so maybe I should wait a while for this one

V44) Be a spectator or volunteer at a PGA tour event–Honda Classic 2013.One of the most well-organized, sophisticated events I’ve ever attended. I hope to get to a few more.

PGA National

Managed to snipe a photo of Tiger. I couldn’t resist.

45) Have a dog — I’d like a labradoodle or goldendoodle

46) Brew my own beer/wine — I’m going to need some help on this one.

47) Jumpstart someone else’s car

48) Host a surprise party

49) Attend an Olympic event — I would love to make this happen in Rio.

50) Go to Cardinals spring training–2013 w/ mom.  Amazing experience and hope to make it an annual vacation.

Best kind of baseball

The one and only-Lou Brock

Roger Dean Stadium

Well, I couldn’t stop at 50.

51) Learn to surf

52) Walk El Camino de Santiago de Compostela – If you haven’t watched THE WAY with Martin Sheen, watch it!  I guarantee you’ll be adding it to your bucket list.  It’s a 30+ day hike across the northern coast of Spain.  Magnificent.

People these days have no filters.

I know I’m not the tallest person in the world by any means, but lately I have been experiencing more jabs about my height from complete strangers.  I thought in my past 24 years I have heard it all, every short joke possible, but recently there have been some doozies.

I was at a high school visit two weeks ago, signing out of the high school when the secretary reached over the desk and touched my hand to stop me, “Oh honey, that’s only for visitors.   Students check out with me.”

“Oh, well, thank you, but I am a visitor,”  I replied.

The lady next to her busted out laughing and blurted, “She’s the college rep!”

I’ve lost count of how many times people have come for a campus visit and ask me in the middle of my presentation: “Now, what are you majoring in?” or “What year are you?” or my favorite “This is some job you have being a student here!”

I don’t mind at all being mistaken for any age college student.  Thank you, families, for that compliment! Keep ‘em comin!

One of the best comments I’ve ever heard about my height, though, (there’s no SHORTage of them), has to have been from this past weekend when my mom and I were in Jupiter, FL, for spring training.

My mom was looking around at a kiosk at the Roger Dean Stadium for a souvenir for my brother as I stood waiting a few feet away.  This giant man next to me was standing in line also looking at the souvenirs.  I just barely reached his belt buckle.  I was looking the other direction when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.  I turned and looked WAY up, and he looked at me with a half amazed, half amused look on his face.  ” Excuse me, but are you a full-grown woman?” he asked.

I just about died laughing right on the spot.  When I finally composed myself, and responded, “Indeed I am,” he started laughing and apologized.

“I don’t mean to be rude.  I hope you aren’t offended, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone as short as you who isn’t a midget or a child.  Wow!” he said.

I didn’t think that could be surpassed.  I was proven wrong.

Exactly a week after the previous comment, I was out for lunch when an old man wearing a fedora with a feather stuck in it looked at my friend and asked him, “Is it just me or is that girl there standing in a hole?”

My jaw dropped as I looked from the man to Ricky in disbelief.  We were both speechless as the old man started wheezing amid laughs.  I can’t even remember what Ricky or I said to the guy because I was too shocked by his remark in the first place.

All I know is when the man finally stopped having an asthma attack brought on by laughter, he patted my shoulder and said, “Sorry.  That was pretty rude of me, wasn’t it?”

Reason 864 why lunch visits are the worst

Spring travel season started out on an….. interesting note.

I described the different types of visits in an earlier post, and my dislike for lunch visits was strengthened once again.  Admittedly, some lunch visits can be equally entertaining and annoying, such as this one.

I was at a two-hour lunch visit, which is painful enough without hooligans making cat calls across the cafeteria at me.  This is also a visit to a school where we get a handful of applicants, but no students who are serious about the University actually approach my table to get useful information.  I think fellow admission counselors would understand how pathetic you feel when this occurs, and it brings back vivid memories of the terror of sitting alone in a grade school or high school cafeteria.   “Please, please, please let at least one kid come up and talk to me today, so I’m not that weird girl in the corner of the lunchroom.”

Well, what happened this day was worse.  I was 90 minutes into the torture when I hear: “Miss!  Miss!”  I pop my head up, eager at the thought that maybe, juuuuust maybe someone actually wants me to share some information.  As I scan the cafeteria for the prospect, I finally pinpoint the table that could possibly change my luck.  I quickly realize that the culprit has something up his sleeve when I see the rest of the boys at the table bury their heads into the crook of their elbows, shaking from laughter.  ”Oh, no.”

“Miss!  I have question for you!  Can you come over here?” the rascal yells across the cafeteria.  (The principal is standing right beside my table throughout this episode, by the way.)

“Ehh, no, I really shouldn’t abandon my post.  I’ve got some valuable stuff over here,”  I answer.

“Please!  Please!  I need to ask you a question.  Well, my friend does, too,” he responds.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I say.

“Listen, we’ve got some important information for you,” he pleads.

“Listen, I’ve got even better information about a great university.  I’d love to share it with you,”  I retort.

“Alright, fine.  I’ll say it from here.  My buddy over here was just inquiring about your undergarments!” he shouted.

My face probably turned 50 shades of red as I squirmed in my chair, making sure every part of my body was fully covered as the table of boys exploded in laughter.

I know at this point you’re wondering what on earth I was wearing.  I had a modest loose-fitting dress, that has the slightest of scoop necks.  It has a flouncy skirt that nearly touches my knees.  Now you’re trying to figure out if I know how to cross my legs.  Yes.  They were completely crossed.  No undergarments could have possibly been exposed.  After a few long moments of making sure there was no possible way they could see a sliver of any undergarment, I flipped my hair at them and carried on being lonely and bored.  I’m fairly certain my face was still flushed when I left 30 minutes later, though.

It’s Lauren, with an N

Once again I’ve done an awful job keeping up with this blog.  I’m starting to sound like a broken record.  But travel season begins again tomorrow, so I’m back in the blogging mood.  Honestly, I really haven’t had much going on that was worth blogging about.

But to get you up to speed, the director of admissions, my former boss, was promoted to Dean of students, so the associate director has been promoted, and we’re all getting adjusted in our new roles.  Okay, maybe not new roles, but added responsibilities since we’re short an employee right now.  The transition, fortunately, has been smooth.

One thing that has not been so smooth is people’s ability to call me by the right name.  My signature in my emails clearly says “Lauren McNamara, Admissions Counselor.”  That stops few people, however, from sending an email right back that is addressed to “Laura.”  Excuse me, did you not read?  I could send an email five times to someone with my regular signature and they’ll still address me as Laura.  No offense to any Lauras out there, but I HATE being referred to as Laura.  My personality isn’t a Laura.  It just isn’t.  And attention to detail is very important to me, which people clearly don’t value if they’re calling me Laura.  What set me over the edge about this was when I volunteered for a robotics competition on campus this weekend.  They took my name down as Laura, and consequentially I received a nametag that said “Laura McNamara.”  I was called Laura all darn morning.  Gross.

It was a surreal day, as I went from checking in robotics students to giving an admissions presentation to football recruits.  Talk about two different worlds!

Outside of my work life, I will be an aunt in just three short months, and I couldn’t be more excited!  This little nugget will be the most spoiled baby on the block.  I’ve been having a really tough time not buying every little baby item I see on RueLaLa.  Christmas was spectacular, spending much of my time home surrounded by the best family a girl could ask for.

I’m currently in my last week of a 14-week food challenge that leads to eliminating processed foods from your diet.  It’s the second time I’m doing it, and it’s been a lot easier this time around.   This week’s challenge is no foods with more than 5 ingredients, and it’s sure to be a challenge.  Check out http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/.  It’s an amazing site that has great tips on healthier eating and living.

Today marks one month until my mom and I vacation in Jupiter.  We’re heading there for Cardinals spring training.  It’s the first trip my mom and I have taken together other than the Lake, despite years of talk of a mother-daughter vacation.  I’m so glad we finally planned it and put it into action.  Hopefully this will turn into an annual event  Coincidentally we’ll be staying in West Palm Beach, where we’ll be able to have direct access to Lilly Pulitzer and all her goodness.  Talk about heaven.

 

My Enterprise Experience-An ode to rental cars

As promised, I have a few things to say about rental cars.  First, however, I want to give a shout out to Enterprise Rent-A-Car for dealing with all my mishaps this travel season and more importantly for finally letting me live out my dream as a J. Lo wannabe in a kickass Fiat 500.  Kelsey Usselmann, I hope you are reading this.  Let Steve know I think the company is stellar.

We rent cars for all our travel over 100 miles, so basically that means I’m cruising in a rent-a-car from the end of August until mid-November during my fall travel season.

I had my record high for mileage driven this fall with three weeks over 1,500 miles.  I ended the season with 2,200 in 8 days.  I’m glad to have a month or two out of the driver’s seat.  I drove well over 10,000 miles in 2 month’s time all within Missouri and Illinois.  It’s a pity it wasn’t ANYWHERE more exotic or exciting.

It’s a pretty nice set-up because we get reimbursed for our gas money, and we get to try out a bunch of different cars.  I usually don’t mind the cars I’m given, but I always have to remind them not to give me an Avenger.  I’m short and have entirely too many blind spots in it.  I bring the workers baked goods from time to time just to let them know I care (and to sweet talk them into giving me the nicer cars. (did you catch that pun?)).  It usually works out pretty well.

In the past year and a few months, I’ve driven anything from a Chevy Impala to a Jeep Patriot.  I found out I hate Avengers, and I need power seats to sit high enough.  The Kia Soul is the ugliest car I’ve driven.  I was embarrassed.  Sorry if you own one, but you ought to know better.

I guess I’ll start with my obsession with Fiat 500s.  I honestly am obsessed.  The fact that Jennifer Lopez is their spokeswoman has only strengthened the love.

Look at this little snowball. I want!

I began requesting Fiats when I made reservations for my cars last fall already.  They told me if they had one when I needed a car, I’d be the first to get it.  It took a year for it to happen, but man oh man, was it a glorious day when it did.  Or I guess it turned out to be when I was handed the keys to my dream car.  My little snowball.

This car completes me.  It really does.  Paying $27 to fill the baby up? How could you not love that? I’m still contemplating buying one as my second car.  I love my Escape too much to get rid of it for a Fiat, and it’s pretty impractical for a car this size to be my only car.  Where would I put my golf clubs?

The night I got the Fiat I burned a CD off iTunes loaded with J.Lo music so I could have the full Fiat experience.  I had my 2,200 mile week that week, so I couldn’t have been better.  I was cruising through the curves of northern Missouri, windows down, music up as the wind whipped through my hair.  Don’t tell me you didn’t picture Jenny on the block as you read that.

I was on cloud nine, so thank you, Enterprise, for making my dream a reality.

How I happened to get that Fiat is a story in itself.  I had been driving a charcoal, fully-loaded 2013 Ford Escape for a month and was planning to finish out my travel season in the luxury ride.  It had leather, heated seats, voice-command, and most importantly, Sirius Radio.  I didn’t think I could love another car more.  It had amazing gas mileage as well, especially for an SUV.

Well, I guess I was destined to drive a Fiat 500 before travel season ended because fate would have it that as I drove down New Ballas Road in St. Louis after leaving a high school visit, I saw a broken up concrete block in the middle of the road.  I tried steering around it, but my passenger wheel just caught the edge of a block, and POW!  my tire popped.  I thought I had a heart attack or was shot at.  It was one of the loudest noises I’ve ever heard.  I pulled into a driveway and had to wait for AAA to switch the tire.  I had been all excited to get back home by late afternoon and have all evening ahead of me.  That didn’t quite pan out.

The mechanic took no time at all to fix the tire, but I had been waiting in the driveway for an hour, nervous that the homeowners were home or about to come home wondering why I was blocking off their driveway.  When he finished switching the tire to my spare he said, “I hope you don’t have far to go because you can’t go faster than 50 mph on this donut.”

My heart sunk.  I had a 120 mile interstate drive head of me to get home.  It was torturous.  Semi trucks were blowing by me, and passerbys kept looking at me like I was a lunatic driving so slow.  About every 10 minutes I would just crack up laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.  I swear I could see every pebble on the road, driving that slow.  I finally made it back to Enterprise, though, and after laughing at me and the fact that I drove 50 mph on an interstate for 3 hours, the employees gave me the option of a Mazda 6, a Maxima or a Fiat.

“Fiat!?!?!” I exclaimed.  ”Definitely the Fiat!”

“The Fiat?” one of the employees groaned.  ”Are you kidding me? You are choosing the Fiat?!”

“She’s the Fiat girl, remember?” another employee said.

They all came outside and were laughing as I drove away with the windows down in 30 degree weather.

That wasn’t the first time I had caused some trouble for Enterprise this travel season, though.  Before September, I had tremendous luck with no accidents in the rent-a-cars at all besides leaving my receipts or GPS in them when I returned them.

I guess the bad luck with rental cars really started in Ireland this summer :/

This fall, however, our entire office was cursed, and it started with me early in the season.

I stopped by a gas station on the way to work, so I could leave for St. Louis that afternoon.  As I was pulling away from the gas pump, an old man began pulling in my spot.  I smiled at him, we both waved, and I pulled up just a little as I waited for traffic.  All of a sudden, I felt the slightest of jolts.  It almost felt as though someone tapped my shoulder, but as I looked behind me, I saw the old man looking back at me with his hand covering his mouth and his truck incredibly close to the rear of my car.  Aw, shit.

I put the car in park, and we both get out to check out the damage.  There was a slight scratch in the fender.  If it had been my own car, I doubt I would have even done anything about it, but since it was a rental, I had to have it reported.

He starts apologizing and says, “Sorry, miss, I thought you had left.”  Welp, no, I’m still here.  ”Would you mind if I put gas in my truck and then meet you over by the parking lot?”

He was such a sweet little old man.  I waited in the parking lot for him to finish pumping gas, and then we surveyed the damage again, took photos of the minor scratches and exchanged information.

The miniscule scratch. I used John’s philosophy with the old man in this situation: “If it wouldn’t have happened, we never woulda met!” (See Ireland blog post)

At that point, he tells me, “Now when you call me, if you wait until Monday, you’ll probably just have to talk with my wife.  I’m having hip replacement surgery that day.”

My heart melted/shattered all at once.  Poor, poor guy.

I told him not to worry, that Enterprise would be taking care of it, and it didn’t look too bad.  I also told him I’d say some prayers that his surgery went well, and when he finally stopped apologizing, we parted ways, but I felt bad for that sweet old man all day.

I explained the story to Enterprise when I got there to see what they’d do about the car, and they told me not to worry about it, to just keep driving it if I didn’t mind.  I doubt they even got the scratch buffed out.  For that man’s sake, I hope they never even bothered.

I guess you could say this post is an endorsement of Enterprise, and if they keep treating me with spectacular cars, I’m all for being part of a testimonial commercial for them.  Enterprise, you know how to contact me.  You’ve got my mailstop.