Back on Campus!

We’ve moved back on campus this week. For those of you not in the know, the Admission building suffered some flood damage last fall that necessitated our relocation to other facilities while this building was being repaired and remodeled. Despite the challenges of being located just off campus, we all endured our time in our temporary home quite well.

The building is in great order now, and I have a nifty new (bigger) office to call home. The move into the new office came at a very busy time for me, however. I was a little worried that the time that I would lose while actually executing the move would put me behind with the many projects I seem to always be juggling. With the help of my student assistant, I pulled out my ‘hot’ items and packed a special box with those files so that I could quickly hit the ground running as soon as my desk had been reassembled and my computer all hooked up.

The reality is that I found I was practically incapable of working until I had established some semblance of order, comfort and familiarity! Of course, I started by getting my phone, computer equipment, printer, etc. all hooked up. I pulled my everyday desk items (pens, scissors, stapler, post-its, etc.) out of the box and had them all ready to go. I even had my mini-fridge plugged in and chilling several cans of Diet Coke (I’m addicted…I admit it). But looking at my blank walls, empty display shelves, spartan desktop and so forth – I realized that I wasn’t going to really be able to work well until I got things ‘back to normal’.

OK, so anyone who knows me will tell you that ‘normal’ is probably not a word that they would readily use to describe me. Visitors to my office seem to be confused, entertained, etc. by the wide assortment of STUFF that I seem to have collected to define my work environment. Perhaps that is why I was unable to focus when I sat down in a still mostly empty space and tried to concentrate, create and generally do what I do.

Although I do occasionally love to be a girly-girl and wait for my hubby to do manly things like hang my pictures, connect wires and the like, I jumped right in and within two hours had hooked up everything myself and had managed to hang pictures, degrees, certificates and other things all by myself – all this without so much as a chipped fingernail! I was proud – my hubby seemed hurt that I’d managed to do that without him. But he’s a tough one – he’ll recover!

Most importantly, I realized that I couldn’t get back to work until I was surrounded by my creative inspiration – my girls…the Dolly Mamas. How do I explain the Dollies? Well, they are these amazing colorful metal sculptures that are gloriously decorated with fur, feathers, hats, glitter, ribbon, etc. Each Dolly Mama is holding a sign that says something simple. I began collecting them several years ago and think it is safe to say I have a bit of an obsession with them! There are currently six of them in my office. My favorite is the first one I acquired – her sign simply says “WooHoo!” She is decorated with lime green, purple and pink glitter, fur, tinsel and quail feathers. My friends all thought she was perfect as when things go well, I am frequently overheard asking ‘Can I HAVE a WooHoo?’ with the zeal of an evangelist! Other Dollies sport signs with messages such as ‘Drama Queen’, ‘Because I Said So’ (I love that one!), and ‘High Maintenance’. On good days, they seem to celebrate with me. On bad days, they manage to cheer me up enough to get through the day.

Me with the girls...happily ensconced in our new office!

So I left the files in the ‘hot’ box and spent some time carefully setting up the Dollies and my many pictures of family, friends and travel adventures in Africa…

There. All done. Now I can get back to work…

Posted by Saint Leo University at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, so I realize that no one wants to read about sad stuff, but it is part of life so here goes...

Caty O'Donnell

This past Sunday, we had to put our beloved Jack Russell terrier Caty to sleep. She was about to turn 15 years old. Right after Thanksgiving, we noticed a suspicious lump crop up on her back and of course took her to the vet. He was hopeful that it was a lipoma, and recommended that we remove it as soon as possible. She had the surgery just before Christmas, and it was very hard on her. But after the first week, she seemed to be feeling much better, and returned to her usual 'Jack Russell-ness' (any of you that have owned or been around a Jack Russell know that you can't help but laugh when the vet says, "You have to keep her quiet and still." Yeah. Right. NOT. Once her incisions began to heal, she was running around the farm, leaping on and off of things, chasing any and everything...acting like a puppy again. It seemed that taking the pressure off of her spine had restored her to her puppy-hood.

The pathology report revealed very bad news. It was a very aggressive cancer known as hemangiosarcoma, and the prognosis was extremely poor. The vet advised against chemo at her advanced age, and assured us that the one bright spot was that the cancer was not particularly painful. He told us to expect 6 weeks to 3 months. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more like 4 weeks. The blessing was that she seemed to be feeling better and acting younger than she had in some time, and we had some wonderful time together over those last few weeks.

Just as the vet told us, she would let us know when it was time. She did. We made that dreaded final trip to the vet, and then laid her to rest that afternoon on the farm. She had to be near the oak trees, but as it was her habit to find the one ray of light shining into the house to lie down in, we found the sunny opening between the shade of several oaks for her spot.

Now I tell you all of this as it is part therapy, but partly because it brought me occasion to think of the wonderful animals that have shared my life. Honestly, that was the hardest part of going away to college for me - leaving my animals! I found a barn where I could ride within a week of arriving at college. I spent lots of time loving on their dogs while visiting there. I volunteered with a service group that took dogs from the local animal shelter to visit with senior citizens in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. I even took the opportunity to have my dog visit me for the weekend while I was away. Now, keep in mind that it took me 10 hours to drive home to pick him up and another 10 to take him back, but it was absolutely worth it.

I was newly married and only about 18 months out of college when my mother called to tell me that our Bull Terrier (yes, Spuds McKenzie, Target dog, etc.) Hercules had to be put to sleep. Even though I was an adult, it was still impossible not to spend a few hours curled up crying like a child. Caty's loss was no easier for me. This friend was my baby before I had my daughter.

Caty meets her baby sister Annelise, 1998

Because so many families end up buying pets when they deem their children are old enough to help care for them, the life cycle naturally means that many college students will end up facing the death of a beloved childhood friend, often while they are away from home. I can only hope that they are able to vividly recall wonderful memories with their four-legged friends and that it helps to get them through one of the hardest lessons of growing up.

Posted by Christy (CJ) O'Donnell at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I have had a wonderful but busy holiday. It's been full of family, friends, FOOD, fun, FOOD and oh yes, did I mention FOOD?

The staff is all back to work here at SLU, but the faculty and students don't have to be back for a few more days. Consequently, the campus is pretty quiet - the calm before the storm!

I'm sure that the returning students will be feeling just as I do - somewhat glad to get back to the structure of the day to day, but still longing for those few treasured mornings where I could sleep in!

There will be some new students coming to start their careers here at SLU so for them this is a new beginning AND a new year. We will look forward to welcoming them to campus this weekend as they go through the Spring term orientation for new students.

But although I enjoy being back here, it just isn't the same until the heartbeat of the university - our STUDENTS - set foot back on campus. THEN I can really get back to work, with the wonderful noise of Saint Leo all back to normal around me!

Posted by Christy (CJ) O'Donnell at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)