Saturday, October 8, 2011

Smiles for a Sunny Day

I may have dropped the ball on providing a blog entry for September, but I'm here today itching to get (at least) one in for the month of October. Overall, things are going pretty well for me these days. No major news and no real complaints. Fall is officially here, according to the calendar, but I'm thrilled that the warm weather (mid to upper 80's) is sticking around. Lots of sunshine (my favorite "good mood vitamin"), and plenty of pleasant temperatures for enjoying the great outdoors.

A couple of weeks ago, I experienced my favorite week at work thus far (except, perhaps one of the weeks this summer at Camp). It was a busy week (which, I am learning, is way better than a slow one) filled with lots of variety. The details escape me now, but I remember hosting an orientation for four brand spankin' new weekend volunteers, attending a couple of interesting meetings, organizing a 30-girl group of Seniors from Mount St. Mary's Academy doing service for their annual Mercy Day, and we even kicked off the Fall season of weekend camps. The following week, we had a five-person group of young adults in the ACCESS Schools adult program (vocational education for individuals with special needs) who came out to rake leaves, and we continued on with our four straight weekends of Camp. It's busy but I really like it that way. When things are slow, I get bored and that's never fun when you're sitting at a desk for what feels like 8 million hours a day!

Alex came to visit Little Rock last weekend, so that was nice of course. I ended up with a long four day weekend, thanks to some flex time I earned while working a couple of weekends earlier in the month. We stayed busy and it was super fun to check several things of my list of places to explore in Little Rock. Though we visited a couple of museums, tried two new restaurants, and spent some time enjoying the beautiful weather, I have to say my favorite outing was hiking the Base Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. This 1.25 mile trail (as listed online) turned into a 3.5 miler, but that's okay, we had a blast. Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect, and it seems as though I am developing a fondness for hiking outdoor trails. It was a great weekend, to say the least.

Off and on over the last few weeks, I've had some strange, unexplained fevers. The fevers were random and unaccompanied by any other symptoms. After a few days and nights of fever in the same week, I started to worry that there could be a legitimate problem with my health, so I decided to conquer my "magical thinking" and visit a doctor. Much to my surprise (and entertainment) technologies in doctors' offices have come a long way since my days as a child (and frequenter of physicians offices). - Who knew GP offices had slots in the walls of restrooms for transfer of urine specimens, and even further, that these offices could do urine analysis/cbc tests on site?!? News to me! In any case, all of my results came back normal and the doctor decided I had some type of "atypical" bacterial infection, putting me on a seven day round of antibiotics. I haven't had fever since the day I visited the doctor, and aside from those funky side effects (nausea, lack of appetite, etc.), my body feels a lot healthier than it has recently. ...Guess I've been carrying around some bacteria for longer than I realized. oops. Now let's just hope this has resolved itself, the fevers go away, and no need for more extensive testing.

Other than that, all is well. It's a great day for cheering on our #1 Tigers, a title they're looking to hold onto for yet another week (as they kill the Gators on this beautiful Saturday afternoon). Thanks for all the comments on my last entry - it's great to have your support and encouragement along the way. Wishing all of you a great Fall season and hoping to hear from you again soon!

Sending smiles for a sunny day!
-Lauren

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