Even professors need a little help!

Just when you thought faculty waved a wand and graded all those papers almost as if by magic, the secret is revealed!
We have help!
In some cases, our "helpers" are lying down on the job, but they still provide motivation and encouragement.
Take Mr. Truman, for example. He is my grading assistant each semester.
Shown here "helping" me grade papers, he is very sticky about writing and a grammar, spelling or punctuation error really gets his back up, as they say.
His method of lying on top of the papers is designed to pace my work. I would probably never take a break if not for his interruptions.
Have a grammar question? Just ask him.

He's really the "purr-fect" editor!

Lots of Lavender

Last weekend's Sunday trip was a drive to Skaneateles and a stop at the Lavender Festival. The country setting was ripe for nice photos and we brought home a bunch to make our linen closet smell pretty. Watch out for those bees!

There's something about a little kid...

Summer events are a great time to see friends' kids and see how much they've grown and changed. Our Welcome Clambake was a chance to see Aiden Tarrats and his mom, Jessica, as well as River Greenfield and his mom, Karen. Aiden loves the camera. River, not so much. But both are very photogenic! Something about kids and summer makes you forget those three-foot-high snowbanks.

New friends and clams

Last weekend's Welcome Clambake gave all of us a chance to meet and get to know the new PRL master's class. Some of them had never had steamed clams. Others were new to the whole "salt potatoes" thing. Spectacular weather and good company made for a great day.
Did you know clams are brain food?

Here they are!

Summer is zooming along and here comes a new crop of PR master's students!
They're fresh-faced, eager and smart and we're looking forward to getting to know them over the next 13 months.
Today's Orientation Day and soon they'll be walking across that stage and receiving their degrees.
How time flies!

Autumn in New York

Those of a certain age (and you know who you are!) will remember the haunting melody of the song "Autumn in New York".
The crisp air and turning leaves are back in Upstate New York and it reminds us of how much we enjoy living here.
There are hills to show off the fall colors and yard chores to gather up those fall colors and compost them or set them by the curb.
Our dogs love to run in the piles of leaves.
Reminds us of when we were kids and used to create enormous piles of leaves for jumping.
That unmistakable fragrance of autumn leaves is in the air, too.
Let's savor it.
It won't be long before we're living up to our Golden Snowball reputation again!

Team Insidedge

Employee Engagement is the mission of the practice at Insidedge here in Chicago.
The team includes full-time staffers, as well as interns.
I met Stephanie Gurtman, an intern from Boston University who knows my friend and fellow SU alum, Dr. Edward Downes.
Dharma Subramanian, a recent graduate of Purdue University, is an Account Executive at Insidedge. I learned she can sing "Happy Birthday" to her colleagues in FOUR DIFFERENT LANGUAGES!
And Jessica Brubaker, an Account Supervisor who holds communication and graphic design degrees from St. Norbert College, was very helpful in making sure I knew how to locate the office and helped with many other final trip details and questions a day or so before I left Syracuse.
I'll be watching the careers of these wonderful new colleagues and friends with great interest!