lunabee34 | June, June, it rhymes with balloon

1. Last week, the President of the university emailed to ask if he could call me, which naturally made me feel as if I was being called into the principal's office. LOL But I was not in trouble. Instead, he asked me to be part of the SACS Reaffirmation Leadership Team, which consists of five members--the President, the Provost, the Chief Financial Officer, the university's SACS liaison (who is also the Special Assistant to the President), and a faculty rep (me!). He had some very flattering things to say about me in requesting my participation. He was very careful to only ask me to participate for this upcoming year, but it's a three-year gig, and clearly he'd like me to do all three years, and, of course, I will.

Y'all, this is so my jam. I love seeing how the sausage is made. Also, I'll be Senate Chair for one more year next year, and then that's over, and I'll need to do something else for service. This gives me two more years of really high profile, important, exceeds-expectations level service without having to serve on multiple committees. Whoooo!

The first big item is a trip to a meeting in Florida in December. I am already fretting about the travel. Josh has told me I cannot fret until at least October. LOL

2. My other birthday present from Josh has arrived, and I am besotted, y'all. So in addition to a new wallet, I also got a new purse. Both my old wallet and purse are older than Fiona, and both have held up really well for being cheap and made of cheap materials. But they are both starting to look ragged, so replacement time!

I got the large Emily purse from the Purse Peddlers on Etsy, and it is glorious. The leather is so soft and supple, and it smells divine. It's very roomy but not too large; the lining is random, and I ended up with a lovely textured grey lining. My favorite feature is one I didn't even know I was getting when I purchased it. Right inside the top of the purse, they've fixed a snap and put a leather key fob there so you can snap your keys right to the top of your purse and never have to hunt for them. How utterly clever! I have never seen that feature in a purse before, but it is so smart. The leather fob is supple and I don't think it would hold up long term if I used it as my actual keyring, so I'm going to buy a small carabiner clip to replace the keyring; I'll leave the fob snapped in the purse and just clip my keys on it. That will preserve the life of it. If you are in the market for a new purse I can't recommend this store highly enough; they do topnotch work, and they have tons of purse models.

3. I got other birthday gifts, too!

executrix sent me a fabulous box of books: poetry, women on writing, essays, a journal full of quotes about freaking out LOL, and Ouida's In a Winter City! It's an early 1920s pocket edition, and it's wonderful. I've been petting it.

I also got the most wonderful gifts from

amejisuto: a gorgeous tea cup with pink and purple jeweled flowers and a jeweled spoon (she has a similar cup and said it's like we're having tea together, which I love!), some caramel apple tea to drink in this beautiful cup, and a journal with all-black pages. I can't wait to use my white and metallic pens in this journal.