June 30 - Lisa's Musings (on the Last Day of June) and Every Day Life

A little of this and that, on the last day of June.

I knew this would be a tough month for me with the one-year anniversary of my dad's death on June 14, then exactly two weeks later, what would have been his 89th birthday.

But I did it and celebrated another type of milestone along the way -- the one-year anniversary of my new job as the reporter for the A2 Journal, which everyone in town calls the Allmendinger Journal. Thanks, folks or that and all the wonderful kudos you've sent my way.

It's been quite a ride, and I'm ever thankful that I'm still a player in the ever-changing newspaper game.

So, moving onto to funnier things ... my regular UPS driver picked the perfect week to go on vacation, and his replacement driver is getting really tired of showing up at my house.

'Tis the season for all kinds of cat products to appear on my doorstep from companies vying for PR in my holiday issue. For the last few weeks I've been requesting samples of everything from cat collars and jewelry to cat trees and enclosures. So far, not a single company has turned me down.

So, it's been like Christmas around here, three times a day, as the USPS, UPS and FedEx arrive with these products. And the best is yet to come.

Did I mention I don't own a cat?

Onto the weather. I can think of much worse things than mowing on June 30 in a sweatshirt. I mean, how wonderful have the last two days been weather-wise? After all the scary and destructive storms we've had of late, these last days of June are my idea of perfect.

Upcoming fun stuff. I got a really cool invitation today via e-mail. Next week, I'll have an opportunity with other media types, to visit the studios of several artists who will sell their work at the upcoming Ann Arbor Art Fairs.

Did I mention I also get to travel to these studios in a trolley? How many times have you ridden a trolley in downtown Ann Arbor?

I'm also excited for July 1 because my intern makes her first appearance in the newsroom. And have I got a story-packed month for her. Welcome Taryn Meyer, you are going to be a really busy intern. And on her first day, she'll get to meet and greet everyone because there's a July 4 party at the office tomorrow.

My very own intern ... yippee. Now, I won't be borrowing everyone else's quite as often. Because there have been four more bodies to assign stories to, I've actually worked an almost normal amount of hours the last couple of weeks, and it's been really, really nice.

On second thought ...