Friday, August 8

Busy busy day. Final day of preparations before orientation begins on Monday. It's become a family affair--my boss's son helped her do a huge shop at Sam's Club; Andrew and Greta brought the car full of the 700 waters and seltzers we'd gotten at Target to campus in the afternoon and helped bring all of it into our staging room. My boss and I are a very effective two-person department, but when planning a three-day series of events for 1,200 students, we need backup. 

Lucia spent the afternoon and early evening with a friend, and Andrew, Greta, and I went to a Pirates game. It was bucket hat night, so we all got cute Pirates-themed hats. Greta and I entertained ourselves by bringing two of our plush pierogies to watch the game with us and, of course, cheer during the pierogi race, my raison d'etre for attending a Pirates game. Andrew tolerated us.

I'm currently reading an insane nonfiction book about MLMs, and every story of trickery, fraud, and deception is just a complete trainwreck. I can't look away. During our eight years in New Jersey, I encountered MLMs constantly--leggings, nail strips, makeup, "clean" skincare, tote bags, shakes, fitness coaching, children's books, clothing, Landmark Forum classes. Over the years of being invited to things, I inevitably purchased some items: I actually still wear a very cute winter coat I bought; and a couple of the kids' books were excellent. (And I was tempted to attend a Forum event just so I could write about it, but didn't have the nerve a real embedded journalist needs for something like that.) In Pittsburgh, however, I haven't encountered them even once. I'm just fascinated by the whole thing. Highly recommend this excellent book, Little Bosses Everywhere by Bridget Read.