One of the “perks” I enjoy most as a C&T employee are the monthly birthday celebrations. Lynne, our fabulous receptionist, chooses an afternoon when all of the month’s birthday people are going to be here and then surprises everyone with cookies, or cupcakes, or in the case of last week, what I like to call “gargantuan” cupcakes.

Usually Lynne picks up the birthday goodies in advance of the actual “celebration time.” But she tries not to bring them in too far in advance because as soon as they appear in the reception area, certain C&T employees begin swarming. Some of us just hover in anticipation for a few minutes then go on about our business. This time Gailen and Liz tried to persuade Lynne to move the “celebration time” up a few hours, but to no avail.

When it’s finally time, Lynne makes the announcement over the intercom and within a few seconds people start literally running towards the reception area. It’s pretty funny to see how excited people get—there are no shortages of sweet teeth in this office!