I'm all out of love

I'm not quite sure why, but I've had Air Supply tunes running through my head all day which means that I'm either (a) a gay ice dancer; or (b) exhausted to the point of delusion.

This little three-day work week has turned out to be quite the roller coaster. What kind of admissions director decides to take two days of vacation the week before four groups start? (A stupid one.) Does she not own a calendar? (Yes, she does. But she also owns a BlackBerry AND a brand-new MacBook Pro that will go through airport security and make her oh-so-accessible on vacation.)

I've discovered that the bad thing about three-day weeks is that you don't have a mere 24 hours worth of work. You still have 40 hours worth of work or more, you just have to cram it in the three days you're technically "working." And even then some of it spills over into your vacation time.

Yesterday my alarm sounded at 5:15 so that I could pack and put on a suit and meet my boss by 7 a.m. to drive to Harrison where I made small talk with strangers. I then drove through McDonalds for a regular cheeseburger with no pickles on my way to the office to frantically work on some files and freak out everyone in my general vicinity before driving to Fort Smith for the evening. Today I awoke at 5 a.m. to attempt creative writing, left the hotel at 7:15 a.m. for a downtown breakfast (more small talk with strangers), had a meeting, drove back to the office, pushed some more files around, ate Doritos and a 3 Muskateers for lunch at my desk, sped to campus for an admissions meeting, frantically searched for a network connection in a random office before I was kicked out at 6 p.m. while working on a "thing for the President if you have time," then finally finished and submitted my writing project that had to be done today at 8:22 p.m. I'm exhausted and still need to unpack and repack.

Lest you feel too sorry for me, I do feel the need to point out that in the past 24 hours I've eaten one of the best steaks of my life with Larry and Ashley, hung out with the very precious twins E and P Diddy, languished in a 30-minute whirlpool bath in a hotel room, talked to my awesome brother on the phone, and opened an unexpected check from my mortgage company. Tomorrow I have to stop by campus for a bit, then it's a day of massages and hair appointments (while my housekeeper cleans), driving to Tulsa, and boarding a jet plane bound for DFW. Can't wait to hang out with Lonnie and Jen this weekend. Woo-hoo! Just hope I can fit in sushi and Pappadeaux.

There is that pesky little conference call on Friday morning, but them's the breaks.

Oh, and in the words of Kat Ellis in "The Wedding Date" (seen 32 times per week on TBS) about Air Supply, "Everyone knows their greatest hits, but some of their ballads are surprisingly poignant."

Reality check: one narcissist's lesson in humility

I'm not quite sure when we all started thinking our job was more important than others. But there seems to be a competition out there to see who can work the longest and hardest. Everyone's job is stressful, right?

My life seems to be gripped in the tyranny of urgency. When the light on my BlackBerry blinks red, it physically pains me not to stop whatever I'm doing and see what important e-mail awaits (New recommended book at Amazon? How could I have possibly waited 10 minutes to know that?). I rush from meeting to meeting. I lose sleep over unfinished tasks.

Wait... someone needs a report? I'll cancel whatever I'm doing!

When you're a single person, it's often difficult to find a balance. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is turn on my BlackBerry to discover what kinds of admissions emergencies happened overnight. I spend my weekends doing spreadsheets, planning meetings, and thinking about processes. After all, it's life or death whether someone gets an acceptance letter on Monday or Tuesday, right?

Please don't get me wrong. Most days I love my job and I find a lot of satisfaction in what I do. I think I'm helping people to change their lives for the better and, at the end of the day, that makes all the stress worthwhile.

But really... why do I kill myself on all of this stuff that, in as little as a few hours, will seem unimportant? Why do I postpone my relationships, eat lunch at my desk, and avoid taking vacation days?

Yes, I think we all should value what we do and put our heart and soul into it, but we shouldn't do it to the exclusion of having a life.

So, in the interest of getting one of those, I called the new guy back last night. We talked for a few moments about travel and interests and hobbies--typical first date conversation--until I heard commotion in the background and finally said, "Are you at work?"

He was. And two traumas had just entered the room. So we had to hang up quickly.

You know, hearing me talk about my day somehow takes a back seat to plunging one's hand into a chest cavity. I guess the world really doesn't revolve around me after all.

I did get a sweet e-mail a couple of hours later, apologizing for the brevity of our conversation. Yeah, I'm self involved, but even I was okay with that. Hang up and grab the paddles.

I laughed when I read it because it put my life in such perspective. I seldom apologize to people for checking my BlackBerry while they're talking. I don't think about giving many people my undivided attention because I can multi-task while they explain in great detail why they have such a low grade point average. But really... nothing I do is life or death. So I need to slow down, do the best that I can do with the time given, and let the rest go.

Here's hoping we all have a stress-free day.

I'm back!

Sorry for my brief hiatus from the blogging world. I've been couch surfing for a few days with limited Internet access. Coupled with the fact that my BlackBerry is not downloading my work e-mail, technology does not seem to be my friend these days. I feel cut off from the world and it's causing a nervous tick. I still check my phone about 20 times an hour. It's a serious addiction.

I'm in the Spa City for a conference and even though I'm on a self-imposed massage moratorium, I suppose it's been fine so far. The conference was short this afternoon, so I got some work done in my room (hello, Internet!), went out to dinner, and ran three miles. Okay, I actually only ran two or so, but I finished three miles. It helped a lot that there was a girl running next to me and I made myself run longer than she did. Maybe my competitive spirit will last through the 5K next weekend.

Hopefully I can get out of bed tomorrow. But at least I'm having a better night than Tom Izzo.

No rest for the weary

I'm really, really tired. After staying up 'til midnight four nights in a row, I was so excited about going home tonight, taking a hot bath, and going to bed early. You have no idea how forward I was looking to that.

Until I got a phone call this afternoon and had to go home, repack the stuff I just unpacked last night, and drive back to Little Rock. Sad times, friends.

But this pic makes me laugh. These are my friends Tony, Josh and Shane, last week at the Capitol. What is up with the BlackBerry addiction?

Countdown to Monday

Another weekend has come and gone. Thankfully I have a mere 40 hours to work before nine blessed days of vacation. Hopefully Jen can perform an extraction of my Blackberry when I'm in Texas so I won't check my e-mail incessantly. I have a serious problem with that thing.

The other good news? No traveling this week, unless you count Rogers. But I don't, because I spend more time there than I do in Siloam most weeks.

On Friday I met with a loan officer and then made an offer on my house. The bank has until 5 p.m. tomorrow to respond (it's in foreclosure, and I offered $27K less than it was listed for a year ago), so my fingers are crossed. My mortgage would be about the same as my rent has been, and I won't have to move. I'm sure the roof will blow off or a toilet will explore mere moments after signing on the dotted line, but oh the joy of taking the interest off my taxes and not watching my hard-earned money (okay, my money) being flushed down the toilet every month in rent for five more years.

After a marathon work lunch, I headed south to meet Paige and we went to the Miss UCA pageant to cheer on our friend Erin. She was the interview winner and third runner-up.

Taylor had a game in Fort Smith Saturday morning, so Eck and I went to watch. They have a great team, and it was fun to see Hope and Chance, too. Hope was in an especially good mood and was generous with the hugs and kisses and declarations of love. Not quite sure what that was about.

Five days. 40 hours. Then sweet freedom.

Bring on Turkey Day!

Toto and the Jayhawks

Ouch. Today was officially Lori target practice day at work. Ah, the wonder of the BlackBerry. Blissful ignorance is no longer an option. So I've spent the day apologizing and asking forgiveness.

Keep in mind that I'm two states away from my office. We're just over the state line from KC, in Overland Park. It's weird how you can be so close to a metropolitan area, yet feel like you're in a cornfield on Auntie Em's farm. Thankfully there have been no tornados, but we did get 5 inches of rain overnight.

It was a long day of workshops and small talk during a "working" lunch, but Ashley and I ventured out tonight, with the help of Carmen the Garmin, to the mall and dinner at Macaroni Grill. We stuffed our faces then went to Whole Foods. I could die happily right now.

The weirdest thing is that we've been freezing since we got here last night and haven't turned on our A/C at all. Tonight we had to stop at Target and buy sweaters. Maybe we are in Oz after all.

Phone with the Wind

Meet Scarlet, my brand new red blackberry curve. I'm still getting used to not having the click wheel, but I'm sure it will be fine. I've decided to name my iPhone Rhett so that I'll have a very Southern set of cell phones.

Frankly my dear, I doubt you give a damn.

Update, staccato style

And the stress escalates. I'd forgotten what a joy it was to be a supervisor. Ugh.

I did get my shiny new-to-me Blackberry today. The hockey puck-sized one. It downloads my e-mail and calendar 24/7, plus my work phone can be forwarded to it when I'm away from my office, so it's a blessing AND a curse. And for those of you still wondering whether to buy a Blackberry or an iPhone, there's no contest. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I had a cool Pearl kind or something, but the touch screen is just too darned easy to navigate.

This afternoon I had the opportunity to hear a missionary speak during a luncheon at work, and she was talking about how so many of us get bogged down in politics. Her take on the issue? It doesn't matter who's in the Great White House as long as we know who's on the Great White Throne. Kind of puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

My fever blisters are healing. I still have the sniffles, but my throat is no longer sore. The Hogs are winning. We are supposed to have 2-4 inches of snow here tomorrow. No worries... got my Blackberry.

I'm goin' to bed now.