Mini hiatus

I'm in the Fort with limited internet access (evidently assisted living centers don't need WiFi). No witty posts today. I'll try to return to form tomorrow.

Smokey and the bandit

After a year and a half of staring at an empty wall behind my computer monitor at work, my new office is taking some getting used to. Granted, I pride myself in not being easily distracted since I spent four years in a fish bowl in Fort Smith where little kids would literallly smash their faces against my glass office wall, but this new setting is even weirder. My computer monitor sits in front of a glass wall, but it's two-way glass, meaning I can see out into the parking lot and interstate beyond, but the people outside can't see in. It's stragely disconcerning to watch people pick their nose, adjust their pantyhose, and generally do things they don't know I'm watching. I'm not quite sure why they wouldn't surmise that the reflective glass holds people with eyes inside. People like me, who need little encouragement to mock others.

Since we're in an office park, we have several neighbors. The one just to the south of us sells most of the country's cereal. They don't manufacture it there, but they do seem to have some stock, which causes an occasional rat problem. Ick.

The property management company instituted a "no smoking within 25 feet of the building" rule, which I love, but it has caused some issues for the cereal pushers next door. One such lady, whom we'll call Ms. Smokey Smokerson, now finds it necessary to leave her cubicle, walk out to her huge gas-guzzling SUV, and smoke with the windows up. Do you have any idea how addicted one must be to brave the massive summer heat in order to burn a butt multiple times a day? On Friday alone, she made three trips to the vehicle in two hours. And I'm not sure who's losing more productivity, her for the multiple smoke breaks, or me for watching this ritual over and over again.

Smokey always parks next to a Toyota Avalon with a very sensitive alarm. So, every time she enters or exits the Denali, the Avalon's alarm goes off. I'm not sure why this amuses me more, because it always makes her jump, or because she hasn't learned to park near a different, alarm-less vehicle. Seriously lady, ever hear the definition of insanity? Why does this alarm still surprise you?

Perhaps this week I'll find something else to watch. Or she'll learn to park near a different car. Or maybe she'll stop slowly poisoning herself with nicotine. Regardless, I need to stop laughing at her. Or maybe not.

Sugar... oh, honey, honey

Taylor and Chance have planned for months to spend Spring Break with me. So I went to the world's largest retailer after church on Sunday to procure $75 of sugary snacks.

Since I'm working from home this week I discovered that my home office is way too close to the kitchen. I spent Monday afternoon chowing on cookies and Doritos and chugging Diet Coke. Taylor got a better offer last night to spend a few days with some friends in Branson, so the boys decided not to come to Siloam. I got stuck with fattening snacks.

Thankfully I had a luncheon in the Fort today, so I loaded up the honey buns, spaghettios, chocolate chip cakes, reece's puffs, ranch Doritos, trix and code red mountain dew and took them to Brad's. An empty pantry equals an easy diet.

Tomorrow is day two of working from home, but without the distracting snacks.

The most exciting part of my day? I found an awesome pink polka dot ironing board cover at JT Maxx. Every chick needs one of those, right?

Christmas countdown

Holidayitis: the state of being physically present in your office while your mind is already on Christmas vacation. I'm suffering from a serious case of it.

These last three days are going to be painful.

I was gone to lunch for nearly two hours today, but considering I had to make a deposit at the bank, go to Wal-Mart, put up my groceries at my house and make my bed in addition to grabbing a bite, that wasn't too bad. I admit that I don't miss the traffic in Conway or Fort Smith during this time of year.

I've started cooking for my two parties this weekend. Last night I made chicken tortilla and tomato and basil soup. The tomato one is especially yummy. Tonight I have to make sauce for chicken rigatoni for tomorrow night (sorry, Lon!) and start thawing out the cheesecake that I did not make.

The exciting news is that the cleaning lady came this afternoon, so my house will be spotless when I get home. I had to buy a mop for her because I haven't used one since I've lived in Siloam; I usually just sweep and vacuum the tile. She's also going to clean all the baseboards, something else that's never been done.

Still no word on whether LB will show up tomorrow night or not, but either way, he'll be at the party tomorrow afternoon I have to attend. Bah humbug. The more I think about it, the madder I get. At least there's cheesecake in my future, whether or not he shows up.

I only have four presents bought... I'm starting to freak out a bit.

Under pressure

Well I suppose today was a bit better than yesterday considering nobody tried to put any body part in a vice, but it was still filled with a lot of pressure. The metaphoric kind, not the literal kind.

So I had a stinky morning and came home for lunch to feel sorry for myself. It was tough considering I'm on day two of my 48-hour fruit fast, but alas, I did not succumb to chocolate. I did, however, succumb to a long talk with God, during which He told me to get over myself. (That's just how God rolls, I'm convinced. I don't think He always talks to us in KJV lingo.)

My afternoon was much better. Less talking, more action. But also more meetings.

Tonight I'm doing laundry, ironing and packing to hit the road again. I'm relying on the hospitality of friends for the next four nights. Tomorrow I have LBC, then speaking at a board meeting, then back to LBC in the afternoon. Tomorrow night I'm driving to the Fort for a Chamber dinner with Ashley. I'll be crashing at Vance and Sorne's.

On Friday I'm driving to the Rock to have lunch with Ann, then Brent and I are going to Cold Stone to celebrate his natal anniversary. That night Joe's meeting Estella and I for dinner, and we'll be getting up early on Saturday to walk in the Race for the Cure in Little Rock. I've always wanted to do the Race and never have. I hear it's indescribable and I'm very excited.

Saturday afternoon/night I'll be driving to Nebo to stay with Scott and Alisa. On Sunday afternoon my ol' Tech friends are coming up for gumbo and good times. Then, late Sunday evening, I'll be driving to Rogers to stay with Kelly so that I can be at a 7 a.m. meeting on Monday.

Good grief. When did my life become so crazy? But I love it. And I'm grateful to have good friends (with spare bedrooms) to share it all with.

Monday = fun day

I just experienced my own version of utopia. I'm staying at the Hampton in the Fort, in a whirlpool suite. (And lest you think I'm wasting work money, it was the same price as a regular room.) So I got to relax under the jets while watching Monday Night Football. Life doesn't get much better than that.

I overslept a bit this morning, so I was 30 minutes late to the office, but since I worked until 8 or so tonight, I guess we're even. I was in Fort Smith all afternoon doing branding interviews, then enjoyed a fabulous dinner at my favorite restaurant in the Fort, Rolando's. And since I consumed more than my fair share of calories, after checking into the hotel, I walked two miles on the treadmill in the hotel gym. Needless to say, in all of the nights I've spent in hotels in my life, I've NEVER been to the gym in a hotel before.

Now I'm watching D Mac on MNF.

Tomorrow we're driving to Little Rock and back, so don't hold your breath for a Drivel update.

KC Masterpiece

Greetings from rainy Kansas City! So far this trip has been more uneventful than the one three months ago, when Jon Bon Jovi and I touched fingers during "Bed of Roses." Yeah, it's not relevant, but I like bringing that up every chance I get.

When Estella and I were up here in April, I got us lost looking for Hwy 71 South. And I got us lost big time in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, so last week I invested in a Garmin GPS. I don't know how I lived without one. You simply put in a destination (I.e., Walgreens), and it gives you turn by turn directions. Amazing! And you can just type in "restaurant" and it will list them by proximity and by type of food. How cool is that? Ashley and I have named her Carmen (get it... Carmen the Garmin). She is relatively friendly, but gets a bit upset when you veer off course.

So now we're just chillin' in the Doubletree, enjoying our $13 a day Internet. I don't know what I'm going to do next week when the traveling stops, but I am going to the Fort for two days, so that's the same, right?

Back in the Fort

After a mere 48 hours at home, I'm back on the road. Today was another marathon day of meetings, ending with a faculty meeting that started at 4 p.m. (where the President introduced me and stated that I was responsible for raising about $500K... no pressure). Then I ran home, threw some stuff in a suitcase, and headed down to the Fort to get ahead of the ice storm.

(There's really not much to report tonight, but if I don't update every day, my dad worries. And besides, it's not called "the occasional drivel.")

Tonight I'm crashing at Sorne and Vance's. They cooked me dinner. And the best part of the night was, when I walked in the door, Mason and Isaac came barreling in to give me big hugs. Isn't that sweet?

I meant it last week when I said that I was overwhelmed by the love in my life. And it's nice to be wanted. But the bad part of it is (and I feel completely selfish as I'm typing this) that I sometimes feel stretched thin when I come "home." I mean, I have a lot of family and friends here. People who love me and merely want to spend time with me. But people who get hurt feelings if I stay on someone else's couch besides theirs. People who don't necessarily appreciate that I do my best to spread around the Lori while I'm here. This past weekend, I was in the Fort for nearly 36 hours, and I spent the bulk of it with my family. Tonight I only had a few hours, and I'm spending it with friends.

So shhh... don't tell my fam that I'm in the Fort. It'll be our little secret. You'd think as big as my butt is, there would be enough of me to go around. Turns out, not so much.