Footloose and totally free

My good pal Krista scored some free-to-us tickets to see Kenny Loggins in Fayetteville last night. Before yesterday, only two of the 6,000+ songs on my iPod were Loggins tunes, and one of 'em was an obscure song from "One Fine Day." So I wouldn't call myself a super-fan, but I was excited about the concert anyway.

Turns out Kenny is a great show. Granted, I didn't enjoy myself as much as the drunk people all around us (free booze at the VIP reception), but I knew all but one song. And when he did "Footloose" during the encore, even the uptight blue-haired ladies in the audience sashayed and clapped along.

We also enjoyed a fabulous pre-show dinner at Bordino's in what was my first--but certainly not my last--visit to that great restaurant. Overall, it was an awesome night!

My apologies for neglecting the ol' blog lately. I've become so high maintenance that I don't have a lot of time to write. Between all the running and tanning and looking fantastic all the time, my pithy self-reflection and random observations have been suffering.

I am packing to head to Hot Springs in the morning for a student meeting, then it's on to Little Rock for more work stuff mixed in with dinner with Joe at Pei Wei and lunch with the Tullgren's on Friday. And then I have... praise Jesus... nine days off in a row! Ok, so I'm doing some random work in there, but I've scheduled a whole week off. Need to burn some time. Need to de-stress. Need to be still.

Rock out with your clock out

Daylight Savings Time never fails to make me think of my mom. Each year, from "fall back" until "spring forward," she complained about the lack of daylight, constantly exclaiming "I hate this time!" Every. Single. Day.

And while my brother and I constantly mocked her incessant time change catch phrase, I never set my clocks up or back without thinking of her. And granted, I don't love the winter either. I hate it being dark when I leave the office. I stay tired. I don't, however, suffer from seasonal affective disorder. I don't suffer from deep depression and need light therapy. But it does mess with my psyche a bit.

So even though we lost an hour yesterday, I'm happy we're back on DST. Today, after returning from yet another trip to Hot Springs, I put on my running shoes and headed outside to run. And wow, even though I've been doing three miles on the treadmill four times a week, my 2.5 miles outside about killed me. Just in case you're wondering, a cold sweat doesn't just happen when you're nervous; it also happens when you're jogging in 50 degree weather.

But I did manage to get in 2.5 miles jogging and 1.5 miles of walking. Let's see if I manage to get out of bed in the morning.

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.