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My relationship with Daylight Savings Time is annoyance wrapped up in complicated memories of my freshman year of college. I grew up in a state that never changed its clocks, so my most vivid memories are from that first year in a state that did.

I was probably in love, but didn't know it at the time. All I knew was that everything about this new relationship was different - more intense, less rational. Saturday night, his best friend said to him "Hey, you guys have an extra hour tonight." It wasn't meant in a snarky way, it was said with affection. He was a little embarrassed.

It doesn't seem complicated, but his best friend was female and he never understood why I wasn't jealous. I could see the attraction - it was there, it was obvious. It was also clear it was not the level or type of attraction one would act on, at least not unless something changed. In the end, I was never able to persuade him I felt comfortable about his relationship with his best friend. Invariably conversations would lead to a discussion of my friends - most of whom were male.

Eventually the relationship ended, as it was always destined to. Even so, having an extra hour every Fall still makes me feel seventeen years old again.

Status Updates

What my childless friends say in their facebook status lines:

Lori slept 'til 2:45 pm today and it felt really good.

Gavin desperately in need of a 3 mile run, a hot tub, and a sushi lunch. Luckily all this is attainable.

What my friends with children say in their facebook status lines:

Hannah is wishing that her toddlers understood that she was running the bath that they want so they would stop screaming

Cathleen just finished cleaning up sleepover puke. Nothing worse than cleaning up another child's puke.

Clearly I need to stop reading my e-mail...

Yesterday, I received a ton of bad news. None of it impacts me directly, but by the end of the day I was pretty depressed.

• A friend's brother-in-law just committed suicide. He and his wife have a two year old daughter.
  
• A good friend was on a cruise with his parents and in-laws. Everything was fine until his mother suddenly became ill and died. The whole thing sounds horrible.
  
• A colleague needs surgery for something fixable, but potentially life-threatening if not treated
  
• Another colleague (and friend and mentor with whom I work on many committees) just found out his prostate cancer has metathesized.
  

That will teach me to send e-mails. I may stop talking to people on campus too.