I’ve always got a lot of things going on at once, it’s how I operate.  I spend much of each day and evening on the phone for work, so I seldom make social phone calls.  I haven’t had time for anyone since the end of July when I began readying my rental for the market.  I’ve got a buddy I often call from the car for a quick hello when I’m out and about.  Sometimes I just want to hear a friendly voice of someone I know in person and hear a few minutes about their day to stay connected with them.  Everyone knows all about my day, I blab it all over the magazine and this blog.  So when I call and ask, after not speaking for a week or two, “So what have you been doing? How was work today?” it’s frustrating to hear the one-word answer “worky.” It doesn’t matter how much I care for someone, if it’s not an easy flow to be around them, I have other things to do. A few hours later, a friend and coworker stopped by and I asked “How was your day?”  It was an ordinary work day of simple stories and insights, but it immediately told me my friend’s state of mind and also made it easy for conversation to unfold.  When beloved friends wonder why I have time for someone else and not them, it always has to do with what keeps me in the flow. I am also very mission oriented.  I tend to hang with whoever I happen to look up and find walking alongside me on the path, on their own mission.  And as far as men and dating: truth be told, I’d always rather have a brother on the path than a romantic partner.