You would think that those of us born into the Jones clan would have celebrated when Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby. But we didn’t. You would think that we would have been ecstatic when he won the Preakness. But we weren’t. You would think that we’re waiting anxiously to hear the outcome of the Belmont Stakes. But we’re not.

That’s because we’re worried about Smarty Jones. We think he should realize that in this crazy, frenetic world there’s no use making things worse for yourself by rushing around -- especially rushing around a track just to get back to where you started. We think he should wise up and realize that life's not just about Keeping up with the Jones’s. These days, it's about slowing down and taking some time to think about things. Life’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. It’s not about running for the roses, it’s about stopping to smell the roses.

Smarty Jones needs to take a hint from those of us preparing to go to DAC. If Smarty J. checked us out, he’d see that we’re a relaxed group of folks -- easy going, cool, calm and collected. Not one of us is staying up nights or working weekends trying to wrap up the details, the press releases, the schedules, the meetings, the launches, the lunches, the leveraging of staff, stuff and nonsense. (Breathe.) We all realize that it’s not about the being at DAC, it’s about getting to DAC -- it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.

So it is with this new website. I thought it would be a pleasant idea to have a home of my own to post my newsletter. I thought it would be fun and I thought I’d have long stretches of hours to sort through the intricacies of the project. But I was wrong. This last week has been a scheduling nightmare.

First, there were the unexpected hours spent in the ER with a friend who had injured himself on the job. Then, there was the separate and also unexpected trip to the hospice ward to escort an elderly friend who wanted to visit her husband. There was the arrival of out-of-town relatives for a 10-day visit. There was the spring concert at the elementary school where my brother heads up the music program. There was the family birthday dinner. There were the multiple meetings with the contractor to sort out the endless details of the kitchen remodel. There were the hurried trips to buy the doorknobs, the hinges, the sinks and faucets because they were all needed yesterday. And that’s just on the family side of things.

On the EDA side of things, there were significant distractions as well, starting with the press releases. By my calculations, there have been at least 80 press releases in the last 10 days alone that could potentially be included in a newsletter on EDA. And behind every one of those press releases, there’s a company who would like to tell their story to the press and thereby reach their customers. And behind every one of those companies, there’s a diligent PR person or two or three or four, attempting to make it all happen. Finally there are the editors who are stooping badly under the crushing weight of the phone calls and requests for face time. And all the while, none of us are forgetting that it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Right?

We're all better than SJ. We want to be able to stop and ask ourselves what this race is all about, and stick around long enough to hear the answer. We want to be able to say to our families -- you’re more important than anything out there, more important than the adoring crowds, the prize money, or the status and celebrity -- even more important than the press releases and the scheduling for DAC. We want to be able to say that in our rush to cross the finish line, we enjoyed ourselves along the way. And honestly, can Smarty Jones say that? And can he say ...