Where have you been? Oh yeah, *I* was gone

I'm sitting here sipping coffee and trying to decide how to begin returning to normality.
In case ROUTE 1 readers hadn't noticed (please say you have, if only to safeguard my self esteem), I have been gone a week -- days spent studying the reporting of health care at a fellowship training held by the ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH CARE JOURNALISTS at the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI JOURNALISM SCHOOL. M-I-Z-Z-O-U... RAH!
My fellow "fellows" and I -- drawn from news outlets in NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA, MINNESOTA, NEBRASKA and IOWA -- learned much over the span of the week.
That was in the classroom. We were also schooled in the charms of COLUMBIA, MO., and its vibrant college atmosphere.
Days spent studying spreadsheets gave way to nights consuming Shakespeare's Pizza, lectures on insurance coverage gave way to sharing stories with friends while sipping a $1 "bad beer" and reviewing hospital finance reporting procedures gave way to avoiding the staggering drunk college kids on warm nights under the illuminated "Tiger" sign in Columbia's downtown.
It was a great week, and today I'll probably spend time slowly returning to normal -- and recovering a cold I ironically picked up at a health-care conference.
Don't forget to keeping reading Route 1 every day -- I promise I'm back.