A Busy Month

As I sit here on Sunday night, drinking wine, watching Arrival, and relishing the fact that I am finally over a 2 week mega-Cold, I can't help but think about how I always have to be *doing*. What's weird is that 90% of my *doing* on the weekend or in my free time is truly useless. Time spent pointlessly on social media, scrolling-scrolling-scrolling, and picking up new hobbies while easily tossing aside last weeks' ... I can't help but ask myself what is a really fulfilling way I can spend my time, what do I really want to do?

One of the hobbies I've picked up over the past couple of years is "planning." LOL. Yes, this is a real thing. The "planner community" is a real thing. If you search on Facebook you will find hundreds of planning groups. The biggest one I'm in - Planners Gone Wild - has over 30,000 members (!!). There is an annual planner convention - this year it's in Nashville - tickets are $435 to attend, and it includes tons of "planner swag." I wanted to go last year but didn't, and this year I told myself if tickets were still available the day after they went on sale, I'd go -- I think they sold out in like 5 minutes. Anyway, it was a sign, I didn't need to spend the money.

The reason I like "planning" so much (also, bullet journaling is included in this, and I love to look at bullet journalers on IG/FB) is because of the memory aspect of it. Then, like tonight, I was like, OK I'm gonna work on finishing our Honeymoon planning/journaling but then it just seems so exhausting to pull out all the (too-many) supplies I have, go through pictures, print the best, figure out how to lay them out, etc. etc.

I wonder how I was so in love with journaling and blogging for so long and then I just stopped. When bloggers I'd read would just stop I'd think, "How can they just stop? That'll never be me. I'll never run out of things to say." The truth is, I don't think I ever ran out of things to say, but I started doubted my ability to say them. Everything had to be thought through, all the pictures had to be perfect, etc. etc. (I never did and they never were).

BUT, Man, is it so great to be able to come back here and look at posts I wrote 5, 6, 7 years ago. It's awesome. Even the not-so-great pictures, they are great because they bring me back to that moment.

The posts I am like meh about, those are the posts that I wrote when I fell into the "blogger" hole. Here's a list of 10 ways you know it's Friday. Celebrities that look like animals. A bunch of random memes/gifs with no context. Hahah. I mean, it's fine if people write that, they definitely have a shelf-life though, and ultimately, that's not why I blog.

Why I blog is to remember, and, one day, to give a memory to my children. I see so many cool things parents do for their children - blogging, scrapbooking, opening an email address and sending them emails -- to be opened on their 18th bday - etc. etc. I would have loved  to look back at those memories. Of course, with social media, I think it will be easy to give those memories now.

So, here's an update: 

view from the conference hotel

February has been an over-the-top busy month for me. Despite the fact that my billable hours are still alarmingly low, I volunteered on the operations committee of a big law conference that took place this month. That meant I had to organize all the presentations, get food for volunteers, go on walk-throughs of the hotel, correspond with vendors, etc. etc. This was a really great opportunity for me to meet very well-established attorneys that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to meet, nevermind work with, but it really wore me down.

Then, amazingly, after not having any friends visit since we've lived in Florida (okay, I get it, noone wants to come to Tallahassee), we had three friends visit. It was so great but I feel kind of guilty bc I was exhausted from that conference, and still sick.

 While they were here we did a lot of very "Miami" things, including going to Wynwood (which I love), Lagniappe (very cool jazz spot with huge backyard garden), drank mojitos, ate cuban food on Lincoln Road, sat by the water, visited the Vizcaya museum, had a drink at Sugar (rooftop bar), ate seafood at the River Oyster Bar, and went to a super cute restaurant in out neighborhood. It's interesting because I feel like (and joke that) Felipe and I are so lame and don't do anything, but the more I thought about it the more I realize that we have done a lot of exploring, at least in our neighborhood and it honestly never disappoints. I truly cannot believe how much I love Miami. Such an unexpected (happy) surprise!

inside the vizcaya museum

built at the vizcaya house to break waves 

donuts from the salty donut - a miami legend - and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!! 

(when you think you look normal even though your sick but then your eyes give you away)

Work has been picking up for me. And by picking up I mean I will be relatively to mildly busy and then at like noon I will get an assignment that needs to be done ASAP and I will stay up till 1am working .... 😒 So, I guess that's to be expected but it's really stressful for me because -- as I mentioned above, "planning" is a new hobby of mine so I really don't like it when my "plans" get thrown. LOL. I guess I have to deal with it because it's just the nature of the job.

Coming up: 

We have more guests this weekend. Then, Felipe is going out of town the following week, then the following weekend is his bday, and then at the end of March we're going up to NY for my sister-in-law's wedding (she's marrying my former colleague-- they met at my birthday party! 💗).

So, that's where I'm at. And I'm SO SAD about Bill Paxton, star of my first real horror movie: Twister.

xox