Drinking it in

As planned, I've been attending the social activities, enjoying a bit too much of the free food and alcohol, and putting my free time to very good use.

We've done a weekend with E's sister and her boyfriend including a friday night in San Francisco, winetasting in Sonoma, a party in San Rafael and another party in Cupertino. I wanted to post about the wineries we visited, but time got away from me. Suffice it to say that North Sonoma is much better for winetasting than Napa, in my opinion. Two weekends ago, I went on a wonderful retreat with one of the firms (which was awesome despite my whining post). This weekend, I left E in the heat of Silicon Valley (102F at home on Saturday!) to do the whole bachelorette weekend in a condo on the beach thing for my college roommate. The weekend with the girls was amazing: views of the California coast while running, wine tasting in the golden foothill valleys, eating too much, staying up late and laughing at old stories -- I'm so glad I was able to share it with some of my oldest and closest friends.

So far, this summer has been decadent, corpulent, and full of life at its fullest. But, I'm getting ready to be done. A week ago, I ordered a huge load of books from Amazon to make sure I fully enjoy my spare time this summer. When they arrived, I realized that I have no time to read them.

I've scheduled myself so tightly that I don't have enough time get enough sleep, much less hang out with E or read. I'm notorious for doing this. In fact, I looked at the calendar to figure out when it would slow down and was shocked to realize that of the 23 weekends left in the year, I'm out of town for 9 and have plans for 13 others. In other words, I have ONE remaining weekend left this year to stay at home and relax. So, of course, it's now scheduled in as "do-nothing-weekend." In my defense, this seems to be the year that many of my close friends have chosen to marry (with E & I coming in a little on the slow end next spring).

But I think it's funny that I'm looking forward to school starting so I can relax at home and study at night. I know when it's here I'll regret my longing. But right now, after unpacking my travel bag again I feel like multiple serial nights at home with E is a decadent luxury to be cherished, even if I'm reading several hundred pages a night to pay for the privilege.

It's not that I'm not having fun with my current life. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm having fun like a professional. But I need to realize that I'm not a professional partier or socializer. It drains me and I need to slow down. It's funny how the grass is always greener...