Planning Hiatus

I love planning things.  Plotting things.  Spinning out possible outcomes and imagining hurdles that might require finessing.  It makes me happy.  (I would call myself weird here, but I just heard of a study that said we should all plan vacations we never go on.  Apparently, we get a huge high off of the excitement of choosing what we're going to do, but that boost of positivity and happiness doesn't follow once we're actually on the trip.  Too much stress!)

But I'm declaring myself on planning hiatus.  Well, socially, anyway.

I like planning parties.  I like hosting them.  I wish we had a better space or more friends to invite, as those things pretty well limit what I can do.  But overall, if I had a big house and a big pool of people to cook for and plan for and find fun things to do for, I would throw parties whenever I could.  (Well, my kind of party, anyway.  They don't typically include alcohol, but that's largely because I can't handle people drinking it in small, enclosed spaces.  Both the energy and the smell overwhelm me.)

We hosted Thanksgiving this year.  Aside from a turkey that dried out a bit and Berrykin throwing up just as we sat down to eat, it was a lovely day.

We hosted Christmas, and nobody came.  Jeremelon had to work.  My sister spent it in Texas with her boyfriend's family.  My brother and cousin were sick.  My aunt wanted to catch up on sleep.  So it was just the Berrykin and me, hanging out with Christmas music on.  I made oatmeal and sausage for dinner instead of aebleskiver, sausage, and a giant fruit platter.  I thought I'd spend all day in the kitchen making cookies, but I got worn out too fast.  So I made a single, tasty batch that I forgot to put in a container, allowed them to dry out, and now nobody will eat them.

To say it was disappointing would be an understatement.  (Especially since we have to add in it being the anniversary of my grandmother's passing.)

I also planned and plotted and brainstormed and researched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the publication of my first novel.  It was exciting, thrilling, exhilarating!  But it was also exhausting (oh, how often all those ex- words go together).  I learned a lot, and now I'm learning to exercise my patience again.  Hee.

But after a good holiday, a disappointing holiday, and wearing out my planning brain, I'm done.  I was going to host a 12th Night board game party on the 5th, too, but I don't have the oomph.  Or the will.  I told my sister if she wants to plan it, I'll happily help.  But I have no friends to contribute, anyway, so it would mostly have been hers to begin with.

My brain needs a rest.

Not that it will get a whole rest, 'cause I still have a novel to revise and at least one novella to write... :D