There aren’t enough hours in the day!

Growing up, it’s what I heard my mom say all the time: “There aren’t enough hours in the day!” Each and every time she said it, I was overcome with sheer disbelief. After all, time ticked by sooooo slowly as a kid.

But I get it now. I hear my own voice making the same claim. Daily. And never have I uttered a truer statement.

If this post has brought you back to my blog, thank you. I promise I haven’t forgotten about it or ignored it. Writing my next post has been on my mental to-do list for months. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Let me catch you up on everything that’s been filling up my daily 24 hours since April…

My last post highlighted attending a music festival, and more importantly, it provided a platform for me to share that I was in a new relationship with Amy.

In the past 7 months, a lot of my time has been dedicated my new family. Amy has two young kids, S and A, with whom I’ve also fallen in love, and I simply couldn’t be happier!

So, yeah. I’ve become a parent since I last published a blog post. The way I identify in this world has changed. My ability to remember things has drastically decreased. Mornings arrive far too soon. And there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.

And please, dear Reader, don’t for one second misinterpret this as complaining. I wouldn’t want my days filled in any other way. It’s only my way of explaining why some things, like the dishes, the laundry, or the next blog post get deprioritized and pushed to another day.

This blog post just got pushed about 200 times. But here’s a long overdue recap of all the memories I made, and can cross off this year’s list:

I visited a trampoline park, when we celebrated A 8th birthday. It was absolute chaos with children running around everywhere, with completely insufficient parental supervision. I was stressed out for the full 2 hours.

I took an out-of-state trip to visit a friend. Amy and I drove to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to spend a long weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was on this trip that the 3 of us successfully completed a really fun escape room. We even had over 6 minutes to spare.

I took Amy and the kids ice skating. We all discovered how challenging it is, how much it hurts our muscles, and we look forward to going again.

Amy and I went out to dinner on a date, and I got all dressed up in my tailored suit. It was then that I had proof I had gained weight.

In August, we all went up to the Toronto area and we spent a week at my family’s cottage. That’s when we made delicious s’mores.

After planning it for over a year, Amy and I finally got a couples massage. It was glorious, and something we need to do again.

A major highlight for me was going kayaking amongst bioluminescence with Amy. It was perhaps the most epic date ever. On the Atlantic coast of Florida, near Titusville, there’s an outfitter that offers nightly tours, and the darker it is, the better. So I intentionally booked our date to coincide with a new moon and a meteor shower. It was simply magical! Like we were floating through the stars. We both agreed we’ll have to do it again with the kids next time.

Amy took me on a date to a small, local movie theater to see The Princess Bride. It was such an incredible experience to be the virgin movie-goer among everyone in the audience.

And most recently, for Amy’s birthday, we became accepted members of the Servants of Sleight secret society, and successfully broke out of an escape room.

And these are only the memories I’ve made that were on my list! It doesn’t highlight all the other incredible memories that were completely unpredicted this year. Like going to Sequoia National Park. Or defeating Voldemort in an epic game of the Hogwarts Battle board game. Or getting dressed up in fantastic Halloween costumes. Or watching the kids play in their first-ever competitive soccer games. Or laughing uncontrollably at Whoopie Cushion sounds. Or enjoying quiet family time while we all read our respective books. Or teaching the kids how to bake sourdough bread. And so, so much more.

2022 has been a whirlwind of a year. Looking ahead to next year, I’ll work hard to prioritize my writing more, and dedicate at least a bit more time to blogging. It just would be so much easier if there were more hours in the day!