My boyfriend and I went out for dinner on the night of the one year anniversary of our first date. Since I am who I am, I asked him to tell me what he likes best about me.

“You’re grounded in reality”

— My boyfriend

Welp. I was hoping it would be my amazing sense of humor, dedicated work ethic or the generous nature of my spirit. My realistic outlook on life sounds dry, and boring.

Despite how non-romantic of a trait being pragmatic is, I do see why he would say that. I love efficiency and thinking ahead through plans. As a busy person, making the most of my time is important. Cazey once shared an interesting article about how we all pride ourselves on being busy, and I find myself in that boat. I love running from one activity to the other. I love fitting in as much life as I can.

As someone who loves and values efficiency and a nice succession of plans that are realistic, it's easy for me to forget to actually enjoy what I'm doing. As I'm running from work to the gym to a volunteer event and then back home to have dinner with my boyfriend, I forget that everything I'm doing is supposed to be fun.

Recently, I got the letter from my HOA about mailing in my form to get my pool pass. This meant I needed stamps. I won't dive into how dumb I looked trying to buy stamps (it involved me asking how many stamps people usually buy... but now I know the answer is 20 and we call them "books."). Once I got my stamps, I groveled for a few days about how annoying it is to mail things. Why can't my HOA figure out the whole Internet thing yet?

Then on the day of the mailing, I sat down and wrote out my pool pass paperwork, scribed a check for my property tax (you have to pay three percent to pay online and I am my father's daughter and won't do that) and then decided to write a few thank you notes for donations to my Team Massey page (if you haven't gotten yours yet, but donated, don't worry! It's coming, I just need more stationary).

It felt kind of — nice — writing thank you notes. Then, after I addressed the letters, I set out on foot for the blue box. When I was about halfway to the box, I thought about how inefficient it is to have to write a letter and then walk all the way to a drop spot. It would have been easier if I just dropped it at the Post Office the next time in my car.

But at the same time, it was also just really wonderful to have an "excuse" to take a stroll around the Museum District.

In an effort to streamline every chore, sometimes we strip out the pleasantries of life. The whole bill thing likely isn't making someones day, but maybe the surprise thank you note will demonstrate my gratitude in a way more sincere than a tagged Facebook post. But beyond that, a nice walk through my neighborhood on a perfectly warm, breezy day did ME good.

Even as I write this, sitting down in a comfy chair on my friend's patio dog-sitting, I relish in the opportunity to just take it in and reflect on how beautiful of a life I have been able to create. One that is filled with friends, aspirations, goals, love and support. When I think about how much I have "to get done," all that opportunity feels like a chore, but taking the long way home reminds me that it's not things to get done, but all the things I get to do.