Best Things I Learned While I Was 49

It was bound to happen, folks. Once I get within spitting distance of a birthday, there's bound be a post about the 'best things I learned while I was...," in this case, 49. These annual posts of mine are usually my most popular of the year. Go figure. And even though you might not think it's possible to top the Best Things I Learned While I Was 48, (I know, right?) who knows what could happen?

And you know, I'm turning the big Hawaii 5-0 (without the Hawaii, unfortunately). So you know what that means.

Yeah, if by 'party' you mean my annual refusal to cook dinner on my birthday, going out to eat, and then falling asleep on the couch by 11:30 or so (it's a work night, after all). Party on, Garth.

So anyhoodle, lets get this best-things-I-learned-while-I-was-49 post underway, before I officially become part of the Over the Hill club. I've got until September 28 to be 49, and I will not go quietly or gracefully into my 50's, people. I'm holding onto my 40's until the very last second!

You know the drill by now: these pearls of forty-nine-year-old wisdom are in no particular order...

• Going back to college, for a second master's degree no less, is not for the weak of heart, or mind, or body...or bank account--but then again, that's what student loans are for, right? As that old saying goes, "he who dies with the most student loan debt...only gets out of it by dying."
• When David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Prince, and Gene Wilder all die in the same year, you realize that a huge part of your youth died with them...and it puts things into perspective.

•  Any idiot can run for president. And one of them will probably win. 

• Finding out that The Vampire Diaries is ending after the 2016-17 season is going to put a bit of a kink in my TVD obsession posts. Not to mention the withdrawals. And all the feels from the absence of Damon my favorite immortals! 

• Getting a teaching job after 7 years of looking (and 7 years of rejection) is kind of maybe totally awesome. 
• I have an addiction to Erin Condren planners and I don't care who knows it. Life planner? Check. Planner for journaling? Check. Teacher Planner? Check. Washi tape and stickers galore to decorate the pages of said planners? Double check.

• You should never underestimate the effect that opening a ginormous pack of gelly roll pens can have on your life, no matter how old you are.
• The word, 'ginormous' doesn't get highlighted by the spellchecker in my browser. It seems like a fake word (gigantic+enormous, anyone?), but I checked and it is indeed in the dictionary. [Oh sure. But 'boom chucka lucka' can't make the cut.]
• When people accuse you of doing things you didn't do, and they refuse to believe you no matter what you say or do, and all they do is spew venom and hate at you, it's perfectly OK to cut ties with those people. Even if they're family. 

• Unless I'm going to be swept away into a fairy tale land full of munchkins, and tin men, and Oz (Oh My!)--and it becomes a Ruby Shoes Day for a skippidy-do-walk down a yellow brick road with 3 new besties and my little dog, too--then I don't want to be within 3 miles of a tornado ever again.

• Just because someone texts you, it doesn't mean you have to read it right that very minute. Or even reply. No, seriously.
• Life is better with cheesecake.
• I don't like soda. I do, however, like an occasional pop.

• Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy art supplies, and books, and music...and that's pretty much the same thing in my book.
• Netflix awesomely allows you to binge-watch entire seasons without commercials and without annoying holidays and hiatuses...so that you can subsequently feel utterly sad, empty, and completely alone when the season or series ends.
• I have no idea who Todd Chrisley is or why he has his own reality TV show. But I think if we met we would be best friends.
• When the official Vampire Diaries page on Facebook posts a TVD meme you made, it kind of makes your day. [Who am I kidding? It made my whole year.]
• Some like it Scot.

Sam Heughan, aka Jamie Fraser on Outlander

• Documenting your life is important. Do it in photos. Do it in a planner. Do it in a journal. But do it. Your kids will appreciate it. Trust me.
• If you decide at the last minute to make a favorite recipe, and you run to the store to get the ingredients to make it, you will get home and start making it, only to realize that you forgot the main ingredient.
• The world's best garden is the one you grow with your granddaughter.

• I'm still not over the end of LOST, saying goodbye to my FRIENDS, or the death of McDreamy. And I'm OK with that.

Well now, that is quite a lot of acquired knowledge from the last year of my life. But before I finish this ode to my fading forties, I just want to add that even though I don't usually want gifts on my birthday, since turning 50 is a milestone year, I would not be opposed to a present this year. 

You know, like...

Or...

And you know, even though it's kind of not exciting to be turning the big 5-0, at least I do get to have a birthday (hello, bright side? I'm talking to you!), right? So let's just bring this Best Things I Learned When I was 49 post to a  birthday-worthy finish, shall we?

Can you say, Christina and Meredith Dance Party, boys and girls?!

Here's to the last 24 hours of my 49th year...and the beginning of (hopefully) the fabulous 50's. Dance it out, people.

Planner-Obsession

Well, it's official. I now belong to a not-so elite, not-so underground society of people with OCD organizational tendencies.

That's right. I am officially and unequivocally a newbie Planner Addict.

I know, right? What can I say? It's the latest of My Obsessions. And when I get obsessed with something, believe me when I tell you...I'm. All. In. Not that I really have a ton of things to plan exactly, especially with not working full time right now. But hey, a girl has needs. And the OCD girl in me needs to feel organized and in control. It just is what it is.

It began simply enough, with a desire to buy a planner to keep track of bills and important dates and stuff. Because, you know, my iPhone is great, but technology sucks sometimes. And I just find it lacking in reliability for the long term. And so, I set out to purchase a planner. But which one?

Let me just tell you, it's not an easy thing choosing a planner. I liken it to buying a new purse--it takes some serious thought. You have to have the right amount of compartments, the right size, the right color, and it has to be Über-functional. 

That's right. I said Über.

And apparently, there is a "planner season," and I was NOT in it. So finding the ever-so-perfect planner became a challenge from the get-go. But I narrowed it down fairly quickly to two planners: a Paperchase one in a tealish-blue, and a kikki.K one in mint, both in A5 size. (A5 is planner-speak for 5.8 x 8.3 inches--go figure). Neither of these planners are sold in the U.S., which proves to me that I have a knack for making complicated things even more complicated. After all, buying from other countries makes things more expensive! And I'm kind of cheap frugal. 

But you know what they say...what a girl wants...

So after learning that the kikki.K planner (from Australia) is sort of a unicorn of planners (hard to get), I settled on the Paperchase planner.

It's got a sort of wood-grain effect on the cover. Naturally, since it was not "planner season," all the cutest A5 Paperchase planners were sold out. So I kind of settled on this one, but I do love it. After it arrived I started moving in (planner-speak for, you know, getting the planner all set up) to it and joined some FB planner groups. And I kept seeing that unicorn...that kikki.K mint planner...the unicorn...taunting me. So I set out to get one too. 

I know, I know, OK? I have problems. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy to get that unicorn. I nearly gave up. But 3 emails, 2 phone calls to Australia (G'day, mate!) and 1 credit card authorization later, my kikki.K was on its way to me stateside. She arrived in short order too, considering it came all the way from down under.

Isn't my unicorn beautiful? And I got her just in time (yep, she's a her). They discontinued this particular style and I was one of the last people to be able to purchase one directly from kikki.K. Yay, me!

So what's a gal to do with not one but TWO planners, eh? It took me awhile to figure that out too. But honestly, after I decided what all I wanted to include in my planners, I realized fairly quick that I'd need two of them in order to do it! So now, after a couple of weeks of arranging and re-arranging, I have finally settled on a great arrangement. My kikki.K is my full-on organizational planner, wherein I keep track of bills, important dates, contacts, etc. And my Paperchase planner is my personal journal. I've added sections for Journal pages, Gratitudes, Quotes, and Poetry. 

You know, I used to use a planner years ago and it was very handy. But I had no idea how big of a "thing" they are these days. People decorate the pages and all sorts of things, which, being the artsy gal I am, I am doing also. Makes me feel creative even when I'm sitting at my desk. Gotta love that. But planners are a really big thing. The planner groups I joined on FB--some are just to share pages and setup etc, and some are for buying and selling, while some are for purchasing planner supplies. But I've seen some planners sell in those groups for over $200! In fact, a mint kikki.K (like my unicorn) was posted there today, selling on Ebay for $250.

Dude, I 'm dead serious. Unbelievable, isn't it? I could almost make my car payment with that much money. I'd never pay that much for a planner. It'd have to be real live unicorn for $250. And even then I don't think I'd do it.

But anyhoots, I'm all moved into my planners and enjoying the quasi-organized life that my latest obsessions are helping me to create. And lets face it: there are worse things I could be than a wee bit OCD and organized. It's not like I'm obsessed with vampires or something.

Ahem.