MIA

Clearly I have been a bit absent. MIA, totally.

Not only from this blog, but from a lot of my social life. I have had a hard time balancing the new pressures and obligations of my new job with the fun choices and people in my personal life.

I have heard more often than I'd like to admit that people miss my blog, and wish I was writing more often. I want to! I promise!!

It has just been hard to find the time. When I was working at the last agency, and things were WAAAY slowed down in terms of workload, I found the time in the afternoon, or over lunch, or in the evenings from home. I was able to keep you updated on the funny, the ridiculous and the mundane details of my life.

Unfortunately, lately, I believe that my social life has been a bit MIA.

And, my free time at work. As you likely know (from previous posts) my job has me traveling up to New Jersey quite a bit - almost every week or twice a month at least - and that has changed the tempo of my week quite a bit. Either I'm packing to go (laundry, etc.) or I'm unpacking (or avoiding it) or I'm sitting in a hotel in New Jersey after a long day of traveling or meetings, with about 15 minutes to myself before I have to turn in for the night only to rise early and start over.

I have had a lot of fun, in the professional sense, getting a hang of my new responsibilities, managing the stress and the deliverables, meeting new people and seeing new products/projects come to fruition.

In addition, quite frankly, I have gotten to stay in pretty swanky hotels, dine at some pretty amazing restaurants and enjoy some fun perks. I have had the luxury, through business travel, to spend a week in South Beach at the Shore Club, a week at The Palace in New York and a week at Casa del Mar in Santa Monica; dinners at Nobu in two cities, nights at the Salt Creek Grill in Princeton, sushi at Katsuya in Hollywood; a pampering evening at The Butterfly Studio in New York courtesy of Health magazine, a happy hour with the Neutrogena team; and other choice opportunities.

I have been given freebies that range from free women's magazine subscriptions to skincare and haircare products to a blowout and style at a hair salon to a brand new Mercedes Benz SUV rental car and upgrades to first class that include wine and warm cocktail nuts and hot towels. I'm earning American Airlines frequent flier miles by the thousands, almost every week.

But honestly?

I have missed out on quite a few things at home.

This new schedule, and my mindset throughout it all, has enabled me (notice I took the blame) to pull deeper inside my "cocoon" when I am home. It has enabled me to justify hiding from the very things that would have made this time more fun and easier to handle. It has allowed me to justifiably avoid making the phone calls that connect me to my girlfriends, reschedule or cancel first dates that I should have wanted to go on, ignore the nagging urge to write a blog since the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer again, and avoid the fun social activities that happen here in Chicago during the week.

I couldn't sign up for a rec sports league for the summer (I usually play beach volleyball or softball) because I can't commit to a certain evening a week without throwing money away. I didn't sign up for the painting class that I took last spring for fear of wasting the class registration fee. I have rescheduled a swap party I'm hosting three times, and fear that this time, the girls will think I'm the boy that cried wolf and won't actually come.

My social life has gone MIA, and it is time to take it back.

With that, I vow to be more actively authoring new posts here. And while I enjoy the comments and the praise I get from my readers (the total of whom have likely dwindled down to three), it is more about the creative expression I feel from writing. The joy of looking at the world differently, absorbing the hilarity and the mundane with a post forming in my head.

My mood is different. I am reconnecting with lost friends. I am finding out what I missed in the last few months while I was sitting in Newark Liberty International Airport. I'm making plans. I'm giving gifts. I'm meeting guys. I'm flirting. I'm laughing. I'm milking the weekends. I'm helping my sister plan her wedding. I'm smiling again.

You can take down the posters off the telephone pole. I'm back.