This past weekend, I had no plans. This was the first weekend when I could do what I wanted whenever I wanted. Planning a wedding has made my weekends more unavailable, much to the surprise of no one. It’s gotten to the point where I started to feel mentally drained. I would get out of work, eat dinner, work out, and then spend an hour or two browsing Instagram. It felt like I didn’t have the energy to read, play Animal Crossing, or watch Critical Role. This weekend helped lift my spirits emotionally, mentally, and physically.

One thing I did this weekend was finish a book I was reading. I read The Shadow Mission by Shamim Sarif. This is the second book in the Athena Protocol series. It was amazing to spend my day reading without interruption. It allowed me to fully commit and become enamored with the characters, the setting, and the action scenes. I went through a reading slump recently, but now this weekend has allowed me to get back into my books. My TBR pile is slowly shrinking.

Besides reading, I watched a couple of movies. On Friday, I saw The Suicide Squad, which rocked. It was the first movie I saw in theaters after the pandemic. I’m going to write my review shortly. I also watched a recently released documentary on Netflix called Pray Away. Pray Away is about gay conversion therapy and the history behind it. It also features a couple of stories from the survivors. One of the stories brought me to tears. It’s an emotional documentary, and I would highly recommend it.

Finally, I installed some new video games to play. On my PS4, I bought Far Cry 5. For PC, I installed Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water’s Edge and Death and Taxes. I wanted something else to play besides Animal Crossing.

This is a reminder to check in with yourself. I needed a break from all the plans I have upcoming. I feel so much better and more equipped to launch into my plans. From now until our wedding on October 2nd, I don’t have any more free weekends. Wish me luck!