The spreadsheet says it all

Found myself staring at the anniversary planning aftermath this afternoon - sticky notes, printed restaurant reviews, and my color-coded itinerary that somehow turned into three pages.

The spreadsheet says it all

When did I become the person who makes backup plans for backup plans?

The whole process started simple enough. Jake suggested we do something special for our anniversary, I said absolutely, and somehow two weeks later I’m researching hotel check-in policies and mapping driving routes with traffic contingencies. Meanwhile, Jake contributed exactly four words to the planning: “sounds perfect, you decide.”

Processing mode activated

It’s not that he doesn’t care - he gets genuinely excited about the plans once they’re made. But somewhere along the way, I became the default project manager for everything that requires more than one decision. Dinner reservations, weekend trips, even deciding what to binge-watch requires a full Elena production meeting.

Maybe that’s just how we work. I like organizing, he likes being pleasantly surprised by organized things. But looking at this paper explosion, I’m wondering if I’ve accidentally trained us both into roles we never actually discussed choosing.