Hello, Monday.

I was MIA this weekend because hubby was up with me every morning and no quiet time to post.

Here's a recap ... life's been happening!!

The White Elephant party was surprisingly fun.  The last time we went it was so hard to join conversations and we felt a bit like losers in the corner.  No problem this year - at all.  Fewer people made it easier to maneuver around and new faces made it easier to find conversations.  So many conversations in fact, I was talked out.  Go figure.  Our gift was a hit and part of an overall theme of toilet gifts this year.

The best gift??  Someone bought a gold toned plunger and attached a string of scratch-off tickets.  A golden plunger with a golden ticket.  It was a great idea.  Let's be honest, everyone could use a new plunger and, maybe win some $$$$.  I'm totally copying it if I ever get invited to another one. (I had hubby pick and we got a "world's greatest grandpa mug" and Starbucks cookie straws.  We laughed that apparently grandpa didn't live up to the role as the world's greatest so it had to go - everything had to be new, so someone gave it to him hahaha.)

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Other big weekend news ...

After a long conversation at dinner on Friday, we decided to start the process of moving locally.  Our neighborhood is too big for us now, taxes too high and HOA too much with the manned gates.  It served our purpose and we have no regrets living here, but the time has come for something different.

We planned to do this in about 3 years based on hubby's job situation, but after talking about it, we decided that was flawed reasoning.

We're not in a rush.  Moving forward on house projects pretty quickly though -- hubby finally agreed.  Carpets are picked and should be in soon; calling painter after carpet date is set.  We started looking for houses.  Drove around to open houses and neighborhoods.  We're not at a stage ask for house showings, but we want to be ready when we find a great choice.  We can be picky and we don't have to worry about school district for the first time EVER!

Thought is might be worth mentioning ... our painter wants to do carpets first which is the opposite what I thought.  The reasoning is solid.  He said they always cover carpets regardless of "planning to replace" and the dust from removal of old carpet/pad is a problem on freshly cured walls.  Also, there's usually some base board scuff or height difference.  Good advice.

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Less big news ...

The Saturday boxing class did not disappoint.  Man, it's FUN and high energy and a great workout.  Why did I wait so long to try it?  I was chicken and that's never a good reason (unless I'm scared of actually dying, i.e. sky diving, duh).

Sunday night meditation class.  It was also a surprise win.  I thought it would be okay and something to try, but it was more than okay - it was GOOD.  We did 2 meditations, one breathing and one guided visualization.  Journaled.  Shared.  Did "listening" exercises with different partners.  Next week we'll do 2 other styles of meditation with this same group.

The group was a good mix.  One other instructor, a married couple, lots of newbies to meditation and one lady who described everything as "delicious" -- it made me hungry every time she talked :)

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This was a weekend of YES - hibernation is officially over.

Monday is here - start to a fresh week.  It feels good (I know, Mondays are different when you're working - I remember all too well ... *cue guilt*).  It's a full calendar week - some fun, some less fun.  More on it all later.  Make it a "delicious" week -- later gators.  (P.S. "Delicious" lady was a bit over-the-top, but I tried to be a better person and not judge -- I give myself a C+ LOL)