A weekend in December

Monday morning.

Already.

~slow, deep inhale~

~long, full exhale~

♥

December 7th. Already. Time waits for no one, my friends. I hope you all had great weekends, just like me. Tis the season for making lists and meeting people and preparing for Christmas and regular weekend responsibilities. Step right in, I'll show you...

I ended up with an accidental 3-day weekend because I wasn't feeling well on Friday morning so I stayed home from work. I had a miraculous recovery by Friday evening though, and was able to follow through with plans made for an evening out with my girl, Carrie. We look forward to the annual Crafeteria in downtown Phoenix. We met our friend Kristin for dinner, and then some fun and unique shopping afterwards. I loved Friday night! ♥

Big news for me from the weekend is that I had an interview at a yoga studio for a Saturday morning teaching spot. I got the job! :o) I start this weekend, and I'll be teaching a restorative yoga class at Aloha Yoga & Hula. I'm so excited for the opportunity to lead a restorative yoga class! It will allow me to incorporate what I'm learning in my current teacher training as a yoga therapist. One teeny-tiny little detail: I've never lead an entire hour of restorative yoga. (yikes) I have some prep work to do before Saturday, but I trust that all will be well in the end. I'm so grateful for the opportunity!

And speaking of yoga teacher training? Five hours on Saturday, five yesterday...

We studied the therapeutic aspects of asana (poses) this weekend. LOTS of holding poses for long periods of time while we worked with different alignment cues. My mind is full and my body is tired this morning. It was a really great workshop! And bonus: I got to be with my yoga friends!

Hooray - first gifts of this Christmas season...

Gift giving has begun, and so has Christmas baking! After yoga on Saturday I came home and made a batch of banana-chocolate-chip bread. I like to bake mini-loaves of bread, wrap and freeze them, and then have them on hand to tuck into the Christmas packages I mail.

Sunday morning I baked pumpkin bread before yoga...

Doug had a great time camping with his brother this past weekend. My brother-in-law bought a piece of property in northern Arizona, so the boys went up to clear a path for a road for their quads and to build a tree stand for hunting. Doug was able to bring home some pieces of juniper wood for our fireplace. Hooray! Now we just need for it to be cold enough to have a fire!

And now comes Monday and a bit of a mind-shift. There's lots to do at work this week in preparation of our office being closed for two weeks around Christmas. Only 9-1/2 days left till break!!! :o)!!! (VERY excited...) I need to sift through the shopping bags I have so far and get my bearings on where I am. I think I'm sitting fairly well at this point - really not stressing about shopping and what-to-give.

I sure don't want to wish this whole week away, but I am really looking forward to the events on the upcoming weekend's calendar. So with that, I'm off to tackle the week of December 7th.

Have a holly jolly week, my friends!

♥