Two months in... and feeling good.

It just dawned on me the other day we've lived downtown now for 2 months, having moved in right before the beginning of the year. Wow, what a change it's been and wow, have we ever done a lot in a pretty short amount of time.

In one of my recent posts I talked about living well with less. It still definitely feels that we're doing that and it really didn't take long to adjust. It's amazing how quickly you can get used to something, especially if that something makes your life easier. Downsizing and moving downtown has definitely made our lives easier. Everything from having no yard work, no home maintenance, less time spent cleaning, to shorter commute times to and from work (for hubby at least, mine is the same amount of time, just fewer traffic lights).

I don't think I fully expected to have so much more free time than we used to have. It's been really nice. And when the weather cooperates (which is always iffy in Oklahoma!), we've put that free time to some pretty good use. We've had a lot of FUN since moving... we've done a lot of spontaneous outings with no real goals in mind other than being together and exploring. And we've discovered some great places and made some new friends, too.

Last weekend we went with a group of our Urban Neighbors friends to the OKCMOA to watch the animated short films that have been nominated for Academy Awards. It was the first time we'd been in the theatre there and it's really great. Plus, since we have our membership there now, it's only $5 to see a movie there.




We didn't care for all the shorts... one of them was pretty disturbing and a couple were just weird but there were a couple of really good ones. My favorite was Room on the Broom. It was precious. I'd like to get a copy of that to show to Calin, my sweet grandbaby. I really hope it wins.




After the shorts were over, the group went to Shelley's apartment at Park Harvey, one of the downtown skyscraper apartments. Wow, it was an amazing view from her 16th floor apartment and just a block away from the museum. It would have never been so easy to do something like in any other neighborhood.

On Saturday we got out and strolled over to the Myriad Gardens again. This time we stopped at Park House for lunch and enjoyed the view. It was pretty windy so it was nice to sit inside this time. That place is so cool - circular glass most all the way around. I can't wait to see it at night. The veggie burger was good but the fries were awesome (sometimes you have to splurge, right?)




Just as we were finishing lunch, sweet hubby said he wondered what was playing at Harkins, the downtown movie theatre. I checked on my phone and found that a movie we had been wanting to see had just opened there - A Winter's Tale. But it started in 5 minutes... with the theatre over half a mile away, there's no way we could make it in time. He smiled and said let's see. And we took off.

We didn't run but we definitely walked a very brisk pace to get there. I don't know what was going on at the Chesapeake Arena that afternoon but there were a lot of people heading over there when we walked by. We had to weave in and out through them to not slow down. We got to the theatre, got our tickets and walked into the movie only 5 minutes into the previews. Not too bad. And the movie was worth seeing, too, thankfully. :) It was a good love story... just didn't expect Will Smith as the devil.




We had a house full Sunday afternoon/evening as the kids & grandbaby as well as heathen college son all came over to hang out and have dinner. Even in our smaller space we have plenty of room for that. Now when the twins and their parents come down from Kansas City and add to the mix, it will be interesting for sure but I'm confident we'll manage just fine.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday we got out our bikes and gave that a go. Alas, we discovered downtown OKC's hills are a bit much on single speed bikes (that were always intended for the beach anyway). After working out several times this week at the Y, my legs protested the ride for sure. Perhaps we'll stick to walking instead... we'll see. We do have the cutest cruiser bikes though...



Today we're settled in for just hanging out at home, maybe watching a movie on Apple TV. The kids will come for dinner tonight so there will be some fun in the kitchen seeing what I can come up with for them. It's especially fun with grandbaby now that she's exploring foods.



Yep, just a lazy day at home... no pressures, no stressors. If it feels this good after only two months in, especially during the winter, how good is it going to feel a few months from now when it's warm all the time and everything is green and blooming? I can't wait to find out. :)

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Location:NE 4th St,Oklahoma City,United States

Busy, busy week...

Wow... this has been a busy, busy week. It started Sunday evening with a banquet for 250 people from across the state. We had an auction of items brought to the banquet by the attendees. The auction raised $23,640 for the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and my boss was nice enough to add in the difference to bring it to an even $25,000. That is one of the things that makes me so proud to work for the Electric Cooperatives of Oklahoma... they are so incredibly caring and generous. Wonderful people.






Monday was our conference, which went really well with the exception of our last speaker. He was truly every meeting planner's worst nightmare... I still shudder when I think about it. However, we've had no serious complaints about his inappropriate, off-color, offensive jokes... nope, only lots and lots of people having a good time teasing me about it. :) All the really great meetings I've planned, all the terrific speakers I've lined up over the years... this is the one I'll be remembered for. Sigh... aw, well. I guess those broad shoulders I've got will be put to good use. Too bad I can't say the same thing for these broad hips! :)












Monday evening we had our legislative reception at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Yes, I know it's now called the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum... but if you grew up in OKC, it will always be the Cowboy Hall of Fame. That went well, too, and gave everyone who had been at the meeting a good chance to give me a hard time about that speaker.












Tuesday we had our board meeting and that was a full house. Tuesday night we got to go bowling with our Urban Neighbors Bowling league at Red Pin. We timed how long it takes to get there from our condo... all of 3 minutes. Wow. That's too cool. Of course we found out this week that we want to get there early because we had to park pretty far away. We ended up parked on the east end of Toby's, pretty far from Red Pin. But it all worked out and we had a great time. I'd been really worried that we would bowl so badly that no one would want us on the league. However, it didn't take us long that first night to realize we really don't have any serious bowlers, we just have a bunch of people who want to have fun together. That's pretty awesome.






Wednesday I drove to Vinita, way up in the northeast part of the state... a good hour past Tulsa. Got home just in time for sweet hubby and me to head off to a wine tasting at Paseo Art Studio. Not quite a downtown event, but not too far away. After the wine tasting, we just crossed the street to Paseo Grill for dinner. Oh. My. Gosh. Was that ever delicious! We weren't super hungry so we opted for salads and appetizers - hummus, olive spread and pita bread and an order of edamame. It was really good. We'll definitely have to do that again.






Today (Thursday), I had 92 people signed up to be at a class for new employees and new directors of the co-ops across the state. Even with 6 people not showing up, we still had the biggest class ever. I'm really glad we have a large training center we can use for things like that. It will be really nice when the new building we're building is finished and we'll have even nice training space for these groups. I told the class I'd learned a long time ago the success of any meeting I planned was based on two things -- how well I fed them and how early I could get them out. Today, I was two for two. We had a wonderful lunch from Ted's Escondido Cafe and we ended about 15 minutes earlier than the agenda said we would. I think they all left happy.






So now I'm home and faced with a 3 day weekend... and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. Hooray! I love it that all the nice days in the last month or two have all been on the weekends. That's so unusual, but I'll definitely take it.

I think we're going to swing by OKCMOA tomorrow evening to see the animated short films that have been nominated for Academy Awards. Shelley, one of our new friends from Urban Neighbors, invited us when we were bowling the other night. That sounds like an interesting evening. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow but sweet hubby and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. I would so much rather him tell/show me he loves me of his own volition than because someone says he has to. He will always be my Valentine but I love it when he does something special for me because it's a Tuesday... not because it's Valentine's Day. Still, I'll love spending the evening with him no matter what day it is.






I'm off work tomorrow and I think I'll start the day by heading the Y. We joined the downtown Y, just a couple blocks from our condo, earlier this month but I haven't had a chance to go yet because of the crazy weather we've had. I've got a haircut appointment at noon and I may do a little shopping tomorrow afternoon. I'm not a huge shopping fan but I'm sure tired of wearing all the same clothes lately... so we'll see.

Not sure what we'll do on this beautiful weekend... both Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be in the 70s. I hope we'll be able to get out and roam around downtown. There's still so much to learn about what's available down here... I think getting out and about is the best way to find stuff.


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