Monday, Monday

I was raised listening to a lot of oldies, including the Mama's and the Papa's.  When I lived in Idaho the song California Dreaming would often run across my mind as the 6 month winter continued on.  No matter where I live I think of Monday, Monday on Mondays. I think that Mondays get a bad wrap.  It isn't their fault that they are the beginning of the work week, and the dreaded end of the weekend.  This Monday I am feeling pretty good. 

Friday had it's own list of problems as I struggled to recover from Thursday aka Party Day aka Halloween.  Even though I did not lose control I had to push my thoughts back in focus and stop thinking about junk food.  One thing that got me through the day was trying on a dress that stopped fitting months ago.  It is one of my favorites, and I love wearing it.  I slid the dress over my head and it fell right where it belonged.  No issues.  If that isn't enough to give a girl a boost, I don't know what will.

Saturday started very early by attending the 6:00 AM session at the Portland Temple.  Beau's dad had invited us to go with him, and I struggled to get excited about waking up even earlier than normal on the only day of the week I get to sleep in.  It has been a while since I last went, and I knew that I needed to go.  Not to mention Beau had asked me to come with him.  Making the decision to go occurred on Friday night right before bed, and four short hours later I was up again.  I have to admit that even though I was sleep deprived, that was the best thing I could have done.  I love being able to focus on the things that are most important.  Going to the temple allows me to turn off all the distractions that I face every day in normal circumstances and just focus on my faith.  I was centered. 

The rest of Saturday was spent doing something that I have neglected for some time.  I cleaned  my house.  When I was single I used to love cleaning.  In fact, I would become a woman on a mission with a sponge in one hand and my trusty cleaner in the other.  My roommates would joke to stay away when I was cleaning.  It just made me think clearer when I wasn't stressed over the state of my home.  I did pretty well cleaning my own home after we were married until going to school full time, and working full time meant that something had to be put off.  That was the house.  I decided that I could either be a good student or an excellent home cleaner and not both.  Since I have graduated I have found that cleaning was something that was easier to ignore.  The truth is that while I was working and studying I was eating.  Helping pack on these much despised pounds.  When I tried to clean I found that my body hurt more and more with each increase in my size.  My back would scream in pain and my body would tire.  Who wants to do something that makes them feel like an old woman?  Not me!  So I found myself putting off cleaning more and more.  Trying to ignore my house made me depressed which made me eat, which helped me gain weight, which made this whole process a vicious cycle.  There are other things that I don't do as much for similar reasons, but the state of my home is one that bothers me more than the others.  On Saturday I decided it was time to get off my butt and get scrubbing.  I cleaned each room to the best of my ability (unfortunately missing the floors in the kitchen and living room) and then sat down and remembered why I used to love cleaning.  I didn't even mind the back pain that came because it was no where near as bad as it used to be, and I could finally truly take a deep breath and not cringe at the state of my home.  Beau was excited to see the improvement when he got home as well.  It is just nice to have things taken care of.

Sunday we went to church, and afterwards we took a drive out to the area we hope to be living in the next few months.  We hope to move closer to Beau and my jobs so that we can cut down on commute time and cost.  In the evening we had Beau's parents and the missionaries over for dinner.  I made a chicken tortilla soup that tasted pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  I also made a fruit salad with pineapple, kiwi, and watermelon.  It was a nice evening with pleasant conversation and good healthy food. 

This brings us to Monday.  Today I got up and put dinner in the crock pot.  I also found out that we might be able to move into a nicer house than we thought as one is going to be available soon.  This house has a huge garage with tons of storage space, three bedrooms, one bathroom, carpet (I really miss having warm floors!!), and a gas stove.  This sounds like heaven.  I am excited for the prospect of the move.  I think I could use a positive change in housing.  I would also be able to see Beau more often which is never a bad thing.  So Monday's aren't all bad.  This morning when the alarm went off I looked at Beau and said, "Today is my weight in."  He told me, "Well that's a good thing because you have nothing to worry about."  He is right.  Even though my brain told me otherwise, I did not go crazy and eat the world.  I am ready for my trip to the scale.  Bring it!