Balmy weather, Tai Chi, and baby

80 degrees here folks! Lots of snow and cold in other places - if I could send some warm your way I would... And while we should stay and enjoy the beach and balmy days, we leave in a week to go to Star Mt., where last night the temp was -24 - oh yes, I did just write that and no typo - 24! We hope it warms up just a tad before we get there. Staying 3 weeks to enjoy winter wonderland (snowshoeing & skiing in the plans) We have lots of warm clothes and tons of wood for the fireplace - think we're going to need it...

Tai Chi this morning, which consists of many moves with cute names (grasp sparrow's tail, single whip, white stork, etc.) Our instructor Mike is teaching the short form with 37 postures. So far in a month we've learned 5. Hmmm, it will certainly take a while to learn it all at this rate. In his defence, he thinks it's super important to learn proper stance, balance, & center in the beginning, and he has bumped the learning curve up a bit. He's also letting it slip that really it's a martial art, cute names or not, but a defensive one. I guess that's okay, you never know when you need a skill... I'll miss 7 classes while we're gone, but intend to take a private lesson to catch up when we get back. Don't want to be left behind...

Walked to the beach after class and finally saw a young alligator. They have been non-existent for weeks. And the woodstork was right in the middle of the cart path for awhile paying no attention to bikes, walkers, beach trams, but by the time I got there, he sauntered off to the side and turned his back on me. Cold shouldered by a bird, thinking that's pretty low on the social scale.
Finished book #5 of the year. Sadly, did not like it and struggled to get to the end. The Last Supper by Rachel Cusk. Travel for 3 months to Italy with her husband & kids, should be fun right?  It was gloom & doom all the through - who knew you could make travel to Italy sound depressing!
And we did see the Fighter over the weekend. Another well deserved nominated movie. Boxing is not my thing, but the storyline was great and acting superb.

Lastly, but not in order of importance. I have exciting news. I'm going to be a grandmother!! Tiffany and Chris are expecting and she's due in August. Wildly joyous about it all. Can't wait!