40 by 40 - Go to a movie alone & invite the neighbours for dinner

So it's been a year since I've updated my 40 by 40 and I've only got two new things to show for it. But something is better than nothing right?

Go to a movie alone
It probably seems silly for me to be uncomfortable with this, but eating alone or going to a movie alone has always felt like a scary thing for me. Where do I look? How do I fill the silences? Well...now with two small kids at home, I treasure my alone time and any silence I can get. I was EXCITED to get out to a movie alone. And it was great. Not weird at all and a really nice little break. I might just do it again.

Invite the neighbours for dinner
How have we not done this before? I love the idea of neighbours who know each others names and have conversations in the driveway and dinner together. We bring the neighbours treats at Christmas, but even then, we don't really get to know them. One day, our next door neighbours were playing in the front yard as the same time as us and we chatted a little. We were heading inside and I thought, yet again, "we should really invite them for dinner." And I suddenly just turned around and went back out and invited them over for a few nights later. They were free and we set the date.

The night they came by, AJ and I were having a conversation because we couldn't be sure we remembered their names. How embarrassing. We have lived here 3 years. I thought I knew, but it had been a long time since we had introduced ourselves, and it's really easy to have quick conversations without ever using each other's names. And so, when they got there, I just got it out of the way. "So, this is embarrassing, but I need to make sure I have your names right." I did, and I made sure they knew ours just in case they were feeling the same way. And we had a great night letting the kids run around and getting to know each other.

I hate that we let busy schedules and laziness get in the way of really getting to know the people around us. This is one that I absolutely want to continue.