I received some wonderful news today - my former boss was promoted to a position that he has worked long and hard to achieve. It’s a big milestone for him, and will do wonderful things for the organization. Although I had an inkling that this was coming, I was surprised at the onslaught of emotions that hit when I read the message. It was almost like one of those “life flashing before your eyes” moments, but without the pesky near-death experience. In a flash, I remembered the stress from that job and commute, imagined how crazy things will probably be during the transition period for my former department, and let out a huge sigh of relief.

What more could I do? As soon as my new boss came out of her meeting, I hugged her.

You see, as soon as I got that news, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I made the right decision in changing jobs. I wasn’t unhappy with my decision prior to today, mind you - I’ve known all along that this was a very good change for me, one that I was truly enjoying. (I’ve been saying for months now that I “retired” from corporate IT to become an executive assistant.) That moment this afternoon, however, was powerful. I did the right thing, and that feels damn good.

To me, this is a sign that I’m on the right track, and that living behind the curve is the right thing for us. (Walking away from a well-paying corporate job with kick-ass benefits that covered both of us was not a move I made without Mer’s input, after all - that’s not how we roll, yo.) We’ve fleshed out what that means to us in the new year: it’s not just simple, frugal, and fabulous anymore.

Living Behind the Curve is more about life than finance. It’s about discovering, setting, and reorganizing priorities. It’s about enjoying the here and now, while keeping an eye on the future. Living Behind the Curve is living the life you want and working toward more.

Priorities played a huge role in the changes we made in 2007. One of the hardest lessons for both of us to learn is that sometimes you just need to let go - it’s important to enjoy the doing, but it’s equally important to enjoy not doing. So, when life became overwhelming at the tail end of the year, we made changes to our priorities and lifestyle. We cut way back on blogging, not only here but also at Catch the Spoon and our personal blogs. We stopped taking on side jobs. Mer took a break from podcasting, we finally hired someone to clean our house, and we invested in a metric ass-ton of flannel pajamas. Several months later, our house is clean, our stress levels are down, and even though I look like a working-class Hugh Hefner* during my non-working hours (see photo), we are happier than we were a few months ago.

We’re a few days from heading into a new semester, and we have plans to soar through more smoothly than ever before. Thank you all for sticking around during our unplanned hiatus - there’s more SRSLY recipes, silly TV show comparisons, goat-free simplicity, and intents and purchases to come in 2008. (I also owe Sara some holiday recipes…)

Life is freaking awesome and it’s only going to get better - that’s Living Behind the Curve in 2008.

*If wearing silk pajamas would get me an evening or two with Holly, Bridget, and Kendra, I’d *so* be there. Instead, I opt for the much cheaper flannel variety. **

** Mer’s note: Even if wearing silk pajamas did get Dani an evening or two with the Girls Next Door, she’d freeze to death before the cocktail hour was over. Not that that would be a particularly bad way to go, mind you.