Bill, I don't get the business about snarfing treats as a form of worship or gratitude either; I would think that any benevolent creator would be somewhat horrified at the mistreatment of the body temple.

Dagmar, I also blast the tunes while decorating - and sip heavily-spiked eggnog. Trans-Siberain Orchestra is my traditional season kickoff music. I may need to switch that up once the CD comes out of DS's Saturday concert. If the sound has been reproduced even remotely accurately, TSO will become 2nd in line!

Jen, I'm not a good housekeeper either. I count on my cleaning service for that, and it does force me to pick up every two weeks. June Cleaver, I ain't! I always figured that if the best they could come up with at my eulogy was "she was a great housekeeper", then I wasn't doing what I should have been doing.

megan, I couldn't listen to the address. I will make some alone time this week to grieve the way I need to. You're right, there are no words - just really raw, wrenching emotions.

allison, my scales have always given me good notice when the batteries are at the end. I like having the half-pound increments, because they don't change as often! I'm sure watching the cat dynamics has been really entertaining!

saef, I hope your new hire is a quick learner - that would be a nice gift in and of itself!

ward, I'm grateful that DS was never the adventurous type. a) he's not fast, and b), he's risk averse. For the kid that needs one, the leashes are a fabulous idea.

jessica, oil-fried everything doesn't sound like a way to celebrate to me - it sounds more like a night in the bathroom.

michele, that is definitely a big compliment from your yoga teacher! Good luck with fielding any questions; there certainly are far more questions than there are answers.

The big choir stuff is done. Whew! I'll get some links up for those who are interested, later this week. Now we'll have just minor stuff locally for the rest of the month. I guess this means I can start my gift shopping now ...

Siding continues to progress. There was an error by someone on the soffit material, which means a several week delay, but everything else can work around it. What's done looks pretty good.

My bunnies think that the Christmas tree is their own special snack. They've been vigorously trimming the lowest branches. I think I'm going to have to wait until the last minute to put presents under the tree (of course, at the rate I'm getting my shopping accomplished, that won't be a problem), as I am reasonably sure they will take great pleasure in tearing the wrapping paper off.

There are no social minefields to navigate this week. Work will be quiet, and I am going to use the opportunity to do some organizing for next year. Hopefully, tonight I will get everything ordered for gifting.

Woo hoo, Jen! I'm so glad that the IT Band strap helped!

Jen ran!

See Jen run! Run, Jen, run!

Run fast & steadily & painlessly & with exhilaration at getting back this part of your life.

That is great news Jen!!

Selective laryngitis? Never heard of it but we've had kids at my school with selective mutism (they can talk but choose not to) so I guess anything is possible!

Dd sent me a text that the only remaining present under the tree has now been opened so I guess no more presents under the tree for us either.

Good thing about a big staff at my school-- delicious looking treats disappear quickly-- there was a big plate of cookies and by the time I went back, it was gone. Thank goodness!!

My Harry & David's fruitcake just arrived. It's in a decorative tin so I have no problem putting it away until Christmas Day. Out of sight, out of mind. That was one bonding ritual my mom and I did for years - I helped her make fruitcakes (and then we moistened them and us with brandy for 6 weeks until the holidays began). Most of my mom's recipes involved booze of one kind or another but at least we were friendly with each other when drinking.

DH did see the fruitcake and suggested we eat it all tonite. He is still in the all/nothing state of mind. I wish I could move him forward but only he can do that.

Dinner tonite involves something called "freekeh" which I picked up on sale in the organic food aisles in our grocery store. I think I will saute some onions, red pepper, and add some chopped spinach to it as well during the last few minutes of cooking time.

Good evening all!

Dagmar

Morning all,
I declined going to a last-minute holiday party last night. Er, probably not last-minute, but BF was last minute in telling me. Since we've got another one tonight and he didn't care strongly if I went, I declined. Instead I ate my OP dinner, walked the dog as planned, and worked on caning a chair that I'm trying to finish for a coworker. I've had it for ~3 months and haven't had much time to sit and work on it, now feel guilty I've had it so long. I'm hoping to deliver it before I leave town for Christmas. I know, another self-imposed deadline. At least I'm getting paid for the chair.

Jen, glad you had a pain-free run! That is great!

Dagmar, I've never heard of "freekah". I just looked it up: "A cereal food made from green wheat that goes through a roasting process". Is it similar to buckwheat? I'm curious how your dinner turned out.

Becky, glad the house is still coming along. When you talk about your DS's chorus it always makes me nostalgic for my own children's choruses. I'm sure the music is wonderful. If anyone makes a youtube video etc you will have to send me a link. I'm laughing about your bunnies eating the tree. My dog really likes to chew up pine cones and sticks (not eat, just chew up, thank goodness). I shudder to think what she'd do with a real live tree, not just a fake one.

Is it really only Tuesday? This is going to be a long week at work. Have a good day everyone.

Still working on some audio. My iPad videos sound tinny. The choir's accompanist did a recording of the concerts using some much better equipment, so I think I'll be waiting for that. However, here's a picture at least. DS13 is on the far right.

And DS 1-12 are where?

Nice pic - they all look quite angelic and I'm sure they sound that way too!

Dagmar

Fruitcake-- yuck! I know some people love it-- but not me!

Megan-- dh and I had a party to go to Saturday night. I had my dress picked out, my hair colored and cut, and fully intended going. We had gone last year (co-workers of dh throw the party) and it was at least 1-1.5 hours away and we encountered horrible fog driving back (with me driving as the DD and I don't see well at night to drive). Dh and I were both struggling to stay awake in the afternoon and I was getting ready to get dressed to go when dh said we didn't have to go if I didn't want to. I was so happy! It was a dreary, cold, rainy day so I knew the fog would be even worse (their house is on the Bay) so he called to decline. We went out for sushi locally and went to bed early. Such a better decision than driving treacherous roads late at night with all the loonies and drunks.

I do have a couple of other challenges this week though. My holiday party for work is Thursday afternoon. Still planning on going but not staying too long and then will hopefully go to yoga after.

Saturday's challenge will be a little more difficult. I booked a reservation for high tea with younger dd at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco. I'm sure I will enjoy the full high tea service! My goal is to go to yoga before and maybe do some walking around in the city to combat the calories somewhat!

Thanks for the picture, I would love to hear them.

If you have five minutes and want to see some of the work we do, I invite you to watch this video: Gray Residence. This is the one where we supplied 17' tall structural glass walls that we had to import from Germany.

What a magnificent home, enhanced by your companies glass walls.

Hey folks! So I haven't been talking much about my eating or my weight on here lately, and there's a reason for that. The reason is no longer a big secret though, so I can tell you . . . I'm pregnant! What's more, I'm having twins! (No emoticon for twins I guess. ) They are due next June. So on the one hand it's time to turn off the maintenance mode because the doctor told me this morning I need to gain 40lbs (I'm up about 4-5 so far at 12 weeks), but on the other hand I need to track everything more than before because he also told me I need to eat 3,500 cals/day ( ) including 175g of protein. I've been struggling with "morning" (read: all day) sickness the past couple months so I'm not sure how I'm going to manage to eat that much, but I'll do my best.

(For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, I'll be announcing on facebook later today after I tell my boss at work so please don't post anything there until you see my announcement.)

Great double news, Jessica!

Becky, I also wish I could hear your son and his cohorts singing. Those boyish voices always sound so rapturous, and this time of year is about the only time they can be heard. You've given me a yen to hear them. I wish they'd go caroling through neighborhoods in the open air ... or else I need to get myself invited to some friend's kids' concert. Or maybe there's some TV Christmas special featuring the Vienna Boys Choir. (I just realized I haven't watched a live TV Christmas special in ages & ages, and yet that was something that was traditional in my childhood. And not just the elderly Bing Crosby ... there were all kids of Christmas specials on TV back in the day.)

Allison, that house, that house. Wow. Who are the Grays and where does their money come from? I mean the money to hire architects, cut into a hillside, drill through rock, erect steel girders, and move boulders, to get some equivalent of Fallingwater only not built on a waterfall? Ah, I like "Mad Men" and its historical recreations, but I'm far from a midcentury modern or Frank Lloyd Wright devotee -- and yet, yes, I can see, this is really something. Only people with the means to live far from neighbors can live on a stage setting inside a glass box.