Hiya ladies!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving -- we sure did. Day after we went to the Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco.
http://www.dickensfair.com/ It was wonderful! They turned the inside of the Cow Palace (stupid name, but they hold the Grand National Rodeo there -- it's a huge building, they have lots of concerts and events there) into Charles Dickens' London, complete with winding streets, shops, performers, different stages with entertainment. There was a tea shop where we had afternoon tea, very elegant and formal...until about ten chimney sweeps came down the false chimney and barged in, covered with soot. They sang songs, chatted with us at our tables, posed for pictures, and generally drove the dainty tea shop waitresses crazy
We loved it. I can see making this excursion a yearly tradition.
Got horribly sick over the weekend though -- sore throat, everything ached, fever. Dr. insisted on a strep culture, but the nurse said she'd been doing tons of them and they were all negative -- not strep, just a really bad virus going around. I was off work Mon-Wed this week, basically slept for three days. Was too sick to even make it to WW this last Saturday, and haven't been OP very well, gotta get back on track...
Susan, glad you won't have to deal with that royal pain much longer. And glad you resisted hiding sandwiches in your desk drawer for later!!!
EM, I'm one of the "Katies" around here
My name is Mary Katherine, and I've posted on the net forever as Katiecat, but since there is a RosieKate here, too -- that's Kat
y and I'm Kat
ie -- and Jane has a daughter Katie, I started signing my posts "Mary Kate". At least...some of the time...when I remember...
So, welcome to yet another Kate!!!
You mentioned in the last thread about simple living. I didn't do home birthing, but I did homeschool my boys for seven years, made bread, granola, jam, and fell in love with the Tightwad Gazette and Miserly Moms
Loved your family pic! So funny, haven't heard the term "Irish twins" for a long time, heehee. Hubby and I went to Ireland in September, my pics are here if you ever get bored:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kateothelamp/my_photos
Michelle, I've wanted to take belly dancing forever, but have been just too intimidated, especially because of my size. I'm not only a curvy girl
, but I'm a BIG girl too...about 5'10", sort of Amazonian (read: big, klutzy, and don't blend in well). I have a short curvy friend who has taken belly dancing and was trying to get me to take classes with her...maybe I will someday if I ever get the nerve.
Oh, and I'll take some of those zero-calorie tamales, please
I tried a really good casserole last night from Cooking Light, Chicken Chilquiles -- corn tortillas, salsa verde, fat free sour cream, low fat Mexican cheese, shredded chicken. mmmmmmmmmmm It was a hit, and really easy, so I'll post it in the recipe thread. Would be a good way to use up leftover turkey, too.
Marti, now you've got me wanting to go to craft fairs, too! My short bellydancing friend invited me to go with her Sunday morning to a fair. She's also been dragging me out every two weeks for a pedicure -- quite a big step for me, since I'm so hopelessly un-girly. So now I have
pretty pink toenails, even if I can't figure out makeup or what the heck to do with my messy hair, and I live in jeans and t-shirts.
Jane, I'll be lucky if I can get my act together and get Christmas cards out this year. Wish I had your organization skills. Our living room is still kind of torn apart from moving 5 full bookcases into the spare room, but have one more floor-to-ceiling bookcase (full) that won't fit anywhere else in the house, and the TV has to stay somewhere near the cable hookup, and Tim wants to move the couch to the opposite wall, so hopefully it won't be too close to the fireplace...ack!!! So...if we can get all that arranged by this weekend, then maybe we can put up the tree next week. Now as for outside lights? Well, this is what I'd
like to do, just to trip out the neighbors:
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=14019
Cristi, what's going on with your arm? I get to go back to the hand surgeon next week, oh yay.
The doc that did the nerve conduction testing says she sees the start of carpal tunnel in my wrist, but the biggest problem is the radial tunnel up near my elbow, running across the top of my forearm. Index finger and thumb keep going numb, losing my grip, pain, etc. I don't want surgery, but I sure don't want cortisone shots, either, which they keep trying to push me into. What has the doctor been able to do for your arm so far?
OK, it's getting late...talk to you all soon...
Hugs,
Mary Kate