Quick check-in to keep myself on track!

I enjoyed running into neighbors who were checking out the Great Conjunction. It was dark, of course, and everyone maintained social distance, so I'm not at all sure who I said "hello" to in the night. But it all felt very neighborly and, as Bill said, connected the whole world.

Exercise +55, 1060/1400 minutes for December

maryann: Happy Birthday!

karenrn: Ouch for your nearness to COVID and the predictable direction from which it came. Sending immunity thoughts your way!

Wednesday-Festivus - It's for the Rest of Us! (since 1966, Jerry Seinfeld since 1997)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was going to the actual brick-and-mortar library to pick up a book for me to read to the DGD, From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It's about a kid who takes her kid brother to run away to the Museum of Fine Arts. Thought that would be a fun book since she's been to museums. Alas, it's way over her head with words like, 'files', 'lawyers', and 'wills' on the first page. Too bad; being naughty in a museum seems more healthy than being naughty sneaking out with boys. Even better than the book was the first one-star review on Amazon, "Frankly, I was shocked about the lack of ethical consciousness, about the downright immoral behavior of the children and the rancid ideas presented in the fancy garb of hero-worship." Folks like that remind me that I'd not do well as a librarian.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Evening snack included the (planned) small piece of fruit cake along with my Cosmic Crisp Apple. It's a half-loaf size fruit cake so it'll take a while for it to go. I like it. Enough. Glad it only happens once a year.

Exercise was dividing a cooked spiral sliced ham into three portions - two for delivery to our two kids from whom we'll pick up something that's all been planned. Well!, turns out to be difficult to judge one-third of a conically shaped bone-in ham. I did a mediocre job. DW adjusted the final product since spiral slices could be moved from one stack to the other. We get the butt end with the bone so it can be used for New Years Eve beans. It's way too much; I chose the size with my mind fully in the ham-sandwich-for-lunch mode.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - LOL at "not at all sure who I said "hello" to" - BTDT.

maryann - Kudos for avoiding all the Christmas sugar that's around. Thanks for the tip to thank an object for its service before you let it go.

Karen (karenrn) - Yay for DH's negative test results. Congrats for having equanimity for your son traveling back to Thailand. And Yay, indeed, for new masks. I find myself reading advertisements for masks that fit better.

curlyjax - Ouch for the sound of water - the worst sound a homeowner can ever hear. Hope it ends with a simple fix.

Readers -

Loong day yesterday. I hate city driving, then a few hours wait (fortunately there was somewhere to wait indoors), then a botched up order and wait outside in the cold for dinner and some squabbling in the car as we were both tired and hungry. But a friend had dropped off cookies while I was gone which was a lovely thing to come home to. And I forgot to mention I actually got to go inside a library on Monday- one of the nearby towns allowed limited browsing! -so I have some things to read again, which always improves my mood.
Today I get to talk to some of my favorite clients- I shouldn't have favorites but I do:) and make more cookies which I promised to do, and clean up the kitchen which I've let go while I was feeling down. I've been eating too many bagels and cookies but just trying to get thru this week.
Bill- I loved that book as a kid (yes, its for a 3-4th grader). I cannot believe that review, it sounds like she lives in the 1800s. Books are meant to be enjoyed and not have to have morals and lessons etc.Way to kill a love of reading. Ooh that ham sounds good; we would have some except DS doesn't like it and i'm not cooking a ton of food on christmas.
Gardenerjoy- nice way to connect with neighbors indeed.
Karen-so glad DH is negative!! And you too of course.
Maryann- I'm not huge into Christmas music. I love the nutcracker but it makes me sad, as does some choral/classic music, since it reminds me of my mom and christmases past. And I spent 4 years in college working in a mall at christmas time with the music blaring all day- that will kill modern christmas music for ya! I do love Handel's Messiah.

I've seen photos of two friends on Facebook getting their vaccines. This makes me happy. I'm not counting on getting mine until June, but I'm hopeful that DH, who turns 65 on March 31st, will get one in April.

Exercise +45, 1105/1400 minutes for December

BillBlueEyes: The big secret for librarians in that situation is the Request for Formal Reconsideration, a form that is handed to the complaining patron. Almost no one actually fills the thing out; they just wanted their moment to say something.

Good morning coaches,

I did eat a couple of cookies off plan yesterday and the bad news is that I may make some more. I haven't decided for sure. I think I'll wait until Suzanne gets here and see what she wants to do. She's my widowed friend who lives in Tucson. She will be here for at least a few days. If she doesn't want them, I won't make them. Dh has been working from home and is just fine, but he doesn't really like working from home. At the office he has several monitors and information is more easily available. The other couple of people in the office were also negative, so it was just the boss . . and the guy in the TX office where the boss had been.

This morning I took a friend to the airport and then hiked down there at South Mountain. I wore my N95 mask to protect her. She just tested negative and also got her first vaccine since she works in the OR. She had quite a lot of protective gear to wear and then sent me text messages that she is sitting next to 3 dogs. Good thing she loves dogs. She is even a pet sitter.

GardenerJoy Three of my friends have been vaccinated so far and it does lift a weight off my shoulders realizing that it is happening. I guess I'll be getting mine around the time your husband does and my husband (who is a little younger than me) will be 65 in March. I can't wait. I think one of the things I am most excited about is the fact that we wouldn't be getting so sick that we would have to put any more burden on the healthcare system. I do realize we will still be masking and all.

Curlyjax It's hard not to have favorites. You sound pretty darned busy. How much time will you have off for Christmas? Or is it back to work on Monday?

Bill I love fruitcake. I used to make it and it was a really delicious one with lots of nuts and dates and not to much of the stuff I don't like. I think I might just go up to the fancy grocery store to see if they have a small one. That sounds even better than cookies. Ham sounds good too.

One of my errands yesterday was to the Butcher shop. I bought tenderloin steak, short ribs and bratwurst. The most expensive item was the short ribs and I have never cooked them before. OMG they look so fatty and I spent so much money on them. I sure hope they taste good.

Waving to Maryann who is probably very busy with Christmas stuff.

Time for lunch and a shower.

Thursday - Byzantine church Hagia Sophia 2nd dedication (563, Constantinople)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (5 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. She was treated to a mini-Chirstmas Day since we won't see her again until after the New Year. DW had a bunch of puzzles and games wrapped under our Ficus "Christmas Tree" - gifts to stay for playing here. Thought she was stockpiling at least a month's worth. Alas, the little bundle not only tore through all the wrapping, but zipped through all the games and puzzles. Never underestimate the amount of energy and brainpower of a 5 year-old.

Most fun happened when we dropped her off and had her help open the gift to DW from DD and I. It was a heated vest; a relative had one and swore it was the best thing she'd ever worn. DW is delighted to give it a try.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Evening snack did include the half-slice of fruitcake - as planned. That'll keep happening until it's gone. Then, since it came from a friend who does this every year, it'll happen again. Fits close enough into my Rare and Unusual category.

Woke up to find a package on the front porch - a gift that had been mailed to us. Have no idea if it came after 9pm after we'd gone upstairs or before 5am when I opened the door for the morning newspapers.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - LMAO learning about Request for Formal Reconsideration. Warning: that link takes you to the American Library Association's formal description that will put you to sleep quite quickly. If you got there, you'll never complain at a library again. Good news about vaccines.

Karen (karenrn) - That's a pretty successful trip to the Butcher Shop, "tenderloin steak, short ribs and bratwurst." Happy cooking.

curlyjax - Thanks for "Books are meant to be enjoyed and not have to have morals and lessons etc. Way to kill a love of reading." I agree. Keep finding books dedicated to learning to say "Thank you." Boring. Maybe books are exactly where kids get to experience a touch of safe naughty. Am so jealous that you got to go inside a library. (Never dreamed that I'd write that sentence.)

Readers -

Another exhaustive fight with DS yesterday. Long sobbing episode for me afterwards. I wasn't super productive at work but oh well. I did get to talk to one of my favorite 88 year olds who chatted about his boyhood summers, and then a 98 year old. I really love talking with that generation of 80 and above. Later on in the day, I went to do an errand and when I came back there was a little potted plant and a box of candy left from a friend. It was soooo wonderful to be thought of-and the candy was delicious. It really perked me up.
I woke up too early this morning but the only thing I have to do today is buy dinner for two nights. I've decided i'm not cooking, so I'm getting chinese for tonight and then italian for tomorrow. People can heat it up and eat what they want. We'll go back to healthy on saturday but i'm taking a break from cooking and cleaning up. I also need to wrap the few presents and stocking stuffers I have for the kids. I did make some more cookies and the fudge I ordered finally came, so we have enough treats for the next few days.
Karen- I'm back to work on Monday, I like to save my days off for the good weather. I might take a day off in April when the kids are hopefully both at school, so I can get some more things done. Or just lie all day in bed and not be disturbed! That's so nice you will have your widowed friend with you, i'm sure she appreciates being with you over the holiday. I bet Otis will love the extra attention too.
Gardenerjoy- boy that makes sense about the form; often people don't want to do the work of filling it out, they just want to complain.
Bill-Such fun to have DGD around in the holidays. I remember when the kids started whipping thru puzzles; I realized they needed to step up to the next level of difficulty. Yay for rare and unusual fruitcake.

Good Morning, Coaches.

Happy Xmas. Grateful to be alone and quiet by the fire for a few hours just puttering. I have made a little list of things to get done today but nothing mammoth. I have successfully avoided the grocery store - sending DS to get a few "fill ins." Tonight we will have slow cooker pull pork with the homemade milk rolls I do which DS likes. We will have smoothies with them. I have a found the perfect Christmas Eve movie to watch. It is early access ( $20.00) Wild Mountain Thyme. Ireland for DS , John Hamm for DH ( a fan of MadMen) and Romance for me. I have gifts to wrap and maybe some yard work for exercise.

Yesterday, I found a local man who halves pecans. He showed me an electric pecan cracker that makes halves. You put them in one by one. I ordered it for myself. The same man will cracker a couple 100 pounds for us from his larger machine but we have to shift through for shelves and it gives pieces not halves. He won't do the 1000 lbs we have. I am excited for to be able to giver the nuts as gifts to friends and family. They are much desired especially when I roast them with a quick recipe I have. I get the cracker in January it says. We have five acres of pecans along the Sacramento river that we don't sell to a coop. They are however the sweetest nuts in the world.

Weight is 3 pounds above ticker and I haven't had to attack any of the mounds of sugar around me. This feels wonderful.

BBE: That book reviewer is probably a distant relative of Inspector Javert who hunted heroic Jean Valjean for years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed to his starving nieces. Wrong is wrong, right? How I loved Les Miserable especially since I skipped every other chapter which talked about all the boring war stuff.
curleyjax: LOL about hating XMAS music. DH is with you . I am allowed a tiny amount in communal spaces.
Karen: I can understand DH frustration of not going into work. It has saved me.
gardenerjoy: Too foggy here for a viewing of the conjunction. Our neighbors did gather for the falling of the two trees we took out. They were at a safe distance as well.

I ended up at Whole Foods this morning because we weren't happy with the plan for tomorrow. Now, we are. CREDIT for figuring that out in time to fix it before the store gets really crowded.

In the same trip, I delivered pumpkin bread pudding and cranberry applesauce to my nephew's house. His mom, my sister-in-law, will pick it up today and take some of it to MiL's. Our distances are too great to do a full potluck, but the in-laws will appreciate a little festive cheer and we won't have more of those items than we really want to eat.

Now, I'm home with no reason to leave for several days. We'll probably get in some walks. It turned really cold over night, so I may need to get creative with some indoor exercise.

Exercise +30, 1135/1400 minutes for December

Friday - "For unto us a child is born"
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate. May it bring a touch of joy in anticipation of a better next year.

Exercise, CREDIT moi, was finishing the last of the snow and chipping the flattened-to-ice remnants in the driveway. It got warm enough to melt much of the remaining thin layered snow, but ice sets in for the long term. Felt annoyed this morning in the 60 degree F weather that most everything is gone anyway.

Just had my morning coffee sitting in the dark living room with our Ficus Tree hung with soft ornaments and strings of Christmas Tree Lights draped over the bay windows. The opened gifts are neatly stacked. Just one peaceful place to be. Remembering the many years that a balsam fir tree with its star touching the ceiling was overflowing with an embarrassing abundance of gifts for the kids. We made magic happen for many years - even up until the (5 yo) DGD was born and her parents started having their own Christmas morning.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Evening snack included the next-to-last piece of fruitcake. Dinner was the spiral ham with a freshly cooked batch of cranberry chutney. Really good stuff, that. DW sent some to each of the kids and we've already seen a picture of DS's dinner table serving it. Also had noodles with mushrooms in white sauce that DW made from fresh mushrooms and a carton of half-and-half. "The recipe calls for heavy cream, but that's just too much." Wasn't a low calorie meal, but it was plated to the table in one serving with no chance of digging in for seconds. That was a saving from our regular Christmas Eve dinner when the meat dish is passed around again and again.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Drooling over "pumpkin bread pudding and cranberry applesauce" - some nice food you make. DW made it in and out of our supermarket in the morning with very few other shoppers. When I was on an errand at 2pm the streets were almost deserted. Folks seem to have retreated early this year.

maryann - LOL at "a distant relative of Inspector Javert who hunted heroic Jean Valjean for years." You induced me to listen to Les Miserables as I type this morning. Wild Mountain Thyme looks like some amazing scenery of Ireland - but maybe a Chick-flick hidden underneath. Does your pecan cracker take them with the heavy green coating or do you have to remove that first?

curlyjax - Yay for being able to reach into the lives of your older clients. Smart to order food for a few days to get some free time for yourself.

Readers -

Merry Christmas to the celebrators! And, happy Friday to everyone!

My plans are mostly about listening to the live feed of BBC Radio4 (the Queen's annual Christmas message will be on in about 15 minutes) and our local public radio and watching newly-released movies on a couple of streaming services.

We'll have a family Zoom call beginning at 2pm with an expectation of leaving to work on food preparations and returning while things are cooking. Our festive meal will be homemade shredded chicken soft tacos. My early morning Christmas chore, then, was slicing cabbage, very finely, for a slaw that will be one of the toppings.

Exercise +20, 1155/1400 minutes for December

Good morning coaches and Merry Christmas,

I have to say I did not make a food plan yesterday and probably will not today either. I hiked Camelback yesterday morning. We arrived there at 6:45 before daylight and started the first part using my cell phone as a light. We thought we would have to wait for the gate to open at sunrise, but the parking lot was already full and people were nearing the top with headlamps on. It was light before we got to the more treacherous part of the trail. I was glad to do the hike, but it was quite crowded and we had our masks on most of the way.

Suz is not a hiker, so when I came home and we made magic cookie bars and pecan pie bars and a batch of penuche, which was stirred just a little too long. I split each item up and delivered to two other people and we also walked around Kierland Commons an outdoor mall. Everyone had masks on except one woman and her teenage son. They looked odd not having masks on rather than the other way around.

Because the day ended up being so busy, I switched our dinner around and we had the steak last night and I'll make the short ribs today. I did indulge too much in the penuche, even though it wasn't as creamy as it should have been and had half of each kind of cookie. I think I'll have a whole of each cookie today and then beginning tomorrow be off the sugar.

Bill Your dinner sounds delicious. I think it's great that you have family you could share the ham with. I would love to go to Honey Baked hams and just get a few slices. I doubt they do that though. I'm enjoying our Christmas tree too. It's in the living room where we don't really sit, but it can be viewed easily. I think maybe we'll sit in there today for a spell.

GardenerJoy It's nice you have a way to get the goodies to the more distant relatives. I love any kind of bread pudding. Hmmm, I like a lot of things.

Maryann The machine to halve the pecans sounds like a great thing. You have a lot of pecans. Let us know how the movie is. We will probably watch a movie today. Often I've gone to the theater on Christmas Day, but not this year.

Curlyjax I am sure this is a time of heightened emotions for you and your children. I'm sorry you're going through the tough time. The holidays are such an emotional time. My niece emailed the penuche recipe that was my Mom's and I cried seeing her handwriting. Take care of yourself. I hope today is a good day.

I hope each of you has a great day and I do look forward to a more normal holiday next year.

Merry Xmas to All.

I was up early filling stockings and putting a few things under the tree. DS won't be up for hours but old habits die hard. DH was up and we had a heart to heart talk about plans for the day. I told him I was not comfortable going to his family celebration. I had been thinking about it. I didn't want to ruin his or my son's day nor draw attention to myself. I was just not going to go to a big living room with 15 people in it ( four who had just flown in from Texas.) I have my mom (85) to think about. I am proud of myself for navigating the conversation to avoid our classic traps. We have in the past been in horrible fights over a holiday. This morning I told him that I was not looking for his stamp of approval ( a biggie for me.) I gave him a window of opportunity to vent any grievance. He had none. For him saying nothing negative is the same as saying something positive which is the root of our issues really. So I closed the discussion and said this is going to be a great Christmas morning. He was left in a daze that things could be this simple. Best Christmas gift I ever gave him, I think.

So I am looking forward to a wonderful morning with the boys. I will then read and putter when they go off to celebrate. I'll call my mom later.

In my stocking is "green light food" intense dark chocolate. II has yet to start any craving. I just can't eat much of it. I have made a sausage quiche using a Diamond walnut crust. That is our nut coop. I may do some yard work while the boys are gone to get exercise.

BBE: This is the nutcracker we bought. https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Elect...cker/257246192. When we shake the tree the nuts separate from the green coating. Then we dry them. So it is just getting into the meat that is problematic. With this sheller we still have to hand pick a little of the brown skin in between the crevices but that is "sitting watching the fire" winter work.

Saturday- 1st performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" (1606, London)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Had a very gentle Christmas Day. Texted with our adult kids and with the DGD. Only one gift was left to open under the tree - a tool belt for a gardener that DW needed because she's worn out her current belt by the pruners sticking their way out of the bottom of their sleeves. This one is made of military canvas and should have another 20 years or so in it.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was a repeat of Christmas Eve dinner because the planned shrimp kebobs grilled outdoors didn't appeal since the rain continued all day. We'll have shrimp tonight. Lunch was the much anticipated ham sandwich. So good! DW reminded me that ham is processed and salty; on occasion is just right.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat that the technology exists for you to listen to the Queen of England live and also Zoom with your family.

maryann - Kudos for working out a solution to family gathering. That sausage quiche using a Diamond walnut crust sounds really good. Loved watching the videos of that pecan cracker. Shelling pecans was part of my childhood so I want one. Then I remember that Trader Joe's sells me shelled pecan halves in ample quantities for my current life. I do miss pecan pies of my childhood.

Karen (karenrn) - So interesting that Camelback had so many Christmas dawn hikers. Had to google penuche - now drooling.


Readers -

Christmas Eve day was tough for a lot of reasons and I was not in a good mood as i wrapped stocking stuffers at night. I watched our church's Christmas Eve service and cried, thinking of DH. My takeout meal was dreadful- over cooked steak tips and the mashed potatoes tasted like salt had been poured on them; I had to dump them out. I ate lots of sugar and felt sorry for myself.
But Christmas day turned out to be good. The living space was still a mess but we huddled in there anyhow to open presents. It was nice to have no idea of what my kids were going to give me unlike days in the past. I had gone to Kohls way back in November and bought some silly little things which helped give the appearance of more presents and were appreciated. Next year I really need to get decorating etc earlier but it all worked out. I watched the movie Elf, checked in with various family, and had lots of time to lounge about which was sorely needed. I could use a few more days of doing nothing but my body definitely needs to get back to healthy habits, and I'll probably start to get bed sores if I spend any more time lying in bed:)
This morning its back to business- grocery shopping, huge dump run, cleaning up the kitchen which I've let go for a few days, etc. I started watching Bridgerton on netflix which will be fun to continue tonight. You can tell its produced by Americans even though its filmed in the UK, but the sets and costumes are gorgeous and over the top which we Americans do so well:)
Bill- that ham does sound fabulous, especially with the chutney. Yay for plated portions that help stay the course. I am also grateful for the years of extended family Christmases, and look forward to that in years to come when my kids (hopefully!) have families of their own.
Maryann- good for you for finding a workable solution and having a peaceful day, that's huge. Interesting to hear about huge scale pecan picking.
Karen-that sounds like a lovely day, great that you got your hike in early. I hear you about seeing your moms handwriting, I've saved so many things with mine.
Gardenerjoy-the Queen's annual Christmas message sounds really neat, so cool you can hear that. Yay for festive tacos.