[gardenerjoy]

I needn't have worried. There were five of us at vigil and the sun came out, so it was reasonably pleasant.

My usual Sunday activity is to plan the week. The weather is going to be a huge factor. We're expecting snow on Thursday and frigid cold for the three days following, including Christmas Day. I'm so glad that we have no plans to travel. But that means all of my errands, including groceries and a Santa trip to deliver gifts to the great-niblings will need to be on Wednesday or earlier. And that means that I want to get those Christmas gifts wrapped. Maybe today.

Next week's vigil may not happen. We were all looking forward to being together on Christmas Eve. But the current predicted high for Saturday is 12 degrees. We won't encourage people to stand outside for an hour in temperatures that are that cold.

Exercise +70, 960/1700 minutes for December

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The (2.5 yo) DFGD was her bouncy self. I always put out snacks for the adults and grapes and other fruit for her. She noticed the dark chocolate covered almonds; went directly for them. DIL put a limit and it had to be between grapes which granddad would cut in half with a flourish. The DFGD would take the dark chocolate covered almond into her mouth for a spell then hand the cleaned almond to the DIL - who is learning just how gruesome being a mother can be. She sat on the kitchen floor to put together a large-piece jigsaw puzzle; did quite well. There's a brain in there.

Had an enlightening chat with my DS, a fellow geek, about the new Trump NFT trading cards (Non-Fungible Token). He used the useful phrase, "When you buy an NFT, you own a receipt." That's it. You don't own the digital work; you have the exact same ability to print yourself a copy as anyone else with a computer, no more, no less. Let Dr. Google lead me to the dates: the Dutch Tulip Bulb Mania started in 1634 and collapsed in 1637. If you haven't read the story of Tulip Mania lately, it's worth the minute to do so. Note from my lawyer: I do not give investment advice; this is not investment advice; I have no opinion about vice at all.



Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yep, this is a good Christmas not to travel. I was rather taken aback to learn what should have been obvious: when Christmas falls on Sunday, the churches are sparsely attended.

maryann - Yes, Kudos, indeed, for creating a different world for your DS - one with cherished memories. And also Kudos for reestablishing a connection to your mom.

curlyjax - From empty nest to full house for the holidays. Sounds fun. And noisy and busy. Seems convenient that you can do so many tasks for your dad from home.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan

Special Advice for Entertaining at Home

Here are some ideas for you to consider: . . .

Take time to eat properly. Sometimes hosts get so busy that they pick at food all night instead of having a proper meal. Make sure to sit down, eat slowly, and enjoy every bite.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 153.

[curlyjax]

I got some of my items done, the most important of which was of course picking up DS. We did stop at the grocery store on the way home where he picked out various things that will hopefully fuel his 20 year old athletic body for awhile. I've been in denial that I need to start thinking about cooking dinner for more than just myself so I don't really have any plans and am winging it for a bit. I ended up buying a family sized thing of chicken parm and ate by myself early, then went over to my widow friend's house to hang out a bit. I did not feel like doing any paperwork so I guess that's for today. My dad called me at 10:30 pm confused, but I managed to talk him down. Poor guy, its not a great state of mind to be in. I need to get one more present and some stocking stuff, and then i'm done. I'm eating wayyy too many cookies already and am disgusted with myself. I have got to rein it in.
Maryann- I echo Bill's words; you done a great job creating your own calm home. I'm too much in the Christmas spirit with all my cookie eating.
Gardenjoy- wow, its colder there than here. Good luck getting all the stuff done in the decent weather.
Bill- that was fascinating about the Tulip Market. One can at least excuse those poor folks back then who didn't have history to guide their thinking. Chocolate always wins over fruit

[VertOlive]

Back again. Hoping my password issues are finally fixed.

It was cold, blowing rain here on the island Sunday, so I told Percy the Scottie that we’re going to “Scotland”, put him in the truck, and drove to the beach. He adores foul weather as do I. We came home soaked, sandy, and salty and both enjoyed a hot bath/shower to warm up.

Today is an Intermittent Fasting day so it’s black coffee until this evening.

Hoping the IT issues I have with this site are over; I really like this group. Why have so many avatars disappeared?

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Yesterday I had a good start to the day with a couple of hours hiking with a friend. She had recently travelled to Florida to see a friend who was dying and needed to process that a bit. I would say that is one of my strengths after having been a hospice and palliative care nurse. In the afternoon we went to dinner at a former co-workers home with our group that we remain close with. We all had a wonderful visit and as usual the food was excellent. I stayed on plan as far as what foods I eat, but went overboard on sweets. I'm glad not to have any in the house and will get back to my usual eating pattern today.
I'm determined not to let my weight go up above what it was last January 1st.

This morning I'm meeting my friend to hike Piestawa Peak. It's one of the 6 peaks for the challenge we signed up to do. It's another one that is sometimes crowded, so I'm happy to do it on a week day and it is one I haven't ever done.

Dh is doing better after being on the gabapentin for a couple of days. If he continues to do as well it will be much easier to wait for the February appointment date with the neurosurgeon. For a few days he couldn't bend down at all. In the afternoon when he would throw Otis's duck for him to fetch we did it as a team. Dh threw the duck, Otis retrieved, and then I picked up the duck and handed it back to dh. Teamwork!

VertOlive Good to see you again. I hope the site works for you also.

Curlyjax Sounds like you will be busy with both adult children home and your daughter duties and work. Your poor Dad. That would be scary to be that confused. I'm so glad you are able to talk him down.

Bill That so funny that the little one would suck the chocolate off the nuts. I just think the whole NFT thing is crazy with the Trump cards taking the cake.

GardenerJoy I'm glad there were five of you to stand in the cold. Much better than being alone. Yes it sure does look like you'll be getting cold weather. It makes our highs in the 60's look balmy.

Maryann You've done a great job with your family relationships. I'm so glad your Mom got sober and you have had a nice relationship with her. My family is so small with just one son in Thailand and two brothers and their families who all live in Washington. We are close, but we don't see each other that often. Thank goodness for the phone.

Waving to Penny!

[gardenerjoy]

The gifts are wrapped. And, I put up some things in our Buy Nothing group. There's already interest, so I'll be giving away gift bags that I'll never use (I give books to the great-niblings and those are easy to wrap, so no need for bags), Christmas stickers (I'm not even sure why I own so many -- I suspect that some came from my Mother's collection), and a container for gift wrap (I combined my holiday wrap and my regular wrap into the better of the two containers -- plus, I'm moving in the direction of using kraft or butcher paper for gifts).

I got back to scene-writing today, which feels like a good accomplishment and a kind of down payment on 2023.

Exercise +40, 1000/1700 minutes for December

BillBlueEyes: I enjoyed Michael Pollan's explanation of Tulip Mania in Botany of Desire. I've been ignoring his more recent offerings that take us into the world of psychedelic and plant-based drugs. That's not a topic that I really want my mind changed about, given my personal evidence of addictive behavior around chocolate. I don't need to learn about even more powerful mind-altering plants.

curlyjax: I'm glad that your DS is safely home.

Good to see you, VertOlive! I hope your password issues got fixed along with the speedier response time. The avatars have yet to reappear, but at least the site is functional.

karenrn: I hope your peak hike goes well, today. That's cool that you get a new-to-you hike.

[maryann]

Karen: i am so sorry your DH is in pain. Is it his back. I may have missed that post. It is never easy to have a partner sick.
Curly: I shopped up a little for the 20 year old coming. It is funny. He is very slim. Sometimes he will eat the world and other times he eats nothing. Could that be "only eat when hungry?" I have never learned that trick.
BBE: I equate byt coins and NFTs with the beanie babies of the 80s. My aunt went big on them and then passed away with them still in her possession. I just bought a FDIC insured CD. Call me old fashioned.
Joy: I agree with the psychedelic drug knowledge. For awhile in the 70s, LSD was thought to be a cure for alcoholism. That went as well as might be expected.

Yeah for 179. I am out of the "naughty" decade and into the nice. On target with water and breakfast. I also exercised and added motion to the day by dancing to the movie "The Easter Parade."

i am off to San Francisco. Woke up late. What a luxury. I'll pack with restraint but I will yoga before I go.

[curlyjax]

I ate a lot of carbs yesterday-I threw together my lunch with whatever was around, because I was also making lunch for my crabby DD who was very stressed about her last final. If she failed it, she would fail the class and not be able to retake it until late Spring, and would fall behind in everything. But she passed and actually did very well on it! I'm so proud of her, she has worked so hard. Such a relief. She has a few weeks off, then spring term, then summer, and she will be done by the end of August hopefully.
So that is one stresser gone. Meanwhile I got nothing done yesterday; I'm stressed about a number of things and instead of tackling them avoided things and ate too many cookies. I woke up way too early today so Im posting now and am going to get a little paperwork done in the quiet.
VertOlive-welcome back. I do remember your little Scottie.
Maryann- I love sleeping in but my body doesn't let me do it much, grumble.
Gardenerjoy- yay for being able to give away gift bags etc.
Karen- I'm sure you are wonderful at being able to process such hard things. Such an important job and many folks could not do that. Yay for duck throwing teamwork!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - When DW dropped by my office last night, I told her that two politicians who'd been BFF were publicly name-calling. She simply recited from memory,

There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many,
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren’t any.

That's your gift of the day. It's in my head, also, but I couldn't have recited it from memory.

Eating was good enough, CREDIT moi. Afternoon snack seems to come with the tension of finally figuring out that Christmas, that usually comes late in December, was coming right soon now. I have a list of online gift cards to make - don't need the physical cards because my kids just copy the magic number. Physical cards are for old people, I guess. Family excitement is that a niece that we never get to see will be moving for her job to Indonesia. Long way away. Haven't yet gotten to a globe to decide which direction to fly to get there.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Continued Congrats for continuing to reduce your holdings. DW has decided that gifts this year will NOT have bows on them. They're just ripped off and she carefully puts them in a container for use the next year. One small step in the direction you're working. I share your lack of need to learn more about psychedelic plants.

maryann - Yep, one doesn't have to daily read the bid price on an FDIC insured CD - just quietly working in the background. LOL at the range of your DS's eating from HUGE to little. Congrats to you if you created a home environment where he learned to eat when he was hungry. Imagine that.

Karen (karenrn) - Such good news that your DH is feeling better with his current medicine. Smart that Otis can accept that the two of you operate as a team.

curlyjax - Wish you well helping your dad find his way forward through confusion. Frightening thought, that. My congrats to your DD for continuing to excel in a tough course.

VertOlive - Love that you take Percy to "Scotland." Walking the beach in foul weather should keep you both awake. Yep, Avatars have disappeared but we're so happy that the response time is fixed that I'm not making a stink about that just yet.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan

Special Advice for Entertaining at Home

Here are some ideas for you to consider: . . .

Give away the leftovers. Have containers and food storage bags on hand, and ask people to take the extra food that you think will be too tempting.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 153.

[karenrn]

Good Morning Coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday. Good thing because the day before was not good. I need to stay on track now so I can finish the year with a weight I'm happy with. Yesterday's hike was great. It was quite cool and since it was a weekday the hike wasn't crowded. It's one of those hikes that is often crowded. It's a short up and down with many, many steps made out of stones or just the rock itself. I'm hiking Sunrise today which is another peak. Four days and four different friends. I'm so grateful to have so many hiking buddies.

Dh continues to do better on the gabapentin. What a relief, of course for him but also for me. He was doing so poorly a couple of days that I would have cancelled my trip.

Bill That's great that physical cards are for old people. Makes it very quick and easy to do the shopping.

Curlyjax I'm so glad dd passed her exam. She seems to be doing very well. Does she just lack confidence? It's wonderful that she'll be finished by the end of August. There must be a million job opportunities.

Maryann Yes dh has had some horrible back problems for the last few months. He has a known bad back which an MRI 5 years ago confirmed, but it is worse lately which his MRI of 3 months ago confirmed. Then on top of the usual discomfort sciatica started. He's done many exercises, lost weight, gone to PT and had several steroid injections. Nothing has helped much so he has an appointment with a neurosurgeon, but it is a couple of months off. The gabapentin medication seems to be giving him some relief.

GardenerJoy You continue to do a great job thinning things out. I hadn't even thought about my Christmas wrapping things and I wrap so little.

Waving to Penny and VertOlive!

[VertOlive]

Good Morning!

Well. It seems we are expecting a hard freeze here in the sub-tropics..."Winter is Coming", as they say in Game of Thrones! The Great Scott will love it, not so much the rest of the pack who are wearing their jolly sweaters. It's probably no coincidence that I've read three non-fiction books about the exploration of the Northwest Passage describing the ill-fated Greely and Franklin expeditions. Fascinating!

Yesterday's fast was a tough one as it usually is when I've overindulged in the days before. But Beck is true on this: hunger ebbs and flows but never crescendos and kills you. Today will be a stick-to-the-calorie-count day in between fasts. I'm experimenting with the timing of my 24 hour fasts. Exercise will be a swim and some weight lifting, then my usual 14 thousand-ish steps for work.

It looks like I still have the same password issues. I get in, I write a post, then when I try to publish it I get kicked out of the system. Just a headache to use.

That said, best wishes to all here for a great day!

[gardenerjoy]

My original plan was to run all my errands for the week tomorrow morning. But today's going to be relatively nice, so I think it will be more fun to run half of them this afternoon.

Here's my reminder that I'm no longer the sort of person who forages for treats while running for errands. I'm more the sort of person who eats a little something before I go or plans a little something for when I return.

Exercise +40, 1040/1700 minutes for December

BillBlueEyes: Thanks for the shout-out to 19th century Missouri bachelors. There was such an opposition to the $1 bachelor tax at a time when most Missourians paid less than $2 in state taxes, that it was only in force for the one year. Which means that we missed out on getting any meaningful data if that was an effective social engineering strategy.

[maryann]

Happy bday to me.

it has been a perfect trip. We are staying on Nob Hill. I did some luxury shopping at RealReal consignment which sits right next to Chanel, Gucci, etc… I bought a pricey backpack Gucci to take to Italy. A good deal but quite a splurge. We walked to China town to watch fortune cookies being made. Cool. Now, off to the Rames Gold exhibit at the Museum.

I am very grateful to have everything in my life at 59. I never thought I would make it past 23.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got in the Christmas spirit at the supermarket. My job is to fill the six adult stockings that will be emptied at our Christmas Eve dinner. (DW is getting the little toy things for the two girls' stockings.) We'd agreed that I could use fruit as a filler since they all are trying to eat reasonably. I stood behind an older woman picking avocados - very carefully, very selectively. I felt like a dummy when my turn came and my only criteria was that they be very HARD since I need then to stay hard until Saturday. Also got mangoes and small pears. Picked up too many red Bell Peppers since that's the one thing that I know the girls will eat for salad.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with unneeded snacks. Snacks were used to counter tension about a phone call I'd agreed to make to a program director at an organization that seeks funding from my group that disperses small grants. Took three calls to reach her even though she'd provided a window when she'd be available. That gave me three chances to feel tension. Was a good conversation. We give grants to groups that do good work for children so I was speaking to a person who knew how to say all the right words about helping kids grow, learn, and be safe. The reason for tension is that I can't suggest that my conversation implies that they'll get funding for next year - that's a decision of the full committee. Odd thing: I carefully checked that my hair was combed and my shirt adjusted before I remembered that I couldn't be seen in a phone call. Too many Zoom calls in my recent history, LOL.



Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for getting a head start on your errands. Thanks for letting me know that I can come to Missouri and not get taxed on my beard, LOL.

maryann - Thanks for introducing me to the RealReal. I followed that link down into "Bags." Some items seem like bargains at 75% off even though the remaining 25% is still a tad steep. So fun that you're staying right there on Nob Hill. And Happy Happy Birthday.

Karen (karenrn) - So neat that you have so many hiking buddies. Such good news that your DH continues to do well with his new prescription.

VertOlive - Love the sentence, "hunger ebbs and flows but never crescendos and kills you." Hope you and the Scotsman survive the cold down there where it's supposed to remain warm. Always.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan

Confidently Follow Your Plan at Extended Family Dinners

Family dinners require you to combine skills from social events and holiday eating. You will also have to learn how to stay true to your plan in the face of strong emotions - either positive or negative.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 153.

[curlyjax]

The food gifts are coming in at work, ugh. One person gave us fudge but we realized a family member of hers recently had a stomach bug, so I quietly disposed of mine. Good reminder not to indulge in some treats, you never know how careful folks have been, or if they've been sick and aren't thinking. We received our yearly fudge in the mail made by Trappist monks which has bourbon in it, so good! DS carefully cut a little sliver in it just like DH used to do, to make it last. I'm getting a little stressed about the coming storm on friday which is predicting torrential rain and wind, with possible power outages, and then temps dropping quickly to icy conditions. I'm thankful that at least we don't need to travel on the holidays.
Happy Birthday Maryann! Its good to be reminded how lucky one is indeed.
Karen- so glad DH is doing better, back pain is so miserable.