Typing December 25 in the title makes the alleged approach of Christmas seem real, LOL.

Gotta work harder avoiding the tables of goodies appearing everywhere - the season is just not sufficient excuse to indulge in junk food.

I guess the "eating season" will be over for most of us after Dec. 25? I am lucky in that I work outdoors so there are no desks/tables fulll of goodies down at the beach. We are having a dogwalkers brunch on Dec. 29 but I will probably get the vegetarian version of eggs, bacon, etc. And I am having dinner with my cousin and his family on Dec. 27 but again I will eat pretty lightly during the day to compensate.

New Year's Eve has become quite a non-event in our household. We don't drink much and we try to eat modestly. I rarely make it to midnight. New Year's Day I plan to do my 8K walk around at the beach. I'll see if DH wants to join in this year.

DH starts his new job today. He will be mightily stressed this week and I will keep that in mind. I'm so glad all my Christmas prep is done so I can pick up his end of the housework this week.

I decorated the tree last night while bellowing out (I am not a good singer but I have great lung capacity) Christmas carols and songs. Then I sat quietly and watched the tree twinkle and listened to the cats purr. I was at peace.

Better go stretch . Our schedules have changed now (hard to believe I will be eating brekkie with DH every day now) and I have less time online in the a.m.

Good week all! Hope you get all your Chrhistmas stuff done and can find some joy amid the festive season hurly burly!

Dagmar

Eating season doesn't end for us until New Year's as that's when we celebrate birthdays (DS is 12/25, FIL is 1/1 and DH is 1/4). A friend of the family is also 1/1 (and BIL is 1/2, but he's in Texas). Anyway, we'll all get together on the 1st for a lasagna dinner (I'm making seafood lasagna and MIL is making regular). After that, let the diet begin!

Until then, well, we'll keep it as simple as possible.

Oh, great news, DD, who arrives on Thursday for about a week, has started NutriSystem! I'm so glad she's taking charge. She's been posting about spending time at the gym, so it's all good.

I made the most yummy dinner last night--from Cooking Light, so I know it was fairly healthy. It was filet mignon, first you cook the steaks in a heavy pan, then stick them in the oven to keep warm and in the pan you add red wine, cranberry jelly, garlic, and beef broth, then boil it until it's reduced quite a bit. Then pour the sauce over the still warm steaks and top with a little blue cheese to serve. The taste was amazing! I served it with roasted green beans. We all loved it so much that I'm doing it again for Christmas dinner.

Yum! That sounds delish Allison!
Glad your dd is taking charge. I wish I could say the same, but my dd has many other issues to conquer before tackling her weight. She and I are off this morning to see an ENT. She thinks her tonsils need to be removed ASAP-- we'll see what the doc says.

Gary! Yes, that makes it real! I feel less panicked now as I got most things wrapped, and dropped my packages off at the post office yesterday. Dd came home last night with her kitty. He is in her room and hasn't come out yet, except for a few seconds in which Jozi (the Great Dane) went berserk barking and lunging (we have a baby gate up). Suffice it to say that we haven't seen Toby since.

Dagmar-- hope your dh has a great first day! Let us know how it goes.

I'm working on making the intial deposit for dd's service dog, so that is becoming more of a reality too.

I'll try to post more later but we need to head to the doctor. I'm so excited to be off work (except for a few days at WW) for the next two weeks!!

Where did my post go? I swear I submitted it!

Bill - I haven't wrapped a thing. I can't believe it is almost Christmas already...

Dagmar - fingers crossed for DH's first day.

Allison - I'm glad that DD is doing well! And love the sound of that recipe.

Michele - poor kitty. I used to take my cat down to my parents for my holiday vacations and we always had several days of spitting and hissing and hiding under the bed. My folks had two cats, a mini dachshund and a Rottweiller at the time.

I'm having a rough morning - posted about it in the 5-10 thread, but to sum here DSS had a tantrum and didn't want to go to school so we had 25 minutes of him screaming and yelling with some kicking before his granny was able to shame him into stopping and getting dressed. I'm trying to shake it off and treat the resulting headache.

Good day everyone!

I woke up this morning and there was a rooster crowing in my yard. Literally. Is that some kind of omen? Emma was going nuts, and I was scratching my head trying to figure out where it came from. We live in a rural enough area and I know a few people with chickens, but none of them live close to me, and I know the neighborhood pretty well from walking Emma all around and I can't think of anyone with chickens... guess I will see if it's there when I go home.

The Christmas party I went to Saturday was tamer than past years. I guess it was a reflection of several friends who have moved away, some people missed it bc of sudden deaths in their family, so the mood was more sober than years past. BF and I were tucked in bed by midnight. I've got one more Christmas party I will meet BF at late on Tuesday, and another I was supposed to attend Wed. My director just called an extra rehearsal Wed. I'm actually a bit relieved I've got a "good excuse" not to go (it will be a big party and no one will notice my absence). I spent so much time trying to buy gifts that I haven't finished a needlepoint I'm giving my niece, and am now rushing to finish that, still working to put finishing touches on gifts, need to wrap BF's, etc. I might play hookey (hooky?) one day this week to work on these last-minute projects.

Does anyone know if you can bring a ~1" or shorter sewing needle on a plane? I can only find the info that "knives must be checked" on the airline website.

Shannon, sorry to hear you're having a tough time w DSS. I know this has been ongoing... I don't have any good advice so I'll just give you a and say I hope your headache goes away.

Michele, I'm glad it sounds like you're able to make this service dog a reality for your DD - hopefully it will help her. Is it your younger DD who needs her tonsils removed? I hope all goes well with that, too.

Allison, that meal sounds delicious! Glad your DD is taking positive steps. I'm with you - I'm trying to balance my eating and exercise right now, and will definitely start clean on a diet when I get home from the holidays.

Dagmar, let us know how DH's first day goes! Your holiday celebrations sound very festive. I love to sing carols, too.

Bill, I used to bake a lot, and now bake rarely, especially not around the holidays. Who needs all those baked goods? I try to steer clear, too.

Michele - I totally missed the line about the service dog in your post. I'm glad that is working out for DD! Is it really expensive?

Megan - rooster in the yard, hmm. I don't think that is an omen., but maybe - could be a sign it was time to get up? LOL Weird though, out of the blue. We had coyotes last night - first time that has happened for us where we are now. Weird wildlife night down south.

I have three vacation days I'll lose if not taken by the end of the year. I may be taking a 'wrap' day, too.

DH's first day at work was very uneventful. Mostly he watched someone else work who is "training" him. His impressions are that this is basically a dead-end job doing fancy data entry with not enough pay but he'll stick it out there a year to gain some experience.

WHY? I suggested that he look at moving on in 6 months if this is such a bad fit for where he wants to go. And where is that? SIGH. There are so many people who can't find jobs and have been looking for up to a year. DH is lucky to have work and lucky to be away from the boss he's described as a "maniac" for years.

I think DH will whine about any job he gets so I'm gritting my teeth and smiling.

Good evening all!

Dagmar

Megan-- no, it's my older dd with the tonsils-- and many other health problems. The doctor said she can't have them removed. She doesn't meet the criteria to have insurance pay and he didn't feel it would help anyway. He said it is primarily allergies/post nasal drip which is causing the coughing, swollen tonsils, tonsil stones, etc. so we have an appointment Thursday to see the allergist that she used to see but hasn't seen in 4 years.

Shannon-- the service dog is frightfully expensive. Depending on where you get them, how they're trained, etc. the cost varies wildly. Hers is super expensive as he'll be trained especially to help with specific tics and issues she has-- he'll be trained for approx 8 months every day by professionals. We took out a loan to pay the majority of the cost and hopefully dd will take over the loan payments once she is gainfully employed--- not for at least a year and half (finishing college and grad school). She is also (with my help) going to set up a facebook fundraising page to hopefully garner donations to help with the expenses.

I'm off to the gym-- love being off from work-- I can get so much done!

Bill....we have become "one"..........

I noticed that too - I guess it's because all you slim guys look alike

Dagmar

Yep. My kids, when small, would occasionally call me "mom" - weren't particularly embarrassed when called on it, which helped me to understand that from their perspective, all 'rents are about the same, LOL.

"slim guys" - that makes my day; flattery goes right to a man's heart.

My parents dog was supposed to be a service dog for the Seeing Eye. He flunked his training, unfortunately, though fortunately for my parents he got to come back to them. I found it funny how quickly after he left his very strict training he "learned" bad habits like jumping on the bed & couch, begging at the table, etc. These dogs are very well trained, Michele, and I'm sure will be a help to your daughter. When you get the facebook page up will you post/PM us a link to it?

Dagmar, it sounds like at least you have the right attitude about DH's job. Maybe he will like it more after giving it a chance.

Yesterday a friend brought her dogs over and we took all 3 dogs out for a long walk on the deserted beach. We did about 3.5 miles, the dogs did that x3 based on their running around and around... they had a great time! Emma was pretty good about coming back when called - I think we're slowly making progress. And everyone got some good exercise.

The rooster is still running around my street. I think I've got to post on facebook... maybe my neighbors will have an idea where its home is. Otherwise, the coyotes will get it! We've got plenty of coyotes down here, Shannon.

Have a good day all.

I definitely will as we are going to want to get it seen as much as possible.

LOL - I knew it was Bill, but then I read Michele's post that said Gary and I just fell right in there with it. It is because you are both so wise. And yes, you slim guys all look alike.


I edited mine so it would have the right name in.