I'm having flaming hot cheetos for lunch. It is that kind of day.

Oh no, Jen! I think it's very common this time of year. I was just doing it myself when I realized I haven't even thought of what I'm getting for my friend's kids. I was about to panic until I realized dh will be going there (Houston) so he can bring the gifts rather than me shipping them. Now to figure out the gifts!!

I think I'm going to regret the flaming hot cheetos. Yuck.

I'm trying to picture these but can't quite get there - how does one "prepare" :lol: flaming hot Cheetohs Shannon?

Dagmar :shrug:

Checking in late today. I'm sick. I woke up at 1:11 AM with a raging headache--it felt as it someone had put a vice on my head and tightened it. Two hours later I finally decided it wasn't going away on it's own so I took Advil and then my stomach started complaining from that. At 4:30 I decided to take the day off of work and I've spent all but maybe 45 minutes in bed either reading or sleeping. DH is bringing home some Tylenol sinus and I hope it helps. I know I don't have a sinus infection--just sinusitis at this point.

Megan~golfers always need balls and tees. And a nice gift would be a range finder if he doesn't have one already (they measure the distance from where ever you are to the hole).

Glad your party went well Dagmar.

Sorry you're having one of those days, Shannon.

I must go sit now. Too much...

Bleagh
 

The dinner party food aftermath hit last night. DH and I both come from backgrounds where money was tight and food was never wasted or thrown away. We had much healthier dips left over thanks to DH but there were chips and part of a cake and part of a box of not very good " belgian chocolate" cookies left over. There was nothing on TV last night yet we still sat around eating all of this stuff and watching "Dr. No" (neither of us are Bond fans).

I threw away whatever was left this morning, as well as some stale bread and mushy tomatoes. I will have to take it all outside to the garbage shed before DH finds out. He will probably be angry (he insisted on paying for half of the "party" food) but if he physically feels even partially as bad as I do this morning he will realize I made the right decision.

And there's also a lot of opened booze - in Canada we can return anything with an unopened cork. I'm better at staying away from the booze than from the food. I don't know how DH will do with the booze.

We are already also bickering about how Christmas week will be spent. I hate it when DH demands decisions from me when I'm tired. I thought I answered specifically and clearly to his email but he clearly wants a different answer.

I don't want to spend every minute with him during the holidays - I still have stuff to do with for the house and also for my business and I want to go do some fun stuff too that he doesn't like.

ARRRGH! Gonna be a looong day today and entirely my own fault for being stupid last night. But I will carry on and move forward. No party food left and DH will have to be satisfied with my holiday answer unless he can specifically tell me what it is he wants from me.

Dagmar :barf:

Morning all,

Re holiday stress: I also feel at some point each year too much stress about the holidays, but haven't hit it yet this year. For me the stress comes from shopping for gifts and traveling. I try to remind myself that once I get my gifts bought every year I am able to enjoy the time with my family, which is really what it's about for me. My sister hosts, but we all pitch in to cook and help shop, clean up after meals, play with the kids, etc. to alleviate hosting duties and really none of us are so superficial as to focus that much on gifts.

Jen and Michele, hang in there. I guess the point of my story is that you're not alone, but when I start getting worked up it's easier to focus on what the holidays are truly about. It's so cheesy but we just sang a Charlie Brown Christmas medley and one line says "Oh that we could always see such spirit through the year." Whether we are religious or not I think it's a time to appreciate time with family and friends and if you are religious, celebrate that as well.

Jen, do you have anxiety and/or panic attacks about other things or is this new?

Even though I haven't hit my stressed point, typing that made me feel a little better about my lack of shopping. I am a little irked that the things I bought on Cyber Monday from Jo Ann fabrics to finish my nieces gifts still haven't shipped out yet over a week later.

Dagmar, if you can return the alcohol and are unsure how you & DH will handle having it, why not just go ahead and return it, or most of it. Save 1 bottle for Christmas and tell DH you wanted to recoup the cost where you could. Junk food makes me feel gross, too, but I forget about that sometimes when it's going in.

Allison, sorry you are sick. Rest and feel better. Thanks for the suggestions. I will have to ask my mom if he has a range finder.

I think flaming hot is the flavor name of cheetos, not the preparation method. Shannon, do you want to split an avocado with me?

Instead of shopping online last night, I walked the dog and then met friends for pizza and pool. There are no tourists this time of year and we had the place almost to ourselves. The place is only a mile from our house. BF and I need to remember it's there in the winter when we're bored! We don't always have to eat pizza while we're there. :angel:

Jen, I am in the same boat! I'm telecommuting today because I can run multiple computers, and when macros are crunching (like now), I can multi-task nonwork stuff (3FC, dishwasher, laundry, Xmas cards, online ordering of gifts, vacuum tree needles, grab one box of decorations, etc). I've had to remind myself to take a lot of deep breaths. I feel that pressure too. I traditionally have two wig-out days in December. :)

dagmar - :hug: Sounds like you threw a great party. I fully support your post-party strategy of "just get it OUT!!!" I feel like I'm doing a jigsaw puzzle with the time slots for the holiday. Funny how two weeks can disappear just like that - grrr!

On housekeepers, I am also in the every-two-weeks group. My grandma always used to say, "If the best thing they can say at your eulogy is "she kept a really clean house" ..." I would give up my internet before I give up the housekeepers.

Shannon - It happens. Been there. :shrug: I find it tends to be a self-limiting occurrence :barf:

Megan - good post. I have not mastered the holiday spirit or "reason for the season' mentality. Spiked eggnog does seem to help. :p

:bravo: Great to hear about everyone's family and cultural traditions. :hug:

I've always been a little OCD and a little prone to anxiety. But this feeling of panic - for no reason really - is new. Last night I hit the elliptical hard trying to work off some of the energy. It seemed to work, but then I woke up at midnight to pee and again couldn't get back to sleep with my mind racing.

Hopefully this will pass and soon!!

Dagmar - I have a HUGE hangup about wasting food. We have an extra freezer and I often put leftovers - including sweets - in there. I think it's crazy but there is a - safety? - having them in there, but no urgency to eat them because they aren't going to spoil....

At least I know I'm not the only one struggling with holiday madness. I am hoping that I can get past this and, like you said, Megan, enjoy this season for what is IS AND SHOULD be about!!

Jen

I did nearly all of my Christmas shopping and wrapping in an hour yesterday. We have a new independently owned bookstore in town. I wanted to support it. They are offering a gift basket service -- choose three books per giftee and they'll put it in a festive package. I got four of them. They're even going to ship one for me. The lady kept apologizing for being so slow. I said, "Honey, this is all my Christmas shopping and I just did it in an hour. It doesn't feel at all slow to me."

Today, I'm challenging myself to get our Christmas newsletter completed and ready to go.

Hope you're feeling better soon, allinell!

Oh, there was no preparation involved. It is the flavor name. These are specifically 'Flaming Hot with Lime!' Cheetos. Tear a bag, pour onto a plate. Crunch. Repeat. LOL And let me tell you, a food that leaves dark red food dye on my thumb and fingers for the next 24 hours should probably not ever be consumed.

I had a little bit of a meltdown myself last night. Meltdown might be too strong of a word. I just had a really hard day at work and I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had planned on going to body pump and then bikram yoga (which I've never done before). My back was twingy so I thought I'd just do bikram. Then I decided to do NOTHING. So unlike me. I thought that I better get something accomplished if I didn't work out and then I sat on the couch. Ugh. Eventually I made my volunteer gifts but I didn't do the other things I thought I'd do. Just watched another Breaking Bad. My weight was back up today. Sigh. Hopefully I'll be in a better frame of mind today. It is still so cold here which I hate.

Allison-- hope you feel better.

Dagmar-- I hate when you do so well at the event and then get derailed later. Good for you for throwing it all out now. What's done is done.

Dagmar - I'm sorry that your night got so tense last night, too. Throw away what you can, return what you can, don't let DH drag you down.

Jen -I've been wound up and have felt almost manic the last couple of weeks, too. I hope it settles down for you.

Joy - I love bookstores!

Megan - I'm waiting on a few items to ship that are frustrating me, too.

Michele - will DH be gone most of this month?

I'm tired and worn today. It has been raining forever, we had DSS the last two nights and I didn't sleep well either night and got up early. I do have soup in the slow cooker, so that will be good. I'm hopeful that it won't rain this afternoon so I can actually run at the park.I need some outside.

Yes and no. He's coming back Sunday and I was thinking that was it for the year. Then I remembered he's going to Houston next Thursday to see his folks, brother and family, and pick up dd to bring back here for Christmas.

I'm feeling very nauseous for some reason. Yesterday I was super cold so I dressed more warmly. I'm wondering if I overdid it and I'm overheating! Yuck!