I've had three good night's sleep and although it is not gone, the cold seems to be losing it's grip. I'm not coughing as much but still feel "clogged" up in my head and lungs. I feel a lot better though.

I have just two holiday parties this year. One on Saturday (Wine Women dinner) and one next Friday at an architect's house. We build a lot of her homes. It should be an interesting one,

Last night a neighbor came to ask us to dog sit for a couple of days. His partner's parents are taking them on a two week cruise to Hawaii and they leave a couple days before his sister can arrive to house sit. Of course we said yes. That's what neighbors are for (although we'll probably leave it up to DS to do it for us as he'll be home and he's done it before with their previous dogs).

Just three more Christmas presents to buy. I searched on line for one yesterday and came up empty so I guess I'll have to physically shop this weekend which will be interesting as we're golfing both days. I haven't been to the grocery store for two weeks and I really need to go there as well (besides the gift cards for the other two presents will be purchased there).

That cake we got the other day is still sitting on the counter and DH has not requested any more of it. I bet the next slice he takes will be very dry and I hope he'll say to throw it out.

I know I wasn't thinking clearly or rationally. The issue is that I maintained under 120 for several years. I was borderline too thin so I allowed the weight to creep up as long as it stayed under 125. The problem is that I've continued to creep despite my best efforts and it is so hard to continue the efforts when I see weight creep. I get resentful sometimes this time of year when the staff break room is FULL of goodies every single day (I work in a large school and parents are very generous). I watch everyone (or so it seems)-- large or small take from the table with nary a thought. I never ever ever take anything (unless it's fruit).

Thanks for the smack upside the head though.

Thank you for your kind thoughts Megan. I'm just feeling a little iffy these days. I think a large part is loneliness. I need to force myself to do more social things when dh is gone so much.

My parents are both teachers and I can so relate to that, Michele. At their previous school where they taught for 20 years many faculty members had their traditional food they gave to everyone each year. One teacher gave her hm fudge, another cheesecake, etc etc (trying not to list too much bc I'm trying not to go into food porn territory, lol). My mom would set up an extra table to hold it all that was on the path between the kitchen and the rest of the house. I called it "the fat table" and that was before I lost the weight. In addition we had to make our own traditional recipes. I was told I was a killjoy one year when I suggested we "just" make a single batch of our sugar cookies. It takes a huge amount of willpower to resist such a huge number of treats that are in your face constantly.

Our society associates food with caring. It's also easy to do to show you care. Not everyone can make cute Etsy-worthy crafts to give but most people can make a batch of cookies. I still struggle to dissociate the two myself, even though I am continually tempted and frustrated by the fat tables and break rooms of the world.

Yes, Megan-- so true... why do we associate food with caring? And celebrations with food? And mourning with food? And everything with food?

I had one of those internal arguments with myself yesterday. There is a huge box of multi-grain crackers in the break room now. One of the teachers (older than me but with an incredible body) was taking some and telling me how healthy they were. I then spent an inordinate amount of time studying the box trying to find nutritional facts. There were none. I left them.

I've been thinking about the blog that Andrea posted about maintainers. I'm thinking I'm not THAT bad. Then I'm thinking that must be what alcoholics say to themselves to qualify their drinking. Oy.

My family also associates everything with food. We never talk about our feelings out loud though so maybe that's why? When my dad picks up one of my favorite foods, it's his way of saying "I love you," which he never actually says (neither do I, for that matter). DH and I say it all the time so I think our family of the four of us will not be like that.

Our holiday plans just got totally derailed. I was planning on taking two weeks off, during which my mom was going to be visiting for most of the time and my sister and SIL a couple days. Well, yesterday my mom slipped on some ice (in LA!?) while out for a walk and broke her shoulder. Today she's having surgery to have a metal plate put in. In any case chances are slim that she'll be in any shape to travel by the 24th when her flight is scheduled for. We're waiting to see how the surgery goes since the doctor said it was a two-week recovery. If she isn't coming out I might reduce my vacation time a little bit and I don't know if I'll bother with a tree or anything like that.

Jessica~so sorry about your mom! I hope the surgery goes well and she heals fast. But yeah, it's been cold here the past week or so. I can totally understand ice, especially if someone watered their lawn early and it was still shady. (Yeah, we do still have to water here in the winter.)

And no tree for us. And possibly no lights outside, either. DH was going to do it last weekend and got sidetracked by football. This weekend we're golfing, so I imagine he'll get lazy about the lights this weekend, too. Kind of sad.

Jessica, I live in Northern California for the last nine days it has been 27 degrees when I get up and I am constantly hearing warnings of black ice,

Sorry about your mothers shoulder, I have had a broken shoulder, too, No Fun.

jessica - sorry to hear about your mom. I hope her recovery goes well.

allison - he might have a little empty-nest thing going on with the holidays. You might have to kick his fanny and prove all is not lost with the kids gone. Hooray for your beating the cold before the weekend!

michele - I wish I had something meaningful to offer. If I could crawl into a hole and hibernate til January, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm formulating a theory that calories from holiday food might be airborne (denial at its very finest, yes?).

bargoo! How are you doing these days?

Megan - the whole food = love thing is a little strange, isn't it? I could totally understand it if we were on the verge of famine all the rest of the year, but the complete opposite is true. When I was in WW, our sponsor/coach laid it right out there - "what the heck are you thinking when you make cookies and high calorie/low nutrition treats for people you love? Is that the message you really want to send, when you KNOW better?" Ow.

Which leads me to an idea. What if (and it would need to start today!) I could start a 12 Days of Christmas for the Recovering ... or the advanced version might be a "Reformed" Advent calendar where each little door hides a pleasant and not-unhealthy gift?

LOL Becky. I like the advent calendar with pleasant and not-unhealthy gifts.

So we bought a new sink this weekend. Ours has been leaking for two solid years and we have hated it the entire time we've been in this house. So after a frustrating three hours trying to read downstairs with that infernal drip last Saturday we gave in and bought a sink. Got it installed today. It sounds so peaceful in my house now.

Ugh. Busy day, and I'm sitting here with a headache that seems to be worsening, after several weeks of a cold that won't shake (and also seems to be worsening). One kid is napping, another kid will be soon, and two kids are outside. I should be doing dishes, but all I want to do is stay plopped on the couch or sleep.

Can this day be over yet? Four more hours until bed, praise The Lord.

Watched an interesting program last night about tea, coffee, and caffeine from a historical perspective. Fell asleep before it was over . It seems addiction can fuel great ambitions. And caffeine doesn't perk us up - it displaces those chemicals which tell us we're tired. I get a real sense of this as most evenings my body is begging to lie down and my brain is still spinning.

I have 9 days off dog walking over the holidays. I'm going to take a serious run at getting the caffeine/lack of sleep pattern broken. I realize how wrong it is to be having an energy drink at 2 a.m. to quiet my brain's cravings enough to get a few more hours sleep.

But I have to keep going right now. 8 more action packed days (I'm working this weekend and doing a one night sleep over tonite) including my yearly physical tomorrow at 7:40 a.m. Nice to have a doctor who will see me on the weekend but kinda sad that I can't even take an afternoon off during the week for a medical appointment.

I am SO ready to retire. 10 more years to go.

Dagmar

My mom's surgery went really well -- apparently she managed to break the bone without any damage to her tendons or ligaments. Hopefully this means she will have an easier recovery! In any case she won't be flying out to see us this month since she's not supposed to raise her arm or lift anything for at least four weeks. Plan for this weekend: finish my holiday shopping and mail out presents to my parents! I think I will order her some flowers too.

Jessica-- glad her surgery went well. Poor thing though!

Dagmar-- funny you fell asleep watching the program! But I don't understand how an energy drink can help you fall asleep? Please explain. I have stayed far away from those though I do imbibe in coffee and tea!

Hope you're feeling better today Arctic Mama.

I have to decide whether or not to weigh in tomorrow for Weight Watchers. I am unhappy where my weight is but I have to weigh in once a month. I'm not sure that it's going to get any better for the rest of December especially once dh and the family comes home. Sigh.

That's good news, Jessica. Your poor mother trying to get washed and dressed over the next few weeks. Some flowers would be very nice.