Good Morning

Yesterday was crazy-busy! Tis the season! My sis called in the middle of it all to say she'd be coming for the holidays...arriving on Christmas Day. I guess any dream of "not decorating" is gone and I think the tree will go up this morning.

I'm up to enjoy some peace and quiet. What's happening in your neck of the woods? Stop and say hi

Happy decorating, Debbie! I'm glad all my decorating is done, but it seems that now everyone wants my help to do their decorating. I hope your sis flying in on Christmas Day doesn't disrupt the day!

I have a busy morning ahead of me. I'm meeting up with Cindy's family at the girls' school for their holiday concert first thing, then going over to the farm to try to get more baking done. I have to leave at noon, though, to go to a doctor appointment with Jake. He's had a sore on his nose for months, that won't heal, and we all finally ganged up on him and persuaded him to see the doctor. Wish us luck!

Oh well, Debbie - I always find a tree is nice to have. Will you enjoy your sister's visit? I guess that is what makes all the difference.

Yesterday was day 3 of a wheat free (not strictly gluten free, just wheat product free) experiment and I unknowingly blew it at the end of the day with some wheat based products (just wasn't thinking. The product was 2 beers). Oh, did I suffer last night with nausea and gas. Maybe there is something to this wheat belly phenomenon! I'm jumping right back on the wheat free bandwagon for a while to see how it continues to go.

Today at work we have our holiday party, which is a huge buffet and I am definitely planning on indulging, but will try to stick with good choices (sushi, lean meats, cheeses). I think I can do it because the food is so delicious. I might have some potatoes though, we'll see.

Even with my "wheat belly" I got up this morning and exercised. Way to go...hope everyone has a great day.

ETA: good luck at the dr. cottage. Keep us posted on what happens.

Good morning chicks! I do enjoy checking in here every morning, whether I write anything or not.

Lexiss - YAY for putting up your Christmas tree!! You won't be able to help getting warm fuzzies when you look at it .

Cottage - a Christmas concert in the morning? Interesting. I hope it's all good news for Jake!

MMCK - I'll have to read about your wheat belly thing. I know that when I'm off grains, my cravings are nil (and my belly shrinks!). Good luck at the buffet today!

UGH. Although the scale hasn't moved, the body...it is a changin'. I haven't exercised in a couple of weeks because of travel and illnesses...and it is showing! I really need to straighten things up. No grains for me! That should help. And, treadmill yesterday, bike today.

Otherwise, I finished putting up a lot of Christmas decorations yesterday. DD has her 7th bday party here tomorrow, then we have a Christmas party here on Sunday. Between that and the snow, I'm getting all into the season!! WOOHOO! That snow was SO pretty yesterday. They predicted 2-4", and I can still see the grass thru the snow, darned it!

Off to get the kiddos ready...

Matilda, enjoy the party today! I love it when Sis comes, but it's very complicated. She has many challenges and I have to be very emotionally prepared..It is hard to see her struggle so.

Linda, I'm glad Jake is going to the DR. Funny that everyone wants your decorating help....I was thinking I wish we were neighbors.

Twynn, yay for getting back to the exercise! Glad you're all decorated since you have all those parties coming up!

Good Morning, Chickies,

Debbie, You NEED a tree! I love sitting in the dark living room at night with a lit tree and a fire in the fireplace. Very Norman Rockwell.

Linda, Getting Jeff to go to the doctor is a fight every time! Congratulations on Jake going!

Mathilda, Sounds like your office party is better than my office party.

Twynn, Happy Birthday, Pretty Little Redheaded Girl! Auston's birthday is the 17th. Jeff and I are taking Auston and his cousin Shepard to the Chattanooga aquarium and on a train ride through the mountains. It will be a fun day.

For not having a therapist in the office, we are staying busy! But, I'm wearing jeans while I'm busy. My Christmas sponsors are bringing in the presents for our needy clients. I'm always overwhelmed with their generosity. It's my favorite part of the season. This year we are sponsoring 62 children. HoHoHO!

Good morning It was a quiet morning, DW was sleeping in. Now everyone is up and preparing for the day.

Debbie - Happy decorating! I almost gave in to a tiny real tree yesterday, then I thought of the needles and the cats Hope you had extra peace and quiet this morning.

Cottage - I love the idea of doing someone else's baking, all the fun of baking and the great smells with none of the temptation on the counter. Good luck at the doctor. Do let us know how it goes.

Matilda - I get the grumbly belly thing too. I never realized how tied it is to wheat until I stopped eating it. The party sounds great. Did she change the original plan to accommodate all the parents in the office?

Twynn - they predicted 4-8 here and we only got a couple of inches. I'm in no hurry but I know how much you love it. Sounds like a festive week.

Chel - something about wearing jeans just makes everything easier.

Slightly lopsided day. DW is going to work at 2 then carpooling home. I'm very happy to just chauffeur in one direction. I really need this long stretch to get some work done. The last couple of days were too choppy to do anything but drive.

Off to get the crockpot set-up. I've been thinking about the White Chili so it's time to make a pot

Late check-in this morning. I just dashed out in my robe with the trash just as the "lad" arrived with the truck. The "lad" said "Don't you be worrying, Missus. I'd stop for yours if you was late." I wonder if he was thinking of his usual Christmas tip.

Debbie, I hope you have a bit of time to enjoy your tree before your company arrives. It sounds like you will really need to be "on" when your sister arrives.

Cottage, enjoy the concert today. I wish I were there to enjoy it and then to help you bake. I noticed Jake's nose problem but didn't say anything, of course. Canadians are so frassing discrete ... most of the time.

Mathilda, I never thought of beer as having wheat in it although I knew it was made from grain. Isn't it barley?

Twynn, my body is showing the effects of no exercise too. November was a bad month healthwise and I didn't even get on the treadmill once. I don't think shopping and lugging out the trash really counts.

Chelby, Chattanooga! Strange but I always thought that was just a name in a song. Glad to hear it's real and there is a Chattanooga Choo Choo. It's great that you are able to sponsor 62 children. I'm not sure how many we are doing this year around here but know the numbers will be up for the Christmas baskets.

Cyndi, my days have been choppy lately too. For some reason the citrus from the High School fundraiser ended up at my place and there's been a parade of folks coming to pick up their orders. Yesterday I had enough and delivered the last two boxes.

Donna comes to clean later today and I have done most of the tidying. Liz and Moel are coming for dinner tonight - very simple, spinach salad, lamb pilaf and apple crisp so minimal cooking.

By the way, it was snowing late yesterday afternoon and I managed to put the car in the barn without having to move much stuff. I guess it wasn't such a bid deal as I thought. Sometimes I think about jobs longer than it takes to do them!

On we go with Thursday.

Cyndi, glad you only have to chauffeur one way today! Yay for your crockpot coming out! We don't do a live tree anymore. I picked a nice fake one years ago that has the lights already on it. They're my favorite twinkly ones but I have to special order the bulbs. They remind me of our tree when I was growing up.

Chelby, glad to hear you are helping so many families again this year. Congrats on the new tile for your kitchen. I'd like to learn to put down tile so I could redo our bathroom.

OK, off to do my most procrastinated project (941 taxes) and I hear DH getting up. Thank goodness for early mornings here!

Hey Cyndi,
This is actually the school's party rather than my department's. She did stop by to ask why I was not attending the department's holiday party, and I told her that I wasn't available after hours and she just said "ok." I think about 1/4 of the department is not attending. Of course she's so unaware it just went over her head.

Hello chickens! Back home from VA and today is telecon day. I've got a stack of no less than 5 to get through. I have to pay attention too, so no online shopping. I wish my treadmill was quieter, so I could walk at least.

cottage, if you're hiring out, I could use some help with the decorating and baking!
Twynn, we got some flakes last night, but it was already so wet, nothing stuck. But the wind was wicked and woke me in the middle of the night. I've got two heavy iron urns on my front steps that have little Christmas trees in them, and they actually blew over! First time that's ever happened. And my porch swing broke.
Cyndi, I had to go hunting for the hot & sour soup recipe you'd posted. I went back through three pages of your facebook page and now I'm more convinced than ever that we're secret sisters. After all that, I didn't get it in the crockpot today. Tomorrow for sure!

Is the hot and sour soup recipe here on 3fatchicks? If only on Facebook, can you copy and post it here?

Matilda, I searched for it and don't think she posted it here. I haven't tried it, but comes very highly recommended by Cyndi:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/10...sour-soup.html

Hello,

As promised I made here to post...not morning but at least not in the evening. DH is doing well just a bit of swelling on his face.

Still doing good eating wise and exercise wise- just waiting for the scale to decide on moving down. Got my blood work done this morning and everything looks good.

Sounds like everyone is doing well and almost ready for Christmas. I have everything done except for Christmas cards and for some reason I cannot get motivated to even go out and buy them. I sent out about 60 of them and then receive about 20 in return, maybe I should only sent out to the people who actually send one as well rather than everyone else.

Have a good evening everyone

I have to add a disclaimer - Cottage was not thrilled with this recipe so YMMV.
We love it and make it a couple of times a month and I've brought it to friends who also liked it. OTOH it's ridiculously hard to find vegetarian hot and sour so it may be that this isn't like the soup at your restaurant
I like mine with more broth so double the liquid, spices and seasonings, and mushrooms but not the tofu or peas. DW is not a fan of the peas so sometimes I skip them altogether and add chopped spinach instead. I also toss in a can of chopped baby corn, another DW thing. I'm a spice fiend so usually add an extra splash of rice vinegar and more chili paste to my bowl. We love the leftovers, sometimes add shirataki noodles or make spicy egg drop soup with them.

Schmoodle - I've always wanted a sister