Hello all!

It's here but we had a crashing storm on Saturday night - I thought the bikes were going to blow over on the balcony, but they didn't.

I walked over 6 miles on Saturday - "shopping" (I didn't buy anything, just walked lots!). DH bought me some luvverly boots though Unfortunately I'm not allowed to wear them till my Birthday Which is 7th January!!!! I already have my Xmas pressie and will be wearing it next weekend

Oh talking of next weekend! It will be a food fest! Saturday is Xmas dinner on the steam train (WOOO WOOOO!), then Sunday we are going out with parents and friends for Sunday lunch, THEN on Monday I have my work Xmas dinner THEN I have to go and spar in a tournament on Monday night!

I'm here too. Dealing with mouse eating wheel on computer mouse. Lot of trees and branches down here after the gales over the weekend. Our conservatory was flooded (its days are numbered, I know). I've got the fire going.

Carb cravings are BANNED today. By order. No carb cravings.

I'm here almost recovered from this weekends's Saturday night food fest 'Tis the season...I need to STOP it until actual Holday dinners! Legs and lots of cardio, clean, clean food today.

Fru- You need to pay attention, too, girl! Make a determined commitment that the wedding dress will fit the same come January 2!

Morning SB! Sounds like you've got your hands full dealing with nature and technology.

Outta here for a while.....

Mel

They're calling for squalls with accumulations here today. I have a few errands that I will do on foot very soon and then it's upper body day.
Oh and I'm out of protein pancakes.

Mel - I PROMISE I will be lighter come January 1st than I am now How's that for a deal?

I'm feeling surprisingly positive about all those eating opportunities! Mum and I have already agreed not to buy any extra snacky food at the weekend, so we will have one big main meal and something small for evening food like cheese and crackers (or cottage cheese and crackers in my case!). I'm going to take my running gear with me and even if I just have a short jog to the end of the lane and back (2 miles) before lunch each day I will be ok.

Oh and I've pre-ordered the Saturday lunch - melon to start roast turkey no gravy for main (plus plenty of veggies and a couple of pigs in blankets ) then I've ordered the apple strudel slice rather than xmas pud, and I can always leave it...

Hi all

Luckily for me, Christmas will be pretty calm as far as celebrating/eating. I usually go home for Christmas where there are treats and eating out and more treats and lots of food. We will be staying here this year and will probably visit the inlaws on christmas itself for dinner but there will be no cookies or things like that.

This weekend, we went to visit the inlaws. We probably won't be planning to visit them for a while because they have dogs and other cats and we don't want to either leave our cat alone for an entire weekend day or take the cat to visit until it has gotten used to us.

This weekend, we did tons of shopping for our new family member. I'm hoping we can bring her home mid-week but I won't know until they call me. She has everything she needs including a litter box, litter, food, toys, scratching post, climbing thing, more toys, catnip, treats, a carry case, a bed and more toys.

I also received some pics of the wedding from my dad. I will try posting some this week. When I first saw the picture of me, I said is that me? Crazy. Actually I have a picture of just me that I may make into an avatar picture.

I hope everyone has a good week.

BEAUTIFUL new avatar Nelie!!! Can't wait to see once you've posted the rest of the photos! Your dress and hair look lovely!!

Here's to hoping you get a good phone call very soon!

Hi LWL,

I'm here!

Nelie - gorgeous avatar!
SB - good luck with nature & technology! is this a pet mouse or a wild one?

I'll do a power class tonight. promise!

have a great day all,
Rabbit

Nice pic Nelie you look lovely.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of DH and I on this computer but here is the pic that I used to create the avatar picture.

Also I may change the avatar picture. You should see my face on the pic when I entered the chapel. Also I'm guessing we need to contact the photographers, I thought they'd contact us about our pictures.

Very pretty Nelie!

Nelie - you were a lovely bride! Crossing my fingers that your kitty comes home with you soon. BTW, we often leave our kitties overnight, but more than that we get a housesitter. Ours do not travel well!

Frus - where are you taking a steam train? My DH is soooo into that stuff. When we were in London we visited a steam museum (with working engines) near Kew Gardens. I had trouble getting him out of there (never mind that we then got lost on the London train system ) Right now he's researching classes in operating steam driven tractors held in Iowa and Indiana in the spring. The man is obsessed with steam.

We had a nice quiet weekend - something I badly needed. My brain has been way too stressed. Today I'm back to the gym, hopefully back on my regular schedule. I did a major grocery run on Sat and have nice clean meals planned for the week. My goal is actually to be down a few pounds at the end of the holiday season - which in my life occurs on my birthday (which is the same as Frus's, Jan 7).

Nellie you were a lovely bride. Congratulations, on both the wedding and your new little family member. I would love to have another cat but DH is allergic so I compensate with dogs. I wouldn't know what I would do without them. My daughter moved 2000 miles away and took my granddaughter with her so my pugs are my surrogate grandchildren. I have to agree with Pat, watching these silly pets are more entertaining then watching TV. What clowns pugs are.

TTFN,

Good morning. The gales and storms have stopped. No more thunder and lightning for a while. It's a lovely pale pink and blue day.

I did quite well on no carb cravings yesterday. That's going to be my food focus for this week.

Rabbit - this mouse (and its friends) are wild. They're field mice and they should be living outside. It's certainly mild enough. There was no more damage overnight but I think it's a lull in hostilities.

Nelie - lovely picture!

WaterRat - what a shame you weren't with us in October. Your DH would have loved the working replica of Trevithick's loco (first steam loco ever) at Ironbridge. It had the filthiest smoke I have ever seen and made me so thankful that things have moved on since the Industrial Revolution. We've got the opportunity to be so much healthier and live so much longer now.

Onward into the day!

Pat - we are feasting on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. That Kew Bridge Steam Museam is really close to where we used to live, but we never visited. I much prefer big locos than stationary engines Chuff chuff! What festivities have you got planned for your birthday? I always try to do something fun and get some friends to go out, since it gets a bit forgotten and trampled into the holidays otherwise. One year we went ice skating (my 21st I think) which was lovely. Can't think what to do this year. It might involve a chocolate fountain since I have one...

Silverbirch - Ooooh Trevithick's loco, wow! Was it some anniversary of Ironbridge this year or something?

Ok back to different iron I pounded my pecs at the gym! I like it! They're all pumped, so I now have more pec cleavage than boob cleavage!

I managed to control the monsters in the kickboxing class last night. Oh my but were they noisy and distracted... I let them run around for a bit to cool off!

Had a good start to the week exercise and eating wise. Feeling positive. :