You Versus the Scale

Well, I didn't throw out the leftover cookies on the plate and it was a good thing. Some friends came for dinner last night and they enjoyed snacking on those cookies and candies. Now I will get rid of what is left. I can highly recommend the LapBand for anyone out there who has been fighting their weight for a period of time. It is a tool that truly helps you control your hunger and when properly adjusted keeps you on track. This time last year I was thinking of nothing else but having the LapBand surgery. I didn't have a date for that surgery yet but I knew I would very soon. This year when it comes time to make New Year's Resolutions, losing weight won't be my primary resolution. It is a given. I did get some deals at Macy's yesterday. I bought myself 3 sweaters and some new sheets for our bed. I washed them when I got home and they are so soft. I plan to put them on the bed today. They also had their bra sale going, where you buy 2 and get 1 free. I got 3 of them also. When I showed hubby my 3 sweaters he said, " did they have any others you liked?" He liked the ones I bought. Isn't he sweet? Our Macy's is very small, I think of the Macy's in New York City and this is like one department compared to it. But it's a small town without that many people so that makes for less mechandise needed so I guess it will have to do. I can always drive to a larger town with a bigger mall. I love our little town. It is supposed to be a rainy weekend here.

Time to Face The Music

Even though I can't eat much, what I ate was more than I usually do. This morning I can tell I overindulged a bit. I have a lovely plate of cookies that I made up of all the leftover cookies I had here. I took them with me yesterday hoping they would all be gone, only a small portion are gone. I took a tray of fresh veggies and a dip. I ate lots of these so that was good. But I did sample several goodies and a very small slice of pumpkin pie. I also had red wine which is heart healthy. :) So today I think I shall dispose of all the leftover cookies (since they are my biggest weakness). Also a trip to the gym to get in a really good workout should help. Then I'll make my way over to Macy's and see if I find something I can't resist.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my blog followers and their families a very Merry Christmas filled with friends and family members. I hope you are filled up by love and make many new wonderful memories.

One Day Until Christmas

Well, folks this is the day. The last day before the big day, that is unless your family has their celebrations on this day. In that case you had better have your act together and have all of that shopping done. When my kids were young we always had the family over to our home on Christmas Eve and that is when all the presents were opened after all the eating. The tree had so many presents under it that it spread throughout half the livingroom. The presents were handed out to each person whose name was on them and the idea was for the kids to open theirs first. We tried to get them to wait so we could all see what everyone got but it didn't seem to work out that way. After a few minutes of organized unwrapping something would go terribly wrong and a whirlwind of ribbons, and paper was flying in the air. There were squeals of excitement and thank you's abounding and nobody knew what anybody else got because we were opening gifts at the same time. When the dust settled we had big black trash bags to stuff the discarded paper in and hopefully you weren't throwing away some little pieces of gifts. We would keep the bags in the garage so we could go through them later if need be. Ah, yes those were the days. The days of having children at Christmas time. As they grew older some of the magic of Christmas was gone forever. It just wasn't as fun without children there to be bouncing around with glee. But when the kids grew up I started to focus on the reason for the season. Now I truly enjoy the candlelight service at church on Christmas Eve. It's a much quieter evening to be sure, but comforting too. Hubby and I have already exchanged our gifts this year. I got a new digital camera and he got a new digital camcorder. We will be having lots of fun with our new toys. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Two Days Until Christmas

I decided this morning that whatever I haven't already done that was on my To Do List will have to wait for another year. I think it's time to draw the line on what is enough. We tend to try to make the best for our friends and family even at the risk of neglecting ourselves and our everyday rituals. I think it's time to say enough. I have baked enough, I have shopped enough, I have fretted and worried and run around enough. Now it is time to enjoy what this holiday is all about. We will visit with friends this year and not see any family for Christmas. The friends we are spending the holiday with won't be with their families either so we decided to have our own little potluck holiday. We are contributing a prime rib we've been saving for a special occasion. I will most likely prepare a side dish or dessert to go with it. I am both sad that I won't be with family again this year but also grateful for the newfound friends in our town who have become blessings in our lives. I am praying that my family (my brothers in particular) will set their computers up with webcams so we can visit face to face on a regular basis. We all live in different states and I feel it is very important that we come together regularly to share what we're doing and just to touch base with each other. We never know when one of us is going to be called up to go home to our Father and I don't want to look back and say " I wish we had spoken to one another more often" I wish you all a very Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah. Thank you to all who have been kind enough to leave me comments and I hope we can continue on in the future sharing our lives by way of this forum. Blessings to you all....

Three Days Until Christmas

Well, we are getting down to the wire now. Last minute time. The grocery stores and the malls should be packed with people stocking up on food for the special day and last minute gifts as well. I need to do the grocery thing myself. I think the best time to go to the market before a big holiday is around 8am. Plenty of parking and everyone is still in a good mood. I do have 2 more cookies I want to bake. I don't know why as we aren't really eating them. But they will be enjoyed by friends and neighbors (I hope). I am going to bake Russian Tea Cakes and English Shortbread. These are two of my favorites. I also have some Amish Friendship Bread to make today. I was given the starter and a loaf from a friend about 10 days ago and now I need to make some loaves and bag the starter and hand them out to 4 people to carry on the tradition. It actually was the best tasting friendship bread I ever had. It was so moist and was more like a pudding cake. Very yummy. I had to stick it in the freezer. My freezer is beginning to be a catch all for things I love but can't eat in time for them not to spoil. I was given some giant english muffins from a friend in another state. The company she ordered them from specialize in these muffins and jams and breakfast foods. Well, english muffins are pretty hard to eat right now so, I popped them in the freezer too. Our cold weather isn't below freezing anymore so now we have rain. Well, I need to get busy so until next time.........keep calm and keep smiling and wish everyone you meet Happy Holidays......