Opal and Daisy

Two more pictures! I couldn't get Blogger to let me add these earlier.

Opal is my new car (the color is Opal Sage), the nicest little CR-V ever! She's a 2011 and still smells new. Yummy smell--nearly as good as hot popcorn and new babies.

Daisy is my new friend. She's a member of Anita's family--a six month old goldendoodle 'puppy'. She comes to visit when the boys do--and sometimes when they don't! 

Eating Naked!

My friend Cathi and I are eating naked for the next two weeks. Naked means no sugar, dairy, or wheat, and all other foods in their most natural state (not processed). Also, light on starchy fruits and veggies.

Of course, I brought a yogurt for a snack today. I don't even like yogurt all that much, but I try to eat it every so often for the probiotics. Guess I'll take it back home and stick to my nuts and veggies!

I'm going to take a picture every day for 2012. I don't think I'll post daily, so they may all appear in one post per week. This photo is blurry because it's from my phone. I'll resurrect my camera and improve the quality!

My friend Matt at work asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him a new car with a bow. He delivered!

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree...

For the first time in years (I think since 2000 when I went to Australia for Christmas), I did not put up a Christmas tree. I am surprisingly okay without one. Why no tree? Well, my pre-lit tree is an old one and a strand of lights no longer works. For the past two years, I have been annoyed looking at it. This year I decided it was time to buy a new tree. One thing after another took precedence over the tree, so now I've decided I should just wait for them to be on clearance after the holidays. I want a 7 foot multi-colored tree. The all white ones are pretty, but I kind of like the hint of garishness that goes with Christmas. For me, it's not about an elegantly trimmed tree; it's about a tree packed with ornaments that evoke memories.

I love my ornaments. I have ornaments from many years of travelling. A wooden kangaroo from Australia, a gold leafed maple leaf from Canada, some wooden trains from Germany, lovely red paper ornaments from Denmark, tiny mittens from Estonia, little boots made from reindeer skin from Sweden...and on and on. Sometimes I'll buy a piece of jewelry on a trip and turn that into an ornament. I also have some quirky and homespun ornaments from my sister Linnea's tree that I claimed when she passed away. I treasure a beaded star from the year my mama and Linnea made dozens of beaded ornaments for the family tree. Oh, and the ceramic bear that Parker and Landon painted for me when they were 3 and 6. It's heavy, so I have to put it on the bottom, tucked near the trunk. Near the top of my tree sits a small plastic angel that adorned our tree when I was growing up. I can't verify its origins, but I like to think it was my grandmother's. It's not large enough to be a tree topper, but I use it as one.

I'm lucky that Christmas, for me, evokes happy, warm, joyous memories. I know for many it is bittersweet--full of unfulfilled expectations of family peace and love.

I'll be with my sisters at Christmas. Annette's brood is coming home to roost, so from Friday 'til Sunday it will be delightful chaos. That night I'll drive to Loene's for our all day movie-fest the day after Christmas.

May you have a Merry and Bright holiday. I can't wait!

Is Boyd Infected and Will They Have to Do Surgery (Again) Next Week

1:57 AM: Is it time to get up? I just want to know one way or the other. Ever since last Friday I've been stewing. After all, this will affect many holiday plans.
4:00 AM: Just go back to sleep already! What am I most anxious about? Not getting an answer. If not this, then what? Seems like my body is always a bit off--test results show problem, more test results follow, eventually my body just fixes things. The process, however, wears me out. All those tests! All that waiting!
7:29 AM: I deserve a Dunford's donut for all this stress. My stomach is already churning, so why not add gluten to the mix?
7:57 AM: I call just in case. Answering service. Nice lady says call at 8:00.
8:03 AM: It takes all my willpower, but I wait 'til just past 8:00 so as to not appear too eager. Still answering service. Lady still nice.
8:07 AM: Arghh. I will wait 'til 8:15 to try again.
8:15 AM: I'm going to scream... the nice answering service lady suggested I try at 8:30.
8:20 AM: Distraction. Employee needed a shoulder-her laptop was stolen from her cubicle last night.
8:29 AM: Now a group has gathered to offer her many shoulders. I want to call. Would that be rude?
8:35 AM: Busy!
8:37 AM: On hold while Dr. Kimball is located...eek!
8:40 AM: "Hold on, we don't have... hold on..."
8:45 AM: "No infection in that knee for sure. Sometimes we don't know why the knee is painful."

Sigh.

Yay!

Three Healthy Practices for The Holidays

I really wish I could think of a more clever title. Any suggestions?

At work we can get a $10 Target gift card by sharing three things we will do to remain healthy during the holidays.

Here are my three:
1) Drink twice as much water as usual -- a quart at home and a quart at work.
2) Eat one fruit serving per day. I know, I should already do that, but I don't!
3) Stop eating after 8 p.m.

I think that deserves ten bucks, don't you?

I'm fighting my second cold in a four week period. Sniff, sniff, cough, cough. Umm, what else? Done with my Christmas shopping; have three gifts to wrap and 5 to put in gift bags. That's it!

Weight Weight, Don't Tell Me!

How, I ask you, can I weigh 274 on Sunday and 281 on Monday? It's not a blip on the scale. I'm more inclined to believe the 281, unfortunately, since this morning I weigh 284.5.

I thought I said goodbye to the 280's months ago. It really distresses me to face the truth. My fun weight tracker doesn't even begin as high as 284, because I didn't think I'd see that number again.

Scream! Whine! Deny!

I truthfully acknowledge I'm doing very little to move the scale down. I don't exercise; I don't record my food online with Weight Watchers; I eat what I want even if I'm not hungry. Last night, after a dinner of tuna on rice cakes, I munched on rice crackers (the entire package), home made french onion dip, and finished off my quart of Rocky Road ice cream (I'm guesstimating I ate 1 1/2 cups).

Gee, why am I not losing weight?

I can't control how much water I retain, how my hormones fluctuate, or how my meds may be affecting my weight loss efforts.

I can control my snacking and emotional eating. It takes strength and courage, but I can do it.

I have to.

Bonnie and Boyd: A Love Story

Don't get excited, folks. Boyd is the name I have given to my artificial knee. Yes, Boyd. My friend Donna actually named him and I'm completely on board. It's kind of fun to speak of myself (even if it's just a portion of myself) in the third person. Plus, Boyd has some quirks that Bonnie doesn't.

Let me elaborate.

Boyd doesn't like to sleep. He gets all wired up and wants to squirm, wiggle and twitch. Bonnie, on the other hand, enjoys a great night of uninterrupted sleep. It's an interesting conflict. About once a week, Boyd wins and Bonnie has to walk around until he calms down. Fortunately, most of the time Bonnie gets her way. By the way, Boyd is demanding his late night jaunts less and less.

When Bonnie goes up and down stairs, sometimes Boyd just rebels and says, "I'm not going today," so Bonnie has to go backwards to fool him. It's odd, but it works.
Bonnie thinks she can travel on weekends; Boyd gets quite annoyed and screams at her. Then he keeps her awake all night. Stubborn man!

Enough about Boyd.

I'm ready for renewed weight loss efforts! I'm not trying anything drastic and new (okay, I am doing a 7 day cleanse, but that's more for health than for weight loss), but I'm trying on a new attitude. I am going to celebrate every pound. Every little pound. I get so wrapped up in the next big milestone that I skip what it takes to get there. So, I made myself a twenty pound tear off tracker. Each page has an inspirational quote along with my current weight. So, I began at 282 (I just typed 182, does that tell you how in tune with my body I am?), then 281, 280, 279, etc until 262 which is the last page in my tracker. I'm going to hang it near my scale and do a victory dance each time I move to a new page.

That's my plan.