Why do I even weigh-in the week between Xmas and New Year's?!

I have gained 5 (almost 6) pounds in the past two weeks. Four have been this week. How is that even possible? I definitely have been overeating, but I can't see that I've been overeating THAT much and I still have been exercising. :-( Oh well. The good news is that it should come off FAST as soon as I get a grip and stop indulging...after this weekend.

Happy New Year to all!!

Some stuff I forgot

I guess the long weekend was so eventful that I totally forgot a big thing when summarizing below: my brother-in-law (a/k/a The Good One) saved my mom's life!! While we were out to dinner on Christmas Eve, my mom started to choke...badly. She couldn't breathe. The restaurant people were asking if they should call 911. Luckily, The Good One was very good...with the Heimlich -- got the offending thing out of Mommy's air passage with two tries. Whew. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to be scared, but in retrospect...wow. We all practiced the Heimlich the next day!

Here are a couple of photos from Xmas Eve -- the lights on the canals and don't you love our jammies? ;-)

All the Christmas News

While the long-awaited four-day "relaxing" weekend was anything but, I still had a great time!

We saw Sweeney Todd on Friday night (I have seen it many times on-stage and I loved it, DB called it a "slasher movie"). It was super-fun to see a movie in a theatre...it's been a long time! And there are SO many I want to see right now: Charlie Wilson's War, Atonement, Juno, Dewey Cox...

Saturday I went shopping for last-minute things (we just found out that DB's brother, The Good One -- yes, Lori, the one we're hoping comes to Burning Man with us next year -- was coming in for Xmas so we had to scramble a little), did some yoga, then went over to some good friends' (my ex-house actually!) for some take-out and Christmas cheer with them.

Sunday The Good One arrived and, after we took him out to breakfast, I baked -- made two kinds of cookies and our family's version of a fruit cake (which tastes GOOD). I used low-fat/cal ingredients as much as possible. Sunday night we went with a friend of mine to our "local" restaurant (right behind our house) for happy hour dinner, then back to our pad where DB and I wrapped and wrapped while The Good One and our friend drank and chatted with us. (I think we literally wrapped for about 8 hours total over the long weekend!)

On Christmas Eve, we...WRAPPED. ;-) I did even more last-minute errands, including a brow wax and a manicure. My mom came over about 2:30. At 6, we went for our traditional Christmas Eve Indian dinner, then walked the canals (I'll try to post some photos later...it's really beautiful) with Doglet.

Christmas Day was busy, but fun. We woke and opened presents with our coffee and apple fritters (traditional breakfast). DB spoiled me! We had a 5-gift limit and I don't even want to count how many he went over...it was hard to be mad though because it was sweet. :-) My best gift? A wetsuit!! I had been wanting one, but I don't think I ever really said to DB "I want one". Somehow, though, he figured it out or thought of it himself and it was SO great because I really wanted one and it was a HUGE surprise. I want this to be able to boogie board in the winter and snorkel locally (our water never gets too warm). I have to take it back because it was a size too small, but I can't WAIT to get to use it!! Boogie boarding can be very good exercise too. ;-)

DB also got me some spice racks that I needed and wanted...it will be a lot easier to cook when they are up and ready! He also got me a beautiful teak stool for my shower (it's hard to shave legs with no tub side to rest feet on -- we don't have tubs) and a cool hoody for my beach walks. My mom got us some great kitchen stuff and got me The Notebook DVD that I really wanted. My sister took photos in her neighborhood in Harlem of "Helen" as it appears on some buildings and framed them...fantastic gift! My biggest gift to DB was our Surprise NYE Getaway -- we'll be leaving next Monday at noon and back on Tuesday. Not posting details here yet in case DB reads 'em, but I am very excited to get away and just RELAX.

Yesterday afternoon I made some broccoli mashed potatoes and some low-fat egg nog (which turned out GREAT) to take to the pitch-in Jammy Party. We got there about 5:30 and had a ball...it was a total gift orgy with all the grandkids and we loved getting to see them (and the parents!) enjoy the things we had gotten for them. I love DB's family so much...it really is a treat to be considered one of them (The Good One calls me his "favorite sister-in-law"...which might not go over too well with The Evil One's wife!!). We finally left there about 10:30 and didn't get to bed until midnight. I guess now I'm looking forward to an actual relaxing 4-day weekend coming up!! ;-)

Luckily work is slow this week...and I'm digging out some "stinky fish" that have been smelling up my to-do pile for too long!!

Food and other health news: I went down to 1/2 grain of thyroid meds on Tuesday (from a high of 2 1/2 and from 2 last week). I finally feel a lot better (I felt pretty bad on Christmas Eve). Still waiting for The Toe to get really juicy for a culture. And food? I can't pull my stomach in. I really have overdone...although much less than I used to do. The weigh-in this Friday will be sad. But I'll be taking Doglet for a beach walk tonight to celebrate our 9-year anniversary together and I'll be back to yoga-ing tomorrow.

I hope you all had a magical holiday. :-)

Merry Christmakwannukah!

DB's brother (the Good One) was unexpectedly able to get out here and has been with us since yesterday...what a treat!! He should be able to stay until at least Wednesday and we are happy. :-) Right now we're all just resting and it's very relaxing....it's about time!! ;-) My heart is racing again today and that doesn't feel too good...tomorrow I reduce the thyroid meds a little more.

I baked yesterday afternoon -- only two kinds of cookies and a cake -- used low-fat/low-cal options when I could. I can't wait to taste the goodies.

DB and I still have a lot of wrapping to do (for his family)...we've been at it since Friday night and there's still a pile to go! I've done all the grocery shopping and my mom should be coming over in a few hours. Tonight we'll go for Indian food and then for a walk on the canals -- the Christmas lights are so lovely -- as is our tradition. Tomorrow after gifts, we'll snack and then over to DB's daughter's for her pajama dinner party.

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday!

Warning: Food Porn Ahead

OK, so I gained 1.8 pounds this week. While I did overindulge yesterday at our firm potluck, this is WAY more than I should have gained since that was virtually my only really BAD cheat this week. :-( I'm in the "it's so unfair" mode about how other people can eat and not move and not gain weight. Grrr. So what am I doing now? I'm uncelebrating by eating a cookie I saved from yesterday for when I hadn't used up all my calories for the day -- it's some kind of chocolate bomb with brownie-ish stuff outside, fudge inside and covered in powdered sugar. It IS good, but only time will tell if it will be worth it.

I did some yoga last night -- tried out a Yoga for Weight Loss DVD and it was OK. I felt great though getting my body back into those shapes with which it is so familiar. But it was frustrating and took a lot of breathing to get through the fact that there are so many SIMPLE things that I just can't do anymore (at least not yet). Any bent-leg weight-bearing pose is really BAD on my bad knee...I'm hurting today from trying some warriors and side angle poses. Surprisingly, child's pose wasn't as hard as I thought it would be (I made sure to pad my knees -- as always -- with a blanket). Most of the poses -- even lunges -- felt good bending The Toe. This was a very "easy" practice compared with what I am used to, but it is probably good to start slowly.

I'm also giving myself a yoga gift for Christmas -- a former yoga teacher of mine who has become a friend is running a holiday special where she'll give three private pilates or yoga sessions for a reduced rate. I'm hoping she can help me figure out things I can work on without hurting my knee.

The thing about yoga is that I really LOVE to do it...when I do pilates I always watch the clock and can't wait for the 1/2 hour to be over. I never looked at the clock once during the 50-minute practice last night!! Of course, I'm used to yoga classes which last at least an hour and a half, but still the non-clock-watching was very telling to me...

If I'm not here again before Christmas (I will try to be), I wish all of you the happiest, most relaxing and most joyous Christmas you can imagine!!

Thyroid update

I heard back from my GP today and he told me that the results from my blood test show that I am now HYPERthyroid which, of course, would explain my symptoms from earlier in the week. My symptoms got substantially better when I reduced the amount of medication I take daily on Tuesday, but my heart still feels fluttery, I am still jittery and nauseous, etc. My GP told me to stay on the lower dose grains until next Tuesday and then to go down again. I am to go back to him for another blood check in January. I must admit I'm kinda mad at my gyne over this...I just sent her an e-mail with all this info (plus details of the blood results)...

The ONLY way I will have lost this week is from the hyperthyroidism: we had our firm potluck holiday lunch today and I'm finding it hard to breathe in my clothes! I will be ecstatic if I have maintained.

3 doctors in 3 days

Here we go...

So I heard back from my GP first thing this morning with a recommendation to an infectious diseases specialist. I called his office this morning and they told me that he didn't have an available appointment until January 14. I said "ok, I'll take it, but I might have to cancel if I find someone else because I actually have an infection NOW." That woke up the person on the phone (who was actually very nice from the get-go). She wanted details so I gave them to her. She asked me if I could come in today if the doctor had time...I regretfully told her no because I had to drive DB back from PT on my "lunch hour", but told her that I could come any other time because my office is close to theirs. She said that she would get back to me this morning or this afternoon.

At about 3:30 this afternoon my phone rang and it was THE DOCTOR HIMSELF. OK, now, in my experience the ACTUAL DOCTOR doesn't ever call you (except my GP) and ESPECIALLY when you've never even been in to see him! He asked me to tell him what was going on and I did. He asked if I could come in this afternoon and (thinking "wow, this doctor actually will SE me!") said I could be there in less than 1/2 hour. And I was.

When I got to the office, after I filled out paperwork, they took me RIGHT IN. The doctor himself weighed me and took my blood pressure. He heard my story and, lo and behold, he didn't think I was crazy or a hypochondriac (which I was worried about). He said I definitely have a serious infection in my toe, that it is nuts to think that it should take this long to heal. Validation was good!

He spent a whole HOUR with me (after the two hour wait for the honor of 10 minutes with my ortho yesterday, this felt like the universe balancing right out!). Told me lots of stuff, but the bottom line is:

- Oral antibiotics will not kill this infection (he took my off mine today).
- He can't determine what antibiotic to prescribe without knowing what exact bacteria is in there.
- In order to find out either I have to get a readable swab of the discharge from the toe (sorry for graphicness) or, if it doesn't start to ooze again after being off the oral antibiotic, we have to remove the pin that's still in there (this will have to happen sooner or later anyway to determine whether the infection is on the pin or in the bone or both) and swab it.
- Once the pin is out, that will be better, but then we have to treat with IV antibiotics.
- That means they will have to insert this thing in my upper arm into which they can pump antibiotics "once or twice a day"...for how long, I asked? Gulp. SIX WEEKS. I told the doc this might be a problem as I'm pretty sure insurance won't pay to have someone come out and inject me when we're in Utah for a week in January! He reassured me that they will be able to teach me how to handle it.

It sounds a little daunting...and part of me hopes that ALL of this doesn't really have to happen. But I am SO HAPPY to have a doctor who seems really really on top of things -- he tried to get through to Dr. Toe today with me there and couldn't (no big surprise).

I am hopeful...and a whole new adventure awaits!

Not to mention that I got my "Yoga for Weight Loss" video from Netflix today...I'll try it tomorrow night.

One day closer to my 4-day weekend...and I NEED it! ;-)

Michael Moore was SO right (when is he not?)

I've had two doctor appointments in less than 24 hours...something I do NOT have time for at this time of year. :-(

For a little over a week, I've been feeling "fluttery" in my chest about once a day. My gyne (who prescribed my thyroid meds) told me to let her know if I ever felt anything in my chest so I sent her an e-mail last week. She said to keep up with my same dosage and not increase as she had told me to and that the feeling should go away. Over the weekend it got worse and by Sunday night my pulse was 92 when I was lying down (it's usually in the 60s). Yesterday morning I was feeling fluttery, jittery, tired, nauseous and dizzy. I e-mailed the doc again and she said to take one grain less of the medication than I had been. But I felt really sick and worried so I made an appointment to go see my GP. He took an EKG (all good), blood, and told me to start reducing the thyroid meds. My thyroid levels in April were "good" via the blood tests he ran when I was in for my physical. Then in Sept. when my gyne did the Thyroflex (not blood test) I was hypothyroid so I started the meds. My GP is not familiar with the Thyroflex, but he says he's pretty positive that my symptoms were from taking too much medication. We'll know for sure when he gets the blood work back later this week.

Then, this morning I had a follow-up with the toe doctor. After waiting for TWO HOURS, when he finally came in I let him have it (nicely) -- this is far from the first time that I've had to wait this long in this office. I told him that at my job if I kept a client waiting for two hours, I would expect to be fired. He got very defensive saying he was "working me in" (what? I had an appointment!) and that "lots of people need to see me". I told him maybe he needs to take less patients. I absolutely HATE certain doctors who think their time is more important than mine. Grrrrrr. I am furious at this point and trying very hard not to cry (which I tend to do when I get furious). I didn't cry and we went on to the meat of the appointment (he never apologized!):

My toe is infected. It has been off-and-on for probably two months. I took a 5-day course of antibiotics back in November and it seemed to clear it up, but then it came back. I'm now on day 6 of a 10-day course of the same antibiotic. My toe looks better, but it still is red and the wound is still not completely closed (3 1/2 months after surgery!). I told the doc I am worried about creating a "super bug" in there that is resistant to antibiotics. I asked him flat out if it was normal for the toe to look like this after such a long time...NO. He said maybe I should go see an infectious disease specialist. Ya think? Grrrrrr. Why didn't he recommend this? Why did I have to ask? It doesn't make me feel good to have my DOCTOR say "oh, ok, I agree with you". I made sure he wasn't just saying this to appease me...I believe he does think that I should see someone and he is out of his depth. :-( So he recommended me to someone...yeah, right, I'm going to go see someone you're in cahoots with? I think not! (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I dropped the lawyer-bomb with him and his assistant today...saying "in my law firm, we wouldn't leave someone waiting for two hours and expect them to happily stay". Funny...all of a sudden, they got a wee bit more responsive...worried about malpractice much?! Not that I think this is malpractice, by the way...just shoddy practice.)

Anyway, I called my GP immediately from the car when I left Dr. Toe to get an infectious disease recommendation. As I hung up, Dr. Toe's office was on the phone -- "these are the blood tests you need to have done before going to see our infectious disease doctor and I've made an appointment for you on January 3 at 11 am."!!! NOOOO. I told them I was probably not going to go to their person but to another doctor of my choice but that I appreciated their "help". UNBELIEVABLE.

Sigh. Michael Moore was so right...I actually HAVE insurance and it's not MY problem with our health system in the U.S. My problem is the medical CULTURE here. And I'm afraid nothing will ever change. Go rent Sicko.

On to happier things: weekend was very fun if still way too busy. I finally got some time to just sit and look at the internet late on Sunday night. Food has been ok. Booze too. Although I must admit I did have two teeny cookies yesterday from a gift basket in the kitchen at work...I think most "normal" sized people can do this and not gain weight...why do I gain the minute I cheap a little bit? Well, I'm not going to assume I'm going to gain this week...I'm still sticking with the program...exercise and eat right and try to at least maintain.

Oh yeah, and I'm going to get my yoga going too...not this week probably...way too much going on...BUT I do have a yoga DVD coming to me next on my Netflix queue so maybe on Thursday night... :-)

Thanks for listening to me rant... :-)

Friday weigh-in, Fun and The List

Happily, my weight stayed the same this week! I am lucky for this because (a) I drank a bit more than I have the past several weeks, and (b) I missed pilates on Tuesday due to DB's procedure (although I threw in an extra walk with Doglet on Wednesday). I truly am happy with a "maintain" this week.

I am really excited because tonight DB and I are going to a benefit for the workers who have been laid off due to the WGA strike -- among the performers are Eddie Izzard (the funniest human on earth in my opinion), Tenacious D (LOVE Jack Black), Sarah Silverman and Patton Oswalt. I am looking forward to laughing my head off for a few glorious hours. :-)

Now The List of Asanas, etc.I can do TODAY (to be amended and expanded):

Pranayama (breathing...REALLY need this) -- alternate nostril, ujayii, kumbaka (retention), kapalbati (skull brightener)
Downward dog
Vrksanana (tree pose)
Suryanamaskar (sun salutation -- not sure about this one, will have to modify for toe)
Tadasana (mountain pose)
Savasana (resting pose)
Dolphin (but not Dolphin push-up due to toe)
Ardha Chandrasana (half moon pose)
Danurasana (bow pose)
Halasana (plow pose)
Matsyasana (fish pose)
Nagasana (cobra pose)
Sarvangasana (shoulder stand)
Shalabasana (locust pose)
Shirshasana (head stand)
Trikonasana (triangle pose) and variations (side angle, etc.)
Navasana (boat pose)
Virabarasana I, II and III (warrior -- but must not bend knee too much)
Chair pose (w/ twisting variations)
Forward bed and wide-legged forward bend (standing -- uttanasana -- and seated)
Janusirsasana (head to knee pose)
Dandasana (staff pose)
Seated twists
Sphinx pose
Bridge pose
Vipirita Kurani (legs up the wall pose)
Supta badakonasana (supported butterfly)
Reclining big toe pose and twists
Chanting!

The List of Poses I can't do TODAY:
Plank and chattaranga (too hard on toe)
Virasana (hero pose -- too hard on knees -- probably won't be able to do this ever)
Padmasana (lotus - same)
Hanumanasana (splits -- yes, I used to be able to do this!)
Hand stand (arms have lost a lot of strength)
Balasana (child's pose -- way hard on knees)
Crow pose (I haven't been able to do this since I was a kid)
Wheel (backbend -- need more arm strength back)
Urdva Mukha Savasana (upward facing dog -- too hard on toes)
Forearm balance (I did this maybe one at the height of my yoga jockitude)
Pigeon pose (hard on knees)
Badakonasana (butterfly -- knees, hips, you name it....yuck!)

That's just the beginning... :-)

Next I will work on some flows based on the above. :-)

(Just typing this has cheered me up and gotten me excited. I like going to classes better than solo practice usually because I'm more challenged and don't have to THINK as much, but this will be good...)

Challenged

Vickie's last comments challenged me. I have been saying for a long time how much I miss my yoga asana practice. To understand this, you have to know that I started yoga in my teens with Lilias on PBS. The only exercise I ever liked as a teen. I came back to yoga in 1999 after I had lost a lot of weight, joined a new gym, decided to try yoga again, and ultimately met a teacher who led me to the studio where I practiced for 5 years. And I practiced close to 5 days a week for those 5 years...I practiced with a myriad of different teachers with different lineages and philosophies...I practiced when I was sick...I practiced when I was sad (one of my most amazing practices was on 9/11...I went to my studio like a lot of people when to church)...I practiced after almost every long day of work...I got up early on Saturdays and Sundays to practice. And I LOVED it. Yoga became a part of me.

In August 2004, the studio where I had been practicing for 5 years closed. I was adrift. At about the same time I met DB and going to long hours of yoga practice when I could be staring into his eyes, walking hand-in-hand on the beach and generally falling in love seemed to be a better way to spend my time. And it was.

I half-heartedly searched for a new studio where I would get the breadth of theory and practice I had at my old place and every place I went was disappointing.

In mid-2006, by chance, I went to a class at the same space where my studio had been (I had been resisting going there because they are more of a strict d0-it-our-way-or-the-highway type of yoga). I cried that night in savasana. I had come home. I could still cry thinking of that moment.

Then in late 2006 I had knee surgery. My doctor told me I could be back to my yoga practice "almost immediately". This was a lie. Well, of course not totally a lie...yoga is not just the asana practice...I can (and do) practice the other arms of yoga all the time...but without asana I feel like I'm missing a limb. And I haven't been able to do asana consistently for over a year.

And the other day I read an article in Yoga Journal about how yoga is for everyone and it detailed a lot of people with a lot of physical challenges finding the ability to do asana in their lives. And today I read Vickie's comments on my last post...and she is right. I know so much about yoga that I could totally make a list of what I can do right now and what I can't. (Not to say that I will never be able to do them again, because I will...if I PRACTICE.) In the midst of my discombobulated day of work stress, holiday stress, DB hurting stress, I have been thinking about this a lot. I wanted to sit down and write this list ALL DAY. And I had no time. But I will do it. And I will do it here where I can go back and look at it and...grow.

Last night while working with DB on manipulations of his very painful and hard-to-move shoulder, I tried to help him do yoga breaths. I tried to have him breathe into the movements. I was reminded of how I can apply my yoga practice not only to MY everyday life but to others' because I FELT the difference his breathing properly made in his ability to move through the pain. I'm not sure he felt it...but I did.

And then this morning, Vickie's comments. I hear the message. Now I just have to find the time to act.

Speaking of messages...I had a Christmas miracle happen tonight. Yesterday I went to make coffee and my coffee scoop which came with our coffee maker that DB bought for me last Xmas was missing. I felt my stomach sink...DB had made the coffee the day before. I went to ask him..."where's the coffee scoop, honey?". "I threw it away...it was in the tin and I thought it came with the coffee." ARGH. I promptly found him the link to a place where he could get me a silver-plated monogrammed coffee scoop for my stocking. Then tonight when I came home our discarded coffee tin was on the top of our garbage can in the alley. I said to DB, "did you take that out?". "No.". I went over to it...and there was our scoop sitting outside the can on top of the garbage can!!!!!! There is no logical explanation for this except that the universe (a/k/a Santa) is kind.

The Procurement Officer

Oops...I meant I filled up my CART, not my CARD!! ;-)

I love shopping. And that's almost literally all I've been doing during non-working and non-sleeping hours the past few days! We actually went to a mall on Saturday -- yikes, I know why I prefer on-line shopping. Sunday I went to Ross (off-price great stuff -- those of you not out west don't know what you're missing) and shopped for 3 hours. I totally filled up my card. Spent $300 but it would have been over $1000 at a regular place. With my family and DB's, we have a LOT of gifts to get and I'm the official Procurement Officer of the team. It's very fun, but I'm just about shopped out. Luckily, I'm also just about finished shopping...ahhhh...I need a rest and to catch up.

Food has been good. Booze not so good over the weekend. I do have a hard time with moderation in all things. But luckily the non-drinking during the week is now a habit so I don't miss it at all. :-)

Tomorrow DB has yet another procedure on his shoulder -- they knock him out so I'll be missing a half day of work again, but this is FINE WITH ME. I need a vacation though...a real vacation...soon!

Now I think I'll head to bed and maybe watch part of a movie...if I'm lucky maybe I'll meet DB there! :-)

The Twiglets didn't get me...

...I'm down another pound this week. The ONLY explanation is the SSO drinking. I'm keeping that up...and dreading the days when treats start arriving at the office! ;-)

SO much to catch up on...

...and I made a list at work today so I wouldn't forget anything...and left the list at work!! Yes, that is very indicative of just how discombobulated I am this week.

Of course I have barely read any of your blogs...but I will catch up as I can...maybe tomorrow. I actually kind of like having a few days to read. :-)

Let's start back with last Friday and the Firm Party. Always not so very fun...the partners don't really know how to let loose and have fun and this trickles down. There's also a very weird corporate culture that means that lawyers and staff don't really socialize very much (with few exceptions). When I first started at the Firm over 14 years ago, this really bugged me. I guess I'm pretty used to it now, but it really comes to light at the party where all the Esqs. sit with each other, all the paralegals sit together, all the assistants, etc. There is some cross-pollinating (we had a partner at our table with 3 other paralegals and their dates) but it's rare. There are no seating charts or anything...this is just how people choose to sit. Anyway, the wine is usually great because one of my bosses is a real connoisseur. This year was no exception -- he found some Australian Shiraz that was truly delicious. Unfortunately, it also had a much higher alcohol content than most wines. This we did not know until much later...

They served food late so I had had three glasses of wine before dinner. No, don't ask me how many I had with dinner...two? Three? Who knows? It could have been more, but I am no lightweight and this wasn't vodka for God's sake. However, I got SO drunk that I woke up the next morning in my bed and did not remember coming home. I was mortified. At least DB promises me that I didn't do anything bad in front of anyone from work. Monday I learned that at least two other women who drank the wine had similar experiences. And my assistant told me that the Wine Boss told her that the alcohol content in that wine was unusually high. I wish I would have had a warning!

Anyway, Saturday when I had gotten a little over my mortification, DB and I had to jam to get stuff ready for the party. We had to take delivery of a futon chaise for my upstairs office, shop, clean up, pick up some more furniture that we bought on Craigs List (a queen sized futon for our front yard -- nice to sit on and we can actually sleep out there in the summer because it is totally private!), etc. One of DB's daughters and her family arrived at 6:30 (the party was supposed to start at 7) and I didn't have my hair or make-up done! Yikes. They wanted food. Yikes X 2 as we hadn't gotten anything ready yet! Luckily they went out to get some food and came back later!

Our party was super fun. We told everyone to wear hats and most people complied. The main thing I don't like about having parties is that I don't get to spend any quality time with anyone and lots of people come that I almost never see so that makes me sad. But all our friends love chatting with each other and meeting each other and everyone said they had a great time. They loved our mod 1960s aluminum tree (we've now also gotten a real tree to decorate and smell up the house -- yay!) but, of course, no one really realized we were dressed up 60s -- DB as a hippy and me as a mod. ;-) Anyway...our last guests (except one of DB's daughters and her three kids) left at 2 am. I guess they were having fun! :-)

Sunday we spent the whole day at the house with the kids. You'll see the photo below where I was showing Princess (DB's oldest granddaughter) how to make French toast. She loves helping in the kitchen and is so cute. I love her so much! She said "Helen, don't we need aprons?" (I taught her to use an apron when she helped me with the past two Thanksgivings). SO cute. :-)

On Sunday I also made The Turkey Soup. Yum. I've been eating it all week. I'm afraid it's not too great for my waistline, but it's a tradition and soooo good!

So Monday came around and I wasn't too relaxed...and I had to deal with the identity theft some more. It's a very very long story, but I got my credit report (and we figured out that the thieves must have a copy of it) and had to call all my credit card companies as well as several companies where the thieves had applied for (and mostly gotten...I have great credit) new cards. It looks like they probably only got about $6500, but if I wouldn't have called a few places to stop it last Friday, they would have gotten at least $10,000 more. They were ordering things on-line and returning them to stores for cash. Very professional. The retailers I talked to were understandably pissed off. The policeman who came to take the report last Friday was very nice and helpful, but I haven't heard from the detective (even though I left him a message with more info) and I'm sure this is pretty low priority for them. Which pisses me off more because we had an actual address where the shipments were going and a name the guy was using (I actually got a credit card on one of my accounts in his name in the mail last Saturday!). These people know everything about me: my name, address, social security number, and even my mother's maiden name. It is very very scary. I have had to close all my credit cards (no sweat) and have changed around all my bank accounts/debit cards. I have passworded everything with new passwords (not my mom's maiden name -- you all should change this too -- it is too easy for these professional thieves to get information like that -- all they need is your SSN). Guard your SSNs, people.

I am super careful and have no idea where these people got my info. The retailer who first alerted me to this last week said it often happens right after real estate transactions because a lot of your personal info is on those papers and they go through a lot of hands at brokers and banks. I'm afraid this is what happened to me. AND these EVIL professional thieves started their offensive the day after Thanksgiving. It was comprehensive.

Sigh...anyway...

Work has also been super-stressful this week and it's not been easy to shop (I do a lot on-line) without my debit card. But I got a new one activated yesterday and now can shop to my heart's content!

Very sad news today. We found out this morning that DB's oldest sister's breast cancer has come back (she had it two or three years ago, did chemo and had a radical mastectomy on both sides). It is now in the chest wall and at least one lymph node and her doctor tells her it's inoperable, but "probably manageable". She starts chemo again on Monday. Her spirits seem very good and she told the siblings not to THINK of taking her week in Nearby Town (Xmas week) away from her. Her youngest child is only about 16. DB is understandably upset and I ache for him. His sister asked for everyone's prayers and, among other really inspirational things, said to remember this season is about "new beginnings". So please add her (and her family) to any prayers or talks you have with God. Thanks!

Thanks for your nice words about my red tights -- I love them -- DKNY are the best. And the first time I wore tights (or even socks) since The Franketoe happened (yes, it's better, but still not well).

Hey, do any of you know Twiglets? My best friend is Welsh and she introduced them to me a long time ago -- they're a British snack food, pretty low in calories and fat and YUMMY. Unfortunately she was in Wales for Thanksgiving and brought me some back. Fortunately, she brought a big bag with a bunch of little 97-calorie bags inside. Smart!

I don't know how I'll be at my weigh-in tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty fat even though I've been sticking with my good eating, exercise and SSO drinking. This is my period week (it's supposed to start tomorrow) so I guess I can blame it on that if it's bad...but it's probably the salty Twiglets. ;-)

Finally, I'm still waiting for the great infomercial thing to happen. If it does, I'm going to need all of your help pronto. We need to find 50 people located in west L.A. county who have at least 30 pounds to lose and are willing to eat only this food they provide (free) for 3 months. I'll let you all know details when I do, but if you know anyone who fits the criteria (area and pounds to lose), get them ready for when I post the details!!

I've missed keeping up with you all...hopefully will be able to catch up this weekend at some point. :-)

Dashing in and back out until later

Argh...I am so bad at putting up photos...totally screwed up my post. :-(

I'm sure a lot of you have seen this article from Newsweek, but I thought I'd put it out there for those of you who haven't. Very interesting. Loving our bodies AS THEY ARE may really affect our ability to lose weight. :-)

Now, some fun Holiday/Housewarming Hoedown photos:

I'm still here

But so swamped with life that no time to do any kind of in-depth post (or even to read most of your blogs, sorry!). Identity theft takes a lot of time, plus work, home and ho-ho-holidays (difficult to Xmas shop after cancelling all my credit cards. ;-)

Anyway...our party on Saturday was fantastic...I hope to have some photos to post when DB has a chance to upload them. More details then.

Food is pretty good. SSO drinking is very good so at least I'm proud of that. And I'm exercising. I read somewhere that the goal until January should be MAINTAINING. Of course, I want to lose, but I guess I'll be happy to maintain...and that might take a miracle.