Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Although time is of the essence, I'm posting a picture of our Christmas tree, which we put up and decorated on Dec. 15. It's not a real tree - the cats kept drinking the water and I didn't think sap would be good for them, so we've opted for an artificial tree for a few years now. It looks pretty skinny here. It's wider "in person." (Is it like video adding 10 pounds to a person, only pictures make trees look skinnier?)



A few words about some of the ornaments:



I made this one in nursery school. I will not say what year, but let's just say, it's definitely vintage.



My husband has been a Three Stooges fan his whole life, and our kids have been raised with such Stoogisms as "spread out!" and "oh, wise guy, eh?", so yes, we are the people who buy Three Stooges tree ornaments.




My mother has been buying us ornaments every year since I got married. The most recent editions have been Wizard of Oz ornaments, very fancy ones that have lines and music from the movie. Lest you think that's not very Christmassy, let me say that there have been days leading up to Christmas days where "I'm melting!" seems rather too apt.


One of my favorite items on the tree is the angel at the top. My younger sister made it, so it's unique. She used lace left over from the bridesmaids' dresses she made for her wedding. Yep, she not only made her wedding dress, she made all the outfits for her bridesmaids, too.

Finally, what would Christmas be without a cat picture, if one has cats? Here's little Luis, cleverly hiding near a Sephora bag, so he's camouflaged.




Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good holiday!

Happy Holidays!

I received my revision notes, so between that, mailing out books and getting ready for Christmas, as well as trying to maintain an exercise regimen, blogging's going to have to slid down the list o' priorities for the next little while.

So I'm going to take the time now to wish you all a wonderful holiday season with family, friends and good times!

Weight Loss Challenge - Holiday Hiatus

Well, I'm not going to make my goal of 135 by Christmas, not unless I go on a crash diet of some kind, and I don't think that's a healthy decision, so that won't be happening.

What also hasn't been happening, though, is daily exercise. I got swamped with work-related work, as well as holiday prep, and there were a couple of days I just couldn't take an hour for the treadmill or walking. I also fell off the cola wagon, big time. So all in all, this was not a good week for the ol' weight loss challenge. Mind you, I'm still hovering around 140, so it could be worse.

That said, I'm throwing in the towel with this Challenge, declaring it a failure. But because I still want to reach my Ultimage Weight Loss Goal of 130 pounds, I plan to start a new Challenge sometime in mid-January.

It's the most busiest time of the year...

This time of year is always busy, and once again, despite my best efforts to be in control of time and space, I have got a whole lot going on.

Some of this is my fault. I decided to do a book give-away at this time of year. So now my office looks like the post office.

But there have been other things, too. This weekend, for instance, we had the Great Furniture Shuffle of '09, moving the last of my son's furniture from our house (bye-bye, mate's bed...sniffle...) to his new digs, as well as moving furniture from a relative's house that was going to my son's new digs, our niece's house and our house. That was a day, especially considering I have the upper body strength of a gnat.

However, I'm also trying to get my Christmas sewing done, so yesterday, I made an outfit for Niece's New Baby. Do you know how hard it is to find fleece in a pattern suitable for a little baby?

Also, note to self for future reference: do not sew white fleece while wearing black jeans!

As far as work goes, I'm waiting for revision notes (always stressful!). I also have to come up with a new title.

So, today, I have books to get ready to mail, titles to think of, and sewing to do - matching outfit for New Baby's sister, nightie for sister, dress for Baby, pj bottoms for Nephew, and two Christmas stockings. If the revisions aren't too much and I have time (cue maniacal laughter) I hope to make a couple of little mice decorations, too.

Weight Loss Challenge - progress at last!

I wasn't optimistic when I stepped on the scale yesterday afternoon. I bought some excellent toffee at the One of a Kind craft show on Sat. and munched it until Wednesday, when it ran out. I didn't get a chance to exercise at all on Monday.

But lo! I was 139.2. Granted, this is not a huge drop, but still - progress!

As noted in my blog last week, I sometimes rowed instead of walking/treadmilling. I started at 450 strokes, which worked up a good sweat, used more muscles (arms and back) and took about 20 minutes, so it's a faster, more extensive workout. Unfortunately, rowing isn't the best for other parts of my body, so I don't know if I can do it more than twice a week.

Today and tomorrow, I'm helping to move furniture. I'll probably get on the treadmill today, but not tomorrow, and I suspect I might want to spend most of Sunday recovering. But at least progress has been made, so I'm a happy camper today!

This week's walking/treadmill/rowing tally:
Sat. - 10,101 steps
Sun. - nothing
Mon. - rowed 450 strokes
Tues. - 1 ht. on TM
Wed. - rowed 550 strokes
Thurs. - 45 min. on TM (I didn't sleep well Wed. night, so I was too wiped to do more)

It'll be interesting to see what next week brings! I made a cake yesterday for company and have left-overs.

ETA: I realized I ought to clarify that I didn't make the cake because I thought a cake could offer companionship. Daughter was coming for dinner and I made it for dessert. :-)

What the Dickens?

It's no surprise that writers revise. Goodness knows I sure do plenty of that (Exhibit A, pictured here). Compare and contrast Charles Dickens' original manuscript of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Wonder what he would have done with colored ink?

What's your favorite film version of this story? I personally like the classic with Alistair Sim, although those two little kids under the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Present give me the willies. But then, they're supposed to.

Daughter likes the Muppet version.

I won't be seeing the newest one. It looks too weird to me.

And hey, that story was a hit even before the current paranormal craze!

What are these creatures invading my space?

I've been doing a little Christmas decorating. The Count is not impressed.