Merry Christmas

Instead of crying myself to sleep last night, I went on a house cleaning rampage. From 8:30 p.m. (when my went to bed) until 4:40 a.m. I cleaned house like I was on speed. I even had a cup of coffee at 10 p.m. to keep me going, and it worked.<br /><br />The house is spotless, at least the kitchen, dining and living room. Cleaning isn't something I enjoy, but it's a mindless task that kept my hands busy (no night-time eating).<br /><br />After three hours of sleep, I got up and we put up the tree. We can't find the angel for the top. She's missing. I need to go out to the store anyway to get a few gifts for my husband, so I'll pick up another tree-topper angel. I'm sure the old one is packed away in the garbage somewhere, but I can't find it.<br /><br />I thought about my sister when I finally crawled into bed. It's truly a sad situation, but there's nothing I can do to make it better. Just make sure she's in a warm, safe environment with good medical care. <br /><br />A few people mentioned maybe I should see about moving her down here to live near me. I really thought about that while I was in Fairbanks the week after Thanksgiving. I was ready to do it. Then I watched my sister's interaction with her youngest daughter (she's 46). When this niece would walk into the room, my sister would light up with the biggest smile. When my niece bent over to kiss my sister, my sister took her good hand and reached up and touched my niece's cheek and stroked her hair. The particular niece has always had a very close bond with my sister. She visits my sister every day and gives me updates. The other niece (the crazy one) that lives in the same town has only been to see her mother once in five weeks.<br /><br />Because of the love between my sister and my one niece (the sweet one), I can't break them apart. Even though it would make me feel better to have my sister near me, it would break my sister's heart, as well as my niece. I decided moving her to Seattle wasn't an option I was going to pursue.<br /><br />I did talk to my sister's doctor a couple weeks ago about taking an anti-depressant and she agreed it would be a good idea. She's been on one for almost a week now, and the non-stop crying has stopped, but she's still not cooperative in her therapy.<br /><br />About the diet and exercise<br />Yes, this is still a weight loss blog, even though my sister's situation has consume me lately. The eating has been pretty good. No junk food except a handmade candy cane three days ago (and it was awesome). I started tracking my food about three days ago, using the <a href="http://www.bodymedia.com/" target="_blank">BodyMedia </a>website and phone app. <br /><br />My exercise has been really good this week, with the gym every day for the last seven days, plus 55-minute power walks at lunch on two days. Did I mention I have a new gym? L.A. Fitness and I love it! They bought out Bally Fitness (my old gym) and closed the one near my home. The L.A. Fitness I go to now is actually closer and about a hundred times nicer than Bally Fitness. Plus they have THREE really nice, always in working order StairMasters. Love it.<br /><br />The only thing I don't love  about L.A. Fitness is the free weight area. There's only one and it's too small with only about seven weight benches. Bally had three free weight areas and about fifteen benches. It's always packed with guys lifting super heavy weights. Really though, I appreciate it's new and clean, with nicer equipment. <br /><br />I'm still going to Weight Watchers and need to get going for the 11:15 a.m. meeting, then the gym before they close at 2 p.m. today. I love the new Weight Watcher scanner app for my phone (see T.J.s post about it <a href="http://tjstestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/12/weight-watchers-scanner.html" target="_blank">here</a>). It's the coolest thing ever. Although I'm not tracking Points this week, doing calories with BodyMedia. Maybe next week I'll try Points again just so I can use the scanner. <br /><br />Take care and everyone have a Merry Christmas!<br /><br /><br />

Merry Christmas

Instead of crying myself to sleep last night, I went on a house cleaning rampage. From 8:30 p.m. (when my went to bed) until 4:40 a.m. I cle...

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its the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas Eve is here and I have a house full of excited kids...and parents. Every holiday is magnified and even more fun when children are involved.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZefQ0xVYVvLh9eQLMym3td33bnbt48wm_27uVhjmR069q51tSVvEn77R4M48Wm624cYUMUN8KzKI1p-se5nHYlxHKqgOfAlgZjxypN8EkZ2rBWh-3nrZwwONZ5SjsfhyphenhyphenLto4oAaMibDj/s1600/PC031660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZefQ0xVYVvLh9eQLMym3td33bnbt48wm_27uVhjmR069q51tSVvEn77R4M48Wm624cYUMUN8KzKI1p-se5nHYlxHKqgOfAlgZjxypN8EkZ2rBWh-3nrZwwONZ5SjsfhyphenhyphenLto4oAaMibDj/s320/PC031660.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Enjoy the next week of family time, food and friends.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYM5d7PUAqRgCX6aK6S224d5e2l3_TCry4okp32X_AAqII_h_LBghQtFqgxCJXO-hCFhxUnyMthU1etSkVutFSIp0vgCBVz89PKHpsYwbK0ZkqP-Z8Hi6GPGuZ2pNJnqUIQMnt3hRCnNIk/s1600/PC141898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYM5d7PUAqRgCX6aK6S224d5e2l3_TCry4okp32X_AAqII_h_LBghQtFqgxCJXO-hCFhxUnyMthU1etSkVutFSIp0vgCBVz89PKHpsYwbK0ZkqP-Z8Hi6GPGuZ2pNJnqUIQMnt3hRCnNIk/s320/PC141898.JPG" width="213" /></a></div> Happy Holidays from my door to yours.

its the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas Eve is here and I have a house full of excited kids...and parents. Every holiday is magnified and even more fun when children are ...

Read more »