sorry to those who have had trouble commenting lately. I haven’t had the chance to look into it, but if there are still problems next week, I’ll attempt to tackle it then…
The pictures are little, so click through if you want to see details…But this is the best Christmas present. EVER.
This year, after Dan’s grandfather had died, his grandmother decided to find a new hobby to keep herself busy. She loves sewing and had never tried this, so she joined a quilting group. This is the first quilt she has ever made. She had begun it this summer and I watched her a lot while she was working on it. Every single stitch (or 99.9% of it) is hand done. Every little heart design. Even putting the front and back together. I teased her a lot about how I wanted this blanket or one like it. We have no plans for a baby anytime soon, but I’d love to have one for a family heirloom.
I had no idea that this would be in the box I unwrapped on Christmas afternoon. Tears sprang to my eyes…And everyone else’s eyes, really. On the back is a washable label on it where she wrote her name, the month and year it was complete, and a little note about it being her first quilt.
You have no idea how honored I am to have this. Really, I have so many words in my head, but I’m not sure how to explain them. Sometimes I fear that certain people in his family don’t like me. Turns out I’ve been wrong this whole time….
It’s not the most expensive, and it’s not name-brand. But it came from the heart. And I can’t wait to bring this out when a baby finally enters our life…
I won’t be around to type out an entry, but thought I’d share with you a few of my favorite Christmas songs right now…and probably forever! I also want to wish all of my darling blog friends a very Merry Christmas. I hope that no matter what is happening in your lives right now, that you have a fabulous day. Whether it be with friends, family, or a little of both…Appreciate the time you have with every single person.
Ok, I’m probably going to get beat up for this post, but I have very strong feelings about the obesity levels in our country….Especially child obesity. It’s disgusting and completely unavoidable if we actually feed our children food that is good for them. I can understand the treat once in awhile at McDonald’s and such, but to feed your child crap every single day? For every meal? SO wrong. Practically child abuse, really. People are harming their kids, slowly. Anyway, I was given a link to this video via this particular post on Special Pleading. Thank you, Joel, for this semi-funny and alarming scary (AND REAL) little song.
It’s a bit offensive, to be honest, folks. And I am assuming I will either get no comments, or lots of mean comments and possibly will lose a subscriber or two. But this is how I’d like to state my feelings on child obesity in this country…
Fat Children by Tim Minchin
Do not feed doughnuts to your obese children
You will regret it when they’re in their teens
Macca’s might shut them up now that they’re seven
But they wont forgive you
When they’re getting picked last for PE
Dont you see?
Boombalata motherfucker
Have you noticed that your kids are fat?
What you gonna do about that?
What you gonna do?
So you’re telling me that your family
Has a history of obesity
You got a polycystic ovary
You say “its just the way God made me”
Its unlikely, statistically
To be a physical thing
But either way it dont explain why you
Are in the queue at Burger King
You can blame it on biology
You can blame your physiology
You can point to genealogy
And your social anthropology
You can say you are an ectomorph
That you just cant get the kilos off
Well you can be what you wanna be
But stop feeding your boy KFC
He weighs 40 kilos and hes only three
He looks like a clean-shaven Pavarotti
Ordering Diet Coke is not the way back
Boombalata kiddie-stuffer
Your kids are fat, have you noticed that?
And you oughta be ashamed
For you only have yourself to blame.
Your 5 year old princess in her size 14 tutu
Only eats pizza like that because you do
She’ll be dead of a heart attack
Before your grandchildren are ten
Perhaps you’ll consider
A cut-back on extra fries then
Boombalata kiddie-stuffer
Your kids are fat, have you noticed that?
What are you gonna do about that?
What are you gonna do?
So youre telling me that your family
Has a history of obesity
You got a polycystic ovary
Your mum had childhood diabetes
But, and in your case
Theres a reasonably big butt
Do you think its an appropriate treat
The all-you-can-eat at Pizza Hut?
Theres no excuse you silly goose
For a child with a caboose
Like a moose whos eaten too much mousse
Its tantamount to child abuse
Kick them off the fucking couch
Unplug the Playstation
Send them down to the park
If they dont wanna go, make em
Tell them they have to jog
Until their jogging shorts fit em
If they hesitate, ask firmly
If they still resist, hit em
Is this what you want for your little girl and guy?
These chips off the pork chop, for the toffee apples of your eye?
Six Packs of Kit Kats are not the way back
Boombalata Kiddie Stuffer
Your kids are fat, have you noticed that?
And you, oughta be ashamed
For you only have yourself to blame
Your 6 year old miniature Jabba the Hut
Eating half melted Mars Bars from the folds of his gut
He’ll be dead of an aneurysm
Before his own children ism ten
Perhaps you’ll consider
A cut-back on Taco Bell then
Perhaps you’ll consider
A cut-back on Krispy Kreme doughnuts
And Popcorn in bucket-sized boxes
And microwave pizzas or drive through McDonalds
For weeknightly dinners in front of the TV
And notes to the phys-ed instructor saying
Timmy has asthma but he really just gets short of breath
Cos hes 35 kilos above the ideal weight
Of 35 kilos for a nine year old boy
I haven’t talked much about weight loss lately, I realize. Mostly because there hasn’t been a significant drop in weight. I still bounce between 151-153 pounds, and have for about a month now. A month ago, before Thanksgiving, I had vowed to be happy with maintaining my weight through the holidays. It’s especially important for me to maintain during the holidays, because last year, I gained somewhere between 5-7 pounds during November and December. Last year, I went from about 146 or 147 to about 153….Which is unfortunately, where I am stuck now. I have to be proud of myself for losing between 7-9 pounds now. And I have to be proud that so far, from Thanksgiving to the week of Christmas that I have stayed pretty much the same.
I’m not going to just let go and give up during Christmas and New Years, though. NO WAY. We are headed to my family’s little Christmas thing on Christmas eve, then going up to Dan’s parent’s house for a few days, then we all head to California. Dan’s parents have a treadmill, which I vow to be on every single day until we leave for Denver, even if its only for a walk. And recently, his mom splurged and got a Wii Fit, so I can workout with that as well.
I’m most looking forward to Colorado. Lots of walks, snowshoeing, sledding…Dan says he will be surprised if I don’t lose weight while there.
I have mostly decided to not deal with Weight Watchers the next couple of weeks. It’s going to be next to impossible and I will never be near a computer. Yes, I can track online with my cell phone, but that’s kind of annoying. I am getting better at eating based on serving sizes. I’m wonder how long I should stay on Weight Watchers, anyway. I have been on it now for three months. I think when it expires next month, I’m going to let it expire…It will have been 4 months at that point and I’ll have it long enough after the new year to just jump start things again.
When I feel unhappy about my current weight, I have to think of something a family member told me when I had told them I lost that 8 pounds (I say 8 rather than explaining that I’ve gone back and forth from 7-9, heh….)…. She said that I have kick-started my New Year’s weight loss resolution. That’s so true!
If I had gotten down to 150 and had hit my first 10 pound goal, would I be any happier than I am right now? I think not. I somehow think that I’d say “if ONLY I’d hit 149…” I think I will make it a goal to get back into the 140s next year. Maybe I’ll be lucky to see 130s again. That’s my final goal….Those 130s (I will never see the 120s again and won’t even try!).
Here’s to getting through the holidays at this weight and working hard in 2010 to reach my goals…ALL of them!
Ok, I’m not seriously going on a fad “detox” diet. But I’m going to be going on a bit of a healthy ONLY diet for the next 7 days. Like super healthy. Even more healthy than I usually eat, even. I am making myself do this because I don’t want to get into that attitude at Christmas…You know the attitude I’m talking about. I mean, I’m not putting your down by the way if you have this attitude happening right now. To each his own. Some people get in their heads that “well, I’ve eaten bad a few too many times this week, so I might as well KEEP eating crappy….”
Guess what…I’ve eaten really crappy, for instance…TOO OFTEN this month. But I always get back on the horse. That has allowed me to maintain my weight since Thanksgiving. In fact, I’ve lost a pound! I was 153.3 when I began my Shrinking Jeans anniversary challenge. I weighed in on Wednesday at 152.2! There have been moments in there when I weighed 150-151, but you know what, that’s ok. Those were after a lot of good days. For having a lot of “bad” days, I’m just so happy. I have never been able to maintain my weight over the holidays. I gained 5 pounds during the holidays last year.
I’m hoping with my pre-Christmas detox will allow me to lose another pound or do, but if it doesn’t, at least it will give my system a nice break! I’m knocking out desserts and processed foods too. If I can do it for a week, I will be able to hopefully continue using these principles after the holidays…I was kind of using them before, but I wasn’t really that disciplined..hence the bad days.
I’m limited to the following:
Baked Chicken
Baked Fish
Tuna salad (with fat free mayo and fat free saltines)
Eggs w/soy sausage
High Fiber Oatmeal
Brown rice
Vegetables (such as lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, etc)
By the time Christmas comes, my stomach won’t even be happy if I eat all the crap that people are offering. This may be extreme, I know. But I am not waiting until after the holidays to get more serious about what I’m eating. I will be using lots of different seasonings to keep my tastebuds happy. I just know my stomach will be happy if I start being more careful now.
Sorry this entry is a little boring and dull. I’ve been exhausted thanks to the end of the semester…On to read lots, finish a scarf that I’m supposed to have done by next week, and organize/clean the house the way I want so it’s not a disaster when we come home after our vacation to Colorado.
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In other news, keep on praying for my dad, please! I hope that he will be out of the hospital sometime next week, before Christmas…
I haven’t had the chance to look into it, but if there are still problems next week, I’ll attempt to tackle it then…
