Reason #368 why I love my husband

Last library trip he took home:

The Bolshevik Revolution (J. Davenport)

Dune (Frank Herbert)

Let's Explore Diabetes Through Owls (D. Sedaris)

Let Me Off At The Top (Ron Burgundy)

Smart funny, wierd and imaginitive all in one. A keeper.

The "autobiography" of Burgundy is absolutely hilarious btw. Written as him. I haven't laughed out loud reading in a while...

I am sitting with some coffee watching the new cats play, and am going to steal one of these books for an afternoon read under my new fuzzy blanket made by J's mum. It was a low key christmas, playing Go Fish with the kids and Apples to Apples with everyone else, while sipping wine and nibbling snacks until the grand turkey dinner with crackers and chocolate fondue for dessert. Few gifts, mostly homemade, and being the christmas fiend I am I loved it. Now I have days of relaxing ahead of me.

Ah. :)

melonade

Lately at work I've had to do a lot of (bleh) data entry and reformatting. SO tedious but very necessary.

Since my office is (yay) not in the lab I can have a drink at my desk as I work (although sadly not wine, but hey...). Lately I'm quite attached to alternating cups of green tea with ice water with some lemon juice and a few drops of stevia in it...my own tart version of lemonade.



I never drink enough liquids (water is boring), so this is my attempt to get more fluids in me. On mornings like today where I actually slept all night (huzzah) and woke up to do my HIIT biking like a good girl with a healthy breakfast this too helps keep me feeling great as I trudge through this data.

But only 1 more sleep and a day and a half of work and I'm off until january, so hand me some tea. Let's get this done and get to the whiskey cream in my coffee and turkey shall we?
Tally ho.

Solstice

"Hail Earendel, brightest of angels, over middle-yard to men sent, and true radiance of the Sun bright above the stars, every season thou of thyself ever illuminest."

I'm not a hippy or a hipster (and my hips are curvy as hell) but there is one ancient holiday that always brings peace and hope to my heart. Winter Solstice is a time to reflect on the old and spend a time to take in the darkness of the shortest day of the year, embrace it and say goodbye to the sadness of the past year. From here on forward the days get longer and brighter, and a new year of exciting things begins. I know everyone makes new year's resolutions but for me the time to take stock and look forward is the 21st. This was one hum dinger of a year for me in so many respects, and despite the horrors and pain I am grateful for it for everything it's taught me about myself, and how it's shown me the kindness and love of the people I am so grateful to have in my life.

As the holiday season begins and we all take the time to be with family and friends please take a moment to sit quietly and reflect on the last year. What did you love about it? What can you leave behind? And most importantly - what can you bring into it to expand and refresh your life?

In our next trip around the sun we have so many new things to do and try. And so much to appreciate and recognize as worthy of being in our lives again for another year. As for me, I'm making a short list of things I'd like to learn/try/do this year and am putting them in a book and in a tin. When I have some spare time I'm going to pull a note out of the tin and try something new: learn the ukelele, get a tattoo, paper mache sculpt some armour, paint some ceramics, and make some new fruit wines, just for starters...and for my soul? More quiet time. And more focus on listening to others...with my memory being faded after chemo I often focus too much on what I need to do so I don't forget and fail...but I miss out on so many things while I do so and treat others at times as though what they need is less important than what I am trying to do. A simple pen and paper will let me be more present and not just take in what I need, but be open to the needs of those I care for as well.

The new year begins now. Further up and further in my friends :)

11 bowls of borscht

This obscure little christmas album was played every year at my grandpa's for as long as I can remember having him with us. Giggling along to this on christmas eve is just part of christmas. Now you can join in my family's weirdness too.



6 more sleeps :)

Snort

Will walk for food

I met an old friend from high school for supper last night that I don't get to see nearly enough. Tracy suggested a new restaurant in town with New Orleans style food - Bon Temps. I've heard good things about it...and they had all the good stuff - jambalaya, po boy sammiches, crab boils and hushpuppies to name just a few.

And...Oh mah gawd people. They had Chicken and waffles.

I've been on a quest to have chicken and waffles ever since I saw an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives where Guy went to Louisiana and had it...and ironically after searching for it all over when we were in the US I found it here at home. I figured it could be awful or the best thing ever...and it turned out to be amazing. The best crispy spicy fried chicken I've ever had with a crispy fluffy waffle, maple syrup and sliced spicy pickle. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Healthy? Not even remotely...but worth every little calorie.
We're in a warm spot right now, above zero. I will be walking to work the rest of the week to work off the rest of this mealy indulgence, but now I know where to go for amazing comfort food.
Muahaha...

walking in a winter wonderland

Woke up this morning to do my exercises, that I do mon/wed/fri. My damn knee is doing it's thing it used to do long ago so I'm laying off the squats for a few weeks. I did do my HIIT biking yesterday though! I have to start getting up 15 minutes earlier since feeding 3 cats seems to take about 10 minutes in the AM. Gavin is a slow eater and needs to be watched so he isn't bullied out of his food - he doesn't eat enough as it is, so I try and keep them separate while they eat.
It feels good to exercise. I feel stronger. I am hoping the biking will help my knee as well.

It's a beautiful day today - almost 0. I'm hoping I can walk home tonight...it'll be great. :)
Hope you all have a great day.

CV

J is starting to get his voice back finally. Poor guy - he was really sick there for a while. You don't realize how quiet you can be until you're the only one talking :)
The critters are settling in well...improvements day by day. Old guy is still doing alright as well. This week I haven't done my HIIT biking yet, but I will, starting tomorrow. This AM I had a very early cardiac MRI and was up late redoing my resume, so I was not willing to get up at stupider o'clock to bike. I will be better about it in the future tho - I need more cardio. With the winter snows here we don't get out for walks as much...walking in -20 isn't that fun, even with the right gear.

My job is being changed from temporary to permanent, so I get to apply for my own job and hopefully kick ass and get on permenantly. Seeing as my boss is a reference for me, and I have lots of good references from people I work with and for and the only one with experience at this particular job I know I have a very good chance at it, but I'll be relieved when this is all over. I'll know by the end of the month so I can relax and hopefully celebrate over the break.

I am so very much looking forward to the break. I get off between Dec 24 and Jan 5 and it's going to be so nice to have some time at home :) I've started with the christmas decor and have the small tree decorated with some lights and stockings up and so far no major cat sabotage has happened, so I'm hopeful. I have put photos in all the frames I put up on our hall wall in the fall too, and it's so nice to look at happy memories every day now...I need to find other walls for hanging more frames I think. I've finally gotten over the "no holes in the wall!" craziness from when I repainted a few years ago and had to fill over 400 nail holes in the living room. A few here and there I can live with.

Hope you're all having a wonderful week. It's chilly and wintery here now - we got about a foot of snow over the weekend and it's looking like proper winter now. The river is sublimating and freezing over and we've dug out the hats. After chemo I have a LOT of hats :)