DC Conversation, Thursday, December 27

Welcome to the Diabetic Connection or as we call it - the DC!!!!

As I started today's posted I realized two things ...

First, can you believe that tomorrow is the last TGIF of 2012?  For real!

Second ... I never made it here at all on Thursday 

Good book read while enjoying the sweet aroma of soup bubbling on the stove.

And when the soup was finished ... an amazing bowl of french onion soup made my way - no bread and no cheese ... I love the flavor of onions that have been slow roasted to golden perfection.  Add a bit of sweet roasted garlic and who needs anything more.

Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.   That was my Thursday!  

I have so enjoyed my quiet days since we had Christmas on Sunday.  Three days of total - do whatever "I" want to do.  No phone calls, not even really checking my email.  But today it's back to reality and to work.  I look at the calendar and realize I need to start processing for month end reports and also year end.  Plus I probably should look at the stack of mail I've just opened and put in the "In" box on my desk and pay some bills and such.  I've always "had this thing" about having all my financials in order at year end as well as my home in order.  So that means the vacation is over and I better plan to catch a few dust bunnies before the weekend is over.  LOL

You've asked about my Christmas.  The turkey was great ... in fact, Wyanita did a great job of hosting and doing "Christmas".  I got there early as I wanted to watch this deep frying of the turkey and the barbequeing of the salmon.  My dad complimented Matt on his excellent chefs work and my ex made the comment that Matt must be really dedicated to his BBQ as no way would he be out there on the BBQ in minus 25 degree weather.  I kind of chuckled at that and inwardly agreed with him.  My ex would never have done that ... in fact, he never helped lift a thing in the kitchen when it came to family meals while I noticed Matt not only cooked the meat while Wyanita orchestrated the rest of the meal in the kitchen, when we had finished eating, Matt did most of the clean up.  That my ex didn't compliment him on - but he did make a sarcastic comment about.

The afternoon was one of observation for me.  I tried conversation with the ex, but after he turned his back to me after two attempts, I stopped trying.  He played games with my mom, Rebecca, Wyanita and the GKs.  I said no when they asked me as I wanted Rebecca to play and since she was partner with her dad, I figured he'd quit if I went into the dining room.  So I cuddled on the couch with the cat and watched my dad sleep... and listened to the laughter.  In many ways, it was heart warming to simply be in the same house to hear the laughter of the ex and Rebecca.  I haven't heard that in so many years I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it.

We survived the first "family event" in the same house/room since we split in 1993 - so that means that Christmas 20 years ago was the last time.  I did put a gift under the tree for the ex - it was the only gift he got other than the picture we all got from the GKs ... but I did noticed he didn't open it once he saw it was from me.  Oh well,  I tried.

So that's my Christmas report.  I enjoyed hearing all your events of the week.

I noticed on the news tonight when they were showing the snow storms that many of the videos we saw were from IN ... and then the weather man showed a map of the storm heading up the east coast.  Sure is similar to the route that Sandy took two month ago - or is that my imagination?

Well, that's it for now.  I'll be back after Mary makes the morning coffee.

Hauke

  Good Morning Everyone, 

I did some catching up and have that first cup of coffee...The coffee sure helps me wake up and get moving and motivated... 

Boy, did we get hammered with snow yesterday...The storm started earlier than expected and they said it snowed 2-3 inches an hour...The roads were horrible.. Matt and Mattie went to the Valley, to see what they could see and to the hunting camp and Matt said when it started to snow, he headed for home... I was much relieved to see them pull in the driveway as the roads got really bad, fast....So we were all snowed in last night and bonding...LOL  I soaked my feet in the foot bath Matt got me for Christmas, which also had essential oil put in... I was very relaxed and headed for bed around 10 PM...

Hauke, don't feel too bad about the ex...I know my ex and I would get along maybe a total of 5 minutes before the fireworks would start....I am sure it was very uncomfortable with him being there...Glad you had some nice restful peaceful days...

Peggy, big dinners are a lot of work and I am sorry that the company didn't  help clean up or appreciate all you hard labor of love...

Anyone else get snow?? I am sure the storm was very widespread....

Everyone take care and I will try and get back here later today..

Mary

Morning All!

Hope everyone made it thru the storms ok! We had a blizzard warning Christmas night up to around 3 p.m. yesterday. Never turned into an actual blizzard but got pretty ugly. We have around 7" of snow with drifts close to a foot in some places. Marty & I regret not taking down the outside decorations Christmas night. Would have been weird but.......!

Got the inside decorations down as well as the tree. We realize we go against religous beliefs regarding the tree but with 8 cats locked out of the main part of the house, 10 days seems like a lifetime, to us & them. Was also able to get laundry caught back up yesterday which is a relief.

Today is freezing day of any leftovers that haven't been eaten. Had scaled down this year so there isn't a lot, mainly ham. Do think I will use the leftover sweet potatoes today to top a shepherd's pie with. Read a recipe that used fresh sweet potatoes that you cook. Don't see why already cooked couldn't be used! Remaining pumpkin muffins will be good later on with some type of soup.

Another project I need to do is making Adam & Rachel a door drafter. The only one's they found to buy was either for Christmas or that went under the door so there would be a 'roll' on both sides. These were also very expensive. I've got plenty of extra material, quilt batting & stuffing so should be able to throw one together easily.

As far as my mother goes, I've put in a call to her home health case manager. Want to see if we can manipulate the program as well as mother so she can have an aide 5 days a week to help with bathing. Her case manager & I have not exactly lied in the past but played with the truth recklessly to make something sound like it was someone else's idea, whatever we need mother to cooperate with. My sister is ready to throw mom into assisted living which I agree with but, the program that we would need to pay for it, has a year's waiting list. Also can't get mom to agree to getting on the waiting list yet. Such a frustrating situation.

Well, better get off of here & get busy. Hope you all have an awesome day!

Susan

Nancy –Your neighbor sent a very nice assortment of cookies.  That was very sweet of them.  Maycee's Nana had made one of the sew-less blankets for her dolls so she had the baby wrapped in that.  She is so sweet when she has her babies.  I'm sure glad the storm stayed away from you.  We are to have more on Friday/Saturday, but I think only an inch or two.

Peggy – You were definitely tired after your Christmas day.  I'm glad you were able to sleep in.  That's bad that nobody helps you with the dinner prep and clean-up.  I have one sister that usually manages to leave before the clean up is started for any family dinner, but she did help on Christmas this year.  I'm not exactly sure how much snow we did get, because some of it blew around so much.  But I'm guessing about 8".  I hear the east coast is to get it today, so stay safe.

Hauke – I'm glad you had a nice quiet day yesterday.  I need to start doing my year-end things, too.  It sounds like you had a nice family Christmas on Sunday, even if your ex was a jerk.  I give you kudos for extending the olive branch as much as you did.  His loss though.

Mary – I'm glad Matt headed home when the snow started getting bad.  It was bad here with the heavy snow and the high winds.  It knocked down two of my outside trees. 

Susan – I'm not sure when I will take down my decorations, maybe on New Year's Day.  I'm guessing it will take a while, so maybe I'll start on New Year's Day and do a little each day until it is all down.  But first I have to get to the storage unit to get the empty totes.  I don't know if they plow there or not.  I hope so.  My living room was chilly yesterday so I put my door drafter in front of the door yesterday and it did seem to help.  I hope the care for your mother does improve.

On the news, they said the airport got 7.5" of snow and I'm about 20 minutes from there so that's what I'm guessing we got.  Although there were some places in my driveway that were about 10" but I think that may have been from blowing.  I did get out and used the snow blower.  They said it was a heavy snow, so I started with the shovel.  Then decided the blower could handle it.  Then I put some ice melt down and I was down to bare pavement in some places by night time.  The snow plow did come around while I was out clearing the driveway and covered the end of the driveway back up.  I got some of it, but my neighbor was out doing their driveway so he cleared out the end of my driveway.  What a sweetie he is.
It's back to work today.  YUK.  But there are only 2 days left.

Morning.  Pass me a cup of coffee please... 

I am so frustrated I feel like screaming!   Good thing I live alone.   
I stepped on the scale this morning and didn't like what I saw.

I've been so careful ALL week - no sweets other than the dessert and shortbread at our family Christmas dinner last Sunday ... So why is that scale just not rewarding me?  Maybe I'm not drinking enough water - but I've been living on soups - broth soups - and adding my water to them so I can have hot water on these cold day. 

I'm frustrated because I am so close to what I had set as my goal for the end of the year, but now I'm beginning to doubt that I'll get there.  Between baking for the wedding and for Christmas and all that's involved with it all, I can't say I've gained much. In fact, looking back, I am down a few pounds since November 1st ... but I was down more and it seems like this week it's just crawling back up.  AND this week - and last actually - I have been so on track with my eating.

That's why it frustrates me - if I were nibbling on cookies or eating whatever - like I did the week of the wedding - then I expect to see a gain or a stay the same.... but not when I'm living on veggies and only healthy food the dietitian put on my list.  It just makes no sense.

Maybe I just enjoyed my books too much this week and stayed "holed up" in my apartment.  I'll admit that I have not been very active this week - somehow I think curling up with a book doesn't count as exercise.  LOL

Well, I have 4 days left and I'm so close to my goal - guess I need to really stick to it and see what happens.  And I see it snowed here too, not like most of you have, but a bit.  So I'll finish my coffee and go shovel some snow.

SYAL
Hauke 

Hello, gang!   Snowy as all get out, but the sun is out.  We went to town, and there were snow piles in the middle of the street, lol, and ice when I walked into the store, but needed to pick up dh's prescription.

Thank you all so much for the many lovely Christmas cards, we finally got our mail last night.

Mary, glad your son made it back before the snow really got bad, nice to look at, but not fun to drive in.

hauke, I feel badly for you, you barely eat anything, does your dietitian tell you that your metabolism goes down to nothing when you don't eat enough?   Especially at our ages now, plus it's tough to get exercise in during all of the holiday celebrations going on.      It's the worst time of year to lose weight, lucky to maintain it at best.    

The snow yesterday wasn't too bad to shovel, but the layer of ice underneath it was the real issue, our across the street neighbor cracked it with heavy tools, lol.

Gotta go get the game hen defrosted for dinner, and wash the ever lasting dishes.    Don't want to have to venture into town again, till next Thursday, when we have to go down to the valley for dh's blood tests.

Take care of yourselves.

Doris

Hi Everyone,

Hauke, don't get discouraged..It is really hard to lose weight..Remember last year, when I was trying WW and didn't lose much at all...I plan on doing my usual diet this January, and hopefully will have better results than last year...My Wii is hooked up now and all I can say is, Thank God I got the kids Dance because Dance 4 is really hard...LOL I am hoping that "maybe" the jumping around and movement with help a weight loss...Don't give up trying to reach your goal...

Doris, I saw the picture on FB of your snow.. Wow...We got at least 13 inches,according to the news...It took Ron a long time to plow this morning..Matt helped shovel and clean up the darn snow...Mattie and I stayed inside where it is warm..LOL

We took Mattie to the local restaurant for some hot chocolate and then took a trip in town to see Mom...Mattie doesn't like the nursing home, but didn't argue about going...She whistled walking down the hall at the nursing home, making everyone smile...lol  Mom was over at Silver Creek, with Beth, and they were packing up the Mom's clothes, etc.. Next week, construction will start on Mom's room and all her things have to be packed up and stored... What a job that is...LOL Mom has a ton of clothes to get packed up  plus all the snackie foods she has...Beth ended up taking Mattie home with her to play with Gabby...Tomorrow the kids are borrowing the van and going to State College.. Matt wants to see the Penn State Stadium, walk around the campus, the downtown shops and go to the mall...It is too much walking for me, so I am staying home... I am so afraid of falling in this weather too..

Everyone take care and enjoy your evening...

Hugs, Mary

Hi, everyone.

We're anxious for our holiday weekend with the IL kids. Laura does have to work tomorrow, but gets to leave early on Fridays. Gifts are ready to go and so are our clothes and other necessities.

HAUKE, oh, yum, a good and tasty bowl of onion soup is so good. I do like the bread and cheese on top, tho'. Glad you had those quiet days. And, like most of us, back to our good eating regimen and we will be on the losing trail, again.

MARY, don't blame you about staying home when they go to the college. Sometimes I am not happy walking all around either. Did Mattie get to make a snowman and some snowballs? Enjoy the rest of their visit.

SUSAN, that was enough snow for a while. The drifting always makes it seem like so much more. Our meal was light, but I still had some ham to freeze. Russell froze the ham bone----he loves making bean soup. Bet the cats will be glad to "freed". Not easy getting parents to agree to things that would help them.

JOYCE, what a nice gift for Maycee's baby. I remember crocheting granny square afghans for the doll cradles. That was before we knew about fleece and the nice covers it makes. Were your downed trees decorations or real trees? Nice neighbor to do the end of the driveway. That is always such a big clunk of snow to shovel when the plow does that.

PEGGY, guess we all have a few relatives who think they don't have to help. I always help and so do my DD's. I know the east coast is getting some precip, but not sure it will happen by you.

DORIS, everyone's snow has been more than we got. And, the worst part is the dang ice under the snow. Glad you and DH can be home for most of the week before having to go out.

If I don't get here tomorrow, we will be back home sometime on Sunday.

Hugs and prayers for all.

Nancy Z.