2010 - It is almost over

I don't like being this way but I am just ready for this year to close. I am wiping the slate clean and 2011 is the start of a new outlook on life.

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day quietly at home. Plans to pick up y mother did not work out because of icy conditions. I baked and watched movies. It was a nice relaxing couple of days.

Sunday was Christmas get together with family at my niece's house. It was good to see everyone plus I was able to get my pinochle fix.

So that is about it for Christmas. And in a couple of days, we can say good-bye to 2010. Thank you and good to see you go.

What did I do? Let me tell you

After almost a year of laying low, I have been attempting to do a few things that I love each week. This last week I actually put out a few decorations. I hope this will help me be less of a Scrooge. I have been baking. I made my first traditional German Stollen a couple of weeks ago. I gave one of the loaves to my sister and brother-in -law. They said it was the best they've ever had so I gave them the other loaf too. This last weekend I made another couple of loaves but this time I modified the recipe to include a marzipan center. We will see how this one turns out. I also just got done tonight making peppermint chocolate chip mini cheesecakes. Too bad I won't be eating any of this stuff.

Now on to the good news. As of this last Friday, I have lost 70lbs. I really am proud of myself. I hope to lose a couple more this week and finish up the year with 75. Crossing my fingers.

I have been learning to laugh at myself. Last night I needed to run to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things. I had on my fun socks in the photo and did not want to dirty another pair just for a quick trip so I put on my Mary Janes and headed out the door. If you got 'em, flaunt 'em!

Christmas Spirit - I need some

I have tried repeatedly to get into the Christmas spirit this year but it just seems to not be happening. And here is where you can start playing the music for my pity party. I think everyone has the wish to spend that special Christmas with someone they are in love with. Well, that isn't happening this year nor has it ever happened in the past. I have been through a lot this year and have a better outlook on life than I think I ever have. Still when Christmas comes around I start looking at what I don't have instead of what I do. Why is it that many of us do this? If you have the answer, please let me know. Stop music here - the pity party is over.

As mentioned above, I am in a really good place right now and look forward to what this next year will bring. I have exorcised a lot of demons from my past over the last 6 months. Though there are many more to deal with, the weight of those few gone has uplifting. When they say life gets better as you get older I think they are telling the truth.

The photo above was taken at a Flickr walk on December 5th. What a great day that was! Good friends = good times.

Yoga - Ouch!

Last night I decided that I had rested long enough after my surgery and popped the yoga dvd into the player. Previously I could do the warm-up, yoga 1, yoga 2, and cool down with no problem. Well, no longer. I made it through the warm-up and was 10 minutes into yoga 1 when I must have moved wrong. I had sharp, knife-like pains in my abdomen. Yowzers did it hurt! Luckily, there has not been any bleeding. So taking it slow for a coupe of days and then will ease into it.

What has spurred me to start the exercise up again so soon? Well, besides the fact that I miss it, it all has to do with my weigh in last Friday. They did a full scan and we found that my fat free mass had reduce from 152.5 mid-June to 129.5 in late October. Though FFM is comprised of the nonfat components of the human body, e.g. skeletal muscle, bone and water, it does mean that I have lost some muscle. Not good. So my goal is to get my FFM back up to 150 by the end of my contract (4/1/10). Here we go!!