Merry Christmas and good fortune to all.

A new kind of Christmas--went to midnight mass at St John Berchman Catholic Church in Chicago last night--got home at 2 am. My son was playing for the service. It was a multilingual service and a multicultural congregation. What a wonderful experience, we sang all the old favorite carols, and heard a few new Spanish ones.
Today we went to Chinatown for dinner, which was excellent. It was so busy there--we had to drive around for a while to find a parking space. The restaurants were doing a great business. After we ate, we shared our fortune cookie fortunes and mine said "You will take pleasant journey to a place far away."
In about an hour we are driving to Milwaukee, and early tomorrow morning we leave for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
I hope that you all will have a pleasant journey soon, and I wish you a happy and peaceful new year.

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

Boy is it cold today. On the positive side, yesterday was the shortest day of the year, and today will be 4 seconds longer. So, we, residents of the northern hemisphere, are on the way to summer.
A big storm blew in last night and the temperature dropped from 45 to about 20 this morning. It is sunny, and snow is blowing but not accumulating. I am just doing odds and ends today, tomorrow I have to pack for Mexico.
Last night we went out to celebrate my husband's birthday. We went to Oceanique, a seafood restaurant in Evanston with a good rating for food. The food was good, but the decor and service weren't great. It wasn't bad, but not up to the level of the food. My husband and brother loved the food and were willing to overlook this other things. By the way, one of my former students is the valet guy there.

I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New New Year!

Something Wonderful

As I was about to snack on some fortune cookies, I pulled out the fortunes and read them. Ordinarily, I toss them out, but today one of them caught my imagination. It said "Something wonderful is about to happen." So I wonder, what could that be?
Is is that I am going to Puerto Vallarta in a week?
Is it that I am going to a very nice dinner party tomorrow?
Is it that my son is coming home on Friday?
Is it that today the weather is milder than usual and the sun is shining? (rare in December)
I guess that I will just have to wait and see.
In the same vein--another fortune said "Look for a lost penny that will bring you luck."

No Weigh No weigh

No Weigh today. I checked on the scale this morning, and instead of facing the humiliation, I just chose not to step on the scale at my WW meeting. I did go to the meeting, and noticed that a lot of folks must be busy shopping or something. It was a good meeting and I'm glad I went.
Another result of our snowstorm--a heavy cover of snow--a very cold day.

Snowy Saturday

Yet another snowstorm. A nice one, with pretty fine snow, but snow has been falling constantly since last night. So, my husband and I went out for breakfast to the Pancake House, which usually has a long line on Saturday morning. Today, no wait at all. Then we did several errands, where every place was uncrowded except for the grocery store. It seems that every time it snows, people rush out to the grocery store to stock up, just in case the snow turns into a blizzard, and they won't be able to get any food for several weeks.
Then back at home, we organized the holiday letters which just may go out on Monday. We are usually so last minute on these letters, often they don't get sent until the 23rd or so. This year, my husband helped Alma write the letter, as I just didn't have any enthusiasm for it. I did print the labels and put the envelopes together.
Alma is going through a food rebellion period. She hasn't been eating much, and when she does, shows little enthusiasm for her meal. So, after adding cheese, croutons, raw egg and other delicious and varied flavors to her food with no results, today we tried canned dog food. Well, she was in the kitchen in a flash, and consumed most of the bowl in about a minute. So, was she tired of the same old dog food mix? We'll see. We purchased some new dry food and several cans of wet food.
School is over now. We had a lovely holiday party. Now its time to get my syllabi together. When we get back from Mexico, it will almost be time to start up again.

Gym Today, and liking it

Yes, I went to the gym today, through the rain--its not freezing rain yet--and enjoyed myself. I really don't know why I avoid going there, when I do go, I feel so good. Maybe its the driving and parking. So far, the weather is just wet, not cold, just wet. Now I'm getting ready for the last day of class for the semester.

Ice Storm Monday

There have been warnings for days about the ice storm that is to arrive tonight. Freezing rain that will wreak havoc with the traffic tomorrow and make walking dangerous. Sounds like everybody will have to stay inside. Today was just dark and dreary, sort of cold, but not too bad. My husband scrapped all the ice off the sidewalk, so we have one of the few hazard free walks in the neighborhood.
My weigh in wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. On the good side, I journaled almost everything I ate today. On the bad side, I went to a social event, which included a lot of goodies, mostly homemade, and I ate more than I should have, but not a taste of everything. I did eat too much in the way of sweets things.
I made some candy bark, and when I cut it up, I ate most of the broken pieces. That gave me an almost stomach ache. I have to go to the gym tomorrow. Hopefully the driving won't too hazardous. Bad driving conditions may give me an excuse not to go. I really have to go.
Tomorrow is my last class of the semester. With the weather warnings, I wonder who will show up. There isn't any class work, just test results and recommendations for next semester. I can e mail those to anyone who asks me.

Is there something going on here?

Maybe there is. I can't find my WW book. I had it last week at the meeting, and yesterday when I went to weigh in--I presented my old book. I have no idea where it might be. On top of that, I gained back everything that I lost and more. So much for driving the monkey around all week. My husband wondered why I was chauffeuring the monkey around instead of bring it inside for the dog to destroy. Well, the monkey returned safely to the meeting, and this weeks biggest loser didn't want to take it, she chose another animal.
On a completely different subject. I have heard many people express the desire to be buried in a plain pine box. Yesterday, I attended a funeral, and the person was in a plain pine box! This is a first for me. One observation--the pine box is a lot smaller than standard caskets.

Snowy Weather

The first winter storm of the season has blown in today. The weather men have been warning of this storm for several days, and it started right on schedule. First we had some flurries that started to accumulate, now that is being replaced with sleet. Under all the whiteness is ice. So, my husband and I planned to go to the movies and then out for dinner later today. I hope that the weather allows us to drive safely. My husband had a spin out on the way to the hardware store earlier this afternoon. I am torn--I want to go out, but I also like to stay inside on days like this. I'll let you know about the outcome tomorrow.