I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I love that old song. It brings Christmas right into my home and puts me in a joyful mood. Today I have on a bunch of Christmas music and I have my tree up. I've been spending the day cleaning and organizing. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to start menu planning and making lists of things I want to make for Christmas time. When Dr. O goes to get his real tree, I'll let him and the kids decorate that one. Since the kids and I don't agree on what should be on the tree, I tend to let them do a separate one.

I have stacks and stacks of paper that just seems to accumulate magically. So, today I am shredding the junk and filing the important stuff. I don't know what it is about paper and books. If I had neither one in my home, it would seem to be clean all the time! But, most likely, something else would take its place.

So, what happened with my Thanksgiving weekend? Well, we spent Wed-Sun at my in-laws. It actually went pretty well. I don't think I've ever spent so much time with them before. I got to see them behave like old children! For the dinner there were eight of us. We had so much food that when we finished eating, it looked like no one had eaten. Then came the clean up. I think I spent about 1 1/2 - 2 hours doing dishes and putting food away. Dr. O's bil was there and talked non stop and LOUDLY. My son told him to be quiet. Later he told him that he was TOO LOUD! anyway, to stop his chattering about any and everything, I decided to read my stories to the family. All of a sudden, it got quiet! So, I read just about all of them and then listened to their different comments. You know, reading someone elses story is not quite the same as listening to the author read it aloud. It gives it voice and purpose. It was fun! And as a result, they all got to know me a bit better. AND...it was fairly quiet in the house while I read!

I did a lot of reading aloud this weekend. Not only did I read my stories, but I read a Hardy Boys book to the kids. It was a kind of escape for us. It kept the kids entertained and helped with boredom. It also gave us some time away, just us. By the time we got home, my voice was sore! We only have a few pages left then I think we will take a break from it for a few days.

My comment on my previous post about being in bondage to food needs to be explained. When I talk about bondage to food I'm not talking about the normal overeating during holidays. I'm talking about daily overeating, gorging if you want to call it that. It nearly made me ill to watch. It's the constant nibbling before and after meals while it is being prepared and then put away. I'm not sure if it is partly to not have to use more dishes or if it is habit or what, but man, it's disgusting. You know, like when you are full, and you keep eating anyway, just because it is there. It takes all the pleasure out of enjoying your meal. After a while, it looses its flavor. And folks, ice cream is meant to be enjoyed. When you can't enjoy it because you are too full or sick of eating, my advice is wait until later and enjoy it. Your tastebuds, stomache, scale, and Dr. will all thank you profusely. Another part of being in bondage to food is the need to eat so frequently. Like, you barely get the one meal put away and cleaned up and then its time to begin the next one. Ufda! Give yourself a chance to digest the one you just ate! I promise, it won't go through you THAT fast! And you won't die from being a little bit hungry. It is actually good to wait until you are actually hungry before eating again! How else are you going to burn all those calories?

So, other than all the eating and food, I enjoyed my holiday and had a fairly good time.