Happy Halfway Thru December!

Wow, I have sucked at posting here lately!  I have updated my "WIP" tab so it's not like I've totally ignored the blog entirely.  I even missed the 13 in 13 update, sheesh!

Brief rundown...looks like I was up in September, stayed the same in October....then shit hit the fan and I was up a LOT in November and the first week in December.  I was feeling that.  It was horrible.  What really caught my attention was that I'd had a Fiber One bar one morning at work and it happened to be snack day when HR brings around a basket of goodies to choose from. I got a Kellogg's Greek Yogurt protein bar. That was the worst mistake of my entire life.  My stomach hurt so had, I thought my skirt (the one time I did NOT wear an elastic waist!) was going to cut me in half.  Luckily, Randy had some Gas-X at home so I drove home with the zipper undone.  Thought I was gonna die!

But then I woke up and I made sure to be more conscious of what I was stuffing my face with and it showed on the scale - down 2.2 lbs this past week!  Yay!

I'm sort of intrigued with WW new program change.  It seems to be pushing non-processed foods (and they had some awesome looking recipes I want to try) and almost seems to be trying the Core Program again.  No counting points if you're following that plan, etc.

Friday night we picked up one of Miss Angela's friends and went to Rochester to see the lights.  We always have dinner at this awesome little diner called "chomp".  They have a regular menu, but the specials are created by some food wizard they employ.  I had this roasted butternut squash / caramelized onion / slivered almond / cheddar cheese / something else on an awesome ciabatta bun.  Paired with some sweet potato fries - mmmmmm.

Anyhooo, - this is what I'm talking about.

 Both sides of the street are like this, for a good mile or so. 

(not my pic.  Mine aren't this awesome.  Found it on chomp's FB page)

Bundled up.  Well, one of us was!

Life imitating art. 

Last night was my company Christmas party and I feel I handled it pretty well.  It was at an upscale Italian restaurant so you know the food was amazing.   I did have 3 Bud Lights, mainly because I am a wine idiot and usually drink the cheap stuff, so I wouldn't know what to ask for to get something I'd like.  I felt pretty good that I didn't heap my plate high and only chose foods that were what I didn't consider "everyday".  Like I skipped the lasagna, but enjoyed the beef medallions and the amazing chicken rigatoni with mushrooms. I tried the chicken picatta, but wasn't thrilled with it so I simply didn't finish it!  I skipped the cookies on the dessert table, but had a mini cheesecake (to DIE for) and I was supposed to share a cream brulle with Randy, but he went nuts with everything else and couldn't eat any.  So I about 1/3 of it.  I was full after dinner, but I wasn't hurting, so yay me!

I feel that Halloween & Thanksgiving are a lot harder holidays to survive, food wise.  They're the ones that have the food that won't go away!  Leftovers for days!  Not so with Christmas.  I know that's not the same for most people.  Christmas party - dinner with colleagues.  Altho the leftovers are already at the office and will appear for several days. I can ignore that. Maybe not the rigatoni, but I'll try. Christmas with the family will be interesting.  Since Dad passed away in 2009, all of our old traditions went out the window.  We used to spend Christmas Eve at one of the sisters' house.  Mine is only 850 sq. feet and there's just no room for a decent gathering.  Then we'd go over to Mom & Dad's house on Christmas morning and exchange gifts and Dad would make pancakes.  Not anymore!  This year, sister Laurie thought it would be brilliant to meet our brother Terry halfway between his ours and most of ours.  So next weekend we will be in Lima, Freakin' Ohio.  There is not crap to do in Lima. So they expect to spend Friday evening, all of Saturday and half of Sunday, sitting in a damn hotel room, visiting.    Someone just kill me now.

Anyway, dinner is almost ready for the fam (fish sticks for them , tilapia slabs for me), so I need to hurry & set the table, etc.  I leave you with Twisted Sister's O Come All Ye Faithful for your listening enjoyment.  This is my favorite version of this song!