What I Did on Winter Vacation - Part I

Often in the books I would read as a child, the main character would head back to school and have an assignment to write about "What I Did on Summer Vacation".  I personally cannot recall ever having to do this for any of my classes.  I also did not have summer reading lists.  Sometimes I felt a little left out, perhaps influenced by American television?

I feel like I just got back on schedule after a holiday.  Actually I AM back on schedule after taking a break over the Christmas/New Year's holidays.  It was not all bad eating choices, but I did not do any workouts - although I did do a lot of walking (some of it around the mall) and stairs (mostly in my home).

It could have been worse, but the biggest numbers I saw on the scale had me up over 4 pounds, and this morning it was closer to 3 pounds.  Not bad but I could have done better.

December 20 was my last day at work for over a week, and my boss let us leave at 3:00pm.  The next day was my WW weigh-in and I was down 0.9 pounds.  Sunday I got up and hit West Edmonton Mall when it opened and finished off the last of my Christmas shopping.  Monday I helped my grandmother wrap the rest of her presents.

Then it was Christmas Eve, and my BFF came over to celebrate with my family as her parents live on Vancouver Island (Parksville, BC) and since they had the trip to Italy & Switzerland this fall, they could not afford another flight to AB.  Plus she only got Christmas Day off work, so she would not have had time to spend with them anyway.

So it was Kristine, myself, my two younger brothers, the girlfriend of one of the brothers, my grandmother and my parents.  We had a special dinner, cooking meats and veggies on a hot rock (which is exactly like picture #2, but picture #1 shows how we cook the food better). 

Then we cleaned up, and put out Christmas cookies, and listened to Christmas carols while opening presents.

Of course I was spoiled.  I got a Persona bracelet with two blue charms and a purse charm.  My parents also got my a FitBit flex, which I like because it records how I sleep.  I got a Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as a couple of games, including Pokemon X - takes me right back to 1998/1999 when I played the original games.  Today I tried one of the teas I got in my holiday collection from David's Tea.

There is a K-cup holder that I am going to return so I can get one that holds more cups, and also so it fits next to the Keurig instead of under it, as I do not know if cupboards in a future home would be high enough.

I now have two lights on the High Level Bridge "Light The Bridge" campaign.  That is pretty cool.  I also started reading a new book that was a gift "I Am Malala".   

There is a silly scarf that lights up and plays music.  I also can't forget to mention the greatly appreciated gift cards to Starbucks and Addition-Elle plus money from my Grandma.

On Christmas Day we had delicious sticky buns and eggs and special coffee.  There were "wakie-wakies", which are pineapple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, gingerale and gin.

Christmas Eve the dishwasher started leaking.  There was a crack in the drainage hose.  We tried to see if we could fix it, but it's a German made Miele and no one carries the correct size parts.  My brother tried something, but we just ended up with water all over the floor right before Christmas Dinner.  It's working now (but we are still careful as there is a 1 inch part used where it should be 7/8) and the new part has been ordered.

With my aunt and uncle also joining us for dinner - we moved the kitchen table into the dining room.  This of course required us to flip the heavy oak table, take off the legs, carry it to the dining room and then put the legs back on. 

Boxing Day I woke up at 3:00am - picked up my brother and his girlfriend around 3:30am - and dropped them off at the airport at 4:00am.  I was back in bed at 4:30am where I slept for another few hours.  Tim and Tracy were headed to Bathurst, NB to visit with her family.  The rest of the day I just hung around the house.  We had second Christmas Dinner (which I often love even more than Christmas Dinner), and there is still tons of turkey leftover for turkey pie. 

December 27th I went over to Addition-Elle.  I bought two new pairs of jeans in a smaller size (22), and the size 20s almost fit.  I also got a nice shirt for New Year's Eve.  Since I had a VIP member offer that was mailed to me, plus my gift card - I saved over $60 and only paid $30.   I should have picked up socks and a second pair of yoga/workout pants.  Not to worry - I have two savings cards for Pennington's and one for Addition-Elle.  I just have to wait until February to use them.  It gives me a chance to save up some money.

That was the first week of holidays.  I am always super appreciative that my boss gives us the week of Christmas off of work.