Jolly

This year my excitement about Christmas seems to be newly restored. This has always been my favorite time of year, but the fact that not very long ago I was a kid anxiously awaiting Santa's delivery also makes this a semi-depressing time of year, a reminder of my age and I don't want to grow up and all of that nonsense. Having a wee one around brings the Christmas Spirit back to life. I am so very excited to see his eyes light up at the site of new toys left 'round the tree on Christmas morning. And it's not just about the toys, I know... I'm probably most excited about being able to start a whole new set of family traditions for, gulp, my very own family. (Is it weird that I still trip on this fact? That I'm a mom and a wife? Sheesh.) I hope to make Christmas as special and as magical a time as my parents did for me.

Every Christmas Eve my family would attend mass, then we'd head to my Gram's house for a family dinner. I remember my Gram would always make her anise cookies, her warm fruit compote with walnuts, bananas and cherries, and her chocolate fudge cookies. The adults would drink red wine and the house would be filled with laughter. I would sit at the kid's table to eat. After dinner we'd gather 'round the Christmas tree and work our way through the massive sea of gifts. I specifically remember my Gram having her house lit just right; not too bright, not too dark, and appropriately decorated with just the right amount of Christmas cheer. The floor would pile up with crumpled wrapping paper, we'd all kiss and hug and say our thank-yous. At the end of the night everyone would leave with a car load of toys, books and clothes.

That night before bed each child in my family (there are 6 of us total) would get a huge piece of white paper and make a "sign" for Santa with our name on it, alerting him to where we wanted him to leave our gifts. We'd each pick a spot in the living room near the tree and post our signs. We'd leave out a plate of cookies and milk, and a carrot for the reindeer. We'd giggle with glee (yes, that sounds hokey, but we totally giggled and were absolutely filled with something that can only be described as glee) and snuggle into bed. Morning never came soon enough.

At the crack of dawn one of us would wake up, then they'd wake someone else up, then all the kids would be up. Santa would hide our loaded stockings somewhere in each of our rooms, and we'd help each other find them. They were always filled with a small gift, tons of candy and an orange or tangerine. Then we'd march into our parent's room to pounce on them and get them up! up! out of bed nooooow, we want to see what Santa left!!!

My dad always went out into the living room first. He wanted to get in a spot where he could take a picture of our faces the minute we entered the room and saw our gifts. Daaaaad, come ON. Let us come out now!!! He'd give us the ok and we'd run to our signs where Santa left us the goods. It was really a lot of fun. Noone was ever disappointed. My parents were good to us, never going overboard but always giving us what we really wanted. I'll always have fond memories of Christmas as a kid. I miss it. I can't wait for Ethan to experience it.

Yesterday's Food

Hi-protein hi-fiber french toast with sugar free syrup
coffee and Splenda

coffee and Splenda mixed with a scoop of whey and 1 cup of 1% milk

banana
3 oz. salmon mixed with 1/4 avocado and onion on a bed of lettuce
diet mountain dew and green tea

pear
2 lite string cheese
more diet mountain dew (I love this stuff too too tooooo much!)

5.5 oz. chicken breast, broiled with spices and topped with (brace yourselves) 1 T. peanut butter... (it's really, really, really good. I promise.)
steamed asparagus blend veggies (asparagus, broccoli, red pepper, squash, carrots)
green tea

1 cup fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt mixed with 1 T. chocolate malt powder

Total cals: 1,575

Workout: MIS, baby!