<p>Big birthday deserves a big start. Way to go, Pizzagirl. </p>
<p>MOWC:</p>
<p>Is that a tractor? Is that your new house? :)</p>
<p>kmcmom:</p>
<p>Between going to the grocery store every day, cooking a lunch, and cooking a fancy dinner, I feel like I never sit down until 8 pm, when I have a glass of vintage port (not conducive for workouts).</p>
<p>Salmon Thai curry on Mon night.</p>
<p>Grilled pork chops with Cuban mojo criollo sauce last night.</p>
<p>Bobby Flays Lobster Avocado Cocktail and raw oysters tonight. Lobster is a Christmas Eve tradition and my D was the weird kid that ate raw oysters on the half shell at age four!</p>
<p>Tomorrow is actually easy. Prime rib roast and roasted asparagus. The only hard thing is making hollandaise sauce. But, as Christmas dinners go, a lot less cooking than turkey.</p>
<p>Market Basket grocery was insane this morning. Every checkout line open. Every line four deep with carts waiting in line. I managed to lose my shopping list halfway 'round the store. Yikes!</p>
<p>Pizzgirl:</p>
<p>Happy Birthday.</p>
<p>Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate!!</p>
<p>KMC, I’m sure your son’s down in the dumps right now; the holiday season is a tough time for breakups to happen but that frequently seems to be the timing. At least he didn’t make the trip out to see her and have it happen out there. </p>
<p>Bunsen, hope you have better willpower than me. Made the mistake of walking into a Lulu store yesterday. Walked out with 2 pairs of long workout pants. But at least the hemming is free, 
.</p>
<p>LOL. That is a 1938 tractor- fully refurbished. It’s very cool. That’s my office lobby. </p>
<p>Merry Christmas to y’all who’ve been patiently waiting!!!</p>
<p>KMC, sending good vibes to your son and to his mama during this hard time. </p>
<p>PG, Happy belated!!! New decade, new adventures - embrace it!!! </p>
<p>Good job on dealing with the treadmill Sabaray! ;)</p>
<p>Was still warmish here today but wet. Temps will drop tonight. List a mile long to complete today (always - will NEVER be fully ready for the holiday early!!) but mid afternoon I put on the running shoes and did a couple miles out in the light rain. Weirdly, some of my best runs are when it’s raining lightly. I feel freedom to enjoy tonight and tomorrow food-wise knowing I can enjoy but not explode. :)</p>
<p>Best wishes to all!!</p>
<p>PizzaGirl, Happy Birthday! You’re still a youngster </p>
<p>Happy Birthday, Pizza Girl! </p>
<p>Oh KMC, I know how hard that is. I hope he’s able to see to the end of the tunnel soon.</p>
<p>Good job abasket! </p>
<p>MoWC, I think you have that bunny in the bag! </p>
<p>D and I took a walk this morning I found what I assume is some kids’ stash of Busch Light beer in the bushes. I pulled it out and carried it to a place for disposal, much to D’s dismay. I guess I looked like a lush hauling my partial case of beer in the morning on our stroll H and I walked again this afternoon. A Christmas pasta dish tonight offsets any walking today. Oh, and I made another batch of apricot walnut fruitcake bars. Sigh. Now I’m waiting for middle S to arrive. I love having my big kids here, but the way they eat–non-stop, oh my–leading me down their path!</p>
<p>Happy Christmas to all of you!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>We were on a road trip to Houston this fall with our high school football team and we were at a field doing a walk-thru. One of my student assistants asked me if we were going to eat pre-game meal with the team which I told her that “we eat when they eat.” She responded saying “That’s all they do is eat!” </p>
<p>She wasn’t terribly wrong. After our walk-thru we headed for the restaurant and that was meal number three for the day… at 3PM. We ate again after the game at 11PM…</p>
<p>I’m so ashamed. I’m actually eating a piece of fruit cake! 
The wagon leaves the station Friday morning. Who wants to get back on with me? :)</p>
<p>Christmas Eve dinner was beyond outrageous. Oysters on the half shell with Bobby Flay Ancho Chile cocktail sauce and Bobby Flay lobster avocado tomatillo concoction. Three lobsters for two people. No more mid-summer deals, a whopping $6.99 a pound. I wish tomorrows prime rib were $6.99 a pound…</p>
<p>Daughter gave me a DVD of a new Stevie Ray Vaughan documentary, so we watched that while drinking vintage port, followed up by some concert DVD songs in the blues vein: Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.</p>
<p>No bicycles to put together! Cats have been eating bows and destroying packages so we half wrapped a new catnip toy and put a pretty bow on it to drive them crazy.</p>
<p>Rain, rain, rain here at the beach – snuck in a quick walk with the puppy yesterday, but that’s it.</p>
<p>Going back to the posts about FLW – after reading “Loving Frank” for a Book Club a few years ago, H & I did a FLW trip to the Chicago. We did the walking tour in Oak Park, drove to Taliesin in WI and did the tour there, and then did the Robie House at U of Chicago. ANYWAY, we obviously learned a lot about him and his architectural style – which is when it all clicked for me that the addition my parents did on the house I grew up in was very much of a FLW style. It was a large LR addition off the back of the house with a flat roof. It was all good EXCEPT that flat roof – just not the thing to do on a house in New England. Roofers were there many. many times to try to fix the leaks. It finally got resolved, but my brothers and I still had to shovel off that roof after every snow storm. When my parents built a new house 30 years ago, you can be sure there was not a flat roof in sight!</p>
<p>Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.</p>
<p>Yeah, but didn’t that fruit cake taste sooooo good IDad 
. This afternoon, I’m going to my brother-in-law’s traditional Italian Christmas Day dinner. There will be baked ravioli. And meatballs and sausage. And baked ravioli. And then more baked ravioli. My sister will make her homemade potato latkes. And then we’ll have some more baked ravioli lol. With homemade cookies baked by his daughter. Get on the wagon tomorrow,IDad? I think I’ll need a freighter.</p>
<p>I went out into the gloom this morning for a Christmas run wearing my green Marmot polar fleece that iDad lured me into last year, and my red quilted Lulu hot buns skirt (or whatever it was called) over tights. Red earband. I did 5.4 and CAUGHT THE BUNNY! Because- isn’t catching an imaginary rabbit what’s important to every 62 year old woman on Christmas? I sort of miscalculated and thought I had to do 5.3 to catch and 5.4 to pass, but somehow I am now .4 ahead. I could have stopped sooner!<br>
My daughter’s church service was lovely last night. During the candlelight singing of Silent Night, I had a photo op I could not resist. She was in her priest garb by the altar with the light from her candle illuminating her face as she led the singing. I pulled out my phone and took a quick picture. It’s amazing. We all ate Chinese food and drank Prosecco and beer in the church basement between her two services. It was fun. She and her H will come over mid-day for more eating, drinking and presents. </p>
<p>Yes. The fruitcake (and 1977 Ferreira Vintage Port) was delicious. </p>
<p>The good news. Down 1.8 pounds this morning. More of a testament to how much I weighed the day before! :)</p>
<p>Great job, MOWC! </p>
<p>It is gorgeous here - sunny and 46 degrees. I could not resist an outdoor run! 3.36 miles felt terrific. </p>
<p>Merry Christmas everyone! </p>
<p>Enjoy your families, everyone. Good job getting out there, sabaray! The sun in FINALLY coming out here. Maybe I can walk the dog a little bit just to enjoy it.</p>
<p>Quite a few people out running and walking in the neighborhood this morning and a number there at the park, too. Some serious, some chipper. Counting down to kid arrival!</p>
<p>Wow, it is sunny outside! Merry Christmas, everyone! Wrapping paper litters the living room… Belly is too stuffed with the yumny brunch I made - any running will have to wait for a couple of hours :)</p>
<p>6.1 mile run - done! And I skipped lunch. :)</p>