Peeping Around the Christmas Tree

[BelovedHeather]

Peeps:

Good morning! Merry Christmas Eve! I caught up with personals last night, so I am sending hugs and blessings for a delightful holiday. Enjoy the celebration with your family and food (but not too much!) and an abundance of laughter and joy.

I am working until noon, running a bunch of errands this afternoon, and looking forward to the candlelight and communion service tonight at church and a 4-day weekend!

I hope to return later for personals. If I do not have time to peep in again, have a warm and wonderful day!

Blessings,
Heather B.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).

 

[pwmatt]

Thanks for your wishes, Heather! I'm sending them right back atcha! Catch!

I don't know if I will get to peep in again either. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday!!

 

[elliemom]

Hi Peeps,

What a day yesterday!!! I got home from DS Christmas party at 12:30 and the boys wrapped thier gifts to dad. Then youngest son got wrapping stuck to himself and it became a "lets wrap each other up as a present" We had a blast. Then it was on to the more serious business of Let's make the cookies for Santa. So ..... they are gone (hey I told you I was stressed) I made a new batch last night and hid them from myself. I can do that because my memory is so bad I will ask DH tonight Where the heck did I put the cookies for Santa" (Just another little reminder NOT to have kids after the age of 40)
They tell me it's been fun, but I don't remember 1/2 of it!!!

Today Santa is visiting at 2pm. Yipee. Well not THE Santa, but a friend down the street who comes every year for the boys!!! THE Santa will be up late tonight putting presents under the tree.

I'll BBL for personals
Have a great Holiday and Merry Christmas to those I miss
ellie

 

[coloradomama]

Good morning, Peeps! No workout for me this morning. And it was for the best. DH is on call and got a call last night around 11pm, which woke me up. Then, his coming home a few hours later woke me up. In addition to that, the fact that I seem to be getting hot flashes in the middle of the night woke me up (my side of the electric blanket was off and I turned off his and was STILL roasting!). So I changed my alarm to an hour later and am now enjoying a cup of tea before getting ready for work.

I hope you all have a fantastic day! I'm looking forward to after 5pm...not only will I be done with work until January 5, but my in-laws are bringing DD home and I missed her!!

 

[elliemom]

Jill- where was DD??? For how long???
Oh, the dreaded night sweats!!! Yuck, been there done that. Not fun. And a rest day for you sounds wonderful. I'm drinking my coffee right now while the boys are being angels and watching Rudolph. They know Santa is on his way!!

Dani- looking forward to seeing you today. I am much more relaxed now that my head stopped spinning and the green vomit subsided!!! Really, I totally get how that girl felt in that film!

Jerry- looking forward to seeing you and DW this weekend. And thanks for offering to watch the boys while we got out!! We'll only be gone for like an hour. Please insert very evil laugh here!!!!
A) because Jer is not watching the kids
B) because if we are going out, I'm NOT coming back in an hour!!!

Gayle- I'd kick your tiny hiney if i weren't scared to death of your freakishly strong upper body!!!! I was finished all the shopping and wrapping etc. It was just that the school parties and plays were running me ragged. Preschool does ALL their stuff on different days than the rest of the school!!!!

JJ and Vilma- where are you guys??? Come play with us!!!

Wendy- This time of year has a tendency to make me a little more manic than usual. If that's even possible. I have a little OCD and tend to have to have EVERYTHING done. My way. Imagine that!!!! I don't complain that DH has never bought a Christmas gift in his life, because i would return it anyway. He means well, but it's just easier if I take over. Maybe a little control freak too. Hmmmmmm. I wonder

Karin- I almost ran to the mall yesterday to meet you!!! My DH thought I was nuts and talked me out of it. I just really thought you would be surprised and get a good laugh out of it. His words were something like invasive, intrusive etc etc. It's not like I was gonna stand behind you with bunny ears or anything. But I still think I should have gone!!!!

Merry Christmas
ellie

 

[banslug]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope you and all your family enjoy your time together. My boys are bouncing off the walls!

Business matters first: my workout.........I will be walking funny later today and tomorrow! LOL GS Legs (standing) and PLB (floor).....DONE! OUCH! I used a 75# barbell and 16.25 dumbbells for all the work.

Ellie, I'd LOVE to come play with the boys while you and DH went out!!! Seriously. Will he be home the weekend that we're coming to Jersey again? I looked at my calendar and the kids don't have school on MOnday, MLK Day. So that means I can leave here as soon as Thursday afternoon sometime, take Cathe's class on Friday and enjoy the weekend, and see how the weekend goes. I'd love to give you and DH a night out that weekend. THINK ABOUT IT! (Plus Jerry can come and help me!)

YOU ALL ROCK!

Gayle

 

[jloewe]

I'll be busy most of today, but wanted to pop in real quick to wish my fellow peeps a safe and happy holiday!

Ellie...hope to see you this weekend, call me when you get here!!

I already did a KPC premix, so I'm feeling pretty good about that!

 

[NinjaMom]

Merry Christmas Eve Peeps!

Sorry I missed the check-in yesterday. I made the mistake of going to the mall with DD. She had procrastinated! (did I spell that right?) It was brutal just getting into the parking lot, wall to wall people in the mall and many of the store shelves were picked over. I don't know how the people who wait until the last minute do it. I'd be in tears

I'm having Christmas at my house and have a zillion things to do. CleanMax, CookMax & WrapMax are my only workouts today then church tonight. I'll try to BBL later for personals

Big hugs to all my Peeps: Heather, Ellie, Wendy, Dani, Karin, Vilma, Jerry, Gayle, Jill, Phyllis, et al................ (hope I didn't miss anyone)

JJ

 

[dbelden1]

Happy Holidays Peeps!!!

I have to say that I am wishing each of you and your families a wonderful, SAFE and Happy Holiday! I'm also working until my Dr. appt at 10am this morning and then off for a 4 day weekend!!! Office would have been closed at noon anyway, so why come back!

will BBL also for personals but got in a bit early at the office and it's quiet for now and I had a chance to check in! I should have much more time for personals later tonite!

Ellie; LOL! just a shout out to you and your Exorcist (no matter how I spelled it it looked funny) moment! Hope you less stressed and back to your fun-loving self today! I'd watch the boys for you today! Your extra-curricular wrapping sounds like a blast!

Christmas hugs to Ellie, Karin, Heather, JJ, Wendy, Vilma, Jerry, Jill, Phyllis, and Gayle! Did I forget anyone?

 

[ShyWolf]

Wishing all the Peeps a wonderful Christmas!

DH & I are going to try and hit a restaurant before everything closes and just spend some time together before we have to come back home and get ready for Santa.

I have all my Christmas meal prepped for tomorrow along w/ Christmas breakfast - had to run to the stores yesterday for some seasonings and it was just crazy.

DH told me to order my 35# kettlebell as part of his Christmas gift from him - Yay! I'll be ordering it over the weekend to catch the free shipping.


Have a fantastic Holiday!

 

[Boilergal]

Guten Morgen, Peepers!

I'm feeling awesome right now--I did Drill Max this morning, only editing out the very end part--the crazy terminator jump over the step bit, and the lunges where you turn with the ball (my brain can't coordinate that one) and the plank push-ups with the weights (ditto the can't coordinate bit.) But I have seen myself really grow with this, because the first time I tried it, I couldn't even do the cardio ball segment all the way through! And that was with dropping the ball half-way through it!!

Just ran to the post office before work. One way I eliminate xmas stress is to to New Year's Cards. I only had to wait in line behind one person!! So I got those off and picked up a package and was on my way in less than 10 minutes.

Heather--Enjoy your service tonight--it sounds really beautiful.

Ellie--I LOVE the idea of wrapping each other as gifts. You are such a FUN mommy!

Gayle--That's funny. Ellie's boys are watching TV, your boys are bouncing off the walls, and Houdini is at Grandma's, asking where the Mail Truck is. (This is her latest obsession--mail and the mail truck.) LOL! I think this is my last year, however, that she is completely unaware of the season--next year she'll be bouncing with your boys!

JJ--I'm the queen of last minute! New Year's Cards--mailed this morning. Presents wrapped? Not yet, will do this afternoon (we get out early today). Tamales and sweet glazed ham picked up from local BBQ shop? Nope, DH has been instructed to do that today (as he's off while I'm here at work--TV never stops, you know!). But somehow it all gets done...

Vilma--You must be excited about your kettlebell!! I love being able to order my own gifts!

Phyllis--Have a wonderful holiday!

Dani--Let us know what the doctor says!

Karin--Got the DVDs yesterday, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

And I wish a very Happy Holidays to all my fellow Peeps!!

Wendy

 

[berry99]

Hi everyone! I have read all your posts, but don't have time to post for very long because the library closes in 20 min and we have to leave.

I just wanted to echo the sentiments of the past couple of days with everyone being grateful for the peeps! I am too. I have been on the Cathe board for almost 3 years and always felt like an outsider too with no buddies on the board to speak of. Now look how many of you I have . I treasure and value the friendship of all of you and I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends!

Ellie - that would have been too funny if you showed up at the mall yesterday. It was a disaster, but the pictures actually turned out well. I'll post more about the experience tomorrow. I can't wait until I come back to town in April so that we can meet!!!

Happy Holidays Peeps! I'll check in tomorrow evening. Love y'all!!

 

[coloradomama]

I'm having Christmas at my house and have a zillion things to do. CleanMax, CookMax & WrapMax are my only workouts today then church tonight.

LOLOL!!! That's too funny...you Catheized your to-do list!

Ellie, DD was at her grandparents' house, in Denver (okay, it's west of Denver but to those not from the area, it might as well be Denver). We took her Saturday and they're bringing her home tonight. They watched her since DH and I had to work M-W. She has her own bedroom there and everything.

I took a half day today so I can clean and get ready for tomorrow without feeling stressed. We're going out to dinner with my in-laws tonight when they bring home DD so I know I won't have time later.

Okay, I'm looking at getting another circuit video and would like suggestions! I have High Step Circuit, Low Impact Circuit (haven't done it yet as I don't have 75 minutes to work out on a weekday and want the weights too, not just the cardio blasts), and Body Fusion. I try to keep my workouts lower impact to save my knees, but am willing to modify a higher impact workout to make it joint friendly. I also have 30 Day Shred, which I don't do very often, but I do have it (and use a mini tramp for all the jumping cardio).

 

[dbelden1]

Ok, Peeps! What's next:

Ellie is on her way to the funny farm,
Heather is locking herself in her apartment so as to avoid all MSG poisoning,
Wendy is locking herself OUT of her house with Houdini to 'see the world'
Karin is locking herself in the liquor cabinate (ok, maybe that part of the holiday is over, but I swear she mentioned something about hating to be happy and cheerful all the time and was going to take a shot before her photo-op today!)
Vilma is locking herself at the Dasani or Aquafina factory (or at least buying shares of water related stock!)
Jerry is wogging his way into our hearts with DW in tow,
Apparently the rest of you are flying under the radar for today!

Me, I'm on the High Cholesterol, Arthritis, sleep apnea, high levels of hemogloben in my blood, sugar in my urine (sorry if this is TMI), gotta have a stress test in a few weeks sorta doctors visit! I'm a little freaked... my cholesterol actually went up in the last 8 months! and here I thought that for the last 4-5 months I have been doing pretty good with cutting back on my bad food habits, exercising more than I ever have regularly... but NO...

I may be asking all of you to help me apparently get back on track after the Holidays... STS is on it's way and I am going to attack it in a BIG way, but my eating is apparently the biggest issue for me to overcome! I'm such a picky eater! Wendy, you thought Heather was a challenge!!! You ain't seen nothing yet... I"ve been quietly listening into your advice to her and definately have a LOT to learn about good clean eating.

I will be investing in a few e-books... maybe the Tosca one on eating clean, and maybe the Burn Fat, Feed Muscle... I don't want to have the same issues that my mother has/had (it runs deep in our family) with all the high blood pressure (which surprisingly was and always has been on the low end of Normal Thank God!), high Cholesterol, arthritis, heart disease, cancer... and the list goes on and on... I thanked my mother for the obvious gene-pool deficiencies!

Ok, so enough about my problems!

Have a very safe and Merry Christmas!!!

 

[banslug]

Hey guys.

Jill-how about HSTA (high step training, advanced)? I love that one....haven't done it in FOREVER, so I'm putting it in for next week, in honor or your circuit search!

Gayle

 

[BelovedHeather]

Peeps Check-in

Ok, Peeps! What's next:

Ellie is on her way to the funny farm,
Heather is locking herself in her apartment so as to avoid all MSG poisoning,

Peeps:

I am peeping in before I leave for church to say, "Ellie, hold that bus to the funny farm! I am joining you!" Stay tuned...

Blessings,
Heather B.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).

 

[elliemom]

Hey, you can all join me at the funny farm- they know me by name!!!
And it's 3 hots and and a cot, some good venting at therapy, DRUGS, and they MAKE you exercise. How bad can it be????

Dani- What's up with the cholesterol??? And why a stress test??? Besides being VERY nosey I am also a nurse so I am actually interested in these things!! And I luv ya girlfriend, so I'm allowed to worry!!! How much sugar in your urine???

Heather- if we don't make it back on THE wagon, we can take the OTHER wagon over to the farm!!!

Jill-I bet your DD had a blast. Our boys have missed having grandparents since we are older parents. My father, and MIL both died a few months after I had my second son. My mother is 2 hours away and comes to visit every 2 weeks which is getting harder for her at 74. My FIL is 86 so he is a little harder to manage. He gets tired and irritable very quickly (can't blame him, he raised 7 of his own).

Vilma- glad to see you. Enjoy your Christmas meals. How nice to go out with DH for a date. Have a great time

JJ- all those maxes were what was stressing me out yesterday!!! The list is never ending is it???

Karin- I'm never letting him talk me out of something again!!!! I could have at least made your family laugh!!! Can't wait for April, I WILL FIND YOU!!

Wendy- I's so jealous you got a workout in this morning. I just didn't have the energy. Or the motivation. And the 300 cookies I ate were way too heavy in my belly for any jumping around!! Have a wonderful time with Houdini tomorrow!!!

Have a great Christmas Everyone and enjoy your friends and family. Or your peace and quiet. I'll check in tomorrow!!!
ellie

 

[BelovedHeather]

Peeps Check-in

Peeps:

What a day! After a stressful morning at work, I braved the Christmas Eve crowds and went shopping in the afternoon for a new pair of jeans. My size 24 jeans are way too small. I visited Lane Bryant and tried on jeans for the first time since they switched to their "perfect fit" sizing system. I had to ask for help when the largest size I could find was an 8! Apparently, 8 is the new 28! Talk about vanity sizing! Everything is now color coded by body type. With the assistance of every employee in the store, I tried on every style of jeans in the store and discovered that I have a "red" (moderately curvy) waist, a "blue" (curvy) butt, and "yellow" (straight) legs. I laughed and asked if they could make "rainbow" jeans for me. The fun part about shopping in plus-size stores like Lane Bryant is the way they assess the problem. My thighs are too small. Yes, that is right! They are bigger than my waist should be, but they are too small to fill out the jeans designed for a curvy figure. When I walked in the store, the first lady I met looked at me and correctly assessed that I am moderately curvy by their standards. It is news to me that there is anything "moderate" about my curves. I settled for a pair of moderately curvy boot cut jeans. The thighs are not as fitted as they could be, but they are not baggy either. The waist is comfortable. I like to be free to breathe!

After that 2-hour adventure, I went to Logan’s for my "last supper." I was tempted to order a cranberry lemon cocktail with a shot of Southern Comfort, but I settled for a shot glass of chocolate mousse with peanut butter and fudge instead. I love these shot glass desserts. They are cute and "just enough" to satisfy a sweet craving. This one was garnished with a bite-size Nutter Butter cookie. The dessert was the best part of the meal. I prefer the Dallas filet at Texas Roadhouse. Either that, or the meal at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse has ruined me for ordinary filet mignon.

I am feeling inspired after a beautiful Christmas Eve candlelight and communion service. I am officially back on the wagon and in detox. I am taking a platter of strawberries, pineapple, apples, grapes, and kiwi to share for Christmas dinner. That will be my dinner! Reclaiming my health is the best Christmas present I can give myself, and I do not want to wait for the New Year’s Eve ball to drop.

Ellie, good news! I found our wagon!

Dani, I am keeping you in my prayers. I highly recommend Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat for Health if reclaiming your health is your goal. His primary focus is reversing disease through nutrition. He leads you through baby steps to gently transform your way of eating. The first step is as simple as eating a huge salad before dinner and chewing it well.

Blessings,
Heather B.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).