January 6, 2005

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  ...On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

  
  

  My True Love gave to me...

  
  

   

  
  

  Take-out dinner from Wendy's!

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  In just a few days, I intend to join the Discovery.com National Body Challenge for the second year. Last year I had such good results, but then I was diagnosed with Hashmoto's disease and had to start the synthetic thyroid hormones to get my  metabolism regulated and stabilized. I will have to get the thyroid levels tested every three months for the rest of my life,  as I will be taking on synthetic thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, since the Hashimoto's disease will eventually destroy my thyroid gland completely. My last two blood tests were good, so it seems I am stable for now, and it is time to tackle losing some of the weight I gained back.

  
  

  So for the next few days, I am enjoying all the foods I will be avoiding after I get back to my healthy eating plan (I refuse to use that "D word" because healthy eating is a lifetime thing, not something you do for just a short-term goal) and also eating the same stuff my husband does. For me, the hardest part of changing my eating habits is having to prepare separate meals for myself. Bernie cooks for himself, but is usually so tired after work, that I would really like to cook for him as often as possible. But he is so picky about what he eats, and likes a lot of stuff that is really bad for me, and very little of what is good for me and what I really like. Makes it hard. But we will work something out.

  
  

  I am not going to think about it until the time comes, though. I still have some leftover goodies from the holidays I plan on eating. And tonight I had a big bacon cheeseburger and fries. We had to drop the truck off at the shop so it can have a belt replaced tomorrow, so we stopped for take-outs on the way home. Neither of us felt like cooking, or like eating the leftover pork loin roast I made for New Year's day. Still one meal left on it, and some good rib bones for the dogs. I guess that will be tomorrow's dinner.

  
  

  

  
  

  holiday decorations at the side (breezeway) door

  
  

  I tried taking some pictures tonight of the outdoor Christmas decorations -- standing out in the rain, in the dark, with my digicam. But we don't do a lot of lights, we prefer decorations that are pretty both day and night. So the pictures of the lights were not very impressive. One of the strands of lights has gone out, maybe from all the rain. I haven't even lit them for the last few days because it was so wet out, but tonight I just had to, for the traditional last day of Christmas -- celebrated by some as Twelfth Night, or Three Kings Night, because it is supposed to be when the Magi arrived with their gifts. After tonight, I may or may not turn the lights on again. Of course, if we have snow, I will, because I love to see the lights shining through the snow. But it's still too warm for snow. And all this rain is definitely dampening my spirits.

  
  

  But at least I did get one nice picture (using flash) of the decorations next to my breezeway door, which is the door we use all the time -- the front door is only used by company and for deliveries. "Snowman Sr. and Jr." are new additions to our holiday decorations. They were on sale at Home Depot the week before Christmas and only cost $15 for both. How could we resist? They really make me smile. They are bright enough to illuminate the walk and steps on that side so we don't have to turn on the overhead floodlights on the corner of the house (which ruins the look of the other lights, because they are so bright) And they are the perfect decorations for the spot next to the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow was planted with decorative kale for the fall/winter, and I tucked some pine and spruce greenery in between, from limbs that got blown off the trees out front in the storms we had mid-December. A bright red velvet bow and a string of colored lights complete the festive look. There is also a wreath on the breezeway door with a red velvet bow. 

  
  

  Two antique milk cans flank this door year 'round. On a sudden whim, I painted the one you see in the photo, the smaller one, in a cow pattern this summer. The larger milkcan on the other side of the door isn't visible in this picture. It also received a fresh coat of paint this year, in solid black, like the wheelbarrow. It doesn't have a lid, and sometimes I put a pot of flowers in the top in the summertime, or greens for the winter holidays. Not this year, it is just sitting there empty now. I found it in grandpop's barn right before they sold the property, along with the big bell from the gas station he used to own, which now rests up against the garage between the two bay doors, but I would some day like to hang on the wall (it's heavy, and attached to a heavy piece of rustic looking plank -- I can't figure out how to hang it without knocking the stucco down, that will be a project for next summer)

  
  

  On the other side of the walk leading to this door is the flowerbed with my roses and trellises on the wall, on each side of the window that is over my eBay package packing counter in the garage. I look out that window while am am working, at whatever is growing in the wheelbarrow and the flowerbed on the side of the house, and also at the driveway and road. I think it is as important to consider the view from the inside of the windows out as from the outside looking toward the house when planning and planting in the yard. I like to have nice views. And you may remember, Dear Reader, that this rosebed is the one that is presided over by one of Bernie's buddhas. He wasn't left out in the decorating scheme this year, I made him a red, green and clear "prayer bead" necklace. It matches the one worn by the big wooden buddha in the living room.

  
  

  

  
  

  the Buddha in the rose bed

  
  

  Thats about it for now. I was going to write about the music and books Santa brought me, but I will do that in my next entry. Tomorrow I will be without a vehicle, so I may actually get around to doing a little bit more housecleaning. I should take advantage of the relatively warm temperature to tackle some of the mess that has inexplicably grown in my garage while I wasn't looking, so I can work on my eBay stuff out there without having to dig through piles and trip over things. With the mild outdoor temperatures my small electric heater has been keeping the garage fairly warm. Which is a good thing, because there are too many piles of flammable stuff near the woodstove to even think of using it yet. I guess that should also be a priority.

  
  

  Or maybe I will just spend another day napping. If the sun doesn't come out soon, I am going to sleep the month of January away!

  
  

  

  
  

   

  • 9:00 pm
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