Saturday 17 December 2011

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

My son called last week looking for one of my old Christmas sweaters, he wanted to wear it to a party he  has been invited to.  An Ugly Sweater party!  I have heard of these, and I am sure I got rid of all my old sweaters (I may have had several of them) when I moved a few years ago.  But the one he wanted was the one with the red pom pom noses on it.....I loved that sweater, it wasn't ugly was it?  I wore in a family portrait that year (about 10 years ago?) I sent it to everyone in our Christmas Cards, it wasn't ugly was it?  I double checked my closet I did get rid of it, probably donated to the Salvation Army thrift store.  I told my son that Thirft stores were the place to look.

By coincidence I saw this on the morning news this morning, they bought their sweaters from a website, called Christmassweaters.ca.  I should have saved the sweaters, they would be collectors items. (But no I am trying not to collect stuff like my parents did)  The sweaters on that website, sell for $79.50 and they just glue stuff to a sweatshirt, anyone can do that.  Too bad I didn't think of that when my son was looking for a sweater, I miss old craft projects like this! 

No miracles in 30 days

Well I made it 30 days without wheat, and I guess I feel better than I did a month ago, but mostly I feel like I opened a can of worms I wished I hadn't bothered with.  In the long run it will probably be for the best, but I am still not sure.  I have an appointment with a Naturopath in a couple days, so I am going to reserve my final opinion until I talk to her, and have some allergy testing done.

I am reluctant to just start eating wheat again, after a couple of bad experiences eating at Tim Hortons, and the buffet at the River Rock (where I did not eat anything with obvious wheat in it, but I felt ill for 24 hours after) *

On the other hand when I cheated a couple times, at home, I was fine.....I had a beer,  (it was really good and I did not suffer any ill effects) and I had some stuffing last week, with a roasted chicken, it was also really good, and no ill effects??? don't understand that at all.

So I only cheated twice in 30 days, lost 2 pounds (yes, again!), and my shoulder is feeling quite alot better.  But I have been working out with my personal trainer for 6 weeks now and I think that is a more likely reason for the weight loss and the improvement in my shoulder.

It will be interesting to see what the testing shows, maybe it is all just hormones, I'll keep ya posted.




* I have heard rave reviews about the River Rock buffet and I have to say no one in my group of friends were impressed by the $24.95 buffet.   It was not that big, and the quality of the food was just OK or down right disappointing.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

10 reasons why I am feeling organized

You know that feeling you get when you have finished your christmas shopping,.....  it's hard to describe, but I am sure you know what I mean.....it's like a big sigh of relief or a big feeling of accomplishment!

I feel so organized that I was actually ready for it to snow today (of course that is probably why it didn't snow).   It is strange for me to feel this organized so I had to think about why?


10 reasons why I am feeling so organized this year;

10. The weather has been really good this year, cold but sunny, so it was no trouble doing the outside lights and decorations (and yes I did most of them)

9. I am retired

8. My kids did not come home early from University, usually they would be here for at least a few days in between exams. Now I am not expecting them until the 19th.

7. I decided not to send christmas cards this year ( and I don't feel guilty.......yet)

6. I am not going to make 10 kinds of christmas cookies, like I usually do, the kids aren't here to eat them and they all have wheat in them, so I can't eat them ( that should be instant weight loss don't ya think?)

5. We had the tree up and decorations inside all done on Dec 3rd

4. We have rented dishes, and planned our Christmas menu for the 21 family members who are coming christmas day, just some grocery shopping left to do.

3. I made my annual donations to the salvation Army and the local food bank today.

2. I cleaned out a closet today, it is supposed to be a coat closet but I had it full of old clothes I was going to donate one day, and just hadn't done it yet. Now it is an empty closet and our guests will have a place to hang their coats and I have another accomplishment!

1. The man I live with is very helpful, I no longer have to do everything myself (yes third time lucky!)

 When I think about it though, I guess I am usually finished shopping before the kids get out of school for their christmas break.  I don't have school aged kids anymore, so I am not sure what day that is this year.  So I'll just stick with the good feeling of accomplishment, Thank you!

Sunday 11 December 2011

The days are going by too fast!

It's 14 days til Christmas, I am looking forward to have our families over for Turkey dinner, but it is 5 AM and I am not sleeping, something is wrong with this picture!  As anyone who knows me will tell you, Carolyn is not a morning person.

So if you can't sleep you should get up and write down your thoughts.

It's been 11 days since I wrote in my Blog, I have a list of excuses:

  1. It's been 26 days since we started the renovation on my parents new (22yr old ) house.  I am in charge of helping my parents pick things, and get quotes, for windows, and kitchens etc.  Decision making is hard for older folks, much patience required.  The good news is the Kitchen and bath cabinets were ordered on Friday, the plumber and Electrician started on Saturday.  But the estimate of a 6 week reno, is now more like 12 weeks.  There are still many more decisions to make, flooring, light fixtures, windows, countertops, paint colors etc....I am asking Santa for more patience.
  2. We are planning Christmas dinner for 21
  3. I barely have time to read the newspaper so I don't have a news story bugging me right now
  4. I have been trying to get my Christmas shopping done
  5. I made 3 batches of cookies, mailed some to my son who is at university studying for exams.
  6. I am sure there are many of reasons why I am so busy, being retired is not easy, I don't know how working people fit it all in!


It's been 24 days since I started this wheat free thing
So far I have discovered:
  • There is really nothing at Tim Hortons I can eat, I tried split pea soup, and had the runs for 12 hours.  (This has convinced me that I truly may have a problem with wheat)
  • Fruit is also quite a problem for me, I went without any for a week (except bananas) when I tried adding some fruit back into my life on Monday, I was bloated right away.  
  • I have not been bloated for 5 days, my plumbing is working as it should and today I am feeling like all the stars are aligned just for me.  (partial thanks to some help from an herbal pill called Cleanse More)
  • A friend who has been gluten free for a few years, gave me a list of restaurants, bakeries, brands to look for, and recommended I go for allergy testing just to take the guess work out of what is good for me and what isn't.  So I am going to give that a try, with a Naturopath who does blood tests to determine food allergy/sensitivities.  That is next week.
  • I was totally hoping just to go back to being the everything in moderation girl but it looks like there may be food I just can't eat anymore.  This life change really sucks, but change can be good, so I will do my best to make lemonade!  (you know when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,,,blah blah blah)
  • And Most importantly, I learned for about the 400th time in my life, that the only way to lose weight is to eat less and move more!  the miracle claims that removing wheat from your diet and replacing that with unlimited quantities of other food are just too good to be true!  You actually have to eat less food, like remove wheat bread from your diet, without replacing it with Spelt bread.  (Darn!)

Ok, I think that was all that was on my mind, so I am going back to sleep now