We're So Gorgeous

Welcome to the Christmas 2005 edition of We're So Gorgeous. I expect everyone to make an effort to post their holiday pictures.

(do it! Or the obnoxious background colors stay! Muahahahahahahah....)

*grin*

Well, this has been a very drawn out holiday, this year. For us, it started at Yule (Winter Solstice). In our tradition, Yule is typically (at our latitude) a very cold, dark time when survival is very much a matter of having adequate food, clothing, shelter and heat. It is a time when the Goddess sleeps and we are left to fend for ourselves. How well we survive often depends on how much we can come together as a community.
In short, it's a very practical holiday.

In our household, we:
1) light a Yule Log (which for us (being dreadful urbanites) means a big candle) and keep vigil all night (or until Mom has to sleep), waiting for the sun to come back.
2) give presents of clothing and food
3) put up and decorate a tree (gotta get that log energy in) string lights and generally make at least one corner of the house the special holiday place (as it generally takes all evening to do this, it's a practical, festive way to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season) .

As we celebrate, we stay mindful of how lucky we are to have these basic necessities, thank those on high for helping us get through another year and pray for the strength and cleverness we'll need to get through the winter.
This year, we also watched "It's A Wonderful Life"

I thought it made a nice segue.

Anyway. Solstice isn't really a time for taking pictures, so I didn't.

Christmas, on the other hand...
I know you've all been salivating to see the kids open presents and such, so here is the craziness that was. First, a nice, calm pic:


We took this the night before. Here you see, from top to bottom:
Diva Blue,
Diva Karaoke-Style and Jeremy,
Big Mama, Gareth
and Vincent

Next, we have some presents being opened:

Gareth and Jeremy open presents while Kareoke-style quietly stares off in the distance and tries to ignore the fact that she drove all day and didn't eat...poor thing's starving...

Vincent says: I got dis batman-car!



Tristan says: Hey Pop! I like the boots. Check out this cool tattoo Amelia got me for Christmas. She designed it!

More pics to come! But now, it's late, and I'm tired of fighting Blogger.
Goodnight.

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because she doesn't look like this anymore:

That folks, is what's possible in 6 months. Woot!

Earlier in the week, we had snow! Very cool.
Here are some pics!

These were taken at the beginning of the week, while it was still snowing.
I took them just outside the gym we go to, around 8pm. We had a couple decent days in the middle of the week then, Thursday night, the sleet started. By morning, the entire neighborhood was encased in ice crystals. It was nothing like what we see in Texas, but given the 60 degree incline of my driveway, coming off the hill was out of the question. School was cancelled anyway. I think work expected a lot of people would have to call in--I was more upset about it than they were.

There was nothing to be done until the shone on our hill for a few hours. About 3pm, I went out to shovel ice. First thing, I stepped wrong and ended up skiing down the icy slope! I did pretty well, considering--I didn't fall until I got to the bottom. The rest of the afternoon was spent hacking and shovelling ice. I got my workout, alright.

Heh. Yes, I start this with a particularly un-beautiful pic of me, fresh from the gym last night, wearing clothes that do nothing for me and taken from the worst angle possible.
But, hey, check it out: I have a waist!
This has been a week of changes.
I seem to have finally kicked the malais that plagued me most of November. I talked with my trainer, re-worked my diet and discovered the main reason my progress has been slowing down, I've been getting sick, feeling tired and depressed was, *laughs* hell. I'm not taking in enough calories (I tend to live on coffee).
Nutritionally, what I habitually eat is all out of proportion for the fitness regimen I'm following: too many carbs, not enough protein. So here's my new nutrition routine:

1)I'm doing a whey/casein protein drink twice a day
2)I'm making sure to eat at least once before noon.
3)I'm trying to eat something before 5pm
4)I try not to eat after 10pm

I've been sticking to approximately 1500 calories a day, divided into 50/30/20 protein/carb/fat. That breaks down into (roughly) 300 grams of food a day. I find if I make sure to eat at least 150g protein, I naturally fall into the right proportions on the other two.

Mind you, Pasta is usually not an option, with this plan.

For those of you who're counting, the total loss to date is....50lbs.
Go me. Now for the other 50...

Jeremy and I decided it was time to trim the tree. We got a new one this year.... our old one was lost in the 3" flood. We got new carpet for the downstairs on Friday which put us in the holiday spirit. Now just waiting on the elves... ha ha!!!

Mr. Gigglepuss.....
Jeremy is putting the final touches on our tree in the basement. It keeps the theme of black and white going pretty well....


TA DA!!!! All Done for the day...