Good morning everyone! We arrived in MN late yesterday. Snow on the ground and,of course, it’s cold! MN in December so normal.

The afternoon before we flew out we learned of a death in the family. He was our daughter’s ex-husband, Jack, and father to our 3 grandchildren. He died in Florida. Our grandson (living in AZ) managed to get a seat on the same flight back with us and everyone has gathered now with their mom. Our grandson was his dad’s only “next of kin” so was notified of his death by the hospital. He was totally unprepared for getting that call. It is a sad time and much to be decided and many unknowns as to handling everything long distance in Florida. Quite complicated, including autopsy required and then getting his remains back to MN. Sadly, their father (age 55) had addiction issues since his teens, including pain pills and alcohol, and his death was from liver and heart failure. He was found unresponsive in his apartment and they were unable to save him at hospital. I am continuing to pray for his soul, that he may now Rest In Peace with God and his mother and father who have passed before him. And, I am praying for his children for strength and guidance and peace during the days ahead.🙏🏻

Diane, So sorry for your and your family's loss. I will add Jack to my prayers for the departed for the next 40 days as is our custom. How comforting and what a blessing that your grandson was able to fly on the same plane. I am sure you are a comfort and wonderful support to him. Glad you are safely in MN, despite the snow and cold. Hugs to you and your family.

Today is quite a lazy day for me, after a relatively busy day yesterday. I just don't have much energy today, so I am doing what I must do and not stressing over what isn't getting done. It is somewhat unseasonably cold here today, but a nice warm up is expected over the next 2 days. My eating was off course a bit yesterday. I was running some errands and wanted a break from cooking, so John and I decided to do a Taco Bell drive thru, something I haven't done in a very long time. I knew I could use my WW points by tracking the Taco Bell food. Well, it wasn't meant to be. I ordered "without onions" and got onions anyway. I just couldn't eat anything. I cannot tolerate even the slightest taste of onion. John doesn't care for onions either, but he isn't as bad as I am about it. So he ate a little bit, but we ended up eating a mixture of leftovers we had on hand instead. Lesson learned!!!! Today I am back on track and wrote a bad review on the Taco Bell survey from the receipt.

Hello to all and again thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
We have temporary hot water for the weekend. Will not detail it but is a bit of an issue that will need to be permanently fixed but not before next week. Electrician did a work around yesterday afternoon to get power to water heater. Shower felt good today!!!
We got 16” of snow yesterday afternoon and overnight….and we are not plowed out yet. Hoping to be plowed overnight tonight. I had gone to store and gotten groceries so we are fine “stuck” at home. We lost tv last evening as the snow buried our satellite dish but it has now melted or blown off enough from the roof so tonight tv should be an option again.
Wishing everyone well, I am grateful for our blessings at this season of the year and taking everything one step at a time.

I am checking in today with a little good news. I weighed in this morning and am down another pound. It is actually a pound and a few ounces, but I decided to keep focused on whole numbers for a while. So for me, I am down a consistent 5 pounds through the combination of WW and IF. I guess my recent blips didn't do the damage I anticipated. So much more to go, but no complaints with my results so far. I feel pretty good and am enjoying mostly a restful day today.

Paula…congrats on the weight loss! 5 lbs is awesome! Looks like IF with WW is a switch your body likes! Glad you are seeing such good results.

Shari…sounds like winter in Canada too…brrr. Hate to deal with ice…I am worried about falling! Be careful!

DW….you sound very organized for Christmas…I am definitely not! Feel lucky just to have hot water right now🙂

We are helping by transporting our son to medical appointments today thru Wednesday. The weather warmed some today and hope it continues while he is going through these procedures. He has a brain MRI tomorrow and I am praying for good news. Life has been extremely complicated of late.🙏🏻

Diane, Thinking of you and praying for good news for your son. So much stress for you lately!!

My day today was ok but not as solid as other recent good days. I did get a lot done again today but now feel quite tired. I am concerned that Craig has Covid. He called to tell me he is ill with symptoms such as a severe headache and his eyes hurting a great deal. Those symptoms are similar to the symptoms one of my relatives experienced when she had Covid. Craig had not had a Covid test when he called. Not sure if he is going to get tested. He hasn't been here since Dec. 6, so I feel fairly safe. But I will try to check in with him in the next few days. I am also concerned because he has asthma and smokes.....such a dangerous combination no matter what he has.

I have another busy day ahead of me tomorrow so I am going to rest now and head to bed early.

Paula so sorry Craig is ill and it might be Covid. I hope he gets tested so he knows, people he may have exposed know, and also for a timeline for quarantine if he does have it. You should be OK because he likely did not have Covid when you saw him but they say you can’t be out of woods for two weeks past possible exposure? All these time frames are hard to keep straight. Saying my prayers all will be ok for him and for you and John.🙏🏻

Answered prayers for our son. Very thankful! He does not have a pituitary tumor! His hormone levels are way off indicating a pituitary issue which is not uncommon with TBI…but they can not treat him until they ruled that tumor possibility out. He has retaken extensive blood work and is awaiting results and then he will get opinion of his endocrinologist.

Shari….good for you that you are not waiting until the New Year to keep on track! Me too! With the strange early mornings schedule we have been on and uncertain meal times I have had two days off IF…but managed not to eat after dinner at all and restarted fasting until 11:00 today. So I feel I can now get back on track and remain on track.🤞👍.

Wishing everyone good weather, good times with family during this Christmas season!❤️

HI Everybody! I was just catching up on all the communications I have missed. So far, I've nodded off while wrapping gifts each night this week. I have to wait until my husband goes to bed because I have the card table set up in the family room where he watches TV. Once he goes to bed, I start wrapping while watching TV shows that I enjoy-and then doze off. Last night I woke up around midnight with my head resting on my arms on the card table. Tonight I finished most of the wrapping and plan to take the card table down tomorrow and then start cleaning. Paula, I hope you have a wonderful visit with your family tomorrow! Shari, I am also struggling with my weight being up 3+ pounds since I started weight watchers. I think I need to combine, 17 DD, WW, and IF, and there are too many sweets and treats around right now to do that. Diane, prayers for your son!! Have a great Friday!!

Shari, I find it very difficult to clean when I am tired. I hope you gain some energy to make the cleaning go so much more smoothly. I am glad you are keeping the sabbath. For me doing so has a positive impact spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I am so sorry you are hurt by Jim's parents. I understand how painful their action can be. Good that your counseling is giving you strength and support!

DW, I am free from having to do a lot of wrapping anymore for Christmas. I tend to use gift bags as much as possible, but there are always those gifts that are not well suited for gift bags. When John was little I used to procrastinate till Christmas eve to wrap most of his gifts. It was a strain on me for sure. I hear you about the sweets all around us now. Oh my! It is a struggle now for sure. When our family visited yesterday among other things, they brought us chocolate covered pretzels made by a church "back home." And of course anything from "back home" is the best, and I caved yesterday with the pretzels.

We had a fabulous visit with our family yesterday. The boys were so much fun and very high energy. John was in his glory with the boys here. It warms my heart to see them together. They are at really fun ages and are relatively well behaved, all things considered. We got food from Panera Bread. I had the tomato soup and the tomato basil cucumber salad (all pretty healthy and very tasty). But then I indulged in the chocolate covered pretzels, so there went my attempt to stay on track. Ugh! Today the youth group from church came to sing Christmas carols, and they brought us a beautiful poinsettia. There were about 25 people ranging in age from 1 year old to a youth advisor who is in her 70s. It was so sweet and beautiful, but it really made us miss church and the beautiful people there even more. However, with all the surges again in Covid cases and my mobility issues, I am sure it will still be a while till we are back to church. I checked with Greg today, and he did go for the Covid test but hasn't gotten the results yet.