December 2020 W.I.S.H. - Finding Delight

[sjrec]

Woohoo... I picked up my new iPhone yesterday, Merry Christmas to me! Unfortunately something is wrong and it stopped loading my stuff so I need to go back in, but I will be delighted have the plus-size model again, and am really looking forward to playing around with the new camera.

Woohoo... the weather this week is delightfully rain-free with bright blue skies. I have two open blocks of time today where I can take a break and get out of the house.

Woohoo... my new desk is working out like I had hoped. It is "L" shaped so there's room to put one of the cat beds on the side section and The Girls are spending most of the day curled up together in it, which means less time laying on my keyboard. It is delightful to have them near but and still be able to type.

Woohoo... to future delightfulness. My SIL said yesterday that they are not going to go to My Sister's for Christmas as we had planned. I haven't canceled my hotel reservation yet, waiting to see what the post-Thanksgiving numbers are going to be. I'm more comfortable going if it is just going to be me, my Sis and her girlfriend, but most of all I'm thinking of how to change the celebration in to something delightfully new, not something less.

View attachment 541599

Yes, that’s the best way to look at things-we can change our celebrations to something delightfully new, not less! I love that!

I am enjoying my Christmas music and getting the Christmas decorations out. My favorite is my old cd from the Charlie Brown special.
I did a big grocery shop today-we’re going to really try to limit our trips out. I’m making a cauliflower rice and broccoli casserole with the last of the turkey-and have set aside some of my Cooking Light recipes for the rest of the week.

Looking forward to cutting down our tree tomorrow-it’s supposed to be the
warmest day of the week. Love getting the tree decorated!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Hi, sorry I've been missing for a couple of days - just "real life" being busy, and only snatching bits of time on the DIS.

Intro - I'm Nicole, 50, in southeastern Massachusetts. I live with my DH, DS (home right now from college) and two spoiled cats. Pre-pandemic, I was substitute teaching, but this semester I'm homeschooling kindergarten for my friends' twins. My weight loss goals are modest - a few pounds, slow and steady, and just keeping in decent shape as I age. For December, I think my biggest challenge will be to stick to my exercise routine during such a busy time of year!

How are you with establishing and maintaining boundaries?

Good - maybe too good. I think there are times when I compartmentalize a little too much.

I have a feeling that December will fly by.

I agree!

In keeping with the theme for the month, for our woohoo's today let's talk about things that delight us. What are a couple things that have recently happened and a couple things that will happen during the month (could be actually planned things or could be visualizations of things you'd like to happen) that have/will absolutely delight you?

Recently - driving around with DH counting houses with Christmas lights, the "Baby Yoda" Christmas shirt I ordered arriving in the mail

Planned - Through a major snafu in a Christmas order, I have a chunk of dry ice in a cooler in my mudroom. I am going to absolutely delight the kids with science tomorrow!

Visualizing - decorating the Christmas trees


P.S. - I can take the missing 12/7-12/13 week.

 

[Oneanne]

THANKFUL THURSDAY



Let's share some good feelings!

 

[MickeyMom76]

I’m thankful for my health!!!

I’m thankful for hope for the future with the talks of vaccines.

I’m thankful for technology. It allows me to meet with my virtual student. It allowed me to have conferences with my kids’ teachers.

I’m thankful for my kids’ teachers. They all seem super understanding ofhow difficult this year is for the students. I think we generally think of how difficult it has been for the teachers and parents...but sometimes overlook the struggle it has been for the students (at least I think I have).

I’m thankful for my kids!!! It was so great to hear how hard they have been working. And the kindness they are spreading. And I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying it to be mindful. I tend to focus on their selfish attitudes at home and their talking back. But they have good hearts and good work ethic at school (even virtual school). I need to start focusing more on the positives with them!

I’m thankful for the appreciation of my students’ parents. It truly has been uplifting this year!

 

[Oneanne]

I am thankful for my health and that family and friends have remained healthy.

I am grateful that I live in an area that is highly compliant to the health guidelines. As I've mentioned our county numbers are way up, but I recently saw a national map where our state numbers are 2000 cases for every 100,000 people, which is in the lower half for the nation so that made me feel a tinsy bit better.

I am thankful for all my neighbors who have their Christmas lights up.

 

[sjrec]

I am thankful for all the good news about the vaccines. Getting through these next few months will be easier knowing relief is in sight.

Thankful for the health of family and friends. We’re all being very careful, but realize it can all change so quickly.

Thankful for technology! My Christmas shopping is nearly done and other than picking up my grandson’s bike after ordering, I have done it all sitting on my couch. And my husband loves to shop online-I just gave him a couple catalogs with things marked off and he’s thrilled.

Grateful for all of you-I look forward to checking in with all of you every day. You are so good at expressing yourselves-I love your observations and insights!

 

[Summer2018]

I’m thankful that I have the tools to do my job and the patience when there are glitches.

I’m thankful that my first observation went very well even though it doesn’t count this year.

I’m thankful for my new classroom with windows that actually open so that I can breathe fresh air in my 83 degree classroom.

I’m thankful that my DH is in a good mood today.

I’m thankful that it’s sunny today.

I’m thankful for my DD.

I’m thankful that we have a 94% effective vaccine on the horizon.

I’m thankful that I might actually be able to go to WDW this July.

I’m thankful that I lost 3.5 pounds this week even though I know it’s all water weight.

I’m thankful for all of you.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Echoing many of the thankfuls already posted, and adding making the most of things and the delight of children.

I received a package yesterday that I meant to have shipped directly to a family member at another address. Customer service was awful, and I could not get it corrected even though I noticed the error two days before the ship date.

But of course (see screen name) I eventually decided to make the best of it. The item was frozen and had been shipped with a piece of dry ice...so today we did SCIENCE!

The kids were absolutely fascinated!!!



We even wrote about it after, so I’m counting it as ELA too.

 

[sjrec]

Echoing many of the thankfuls already posted, and adding making the most of things and the delight of children.

I received a package yesterday that I meant to have shipped directly to a family member at another address. Customer service was awful, and I could not get it corrected even though I noticed the error two days before the ship date.

But of course (see screen name) I eventually decided to make the best of it. The item was frozen and had been shipped with a piece of dry ice...so today we did SCIENCE!

The kids were absolutely fascinated!!!

View attachment 541802

We even wrote about it after, so I’m counting it as ELA too.

What fun! I may have to order something in dry ice and wow my grandson!

 

[Oneanne]

FRIDAY FREE FOR ALL



How are you doing? How did the week go for you? What will you tweek and do differently next week?

 

[glss1/2fll]

I'm Linda from the Pacific Northwest. We were empty nesters until not quite 1.5 years ago when we took our niece's twins in while she went back to school. I'm trying to make healthier food choices with the happy side effect of losing weight! Working hard to identify foods that contribute to my too much acid tummy and avoid them at all costs. Chocolate has been hard to give up--but I'm losing weight! Until the last two weeks. I'm back on track now so hoping my Saturday weigh in will be better.

Monday--trying to keep my tummy happy is an excellent motivator and DS1 just got engaged so an eventual wedding is another motivator
Tuesday--I maintain excellent boundaries and have absolutely no problem saying no to just about everything/everybody! I like routine so getting up at o'dark thirty for yoga is a healthy side effect. But when I first read that I thought of DH. It very rarely matters what anyone else plans, his exercise nights are his and he works out. No matter what!
Wednesday--wahoo DH and I will have at least 24 hours alone this weekend! wahoo DS2 is home safe and sound and I love that he pops in and out of our house.
Thursday--thankful that I'm an introvert and not going too crazy being stuck/safe at home

This month I'm going to delight in driving around to look at holiday lights. We were not very successful with that last year. 2020 I'm being fairly proactive in finding the big commercial displays and DH has agreed to not be grumpy about attending!

 

[MickeyMom76]

It’s been a long “short week” at school. It’s always hard getting the kids (and maybe the teacher too) back into routine after a few days off. But it’s finally Friday! And next week, we pack our “suitcases” as we prepare to “travel the world” to learn about different holiday traditions. But first, I need to finish assessments and do report cards...
From a health standpoint, I did much better with my eating (although my daughter made chocolate chip cookies this week...a major favorite of mine!). But I’ve been limiting the number I have. The scale has shown a slight decline and I’d like to keep that going! I started a new workout program called #mbfa. It’s quite a challenge, but I like it! I definitely need to follow the modifier at times. But I’ve come to terms with that and accepted that it’s better than me completely skipping parts of the workout!

Hoping to stay on track this weekend! Thanks everyone for keeping me going! I do enjoy reading your posts each day. And am thankful for all of you.

 

[PollyannaMom]

What fun! I may have to order something in dry ice and wow my grandson!

Get right on it if you want to do it. Hopefully, dry ice production will move over to shipping vaccines soon!

Safety precautions - obviously don't touch it. (I used tongs, but still wore gloves just in case.) And do it outdoors (or at least in a well-ventilated space). It can mess with the oxygen level of a room.

Here are the experiments we did:

1. Put some water with a lot of dark food coloring in a deep tray, and float some very small pieces of dry ice in it. They will move around and leave trails, like little speed boats.
2. Put some dry ice in a bowl or pot and pour hot water on it. - This is the one that creates the really neat fog. (And the fog itself is OK for the kids to touch.) You can keep adding more chunks of ice if you like.
3. Put some dry ice in another bowl or pot and this time, mix dish soap into the hot water before you pour it on. It creates a "bubble snake" - the result in the picture above. It might be even cooler in a tall, thin container if you have one.

There are more things on the internet - one with floating bubbles that didn't work for us because it was a little too windy. But we did pour a little of the bubble solution into our fog one at the end (along with things the kids picked up from the yard - they thought it looked like a witch's cauldron and wanted to make a "potion" ) and we got a neat effect with little tiny bubbles surfacing one at a time. I'm not sure we could really duplicate it, though.

 

[PollyannaMom]

How are you doing? How did the week go for you? What will you tweek and do differently next week?

I'm doing OK, but a little behind in the decorating I meant to get to. The week went fast for me. Next week's goal is patience.

 

[piglet1979]

How are you doing? How did the week go for you? What will you tweek and do differently next week?

This week has gone ok. It rained all day Monday then switched to snow. It snowed all day Tuesday and we ended up with about 12 inches of snow. Normally I hate when it snows because I still have to get myself to work. A bright side to the pandemic is working from home and not having to go out in the mess from snow storms. Wednesday was not good. I was sick all day. It was my fault for eating foods that I know affect me.

Thursday we lost power again but this time it was a controlled shut off to get downed branches from the snow storm off the lines. They tried to do this without shutting of the power. It wasn't pretty. Every time they touched one of the branches, the line would arc. The last time they tried before shutting the power off they sent sparks flying down the line. Thankfully the power was only out for a few hours. I did have conferences with a few off DS's teachers so instead of using my computer, I had to use my phone for the video calls. We did have to order dinner. Not something I wanted to do as we have not been getting food out really since March. We did get our power back around 6. I helped DS with homework and then got on the treadmill at around 8:30. I call this a win for today. I have yet to get my 10,000 steps a day but 2 out of the 3 days I got in my 60 minutes.

 

[sjrec]

Get right on it if you want to do it. Hopefully, dry ice production will move over to shipping vaccines soon!

Safety precautions - obviously don't touch it. (I used tongs, but still wore gloves just in case.) And do it outdoors (or at least in a well-ventilated space). It can mess with the oxygen level of a room.

Here are the experiments we did:

1. Put some water with a lot of dark food coloring in a deep tray, and float some very small pieces of dry ice in it. They will move around and leave trails, like little speed boats.
2. Put some dry ice in a bowl or pot and pour hot water on it. - This is the one that creates the really neat fog. (And the fog itself is OK for the kids to touch.) You can keep adding more chunks of ice if you like.
3. Put some dry ice in another bowl or pot and this time, mix dish soap into the hot water before you pour it on. It creates a "bubble snake" - the result in the picture above. It might be even cooler in a tall, thin container if you have one.

There are more things on the internet - one with floating bubbles that didn't work for us because it was a little too windy. But we did pour a little of the bubble solution into our fog one at the end (along with things the kids picked up from the yard - they thought it looked like a witch's cauldron and wanted to make a "potion" ) and we got a neat effect with little tiny bubbles surfacing one at a time. I'm not sure we could really duplicate it, though.

Thank you! I forgot about vaccines needing the dry ice-we usually order one of those boxes of steaks over the holidays-I think they come with dry ice. If it does we’re all set.

 

[sjrec]

The week flew by. Still have to finish decorating but getting there. I will make some cookie dough this weekend and freeze it.

I have to watch portions-had good meals planned out for the week but I don’t need second helpings!

 

[Oneanne]

It was a mixed week for me, and it flew by. I was inconsistent about taking my thyroid meds, sometimes forgetting to take them until I had eaten something (it is supposed to be 30 minutes before eating) and then running out before I could get a refill. This resulted in really tired evenings where nothing got done and some really cold/sore feet. My intention for the coming week is to be consistent and precise about taking it and getting back on track.

This weekend I am going to dedicate myself to crafting, like seriously go all out. I ordered high quality merino felt to make some ornaments out of, something along these lines:



and will be making some paper bag snowflakes like this:



Plus I've decided to knit cuffs (fingerless/thumbless gloves) for stocking stuffers... I wear mine all the time and love them.

So it should be a happy productive weekend!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Plus I've decided to knit cuffs (fingerless/thumbless gloves) for stocking stuffers... I wear mine all the time and love them.

I may have learn to knit! I really need some thumbless gloves so I can play on my phone while ‘walking’ the cat. (I tried those little touchscreen gloves, but they didn’t work well.)

I am currently wearing my glove like this:

 

[sjrec]

The ornaments are beautiful!