Christmas Eve

First, the winners of the NuNaturals giveaway:

Morgan Julane, RawrRach, k tharp, and Kim--please e-mail me (by Thursday) your full name, address, and phone number so I can pass it along to NuNaturals, and they will ship the goodies to you. Congrats! (My e-mail address is SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com).

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Last night was another night of zero sleep. Noah asked if his friend could spend the night, so the boys were all crazy before bed, of course--which was fine. I've been trying to be more patient and say "yes" instead of "no" more, because of how affected I felt by the Newtown tragedy. Anyway, Jerry and I were sleeping when Noah's friend knocked on our door, and said he couldn't sleep.

We got him settled in the the boys' room, and about 10 minutes later, he knocked again and asked if he could go home. So we let him call his mom, and she came to pick him up. That brought back memories for me--I was always the kid to go home from sleepovers because I was feeling homesick! ;)

It was hard to fall back asleep after that, and it felt like I barely blinked and it was morning already. I got up before the family to get my run done on the treadmill. Mondays are for speedwork--eight 1/4-mile intervals, pretty much as fast as I can go.

Last time I did intervals on the treadmill, I ran them at 9.0 mph, so today I decided to go for 9.1 mph. I set the treadmill for 9.1, and then hopped on and ran for 1/4 mile, and hopped back off and caught my breath while the treadmill kept running for 1/4 mile. Then I repeated that for a total of eight times.

Intervals 1-6: 9.1 mph (6:35/mi pace)
Interval 7: 9.2 mph (6:31/mi pace)
Interval 8: 9.3 mph (6:27/mi pace)

It was completely exhausting! I was pouring sweat when I was done, and I had only actually been running for a total of about 13 minutes (granted, I covered 2 miles in those 13 minutes!)  I don't know how people run at that pace for miles on end.

After I showered and had breakfast (another berry protein shake), I spent the entire day watching Christmas movies with the family while I worked on some prizes for the Virtual 5K. Estelle always gets completely in the way while I'm on the floor doing whatever craft I'm working on, and today was no different. She was batting at the scissors while I was cutting, she actually picked up my pin cushion and ran away with it (that could have been BAD for her, because there were lots of pins in it), she kept swatting at thread, and running off with pieces of fabric.

Finally, I found a way to make her happy and leave me alone:

She sat in the bag and just watched me for a long time. Problem solved, with a paper grocery bag of all things!

After lunch, I saw I was running low on grapes. Since the stores will be closed tomorrow, I sent Jerry to the store to buy me some more grapes. I didn't specify how much to buy (my mistake) and he came home with seven pounds of grapes! Hahaha. I usually buy about four pounds at a time, but I'm sure I'll be able to go through seven no problem ;)


We're going to stay kind of low-key tomorrow--open gifts in the morning, possibly go to the movies in the afternoon (I always loved going to the movies in Christmas when I was a kid, and since Jerry is off work, we'd like to take the boys), and then Jerry's parents are coming over in the evening to give the kids their gifts.

10 more days until Miami/Key West!!

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Last-minute shopping

I really need to get over my fear of running in the dark. Since it doesn't get light outside until 8:00, I just wait around before going for a run, even when I don't have to (like when Jerry is home with the boys, I could head out at 6:00 when I get up). I used to run in the dark all the time, but I quit doing that at some point.

This morning, I was up at 6:00, and the kids had spent the night at my parents' house, so it would have been perfect to go out for my run; but I just laid in bed reading for a while, and then dressed and headed outside. I had four miles on the schedule this morning, so I did my favorite out-and-back route. It was completely uneventful. Splits: 8:29, 8:33, 8:24, 8:04.

I wasn't trying to run it fast until I got halfway done and saw that my average pace was 8:31/mi. I was surprised to see that I was running that fast, so then I decided to try and hold that pace, which usually translates to: run even faster.

After writing that post about the NuNaturals giveaway yesterday, I was really craving the berry protein shake I posted about. So that's what I ended up having for breakfast. I spent some time knitting after breakfast--I used to knit all the time, but have gotten away from it ever since I started this blog (probably because all of my spare time goes to the blog!)

I'm making a wine tote, something I've made quite a few of for the women in my wine club. This is a picture of Renee's and mine:

The one I'm currently making may or may not be a prize for the Virtual 5K next month ;)  I'm almost up to all 31 prizes already! Once I get everything done, I will post pictures of all the prizes, and explain how I'm going to do the drawing.

This afternoon, I had to go get a couple of last minute Christmas presents--Jerry's and two more for Noah. And unfortunately, I had to take the kids with me, so I had to be very sneaky about getting Noah's presents without him seeing. The kids wanted to look at video games, so while they were looking, I chose two Kinect games for Noah (Wipe Out, and Minute to Win It, both games that I think he will like). I managed to pay for them and get them home without him seeing them. I also got a few gifts for Jerry, but since he reads my blog sometimes, I can't write about what they are.

I wrote a post last year that may hit home for some people this time of year, so today I posted the link on Twitter and Facebook; here is a link to the post if you missed it. It's about getting started now with healthy lifestyle changes, instead of waiting until the new year (or whatever other day). It's one of my favorite posts that I've written.

I'm super excited that Jerry is off work tomorrow and on Christmas. It's been a long time since he's had Christmas off! I'm not sure what we're going to do, but it will be nice to be able to spend it together :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of my boys!
It's from Christmas 2009.

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NuNaturals' new product review and giveaway!

I've never been a big fan of sugar substitutes. I love sugar, honey, and pure maple syrup; but I can't stand the taste of Splenda, or Equal, or any of the other artificial sweeteners. When Stevia first hit the market a while ago, I tried it and actually found it tolerable. And then when NuNaturals sent me their Stevia products to try last year, I found that I really liked them. I've tried a couple of different brands, but this one is honestly my favorite.

If you're new to Stevia, it's a natural (calorie-free) sweetener made from the leaves of a plant, and it's much sweeter than sugar. I've been using their packets and liquid drops in my oatmeal, tea, my protein shakes, and other drinks ever since. Recently, NuNaturals asked me if I'd like to try some new products they've come out with, so of course I wanted to!

Along with the regular packets, tablets, and drops, they now have flavored drops--orange, lemon, peppermint, and chocolate. Apparently, the chocolate is not new--but it was new to me, so I was excited to try it, along with the others.

Peppermint, Chocolate, Orange, Lemon, Vanilla, and plain drops
(seven drops is about as sweet as 1 tsp. sugar)

There are so many products, I haven't quite figured out how to use all of them! I've been experimenting for a few weeks now. I have to say, I love the flavored drops. I've been adding them to all kinds of stuff, and now I got Jerry hooked on the chocolate ones, too ;) The plus-side to using drops is that they easily dissolve in liquid, so you could use it for hot or cold drinks.

First, I tasted one drop of each straight out of the bottle, and was shocked at how good they were. Like most Stevia products, the drops are very potent, so a tiny little bit will go a long way.

I used the drops to perfect a chocolate-mint protein shake. I made it very similar to the Peppermint Patty shake that I posted recently, but I added 7 drops of chocolate Stevia, and 10 drops of peppermint Stevia (in place of the peppermint extract of the previous recipe). I liked using the peppermint Stevia MUCH more than using the peppermint extract--the flavor wasn't so harsh.

Chocolate Peppermint Protein Shake

1/2 cup milk (I usually use more, but I wanted it to be thicker this time)
1 serving vanilla protein powder
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
7 drops chocolate Stevia drops (you could skip this, since there is enough chocolate, but I made it extra chocolatey with the drops)
7 drops peppermint Stevia drops
1/4 tsp. each xanthan gum and guar gum (optional, as always--I just like the texture that they give)
8 ice cubes

Blend until smooth.

I made another protein shake using the lemon and orange Stevia drops. Remember how I was starving after my long run last week? I threw 1 cup almond milk, 1 serving vanilla protein powder, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, handful of frozen spinach, 10 drops lemon Stevia, 7 drops orange Stevia, and 1/4 tsp. each guar and xanthan gum into the blender. This was heavenly!! The lemon + orange combo with the frozen berries was fanstastic. And it was only 3 PointsPlus for the whole shake.

Not the prettiest shake in the world, but it was delicious, and very filling (especially for being just 3 PP).

For those of you that like yogurt (blech!) I bet the flavored Stevia drops would be a good addition. Since most flavored yogurts use artificial sweeteners, the Stevia would at least be a natural alternative. But since I hate yogurt, there is no amount of Stevia that would make me enjoy it, I'm sure ;)

When it comes to using Stevia in drinks and my oatmeal, I think it's fantastic--but I'm not a huge fan of baking with it. Baked goods definitely don't taste like they do when you bake them with sugar.

I like the packets of NuNaturals Stevia to use in my tea. I use 1/2 a packet for a cup of tea (like I said, it's potent), or 4 drops of the liquid. If I'm having tea that would go well with the flavored drops, I'll use those instead. The lemon drops in chamomile tea are really good, and the orange drops in plain old black tea are yummy. Since you use so little, it takes forever to go through a bottle of drops or a box of packets.

Anyways, I'm going to keep experimenting with the products, but NuNaturals has very generously offered a giveaway to not one, but FOUR Runs for Cookies readers! I was so excited when I read that :) Each of the four winners will receive three bottles of the drops--one lemon, one orange, and one peppermint. Out of all the NuNaturals products, these drops are my favorite, so I hope you like them as much as I do!

To enter the random drawing, please "like" NuNaturals on Facebook, and leave ONE comment on this post. I'm sorry, international readers, but this one is just for readers in the U.S.; they also cannot ship to P.O. boxes. I will pick four winners on Monday, December 24 at 8:00 a.m. EST. Winners will have until Thursday, December 27th to e-mail me before I choose a new winner.

NuNaturals is also offering a discount code--if you use BLG1212 when checking out, you will receive 15% off your entire order (good until 12-31-12). You can check out their products on their website.

(In full disclosure, I was sent the NuNaturals products for free to review, but was not required to give a favorable review--options, as always, are my own).

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A very long treadmill run

Well, the world obviously didn't end today, but it was certainly a miserable day for a long run! One look outside, and I immediately thought, "Do I have to?" There were 25 mph winds and freezing rain--because of the wind, the rain looked like it was moving completely horizontal instead of falling from the sky. I could hear the wind, and started debating in my head whether it would be more miserable to run my 12 miles outside or on the treadmill.

I ultimately chose to run on the treadmill.

But first, I made breakfast. I added peanut butter to my favorite concoction today, and it was the perfect addition:

For those of you that have asked, these are the measurements I use... I cook 30 grams of quick-cooking oats in water (just 90 seconds in the microwave); then I top it with 13 grams of Marzetti fat-free caramel dip, 14 grams of peanut butter, 7 grams of shredded coconut, and 7 grams of mini chocolate chips. This bowl was 8 PointsPlus (it's 6 PP without the peanut butter).

After procrastinating a while longer, I finally set up the treadmill for a long run--laptop with Netflix turned to Bones (I'd never seen it, so I started watching from Season 1), water bottle, fan. I was debating between running just 7 miles or doing the whole 12 (or somewhere in-between). Running 12 miles on a treadmill is pure torture; so I decided that I could quit after 9 (the length of my longest Ragnar leg). But once I got that far, I decided that a few more miles wouldn't hurt, and I would be super proud for sticking it out.

I set the treadmill to 6.4 mph and just left it there until mile 12, when I started increasing every minute, then every 30 seconds, just to get done.

I was so happy to be done! Strangely, my legs didn't feel tired or sore or anything--and this is the longest run I've done since my marathon. That means I either should have been going faster, or the treadmill is just much easier on my joints. But regardless, I burned 1,051 calories, so I was happy with that :)

Renee and I had plans to get together for wine tonight, so I was counting on all my activity PointsPlus to allow me half a bottle of wine (11 PP). But she ended up having to reschedule, so I found myself with a lot of extra PP after dinner. I don't have to use them today, but I usually like to use my activity PP on the days that I earn them. So I'll probably have an extra snack tonight, most likely involving peanut butter.

Eli was building a fort for his Army guys, when Estelle decided that he was done:

Eli has been really into Army-everything for a couple of years now. His favorite gift that he's ever gotten was actually an $11 bucket of soldiers. And he can never have enough! Whenever he gets money, he buys more. And just as I was typing this, he brought me a note that he wrote on a sucker wrapper...

"From Eli; I want for Christmas some Army guys." We bought him a big bucket of soldiers, plus a bunch of Army vehicles, so I think he'll be pretty happy.

Jerry bought me something for Christmas this year (usually, we don't exchange gifts with each other), so this weekend, I have to go get him something. I have absolutely no idea what to get him, though! He keeps telling me that he put a lot of thought into my gift, so I'm feeling the pressure ;)

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Thoughts on Weight Watchers

It was hard getting back to reality this morning. After coming home from Indiana yesterday, I felt like I needed a weekend to get back into our usual routine, but the kids had to go to school today. After I got them on the bus, I was debating if I should skip my run today--it was raining outside, and I really didn't feel like running in the cold rain.

Even though I always think about skipping out, I never do ;) But thankfully, the rain stopped long enough for me to get a run in! I had four miles at tempo pace on the schedule. It wasn't too cold this morning, and felt perfect for running... until I realized just how windy it was.

The first couple of miles flew by at an 8:18/mi pace, but I had a tail wind. When I turned around, the wind was SO strong I felt like I was running in place. I pushed harder, to try and hold the same pace I was running, and I felt like I was. But when I looked at my Garmin after mile three, I saw 8:36. The wind made a huge difference! I had a headwind the entire way home, so the last mile was pretty challenging as well. 8:18, 8:18, 8:36, 8:28.

But I still finished with a great overall pace, and felt like I got a good workout.

When I got home, I showered and got dressed to go to my Weight Watchers meeting. When I got there, I weighed in (stayed the same as last week, which was good). There was a woman in the meeting who reached her Lifetime status today, and she was really excited about that. I have three more weeks of maintenance until I reach Lifetime.

I've been asked quite a bit recently if I think that Weight Watchers is worth the money, and if I like it better than counting calories. I really think it depends on the person. I've already proven that I can do Weight Watchers on my own, without paying them a dime--so in my instance, I would say that it's not worth the money. HOWEVER--I know that I wouldn't have stuck with it if I hadn't paid them when I joined online a few months ago. I didn't want the money to go to waste, so I followed the program. If I hadn't paid for it, it would have been easy to just quit on Day 1, like I wanted to.

Some people really thrive off of the meetings, and getting weighed in. If you're one of those people, then I think that the money would be worth it. It's pretty expensive--I believe it's $12 per week, which includes your weigh-in and all the meetings you want to attend that week.

However, the whole thing still boils down to whether you're willing to put in the effort to making lifelong changes. Weight Watchers can give you the tools you need to count PointsPlus, and the support you may want, but they aren't the ones making decisions about what/how much you eat. I've been following WW program for the past few months, and I've lost over 20 pounds--but I'm the one that made every single decision about what I ate, how much I ate, how much I exercised, etc. I had to have that self-control to make the program work. You get out of the program what you put into it.

In that sense, if you have that self-control, then you can make any program work for you. There are many free programs for weight loss (SparkPeople is my favorite, and what I used to lose the majority of my weight); but again, those will only work if you make the right decisions.

The WW plan is very similar to counting calories--you can eat anything you want, but you measure out your portions and count the PointsPlus/calories for that portion, keeping your daily PP/calories within a certain range. The biggest difference between the two plans is that WW has "free" fruits and vegetables, that you don't have to count against your daily target. When counting calories, you count EVERY calorie that passes your lips; on WW, you don't have to count the fruits or most veggies.

Counting PP is also much easier to tally than counting calories. For example, it's easier to remember that you had 8 PP for lunch than it is to remember that you had 378 calories for lunch. It's especially easier to add up your meals in your head--6 PP for breakfast + 8 PP for lunch + 10 PP for dinner + 6 PP for snacks instead of adding up 248 calories for breakfast + 378 calories for lunch + 569 calories for dinner + 431 calories for snacks.

Those are the two main reasons I like Weight Watchers at this point. The biggest downside is that it's expensive; but there are ways around that. I followed WW without paying for a while in 2009-2010. I bought the materials and did it on my own. I used SparkPeople to calculate the nutrition info in recipes, and then I used that nutrition info to calculate the Points. All you really need is the PP calculator; and there are free phone apps for calculating PP.

I'm getting way off track here! Basically, I am really liking the WW program right now; I think it's expensive, but worth the money if you're willing to put in the work. In a nutshell :)

Anyway, after my meeting, Jerry and I wrapped the kids' Christmas presents. Estelle was in heaven with all the bags and paper all over the floor...

Here she was getting ready to attack Phoebe, who was innocently poking around.

Jerry and I discovered that we are a couple of gifts short for Noah--not sure how that happened! So I'll have to go get him a couple more presents, probably tomorrow. My sister gave the boys a Kinect for the Xbox, and I'm actually pretty excited about that. I've heard that there are some good exercise games for the Kinect, so I think I may do another six-week challenge when I get home from Key West. I haven't been strength training (yet again) so I need to get back at it!

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Wed. Weigh in, and paying it forward

It feels so good to be home right now! I had a lot of fun with my family, but I am definitely ready for a good night's sleep. I probably slept a total of six hours in the three nights we were there. We packed up and left this morning, and got home at around 12:15. I expected the cats to all come and greet us like they usually do, but I think they were mad that we left. ;)

When I got home, I was curious to see what my weight was. I'm used to weighing myself every day, and now that I'm on maintenance (which means eating more PointsPlus than I'm used to), I was curious to know what happened with my weight while I was gone. There was SO MUCH temptation the whole time we were there, and it was extremely difficult for me to stay on track.

But I felt really good about all of my choices, and on the way home, I was thinking about whether I would have done anything differently. Honestly, I feel like I did pretty awesome, and I wouldn't have changed anything.

I had already eaten breakfast and had a quart of water this morning, so when I got on the scale this afternoon, I wanted it to be around 134 or less. I stepped on the scale to the nice surprise of 133! That's my goal weight, and the same weight I was last Wednesday. So the first week of maintenance was a success--during vacation, and the holidays, at that :)

I've been eating a little over 40 PointsPlus a day (32 is my maintenance target, and then I use some activity PP and weekly PP every day). That is a good amount to where I can have a treat every day, but I don't feel like I'm gorging myself, either. I get a grand total of 273 PP per week PLUS my activity PP... so that averages out to 39 PP per day (plus activity PP, which always depends on how much running I do that day). I'm happy to know I can eat all the PP available to me and still maintain (so far, at least... it's only been a week, so it's too soon to look for a pattern)

I went to the school to pick up homework for the boys (they had to miss three days of school) and then I went to Kroger to restock some groceries. While I was in line to pay for my groceries, I came across the perfect "pay it forward" type of opportunity.

Two years ago, just before Christmas, Jerry and I were at Goodwill with the kids. I love Goodwill, and shop there regardless of our money situation, but we happened to be strapped for money because I had just broken my jaw and we had a ton of medical bills (and Jerry had taken time off work). Anyway, while we were shopping, an elderly woman came up to Jerry and held out her hand to shake hands with him.

He was a little confused, but just thought she was being friendly, so he shook her hand and she said, "Merry Christmas." He felt a piece of paper in his hand, and looked down to see a $50 bill. He was startled and looked up to ask her what that was for, but she had already walked halfway out of the store. She left with who I am assuming was her husband.

We were totally shocked, and it really made our day! I thought that was a really cool way to do something nice for someone, and I think of that all the time, especially around Christmas. And now, when an opportunity presents itself, I think of that woman and I take advantage of the "pay it forward" opportunity.

So anyway, at Kroger today, there was a young woman ahead of me in line, and she had already scanned her groceries. She had two kids with her, and they looked very young--maybe 18 months and 3 years old? She seemed a little frazzled, and I saw her explain to the cashier that she forgot her wallet at home, and she would have to go home and get money and come back.

She started to leave, and I told the cashier I wanted to pay for her groceries ($25). It was the self-checkout, so I quickly swiped my card and paid for them, while the cashier got her and told her that I'd paid for them. She was really grateful, and thanked me over and over. I told her that I know how hard it is to go shopping with your kids as it is, let alone bring them to the store twice.

She said that they were buying the stuff for her and the kids to make Christmas cookies tonight, and when she realized she'd have to go back to pay, she wasn't sure she'd have enough time to make the cookies. I felt so good about helping her out, especially when she explained about the cookies--after the Newtown tragedy, I think it's more important than ever for parents to spend quality time with their kids.

After that, I came home and just threw together a very quick dinner of pita pizzas. I bought some thick, square pita bread that turned out to be perfect for pizzas!

The kids had a ton of homework to catch up on, so Jerry and I spent two hours after dinner helping the kids get that finished up. I felt like I needed a really strong drink when I was done halfway through--what a headache! But at least they'll be caught up when they go back tomorrow.

Being away the past few days made me pretty far behind on blog comments and e-mail and all that, so I'll try and catch up this weekend. Tonight, I'm going to catch up on Dexter! ;)

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Indiana, Day 3

I slept horribly last night. The bedroom Jerry and I are staying in at the rental house is right next to the family room, and everyone else stayed up MUCH later than me. Nathan and Shawn (my brother-in-law) were up until 6:30! They were being pretty loud, so I didn't get much sleep at all.

This morning, I went for a run as soon as I got up. Everyone else was still sleeping (except for my parents), so I headed out for the same route as yesterday--three miles. Today, I deliberately tried to run fast. It was really nice outside, and perfect for running!

When I got back to the house, my sister was awake and she said she was a little disappointed, because she was hoping to go for a run with me (I had told her that if she brought running clothes, I'd go with her while we're here). I had only run three miles on my own, so I told her I'd go with her anyway.

She's been doing really well with Couch to 5K training. She's been doing all of her training on the treadmill, and she said she was nervous about going outside to run. I knew she would enjoy it, so I was glad that she wanted to give it a chance. The plan was to run 3/4 mile, then walk 1/4 mile, and repeat one time. Jeanie had been doing her running segments on the treadmill at a 4.5 mph speed (a little slower than a 13:00/mi pace); so I told her that she could set the pace, and I'd just run along for company.

She really liked running outside, and was surprised how quickly the time went by. She went faster than she thought she was, too. These are the run/walk splits:

She planned on a 13-ish pace, but she ended up running under a 12:00/mi pace on the running segments! I find when I run outside, I feel like I'm going slower than I actually am. When I run on the treadmill, I feel like I'm flying, but the pace doesn't reflect that. But anyway, I'm glad she enjoyed running outside, so hopefully she'll feel confident enough to do it again.

This afternoon, my sister asked me if I had a bathing suit to wear in Key West. Um, no. The last bathing suit I bought was a size 12/14. I hate to swim, so I never have a need for a bathing suit. But I started thinking about how I should probably get one for Key West, just in case.

I'm super self-conscious of my thighs and my stretch marks. My thighs have very saggy skin, and my belly still has stretch marks. So I wanted a bathing suit to cover those things, and it's hard to find a cute one that does the job! Jerry and I decided to go to JCPenny, so I could see if they had any suits. Being December, I wasn't hopeful.

It turns out they had just ONE left. And what's kind of funny is that I thought it was pretty cute! I tried it on, and it worked well enough. I'm still self-conscious of my thighs, but if I get really desperate, I think I can pull it off. I will not embarrass myself by posting a picture of me wearing it, but here is what it looks like:

Not a bad suit for being the very last one they had! It has an optional neck strap, so I would certainly use that if I end up wearing it. But anyway, I'm glad to have it in case I need it. My other bathing suit is so baggy that you can seriously see my butt cheek through the leg hole.

We leave for Florida two weeks from tomorrow!! I cannot believe it's coming up so fast. I'm super excited!

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Indiana, Day 2

Another rather relaxing day today. I did get up and run this morning, trying to maintain my routine. While everyone else was getting breakfast together, I headed outside to run a few miles. I was scheduled for 400-meter repeats today, but since I've never run around here before, and I had no idea where I was going, I figured I'd just run 3 miles and call it a day.

It was 40 degrees this morning--still warm for this time of year!--so I just wore my running tights and a long-sleeved shirt. It was kind of funny how many cars I saw running in their driveways, "warming up". It certainly didn't feel that cold to me! ;)

I didn't want to get lost, so I just ran out a mile and a half, with just one turn in there. It's always kind of scary to run in an unfamiliar place alone, so I left my iPod at the house, and just tried to get the run over with quickly. I wasn't intending to run very fast, but I was a little creeped out, so I guess my pace reflected that. Anyway, I turned around after a mile and a half, and then came back the same way I went out.

After that, I came in and made my breakfast. I made my usual as of lately--oatmeal with caramel, chocolate chips, and coconut, for a total of 6 PointsPlus. It tasted heavenly today, for some reason. I would definitely choose that over the greasy bacon and sausage and stuff that the guys were eating.

In the afternoon, my parents gave the kids a couple more Christmas presents, and Eli got some Army Legos. He wanted to put them together right away, and I happen to love building with Legos, so Jerry and I helped him.

He got two large sets, so Jerry and I built the first set, and then started working on the other. By that time, I was ready to be done. Eli had lost interest a while ago, so we were on our own. Yesterday's Subway was so good that I was craving it again, so Jerry went to pick that up for us for lunch. Unfortunately, it wasn't half as good as yesterday; the bread was pretty stale.

It was driving me crazy to see all the junk food on the counter in plain view (my mom actually asked me to help her make Reese's Cup Pie by unwrapping Reese's Cups--umm, no). So Jerry and I then drove a couple of miles to McDonald's to get an ice cream cone. That definitely hit the spot! Today's cone looked decent:

Kind of small, but that is the size that they are supposed to be--the "5-PointsPlus-size" :)  I always count them as 5 PP, but sometimes they are bigger, and sometimes they are smaller. I just go with whatever I get.

I've done really well with counting my PointsPlus and sticking to my plan while I'm here. It's been SUPER hard, with all of the junk food, but I want to go home on Wednesday at my goal weight, so I keep thinking about that.

My older brother and his girlfriend Becky flew in today, so now everyone is here. We'll probably be playing games tonight, and I certainly want to have my (rationed) wine ;)  Oh, speaking of alcohol, look what I saw at Wal-Mart when I stopped there for a minute today with my brother...

I really wanted it, but I am totally clueless when it comes to liquor, and would have no idea what to mix it with! A couple of people on Twitter suggested pineapple juice, for a pineapple upside down cake flavor--yum! But I didn't buy it. Maybe next time. :)

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Indiana, Day 1

Today has been pretty low key. I stayed away from watching any kind of news, and I'm glad. I just felt so awful yesterday, and watching the news made me feel even worse.

This morning, I was up early, and I've been kind of scared to run in the dark lately, so I got on the treadmill. On the schedule was four miles at an easy pace. I set up my computer in front of me, and just tried to forget I was running--not easy, when I really didn't want to run today! I kept increasing the speed throughout the run so that I could be done faster.

I guess that would no longer make it an "easy pace" run, but I really wanted to be done.

When I finished running, I packed for our trip to Indiana. Phoebe and Estelle helped me, obviously.

The cats knew something was going on, because they were all over me. A family friend is going to be house sitting/cat sitting while we're gone, so they won't be alone too long, but when we get the suitcases out, they know something is up.

We got on the road shortly after breakfast. The rental house is three hours from our house, so the ride wasn't too bad. My parents and younger brother, Nathan, were already there when we got there, and my sister arrived shortly after. We had a very relaxing afternoon, just hanging out and chit chatting.

My sister brought a little game for the kids to play. She wrapped a gift with many layers of wrapping paper and tape. Then the kids had to wear gloves (to make it harder to unwrap the gift); Eli started by rolling dice until he got doubles, and meanwhile, Noah was working on trying to unwrap the gift. When Eli got doubles, Noah had to pass the gift to Eli, and Eli had to try to unwrap it before Noah got doubles. And back and fourth, until the gift was unwrapped. A cute game for the kids!

There is a ton of food here. My dad, whom I got my sweet tooth from, brought doughnuts, Reese's Cups, Coffee Crisps (the full-sized ones!) and other stuff. My mom brought a ton of chips. But I don't want these few days to turn into the disaster that was Tennessee last year, when I gained all kinds of weight in this same situation.

Yesterday, I wrote out a meal plan for all three days, mapping out exactly what my meals and snacks are going to be. That way, I don't overdo anything, and I don't gain weight while I'm here. I bought running clothes to go for a run tomorrow and Tuesday. My mom made tacos for dinner, so I made my Mexican Lentils and Rice, and made a huge taco salad with it for 10 PointsPlus. (The PP would have been lower, if I had thought to bring my fat free sour cream and fat free cheese, but I had to use the full fat stuff that my mom brought).

It's been really hard to resist the candy--I just wrote about how much I love Coffee Crisps!--but I know that if I start, I won't stop. I was also worried about spending all of my PP on alcohol, but I decided to buy those little single-serving bottles of wine, and I brought six of them with me--to have two per day. I wanted to keep my routine here almost the same as at home, with just a little splurge. And my little splurge is an extra glass of wine each day ;)

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Sad

I've been feeling so sad all day today. I know I should turn off the news, but I can't stop watching. And I can't watch it without crying. I feel so, so bad for all the people who were somehow involved with the horrible tragedy in Newtown.

I keep thinking of how scared those poor kids must have been, how those teachers had to make split-second decisions that could impact whether they lived or died, the parents who were waiting to hear if their children would be coming home, and even the police officers who had to walk in there and see all of those children's bodies. (I can't even type all this without crying).

My boys are both in elementary school, and the thought of them going through something like that is almost too much to bear. I asked them if they do lockdown drills at school, and they do--they explained to me what they were told to do. Eli asked me a bunch of questions about it, and I answered them the best I could without scaring him. Schools really ought to have panic rooms in all their classrooms--sad, but true.

This whole thing makes me scared to even let my kids out of my sight. It seems like kids aren't safe anywhere anymore. And they have to grow up so fast, seeing and learning about things that they shouldn't have to at this age.

Anyway, sorry this is a depressing post--but I'm sure most everyone is feeling this heartbreak today as well. Will hopefully have a most positive post tomorrow :)

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