Dear Reader:

Wheeee!  I'm on vacation!!!  There's a fire in the fireplace!!!  I'm surrounded by family!!!!  I had an ACTUAL NAP today!!!!

OK, I'll try to calm down, but seriously, people, seriously....

I have been fairly worried about my ability to keep on the straight and narrow during holiday time when lounging around with family.   We all know that Thanksgiving is all about FOOD.  And more FOOD!    And, then some FOOD.

Today, I had my usual egg with the addition of a "thin" everything bagel:

We had lunch out after visiting some places that my mom might move to (BIG changes coming in my mom's life - positive, in that she'll be closer to me and my brother - but, that's not for this blog).   I had a side salad (my kids ate most of the cheese and the tomato:

And, then I had this:

But, I left this on the plate:

And, then we had this for dinner:

Let's talk about that roasted butternut squash (I had two servings of it - only one is pictured here) with  roasted pine nuts and parmesan shavings.   WOW.   Scrumptious.   

Here's the link to the recipe, because you are going to need to try this.  A TASTE EXPLOSION.:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/11/roasted-butternut-squash-with-pine-nuts-and-parmesan/

Also, there is chex mix in this house.  Uh-oh.  DANGER.   I had two cups of it today as snack.  Chex mix=my weight loss nemesis for the week....

So, total calories consumed: 1946
Total calories burned:  273
This brings me in at 237 under my newly calibrated calorie goal.   And, apparently, I will lose another 10 pounds in 5 weeks, if every day was like today....  :)

But, I went out in 18 degree weather and walked briskly with my brother and his dog for 45 minutes.  And, that was after walking for about a half hour in the early evening with the kids - so fun to see them traipsing around in the snow with flashlights, all bundled up.  Have you guys ever read "Owl Moon"?  It was just like that.  We saw FOUR white tailed deer wandering around in the snow.  So, all in all, not a bad day for me.   Tomorrow, of course, will be a TEST OF MY RESOLVE.  I want to eat all of the lovely things but in teeny-weeny quantities...   Listen, it will be what it is going to be, but guaranteed it will be better for me than most recent Thanksgivings because I will be conscious of what I am doing.

Consciousness is a good thing.   Speaking of which, I am going to go back to the fire with my hot tea and be conscious of how comfortable I am and how I don't have to go to work tomorrow and how I can stay all cozy with my family inside and how I may just be able to take a nap again tomorrow.  And then I will go up to bed and become unconscious!

Thanks for reading!