Rush, Rush, Rush

We're in the thick of it now.  It's like a tidal wave that will carry you away if you're not careful, and you'll end up on that desert island, but you will get beat up getting there.  Of course I'm talking about Christmas season.  Are you under the tidal wave or riding the wave?

My husband is a church music director so the pressure of December has a whole different meaning.  There is no such thing as Christmas vacation.  He's busy preparing for 6 masses for Christmas (including 2 that occur at the same time!)  He has five choirs and two cantors.  There's a concert on Sunday and he's been working like a dog on it.  He just finished producing a CD featuring the two cantors and it goes on sale this weekend.  In addition to the concert on Sunday (in which both my daughter and I are singing), my son is in a holiday concert on Saturday completely unrelated to church. Yep, it's a little hectic.

I am having fun, though.  My kids are enjoying the Advent calendar and are looking forward to adding a person to our nativity every night.  Santa is still a big deal, but they recognize that mom and dad also give them gifts (so they have two lists for Christmas).  I'm going to write a Christmas letter for the first time in years and I should be mailing my Christmas cards before December 23.  I actually get to eat Christmas dinner!  Oh, and Jesus is coming too.  It's going to be a blessed Christmas!

I may not be riding on top of that tidal wave, but I think I'm body surfing without getting tossed on the beach.  Ho, ho, ho!

cindy

Adventures in Weight Stabilization

O.K., I had to change the name or I would end up with Part 125 of "New Adventures".  My HcG course (Phase 2) is over and I'm happy to say I lost 34 pounds!  I'm not done losing weight, but now I have to go through 6 weeks of "stabilization."  That involves staying within 2 pounds of my current weight (over or under) for the next 6 weeks.  This is where the real challenge begins.

The important part of stabilization is learning the basic formula for losing or maintaining weight (especially for those of us who struggle with the up and down parts).  That formula is simple - balance the number of calories consumed with the number of calories burned through exercise.  Simple enough, right?  Yeah, sure.  If that were the case, I would be a very rich woman because I could solve the biggest loser of a problem with a simple formula.  But it is just that simple.  Now I need to learn it.

The rules of this stage are no starches or sugar, keeping the fat intake relatively low (about 22 grams per day) and watching the glycemic values of certain fruits so I can stay away from things like bananas, grapes, raisins and a few others.  I need to keep the water intake up too.  I have to figure out how many calories I want to eat each day, in large part based on how much exercise I'm committed to doing.  I'm not a big exercise gal.

I'm excited and intimidated at the same time, but I'm also loving the fact that I'm in different clothes now and looking better.  Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers - it's going good so far!

cindy

Scentsy Love!

I don't want to say anything about gifts, because some of my family members read my blog :)  However, I am loving me some Scentsy!  It's already a popular product line, so many may already share my love.  Scentsy is a wax warmer system with wonderful smelling scents.  The warmers come in full size and mid-size and there are many beautiful designs:

   

They also have travel tins for your car, scentsy circles and cute stuffed animals with scents inside.  I don't have one yet, but they also sell these plug in warmers

  The warmers work with a light bulb that heats up a container with wax in it.  There are lots of scents which is the best part for me.  I love to try out all the scents.  Scentsy scents come in scent bars and scent bricks.  These are scent bars:

Scent bricks are really big and I haven't found a scent yet that I want to commit to that much. Scentsy works by melting squares from the Scentsy bars in the warmer.

Scentsy is not sold in stores, but you can find a seller by going to their website.  I use Scentsy products in most of the rooms of my house.  They create a nice ambience (and smell good too!)  Some of my favorite scents are:  White Sands, Black Raspberry Vanilla, Welcome Home, Sunkissed Citrus and White Tea & Cactus.  The wax squares last a long time - I think between 8 and 12 hours (and there are eight squares per bar).  The best part of these products is the SMELL!  They are strong and long lasting. I love Gold Canyon candles because I think they are the very best.  But if you're looking for something without a flame, nothing beats Scentsy.  You can leave them on (I left one on a whole weekend by accident) and you never have to worry about fire.  I'm looking for my next order which should be in later this week and I can't wait!

Before I finish this "gushfest" I should say - I have not been compensated in any way for my opinions about Scentsy, nor was I asked to comment in any way.  In fact, I borrowed the pictures from their website.  I don't have a family member or close friend that works for Scentsy.  I just really believe in the product and like all small businesses, I believe in promoting the best ones so they stay successful.

cindy