I was walking down the toilet paper aisle at Kroger yesterday, when I was blindsided by this:

Either my local Kroger exists in a time bubble that has been forced one month into the future, or the managers are missing the month of November in their wall calendars, because as we all know, it is far, far, far too soon to be putting up Christmas trees.

• Continue reading "Christmas in November"

Happy holidays, everyone! I hope you are all warm and snuggly in your beds reading this on a laptop or an iphone and enjoying a day off, except for the people at the coffee place who I hope are working because I really want a Peppermint Mocha Twist. In the spirit of the season, here are some people who are doing good or need some help.

Help Heather help girls with eating disorders

Heather at MamaVision is encouraging people to give to the National Eating Disorders Association via a link on her site. The funds will be matched by an anonymous donor. You can also leave a comment about why you donated which she’ll send to the NEDA.

Be Barb’s weigh-in partner

Friend of the blog, Barb, is looking for a weigh-in buddy. Here’s how she put it, “Do you know somebody from blogland who would be willing to let me report my weight daily — starting now and going to through January, and perhaps to be extended beyond that if it proves to be an effective self-monitoring system?…Unless [...]

• Continue reading "Spread the cheer"

I hope everyone had a happy tofurkey day yesterday. I made a vow not to overeat and did pretty well until they brought out three types of cake and one pie. Mmmmm, pie. I went for a walk afterwards, which undid about 10% of the damage. (For the curious among you, the cakes were Pumpkin Angel Food, Bacardi Rum, and Italian Creme – all very delicious.)

If you are shopping today, like so many Americans, good luck to you and don’t forget your scarf! I froze my ass off in line at a Circuit City two years ago at 4:30am to get some bargain USB drives. It was fun to do once, but I don’t have any desire to relive the experience. If you prefer to stay at home and shop online in your pajamas with a warm cup of coffee, and you’re shopping at Amazon.com anyway, please consider clicking through to the store via one of my links. If you do so, I earn a small commission on any item you put in your cart [...]

• Continue reading "All I want for Christmas is my Amazon.com commissions"

I’m not afraid of food anymore. I was never scared by chocolate cake or candy bars in the same way I was terrified of the Gremlins, but I’ve definitely been exercising caution and hesitance around those substances the last couple years. Two Christmases ago I went to a Christmas gathering with my own grilled chicken breasts because, oh my God, there would be cheesecake there, and I might eat it. Aaaaah! This Christmas I went to the same gathering looking forward to all the sugar and refined carbohydrates I would be eating.

What’s changed? I know I can handle it now. When I was first learning new habits I was worried that any deviation from my plan could knock me off course. I wasn’t ready to knowingly indulge in pies and cookies. It was too early. But I’ve been doing this for awhile now and I know that eating a pumpkin roll and Italian Crème cake and the richest fudge brownie in existence for lunch one day is not going to doom me to a life [...]

• Continue reading "Guilt-free Christmas cookies"

PastaQueen will not be posting today because she is currently in a sugar coma. In lieu of flowers, please send insulin. And don’t dare send any more chocolates.

• Continue reading "Merry Christmas"