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Empty nesters’ 24 hours of Christmas leads to dieting

Shelley

The night lights are out on another Christmas for our family’s history books.  So here I am on the other side of a few too many cookies and good cheer.

Back to the eerie quiet of the empty nest.

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I’m checking out the aftermath of how Christmas came and went in 24 hours.  WTH?!  How does that happen?  It takes a good month to prep for the day, and then BOOM – Gone in 24 hours!

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The tree is still standing.  Minus quite a few needles.  If we don’t bump it, they don’t fall quite as fast.

We’re keeping it together until this coming weekend when we’ll disassemble and wrestle it out of the house and onto the bonfire pile.

Tizzie is a tad perplexed, she trusted that she’d get a clear shot at it after the noise of gift opening subsided.

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Nope, not yet.  But she’s getting closer.  She may just give up…it happens when you get older.

Once we opened the packages, the empty boxes went right back under the tree as decoys for both cats.  Mostly Tizzie.

Oh, don’t cha worry, the cats were not neglected.  They’re spoiled through and through. They even received catnip toys for Christmas.  And have subsequently burned off tons of calories and lost weight and are tired from the high they get every time they walk by the little toys of lovin’ fun.

Us, well…we’re slightly stunned at how much fun, food, laughter, and noise can be crammed into 24 hours of Christmas.

Of course, the obligatory family photo session took place.

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I’ll never understand why we can’t all realize, “If we’d just give it our best smiles on the first shot, we’d all be onto the good cheer by now.”  Copper seems to get it.

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24 hours of Christmas was like we were in a real-life blurry version of our own ‘A Christmas Story’ marathon (which we also watched…it’s a tradition).

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But with FOOD!

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Breaking the solitude of the empty nest and the normally empty refrigerator for our adulting kids meant we had to have extra food in the house so they would return again.  And we could send leftovers home with them.

Feed them and they will come.  Send food home with them, and they’ll return again.

All the food leads to good cheer which leads to consuming cookies, salty ham, cheese, and loaves of mini bread…

Blink, blink, blink, and everything and everyone is all gone.

Except for the laundry that needs to be done.  And the piles of stuff that needs to be put away.  There’s always tomorrow for that kind of stuff.

 

I just wish I would’ve recorded every moment we spent together creating scenes of laughter so I could replay the movie when I’m feeling blue in the quiet of the empty nest.

But I didn’t, it’s more fun to be in the midst of the festivities than standing by trying to catch blurry photos.

The blues will subside, eventually, but since there are cookies left behind, I grab a cookie.  It happens when there is easy access in the kitchen where I can grab a consoling cookie or two.  Or dip and carrot sticks.  Or both.  Yeah, probably both.

Believe it or not, I refrained from the chip bag, too many other options available.  And, I do have a tipping point…when a sleep coma settles in.

Sigh…I know that all this holiday munching will stop once the cookies are all gone, and the empty nest will be well again.  Just in time for my physical in January.  I’ll be the boss of my munching after this week is over.  I was smart (actually my insurance dictated when I could schedule the next physical – over 365 days later from the last one) and I scheduled it after the holidays, not in the midst of them.  I’m smart for my age.

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In the meantime, unlike the cats, I’m slightly afraid to step on the scale.  I had been really good up until the last few days.  I just know that I’m not any lighter even after having offloaded a bunch of gifts on the kids.

How about you?  We’re you naughty or nice with food over the holidays?  Am I the only one?

Oh, my, for me and the Mr. (he goes along with my whims) it’s time to get back on the saddle of the Dubious Minimalist Skinny Jeans Diet TM, but first…I may just have to eat a few more cookies on my way to the fruit bowls.  It’s not quite New Year’s resolution time, right?!

Oh, and, here’s proof we can all smile at once (100 photos later…) – From our home to yours – we wish you good cheer, happy memories, and plenty of laughter!

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Post Inspiration – Processing of the aftermath of holidays in our empty nest and #1LinerWed

PS – Do you start planning your New Year’s resolutions in the midst of food consumption?  Or are you like me, just a week or two before your physical you put on the “good girl” mode and hope it works?  

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

44 thoughts on “Empty nesters’ 24 hours of Christmas leads to dieting”

  1. Always a relief when the holidays are over, but it is always a blur in memory. Which is why I take so many photos…otherwise was it only a dream? 😉

  2. Great photos!! And I live the idea of boxes for the cats. My girl dragged the guinea pigs out of their cage and played with them aming the Xmas debris…they too were hardly neglected. 😉

    Happy Boxing Day!

    1. Thank you, Claudette. That’s awesome…I bet the little piggies enjoyed the adventure! Happy Boxing day to you, too 🙂

  3. And a good time was had by all…

    It’s always funny to me how Christmas starts in October every year and we spend days running around shopping, planning meals, making meals…but on December 26th, it seems to stop dead. Or gets very quiet. Probably one of the reasons that the fake tree tends to stay up into January.

    Don’t worry about two days of food cheats. I did it myself. Thankfully, I have no leftover cookies staring me in the face and I can get back on the healthy eating plan today.

    Have a wonderful week and a fabulous 2019!

    1. Yes, it was! And I trust Gibbs and Ziva are enjoying their new perch – Santa was good to them too! It’s so weird how long we’re bombarded with Christmas prep and then – gone in one day! Thank you for the permission to binge – I have a few cookies left staring back at me, so…maybe tomorrow I’ll get back on track!! Hope you have a great week, too – and cheers to a wonderful 2019!

  5. My table is full of sweets, I hope someone drops in so I can share. I sw your copper pan, I use mine often on stove top and set it in the over. One tip, my hubby put non-stick spray on it (I’m wondering why) and it stuck to it and that spot is not as smooth anymore

    1. LOL – I was hoping the kids would take more of the sweets, or eat them while they were here, but not enough time for that to happen. Interesting…thank you for the hot tip. We’re excited to use the pots, but know nothing about how to care for them yet!

  6. Great family pic! This is my favorite time of the Christmas season, when all the cooking and baking is finished and we can enjoy leftovers and each other. And a book, maybe! Hope you get a little break from work.

    1. Thank you, Rebecca. Yes, all the big stuff is done, now it’s time to relax a bit before the end of the year. Just a small break on the 24th & 25th here…back to work today. Enjoy the rest of break from school and time to snuggle up with a good book!

  9. Such a wonderful family photo. It is amazing how 24 hours of Christmas is gone after weeks of preparation. Its kind of like the meal – hours of prep time and gone in 20 minutes. And we wont talk about how far off the diet we are as I sit typing away with a ziplock bag of homemade peanut brittle by my side. There is always next year. have a great new year.

    1. Thank you, Anita! Yes, that’s exactly it – just like meal prep. I’ve been munching on pretzels with almond bark…there’s always next year to start the diet is right!

  10. I shared my cocktail peanuts, then the cashews with the squirrels … same reason as you did. They were way too handy and a flip of the lid, a hand going in … had to put a stop to that. Great post and now the post-holiday letdown sets in.

  13. Scales Smalesh. Enjoy life and to hell with whatever you are eating. I am always amazed at this time of year, someone sneaks into my wardrobe and shrinks my clothes. Put on a purple hat and and to hell with everything, I am glad I am alive and happy. Find a diet that is right for you. I am currently on a seafood diet. I see food and eat it. Have a fab 2019 Shelley and lets smile together next year………..ok 🙂 🙂 🙂

    1. Great advice, Brian, it is great to be alive! – I hear you do have pretty yummy seafood available in Australia?! Oh, you bet, 2019 will have plenty of smiles to share! Are you starting the year wearing the purple hat and sharing photos?!?

      1. Yes there may be a bit of seafood to be had here 🙂
        No purple hat for me. It is an old poster about women. I don’t think it would be still around. I’ll see what I can find

        1. I bet the seafood is really tasty…we have to have that kind of stuff shipped in frozen, it kind of takes the ‘delicious’ factor out of it.

          5. That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Yes they are prawns but hell….in a plastic bag!!! You can eat them like that but if you were here I would de-shell (that made me smile Shell) and prepare them and serve on a plate.

        1. Thank you – I’m old enough to remember Erma! I appreciate you taking the time to share the link to Lorraine’s funny blog with me. It is great advice – I think I should go shopping for a purple hat…!

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