Tree in Progress

Shawn and I went shopping yesterday afternoon for a few presents and a Christmas Tree. We went to Garden Ridge first, which is usually known for it's good selection and prices. We were both sooo thirsty so Shawn picked up a few bottles of Soda for us to drink while we were shopping. After looking around for 10-15 minutes and not really finding anything we were in love with, we went to go check out. One problem--the line was 98 miles long. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it sure didn't feel like it. People were abandoning their carts left and right and walking out, but guess who had already "purchased" something? Yup-that'd be us. Because we're both such honest, law-abiding citizens we stood in line for 25 minutes to purchase a Sprite, a Diet Coke, and a bag of bows.

Next we headed to Target. We found a tree we really loved but they were all sold out. We picked up a few random presents and headed off to try out Sears. We found a "meh" tree there (4.5 ft pre-lit), but they only had like one aisle of decorations so we opted to go to Hobby Lobby. For you Utahns-Hobby Lobby is like Michaels/Roberts on CRACK! Surely we'd be able to find something there right? I decided to buy a cute mini-desk tree for my office, a gift for Shawns dad, and a star to TRY on the top of the tree. We couldn't find any stars that a) matched the decor and b) didn't dwarf our 4.5ft tree.

Here are the (humble) results of our tree. The bulbs we bought didn't come with any hooks and unfortunately we didn't think about that. So right now it just has the star ornament that DIDN'T work on top and an ornament from my childhood. It's definitely a work in progress. Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Thanksgiving Dinner!

My day started at 6:00am by waking up to put the turkey in the crockpot. Luckily it only took about 15 minutes and then I lazily fell back to sleep until 10:00am. Don't hate me because I got beauty rest :)

I spent a little less than two hours being in the kitchen preparing, which is a record! One of my biggest struggles with cooking in general is the magic of having all my dishes ready at close to the same time. Turkey-no prob, just chillin' in the crock pot. Stuffing and Potato Casserole-15 min @ 400 vs 20 min @ 375. I opted to leave them both in there for about 30 minutes on 375. The stuffing tasted pretty good (could have used a bit more salt and pepper), but I wish I'd baked it in a more compact dish. The potatoes were a) crunchy and b) not too flavorful. That may have been mostly because I forgot to buy an onion and just ended up using onion powder. It also could have used more salt/pepper or something. I don't know. I'm willing to give it a whirl as a side dish again and see about tweaking it. The pie turned out pretty well, even though my pie crust was all crumbled and shattered (I dropped it on the ground-sad panda). It was just REALLY rich!

I prepared some fresh green beans and asparagus as my veggies, and stayed within my portion control. It was so rewarding to NOT feel like I was going to explode with a super full stomach. I ate a small breakfast (eggo's with strawberries), and then ate a small dinner (frozen meal and some more veggies) around 7pm tonight. Here's a few pictures of the spread!

Aluminum Foil is a novice chef's best pal

The Spread-I brought out the fancy dishes to use on the
fancy table that rarely gets used.

My plate: Green Beans, Asparagus, Turkey, Potatoes, and Stuffing

Pie of sorts-it looks all weird but it tasted really good!

I'm an advocate for cooking/serving/storing any big meal in aluminum dishes.

Sessions with my Dream Dictionary

I had a weird night of dreams last night. In the spirit of the holiday sentiment I decided to decipher what it all means using the dream dictionary Marianne gave me. We used to consult the dream dictionary at work together to understand the underlying meaning of our odd dreams. Oh and I'm also going to use italics because it makes it seem more dream-like:

Late at night on a Saturday I drove to a deserted gas station, broke in and started vandalizing the place. A cop caught me in the act and I had to drive away quickly. Night turned into day and I remember being out in the country. I drove out to another old building and was hiding inside destroying things when I heard the cop outside. We started shooting our guns at each other, and I set an explosion inside the building and ran out. The cop caught me and handcuffed me. I couldn't figure out why I'd done all these bad things and I was really emotional about it. I asked the cop what I was supposed to do and he said I could go home until Monday since I didn't kill anyone, but that I might want to get in touch with a lawyer. I'd be picked up and brought to jail on Monday.

-to dream you're a criminal indicates that you're looking for a shortcut in life.
-to dream you're a convict suggests some situation or relationship is making you feel restricted
-to dream you're breaking something indicates change is ahead for you. You want to change the direction your life is going
-to dream that you feel guilty about something indicates that you feel you have let others down.
-to dream that a house or building is on fire indicates that you need to undergo some transformation
-to see explosions in your dream symbolizes your repressed anger. The reage that you've been holding in has come to the surface in a forceful and violent manner. Your unconscious is trying to get your attention.
-to dream that you shoot someone with a gun denotes your aggressive feelings and hidden anger toward a particular person.
-to dream that you see a lawyer suggests that help is available to you if you ask. Being involved in a lawsuit says you have insecurities and concerns of being judged or criticized for your actions.
-to dream that you're in jail suggests that you're feeling restrained or censored at work, or in a relationship or situation in life. You feel confined and suffocated.

**I woke up at this point because my alarm clock went off (6:00 am) to go put the Turkey in. I was only awake and up for 15 minutes and oddly I fell back asleep into this dream. The rest of it kinda kept skipping around but here are the highlights**

I was being transported on a train with two old friends on my way to jail. Annie Perry and someone else. I knew I kept in good contact with the unknown friend, but I felt guilty that Annie and I didn't email or chat. As we were getting ready to disembark from the train I found a piece of paper so I could write down my email address and my blog address but I kept messing up. I was finally forced to leave the train without giving it to her. I was somehow back at the first building I'd vandalized and I was walking my dog Bailey around the perimeter of the building in really tall grass. He did his business and we rounded the corner to check the mail. The mailbox was full of advertisements and wood chips and I wasn't able to push the woodchips aside well enough to grab the mail. The dog walk/mail checking sequence happened three or four times before I finally woke up.

-to dream that you're on a train symbolizes your life's journey. It suggests you're on the right track in life. Alternatively you have a tendency to worry needlessly over situations that will work out in the end.
-to see a childhood friend signifies regression into your past where you had no responsibilities and felt carefree.
-to dream that you're writing signifies communication with someone or with your conscious mind. It also denotes a mistake you have made.
-to see a dog in your dream indicates a skill you've ignored or forgotten but needs to be activated. Also symbolizes intuition, loyalty, generosity, protection, and fidelity.
-to see green grass in your dream suggests that there's a part of yourself that you can always rely on.
-mail: receiving mail indicates you need to communicate or re-establish contact with someone from your present/past. To see a mail box represents important information you're about to receive.
-to see wood in your dream signifies unsatisfactory business and misunderstandings in love.

So what does all this mean?? Dream analysis is pretty clouded and probably full of complete silliness, but poignant/odd dreams like this always make me sit back and think. I do feel a lot of those emotions (overwhelmed, disappointed, repressed anger, desire to be a better person). It's time to start prepping some dinner stuff, but I'm glad I got all that out :o)

Thanksgiving Day Foods

Here is what's on the menu for Thanksgiving Dinner. It's just Shawn and myself for dinner, so hopefully everything goes smoothly. Click on the links to see ingredients/supplies/how to

Turkey (credit to A Year of Slow Cooking)

**I played around with various ways of cooking turkey, and they mostly come up at 2 points per serving. This version sounds yummy and easy!**

Au Gratin Potatoes (credit to WW online recipes)

***I'll be making regular mashed potatoes as well for Shawn to enjoy-since I'll be peeling and cutting them anyway, but I'll be staying AWAY from them***

Stuffing with Sage and Chives (credit to WW online recipes)

**Stuffing has always been my one true weekness. YUM!**

Gravy of Doom

**For Gravy there isn't much option. I don't know how to make the legit bad-for-you gravy that I love so much, so we're opting for the Heinz Turkey Gravy. It's a healthy alternative and easy to prepare! (don't worry I won't eat the whole jar myself)

Turtle Pumpkin Pie (credit to KraftFoods.com)

**I'm using Keebler reduced fat pie crusts, Free Whipped Cream, Skim Milk, Sugar free caramel sauce, and the SF/FF vanilla pudding mix to make what I'm thinking looks and sounds like a tasty treat!**

WW Weigh In 11/23

Today I was down 1.6lbs for a total of 16.4 lost with WW! Here are a few goals for the week:

1) Journal every day-I'm pretty good during the day but all hell breaks loose once I get home from work for the evening.
2) No more snooze-I need to get my butt out of bed on time so I have a chance to eat breakfast before work and pack my lunch/healthy snacks.
3) Thanksgiving Day-I'm all stocked up on tasty veggies. Like our leader Jaime suggested, I'm going to fill half my plate with tasty steamed veggies and thoroughly enjoy (within moderation) my favorite Thanksgiving Dinner dishes.

I'll be posting my recipe ideas here in a bit, and I'm excited to give my report of how everything goes!