Whoops... unpublished, out of date post...t

Warning - this post is a whole week out of date. I posted it LAST Thursday but for some reason it didn't publish and I haven't been online much so didn't notice until last night. So everything happened LAST weekend. Also, I've NO idea why it hasn't published all the way across the page and can't seem to correct it.

I like this time of year. Especially taking time off "just because". Richard and I have arranged a long weekend and I can't wait. That said, the first morning of it is starting
at 8am tomorrow with personal training! How hard-core is that?? I figured that
Rich will want a lie-in as he's at a charity darts and dominoes night tonight so
I will slip out and go and sweat for an hour to start my long weekend the right
way! The rest of the day will be busy anyway as we have his 2 brothers, one
sister in law and sister and my sister in law coming over for supper tomorrow
evening. The house still needs to be decorated and food prepared....yikes! I
have made a start but there is still lots to be done and it looks like me who
will be doing it tonight....hmmm.

It's been tricky choosing a menu for the festivities. Firstly Rich's sister in law is ostensibly
a vegetarian, but she will eat organic free-range chicken (I don't get it). I'm
not a great veggie cook and certainly wouldn't want to serve a veggie meal for a
dinner party (especially as other siblings aren't keen on veggies) and not to a
presumably experienced veggie cook. So that means chicken. Much as I like
chicken, it's not what I would usually pick to serve. My familiar chicken
recipes are all pretty workaday - roast, fajitas, stir fries, curries etc. I
was leaning towards a Malaysian chicken and prawn curry but that had to be
scrapped when my sister in law (who IS Malaysian) said she could come after
all! I am so NOT cooking Asian cuisine for her - she is a brilliant
cook!

So, it was down to Chicken Tartiflette or a Chicken Tagine with preserved lemons and apricots.
Rich looked a bit dubious about the tagine idea so tartiflette it is. I'll do
one version without the lardons for the chicken-eating "vegetarian" and one
with, for me.... Chocolate fondant for dessert. We haven't entertained much in
our new place - just family lunches - so I'm looking forward to it. And, no, I
won't be counting the syn value of the meal....I won't even be thinking about
it!

Ooooh, that reminds me - I lost 3 lbs on Tuesday night's weigh-in. Not bad, over half of the recent gains are history. Hopefully I can reverse the rest this week and then I'll
(nearly) be back down to my lowest. Not the most sucessful diet ever but I'm
still on it (just) and that means I should begin January with a head start over
my usual routine!

Anyway, back to non-diet stuff. The tree is bought but not decorated yet - that's tonight's
plan. Rich's love of Sheffield Wednesday has finally come out. It's been
indicated that he doesn't like red decorations! How annoying is that?? So my
"folk" decorations in red, white and green are being side-lined in favour of
purple, gold and green this year. Or maybe just gold, haven't quite decided. I
have flat-out refused to go for a blue and white/silver tree - don't like them -
think they look cold and it wouldn't go in our house anyway. I was briefly
taken by the new "jewel" decorations that seem to be everywhere this year -
bright reds, turquoise, emerald green, purple, and pink. Trouble is though -
I'd have had to buy EVERYTHING new and couldn't use my much-loved old
favourites...so I'll stick to a more traditional look. Does everyone else have
these dilemmas or is it just me??

Yesterday was another day off "just because". I'd signed up to play golf but that was
cancelled due to the snow and wet but I couldn't face working once I'd got
excited about a day off. So I got in touch with my pal Vicky who is still on
maternity leave with her 11 month old twins and arranged to go out to play with
her and Rosie and Joe. Chores all morning then off for a nice lunch in
Tideswell (I was half virtuous with the soup and half sinful with the drop dead
delicious brownie) and spot of light shopping in Buxton. The twins behaved
beautifully and it was nice to be able to give Vicky a hand too.

I don't know how she manages to do anything with the pair of them on her own, the logistics
of changing, strapping in and out of chairs and coating up etc are pretty
daunting. But I'm full of admiration for her as she has embraced motherhood
with such grace and a brilliant sense of fun. She is obviously so happy with
her lovely pair but doesn't do what some mums in my experience have done and got
totally obsessed and over-protective of them . She is happy to let you do your
bit and help and that makes going out with them much more relaxing and
"grown-up" somehow. Maybe you have to be like that twins? You certainly have to
leave them in high chairs or cots even if they cry sometimes as you simply can't
be dealing with 2 at the same time!! It is also possible to have a
conversation with her that is not solely about babies. I do like children but
it is nice to still have your friend to chat to as well as a new
mum....

So, that's Friday sorted. Saturday we're off to the away game in Oldham with his Dad (snow and
gales permitting), Sunday is miraculously free (so far) and Monday is dedicated
to Christmas shopping. I can't wait.