This is a really tough one for me. I grew up eating as healthy as mom knew to do, and treats were generally small and reserved for birthdays and holidays. (Before you feel too sorry for me – there were ten of us plus foster siblings, so there usually wasn’t a month without a birthday!) As I grew older, it seemed treat foods came more often, but they were always sugary – my sister’s beautiful and delicious cakes that were always worth the anticipation, ice cream cakes, homemade ice cream…. holiday pies, Christmas cookies….

Ok, whew, maybe they weren’t so reserved after all! In any case, once I moved out on my own, sweets were easier to get, and I didn’t have someone regulating them. I of course know the logic of eating sweets and the science behind not eating them, but many of us fight sweet tooths and I’m no stranger to that war!
As part of the WLC challenge, I’ve strictly limited sweets, so I don’t lose points (ah, the benefit of the challenge! Additional reserve strength for my willpower!). However, once a week the rules allow an alcoholic drink.

I’m hardly a drinker; I’ve been called a lightweight and that’s really ok. But now two+ weeks in, I’d like a treat that doesn’t “cost”. There’s no worry of me going overboard – I tend to get sleepy before I get drunk, and besides, with the adorable Mason jar shot glasses I found…. The serving is well-portioned! 🙂

I still want chocolate, LOL, but until I figure out one I like that’s acceptable on the challenge, it’s out for 6 more weeks.

I got back home last night from visiting my twin sister in NC. I know a lot of families have their problems, and ours wasn’t perfect (LOL – I’ve never run into one that was!), but whenever I was stressed out…. the one person I could always count on to understand was Mingo (ok, yeah, lots of nicknames on this blog… ).

She and her husband recently got themselves a beautiful 19-acre lot full of trees, a couple of creeks, and a few old buildings. It was good and very de-stressing to just ramble around with her and her dogs, and not think about work, any of the organizing/consolidating/”disencluttering” (Scruff’s made-up-but-appropriate word) that remains at home, and all the goals I have for the new year. It was good to let my mind just LET GO for a few days, and  let me subconscious do some processing. Now, I can focus on GOING WITH IT and getting the action plan into place.

One part, as usual, involves sewing. Already, Scruff and I have switched the bookcases between my office and the basement (not really that easy a feat), and I’m able to start unpacking my fabric stash! Such lovely-to-be-remembered fabrics, with so many fun clothes to be made! I love to see each fabric, and remember what I want to turn it into, and hope my skills hold up for the item. This year I plan to conquer pants – I’ve made quite a few dresses now, and thankfully gotten better with each one. While I am still learning fitting techniques, I have the basics of making a dress down, but have only made one pair of pants – I don’t count the sweats I made in 7th grade home ec! Although I often wear dresses for swing dancing, in my daily life I almost always wear pants (no girl shoes required!), and I’d really like to step it up a notch from the jeans I usually wear to work. So, since I will be repeating my minimal-clothing-purchased-change-most-of-my-closet-to-me-made-plans… pants conquering it is!

PS One of my habits is counting the hawks I see as I drive. On long trips I can sometimes make Traveling Hawk Blackjack – 21 sightings of various raptors. On the trip down, I saw 28 (woo hoo, blackjack+, baby! and one of them was a kestrel!), but with the foggy and rainy weather, only 13 roadside hawks on the return trip. On the (big) plus side, I did catch a pileated woodpecker just south of Roanoke!

Last night, I and another woman whose name I’ve since learned is Kathy (could be a C), took a cold wandering dog to his or her home. The dog was a beautiful gold color (retriever? I’m not really up on my dogs), extremely well-behaved with thick luxurious fur, and a name tag that said Harbor. His or her people’s phone numbers were on there but really tiny (so if you have a dog – think about making the numbers bigger!)… no luck calling but we found a neighbor home – it was maybe 20 degrees out and we were glad the dog was safe! Then we went back to the dance.
This morning Scruff and I are meeting up with some other dancing friends for New Year’s Brunch. I think that’s a good occasion for a treat, so I’ve made some whole wheat currant scones, and tried a new recipe. The title made some outrageous claims of being the world’s best, their Scottish grandma’s recipe so I thought it worth a try – and they are really good! The only change I made was to use white whole wheat flour. We’re bringing lemon curd to go with.