Gifts

Other than food being a stressor for me this year, I enjoyed Christmas. I just wish food wasn't so central to celebrating the season. My eating wasn't the best after two of the three pot-lucks at work (I kept eating when I got home). I definitely overate at Christmas Eve dinner with my family. I think the food at these events was just so different from what I normally eat, that it triggered binge type eating. Nothing terrible, but nothing good. Quite frankly, I am relieved to have the holiday behind me because I have little emotion invested in New Year celebrations and it is easier for me to ignore the food.

My favorite gifts this year were spending the holiday with my 86 year old mother and family. My second favorite was going for a two hour hike on Christmas Eve morning and again on Christmas morning with one of my oldest and dearest friends. We walked in the forest preserve where we used to hike weekly back in the 80's. I'm very pleased to say that we had no trouble walking our old routes and I'm thrilled to know how far I have come with my fitness. Christmas 2010, I wouldn't have been able to walk more than 10 or 15 minutes on flat land. This year, my friend and I hiked up and down hills for 7 1/2 miles each day and I felt like I could have gone another couple hours. Truly, that is a gift to cherish!

A few snapshots from my phone of Christmas 2012. My mother's cheerfully decorated dining room:


Chili, whom my mother unabashedly favors among my dogs and who came with me for the visit. Note my Christmas socks, a fun gift from a coworker:


This is one of my favorite walks in the forest preserve, a long hill along a ravine. I hadn't been there for years. It was so great to walk it again:


I came across this plaque on a bench in the preserve:


And on that note, I will add my gratitude for all the good friends I have made here on SparkPeople and what wonderful gifts they bring each day. Thank you, Spark Friends and all the best to us in 2013!