Skim Vanilla Latte

So I had my first plain skim latte last night. When I went to record it on TDP I discovered that the vanilla flavor adds a whopping 25 calories to the whole shooting match. In which case I will suck up (literally!) the extra 25 calories and have the coffee taste yummier!

Yesterday my exercise was putting up the Christmas tree - AGAIN! I came home from giving blood and grocery shopping to find Laura swinging from the Christmas tree. It had - apparently - fallen down while she was wrapping presents in front of it. Luckily it was yesterday and not two days before!! Most of the presents were gone from under the tree - and only one of mine had gotten so wet that it needed to be unwrapped. But about 75% of the ornaments had come off - and the beads, lights and paper chains were in chaos. I got it more securely propped up against the cabinets and called Katie to come help. I love Laura, but she is one of the least "capable" people I know. Katie and I are pretty good at working in tandem. After much lifting, shifting, twisting, pushing, screwing, and cursing we decided that the tree was NOT going to go back into it's holder. So - we again propped the tree against the cabinets and went to Target to get a new tree stand. One tree skirt, one stocking, a pair of PJs, and tow printer ink cartridges later we left, but with no tree stand. We tried Home Depot next. They had sold out two weeks prior. So we got a cheap bucket and a bag of rocks and went back home. The bucket didn't do it either... The bottom of the tree was cut at a sharp angle - so the tree was desperately trying to lean in the direction of the angle. So - we tied it up. We attached it to the curtain tie back and a nail that we put into the top of the door jam. That - FINALLY - did the trick. We then took off the remnants of the paper chain and beads. Fixed the disarrayed lights and put everything back on. When we finally finished (around 9:30pm - about 6 or 7 hours after it fell...) we agreed that it looked better than it had originally - shorter - and we like the new tree skirt. 8-)

I ordered a new tree stand. Cast Iron. 22 pounds. It looks like a snowflake - only red.

So that pretty much filled my day. I had (originally) planned to go to the gym before I went to give blood - but the timing was bad. I wouldn't have been able to eat before going to the Red Cross and I always am a little nervous that my iron count isn't going to be high enough anyway. So I decided that it would be fine if I did it afterwards (I mean, walking isn't STRENUOUS exercise anyway). I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from giving blood and needed to put the frozen food and milk in the refrigerator. I really intended it to be in the door and out again in less than 5 minutes - but you know the saying about rodents making plans and all. So I didn't make it to the gym - and my back is STILL hurting today from the tree acrobatics(although Katie did all of the floor work - I really was just the tree holder person).

My weight this morning was UP - in spite of me having drained off a full pound -to 230! I think I must have eaten too much salt maybe... My period did start late on Christmas night - so maybe that is what I am showing now. I hope it won't stay... I have to start keeping better track of the water I am drinking to make sure I am getting enough - but I am pretty sure I did yesterday since I always drink a lot before I give blood.