Thank you for reading my blog and being awesome FRIENDS!! Thank you for allowing me to be ME and to learn what the hell it means to be Jen!

Last week: 195.4 {actually this was from 2 weeks ago}

This week: 198

Change this week: +2.6

You may have noticed that Saturday Scale Time did not happen last week! You can thank the wonderful snow storm! I found at today, that I was not the only one who did not make it to WW last week!! In fact, WW canceled the meeting and closed the building!

I must admit that going to my WW meeting was not the first thing on my mind when I climbed out of bed this morning! I had one hell of a belly and head ache!!! I truly think I had a sugar hangover. I love Christmas and part of my traditions include certain foods. We have made somethings healthier but I truly believe in enjoying certain things certain ways and I do not feel guilty about that!

Every year on Christmas we go to my mom’s house for our non-Italian take on the Feast of Seven Fishes! OMG! Calamari and shrimp and crab (jumbo Lump) and Ahi and Alaskan Salmon and Scallops and more crab (Kind Crab Claws)! Last year, we turned it into Seven Fishes Tapas! The appetizers are so yummy and plentiful that we are so full that dinner is almost a waste! This year we only had appetizers and it was perfect!!

Christmas is MY holiday. I do not go crazy with decorations or anything like that! When I was a kid I hated any holiday!! My parents were divorced and the schlepping from one family to the next and all that anxiety in between ruined most of the experience for me. When Q was a baby and I left her sperm donor and came home to my family, the holidays were almost as bad as when I was a kid. I schlepped me and my kid all over the place and I hated it!! When I met Big Man he changed everything about holidays! We were a new family and he helped me make traditions to enjoy the holiday. Our first Christmas together was 6 years ago but our first Christmas living all together was the next year. That Christmas, 5 years ago, changed everything for me! We did not leave our house but invited everyone to “pop” in anytime during the day. I prepared buffet-style, easy picky foods and casseroles so everyone could eat but I didn’t have to spend all day cooking. I have gotten much better at cooking and my meals have evolved but this is how we spend every Christmas now!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

The food has gotten healthier! But the tradition is there!

This year, I made chocolate chip cookies at 9:30pm on Christmas Eve. I know I have a problem with cookies!! ESPECIALLY, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies!! I cannot control myself! I had a ton of cookies (enough to gain 2.6 lbs)!! A TON OF cookies I ate yesterday! And they were so yummy!!

And then…

I woke up with a belly ache and a head ache!! I swear I had a chocolate chip hangover!!

But…

I went to my WW meeting anyway! and I gained 2.6 pounds! Phew!! I thought I was gonna gain about 7 pounds.

and this is where I confess…

I have not been tracking and I have not really been working out! I have been a slacker! But, I went to my WW meeting anyway!!

It may sound crazy, but I think those cookies were good for me! I think waking up feeling lousy was good for me!! I know going to my WW meeting was good for me!!

I am feeling very reflective!! I am also feeling very much in need of some change! Earlier I tweeted it out about taking some time away from blogging and I was hit back with the sweetest and most supportive tweets:

1. PatBarone

   *@bwJen What a great time of year to retreat, play and plan next year! I did a mini retreat for myself Dec.23 to plan next year! about 1 hour ago from web

2. LowFatKat

   @bwJen Heck no! Your blog, your journey. You should take all the time you need! We read bc we like you, not bc you owe us content! about 1 hour ago from UberTwitter in reply to bwJen

3. chivetalker

   @bwJen morning, friend! Hope you had a lovely Christmas! Taking a break is necessary sometimes to refocus. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

4. ComplicatedMama

   @bwJen absolutely not.. I did the same a few weeks ago, sometimes a break is good. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

5. brimil

   @bwJen absolutely not! that sounds like a good idea actually about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

6. Fitarella

   @bwJen NOT AT ALL! take time for yourself and figure out what YOU need about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to bwJen

7. debroby

   @bwJen NO. Actually perfect time to do so. Many fewer readers/less activity this week than any other all year. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

I will be taking a little trip to the Poconos tomorrow! Me, the Big Man and the karate kid will hit the road sometime before noon and it shouldn’t take up longer than 3 hours to get to our cabin.  We will be home Wednesday night! I cannot wait for 3 nights in a cabin in the mountains with my favorite peeps! I need to get away from everything and (with permission from my tweethearts) I am also going to step back from blogging this week. I need time for reflection and refocus and change!

Stay tuned!! I will be back very very soon!! [There will be a Mindful Menu plan posted tomorrow]