It's On!

My husband and I have been married for over 11 years. Since being married, we have always alternated Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays between the two families. So, it's always been either my parents or Jon's parents hosting the holidays. We lived in a small house, hours away from either family, so hosting never came up as an option.

March of this year, we relocated to southern Oregon to be closer to Jon's family. This also was the year we spent Christmas with Jon's family. We invited his grandparents to stay with us for five days over the Christmas holiday. The kids were especially excited to have their great-grandparents here.

Now that we live near family, and have a house big enough to have a gathering, we hosted Christmas. I was so excited to finally use my Christmas dishes! It wasn't until this year that I really appreciated what it meant to have someone else host Christmas, and at a distance from our house. Usually, we would go to visit my parents, or Jon's parents. It would be wonderful, magical and full of good food and family. A day or two after Christmas, we would pack up and head home, returning to our normal routine.

Our Christmas tree

The thing about hosting Christmas, and especially about having guests, is that all the food is at our house. Which means, the leftovers are at our house. I hosted a potluck, to make it easy on myself to host a meal for twelve people. I feel like everyday since Christmas, has been Christmas all over again. THE FOOD. There's been ham, potatoes, sweets...you name it.

We never repent of having eaten too little.
Thomas Jefferson

As you've gathered from the title of my blog, I'm a bit of a sweet tooth. Dessert is a weakness for me - like a drug. I need a 12-step program for my sugar addiction. My endocrinologist tells me that this is one of the horrific symptoms of having PCOS. I am insulin resistant, meaning that my body doesn't process sugar correctly. The more I eat, the more I crave. It's a vicious cycle.

What I need to do, is cut down my sugar intake. I did this once before, last spring. I lost 20 pounds in two months, almost effortlessly. I need to be conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth. I'm a boredom eater, and a stress eater...so I'm going to have to find some new vices for when I'm bored or stressed. I'm thinking that reading, exercising and writing this blog will be a good start.

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow ye diet.
William Gilmore Beymer

So, here we are, on New Year's Eve. Tomorrow is a new day, and a fresh start.