My Life's Ingredients

Another of our traditions ... DH and I at check at least ONCE the NORAD - Website to track Santa ... Even though we don't have any kids (yet) I think it's a funny thing to do ... just love it!! :) And Santa just has been over Paris!! :)

. ..that's Christmas Eve in German, and the main day of Christmas in Germany (and I believe for all of mainland Europe). Mad dash about printing pictures for FIL's next entry (which I have finished now after Christmas Dinner and opening the first present - I know, I know, I should have done it earlier, but hey - it wouldn't be me if I wouldn't do things at the last minute!!! ;) ), going for a relaxed swim with DH and then the rush up to Christmas Dinner ... I had put the duck in the oven at 3.45pm and started to prepare the carrots and sprouts and also boiled the giblets for part of the gravy. In between I helped DH with the tree ... and we nearly had a bit of an argument because the tree didn't fit into the base properly (which was not our fault - it was cut off the wrong way). But the tree is up (I'll get some pics tomorrow once I have transferred them from the Camera), the presents underneath and the duck, sprouts, red cabbage, dumplings, carrots and pud are ...

...and it still doesn't really feel Christmassy around here.... :( Not sure why, but I seem to have that "slump" nearly every year. Maybe I should follow the UK tradition of putting up the tree a week before Chrimbo? Or put more decos up? Or maybe leave the ironing and housework as it is? NO IDEA!!!! So if anyone has seen some Christmas spirit flying about, please let me know and send some to me. :( Back to finish the ironing ... and then make some cookies ... not sure if that does the trick? Have been watching Xmas movies like stupid ... and it still doesn't work.... :(

My Mutsch arrived on Friday and I had to spend lots of time with her ... and then we had a hic-up with her return flight yesterday ... she missed it because they changed the gate, and Edinburgh Airport has not the best tannoy to announce these changes. Well... I took her to the airport ok today at lunchtime, went quickly shopping at the Gyle and now am feeling totally drained (yesterday was a bit of a worry really!!). Hope to catch up with things tomorrow and will post some back dated photos and hopefully Christmas Journal entries etc. Doesn't help that my body decided today to start the "witch" (menses) again after a couple of days nothing... must be the hormone treatment.... :(

The LO shows the lyrics of "Driving home for Christmas" and also sheet music for some of the German Carols I can remember. Journalling reads: I love Christmas Carols, the more pop-culture songs and I have several CDs which are playing every December. I am surprised how many Christmas Carols from Germany are still saved in my brain - I made an ad-hoc list and came up with the following: "Alle Jahre wieder", "Am Weihnachtsbaume die Lichter brennen", "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen", "Fröhliche Weihnacht überall", Ihr Kinderlein kommet", "Kling, Glöckchen, klingeling", "Kommet, Ihr Hirten", "Lasst uns froh und munter sein", "Leise rieselt der Schnee", "Macht hoch die Tür, die Tor' macht weit", Morgen, Kinder, wird's was geben", "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann", "Oh, Du fröhliche", "Oh Tannenbaum", "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht", ...

... before my Mutsch arrives. :) So that's my main priority ... doubt I will get any studying done before 2007 now ... far too much to do! Tea today was "Elefant - Traumtaenzer-Tee" (Redbush tea with Orange peel, hibiscus, apple pieces, lemongras, bits of orange and raspberries etc). Quite nice actually.

Ok ... the weather is bad, I'm feeling crap, so I had to update my blog a little ... under my photo you'll find a YOUTUBE video with my #1 feel good happy song! :) Enjoy! *Because of Christmas I have moved the "feel good music" to this post ... :)

Got my phone call from the docs ... apparently it's normal to have one last big heavy period and then it will go down to just spotting (sorry TMI!). PHEW!!! Well... at least I got one of the other side effects of the Zoladex - Moodswings - and had a good cry just before the phone call. Just all creeping up again, diagnosis, stress with Christmas (ok, I'm doing that myself I suppose), stress with studying (there's no reason for that yet, but I feel like my brain is not taking anything in!!) and just in general feeling crappy!!! :( Waiting for the postie now and then will go to the PO and the gym. Just to get it out of the way.

It's absolutely miserable outside (chucking down with rain and windy as well) and I really don't want to go out but will have to as I have to go to the post office to get 2 larger envelopes to send pressies ... and I want to go to the gym to do my next calorie burning. It's a full week now I think that we had that miserable weather - nothing but rain, sometimes sleet and hail as wel...! That's enough to pull someone down. :( But no, it's even worse here!! The hormone treatment is supposed to put me onto a temporary menopause, i.e. no "witch" coming along (menses)... but whatever is going wrong inside me, I am having the full blown thing with cramps and all the mess... :( Have phoned the docs as it's fairly upsetting/worrying (wrong dose for me?) and I am now waiting for a call back.... but of course it's Wednesday, and it's now 12:15pm ... can I expect a callback today? Have the funny feeling I have to wait until tomorrow to get my answer... an...

Sorry!!! Have been studying today and posted the rest of the Ebay stuff. Have done 5 normal cards and just finished my first ever medallion card (poinsettia) for my Mutsch and now will write my German Christmas Letter so I can get all the European Xmas cards send out tomorrow (last posting date). Once all the cards are issued I will try to catch up with the journal. Today and tomorrow are fruit teas ... that's not really my thing, but it's not too bad. Today's was "Pina Colada" - so Hibiscus, Coconut, Pineapple and orange.

Woke up shattered ... still battling with that stupid cough (coming up 4 weeks now). Around lunchtime I took the bus to pick up a compost carry bin which I got through freecycle and also wanted to post the last bit of US Christmas post and some of the Ebay sellings. PO at our end was busy - so I caught the bus, got to the next PO - which had lunch break for a further 10 mins and already there was a looong queue. So I decided to get the bin first (2 biggish items carrying about ... 1 "pizza box" and one big padded envelope - both with several magazines, so HEAVY) and when I got back the queue in the PO was still there ... I caught the bus home and at our PO the queue was going out of the door! Needed to post the things and wanted to get it done before going to the gym though so waited for 15 mins and finally got the stuff sent off!! ;) Gym - decided to do the rowing first and then the cross country machine and managed to do 368 kcals. Got home, sat down to read post and...

If you've read my blog you'll know that DH had the idea to buy a cooked frozen lobster. I told him that's fine, but he'd have to cook it as I've never have cooked a lobster (neither has he). I took the beast out of the freezer yesterday at 11:30am as the instructions said it would take 6 hours to defrost. When DH came home from the Youth Game in Glasgow that thing had still lots of ice stuck to it. DH had his usual "hurricane" and was not happy at all because it changed plans for food etc. He's really a drama queen sometimes!! ;) We ended up having one batch of the sausages I bought at the Crafts for Christmas fair last weekend (yummie ones!!) and agreed to have the lobster today. DH went to Aldi to get his new MP3 player and then went off to training, which I decided to skip today...far too much to do. So ... as I guessed... I ended up cooking the beast!! :) It wasn't very big to begin with, and the meat coming out was even less... but it was del...

Right ... I think I start my catch up from the back and counting down to 5! :) This one was fairly quick ... so I am trying to do another one.

Candle not burning yet, but will light it when I am downstairs doing some housework. That has to be done before I can "play" again and catch up with the scrapping. Today's tea was "Rooibos Pflaume Zimt" (Plum & Cinnamon) which is a very nice surprise after yesterday's horrible tea!!! :)

Well... here is the first catch up part ... ;) Only 5 to go tomorrow!! :o The journalling behind the Chocolade advent calendar reads: I've always had an Advent calendar! In my childhood it was always a picture one plus my "gift" advent calendar - it's a Christmas tree made of thick dark green ropes with gold hoops on it where my Mutsch ties little gifts (Sweets, small toys like Smurfs etc) on it and every pack was numbered. I really have to ask my Mutsch where the set of these trees have gone.... split it probably, one for my big sis (well... my nephew) and one for me? It could become an heirloom!! When I got older the picture advent calendar was replaced by the Chocolate ones - and my Mutsch even keeps sending them to us in Scotland now, even though we have Lidl here and can buy them ourselves!! :) It seems that even this sending over of the Chocolate Calendar is turning into a tradition! :) Nowadays our Advent Calendars consist of 2 Choccie ones (one each for DH and...

I am 4 days behind with my Journalling but think I should be able to catch up - will take tomorrow to try my best! :) As for today's tea ... I've had 2 mugs of it and that was it ... couldn't take the chilli anymore, so it went down the drain. Have checked my tea advent calendar and there is no further ayurverda tea as nasty surprise ... well, there has to be ONE tea you don't like, eh? Gym workout went fine... burnt another 369 kcals - so if I keep that up I should be able to get the 1500 kcal in 2 days ... but I am planning to go Monday, Wednesday and Friday to the gym... just to get back into the swing of things.

I just had to add this to my Blog .... LOVE the advert (and DH always cracks up when he sees it ... probably because he doesn't like THE SNOWMAN at all). :)

And Chilli and Tea (or Hot Chocolate probably) don't work I think.... however, my tea today is a herbal ayuverda tea (funnily enough - it's KAPHA and it's apparently my Dosha! ). Kapha has the following ingredients: Ginger, blackberry leaves, Melissa, Parsley, Fennel (hate that!!), Coriander, Chili und Cardamom. That tea is really very spicy and I am able to take one sip ... that burns my throat!!! But I still have the hope that it's helping with that irritating cough. The burning in the throat kinda takes my mind off it!! ;) And once the burning sensation has gone it's actually ok... I think! ;) Right, having lunch now and then will go to the gym for part 2 of the challenge.... I burnt 360 kcals yesterday!! :) Today's picture shows my tea maker my Mutsch got me in Germany. It's got a sieve container under the lid where you place your tea leaves. Hot water is going up the copper pipe so you have even distribution of the tea. The pipe can move about 1...

Wonder how much trouble I'll have with it - the comments about it are divided, but I think it will work out ok.... :) Currently watching "Cold Case" and then am going to clean the inside of the kitchen windows and hang up the little lantern lights. After lunch I'm off to the gym to do my 30 mins or whatever it takes to get a start on the 1500 kcal by 17th December!! Still so much to do ... and have to catch up with the Journal Entries, but I hope to make a headway on this later tonight. Today's Advent Calendar Tea is a green tea called "Asatsuyu" - a very fresh green tea (Sunflowers and "Pfingstrose").

Suddenly went absolutely black outside after I'd finished the last entry ... so I am planning to go to the gym tomorrow .... :) But I am still up for the challenge!!! And specially for Sharon ... Today's tea was "Wilde Huehner Banden Tee" (Wild chick gang!!) .... LOL. A creamy Rooibos tea with Cherry and Strawberry ... nice taste!! :)

Only about 5hrs sleep last night and woke up with a thumping headache just to get the whole package!! :( Was supposed to meet a friend for lunch today but her daughter was feeling unwell yesterday so we agreed to skip it. I still went into town to do some shopping (got DH's last Xmas pressie and provided a wish list with Stampers Grove so DH can have a look there as he always seems to be stumped for presents for me!! HUH! Waiting for the Telewest Man to turn up ... one of our neighbouros needs their help and Telewest thinks the big connection box is in our garden (well.. it isn't - it's next door!). Have to wait for them to pop around to tell them before I can leave the house. Well... I came across this here yesterday (Calorie burning challenge) and I thought we may as well do it... both of us need to lose weight, and I usually rake up around 300 kcal during one 30 min cardio session anyway. So once the Telewest man has been I'm going to the gym to get signed up and bu...

Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate - with squishy cream. And maybe with a little shot of Baileys!! ;) Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Good question - not sure? When I was a child we had the "Christkind" (Baby Jesus) delivering the presents (German thing). The Santa thing will be a decision to make when we have kids I believe. Coloured lights on tree/house or white? WHITE!! Used to be real candles in my childhood, but DH as a problem with flames ... Do you hang mistletoe? Not yet - but have to say it would be a nice tradition ... now ... where do you get mistletoe? When do you put up your decorations? Decorations are usually going up between 1st Advent and Christmas Eve. The tree, however, is not being put up until Christmas Eve (again, a German family tradition). What is your favorite holiday dish? Favourite? No idea really - love all the things we make for Christmas. Maybe .. BUTTERSTOLLEN!! :) Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Being there wit...

No studying today ... woke up with a thumping headache - think it's because of the insomnia and both are on the list of side effects!! :( However, after lots of cold pack application I felt okay enough to physically do something ... head decided not to play along with studying but I cleaned the outside windows of the kitchen, cleaned the front door and managed to figure out how to get the outside light cover off - so DH fixed that when he got home. It's a start to the more extensive Christmas Cleaning I'd say! :) The tea of the day... "Lemon" (Black tea with lemon flavour).

It's just not getting easier, is it? Studying, getting Christmas sorted etc. Today I managed to study for 3 hours, get 5 of my handmade cards done (only 15 to go) and the Scout Post Cards handed off at Drum Brae Leisure Centre as well. Once back from the PO and the Leisure Centre I had to get the living room a bit tidied (i.e. put the ironing away etc.) as we had a small committee meeting coming up. Not much done then, but hey - happens. Flavour of the day: "Rooitea Apfelstrudel" (Apple strudel). Yummmie!! :) It's getting better and better!! :)

Well...here we go. It's Monday, and I have managed to study for 3 hours and still didn't manage to get 5 cards done or post the Scout Post Cards. Here is the entry for Day 4 ... I don't like the way I've done the journalling, but I am not going to re-do it. Won't have the time. Bad enough that I had to re-do the photo as I didn't manage the stazon stamping the first time!!! Today's tea was "Rudolph Mit Der Roten Nase" (Rudolph with the red nose) - a nice Christmassy Rooibos tea. :)

... but unfortunately no snow! Instead, we have high winds/gales of 60 - 80 mph. And to top that up there's LOADS of rain ... Got nearly drenched three times today! Went to training this morning (and missed out on the external HD for DH because we didn't get to Aldi before training! :( ) - indoors fortunately - and managed to get all addresses onto my laptop, so will start the Christmas Cards tomorrow. After training (big turnout for the first real training - and HC really drilled them with fitness!!) we went to Aldi and Lidl for food shopping... including a pre-cooked Lobster DH insists on making next Saturday ... I wouldn't DARE to cook something like that... ;) I'll keep you up-to-date as to how successful it was ... just in case we'll have some "emergency food" in the house. How does one open the lobster? Can you use a Nut cracker thingy for it???? Serious question here!!! ;) Well.. I have read Shim's prompt for today and have done the journ...

Usually we have a real advent wreath, but in the last couple of years it was always a problem to get it - or they were too expensive, so this year I caved in and bought a craft kit to make my own from Opitec and I am actually quite happy with how it turned out. Am planning on getting some pine aroma therapy oil just to put a few drops onto the wreath for the effect... And here's the entry for Day 3 of the Christmas Journal - Today's prompt was "Christmas Cards" ... anyone got any yet? I haven't yet. :) I have included this year's English Newsletter as well - but haven't been able to fit it into one of the pockets so it's behind the journalling cards. Journalling reads: We've not received any Christmas Cards yet - and I have none sent. I always have the good intentions to make my own cards - but it usually is just that - good intentions. It doesn't help that Doug always seems to buy Christmas Cards in the Boxing Day/January sales - I think I h...

Phew!!! Took me longer than I thought!!! :) Maybe I should leave the crafty bits out ... I am a slow scrapper after all (found that out at the Cyber Crop!!). But have to say I LOVE that LO. Used acetate with stazon white opaque (over photo), snowflake eyelets, snowflake button and snowflake vellum sticker. The prompt today suggested we cut a paper snowflake ... well, I had three attempts and am absolutely rubbish at it!! So I decided I try my luck with a quilled snowflake ... first time ever for me to do a snowflake and you can see the wonky result! LOL.

One's scanned - still mulling over entry #2 but will get this done today as well.. Can't believe I have quoted "Advent Calendar" twice (in English and German :o )!!! Suppose ... I got 3 calendars, so that's surely allowed??? ;) There are sooo many more words I could have used on that LO, like "Weihnachtsmarkt" (Christmas Market) - that's one of the biggies I am missing over here. Yes, we do have the German Christmas Market at the Museums (which is funnily being done by people who have stalls at the Frankfurt Christmas Market) but the prices seem to be taken from €€ and the currency just changed to ££, so fairly expensive. And IT'S NOT ENOUGH!!! Where is my BAUBLES stall - think I have to send my Mutsch there before she's coming over to get me one bauble... :) Oh no ... just checked their Online shop... BAD IDEA!!! LOL! Anyway ... here is my entry #1 for all of you who have been waiting already (and maybe thinking that I haven't done it...

Gwendolina's Backaepfelchen!!! (Black tea with baked apple - probably apple crunch flavor) Currently doing my second entry in the journal and will post both the first and the second entry asap. Sorry for the delay... :O Have been stash shopping... and spend quite a lot of money on it (thanks Oma Meckel ... that'll be Christmas sorted then!! ;) ). Stazon Black and Opaque White (plus one set for Lisa) DCWV Christmas Card Stock 8.5 x 11 (good enough for the Christmas Journal) 8x8 Album (for my "Book of me") Things for my Crop Secret Santa Things for my Stocking Swap Swapee Christmas Embellies (Bottle caps, dome stickers etc.) Christmas word stamps A4 box with embellishment boxes (Storage is always good) 3 sets of Brads Patterned paper DC comics (for pics of DH! ;) ) 1 Whale of a punch 2" cirlce punch (which will be delivered Monday or Tuesday) 2 sets sausages (well.. you know craft fairs - they always get either choccies or nuts etc in - and I thought better sausage...

Well, our neighbours are moving... BOTH - left and right. And I promise, we don't smell... ;) Neither do we listen to loud music. Mmmh, it's a thing with getting a garage, a bigger house (how much bigger do you want it? The smaller one to the right is 4 bedrooms!!) and Vicki and Graham want a bigger garden (she's a florist). Shame that Vicki & Graham are moving. We really had a nice friendship, cuppa teas, watching DVDs, having BBQs.... but at least they're not moving far - just about 30 mins walk from here - 5 mins by car. Just feels weird - we all moved into the houses in 2002 after they had been redecorated etc. All new in and now they are all moving! :o DH and I won't be moving. We love our house ... 4 bedrooms + study is enough. Well... saying that we won't be moving... let's say we won't be selling our house. We still have that idea of moving to Canada for a couple of years at some point ... Just hope they get into the new houses ok - both ha...

Well... we usually have 3. One chocolate each from Lidl (sent by my mum from Germany) and our Tree with the wooden ornaments from Costco which we bought in ...errr... 2004? This year I have also a "Tea Advent calendar" - cute stockings with pegs and numbers and each hold one 25g taster pack of different teas. I got it through my sister from Der Teeladen and it's just great!!! Today's flavor was "Rooitea Amarettini". YUMMMMM.