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    Friday, December 30, 2011

    Day Off = Welcome Free Time!

    My last day of official On-The-Job Work was yesterday (Work is Closed today!), which means:
    I HAVE A DAY OFF!! Woo hoo!!

    What to do with myself? There are  SOOO many choices, I can't decide.
    :)

    I have cooking I can do and recipe research....especially now that I'm having to move to a more whole-foods, non-processed food diet - kinda the like the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) [think grain-free, lactose-free, sugar-free, etc.]. So I'm looking at various recipes geared for the SCD.

    Tangent Warning:
              Its very interesting to see how much I've improved health wise now that I've extremely limited my grains - no, I haven't cut them completely - in the last few weeks, plus I've upped my fresh veggies and fruit, and nixed refined sugar (except for a couple of splurges - like a chocolate or two on Boxing Day with Family :). Not that I've gone overboard with honey or molasses as alternative sweeteners right now. Just cutting the sugar. Its AMAZING how much of our (American) food products have sweeteners - we as a society have so gotten used to sweet things!
          Between the new diet, and going twice a week to see an Acupuncturist (who's also a Herbalist & Nutritionist - she does a blending of practicing Eastern & Western medicine basically, and I highly recommend her! Dr. Kathleen Albertson, L.Ac., PhD - OC Acupuncture), taking the ground Herbs (blend of Evergreen Herbs mixed by Dr. Albertson) in my tea, I'm definitely seeing positive changes. I'm sure some of it is due to the fact that I'm just getting "down time" at the Acupuncturist visits (yay for relaxation time :). One immediately noticeable change is that my Adult Acne (which has gotten worse in the last few years) has drastically improved! YAY! (Who knew/guessed that it was a reaction to bacteria caused by my body not being able to process certain foods/things? My dermatologist sure didn't!) Anyways, there's other benefits/reasons that I don't feel like going into on this blog posting, but this certainly is a good start. Hopefully will have a much HEALTHIER year in 2012! :)
    End of Tangent 

    Let's see, I could also spend time baking, since I never did do any baking of Christmas/Holiday cookies (I'll have to give away the majority of what I make, but the baking itself is fun - plus it smells wonderful :).

    I could spend some much-needed time sewing (way too many current projects to list right now :) - or Knitting. (I'm currently trying my hand knitting a Sontag or Bosom Friend  from an 1860 pattern...with a little help from someone who's already tried it and written her notes/translation to the pattern: posted here )

    Of course, there are a TON of flicks in the movie theaters right now that I really want to see. (Finally!! There was a long stretch of "eh, no really that interested in spending my money on that movie" - besides my being super busy :).

    My list of Movies currently in theaters (some for not much longer, some just released, listed in no particular order) that I want to see:

    1) The Artist;
    2) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy;
    3) Adventures of Tin Tin
    4) Hugo
    5) Muppets
    6) Mission Impossible: GP
    7) War Horse
    8) J. Edgar
    9) My Week with Marilyn
    10) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
         (Yes, I've seen the Swedish films - guess its time to see how the US version holds up :)
    and
    11) Puss in Boots (still playing in my local Cheap/$2 theater :)

    I started Movie Weekend last night with "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" (Yes, the current Twilight Movie - no judging! :).

    I think I may try to see the Muppets & Hugo today (since they've been out longer and have limited show times).

    So many things to possibly do! Love it! :)

    Monday, December 26, 2011

    Merry Christmas!

    At DCA on Christmas day by marcailgaelyn
    At DCA on Christmas day, a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.

    Via Flickr:
    view from Paradise Pier across Paradise Bay (looking at the giant light up Ferris Wheel) in Disney California Adventure. :)
    - - - 
    Merry Christmas Everyone!

    Nothing like an impromptu family trip to Disneyland! (That's the nice thing about some of us deciding to splurge and get the Top-of-the-Line Premium pass that lets us in any day of the week - no "blackout dates").

    Sara called in the mid-afternoon and said that as their prior plans fell through, Jeremiah suggested that they travel up & go to Disneyland for the rest of the day...and they were letting us know in case we wanted to join them. Heck Yeah! :D

    So around 5pm my folks and I headed over to the Park. Turns out they were just getting in line for Toy Story ride and we might be able to meet up with them in time. Jeremiah and Chloe were outside of the line (Sara & Keely waiting patiently in the line) so C could "explore" and get some of her wiggles out (since she'd soon be restricted in line again :).

    As we spotted C & J, C was next to the railing of Paradise Bay, looking out over the water. I snuck up behind her and squatted down to be on her level. She turned around, and gave a squeal of delight! Then she spotted Grandpa & Nana - another squeal! Such a happy little 2 yr old! :)

    We rejoined Sara in line and eventually made it to the ride itself. (If you've ever been on the Toy Story ride, you KNOW its a long line - but well worth it! :).

    In line for Toy Story Ride :)
    In line for Toy Story Ride :), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.


    Another pic from in line at Toy Story (Lil Miss Active)
    Another pic from in line at Toy Story (Lil Miss Active), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.



     I got to ride with Chloe and we sat facing her mommy, daddy, and lil' sister Keely.

    Sara, Keely, & Jeremiah at Toy Story (Chloe is next to me)
    Sara, Keely, & Jeremiah at Toy Story (Chloe is next to me), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.

    Let me just say:  C *LOVED* the spinning of the carts. (She kinda got how to fire the toy guns - pull on the cord - so I helped her out, let her try it herself, and then helped her out firing again).

    Chloe's Score & My Score. (Not bad for either when you consider I helped Chloe some of the time :)
    Chloe's Score & My Score. (Not bad for either when you consider I helped Chloe some of the time :), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.



    After Toy Story, we grabbed some dinner in the nearby food court area. (Side Note: the Holiday Special - slice of Beef Pot Roast with Whipped Potatoes & sauteed Veggies...and gravy of course - was excellent! Kudos to the Disney Chef/kitchen staff! Only downside is that their unsweetened Tea somehow got sweetener in it, and it wasn't until I had them check in the back after receiving Sweetened Tea twice in my cup that they discovered that. At least I got to exchanged for a bottle of water, so I was good :).

    After dinner, we headed over to the Bugs Life area where we went on a bunch of Chloe-sized rides. She LOVED them! :) By this time we were getting close to the Evening Fireworks time (they go off at 8:45p), so the Cornthwaites headed off to the Main Park to get a spot to view the Fireworks and the rest of us headed to our respective homes. (Fortunately we had just debarked from the Tram when the Firework Show started so we DID get to see a good portion of it standing in the Tram/Parking Structure area.)

    What a wonderful end to our Christmas Day - impromptu family trip to Disneyland was a success!

    And now, on to 26th of December (Boxing Day) - another day of Family! :)