Keeping Busy

Aah, the holidays. A time for stress. A time for family. Or is that the other way around?

Christmas and New Years were pretty low key. Christmas was with parents--nothing very much out of the ordinary from most other days and quite enjoyable. New years day had a little more spice with a fancy lunch and magic show, followed later by a nice night with a friend. I like to keep it simple, especially during traditionally high stress times.

The holidays in past years have been ridiculously high stress. Usually my grandparents are in town and that ramps up the levels. Second, I like to make lots of tasty treats for Christmas gifts--like chocolate truffles. That adds to the weight problem with all the tasting and trial runs. These two factors hit my mental state hard. Not so much trouble with this year.

Granted, this year was not a complete escape. I have been stuck at 200 pounds since I went to stay with my parents an hour north of town. That is far better than past years' gain, but still a blow to my weight loss ego. All the key lime pie was most likely the culprit of my down...er...up-fall.

I finally have something to keep me busy in my downtime: volunteering! Yup, I have too much time on my hands, so I decided to do some good with it. There is a local food pantry that is always in need of help, and I am a willing minion. I am loving it! I think I am sick of tortillas and eggs already--those are the two items that always need sorted and packaged. So far my favorite (and elusive) job is food distribution where I actually get to interact with people. Only one chance to do that job so far, unfortunately. I want more!

While volunteering I meet some interesting people too. This last time through I was with lots of the community service people. They are serving court sentences for things that made for interesting conversation. Lots of potheads, lots of petty theft, and the most common: drunk driving sentences. Last Thursday one of the guys--major repeat pot and petty theft offender--was most definitely high while trying to work. Let me emphasize 'trying' as he was mostly useless in his schlepping duties, but he was there and that is what counts. I do like most of the people there and almost all are really nice, and useful too!

Overall the holidays were pretty darn good. I just hope that the weight starts to fall again soon.