Dec 14 - Walking the Beat

Raspberry Lindor Ball

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?" - Dr. Seuss

  Today I donned the first of my many Christmas T-shirts.  I haven't fit into this size 18 one for a few years now so I'm as pleased as a squirrel whose come across an unusually large pile of acorns!  That simile needs to be read in Hugh Laurie's English accent I'm afraid.
  I got a number of "You look very Christmassy today!" compliments which was fun and I did a lot of walking around the centre today.  Just in the last few weeks we've had five new retailers open at the centre: Temt, Knick Knacks, Abby Rose, Cocolatte and Spendless Shoes.  One of my jobs is to get them set up to accept centre gift cards.  Four down, one to go!
  I thought I had finished my Christmas shopping too but visiting retailers can make for terrible temptations.  Knick Knacks has these awesome inflatable animals for small kids to sit and (I assume) bounce on, so since they are not expensive I expect my nephew and nieces will be getting an extra present each!
  The office seemed in good spirits today, or maybe I'm projecting.  I can't help but be happy.  Gub will be home in just five more sleeps!!  I'm ecstatic that I'll be able to give big sister hugs to my littlest sister so soon!
  I didn't feel much like cooking again tonight so I used up my last wrap instead.  I think that will happen a lot over summer.  Food that you can wrap is extremely efficient and is as healthy as you want to make it.  From warm comforting beefy burritos in thick corn tortillas to salad barely contained within frail mountain bread, a wrap is a thing of convenience and a joy to eat.

  Speaking of mountain bread, I have an idea that it might make a good substitute for filo pastry in a bacon and egg tartlet in the AirFryer.  I have yet to try it but hopefully I will get around to a grocery shop sometime this week.  I had better.. I have Christmas food to buy!  Ham and all those good things!  I may in fact have to do a dreaded 'big shop' just as soon as my credit card cycle clicks over!
  After dinner I found a cool channel on youtube tonight called mothstories.  The Moth is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling.  I watched one by Dan Savage, then Neil Gaiman, then Elna Baker, then Jenny Allen and finally Dan Kennedy.  They are really quality short stories of huge variety told in an average of 15 minutes.  The Elna Baker and Jenny Allen ones nearly made me wet myself laughing.  If you like hearing excerpts of life and short stories I'd definitely recommend it.

  Today's food was:

• Breakfast was Jalna Greek Vanilla Yoghurt with Carmen's Classic Fruit Muesli.  I still like the low fat natural yoghurt but it gets a bit unpalatable after six months so I thought I'd try a different one for a while.
• Morning Snack was a mini Christmas cake from Baker's Delight.
  
• Lunch was a Mission Mediterranean Herb wrap spread with Kraft Light French Onion Dip then topped with 106g Hungarian white salami and baby spinach.  Followed by 190g of fresh cherries!
• Dinner was a Mission Mediterranean Herb wrap spread with Kraft Light French Onion Dip then topped with 106g Hungarian white salami and baby spinach.
• Dessert was a 35g Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Frog
• Today's advent calendar Lindor Ball was raspberry.

  Tomorrow is shaping up to be a pretty busy day.  I have a few craft projects to work on as well as plenty of cleaning up and tidying away clutter.  I may even make a few boxes up for the Op Shop, it's getting on for high time I went through the wardrobe... but maybe that's best left for when I have Gub's to tell me whether or not my bum looks big in that.
  Last night (well ok, this morning at 1am) I finished book two of the First Law Trilogy.  Things are looking grim for our heroes but I'm beginning to suspect that's the point.  Maybe there will be no happy endings.  The third book is Last Argument of Kings and I might not start it straight away.  I sort of want to catch up on sleep a bit first, though knowing me I'll end up getting curious by tomorrow.  I have the insatiable need to know!
  That's it for tonight, I'm pooped and I have a lot to do tomorrow!
  Jess