Leanna

I've also missed a tonne of celebrations. Congrats everyone! You guys rock. :)

Definitely a big NOPE for me today!

Hi Sergeant A: Welcome to the QT! Glad to have you here. :) Don't hesitate to post often -- we are here to help!

I'm actually secretly really excited for Christmas. I don't know why, but I love this time of year. No matter how sad I am, seeing all the lights and what not give me the warm fuzzies, lol. Steve is so bah-hum-bug about the entire thing... it's depressing. Harrumph.

I 100% agree with Nancy... the fear of quitting, the stress/worry you put yourself through beforehand, is often worse than the quit itself! Trust me, it's the best decision you can make and having a good support system like the QT can make a world of difference. :)

Nicely written DD! Quitting was the absolute best decision I've ever made. It wasn't easy, but not much in life is. Anyone can quit. It's a matter of being committed and it's about not making excuses to give in or give up. And DD... my mom told me giving birth is like taking your lower lip and pulling it over your head, so... lol.

NOPE x infinity!

This. Hum.

Haha, Steve made this last night and had no idea where he was going with it. The dinner turned into a kind of curry and it was delicious:

Sorry to hear about your stepsister. :( Lovely looking family! This is my brother Allen. He's 30 now. This is Winston. He's 29: Us together. Wow, my hair cut: Don't laugh, but this is my little brother and I. He's 19 now:

4 months! Great job DF. :) Hope you celebrate. WTG!

Whoa! Happy 3!

Of course I'm late to the party, but yay Tracey! Only 5 days to go. :D Can't wait to celebrate with you!

2 months?! Great job fellow Canadian! I hope you're planning on doing something to celebrate. You deserve it! :) A hug from Olaf:

Last night's dinner of olive bread, sausage tortellini, and a salad:

That looks so yummy! Mmm, comfort food.

Sides hurt! I love these JibJab videos, lol.

Joe, I completely forgot about the pickle! We do/did this as well. My mom was German (Rohrback). I never knew it was a German thing -- I just thought it was some silly tradition my mom made up.

Oh man, I would have loved to watch that. I love Queen!

Not sure if I I like this song just yet, but it's been stuck in my head:

Thanks Julie! Thanks DD! I think I'll post some pictures from last year's Christmas. My first without her. I'm supposed to inherit her village, so I might be putting that up next year. Of course it won't be as fantabulous as hers always was, but putting it together will be a special moment for me. :) That is such a cool tradition Karen! Here's a picture from last Christmas. I tried my best to make it special for my dad and brother. We had just lost mom two months before: Our small Christmas tree and presents:

Oh goodness. I'm having a "moment" over here staring at that. Yuuuuuuuuuuum.

We know Jengels! But we didn't want to inflate your ego too much. :P I haven't seen Kristin yet, but I bet she's a beauty! Mastergardener, your smile is contagious. :)

Last year, we broke tradition and my dad and little brother came to Ottawa to visit me. This year, I'm staying in Ottawa, but going to Steve's parents instead. Yay. Now that my mom's gone, Christmas does not feel the same at all. She used to read us 'Twas The Night Before Christmas/A Visit from St. Nicholas every year on Christmas Eve, regardless of how old we were getting. We also would open stockings in the morning, but had to wait until everyone was awake to open presents. That meant waiting on my dad and step-dad to roll out of bed after a night of drinking. It always felt like ages. My mom always did a huge feast of snacks/finger foods on Christmas Eve and we listened to Christmas music pretty much all night. She was a Christmas fanatic. Here's some pictures from Christmas 2008. Mom's Christmas village. This is only half of it:

I made stuffed green peppers yesterday for dinner. No rice this time. Just ground beef and lots of veggies. A little bit of cheese on top as well: This was dinner tonight. Chicken, herbed noodles, steamed broccoli, and a salad. A few nights ago, this is what Steve ate for dinner. That's the skinny bugger in the background. He made a homemade panzerotti and it was about 2500 calories. He doesn't have to count calories though. He will never get big. He eats whatever he wants and stays at 170. In the three years we've been together, he's gained 30 pounds. Wow... 10 pounds a year. Nope, not envious at all...