It was so nice to have three days off in a row! Makes me appreciate the time off that much more after working seven days a week for several weeks. But the best part about this holiday is that I didn’t over commit, stress shop, or anything like that. In fact, I did all the shopping for the kadults on Christmas Eve. I already knew what I was getting them, and I shopped, came back home, wrapped everything in just a couple hours. It was wonderful! I didn’t buy too much – or keep buying stuff because I had finished weeks before like I normally do. Everyone liked what they got, so it was a win all the way around.

Jacob’s Mom ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. The three of them actually spent most of the afternoon at Jacob’s grandparents house on Christmas Eve, so I enjoyed a quiet house, with my Christmas music playing, doing some last minute cleaning and prepping for our appetizer dinner. At 4:00 p.m., just as it was starting to get dark, I poured myself a glass of wine – I love this snowman wine stopper!

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Jacob has a family favorite holiday appetizer that he wanted to make: hearts of palm wrapped on prosciutto and dipped in vinegar – sounds really weird, but it was actually quite good!

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Hannah made shrimp and green onion wontons – these were delicious too – and I actually ate them with all the green onions in them !

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I made chicken wings. Nothing holiday about that, except they were on sale and I had just cleaned out the deep fryer so the oil was fresh.

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We played games on Christmas Eve – Uno, which I haven’t played in ages, a game called Spoons, and we finished off with Yatzee. We had to laugh at Hannah’s competitiveness when it comes to playing card games – I have no idea where she gets her competitive streak from?!

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Hannah is usually the first one up Christmas Day, but when Jacob went to wake her up, she begged for just 15 more minutes. I had time to put the monkey bread and quiche in the oven to reheat (I made both the day before) and just enjoyed some coffee.

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I figured out in my head that 1/8 of this pie was going to be 6 smart points, but after putting it in the recipe builder, was happy to see that it’s only 5 points, including the pie crust!

Delicious breakfast for a crowd and only 5 smart points per slice!

Jacob’s Mom and the kadults left yesterday around 11:30. I got my organizing pants on got a lot of stuff done around the house, finished all my laundry – folded it, AND put it away. I also did some meal prep for the week – I bought chicken breasts that were on sale and pre-cooked some to have later in the week. I also cut up bite sized pieces for stir fry later in the week. Um, how is it I’ve just now seen this hot sauce from Frank’s Redhot?!

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A teaspoon of this sauce is only 1 smart point and it was great drizzled over the top. The chicken was sautéed in soy sauce and Thai chili paste, so this dish was super flavorful. This was a delicious 7 point lunch yesterday but a few hours later I was really hungry, but it was a few hours before dinner. I picked up some of these Premiere Protein shakes a couple weeks ago. It’s been all the rage on Instagram among Weight Watcher peeps to buy a two ounce shot of espresso from Starbuck’s and add the protein shake to make a 30 gram of protein iced coffee for 2 smart points.  Turns out Hannah and Jacob go to Starbuck’s just about every day and collectively they got about $130 in Starbuck’s gift cards.  My double shot cost $1.76.

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I was a bit leery because me and protein shakes usually don’t get along. Like, if I drink one I may as well drink it over the toilet that’s how fast it goes through me. But not this!  It was delicious and not overly sweet.  It’s 160 calories, 5 carbs, 1 gram of sugar and 30 grams of protein. This was more than enough to keep me from diving head first into a bag of Chex Mix – which both my brother and my Aunt sent me this year – THANKS GUYS! I love Chex Mix and Christmas time is the only time I eat it, so I’ve portioned it into 1/2 cup servings and am calling it 4 smart points.

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My blog reader friend Lynne (who’ve I met in real life!) sent me a box of her homemade goodies in the cutest snowman tin. I have no idea how she knew I liked snowmen – these are also a once a year treat, so I am calling each cookie 3 points, tracking it and moving on. They are delicious – thanks Lynne!

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And just like that, in the blink of an eye, the long weekend and Christmas 2016 is over. I watched several movies. One I hadn’t seen in a long time was Good Will Hunting. I had forgotten how much I liked that movie and had forgotten that Robin William’s characters wife died of cancer. A couple quotes really grabbed me:

“. . .I don’t regret the 18 years I was married to Nancy. I don’t regret the six years I had to give up counseling when she got sick. And I don’t regret the last years when she got really sick. . .”

I can remember long nights when I had to sleep on the floor because Tony would toss and turn so much that it kept waking me up, but I didn’t want to leave the room in case he needed me. The hours I spent in hospitals because he would fall asleep, remote in hand, within minutes of me walking in the room. Helping him to the bathroom after his colon cancer diagnosis, and basically having to change him like a baby because it took months for him to have control of his bowels after that surgery. When he had his artificial knee replaced and he couldn’t walk for three months, so I would spend my lunch hour driving home, fixing his lunch and going back to work. I don’t regret any of it.

“You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.”

Which is what I held onto this Christmas. The way Tony made me laugh. How he got me and my sense of humor. His hugs, his kiss, and how he didn’t let a day go by in the near 14 years we were together to tell me I was beautiful. That’s the good stuff.

I hope you had some good stuff happen to you this holiday weekend – I’d love to hear about it.  Hugs!