FitBit'n

 I know. I know. No posts in December until December 30, but suddenly another post today.

I want to get this one posted before I forget about it altogether.

For my birthday in November, my nephew and his wife gave me a FitBit. I'd happened to mention to them in October that I thought I might enjoy having one, and luckily they took my comment to heart.

I love it. I love the fact that it motivates me in so many unexpected ways. I love that it has made me aware of how much sitting I was doing during the course of an average day, although I'd always considered myself to be quite active.

The "Today" in the top photo is just that, today, December 31. I went to my thrice-weekly exercise class from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m., walked for almost an hour, then did the aerobic/weights video for 30 minutes. Mondays and Fridays are easy FitBit days for me, because I easily have 6,000-8,000 of my daily 10,000 steps taken care of during the exercise routine. I have only 700 steps to get to 10,000 today, and that's going to be easy.

Here is my FitBit record from yesterday, December 30. I exceeded my 10,000-step goal, but that's because I went to the mall to walk for 30 minutes before doing the errands that needed to get done. So I was about 4,000 steps, maybe 5,000 steps into my goal by mall-walking, then I got groceries and did some other shopping.

I don't always reach my 10,000-step goal. Some days I manage to accumulate only 7,000-8,000 steps, but I tell myself that's all right. Even at that, I'm getting more daily exercise than I had been getting, so that's a good thing.

You can see in the top chart that I've achieved 60 active minutes today, compared with 31 active minutes yesterday. Credit for that goes to the aerobic exercise videos, I'm sure, although partial credit goes to my being a fairly fast walker. I've always enjoyed walking at a good clip.

So my resolve for 2015 is to keep active with my FitBit!

Whoa!

 

I guess if I intend to write a blog post at all in December, I'd better get to it.

I don't know how this month has slipped by me so stealthily. One minute it was just after Thanksgiving; the next, it was almost New Year's.

We had little snow for Christmas, as you can see from the top photo. We had, instead, heavy rain, which took away our snow, and plenty of wild turkeys. I consider snow to be ESSENTIAL for Christmas Day, so you can imagine how happy I was when the weather turned on us.

In the midst of the Christmas preparations, I managed to knit an Easy but Looks Difficult scarf for the Stamp Out Cancer project. All scarves are to be knit or crocheted in pink and white. I've started my second one now and will use the remaining white and pink yarns for it.

I did a little decorating for Christmas, but I didn't go at it with quite the frenzy I've been known for in the past.

Now it's time to pack all of this away and get the house back in order. I always feel better once the house is relatively orderly again.

Here's the Bubble Bread I made for Christmas dinner. Below it is my annual Christmas tiramisu.

I used some of my dough ornaments, snowflakes and stars, to make napkin rings for the Christmas dinner table.

My centerpiece was a giant vase filled with freshly-cut holly and fresh cranberries, submerged or floating in water, with a candle in the center. I thought it was simple yet snazzy. Best of all, it was easy.

Now I'm trying to wrap my brain around the thought of 2015 being at our doorstep.

Best wishes for health and happiness in the new year!