Ouch!

Well...my mint brownies were delicious, but I had no trouble with moderation. I have come to suspect I have a cavity in one of my left molars, because eating them was rather painful. No, make that extremely painful. I ate one shortly after they were done baking on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas day I couldn't even finish a whole brownie. There's nothing like physical pain to keep you from overindulging this holiday season!

Unfortunately, this means it's time for a trip to the dentist, something I've been putting off since I no longer have dental insurance.

In addition to baked goods, Christmas also means new bike goodies. My parents got me a Garmin Edge 500, which is pretty freaking sweet, for the record. I had the chance to test it out last night and it's ridiculously easy to set up and use, and the amount of information it gathers is incredible.

I also got a sweet new jersey from Twin Six. I was trying to take pictures of it, but because the design is on the chest, it just ended up looking like I was trying to photograph my boobs. So, instead you get to look at the photo on the Twin Six website. (Sorry.)

I decided it was time to get myself a pair of snowshoes, so I ordered some MSRs as a (late) Christmas present to myself. I might even get some fleecy Muttluks for the terriers so they can tag along with me! I'll admit, I'm probably most excited to see them wearing the Muttluks for the first time. (It would be wise to click those links...)

I leave you with this:

The sky was beautiful tonight.

Cookies, coffee, and...snowshoes?

My facebook news feed today was overwhelmingly filled with pictures of sweets and status updates about cookies, baking, and bacon. Am I the only one not pigging out today?!

Probably, but trying to lose weight means not eating junk food. The only indulgences I've allowed myself this season are non-fat no-whip Peppermint Mochas at Starbucks (which, as it turns out, aren't nearly as yummy as the real ones made with whole milk and whipped cream drizzled with chocolate syrup).

It's been a stressful few months for me (mostly for reasons near the end of this post) and when I get stressed, I eat. And I also tend to stop moving. Because of those combined factors, I gained some weight, and it definitely played a role in my Icefail. I've been working on reversing it though, and I'm now 7 pounds lighter than I was at Iceman.

So, this is the first year I haven't made Christmas cookies. Or even done any holiday baking, for that matter. (I normally go all-out on pumpkin flavored baked goods after Thanksgiving.) I do plan on making some mint brownies tomorrow, but only eating one or two, and then forcing the rest upon my sister and her family. If all goes as planned, I get to make brownies and enjoy them without being tempted to eat the whole batch, and my sister gets a shitload of brownies and a child with a sugar-high. Win-win, right?

Oh, and I got my paws on some snowshoes, too! Turns out it's really fun stuff. My "relaxing" hike today turned into a pretty good workout. I might have overdressed slightly, since I ended up somewhat drenched in sweat. Despite that, I think I'm going to like this new activity, and I'm looking forward to buying a pair after the holidays.

It's beginning to feel a lot like...

Winter!

We've finally got a significant amount of snow on the ground and the temperatures are frigid. I've been keeping warm riding the cross bike on the trainer. I am determined that next year my racing season will be much better.

I am also determined to take up snowshoeing. It's funny that after living in Michigan all my life I've never tried any snow sports. Well, this year that's changing. I'm going to rent a pair from REI soon, then hopefully after the holidays when we've got more snow on the ground (if all things go well and I don't decide that I hate snowshoeing) I'll get a pair.

Also, just a reminder that the winter solstice is coming up in a few days (December 21!) and with it comes a lunar eclipse, visible throughout North America. It's somewhat rare for a lunar eclipse to fall on the solstice—the last time it happened was in 1638! The best time (according to NASA) to view the deep coppery moon is at 3:17am. I'm going to try to stay up to catch it!