The Dynamic Duo

1. Thanks for all of the well wishes last week for Duke’s speedy recovery following his neutering. Aside from being a little groggy and sleeping for about an hour after we got home, you’d never know anything ever happened. He’s been his usual ball of fiery energy, and it’s been quite the task trying to keep him somewhat calm and keep him and Einstein from rolling all over each other.

2. Mashable put together a list of the 10 Biggest Food Crazes of 2013. There’s been some crazy stuff happening! The only one I embraced this year was kale. Please note, I use the term “embrace” quite loosely. Tolerate would probably be more accurate.

3. Have you seen this video from WestJet airline in Canada? They totally played Santa in an enormous, astounding way. I actually got choked up at the end!

4. Confession: Even though I love almonds and love things like almond butter, I greatly dislike the flavor of almond extract. Weird?

5. Our stockings are hung, so we are officially ready for Santa!

Stockings are hung!

6. For the first time in my fantasy football-playing history, I didn’t make the playoffs. Boo hiss. Even worse is that I missed getting in by just 0.02 points. I lost my last game by 0.02 points; had I won, I had gotten in. Heart wrenching.

7. I’ve just discovered Boden. This has trouble written all over it.

8. Last week, I mentioned that I had adopted a pretty clean eating plan for a few weeks. Aside from a few nibbles of the goodies I’ve made over the last two weeks, I have stuck pretty closely to just fruits, vegetables, healthy grains and lean meat. I’m actually surprised by how good I feel! I’m used to horrible afternoon slumps that I use caffeine to get through, so I was dreading that. Surprisingly, I haven’t felt sluggish at all, and haven’t had a drop of caffeine. I’ve lost about 4 pounds over the course of 11 days, and haven’t really had any cravings for junk food or sweets. I’ve even made things like lentils, Brussels sprouts and spaghetti squash… broadening my horizons :)

9. Don’t forget about the 12 Days of Giveaways! You can still enter to win a Le Creuset Dutch Oven and a SONOS Sound System! Next week, I’ll finish up with days 11 and 12… I think you’re going to like them, so be sure to check back! ;-)

10. TGIF! Hide your food, the beggars are on high alert!

Duke and Einstein on food patrol