I Need A Dentist

A few days before Christmas I was chewing something hard and heard a crack in my mouth.  I felt around, looked in the mirror and couldn't feel or see anything so just ignored it.  I wasn't having any pain so I figured it was not actually a tooth cracking.

So by Christmas day I was feeling a little pain in my top back tooth only when I ate, but from the gum, not the tooth (as I have had a root canal on that tooth years ago).  I also, the day before Christmas started having a sore jaw, like the bone in my jaw was sore.  Christmas night I was around at a friends, the kids were all out in the pool playing and the adults were having cocktails and nibbles inside.  I bit into something and again heard a big crack sound.  This did not sound good and they pain shooting in my gums was agony!  I knew that Monday and Tuesday were public holidays so I thought I just had to make it to Wednesday (today) to see the dentist.  From Christmas night I have not been able to eat solid food, I just can't chew at all on my left side as if I do it crunches and really hurts, so I have been living on smoothies (fruit, protein powder in the blender), scrambled eggs as they are soft.  I can chew a little on my right side but if I get it in the wrong spot, it crunches and hurts my left side, so I just have to be really careful and try to stick to liquids or melt in my mouth foods.

Yesterday I had a look in the mirror and realised that the crunching on my gums is the tooth, really lose and when I move it it pushes the tooth up into the gums.  I am SO upset, I am obviously going to lose the tooth!  It is only loose on one side, the inside, obviously the crunch I felt last week, cracked the tooth, then the 2nd big crunch on Christmas day has obviously just cracked the tooth almost out.

Now for the really bad part.  My dentist is closed until next Tuesday, the 3rd January.  So I have another 6 days to put up with this, eat soft foods and hopefully not have the tooth fall out in case the dentist can save the tooth.

I now have a sore throat, a really sore throat (my mother had a terrible flu last week that started with a sore throat) and now I'm worried I'm getting this horrendous flu!  My mums cough is SO bad, she has been so sick.

So great!  I've got a sore tooth & mouth, I can hardly eat, now I can hardly swallow.

I'm miserable and feeling sorry for myself! :(

Wishing Everybody

Great Christmas Cookbook

I just bought the best cookbook.

It's the 4 Ingredients Christmas cookbook.  It has so many yummy looking and easy to make dishes, that can actually be cooked all year round and every recipe has just 4 ingredients!

The book is available at bookstores and also stores like Myer, Target, Big W.  You can also buy it direct from 4 Ingredients and the more you buy the cheaper it is   Here's the link.  http://www.4ingredients.com.au/store/category/large-print-books/

Unlike the other 4 ingredients books, this one has pictures and it's a larger size.  There are so many yummy things in it.  

Some of the recipes are... 

Bacon & Avocado Bruschetta

Breakfast Trifle

Eggs with Smoked Salmon Fingers

Grilled Fruit and Ricotta Stack

Skewer Duo

Crispy Salmon Salad

Mango, Avocado and Prawn Salad

Apple Cambert & Potato Terrine (looks divine)

Maple & Pepper Glazed Turkey

Salmon Terrine

Wild Mushroom Beef Wellington

Vegetable Dishes

and many more nibbles, mains, side dishes.

Lots of Christmas Desserts, like Trifle, Plum Pudding, Christmas Cake, White Christmas Cheesecake and more

Lots of Gift edibles, like Lime & Macadamia Fudge, Reindeer Bark and many more

There are also a number of cocktails and other Christmas drinks.

Christmas Shopping

I thought I burnt off quite a lot of calories today!  How?  Christmas Shopping.

Yes, I braved the shops today and it was packed!  I drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find a parking space.  Then once I hit the mall, it was crazy.  I think I was there with the rest of Australia.  Australia only have a population of 22 million (almost 23 million), so we are a reasonably small country in the way of population, but we have a large land mass.  The entire population of Australia is LESS than the population of Los Angeles!  How is that, a whole country has less people than one city in the USA.

Anyway back to my shopping.

I had an embarrassing situation today.  My neighbour turned up with a Christmas gift for us.  Oh no, and I didn't have anything for them.  Also I haven't made anything this year.  I usually do make different little things like biscuits, truffles, rum balls, even Christmas cakes.  But guess what, this year I haven't.  I've been too busy, been away and Christmas has just crept up.  So I was so embarrassed this morning when she arrive with the gift of homemade rum balls and I didn't have anything for them.

So that was all added to my list today.  Containers and wrapping for some home made gifts.  I not have two days to whip something up.  I got some extras so that if I get any more surprises I can have a gift on hand.

The rest of my shopping is now complete!  I just have the last minute grocery shopping to go which I will get done tomorrow and I have some gifts still to wrap and once the wrapping is done, I'm all ready for Christmas.

I hope you all have your shopping done and don't have to go out into the crazy Christmas last minute shopping crowds!

Christmas Time

I think this has to be the hardest time of the year to be trying to lose weight!

I am not sure quite how I am going to handle this festive season, food wise.  In Australia we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day.  I know a lot of countries celebrate on Christmas Eve but we seem to have our big main Christmas meal for lunch on Christmas Day.  Our traditional Christmas meal is a big hot roast turkey, roast vegetables and gravy with Christmas pudding and hot custard for dessert.  My family still has this big hot lunch.  But many in Australia have moved to a delicious big seafood lunch, lots of prawns (shrimp), lobster, bugs, etc.  For those with multiple families, in laws, in laws and parents who have split up and do not mix together, Christmas Day can be spent going from meal to meal.

Our Christmas Tree

I remember a few years, my husband and I would spend the entire day eating and driving.  His family live about an hour away, mine up the road, none of our parents are still married to each other, so we have 4 meals to do on that day!  It was just crazy.  We would always have the morning with his family but that meant getting up very early Christmas morning to make the first breakfast over an hours drive away.  Once our son was born it was just too much.  He would get up in the morning and want to spend the morning opening his presents from Santa, not racing out the door at 6am, long drive, eat, eat again, long drive, eat lunch, drive, dinner, drive home, fall asleep in the car.  It was CRAZY!.

How did I put an end to this craziness?   We started going away!  I do have to admit, we went away with my family, but for the next several years, we went overseas for a white Christmas.   It was fantastic, so stress free.  I would pack all of Santa''s gifts in the suitcase, our son would hang his Santa sack up outside on the balcony of our hotel room (there was a hook out there, like it was put there for my son's Santa sack).  I would pack Christmas trees (just, small,  cheap, already decorated ones from the $2 shop) for all of my family.  We would have about 4 or 5 hotel rooms, usually on the same floor.  We would all put our cheap little trees up, which were so cheap that we could leave them behind and it gave me more room to bring shopping home.  We had a small gift limit, so didn't have to drag big gifts home and it was very civilised.  We would wake up Christmas morning, my son would find that Santa had been, he would open and play with his presents.  We would then all meet up in one of the rooms and have a big present opening session, then would head down to breakfast at the hotel.  It was lovely.

We haven't done that in a few years.  Now my husband's family seem to do a big Christmas celebration in the weeks leading up to Christmas as the family is so large that many are often going away so it's more convenient to do a celebration and get together before Christmas.  Then on Christmas Day we go to lunch at my mothers house and that's it.  It is much more relaxing and we have time to actually enjoy the day.

But the whole season, catching up with friends.  The whole week from Christmas to New Year seems to consist of eating, drinking, eating, eating and eating.   Christmas Day we will be having the big hot turkey lunch, then it's off to dinner at a friends house, hopefully no food required for dinner after the massive lunch.

I hope everybody has a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of laughs, great company and yummy food!

Google Plus

I have to say that I'm confused!

Now I think of my self as reasonably tech savvy.  I am the go to person in the family with any computer or internet type questions.  I am on twitter, facebook etc.  I have an online business.  So I know my way around a computer.

But for the life of me, I can not work out Google Plus.  I am on there, I have created a page for this blog and my new travel blog.  But I kind of don't get it.  Is it a cross between twitter and facebook?  None of my friends are on Google Plus yet, so I don't have any friends or family to add, everybody seems to be on facebook.   I don't get the whole circle thing.  I can't work out how to find people other than clicking on the "entertainment" or such headings.  I'd love to follow blog pages and blogs that I follow and other people, not just celebrities.

I guess I will work it out.  I've added the Google Plus badge to my page here on my blog for anybody who is on Google Plus.  Guess I will work it out one day, LOL.

No Vacation Weight Gain

I have been so nervous since arriving home, too nervous to hop on the scales.

Being away on vacation for a couple of weeks can tend to promote weight gain rather than loss.   I was really good whist we were away.  I did an online order from Coles to be delivered to our accommodation, so I continued to make my protein shakes for breakfast, sometimes a late night snack, afternoon tea, even dinner.

I did still have a few naughty things, we had a buffet breakfast twice where I did indulge in a big breakfast, I had a cream & jam donut (oh it was SO good).  But I guess as I kept going to the gym and also doing some good walks around the island (there are some really big hills on Hamilton Island) and swimming, I hoped that I wouldn't undo all that I had done over the last three months.

Well this morning I hopped on the scales.  I have lost 1kg (2.2lbs).  So I am thrilled.  Not only did I not gain any weight whilst away, but I did actually continue to lose weight.

Now it's Christmas time, hope the losing trend continues!

Home Again

Well after a wonderful, relaxing, two week vacation we are home.

It was really good on the trip.  Stuck to my eating plan most of the time (yes I was naughty sometimes, but I was on vacation, LOL).  I also went to the gym almost every day.

The gym was quite small, but it was all I needed.

Yes it was small.  But look at the view when you are on the treadmill, bike, eliptical etc.  Just amazing!

Not a bad view as you walk on the treadmill

Not a bad view as you peddle on the bike

To read more about my vacation, pop over to my travel blog A Mother, A Son and A Suitcase.