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By kilax, December 2, 2009 5:52 am

Did anyone else wake up this morning and think, “If this was last week, today would be my last day of the work week!”?

I sure did!

I really don’t have any room to complain though. I didn’t have to work a single full week for the entire month of November (I have two full weeks this month though).

Besides, if it was last week, the holiday festivities would just be that much further away!

But those 3-day work weeks ARE nice! December really wears me out, and it would be great to have a few extra days off to prepare for the holidays and chill.

Side Note: Don’t forget to enter my Eating Animals Giveaway!

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By kilax, November 28, 2009 7:20 am

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with my sister, Christina, and her friend, Will. What does a vegan Thanksgiving look like? Let me show you…

The Sous Chef and Chef

The main dish: Stuffed Acorn Squash

Your choices are lentils and rice or…

Dressing!

We also had lentils and rice

and dressing on the side!

A delicious new Green Bean Casserole recipe! We used the leftover sauce as gravy for…

… the potatoes! Nom nom nom.

Of course, we had to have Cranberries. We just bought the canned Ocean Spray kind, but I may make a fresh cranberry dish for Christmas.

And you can’t forget the rolls (from ALDI)!!!

The fully set Thanksgiving Day Table…

and the fully set table with peeps!

My plate (this is all I ate – I knew we would have LOTS of leftovers)

Christina makes the classic mashed potato sandwich!

There were just a FEW servings of leftover mashed potatoes

We waited a few hours (Christina and Will played Wii the whole time) until we got out the DELICIOUS vegan pumpkin pie (new recipe here)

My plate

Everyone else’s plates!

The only thing that wasn’t vegan at this meal was the butter for the rolls, the whipped cream, and ice cream.

We had a lot of fun yesterday. Steven and I did the food prep while Christina and Will chilled, then we just played Wii all day and hung out. Sometimes, it’s good to spend a day indoors!

I didn’t do a thankful post this year. After reading many of yours, I can say I am thankful for the same things. But one unique thing I have to mention is how thankful I am too have a supportive husband who loves to experiment with food. I became vegan on June 15, but Steven is still a vegetarian. However, he fully supports my decision to be vegan and is always “veganizing” dishes we used to make with animals products, and trying out new recipes that I can eat. What a sweetie! Being vegan is not impossible, but Steven makes it much easier.

Comments (16)

By kilax, November 26, 2009 10:20 am

You know it’s a good day for a 5K when you wake up and find SNOW on your car!

We didn’t let the snow/rain/cold temps (low 30s) deter us! I was super excited to be running our first Thanksgiving Day 5K – especially since the entry to this one was practically free! All you had to do was donate some food. And it looks like they got a lot of donations – I think there were at least 300 runners there.

For being an inexpensive race, I thought it was still well organized. They still had bibs, registration, the trail marked, and people helping along on the trail. There were no pace signs at the mile markers, or water stations, but that was fine with me.

The 5K was held in Lippold Park in Crystal Lake (about a 30 minute drive for us), on a crushed granite path. Crushed granite path + 3 days of rain + a little bit of snow + runners on crowded trails = SUPER SOAKED SHOES. A few times we stepped in puddles that went OVER our shoes and had the fun feeling of water squishing between our toes as we ran. No worries though, we brought extra socks and shoes (My idea of course. Even though I will probably never be a mom, I still think I have the mom instinct)!

Check out how muddy my pants got! I think my shoes are ruined. Wah.

And the close-up!!!

Our goal was to get in under 30 minutes. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to because we were focusing so hard on not stepping into ALL of the puddles, but our final time was about 28:40! We even had negative splits. I never really felt like I was struggling, but doubt I could have gone much faster at the end.

Even though the race was crowded, muddy and cold, it was still a lot of fun. I’m so happy to be getting back into the game, and being able to run with Steven. It might be a silly goal, but I would like to work on my speed, as well as endurance this winter. Do you have any winter running or exercise goals?

Distance: 3.09 | Time: 28:40 | 1: 9:49 | 2: 9:11 | 3: 8:52 | 4: 00:46

Data is happy it is Thanksgiving and is going to celebrate by resting his butt on my head. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Comments (6)

By kilax, November 25, 2009 5:28 am

First of all, can you believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow? It feels like just yesterday I was looking for friends at the Chicago Marathon. The holiday really snuck up on me – probably because we aren’t doing much of anything tomorrow! Well, we’re running a 5K, maybe volunteering to box canned goods (if we aren’t all sweaty), checking in on Diane’s babies (cats) and picking up my sister at the O’Hare (returning from Cancun), but we’re not actually having the big meal until Friday, when we can celebrate with my sister and her friend.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? Traveling to see family/friends? Hosting? Sleeping in and lazing around all day?

On to Facebook. I’m sure you heard the story about the Canadian woman who says she lost her benefits (she was on long-term leave for depression) after her insurance agency found photos of her having fun on Facebook (story here).

According to the woman, Nathalie Blanchard, her insurance agent found photos on Facebook of her on holiday, at Chippendales, and at a birthday party, and that was evidence that she was well enough to go back to work. They cut off her sick-leave benefits this fall.

Blanchard says her doctor recommended she go on holiday to cheer up, and that she went when she was feeling particularly low.

The insurance agent said they would never deny a claim based on a website like Facebook. Blanchard’s case is going before the Quebec Superior Court next month.

What is your opinion on this story?

A few thoughts come to my mind. My cynical side can definitely imagine someone milking sick-leave benefits for all they are worth. Some people are just lazy and abusive of privileges like that – you know it.

On the other hand, I’ve been up and down in moods myself, and I know that going on a holiday is a good change of pace and way to cheer myself up.

Either way, it’s strange to think that photos you publish online could have this power. Of course, the insurance agent is saying they didn’t base it on that, and we can’t really know, but we do know that online photos have prevented people from getting jobs (and maybe dates, ha ha). Stories like this always cause me to stop and think about my internet persona. Right now, I don’t think I put anything risky or harmful (to my image) out there, but you never know how things can be interpreted!

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By kilax, November 24, 2009 5:00 am

If you don’t already read the Well blog on the New York Times, I highly recommend you do. The blog is focused on health and wellness topics and updates a few times a day. I always find the articles interesting.

Yesterday, the author linked to an interesting article called “Food, Kin and Tension at Thanksgiving.” I recommend reading it. You’ll either find it amusing, or that it hits too close to home and makes you dread the upcoming holiday meals.

The article is about all of the family drama that happens during holiday meal times – people commenting on you eating too little, people commenting on you eating too much, people sneaking stuff into your food*, people telling you to quit eating so fast, etc. The article gives specific examples, some of which I find ridiculous, like this story:

A Long Island woman, who like others interviewed for this column didn’t want to be named, said she and her family traveled 12 hours by train for a summer vacation gathering with her husband’s family. When her husband asked for seconds, the sister-in-law said there wasn’t any more food.

“There was all this food around, but she had cut us off,” the woman said. “We were just really shocked we were being told you can’t eat any more after coming all this way. We found out later she really controlled food in the household.”

Whoa! Kind of unbelievable, but then again, kind of NOT! People get weird about food, especially around the holidays! I know I felt territorial in my kitchen this past weekend (even though I love love LOVED that my grandma made breakfast).

Food is just so personal, but then again, it isn’t. Everyone pays attention to what other people are eating (makes me crazy) and a lot of people love to comment on it. That’s just the society we live in!

So, do you have any crazy family food drama like in the article?

I bet most of my family finds my vegan ways ridiculous! But, that is why we are hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas, suckas!** I have had people watch what I eat and tell me to eat more. Or eat meat. Or slow down. Or not to use margarine. Or hey, that is the wrong kind of baking powder! Don’t use that salt! What?! You eat SOY?!

Ha ha. The article has a pretty humorous solution at the very end. My solution? Grin and bear it then bitch to my husband later!

*Well, I added that one, but it’s happened to me!
**Just joking here.

Comments (19)

By kilax, October 21, 2009 7:20 am

Ugh, I have been excited about the holiday season since September. That is just sick! Let’s just blame it on the cooler temperatures we had this year, and move along…

We have a lot to look forward to this year:

• My mom, dad, and grandma are coming to Chicago the week before Thanksgiving for the 2009 Cookie Extravaganza.
• We may host Thanksgiving at our house this year with friends (if any Chicago friends are around)
• My sister will be in town late Thanksgiving Day, and possibly stay until the following Saturday, so we can have another fun meal with her and maybe do some “window shopping”
• Steven’s family is coming to our house this year for the holidays, so we get to decorate (And get a real tree! Data will be so excited when I tell him.), and plan fun meals and activities
• We may go visit some college friends in December
• We will get to see my family for the holidays sometime in December or January
• There is a slight possibility that we will travel to Disney World in January to run a half marathon (if not, we will be looking to get rid of our entries)

Our first real tree, in 2005!

We have fun, busy times ahead to look forward to. And I didn’t even mention that we have sometime planned practically every weekend until the holidays hit. Luckily, those events are close to home, and we don’t have to travel (much).

I think I get so excited about the holidays each year because I love to plan. Even though every year, I realize more and more how things don’t ever turn out exactly as planned (hey, that’s life!).

Do you get excited about the holidays? Do you love to plan things out too?

Do you live in a little fantasy world in your head like I do? Ha ha.

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By kilax, October 10, 2009 9:12 am

Remember last year when my mom, grandma, sister and I baked all of those sweets to hand out? Well, we’re doing it again this year. Same weekend (before Thanksgiving), one less person (Christina can’t come). And I am just as excited.

But, we all remember how tired we were making so many sweets (and dealing with a few failures). So, we’ve decided to only make four things.

Of course, my mom is already calling me suggesting more and more to bake. What happened to only making four things, mother?! She’s apparently having a hard time deciding on what to bake.

So, if you were receiving a basket of sweets, which four items below would you want in it? See the photo below the poll for a reference picture. And let me know if you have some favorite item that we did not include on the list!

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All the sweets we made last year, some items not included in the poll

And, one more poll, that Steven sort of inspired me to add at the last minute.

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By kilax, November 26, 2008 12:30 pm

When I was decorating sugar cookies on Sunday, I said “I like how Grandma Ilax’s sugar cookies always look so spontaneous – one will have a smear of frosting and a few random sprinkles – they all have so much character!”

So I decorated mine that way.

Apparently, my mom and grandma didn’t like that too much. They went back and added little frills to decorate them and make them look nicer. I wish I had a photo to show you how awful they looked before, but I don’t.

There was a particularly awful gingerbread man I decorated. He had purple pants, a yellow top, a white face, two chocolate chip eyes, and sprinkles for hair. My mom went back and gave him a red belt and a red smile, but there wasn’t really much she could do to make him nicer – he was UGLY.

I put him in the basket for my older brother, and told my mom to tell him I made that one special for him.

She must have told him. When I opened my email this morning, I had an email called “Cookie Adventures” from my brother.

I guess the cookie didn’t survive his big adventure, but it looks like he had some fun along the way. I think we need some captions for these photos!

This email from my brother made me laugh out loud at my desk for a long time. I really needed that this morning. I was already pissed off when I got on the train at 6:25… and my day hadn’t even started.

I am realizing more and more that I have not been handling stress very well lately. We all have stress in our lives on a daily basis, but I feel like this has been a particularly stressful month for me. I have a lot going on at work. And just having a busy social schedule has been making me stress.

I seem to just sort of… shut off when all of this stress hits me. I can’t think straight. I am angry. I don’t want anyone to talk to me. I want to be left alone. I try to do some deep breathing to get over things. I get anxious. And jumpy. And nervous.

I need to figure out how to handle this, because I kind of doubt things are going to die down at all between now and New Year’s.

I do know that writing things here helps. At least for the moment it distracts me.

All of this stress has been holding me back from looking forward to Thanksgiving AT ALL. Yeah, I am excited to have the time off from work to relax and see family, but that’s it. I feel sad that I am not looking forward to this holiday. That I am viewing it as more of a burden. I hope I snap out of this.

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By kilax, October 23, 2008 7:53 am

Even though it is an entire month away, I am already getting really excited for a trip my parents and sister are planning to Chicago for the weekend before Thanksgiving.

When I was back home last weekend, my mom said, “You know what would be fun? If all of us girls got together at Grandma’s house and baked a bunch of cookies like we did that one year*!”

Of course, I had to be selfish and say, “Why don’t you all come out to Chicago? We can spend one day ‘window shopping’ downtown, and the next day baking the treats!”

My sister is going to be in Chicago for a one-day trip the Friday before Thanksgiving, so it works out perfectly for her to just stay here and ride home with my parents! Yay!

And Steven is really excited that they are visiting, because it means free slave labor he’ll have some help (my dad) working on his “project car” – a 1978 Datsun 280Z.

Now… we just need to figure out who we are going to give all these cookies to!

* In December 2001, when I was a senior in high school, my mother, grandmother, and a friend of mine decided to make tons of cookies for all of our friends, family, and teachers at school. We baked them all at my Grandmother’s (now she lives in a different town that my parents). I have always loved to bake! I am excited we are going to be doing this again!

All of the trays of cookies.

Small plates of cookies to hand out!

Me, looking like the goober I really am.

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By kilax, November 23, 2007 8:41 am

Are you a “Black Friday” bargain shopper / what is your preferred method for buying gifts?

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and unofficially the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The day was originally called “Black Friday” because of the heavy traffic in stores, but it also refers to the beginning of the period when retailers are “in the black” (making a profit). Most stores open very early – as early as 5am – and offer “doorbuster” deals to lure people into their store.

I’ll admit that I’ve done this shopping a few times with my mom. When I was in middle school, we would wake up at 4:30 and rush to the stores to buy the “special” deals. Of course, I didn’t actually have any money, so I was just along for the ride – for the crazy, crazy ride of mostly middle-aged women pushing and screaming to get the last Tickle Me Elmo.

When I was in high school I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so I didn’t do it anymore. Maybe my younger sister and mother still went. I am not sure.

Now, I think it is CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY. One of the malls near our house opened at midnight last night, to have special “doorbuster” deals between midnight and 5am! The last thing I was thinking about last night was shopping, I just wanted to clean my kitchen and go to bed! I started getting electronic ads for today’s sales in the beginning of the week – the ads told me to “create my shopping list early” so I knew what to look for on Friday.

I think I will do most of this year’s shopping in stores, but try to avoid these crazy shopping days. I just don’t have the patience for it!

(Ironically, my mother called me while I was writing this – she was out shopping and wanted to ask me what kind of underwear I like… ha ha ha!)