How funny! Okay, not haha funny, coincidence funny. I have been feeling exactly the same way the last few days! And I'm also thinking if I feel this way NOW I will be-and your term is perfect-absolute rubbish for the holiday chaos! Nooooo....

Thrilled for you-on all fronts! Losing weight is incredibly difficult and enjoying the healthy results isn't remotely shallow! A trip to London, getting to leave 50 lbs. of you at home, and new, cute, size 10 jeans? The Fun Trifecta!

Homemaking really IS an art-and such a necessary one! But like you said, there are so many skills that go into it to keep our home "machine" running at peak efficiency. I love teaching but I'm lucky to be able to do it part-time, and I schedule my classes for later in the day, to leave time for all the homemaking "stuff". Running a house really is a full-time job in itself, as others have commented, and I'd go mad (and our house would be a disaster!) if I didn't have time for it. Those who don't respect it as a "job" have never done it, at least not properly!

Perfectly said! As a child we spent a lot of time at our place at the lake but otherwise we had to flop around and amuse ourselves! I love unstructured time so I always wanted holidays to feel like that for my kids, too. Too much structure can be stressful and doesn't do a thing to encourage creativity and self reliance. Your holiday sounds just right to me!

My daughter and I found the "80% part-time vegan" way of eating works really well! Helps cut out the animal fats and adds all the yummy, colorful foods! But a girl still needs her cheeseburger now and then! And 41 lbs-good for you!!

Of course I would love this! Such a cute idea!

Must give a shout out to Miss Marion at our bank who always has lollipops and a dog treat for Shasta! Since everyone claims to be so desperate for customers you'd think they'd do a better job trying to keep the ones they have. I think I need one of those cups!

You're welcome! Thanks for stopping over at "my place" but I'm sorry you had trouble commenting. You should be able to Select Profile under the comment box and choose TypePad, then fill in your username. I have trouble commenting on some sites that aren't Blogger blogs and it's frustrating. My favorite post about my kids is Minumus Discovers Vintage. That little excursion sums them up perfectly!

I recently found your blog, too, and it's absolutely charming! I think some people are just "downsizing". That silly trend of some bloggers of following every blog they find just so other blogs will follow them? Maybe they are purging. I bet you didn't lose anyone who is an active part of your blog "family"!

Found your blog through The Coffee Lady-so glad I did! It's lovely. Just feels cozy when you drop in!

Such a cute idea! Love that you can just stick the entire egg in the ground. Yeah, the kids never mind the mess, do they?!

This is a great idea! My kids loved collecting for the animal shelter and were shocked by how much money they would have at the end.

Such a cute idea! I do NOT know how you have the time!