Our trip to Texas was eventful, stressful, and it was great to see my family. They are all thrilled that I am getting married, and they seem to adore Gordon as much as he adores them!

It was a very busy week, though - we learned of two deaths in the family last week, had one birth, two birthdays, and Christmas. My great aunt Connie passed away (apparently in her sleep) last Thursday night and my dad's cousin's stepson, J., was killed in a car accident on the 12th of December, but most of the family only learned of it last week. God bless them both. My brother and his wife welcomed a baby boy into the world, Dalton William, and he and his mother are both doing fine. My grandmother had her 92nd birthday, and my uncle had his 57th birthday. It was a whirlwind of a week.

Through it all I managed to eat not too terribly, but I did falter considerably. I haven't dared step on the scale since our return, nor have I worked out in days and days. Mostly I'm wiped out. We returned home Christmas Day, went straight to Gordon's family's house for dinner (his aunt made me a spelt apple pie!) and we hung out with them and exchanged presents and visited. At some point during the evening I hit the wall, and Gordon looked at me and realized it was time to take me home. I got to sleep about 11:15 that night, and was out cold for nearly 12 hours.

Yesterday we went to Gordon's mother's for brunch, and we had a lovely brunch, and more presents. His family is very thoughtful and kind, and I felt very much as though I belonged with the family. It was great!

Anne came over yesterday afternoon, and we caught up - we hadn't seen each other in about 2 weeks, so we had dinner and chatted the evening away. I had been craving lamb after all the junk this week, so we had lamb chops, artichokes, and rice for dinner.

I am preparing for some serious detoxing these next few weeks as I readjust back to normal.

I hope everyone's holidays have been wonderful, and that we all have a happy, healthy and prospersous New Year.