I'm back ...

Well sort of - due to the closure of healthnuts, I have copied the posts from my blog there onto blogger. I doubt that I will be posting as often as I used to but will definitely be around occasionally.

Take care and have a great day !

GO THE MAROONS !!!

It definitely wasn't the best Origin game I have seen - not played with the same intensity that Origin is normally played at but WE WON ! When we got to work last night it was just on half time and we had just gone down 18-6 going into the break - I made sure I didn't ask anyone if they knew the score during the night as we were going home to watch the second half.
We left work at about 1.30 due to some issues which had arisen during the night. A asked me if I was going to watch and I was in two minds about how tired I was so I pulled the doona into the lounge room, flopped on the bean bag and said "If I see it I see it and if I fall asleep wake me up when you go to bed". I think I may have dozed once or twice but I did see most of the second half. I was really pleased that they won - wouldn't it be great if they could finally pull off a win at Telstra Stadium and make Game 3 a dead rubber - keep your fingers crossed !!!!
Last night I watched The Secret instead of exercising. When I was at yoga on Monday night, we were talking about it. I wanted to buy the DVD but apparently you can only buy it over the net - it's not available in any stores and my yoga instructor had a copy which she very kindly lent me. I haven't finished reading the book yet but the DVD is almost just like they are reading the book to you (except I think there is much more detail in the book). I don't think I am in quite such a rush to get the DVD now having seen it once, I think I would prefer to work my way through the book. I have bought a little journal which I am going to use once I have finished reading the book and then go back and work my way through the book using the journal to do the exercises they suggest for the areas which I want to work on.
Have a great week and take care !
TFTD : All that we are is the result of what we have thought
TIAGF : The good health which my family and I have

Ready for change

Since starting to read The Secret, I have realised how it has been ME who has been limiting my ability to move forward - in all areas of my life. While I don't want to become a "The Secret" pusher, I am embracing it throughout my life and it is becoming a part of who I am and what I can achieve. I will try not to bore you with the details each time something happens but I do believe this is what I needed to get myself motivated and on the path to becoming the person I truly am.
We have a situation at our night job - we got to work last week sometime to be told (unofficially by someone who had happened to see the leave forms in the bin) that our leave forms for Spain had landed up in the bin with a big NO written across them. Immediately my back was up and A was so angry he was ready to walk out. Managed to convince him we would be able to sort it out (haven't been able to as yet but I now know that it will all be sorted out in the end). Does anyone know - if you are part-time permanent (night-fillers) and you request leave at a non-busy time i.e. not Christmas, and you have the leave due to you - can they tell you that you can't take your leave ? I mean it isn't as though the company will collapse if we don't pack shelves for a month as they will just get casuals in to fill instead of us. And, even if we didn't have leave (after A using all his leave with his operation I don't know if he will have enough paid leave by September) - wouldn't it be cheaper for them to let us have the leave as unpaid leave ? And, if they are going to say we can't have the leave - surely a phone call would be the least they could do and not just throw the leave requests into the bin ? Maybe it is just the way national companies work - I don't know.
This evening when we get home I am going to be doing some weight exercises - not sure what I am going to do but with some help from A I will get something done. I will be using the fit ball as well. I may do double what the little pamphlet that came with the ball says as I didn't feel like I had done very much after doing one set of everything.
It has been a long time since I had a TFTD or TIAGF and I have decided to get those started again so here goes :
TFTD : Just thinking about a friend makes you want to do a happy dance, because a friend is someone who loves you in spite of your faults.
TIAGF : The opportunity to read The Secret and change my life as a result of what I have read.

The Secret and the monkey

The Secret book is fantastic - I bought it after work yesterday and nearly missed pilates and work because I didn't want to put it down. I thought about all the things I could accomplish and be and become by using the laws of attraction and I was amazed at how powerful a tool it is. We have some financial issues happening at the moment which are really giving me grey hairs and making this situation just too hard - this morning I woke up and said to myself "Today I will finish the FBT return (that was sort of a given as it is due on Monday but considering how much stuffing around I have done over the past 10 days - anything was possible), I will attract only positive things into my life, I love the person that I am and I love the body that I have - it may not be where I would like it to be, but, for today, I love it. The financial situation we are in will be resolved and it will not cost us more money than we originally calculated." For the first time in a long time, I came into work positive that I was going to have a good day. That I wasn't going to be dragged down by negative thoughts over what I couldn't do but would rather concentrate on what I can do and ask for help on what I didn't know (even though it is my ex-boss who is more help than my current boss - but she (my ex-boss) knows that and is always more than happy to help with any questions that I may have.)
When I got to work I saw an e-mail which required a reply by 5pm yesterday - as it was only sent at 4.48 and I had left a little early due to having to get to the shops to buy The Secret before going to pilates, I didn't get the e-mail until this morning. This resulted in them retracting their offer - I did not get upset - I remembered what I had said when I got up this morning. I spoke to A about it and we made the decision that if after a few more phone calls things were sorted out - that was great, otherwise we would have to consider alternative options. The bottom line is that we were expecting to incur costs in the region of $1000 - instead we have received an additional $200 in our pocket !!! I truly believe that The Secret works - what else would explain this change in situation for us.
The FBT monkey is finally off my back (well as close to being off as it can be without actually being off) - I have to wait for some figures which I can only get first thing on Monday morning but the rest of it is all balanced up and ready to go - as soon as I have those figures I can put them in, complete the return and send it off - YAY !!!!!!!!! This, together with the government financial return were two BIG monkeys that gave me sleepless nights, lots of anxious moments and, in the end, the realisation that I am capable of lots more than I have given myself credit for. My previous boss said to me after I had left that I had to have more confidence in my abilities, something I have always battled with, and these two 'projects' have made me realise that, while I may not know what I am doing, I can ask questions and get help and accomplish far more than I thought I was able to.
Tomorrow we will be organising a 15 year old birthday sleep over - am sure they will have lots of fun and hopefully they won't be up all night as they all have to be at softball at 9am on Sunday morning (and we have to drive about 1 hr 15mins to get there) - with a bit of luck they won't be too tired to play as it is one of their hardest opponents and their parents can deal with cranky teenagers in the afternoon when the lack of sleep kicks in.
Have a fantastic weekend everyone - take care and go safely !

Now breathing

Thanks NJ - you were right - I did need to take a moment to breathe !!!! Thanks also to M and Mary for their positive comments and nudges in the right direction. The spack attack from yesterday is mostly over - I realise that while I am not totally useless or a total failure, I am not in the place that I would like to be in right now and guess what - it is my own fault. Now, not to beat myself up over that, I am going to start making some positive changes.
Last night I got home in time to see about 20 minutes of Oprah's The Secret and I phoned this morning to place an order for the book which I will be collecting on my way home. While I don't think this will suddenly make all my problems go away, I do believe it will help me deal with them in a positive manner and I can get things moving in the right direction, something which has been sadly lacking in most areas of my life for a while now. I loved what the lady said last night about placing an order for your life - when you go into a restaurant and place an order, you expect to receive what you ordered - how come we look at life differently ? When we invite all the negativity into our lives, we really shouldn't complain when it turns up because that is what we asked for. I know that this isn't a new concept - it isn't even a new concept for me - it is something I have known for a long long time - the difference now is that I am choosing to do something positive about it - I am going to make those positive changes. I am going to do what I have to to remember to keep the positive affirmations happening - what normally happens with me is I say them once or twice and then forget about them. I will keep writing things down until I don't need to see them to remember them and that way I will start to live a more positive life and bring into my life the wonderful things I deserve like a loving family, security, happiness and stability.
I have been dicking around at work today - really not wanting to go and see the CM about the FBT as this morning she mailed me an old FBT manual and then came in and told me that the rates were wrong but if I read it I would get the gist of what had to be done. News flash - I have the current FBT manual which I have been using but when you look at last years figures and cannot trace them back to anything, how do I know where to find those same figures this year ?????? I will deal with this this afternoon and I will not let myself go home to stew over these same issues for another night.
As I said, I am off to get The Secret this afternoon after work (not sure when I will find the $35 from but seeing as I am placing my order for the book out there, I have faith that the money will come from somewhere in time to pay the credit card bill when it arrives), then I am off to pilates and then home to chores before going to work. Maybe I can try to fit in a soak in the bath with my new book between all of the above.
Now, I had better be off and tackle this FBT - being an ostrich about it is not going to help when I have to send the return off on Monday !! Thanks again for your support - it truly means so much to me because this is one place where I can be honest about how I am feeling and what is happening and know that people will understand where I am coming from.

I'm totally useless

I have come to the conclusion that I am just totally useless and a total failure right now. Harsh words you may think, but I am on the road to self destruction with no inclination to pull the plug to stop.
I knew this week was going to be hectic with meetings 3 nights out of 5 - a 15 year old sleep over on Saturday night and a seemingly never ending list of things that HAVE to be done due to professional people waiting on things from us. But, knowing that a week is going to be hectic and actually getting through said week is proving to be a little outside my scope of capabilities right now. Needless to say my eating has been worse than bad (if there is such a thing) - take-aways are common practice and snacking on unsuitable food is the norm - not that there is junk food in the house but Coles is just across the road and the canteen has a range of biscuits / do-nuts / chips / chocolates to keep a small army going (well a 1200 student college at least !!!). As for exercise - apart from yoga and pilates - that has been non-existent as well despite my good intentions of doing something every day !!!!!
Work is a challenge I am having difficulty dealing with - having got the government financial return done and submitted prior to the deadline, I managed to get the April accounts done in record time (all correct except for one change which had to made due to the budget showing 1 day less of teaching days compared to my calculation of actual teaching days) before starting on the FBT return. This is something I have never done and was told - no problem - it isn't difficult at all. Well it may not be difficult if you know what you are doing but if you don't it is bloody stressful !!!!! It has to be submitted on Monday 21st May (I originally thought it was only 31st May) which means I really only have tomorrow and Friday to complete it all. I have made an appointment with the Commercial Manager to speak to her about it tomorrow morning as I just can't handle anything more with it today.
The other news making me feel really crap is that I heard this morning a close friend of ours has pancreatic cancer (inoperable) and has been given 12 months. Shit - that isn't what I expected to hear. There were a group of three of us who used to work together - one lady's husband died nearly 2 years ago from luekeamia and now this has happened to the other lady - it is just dreadful. Now I know that the drs don't know time lines and shouldn't tell people you have so long to live BECAUSE THEY REALLY DON'T KNOW but it is still a shock to know that it is probably going to be sooner rather than later. Why do crappy things happen to good people - there are enough bad people out there who can have this sort of stuff happen to them.
This isn't getting the payments for this week signed - so had better get going - just felt I needed to get on here and get this off my chest.

A yoga convert in the making

Last night I went to the yoga class which I should have gone to last week but didn't make it because of birthdays, running around after work and night shift being moved forward an hour. But, I finally made it last night - and boy am I glad that I went. I don't think I managed all that well with what I did - having said that there were quite a few positions which were very similar to pilates so I didn't feel out of my depth the whole time.
I was very nervous about going - I am not good at new situations where I don't know people and don't know what to expect. I didn't know what type of yoga she taught (and I still don't because I didn't have the courage to ask) but I had such a great time there. I didn't relax as much as I had hoped I would - I felt myself keep tensing up until I realised it and then made an effort to relax again but it is a learning curve and I know that I will get better at it the more I practise. She was such a lovely lady - so calm and relaxed (I know, if you teach yoga you would expect her to be calm and relaxed) and she was just lovely. She chatted to me for a while after the class and in talking I mentioned my in-ability to sleep and she said "Isn't this amazing - it was only today that I photocopied an article for some ladies in one of my other classes who said that they couldn't sleep" and off she went and brought me back one of the copies she had made. There is an article from a yoga magazine as well as some poses to do before going to bed each night. I didn't try them at 1.30 when I got home this morning but will definitely try them out tonight before going to bed. I said to A this morning " I don't know if it is psyhcological but I felt l ike I definitely had a better sleep last night" - I felt that I didn't wake up nearly as many time in the 5 1/2 hrs that I was asleep compared to the number of times I normally wake up during that time. This is all good news for me - if yoga is the way for me to go to have a decent nights sleep then that is what I am going to do. I know that any reasonable level of exercise helps me to sleep and I need to work on making sure that I fit some sort of exercise into my day each day.
My water in-take is still good - I have had at least 6 glasses of water yesterday and today. I have also been eating grapes as my fresh fruit which is another plus for me as fruit and I don't really get along very well.
On that note, my lunch 1/2 hr is nearly over and I had better get back to work. Take care and have a great day everyone !

A great day !

Today has been great - I even had a litre of water before having a Coke Zero this morning - something I haven't done for many many months. I hate water - there are even times when I would rather go thirsty than drink water and I will not touch tap water - it has to be filtered water. So much so that we bought the Brita water bottles for when we go cycling so that it didn't matter where we filled our water bottles up. Anyway, I have managed to get another glass down since then and have one more glass to go before the end of the day - I should make it. Then it is up to me to try to keep it up over the following days / weeks / months.
I have done very well with my food choices since I last posted. Our holiday is proving to be a huge incentive to get this weight off. Plus this morning I did the jewellery incentive as well - no jewellery (except my wedding ring, my Gran's wedding ring and a thin necklace) until I get down to 70kgs. This worked to get me down to 75kgs - lets see if I have the same success to get another 5 kgs off.
I hope everyone is having a great day !

A good day

I am sitting at softball writing this - not because K is playing and I am not watching the game - but because she isn’t playing and we are here !!! A thought it would be a great opportunity to teach her some more about the game seeing as she isn’t playing. She hurt her foot playing soccer on Friday afternoon when she went to kick the ball at the same time as someone from the opposition went to kick it and after x-rays on Friday night we found out that while it isn’t broken or fractured, she has bruised the cartilage in her big toe. So she is on crutches for a while until it heals enough for her to walk on it. But, she wanted to support her team and so we decided to bring her up.
Yesterday was a great day for me - I went shopping and I took Mary and M with me. Generally A and I do the shopping together but as he was working in the garden I said I would go by myself. Well - the chocolates and the biscuits were calling me - VERY LOUDLY - but thankfully Mary and M were even louder - NO JUNK FOOD IN THE HOUSE and that made it a bit easier for me to walk past without putting them in the trolley. I have been very slack lately and have had the mentality that “I’ll start tomorrow” but as we all know - tomorrow never comes because it is always today. I felt so good when I got home with only the items on my shopping list and not having bought and eaten anything before I even got home. Thank you my dear friends for helping me out and for being louder than the food that was calling me.
With our holiday to Spain mostly finalised, I have realised that if I want to lose 10kgs before I go, I am the one who has to do it - there is nobody else who can do it and if I don’t do it, it will be nobody’s fault but my own. But, if I can just keep the thought of Spain in my head whenever I go to put something in my mouth - I might just be able to do this. And, if I don’t do it - I would like ot be able to look back and say - I gave it my best shot rather than if only I had tried a little harder. The delayed gratification will be far better than the instant gratification I will be getting from eating things that aren’t helping me to achieve my goal.
Today will be a good day - I had some oats before I left home so I know that I won’t be hungry for quite a while - meant to bring a WW bar with me but ran out the house in a hurry and forgot - never mind a drink of water (or more likely Coke Zero) will keep any hunger pangs at bay until we get home and I can have a lunch which fits in with my eating for the day.
At least my week at work won’t be quite as hectic as it has been - the huge government return has been finished and submitted - now I just have to get the April accounts finished so that I can get the FBT return done and sent in - then it will be back to the usual accounts and looking at how to improve the processes which are currently in place.
I hope that you are all having a great weekend - take care and will catch up with you sometime during the week.
Have just finished 2 1/2 hrs in the garden weeding and clearing beds etc - at least now it looks a lot tidier. Still not where I want it to be - but better than it was. Does anyone else dislike working in the garden but do it because it has to be done ? I feel like it is one of those necessary chores like washing clothes and grocery shopping - wish I could win the Lotto and get someone in the do the garden each week !!!!

then again, maybe not ...

On Tuesday I thought I was very determined about keeping focussed on delayed rather than instant gratification - well I was wrong. Yesterday, while it wasn't a bad day, it wasn't the best day either. Last night I realised that on a few occasions I had eaten things without actually thinking about them and then too late realising that they weren't conducive to me reaching my long term goal - BUT IT WAS TOO LATE - they had already been eaten !!!
After a breakfast of pancakes and ice-cream, A and I went for a lovely cycle (although we both could feel the effects of Sunday's ride on our butts still !!!) and then came home and did some washing. He got stuck into the garden and I landed up pulling weeds down the side and the back of the house. In the afternoon I started preparing dinner as my folks were coming around.
All up - it could have been a lot worse - I could have eaten more 'bad' things and not gone cycling but it made me realise just how often I eat without thinking. I need to stop and focus on what I am putting in my mouth BEFORE it actually gets eaten - it's too late to worry about it once it has made it's way into the dark hole of my tummy.
Tonight I am off to pilates before going home for left overs and then off to work. It's great that we had the holiday yesterday - what a pity we couldn't have more 4 day weeks for 5 day pay !
Have a great evening everyone !

I'm determined !

As any of you who know me will know, I am either an all or nothing girl - when I am good I am very, very good but when I am bad, I'm dreadful !
As I said in my blog earlier, I have to weigh up the instant gratification of eating too much of a good thing against the long term gratification of losing weight and getting back to goal. Sometimes it is a sentence like the last which is enough to make my steely reserve come to the fore and show me what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it.
The other day we went shopping (I think it may have been the weekend) and I put peanut M&M's into the trolly. A put in liquorice allsorts and some liquorice. I ate some M&M's - was going to eat the whole packet but managed to stop myself - mainly because I felt sick on the handful that I had already eaten. But the thoughts from my previous post came back to haunt me - do I want that instant gratification or can I delay it ? Since then I have managed to hold onto that thought and have said no to things which I haven't said no to in a long time. While I realise that it is only two days - for me that is better than only one day and if I can take this one day at a time, I will get there. While I am not counting points again (yet), I have a very good idea of how many I'm eating and I have been varying the food I eat for all meals which I think will make a difference as I seem to have got stuck in a rut w.r.t. my breakfast and lunch menu.
Long may this resolve last !!!!

Our holiday

About a month ago we booked our tickets for our holiday this year but I never mentioned it because it has been a little up in the air about where we were going. K and I knew where we wanted to go but A was a little undecided. We have managed to talk him around to our country of choice (Spain) and so have now started booking accommodation and looking at car hire etc. What we have found out is that we are going to have to do a lot more research before finalising things like car hire, day trips etc. The places we are staying are really dictated by where we can get timeshare accommodation - at A$249 for a weeks accommodation for 3 of us we really can't find any better value for money. The sad thing is that we only have one week to use at this price and the other two weeks will be a little more expensive but they will still work out cheaper than hotel accommodation.
We will be going to Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, Castellion and Barcelona and I am sure we will all have a great time. K is studying Spanish at school and so we will be relying on her to get us around !!!! Her Spanish teacher has said that she will ensure K has enough grasp of the language so that we don't go hungry !!!! I am sure that if all else fails there will be a McDonald's or Starbucks if the worst comes to the worst (well it was be for the worse because I don't drink tea of coffee so Starbucks is actually of no use to me unless they sell cakes / biscuits !!!)
That is our exciting news for now - there are so many sites to look at that it is getting all quite confusing. I keep jotting down websites but now have to get smarter about that because sometimes I go back and I can't remember what it was that I was looking at on that website !
I haven't done any thinking about anything other than our holiday today - probably should have as that is one of the motivators for me to get these pesky kilos off. Tonight we are going to pack the car for our early start up to Redlands tomorrow. A is going to put the bikes on the back so when we get there we can go for a ride while K is busy warming up and we will get back in time to watch her game before coming home. Other than that, not much else in the way of news - hope you all have a great Saturday night !

I'm proud and I'm ranting !

What is it with family sometimes ? They can make you feel 10 feet tall or they can drive you to drink !!!!!
Last night I had both ends of the spectrum. K made me feel like I was 10 feet tall and A made me want to rush off to the bottle shop and buy the biggest bottle of Amarula I could find !!!! Not that I have forgotten about how I was ready to give her away a couple of weeks ago but, like with little ones, they can be absolute sods and then they come up to you and put their arms around you and tell you that they love you lots and lots and you just melt.
On the weight front there is nothing, zip, zilch, nada happening. I have maintained for most of this week which in itself isn't an achievement but I am happy about it anyway as it could have been a lot worse.
This stupid government return is not going the way it should - in fact it is barely moving at all but right now I am just over the whole thing. (This is said tongue in cheek for anyone who may be offended by my comment !) Why can't the government just give us the money and let us spend it how we like - why do we have to account for all of it to them ?????? (Yes, I know the reason but it is driving me nuts and giving me gray hairs)
Last night at work I was thinking about all the things that I have to be grateful for - there are many things and I certainly am grateful for them. Some of them are as a result of lots of hard work, some as result of being in the right place at the right time and some, I believe, are because what goes around comes around and it is some good karma coming back to me /us. While A is still getting over his leg, the three of us are all healthy and capable of achieving whatever we set out to achieve - the only person keeping me from losing weight is myself. There is nobody holding a gun to my head and force feeding me. There is nobody going out of their way to make it difficult for me to get my act together - it is all up to me. I remember a saying (from I don't know where) - if it is meant to be, it is up to me - and that is so true. I need to settle down and decide exactly what it is that I want - do I want the instant gratification of eating that biscuit/chocolate/extra couple of slices of cheese for the hit I get now or do I want the delayed gratification of losing the weight and all the benefits that are associated with that weight loss. Do I want to be travelling around Spain, fat, over weight and battling to walk anywhere or do I want to be there with a spring in my step encouraging A & K to keep up with me ? It is all up to me and what I need to do is spend some time this weekend making a list of what my priorities are - what I want to accomplish - and how I am going to make it happen. First I have to get rid of (or do I mean finish eating ???) the ANZAC biscuits we bought to celebrate ANZAC day next week and the packet of liquorice allsorts I bought from Coles yesterday. My house is junk food free now (apart from some Easter eggs which K still has but as they are hers there is no chance that I would eat them anyway as I go totally off the deepend if she eats something that is mine without first asking) so that is a good start. I will take it one step at a time - take back the power for myself instead of letting everyone and everything around me have the power over what I do and how I feel and more importantly, what I eat.
This is going to be a good weekend - I am going to work on what I have to do to get myself into the best space I can be in - I am now at the point where I realise that this isn't something that I WANT to do - it is something I HAVE to do.
Have a great weekend everyone and take care !

What a day !

I woke up this morning with a headache and I still have it - bugger !!!!! Mind you, after the day that I have had, I can't expect a headache to go away.
I am busy with the stupid government return which has to be done by the end of the month otherwise we won't be getting any funding until it is. And, while I enjoy challenges, I don't enjoy unrealistic challenges and that is how I see this. There are about 240 pgs of instructions before you even start !! Anyway, I am slowly working my way through what I think needs to be done and will then have to have a chat to someone (not sure who at this stage) to see if I am on the right track and get them to point me in the right direction so that I don't go completely off course.
We had a run around time today as K is applying for a scholarship to Queensland Academies for Health Sciences and as I was about to post the application off (due tomorrow), I realised that we didn't have the photo that was required. Luckily someone at school could take a photo and A took me to the photographic shop in the area to get it printed and then off to the PO to get an Express Post envelope - all sent now so just a case of wait and see. She sits the scholarship test at school on Monday - hopefully something will come from one of these.
We are off to Redlands shortly for softball training. I thought that I would have enjoy stir fry from last night to have for left overs tonight - no such luck so it is going to be Subway on the way home before dashing off to work.
A's leg is improving - it is still bleeding on and off at some of the pin sites but on the whole is much better. We are still bandaging it up each day as it is quite yucky to look at.
Take care and have a great evening !

What a day !

I woke up this morning with a headache and I still have it - bugger !!!!! Mind you, after the day that I have had, I can't expect a headache to go away.
I am busy with the stupid government return which has to be done by the end of the month otherwise we won't be getting any funding until it is. And, while I enjoy challenges, I don't enjoy unrealistic challenges and that is how I see this. There are about 240 pgs of instructions before you even start !! Anyway, I am slowly working my way through what I think needs to be done and will then have to have a chat to someone (not sure who at this stage) to see if I am on the right track and get them to point me in the right direction so that I don't go completely off course.
We had a run around time today as K is applying for a scholarship to Queensland Academies for Health Sciences and as I was about to post the application off (due tomorrow), I realised that we didn't have the photo that was required. Luckily someone at school could take a photo and A took me to the photographic shop in the area to get it printed and then off to the PO to get an Express Post envelope - all sent now so just a case of wait and see. She sits the scholarship test at school on Monday - hopefully something will come from one of these.
We are off to Redlands shortly for softball training. I thought that I would have enjoy stir fry from last night to have for left overs tonight - no such luck so it is going to be Subway on the way home before dashing off to work.
A's leg is improving - it is still bleeding on and off at some of the pin sites but on the whole is much better. We are still bandaging it up each day as it is quite yucky to look at.
Take care and have a great evening !

I found someone

Actually I didn't find her, my friend did - the bottom line is that I have found someone, a couple of suburbs away from where I live, who gives yoga classes on a day and time which is suitable for me, at a price which is right and who does it for all the right reasons !!! I have been looking on and off for a yoga class in my area but I haven't (until now) found anything suitable. Yesterday I received a call from a friend of mine telling me about this freaky phone call she had just had with the yoga lady. I was going to go last night but when I phoned to confirm that the class was on, she told me she had just got back from a weeks working holiday (she had been to one of the islands off Qld for a week to teach yoga to a family - how cool would that be ???) So I am all set for next Monday night - a little disappointed that it didn't happen last night but never mind - something to look forward to next week. (Bugger - have just realised that there are two public holidays on Monday's and she probably won't have a class !!!!)
I did get home last night and, after having cooked dinner, and not been able to go to the yoga class, pull out my fitball and work out on that for 30 mins which was great although I obviously didn't work hard enough as I couldn't really feel anything this morning. Will have to maybe do more reps on each one tonight.
Have a great day everyone and take care !
TFTD : Close friends become family and family is the true centre of the universe
TIAGF : Working out on my fitball last night

All is well in the world of A

The operation was a success (not that we expected anything less). It was a very tiring day at the hospital but it was soooooooo good to see A without the frame when I went through and he was having something to eat - poor bugger was starving when he finally recovered and they let him have some horrible hospital sandwiches. I, on the other hand, had moseyed down to the hospital cafe after they had taken him off to theatre, and had a toasted chicken sandwich (not the best) with a bottle of Coke Zero and the bestest caramel slice I have ever tasted ! It was so good I had to buy one to give to A when he was up to eating something that rich. I know I said I wasn't going to eat anything unnecessarily but I just couldn't resist.
There has been a lot of bleeding from the pin sites - they did not stitch them up but rather put Betadine plugs in. We managed to control the bleeding with pressure bandages which is all that the hospital told us to do if the sites continued to bleed after we had left there. I looked at his leg for the first time last night and it doesn't look too bad all things considered. K has been cleaning and dressing the 6 sites and then I have been wrapping a bandage around his leg so that it can't be seen - it really is quite revolting to look at plus the bandage will keep any dust and bugs out until the holes are all closed.
We had a lovely dinner on Friday night with all the family - lots of laughing and joking and 'remember whening' !!! It was great. I had two starters as my main meal and then A and I shared a Brownie Blast - that was delicious although I am glad he shared it with me as I think I would have been sick if I had tried to eat a whole one on my own. They served it in a big brandy goblet !
The rest of the weekend was spent driving up and down to Redlands Bay which is where K is going to be playing softball in future - on the whole the standard of play there is a lot stronger than where she was playing previously but it is a lot further away. Thank goodness we only have 1 child to ferry around !!!!!
Had better get going as my lift is on his way over - I am on my way home and am going to dig out my fitball and the exercise sheet I received with the fitball and work my way through those exercises - that way I don't have to interrupt anyone who is watching something on TV to put a pilates or Walk away the Pounds video on.
Have a great week everyone and take care !

Only one more sleep to go

As the title says - only one more sleep until A's frame is off - forever !!!!! YAY !!!!!!!!! Having said that, after being through the whole plaster of paris thing for 18 months the last time, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this option to anyone who has the choice between a spatial frame or plaster of paris.
I have decided that, while I am not quite back to being 'back on track', I am not going to sabotage myself by being Miss Piggy until I do get back on track. So, I am not counting points etc but I am limiting my intake of food which is not conducive to losing weight - whether that is solid little easter eggs, extra cheese on my sandwich or an extra shake of the muesli container into my breakfast bowl. If I can do that until next week I will be a happy little veggiemite.
We did manage to get batteries for the scale last night (although had to go to three shops to find the blasted things) and I hopped on this morning and received a very pleasant surprise of 74.8kgs. I was certainly not expecting to see a number as low as that but I have steeled myself to the very real possibility that this number will go up before it starts to come down again. Never mind - I have no regrets and I will continue to do the best that I can in the circumstances over the next few days. Tomorrow morning will be easy - I won't eat anything until A is taken through to theatre - after that, I will make sure I have Coke Zero's to keep my mouth occupied while I wait for him to come out.
Have a great day and take care !

Only one more sleep to go

As the title says - only one more sleep until A's frame is off - forever !!!!! YAY !!!!!!!!! Having said that, after being through the whole plaster of paris thing for 18 months the last time, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this option to anyone who has the choice between a spatial frame or plaster of paris.
I have decided that, while I am not quite back to being 'back on track', I am not going to sabotage myself by being Miss Piggy until I do get back on track. So, I am not counting points etc but I am limiting my intake of food which is not conducive to losing weight - whether that is solid little easter eggs, extra cheese on my sandwich or an extra shake of the muesli container into my breakfast bowl. If I can do that until next week I will be a happy little veggiemite.
We did manage to get batteries for the scale last night (although had to go to three shops to find the blasted things) and I hopped on this morning and received a very pleasant surprise of 74.8kgs. I was certainly not expecting to see a number as low as that but I have steeled myself to the very real possibility that this number will go up before it starts to come down again. Never mind - I have no regrets and I will continue to do the best that I can in the circumstances over the next few days. Tomorrow morning will be easy - I won't eat anything until A is taken through to theatre - after that, I will make sure I have Coke Zero's to keep my mouth occupied while I wait for him to come out.
Have a great day and take care !

Where did the 4 days go to ?

Well, I just knew that before I had blinked twice the 4 days would be gone and that is exactly what it felt like but it was good to have the time off. Not that I did what I planned to do - a few chores around the house, some grocery shopping and some entertaining. I did no exercise. I did manage to eat my 2 x Easter Bunnies (good chocolate) and 1 x Easter egg (also good chocolate) as well as some little solid eggs before I went to bed yesterday so that they weren't calling me from the fridge this morning. I also ate some lovely hot Hot-X buns which K brought home from work. I am not beating myself up over these treats - I thoroughly enjoyed them and I know that I will pay for them over the next week but at least I didn't eat them and then regret having eaten them !!!!!
I have to confess to having withdrawal symptoms today as, scale whore that I am, I jumped on the scales this morning (actually it was more a gingerly step but you get the idea) and found that I weighed - NOTHING !!! The batteries were flat and, not having two spare watch batteries lying around the house - I have no idea of the damage from the weekend. I am in two minds about what to do - A's frame is coming off on Thursday and we have a HUGE celebratory dinner planned for either Thursday or Friday depending on how he is feeling plus a couple of eating outings on the weekend - do I get back on track for two days (well one day actually as today has been shot to pieces already) or should I just put it all to one side until next week. My head is saying "Do what you can in the mean time as it will mean less work in the long run" but my heart is saying "Stuff it all - it is just all too hard - leave it until you are in the right frame of mind" but what if next week I am not in the right frame of mind and it blows out another week and then another ? Tonight I will try to sit down and come up with a plan of attack - I work better when I have a plan as I am more organised and better prepared.
Well, my lunch 1/2 hour is over and I had better get back to work - take care and have a great week !
PS - on a much happier note I walked past some jeans on the weekend which were on sale and I went and tried a couple of pairs on and landed up buying a pair a size smaller than what I have been wearing for a while now - YAY !!!!!

Happy Easter !

Well, I can't say my head is in a better place just yet but I am sooooooooooooooo looking forward to the 4 days off over Easter. We don't have much planned - we are hoping to go cycling if the weather is fine and then the rest of the time is going to be spent working in the garden and getting that as close to finished as what we can while we wait for the rest of our pavers to arrive and get that job completed.
It has been a rather stressful week at work - next week will probably not be much better as not only have I got a holiday on Monday but I will be off on Thursday taking A to the hospital to get the frame taken off his leg - finally, his halos will be gone forever !!!! What a pleasure that will be - mind you, it hasn't been that bad once he got over the pain. The good thing will be no more infections happening around the entry/exit sites.
Have a wonderful Easter everyone - take care when travelling and go safely ! Remember that what you eat today will show tomorrow and if you really want it, eat it and enjoy it without feeling guilty and then try to do some additional exercise to counter-act what you ate. (Not that this would be new news to any of you but really just a reminder !!!)

McWhinge Day

Today is McWhinge day for me - I don't want to be at work, I have a headache that isn't getting any better, I don't want to HAVE to work every day - I'd like to work because I want to not because I have to. And, I am tired of being fat - not tired enough to get motivated and eat correctly - just tired enough to want to moan about it and then move on !!!
On top of it, I feel like such a fraud - I heard today that I came 3rd in Jodie's 10 week challenge which I started at the beginning of the year. She mailed me yesterday to tell me and ask me which book I would like as a prize and, while I did reply, I do feel like a fraud - not because I didn't put the hard work in in the first place but because it has all gone to pot now and I can't even seem to stay on track for a week. During the week I am not too bad, managing to snuffle enough points each night for dinner, but on the weekends, I am just shocking.
I know what I need to do - jeez, on Thursday I even did it - I resisted the temptation to eat just for the sake of eating. I made the decision that I didn't need the Tim Tams and I didn't have them. How come I can't do that the rest of the time ? Probably because I am not organised, I haven't sorted out meals for the week (at least having some clue about what is for dinner earlier than 5pm would be a start) and I am lazy. My mojo is gone and I want it back.
We have booked our tickets for overseas but that doesn't seem to be enough motivation for me - possibly because I keep forgetting that they are booked. Maybe I need to have a big posted in the kitchen - REMEMBER YOUR HOLIDAY !!! Maybe that would stop me picking at the food in the fridge and in the cupboard.
At least I have got it off my chest and now I can get back to work having eaten my Oxo sandwich for lunch and not gone to Coles to see what I could buy from there. Which, of course would have been eaten before I got back to work so that nobody knew that I had eaten it because, as we all know, what we eat in secret doesn't have to get counted into our points for the day - NOT !!!!!
Have a great day everyone and take care !

Bugger - have been typing for ages when our financial service called and asked me to check something out and I lost the whole post !!!!!
I am going to try this to see how it works (and looks) as it would be more convenient to use this for my blog - sort of like one stop shopping for me. Plus, at this stage, this site hasn't been blocked by the IT guys. I know that work actually pay me to work which is one of the reasons I have not blogged as much as I used to.
We are off shortly to collect our dearest darling from the airport. I am sure that we will stop for something to eat along the way and then, I have to get back on track before the losses I have had since the beginning of the year start to disappear !!!! I HAVE to have these kilos off before we go on holiday.
We had a great weekend away - even if it was too busy, there was too much food and it was too hot (mind you I wasn't expecting anything less) !!! I was very pleased that I had 3 pairs of boardies to wear - they all fitted and were comfortable to sit around in all day - YAY for old fat clothes that I didn't get rid of !!! Our dearest darling didn't do badly in the tournament - we do realise that she is going to have to change the club she plays for if she wants to continue playing softball at a higher level but we will sort that all out soon. She certainly didn't let the side down which is what she was really worried about. Here's hoping that the teenager we pick up from the airport has got rid of the snotty attitude she had before she left and comes home with the realisation that (a) she isn't the only child in the world that has chores to do, (b) while she may think the whole world revolves around her - it doesn't and (c) if she expects to see her 15th birthday she is going to have to pull finger !!!!
Take care everyone and have a great evening !
TFTD : How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are ?
TIAGF : A wonderful break in Cairns