tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121113022024-03-09T03:04:22.641+11:00My JourneyMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.comBlogger364125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-65777809622757834142007-08-22T21:14:00.001+10:002007-08-22T21:14:47.876+10:00Moved - Again !I have been off and quietly blogging in the last few weeks. Privately to see if I could do it regularly again - to see if I could muster the same drive that I once did. I realised that I needed to blog, and needed to get back in contact with people I had completely abandoned in my own selfish way. <br /><br />But blogging I am and I have dropped all my old posts from both blogspot journals into the one wordpress blog so that all my meanderings are in the one place. And meanderings they are. Therefore I am now at <a href="http://www.mmeanderings.wordpress.com/">www.mmeanderings.wordpress.com</a>. It's a simple place. I can't muck around with the code, I don't know how to make it prettier, cleverer, I don't know how to add fancy things to it. And that is just the way I need it. It is a receptacle for my thoughts and my plans. And yes, it will be mainly about getting back into shape and losing the weight I have gained back, but it will be a little more. I don't have many people to talk to - to get things off my chest - so my little space on the web will have to be it.<br /><br />I will be closing the blogspot blogs shortly - no point me clogging up the whole internet LOL.Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1170376516804604202007-02-02T11:31:00.000+11:002007-02-02T11:35:16.906+11:00I have movedWhilst I have been quiet publically lately, I have been slowly getting myself back into a better frame of mind, and in a position to finish the job I started almost 2 years ago. To do that I decided to start with a new blog. I will be taking the time to print this one out soon - all 360+ posts of it!!! - but feel the need to start afresh.<br /><br />Thank you for supporting me during the last couple of years. <br /><br />New Blog - <a href="http://thelettersofm.blogspot.com/"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">The Letters of My Life</span></strong></a>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1165225742675500852006-12-04T20:13:00.000+11:002006-12-06T18:54:15.120+11:00What Next?Way back in April 2005, when I started my journey, it was all about weight loss, better health, and having no expectations of when that would happen. This worked really well for me. I lost a reasonable amount of weight. I learned to do things in a healthier way. And I was able to meet and make some really great new friends. So when 2006 started I decided I would set myself some specific goals. How much weight I was going to lose. When I was going to lose it. What size I would be etc etc. As the year progressed I passed milestones that made me realise I wasn’t going to hit those targets. And try as hard as I could – I couldn’t help but let it mess up my head a little. I feel ashamed. I feel like a failure. I feel like a fraud in many many ways.<br /><br />2006 just didn’t work out the way I had planned.<br /><br />Even though it is not an excuse I have had many personal challenges this year. Family challenges, health challenges, time challenges, and financial challenges. All of which I will carry with me in the new year to some degree. Some are improving already and should be easier to deal with, and some are in the process of becoming a lot worse. I have made a deal with myself that whatever happens I <b>can</b> face it and I <b>will </b>face it head on. I will make sure my family is with me, we have a roof over our heads, and we are all safe. Anything over and above that will be a bonus. And I am sure it will be well over and above that but I am making sure my priorities are straight.<br /><br />*****<br /><br />I am really looking forward to Christmas this year. Christmas to me is not about the religion but more about the spirituality that is around at that time. People seem to be more giving, more open, and more forgiving. And it is forgiveness that I am giving myself this year.<br /><br />I forgive myself for not being perfect. No-one is and as long as I am being the best I can be, for more days than I am not, then I am doing a good job.<br /><br />I forgive myself for not being a perfect friend. I know and understand that I am not the only person in the world who has issues and is busy. I know and understand that those who are counted as my friends, and count me amongst theirs, know and understand this too, and our friendships will survive and grow in the new year.<br /><br />I forgive myself for not reaching my weight goals. I have managed to maintain a reasonable amount of my loss of 2005. This is a good thing. And shows me that with a bit of adjustment in the mental stakes, and a large dose of planning, I will be able to shake myself off and begin the new year with a new purpose and go back to the origins of the journey. That is – improve myself in many ways, have a goal to work towards that is healthy, and work towards those goals. When they arrive – they will arrive. Do not put pressure on myself.<br /><br />*****<br /><br />Now back to the original question. What Next?<br /><br />Well for me what comes next is a new year, a new start, a new gentle focus, and a new chance to learn a little bit about me and what I need to go forward in a healthy safe way.<br /><br />I am going to find a yoga class that I can go to regularly and learn a little bit more about it. I have definitely been bitten by the bug (thanks to <a href="http://shinyruby2.blogspot.com"><strong>Shiny Ruby</strong></a> and <a href="http://Healthbites.blogspot.com"><strong>Mary</strong></a>) and want to do something that is good for my body and give my mind a workout too.<br /><br />I am going to get back to walking at work. After the Global Corporate Challenge finished it was like I put the brakes on and have not walked seriously since. That was October 25th and I can feel the effects on my fitness. And I need to do my exercise at lunch again as my time planning will shift next year with Darcy starting school. It will take some adjustments and I am sure I will have to modify things as I go along, but I am positive that I can make it work.<br /><br />*****<br /><br />So now I come to the end of my diatribe. I want to wish everyone a very joyous Christmas and a safe and happy and successful start to the New Year. I am looking forward to the Sydney Bloggers Christmas Picnic on Saturday (which follows the Kindy Christmas concert on Friday and proceeds Darcy’s 5th Birthday Party on Sunday, and his Kindy graduation on Monday) and will be heading to the park to have a load of fun and to try and remember how to keep a hula hoop up on my hips! LOL. If it is possible that any Blogger from Sydney does not already know about, or has forgotten about the Picnic, please head over to Mary’s Blog where the details are. If you are interested (and please come – the more the merrier) please email Mary for the details.<br /><br />I will be heading off to Adelaide next weekend so will continue to remain off air until the new year when I will come back, re-introduce myself and my goals, and hopefully make 2007 a more successful year all round.<br /><br />Merry Christmas from my family to yours.<br />M xx<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7290/1009/1600/1716/2006%20Christmas%20Family%20Photo.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7290/1009/320/442716/2006%20Christmas%20Family%20Photo.jpg" border="0" /></a>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1161560748374828432006-10-23T09:32:00.000+10:002006-10-23T09:45:48.396+10:00My poor headIt would have been easy for me to skip the scales today. I am at home with a killer headache after having a surprise migraine last night. I haven't had a migraine in at least 10 years and this one smacked me hard. It came from no-where and within a minute every step I took had me feeling like I was going to vomit. My head felt like it was going to explode. And even thinking made everything hurt. So I went to bed and hoped like crazy I would fall asleep so the pain would go away. With a bit of medicinal help - I did just that.<br /><br />It topped off a pretty crazy weekend. The boys had the last of the catch-up immunisations on Friday and to say it didn't go well would be an understatement. Oscar completely lost the plot and I had to hold on to him so hard that I think I hurt him with my grip. He had 3 injections and even though the Dr is very good, and I had bought a local numbing agent for the boys arms, I think it still hurt going in as Oscar was moving the whole time. He screamed the place down and when I came out to the waiting room to give Oscar to Mark (who had come straight from the airport to the Dr's) I said to all the waiting patients giving me sympathetic looks "see, I wasn't murdering him". <br /><br />Then the fun started with Darcy. I had to chase him around the waiting room and when he hid under a big chair where I couldn't reach him, I had to lift the chair off him, whilst keeping my foot on his leg so he couldn't run away. Then the only grip I got on his was his ankles so that is how I carried him into the Dr's room. He was doing that laughing crying thing and it was just about tearing my heart out but I kept making a game of it. Then when the needle was going in I kept telling him I would tell him when the Dr was going to do it, but then said "oops I forgot - the Dr has finished". Darcy looked up at me and said "well - that didn't hurt at all" HELLO what do you think I was telling you!!! LOL<br /><br />Darcy had no reaction at all to the injections but Oscar has been off all weekend. He screamed and cried in his sleep, he wouldn't play, I had to be in the bed with him so he could touch my face (this is after he decided he did love me after all which happened sometime around midnight on Friday) *sigh* It was a busy weekend.<br /><br />But it is Monday now. I have the day at home. And I decided it wasn't enough to stop weighing so I went to a local chemist (equivalent to the one I go to in the city) and I weighed in there. 900gms off thank you very much and I got some migraine medication whilst I was there. I tried to buy some chocolate but the girl behind the counter said I couldn't have any as some chocolate actually makes headaches worse!! Not sure if I believe her but as I sit here sucking on my sugar free lollies I bought I am actually sending her some silent thanks :)Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1161559667571612082006-10-23T09:21:00.000+10:002006-10-23T09:27:47.660+10:00Weigh in - Week 2<a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/"><br /><img src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/3;10732;131;1;1/c/80.7/t/68/s/83.4/k/f8a8/weight.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><strong><u>Weekly Breakdown</u></strong><br /><strong>Food I ate</strong><br />This week wasn't as brilliant as planned, however, I kept two meals out of three right on track so when I had a bit extra it didn't make me go over points, or not too far over anyway.<br /><br /><strong>Liquid I drank</strong><br />At least 3L of water per day. NO diet coke (week two now!!). My downfall has been the amount of wine I drank.<br /><br /><strong>Exercise I undertook</strong><br />I moved in excess of 80,000 steps for the week. And I went for my first swim in months. It was very hard!!<br /><br /><em><strong>Things I did last week</strong></em> - <em><strong>checklist</strong></em><br />I will continue my focus on filling my day with healthy, fresh, food. - <span style="color:#ff0000;">done</span><br />I will ensure that each exercise outing is done with more intensity than last week. - <span style="color:#ff0000;">done</span><br />I will reduce the frequency and size of the indulgences (but not cut them out altogether) - <span style="color:#ff0000;">needs work<br /></span><br /><strong><em>Things I will do this week</em></strong><br />I will continue my focus on filling my day with healthy, fresh, food.<br />I will add two new exercise sessions this week. One yoga, one something else.<br />I will not have any wine until Sunday - when I can have 2 glasses maximumMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1160995422250833282006-10-16T20:30:00.000+10:002006-10-16T20:43:42.276+10:00Alrighty Then<a href="http://www.dietgirl.org/dietgirl/"><strong>DG</strong></a> had a great post just a short while back about how much motivation we have when we are doing a 'Week One'. I have just completed a Week One and I am literally bouncing around with energy and joy that I lost weight in, what I thought, was a far reflection of the work I put in. So now all I need to do is keep a tight reign and make sure I keep the focus on as I know that Week Two is usually bounce-back week. I am pretty good at week twos. At the beginning of the week. When I think I can do anything and achieve everything and work my tail off, then fall down harder than a Springbok faced with an All Black front line (sorry <a href="http://kal20m.blogspot.com/"><strong>Linda</strong> </a>LOL) when it comes to the end of the week and the scales haven't shifted or *gasp* they have bounced back up a little. <br /><br />I have a feeling this week will be different. I accept that it is normal for Week Two to have a bounceback. But I am not going to help it bounce by screwing up everything I worked for last week. I will continue to focus, laugh, play, eat, make mistakes, learn from said mistakes, and just keep going - knowing that if I do so, it will all straighten up again in Week Three. <br /><br />That being said, I am about to line up the bike in front of the TV so I can watch the Biggest Loser and be a loser at the same time ;D<br /><br /><em>Dad Update</em><br />My Dad is amazing. He is doing so well and healing faster than he, or the Dr's expected. He is back to eating real food - only small meals, but meals all the same. He is walking and doing some sitting up and generally feels really good. He will stay in the hospital for the full period of time to ensure that it is all doing what it should but so far so good :)<br /><br /><em>Links to check out</em><br />If you are in Sydney please remember to check out <a href="http://healthbites.blogspot.com"><strong>Mary's</strong></a> blog for dates for the Sydney Bloggers Christmas Picnic as well as other fabulous event dates coming up<br /><br /><a href="http://kal20m.blogspot.com/"><strong>Linda</strong></a> is on the hunt for your bras. No - not because she has run out of her own but for a great charitable event. If you have any bra you no longer need please visit her blog for the details on what to do next.<br /><br />There were heaps of other things I had read lately (yes I have been keeping across you all via Bloglines) but now I can't remember any of them. I shall pop by again for a reminder..Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1160993675500628162006-10-16T20:07:00.000+10:002006-10-23T09:20:42.006+10:00Weigh in - Week 1<a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/"><img src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/3;10732;131;1;1/c/81.6/t/68/s/83.4/k/1ab3/weight.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong><u>Weekly Breakdown</u></strong><br /><strong>Food I ate</strong><br />Even though I did indulge in a few things outside of plan, I managed to keep each day on or below points<br /><br /><strong>Liquid I drank</strong><br />At least 3L of water per day. NO diet coke (yay me). And only had a couple of glasses of wine on Saturday.<br /><br /><strong>Exercise I undertook</strong><br />I moved in excess of 80,000 steps for the week.<br /><br /><strong><em>Things I will do this week</em></strong><br />I will continue my focus on filling my day with healthy, fresh, low point food.<br />I will ensure that each exercise outing is done with more intensity than last week.<br />I will reduce the frequency and size of the indulgences (but not cut them out altogether)Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1160701834459683632006-10-12T20:13:00.000+10:002006-10-13T11:11:36.450+10:00Shake Shudder HUG<em>(typed up last night but fell asleep before I hit post - on the lounge again!)</em><br /><br /><br />Today is the end of day two of me not drinking diet coke. I decided that I needed to give it a break as I was drinking far too much to be considered healthy (4-5 cans during the day at work and if there was a bottle at home 1.25 litres at night). It had got to the point where I was drinking no water at all and just buying more and more d.coke. So I stopped. And I take my hat off to anyone who has a serious substance addiction because coming off d.coke has been hard. Pathetic isn't it.<br /><br />Day one started well with me feeling really positive and drinking loads of water and the ocassional cup with a splash of cordial in it. I perhaps could have been considered 'bouncy'. But after lunch that all changed. I was craving it and I got the biggest headache behind my eyes. I got sleepy and cold and I was getting goose bumps on my arms and legs (it was a 33 degree day). I took some headache tablets and that helped a little but I was getting dizzy and I got the shakes at about 3.00pm. I drank 3 litres of water during the work day (only 4 cups of which had cordial in it) and I ate really well but it was hard work as I was trying not to eat my d.coke craving.<br /><br />Today was a bit better. Even though I am used to having a can for breakfast the real cravings don't kick in until lunch time. I still had a headache today but a lot more bearable than yesterday. But by 3.00pm I had eaten all the food that I had brought with me and when I got home I must have opened the fridge about a hundred times looking for 'something'. I ended up eating 1/4 of an avocado with a tablespoon of pinenuts - scraped right out of the shell, and 4 celery sticks covered in cream cheese. I also ate all of Oscars left over steak (about 1/3 of a small steak) so I suppose I did OK. After we picked Mark up from the airport we had a little late surprise Birthday party (it was his birthday on Monday) and I did help to eat some of the mini mud cake. But in the end I still did not go over points for the day (yaaay me)<br /><br />It is days like these that I need a good hug.<br /><br />And I got one.<br /><br />When I was coming back from my walk at lunch time I went through Pitt Street Mall and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4"><strong>this guy</strong></a> was there giving away free hugs. No one was hugging him so I went right up to him with my arms out wide and gave him the biggest hug.<br /><br />It felt really good.<br /><br />Please note that the film clip has music in it which is fantastic so turn up your volume, and I am not in the film clip - this was done a little while ago and sent to me by <a href="http://coulby.blogspot.com"><strong>Cath</strong> </a>a couple of weeks ago. Which is how I knew who he was. I encourage everyone to hug a stranger, and there is no one stranger than me LOL.Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1160606711197383942006-10-12T08:22:00.000+10:002006-10-12T08:45:11.373+10:00My DadI'm cross I didn't post this last night but I fell asleep on the lounge - with the 2 little cyclones and when I woke up at about 10pm and put them to bed I was only good for falling into bed myself.<br /><br />So, my Dad survived the op (whooo hooo) and a mere 24 hours after he has already been moved out of I.C.U. and into a ward where I here he has been back-chatting the nurses. That's my Dad :)<br /><br />Thank you all so very much for your good thoughts. I truly believe in the power of good thought and I appreciate the time you took to pass some his way.<br /><br />Now onto the gory bits. 18 months ago (or there-abouts) they found a tumour in Dad's colon. It was small, completely encapsulated, and needed no chemo after removal. It was a clean operation but as they needed to do a by-pass for the bowel (into a bag) it was never-the-less a tricky one. When they sent him home he became very ill as the fitting for the by-pass was not sealed and waste was leaking into his stomach. This caused him to nearly die and he ended up staying in hospital an extra 4 weeks and losing 25kgs. NOT a good way to do it.<br /><br />Anyway move forward 18 months and they find another tumour. The plus side to having a bag is you can see instantly if there is something wrong. Dad saw some blood and went straight to the Dr. The tumour, again, was small and apparently fully encapsulated. However this operation was different to the last. Instead of just removing the tumour (which was the size of a pea) they removed the colon, half his lower intestines and then sewed the lot up.<br /><br />That's going to hurt for a while.<br /><br />But he is alive, he can still play with and talk to his grandchildren. He can still heap shit on me (which is our normal way of showing how much we love each other). And he is happy about that. I am not sure how he will deal with the mental side of things after his body has healed but knowing him he will be cracking jokes about it in a few short weeks.<br /><br />This is why I had been a bit quiet this last month. I thought it so unfair after what he and my Mum have already been through and I started feeling sorry for myself as I am not ready to be an orphan yet. Then I realised that not taking care of myself, not eating properly was just setting up my children to have the same problem with me in years to come, and that is what made me take myself to task and start doing healthy things again. <br /><br />And, to be fair to me, Mark has been working in Melbourne during the week for the past 4 weeks so weekdays have been very hectic for me and when the weekends came around the last thing I wanted to do was sit in the study and 'compute'...<br /><br />OK. I better finish this before someone walks behind me and wanders what I am up to :D<br />Have a wonderful day.Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1160400536213682972006-10-10T20:36:00.000+10:002006-10-10T20:50:52.233+10:00FirstsI think it is fantastic that at age 38 I can still list off things that are 'firsts' in my life. Not just first in relation to my children - of which are many and brilliant - but in relation to me. This year alone has seen so many firsts that I am going to try and remember them all and list them here.<br /><br /><br />It is the first year I have had 'girl friends'. I have always been a 'guy friends' kind of girl and also been very happy with my own company, but having friends who are girls and who share things and open up their lives has been wonderful. And the fact that these people are now not just words on a screen. They are flesh and blood and have their own accents and ideas and histories. This is a great first.<br /><br />It is the first year since I was 18 that I walked into a pub alone. I am happy to report I have done it several times since LOL.<br /><br />It is the first time I have done <a href="http://www.healthconcepts.com.au/nordicpolewalking/content/blogsection/4/30/">Nordic Walking</a> - not something I am continuing long term but it was a great experience.<br /><br />This year was my first <a href="http://city2surf.sunherald.com.au/?">City 2 Surf</a>. And it was fantastic and will not be my last. As luck should have it I received my certificate in the post today and I have scanned it so you all can see what a clever little bunny I am. :) <em>(later)</em><br /><br />It was the first time I <a href="http://www.bunnyhoopstar.com/">hula hooped</a>. Now this was a real eye opener and something that I am continuing and plan to do as long as I can. It is fun, and funny, and challenging and a great way to let yourself go in a childish - free kind of way.<br /><br />I became an Avon Lady. I am supposed to say Avon Representative but that doesn't make me laugh as much.<br /><br />It is the first time EVER that I have attended a Yoga class. I went to a BRILLIANT workshop run by <a href="http://shinyruby2.blogspot.com">Shiny Ruby</a>. I went with <a href="http://healthbites.blogspot.com">Mary</a> and <a href="http://littlegrover.blogspot.com">Little Grover</a> was there too, along with a number of other people I didn't know. I had the best time and really got into it. I think I fell a little in love with something I never understood before.<br /><br />It is the first time I strained/torn an intercostal muscle doing said brilliant yoga workshop. LOL. I thought I had cracked a rib and after thinking I was having a heart attack and where every breath I took in and out felt like I was tearing small pieces of flesh from the inside I went to my Chiro (after I had been to the Dr who diagnosed a cracked rib) who tested the area and reset the intercostal muscle and I am happy to report that the pain I had been experiencing almost instantly melted away. That is a first I don't want to repeat again. BUT I will be going back to Yoga because that was fantastic :)<br /><br />It is the first time I have weighed myself at a chemist. Yep I have decided that weighing in a slightly public area is what I wanted to do and rather than go to a ww'er meeting I picked a Chemist in the city and will walk there every Monday lunch and get my weight. This is why the starting weight is a bit higher than I would have expected but it is middle of the day, fully clothed versus morning, sans clothing weight. It is just a snapshot.<br /><br />This year is the first time I registered to do a Tri-athlon. Yep, I am always inspired by <a href="http://smallersue.blogspot.com">Sue</a> and when she did hers I went hunting at the time and couldn't find anything appropriate for me to do, but after following a link from <a href="http">Phil's</a> post about her Tri training I ended up finding a great <a href="http://www.trinswrace.org/default.asp?PageID=1165">"Enticer Tri"</a> that I will do in February 2007. <b>Doing</b> a Tri will be on my list of firsts for next year :D For you Tri enthusiasts out there this one is very little - 250m swim, 10k ride, 2.5km run. As you know the limit of my running is only about 2 light poles so this is the area I will be working on. But I am so excited that I have something to train for. It will help me to be a bit more disciplined about getting out there and doing it. <em>(and anyone who wants to do it with me is more than welcome to check it out!)</em><br /><br />It is the first time I have purchased a <a href="http://www.dixiechicks.com/">Dixie Chicks</a> album!! Yes that's what I thought too, but they have been in the press a lot lately in regards to the statements made in 2003 at a concert in London, and I have been so impressed by the way they have handled themselves with the media here. I may or may not agree with the sentiment expressed by them, but what I like, what I respect, is that they can articulate WHY they said it and not apologise for standing up for what they believe in. The single that has been getting the most attention "Not Ready To Make Nice" has some words in it which I think are really great.<br /><br />I'm not ready to make nice<br />I'm not ready to back down<br />I'm still made as hell<br />and I don't have time<br />to go round and round and round<br /><br />They might have intended it to have one meaning but for me it can just as easily mean my relationship with my weight. I am not ready to make nice with it. I am happy with my body (sort of) and my self but not with my weight and I am not ready to back down and I am sick of going round and round and round so it is forward I go from here.<br /><br />This year will be the first time I do archery, have a Christmas picnic in Sydney, and many other things. And next year I am going to continue to have firsts. Hopefully the reaching goal first will be amongst the mix ;D<br /><br />Did you notice that the bulk of my firsts have all got to do with other bloggers - gotta love them all *mwah*<br /><br />What have you done that is a first in your life this year?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em>(N.B. If you have any good vibes, prayers, wishes - please send them my Dad's way. He is currently in theatre having a pretty major op and I just want him to come out of it. Everything else we will deal with later.)</em>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1160400985537306032006-10-09T23:30:00.000+10:002006-10-09T23:36:25.546+10:00Confessions (Weigh Day - 1)<a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/"><img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/3;10732;131;1;1/c/83.4/t/68/s/83.4/k/8cfa/weight.png" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Fact:</strong><br />Closing my mouth on the blogs does not equal closing my mouth to food.<br /><br /><strong>Fact:</strong><br />I am not giving up, I am going to pick up where I left off (well I am going to pick up quite a few kgs heavier than where I left off), and I am going to take it a day at a time.<br /><br /><strong>Fact:</strong><br />It is going to take me a little while to get back to a regular routine of blogging, reading, commenting, supporting, but I will do it. And I will do it in a safe and balanced way.<br /><br /><strong>Fact:</strong><br />It feels good to be here :D (<em>Thank you</em>)Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1158019576978764942006-09-12T09:52:00.000+10:002006-09-12T10:06:17.203+10:00Hello God…It's MOver the years I have been known to pray to God. It is usually late at night. It is usually in the toilet when I am by myself, or in bed. It is very rarely in a Church. It has usually been a tough sort of a day where I have thrown my arms up in the air and thought "I have had enough!" But after reading a fantastic and fascinating book entitled "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Pray-Love-Everything-Indonesia/dp/0670034711"><strong>eat, pray, love - One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia</strong></a>" by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I was stunned to have received for my birthday by a very special friend (and yes you are) I have realised that the words that come out of my mouth, what I think they mean in my head, and what they could be interpreted as are completely different things.<br /><br />And before I get into the specifics I want to clarify what I mean by God. The following is an excerpt taken from "eat, pray, love" and is entirely the authors words. How she managed to take them from my head and put them on paper I still don't know but they capture what I <b>feel</b> about God perfectly.<br /><br /><blockquote>"Now, this was a first for me. And since this is the first time I have introduced that loaded word - GOD - into my book, and since this is a word which will appear many times again throughout these pages, it seems only fair that I pause here for a moment to explain exactly what I mean when I say that word, just so people can decide right away how offended they need to get.<br /><br />Saving for later the argument about whether God exists at all (no - here's a better idea: let's skip that argument completely), let me first explain why I use the word God, when I could just as easily use the words <em>Jehovah</em>, <em>Allah</em>, <em>Shiva</em>, <em>Brahma</em>, <em>Vishnu</em> or <em>Zeus</em>. Alternatively, I could call God "That," which is how the ancient Sanskrit scriptures say it, and which I think comes close to the all-inclusive and unspeakable entity I have sometimes experienced. But that "That" feels impersonal to me - a thing, not a being - and I myself cannot pray to a That. I need a proper name, in order to fully sense a personal attendance. For this reason, when I pray, I do not address my prayers to The Universe, The Great Void, The Force, The Supreme Self, The Whole, The Creator, The Light, The Higher Power, or even the most poetic manifestation of God's name, taken, I believe, from the Gnostic gospels: "The Shadow of the Turning."<br /><br />I have nothing against these terms. I feel they are all equal because they are all equally adequate and inadequate descriptions of the indescribable. But we each do need a functional name for this indescribability, and "God" is the name that feels the most warm to me, so that's what I use. I should also confess that I generally refer to God as "Him", which doesn't bother me because, to my mind, it's just a convenient personalising pronoun, not a precise anatomical description or a cause for revolution.<br /><br />Of course, I don't mind if people call God "Her", and I understand the urge to do so. Again - to me, these are both equal terms, equally adequate and inadequate. Though I do think the capitalisation of either pronoun is a nice touch, a small politeness in the presence of the devine."<i>(eat, love, pray - Elizabeth Gilbert, p13)</i></blockquote><br /><br /><br />And before you think this book is all about God, it isn't. It's got a lot to do with sex and gelato too :)<br /><br />So now I realise that there is no way I can colour up my prayers, no beautiful strings of words that I can use that changes the core message I am giving. And they are as follows:<br /><br />Dear God. If you can just make me a millionaire when I wake up in the morning, I promise I will finally get around to doing that budget and promise not to screw up all my money as I have done in the 38 years that have already passed in my life.<br /><br />Dear God. If you can just make me skinny when I wake up in the morning, I promise that I will maintain this new temple of loveliness by eating healthily, exercising properly, partaking of essential nutrients, and ensuring I get enough sleep and sanity to carry this through.<br /><br />Dear God. If you can just see your way clear to making me the most knowledgable being on Earth so that any job I may want, or any question I may be asked, I will know the correct answer in order to get what I want.<br /><br />Yep, pretty shallow aren't they.<br /><br />But now I have realised that my shrug of my shoulders in the morning when yet again I woke up to find nothing had changed was just a cop out because I was receiving the answers loud and clear each day. The answers went a little like this.<br /><br />Dear M, If you construct a budget, live within your means, and continue looking for ways to improve your life, and the life of your family, POW, you will wake up one morning with riches beyond your wildest dreams.<br /><br />Dear M, If you eat healthily, exercise properly, partake of essential nutrients, and ensure you get enough sleep and sanity to carry this through, POW, you will wake up one morning in a body that is healthy and loveliness in all its glory.<br /><br />Dear M, In order to attain knowledge to gain "what you want" you first need to know what it is you want.<br /><br />Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. LOL..<br /><br />It means I had the answers inside me all along. I have the ability to have my prayers answered, or my goals reached. Because really all my prayers are, are a spoken version of my goals said in a different context. I was asking someone else to achieve my goals for me. I was asking someone else to take all the responsibility away from me. I was trying to take the easy way out. Ask someone to do something - blame them when it doesn't happen.<br /><br />I know I have taken huge steps to address my prayers/goals. I have started to understand that I need to take the reigns of my life in my own hands and see how far I can go.<br /><br />And I plan to go far :D<br /><br /><br />P.S. If you want to know all about the sex and gelato part of the book, I highly recommend you check the book out at the library. Mmmmm gelato….<br /><br />*******************************************<br /><br />And in other news:<br /><br /><a href="http://jaykay1963.blogspot.com/2006/09/saturday-9th-september.html">Jay Kay</a> has attacked her 'letter' she was given and it is brilliant. With all the Running she is doing she definitely has the RRRR's to show for it.<br /><br />Big hugs to <a href="http://alittleraeofsunshine.blogspot.com/">Rae</a> who has miscarried her first baby at 10 weeks. I am a bit late with the news but send out my sincerest condolences for her loss :(<br /><br />I had a great weekend in Adelaide. It rained a lot so didn't get out for my beach walks but did walk for a few hours around their new IKEA store, and a few more hours around the Royal Adelaide Show. Spent great time just lazing about with the folks and my family and reading (hence the post above). It was great and I can't wait to go back again in November.<br /><br />Thank you to all you lovely people who sent me cards and good wishes for my birthday. I am still feeling special :)<br /><br />And a big well done to everyone who is maintaining, losing, fighting to minimise the gains. You guys are sensational and you provide me with new motivations each and every day, in very different ways. And I can see that with Spring now upon us the levels of motivation are starting to climb again. Whooo Hoooo. Now if it will only stop raining in Sydney long enough for me to get outside LOL.<br /><blockquote></blockquote>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1157642582538788442006-09-08T01:11:00.000+10:002006-09-08T01:23:04.123+10:0038 Today :D<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/1600/8th%20September%20-%20Birthday%20Cake.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/320/8th%20September%20-%20Birthday%20Cake.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yes folks, today I am 38 years old. And I have so much to be thankful and grateful for. The least being the delicious cake I shared with my 3 favourite people. To ensure we had enough for a taste and a sing-along, but not enough for me to keep eating, I bought a mini marble mud cake from Michele's. Yummmmm<br /><br />And the reason for partaking of this delicacy prior to the actual day?? Good question. The answer is that at 9:50am this morning I will be flying over to Adelaide to spend the weekend with my Mum and Dad. By myself. With no children. Or husband. I think it will be WONDERFUL.... Not that I won't miss them. A little. (ok a lot!) But I know that I will enjoy it because it is only 2 nights. 2 nights of blissful peaceful sleep where I know I won't have to keep my 'ears' open even when sleeping. 2 nights when I am pretty much assured of waking up without little feet curled up under my ribcage (though I actually do love that!). 2 days of being able to walk on the beach without having to think out and plan the entire trip to make sure I have enough nappies, cream, wipes, toys, snacks, sunscreen, hats, etc. Don't get me wrong, I would not change my life in a heartbeat (unless it can be the same but with more money LOL) and I do realise how incredibly lucky I am to have such special people in my life, but I am still happy that I have this opportunity to re-charge my batteries. Do batteries recharge better when soaked in wine? Hmmmmm wine....<br /><br />Now what have I been up to?<br /><br /><strong>KUTA</strong><br />This is going really well and I am happy to report that the scales are going down, the energy is going up, and the belief in myself is increasing. I still need to maintain the focus and after a brilliant week 1, week 2 and week 3 are a little slower, but I am still going and am determined that I will not let up.<br /><br /><strong>GCC</strong><br />Nope, this hasn't finished yet. We are on day 105 and I have walked 1,779,841 steps, Avg 11km/day, Total km (based on 65cm gait) 1,147kms. We are currently in Alaska getting ready for our trek across North America. The Challenge finishes on 25th October and I don't think we will reach the finish line in China but I think we are still doing OK. We are still in the top 10 of our company and in the top 100 of the entire challenge. I should get some good stepping done in Adelaide, walking Mums dog, and the Royal Show is on and we will be walking around all the pavilions.<br /><br /><strong>Avon</strong><br />Ding Dong. I am now an official Avon Lady. And I am really enjoying it. I think because I can take the piss out of myself and have been hamming it up a little I have endeared myself to a few people and am beginning to make this little venture work. It is only my 2nd campaign (see the 'official' speak is already sneaking into my vocabulary LOL) and I think I am doing OK. It has been great for getting those extra Saturday walks as I wander around the neighbourhood and I have met some nice people too that were lucky (or unlucky) enough to be in their yard / garden / drive way when I walked past. We shall see where it leads :)<br /><br /><strong>My New Love</strong><br />No I haven't traded Mark in for a new model. I got myself a fantastic exercise bike courtesy of Mary. After doing an honest assessment of my lifestyle and my evening habits I realised that I needed to do something extra but it had to be something that I could do sitting on my tail. The TV workouts are still good, and I need to work them back in, but sitting on a bike and pedalling for half an hour is just brilliant. Actually it's bloody hard work. I can't believe that I can walk for 14.7kms and suffer only the indignity of sunburn and a couple of sore toes, but 20 minutes on the bike makes me look like I have never exercised in my life before!! It sure is a reminder that the body gets used to particular exercise and movement and we need to shake ourselves up from time to time. So biking it is for me - for now. I am endeavouring to get on every day. 30 minutes one night, 10 minutes the next, and I will build up from there. It has been fun and I can see it is something that will be easy to keep up.<br /><br />Okey dokey I need to go to bed. Thank you to all you wonderful people who have been checking in on me, sending me emails, catching up with me in 'real life' and for making me feel special with little birthday surprises. *mwah* to you all. I am packed, I have an Avon book with me (hey you never know!) and a great new book that I am desperate to begin.<br /><br />I can see it is going to be a great weekend. See you all next week :DMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1156248961148815932006-08-22T22:19:00.000+10:002006-08-22T22:24:22.556+10:00K U T AI don't want to post a negative post, so I won't.<br /><br /><strong><u><span style="color:#ff6600;">Hooping</span></u></strong><br />As you may have already read at <a href="http://healthbites.blogspot.com/2006/08/hulahooping-workshop_20.html"><strong>Mary</strong></a>'s and <a href="http://shinyruby.blogspot.com/2006/08/what-hula-hoot.html"><strong>Shiny Ruby</strong></a>'s blog, hooping was an absolute blast and I enjoyed myself so much. Sure I stood right at the front with the floor to ceiling mirrors pointing out each and every flaw in my hooping technique, but after a few minutes and many false starts I could look at my reflection without bursting out laughing. Really it was all I could do to catch my flying hoop before it flew off and hit someone else (and I do need to apologise to Emilie and Sarah - sorry guys you copped more than your fair share). Two hours and a lot of sweating and laughing later I am now the proud owner of my very own hoop. My hoop that will help sculpt my abs and build up my core muscle control. My hoop that makes me smile as I think about it and makes me want to get out and move my butt. And my arms. And my legs. My hoop that I am having a little bit of an obsessive affair with. LOL. If you haven't already been to check out the photos of the day I highly recommend a visit to the set provided by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/phodis/sets/72157594243835317/"><strong>Mary</strong> </a>and the set provided by the extraordinary <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunwahstar/sets/72157594244880526/"><strong>Bunny</strong></a>. We are all there in our hooping gloriousness. <em>(thanks guys for taking the time to take and post the photos)</em><br /><br />If you want a giggle, or are interested, there are a heap of great hooping links that Bunny provided below. Just checking out <a href="http://www.hoopaholic.org/"><strong>Fat Boy Slim's new video</strong></a> is guaranteed to get you remembering (with glee or horror) your own hooping experiences as a child.<br /><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/group/learnhooptricks" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/group/learnhooptricks</a><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.hoopnotica.com/" target="_blank">http://www.hoopnotica.com/</a><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.groovehoops.com/newreel.html" target="_blank">http://www.groovehoops.com/newreel.html</a><br /><br /><br /><strong><u><span style="color:#ff6600;">Archery</span></u></strong><br />If by now you are slightly interested in joining us in a new learning experience this is the heads up to say that Archery will probably be the next target (eww that was a bad pun) and more information will be forthcoming. Can't wait to see what damage I can do with a sharp pointy object LOL.<br /><br /><strong><u><span style="color:#ff6600;">Issues</span></u></strong><br />I have issues at the moment. Issues that are getting me down. That I fight through. That I am happy with. And that get me down again. It is just a bit of a struggle balancing all I <em>need</em> to do with all I <em>want</em> to do. I found myself in the last week and a bit drinking a wee bit more regularly than I should be, and in greater quantities than is healthy. This led to a bit of a introspective look at myself, my reactions to people, my feelings towards myself that really should have been solved with a kick up the arse rather than allowing myself to go in deeper. So kick up the arse I am getting. Or KUTA for short. Instead of being all talk and no action I am adopting a new policy of no talk and all action. At least for a little while. After discussing my issues at length with a real person (not a blogger *gasp*) we have buddied up to help each other out of very similar slumps. This involves complete honesty. No judgment. And me <strong>doing</strong> instead of <strong>saying</strong>. I am in KUTA Day 2 at the moment and so far so good. I am relearning some pretty basic habits and whilst it is hard making this a top priority again I am sure that within a week or two of constantly reminding myself that I am worth it and practicing the good habits that I need to make, I will be back on top of it again. And if in the meantime, my house gets cleaned, the laundry gets done, all the bills are paid, and children go to sleep on time and stay asleep all night - in their own beds, I will be a very happy camper indeed. I will probably be asleep and it will all be a dream but I will be happy. ;D<br /><br />So following on from that I won't be posting for a while - but no time frames or restrictions. If something BRILLIANT happens you will all be the first to know (all million of you LOL). I will be reading and commenting where I can after I have done my exercises in the evening and all other chores are done. I am not going to lose my grip on where you are all up to in your lives because you are all too motivating and inspirational for me to just let go.<br /><br />Here is to KUTA. And a great big one at that!Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1155642094085475092006-08-15T21:15:00.000+10:002006-08-15T22:50:48.570+10:00The Race & RecoveryThe morning did not start off exactly to plan with little Oscar deciding that today he was going to be sick. I am sure it had a lot to do with the copious amount of sugar he consumed at his party but also the peak of a cold he had been carrying around. So a morning vomit in our bed was an indication that all was not well (and dammit I had just changed the sheets!!) After I showered and dressed in my super cool outfit for the walk he vomited on me again. I was starting to get concerned that I would not have an outfit to wear. After seriously considering my pj pants I went with an old winter weight size 16 trackie pants. They were hot but they did the job.<br /><br /><a href="http://kal20m.blogspot.com"><strong>Linda</strong></a> and I headed in to the registration line up as I had lost my bib and met up with <a href="http://feedmysoulnow.blogspot.com"><strong>Michelle</strong></a> there. I am so grateful that they are as calm as they were as I was starting to get a bit worried that we would miss the race altogether as the line seemed to take FOREVER. However, after a rough start we were ready to join the throng as the 4th gun went off. We shuffled together until we past the start line (about 10 minutes after the first person in our group) then we found a little space to pick up the pace. As I looked forward the road dipped away and the sheer number of people took my breath away. It was fantastic to be part of such a big group and just getting out there and doing my own thing. After a short jog through the William St tunnel (which I thought would never end by the way LOL) Michelle broke away to continue her running and Linda and I strode out as the space freed up even more. It was so easy walking with Linda. We may be different heights, have a different walking style, but we think so similarly that it was a real hoot. Linda would see a gap 2 or 3 gaps ahead and just make a jogging bee line for it, and I would follow or make my way around a different way. There was never any pressure to keep up, or stay by each others side. We just walked comfortably together.<br /><br />The atmosphere was electric. Helped by the numerous bands lining the route entertaining us all. My favourite bit was as we came up to the top of Heartbreak Hill and noticed the 7km marker. We had done it in just a couple of minutes over an hour. That was pretty good. There was a garage on our right with a group of people on top. As we rounded the corner they pressed play on their CD player and the music from Chariots of Fire starting blaring out with the visual of all of them starting to run in slow motion. It was hilarious and really helped to keep the spirit up and keep moving. There was never one moment when I considered giving up. Sure if the course had been shorter I would have been happy to stop but I was in this for the final. I felt pretty good all the way. My big toes hurt (???) and I got a bit of chafing under my arm due to the backpack - but that was it.<br /><br />The stats came out in the paper today and Linda and I finished 1 minute apart but that 1 minute made a difference in our finishing positions. Out of the 53,000+ people who actually finished Linda came in 36,576 and I came in at 36,582 (sorry about the typo in the earlier email Linda LOL) Our own time showed that we finished in 2hrs and 10mins. That's roughly 20,000 steps in my length.<br /><br />And the best thing?? My recovery. On Monday morning I woke up with the only pain being that of the sunburn I received to my shoulders and chest, and a little hip flexor stiffness. Other than that - nothing. I was so happy. I got ready to go to work and take the boys into kindy but whilst we were at kindy Oscar was sick again and spiked a temperature so I turned around and took him home again. I made sure to ring half a dozen people at work though to tell them that it was not the results of the walk keeping me home. I really wanted to go in and show off but that will have to wait until next year now. Today was pretty good too. Again the only soreness I am feeling is in my hips so a visit to the chiro has been scheduled in.<br /><br />It was the best fun and I have learnt enough on what I need to do to make it better for next year. So who else is in :D<br /><br /><br /><em>(Blogger won't let me post photos anymore - after it had lost the ones I did put on here. I will update tomorrow)</em>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1155609102129262972006-08-15T21:10:00.000+10:002006-08-15T22:38:29.016+10:00The Dinner<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/1600/Group%20Photo.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/320/Group%20Photo.jpg" border="0" /></a>More than anything I want to say "thank you" to all the bloggers who came to the dinner. There were a lot for whom the dinner was the first time they had crossed the line between cyber and real. And that is hard. It takes guts to be able to walk into a room of people that you don't know and stand there and introduce yourself and hug and greet people that you know so well - but don't know at all. I had a great time and great conversations that have helped to give a 3D personality to a relationship that is all about support.<br /><br />And it was a bit of an eye opener to sit back and reflect that it has been almost a year since I first met <a href="http://healthbites.blogspot.com"><strong>Mary</strong></a> and <a href="http://coulby.blogspot.com"><strong>Cath</strong></a> when we did the Diabetes Walk for a Cure. I still remember the feelings of wanting to text and dip out, even though I organised it!! And I was only meeting 2 people. I had a great time during the meal and managed to get to meet and talk to everyone there. Some more than others but you get that in a big crowd.<br /><br /><strong><a href="http://sandilee.blogspot.com">Cass</a></strong>, <a href="http://shinyruby.blogspot.com"><strong>Stella</strong></a>, <a href="http://littlegrover.blogspot.com"><strong>Nicole</strong></a>, <a href="http://idiet.blogspot.com"><strong>Kathryn</strong></a> and I sat at one table and it is incredible that you can learn so much about people in such a short space of time. I had a delicious meal (though found out later that not everyone had the same result) of pasta, neapolitana sauce with ricotta. Yummmmo. But dinner was not all about sitting in one spot. We all table hopped and chatted and it is really funny that the only 2 people I really didn't have a chance to talk to much was Mary and<strong> </strong>Cath. But as we catch up the most I think I can survive and will have to hold on until Sunday when we meet up again for the Hula Hooping Lesson. What fun that will be!!<br /><br />The guys at the other table: - <a href="http://b0ndibabe.blogspot.com"><strong>Bron</strong></a>, <a href="http://jodieshan.blogspot.com/"><strong>Jodie</strong></a>, <a href="http://kal20m.blogspot.com/"><strong>Linda</strong></a>, <a href="http://weightyramblings.blogspot.com/"><strong>Sarah</strong></a>, <a href="http://feedmysoulnow.blogspot.com/"><strong>Michelle</strong></a>, Mary and Cath I had already met, but <a href="http://beingkindertome.blogspot.com/"><strong>Briony</strong></a>, <a href="http://yublocka.blogsome.com/"><strong>Tamara</strong></a>, Melissa, and Marion (Cath's Mum) were new to me and lovely to meet. I had spoken with almost all by email previously so it was great to jump in and talk to them for real.<br /><br />After dinner some of us headed to the Fortune of War for a few more drinks (as if I needed any more by that stage LOL) and I had to admit after a little while my yawning was embarrassing even me so I made a move home. Sitting with Linda at the dining table going over the plan for the next morning was a good chance to enjoy the silence (boy am I getting old) and get my mind around the fact that I would be walking almost 15kms in less than 10 hours time. Goodnight!<br /><br /><br /><em>(The lovely ladies in the photo are: L-R Kathryn, Linda, Briony, Sarah, Nicole, Cass, Michelle, Me (right at the back), Melissa, Stella, Bron, Cath, Marion, Tamara, Mary)</em>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1155606529148311742006-08-15T21:00:00.000+10:002006-08-15T22:37:32.280+10:00The Party<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/1600/Oscar%20resting%20on%20ball.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/320/Oscar%20resting%20on%20ball.0.jpg" border="0" /></a>I was never more happy when Saturday dawned clear and warm. It meant that I had half a chance of fitting in 16 kids and 18 adults without having to play muscial chairs. With not enough chairs LOL. The day was BRILLIANT. Even when people starting arriving 15 minutes early (note to everyone - don't ever come 15 minutes early - those last 15 minutes are crucial!!)<br /><br /><a href="http://kal20m.blogspot.com"><strong>Linda</strong></a> was smart and jumped ship to meet up with <a href="http://healthbites.blogspot.com"><strong>Mary</strong></a> before the fraccas but I have to admit, it was a pretty fun party to hang around.<br /><br />The kids ran and ran and ran some more in the soccer field we set up in the back garden and the plethora of soccer balls meant there were no fights. Everyone played games, the piniata was a hit (even though I made it so well that nothing fell out and I ended up having to rip it in half LOL).<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/1600/Go%20for%20goal.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7290/1009/320/Go%20for%20goal.jpg" border="0" /></a> The "Go For Goal" game I created drew lots of laughter and I got heaps for taking a photo of Darcy dressed in nothing but his undies and Wellington boots. I say if he wants to dress like Astro Boy, let him :) I try to make sure he is at least dressed when we leave the house LOL.<br /><br />After gorging on as much fairy bread, fruit, party pies and ice cream cake as they possibly could, the party broke up and the clean up started. It didn't take long and Linda timed her entrance perfectly (thanks for helping with the dishes). Marks parents were here for the party too and they had the best time. It was great seeing them interact with the boys as they don't see that much of them.<br /><br />When the boys went for a lie down at half past four it gave me a chance to get ready for the bloggers dinner. I didn't know it then but found out later that the boys didn't wake up for the rest of the night. I hope Mark knows how lucky he is that the ONLY babysitting duty he has had to do involved doing nothing *mutter mutter mutter*<br /><br />I am glad my little man had a wonderful day, and very happy that everyone who came seemed to have a great time too. Lots of laughing and playing and being silly. Just like life should be ;DMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1154991842492251302006-08-08T08:59:00.000+10:002006-08-08T09:04:02.503+10:00The Difference a Day makes<em>Yesterday (before lunch)<br /></em><br />I tried to gain weight this week. Really put the sort of effort in that I should be directing the other way. It started off by me eating my way through the pantry and finishing off EVERY piece of birthday party stuff that was left over from filling the goodie bags and the piniata. I ate packs of crisps, freddos, freddo heads, lollies, lollypops and I am sure there was more. I shudder to think that the party <u>hasn't even happened yet</u> and I need to shop for food for the day. It then spiraled into an anger filled frenzy and when I couldn't find anything else I set about making cheese and bacon pancakes - just so I could have something to eat. I mean I COULD have eaten the fresh fruit I have. Or I could have had vegetables or better yet, just drunk water but Nooooooooo. I needed to punish someone and who better than me, because I am there. * sigh *. I don't understand it. My anger was not towards me. It was for someone else. But I get frustrated and know there is no point getting angry at them so I direct it inward. Luckily for me there was also this intense desire to walk this weekend and walk I did. So when I got on the scales I was shocked to see they registered a "no - change" leaving me at 77kgs. Part of me wishes it had jumped 5kgs to put the fear back in me and the other part is just grateful that it stayed the same. I am a very positive person, naturally, and usually jump out of bed being able to see the sunshine and accepting that I will get where I want (physically, emotionally, financially) but this weekend knocked me for a six and I have to admit that when I got us this morning I wasn't really sure of anything anymore.<br /><br /><em>Yesterday (after lunch)</em><br /><br />Before I started my blog I had friends I could count on less that one hand. One girl from work - MF and a couple of other Mums I met at the ante-natal classes. And those Mums were all skinny and beautiful and whilst I know that they didn't keep inviting me around because I made them look good, I always knew that I kept myself a little apart from them. Then the blog started. Along with the increase of confidence in myself as I changed physically I grew mentally as my friendships with people on-line grew. It started with comments left on blogs. A bit of a one way conversation but just what I needed. Then, like in real life, closer bonds formed with a few that really clicked for me. The blog comments started turning into email conversations. Real two way conversations. Soon the blog did not necessarily necessitate the beginning of a chat. An email would just appear, or I would just send one to say Hi and on it went. This has now developed where I am comfortable enough to pick up the phone and ring someone to have a chat and forego the internet altogether. Or not. There is no pressure, there is no obligation, so when we talk, when we meet up - it is real and it is FUN.<br /><br />So anyway yesterday I received such an email. Out of the blue and a great wake up to me that the world is not just about me and that other people have the same angers, needs, wants, as me and also need a place to vent when the blog seems just a touch too public. I am so grateful that I have friends like this now and know that it has made me become the better person that I am.<br /><br /><em>So on to Today</em><br /><br />Today is completely different. Today I woke up with an expectation of joy and happiness and excitement. Because today is not about me. Today is about my baby Oscar who turned 2 this morning. As I lay in bed snuggling with both Oscar and Darcy whilst Mark got ready I was smiling thinking about how excited the boys would be when we went out the back and they discovered the 30 odd balloons I blew up last night and the table covered in presents. We all raced out the back as my Mum rang to say Happy Birthday. I knew it was only 5.45am in Adelaide so appreciated the gesture. We opened the present from her and Dad whilst she was on the phone. Oscar managed to yell Thanks Oma almost at the same time he was yelling WOW as he ripped the paper off to reveal "Charlie the Talking Grill". How hilarious. It is a small BBQ that has eyes and a mouth and talks as you press down the sausage or the burger and when you take the Ketchup or Mustard out of their holders, they speak to you. He LOVES it. I am so happy for Mum that she got to share that with us. I love my speaker phones - it makes sharing this stuff so much easier.. Then it was back to the ripping of paper and as the Wiggles books and plate set were revealed we got more WOW's and the smiles just kept on going.<br /><br />I feel really lucky today.<br /><br />And I am going to take that feeling and run with it. :DMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1154992372866039462006-08-07T06:00:00.000+10:002006-08-15T22:17:25.946+10:00Exercise Plan (Mon 07/08 - Sun 13/08)<div align="left">07/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk - <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>DONE</strong></span><br />08/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, TV workout - <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>only the walks</strong></span><br />09/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, 30 min tramp - <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>only the walks</strong></span></div><div align="left">10/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, TV wourkout - <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>only the walks</strong></span></div><div align="left">11/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, 30 min tramp - <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">only the walks</span></strong><br />12/08 - Nothing but party stuff then bloggers dinner - that counts :)<br />13/08 - City 2 Surf - whooo hoooo (hopefully I will click over 30,000 steps!) - <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">DON</span><span style="color:#ff0000;">E</span></strong> but only 27,000 steps for the day<br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /><u><strong>TV Workout for this week</strong></u> </div><div align="left"><br />Programme - (using a dining chair) 100 x inner thigh squeeze, 100 x outer thigh squeeze (repeat until commercial)</div><div align="left"><br />Commercial - (using skipping rope & coffee table) 2 min skipping, 5 Tricep Dips, 5 Pushups (repeat until programme) </div><div align="left"><br />Programme - (using a dining chair) 100 x inner thigh squeeze, 100 x outer thigh squeeze (repeat until commercial) </div><div align="left"><br />Commercial - (using skipping rope & fitball) 2 min skipping, 50 crunches on the fitball (repeat until programme) </div><div align="left"><br />Repeat for 30 minutes<br /></div><div align="left"><br /><centre><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong>"If you are going to do it - do it like you mean it"</strong></em></centre></span> </div>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1154350889652497162006-07-31T22:58:00.000+10:002006-08-08T08:59:18.776+10:00Exercise Plan (Mon 31/07 - Sun 06/08)<div align="left">31/07 - 50 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, 30 min TV workout - <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>DONE</strong></span><br />01/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, 30 min tramp - modified but <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">DONE</span></strong><br />02/08 - 45 min lunch walk, 7km walk home - modified but <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">DONE</span></strong><br />03/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, night off, ?? walk delivering Avon books LOL <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">not all done</span><br /></strong>04/08 - 40 min to and from city, 45 min lunch walk, 30 min TV workout <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>DONE</strong></span><br />05/08 - 1 hour powerwalk before boys tennis -<span style="color:#ff0000;"> <strong>not done but did walk during the day</strong></span><br />06/08 - 1 hour powerwalk before boys swimming lessons - <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>not done but did walk during the day</strong></span><br /><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /><u><strong>TV Workout for this week</strong></u> </div><div align="left"><br />Programme - (using a dining chair) 100 x inner thigh squeeze, 100 x outer thigh squeeze (repeat until commercial)</div><div align="left"><br />Commercial - (using skipping rope & coffee table) 2 min skipping, 5 Tricep Dips, 5 Pushups (repeat until programme) </div><div align="left"><br />Programme - (using a dining chair) 100 x inner thigh squeeze, 100 x outer thigh squeeze (repeat until commercial) </div><div align="left"><br />Commercial - (using skipping rope & fitball) 2 min skipping, 20 crunches on the fitball (repeat until programme) </div><div align="left"><br />Repeat for 30 minutes<br /></div><div align="left"><br /><centre><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong>"If you are going to do it - do it like you mean it"</strong></em></centre></span> </div>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1154350453226741822006-07-31T22:49:00.000+10:002006-07-31T22:54:13.236+10:00Weigh Day - 31st JulyReading blogs, for me, has always been about support, learning & motivation as well as a great way to have a laugh and to share a tear. And sometimes it is not even the post itself that sets of a light bulb moment, but a series of off-tangent thoughts that occur because of it. Take this post of <a href="http://kateypie.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/07/rambles.html"><strong>Katey</strong></a>'s for example. In it she stumbles across some old ww'er books and removes them (very ingeniously by the way) from her house as this is not the tool that she is choosing to use in her quest for better health. And as I was silently applauding her for her actions I started thinking that I had some old books lying around and went hunting.<br /><br />A friend had given me her weeks 1 - 12 booklets when she moved across to Sure Slim and I have to admit that in the past year and a bit I haven't looked at them very often and never at length. But on Friday I went through each one, page by page and started recalling my excitement when I first began back in April 2005. I looked at the ways to move more (most of which I am doing) and how to fill up a day full of healthy foods without feeling hungry (most of which I had forgotten or become too lazy to do!). I also stumbled across a recipe for <a href="http://leonell.blogspot.com/2006/07/recipe-mushroom-cream-pasta.html"><strong>Mushroom Cream Pasta</strong></a>. It sounded delicious so I wrote up a shopping list and on the way home bought the ingredients to make it. It was so easy. Whilst the boys were eating their dinner I made mine, made a salad, poured a glass of wine and sat at the dining table and had a great meal. I perhaps mis-measured the chilli and will take better care next time but it was great. This kick started a whole weekend of planning. I got my walks in on Saturday and Sunday, I did housework, I played with the boys, I went out on Saturday night (and had a FANTASTIC time. Am so glad I was given a cab charge as the fare home was $65.00 !!) and I made a shopping list for Monday morning for my weeks worth of food at work.<br /><br />That didn't stop me putting on 400gms over the last 2 weeks though so I am tackling this week beginning at 77kgs. I am neither happy nor sad at this weight, just disappointed that I let a bit of lazyiness set me back a few weeks. AND I have noticed that when I put weight back on it all sits on my stomach. Everything else still looks OK but I feel bloated, I feel sluggish, and I am not as 'flat' (not that I will ever be flat LOL) as I was a couple of weeks ago. So armed with my weeks exercise plan, my determination to get excited again, and complete faith that I will get there, I am ready to move forward.<br /><br />And to help me with that I have joined Paulene's new 12 week <a href="http://paulenesjournaljourney.homestead.com/WHO12wk.html"><strong>**Spring Slimming Challenge**</strong></a>- and whilst I initially thought I would not put my name in due to my 2 dismal performances previously, I have done so now, and I am setting myself my own personal 12 week goal of losing 5 kgs. It won't be easy, and I am not going to jump of the Harbour Bridge if I don't make it (not unless they strap me onto a Bungy Cord anyway LOL) but it is something I am <b>seriously</b> going to work towards. There is heaps going on in my life at the moment, but there always will be and I can't sit around and let every one of these things become the excuse of mucking around my good habits.<br /><br />Hmmm that's a thought. What are my good habits? I shall ponder this and make it the subject of another rivetting post ;DMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1154349995448420842006-07-31T22:34:00.000+10:002006-07-31T22:47:31.753+10:00Recipe - Mushroom Cream PastaServes 1 @ 6.5 points each<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />4.5 100g tagliatelle or fettuccine<br />0.0 75 g buttom mushrooms, sliced<br />0.0 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped<br />0.0 1/4 tsp chopped red chilli<br />1.5 1/2 cup light evaporated milk<br />0.0 2 tsp cornflour<br />0.0 1/2 tsp water<br />0.0 1 tbs chopped parsley<br />0.5 2 tsp grated parmesan<br /><br /><br />Method<br /><br />Cook pasta until al denta.<br />Meanwhile, lightly coat a non-stick frypan with cooking spray and add mushroom. Cook until soft. Add garlic and chilli and cook for 1 minute. Add milk and heat until it bubbles. Combine cornflour with water and add to mushroom mixture. Bring to the boil and stir until thickened.<br /><br />Stir through parsley and season with salt and black pepper. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve with salad.<br /><br /><br />My comments<br /><br />I added a bit too much chilli and completely left out the parsley (oops). It was still yummo. I used a whole packet of pasta (500g) so upped the whole recipe to cook for 5. Then proceeded to eat nothing else for 2 days.<br /><br /><br />A photo<br /><br />I have one but cannot load it..Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1153902952741787942006-07-26T18:33:00.000+10:002006-08-02T16:04:27.580+10:00A whole lot of .... Stuff** Long post warning **<br /><br />My post tonight is going to be a little disjointed. Which is probably fitting as that is how I am feeling of late. Not disjointed as if I had been drawn and quartered in some medieval torture routine but just that I feel like a lot of things are going on in my life, and in the lives of others, and sometimes I feel I have too many thoughts in my head and they get so jumbled that I need to put them all down and get them in order. Not all of them are bad, in fact some are brilliant - anyway here goes.<br /><br />My life is generally very good. Mark and I both work and get paid well for our time. This puts us in a very lucky category. However over the last few years we have been living every so slightly above our means and it is all catching up with me. I like to have certainty and whilst I can happily live with a controllable debt, when it gets too high I start to panic. I worry about what would happen if I lose my job - or worse if Mark were to lose his. We have ourselves locked into a couple of things we can't change readily (rent, leases etc) but I am working through the smaller things to slowly build up a snowball effect of paying off debt and whilst it is still in the infancy of planning I can see that we can work our way out of it. It will take some changes to our (and by this I mean HIS) spending habits but if we can lock in an agreed budget and make it flexible enough to still have some fun but focus on debt reduction I think we can do it without turning into a couple of Scrooges.<br /><br />**Edit** Had to remove my 'secret spy' story as may have unwittingly caused some problems. Oops. If you took down the details and are going to follow it up please don't use my name and please don't say that I put it on the internet. Silly me.<br /><br />I am also looking at being the local Avon lady. LOL. No seriously. There is no one in my area doing it as far as I can tell and after discussing it with Mark last night we have worked out a plan of walking on the weekend that will allow us to do deliveries etc. I have sent in an email requesting a phone call and information and it has almost been 24 hours (their promise of reply) and so far no phone call. So I may still back out of this one but my Mum used to be an Avon lady when I was at school and from memory she made pretty good money. So there is nothing to lose by making a phone call.<br /><br />AND I have scheduled in a date to go to the Blacktown Trash & Treasure (which runs every Sunday) to offload a heap of stuff. In the past everything we have grown out of, tired of, needed to make some space from etc we have donated to charity. Which is cool. And probably still my preferred option, but I think that it could be because I am too lazy to organise to do something myself. We don't have a garage or a suitable front space to have a garage sale and the markets around my way charge an absolute bomb to have a stall. I am hoping by culling the childrens toys that they have grown out of and the piles of other collections I will be going a long way to decluttering the house as well as adding a few dollars to the debt reduction project.<br /><br />AND all the while I am working on trying to find something I am passionate about (there are many things) that I can turn into a work at home business (the options dwindle here) so that I can balance working, being a mum, organising school pickups and drop offs, housework, everything. I will work something out and luckily have a few people who have gone that road before me to bounce ideas off. We shall see.<br /><br />There are other things too that have gone a long way to driving me crazy lately. (sorry if I repeat anything I have previously discussed)<br /><br />Back in February I accidentally transferred some money via the internet to a wrong account. I know who the money went to, the banks confirm the recipient says they got the money, my initial phone calls seemed to suggest they would pay me the money back and then it all went pear shaped. I went through the official bank track and trace and the recipient chose not to reply. I engaged a lawyer to have the money returned. The lawyer sent a letter to the recipient. No response. We have now signed court documents and a hearing will be set for the next few weeks (I think). If the recipient does not turn up we automatically win our claim and our costs. If they then still don't pay the court ordered amount we will be sending in the receivers. How much money did I transfer? $1340.00. Not a huge amount but not one I am prepared to let go. I am just thankful that the lawyers don't want any money until after settlement and that Mark can get the receivers to go in for free. I just can't understand the stupidity of the woman who got my money. We know who she is, she knows we know who she is, we have had dealings with her in the past (which is why her account details were in my online banking) *sigh* It really frustrates me.<br /><br />Which leads me to my next gripe LOL. As you know I have been a busy little bunny and have finally completed my tax and my Child Care Benefit (CCB) bulk claims for the last 3 years. Whoo Hooo I am thinking. I will get some money in and really kick start this debt reduction thing as well as buying a couple of 'essential' items. (shoes ARE an essential item LOL) Last Friday I received a rejection letter on my claims stating that the Family Assistance Office (FAO) had no record of the children ever having been in an approved child care. WTF!!. After numerous phone calls (which I have to say were the most polite & helpful calls I have had with Centrelink / FAO. They were brilliant and I am so impressed with them) it turns out that I have done everything correctly on my forms but because the Child care centre has failed to put in utilisation reports for my children they rejected the claim. The good thing is once the child care centre does it I will get my money. The bad thing is the horrible woman from the gripe above used to be the child care centre owner for the first two claims. She has now erased all her records and I can't get this information from her. The FAO said they have sent her a letter and a form to fill in but if she doesn't, it means we will have to go to some arbitration with Centrelink to see if I can get my money. *bugger bugger* As the money involved is approx $800 - $1200 for the two years it is something worth fighting for. AND in order to claim the 30% Child Care Rebate in my tax this year, I need to have the CCB statement for the 2004/2005 financial year complete. *sigh* lots of silly little things to think about.<br /><br /><br />Anyway<br /><br /><br />I have also been doing lots of fun busy things. Oscar is having his soccer party in 3 weeks. The same weekend as the City 2 Surf. We have made the piñata (which looks sensational by the way). Darcy & Oscar helped me stuff it with little bags of lollies and little toys. The goodie bags have been filled. The games are almost complete. I will take photos as I made a game where I drew a soccer goal net on a huge piece of cardboard. I then blew up a photo of Darcy and Oscar and put it in the front as if they were the goalies. On the day the children will get little soccer ball cut outs and like "pin the tail on the donkey" they will get spun around and try to get their ball in the goal without touching the goalies. It is hilarious. Doing this stuff has been good for me as it gives me a chance to sit and unwind and concentrate on something that is a lot of fun.<br /><br />Last Saturday I met up with Mary and Cath to do our Ferry walk. We headed off from Circular Quay at 8:12 and headed into Neutral Bay. As none of us had looked at the map it was a bit hit and miss with the direction we walked but we worked it out in the end and stumbled across some beautiful homes and little hide away wharves. About half an hour in the sky opened up and we got hammered. We stopped at Cremorne rather than continue to Mosman and waited for the Ferry whilst Cath entertained us all with her skipping prowess. It was incredible ;D Topped off with a decadent breakfast it was a great morning and the only highlight of that weekend which was then overtaken by the cold monster who crawled up my nose. Charming LOL.<br /><br />This Saturday I am going out. By myself. To a party. Whoot. ;) One of the girls from work who moved to WA early last year, is coming back for her 30th. I really miss her and we speak almost every day on the phone so I am looking forward to putting all the crap behind me for the night and just having fun. I am hoping that the snot monster (who is subsiding by the way) would have vacated the premises by then and allow me to relax without having to take a trailer load of tissues with me.<br /><br /><br />Anyway<br /><br /><br />I have noticed on a few blogs lately that the old checklists have come back in again. The plan for exercise for the week and marking them off as they are done. This is a brilliant idea and one that I am now going to steal. I am finding that I am doing my walk in and out of the city. And now my lunch walk to the post office. Along with my incidental walking this is getting me to the region of 15,000 - 17,000 steps a day BUT I have to put my hand up and say that some of it should not really be considered exercise. I am not pushing my heart enough. I don't sweat enough. I have stopped doing any sort of resistance training. So I am going to have a look at my schedule, and my stuff (again!) and work out a plan for the next week. Then I can update it as I do it, or modify it as life steps in and forces changes. I think I need to have a plan to work towards as it is becoming increasingly easy to do nothing.<br /><br />That being said a look over my Global Corporate Challenge has thrown out these interesting facts. Over 63 days I have:<br />Walked 1,042,400 steps. Yep that is over ONE MILLION steps !!<br />Averaged 16,546 steps per day<br />Walked 667 km's. This is based on a fixed 65cm gait where mine is more naturally 75cm to 85cm when striding.<br />Provided 17.25% of our teams total.<br /><br />I know a lot of us are walking/jogging/running this amount of steps a day but to track it and see the numbers climb is really a buzz. I think after the challenge is complete I will continue to track it and see if I can do a month on month challenge of increasing my average - even if it is only by 1 step :D<br /><br /><br />*** deep breath ***<br /><br /><br />Wow. You might all be bored stupid by now but I feel so much better. Thank you.<br /><br />******<br /><br />And before I go I wanted to let you all know about a new Australian company launched last Friday. The <a href="http://www.organicbubs.com/"><strong>Organic Baby Food Company Ltd</strong> </a>is the brainchild of a friend of mine and her sister and they have been working their tails off to get it off the ground. They launched at the Organic Food Expo to great interest and have now launched their website. The aim is to have the food ready to order on line from September, and in stores such as David Jones, Harris Farms and others early in the new year. If you want to keep on top of the news coming from this site regarding foods available, stockists, or you want to put forward a stockist you think should stock the range, please go to the site and register yourself as well as taking the time to have a look around. It is great to see someone who is passionate about what they believe in and providing a product that has been requested by the consumers.Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1153783890192880532006-07-25T09:13:00.000+10:002006-07-25T09:31:30.390+10:00Missing In ActionAs I sit surrounded by an ever growing pile of gunk filled tissues, and the colour of my nose resembles that of a strange flying antlered beast, I thought I would quickly write and say sorry for my lack of both posting, and reading and commenting lately. This week I am doing my own job at work and also acting as a PA for a big cheese so am busy and finding it hard to catch up on bloglines. After work is taken up with cajoling resisting children to go to bed, taking drugs, and falling in a stupour on any soft suitable surface in the house. <br /><br />I am fine, just feeling a bit sorry for myself, but ever hopeful that this will pass in a couple of days and I can get back to a more normal routine. (is my life ever normal LOL)<br /><br />Keep well, keep moving, and I'll do a HUGE catch up in the next couple of days. xx<br /><br /><br /><em>Congratulations to <a href="http://pulluptomybumper.blogspot.com"><strong>Missy Vas</strong></a> on the birth of Lila Marie</em>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12111302.post-1153098286721753822006-07-17T10:54:00.000+10:002006-07-17T11:06:33.733+10:00Weigh Day - 17th July<b>Friday</b><br /><em>I love it when:</em><br /><br />The air is so cold that when you walk in the morning you get ruddy red cheeks and your eyes sting but you feel so alive.<br /><br />I go shopping at lunch and try on a gorgeous skirt in a size 12 and I love it, but it is too big, so I put it back.<br /><br />I decide to buy sexy lingerie instead of a skirt and get some great Elle Macpherson Intimates - red & white (goes with all my red stuff!)<br /><br />The house is tidy and smells of roses and I can walk all the way from the front door to the back door without tripping over one toy.<br /><br />I can say I have finally signed off on 9 years of tax, 3 years of Child Care Benefit, and officially enrolled Darcy in school - whooo hoooo.<br /><br /><br /><b>Saturday</b><br /><em>I love it when:</em><br /><br />We go shopping as a family and the whole day is fun and we all come home with balloons.<br /><br />I show Mark the skirt I wanted to buy in a different store, and they have a size 10 available to try on. And it FITS. (And so what if I had to wait 15 minutes for someone appropriate to come and strip the mannequin of the skirt. I wanted it and I wasn't taking no for an answer LOL)<br /><br />I drop the boys off at a friends for babysitting (so I can wear my new clobber out) and they wave bye bye and don't cry or make a fuss.<br /><br />I receive compliments from people and they are genuine - and yes I thought I looked hot too ;-)<br /><br /><br /><b>Sunday</b><br /><em>I love it when:</em><br /><br />I get home after a great night out with 3 sleeping boys and remember to wash off all my makeup before I hit the pillow.<br /><br />The boys throw tantrums all day because they didn't get enough sleep the night before (well I don't love it but it is a great reminder that we are all together)<br /><br />I have paper mache up to my elbows as I set about making a soccer ball piniata for Oscar's birthday. Crafty stuff is so much fun. And messy LOL.<br /><br /><br /><b>Monday</b><br /><em>I love it when:</em><br /><br />I get on the scales for my weekly weigh in and I lose 200gms. Yaaaay. Now 76.6kgs and inching closer to that goal.<br /><br />I look over the last 12 weeks as Paulenes 12 Week Challenge draws to a close and see that I have lost 2.2kgs. It may not be much but it is in the right direction and I am very happy with that.<br /><br />I know that tonight I can sit in front of the p.c. and catch up on all my blogland buddies :D<br /><br /><br />*******<br /><br /><em>Event notification</em><br /><br />We are doing a walk on Saturday morning (22nd July) meeting at Circular Quay at 8.00am. We are going to catch the 8:12am ferry to Neutral Bay and then proceed to walk to the Mosman wharf. Approximately 2 - 3 hours. Then catch the ferry back to Circular Quay. All are welcome.<br /><br />******<br /><br /><em>Around the blogs</em><br /><br />My heartfelt sympathies go out to <a href="http://mypinkshorts.blogspot.com/2006/07/tears-in-heaven.html">Emily & Jonny</a> today who lost their baby at 16 weeks over the weekend. It is so incredibly sad. *hugs*<br /><br />If you are planning to go to the <a href="http://healthbites.blogspot.com/2006/07/c2s-bloggers-dinner.html">c2s dinner</a> and have not yet notified Mary, please do so in the next couple of days so we can lock in our booking - cheers.<br /><br />Shiny Ruby is looking for people to sign up for a <a href="http://shinyruby.blogspot.com/2006/07/shake-it-up.html">2 hour hula hooping lesson</a> in the city. It should be a tonne of laughs so if you are in Sydney and want to give your hips a bit of a workout head on over to her blog and let her know of your interest.******<br /><br />Happy Birthday Daddy *mwah*Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00891182380425097782noreply@blogger.com27