Its Moving Weekend!

We're moving house tomorrow!!!! Cant wait to get settled into the new place, even though we're going to be staring at great big holes in the walls (due to the termite search a few weeks ago!) for a little while. Still it is so nice to be finally getting out of this place and on to our great big block of land! Finally I will be able to start tending to my vege garden!

I will be off air at the new place for about a week, so no internet :( so I wont be able to read any blogs during that time. I should still be able to post via email though (from work) - so I'm very sorry I wont be around, but I promise I'll catch up with everyone's blogs as soon as I'm able.

And THE most exciting thing that's happening for me at the moment is that we have decided to finally go overseas! Last night we went and paid for our flights... we're leaving on Christmas day and having 2 days in Singapore, then flying into Manchester in England. We'll spend New Years with BF's cousins/family over there, and we'll also be able to do day trips into Scotland and the rest of England from there too. Then we're heading to London to meet my uncle, then off for a couple of days skiing somewhere in Europe (probably Switzerland, not sure yet). Finally we'll be off to Rome to visit the city that I am obsessed about (!!) and have a short trip to Naples and Pompeii. Then fly home from Rome!

Its so exciting and not that far away, so I've certainly got lots of things to think about and plan. I have been wanting to go to Rome and Europe (and especially Pompeii) for about 15 years, so I'm super excited about finally getting to go! BF has always wanted to ski - so he's very excited about that part.

Anyway with that exciting news I'm off! Hope everyone has a great weekend... think of me... carrying boxes and lifting tables and stuff. I hate moving!

Time flies!

Wow - long time no post!! Sorry for my absence, life is pretty crazy right now.

So first of all, we have a new contract on our house!! Everybody cross your fingers, with a little bit of luck everything should settle in about 3 weeks! We found out on Tuesday - and so far everything is on track for a quick settlement. I burst into tears when I found out that the contract was finalised, felt like such a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

We spent today moving some more stuff over to the new place, and the "official" move is scheduled to happen next weekend... bye-bye old house!!

A new challenge is underway for me, I started last Monday. I bought myself a new journal for my goal/inspiration book... and I've loaded it up with my goals, a calendar for me to cross off each day as I go, some success quotes etc, and I'm feeling totally pumped and ready to shed my winter "skin"! I have about 3 or 4kgs to "release", which is usually the hardest to lose! I was getting a little dejected at sort of aimlessly hitting the gym with no goal in mind, so its nice to have something to shoot for. I've had a pretty good weekend too, and that is usually my biggest hurdle. My free meal last night was quite tame by comparison to the last few weekends.

I have given myself two "checkpoints" during my new challenge, one at 4 weeks, and another at 8 weeks. I have written in my goal book that when I have reached those checkpoints and I have performed totally to plan, I will reward myself with either a massage, facial, new item of clothing or maybe a new lipstick or something.

My pamper night last Saturday night didn't eventuate... the boys didn't end up going out, so my plans were dashed at the last minute. We ended up still having home-made pizza, and got a couple of DVD's out - Scary Movie 4 (pretty funny) and Skeleton Key (pretty good). So it was a good night anyway, just didn't get to do the mudmask or the bath. Oh well.

Last night a girlfriend came over and we finally got to watch "Pride and Prejudice"!! Well worth the wait, but I do think the book is much better (as usual). If you get used to the "old" english used, reading the book is well worth the effort - such a good story! Bridget Jones is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice - just a piece of useless information for everyone on a Sunday night...

Anyway I'm loving doing these cardio classes, I've done one cycle class so far (its not an official RPM or anything- but it sure did get the thighs and butt burning!) and I'm doing the Friday morning step class. This week I'm planning on doing 2 cycle classes and 1 step. Plus 3 days of weights and interval cardio on the regular cardio equipment. I've already started to see a change on the scale, which is great!

Feeling good and much more in control - so bring on week 2!!!!

Step class

Today was a cardio day, and as I walked up the stairs to the gym I caught myself dreading the thought of an hour of cardio with just me, my ipod (which is in serious need of some new tunes) and a treadmill and/or cross trainer...

Soooooo - I did a Body Step class!  Have not done an aerobic class for ages, like years, so it was GREAT!  It was the brand new class too, so luckily it was new to everyone and I didn't feel so un-co.  I have to say though, either this new step tape is easier, or I'm a hell of a lot fitter than I used to be... I kept glancing at my heart rate monitor and I was surprised to see that it was mostly below 160BPM.  Only a couple of times it climed above 170.

Anyway, I enjoyed it so much that the time just flew by.  I'm now planning on re-working my training schedule so that I can do some more classes!  Next on my list might be an RPM class *shudder* - nasty, but a really good workout.  Unfortunately I think I need lots more cardio in my life, so if I can make it as fun as possible then it makes it so much easier.

Got a big day planned for tomorrow... got to get up early-ish (maybe 6.30am... well that IS early for a Saturday) and take the dogs for a walk, then head off to the shops to get the groceries done nice and early.  Then we have the dog-wash man, then an open-house at 3pm.  After that the evening is MINE.... ALL MINE!!  I think my boyfriend is going to some kickboxing on Saturday night... so I'm staying home alone... so here's my plan...

Run a nice hot bubbly bath.
Apply a face-pack and relax in previously mentioned bath
Moisturise and massage aching feet - possibly paint nails
Make a home-made pizza
Enjoy home-made pizza!! (maybe a red wine too)
Get out new release DVD "Pride and Prejudice" which I have wanted to see forever but cannot watch as BF flatly refuses to sit through Jane Austen! hehehe

Relax and enjoy the "me" time - just me, my kitty-cat and the dogs!

Cant wait!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Leg Day with Sue!

I trained legs with Sue and I survived!! hehehe maybe I should get a T-shirt printed! LOL!
I had a fantastic day off work yesterday, I took a lovely scenic drive up to Noosa to visit Sue and Jodie. After my bragging last week about how the weather's been 28 degrees and all sun, our lovely "August" westerly winds arrived (a month late) bringing lots of miserable rain and cool weather. Oh-oh! sorry guys...! Strangely though, the sun was splitting the sky until I took the Noosa turn-off... the closer I got to the coast the more miserable the weather got. Poor Jodie got a very bad sample of what Queensland weather is like... trust me Jodie, its normally not like this!!

So we had coffee at a little cafe and chattered away, and then we all went off to find the gym. Well... I have to say that I now know that I've been slacking off when it comes to leg training!!! And its amazing how those little corrections to your form make all the difference to how you feel during the exercise. I learned a few new exercises, like doing the bottom half of the exercise in leg press (ooooh the burn!) and drop sets on the leg extension (killer), then the dreaded pop-squats (I had a feeling that they were coming, and I wasn't disappointed!) and walking lunges. By halfway through my legs were jelly, but I loved it! I have never EVER trained with anyone before, I've never even had a PT session or ever had a training partner, so it was a whole new experience for me!

So all in all it was a great workout, my legs were quivering for the rest of the day after that! It was so cool to catch up with Sue and Jodie again. Last time was a bit of a rush because it was the day of the comp and there was so much happening, so it was lovely to be able to sit and relax and have a bit of a chat.

Here's a couple of photos...

Me and Sue shivering...

There's another photo of me, Jodie and Sue that I want to post, but blogger is being difficult... will try again later... grrr

Today I'm sore (as expected) and I have a very sore butt! Quads are getting stiffer as the day goes on, so no doubt I'll need a walking frame tomorrow lol! This morning I did shoulder and triceps, and incorporated a few new moves/techniques into it, see how fast I learn? hehehe

Not much other news to report! House still not sold yet, but this week we advertise with a price so hopefully that makes a difference. Oh and termite thing at the other house - well after calming down a little we've realised that the damage isn't as bad as originally thought. We've had a friend who's a termite inspector come out and tell us that there's no current activity in the house, so that's a huge relief. AND we can fix all the damaged walls ourselves (BF is a carpenter) so the cost will be minimal... so its all GOOD!

Anyway, time to go cook dinner... better be off!

Auction results...

Well, the house went to auction last night. The result? NO SALE~!! It was actually quite amusing because there were no bidders there at all - for ANY house! Every single house got passed in! There were more agents there than spectators/vendors!!

So now we advertise with a price - hopefully that helps. Another open house tomorrow, although this one isn't advertised (except on the internet) so I dont hold out a lot of hope that anyone will come!

Wednesday was my last day of training - I actually had to cut my session short that day because my legs turned to jelly, I could barely walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes, so I packed up and went home. Tummy was still not right and I was pretty exhausted, so I thought it might be a good idea to rest until my body can handle it. Going to ease back into it this weekend by taking the dogs for a walk (read: the dogs drag me along for the ride!) and see how I go.

Eats have been 100% - I have not wavered. AND I have not had a drop of alcohol for TWO WEEKS! Quite chuffed with myself LOL! That makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I normally would have a glass or two of wine on Friday and Saturday nights... red wine is my weakness. mmmmmmm-mmmmm. So doing pretty well there. I guess it helps that I have not felt like having wine due to my stomach.

I havent posted a picture for a while so I thought I'd add one of my naughty little siamese cat "Connor" - he has got the loudest (and in BF's opinion - the most annoying) voice in the history of cats... and he's not afraid to use it! Connor is an indoor cat, so he relies heavily on me for amusement and playing (although he is 9 and doesn't play so much any more). He has a cat-door that leads out onto an enclosed deck, so he can eat grass and chase lizards and sun himself and watch the dogs. He loves sitting on my lap, regardless of where I am and what I'm doing, and when I get on the computer he loves nothing better than to stand in front of the monitor so that I cant see what I'm doing! He's my "little man" and I love him to pieces!



Have a great weekend everyone!

More challenges

I hate talking about negative things in my blog, especially now that I'm practicing the art of positive thinking!!  But I'm sorry to say that there's been a few more challenges added to my life this weekend. 

Friday night I got home to find a very dejected boyfriend.  He'd spent the afternoon around at the new house, and had started demolishing a wall in order to build a new feature wall.  Well he didn't get too far with that.  When he started pulling gyprock off - he found some pretty massive termite damage.  So he spent the rest of the time following the mud trail around the house (smashing walls as he went!!) - they have eaten out entire studs in some parts.  I guess the good news is that we cant find them.  We can find where they've been, but not where they're at NOW. (if they're still there).  Before we bought the house we had a pre-purchase pest inspection, which came up clean.  So now we have the drama of going through battle with the pest inspectors, hopefully we dont have to go through any kind of legal battle.

So on Friday night after that delightful news I started getting stomach pains again (stress-induced I'm betting) - I battled through Saturday, groceries, cleaning, preparing for the open house etc, but by Saturday night I was doubled over again with those bloody stomach cramps, nausea etc.  We were supposed to go out to dinner for a friends 30th birthday, but my wonderful boyfriend stayed home with me to look after me (even though I told him several times that he should go).  He went and got a couple of DVD's, and he even got me The Chronicles of Narnia, which I've wanted to see for a while (which was actually a really good movie - it made me cry a couple of times!!!).

Anyway by Sunday the worst was over and I began to feel normal again.

The positives are that although we've got some serious termite damage - the house is still structurally sound.  Plus we're not ready to move in yet, so we've got plenty of time to fix it.  Also, my stomach pains weren't anywhere near as savage as the last time I had it in June.  And because I was sick, I didn't indulge in a free meal (unfortunately had to skip a few meals) so my weight actually dropped!  (probably not a good way to do it though!)

Back to gym today - I didn't feel up to it yesterday.  Today was ok but I felt weak - the weights really burned, even after just one set.  I'm probably not 100% yet.

And I am still in total shock of the death of Steve Irwin.  I just cant believe it.  We saw him do a crocodile demo at Australia Zoo a few years ago, and he was fantastic.  Its affected me like how I felt when I Princess Dianna died.... I feel that same shock and disbelief - judging by the TV coverage, most Aussies feel the same.  BF is quite sad about it, all night he just kept saying "I cant believe it - the day after Fathers' Day - I cant believe it" over and over.  Very sad news, and my heart goes out to his family.