A Human Pincushion

Yesterday I experienced my first session of acupuncture. Very interesting. I've been wanting to try it for a while now, and since I've got a lot of spare time at the moment, I thought "why not". A friend recommended his acupuncturist, so I thought I'd give his guy a go. Unfortunately he's on the northside of Brissie, so naturally I got hopelessly lost trying to get there! I dont get over to the northside very often, but I think I got to see a fair chunk of it yesterday with all the extra driving I did!




So anyway, he asked me all sorts of questions, previous injuries, digestive issues, sleep patterns, looked at my tongue (!!!) and then I laid down and got stuck with needles! It seems that all my injuries/niggles/weaknesses are all down my right hand side. First priority was my right shoulder, which is extremely tight and doesn't move like it should. I had needles all the way from my neck down to my foot. The only one that hurt was the one in my hand. They place it in the webbing between the thumb and the first finger - and OMG it HURT!!



He then waved some burning herbs over some of the needles, and then stuck electrodes to the ones in my shoulder. The electrodes made my shoulder pulse and vibrate - very strange!



After this I rolled onto my stomach and had these glass cups attached to my back. It felt like there was a crab suctioned on, I didn't like it much. They didn't stay on very long, but look at my back now:

I look like a freak!!!! Apparently the bruising will go away in a couple of days.

So all in all, it was an interesting experience. I do have a bit more movement in my shoulder now, but it could just be from the massage and stretching he did on it. The jury is out on whether I will go again. I might try to find someone more local.

Training and eats have been spot on this week, so I'm feeling great. On Tuesday after gym I spent the entire day in the garden. Pruning, weeding, chopping, carting tree branches and weeds to the trailer - it was hard work. I was nodding off on the lounge at 7.30 that night. But let me tell you - it certainly beats being at work right now!

Today I'm off to have lunch with a friend - what a life!!

Painting

Would you believe that my face is still sore from having that bloody wisdom tooth out?? I didn't realise that it would make my whole left side of my jaw ache. I dread to think what it will be like when I have TWO removed on the right side.

Yesterday I finally got off my arse and did some painting. The previous owners of this house had some amazing taste in colours (NOT!). The spare bedroom that I painted yesterday had 3 walls in purple, and one wall in bright yellow/orange. They also had blue venetian blinds on both windows. Before....

It took me all freaking day!! It needed 3 coats of paint to cover the purple. Here's the results:

So training is going really well. Now that I've got lots of spare time I'm making sure I fit some more training in. I've still been going to gym every morning at 5.30am, Friday morning did a really good step class, and Saturday afternoon went for a jog. Sunday's exercise was painting, which I figure is a good shoulder workout anyway. This morning I did a cycle class, which for some reason really fatigued me in the legs (it doesn't normally) and then jumped on the treadmill on incline for 10 minutes afterwards.

I am determined to lose bodyfat during this break. Danger time for me is being home alone and bored, that's when I tend to swing off the fridge and pantry door a lot. Its bizarre going from being so busy, to suddenly having no routine, so the goal is to make sure I keep busy.

Last week my nutrition wasnt too bad, I've got a whiteboard in the kitchen so I'm keeping a visible weekly record - beside each day of the week I get a big tick (or a cross!!) for having trained, eaten clean, zero alcohol, and a tally of how many litres of water consumed. I like having it visible like that, especially if I know that my OH can see it.

Anyway, last week was ok - but lots of room for improvement! Watch this space!!

I know how we all love before and after photos, so here's some of Miss Elke - before being shaved...

and after... ! Much cooler for her.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Tagged

So my leisurely lifestyle continues... although I havent got as much done as I thought I would! Yesterday I bought myself some new gym shoes, so hopefully they will eliminate the shin splints issue.

Yesterday I finally did the Abs Butt and Thighs class at gym - holy sh!t! Thought I was gonna collapse towards the end. Lots of squats, walking lunges, running laps of the aerobics room, step ups etc, and then the ab work just about killed me. Felt good though so I think I'll give it another go next week.

This morning did Step, followed by walking the dogs for 40 minutes. Shins hurt a bit.

Anyway, got tagged last week - so here goes...

Four dishes I like to cook:
1. Beef Wellington (with Roast Vegetables and Yorkshire Puddings) This is OH's favourite meal of all time. He has it every birthday. His mum took great pains to teach me how to make it "her" way. We make individual Beef Wellingtons because everyone's favourite part is the puff pastry!

2. Chicken & Leek pie.

3. Homemade pizza (I buy the bases though). Good for a lazy Saturday night. I dont particularly go for "gourmet" pizza toppings - normally I add onion, capsicum, mushroom, pineapple, tomato, olives, ham, ground beef, salami and cabanossi and cheese. (!!!!). Usually they are so big that you can barely open your mouth wide enough for a bite LOL. A good tip is to pour some whisked egg over the top of the pizza just before you put it in the oven.

4. Lasagne. OH goes nuts for my lasagne. I'm not as keen, but I make it for him to keep him happy! I always add about a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce to the meat sauce - this is also good for spag bol. Sounds strange I know, but give it a try sometime.

Four qualities I love in people
1. Committment
2. Honesty
3 Sense of Humour
4. Loyalty

Four places I have been
1. Rome. It had to be on the top of the list! We were in Rome in January this year. I am obsessed with all things Ancient Rome. Yes I'm a nerd. Enough said.
2. Innsbruck, Austria.
3. UK.
4. Singapore

Four things in my bedroom
1. A TV that we never use. I'm just not a 'watch-TV-in-bed' kinda person.
2. Boxes of tiles yet to be laid in our house (any spare space is fair game in our place!)
3. Framed prints by the artist M.C. Escher
4. Bedside tables that do not match the bed.

Four dirty words that I like to use
Apart from the obvious ones???... I try not to swear too much, but the occasional “For F**ks sake!” escapes me sometimes. My favourtie word for someone I don’t like is “slut-features”. I don’t use it often.

Four random facts about me:
1. I love animals. I love them more than people sometimes. If there’s a story on the news about a person who died, or a horse stuck in the mud, I will cry over the horse every time. People stories do not affect me the same way. For this reason I cannot watch RSPCA Animal Rescue – I would sob for the entire show. I am also not actually a cat-lover – I am definitely a dog person. I only got my Siamese Cat because I was told that they are the most dog-like cat you can get. But I love him to bits now.

2. I like alternative music. My favourite is still System of a Down. I have always been the one who likes the weird/kooky type of music. I had a mega obsession with The Cure when I was a teenager.

3. I do my own acrylic nails. My future sis-in-law used to do them for me (she’s qualified), but after about a year of watching her do it, I thought “this cant be too hard!!!” and got her to buy me the gear and now I do them myself. It actually was quite difficult, but I’ve been doing them for about 5 years now and have no problem. My natural nails are paper thin, they are so thin that it sickens me to touch them.

4. I cant eat steak. If I chop it up and stir-fry it I love it, but to sit down to a big piece of fillet or rump makes me feel ill.

I tag Selina, Kerry, Doris and Michelle

Hil, meet Garden. Garden, meet Hil.

Putting the term “Garden Leave” (see previous post) to good use, I spent Sunday in the garden. My lovely parents volunteered to drive an hour to our house to help clean out our overgrown mess of a garden, so no need for further exercise on Sunday. Ouch my hammies are so sore from bending over reefing out weeds all day. My hands and nails are sore too (acrylic nails and weeding don’t make a good match – sore fingernail beds!!). We were slathered in bug repellant, and rained on twice, but had a good day. I kept expecting creepy crawlies to leap out at me, but they must have all scattered when they saw us coming.

So, despite being “between jobs” at the moment, the last two mornings I have still got up and gone to gym at 5.30am. I’m quite impressed with myself! Yesterday I came home from gym and took the dogs for a walk – but have ended up with shin splints for my trouble. My gym shoes are over a year old now, and I think its time to replace them… I always get shin splints when I have old shoes. Anyway, I spent some more time in the garden yesterday, fighting off the midgies in the process. Also got a little sunburned.

Then this morning I had to go to the Toothist! I am now minus one wisdom tooth. Currently the left side of my face is numb and swollen from the anesthetic. How bizarre is it!! Even my left ear is numb! OH rang me a little while ago, and he was laughing at me cos I sounded so stupid! My tongue feels like a rock in my mouth and wont move properly. My lips are frozen in the one spot.

Just after the dentist injected about 4 needles into my gum, he asked me what I was going to do with my time off.

I replied “Oh I’ve got loths oth wenovating to do at home, loths of painting. And of courth with Christhmath not far away, loths oth sthopping to do too.”

I had to stop talking cos I feel like a dickhead. I can feel myself starting to drool because I have no idea what my lips are doing – cant feel them.

Then when the dentist went to pull the tooth out, the assistant put me in a head lock. It was the weirdest/worst sensation having the tooth pulled – kinda like he stuck a fork in it and then wound the handle around and around, until *crack* out it came. I was glad it came out when it did, if it went on much longer I was going to have to slap him. And how crazy am I… I’m going back for more on the 10th of December!!

I Quit!!!!!

I quit my job on Thursday!!!!!!!

mmmmm that feels weird to type.

After 7 and a half years, it was time to move on. I had been half-heartedly job-searching for 6 months or so, and I was really starting to get down about it. I was miserable going to work, and it was really starting to affect other parts of my life. Lots of trouble sleeping because I was thinking about stressful work stuff. Then lack of sleep affects my training. Then tiredness makes me cranky etc.

So out of the blue a few weeks ago I get a phone call from a previous manager (who's now the Managing Director of my new company), go for an interview, and on Thursday morning I'm offered a fantastic job!

I wasted no time and went straight to my office and handed in my resignation letter. This was probably the hardest part. I felt sooo guilty. To me, the worst feeling in the world is feeling like I've let someone down, and thats how I felt on Thursday. The person I report to started crying, which made me feel even worse. I do feel for her - its going to be tough for her now.

Because I'm going to work for a competitor/customer, I got sent home straight away (conflict of interest). I had to go back in on Friday morning to discuss "what we're going to do with you". (ie terminate me immediately, put me on "garden" leave, or make me work my notice)

So yesterday I went back and was told that I'm now on "garden" leave. This means that I'm still an employee for my notice period (one month) but am not allowed on site. Basically means I get a months paid holiday! So I said my goodbyes to everyone, and my fabulous ex-boss and I went out for a long lunch and glass of wine to celebrate. I will miss her the most.

So I am now a lady of leisure!! I have 7 weeks before I start my new job (how good is THAT!!) so I'm writing a list of things I need to do during that time. Obviously there is lots of painting to be done in the house, and the there is 1/2 an acre of garden that needs some desperate attention, so I dont think I will get bored. I'm also looking forward to some sleep-ins, going to gym a little later in the morning, taking the dogs for lots of walks, catching up with girlfriends with babies that I dont see much of anymore... Christmas shopping, checking out the new DFO with mum, reading some books, trying out some new recipes for dinners, relaxing.... are you jealous yet??!!!!! LOL!

Words of wisdom (teeth)

Hmmm so my trip to the dentist is going to turn out to be an expensive one...

I really dont like the dentist (who does?).  I go every 6 months to have my mouth poked and prodded, which costs a stupid amount of money, and what do I get for my trouble?  I get booked in for more dental work, more poking and prodding, which unfortunately includes needles and teeth pulling.   Yep, I caved in and booked in to get my 3 wisdom teeth out.  Luckily (if you can call it that) I can have it done in the chair.  I'm having one removed first, then a month or so later I'll get the other two done.  So 20th of November is D-Day for wisdom tooth one.

I also was told that I need to have a crown...... boohoo.  I have a tooth with a crack, which could get worse.  So they want to shave a layer off and cover it with a cap "thingy".  Yes its as expensive as it sounds.  It sounds painful too.  Oh joy I love the dentist.  I'm gonna save this little beauty for next year I think!

The one thing I do like is that they give me a party-bag when I leave.  I get a *free* toothbrush and toothpaste, plus some pamphlets to read.   I have a large collection of *free* toothbrushes at home, which I add to my collection of *free* toiletries that I steal from hotels, which I never use.  (I have this compulsion to take all the toiletries from hotels, I cant seem to stop myself!!  Does anyone else do this????)

Training and nutrition are going great this week, I'm feeling pumped.  I did legs this morning and got a little niggle in my right knee cap again... bugger.  Feeling some great DOMS already this week.  I'm tossing up whether to do a new class tomorrow morning - Abs, Butt and Thighs... sounds scary (especially after leg day!) but good to try something different.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Lazy weekend

I did a cycle class this morning, came away absolutely drenched, but feeling great.  I have been sleeping much better lately too, I actually got 9 hours sleep on Friday night, which was heaven!  Its amazing how much better and mentally stronger you feel after a good nights sleep.  All those little things just seem insignificant.

I had such a relaxing weekend.  Got my hair cut again on Saturday afternoon - this time got a much shorter disconnected bob.  I also had some time to myself on Saturday, so it was nice to just chill on my own, collect my thoughts and relax with a good book! 

We had a DVD marathon weekend!  On Friday night we watched part of Epic Movie (turned it off after about half an hour though - it was crap!!) and then The Hitcher - Sean Bean makes such a good villain.  Then on Saturday night we had a BBQ at home and watched Tenacious D The Pick of Destiny (some funny parts but not highly recommended) and then The Pianist, which was a fantastic movie.  OH was extremely reluctant to watch it, since drama's arent really his thing (typical guy - he loves action/thrillers) but it ended up being a really good movie, even he admitted it.  It was also quite distressing at times - the things those poor people went through during the war, it really opens your eyes.  I like it when a movie turns out MUCH better than you expected... 'I am Sam' was a bit like that.  My favourite movie of all time is Platoon.

Tomorrow morning after gym I'm going to the dentist for a check up.  I'm a bit reluctant, last time I went (6 months ago) I was told that I need my 3 remaining wisdom teeth out.  I chose to ignore it!  So I'm prolly about to get in trouble from my dentist!  Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!