Cucumber addict

I have decided thats what I am... a cucumber addict. Last year it was American Mustard - but I think its time has come for it to be replaced. I am going through two per week, which is quite restrained I think. I could easily eat more. My other half absolutely detests them, which is fine with me cos it means I get to eat it ALL!!!!!

I had a 'nothing' weekend. You know, one of those weekends where if people ask me what I got up to on the weekend, my reply is "nothing". Well, nothing interesting, that is. I trained (half-heartedly) cleaned, washed clothes, did the groceries, I cooked for most of the day yesterday in preparation for the week ahead... boring boring boring!

I did buy a couple of CD's on Saturday - that was about the most exciting thing. One of the CD's is System of a Down; Hypnotise. I LOVE System of a Down and this album is pretty cool - I was headbanging in the kitchen on Saturday afternoon, and had it playing so loud in my car this morning!

I am a bit flat today so this is not much of a post. There is so much going on in my head at the moment that I dont really know where I'm at.

Where did my post go??

I posted this on Tuesday by email, but blogger mustn't have liked it. Oh well, here it is again....

Had a bit of a yuk day yesterday, Sunday night kept waking up with a sore stomach. It was like an ache, but not in the traditional 'stomach ache' way. Felt like a brick was lying on my upper abdomen. So I didn't train, in fact, I could barely keep my eyes open all day - sooo lethargic. Lots of people at work have been down with a virus in the last week, upset tummies and everything, so I was assuming I was coming down with it.

Anyway, still had an achey stomach last night but this morning decided to get up and train anyway... and I am so glad I did! Had a SMASHING weights session! I powered through my weights, felt strong, beat all my weight/reps from last week, and then kicked butt through an amazing interval cardio session on the cross trainer. Followed up with 10 mins on the bike, and then stretching............ felt so good!!!! See, training is good for you!

Stomach feels ok at the moment, but as a precaution I'm avoiding the sugar-free stuff, and not training abs for a few days.

Last night we went to visit friends who have just recently a baby. He was sooo tiny! I got to hear all the horror stories of the birth too - she had a bit of a rough time, poor thing. Is it just me, or is everyone having babies at the moment? I feel like everywhere I turn, everyone is either pregnant or has just had one. Em has just recently had her little boy, and we have these friends who've just recently had theirs. Then I have another 4 friends who are all at various stages of pregnancy, and two other friends who's little ones have just had a first birthday (cant believe how fast they grow!). Must just be our age-group.

But I think I might finally be getting a bit clucky..... (eeeeeek! - insert scary music here!)

Is it just me?

... or does everybody else feel like a wet rag at the end of the week?  By Thursday morning I am usually absolutely shattered, super tired and very little energy, and Friday is just a struggle to get out of bed!  A lot of it is to do with lack of sleep during the week - the last two nights I've only gotten about 5 hours sleep each night.  Unfortunately that's pretty normal.  That's why I need the weekends to catch up on rest.  How perfect would it be to work Monday to Wednesday, then have 4 days off???  For the same money???  Dream on.... :)

So our ring shopping was successful!  Not a bad Valentines present huh?  But because my fingers are so skinny we have to have it made (ring finger is a size H - yeah I have 'skeleton-fingers'!!!).  Anyway, its white gold with a princess cut diamond and little stones dotted down each side - and I have to wait 2-3 weeks!  I sooooo wanted to take it home with me right then and there!  Dont worry, as soon as its firmly on my finger I will post a photo.  Cant wait!

Yesterday morning I did Body Attack - happily my stamina is improving fairly quickly and while I still left with a beetroot face, I wasnt about to collapse on the floor either!  This morning I dragged my sorry arse out of bed and did a step class too - every little bit helps!

Freaked out a little bit this week as I found out that I have to have a little pre-eye-op laser surgery - in two weeks.  I had forgotten about this (conveniently) so it was a bit of a shock this week to realise that I'm going to have two "iridotomies" holes lasered into both iris' on the 1st of March.  These are kind of 'drainage' holes to relieve any pressure build up I might get in my eyes after the REAL operation.   I have even started to think about backing out of the surgery, but I'm sure this is a normal nervous reaction!  I just have to keep reminding myself how amazing its going to be to throw away my glasses and contact lenses after its all over!

Happy Friday everyone!

Pumped

Its that great time of the week where I'm feeling all pumped and strong.  I'm loving it!

Eats have been spot on this week, no deviations from plan and 3 litres of water each day.  On Monday afternoon I took the dogs for a walk, but with one small difference.  I took them both together.  It may not sound like a big deal, but it was.  I have always thought they would be too much to handle to take together, but they proved me wrong.  OMG I am so proud of them!!  I felt like I was walking with a pair of sled dogs - they even walked in formation!!  The only problem was that a couple of times Shavez stopped to pee on a tree, and poor Elke got tangled in the "reigns"!  I was grinning from ear to ear when I got home, and because I was walking both of them we stepped up the pace, so I had my heart rate around 150-160 the whole time! 

Had an amazing back/bicep session on Tuesday morning, I left with a jelly-upper-body - which is a strange feeling!  This morning I did legs again - I was really lacking in energy.  Probably because I didn't sleep very well last night.  So no records broken today I'm afraid.

This morning was a scheduled measurements day... In a week and a half I have lost 0.9kg and a centimetre each from my chest, waist and hips!  Also did my skinfolds and am quite pleased to have lost a few mm already - mostly from my hip and abs.  Next measurements day is in two weeks, so I'm shooting for an equally good result.

Tonight we are going ring shopping!  Hope we find something we like!

Its all good

My eyes, that is.  Had my eye appointment on Friday morning - it was quite horrible!  First I had anaesthetic drops in my eyes and the girl got this pressure tester gauge, which she then tapped on my eyeballs (like, I could SEE this thing hitting my eye repeatedly) but it didn't hurt, it was just weird.  Then she put the dilating drops in my eyes, and warned me that these drops were EXTRA strong.  She said that my pupils could stay dilated for up to 3 days afterwards (she wasn't joking)!!

So after my pupils dilated to the size of saucers, I saw the doc.  He actually started the examination by saying "This will be a bit unpleasant"... hmmmm ...  Picture this, the room is dark, the only light is the one the doctor is holding, and its searing into the back of my eye.  Because your pupils dont work anymore, he has to hold my eyelids open (the natural reaction is to close your eyes).  Then he gets this "poking stick" (thats the official name) and presses it into your eyeball, still blinding you with the light, while all the time you have to 'look left, look up and left, look up, look up and right...' etc.  By now my eyes were streaming - and all that poking around my eyes really hurt!  And just when you think its over, then you have the other eye to do!

Finally he suctions this glass lens thing onto your eyeball, and had another look at my retina.  When he removed the lens, there was this gross "sucking noise" and then it felt like about half a glass of water splashed down onto my cheeks - just a little bit of water from the eyes!  The things we have to suffer!  Anyway, looks like its all good for the eye op, in just over a months time.

So on Saturday I got up to find that my pupils were STILL dilated, which meant I couldn't really take the pooches for a walk.  Even with sunglasses, the sun was so bright that everything outside was literally brilliant white.  I still did my chest and tricep workout at home though, and took the dogs for a big walk on Sunday to make up for it. 

Had a few slip ups on the weekend food-wise, so I'm not very happy with myself.  Why oh why do I struggle on weekends?  Not enough water, and bad food choices.  I always find it easy to focus during the week, but come Saturday I lose that determination.  I think I need to throw myself into this house renovation - then I will be so busy on weekends that I wont have time to think about anything else!

This morning I did the cycle class again - and yay! found it a bit easier this week... hopefully my fitness is starting to come back!

Sore

I'm sooooo sore!! My lats are screaming, I'm having trouble straightening my arms because my biceps and forearms have locked up, and my legs... well I'm moving very slowly at the moment - I think Selina called it "tin man" legs? I reckon it feels like I've got glass in my legs, and it shatters with every step.

Obviously it was a good leg workout then! Actually, from the very first squat I knew that I was going to be in trouble for the rest of the week. I think I actually felt the muscles swearing at me. I'm now at the stage of lowering and raising myself on chairs with my arms - although with sore biceps and forearms I'm kinda moving in slow motion at the moment, with a constant grimmace on my face hehehe

Yesterday I staggered to the gym and attempted my first body attack class - oh how humbling - every time the music stopped I was gasping for breath, stumbling for my towel and water, wondering how could 6 weeks off do this to a person??? I was giving the instructor death stares as we did the last track - lunges and squats - the day after my first leg workout??!! I must have been a bad girl in my last life, and being punished for it now!

This morning I'm going into the city to have my final check up before my eye operation, I'm going to a Retina Specialist, he'll dilate my pupils to have a good look at my eyes and make sure everything is ok. He has the final say on whether this op can go ahead or not. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Where did my strength go?

Back into full-on training this week, and it feels great!  Yesterday morning I did a cycle class.  OMG it hurt!  I kept saying that I must have got the "hard" bike (you know how some bikes seem harder than others) and my legs were burning, but soooo good to sweat so hard!  Then yesterday afternoon I got home and walked the dogs.

This morning I did weights for the first time in 6 weeks - where did my strength go????  I deliberately scaled back the weights I was using cos I knew I would have lost some strength, but I did not realise just how much strength I'd lost.  Felt like I was using baby weights!  Today was back and biceps - and I think I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!!  (cant wait actually!).  After weights I did 20 minutes interval cardio on the Cross Trainer.

Food is spot on - and I'm feeling good.  I've switched to using Calorie King instead of Fitday, and I'm finding it heaps easier because all the Aussie brands are there.  Anyway today I thought I'd give Cottage Cheese another go... I keep trying to like it, but I'm afraid its just not working.  Today I had cottage cheese mixed with a packet of Splenda, cinnamon and chopped up pieces of apple.  It was ok to start with, but the more I ate the more I wanted to gag.  YUK!   Cottage Cheese and I are never going to see eye to eye, so I think I'll just stop now.

Yesterday I took my measurements and skinfolds.  I was absolutely horrified by my bodyfat %, its gone up 5% in 6 weeks - ouch!  Never fear, it wont be there for long!  Funny thing is that I seem to have put the weight on in places that I dont normally... like my boobs.  :)~   My other half is quite chuffed!

Thought for the day:  Dont eat lunch at your desk if you are a messy eater - I speak from experience and have ended up with mustard all over my mouse "roller"...

I'm going to Phat Camp

I have finally bitten the bullet, and have pre-registered for Phat Camp on the Gold Coast. How exciting, now I really have a goal to work towards... to have regained my fitness and lost those pesky 4kgs by April 27 (and also put on a bit more muscle).

This weekend has not really gone as planned. I had planned on getting up early each day and taking the poor pooches for a much needed walk. Normally I'm awake by 6 or 7am on a weekend, plenty early enough to do this before the day gets hot. But this weekend I have not woken up until 8.30-ish - and even then I've felt sluggish and super tired. I'm still sick of course, still coughing up a lung every half hour and blowing my nose - so no "walkies" yet. Sadly the drugs dont work as well as I thought they would, I just cant seem to shift this chest infection. Looks like I might even have to fill the repeat prescription for the antibiotics the doctor gave me. Yesterday I was nearly crying with frustration at this stupid cough... you know when you cough and cough and cough, so much that you end up dry-reaching? Thats me. What a lovely image for you all.

Well anyway, tomorrow is day one of my next challenge. The next 6 weeks takes me up to my first eye operation on the 15th of March, after which there will be some enforced rest for a week or two. Stage 2 of this challenge will begin after both eyes are done.

Some more photos... ah... a trip down memory lane...

Beaumaris Castle, North Wales

Hadrians Wall, England (those bloody Romans were amazing!)

A BIG cannon at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland. Note the gorgeous hot pink beanie in these photos - it was my best friend during the trip!

Well thats me for the weekend - a big week awaits me. Better chuff off and get my meals organised for the week. Bye-eeee!

I have one tastebud back

... but only one.  Yesterday afternoon was the first time I was actually able to taste something.  That was very exciting, and if I concentrated hard, I could sort-of taste my stir-fry last night - woohoo!.   I'm coming good s-l-o-w-l-y, but its still all settled on my chest, and I'm still snotty - GERMS BE-GONE!

The great news is that we took Shavez to the vet yesterday afternoon, and his lump has turned out to be a Lipoma, which is a non-cancerous "fatty" tumour.  Apparently they are quite common in older dogs, and not anything to worry about.  There is no need to remove it either - so that is a huge relief!!

This morning my alarm went off at its "old" usual time of 4.50am - and I was like "Oh no - its not time already, is it?"  Ha!  Doesn't take long to get used to sleeping in!  Anyway, I dragged myself out of bed, got ready in record time, and off to the gym - for the first time in about 6 weeks!  The first 10 minutes were spent saying hello to everyone, and telling the ladies my engagement news.  Its amazing the changes that happen in the gym in just a few weeks - lots of new posters on the wall, and lots of new faces in the gym too!

And man-oh-man, did I feel out of shape!!!!   I got on the treadmill and set the incline on 10, and powerwalked for 30 minutes... and wow did my legs feel it!  I even jogged for 5 minutes at the end, until I had to stop to blow my nose.  Then I finished up with a good 10 minutes on a bike, followed by abs and stretching.  Ouch that stretching hurt! 

Anyway, it felt great to be finally doing something.... even though I certainly broke no records today.  And the best thing is that I am HUNGRY today for the first time in ages... I cant wait to have lunch!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Antibiotics

Well, the drugs DO work.

Yesterday I woke up feeling no better, in fact, feeling a burning sensation in my chest every time I coughed. So as promised I went to the doctor, who prescribed me some drugs. I absolutely HATE taking antibiotics... I only ever do so as a last resort. I think they do nasty things to your system. But anyway, happy to report that I woke up this morning feeling much better.

Had the day off work yesterday too - hence the new blog template. Finally figured out how to do it!

And I'm going back to gym tomorrow!!! Cant wait! Going to do some much needed cardio, and continue through the weekend. I have prepared my training diary, designed my weights programme, written up my goals - so I'm ready!

And with any luck my sense of taste and smell will come back very soon. It has been almost a week since I lost it. You dont realise how strange it is, not being able to taste things, until you cant. Its weird. I keep asking my other half - "does it taste ok?" "What does it taste like?". And when you're cooking things, you cant taste test anything to see if it needs seasoning or anything, you just have to hope for the best. Takes all the enjoyment out of eating!

This afternoon we have to take Shavez (our 10 year old Alaskan Malamute) to the vet - I found a large-ish lump just forward of his hip - if you were a human it would be on your oblique abdominal muscles. I am very worried, but trying to stay calm - it could be anything. Our animals are children... cross your fingers for us.

Just call me "snot-queen"

Yes, its gross, but that's what I am at the moment - Snot Queen. I dont know where it all comes from, but I blow my stupid nose every couple of minutes until its empty, and yet 5 minutes later, its full of snot again. My poor nose is red raw, dry and scratched from all the blowing! I'm taking a day/night cold and flu tablets, which are supposed to dry my nose up (yeah right) but I dont think they're helping much. I got up this morning to find that it has travelled down into my throat and chest, so now I've got a phlegmy cough too - ah the joys! If its not better by tomorrow, I'm going to the doctor.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I actually did NOTHING on my birthday. My wonderful fiance made me breakfast in bed - french toast. It was so sweet, just unfortunate that I couldn't taste it because I've lost my sense of smell and taste at the moment. Then I lazed around the house, did my ironing for the week, had some family pop in for a little while. We went out for dinner to our local Indian restaraunt - but I still couldn't taste anything!

Yesterday was the first day back at work, and boy was I dreading it! It wasn't too bad - spent a large amount of the day telling people about the holiday, showing the photos, blowing my nose and sifting through hundreds of emails. We had a birthday cake (caramel mud) too, which was lovely. I'm trying to get back into my normal routine with eating - but I feel like my system has shut down a bit though. Metabolism has definetely slowed - I had to force myself to eat all my meals, just wasnt hungry. Hopefully it wont take long to get it firing again. I want my appetite (and my tastebuds) back!

Still have not done any exercise - I'm dying to get back into it, when this cold eases up I will start back. Will hopefully be able to go back to gym later this week, and will start hitting the weights again next week. That should help in terms of getting some energy back too. My muscles have ceased to exist - I want my shoulder definition back!!!!

Well thats about it for now, with any luck my next post will see me bouncing off the walls!

I've got a cold again

Grrrr I've got another cold! All this jetting around the world really does nothing for the old immune system. I first picked up a nasty cold in England at the beginning of January, and it never really went away (well it died down to a hacking cough) - and then yesterday it resurfaced. Or else I've picked up another one. Anyway, the runny nose and sore throat are BA-ACK and I'm pretty fed-up with it. Having a cold in Summer just makes you feel worse than it usually does!

Tomorrow is my birthday (32... *shudder*) and I dont think we're doing anything. The holiday sort of counted as our combined Christmas/Birthday treats this year, but maybe we'll go out for dinner or something. If my nose doesn't unblock, I might not be able to taste anything though!

On Monday I go back to work (groan) and I'm also going to get stuck back into training and clean eating. Going to spend this weekend writing my goals which should take me up to my first eye operation, which is the 15th of March. During the eye operation period, I'm not really sure how much exercise I'm going to be allowed to do, apparently they frown on any sport or exercise for a few weeks afterwards.

Kerry tagged me with this a little while ago - I'm a few weeks behind sorry!

A-Z Of Hilary -

A - Available or single? Neither - newly engaged!
B- Best Friend? My fiance
C- Cake or Pie? Cake
D- Drink of Choice? Currently white wine
E- Essential Item? Ipod.
F- Favorite Color? Purple
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Neither I'd rather have chocolate
H- Hometown? Brisbane, Australia
I- Indulgence? Castello Cheese, crackers and wine
J - January or February? – January, my birth month
K- Kids and names? Shavez (Alaskan Malamute), Elke (Border Collie) and Connor (Siamese Cat)
L- Life is incomplete without? My partner and my animals
M- Marriage Date? Steady on! We only just got engaged!!
N- Number of Siblings? One brother
O- Oranges or apples? Neither - I dont really like fruit
P- Phobias/Fears? Spiders, Heights
Q- Favorite Quote? Don’t have one
R- Reason to Smile? Coming home
S - Season? Autumn
T - Tag three people! I think everyone has done this by now
U- Unknown fact about Me? I used to smoke
V- Vegetable you hate? Artichoke
W- Worst habit? Snoring (occasionally!!)
X- X-rays you've had? teeth, head, spine (for Chriopracter)
Y- Your favorite food? Roast Vegetables, cheese and crackers
Z- Zodiac? Aquarius

Still jet lagged

Thank you so much to everyone for your warm wishes and congratulations - it means so much to me!! Thank you!

I am so glad that I took this extra week off to recover - I am still jet lagged! We have been home now for 6 days and I still feel like crap. By the second day I was back to normal sleeping habits, and I'm sleeping like a log each night (having some crazy dreams too) but I still feel like my feet are made of concrete, I feel like I have no strength. I go through short bursts of energy, but the rest of the time I feel so fatigued that all I can manage is to sit and read or watch the tennis.

Yesterday we went out for about 2 hours, but we had to cut it short and come home, because I could barely manage all the walking/climbing in and out of the car/climbing stairs etc.

The bad news is that I have put on about 4 kgs in 5 weeks. I read in a medical book that a diet rich in carbohydrates will help the body to combat jet lag, so I have been having carbs with every meal. I dont know if it is helping or not!!! Anyway, next week I go back to work, so I'm planning on hitting the gym from Monday too - as long as I feel up to it that is. Fingers crossed!

Here's a couple more photos from the trip - I have about 500 to choose from!

Caernarfon Castle, North Wales

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Inside the Colosseum, Rome

The beautiful ski fields of Schlick 2000, Innsbruck - Austria.

Happy Australia Day everyone!!!

I left with a boyfriend and came home with a fiance...

I'm ba-ack and yes you read that title correctly... we got engaged!!!!!!

It was Friday the 12th of January, we were halfway up the Austrian Alps, alone in a gondola/cable car, and my beloved boyfriend got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him!!!

Of course I said YES!!!! I was completely taken by surprise, it was the most romantic setting ever! This is the view we had from the cable car - not a bad view to get engaged to, eh?

So we are going to buy the ring in a few weeks (now that we're home) but he did make me a temporary ring... he had taken a table napkin from the hotel restaraunt, written the most beautiful message inside, and folded it up lengthways, so he could tie it around my finger - I will treasure that forever... sigh... so romantic...

So - the remainder of our holiday was great! Before we left England we travelled down to London, met my uncle, did a fabulous day tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath. Then off to Innsbruck for the skiing (and engagement!). My fiance (hee hee sounds funny) tried snowboarding, and I skiied (i had skiied twice before) and he was covered in bruises after the first hour, but we had a ball. I managed to stay on my feet for about an our before the first stack.

After Innsbruck we went to Naples, Pompeii and the Isle of Capri. Pompeii was mindblowing - I kept walking around saying "I cant believe I'm finally at Pompeii" over and over. Spectacular, and the Pompeii ruins themselves were really big - far too big to walk around in 3 hours, which is all the time we had.

This is me at Pompeii, with the volcano Mt Vesuvius in the background.This is the bay of Naples - the day was quite hazy, but fairly warm too (16 or 17 degrees C) considering it was the middle of winter.

Finally we headed back to Rome, where we had two days to see the sights. I didnt like Rome itself, dirty, crowded, noisy, and crazy drivers! But Ancient Rome was fantastic. My favourite place was the Roman Forum - ahhh it was amazing. I cant believe I got to walk around and touch ruins that were over 2000 years old.

We went to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, St Peters Basilica, St Pauls, Capitol, and finally the Coliseum, where we spent our final afternoon. We both loved it - the history of the place is incredible.

I have many more photos, so I will post more in the days to come. Right now I am exhausted, as we seemed to be coming home forever. I think I have slept about 5 hours in the last 48. Lucky I have one more week off work - I think we need it!

Thats about it for now, I will catch up with everyones blogs in the next day or two!

A few more pics

York (today) ... really cool old place

Me and BF - at Edinburgh Castle
Blackpool

This might be the last post for a while - tomorrow we head to London and I dont know when I'll have access to the internet again.

Today we went to York - really cool place, shame it rained most of the afternoon. We went to the Jorvick Centre and saw all the Viking history of the place - just amazing! My throat is not much better - I'm in danger of losing my voice.

We'll be off enjoying the rest of our holiday (Austria and Rome) until the 20th of January - may not get back here before then, so everybody train hard and see you soooooooon!!!!

PS; I miss eating healthy and going to the gym! I've been eating crap and doing no exercise for the last 10 days, and I'm in chocolate heaven over here. I'm going to have to get stuck back in when I get home!

The adventure continues...

Getting drenched at the Merlion in Singapore!

Seeing the sun rise over the Swiss Alps from the plane...

We are having a fabulous holiday! Here are a couple of photos from the first part of our trip.

Last Monday we went to Leeds to meet some more of BF's rellies, and we went to Haworth (where the Bronte's lived - unfortunately the Parsonage and Museum was shut). On Wednesday we went to Chester (really old Roman town) and to Liverpool, on Thursday we went to North Wales and visited to two really cool castles in Snowdonia. Then on Friday we got taken to Scotland. We stopped at Gretna Green (where lots of people elope - but dont worry, nothing to report from there!!) and then made our way to Edinburgh. We stayed overnight in a hotel in Edinburgh and then on Saturday morning went to Edinburgh castle (which is where they do the Military Tatoo, and we saw the Scottish crown jewels) and then got on the open-top double-decker bus around town. It was bloody freezing and then it started to rain a bit, so we got off!

On the way back from Scotland we went to see Hadrians Wall, which I loved. I cant believe I'm getting to see stuff that is 2000 years old - it just blows me away. We also saw the ruins of an old Roman Fort.

The weather has been fantastic, we have seen the sun just about every day, and rain too! It hasn't been too cold, mainly between 5 and 10 degrees, which feels quite mild. Its only when the wind picks up that you can really feel it. I have come down with a sore throat which has been annoying me since Tuesday. BF has got a bit of a runny nose too. Today I feel quite crappy - exhausted and sick, so we are staying in today and we are having a roast dinner, which we are really looking forward to (cant wait to have some vegies)!!

Tomorrow we are going to York for the day, and then on Tuesday we head south to London to visit my uncle. On Wednesday we have a day tour to Bath, Salisbury and Stonehenge, and then on Thursday we are off to Innsbruck!

I think I'm going to be knackered by the time we get home!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the nice hot weather!

Happy New Year!!

Hi All and Happy New Year!!

Well here we are in the UK - enjoying our holiday immensely! We left home bright and early on Christmas Day and spent most of the day in the plane to Singapore. Singapore was great, not as hot or humid as we were expecting though. Turned out that December is one of the cooler months (still 30 degrees) and is right in the monsoon season... it rained pretty much the entire time we were there! Typical!!

For the 2.5 days we were there, we managed to cram in as much sightseeing as was humanly possible... we did 4 tours all up. A night tour of the city (included a visit to Raffles and a brief tour on the river), a day tour (visited Little India, Chinatown, Orchid Gardens), a day tour of Sentosa Island, and the absolute best thing was the Night Safari... OMG it was amazing to see Lions, African Elephants, Hyenas, Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos, Hippos etc etc up soooo close! It was just an awesome experience!

On our flight over from Singapore, we had a breif stop in Zurich, and when the plane took off again we got to see the most amazing sight of seeing the sun rise over the Swiss Alps... absolutely breathtaking... took a photo of that!

So now we are in England! We've been to Blackpool, which was just so cool - totally different to anything in Australia, but absolutely FREEZING walking along the promenade! Then it started to rain and we got to experience a bit of good old English sleet.

We are going to Leeds tomorrow, and to North Wales on Thursday to see some old castles, and then Scotland next weekend - cant wait!

We've been eating and drinking far too much (its difficult to try to keep up with the locals!) and not a lot of exercise, but hey, I'm having a ball! I have managed to do some tricep dips and some push ups, but that's about it.

Tonight is New Years Eve, and there will be a party here at BF's cousins house, so that should be good. Funny here - you can buy fireworks from the local supermarket (and alcohol too)

Anyway, thats about it from me for now - hope everyone has had a fabulous New Years, and I will post more when I can!!

Merry Christmas!!!

This will be my last post for a little while, so just wanted to pop in and say a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my blogging friends! Thank you all for your wonderful friendship and support this year - I look forward to another great year in 2007 with you all!

We are off on our trip tomorrow (I just cant believe its nearly here!) and I think I'm almost all set. Just got a minor detail of packing to do today! Also have to do my nails, go to BF's family's place to celebrate Christmas (and nieces' birthday), finish chopping dog food, do more washing, go buy a bigger suitcase for BF (so we can bring lots of goodies home)... OMG I best get cracking!!

I will try to blog whilst overseas, but I'm not sure how often it will be... otherwise we'll be home on the 20th of January, so will hopefully update soon after that.

We go to Singapore until the 27th of December, then in the UK until the 11th of January. Then we're in Austria until the 14th of Jan, then Italy until the 19th of January..... oooooh I cant wait!

Hope everyone has a fantastic break! Byeeeeee!!!!!!!!

This time next week....

...we'll be on the plane!  7 days to go... I'm so excited!!

Yesterday we went out and bought ourselves some thermal tops, and also I got my very first pair of hiking boots!  I was quite excited about these, and so I wore them all afternoon around the house.... it did look quite funny (especially on me) wearing shorts, black socks and these great clod-hopping boots ;-)~ I said to BF that I looked like I should be working at Australia Zoo or in a wildlife park.  But had to break them in, dont want to get sore feet whilst tramping around England or Scotland.

Picked up the tickets on Saturday, along with itineraries, travel vouchers etc... so it REALLY feels like its not far away now!  Finished off my Christmas shopping too, so its all coming together.  This week will be a mission, trying to organise money, copies of passports, chopping up dog food (a months worth!!), packing, having Christmas a few days early with both sets of families, boyfriends' birthday on Thursday... plus working up til Friday, and still finding time to train!

We're having 'dress up theme days' this week at work - Wednesday is "Wiggles" Day - I'm dressing as the yellow one, although I had to go buy a top especially.  Why cant there be a black Wiggle... I've got lots of black!

Anyway, a short one today - lots to do...

Have a great week!

Robbie Report

Wow what a fantastic night!  I'm not hungover, but I am sooo tired!!   It was a fabulous concert, my feet are still sore from standing up and bopping all night, and my voice is a bit hoarse from singing and "woohoo-ing" all night!

So it was a great show, the support act (Sneaky Sound System) did not impress, but other than that it was a fabulous night!  We got ready at work (and this started from about 3pm yesterday afternoon) - so it was fun trying to find a spot by the mirror in the bathroom!  We left work at 4-ish and went to one of the ladies houses for a quick glass of champers, and then into a mini-bus and to the stadium.  The corporate box was open air - and we had a few plates of nibblies and finger food through the night - I even managed to eat 2 King Prawns, and I dont like prawns, so this was impressive for me!  I managed to eat more than my share of cheese and crackers though!   But OMG it was so hot and humid, I was wishing I hadn't worn jeans, and I would have killed for a hair band to tie my hair up cos the back of my neck was all sticky... yuk!  I had a couple of glasses of wine, and about 3 bottles of water, had to stay well-hydrated.

When Robbie came on it was just this amazing atmosphere, everyone screaming and jumping.  It was great - I took a few photos so I will try to post them, but they are a bit fuzzy because I had to use the digital zoom to get close enough to see him.  We were about halfway down the stadium, so we had a pretty good view, but still a little far away for photos.  It was weird because I kept finding myself watching the screens, rather than the "actual Robbie" on stage - everyone else said they kept catching themselves doing the same thing.   He had to be finished by 10.30 because of the noise restrictions around Suncorp Stadium, and he actually finished by 10.20.  So we were back on our bus by 10.30, and I was home by 11.30. But that is suuuuper late for me and I am so tired! 

Anyway, a great night and we are all walking around with big sleepy grins on our faces today!

Yesterday I jumped on the scales and found myself at 56.8kgs - woohoo!  I have been hovering just above 57kgs for so long now, it was nice to break into the next bracket down.  I was over that this morning, bit too many carbs last night took its toll, and not going to gym this morning probably didn't help.  Hey - sometimes sleep has to take priority!

Well thats about it from this tired little bunny - looking forward to a good sleep tonight.  Have a great weekend everyone!