Time for an update!

This is a bit of an update/rambly post about nothing much!

Hmmmm ok so I had a bit of a light bulb moment last weekend. The last few weeks its been a bit colder than normal, and I’ve struggled to get out of bed at my normal 5am. Its cold, its dark, and I just didn’t want to get up! At my old job I had to be at the office at a certain time, so I trained at 5.30am because of this. For some unknown reason, when I started my new job (6 months ago) – I never changed my schedule. So I've suddenly realised that, because I go visit customers and drive around all day, I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn any more to fit in my training. Derrrr.

So now that I’ve had that little revelation, I’ve been getting up at 6am instead, and getting to the gym for 6.30. Much more civilized. Its also not as dark or cold. Brilliant! I’ve also decided that I only need to go to gym for weights or cardio classes, since we have a cross trainer at home. So I’m doing 3 mornings at gym, and 3 mornings of cross trainer in front of the TV in the comfort of my living room. Niiiiiiice.

The other thing I’ve realized is that I’ve always classified myself as a “morning” person. Truth is, I’m not. Out of habit I have forced myself to be a morning person, but the reality is, it takes me ages to wake up properly and I’ve usually got puffy eyes for the first half hour. I also tend to grumble words rather than have actual conversations at 5.30 in the morning. Bright and chirpy I’m not. In the evenings, although I SHOULD be tired because I got up at 5am, by 10pm I’m forcing myself to go to bed – because I’m just not sleepy. So that's been my other 'revelation' this week.

Last weekend when we had the dogs bathed, the dog-wash lady found a sort-of fluid filled sac underneath Shavez’s tail. For the last 2 years, he’s had a sore/spot on the top of his tail near the base, about the size of a 50c piece. He licks it until it bleeds, so its been ongoing with the vet for the last year. Antibiotics make it go away, but then it keeps coming back. Anyway, so with this new “sac” we took him straight to the vet. They were completely unconcerned about this new growth, they were more concerned that the spot on top of his tail had come back AGAIN. They started throwing horrible words around like “tumour” and “cancer” and “biopsy” etc. They did say though that the worst case scenario would be that he loses his tail.

So poor Shavez, 12 years old and never had anything more than an injection in his life, had to go under the knife on Friday. They completely removed both the new growth and the gland spot on the top of his tail, and we’ll have the results next week sometime. OH was pretty freaked out, he took the day off work so he could stay home with Elke (she stresses when Shavez isn’t there – she becomes Houdini) and also so he could be close in case he had to rush up to the vet. Poor Shavez was a bit dopey last night! He looked totally stoned! They’ve shaved his tail and bandaged it, so he has this Lion’s tail with a fluffy tuft of fur at the end LOL! Today he’s back to his old self, but very whiney. I suppose it must hurt, the poor puppy. At least if you’re human you can have panadol to ease the pain!

Keep your fingers crossed for him! Here's a pic of him enjoying some 'treat' time in the house the other night, destroying an empty milk carton:

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Pip! It was lovely to meet her and hear all about her experience at the Gold Coast Half Marathon - I'm in awe of anyone that can run for more than 5km! Pip is such a lovely person and has some really great goals for the future! I felt all motivated after our cup of tea!

Finally, we have decided to get cracking with the house renovations. We've been putting things off and not doing much lately, mostly because OH is stuffed and hasn't wanted to spend his weekends working on the house. But we've really got to get our buts into gear, so today we got stuck in and finished one of those jobs that's been waiting to be done for months.

I was the official helper today - we put the stainless steel wire on the stairs - I attached all the swages to the ends of the wire - go me!! Here's the before:

And the after:
And the finished product from a distance!

Right! I promise I wont leave it as long next time so you wont have to read so much rubbish all in one hit! (that's if you made it to the end LOL). Have a great night!

Inspiration-less...

Hmmmm my blogging "block" seems to be continuing - I'm struggling to find things to blog about lately!

Work has been busy - sometimes I really just love the fact that I can get in my car and drive around for the day - its nice not to be chained to a desk all the time. It does have its drawbacks though - it means that I cant have stir-fries or hot food for lunch unless I've organised to be in the office that day. In winter I really miss my stir-fries and rice - unfortunately a salad doesn't really cut it when its cold outside! I've been having sandwiches, although I'm not a huge fan.

One day last week I was out of the car for a good couple of hours, and when I came back I was starving for lunch - but horror-of-horrors, I had left the lid off my cooler bag, and my food had gotten all warm - yuk! So I did something I havent done in a VERY long time - I headed for the golden arches. I ended up with a lean beef burger, which wasn't too bad, at least it wasn't huge and I still felt like I had a bit of portion control. I have definetly learned my lesson though, keep that cooler bag shut tight!

Last week I had another go at front squats and deadlifts, and I think I must have done it with correct form this time - I didn't really add much weight to the bar, but OH MY GOD I was sore for the rest of the week! I could barely walk on Thursday and Friday, and to be honest they are still feeling a bit tender. The thing I like about those front squats is that they seem to work your shoulders too - so you get a two-for-one workout - bargain!

Anyway, must go and organise my meals for tomorrow. Good luck to everyone competing at the All Females this weekend!

Speed cleaning

A couple of weeks ago I bought this book – speed cleaning…

And I’ve been cleaning up a storm ever since!!!

Most of the stuff is just common sense, but there’s lots of good tips in there, and also includes a section on what products you should use to remove which type of stain. Last weekend it spurred me on to clean in areas that I just DON’T remember to clean – like cleaning out the fridge, dusting blinds, cleaning the grout in the tiles in the bathrooms and sweeping the deck. I managed to get the kitchen looking spotless, well, as spotless as my kitchen can get before its renovated (just don’t open the pantry door – I haven’t made it that far yet!) and have kept it looking that way all week (YAY me!!)

I’ve never been a tidy person, so this is a big accomplishment for me. Its nice to get up in the morning and see it all shining and sparkling!

Its been a bit cold here this week – its making it tough to get out of bed in the mornings. I seem to have lost my mojo a little bit lately, and I need to work on getting it back, so I’m going to re-read Fattitude this weekend in an effort to get me fired back up again. That should do the trick!

Lead feet…

… is what I have at the moment. I woke up this morning feeling absolutely shattered! I feel otherwise ok, so I don’t think I’m coming down with anything. I’m told that it could be the herbal detox stuff that I’m taking – today is day 5 so it could be that my body is just starting to clear out the toxins in my system. I got up this morning at 5am when the alarm went off – stood in the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror – puffy eyes, puffy face, super tired and with aching legs (from my new leg session from Wednesday) and thought “there is no way I can drag myself to the gym feeling like this…” so I turned out the light and went back to bed. I’m sure nobody at the gym wanted to look at me in that state anyway LOL!

I was talking to one of OH’s mates (who is a Personal Trainer) on Saturday about my niggling leg issues – namely my right hamstring, which has been tight and pulls sharply whenever I stretch it, and my knees which are a bit iffy at the best of times. The hamstring issue has been bothering me for about 18 months – but it only ever hurts when I stretch. My chiro said it was more likely a tendon, and the acupuncturist couldn’t find anything wrong with me, so I just kinda forget about it until I stretch.

Anyway, he suggested that since I have some niggles, I should stay away from any “machine” based weight training. So, no leg press, smith machine, leg extension etc - and instead use only free weights. This will force my body to use more muscles (which may help balance out other muscles around my dodgy hammies and knees), and also improve balance and co-ordination.

SO! This week I did barbell squats, followed by front squats. OMG these are hard – have you tried them? Takes a lot more balance and I found that it also worked my shoulders as I tried to keep the bar balanced in front. Then it was on to deadlifts. The funny thing about deadlifts is – I found out that what I call a normal “deadlift” is actually a straight legged deadlift. A normal deadlift looks kinda different!! It was a PT years and years ago (like 8 years ago) that showed me deadlifts for the first time. So I tried to do ‘proper’ deadlifts – and wow it felt weird! Not sure how you do it without the bar hitting your knees on the way up AND the way down. Might have to grab one of the trainers at my gym and get them to check my form – I’m sure I wasn’t doing it right.

Looking forward to the weekend – really just want to have a sleep in actually! We’re off to a friends house for dinner on Friday night, and Saturday night might just be a DVD night, not sure yet.

Have a lovely Friday and a great weekend!

Naturopath

I had my naturopath appointment on Saturday, and it was very very interesting!

Firstly, when I got there I had to complete a full-on questionnaire about my health, my nutrition, and my health goals. The naturopath then gave me a dose of some liquid that tests your zinc levels, and asked me how it tasted? My options were metallicy/minerally/dry/sweet/watery

My reply was that it tasted like water with a teeny bit of vinegar in it. Apparently this is bad - it means my zinc levels are really low - the stuff is supposed to taste foul! I also had my blood type taken, I cant believe that it took me 33 years to find out I am a blood type O!!!

So we went through my questionnaire and talked about different things. She did a little iridology on me and found that my digestion isn't too great, that my body is a too acidic and I need a liver detox. My nutrition is good - because I'm an "O" blood type its good that I eat more protein apparently!

She then said she was going to "ask" my body what it needed to balance everything out. Hmmmm... ok - so she started doing Kinesiology on me. Strange. So she sits in front of me, and gets me to hold my left hand out, palm up. My thumb and pinky finger have to touch. Then I have to hold them together as hard as I can, while she tries to pull them apart. She put a bottle of supplements in my lap, and then asks my body a question out loud- such as "Does Hilary need XXX supplement to heal her muscle imbalances" and she would try to pull my thumb and pinky apart. If they stayed together, the answer was yes, if they came apart, the answer was no.

I ended up having a range of supplements placed in my lap, sometimes the answer was yes, more often than not the answer was no. This went on for almost an hour as she tried to get the combinations and dosages right! I started to think it was all a bit of hocus-pocus, but it was strange because there was no way I could have known what question she was asking, or have faked it in any way. If she thought that I was losing focus on holding my fingers together, she would ask the question a couple of times. She would also ask the question a number of different ways, so there was no way I could predict what she was going to ask!

I also think that if she was faking it, I would have walked out of there with MANY more bottles of pills than I did!

So anyway, I have started taking all of the remedies she gave me, so hopefully I will start to feel more in balance soon!

Ten simple steps...

Today I was flicking through my copy of You Cant Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought and I came across this statement:

If you're not actively involved in getting what you want, then you don't really want it.

This definetely struck a chord with me today. There are certain things going on for me that I need to make a firm committment to, otherwise I think I am just kidding myself.

And this little excerpt certainly rang true, and can definetley be applied to anyone wanting to achieve their fitness goals:

Ten Simple (but not necessarily EASY) steps to getting what you want:

1. Focus all of your attention on the thing you want. Be interested, be "obsessed" by it.
2. Visualise and imagine it
3. Be enthusiastic about it
4. Know exactly what you want. Write it down, use a model, use pictures
5. Desire it above all else, above everything else, above all.
6. Have faith, but with involvement. Know you can have it, that its already yours. Be involved with whatever you need to do to get it.
7. Do the work required. How do you know when you've done enough? When you've got it, it was enough. Until you've got it, its not enough.
8. Give up all things opposing your goal.
9. Pretend you already have it
10. Be thankful for what you already have.

This morning I trained biceps, and now my neck/traps arent feeling too good. I think I've slightly strained something again. I'm going to a naturapath on the weekend so hopefully I can get everything in my body functioning properly again. I'm interested to see how the naturapath works actually, apparently they do tests for bodyfat and hydration levels etc, so I'm curious to see how I go in that department!

Lorna Jane Addict

I'm becoming a bit of a Lorna Jane junkie!! I went back on Saturday because they had a sale on... although most of the stuff I was drooling over wasn't on sale :(

I did buy two more singlets - "I earn my chocolate one step at a time", and "Save the Planet (its the only place with chocolate)"... noticing a theme here??? Anyway, I think I'd better stay away from there for a while now - its just too dangerous!

Its been a lovely relaxing weekend. I even got to watch another DVD in my "ROME" series, which I only ever get to watch when OH isn't around - he just has no interest in ancient history that boy!! So he's been happily tinkering on his car and I've been happily watching a nerdy history series with my ugg boots on... gotta love long weekends!

On Saturday night we went out for dinner and the movies. This is the second time in a month that we've been out to the movies... I think thats a record! We went to see Indianna Jones, which wasn't too bad, but not as good as I was expecting.

It was funny at the cinema seeing all these women dolled up in their dresses and sparkly heels - quite obviously going to see Sex and the City. I think I might be the only girl in the country who has no interest in seeing that movie??

I'm nursing some shin splints at the moment, after a walk on Saturday. I was planning on walking again today, but I might ice my shins instead. I'm ready for another big week of training, felt so great to get back into it last week.

Have a great week!

Retail therapy

I went shopping on Saturday with the idea that I was going to buy a new keyboard for the computer, and a present for a party we were going to on Saturday night.

Instead I had a spur-of-the-moment bit of retail therapy!

I finally spent my Lorna Jane voucher that I got for my birthday (in January!!) Not for lack of trying, I usually go in and have a drool every couple of weeks, but just couldn't decide what to get! (so much to choose from!). I originally was going to buy some more 3/4 workout pants, but I decided that I should go for something different and ended up with casual pants. Tried on a medium, but they swam on me so I had to get the small! Always a good feeling! These are what I got:
And then I meandered into Myer and decided that I needed to buy some new jeans (I dont know what came over me! LOL!) so tried on these Riders... the material is so soft and they are very comfy, so I'm happy!

I have my mojo back this week and I'm feeling good. This morning I trained my back for the first time in a month, and my traps feel ok so fingers crossed that all the muscles and bones stay put! I deliberately went light on the weights, and was on the lookout for the slightest niggle - but so far so good. I was slightly appalled at how much strength I've lost though!

I've also been focusing this week on making sure I'm drinking 3 litres of water - lately I've been slipping in that department a bit, and waking up feeling all dry-mouthed. I'm just downing my last 750mls right now, and then I'm done. Got to get it all drunk by 7pm or I'll be up all night!

Anyway, better go get dinner organised I guess!

I hurt...

OMG I'm sore!!

I trained legs on Tuesday - did a different workout this time (it had been a while since a change) and I AM SO SORE! I did some barbell squats, which I havent done for a VERY long time, and I'm paying for it now :-(

Followed that up on Wednesday with a new chest and biceps session + abs, and my whole body is screaming. I haven't been able to train upper body successfully for a while since I had my neck/rib/shoulder blade injury last month, so while it was nice to get back into it - I knew I'd be in trouble this week!

I am so sore that it is super painful to roll over in bed. I had planned on hitting the gym this morning for a cycle class - but when the alarm went off I felt so awful that I didn't get up. I felt like I was coming down with something - my eyes were puffy and my inner ears felt itchy - so I went back to sleep. I actually almost slept in but my naughty Siamese cat started yowling at the bedroom door which woke me up. I was glad he woke me up so I wasn't late, but annoyed at the same time - I was having a lovely dream that I was meeting Ewan McGregor at a party! *Sigh*

I think I have managed to fight off the lurgy at the moment - the Olive Leaf Extract does a great job at warding off evil germs.

Anyway I had a chiro appointment before work this morning, where I'm still suffering from my trapezius pulling my shoulder & neck out. He says I need to watch my form when lifting and make sure I'm not straining my head forward, as this could be causing the problem. Its funny how all the injuries I've ever had have all been down my right-hand side. I dont get that.

Well this is a bit of a rambling post about nothing, so I'd better go do something constructive! Have a wonderful night!

Lookee what we got!

Our latest ebay purchase! OH picked it up yesterday and assembled it - so its now sitting in our lounge room ready to go! Now there are no more excuses on a cold morning... :)

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!

Amazing weekend...

All I can say about my weekend is that it was FANTASTIC!! Wow, wow, wow, where do I start???

The comp on Saturday was great, all the girls on stage looked amazing - and Carolyn just shone up there, what an inspiration! I got to meet some lovely new friends, Shelly & Nate, Kate & James, Zita, Eleni, and Raechelle and also get to catch up again with Sue, Carolyn, Doris, Andj, Selina, & Liz.

Saturday night we all went out to help Carolyn celebrate her post comp feast, and I enjoyed a very decadent slice of mud cake, which I regretted for the rest of the night - bleugh I couldn't sleep that night because of the huge sugar overload! Big thank you to Doris for the lift into town - it was lovely to get to know you better (even though we train at the same gym!)

Sunday - it was so much fun at the IBO photo shoot at Southbank! I thought it was just the coolest to get to meet and hang out with Lindy Olsen for hours, she is so inspirational. I spent the rest of the day going "wow - how cool was THAT!" Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best - it was sunny but SUPER windy. Very annoying because our hair kept sticking to our lipgloss LOL! So Dallas had to keep waiting for the wind to die down (and for us to stop shivering) before he could take his shots. Cant wait to see the pics!

So not much time for anything else on the weekend, I didn't get any training done either. This week has turned cold, we've had the fire on for the last two nights so its getting really hard to get up in the mornings (I know, I know - no excuses!)

Here's a few pics from the weekend:

Doris, me, Eleni and Zita

Carolyn, me and Sue

Me and Lindy Olsen!

Stuff...

Oops been a bit slack with posting lately... we've been busy!

Last Monday (Labour Day holiday) we had a bit of a fun experience. All weekend OH had been saying that he ought to go dig some post holes for our new carport he’s building… and he put it off, and put it off… finally he decided that 4.30pm on Monday afternoon was the best time to start digging holes.

I was in the lounge room halfway through a kickboxing DVD, when I looked out the window and thought “hmmm – its raining!” – and I could hear water on the roof. Then I did a double-take – it wasn’t raining, OH had dug a hole and hit the water mains! We had a gigantic geyser spraying 10 metres into the air!

So he had to turn the water off, and then try to fix it. And of course, he didn’t have the bit of pipe that he needed to fix it, and being 5pm on a public holiday, nothing was open. He was all muddy from digging holes, and I was all sweaty from kickboxing, so we had to head up to the in-laws to have a shower. Then of course we had no water all night, so I had to shower at gym the next day while OH had the morning off work so he could fix it.

He’s having a bit of a bad run, my poor dear other half. This weekend just gone he wanted to chainsaw down some overhanging branches from some of our big gum trees. He did a great job, until I found that I couldn’t connect to the internet. I tried everything, turning modem off and on, turning computer off and on, re-installing modem, trying another USB port… and then OH discovered that one of the big branches that got cut down had dropped onto our phone line, severing it… luckily he was able to reconnect the wires and its all working again.

I’m now waiting and wondering what the third thing will be… :-)

We went to the movies on the weekend and saw Ironman in Gold Class (we had vouchers that had been sitting there for almost a year - had to use them up!). It was a pretty good movie - we even got a sundae delivered halfway through - yum, what a treat!

Looking forward to the weekend ahead – its going to be a big one! First the INBA comp on Saturday, it will be great to catch up with everyone again and meet some others for the first time. Then dinner on Saturday night, and then the IBO photo shoot on Sunday. Cant wait!

Toast

I bought myself a couple of new appliances last weekend...



About 10 years ago I bought a cheap and nasty 2 slice Tiffany toaster... and I've been using it ever since. Since we dont have toast very often, it didn't seem like a big deal. I've been eyeing off those lovely stainless steel 4 slice toasters for years, but since we eat it so rarely it seemed a bit pointless.



For the last two years I have been battling with the poor old Tiffany toaster, every second time I used it I would have to use some plasticy tool to stick down the guts to force the prongs back into alignment so it would work. Yes I know that's a stupid thing to do, but it was always unplugged, and I only ever stuck plastic stuff down there... :)



Anyway, I splurged and bought a shiny new one, and it was on sale too! Isn't it lovely:

I also bought a new stainless steel cordless jug , so the minute I got home I asked OH if he'd like some vegemite and cheese on toast, he did, so I was able to do all 4 slices at once ... how exciting LOL! Then I made myself a cup of tea with the new jug!

Its the little things in life that make me happy!

Oh and I also got a brand new company car yesterday... very exciting! So I'm feeling all special this week!

My injury is much better now after my extra chiro adjustment on Wednesday - thanks for all your comments. He gave me the all clear to do cardio and lower body weights, but no upper body weights until its settled down. Its feeling ok now, but I might proceed with caution next week and not train back or shoulders - see how it goes.

Oh and for Magda... this is how I make my oats with cottage cheese:

Mix half a cup of raw oats and half a cup of cottage cheese. Nuke in microwave for 60 seconds. (I dont add any water because it makes it too runny for me). Take it out and stir. Then add a spoonful of jam. For those who aren't allergic to artificial sweetener, you could use diet jam, which is runnier. Stir, and put back in microwave for 80 seconds.

And thats it. Mine comes out sort of all flattened down, but the really great thing is that all evidence of the cottage cheese has been melted away, and its more like a soft sort of muesli-bar texture.

Hope you all have a great weekend - we have a public holiday in QLD on Monday - yeeehaaa!

Stupid

I threw my stupid rib/neck/back/whatever it is out again on Sunday... its just so stupid! So once again I couldn't turn my head. I was only leaning over something, and I had all my weight on my right arm, and then I felt my back go into a crampy spasm. Grrrrr

So back to the Chiro again yesterday, and he couldn't fix me!! Apparently the whole area is frozen solid and he coulnd't get it to move, so I have to go back on Wednesday so he can have another go. Meanwhile I am becoming a misery to be around. I take my hat off to anyone who suffers chronic pain - I dont know how they do it!! I've only had this stupid thing for a week and its so frustrating.

I said to OH last night "Do you think I will be right to train in the morning?"

His look clearly told me he thought it was a stupid question!! LOL. Its so easy to tell other people they need to rest, but its quite a different thing to take your own advice. So I havent trained since Sunday. I will see how I go tomorrow.

And to all you "oats with cottage cheese" lovers out there: you will be happy to know that it iS possible to convert a non-lover! Yes I have been converted. I missed my oats so much since I had to stop having protein powder, that I persisted with the oats/cottage cheese combo. I gagged and held my nose for the first couple of times, but now I have perfected the art and got just the right timing on the microwave. My tip is, dont add any water. And I'm enjoying it more and more every day - go figure!

Babies...

... of the furry variety. Here's a few recent snaps of our beautiful ones...

Connor - walking up his covered ramp to get into the house...


Mum and dads' little one - Ben... with his Kong...

First time at the beach! Shavez and Elke experienced the waves for the very first time today. Shavez was not impressed!

Elke, just before a mini wave came and nearly washed her away LOL!

So this morning we took the dogs to the beach for the first time ever, and they loved it! Well, Shavez didn't particularly like the water, but he loved the rest of it. We took them to an off-leash dog friendly beach, and I couldn't believe how many people were there with their dogs. It was great, and definetely something we'll do again. We didn't dare let our two off their lead though, they're not used to being around other dogs and we weren't sure how far away they'd run with all the excitement! Maybe next time. Luckily they are due for a hydrobath tomorrow to get rid of most of the sand and salt-water.

I had an interesting experience on Monday at the gym. I was doing dumbell side raises, and halfway through the first set I felt something go "ping" in my right shoulder blade. I gritted my teeth and finished the set (stupidly) but then couldn't continue. So I got on the cross trainer but found I was unable to turn my head to the right due to the shooting pain in my neck and shoulders... grrrrr.... so I went home and got ready for work. All day I was in pain, it was awful not being able to turn my head. I rang my chiro and got in to see him that day. He initially thought it was my trapezius - but instead it turned out that I had thrown a rib out of alignment in my back!!!

So I had a rather painful adjustment from him, and its slowly getting better. I'd say I now have about 80% range of movement now. I go back next week, so hopefully it will get sorted out completely. Its just so stupid. I kept saying to OH - its not like I did anything differnently. I didn't go up in weight, I have been doing that exercise for the last few weeks, perhaps my form was a little off or something? Makes you realise how easy it is to hurt yourself from something so simple.

The rest of the week has been great, I've been training hard (after a day off due to neck/shoulder) and eating clean, so its all good! Have a great weekend all!

Peace... Interrupted

Busy week! I'm back from my little trip, and it went pretty well. I surprised myself with the fact that I quite enjoyed driving long distances on my own. Who knew? In fact, the only time I found myself yawning was when the single lane highway turned into a dual lane... that's when I started yawning again.

I had an interesting moment in Hervey Bay on Wednesday. I decided to go for a jog along the Esplanade instead of staying cooped up inside the motel room. So I packed up my ipod, phone and keys and drove off to the beach. I went for a lovely 30 minute jog/walk, but unlike Townsville or Cairns, you cant actually see the water from the Esplanade, even though its right beside it. So when I'd finished my exercise I thought I'd do something new. I locked the phone and ipod in the car, and went for a lovely stroll along the beach. I'd never done this before on my own (its not as romantic on your own LOL!) so it was good to have another new experience!!

Anyway, it was a gorgeous afternoon. The sun was just starting to go down behind the trees, there were a few kids running around, a few beach fishermen etc, and because I'd deliberately left the ipod behind, the only sound I could hear was the gentle lapping of the water on the sand. It was just glorious, so I was walking along kinda meditating on the peace and tranquility of it. I stopped at one point and just looked out at the bay, watching the little waves roll in. I started to think that all the silly things I worry about are just that: silly things. You sort of feel insignificant in the face of all that nature and peacefullness.

I stood there for a good 5 minutes, until I heard a mans voice behind me - quite close... asking me if I was "absorbing the power of the waves... feeling the force..." unfortunately the man was quite drunk and I couldn't understand a lot of what he was saying. He sort of stood there, slurring at me and gesturing out to the ocean... I felt a bit nervous so I just smiled and walked away... unfortunately my peace had been shattered!

Today we went to a first birthday party at a park, and it was a really nice afternoon. It now seems that OH and I are the ONLY couple on the planet without kids though!! If I had a dollar today for every time someone said "its YOUR turn next!!!"... well - ... I'd have about 5 dollars... :)

Have a fabulous week.

Hello Bundaberg

Once again, here I am, blogging from another exotic location LOL! (No offence to anyone from Bundaberg)

Today saw me drive 5 hours to Bundy, and I have to say, it’s a LOOONG drive. I knew I was in trouble when, after driving for a measly 10 minutes, I started yawning…

I made it here safe and sound though – once I bought myself a VERY strong Long Black (upsized it too – thought I might need the extra caffeine) I was buzzing along.

My (company) car does not have cruise control, or a CD player – yes its old! So I am very glad that I listen to Triple J radio, I just had to keep changing the frequency as I made my way up the coast.

So with some cool tunes, a long boring drive and only myself for company, I came up with some useless, pointless trivia to pass the time!!

- I have lived in 15 different houses
- I went to 7 different schools
- I have been to 9 countries
- I have had 7 different cars: Holden Barina, Daewoo Cielo (how embarrassing!!) Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Pajero, V8 Ford Fairmont Ghia (my favourite), Nissan Xtrail, Toyota Camry
- In the time that we have been together (9 years) OH has owned 17 different cars – yes you did read that correctly - 17.

Anyway…

I didn’t make it to gym on Monday morning, so I did some afternoon cardio instead. This morning I trained legs… I’m feeling it already. I brought a kickboxing DVD with me on this trip, so this afternoon after I checked into the hotel, I was punching and kicking in my hotel room !! Except that I kept getting a hamstring cramp when doing one particular move – hope I’m not too sore tomorrow.

I wont be visiting a gym while I’m here, so tomorrow morning I’ll be doing some pushups, tricep dips, lunges, crunches etc in the hotel room again. I’m off to Hervey Bay and Maryborough tomorrow – home on Thursday – Yay!

Stuff

I've been stuck for things to blog about lately... maybe I've got 'bloggers block'!!

On Saturday night we went to a friends "Wedding Celebration" party. Their actual wedding was a month ago, which only involved their family. Then they had their honeymoon, and then when the came back they had the party!! Sounds like an excellent idea to me - then you dont have all the huge stress of organising a great big event all in one go!

You can probably tell that I'm not really into the whole 'white wedding' thing - I'd much rather we eloped to be perfectly honest.

Anyway, the party was fantastic, everyone got all dolled up - I even wore a DRESS (yes, can you believe it??!!) and we all got quite drunk and rowdy. Everybody let their hair down and we just laughed all night, it was so much fun. Both OH and I were fairly plastered, didn't get home until 2.30am. And that is super late for us (we're normally the ones who leave parties by 11.30 because we're tired!).

So then we spent the most part of Sunday feeling very very seedy. Yuck. It was such a fun night, but I dont think I'll be doing it again any time soon!!

I'm definetely back on track with my fitness, I've tightened up my nutrition these last two weeks, and boy what a difference!! Its like, "der!!" no wonder I wasn't seeing any changes in my body with all the little extra's that managed to slip into my meals! Anyway, its all cleaned up now and I'm feeling good. Measurements are slowly moving in the downwards direction. Trained legs yesterday, then after work did a kickboxing DVD at home. This morning did some interval running followed by another 30 minutes steady-state cardio. Feeling good!

Anyway, better go - enjoy your day!

Check out my new "litte brother"!!!!

Naaaaawwww.... soooo cute!!!

Mum and Dad popped in for a visit on Sunday afternoon, and brought this beautiful little boy with them - they had literally just picked him up! They've been talking about getting a little dog for ages now (its been 8 years since their last dog - their last place didn't allow pets) and now that they've moved house they thought it was high time to get a little companion... so meet 'Ben'! He is a Yorkshire Terrier, 8 weeks old, and just the sweetest little thing ever! I just didn't want him to leave - OH and I just LOVE puppies. Yorkies are arguably the smallest dog in the world (I think chihuahua's also claim this title though LOL!)

Right now I'm eating oats and cottage cheese for breakfast, and I'm trying not to gag :) I mixed in some strawberry jam, but it hasn't helped much... It seems that my stomach wont tolerate ANY protein powder any more, even the stuff without artificial sweeteners. I had two serves of "stevia-sweetened" protein powder last Tuesday, and then developed a pain in my upper stomach for the next 3 days. :( So it looks like all of my protein needs are going to have to come from whole foods, which is fine - just needs a little more preparation and organisation!

Yesterday morning I was so slack - it was so nice and warm under the doona, and the air outside felt so cool... I slept in! I had been having a 'delicious' sleep - one of those really GOOD, heavy sleeps that you dont get very often - so I thought "bugger it" and skipped gym.

I think it did me good though, cos I trained legs and shoulders this morning and absolutely CAINED them! Did weighted walking lunges at the end of the leg session and OMG my legs were burning - gotta love that :)

And then this morning I finally broke through the 60kg barrier - 59.8!! Its been probably 6 months since I was under that - so I am stoked. I have been hovering between 60 and 62kgs for ages, gaining and losing the same bloody 1-2kgs each week, so its nice to finally get a breakthrough. Just gotta stay focused!

Focus... and feeling good

Thanks girls for your suggestions re my last post! I bought some Evening Primrose Oil this week so I'm giving it a go and hope it helps.

Well what a difference a week makes! This week has been fantastic and I'm feeling great. Moody?? Nah - not me!! That is all behind me now and I've really focused my energies this week on good clean eating, and good hard exercise. 3 weights workouts, 6 cardio sessions and 1 yoga session all done this week! We took the dogs for a long walk yesterday morning and it was just glorious - perfect weather, good company (OH and the dogs!) - life is good!

I had a delicious meal last night - satay chicken skewers with salad - yum! Add a glass of wine and I was a happy little vegemite. Today's focus is drinking my 3 litres of water, I always forget to drink on weekends.

I'm having a rest day today, my whole lower body is aching, from lower back all the way down to the arches in my foot. I think this is because I spent 6 hours in the car on Friday... I'm due for a chiro adjustment this week, so hopefully he'll sort me out. I feel like I need to be "un-kinked"!

This is my favourtie pic of our Alaskan Malamute, Shavez. I want to get this photo blown up and framed, I just think it captures his personality perfectly.

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Basket-case

I've had the most horrible emotional week and a half... hormones have really played havoc with me for some reason this month. Its not so much been mood-swings, more like split personality! LOL! I have never felt such horrendous PMT. I have gone from calm and serene, to down and depressed, to stressed and panic-y, and then back to being down in the dumps. There's not been a lot of "ups", I've been a very unhappy camper, and not a nice person to be around!

Anyway, the storm broke yesterday - unfortunately we were out shopping for cars at the time, and I ended up sitting in our car gasping with the most painful cramps and nausea that I can ever remember. 4 panadol did not even take the edge off. As soon as we got home I spent the rest of the morning curled up with a heat bag. I dont want to go through that again next month!

Apart from me being a basket-case all weekend, we had a nice Easter break. Had some friends over for dinner and few games of table tennis on Friday night, but mostly we just relaxed. I will even venture to say that we were a bit bored. No renovations, no gallavanting about. Just some quiet home time.

Did shoulders and back yesterday, felt very weak due to T.O.M. Then I followed it with a 20 minute jog, which I was surprised I managed since my legs felt rubbery. Got home yesterday afternoon feeling all motivated so I took the dogs for a walk and then went for a 4km jog. Feeling it a bit this morning though - especially since I trained legs this morning! I think my hammies and calves are going to be sore tomorrow!

Feel-good cardio

I had a lovely cruisy day today. OH got up at 5am (yes, on a Saturday morning!!) to go fishing... silly things that boys do, really... anyway, so I slept in until 8.30am!! Kept having weird dreams though, so I still didn't feel too rested.

It was a nice relaxed day... still did washing and cleaning, but also enjoyed some "me" time with a good book, and some play time with the animals. I downloaded a heap of great songs too, so my ipod is all up to date with some good tunes.

My favourtie song of the moment is Faker - Are you Magnetic?... also got some Cut Copy, Architecture in Helsinki, Presets, Laura Marling, Cog, Serj Tankian, Lupe Fiasco, Feist...

Anyway, I was waiting for OH to come home from fishing so we could go vote, so I decided to listen to a few of my new tunes. I ended up having a spur-of-the-moment cardio session from dancing about to my new music! You know how they say "dance like there's no-one watching"? Well that's how I was dancing. It was crazy, leaping-around kind of dancing. I seriously hope the neighbours couldn't see me. A couple of songs in, I broke out into this huge grin, and then I just started laughing - I had the BEST time! I actually dont remember the last time I had so much fun on my own! I kept going for about half an hour because I felt so good and happy. I was quite out of breath afterwards too.

So now that you all think I'm a weirdo, I'm signing off! Have a great Sunday!

Surprises...

I woke up this morning to a lovely surprise... today is mine and OH's 9 year anniversary, and look what he surprised me with:

Isn't he sweet? I am so spoilt! I was looking at this stuff on Sunday up at Rebel sport! Now I just have to get my butt into gear and get to the gym so I can wear it!

I'm still feeling extremely tired. I seem to pick up during the day, but mornings are the worst - I feel like I can barely open my eyes, let alone lift a weight. I rested all weekend, then got a crappy nights sleep on Sunday night. So I slept in on Monday :( I did come home after work and get stuck into an Amy Bento Aerobics DVD, absolutely CAINED my calf muscles too, but then couldn't get up Tuesday morning either - and this is just not like me. Maybe I need to take some more supplements, or increase my carbs or something.

Not much else has been happening! We had a game of table-tennis with my mum and dad on the weekend, and it was so much fun that when we left their place we went straight to the shops to buy one! So we've got that set up now in the rumpus room, and we had a quick hit last night. It will good for a few laughs when friends come around, especially if I'm playing!

Have a great day!

Off colour

I've been feeling a bit off colour for the last 3 or 4 days, I had indigestion for a couple of days straight, and since yesterday I've been feeling a bit dizzy and woozy. Just a little bit - like this morning when I leaned over to take off my gym shoes I nearly tipped all the way forward! Walking up stairs has me feeling a little light-headed. I've still trained, although I did take a rest day on Tuesday.

I felt a bit off balance during step this morning. I rolled my ankle during the class too - managed to stop myself from falling over though, how embarrassing!!

OH has been feeling a bit unwell for the last day or two as well, so I wonder if there's some bug going around?

Anyway, my trip to the hairdresser was successful, and I now have wavy hair. She chopped a good bit of length off too to get rid of the dry ends, so its above my shoulder now. I have to say though, just sitting in the chair with the rods in my hair, smelling that perming solution, brought back many childhood memories! Those curling rods HURT! And the solution stinks, I ended up with a headache for the rest of the day.

AND the jury is still out as to whether I like it or not!!! OH just smiles and says "Its nice" - which really means nothing!!! Someone told me yesterday that they prefer straight hair on me...

I will post a pic once I get the colour done in a few weeks, then you can see the finished product and judge for yourself!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

730…

730... That’s how many calories my HR monitor said I burned in 60 minutes yesterday during Step… and my goodness you should have seen my face afterwards, talk about beetroot-face! I really gave it everything I had, I mean I was absolutely spent afterwards, and I was even a bit naughty and left before the abdominal and cool-down tracks. I then came home and took my measurements and was pleasantly surprised to have lost 2cm off my hips in the last two weeks! Yay! I do think I overdid it though, my eyes felt like they were bulging out of my head for about an hour afterwards, it felt very weird, and I contemplated calling the eye surgeon, but it went away. I was so tired for the rest of the day too – could not stop yawning!

I took a photo of my arm last night – I’m loving getting a little bit leaner because I start to see arm dents appear again. I took this photo in a bathroom mirror, with the heat lamps on… the heat lamps just put the right amount of shadow on and I laugh at myself because I stand there brushing my teeth every night posing my left arm until I can see some definition LOL! I just LOVE shapely female arms with some muscle, so its nice to get a bit of visual proof that all the hard work is slowly paying off. Still a ways to go yet before I reach my goals, lower body is where I need to see more improvements.




Tomorrow is hairdresser day… I may just chicken out yet, not sure! OH says he thinks my face is the wrong shape for wavy hair… we’ll see I guess!!

Hope you’re all having a fantastic weekend!

Hair

Lately I've been thinking that I hate my hair. Every time I wear it down I end up tieing it up in frustration, I'm so over it!! Its grown too long for the style it was intended for, and because my hair is so fine, as soon as it gets any length in it, it gets straggly and flat looking. It is dead flat, and - horror of horrors - I found some split ends in it last week!

So my OH went and got his hair cut on the weekend, so I went with him to check out some hairstyle books at our hairdressers house. She said that the sleek, straight hairstyles are OUT at the moment, everybody is going for big hair...

I want to grow my hair, but it definetely needs some body. So I kinda got talked into having a body wave next weekend.

OH started to look worried - he hates curly hair with a passion (probably because he's got very wavy hair naturally, and he hates it). A couple of times our hairdresser accidentally called it a "perm" and he his eyes started to bulge out of his head in fear LOL

I must admit, I'm a bit afraid of having curly hair too - but she assures me that a body wave will give me a very light wave and NOT a curl. I'm going for a very toned-down version of Natalie Bassingthwaightes 'do' at the moment.

I think my fear stems from the fact that I was a jazz and tap dancer from the age of about 10, so for a good chunk of the first half of my life I sported a bad home perm. You know the ones, frizzy curls and a huge birdsnest of a fringe. All designed to give you an enormous pony-tail to tie your flouro scrunchie around...

Anyway, then two weeks after the body wave I'm getting some funky colours put in. I'm thinking a dark brown base, with purply-plum chunks through it.

Wish me luck!!!!

Sleepy

I think I got about 4 or 5 hours sleep last night, and I have a big drive ahead of me today. I went to bed early enough, just my brain wouldn’t switch off! And then the more you cant get to sleep, the more you stress that you NEED to get to sleep. Very frustrating! I’m starting to develop some coffee cravings, which is not good. I cant drink diet cola because of the artificial sweeteners, so coffee it is. I have always preferred weak instant coffee too (all you coffee lovers will think I’m weird I know!) but I have started buying long blacks with a dash of skim milk, and while the taste is quite strong and bitter, I’m starting to like it… :) I don’t think having one per day is too bad, do you??

It took me over 4 hours to get home yesterday afternoon… a truck jack-knifed on the Bruce Highway, which saw me sitting in one spot, engine off, for an hour… and then the chaos of the Gateway Arterial in peak hour traffic… so by the time I got home I was knackered from sitting in the car doing nothing!! Too tired to get up and train this morning, I think I would have been dangerous in the weights room anyway. If I get home early enough this afternoon I will do some cardio then.

I’ve been feeling very emotionally flat for the last few days, I’ve felt a little overwhelmed, and my “to-do” list seems to be getting longer rather than shorter! Hasn’t been helped by an attack of the hormones this week – or what is otherwise known as “Bitch Week” in our house!

… but I’ve decided that enough is enough, and the only person who can fix this is myself. I am refusing to let negative thoughts enter my mind, and even if they do I instantly say STOP to myself. Its an ongoing process, and I have to be constantly aware of my thoughts, but its definitely worth it because I’ll get to a point where the thoughts don’t even materialise.

Nutrition is still on track, despite the Bitch Week hormones raging. I had a couple of pieces of organic dark chocolate the other night, and mmmmm it was delicious! Just two little pieces was enough to satisfy me, and not want to devour the whole little packet. My weight is holding steady, but I’m hoping its more fluid than anything else and next week should see me make some improvements there.

Anyway, best get this show on the road – have a great day!

I've been everywhere (man)

Well I'm certainly clocking up the kilometres in my new job!

 

Its strange to be doing lots of driving for a living, especially when you're used to being chained to a desk all day.  I think it will take a little getting used to.  Today I drove to Lismore, which took me 2 and a half hours in the rain!  I learned a valuable lesson too - and that is - stop and go to the toilet when you get a chance!!!  I made the mistake of saying to myself (as I drove past a highway service centre) "Oh I'll go at the next one..." ...

 

Famous last words...

 

There WASNT another one, until I reached Lismore!  By which time I was almost crying with discomfort because I needed to go so much!  Then I stopped at the first petrol station I found, ran up to the toilet door to find it locked!  Aaargh!  So I went inside to ask for the key - and had to wait for an elderly customer to finish paying for his fuel... and use EFTPOS... and then remember that he wanted to get $20 cash out too... meanwhile I'm hopping around behind him trying to will my bladder not to burst LOL!

 

So we wont be doing that again.  I think I have found every single McDonalds on the northside of Brisbane, and no - not for food.  They have clean toilets and easy parking!

 

Training is still going well - although I had a late night on Sunday night and consequently skipped gym on Monday morning... oops.  I made up for it by taking the dogs for a big walk in the afternoon and then doing a mini-shoulder session at home.  Today was chest and biceps, and I felt a lot stronger this week - gotta love that!

 

Anyway, better start getting dinner organised... byeeeee!

The great suburban flood of 2008

Well we certainly had an eventful day yesterday afternoon! This video is of our street, one house up from ours. The next door neighbour has a causeway through their block and yesterday afternoon we had an enormous amount of rain in a short space of time so they ended up with a river running through it! Waterfront properties in the heart of suburbia!!!! The force of the water was so strong that their dog almost got sucked under their fence (they saved him though).

A suburb near us had 100mm of rain in one hour, so you imagine the amount of water we had, it was incredible. In the video I am standing in the middle of the road, an inch under water, and this was taken AFTER the height of the storm.

We heard that cars in our local shopping centre were submerged up to their doors.

Our rumpus and spare room downstairs all got wet - the retaining walls near the house just couldn't cope with that much water, so it seeped in and now we've got wet carpet. I dont think I have ever seen so much water ever!!!

Other than that, not much exciting has been happening. My training is going great, I have got my mojo back and I'm really enjoying it again, which was the bit I was missing for a couple of months. Although I did another Abs, Butt and Thigh class this morning and I seriously felt like bailing several times thoughout the class - that is a SERIOUS workout! My legs were screaming, my thighs were screaming... but I stuck it out and now I feel fantastic so I'm really glad I did. According to my HR monitor I burned 550 calories in 50 minutes.... woohoo! I'll do step tomorrow, which is like my little treat for the end of the week, I LOVE step!

Have a great day everyone!

Sunburned again

Wow this week is just flying!

I got absolutely roasted on Sunday afternoon... sitting by the in-laws pool after a swim. I felt a bit cold when I got out of the pool so I sat in the sun to 'warm up'... not a good move cos now my chest is bright red. My arms and face copped a bit too, but my chest is the worst. When will I ever learn?

I had a lovely day on Monday (thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!). We went for a nice drive to Springbrook in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Because of all the recent rains all the waterfalls were flowing again, and the rainforest actually FELT like rainforest - lovely! We also went to Natural Bridge, had a nice lunch in a cafe, and then took a drive up to O'Reilleys. I took lots of pic's on my new little digital camera, so I'll try to post a few when I figure out how to upload them. OOooh I scored a Lorna Jane voucher too and I cant wait to spend it!

The last couple of years I've felt a bit sooky when it comes to birthdays. I've decided I dont like them anymore. I tend to get a bit sullen and cranky for a few days before, silly really, because its inevitable - we all get older.

Aaaanyway, training has taken a bit of a backseat this week. The sunburn hurt so bad that I just didn't think I could face dragging a crop-top over my head and over the burn, so I skipped it and doused myself in cream instead. I went back to gym this morning and it felt ok, my skin is now just covered in little bubbles where the sweat tried to break through, and it starting to get itchy.

Well that's about all from me, have a fantastic Friday!

How to get shoulder DOMS without even trying...

Step 1 - Get a tetanus shot...

Step 2 - wait a few hours...

Step 3 - say "Ouuuuwwwwww"

Attack of the barbed wire gate.

I had a bit of a bad day today... :(

Firstly driving to work I saw a little kitty get hit by a car... horrible... it ran in front of me (I thought it was lucky because I saw it and slowed down to avoid it) but unfortunately the car racing up to the right of me was going too fast, and kitty got clipped on the back of the legs. He kept running off the road and into the bushes, so I'm not sure how badly it was hurt. I couldn't stop because it was an extremely busy intersection. I was only about 5 minutes from work so by the time I arrived I was trying not to fall apart into tears.

Then I went out to look at a damaged door for work. I had to go way out to woop-woop to a farm area, so lucky I've got my trusty GPS! When I finally got there, I had to get through a barbed wire gate. This was not a 'normal' gate with a top and bottom rail that swings open. This was a "gate" (I use the term loosely) made of two upright posts with 3 strings of barbed wire through it. It had a chain and a long stick to keep it in place. I couldn't figure out how to open it.

I stuffed around with it for a few minutes, and thought bugger-it, and tried to climb through. Big mistake number one. It snagged my pants, and I started to lose my balance so I grabbed the wire - got a barb right through my left palm. Great - now I'm bleeding and cranky. The cows were giving me the evil eye too!

Anyway, got through, walked about 50 metres to the shed. Now I had to get through an electric fence. Had to reach through the fence to unplug the battery (all without getting a shock) so I could climb through. Managed to do this without electrocuting myself too!!

So I took a couple of photos of this damaged door, and then when I left I had another battle with the gate. Well, since I was bleeding already I didn’t particularly want to climb through it again, so I thought “I’ll have another go at opening this thing”. Big mistake number two. I got it open ok, but then I couldn’t figure out how to get it closed again!! It took me another 5 minutes… getting crankier, hot and sweaty, and then I sliced open the back of my right hand… twice… before I figured out how it worked! So now with both hands bleeding I grumbled all the way back to the office!

So now I have to go have a tetanus shot tomorrow morning. :(

Despite all this I’m still smilin’; I wore a pair of pants today which two weeks ago fit just right – and today I had to keep pulling them up! Yay!

Have a fabulous Friday and a great long weekend! (Its my birthday on Monday and I get a public holiday - how cool!)

Peas

I dont know why, but every now and then I go through "phases" where I crave a certain food non-stop. You may remember my American Mustard phase, where I plastered absolutely everything I ate, from salad, to fish, to chicken, with American Mustard. Last year it was the cucumber obsession - and while I still love cucumber, I can now eat a salad without it if I had to.

Lately its been peas!! Nothing special about peas I know - but I never liked 'em as a kid, I used to do the whole "hold my nose and swallow them whole" when I was little (especially since mum and dad wouldn't let me leave the table until every last pea was gone LOL!). Last month I bought a bag of frozen baby peas on a whim, and now I love them! Baby peas are much nicer I think. I'm also a bit partial to raw green beans in my salads too lately - another vegie I used to loathe when I was a kid.

We had some steamed veges with our lamb tonight, and I was savouring my peas and saying to OH "mmmmm I just LOVE these peas at the moment!!". He just shook his head at me... he doesn't get it - food is "just food" to him - sometimes I wish I could be like that!

I had a busy weekend - I wrote myself a to-do list on Friday night, and I'm happy to report that I accomplished almost everything on that list. I just didn't get to the butcher, bugger. Its a good feeling to have a tidy house and all the cleaning, washing and ironing up to date - its just a shame that there will be more chores to do next weekend!

Have a fantastic week everyone - next weekend is a long weekend - yahoo!

Tuesday update

Jeez I had forgotten how going to work every day eats into your leisure time!! I havent had much time for blogging lately. Going to work and cramming lots of information into my poor old brain has been a bit of a shock to the system after 7 weeks off, but its good to have some mental stimulation again.

I had a bit of a downer of a weekend. I got stomach pains again and I was a bit of a misery to be around. I suppose I have to admit that the doc was actually right - he said it was IBS. My trigger normally seems to be artificial sweetener - and the only thing I had this week was a protein bar on Wednesday afternoon. I stupidly thought that one little old protein bar wouldn't hurt, obviously I was wrong! My glass of wine on Friday night probably didn't do much to help either... :(

We went to a wedding on Saturday night and the boys got SMASHED!! I was the designated driver (couldn't risk drinking with my stomach the way it was) so it was quite funny to watch everyone get more and more plastered.

Saturday was also our one year anniversary of getting engaged! (Wow didn't that go fast!) One year ago today we were in Pompeii... *sigh* I want to go back!

Training was non-existant on the weekend, I just couldn't manage it. But I'm feeling better now so back into it. Did Chest and Bi's again today, and tomorrow will be Back and Tri's. I'll do legs on Thursday, and a step class on Friday morning. My food has been nice and clean (and NO artificial sweeteners!!) so I'm starting to feel good. Gotta keep it up!

Australia Zoo... and other stuff

Our day at Australia Zoo was great! Its been about 6 years since we last went, and it has changed BIG time since then. It seemed like it was twice as big as before, and twice as busy. It turned into an absolute scorcher of a day though, and we managed to sit in the front row at the Crocoseum for the show, so I got roasted. Well actually only my nose and tops of shoulders got burned, but I feel like I’m roasted! I don’t know why, but I never ever remember to take sunscreen or wear a hat anywhere – silly me.

We were lucky enough to have Terri Irwin and Wes Mannion do the crocodile show – you should have heard the roar from the crowd when she came running out! We must be lucky, because when we were there 6 years ago Steve Irwin did the croc show, we felt very privileged LOL!

Its very hands-on too. I got to pat a baby crocodile, a koala, feed and pat the kangaroos and feed an elephant! Last time we were there I got to pat a big python.

Anyway, it was a lovely day – here’s a few pics:

Terri Irwin during the croc show

Me and a friendly Kangaroo

A big cat out for a stroll (I think it was a cougar?)

Under the Crocoseum is this sort of memorial to Steve. All the shirts that everybody signed after he died are on display, along with posters and poems and all sorts of things that people have done. It was really quite moving...

**** ******

Other stuff: I started my new job on Tuesday. I was surprisingly calm driving in – I thought I would be super nervous but I wasn’t. I’m really enjoying it, and will be spending the next few weeks learning all the products and processes, before I can start getting stuck into anything much. I’m so looking forward to the challenge! It feels so refreshing to be working in a new environment too.

Training is going well this week, and thankfully I can walk again after last weeks leg DOMS! I have started a new weights programme this week, and I can feel some nice sore biceps coming on already, so its all good! I’m happy to be back into a routine and eating clean again, I feel so much better already.

Last night I caught up with Rachel and Sue for dinner. It was a good night, and it was lovely to see them both again. Luckily the weather has been kind to Sue while she's here - I think its still hotter down south than it is here!

Well that's about it from me. Have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Ugh

It seems that the party season has hit my neck of the woods this week. Three late nights in a row, three nights of alcohol and cheese and nibblies and not much sleep. I'm feeling all bleughhh at the moment... still, nobody's fault but my own I guess!

Tonight OH has gone to a bucks party, but he is feeling a little rough around the edges at the moment too, so he's not having a big night. I have skipped the hens party in favour of heading around the corner to a girlfriends place. I'm hoping we'll have a quiet night and wait patiently for the boys to come home from the bucks! I am so bloated... I need sleeeeeeep... and water....

The last three days has been a bit of a turning point for the house reno's. 3 days of painting, plastering, wall building and sanding (somebody took a photo of me weilding the orbital sander yesterday - dressed in my finest working clothes lol - we wont be posting THAT pic!!) and the house is really starting to take shape. Our converted garage downstairs is actually starting to LOOK like a rumpus room, rather than a "converted garage". Nice. The kitchen has been torn apart, I've lost all my overhead cupboards and I'm SO over cleaning up globs of plaster and dust, but hey - we're getting there!

Only problem is that working on the house was a bit difficult for me, seeing how I'm suffering from some of the worst leg DOMS in my life! I am the walking wounded... takes me 5 minutes to get down the stairs, and climbing up and down stepladders all day was most unpleasant. I imagine all our tradesmen friends were sniggering at me as I hobbled from one paint tin to the next. That's what I get for not training legs for a few weeks (naughty me!)

And I have just looked out the window and the skies are finally blue and its stopped raining! The trees are actually standing vertical instead of blowing over sideways! Looks like the nasty weather might be finally gone yipee! Hope it stays fine - we are going to Australia Zoo on Monday :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Welcoming the New Year in with a purrr (not a roar)

It was more of a fizzle than a "bang", our New Years. I nursed a few glasses of bubbly all night, drank two bottles of water in between, and ate far too much cheese and crackers. A fairly quiet night, at a very quiet get-together - man I feel old!

So anyway, despite the quiet night I still didn't get to bed until 2am, so a sleep in until 10am was in order. I dont even remember the last time I slept half the day away. It was nice because it was cool and windy and rainy, and the neighbourhood was quiet as a mouse - good snuggling weather. The thing I hate about sleeping in that late is that by the time you get up and have "breakfast" it's screwed all your meal times up. I've been a bit guilty of missing meals lately, so its time to get myself back to 5 good clean meals per day.

Today I slept in until 7am and then hit the gym, which is finally back to ordinary hours (yay!). I did my first weights session of 2008 - shoulders, bi's and tri's, followed by 25 minutes on the cross trainer. After a week off weights, I actually lifted heavier for shoulders... go figure. But I was weaker in biceps, weird. The gym was almost empty, much to my surprise. I suppose all the New Years Resolutioners wont start until Monday!

Tomorrow I'm heading into the city with some friends to hit the sales. I'm hoping to score some new work heels, work clothes, perfume, cooler bag and whatever other bargains I can find. A bit of retail therapy never goes astray!

Goodbye 2007...

One year ago today, we were in Warrington, England, getting ready for a HUGE NYE party... I cant believe how fast time flies these days!

So I thought should do a little review of my year, since its almost over.

Some highlights of 2007:

• We spent January having the holiday of my dreams, traveling around the UK, Austria and Italy. Got to go to Rome and see all the ancient stuff, which has been at the top of my "to-do" list forever.
  
• Got engaged to my wonderful man in the Austrian Alps
  
• Had implantable contact lenses in April and May to correct my short-sightedness, giving me better than 20/20 vision - bye bye glasses!
  
• Did some big renovations to our house (this is still an ongoing project though)
  
• Survived a nasty car accident with everything but my nerves (and the car) in tact.
  
• Got offered a fantastic new job, and quit my old one!

There havent been any enormous fitness achievements this year, but I have at least maintained my fitness levels.

2008 is going to be a big one. I start my new job in just over a week, and while I'm really looking forward to it, I'm really nervous as well.

We also will probably organise a wedding at some point (but after 8 years, really, whats the hurry?!!) and also get the renovations finished.

Fitness wise my goal is to gain more muscle, and lose 5kgs of fat. I still havent got Maggie's body yet - so watch this space!!

I hope everyone has a fabulous New Years tonight! We are going to a friends house for a party, but the weather in Brissie right now is not really conducive to a great New Years, its been cool and rainy with gale-force winds for the last few days. They're even talking about cancelling the fireworks in the city.

Anyway, I hope that whatever you get up to that its a great night. See you all in 2008!

So thats it for another year...

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!

Early yesterday morning we exchanged a few little gifts, and most importantly gave the dogs and cat their pressies. Shavez was sooo funny, his stocking had a sqeaky ball in it - he just LOVES this ball - he takes it with him everywhere and will not let it out of his sight! He's like a little kid with his dolly. It looks so funny to have this great big dog carrying a little ball everywhere. Even when he's sleeping he has to have the ball resting beside his face LOL...

We then went for breakfast with OH's family, where we did had a lovely BBQ breakfast out on the deck. Then the kids hit the pool, and OH chased them around and squirted them with water pistols - he is just like a big kid himself really.

We then headed home at lunchtime and my parents came around. I enjoyed a glass or two of bubbles, and then all of OH's family arrived for a dinner time BBQ.

Santa was good to me this year - OH got me a Polar F11 heart rate monitor...

I got the blue one, and I cant wait to start using it! I've been playing with it this morning, and I'm amazed with all the features its got. Its much puuurtier than my old black Polar, which has copped an absolute hiding over the years. I think I will be doing well to use even half of the features on this new one though - but its just so lovely!

OH's family also lashed out and got me some diamond cluster earrings... real diamonds too so I was most impressed! Musta been a good girl in my past life!

I'm having a week off weight training this week, so it will be good to get back into it. It will be good when the gym is back to normal hours too! So the dogs will be getting lots of walkies this week, and I may go for a few jogs too. Only two more weeks of being a lady of leisure - I cant believe how quickly 5 weeks has gone already! Actually I'm really looking forward to starting my new job, it will be good to have something to sink my teeth into.

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying some relax time at the moment, I'm off to read some blogs!

Happy Birthday S ! .....

Its OH's birthday today - happy birthday baby! For one month of the year we are the same age, and doesn't he just LOVE to rub it in that I'm 11 months older!

I'm in a great mood today - I did an awesome step class this morning, I really dont know where I got all my energy from! I always leave a little in reserve for the last track (the one before the legs and stretching) - I love the last track! Left the gym with a bright red face, came home and walked the dogs. I wasnt going to walk them though - they've been naughty and I was going to skip it. Went outside this morning and found a dead possum on the deck again... poor possum. We never know which dog actually committed the crime, so they always both get in trouble.

Anyway, took them for a shorter walk than normal, but they really were a handful this morning and hard to control. Then they both decided to take a poop at the same time - try picking up two lots of doggie doo in a plastic bag when they're both being difficult, circling your legs and whining to get going again - not happy!!!

Then I came home, showered and took my measurements and skinfolds - and they have gone down!! Woohoo! So happy with that!

So I'd best avoid the scales tomorrow anyway, after Beef Wellingtons and Caramel Mud Cake tonight for OH's birthday :-)

You may find this hard to believe but...

... I'm getting bored at home!

Yep, being a lady of leisure ain't all its cracked up to be!!! It is very strange having no proper routine. The only thing I do with any regularity is go to gym every morning. Then if I'm in the mood I walk the dogs, shower, sit down in front of the computer and play on the internet until about 9am. I have this rule that I dont start doing any physical "work" until after 9am.

My other rule is that I dont switch on the TV until its time to watch 'Antiques Roadshow' (5pm) - I've become addicted to that show... sad arent I??

I've done most of my Christmas shopping, I've weeded the garden, I've painted all I can until the plasterer finishes doing his stuff, I've cleaned (actually I could prolly do with cleaning a whole lot more, but that just isn't fun) and I've visited friends, cuddled babies etc... I'm now resorting to doing crosswords to try and keep my mind active!!

Its funny somedays, I soooo look forward to OH coming home from work so that I get a bit of human conversation!! I mean, I talk to the dogs and cat a lot, but they dont tend to talk back LOL.

Anyway, I went out for a Christmas get-together last night and I was very good - only had one glass of wine very early on. I didnt even eat very much (mostly because it was horrible) so I dont think I did too much damage last night. I was very tired getting up for gym this morning, and it showed in my lack of strength. I didn't make the same reps today that I did last week, and left gym with jelly triceps!

Its OH's 32nd birthday on Friday (he's finally catching up with me!) so I've got to go get myself organised to cook Beef Wellingtons for 7 people - I'm not sure if my oven is big enough! Wish me luck!

Its a Wonderful Life

Its a Wonderful Life is my favourite Christmas Movie of all time. I'm not really sure why - maybe its because I love Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, maybe its the stilted 1940's acting, maybe its the fact that it makes me cry every time I watch it... but what a lovely lovely movie. It really does make you stop and think about how good your own life is, and what impact you have on other people's lives. I watched this movie on Monday after I had my wisdom teeth out, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

I am a bit of a wreck at the moment after my efforts on Wednesday! Not only am I black and blue from bruises, but my upper body is sooo sore too. From pull-starting the mower a million times (from when it kept stalling) I have the sorest shoulders. Chest is still sore too from weights this week. I'm finding it difficult to do things like pulling t-shirts on and off, and doing a bra up is a bit of a challenge!

Yesterday I did my usual step class, and I was knackered!! Another girl and I were agreeing that this latest release of Body Step seems to be a LOT harder than previous releases...

This morning I took the dogs for a walk, and then today I'm going to clean windows... gee I get all the fun jobs dont I???

Have a great weekend everyone.

Bull in a china shop

One thing mum always used to shout at me (apart from “Clean your room” and “For God’s sake, stop tap-dancing down the supermarket aisles!!”) was

“Christ Hilary you’re like a bull in a china shop!!!!”

I was always crashing through the world at top-speed, always in a hurry, slamming doors, bumping into things, breaking stuff. We used to live in a two storey house on stilts, looked like a little Swiss chalet, and she used to reckon me running down the stairs made the whole house shake…

I got better as I got older. But yesterday I had a bit of a day like those old days. For some reason I was in a hurry to do everything. I had a list of things to do yesterday, and there was no stopping me!

So my to-do list went something like this:

Go to gym
Do groceries
Post Christmas Cards
Paint upstairs hallway ceiling
Paint downstairs bedroom ceiling
Mow all lawns

It started to go wrong when I went to post the Christmas cards, I got stuck halfway across an intersection when I got stuck at a red light. Couldn’t go forward or back. A pedestrian abused me for being halfway across the pedestrian crossing – now that just put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

So I came home and painted. Forgot that when you roll on ceilings that the paint doesn’t just splatter straight down onto the drop sheet – it flies out in all directions. Consequently got paint everywhere and had to keep stopping to clean it up.

Cooked stir fry for lunch, dropped food on floor from rushing…

Cut my toe on a floor tile, just from walking past it.

Got a huge glob of paint in my left eye. I mean it dropped straight into my eyeball, and OMG that sucker stung!! Spent the next ten minutes rinsing my eye in water and searching for eye drops, which we don’t seem to have anymore since I had my eye operations!

Noticed it looked like it was going to rain, so ditched the painting halfway through to go mow… it took me about 2 hours because the mower kept stalling because the grass was too thick. I bumped my leg on the mower and have ended up with a massive bruise on my thigh.

And finally when I went to close a sliding screen door last night I managed to bang myself in the forehead with it – hard. I have a big egg over my left eyebrow now.

So I think that qualifies as a bull in a china shop kinda day! Mum would be shaking her head right now!!

Double Ouch

I had my other two wisdom teeth out this morning, so now the entire right side of my face is a bit screwed up. Because both upper and lower were removed this time, we had twice the number of needles didn't we? So I think my face is twice as numb as last time. This time my chin is now frozen in one spot - all the way to the top of my ear - yeah, double ouch is right.

On the aftercare information sheet they give you (just before you pay them the arm and a leg that you now owe) it says "Absolutely no smoking for at least 48 hours - and no alcohol for 2 weeks" !!! I had to read it twice! And then I spluttered!! "Wha....??" I'm now reduced to grunting and pointing because my lips, chin and tongue are frozen in the one spot...

"Wha???? No alcohol for two weeks??" This is barely deciperable from me, but the dentist figures out what I'm saying. "Oh people always freak out about THAT!!" he laughs. "Dont worry about that - but no alcohol for at least 48 hours though - ok?"

Phew - I can relax knowing that my Friday night glass of wine is still on the cards.

Still, it was a much better experience this time, no stitches for one. AND it was cheaper than the quote. Gotta be happy with that.

*****************************

We did some tiling in the entry/lounge area on Saturday, and its looking pretty good. Its amazing how doing one area can make you feel like you are so much closer to the end. It still needs to be grouted of course.

This morning I did my regular Monday morning cycle class, followed by walking the dogs. I'm now going to put my feet up for the rest of the day (dentists orders - honest!), wait for the feeling to return to my face, and eat soft and squishy food.

Look what I'm getting...

Last week I used some credit card reward points to order a Navman S30, which is an entry level GPS. Dont you just love shiny new gadgets? When I start my new job I'm going to be driving around a fair bit, so this will be a fairly important tool for me, so I dont get lost. I'm hoping to have it before Christmas, I cant wait!

I also ordered a couple of singlets from Lean Ladies so I'll be on the lookout for the postman in the next few weeks! I have recently discovered that a new Lorna Jane has opened up at my local shopping centre. So far I have managed to stay away, but its calling me.

I've been training hard and eating clean this week, but I'm still feeling bloated and I cant seem to shake it. Maybe I will cut out my morning coffee and see if that helps.

I have done nothing but paint this week, and I'm over it. This week was the first time I had ever painted a ceiling, and I can tell you - it aint fun. Its all very well having a drop sheet on the floor, but it doesn't stop the paint from splattering on your face, in your eyes, on your hair. It certainly doesn't pay to roll on ceiling paint with your mouth open either.

Its been stinking hot here this week, which hasn't helped. I have ended up with a bit of a crook neck from craning my head back all day, and man did my shoulders get a good build up of lactic acid this week! The worst of it is that I have only done two ceilings - many more to go! At lunchtime yesterday I gave up and went back to painting walls instead.

Today I'm having a bludge day. Well actually I just refuse to paint today. Maybe I'll do some more weeding, or I might just go check out Lorna Jane!!

Mind over matter

... otherwise known as "I think I can, I think I can..."

This morning I was up as usual at 5am - ok so actually it was more like quarter past, I almost slept through the alarm. Anyway, got to gym and did an awesome shoulder/bi/tri workout (shoulder is feeling good after the acupuncture by the way), then hopped on the cross trainer for 20 minutes. Felt good - but quite fatigued by the end.

Came home and took the dogs for a brief walk, dropped them off and headed off on my 4km route. Last time I ran/walked this (Saturday) I managed to jog as far as the local school , which is about a third of the way, before I had to slow to a walk. Since I'm no runner, this I thought was a pretty good. Usually after I catch my breath, I pick it up for more jogging.

This morning, the minute I stepped it up into a jog, I though "oh-oh, I'm never going to make this, my legs are sooooo tired!". But I kept saying to myself "Just make it to the end of the main street". Making it to the end of that street involves two small hills, nearly killed me!! Finally made it to the end and thought "Hey its a downhill slope now - keep going - just make it to that power pole". Then when I got close to that power pole, I thought - you can make it to the school!

So I kept going, and kept jogging to the school. Then I passed the school and just kept on going. I kept setting myself markers, and each time I reached the marker I picked another one 50 metres ahead. In the end I got about half way before I had to slow to a walk and gasp for breath!!!! But man it felt good. Last time I jogged to the school I had fresh legs too - so just goes to show how mind over matter can get you further than you thought. By the time I got home my legs were cactus though!

To me, this is the best thing about fitness. To achieve something, even something minor as jogging further than you thought you could, or saying no to a glass of wine when you REALLY feel like one - knowing that you're progressing, improving, eating clean, gaining control and just feeling really good about yourself - what an awesome, powerful feeling.

So I'm feeling really happy and positive right now. I'm just going to have a little rest here before I start painting some ceilings today. Have a great day!