My Like Button

LOL Kathy at your comment on my post last night - this is for you !!!!

I am having a great day today.  Went to see the osteo this morning and what a difference he has made.  Now I just need to keep vigilant with my stretching .............. and I should be right as rain in no time at all.

He did help the dull headache that I still had this morning so I was very happy about that - it did get worse before it got better but it is so much better now, I am glad that I made the time to go and see him before getting stuck into what I needed to do for the day.

I am off to training tonight and quite looking forward to it, even if he lands up nearly killing me because my child may not make it depending on how her knee is feeling.  My eating has been really good this week - long may it continue.  I am continuing to 'see' myself in my holiday photos when making food choices and it does seem to be working for me and, at the end of the day, that is all that I want - to do what works !!!

Have a fantastic Tuesday.

TFTD : When you shift your vision from what your bank statement says to what your soul statement says, lack dissolves and abundance reveals itself - Alan Cohen



Monday night

Had a bit of an off day today - went to work only because I HAD to get the variance analysis report completed and distributed with the month end accounts for our management meeting on Wednesday but didn't feel good at all.  Dreadful headache that wouldn't seem to go.  I left at about 12 and came home and slept until everyone got home from work.  Am feeling much better now although no exercise again today.  Am going to try not to beat myself up over this and just get back to it tomorrow.

Have a terrific Tuesday tomorrow !

The weekend that was

Where did the weekend go to and how come it is nearly finished ?  Guess it would be all the painting that made it go so quickly - the good thing is that the bedroom is now finished - YAY !!!!!
Yesterday we woke up and the weather was miserable.  K got to work only to be told that they weren't opening the park so she had to come home again - not happy as she has been off work since Saturday last week after doing her ACL and not being able to work.  Anyway, the weather was much better today and she went off to work a happy little veggiemite.

Anyway, with the rain there was no point in starting to paint as it just takes too long to dry so I called around as I had bought a fountain pen from kikki.k on Thursday night and it wasn't working properly.  Took it back to Pac Fair and they swopped it without any drama for one that does work - YAY !!!!!

Got home and the weather had cleared and so got stuck into the painting.  K and C were at home watching movies and then they went bowling last night - Al and I stayed at home watching TV - just like Derby and Joan !!

This morning woke up and the weather was lovely so got stuck into the painting and washing and got them both finished in time to watch the second half of the Australia / South Africa quarter final. I have to be honest I didn't think we were going to win it but we managed to pull it out the bag with not much time to spare.  I did make a conscious decision to eat some grain waves and have some Amarula while watching the game with the knowledge that, while it might slow my weight loss down for my holiday, they will not stop me getting to my goal before we leave.

Well, I had better go and get dinner started as we are having people over and all I have done so far is make the milk tart this morning for dessert tonight.  I hope that you have all had as productive a weekend as I have - while I didn't get out much, I do feel good about what I have managed to get done and be able to cross off my To Do List.  Now to be able to find some nice writing paper so that I can use my fountain pen.  Just now A is going to ban me from buying pens - I have so many of them - but I LOVE writing with nice pens - I never use a cheap, grotty pen - now, to learn how to be able to write nicely !!!!  Maybe I should learn the script that kikki.K use as I do like that !!!!

Have a great week everyone and take care ! 

TGIF !

Well another good day for me yesterday.  Training was awful - I was by myself as K's knee is still worrying her - man did he work me hard.  I know it is what I need but after I don't know how many punches, push ups and sit ups, I was really to fall over more than anything else.  And, my arms are telling me all about it again today !  Oh well - all for a good cause.

We went to Robina last night for me to look at a fountain pen from kikki.K.  I have a 'thing' about stationery - I love writing with nice pens.  Anyway, I had seen their fountain pens and wanted to get one - then when I got the e-mail saying that they were having a 25% off everything sale decided that this would be the time to buy it.  Got there and they only had two - one pen from two ranges - no pens from the other two ranges - how can you be a stationery shop and not have stock of fountain pens ?????  Anyway, after lots of trying out I bought the one that felt the best.  Got to work today only to find that it works - in patches - when it feels like it. Sooooooooo now I have to take it back and see if they can find another one for me from another store - BUGGER !!!!  I hate it when I buy something and it doesn't work.

On our way down A was saying how he had heard that the price of oil per barrel had come down so how come the price of petrol hadn't come down seeing as it always goes up when the price of oil goes up.  I said that is because it is like fat - quick to go up and so slow to come down again !!!!!

Finishing our bedroom is on the cards this weekend - hopefully it will happen so we can put everything back where it is supposed to go and we can stop having to step over things in the wrong place.  The good thing (for now anyway) is that A is not supposed to be working so I may even have some help with moving the doors which will mean that I will get them done a lot quicker !!

Seeing as we are saving madly for our holiday next year for our 25th wedding anniversay (and the reason for my renewed efforts at getting rid of these excess kilos) this TFTD seemed rather apt.

TFTD : Why live in a soap opera when you can star in a great love story ?

Great Dinner !

We had a great evening last night.  The voucher we had was $35 for the two of us which turned out to be really good value for money.

We started with two slices of ciabatta with herb and garlic butter.  Then two butterflied prawns with a chilli type of sauce (which I scraped off), A had two little spoons of thai beef with some lovely flavours on it.  Then we had two wee little cups of cream of vegetable soup which was just delicious.  A ordered steak for main but got chicken as they screwed the order up but he was fine with that and I had the fish (barramundi) on a warm pumpkin salad.  For dessert there was panacotta with poached berries. I was a little hesitant about this dessert as I don't like creme caramel and it looked very similar but I had a little taste and it was just fantastic - the contrast of taste with the berries was just amazing.  A had a cup of coffee afterwards and then we went home - too late to go to the movies so we will go another night.  What a great evening we had - it was just perfect !

My weigh in this morning saw a loss of 2kgs which is great (although it was 2.5kgs yesterday morning !!!) - but that is OK - I know that it will come off in the end especially if I keep my focus on the goal at the end which is to look good in our holiday photos.

I need to try to get to the travel agent this week / weekend as we need to start planning where we are going to go and what we are going to do.  We bought a Lonely Planets for Cananda on Monday night and then when I went to the home of a client on Tuesday night she gave me one that they had but had never used as their plans to go to Canada had fallen through.  So will wait to see just how outdated her copy is when the one we bought arrives and then decide whether to keep the new one or just go with the old one and get a refund on the new one.

I have been reading the book Way of the Peaceful Warrior and I am really enjoying it - so much so I think I need to buy the e-book so that I can keep it and refer back to it when I know that my head is not in the right place.  A lady I work with has the movie which she said she would lend to me so hopefully I can get to watch it soon.

Have a terrific Thursday !

TFTD : The ego tells you to fill space. Your spirit tells you to let space fill you.

Dinner Tonight

Tonight A and I are going out on a date - to dinner - at The Boatshed - (with a Deals.com voucher - but that is by the by).  Recently we have just not been able to spend much time together given the long hours that he has been working, so I am quite looking forward to the evening.  K is going to drop friends at the airport and then watch a movie so won't be home until later.  We will be like Derby and Joan - I am sure we will enjoy ourselves.

The special is a fish special so I am going to ask for my fish to be grilled.  I can't remember what the other courses are (there are 4 but I think that may be a bit of a stretch - will tell you tomorrow !).  Depending on the weather and the time when I get home from work I will try to go for a walk tonight because I wasn't able to exercise last night BUT, if I don't get to exercise, that will be my two days of no exercise this week and I am sure that I will be fine on Fri / Sat / Sun to get some exercise in - even if it is carting doors from the bedroom to the garage to paint them !!!!!

I am a little excited about my weigh-in tomorrow morning - I have been doing really well this week foodwise and making healthy choices when I have had choices to make - will be posting my results tomorrow too.

Have a great afternoon and evening !

TFTD : Your decisions are honourable because they are your own - Source unknown

Tuesday afternoon already

I don't know where the time went but it is already Tuesday afternoon and my time at Inala is nearly finished.  I have quite enjoyed the two days that I have been here covering for the AP/AR lady who had two days leave - wouldn't like to do it full time, but it has been good for a change.  Just a pity all my month end work has been mounting up over these two days and it will be ready and waiting for me tomorrow when I get back to my office.

On the exercise front, I didn't exercise 5/7 days BUT I did paint for two days so I am taking those days as two of my exercise sessions, in which case I did make my 5/7 days of exercising - YAY !!!!  My eating has been great since Thursday morning although last night I did succumb to some malt of milk biscuits.  The good thing is that I didn't beat myself up about them - I just enjoyed them and said that sometimes you just have to have something and make sure it is in moderation.  I did think long and hard before having the biscuits to make sure that it wasn't just an impulsive action - I 'saw' my holiday photos and I wasn't any bigger in them because I ate three measly little biscuits !!!

I was pleased to see Geelong win the AFL grand final and disappointed that Manly won the league final - I would have much rather Warrior's won but what can you do ????

I am feeling really good about where I am at the moment.  Since we stopped packing shelves at Coles, I can't believe how much more time we have in the evenings.  It is really so good to be able to go to bed at a reasonable hour each night and watch TV / read / whatever if we want to. There is no mad rush in the evenings to have dinner, try to catch up on the news of the day and have some family time.  I do feel a bit sorry for A as he is so in demand at work that they have him working all sorts of overtime - at some point he is going to have to put his foot down and say enough is enough but for now he seems to be OK with it (and I am most of the time except when I have to move the cupboard doors from outside our bedroom and into the garage so that I can paint them - they are bloody heavy !!!!)  Needless to say I did two and said I would leave the others for next weekend when he is at home (hopefully) and can move them for me.  The painting went really well - got all but the doors and a couple of door frames done - can't wait for next weekend so that I can finish.  Oh and the en-suite has to be painted as well.  Being busy of the weekend helped with my eating - I didn't have time to worry about picking at food / nibblies / cakes / biscuits even if I had had any in the house.

Training last night was rather rigorous as K has done her ACL and so is on crutches and out of action for a while.  Nothing serious - just a strain from what I can work out.  She had x-rays yesterday and if the swelling is still up on Friday has to go for an MRI so here's hoping that it has all settled down by then.  In the meantime she has been booked off work and is to keep it elevated and iced - will that happen - maybe !!

Have a great evening - see you soon !

TFTD : Never make an excuse that affirms your powerlessness - Alan Cohen

A Win !!!!

Stress about public liability insurance which has been paid, expires today but I don't have a certificate of currency which means I will get dropped off the health fund lists.  Dilemma - coke zero or chocolate - coke zero or chocolate - coke zero or chocolate - YAY COKE ZERO won !!!!!!

TGIF !

Thank goodness it is Friday is all I can say.  This weekend seems to have taken a month of Sundays to arrive !!!!!!

I have had a great day foodwise (although it is only midday !).  Work has been impossible.  First it took me about two hours to get the computers up and running and on line - the computer lady doesn't work on a Friday and, almost without fail, there are issues with the computers on a Friday.  Anyway, I felt really sorry because I woke her up when I called to find out what else I could do as what I had done hadn't worked.  Eventually we managed to sort it out so that was good.

Then it was my turn to work with the director as he put the blinds up around the office.  We have recently moved into brand new offices that had nothing in them so we have had the sun beating straight in the windows and onto us - man has it been hot some days.  Anyway, he doesn't measure anything and estimates where the brackets should go and then cracks a hissy when the blind won't fit between the brackets !!!!  Those took a while but eventually we managed to get all 4 up - what a difference it has made to the temperature of the office.  At least we got them in before summer arrived !!

Off to pick up my new bras today - in the right size - and the right fit !!!!! I am very excited about having undies that fit properly and do what they are supposed to do - if only I could win the Lotto and have a reduction done, I would be the happiest woman around.

This weekend A is working on Saturday so I think that, after my waxing appointment, I am going to get stuck into painting the bedroom - prodvided we can agree on what colour to paint it.  Well it is 1/4 done - the feature wall is done - the rest of the walls and the doors need to be done.  That is my task for this weekend - to be rewarded in some way other than food should I accomplish it !

Whatever you and doing and wherever you are, I hope you have a fantastic weekend.  I will be sure to let you know how the painting went (or didn't go !!!!).

These are the photos of what we did with the car that K bought from us and the key ring that she had said that she liked.

TFTD : There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person.  The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self - Hindustani proverb

A 100% Day

I am on my way to bed and I have had a 100% day food wise.  I didn't get to walk tonight because the weather was rather miserable but I did have a client so was busy doing remedial work for an hour which sort of made up (in a way) for not walking !!  Even though I didn't walk, I feel like I have made a positive start to my journey - finally !!!

Off to have a good sleep (I hope !)

It's Only A Number !

AND IT'S A NUMBER I NEVER WANT TO SEE AGAIN on my scales - 85.0kgs !!!!!!  How did I go from 69kgs to 85kgs in the space of about 15 months ????  That is just on a kilo per month and really not acceptable.  The slow creep happens and because I didn't do something about it when I hit 75kgs, it just kept on going.  Maybe keeping my 'big' clothes wasn't a good idea because as I grew, I just changed my clothes in the wardrobe.  On the other hand, if I had of gotten rid of them, I would probably have just said that I needed to go out and buy more !!!!!!!

This week my exercise has been good.  Walking on Monday, training on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I may walk tonight depending on the weather.  If I can continue to exercise at least 5/7 days per week I will be happy.  If it is more that will be good - if not I will try to do at least 5/7.

I started back on Lite & Easy today and I have to be honest and say that I am feeling much more in control of the food that I am eating because it is all packed, weighed, measured and waiting for me.  On one level I do feel like it is the cheaters way of losing weight but on another level I feel that if this is what works for me, surely that is more important than what other people think about how I manage to lose the weight.  I find that the weekends are the biggest challenge for me but this time I want to try to stay focussed on why I want to lose the weight in the first place - SO THAT I DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT HOLIDAY PHOTOS AND SEE ME LOOKING LIKE A HIPPO !!!!!  As long as I can keep that thought in place - and it is the thought that pops into my head BEFORE I put something in my mouth - hopefully I will get there.  When I work out how to change my template, I will put my starting weight, weekly loss and total loss on the side bar as a reminder of how far I have come (well not yet but from next week !!) and make sure that it keeps moving in the right direction - DOWN !!!!

A busy couple of days are coming up at work but that is OK because sometimes it is easier not to think about food when I am busy.  The evenings are a little harder now that we not longer pack at Coles because we do sit and watch TV and it is always nice to snack on something - well not really something - more like chocolates, jelly beans, biscuits etc.  Last night we went out to the Tavern for their second meal $5 deal and that was really nice - I didn't eat all the chips (they weren't that nice) but afterwards we did go to Basken and Robbins (fatal mistake) and have two scoops in a cup.  While I am not an ice-cream nut, I LOVE B&R ice-cream.  Needless to say I had a really uncomfortable night having eaten too much but that is OK for a last hooray until the weight starts to shift (except for next Wednesday night when we are going down to The Boat Shed for a dinner we booked about 3 weeks ago !!!) - will just have to do the best that I can when we are there and maybe try to get in an extra exercise session that week.

TFTD :  Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today - James Dean

I Did It !

Thanks to blogging that I was going to walk no matter what, I had to !!!!  Landed up having to pick up A from work and then stopped to get groceries before getting home at about 5.45.  Then had chatted to K and went to the bedroom to get changed to go walking when a neighbour popped over so landed up talking to him until about 6.30pm.  I have to be honest, I was really tempted to just go out to dinner and not walk but remembered what I had blogged and so said to Al that even if we wanted to go out to dinner, I HAD to walk first.

While he was saying goodbye to the neighbour at the gate, I got changed and he came in saying how chilly the wind was and we would need jackets if we were going to walk.  I was already changed and had my jacket so off we went - only 40 mins - and man was the wind chilly.  But, I felt so good when I got home because it would have been so much easier to just hop on the couch and not do anything.  I am hoping that if I can get my exercise happening and my food happening, the weight loss will start to happen - at least that is what I am working on !!!!!

Today I placed our Lite and Easy order for the week so that will come tomorrow and Thursday I will be really back on track with my eating and if I can keep blogging about the exercise that I want to do, it does sort of make me feel more compelled to do it !!

Have a terrific Tuesday !

TFTD : Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value - Albert Einstein

A Great Weekend !

Yesterday we had a great day.  Got up and cleaned the house doing lots of little extras along the way AND doing some decluttering / clearing out of tops and shoes.  Items I will never wear again whether I lost 10-20kgs or whether I put on 10-20kgs !!!!  For the life of me I couldn't think of why I kept them in the first place when I didn't like them or they way they fitted or didn't like how uncomfortable I felt when I wore them.  All gone into big plastic packets waiting to be dropped off at the Salvos.  Just because I don't like them doesn't mean that someone else won't love them - at least that is what I am hoping.

A and I went to the movies - at 1pm - on a Sunday.  I think that is the first time we have been to the movies during the day - for me, movies means night time and I don't recall us going to movies during the day before (we may have but obviously it didn't make a huge impression on me because I can't remember it !!!).  We saw Zookeeper (A's request) - it had some funny parts but don't dash out to watch it.

Got home and washed my car and then got the Kia ready as we have sold it to K and so backed it into the garage and 'wrapped' it with fabric to look like ribbon on a present (will post a photo once they are downloaded) with a big tulle and crystalline bow on the windscreen.  She got home from work after playing touch with her colleagues and opened the garage door and just had this huge smile on her face.  Here's wishing her happy and safe travels in her new car !!!!!

My weight this morning was up - not surprising seeing as I have been able to eat and it hasn't just been going straight through me.  Tonight I aim to go for a walk - don't want to shock my body in trying to go for a run after so many weeks of doing nothing !!!!!  Once I get home from work and doing the grocery shopping, I am going to get changed and get out there.  I will go even if I have to go by myself - I am not a fan of exercising by myself but I can no longer use that as an excuse to sit at home and not exercise !!!  So tomorrow when I post it will be tell you about the great walk that I had tonight.  (This is me making myself accountable through whatever means I can !!!!!)

Have a great day whatever you are doing and take care !

TFTD : A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."
"The Wise Woman's Stone"
Author Unknown

A Productive Day

YAY for having a productive day at home today.  Poor A - the first weekend that he isn't working and he has to work at home (well, it isn't as though he didn't know that he was going to be working at home !!!!) - we managed to get the awning finished which is GREAT !  This means that we can leave the bedroom windows open 24/7 365 days a year - I suppose sometimes in winter we might close them but at least in summer when we have all our rain, we can still have the windows open.  This is something we have wanted to do since we moved into the house 11 years ago - we just never had the money to do it before and it didn't cost us much because a guy who works with me made up the frame and helped A to fix it to the house and we just had to buy the awning stuff - so it was a really cheap way to get it done.  Why they build houses without eaves I have no idea (OK, I do have some idea - it is all to do with saving money but from a practical point of view it makes no sense at all - well I don't think anyway !!!)

Then had a look at the horrible home window tint job that was done on the same windows and decided that the tinting that was peeling off needed to be taken off completely - only to find that it split and half came off and half split and stayed on the window so called a glass place and got a quote for $70 to get the three pieces cut.  The guy said he would be home in an hour so we went around and picked it up.  Came home and fitted the two small windows.  Went to take the fixed pane out only to find that he had cut the fixed pane about 6-8mm too narrow.  Discussions between A and myself and he can't remember if he told the guy the measurement and then he adjusted it or A adjusted it and told him the adjusted measurement ANYWAY another call to him and another trip back and another $20 and we had a piece of glass that was the right size and got it in without any more trouble.

That started me on a window frame cleaning spree so I went around and gave all the window and door frames a really good clean while A went out and cut the grass.  K came home from work and was going to a party down in Burleigh and we offered to take her so have just got back from droppping her off there.

Tomorrow morning is cleaning morning.  A got a shop-a-docket for one free breakfast from Mustang Sally at Harbourtown so, if we can get the cleaning done quick smart in the morning, we will go there for breakfast.

My weight was down this morning although I suspect I still have some of the virus in me as not long after I have eaten I have this dreadful gurgling in my stomach and it all comes out again.  On the up side I feel so much better than I did last week - still a little tender in my stomach area but my kidneys were fine today.

Last night K and I ordered our new Pandora bracelets - can't wait for it to arrive so I can start to fill it up again although I think that this one is going to take a lot longer to fill than the last one did.  I am more particular about the charms that I want for this one so I will have to learn the art of being patient.

Happy Sunday for tomorrow everyone - I hope you all have a fantastic day !!!!!

I heard a great motto on the radio this afternoon when we were out collecting the glass and that is my TFTD today.

TFTD : Dream.  Believe.  Commit.  Achieve

Big Tick for Target

On the weekend I bought two pairs of pyjamas.  For many years I have slept in old T-shirts and knickers and I decided that I would spoil myself and get some pj's to wear to bed.  So I did.  In my size.  I got home and tried them on for the family only to find that there was a hole in the side of one of the tops.  K went and changed it for me the next day as she was going to the centre.

When she brought it home I had worn the other top for two nights - it had stretched slightly so I thought that I would take the second top back and change it for a smaller size.  Absolutely no trouble at all for them - which was good seeing as it still had the ticket on and I had my docket (there would have been a few fireworks if I hadn't been able to swop it.)

Then last night I was tossing and turning in bed as A took to snoring no matter how he was lying - side, back, stomach - drove me nuts enough to go and sleep in the loungeroom.  The couch is not as forgiving as my sheets are and I found that my top had stretched so much I spend more time 'popping out' the front and sleeves than I did in my top.  Lucky I was on the couch by myself - no doubt if I had been in bed someone else would have noticed me popping out and taken advantage of it - not that I would have minded !!!!!!

I got to thinking - when I buy something, am I being unreasonable expecting it not to stretch to the extent that my pj top has stretched.  So, thought I would take it back, with my docket, minus the ticket which went with the recycling, and see what they say.  (Now I sound like my Gran BUT ANYWAY), what a lovely young guy served me - absolutely no trouble at all to take it back.  He told me I had a couple of options - I could swop it for the same size, swop it for a smaller size or get my money back - no questions asked, no attitude, no funny face that I had already worn it and was now bringing it back - absolutely nothing negative in the least - just a pleasure to do business with.  So much so I am going to write to Target to tell them how happy I am shopping there EXCEPT for the fact that you have to pay 10c if you want a plastic bag when you buy anything.  Most times, if I forget to take a bag, I just carry whatever I buy. Last weekend K and I spent about $150 between us on underwear and she said "No way are we walking out of here carrying these undies without a bag.  I'll pay the 10c for the bag." - and she did and I have used it since then for my trips to and from Target !

YAY for shops that make you want to go back to them !

Have a fantastic weekend everyone and take care.