REGROUPING

Tonight's blog is dedicated to the post-August 2012 Magda. The Magda that turned a corner and committed to take action to become the woman she wanted to be - physically and emotionally and with a completely different mindset to before. Tonight's blog is to reaffirm my goals and look at better ways to achieve them. My journey continues but I must regroup and reaffirm what I want.

 

I've had my first major challenge and its thrown me off track. My MIL is staying with us and the socialising has ramped up and so has my drinking of wine. On Thursday I threw together a lunch thinking 'that'll be ok, its got veges and protein" but it was a dreadful combination that left me craving something - anything - tasty. And I gave in to my craving then followed it up with WAY too much drinking on a school night. That pattern has been maintained for the last 4 days. Eating too much. Making poor food choices and having way more wine than I'd normally have.

 

On Friday morning I blew off my training as it was a drizzly morning and that was all I needed as an excuse to not go out to run. I find that eating poorly really makes it harder to get in the right frame of mind for training. Its almost like good eating, early bed times and training go hand in hand. For me, if I nail the eating and early bed times then the training is so much easier. 

 

But on Saturday I decided to get back to it and smashed out an awesome back - chest - core workout increasing my weights on ALL of my exercises and taking my plank holds to 1:15 each (up from just 1 minute). One thing is for sure: more calories = more strength!! I followed it up with legs today and am now static lunging with 10kg+ dumbbells which are VERY heavy for me. Shame my eating wasnt great today though.

 

But the past is gone and tomorrow is a brand new month so now its time to regroup and move forward. I'll be away for most of the coming week so my diet will not be very tight but I can commit to:

 

1. Not over-eating

2. Making the best food choices possible

3. Getting a good day under my belt tomorrow before I go.

 

When I return I'm trying something a little different but thats a whole blog post in itself. I know I can do this. I know I WILL do this. I just need to keep my longer term goals in sight and amend my plans for getting there.

 

Cheers all

 

M

TIRED, TIRED, TIRED

 

The start of every week is pretty tough. On Sundays I do an hour + run/walk with my run time now at 45 minutes. I back this up on Mondays with a 40 minute run, leg weights on Tuesday and then another 40 minute run on Wednesday. By the time I've done all that my legs are feeling pretty tired. There is some relief for them as I do upper body weights on Thursday and Saturday so they only have to perform one more 40 minute run on Friday.

 

But today the tiredness set in early. I had been pretty desk-bound which is never a good thing for me. I left work at 5pm and my physical tiredness was crushing me. I could hardly walk to my car park with my legs feeling so heavy and with no energy. Perhaps that rest break next week is a bit overdue.

 

Otherwise I'm ok. My upper body seems to have adjusted to my training and there is no more DOMS. That might be a message to shake things up a bit after I get back. Boohoo - I LOVE my routine :-(

 

So in a few more days I'll be on a mini holiday from work and training. I think it'll be a nice and welcome break that hopefully recharges me in readiness to ramp things up on my return.

 

:-) M 

PROGRESS CHECK

This weekend marked a bit of a progress check in my journey to getting leaner and fitter. I don't often check formally other than seeing the scale numbers come down but I broke with tradition and did a few tests and checks.

Firstly measurements were taken and seeing some numbers still in the 90s I thought that my progress had been slow to minimal. Until I compared to 4 weeks ago and saw 5cm losses at both chest and waist. Nice!! I'll take that thanks. Legs are coming down too (as are other areas) just not as fast which is typical.

Then I did a handful of fitness tests starting with a 1km running time trial. 4 weeks ago my time was 6:32 and that was my running pace. This time it was 5:47 and I was STOKED. Mind you, I felt it as i just don't ever run that fast but it was good knowing I had it in me. Then it was push-up testing time and I managed 6 (weak) push ups from my toes followed by 24 from my knees in 1 minute. My previous result was 2 from the toes and 23 from the knees so again a nice improvement. My wall sit (testing leg strength) was 1:07 up 5 seconds from before. Not surprised at only a small improvement as I'm finding my legs are generally tired from 4 runs + 1 leg weights session every week. Even my flexibility (sit and reach) had improved. 

I'm really happy with these results. Often when I'm training I just don't feel any improvements then and there. Every run - bar the odd one every once in a blue moon - is hard. Every weights session is hard and its just about impossible to increase my weights without sacrificing form so I always feel like I'm just doing the same session over and over. That lack of faith in what I'm doing has been somewhat relieved by these results and its really lifted my spirits.

Mind you at 5am this morning my spirits weren't very high but it was a running day and a clear case of JFDI. So up I got, dressed, warm lemon drink, gear up and go. If you view the whole training thing as not negotiable (like brushing your teeth) - unless you're injured and on a temporary break - then its a case of just getting it done. Take the emotion out of it, ditch the excuses and get the job done. I think this mindset has finally sunk in and become my norm, more so than it was a few months ago when I'd blow it off or worse still just go for a walk because that was better than nothing. Well in all honesty it was just wasting my time and not helping to achieve the goals I've set for myself.

I'm due to meet with the MM in a couple of days and I'm not feeling like the number has dropped but with all these other things going right, I might just be ok with it. We'll see.

Cheers all

M 

  

TIME FLIES

Wow, September is whizzing by so quickly. It feels like it started yesterday, yet tomorrow is the last day of term and then in another week the month is as good as over. Before we know it, we'll be staring down the barrel of Christmas .... eeeeeeek. But between now and then I have the following things to achieve:

In the first week of October Mitchell and I are going to Port Lincoln for a few days. I have a friend who lives there now and she has a boy a little younger than Mitchell so it'll be a nice mini holiday for us. Peter will stay home and batch it alone but we're only gone for 4 days. And I'm expecting that time to be a mini break from my weight training. I'll do what I can before I go but some of it will have to give.

When we get back from Port Lincoln its our niece's 2nd birthday and my ILs will be here. There will be a dinner out and a party :-) :-) It'll be nice to catch up with some people we rarely see. Oh and I know the socialising will generally ramp up around that time anyway.

November is generally quieter although I know we have tickets to George Michael one night and another friend's son will have his birthday. I'll be happy if thats it though as the batteries will need to charge up in readiness for December. I'm taking a week off as soon as Mitchell finishes school and then I'm back to work, ACTING DIRECTOR FOR 6 WEEKS!!!! Yep no holidays for me bar the time between Christmas and New Year. I is the boss then LOL.

Yes time is flying by and our mid year holiday is but a distant memory. It feels so long ago now. Peter is constantly on the lookout for good holiday deals but lets face it, traveling with kids in the school holidays is NEVER cheap. Anyway there is still plenty of time for a good deal to land in our laps.

:-) M

 

 

RE-BALANCED

Well its taken a couple of days to rebalance from the weekend's excesses. Sunday passed ok but yesterday was just awful. I was really hungry and extra sensitive to the cold. My system was all out of whack and I quietly promised myself to treat it better in future. Oh well, lesson learned. An early bedtime with a read of the paper was very welcome. I hoped I'd wake with enthusiasm for the day ahead which was to start with a legs and abs session.

I was in 2 minds about meeting with the MM today but after convincing myself that I'd be totally ok with an increase in the numbers (after all I had really indulged on Saturday night and somewhat on Friday too) I decided to face up to the damage. OMG there was a decrease and I'm now in the 67s. FAR OUT!!!! I've been chugging water and herbal teas like there's no tomorrow and food's been mainly clean but that was unbelievable. So there you had a guaranteed spring in my step and a smile on my face :-)

I nailed legs and abs maintaining my small increases in weights every week. Sometimes my right hip aches but its not serious. I know if I maintain good form and nudge the weights up slowly, I should have no problems. I guess the other risk is that I fall into too much of a routine with my weights and cardio and don't make gains or improvements but right now it appears to be working for me so I'll stay with what makes me happy.

Not much else to report as life has gone back to its normal routine. Work has picked up and I'm nicely busy again (I had a couple of very quiet weeks not long ago) and we're coming into a busy social period but that no longer worries me. I know what I'm happy doing and I'm sticking with it.

:-) M 

THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Last night we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out for Peter's birthday. Lately we've been doing mostly cafes without lashing out for restaurant prices but this time we decided to go one better. We'd heard that Ambrosinis was really good and judging by how long they've been in their digs (decades!!) we figured they must be doing something right.

 

Well, we werent disappointed. The food was superb and the servings were quite generous even though I ordered 2 entrees. Last night took me back to my days of 'oh my, this is SO good, I must eat it all.' I tell you, old habits die hard and yep I ate WAY too much. If we go back for my birthday, I'm going to be a bit smarter about my order. But geez, it was good :-)

 

There was no way I could blow off my run/walk today despite feeling like a baby elephant. I just sucked it up and did it managing a 45 minute jog - 5 minutes up from last week. But that is my limit as when I revert to a walk to finish off the session, I can feel my right hip aching :-( Today's total was an hour and 12 mins but my jogging was pretty much a Cliff Young Shuffle. It also hasnt been too hard to keep my eating pretty light today. Trying to balance out yesterday's indulgence.

 

Anyways its been an awesome birthday weekend which I've enjoyed as much as Peter :-) I've eaten some REALLY yummy food, drunk some very nice wine and champagne AND kept up all of my training - even doing my back - chest - core workout yesterday afternoon (unheard of for me). I guess things are different for me this time around. I have my goal and I'm pretty focussed on it but still relaxed enough to enjoy the fun things that life offers. Yep I can say I'm in a pretty good place.

 

:-) M

 

 

 

  

MY ATYPICAL FRIDAY IN PICTURES

 

Today is Wonderful Husband's (aka Peter's) birthday, hence the atypical Friday. So while the family was together for breakfast I decided to break out the joint (me and Mitchell) present. The gift bag had 3 numbered items to be opened in order:

1. A Farmers Union Strong Iced Coffee - Peter LOVES these but being somewhat health conscious he rarely has them. Well birthdays are for treats and not restraint so here he got one to enjoy as a rare treat.

2. This is an all time favourite - a box of Haighs dark chocolates with coffee centres. OK I've gone a bit overboard here because he got one for Fathers Day too but hearing him say "well if this isnt just the BEST chocolate in the world ...." makes it all worthwhile. And he only gets it twice a year - our anniversary and Fathers Day/his birthday. Enjoy darling!!

3. This was the real surprise. Peter has just decked himself out with a new (first ever for decades) road bike and he needs all the gear that goes with it. Yes he got money towards getting it all set up but I used my own stash of NQA (No Questions Asked) money to throw in a good pair of cycling shorts from 2XU. He was gobsmacked as this was TOTALLY unexpected.

 

 

I made every effort to get home as early before Peter as possible so that I could set up for dinner. Its hard to make a table for 8 look nice and cosy for 2 but here we are with setting, flowers and candles. When Peter came home he lit a fire for us and it really was a lovely atmosphere - even if 6 other people could have joined us.

 

 

I love a nice casual starter that you share over a wind down drink. I prepared a platter of triple creme brie, home made fig paste, smoked cheddar and crackers with some roasted macadamia nuts. Like I said, birthdays are about indulgence so lets ditch the 'D' work out the window LOL.

 

 

A Coopers Sparkling Ale for Peter and a champagne for me and life doesnt get much better than this. Cheers!!

 

 

For dinner we had garlic tartines with grilled scallops and crispy bacon except I used prosciutto. This was a taste sensation but SO not lean and clean. Pffft. Today was about celebrating and Peter loved the meal. This recipe came courtesy of .....

 

 

Many years ago I asked for an innovative and different cookbook for Christmas and my in-laws bought this book for me. It is AMAZING with some REALLY different recipes in it. I love how its set out in sections according to the main ingredient eg: balsamic vinegar, basil, cardamon .... chocolate, honey, lavendar, tamarind ... you get my drift. This is my go-to book when I awnt to WOW with something different.

PS. Please ignore this recommendation if you live by the lean and clean rule. These recipes are about taste, not necessarily health.

 

 

Well I'm just tickled pink that I pulled off the surprise of the year. Peter had no idea that I had secretly made his absolute favourite dessert - this coffee liqueur cheesecake. After dinner, I cajoled Mitchell away from his computer game to present the cake and join me in a memorable rendition of Happy Birthday (LOL). Again Peter was totally surprised and gobsmacked as he truly had no idea. And as I predicted, there wasnt a skerrik of complaint about the chunky bits of dark chocolate/coffee liqueur in the cheesecake. A slice was devoured with relish.

 

 

So there you have my really atypical Friday that was Peter's birthday but at least it made for a (hopefully) interesting assortment of photos.

 

I've really enjoyed sharing my week in pictures but at times its had me racking my brains about what to present and write about. I mean, I work full time in government so thats not overly exciting or interesting. I train every day but my routine is not excitingly varied and different. There's only so much food that you can photograph and my family certainly didnt want me in their faces with my camera every day. But depsite all that, I've loved it and I hope you've enjoyed looking at and reading about those parts of my life that otherwise just dont get shared.

 

Au revour for tonight guys.

 

xx m

 



 

 

 

 

 



MY THURSDAY IN PICTURES

 

Today started with shoulders-bis-tris to wrap up this week's weight training. I'm a bit anal about recording things and for as long as I can remember I have kept a record of what training I do. There is no fancy journal for me, I just use old programs flipped over and manually write out what I'm doing. Here you can (just) see my shoulders-bis-tris program and underneath is my record of my leg training.

 

 

And this notebook is my official record of all my training + a record of my weight (if I check it). All my cardio goes in here and just what muscle groups I've weight trained. Like I said, I love to keep records and have done so for quite some time. Perhaps I should invest in a fancy journal but then think 'whats the point? My system works for me.'

 

 

This is the lovely cafe that Peter and I visit on most mornings before work for a quiet coffee and chat after the morning mayhem at home. We've been doing this for a while and the owners know us well to the point that we pay for two regular cappuccinos although we order one weak and one strong. The owners said that what they save on mine (the weak one) they direct to Peter's (the strong one) and there should be no extra charge. Hence we keep going back.

 

 

I got home from work early and I knew Peter would be late so I whipped up his absolute favourite dessert, this Coffee Liqueur Cheesecake as a surprise for his birthday tomorrow. The dark blobs are a mixture of dark chocolate, coffee, coffee liqueur and an egg yolk and then swirled through the cheesecake mix. My swirling was a total failure (I suck at melted chocolate things - overdone again!) but I guarantee there wont be a word of complaint about the chunky coffee/chocolate bits in it.

 

Happy birthday darling. I love you very much.

 

 

I think a person's bedside table says a LOT about who they actually are. Here's what's currently on mine. I'm reading Bear Grylls' life story and can I tell you, I'm LOVING it. Its not my usual type of book but after only a few chapters I'm impressed by the way it addresses some important life lessons. Next is my 'Quest for Eternal Youth Bible' (LOL) the Perricone Promise and my 'Get Your Shit Together Bible' Fattitude by Craig Harper. Under all that is my iPad for those last or first minute ventures onto FB and a spare bookmark. OK I confess, I cleaned up some other crap in the interests of 'uncluttered photography'.

 

 

 

 

 



MY WEDNESDAY IN PICTURES

 

 

Today started with a 40 minute jog and then a hot shower despite it being a very mild morning. My beauty regime is very simple and my morning ritual involves just these 2 products. However, I NEVER go to work withoput putting make-up on. You know the saying "I see dead people", well that would be me without make up LOL.

 

 

While I was in the shower, these babies were in the oven. Yep, they're overdone :-( but you know what, NOBODY complained a skerrik about that and by lunch time there werent any left. Oh BTW, the empty space in the foreground of the baking tray, well Peter had that one warm out of the oven. Just a quick quality test before they were offered to the masses.

 

 

It was a busy day at the office with LOTS of meetings today. Here's what my desk looked like in the early afternoon. Yep, dirty bowl from lunch waiting to be washed up. The stainless steel flask holds my hot lemon water and just work everywhere.

 

 

We spent the evening at my son's school watching their art and creativity extravaganza. Here he is dressed as a homeless child ready to perform songs from the Oliver movie. The rips in his T shirt and pants didnt show up in the photo. The funny thing is, I went to the trouble of putting that costume together when I could have just let him dress himself for a totally authentic homeless child look.

 

 

My day will end with another simple beauty regime. After I have cleansed (oops forgot to include my product in the pic) and brushed my teeth, I use just these 2 products and put some Vaseline on my lips. My belief is that its lifestyle (and genes) that gives you good skin, not lots of mega expensive products.

 

Thats it for today. Less photos but its been SO busy and I'm just glad I got these up.

 

 

 

 

 



TUESDAY IN PICTURES

 

My day started at 5am with this meeting with the Metal Monster. Hmmmm nice result .8 down from last Thursday :-) :-)

 

 

 

Followed straight up with these babies for my Back to Basics legs + 100 abs.

 

 

Finished off with a Musashi vanilla WPI ready to go down the hatch. More on my failed dairy free commitment later.

 

 

Some time later I arrived here ...... (so what does my office say about me???)

 

 

To do about 8 hours of this.

No lunch pics today as a bowl of salad with chilli tuna is NOT exciting.

No dinner pics either as mum had the night off and we had a take away.

 

 

After dinner I got my domestic goddess thing going again and mixed up a batch of cheese scones

 

 

ready for glazing then baking tomorrow morning so they are beautifully fresh for a morning tea that my section is hosting.

 

So there you have my Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A MONDAY OFF WORK IN PICTURES

 

Trakkie daks and sneakers for my morning run. I did sprints today as I had a bit less time than usual.

 

 

Today's brekkie: sultanas, bran, oats, egg whites made into porridge and sprinkled with LSA. Plus my usual mug of white tea and another leisurely read of the paper - a rare Monday morning pleasure.

 

 

While our shower was being megasealed I got stuck into the domestic chores starting with this basket of ironing while watching the Morning Show. I followed this up with a thorough spring clean of my kitchen - sans pictures of dirty splashbacks and grimy ovens LOL.

 

 

In between that and this I took myself out for a bite of lunch but accidentally left my camera at home so there is no pic of my delicious garlic laden bruscetta. Here its school pick up and I put the time waiting for Mitchell to good use by filing my houseworked, ragged nails.

 

 

While Mitchell's busy on this .....

 

 

I'm busy on this (waving to Kerryn Woods).

 

 

OK so I could never get a job as a food stylist. Dinner: Baked Atlantic salmon with Gourmet Garden Thai seasoning (yep thats the stuff that looks like a baby pooed on my fish) with a mixture of stir fried veggies - straight from the wok. Thank goodness it tasted WAY better than it looked. BTW thats 1/2 the salmon fillet and I have the other half for lunch.

 

So there you have my day off work and rockin the domestic goddess thing :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 



MY SUNDAY IN PICTURES

 

While Peter was out on his run, I made a week's worth of school lunches.

 

 

 

My Runkeeper activity summary. It doesnt show that of the 1:01:43 I ran 40 minutes continuously today with a burn of 529 calories. It was an awesome run - just about perfect and I felt quite invincible.

 

 

Just a small breakfast today: rye toast with mushrooms and an egg + my usual mug of white tea taken with a leisurely read of the paper.

 

 

Some of the manchester I purchased yesterday.

 

 

We came here for lunch to celebrate Peter's new job. It used to be one of our favourite restaurants but today they forgot our starter, served Mitchell's grilled fish covered in pepper after I specifically ordered it plain (no pepper, no lemon) and then didnt come to clear our plates after we'd finished. F.A.I.L. (We should have just stayed local).

 

 

Dessert and coffee at our favourite local cafe. Geez, you'd think he was eating brussel sprouts and not a Zeppoli with THAT look on his face LOL.

 

 

Then a bit of R & R out here. Pussycat's got the right idea.

 

 

Followed by beer o'clock.

 

 

No pics of dinner as we just had some left-overs from last night's feast at mum ana dad's but here's how I ended the evening: a mug of peppermint tea, a read of the Body & Soul liftout and a little planning for my day off tomorrow.

 

I hope you've enjoyed my picture story of my weekend. I know the pics are quite amateurish but I've enjoyed capturing the essence of my life on film.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



MY SATURDAY IN PICTURES

For something a little different, I thought I'd do a pictorial of my day.

 



  

Back/chest and core in my studio. Yep, my gloves are well worn.

Breakfast stack of sourdough rye bread, mushrooms, short cut bacon and a poached egg (with a yolk that broke as I lifted it out of the water)

 

Skating lesson for my boy.

 

 

Time for some grocery shopping.

 

 

Followed by a relaxing coffee and a read of the SA Weekend mag. Except the coffee was a big mug of hot milk which I left there after 2 small sips :-( I hate crap coffee.

 

 

After shopping for some new manchester (sorry no pics) it was time for coffee take 2. This time in my favourite cafe where the coffee NEVER disappoints.

 

 

An early birthday dinner for Peter at my mum and dad's. Pity that the beer bottle is the star of this pic LOL.

 

 

With the obligatory chocolate cake + candles.

 

 

But this is the real to-die-for dessert - mum's home made cheesecake slice. Peter had THREE of these babies LOL.

 

 

Thats all folks.

 

xx m

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUST FORGING AHEAD

Today was show day for me and my boy. Sad to say that I was underwhelmed and unimpressed this year. In fact we both were, judging by our measly 2 1/2 hours there before we declared 'enough is enough'. Having said that, we love the ferris wheel (excpet the winds were arctic and we froze at the top) and the dogs were lovely. We couldnt find the cats but I got to see the alpacas (which I love). After that it was all pretty much down hill.

 

On a completely different matter, I'm pleased to say that yesterday's unfavourable meeting with the MM is well and truly behind me and I'm forging ahead with what I know I need to do. So much so that I wasnt even tempted by the hot cinnamon donuts or the churros or the .... well you know how it is. I'm not one of those people who can honestly scoff at all of that because I DO love those junky foods but I'm slowly learning that they will do nothing to help me get where I want to be. Gee, some life lessons are tough LOL.

 

Training has been good and despite the bad weather this week, I managed 3 runs and an interval session on the bike. Not exactly what I wanted but better than blowing off the session and staying in bed. Being mindful around my food choices as well and watching that I dont go silly with portion sizes. Hopefully the MM will cooperate.

 

Anyways thats enough for one night so good night all :-)

M

 



LETTING GO OF THE GRUMPINESS

Regular readers would know that since around the beginning of August, I've been working hard at getting fitter and leaner. I'm running regularly as this is one of the best ways for me to melt off the kilos but I've also ramped up my weight training in an effort to sculpt the nice shape that I'm striving for.

On the food front (cause I hate the word 'diet') I've reigned in the treats and sugar is no longer a daily staple (unless its in the small sprinkle of chocolate on a cappuccino). I've also reduced my carbs overall cause lets face it, after my morning training I basically sit on my arse all day. I eat fruit but for now its starchy carbs with breakfast and then generally not throughout the day. Having said all that, these are by no means hard and fast rules as too many rules do my head in. I like to think of this is me finding my version of a happy journey to leanness and fitness :-)

Progress to date has been excellent with an easy 4kgs dropped in around 3 weeks (not too hard when the starting number is higher than normal). Seeing the weekly drops has kept me determined and focused. However today I faced my first Metal Monster challenge when the silly bugger headed in the wrong direction :-( albeit by a measly .2 but nevertheless it made me briefly grumpy.

So here's where I make a conscious decision to let the grumpiness go and break from tradition. That tradition being 1. I get all sorry for myself and convince myself that this isn't working 2. then proceed to eat my body weight in sweets and other junk 3. then spend weeks trying to pick myself up, dust myself off and get back on track and 4. only to find I'm back at square one feeling worse than ever before.

Today I make a conscious decision to get on with what I know works. I might think about all of the above but I can choose not to act on it. Instead I can focus on my longer term goals and press on forward even more determined to achieve them. I've always known that the journey from fatness to leanness is never a straight line and now its time to remind myself of that, accept it and get on with it. 

:-) M  

 

RECONNECTING

Today's post is about the stuff in life that REALLY matters. Its not about how many carbs I ate yesterday (too many) or how it was raining this morning and I missed my run (did intervals on the bike instead). No, today's post is about reconnecting with old and dear friends but under the saddest of circumstances.

From my mid 20s I had a wonderful friend who I'll just call Miss G. We met through work and even though she was a lot older than me, we hit it off REALLY well and became great friends. When I left my first husband, it was Miss G who picked me up and gave me a lift to work the next day so I wouldn't have to face the day alone. She was by my side in case it all got too hard and that gesture went on to symbolise our friendship for many years.

Some years ago she retired from work, moved to the country and we lost touch but she was never forgotten. In fact one day earlier this year she was vividly back in my thoughts but I couldn't explain why. Then out of the blue she emailed me at work (I work in a different place now from when we worked together) as it was Mitchell's 10th birthday and she was wishing him a happy birthday at that significant milestone. Since then we have emailed each other a few times and I was planning to arrange a get together in the warmer weather.

I didn't have a good feeling when her email titled 'family news' landed in my inbox on Monday evening and my intuition was right. Her daughter who is a few years younger than me with 2 young children, has just been diagnosed with cervical cancer. She gave me their numbers (both families have moved since we were last in touch) and I reciprocated with ours.

So earlier today I called her daughter to wish her the best and tell her that we'd all be praying for her. It was lovely chatting to her even though it was a really hard call to make. How I wish that the first call after so many years was under better circumstances but sadly that is not the case. I have yet to call Miss G but I will be brave and do so within the next 24 hours.

I'd love to finish this post with a deep and meaningful statement about life, friendships and stuff  but in all honesty, I'm quite lost for words. If anything, this news has just put into perspective the things that really matter: good health, a loving and supportive family, friends that care and a determination that you will not be beaten by the challenges that life throws at you.

M

  

 

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND

Wow, that would have to be one of the best weekends I've had in ages. Talk about things just falling into place and going like clockwork.

Peter had a bit of a problem at work on Friday and was very late home. I managed to use that time to my advantage and rather than plonking myself on the couch with a wine, some nibbles and Facebook, I got stuck into my share of the cleaning. By the time he got home, I had finished doing my cleaning and we had a nice steak and red wine for dinner. 

Saturday was a glorious spring day which lifted my spirits no end (not that I was feeling down but after the miserable winter weather of late, the sunshine and warmth were VERY welcome.) Having an earlier night on Friday meant that we were both awake pretty early on Saturday so I used the time to do my first weights session for this new week. Back/chest and core were nailed and I felt great about getting the day off to such a good start. The usual Saturday routine doesn't change: ice skating lesson, Mitchell to mum and dad's, grocery shopping with the bonus of meeting Peter for an afternoon coffee, then pick Mitchell up, whilst in the background there is an array of domestic chores filling in the spare minutes (whatever they are LOL).

We had a quiet night at home and I made the baklava cigars for dessert on Fathers Day. Again, super organised ahead of time and loving that Sunday wouldn't be a mad rush of trying to get a million things done in a few hours.

Fathers Day was great. We all had breakfast in bed (as is our usual custom) and Peter read the paper there before getting up. Later in the morning I went for my run which is now for 35 minutes. I walk for 5 minutes to warm up then jog for 35 minutes then finish with a walk. My total time was 1 hour + 1 minute and the last minute was running home. It was a beautifully warm and sunny day and I did the run in *gasp* short sleeves.  Getting organised for dinner was relaxed and stress free and I even had time to sit outside and read in the sun for an hour or so.

The day ended with dinner at our place. I made lamb shanks with wine sauce, bean puree and caramelised onions. VERY yummy (and very rich and filling). For dessert we had the baklava cigars, almond bread and Haighs scorched almonds. After putting everything on the table I decided that everything looked SO good and I would have one of each but as I sipped the last of my wine to finish it off, my tummy felt fuller and fuller and in the end I didn't have any desserts. Funny, I dont miss them.

So there you have my weekend wrap up. Did you have a nice Fathers Day celebration too?

M