Thursday, August 30, 2007

Home again

I had a wonderful time with some great women. Got to spend the night in a hotel in the city. Missed DH and Lucy but only a little.

Went for a wonderful 50 minute walk into the Royal Botanical Gardens. Lots of runners, wonderful harbour salty smells, beautiful gardens, an amazing number of people at Mrs Macquarie's chair waiting with cameras for that wonderful picture of sunset behind the opera house and harbour bridge. God, I love this city so much. Nearly got locked in the park for the night which would have been hysterical as I had left my mobile phone at home and would not have been able to ring the emergency number. Talking to DH tonight I told him that I would have probably been able to climb around the fence down near the sea wall and all he said was "tomorrows headline - woman found floating in the harbour".

Ate too much over the last two day but feel rejunervated and looking forward to reinventing my work wardrobe after I saw all the smartly dressed women working in the city.

Off to bed - sweet dreams. Looking forward to catching up with you all soon.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

I’m a buzzin’

Should be a cute picture of a bee here
but having trouble and dont have time.
Please visualise!


I’ve lasted 5 days. No not lasted that’s too harsh.
I’ve drank 2 litres of water each day
I’ve done some sort of exercise most days
I’ve stayed within my 18 points most days

DD has moved out, sort of. This could take a while.
She is happy and I am happy. Her house is interesting and nice and she is busy furnishing it (there have been several trips to IKEA already). I bought a plunger and big pack of ground coffee as a house warming present as she only had instant.

Off to a conference in the city for the next two days. Staying overnight and there is a dinner as well. Tracking will be hard (I know it will) but I will enjoy I, not stress out and I will pack my joggers so that I can try to get in a walk in the afternoon between end of Day 1 and the dinner. I think the Domain is nearby but if not I will just walk through the city.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

In a nutshell

Food not good - exercise kind of okay. Swelling is going down I think and pain not so much.

DH's birthday tonight and I have arranged to meet a group of friends at a local (within walking distance) restaurant for dinner. He is suspicious and Im sure will wonder why I have a huge cake with me but what the heck. Hope the weather holds off and we dont drown walking to and from.

DS now has an international phone card like we do so we get to talk more often. He mentioned that he will be home in two months.... Woohoo!!! Thank goodness for the job here that he wants to come back too.

DD is moving out finally. Only a suburb away so we will still be in close contact just not quite as close as it has been. My things will become my own again - yay! She and her boyfriend have taken a six month lease on a house so it will be interesting to watch how it unfolds. Everyone is excited (well she is and I am).

Renovations will start again and I will get my guest room back.

New rugby comp has started here and we drove up to the Central Coast on the weekend with friends to watch a game. It was so nice that the players came and talked to the crowd after the game. Reminded me of the old days of club rugby when there always was that mingling after the game.

Yoga and tai chi still going well. Yoga DVD is really good for gentle stretching in the mornings and nights when I can get out of bed or havent collapsed into bed straight after dinner. Actually, touch wood, am feeling less tired in the last couple of days. A wet Sunday helped.

My nutshell was a bit longer than I thought it would be. Oh well, I am a chatterbox sometimes. Have a great week everybody.

Monday, August 13, 2007

The Last Long Post

Well it has been a roller coaster ride lately, mainly going down but I am looking forward to the going up – I’m sure it will be coming around again soon.

Today’s news broadcasts and papers had items regarding the recalling of the painkiller “Prexige” due to a number of deaths, which may be attributed to its use. Guess what medication I was changed over to prior to my getting sick two weeks ago? It is going to be an interesting appointment with my rheumatologist tomorrow morning.
I guess I was lucky, I knew that something was seriously wrong with my body and after first thinking maybe it was just the flu, realised that it was probably the medication and changed back to my old medication. I’m still not good – bits of me are swollen but I am nowhere near as bad as I was two weeks ago.

I was part of the Field of Women at Telstra Stadium on Saturday night. I am now the very proud owner of a bright pink poncho. It was a moving, uplifting (so many emotions) experience. I was nervous because I suddenly realised that I was alone and everyone else was in groups but I found another women there by herself and we stayed together. Sometimes it is hard to step outside my comfort zone but when I do it is always rewarding. Our husbands were both there but in the stands and unfortunately on different sides of the field otherwise we could have directed them towards each other while we were on the field, waiting to get on the field etc etc. The singing of the rewritten song “Up there Cazaly” which Mike Brady had changed to “Up there Pink Lady” was a hoot.

The game was good. The first Swans game I have gone to but very interesting and despite the seemingly lack of rules very entertaining. The crowd was so vocal and passionate – makes a change from the rugby.

I have put on a kilo a week for the last six weeks. I start each Monday fully intending to control my eating but by late afternoon on sometimes day 1 or usually day 2 I have lost the plot again. I know I haven’t been well but this is not helping either. I don’t need the extra strain on my joints at the moment. When Catherine rang last week I had just finished eating this giant muffin I had bought for Mark for his morning tea, all the leftover baked potatoes, three-quarters a packet of rice crackers and it wasn’t even six p.m. and I had to go to yoga which is not good on a full stomach. How pathetic.

I haven’t been to the gym to exercise (cardio and/or weights) for nearly two weeks. I went on Saturday to do Pilates but got talked into a “pilates” fitball class because the pilates teacher was away sick. It really wasn’t pilates and I was pissed off by the end of it. If I wanted to do aerobics I would do aerobics. Anyway you live and learn and I will not fall for that one again.

Tai chi is good. We are learning “wind” (no jokes please) and Wednesday night yoga is still wonderful.

I have been walking with Lucy more and I have about 30 set walks that I have been doing for around 15 years (probably more). Don’t laugh but I keep records and what they show me is that I am slowing down. In 1994 I walked a lot quicker than I do now. Over the last couple of years I had settled into around 6 kmph but shock horror this is now dropping too. So, I am making a conscious effort to pick up my walking pace again.

I went into Borders and bought a DVD on Kundalini Yoga. Not that I know anything about this type of yoga but it has morning and evening yoga relaxation exercises. I couldn’t find the ones Mary mentions in her blog. I have finally got around to watching it today on my computer at work and I should be able to do them except maybe the very first morning one. It has modifications too for a lot of the stretches which is good. I will have to get up earlier, probably around 5 a.m. so that I can fit it in and I don’t think I will be able to do the waking routines as I think it involves too much moving around in bed and I can see myself getting evicted from the bedroom. I will try to get to bed earlier to compensate for the early rising time but I know I will find that hard too.

Rethinking exercise program as a result of all of the above. Have asked one of the personal trainers at the gym to help me which might happen within the next couple of weeks. Otherwise I will seriously rethink my gym membership. This is a major step for me as I have been going for 7 years and have made some great friends – the Saturday morning gym breakfasts are so much fun.

Gareth has moved into a flat near where he is working in London. The Club supplies him with three meals a day on the days that he works which must be a saving. He is planning on doing weekend trips to Ireland, Portugal, Poland and maybe Germany for Oktoberfest. One of his work mates just flew to Portugal for 2 p return (taxes included). His problem is that he doesn’t have computer access all the time so he can’t check out the cheap flight offers.

I bought a pair of gardening boots this week – Blundstones. They are great and I don’t have to wear my sneakers in the garden anymore. So impressed with them. I feel like I am a serious gardener now.

Have started a new folkart project. There will be a picture of the Christmas elf posted soon. I am so lazy about downloading pictures but I will get better at it I promise.

Spring is on the way and I am looking forward to it so much. A little bit of rain would be nice but I am not complaining. The warm days are a blessing and never fail to enthuse me into getting out into the garden on Sundays.

By the way, congratulations to Jodie on news of her pregnancy. A playmate for Zoe!

I will try to confine myself to short posts in the future as I know time is of an essence and if you have lasted to the end thanks for listening it has been strangely cleansing to put a lot (but not all) of thoughts in writing.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Rest time

Things not going well. Am confined to bed for the moment. Poor old body has seized up again. Every joint is aching. Thought it might be the dreaded flu but have revised that diagnosis. Think it might be a mixture of things. Have changed my arthritis medication and maybe not working as well as the other poison I was taking. And/or I dont think that this extra weight I am carrying at the moment is helping. My body really cant take any extra weight (poor old thing). Anyway, sitting in bed catching up with everyone and waiting for the rheumatologists to open. No matter what I think I will go back onto my old medication as from tonight and just try to be very careful how I take it. Hope I can make yoga tonight.