Another year older - not me, K !

Where has the time gone to – it certainly doesn’t feel like 18 years since I went into hospital to have K. As with all families, we have had our ups and our downs but we are so proud of the young lady that she has become and I have to thank Al for being the fantastic Dad that he has been – I could never have managed without him.

I haven’t had a chance to blog about our holiday because the notes that I made are my phone and, for whatever reason, won’t allow themselves to be mailed to an address where I can use them from so I am going to have to (at some point in time) sit down and transcribe them from my phone – when I get a chance !

We had a fantastic break. The weight wasn’t all that flash but within 2 days of getting home I had lost the weight that I had put on while away on holiday so I really can’t complain about that. The highlights for me of the holiday were :
Being comfortable in an aeroplane seat and not having to extend the seat belt in order to be able to do it up.
Being able to go into a whole range of shops, take clothes off the rack, try them on and then decide which of them I wanted to buy or not buy as was the case in most instances – not because they didn’t fit, but because I felt that I didn’t really need them.
Being able to eat what I wanted without feeling guilty (most of the time) because I knew that when we got home again, we would be back on track with our eating and our exercise and it would all be good BUT we did have to make choices. Most of our choices were healthy choices but then sometimes they weren’t – the main thing, for me, was that we stopped, looked, checked how much we wanted something and then, if we didn’t want it that badly, put it back and made a better choice.

We went to a live NRL game as well as a live AFL game – AFL now has three new converts ! What an experience that was. We are going to see Brisbane Lions vs Geelong Cats on Saturday night with someone who has more of an idea of how the game works than we do so that will be good.

We have nearly a week of celebrations for K’s birthday – family dinner last night as she only finishes uni at 8pm tonight and we thought that it was too late to get the family to wait for dinner, drinks tonight with us after uni, party on Friday night for her friends at home and the off to the AFL on Saturday night. Breakfast this morning was supposed to be weetbix and fruit but how can you have that for a birthday breakfast ? So we decided to have pancakes, syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon sugar and ice-cream instead. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do !!!!! To be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast this morning but it will mean an extra long walk this evening. I think this is the key to maintaining my weight loss when it is finally all off – eat something extra, exercise more and it will all be good !

Last night we didn’t have a chance to walk the dogs before dinner and so we said we would do it when we got home. Well after a lovely grilled piece of barramundi and a few spoons of sticky date pudding, when we got home the last thing I felt like doing was going for a walk. Plus, Grey’s Anatomy was on and that would have to be one of my favourite shows so, after booking our tickets for the AFL on Saturday and checking out the GCFC website, I sat down to watch. Al asked if I was going to walk with him and I said “No thanks – I’m watching Grey’s and I am comfy and warm here.” BAD MOVE !!!!!! I should have gone for a walk because when I eventually got to bed last night I felt so guilty about having sat watching TV rather than going walking – it was just awful. I said to Al that in future – unless there is a really good reason for me not to walk (not just a show on TV that I could actually tape !!!!) – I was going to walk. It is just so hard now that it is getting colder in the evenings – so much nicer to curl up under the blanket and just watch TV !!!!!

We are planning a 2-3 hr cycle on Sunday – have to increase the time our bums spend on the seats otherwise it is going to be a long 50kms in just over 6 weeks time. That ride will include some hill work along Turpin Road and Johnstone Street and then probably down to the Broadbeach markets and home again – that will give us a fair idea of how we think we might do in the race bearing in mind that there are going to be a gazillion other cyclists there as well as we will probably stay somewhere near the back so that we don’t stack it if other riders do ! If you are interested in sponsoring me, please give me a shout and I will send you the link.

Have a great rest of the week – take care and go safely !

TFTD : When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. – Harriet Beecher Stowe

Added later : Have to love going to the drawer and pulling out clothes that you think won't fit - and they don't BECAUSE THEY ARE TOO BIG !!!!! Loved the great walk we did tonight before collecting K from uni and going out for her first legal drink and play on the pokie machines.