PRESSURE IS OFF

Mondays I usually weigh in at Weight Watchers.
Not any more.

Now I am going to the Monday night meeting here in Cambridge for the 'meeting', and weighing in on Thursday night's in Hamilton.

That way the pressure is off to be SUPER GOOD over the weekend.

You know how it is, over the weekend is when you are more likely to have some over indulgent meals, some naughty treats and so on.

Weighing in on a Monday sucks.  So, I'm changing my day to Thursday.  I find it so much easier to follow the programme Monday to Friday... so it's more likely I will have a decent weigh in on Thursday nights!

I am sure this change will help me heaps.

I've got a walk this morning, another repeat, but that's how it's gunna be until our Organiser posts new walks after August 6th.
It's at 10.45, so at least it won't be quite so freezing cold!
So, so cold out there!

So before that, I have time to get some housework done.  Monday is my 'big clean' day after the weekend.

ONWARD...

9.22 am:  Eeeek!  I'm now 'leading' today's walk.  I don't know what's happened to the original leader, but now I'm it.  Sheesh, no pressure.  LOL... I'm sure it will go down just fine, I know the route, and how hard is it to say 'Go left here, right there?"  Simple.  Oh and of course, do the role call and report back to the boss lady. *smiles*

12.20 pm:  Home from the walk and I must say... while it was OK, my shins played up again and it was painful for the majority of it.
So frustrating!   I don't know why it keeps happening?  I can't 'warm up' by going for a 5km walk before my walk, and that seems to be how far I have to walk before my shins stop hurting!
Grrrrrr.  Oh well... maybe it's just something I have to get used to.

Leading was fine, it was an uncomplicated 5.6 km walk... and we did it in just over an hour.

LUNCHTIME and I'm starving.  Off to find food...

... and I had a combination salad... potato, beetroot and coleslaw with some bacon and cheese.  Was very yum.

Then I took a walk around the gardens.  Stew did a good job of weeding and mowing the lawn yesterday, they look wonderful.

 ABOVE:  all those bulbs I planted a couple of months ago are coming up.  I think maybe half have already popped up.  And we have a couple of flowers already too!
Freakin' early for spring flowers.

ABOVE:  Our cauliflowers may be a bust, but the broccoli is really coming along well!  I am going to cut the bigger one today so it doesn't start to open up.

Tonight's topic at WW is 'Why?'
Why did you join WW?  What motivated you to join?

Well to me it's simple.  Look in the bloody mirror!  Try to get into all those clothes at the back of your wardrobe/hidden in boxes/stuffed in suitcases and stored... and of course, for some of us... it's our before and after photos from years ago.

I have my 'Before and After' photo boards from back in 2005-6, when I lost 61 kilos.
So, I'm taking them tonight, as my WW leader has asked me to.  

I'm sure they will cause a little stir.  Perhaps I need to keep them out so they motivate me?
Dunno though, sometimes I see them and they just make me depressed.  Like... WTF have I done to myself, after all that hard work and even surgery!  Grrrrr.

6.55 pm:  And the meeting went well.  I showed my WW boards and told my 'story' from way back then... and it went down really well.
Weirdly, I felt a bit nervous about it all!
But, my natural knack at yakking kicked in and I was fine.  lol  *smiles*

Time to relax for the evening and get warm again (it was fairly cold in the meeting hall).  So... I shall sign off for the day.

I walked a total of 

160.27 kms this month

GETTING SOME MORE ROOM

Today we are off to Auckland to take the brown lounge suite up to Steve and Bex.
They are going to be so happy!

Their's is falling to bits and super uncomfortable, with springs poking up from the bottom that you end up sitting on!  Seriously uncomfortable without a cushion under your bum.



Stew is heading out really early this morning (for a Sunday), to pick up the hire trailer from the service station down the road.  Then we will load the lounge suite on and head off... bright and early.

ABOVE: it will be neat to have a bit more room in the garage, even if it's not enough for my car ... AGAIN.

ABOVE:  I will have more room for the washing.  Yeah, how awesome is that?  Said ever so ENTHUSIASTICALLY.  Pfffft.
Bloody winter.  Wet washing all over the place.  

And on that score... I might just bugger off and get the kids out of bed, and get everyone ready to head off.

ONWARD...

Safely in Auckland... and the kids are thrilled to bits with the furniture.

We've just had lunch and soon we will be heading off to the mall.

On our way home we will be taking a small detour and going through the new Waterview tunnel.

 ABOVE:  -2 degree frost this morning, made for a very fresh start to the day.

 ABOVE:  The kids with their 'new to them' lounge suite. 

 ABOVE:  Dante getting comfy on 'HIS' new chair.

 ABOVE:  I was COLD.  Obviously.  Steve was adjusting the control on the back massager they had put on the chair for me.  Nice.

 ABOVE: Dante was happy standing on the trailer when we were about to leave, until either Stew or Steve told him he'd have to sit down so he wouldn't get blown off on the motorway, then he squawked and wanted to get off... like NOW! Just a bit funny.

 ABOVE:  About to enter the Waterview tunnel, which is 2.5 kms long, the longest in New Zealand.

 ABOVE:  Once inside, utterly boring.  Why was I so keen on going through it?  Perhaps because it took so bloody long to build it, and I just HAD TO?  *meh* ... done it now.

ABOVE:  Totally over the hustle and bustle of Auckland... all the roads, traffic, power lines, bridges, road signs, buildings ... clutter.  

Give me the tranquil scenery around the Waikato any day.
Happy to be 'home'.

Once home we returned the trailer and now it's chill out till dinner time.  Stew is cooking a mince & pasta dish of some sort.  Yaaaa... another night off cooking for me.

Stew did an awesome job of dinner, it was YUM.
Been watching some mindless TV this evening.  Everyone is now in bed... and I'm about to head off too.

40.67 kms this week

WHIZZ BANG T-SHIRTS

As I mentioned last night, our group t-shirts arrived yesterday, and I had mine dropped off last night.

Of course I had to try it on right there and then:

ABOVE:  Close up of our LOGO... isn't it cute!

ABOVE:  Dang those boobs!  At least I found a bra that jacks the bitches up a bit!
Another item of clothing that finally fits me... a bra that's been in my drawers for YEARS... just idly sitting there... waiting...waiting... to fit me again!  AND I don't even WANT to fit that size friggin bra.  Grrrrr.

My own fault.  But actually working on it again and it feels good.

Depending on what the rest of the family is doing, I MIGHT be able to attend a walk this morning.  But not sure, so haven't committed myself yet.

Time will tell.

ONWARD...

9.50 am: And we just had a 2nd builder arrive to give us a quote on our proposed carport.  He's taken measurements and will get back to us with his quote soon.

I need to get into the council office and ask the planner if we actually need architectural plans and a permit, IF we build the carport as a 'free standing' structure?  We are hoping we can cut the costs by not having to get plans and permits .... fingers crossed.

I'm not feeling up for a walk this morning, so have shelved that idea.  There is another one this afternoon which I might go on, by then I will be warmed up a more.  Right now, I'm feeling like a slug.

Sluggish.

Grrrrr.... waiting for another builder to turn up to do a quote.  He was due here an hour ago... no phone call or text to say he's either running late or not coming.  So frustrating.   

I get totally put off trades people when they are late or no shows.  Doesn't garner confidence in them at all.

I remember the Archgola guy up in Auckland ... he was a shocker for being late/not turning up, dicking us around.  I'm certainly NOT going to employ someone to do our job if they can't even let me know they are running late...or worse, not even turning up.

Well... rather typically, he finally did ring and say he was running late, and would be here soon.
'Soon' was 35 minutes later.  So he was over 2 hours late.   And then the reason for his lateness became apparent.

He talks.  And talks.  And talks.  And FINALLY, after badmouthing the entire New Zealand building industry/Builders/Councils.... he proceeded to work out a price for his roofing system.

Similar to Archgola, but not as nice.  But certainly as expensive.

Needless to say, we won't be going with him.  For many reasons.  What a waste of our time, and his too at the end of the day.

Moving on.

It's bloody quiet today!  Has been for the last few days... where is everyone?  Busy like me?
I hope so, nothing like being busy and happy.

Well it's the end of the day... and it's been a bit of a so-so day.  It will be good to get some actual quotes in writing for the carport, even if we decide to not go ahead right now... at least we will know the costs.

It is certainly way more expensive than we thought it would be!

SHIT I'M A DICK

I've had my Samsung phone for 2 years now.
In all that time I thought the camera was pretty crappy.

It really didn't take very good photos.  Which was kinda OK, as I do have my good Canon camera eh?

Anyway... yesterday on the way home from picking the kids up from school, Griffin was playing with my phone, checking it out.

And he noticed that ... well... (this is where I look like a right Dick), he said "Mum, do you realise you still have the protective film on the camera lens and flash?"

Far out!  NO, obviously I didn't.   So he peeled it off... and now?

ABOVE:  Look at that!  Much better photos!  Yep, I am a dick.

Last day of the week, and Keera is holding up pretty well.  No massive melt downs, no crying and falling asleep after school.  Doing well!

This week has gone so fast... bring on the weekend!

Weight Watchers result from last night?  Well...
I lost 1.5 kilos!  That made my day/night.  *smiles*

LYNDA:  re the carport.  We couldn't build one off the front of the house as we first thought of doing... it was too close to the boundary.
But off the garage would be permitted.

I've got a walk at 9.15 this morning, so time to get moving, get the kids off to school and get walking!

ONWARD...

1 pm:  this morning's walk went well... a nice easy repeat of S.
Afterwards, 8 of us (plus one cute dog) went for morning tea at a close by coffee shop.  Lovely time spent chatting to the girls.

Then it was home and back into some housework and then lunch.

Chilling out for a while now... 

ABOVE:  Every time we walk, someone takes a photo of the group.  This was today's group, minus Robyn (our Group Organiser), who took the photo.  We are stopped outside a really gorgeous new home near the centre of town.

Just picked up the kids.  Keera fell asleep in the car on the way home, she's exhausted!  First full week at school over.

Feeling a bit MEH... headache coming on.  Darling... might just be takeaways for dinner tonight, cos I just don't feel like friggin cooking.

Tonight our Fat Bottomed Girls t-shirts arrived... our lovely Organiser Robyn hand delivered mine... how lovely was that!  I will have a photo to show you tomorrow.

For now... winding down for the day.
We had Chinese takeaways for dinner, 1st time we've had a nice one here in Cambridge.  We tried some place when we first arrived and it was YUK, so great to have found one that does a nice job.

BUILDER AND WEIGHT WATCHERS

Today we have a local builder coming to discuss my ideas for the carport, and covered pergola out the back.

He's the builder who's company is building the new retirement village just out of town, which is a huge, 5 year build.   He has a very good reputation.

In fact, he's offered Steve a job, and Griffin will possibly be doing work experience with his company over the summer holidays too.

So, hopefully he can do our job.  Better wait for the quote first though!

I have every intention of doing some sewing today... and then I will be going to Weight Watchers in Hamilton early this evening.

I am really hoping for a decent loss... surely all this walking has to make a difference on the scales EVENTUALLY???

There has certainly been a change in my shape!  My tops are not so tight, and me butt is definitely smaller.  I wore a vest last night on our walk, which I'd never worn before... cos it wouldn't actually do up across the boobs!

It's a really good feeling.  I feel so much better about myself.  I may still be BIG, but my attitude is... slow and steady and I will get there.  This time.

And that's it from me for now... usual stuff to be getting on with... kids/housework/bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

Holy hell!  First 'rough' quote just in... and it's almost DOUBLE what we kinda guessed!
Some serious thinking will have to be done now.

$20,000 for a carport?  

I'm a little in shock actually.

OK... it's a BIG carport we want, with a covered walkway to the front door... but still!

I'm going to have a late lunch, then get on with some sewing now that I don't have to be up the front of the house waiting for a builder to call in.

Well.. after a couple of relatively nice days, the weather is closing in again.  It's clouding over and getting dark, it's gunna piss down soon!
Yuk.
Luckily there are no walks on for this evening, MOST of the girls don't like walking in the rain!

I've got one tomorrow morning, I bet it will be raining.  NOT that I mind, but if it's too wet it might be cancelled.  Fingers crossed it isn't.

Rushing..... been into Hamilton in crazy, wet weather... every man and their dog was heading home after work and I was heading into it all.
Weighed in... more on that tomorrow.

Now... rapidly feeding the family, then Stew and I have to go and watch Brylee perform in her school Drama production.  Another 'RIVETING' hour I'm sure  (said ever so tongue in cheek-ish).

Then we can come home and RELAX.  Griffin is babysitting his little sister, and getting her to bed for us.

I'm sure he will do fine, she can get herself into her pj's, all he has to do is tuck her in and watch over her till we get home.

AND... the production went well... and Keera got off to bed safely in Griffin's care.

And then when we got home I spent almost 2 and a half hours yakking with our son Mike over Facebook.  Love that!  

And on that happy note, I'm off to bed.

FINAL WALK ON THIS SIDE

Finally... by tonight I will be TOTALLY up to date with all the walks that have been posted thus far.

19 walks in just over 4 weeks.  I'm very proud of myself.  I didn't give up, even with shitty shin splints.

After tonight's walk, I will be doing 'repeats' so that I am still walking at least 3 times a week.
We won't be getting any new walks now till after August 6th.

Then we will be making a start on the Leamington side of Cambridge.

ABOVE:   Our little town... split in two by the Mighty Waikato River.  Our next walks will be on the 'other side' of the river.  And I'm told there's quite a few hills.  SHIT.

I'm tempted to go for a drive over there and check it out!  Maybe that's a bad idea?

Our weather has been abysmal lately, even the birds are not impressed.  I caught these two sheltering under the eaves...

ABOVE: Poor wee sparrows, they were very wet.  
They have been getting into our roof space too and making a right racket!  But I don't blame them, it really has been wet for a long time now.

We are hopeful that the sun will shine on the weekend so we can take the brown lounge suite up to Auckland.  Just have to hire a trailer, and do it whichever day is looking better.

Mum got the parcel I sent her yesterday... of the placemats, tablecloth and coasters.   Only, I'd put the wrong label on it and her parcel stated that it had TOYS in it.  She was totally perplexed!  WHY would I be sending her TOYS?  

Heee heee.  Once she opened it she was delighted though... probably because is WASN'T toys!  Nah, she loved her new linen, and declared the tablecloth was too nice to use!


That means Russell's children's parcel will have 'LINEN' on it!  Whoops.

Right, I am off to get the kids off to school, then I really do have to get some washing on... vacum the house.... bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

12.31 pm:  And... I've only just got the washing on!
On my way home from dropping the kids off at school, I decided to carry on into Hamilton and try and find some new bras.
Ha! That was a total waste of time... NOTHING FITS me comfortably.  So, I shall just wait till the boobs have shrunk some more... and try again then.

I decided to meet up with the girls for morning tea too...

 ABOVE: the girls and I.  We went to Robert Harris in The Base, and I asked for a hot chocolate with NO FROTH, so I actually got a full glass of HOT chocolate.
Man do I need eyebrows or what! lol

After morning tea, I looked around for a new phone case, but had no luck there, so on my way home I stopped in at Chartwell Square and found this:

ABOVE:  Really happy with it... as I can now have a few coins on me when I'm out walking too, without having to take my handbag.
I would have got a blue one, if they'd had one, of course!  But the choice was black or a hideous purple. 

And I did it!  I have completed every walk this side of the river!  I'm so chuffed with myself.
AND the best thing about tonight's walk?  It was short, it was slow and my shins were just fine.  What a relief that was.

Now... I start repeating walks until the new ones get posted.

Now... it's chill out time... watch Master Chef and get warm again.

WALKING AGAIN...

Well... it's a 'walking' day again.
Today's walk includes walking over the 'top/high bridge' at the end of the shopping area in Cambridge.
I am really looking forward to that.

The high bridge is very NARROW, so I would NEVER, ever drive over it!  I just couldn't do it... and certainly not with my eyes closed, (and they would be!).  lol

I will take some crappy photos with my phone to show you how narrow it is.

After my walk I've got to pay some bills (necessary evil), then I'm coming home to do some jobs here.

One of them is ringing around and getting some quotes for an Archgola or similar structure out the back of our home, and a carport out the front.

We had planned on getting Steve to build the carport, but seriously, he's so busy in Auckland,
we don't want him coming down here on his one day off a week to work for us.  

Once he moves to the Waikato, we can take advantage of him more!  lol

So that's my plan for the day.
Time to get moving, get the small kid ready for school... bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

10.50 am:  Today's walk was ... difficult.  The first 1/4 went fine, then my shins started hurting, then they completely packed it in and I was in a lot of pain.  I thought I was gunna have to give up and get someone to pick me up and take me back to my car... it was that bad.

But I knew that if I just slowed my pace and tried to walk through the pain, it would eventually ease.  And it did.  Like, about 5 minutes before the end of the bloody walk!

So typical.  That has happened now on several walks I've done.  Most frustrating.  And I always feel guilty that I'm slowing people up.  
The kind girls today assured me I didn't, but I feel I did for part of the walk at least.

But all good... I've just paid one big school bill... so can relax for the rest of the year!  NOT, I bet I get an account for Keera next... the 'school donation'.  *sigh*
I might just dodge that one for a while.

I'm cooling down now, so will get off and have a nice hot shower and then relax for a little while.

PETA:  Yes, they plan on moving down to Hamilton (or Cambridge) early next year.  Hamilton is only 20 minutes away from Cambridge, so either way, they will be really close by.  

I just remembered the photo of the bridge...

 ABOVE:  There it is!   I don't think it's clear just how narrow it is in the photo.  
There are 'stick' things in the middle of the road to keep cars on their side of the road... so add them to the mix and it feels even narrower.

ABOVE:  We were so lucky with the weather today!  Lovely sunshine.  The Waikato River is VERY full after all our rain. 

7.06 pm:   I've had a very quiet afternoon.  My legs were bloody sore, so I tried not to aggravate them.  IN fact, I fell asleep for a little while this afternoon, so did Griffin!
Keera happily watched over both of us!  lol

Brylee was at Drama practise, and I popped out and picked her up at 6 pm, before getting dinner ready.

Stew was in Rotorua today, so he got home just in time for dinner.

I had a yak with me Mum tonight, she's not doing that well.  Exhausted ALL THE TIME... so she's off to the Dr on Thursday.  I'm hoping once he adjusts her medications she will come right.

She's not been 'right' since her heart attack in May. I'm a little worried, but she insists she's not ready to pop her clogs yet! (her words, not mine)  *smiles*

We've just taken Keera through her homework... reading, spelling and maths!  Second day at school and she's right into it!

Time to chill out... and put the smallest person to bed.  She's tired and grumpy now.  Crying, says she hates Brylee cos she made her go to the toilet!  Ahhhh kids!

SCHOOL!

Miss Muppet starts school today.  First full school day, for the next TEN YEARS at least!  Luckily, she doesn't know that... YET.

Because Keera was attending Kindergarten 5 days a week, nothing will change much for me and my days... except she will be 'out' till 3 pm every day now.  

Not wanting to take the thunder out the day for Keera, but there is another little snippet of news.

Lacy starts on a 36 week course today, one that she got selected to attend.  She was one of 25 out of 60 applicants who got approved to attend.
I know, amazing eh?  AND she passed all the tests and interviews too... even with her 'dodgy' history!  

I'm not going to say what the course entails, but if she passes, she will be guaranteed a job at the end of it.  In a most UNLIKELY field of work too!  Jailbird, but not behind the bars is a clue.

I've got patchwork this morning, so I better go and sort out what project I'm taking to work on.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

1.20 pm:  School drop off went well.  Keera refused to even look at her teacher to start with, but after half an hour she was yakking away like she was one of the family!
So, I had no trouble leaving her there and coming home.

I went to Patchwork group at 10, and froze my buns off.  Seriously, the hall had heat pumps on, and it was freezing.
So I didn't stay for long, I don't like being cold THAT much, particularly when you are just sitting there.

Lunch has been had, and now?  Dunno... thought I might just potter around in the house, do a couple of odd jobs, prepare dinner and so on.

ABOVE: Home after her 1st school day.  And by all accounts, she's had a wonderful day.

There are THREE children in her class!  The numbers will grow as the term progresses, but for at least the next 2 weeks, it will be just the three of them.  2 girls and 1 boy.

The teacher asked each child to tell her ONE thing that they loved the best today.

Little boy:  "Playing with the cars".
Little girl:  "Drawing pictures".
Keera:  "Playing on the playground, and drawing, and running, and reading, and the sandpit, AND... and ... and... " !!!!  She couldn't stop once she got started.  So cute, and funny.

Well... I thought it was funny.

I'm very happy she had a neat day.  Here's hoping it continues.

Ate a dodgy mandarin this afternoon, now have a shitty tummy... not nice.  Rather thankful I didn't have a walk booked in for tonight.  My next one is tomorrow morning... I better feel better by then!

Spending the evening relaxing and doing bugger all ... these new lounge chairs are very warm and comfy.  *smiles*

POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

The Fat Bottomed Girls : Urbane Challenge ... Our esteemed 'leader' Robyn suggested we all get matching T-shirts to wear.
With our Logo on it, and FBG across the bottom and on the arm, so we have all been trudging into the local Image Apparel shop to try on sizes and order them.

On Friday I went in and tried on one.  I ended up ordering TWO.  One to fit me NOW, and one three sizes SMALLER... FOR LATER.

That's called being positive I will be shrinking!
I can already feel and see a bit of a difference, so here's hoping in about 6 months the smaller one will fit me!

That would be so awesome.  

It's so MOTIVATIONAL TOO.  That, and the though of my boobs shrinking.  OMG I want that so much! I'm totally OVER humongous boobs!

They are NOT sexy, OR comfortable.  Who the hell likes having big boobs? Thankfully, from previous experience, I know they will shrink.  Can't.  Wait.

So yesterday we got Griffin's hair cut.  The stylist combed it into a different style to how he usually does it... and we love it!

But OMG, try taking a photo of that bloody kid!  He is IMPOSSIBLE:

ABOVE:  Seriously... so hard to get him to JUST SMILE!

ABOVE:  Eventually... a couple of nice ones.  He looks so grown up with his hair like this!

It's Sunday right?  Meh.  No plans for the day.
So, nothing else to yabber on about right now... catch ya later.

MIGHT move that shit stuff I was gunna move yesterday actually...

ONWARD...

Shit... what a quiet day!  Actually, last couple of days have been quiet on here.
Maybe you peeps are sick of listening to me go on about walks?  
Oh well... too bad!

Stew and I have been incredibly lazy today.  Stew put the treadmill and exercycle back in the garage, then one of the big brown leather couches into the lounge, and that's all we've done!

I'm probably going to kill Stew soon though, I don't think I can watch/listen to friggin sport for a second longer!
And would ya look at that... he's changed the channel.  Clever man.

Then he got even cleverer... and went outside and did a couple of jobs.  

I've been plugged into headphones, listening to music on YouTube, while once Stew came back inside, he watched... more sport.

It's wind down time now... expecting a phone call from Lacy shortly ... no doubt to wish Keera a happy School Day tomorrow.

Blob out time... ha ha!  I've been blobbing out all day!

34.08 kms this week