I CAN FINALLY SEE IT!

It's taken a while, but I can finally SEE a  difference in my size between my neck and me feet!

I forgot to say yesterday, I am only .800 grams off reaching TWENTY KILOS gone (since moving here in 2016).
20 kilos... and I'm only just starting to see the difference!

That's crazy.

ABOVE:  Left photo taken a few months ago.  Right taken last night.  Different lighting, but you get the drift.

ABOVE:  I've still got a long way to go, but I'm finally happy to see some changes!  And OMG the boobs are finally shrinking too!!!!  THANK GOD.

Today I am going through my wardrobe.  I've got a lot of clothes stored in suitcases that I want to go through.  I know not many of them will fit me yet, and some will no longer appeal to me... but I feel like it will be good motivation for me to keep up the good work.

I might even start to throw out some of my current clothes!  Bit scary to think of doing that, as I've been 'here' before, thinking I'd be a totally smaller size come 'summer/winter', but never am.  But hey!   I think I will be smaller this coming summer!

Smaller.  Healthier.  Happier.

So that's my plan for the morning at least.  

Tonight I'm going to the FBG Quiz night at the Good George pub.  I've not been in ages, so I'm quite looking forward to it.

ONWARD...

WOW!  That has got to be the best morning in a long time!
So GOOD to go through all my clothes and throw out about a third, and know that this summer I will have clothes to wear!
Some clothes that I've not worn in YEARS in fact.

And... and... I found some that I can wear RIGHT NOW too!  They are in the washing machine as I sit here.

It was such a good feeling doing that.

I got a few more photos:

ABOVE:  I'm feeling SO POSITIVE right now.  If this is how I look after losing 20 kilos (almost)... then I'm gunna look just fine after the next 20!

ABOVE:  I'm taking this lot to the local Weight Watchers meeting, someone there might like to use them?

So it's now 12.30 pm and that took me around 4 hours!  Time to stop and have some lunch, then I'm expecting Hayley from across the road for a little visit.

I've had a lovely afternoon.  Hayley stayed for quite a while and chatted, which was neat.
After she left I had a very late lunch, and then did bugger all.  Well, no not really.  I've done quite a bit of washing, rotating it all through the drier to air it off.

Dinner tonight is 'Get it Yourself'... though I've got franks out of the freezer for them to have with Spaghetti or Baked Beans on toast.  I'm going out!  

Well... Stew ended up joining us FBG's for Quiz Night!  We needed his sports knowledge!  And he certainly helped.  Our team ended up coming 3rd, which is great!  Better 3rd than last.  *smiles*

 ABOVE:  The evening was held in the 'outside' Garden Bar, which was great as it didn't get too hot and we all had plenty of room.

ABOVE: The team tonight (plus me).  A lovely bunch.  It was rather enjoyable.  

Time to wind down for the day now... it's been a neat day!

A LITTLE REWARD

So yesterday I decided to give myself a little 'reward' for doing so well getting my blood sugar level down.

I'd been wanting some new, winter proof white shoes.

Looking around all the shoe shops in Hamilton yielded... not too much!  I didn't want white sneakers, I've already got a couple of pairs of sneakers.  My white skechers are stained (boo)... but I did eventually find something at MERCHANT, which is a branch of Overland Shoes.

 ABOVE:  They are leather, so should be fine in the rain.  And they look pretty smart eh?  I like 'em.  

ABOVE:  Brylee (yesterday), getting sniffed like crazy ... our girls could smell the puppies all over her!  It was nuts, they sniffed and sniffed for ages.

Today.. well I'm going to stay home most of the day... and sew.  And take a piddle pill and piddle myself silly.
I looked at those photos yesterday and could see I was all puffed up with fluid.... my face never lies.
I hate that I retain fluid so easily.

At least I only have to take a diuretic once in a blue moon now.  So think of me today, running off to the loo to pee at least a dozen times till lunchtime!

After lunch I will be popping into the supermarket to get a few things that we need.  Might just wear me new shoes.  *smiles*

ONWARD...

2.15 pm:  and a really good morning!
I went into Hamilton on a mission, but it didn't pan out. Less on that.

Then back to Cambridge ... went to the supermarket then...

I met with the organiser of the St Andrew's Church Fair, which is held in October.
I had applied for a site a couple of months ago, but was on a 'waiting list' as he had no sites left.

This morning I went on their Facebook page, which I didn't even know existed, and left a comment.  I just said I was anxiously waiting to find out if I was going to get a site.

And the bloke rang me within 10 minutes and said "Meet me at the Church at 1 pm"!  So I did.

AND... so lucky, he's given me an extra big 'single  site' so that Bex, her friend Verena and I can share it.   Bex will be selling crocheted toys, Verena sells hand painted ukuleles and I will be selling my usual stuff.

ABOVE: Our site, and ...

ABOVE:  Standing on our site, looking towards the Church.  It's a good site as we have a tree to our left which will afford some shade.

I'm just thrilled we actually GET a SITE.  He's got about 30 people waiting to see if they get a site!  That will only happen if he gets cancellations now.

I'm feeling a bit jaded now... I've been on the go all day so far.  Time to chill out for a while I think.

OH!..... hold on a minute, I'll be back.

....
.....
.......  so... did I lose any weight this week?  Well YES, I did!

ABOVE: bye bye 700 grams.   7 more marbles moving over to the 'LOST' side.  Excellent.

And just like that, it's 11.30 pm and time to wind down the blog for the night.
I made nacho mince tonight for dinner... I had it on burgen toast... and have paid for it ever since.  Far too rich for me.  Feel really ill.
So, I'm staying up till I start to feel less likely to throw up!  *sigh*

A BIT AWKWARD

So, we go to dinner last night, and are sitting waiting for our food, when who should walk into the restaurant.... 

It's the Real Estate Agent from Hamilton who tried to sell us a leaky plaster home.  Who deliberately doctored the contract we put on that house, so we couldn't get out of the purchase!  Who knew the owners of that house personally, and was aware that house had issues.  She had a conflict of interest, and was also dishonest in not disclosing all she knew about the house.

Luckily of course, we did get out of the purchase, but it took almost a week of agonising negotiations with our lawyer and bank before we could cancel the contract.  It was probably one of the worst weeks of MY LIFE.

This estate agent WAS a person we had known and trusted for over 20 years.  I considered her a friend.

After that shonky, incredibly horrible experience with her, I never wanted to see her again.

And there she was, walking into the restaurant.
Apparently she waved at Stew and he politely waved back.  I didn't see that.

But I did see her walk in and sit down, with her back to us.  All evening, I was acutely aware of her in the background.  I felt on edge the whole time.

Then, bugger me if she didn't come up to me and put her hand on my shoulder and say "Hello, I didn't see you there, how are you?"
I almost cringed, kept my eyes on my phone and said "Fine thanks"... not looking at her for even a second.

She must  have got the message I was not going to be passing the time of day with her, and she left the restaurant.  Phew!

I know I was pretty rude to her ... but she's lucky I didn't say something downright nasty instead of just blanking her.  

I hope to never run into her again, but if I do, somehow I doubt she will come up to exchange 'pleasantries' ever again.  The cow.  To this day I wish we had taken her to court for the stress and expense she put us through, not to mention the downright dishonest way she acted.

So... while it wasn't nice seeing her last night, I am proud of the 'calm' way in which Stew and I handled the situation.

And she didn't totally ruin our evening, we still had a lovely meal in lovely company.

Moving on... we expect Martyn and Jacqui back sometime this morning.  Their kids have been great, no problems at all.  Sofia took quite a while to go to sleep last night... but she did eventually.
Not a problem really.  Totally used to kids in this house.

Later on today, sometime... we are going into Hamilton to visit Russell and Ange.  They have 4 week old chocolate Labrador puppies (5).  We fancy a cluck over them.

I will get heaps of photos I'm sure *smiles*

After visiting with them we shall go to the mall for lunch... something like 'air pie' for me!  Dinner last night was HUGE... so I doubt I will need much today.  I'm not going to be surprised if I don't lose weight this week!

ONWARD...

ABOVE: One happy kid, one tired kid and three happy dogs.
Stew got up an hour ago to feed the spare kids... I was a bit slower, but am up now.

A bit disappointed... our FBG trip to Rotorua was cancelled due to a very bad weather forecast.  And today?  Sun is out, no sign of stormy weather.  Grrrr.

ABOVE:  Sofia came out this morning in a pretty shirt... I took one look and ... now we are twins!  lol  
She's a bit difficult to get a good photo of ... but we did get something semi decent.  (I'm talking about the kid btw!)

Been to town.  Just got home.  Photos:

ABOVE:  Beautiful puppies!  3 girls, 2 boys.  Fat little buggers!  Mummy dog looked totally over her kids.  lol

These puppies are for sale.  If anyone is interested I am happy to forward your name and contact details to Russell and Ange.

Well it's been a lovely day.  Winding down now, off to bed very soon.  

YEAH... PROBABLY GO INTO HAMILTON

Griffin wants to go to the movies with a friend today, so a trip into Hamilton is on the cards.

Not sure what else is on the agenda for today!
I will get a couple more mice made, then get back to my coasters/mug rugs and placemats I think.

Spent FOUR HOURS yakking to Mike last night!  Over Facebook.  It sure is a great way to keep in touch without running up a phone bill.  So neat to have such a good catch up with him.
All going well him and Joyce will be up towards the end of the year for a birthday.
I wasn't really looking forward to my next birthday, but now I am.

I'm not bothered by reaching another 'milestone' in my life at all... what bothered me about it was trying to 'celebrate' it without stress and family issues ruining it.  I was ready to just forget it so there would be no issues.  But nah, I'm just gunna have two parties! lol

There will be more on that... later on in the year.

For now...  it's back to the daily stuff.  Must get some washing on and hang it inside, cos the weather is supposed to be utter shit all weekend.

Our FBG excursion to Rotorua tomorrow has been cancelled too, thanks to the weather.  Sad, cos so many of us were looking forward to a girl's day out!  Now we have to wait till at least September.

I had a 'naughty' meal yesterday for lunch, chinese shit.  So now I feel all crabby with myself.  AND I'll have to watch what I eat all weekend to ensure I have a loss this week!  I'm so close to reaching 20 kilos down since moving here!  Sooooo close!

Steve is getting heaps of exercise going up and down 8 flights of steps every day with his work. The shit is going to lose weight, making it so much longer for me to be less than him. Grrrrr.  I am so looking forward to that day too. 

Gotta have goals eh?  

But for now... my goal is to get outta bed and get the bloody washing on. 

ONWARD...

112.15 pm:  And Hamilton has been canned.  Griffin isn't going to the movies afterall.
Brylee is at work till 8pm tonight.
I've been sewing and Stew has hung out all the washing for me.

I'm on a 'mouse roll'...

 ABOVE:  They are coming alone nicely.  By the end of today (or tomorrow) I will have enough to take to market.  

ABOVE:  More...  half finished.  I will be making about 6 more then stopping.

My eyes get all blurry if I sew for too long now!  Does my head in.  Age I suppose.  *sigh*

I'm actually going to stop for now and dye me hair, the dark roots are getting pretty bad!  I'm rather lucky that it's not GREY coming though...  I don't have much grey at all. 

JULIE:  I only dye my hair cos I hate the dark roots!

Good news:  Rena is out of hospital.  Seems it wasn't her tonsils causing the problem, but some bug she'd picked up.  So, all is well and she's on the road to a full recovery.

We are expecting our friends Martyn and Jacqui and their kids this evening.  We are all going out to dinner to celebrate Martyn's birthday.
We are going to Onyx here in Cambridge.  I've only ever been there for a coffee, so will be keen to see how their meals are.

Think we will be taking the night off our diet, seeing as we hardly ever go out to dinner.  *smiles*
Though in saying that, we will NOT be going overboard!  There won't be any chips or evil bread that's for sure. And certainly no dessert!
I am sworn off sugar now.

I've got three mice left to sew up, then I am taking a break.

9.20 pm:  Just home from dinner.  We had a really lovely meal, coupled with lovely company.

I'm sure the Birthday Boy had a nice evening ... sadly we didn't think to get a cake for him!  I did make a rude suggestion on where he could put a candle later on tonight... but something tells me he won't be doing it.

Jacqui wouldn't play along with that I'm sure! lol

 ABOVE:  The birthday boy and his other half.  Love these two friends.

 ABOVE:  The entree Stew, Martyn and I had.  Scallops.  OMG they were so yum!

5 of us also had pizzas, and did some swapping around to taste them all.  Such a good idea.

I'm stuffed now!  

Brylee joined us after her shift at work finished, and she had a dessert with us.

ABOVE:  These three were enjoyable company too.  Sofia has a bit of a cough, but did well all evening, hardly coughing at all.

Little Miss Sofia has gone off to bed, and the bigger kids are self entertaining.   Stew is watching... RUGBY .... and I'm going to muck around on You Tube till bedtime.

Little 'incident' happened at the restaurant... will tell you about it tomorrow.

IS IT REALLY FRIDAY?

I can't believe how fast this week has gone by!
Most weeks seem to drag, but for some reason, this week has just gone by in the blink of an eye.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Fingers crossed it's fine on Sunday, as I have an FBG excursion to Rotorua on the calendar.  If it's not looking good weather wise, I suppose it will be cancelled.  

Now yesterday I said I would show you how Stew is doing on the new 'diet' ... so without further ado:

ABOVE:  As you can see... he's doing VERY WELL!
He's lost about 6+ kilos now... he's looking better than me, and I've lost more than that!  Not fair.
But, I'm so proud of him, he's looking so good!

And I'm sure he's feeling much better too.  I think he only needs to lose a few more kilos before he's where he should be.

I don't want him to get skinny!  I like him a bit cuddly.  *smiles*

Last night I showed you a sneak peek of what I was doing in the sewing room.... 

ABOVE:  An FBG friend had the little mouse on the left, it has essence inside it... smells lovely. So I borrowed it to copy.  My 1st attempt?  Nah, not happy with it... the ears are all wrong... and the 2nd attempt I went bigger ... now the ears are a bit small!  Grrrr.  Next one should be better.

I'm thinking they will be a nice, smelly addition to my market stall.  

So... today I will be doing more sewing... and there will probably be a trip into Hamilton too. 

Our granddaughter Rena has been unwell with tonsilitis and has spent the night in hospital on a drip to re-hydrate her.  If she's still in there, I will pay her a visit.  

I'm gunna have to fill up me little car with petrol finally.... a full tank has lasted me 3 weeks, and I've done more than TRIPLE the trips out and about in it,  than I would have done in my big Highlander!  

In other words....  what has cost me $78 in my new car, WOULD have cost me approx $360 in my Highlander!  What an eye opener that has been.  I have really enjoyed being able to go into Hamilton more often and not worry about the cost of petrol!

And now... I better start my day.  I hope you have some nice comments for Stew... he deserves some accolades! He's been working hard on his diet.

ONWARD...

This is weird.
NO DOG BARKING next door!  ????
What is going on?
It's a week day, that dog always barks on a week day.
So, maybe someone is home today, hence dog is happy?
Or... maybe someone read my blog and has locked the dog inside?

Either way, it's quiet for once.  Yaaaa.  edit:  *sigh*  it's barking again. Which suggests someone was home and has now left.  At least I'm going out now, it will run outta bark by lunchtime.

I'm about to go and gas up my car and go into Hamilton.  Haven't heard from Kelly so don't know if Rena is still in hospital or not.  I will text her and find out.

2.34 pm:  Just home from Hamilton.   I took a gift and card up to the Hospital for Rena, but didn't go in.  Parking up there is near impossible, and I know that Rena's in safe hands with her Mum and Dad.
I can see her once she's out again, which will be ??? Not sure yet. Maybe a day or two.

After that I got a few things from Spotlight (3rd day in a row there!), then I had lunch with Stew in town.  That was nice.

A quick wander through town then ensued, and now I'm home again.

I might make a mouse ... now that I have more cord for tails and buttons for eyes.
OMG I have literally HUNDREDS of buttons, but none small, black and matching!

ABOVE: how adorable is this one!

Well.... I made two more after that one.. then called it quits for the day.
Been a quiet evening.  Dinner.  TV.  Yakking to kids. The usual.
Time for bed.
Catch ya tomorrow.

DID THEY REALLY?

Morning.

Another dreary start to the day ... weather wise anyway.

Me... I'm feeling awesome.

I put my feet in my sneakers... and ummm... either the sneakers GREW bigger, or my feet shrunk!

I suppose, thinking logically, my feet have shrunk eh?

Cos... I sure had to tighten the laces HEAPS more today!  Weird to think ya feet lose weight too!  

So, my face and me feet are smaller.  Great.  Now let's hope what's left in between them shrinks too!  Not a big ask is it.  *smiles*

First time in forever I feel like I really, really can do this again!  That feeling has been creeping up on me for the past couple of weeks now... it's such a good feeling.

Today I shall be sewing.  I need to get some stuff finished!  I keep putting it off, as I seem to do every month, until I only have a week left till my next market! Then I have to race to get everything finished in time.  I'm a dick.  Procrastination is my second name.

So, hopefully I can get motivated to sit down and do some work.

ONWARD...

9.36 am:  And ...

ABOVE:  I am sewing!  No longer procrastinating.  But it's rather cold, so me heater is about to go on.

 ABOVE:  A much happier Denim now.  She's all healed.  I feel sorry that in a few more weeks she's going to be back in her cone after getting speyed.  *sad*

My neighbour's little dog has been barking up a storm this morning, like it ALWAYS DOES the minute everyone in the house leaves for work/school.

Normally I just try to ignore it.  But today? Nah.
I dragged the hose out and stood ready to blast the little fucker with it.
But... it saw me and took off inside the house... and I've not heard it again!

Yaaa.  A win for me.  Clearly it has remembered the last time I got it with the hose!

I know that may sound harsh, but seriously, you try listening to a small dog yapping for fucking HOURS and HOURS every single day.

I have three dogs and they don't do that.  The neighbour's over the back have two dogs and they don't do that.  Hell... no dogs in the area do that except for that little bastard right next door to me.

Over it.  I'd say something to the neighbours about it, but I just know they won't do anything.  They don't even talk or wave at us as we pass in the street!  Not very nice people obviously. 

Right, I'm starting to get cold in here, so back to my sewing room, and get the heater on.

COLLEEN: I've only ever got him once with the hose.  Clearly he's remembered cos he's not made a sound for over an hour and a half!  

4.30 pm:  And I have been busy in the sewing room most of the day.  I did have to pop into Hamilton after lunch, I ran out of brown thread!
It was only a quick trip in though, just to Spotlight and back.

Both kids are home, and it's time I took a break and decided what is for dinner.
Possibly something with pasta for the kids.

***Someone asked me 'How is Stew doing on the new diet?"
Well... I will show you tomorrow.  *smiles*

I took some time out from the mug rugs and placemats, here's a sneak peek:

ABOVE:  Any ideas?  *smiles*

9.50 pm:  And Coronation Street is on... so I've stopped sewing for the night.  After Coro, I will check out a few You Tube updates, then head off to bed.

FEELING MUCH BETTER...

I'm feeling pretty lucky.
My cold is so much better, my head is feeling clear again... no headache even.  Such a relief it was so brief.
Never had a cold go so quickly!  I didn't even get 'the cough from hell'!!!

Today ... well my knee isn't up to another walk quite yet, so it will probably be a quiet day.
OR... I could go into Hamilton for the hell of it?
I might go to Spotlight and get a few more Christmas fabrics for table runners.

Just remembered a girlfriend asked me to make her a red and gold tree runner... but I don't have the measurements yet.  Better remind her... JB/C  ya reading this?  You still want one?  lol

So... maybe I will go into Hamilton... and maybe I will stay home and sew some more coasters and placemats for market?  Let's wait and see shall we?

What are YOU doing today?  Going to work?  Shopping?  Day Tripping? Doing the housework?  I hope whatever you are doing, you have an awesome day.  

ONWARD...

OMG it's freezing today.  Woke up expecting a frost, but no.  Just cold.  Then at 9 am a fog rolled in... and that's worse than a frost... cos it seeps into you.  Brrrrr.
Trying to keep warm by doing some housework.  Got washing on, bed made...and am about to go into Hamilton I think.

Then this arrived on me phone:

ABOVE:  How cute is that?  There's not many doctors who take the time to send you personal texts!  

Well... it's now 1.41 pm, and I'm home from Hamilton.  I did a small grocery grab, mostly lunch snacks for the kids.  Then I went to Spotlight for a few things.

ABOVE:  A new lunchbox for Griffin, hopefully the little bugger actually USES it.

ABOVE:  I also got a few pieces of fabric.  The Christmas fabrics are really coming in now, which is neat.  The blue one on the top right?  Well I just loved it!  I only got a small piece (1/2 a metre), so I didn't bust the bank.  *smiles*

Just had lunch, which was surimi/shrimp salad.  And a boiled egg, cos well... I love them in a salad.

Time to relax for a little while me thinks. 
Everyone sounds busy out there!  Good on ya.

10.55 pm:  And it's the end of another long day.  Brylee had work again this evening, so just the guys and me for dinner.  Which was pork strips with coleslaw and potatoes.  I didn't have any potato.
Coronation Street just finished, so time to head off to bed.  Well... soon.