RECAP... WHO AM I?

 This post is going to be a WHO AM I, and my family run down... it is for people who have not been here from the start.

Me :  63 (but in my head I'm still 40) lol

Stew : 61.

We met when I was on my own with my first 4 kids... having left my first husband as he was an arsehole who I did not love AT ALL.  That is all I will say on that issue.

I had Amanda, Lacy, Kelly and Russell with my first husband.  Born in that order.

They were 6, 5, 3 and 2 years old when I met Stew on the evening of September 28th, 1985.

Stew was my first 'date' after I left my husband, almost 7 months prior.  

It wasn't even a 'date'.   We met at a women's netball prizegiving evening.  I was dragged along by a girlfriend.  Stew was the netball coach.

We hit it off immediately, and he moved in with me about 10 days later!

We have never looked back.

2 years later we had Steve, and then another 2.7 years later we had Mike.

We got married when Steve was 6 weeks old, on June 6th, 1987.

We didn't go on a Honeymoon.  There was nowhere with a Honeymoon Suite that had a double bed, 4 singles and a bassinette!  

Our kids now:

Amanda is 43, with 4 kids (Huston, Joel, Emily and Liam).  We have a lovely relationship with Amanda. She lives here in Hamilton.

Lacy is 41 (almost 42).  She had Brylee and Griffin, who we have raised.  Also Keera, who is now being raised by Kelly.  We have a great relationship with Lacy.  She lives here in Hamilton.

Kelly is 39 (almost 40).  She has a daughter, Rena.  And is raising Keera.  Kelly has chosen to no longer have any sort of relationship with us. She lives here in Hamilton.

Russell is 38.  He has Joshua here in New Zealand, and Sienna and Bodhi in Australia.  Russell has chosen to have very little to do with us. He lives here in Hamilton.

Steve is 34 (almost 35).  He has Dante and Archer. We have a wonderful relationship with him and his wife Bex. He lives here in Hamilton.

Mike is 32.  He lives with his partner Joyce in Palmerston North.  No children.  We have an awesome relationship with them.

Brylee is 21, our granddaughter, but raised as our daughter.  We have a lovely relationship with her.  She lives here with us at the moment. 

Griffin is 20, our grandson, but raised as our son.  We have a great relationship with him.  He lives here in Hamilton.

Stew and I  met in Whitianga, Stew worked for the Bank Of New Zealand at that time.

We moved to Te Awamutu in 1986.  That is where Steve was born and we bought our first home.

Then to Hamilton in 1989. We lived in and owned two homes in Hamilton while there. That is where Mike was born, and Brylee and Griffin.

In 2001 we moved to Palmerston North, taking Steve, Mike, Brylee and Griffin with us.  By then Stew was working for his current company.

In 2008 we moved to Auckland, leaving Steve and Mike in Palmerton North.

Steve joined us in Auckland around 2010?  Bex moved in with Steve (and us obviously) when she was expecting Dante.  Dante and Archer were born while Steve and Bex lived with us. 

In mid 2016 we moved to Cambridge.  

At the end of 2019, we moved here to Hamilton. 

(Steve and Bex stayed in Auckland.  They moved to Hamilton in early 2020.)

We hope like hell this is our last move.  We love our home.  We love being close to most of our kids/grandkids.  

I started blogging as a way to link up with like minded women on weight loss journeys.

It quickly spiralled into a 'Days of My Life' type of blog.

I blog about anything and everything.

It's my 'Online Diary' really.

I have met in person, but mostly online, hundreds of really lovely people.  

There have been plenty of trolls as well, but I just ignore them now, and do not publish any of their nasty comments.

I have been blogging for over 16 years.  Some days I feel like I should stop, as it does not bring me joy.

Other days I still love it.  I don't know how much longer I will blog, it is a constant question I ask myself.

But, while you buggers keep reading it, I will keep blogging I suppose!  

One thing is FOR SURE.... my life and family is NOTHING LIKE THE WALTONS!

I always dreamed of having the 'perfect' family, like the Waltons.  

Jokes on me. 

But, I can HAPPILY live with those that love Stew and I, and without those who don't.

It's that simple now.

I am fairly opinionated, but do know how to respect others opinions when they differ from mine.  I am respectful of my elders, something that is woefully lacking in today's youth.

I am fiercely loyal to my family and friends, unless they turn into backstabbing bastards, then I happily cut them off, and hope they get their just deserts one day.

You only get one life, and keeping haters in your midst is no longer something I do.

I make mistakes, and if necessary, I say sorry.  I am certainly not perfect.

I'm a good friend, but I don't think I give enough of my time to maintain them. Living my life and keeping my head above water (mentally) is a constant drain.

I love with all my heart, Stew is a lucky man!  lol

I am a fairly bad procrastinator, that's where Mike gets it from.  example: I can say over and over again I am going to lose weight this year,  but happily scoff chocolates while you can't see me!

I have lots of good intentions.  Sometimes they work out.  

I try not to hurt anyone intentionally, BUT sometimes I will, if you fucking deserve it.

I'm a black is black, white is white sorta person.  Makes me difficult to live with.   I'm usually honest to a 'T'.  Sometimes a little white lie is necessary though!

Little white lies are usually to spare your feelings.  If you look DREADFUL in that dress, I will tell you.  Unless you would be crushed.  Then I let you go on your merry way in that dreadful dress.

I try to do a good deed every day.  It can be something as simple as smiling at someone. It does not have to be BIG to be meaningful.

I am a giver.  I would rather give you something than take something. 

I can be amusing, even more so if I have had a couple of alcoholic drinks!  That doesn't happen too often though.  (The drinks that is)

I LOVE the colour BLUE... in virtually all it's amazing shades.  I DISLIKE ORANGE AND YELLOW.  If you see me wearing orange or yellow you have my permission to shoot me.

I say I want to stab Stew 16 times in the chest when he annoys me.  I never would, unless I can find a knife that has a tiny, short blade that I can stab him in the chest with, without killing him.  Just little stabby stabs to annoy him.  

It really is just a joke people, one we enjoy.  I think. 😂😆😇  I could NEVER hurt Stew in any way.

I am easily offended, and take things far too personally.  I jump to conclusions (sometimes the wrong ones), too easily.  I'm a knee jerk sorta person.  Again, makes me hard to live with.

Stew deserves a medal.... I  have the chest for it!

One of my worst traits is ... I am the most impatient person I know.

I want it done YESTERDAY... Not now, not tomorrow or next week..... YESTERDAY.

I am a dog person, definitely NOT a cat person.  I dislike hedgehogs with a passion. I love Rhinos and Giraffes... and Cows.

I hate tea and coffee.  95% of the time I only drink DIET COKE.  The other 5% is made up of an occasional hot/cold chocolate or some other fizzy drink.

I have worn the same perfume exclusively for 25 years.  Do YOU know what it is?  😜👃

PHEW!

There ya go.  That's me in a nutshell.

Did I miss anything?  Ask me a question if ya have one.

(Nasty or unkind comments will not be published.)

Moving on.

Today I am heading over to Cambridge for an FBG walk.

It's a NEW Concept Walk, not a part of the Urban Challenge, where you walk every street in Cambridge between March and November.

This is a timed walk.  We walk 20 minutes, then turn around and go back to the start.

That way, if you are a slower walker, you walk less distance, and faster walkers go further.  But we all end up back at the start at the same time.

I love the idea.  It means everyone can walk at their own pace, and not impact on other, different paced walkers.

So, today is the first Timed Walk.  Afterwards there will be the obligatory coffee and chat somewhere.  

I am REALLY, REALLY looking forward to it, even though it's probably going to be hot as f*#k.

11.24 am:  And I'm home from Cambridge.

The walk was awesome!  We  had quite a big group turn up to walk.  Depending on your speed, you walked over 4 kms or about 2 kms.

I did 3.23 kms in 40 minutes... so quite slow.  But considering the heat we were walking in, I was perfectly happy with that.

I actually love 40 minute walks.  They suit me best.  It will be interesting to see if my distance increases much over time.

ABOVE:  I think perhaps the only thing that didn't work out so well was the Coffee Cart.  With only one lady making the drinks, some people were leaving before others even had received their drinks.

It didn't matter to me of course, as I had my Diet Coke on hand.

Now that I'm home, I'm going to have some lunch soon then perhaps go and do some sewing.

Well it's now 4.30 pm.  I feel a bit like shit.  Had two sandwiches for lunch using left over sausage etc.   Too much.

Had to have a 'Nana Nap'.  Woke up feeling like shit.

But... good news.  I got the WORDEL word in 3 today!  Pretty chuffed about that.

Anyone else doing WORDEL?  It's horribly addictive.

I just hope the New York Times doesn't make it a 'pay to play' game, now that they have bought it.

That would suck.

9.36 pm:  Dinner tonight was Chicken pieces, lettuce salad and kumera poppas/rostis.  Rather yum.

I'm now watching Coronation Street, then I'll be off to bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.