Friday:
As I was going to bed last night I realised that I'd made a commitment to myself to drink my water each day, and I hadn't. It was already late because I'd stayed up to watch the finale of Ink Master. I had a choice, I could chug down two more glasses of water but seriously disrupt my sleep - probably getting up four times in the next couple of hours - or not keep my promise to myself. I ended up deciding that sleep was more important. But I'll make sure to drink my water today and in future.
Since my current focus is sleep and then hydration, I am going to try to worry a bit less about actual weight loss right now. That doesn't mean I'm okaying binge eating or not exercising! But if I'm serious that I need to get a handle on one issue at a time, then I need to accept that I might not lose dramatic amounts of weight right now. I might not make many of my dietbet goals (sad face) although I still want to get the overall six month one. But I am a long term project. I will add specific commitments about exercise and food when I feel more confident about sleep and water. One step at a time. It won't take that long. I started to feel pretty good about my routine to use my CPAP after a couple of weeks. Sometimes I don't want to put it on, but I do anyway. I just know I have to, like I have to brush my teeth even if I'm tired. Last night I slept seven hours straight, barely moving a muscle (although I am pretty tired today, still catching up). I only did three days of great water consumption before yesterday's stumble, obviously I'm not set in that routine yet. I need more time to get into that groove. Then I think exercise will be next, hopefully starting a week from Monday when the kids go back to school and I can go to the gym again. All these things make controlling my food intake that little bit easier. Exercise can make me hungry, but also makes me feel strong and virtuous and unwilling to sabotage what I have just achieved. Water diverts those false hunger signals that are really thirst. And sleep means I don't have to reach for food to keep me awake. Dieting is never easy, but I think it's a bit easier when everything else is under control.
Also need to work on stress, of course. Maybe be more regular with my meditations, which I only do about once a week or less now. And have some long talks with my husband about what we want to do about the whole move situation. And fix my novel so I don't see its now-glaring flaws every time I look at it. I always put "mental health" last on my report card but that doesn't mean I think it is least important, just harder to control. I can't just decide "be happy today". But I think feeling like I have other things in control will help.
I need to decide whether to judge Aurealis again this year, they've asked if I want to. It is a lot of reading, up to two books a week for around nine months. And some of those books are terrible! They include self-published as well as traditional-published. Not that self-published is necessarily bad, sometimes the books are great. Year before last, one won the Fantasy category. Overall, I would say that 25% of submissions are great, 50% are ok, 25% terrible. That is quite a lot of ok and terrible to wade through. And since the ceremony will be over the other side of Australia I won't be going to it, which means less networking will result from being part of it. I need to spend time doing my own writing, and exercising! And I've also committed to the critique group, although that is only one book a month. But still. Maybe. It's a lot of free books, and I am helping out an industry that is very special to me, and having a say in it, and to be honest it makes me feel pretty important!
The kids and I went to see the movie "Home" today and it was really good. It's animated with Jim Parsons (Sheldon) voicing the alien. Mainly funny, but in the scene where the human girl can't find her mother the whole cinema was full of choking sobs. Sniffs and noses blown all over the place. I may have shed a tear or two myself. It was probably all the parents crying. Since having children myself, anything like that really gets to me.
Then grocery shopping, and we congratulated ourselves on a mainly healthy trolley. We did have a treat in the cinema (I had some chocolate) but I'm feeling pretty good about how most of our meals are healthy. We don't get fast food that often. I cook at home nearly every night, and lunches too. Snacking between meals is more of an issue, especially when we are out and about, but at least home is a mainly healthy place, even during school holidays.
You may be able to tell I'm feeling a bit less dismal today! Much better. And my foot seems completely healed now, not a single twinge. I'm ready for a more active weekend. Even if it is going to rain for the next week. Temperatures are dropping, too. It may not snow here but it gets well below freezing at night in winter, and we are starting to feel that chill. Another reason to want to move to more temperate climes!
Had two awkward phone calls with mothers of Jasmine's friends. One yesterday, I know her quite well but I guess I haven't spoken to for a while because she said she hoped my mother was doing better and I had to say she died back in January. The other tonight, I've never met or spoken to the lady before, she called and opened with who she was then said "how are you?" and I said "good, thank you". Pause. Then she said, "I'm good too, thank you." Was she being snarky because I didn't ask or just automatically responding as if I had asked because people usually do? Whoops. I was just kind of waiting to find out what she wanted.
Report card:
Diet: Good.
Exercise: Poor. I should have, today, but didn't.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Great.
Mental health: Good.
Showing posts with label Aurealis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aurealis. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Aurealis Awards
Sunday:
I didn't write yesterday because we went out last night, a pretty rare occurrence these days. It was the Aurealis Awards, Australian book awards for speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction and horror - spec fiction is basically anything with elements that aren't in the real world). I was one of the judges, as I have been four out of the past five years. It is quite a lot of work, being a judge, reading a lot of books (my record was 63 when I was doing the fantasy novel category) over about a eight month period and critiquing them and arguing with the other judges about which is the best.
The kids had sleep-overs with friends and we went out to dinner and to the Awards which was fun. I don't actually do anything at the ceremony, just watch from the audience, but I get to talk to authors and publishers at the drinks before it starts. Except I'm generally too shy to approach people, and also I don't know what they look like so I don't know who to approach anyway! So we only chatted to a few people. The ceremony is moving to Perth next year, way over of the opposite coast, so it's the last one I'll be going to for a while although I may still judge, I haven't yet decided. It is a big eater-of-time and I come to resent reading what I have to instead of what I want to!
I didn't exercise yesterday because I hurt my foot somehow. I kept hoping it would get better but it didn't - in fact is still hurts today. I wasn't even exercising when I hurt it, I just got up from a chair. It's nothing serious, but I don't want to make it worse by doing much with it. My body insists on reminding me how middle-aged and unfit I am. Today I did an hour of Fantasia, which didn't involve moving my feet much and was fine.
My water consumption was absolutely shocking yesterday - two glasses of water and one of cup of tea all day. I've been pretty slack with this for a while now. So, with my commitment to my CPAP going really well, I'm adding step two. My new focus is my water consumption. I know it really does help me lose weight and keep healthy. I will keep that damn Plant Nanny seedling (my current plant is a cabbage, as they grow up they get put in the "garden" and you chose a new baby) alive and unwilted! I can do this, it just takes focus. I am trying to take one step at a time and not expect myself to be perfect in all areas all at once. I've got the sleep under control, now I am tackling water.
Speaking of the CPAP, that is finally going much better. Two more nights of keeping it on for much longer stretches and sleeping peacefully most of the night. I think it really took that mental shift where I no longer just assume and expect it will be an annoyance. I'm still often feeling quite tired during the day but after all I have years of poor sleep to catch up on so I'm hoping that will gradually improve.
In less-happy news, my weight was way up this morning, nearly a kilogram overnight. Damn restaurant food! And I thought I made a good choice avoiding the pasta, and only had half a glass of cider, and one nibble at the cocktail party and no wine there. But it was probably very salty and with the minimal fluid all day I wasn't able to flush the salt out. Still, even knowing that it is a bit discouraging. I'd lost about half a kilogram during the week, a small amount but a good start, and then put it all back on and more overnight. Oh well, I know I can lose it again.
We signed up for Foxtel today because it is the only way to see Game of Thrones in Australia. Other than piracy, of course, and they are really cracking down on that. We've got the previous seasons on DVD, and I've read all the books of course. We've never had pay TV before, we get plenty of free channels and I watch too much TV anyway. But after my husband set it up up the kids watched the movie "Turbo" and then I watched two episodes of America's Next Top Model and an episode of Junior Master Chef from the UK, and Tim looked at me and said "we're keeping Foxtel after Game of Thrones is over, aren't we" and I said "yup"! Because of time zone differences GoT will be on Monday 11:00am, so I'll have to lock the kids in their rooms for an hour! Not suitable for children! And Tim goes out Monday nights, there is no way I am waiting until Tuesday night after the kids are in bed to watch it with him.
I did really well with food today and didn't eat any of the cupcakes Tim and Jasmine made!
Report card (for Sunday):
Diet: Great.
Exercise: Good. I'm happy I worked around the sore foot.
Water: Amazing! 💦 I'm on glass 12 now.
Sleep: Great.
Mental health: Good.
Teacher's note: We think Natalie is ready. We are moving her up to the next grade. 😃
I didn't write yesterday because we went out last night, a pretty rare occurrence these days. It was the Aurealis Awards, Australian book awards for speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction and horror - spec fiction is basically anything with elements that aren't in the real world). I was one of the judges, as I have been four out of the past five years. It is quite a lot of work, being a judge, reading a lot of books (my record was 63 when I was doing the fantasy novel category) over about a eight month period and critiquing them and arguing with the other judges about which is the best.
The kids had sleep-overs with friends and we went out to dinner and to the Awards which was fun. I don't actually do anything at the ceremony, just watch from the audience, but I get to talk to authors and publishers at the drinks before it starts. Except I'm generally too shy to approach people, and also I don't know what they look like so I don't know who to approach anyway! So we only chatted to a few people. The ceremony is moving to Perth next year, way over of the opposite coast, so it's the last one I'll be going to for a while although I may still judge, I haven't yet decided. It is a big eater-of-time and I come to resent reading what I have to instead of what I want to!
I didn't exercise yesterday because I hurt my foot somehow. I kept hoping it would get better but it didn't - in fact is still hurts today. I wasn't even exercising when I hurt it, I just got up from a chair. It's nothing serious, but I don't want to make it worse by doing much with it. My body insists on reminding me how middle-aged and unfit I am. Today I did an hour of Fantasia, which didn't involve moving my feet much and was fine.
My water consumption was absolutely shocking yesterday - two glasses of water and one of cup of tea all day. I've been pretty slack with this for a while now. So, with my commitment to my CPAP going really well, I'm adding step two. My new focus is my water consumption. I know it really does help me lose weight and keep healthy. I will keep that damn Plant Nanny seedling (my current plant is a cabbage, as they grow up they get put in the "garden" and you chose a new baby) alive and unwilted! I can do this, it just takes focus. I am trying to take one step at a time and not expect myself to be perfect in all areas all at once. I've got the sleep under control, now I am tackling water.
Speaking of the CPAP, that is finally going much better. Two more nights of keeping it on for much longer stretches and sleeping peacefully most of the night. I think it really took that mental shift where I no longer just assume and expect it will be an annoyance. I'm still often feeling quite tired during the day but after all I have years of poor sleep to catch up on so I'm hoping that will gradually improve.
In less-happy news, my weight was way up this morning, nearly a kilogram overnight. Damn restaurant food! And I thought I made a good choice avoiding the pasta, and only had half a glass of cider, and one nibble at the cocktail party and no wine there. But it was probably very salty and with the minimal fluid all day I wasn't able to flush the salt out. Still, even knowing that it is a bit discouraging. I'd lost about half a kilogram during the week, a small amount but a good start, and then put it all back on and more overnight. Oh well, I know I can lose it again.
We signed up for Foxtel today because it is the only way to see Game of Thrones in Australia. Other than piracy, of course, and they are really cracking down on that. We've got the previous seasons on DVD, and I've read all the books of course. We've never had pay TV before, we get plenty of free channels and I watch too much TV anyway. But after my husband set it up up the kids watched the movie "Turbo" and then I watched two episodes of America's Next Top Model and an episode of Junior Master Chef from the UK, and Tim looked at me and said "we're keeping Foxtel after Game of Thrones is over, aren't we" and I said "yup"! Because of time zone differences GoT will be on Monday 11:00am, so I'll have to lock the kids in their rooms for an hour! Not suitable for children! And Tim goes out Monday nights, there is no way I am waiting until Tuesday night after the kids are in bed to watch it with him.
I did really well with food today and didn't eat any of the cupcakes Tim and Jasmine made!
Report card (for Sunday):
Diet: Great.
Exercise: Good. I'm happy I worked around the sore foot.
Water: Amazing! 💦 I'm on glass 12 now.
Sleep: Great.
Mental health: Good.
Teacher's note: We think Natalie is ready. We are moving her up to the next grade. 😃
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Finishing the reading
Saturday:
The great thing about today is that I finished my last book and a half for the Aurealis Awards. That is a big commitment out of the way. For the next six months I can read whatever I want without feeling like I should be "work" reading! Awesome.
The not so great thing was I ate too many calories today. It was silly. In the afternoon, I had pre-planned to eat a peach with yoghurt. I got a yoghurt-making kit for Christmas, the first batch looked like cottage cheese but the second batch worked out great and tastes lovely. But this afternoon what I wanted was cheese and crackers. But I was determined to stick to my plan. So I ate my nice yoghurt with a peach, and it was good. But it wasn't what I wanted. So I had some sultanas (strange choice, I know). But it wasn't what I wanted. So I ended up having the cheese and crackers after all, making my afternoon tea as big as a real meal, but without the balance! I had a small healthy dinner, but still ended up over calories for the day.
The kids had very busy day. Tennis, swimming, and an evening playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends. They had a great time. Poor Tim had to spend half the day at work.
I took a day off from exercise. I've done well this week and needed a break.
Report card:
Diet: Ok. Not as good today, but I still went for real food instead of junk.
Exercise: None today, which is fine.
Water: Good, but haven't quite got there today.
Sleep: I thought I would have a great night's sleep because I was so tired, but I actually had my worst night for a while. Tossed and turned a lot. Very tired this morning. So today I tried the new meditation app I downloaded yesterday. I chose this one because in the reviews people said they kept falling asleep during it! I lay down in the afternoon, put it on --- and sure enough I was asleep in moments. No idea what the woman said. I had it set to wake me at the end, but you can turn that off if you buy the app to get all the extra features. I don't usually have the phone in my room at night, especially with headphones in - but it can't be as bad as the CPAP mask. If it helps me get to sleep that would be worth it.
Mental health: well I got the new app, does it count if you listen in your sleep? The app instructions say it does.
Overall the report card doesn't look as good today. I spent a lot of time reading. But not too bad.
The great thing about today is that I finished my last book and a half for the Aurealis Awards. That is a big commitment out of the way. For the next six months I can read whatever I want without feeling like I should be "work" reading! Awesome.
The not so great thing was I ate too many calories today. It was silly. In the afternoon, I had pre-planned to eat a peach with yoghurt. I got a yoghurt-making kit for Christmas, the first batch looked like cottage cheese but the second batch worked out great and tastes lovely. But this afternoon what I wanted was cheese and crackers. But I was determined to stick to my plan. So I ate my nice yoghurt with a peach, and it was good. But it wasn't what I wanted. So I had some sultanas (strange choice, I know). But it wasn't what I wanted. So I ended up having the cheese and crackers after all, making my afternoon tea as big as a real meal, but without the balance! I had a small healthy dinner, but still ended up over calories for the day.
The kids had very busy day. Tennis, swimming, and an evening playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends. They had a great time. Poor Tim had to spend half the day at work.
I took a day off from exercise. I've done well this week and needed a break.
Report card:
Diet: Ok. Not as good today, but I still went for real food instead of junk.
Exercise: None today, which is fine.
Water: Good, but haven't quite got there today.
Sleep: I thought I would have a great night's sleep because I was so tired, but I actually had my worst night for a while. Tossed and turned a lot. Very tired this morning. So today I tried the new meditation app I downloaded yesterday. I chose this one because in the reviews people said they kept falling asleep during it! I lay down in the afternoon, put it on --- and sure enough I was asleep in moments. No idea what the woman said. I had it set to wake me at the end, but you can turn that off if you buy the app to get all the extra features. I don't usually have the phone in my room at night, especially with headphones in - but it can't be as bad as the CPAP mask. If it helps me get to sleep that would be worth it.
Mental health: well I got the new app, does it count if you listen in your sleep? The app instructions say it does.
Overall the report card doesn't look as good today. I spent a lot of time reading. But not too bad.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Work in progress
Monday:
I did a bit better today, I think. I did a couple of productive things. I washed my CPAP. I took it away with us but only used it one night and then I hadn't unpacked it since we got home. So that is about a week without using it. It is all clean now with fresh water in the humidifier and set up, so I have no excuse not to use it tonight. Hopefully that will help with the tiredness. I fell asleep both yesterday and today, sitting up trying to read. Today with the kids playing a board game right at my feet.
I also used my Headspace meditation app this evening after dinner. Day Five. They are just 10 minute relaxation exercises. I am still very distracted but I won't get better if I don't practice.
I used my lovely massage chair, but today it hurt every muscle in my back. I am really stiff and sore and tense. Working on that.
Otherwise, food was a bit better today - and I resisted getting take away for lunch even though we were driving home at lunchtime! - but I didn't exercise.
I am ploughing through these books I need to read. I think two and a half yesterday. One and a half so far today, I'll read more tonight.
Still tired and sad and unmotivated. I'm a work in progress.
I did a bit better today, I think. I did a couple of productive things. I washed my CPAP. I took it away with us but only used it one night and then I hadn't unpacked it since we got home. So that is about a week without using it. It is all clean now with fresh water in the humidifier and set up, so I have no excuse not to use it tonight. Hopefully that will help with the tiredness. I fell asleep both yesterday and today, sitting up trying to read. Today with the kids playing a board game right at my feet.
I also used my Headspace meditation app this evening after dinner. Day Five. They are just 10 minute relaxation exercises. I am still very distracted but I won't get better if I don't practice.
I used my lovely massage chair, but today it hurt every muscle in my back. I am really stiff and sore and tense. Working on that.
Otherwise, food was a bit better today - and I resisted getting take away for lunch even though we were driving home at lunchtime! - but I didn't exercise.
I am ploughing through these books I need to read. I think two and a half yesterday. One and a half so far today, I'll read more tonight.
Still tired and sad and unmotivated. I'm a work in progress.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Aurealis Awards
Sunday:
Last night was the Aurealis Awards for Australian Speculative Fiction (Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror). I was one of the judges and it was in Canberra this year so of course I went. The kids had a sleep-over at a friend's house so we even got to go out to dinner first!
Actually I didn't like the dinner much, even though it was a fancy-ish place. The sauce on my chicken was quite nasty, and who doesn't have any chocolate on the dessert menu? Crazy! I like my own cooking best because I cook what I/we like, but of course it is nice not to have to cook sometimes. And it was right next door to the ceremony so it was convenient if not very nice.
The Award Ceremony was good, and not at all boring, amazingly enough. The various hosts and award-givers were all spec fiction writers or publishers so had great imaginations. The general theme was that they kept talking about the future of the Awards ceremony: in 50 years after the zombie apocalypse, in 100 years after the last remaining humans had moved to another planet, in 150 years when everyone left was a clone of the next speaker etc. Very entertaining. And I got to see quite a few "famous" people (ie published authors) and also made a contact with our biggest fantasy fiction publishing house which is awesome considering that is what I am writing at the moment and she gave me her contact details AFTER I told her that!
Someone I know fairly well didn't recognise me with my short hair and I didn't recognise someone else with her new short hair, so that was fun.
I saw some pictures of the ceremony today with me in them. Always a nasty shock.
Sleep isn't going so well, last night the mask shifted a bit and blew air into my eyes, leaving them very dry and gummy (and me without enough air). I think I need the fit adjusted, I'm seeing the sleep people again on Friday for a review. Still a work in progress.
Last night was the Aurealis Awards for Australian Speculative Fiction (Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror). I was one of the judges and it was in Canberra this year so of course I went. The kids had a sleep-over at a friend's house so we even got to go out to dinner first!
Actually I didn't like the dinner much, even though it was a fancy-ish place. The sauce on my chicken was quite nasty, and who doesn't have any chocolate on the dessert menu? Crazy! I like my own cooking best because I cook what I/we like, but of course it is nice not to have to cook sometimes. And it was right next door to the ceremony so it was convenient if not very nice.
The Award Ceremony was good, and not at all boring, amazingly enough. The various hosts and award-givers were all spec fiction writers or publishers so had great imaginations. The general theme was that they kept talking about the future of the Awards ceremony: in 50 years after the zombie apocalypse, in 100 years after the last remaining humans had moved to another planet, in 150 years when everyone left was a clone of the next speaker etc. Very entertaining. And I got to see quite a few "famous" people (ie published authors) and also made a contact with our biggest fantasy fiction publishing house which is awesome considering that is what I am writing at the moment and she gave me her contact details AFTER I told her that!
Someone I know fairly well didn't recognise me with my short hair and I didn't recognise someone else with her new short hair, so that was fun.
I saw some pictures of the ceremony today with me in them. Always a nasty shock.
Sleep isn't going so well, last night the mask shifted a bit and blew air into my eyes, leaving them very dry and gummy (and me without enough air). I think I need the fit adjusted, I'm seeing the sleep people again on Friday for a review. Still a work in progress.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Thirteen meals
Wednesday:
We just spent four days away. I had a lovely time but my eating definitely wasn't on plan.
The drive to Sydney takes a bit over three hours, not including stops, and we went Friday afternoon/evening; stopping at McDonald's on the way. The next morning we had bacon and eggs at my mum's. Well, sort of. My mum is a terrible cook, probably mainly because she has sinus problems and no sense of smell. She also always underestimates how much people will eat. The scrambled eggs were burnt well beyond the point that even my polite husband could stomach, so we had a morsel of bacon each and some toast. The only available topping for the toast was vegemite.
Anyway; that behind us, Tim & I left the kids with mum and set off for our day out. It was our ten year wedding anniversary and we had a full day planned. After Tim was forced to choose between wife number 1 (me) and Karen (the GPS), we ended up taking a bit of a detour over Sydney Harbour Bridge but eventually made it to our hotel. We left the car there and went to Darling Harbour, a touristy area with the acquarium and Chinese Gardens and lots of shops and restaurants. We decided to visit the Madame Toussaude's waxworks (I didn't even know we had one in Australia) which turned out to be great. The models were much more realistic than I expected and most of them looked startlingly like the people they were copied from. We decided there were at least two teams of artists as some -- while looking realistically human -- didn't look much like the people they were supposed to be. I sat on the couch with Oprah and cuddled Johnny Depp and wore a crown next to Queen Elizabeth. Then we went to a lovely waterside restaurant to have lunch. The garlic bread was amongst the best I have ever had, then I had the duck and wild mushroom gnocchi which was delicious but too filling to eat more than half, and a glass of the nicest wine I have had for ages. For dessert we wandered along to the Lindt chocolate shop where we had a macaroon each and bought some Lindor balls for later, flavours you don't see in the supermarket. I had seen macaroons on MasterChef but never tried one, we agreed they were ok but nothing amazing. Sort of gooey cookies.
It was time for the matinee so we went to the Sydney Opera House -- those iconic sails on the harbour -- for a performance of Macbeth. It wouldn't have been our first choice for an anniversary outing, a big production muscial or a dance show would have been more fun, but we both like Shakespeare and it turned out to be very good. We had some of the Lindor balls at interval then a cup of tea afterwards before heading back to the hotel.
Present time! I gave Tim ballroom dancing lessons every Sunday afternoon. He often says he wants to do something together and we have enjoyed dancing in the past but kids interrupted all that sort of thing. The kids are old enough now to sit at the side with their Nintendo DSs. He gave me an iPhone! Yay! It was really difficult not to take it down to dinner.
The receptionist talked me into dining at the hotel and gave us a 20% off voucher, although Tim remained dubious. It is the first time I have been given an iPad by the waiter and told to order my own meal! Tim's reservations turned out to be well deserved, they served us the wrong meal (and it wasn't us, we ordered correctly, the waiter checked) and then Tim had to chase down the side salad we had ordered. We insisted on getting the correct meal so we had another long wait, they gave us a free glass of wine each but it wasn't very nice. All this meant that we had little time to freshen up before our next event, which was the Aurealis Awards.
I was one of the judges for the Fantasy Novel category. The dress varied from formal to fairly casual (I dressed up) and at my suggestion Tim wore his pirate costume. He was the only person in costume so got quite a lot of attention which was great. There was even some kind of documentory about speculative fiction in Australia being filmed so he could appear in the background of that! We skipped the after-show party and went back to our room.
Sunday was Mothers' Day. We had the hotel buffet breakfast which was really lovely. The day before I had only eaten a portion of my meals, I think my stomach was used to a bit less food, but I was able to eat quite a lot of breakfast. But I stopped before I got uncomfortable. We drove back to my mum's to rescue her from taking care of the children, and took her out to lunch. Another restaurant. It was ok, and I ate about half my meal. Still full from breakfast. We hung around mum's house -- I explored my iPhone -- then went to my grandad's house for the big family Mothers' Day/Poppa's birthday dinner. With cake. Slept at mum's again, on the horrible narrow hard futon sofa-bed.
Monday morning we headed off to Cronulla, a southern suburb of Sydney, to a hotel on the beach. The kids played on the sand, and even a bit in the edges of the water as it was a warm morning although it got cold in the afternoon and we spent some time at the park and in the hotel room watching TV. Crepes for lunch, Thai for dinner. No exercise for me other than a bit of walking around. While the others were on the beach I sat on the rocks. Although I love the concept of the beach, I have realised that in actual fact I hate sand, cold water, big waves, sharks, seaweed, jellyfish, and sunburn. So my ideal beach holiday is to sit in the warm shade with a view of the ocean, with a cocktail and a book.
Tuesday morning we met my brother-in-law and his wife for breakfast at a cafe. Bacon, eggs, and some of Jasmine's pancake with cream and maple syrup. My stomach had now expanded to be able to fit lots in. A play in the park, then it was the reason we had stayed in Sydney the extra couple of days; Tim's grandmother's funeral. Apart from the slight worry that my children were very bored over the hour and a half (although they were, as always, angelic), it was a lovely event. Tim made a speech and his brother and cousins sang. All of his side of the family was there.
We hadn't had lunch after our late big breakfast but there was an afternoon tea after the ceremony that was plentiful and varied enough to count as a meal. Chatting with family and an old friend, there with her new baby, was one of many highlights of the trip.
Finally the drive home, with McDonald's again on the way.
The only ones of those thirteen meals that weren't too big and/or plain unhealthy were probably the two breakfasts at my mum's. And no exercise. I left here last Friday feeling rather happy with my appearance, got back Tuesday night feeling bloated and flabby, with a bucket full of good resolutions that fell at the first hurdle today.
I weighed myself at home this morning, 76.8 kg, up about half a kg over the four days and more than a kg since my last WW weigh-in. I walked the kids to school, then came home to find the power off. Only after some confusion did I remember that letter we got saying the power would be off all day for the second time in two weeks. No Kinect exercises. No kettle for tea. No computer work or games. No way to prepare myself a healthy lunch from the very few ingredients left in the house. No HEAT. It is well below freezing at night now and pretty cold during the day. I went to a cafe but the tea was horrible and the baby at the next table smelled of vomit. I did the grocery shopping -- lots of fresh fruit and vegetables -- and came home to huddle under a blanket and read The Hunger Games -- which I enjoyed very much.
My food today was ok until I got to the three Lindor balls this evening. And no exercise again. Luckily tomorrow is another day.
We just spent four days away. I had a lovely time but my eating definitely wasn't on plan.
The drive to Sydney takes a bit over three hours, not including stops, and we went Friday afternoon/evening; stopping at McDonald's on the way. The next morning we had bacon and eggs at my mum's. Well, sort of. My mum is a terrible cook, probably mainly because she has sinus problems and no sense of smell. She also always underestimates how much people will eat. The scrambled eggs were burnt well beyond the point that even my polite husband could stomach, so we had a morsel of bacon each and some toast. The only available topping for the toast was vegemite.
Anyway; that behind us, Tim & I left the kids with mum and set off for our day out. It was our ten year wedding anniversary and we had a full day planned. After Tim was forced to choose between wife number 1 (me) and Karen (the GPS), we ended up taking a bit of a detour over Sydney Harbour Bridge but eventually made it to our hotel. We left the car there and went to Darling Harbour, a touristy area with the acquarium and Chinese Gardens and lots of shops and restaurants. We decided to visit the Madame Toussaude's waxworks (I didn't even know we had one in Australia) which turned out to be great. The models were much more realistic than I expected and most of them looked startlingly like the people they were copied from. We decided there were at least two teams of artists as some -- while looking realistically human -- didn't look much like the people they were supposed to be. I sat on the couch with Oprah and cuddled Johnny Depp and wore a crown next to Queen Elizabeth. Then we went to a lovely waterside restaurant to have lunch. The garlic bread was amongst the best I have ever had, then I had the duck and wild mushroom gnocchi which was delicious but too filling to eat more than half, and a glass of the nicest wine I have had for ages. For dessert we wandered along to the Lindt chocolate shop where we had a macaroon each and bought some Lindor balls for later, flavours you don't see in the supermarket. I had seen macaroons on MasterChef but never tried one, we agreed they were ok but nothing amazing. Sort of gooey cookies.
It was time for the matinee so we went to the Sydney Opera House -- those iconic sails on the harbour -- for a performance of Macbeth. It wouldn't have been our first choice for an anniversary outing, a big production muscial or a dance show would have been more fun, but we both like Shakespeare and it turned out to be very good. We had some of the Lindor balls at interval then a cup of tea afterwards before heading back to the hotel.
Present time! I gave Tim ballroom dancing lessons every Sunday afternoon. He often says he wants to do something together and we have enjoyed dancing in the past but kids interrupted all that sort of thing. The kids are old enough now to sit at the side with their Nintendo DSs. He gave me an iPhone! Yay! It was really difficult not to take it down to dinner.
The receptionist talked me into dining at the hotel and gave us a 20% off voucher, although Tim remained dubious. It is the first time I have been given an iPad by the waiter and told to order my own meal! Tim's reservations turned out to be well deserved, they served us the wrong meal (and it wasn't us, we ordered correctly, the waiter checked) and then Tim had to chase down the side salad we had ordered. We insisted on getting the correct meal so we had another long wait, they gave us a free glass of wine each but it wasn't very nice. All this meant that we had little time to freshen up before our next event, which was the Aurealis Awards.
I was one of the judges for the Fantasy Novel category. The dress varied from formal to fairly casual (I dressed up) and at my suggestion Tim wore his pirate costume. He was the only person in costume so got quite a lot of attention which was great. There was even some kind of documentory about speculative fiction in Australia being filmed so he could appear in the background of that! We skipped the after-show party and went back to our room.
Sunday was Mothers' Day. We had the hotel buffet breakfast which was really lovely. The day before I had only eaten a portion of my meals, I think my stomach was used to a bit less food, but I was able to eat quite a lot of breakfast. But I stopped before I got uncomfortable. We drove back to my mum's to rescue her from taking care of the children, and took her out to lunch. Another restaurant. It was ok, and I ate about half my meal. Still full from breakfast. We hung around mum's house -- I explored my iPhone -- then went to my grandad's house for the big family Mothers' Day/Poppa's birthday dinner. With cake. Slept at mum's again, on the horrible narrow hard futon sofa-bed.
Monday morning we headed off to Cronulla, a southern suburb of Sydney, to a hotel on the beach. The kids played on the sand, and even a bit in the edges of the water as it was a warm morning although it got cold in the afternoon and we spent some time at the park and in the hotel room watching TV. Crepes for lunch, Thai for dinner. No exercise for me other than a bit of walking around. While the others were on the beach I sat on the rocks. Although I love the concept of the beach, I have realised that in actual fact I hate sand, cold water, big waves, sharks, seaweed, jellyfish, and sunburn. So my ideal beach holiday is to sit in the warm shade with a view of the ocean, with a cocktail and a book.
Tuesday morning we met my brother-in-law and his wife for breakfast at a cafe. Bacon, eggs, and some of Jasmine's pancake with cream and maple syrup. My stomach had now expanded to be able to fit lots in. A play in the park, then it was the reason we had stayed in Sydney the extra couple of days; Tim's grandmother's funeral. Apart from the slight worry that my children were very bored over the hour and a half (although they were, as always, angelic), it was a lovely event. Tim made a speech and his brother and cousins sang. All of his side of the family was there.
We hadn't had lunch after our late big breakfast but there was an afternoon tea after the ceremony that was plentiful and varied enough to count as a meal. Chatting with family and an old friend, there with her new baby, was one of many highlights of the trip.
Finally the drive home, with McDonald's again on the way.
The only ones of those thirteen meals that weren't too big and/or plain unhealthy were probably the two breakfasts at my mum's. And no exercise. I left here last Friday feeling rather happy with my appearance, got back Tuesday night feeling bloated and flabby, with a bucket full of good resolutions that fell at the first hurdle today.
I weighed myself at home this morning, 76.8 kg, up about half a kg over the four days and more than a kg since my last WW weigh-in. I walked the kids to school, then came home to find the power off. Only after some confusion did I remember that letter we got saying the power would be off all day for the second time in two weeks. No Kinect exercises. No kettle for tea. No computer work or games. No way to prepare myself a healthy lunch from the very few ingredients left in the house. No HEAT. It is well below freezing at night now and pretty cold during the day. I went to a cafe but the tea was horrible and the baby at the next table smelled of vomit. I did the grocery shopping -- lots of fresh fruit and vegetables -- and came home to huddle under a blanket and read The Hunger Games -- which I enjoyed very much.
My food today was ok until I got to the three Lindor balls this evening. And no exercise again. Luckily tomorrow is another day.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Slow Friday
Friday
Worked today. Finished one project. No exercise other than walking kids to and from school (I often take the car, so I suppose this was good). Ate fairly poorly. Freezing day with frost on the ground. Very tired. Glad it's the weekend, even though I will still have to work.
I plan to go to two gym classes on the weekend.
I found out a couple of days ago that I will be judging the Aurealis (Australian fiction) Awards again this year - fantasy novel category. Last year there were 53 entries in this section, so that means reading about 2 books a week from now on. Free books! But lots and lots of reading.
Worked today. Finished one project. No exercise other than walking kids to and from school (I often take the car, so I suppose this was good). Ate fairly poorly. Freezing day with frost on the ground. Very tired. Glad it's the weekend, even though I will still have to work.
I plan to go to two gym classes on the weekend.
I found out a couple of days ago that I will be judging the Aurealis (Australian fiction) Awards again this year - fantasy novel category. Last year there were 53 entries in this section, so that means reading about 2 books a week from now on. Free books! But lots and lots of reading.
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