Sunday:
That was an exciting and exhausting weekend. Firstly, we have a date for Tim starting at his new job: 9 November. So that is more like three months (now 11 weeks) instead of two, giving us a little more time.
We made the long drive to Sydney early Saturday morning and spent the day dashing from house to house. Each one was "open" for 30 minutes and some were 15 minutes drive apart, making it difficult when some were open at the same time! I had cut my list down to eight, and we made it to seven. There were a few surprises, the one I liked the most online didn't end up even in our top three, and one I decided wasn't a priority but we managed to fit in became our second favourite and is still a possibility for us. You just can't tell from photos or glowing descriptions. You have to go and see in person.
We came away with a definite favourite. We walked in and all loved it. Perfect floor plan, beautifully maintained, near Tim's side of the family, and a salt-water pool! It was just ideal. The only thing we didn't like was that it was at our utmost limit of distance from the nearest train station, meaning extra commute time for Tim as he'll have to drive to the station before taking the train to work in the city. I was kind of hoping we wouldn't love this house, because of that, but we did. It is up for auction in two weeks, but I think we are going to put in an offer before then (dependant on the bank's approval, we already have a copy of building and pest inspection reports).
I had expected to have to spend more than one weekend looking, and we still may have to if we don't get this one (or maybe our second choice, which had a couple of flaws and was also more expensive). And if we don't find a house in time we'll have to rent for a while. We're not going to settle for an "ok" house, we plan to live there for the next twenty years or so. It may not be the perfect mansion, but we can find a great house for us at our stage of life. And it's awesome we've found one we love already.
After the long exhausting day (and my abdominal pain was troubling me by the end, I don't know if the antibiotics are helping at all) we went to Tim's brother's house for a family get-together which was lovely. I am going to enjoy living nearer to them. Then we drove home this morning with plans to get some packing done but mostly collapsed. Nevertheless, an enjoyable and productive weekend.
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Two months!
Wednesday:
Moving in two months!
Another bad night, with pain keeping me awake from about 4am. It's definitely not as bad as it was, say, last Thursday night (the worst night by far), but it is still very disruptive. Painkillers help me doze eventually but no really good sleep. I was unable to get an appointment with my doctor today (I have one booked for next Tuesday but they hold a few spaces open each day for whoever calls the millisecond they open the phones), I'll try again tomorrow.
The cleaner came this morning so I bustled around getting things off the floor. I don't pre-clean for the cleaner but it's hard for him to do his job when there's Lego blocks everywhere. It wasn't quite so bad today because we have moved some things back out to the rumpus room, it's less cluttered in here.
I spent the rest of the morning looking at houses online. There wasn't anything I really liked in the area where we can afford a nice house. A couple of suburbs along towards the coast and nice houses are suddenly $1.3 million! We are looking in an area near my brother-in-law, but closer to train lines than he is.
Then Tim called to say he'd been discussing the move at work and they have settled on a start date only two months away! Which I am all for, I wanted sooner rather than later. Exciting and a bit scary. I'm really glad we've already had all this work done to the house recently, it's that much less to do. I went out and got a few boxes to start packing up non-essentials. I started with clothes that are too small for me! I filled a bag to give to the Salvos, but also a packing box of items I love and hope to wear again one day.
Just before I went out, it started snowing! It's only the third time I've ever seen snow here, and all three times there have been obvious flakes but they melt before they hit the ground. Still exciting. I certainly noticed how cold it was when I went out straight afterwards, and again in the evening taking Jasmine to her dance lesson.
I am so much better emotionally today. Ready to tackle the challenge of moving.
Moving in two months!
Another bad night, with pain keeping me awake from about 4am. It's definitely not as bad as it was, say, last Thursday night (the worst night by far), but it is still very disruptive. Painkillers help me doze eventually but no really good sleep. I was unable to get an appointment with my doctor today (I have one booked for next Tuesday but they hold a few spaces open each day for whoever calls the millisecond they open the phones), I'll try again tomorrow.
The cleaner came this morning so I bustled around getting things off the floor. I don't pre-clean for the cleaner but it's hard for him to do his job when there's Lego blocks everywhere. It wasn't quite so bad today because we have moved some things back out to the rumpus room, it's less cluttered in here.
I spent the rest of the morning looking at houses online. There wasn't anything I really liked in the area where we can afford a nice house. A couple of suburbs along towards the coast and nice houses are suddenly $1.3 million! We are looking in an area near my brother-in-law, but closer to train lines than he is.
Then Tim called to say he'd been discussing the move at work and they have settled on a start date only two months away! Which I am all for, I wanted sooner rather than later. Exciting and a bit scary. I'm really glad we've already had all this work done to the house recently, it's that much less to do. I went out and got a few boxes to start packing up non-essentials. I started with clothes that are too small for me! I filled a bag to give to the Salvos, but also a packing box of items I love and hope to wear again one day.
Just before I went out, it started snowing! It's only the third time I've ever seen snow here, and all three times there have been obvious flakes but they melt before they hit the ground. Still exciting. I certainly noticed how cold it was when I went out straight afterwards, and again in the evening taking Jasmine to her dance lesson.
I am so much better emotionally today. Ready to tackle the challenge of moving.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Ultrasound and Sydney
Tuesday:
OMG what a stressful day. In summary, the ultrasound showed nothing, and we're going to Sydney!
I woke this morning feeling depressed. Scared maybe, about what the ultrasound could show? Tired, even though last night wasn't too bad, and struggling to cope. Knowing there was no use trying to lose weight, I've been trying for twenty years with no success whatsoever. Why bother? Yes I know I have sleep apnoea and almost-diabetes, but it's not like I haven't tried. I've tried and tried and tried. And failed and failed and failed. If I can't be thin and happy maybe I should try to be fat and happy instead of fat and miserable.
But of course fat and happy is not so easy. Maybe some people can be healthy at any size, but I am tired and sick a lot of the time and I think obesity is the cause of most/all of that. I can't be happy while I'm sick and exhausted. So I am fat and unhappy, the worst of both sides. Depressed and defeated.
That was how I started the day.
My ultrasound was at 1:20 and I chose not to eat lunch beforehand. I had been comfort snacking all morning anyway. I filled up with water two hours before as required (you need a full bladder for a pelvic ultrasound, which is particularly unpleasant when you're pregnant but never comfortable), then drove to the appointment. Just as I got there I realised I didn't have my doctor referral with me. I started leaking tears. I parked and ran in to tell them but there was a long queue so I ran back out to the car to drive home and get it. Tears turned into uncontrolled sobbing. My bladder was full enough to hurt, I was going to be late for my appointment, I couldn't cope with life, I got every single red light on the way home. I cried all the way. I was just feeling completely overwhelmed. At home, I had to urinate. No way I could keep holding on. I sculled another glass of water, got the referral and drove back, about 25 minutes late. At least I managed to stop crying.
They had already taken in the person scheduled after me. So I had to wait. And wait. My bladder was bursting again, I hadn't had lunch, and I was starting to worry I wouldn't get home before the children finished school. I told the receptionist I had to urinate and she advised me to count to four then stand up which would stop the flow, so that my bladder wouldn't completely empty. By the time my radiologist (?is that the title?) got me from the waiting room, I was uncomfortably full again. And had to endure having my bladder and stomach pressed in various directions. With an ultrasound looking from the outside in, then the inside further in (what fun). Then wait while she went and got her supervisor because she couldn't find one of my ovaries. He couldn't find it either. (The same thing happened two years ago, but it was the opposite ovary they couldn't find. I do have two. I asked if it was my fat getting in the way, but no, they are just very small organs. Volume of one cubic centimetre.) I haven't got the official report yet, but they said they couldn't find anything that would cause my pelvic pain. Which is good news, I think. Maybe the blood test will show something, but the pain has greatly reduced over the past couple of days so hopefully it was a temporary ailment. And finally I got to empty my bladder!
I really wanted to pick up some take-away food for lunch but had to rush home and just made it before the kids, I passed them a couple of doors down. Because of a mis-communication with my friend, who knew I wasn't well, and her husband, who didn't know, two little friends of my children came home with them. I didn't mind really because the children play very well, have no need of supervision at their age, and all I had to do was put out some food and leave them to it. But I really needed a proper lunch, yet didn't want to either eat a meal in front of them all without offering, nor cook something for five people instead of one. I ended up just snacking. Not the best plan, I likely wasn't thinking at my best. I was exhausted and hungry and stressed, a bad combination.
I gratefully snuggled down in my armchair with my book and a lap-rug and then my husband rang. After checking how I was, he announced that the move to Sydney was happening. He doesn't actually have it in writing yet, nor a start date, but apparently all parties have approved. So we're moving! I have said I want it to be any time before Christmas, so I guess 3-4 months. I admit I'm more tired and overwhelmed right now than excited, but it's definitely a good thing. It's what I wanted. Time to start looking at houses again!
What a day.
Oh, one more thing. You remember my rumpus room, that was all finished and we put our stuff back out there on the weekend? (No, the roof hasn't started leaking again.) Well a guy from the parent company that hired all the contractors for our insurance-covered work called this morning and wanted to check out the quality of the job that had been done, and I said he was welcome to. He came and approved the nice new ceiling, and the paint job on the two white walls, but frowned at a little bit of white paint and/or plaster dust that had got on one of the two wooden walls. So now he's sending someone out to re-stain those two walls! They are coming Thursday. Not finished after all. I'll have to get Tim to move some boxes away from the walls a bit. I don't know if they are genuinely concerned about doing the perfect job, or if they are milking the insurance company for everything they can. I should probably tell them that the door sticks a bit! The saga continues.
I just checked and my ultrasound results are already up on the website (so awesome they have that feature! obviously I have a password to log in, it's secure, and I don't have to wait to see my doctor to start looking up the tricky words.) "No evidence of any pelvic mass." Those are the important words. Both this ultrasound and the one two years ago mention probable adenomyosis, which means some of my uterine lining is growing into the muscle wall. It can cause pain during heavy periods but doesn't seem to fit with current symptoms.
OMG what a stressful day. In summary, the ultrasound showed nothing, and we're going to Sydney!
I woke this morning feeling depressed. Scared maybe, about what the ultrasound could show? Tired, even though last night wasn't too bad, and struggling to cope. Knowing there was no use trying to lose weight, I've been trying for twenty years with no success whatsoever. Why bother? Yes I know I have sleep apnoea and almost-diabetes, but it's not like I haven't tried. I've tried and tried and tried. And failed and failed and failed. If I can't be thin and happy maybe I should try to be fat and happy instead of fat and miserable.
But of course fat and happy is not so easy. Maybe some people can be healthy at any size, but I am tired and sick a lot of the time and I think obesity is the cause of most/all of that. I can't be happy while I'm sick and exhausted. So I am fat and unhappy, the worst of both sides. Depressed and defeated.
That was how I started the day.
My ultrasound was at 1:20 and I chose not to eat lunch beforehand. I had been comfort snacking all morning anyway. I filled up with water two hours before as required (you need a full bladder for a pelvic ultrasound, which is particularly unpleasant when you're pregnant but never comfortable), then drove to the appointment. Just as I got there I realised I didn't have my doctor referral with me. I started leaking tears. I parked and ran in to tell them but there was a long queue so I ran back out to the car to drive home and get it. Tears turned into uncontrolled sobbing. My bladder was full enough to hurt, I was going to be late for my appointment, I couldn't cope with life, I got every single red light on the way home. I cried all the way. I was just feeling completely overwhelmed. At home, I had to urinate. No way I could keep holding on. I sculled another glass of water, got the referral and drove back, about 25 minutes late. At least I managed to stop crying.
They had already taken in the person scheduled after me. So I had to wait. And wait. My bladder was bursting again, I hadn't had lunch, and I was starting to worry I wouldn't get home before the children finished school. I told the receptionist I had to urinate and she advised me to count to four then stand up which would stop the flow, so that my bladder wouldn't completely empty. By the time my radiologist (?is that the title?) got me from the waiting room, I was uncomfortably full again. And had to endure having my bladder and stomach pressed in various directions. With an ultrasound looking from the outside in, then the inside further in (what fun). Then wait while she went and got her supervisor because she couldn't find one of my ovaries. He couldn't find it either. (The same thing happened two years ago, but it was the opposite ovary they couldn't find. I do have two. I asked if it was my fat getting in the way, but no, they are just very small organs. Volume of one cubic centimetre.) I haven't got the official report yet, but they said they couldn't find anything that would cause my pelvic pain. Which is good news, I think. Maybe the blood test will show something, but the pain has greatly reduced over the past couple of days so hopefully it was a temporary ailment. And finally I got to empty my bladder!
I really wanted to pick up some take-away food for lunch but had to rush home and just made it before the kids, I passed them a couple of doors down. Because of a mis-communication with my friend, who knew I wasn't well, and her husband, who didn't know, two little friends of my children came home with them. I didn't mind really because the children play very well, have no need of supervision at their age, and all I had to do was put out some food and leave them to it. But I really needed a proper lunch, yet didn't want to either eat a meal in front of them all without offering, nor cook something for five people instead of one. I ended up just snacking. Not the best plan, I likely wasn't thinking at my best. I was exhausted and hungry and stressed, a bad combination.
I gratefully snuggled down in my armchair with my book and a lap-rug and then my husband rang. After checking how I was, he announced that the move to Sydney was happening. He doesn't actually have it in writing yet, nor a start date, but apparently all parties have approved. So we're moving! I have said I want it to be any time before Christmas, so I guess 3-4 months. I admit I'm more tired and overwhelmed right now than excited, but it's definitely a good thing. It's what I wanted. Time to start looking at houses again!
What a day.
Oh, one more thing. You remember my rumpus room, that was all finished and we put our stuff back out there on the weekend? (No, the roof hasn't started leaking again.) Well a guy from the parent company that hired all the contractors for our insurance-covered work called this morning and wanted to check out the quality of the job that had been done, and I said he was welcome to. He came and approved the nice new ceiling, and the paint job on the two white walls, but frowned at a little bit of white paint and/or plaster dust that had got on one of the two wooden walls. So now he's sending someone out to re-stain those two walls! They are coming Thursday. Not finished after all. I'll have to get Tim to move some boxes away from the walls a bit. I don't know if they are genuinely concerned about doing the perfect job, or if they are milking the insurance company for everything they can. I should probably tell them that the door sticks a bit! The saga continues.
I just checked and my ultrasound results are already up on the website (so awesome they have that feature! obviously I have a password to log in, it's secure, and I don't have to wait to see my doctor to start looking up the tricky words.) "No evidence of any pelvic mass." Those are the important words. Both this ultrasound and the one two years ago mention probable adenomyosis, which means some of my uterine lining is growing into the muscle wall. It can cause pain during heavy periods but doesn't seem to fit with current symptoms.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Out and about
Monday:
I had lots of plans for the day, although life got in the way a bit first. Tim had a problem with his bike so I drove him to work, which wasn't a problem, but then I decided to change my plans because I was over that side of the lake now. I went to the Art Gallery so I could work on editing my novel in the café there. After some trouble getting into the car park, I realised that in fact the place didn't open for another hour! So I ended up going with my original plan and headed over to the café at the Arboretum.
There is such a beautiful view from the windows. I first sat for an hour with my pot of tea and looked out the window and played games on my iPhone. This was definitely not wasted time, I was more relaxed and happy than I had been for a couple of weeks since I got sick, and I really enjoyed it. Still a sore throat today, but otherwise much better.
I then did some work on my manuscript, not a lot but it was a good start considering I haven't even looked at it since dad got sick.
It was a lovely mild winter's day, the only unpleasant bit was this entrance to the café, the approach is always frigid like the Ice King's morning breath. I think it forms a wind tunnel or something, and it's already on top of a mountain!
After my editing session, I went out for a walk among the trees. Some of them had woolly jumpers on, I think as an art installation rather than to keep them warm.
I took it pretty easy, but the whole area is on a steep hillside so there was a fair bit of up and down. I walked for about half an hour and enjoyed it! Such a lovely location.
I had lunch at the food court of the shopping centre and chose a Taiwanese chicken stir fry with a side of vegetables instead of rice. I ate half the chicken and all my broccoli. Then did the grocery shopping and came home.
I didn't blog yesterday, I didn't do much. I did eat some cake, and mentioned to Tim that I hadn't eaten any bread at lunchtime (we had steak sandwiches, I ate mine without the bread) as if that made it ok and he nearly wet himself laughing. I guess I didn't exactly mean cake was a good choice, or a better option than bread, I was just pointing out that I didn't have both.
We spent some time looking at houses for sale in Sydney. I printed out a floor plan that I thought was ideal for us (ie not just the right number of rooms, but things like having the kids' bedrooms near ours instead of right up the other end of the house or on a different floor), and then we found a house with almost that exact floor plan that had just been listed, in the area we want, probably in our price range (I rang the agent) although it's hard to be sure because it is going to auction and it's very competitive in Sydney at the moment. I really need to stop falling in love with houses I've only seen on the internet. But at least I have all the pleasure of loving them, while it lasts. We have a month to get there and see it before the auction, maybe they will take an offer before then? Can't next weekend, we have all of Tim's family visiting us. Anyway, we haven't got a definite yes from his work yet.
I have a lot of fun planning a move, and thinking about where the furniture will go and everything. And I'm not crushed if something (like Norfolk Island) doesn't end up happening. But while we are still in the planning stage, I do have some anxiety about someone else buying the house I want before I can grab it!
My other annoyance is that the tiling guy still hasn't come back, even though when I called last week they said by the end of that week. I need to get the ceiling fixed! And it's going to rain again this week, too.
I haven't posted photos of the new curtains yet. This is what the old ones looked like:
I haven't been able to get a photo that shows the true colours of the new ones, but the lounge and kitchen are a greyish blue:
Close-up pattern (yes that is the same as the previous picture!):
The study and games room are "string" colour, which I would call pale gold:
With the same pattern:
Sorry, that was the best I could do. They look quite elegant in real life.
Report card:
Diet: Mostly good.
Exercise: Good!
Water: Good, I'll get there by tonight.
Sleep: I thought I was very restless but I didn't feel tired today so I could be wrong. Wasn't wearing my fitbit for thrashing-around stats.
Mental health: Good.
I had lots of plans for the day, although life got in the way a bit first. Tim had a problem with his bike so I drove him to work, which wasn't a problem, but then I decided to change my plans because I was over that side of the lake now. I went to the Art Gallery so I could work on editing my novel in the café there. After some trouble getting into the car park, I realised that in fact the place didn't open for another hour! So I ended up going with my original plan and headed over to the café at the Arboretum.
There is such a beautiful view from the windows. I first sat for an hour with my pot of tea and looked out the window and played games on my iPhone. This was definitely not wasted time, I was more relaxed and happy than I had been for a couple of weeks since I got sick, and I really enjoyed it. Still a sore throat today, but otherwise much better.
It was a lovely mild winter's day, the only unpleasant bit was this entrance to the café, the approach is always frigid like the Ice King's morning breath. I think it forms a wind tunnel or something, and it's already on top of a mountain!
After my editing session, I went out for a walk among the trees. Some of them had woolly jumpers on, I think as an art installation rather than to keep them warm.
I took it pretty easy, but the whole area is on a steep hillside so there was a fair bit of up and down. I walked for about half an hour and enjoyed it! Such a lovely location.
I had lunch at the food court of the shopping centre and chose a Taiwanese chicken stir fry with a side of vegetables instead of rice. I ate half the chicken and all my broccoli. Then did the grocery shopping and came home.
I didn't blog yesterday, I didn't do much. I did eat some cake, and mentioned to Tim that I hadn't eaten any bread at lunchtime (we had steak sandwiches, I ate mine without the bread) as if that made it ok and he nearly wet himself laughing. I guess I didn't exactly mean cake was a good choice, or a better option than bread, I was just pointing out that I didn't have both.
We spent some time looking at houses for sale in Sydney. I printed out a floor plan that I thought was ideal for us (ie not just the right number of rooms, but things like having the kids' bedrooms near ours instead of right up the other end of the house or on a different floor), and then we found a house with almost that exact floor plan that had just been listed, in the area we want, probably in our price range (I rang the agent) although it's hard to be sure because it is going to auction and it's very competitive in Sydney at the moment. I really need to stop falling in love with houses I've only seen on the internet. But at least I have all the pleasure of loving them, while it lasts. We have a month to get there and see it before the auction, maybe they will take an offer before then? Can't next weekend, we have all of Tim's family visiting us. Anyway, we haven't got a definite yes from his work yet.
I have a lot of fun planning a move, and thinking about where the furniture will go and everything. And I'm not crushed if something (like Norfolk Island) doesn't end up happening. But while we are still in the planning stage, I do have some anxiety about someone else buying the house I want before I can grab it!
My other annoyance is that the tiling guy still hasn't come back, even though when I called last week they said by the end of that week. I need to get the ceiling fixed! And it's going to rain again this week, too.
I haven't posted photos of the new curtains yet. This is what the old ones looked like:
I haven't been able to get a photo that shows the true colours of the new ones, but the lounge and kitchen are a greyish blue:
Close-up pattern (yes that is the same as the previous picture!):
The study and games room are "string" colour, which I would call pale gold:
With the same pattern:
Sorry, that was the best I could do. They look quite elegant in real life.
Report card:
Diet: Mostly good.
Exercise: Good!
Water: Good, I'll get there by tonight.
Sleep: I thought I was very restless but I didn't feel tired today so I could be wrong. Wasn't wearing my fitbit for thrashing-around stats.
Mental health: Good.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Sydney?
Wednesday:
It was a freezing cold and drizzly day so we didn't get out much, just to the library. I don't feel too guilty about this because Tim is taking the next couple of days off so he can be the fun parent!
Our cleaner came this morning (Jasmine commented that we now have a gardener and a cleaner! Makes us sound very posh, doesn't it) so I rushed around first trying to tidy a bit so he would have clear surfaces to clean. It's nice having a sparkling kitchen and bathrooms. Five minutes after the cleaner left Aiden raided the recycling box armed with a pair of scissors so the lounge no longer looks freshly vacuumed. Bits of cardboard everywhere.
We all did some colouring-in,
...
I was typing away when Tim called, firstly to say he would be home really late tonight (to make up for taking the next two days off) but secondly that he has practically been offered a move to Sydney, to a different section within his current government department. He asked for it months ago and things have been moving very slowly but it is suddenly looking like it might actually happen! Not absolutely certain yet. We've been wavering about moving to Sydney, partly because of the horrible house prices there - they have gone up 25% in the past year, but have decided to go for it if this is our chance. I am keen to move, I really want a change. Even if it is to a bigger more expensive city with more traffic and pollution! We'd be nearer family, and the beach, and all the conveniences and entertainments of a real city. And it has a much milder climate, usually, than here. As I feel my fingers and toes slowly freezing, even inside with ducted gas heating, that is a big plus for me right now! If it happens, it would be whenever Tim negotiates with his current boss. Three months? Jasmine would get to do her big dance concert here but still start her new High School along with everyone else, which I think is important.
Funny that the movie we saw yesterday, Inside Out, was about an eleven year old girl going through the trauma of moving to a new city...
I don't think I'll be ordering a new fridge in the next few days.
It's good the house is almost ready for sale. Except that stupid hole in the roof.
But I'm not counting on moving until it is certain.
...
Ok back to today. Oh yes, colouring-in:
Then the library to get a big stack of books, some unhealthy takeaway lunch, and an afternoon hanging around the house. More colouring-in, reading, watching some TV, I did some paperwork relating to dad's estate. No exercise, which is bad. And the lunch was unhealthy (fried chicken, and a few chips) but I am still kind of proud that I resisted a lot of other things all day - I really wanted to go out and buy some cake. The weather actually helped keep me away from my favourite cake shop! And couldn't be bothered baking one myself. A small win.
Report card:
Diet: Poor lunch, good the rest of the day.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Poor.
Sleep: Poor.
Mental health: A bit overexcited right now.
That report card looks really bad, but maybe a few of the categories could be given a more generous "ok" rather than "poor". I don't really feel like I did that badly today. It was just a quiet day.
It was a freezing cold and drizzly day so we didn't get out much, just to the library. I don't feel too guilty about this because Tim is taking the next couple of days off so he can be the fun parent!
Our cleaner came this morning (Jasmine commented that we now have a gardener and a cleaner! Makes us sound very posh, doesn't it) so I rushed around first trying to tidy a bit so he would have clear surfaces to clean. It's nice having a sparkling kitchen and bathrooms. Five minutes after the cleaner left Aiden raided the recycling box armed with a pair of scissors so the lounge no longer looks freshly vacuumed. Bits of cardboard everywhere.
We all did some colouring-in,
...
I was typing away when Tim called, firstly to say he would be home really late tonight (to make up for taking the next two days off) but secondly that he has practically been offered a move to Sydney, to a different section within his current government department. He asked for it months ago and things have been moving very slowly but it is suddenly looking like it might actually happen! Not absolutely certain yet. We've been wavering about moving to Sydney, partly because of the horrible house prices there - they have gone up 25% in the past year, but have decided to go for it if this is our chance. I am keen to move, I really want a change. Even if it is to a bigger more expensive city with more traffic and pollution! We'd be nearer family, and the beach, and all the conveniences and entertainments of a real city. And it has a much milder climate, usually, than here. As I feel my fingers and toes slowly freezing, even inside with ducted gas heating, that is a big plus for me right now! If it happens, it would be whenever Tim negotiates with his current boss. Three months? Jasmine would get to do her big dance concert here but still start her new High School along with everyone else, which I think is important.
Funny that the movie we saw yesterday, Inside Out, was about an eleven year old girl going through the trauma of moving to a new city...
I don't think I'll be ordering a new fridge in the next few days.
It's good the house is almost ready for sale. Except that stupid hole in the roof.
But I'm not counting on moving until it is certain.
...
Ok back to today. Oh yes, colouring-in:
Then the library to get a big stack of books, some unhealthy takeaway lunch, and an afternoon hanging around the house. More colouring-in, reading, watching some TV, I did some paperwork relating to dad's estate. No exercise, which is bad. And the lunch was unhealthy (fried chicken, and a few chips) but I am still kind of proud that I resisted a lot of other things all day - I really wanted to go out and buy some cake. The weather actually helped keep me away from my favourite cake shop! And couldn't be bothered baking one myself. A small win.
Report card:
Diet: Poor lunch, good the rest of the day.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Poor.
Sleep: Poor.
Mental health: A bit overexcited right now.
That report card looks really bad, but maybe a few of the categories could be given a more generous "ok" rather than "poor". I don't really feel like I did that badly today. It was just a quiet day.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Home again
Sunday:
I'm home! It was a challenging weekend in terms of diet. I think I did ok.
We had McDonalds for lunch on the way to Sydney yesterday. Six nuggets and medium fries. We went to my brother's house for afternoon tea, the main reason for going to Sydney this particular weekend was to get some paperwork regarding mum's estate done. As usual, Darren was annoyingly pedantic (he has obsessive compulsive disorder) but we got it done. We took cake because it was his birthday three weeks ago, I had about three bites of mud cake and a cup of tea.
The weather was closing in fast so we left a bit earlier than we had planned, trying to get to my brother-in-law's house before the storm. But about ten minutes after we left the hail hit! We were stuck on the motorway. Everyone drove very slowly and carefully, the hail was like snow all over the road but at least the individual pieces were only marble-size or smaller so the car didn't seem in danger. We got through it ok. The kids thought it was great fun!
I avoided most of the pre-dinner food, then enjoyed my dinner and dessert and had nothing afterwards. It certainly wasn't an ideal food day, even for a so-called "free day" but kept the eating relatively restrained and I think it compared well to other weekend trips.
During the evening chat with family, my father-in-law mentioned he is planning on moving away from Sydney now that he is wrapping up his business. We already knew that my brother-in-law Nick and his wife are likely to go and live in China for a while soon (Ping is Chinese). My main reason for wanting to move to Sydney was my mum, but she is gone now. It feels like any reasons we had for moving to Sydney are being taken away. Also Tim's allergies flared up as they often do when we visit Sydney - I drove all the way home because his eyes were sore. We are feeling a bit adrift about where we want to spent the next stage of our lives.
Ping and I went to bed early, leaving the boys up to chat. But my father-in-law Des is so loud! I could hear every single word loud and clear. He gets very excited about politics and basically shouts at people even when he is agreeing with them. I wandered out sometime after midnight, when I'd been trying to sleep for a couple of hours, and hinted (with facial expression, I didn't need to say anything) that it was time to end the discussion. Even with Des gone home it was a horribly restless night on that uncomfortable bed that I have ranted about before. We are going to buy a foam mattress to put on top next time, we can just leave it there. It was Ping's parents who chose the concrete slab. All the beds in China were the same when we visited.
And no CPAP. I know I said even travel wouldn't stop me using it, but there is just nowhere to plug it in where I sleep. My fitbit stats show I got some good solid sleep in between 2 and 4 am, so that is something!
Today the diet started off a bit rocky. I was expecting Ping's usual offering of bacon, eggs, fruit, crumpets and cereal, as a buffet - lots of choice and easy to fit into my diet. But today she decided to make French toast for everyone, made with soft white bread so basically pure sweet carbohydrate. My children both tasted and rejected it and I didn't feel that I could. Her toddler was screaming, she was stressed, I wasn't going to ask her to find something else for me or insult her by offering to cook something myself. I know that my health is just as important as not hurting her feelings but sometimes that's a choice you make under the circumstances. I only had one slice.
I tried to get the day back on track and stick as close to my rules as possible, and the rest of the day was fine (high carb day).
Water was a big fail yesterday. I don't like to drink much on car trips because finding a rest stop every 20 minutes is inconvenient and sometimes impossible. I tried to make up for it a bit later but not so much I was running to the bathroom so I didn't catch up very much. Dry sore throat all night. I used to drink that much or less all the time and never felt thirsty! But now my body is used to getting more. Today again very little before/during driving home, worked on catching up when safe in my
own house. Ten glasses, so I should be rehydrated.
I have no idea what the scale will say tomorrow.
Report card:
Diet: Good. I'm happy with how I stuck to my plan, but I think I could do better, maybe taking along snacks next time.
Exercise: Poor. It was a busy weekend, but I made no effort whatsoever to fit in exercise.
Water: Poor yesterday, good today.
Sleep: Terrible.
Mental health: Good. It was mostly a nice weekend.
I'm home! It was a challenging weekend in terms of diet. I think I did ok.
We had McDonalds for lunch on the way to Sydney yesterday. Six nuggets and medium fries. We went to my brother's house for afternoon tea, the main reason for going to Sydney this particular weekend was to get some paperwork regarding mum's estate done. As usual, Darren was annoyingly pedantic (he has obsessive compulsive disorder) but we got it done. We took cake because it was his birthday three weeks ago, I had about three bites of mud cake and a cup of tea.
The weather was closing in fast so we left a bit earlier than we had planned, trying to get to my brother-in-law's house before the storm. But about ten minutes after we left the hail hit! We were stuck on the motorway. Everyone drove very slowly and carefully, the hail was like snow all over the road but at least the individual pieces were only marble-size or smaller so the car didn't seem in danger. We got through it ok. The kids thought it was great fun!
I avoided most of the pre-dinner food, then enjoyed my dinner and dessert and had nothing afterwards. It certainly wasn't an ideal food day, even for a so-called "free day" but kept the eating relatively restrained and I think it compared well to other weekend trips.
During the evening chat with family, my father-in-law mentioned he is planning on moving away from Sydney now that he is wrapping up his business. We already knew that my brother-in-law Nick and his wife are likely to go and live in China for a while soon (Ping is Chinese). My main reason for wanting to move to Sydney was my mum, but she is gone now. It feels like any reasons we had for moving to Sydney are being taken away. Also Tim's allergies flared up as they often do when we visit Sydney - I drove all the way home because his eyes were sore. We are feeling a bit adrift about where we want to spent the next stage of our lives.
Ping and I went to bed early, leaving the boys up to chat. But my father-in-law Des is so loud! I could hear every single word loud and clear. He gets very excited about politics and basically shouts at people even when he is agreeing with them. I wandered out sometime after midnight, when I'd been trying to sleep for a couple of hours, and hinted (with facial expression, I didn't need to say anything) that it was time to end the discussion. Even with Des gone home it was a horribly restless night on that uncomfortable bed that I have ranted about before. We are going to buy a foam mattress to put on top next time, we can just leave it there. It was Ping's parents who chose the concrete slab. All the beds in China were the same when we visited.
And no CPAP. I know I said even travel wouldn't stop me using it, but there is just nowhere to plug it in where I sleep. My fitbit stats show I got some good solid sleep in between 2 and 4 am, so that is something!
Today the diet started off a bit rocky. I was expecting Ping's usual offering of bacon, eggs, fruit, crumpets and cereal, as a buffet - lots of choice and easy to fit into my diet. But today she decided to make French toast for everyone, made with soft white bread so basically pure sweet carbohydrate. My children both tasted and rejected it and I didn't feel that I could. Her toddler was screaming, she was stressed, I wasn't going to ask her to find something else for me or insult her by offering to cook something myself. I know that my health is just as important as not hurting her feelings but sometimes that's a choice you make under the circumstances. I only had one slice.
I tried to get the day back on track and stick as close to my rules as possible, and the rest of the day was fine (high carb day).
Water was a big fail yesterday. I don't like to drink much on car trips because finding a rest stop every 20 minutes is inconvenient and sometimes impossible. I tried to make up for it a bit later but not so much I was running to the bathroom so I didn't catch up very much. Dry sore throat all night. I used to drink that much or less all the time and never felt thirsty! But now my body is used to getting more. Today again very little before/during driving home, worked on catching up when safe in my
own house. Ten glasses, so I should be rehydrated.
I have no idea what the scale will say tomorrow.
Report card:
Diet: Good. I'm happy with how I stuck to my plan, but I think I could do better, maybe taking along snacks next time.
Exercise: Poor. It was a busy weekend, but I made no effort whatsoever to fit in exercise.
Water: Poor yesterday, good today.
Sleep: Terrible.
Mental health: Good. It was mostly a nice weekend.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Turning two
Sunday:
Wow, that was a long day. As usual I struggled with sleeping on the stone slab that is my brother-in-law's spare bed ( to be fair, his own bed is the same) and Tim and I were exhausted in the morning. One big benefit of moving to Sydney would be that we could easily go home after a visit and not have to stay the night!
As we hadn't pre-arranged things with real estate agents, they were all unavailable and we couldn't see any houses. Who closes on Sunday these days? I would have thought they would do most of their business on weekends. But next time we travel up we'll plan and call ahead, maybe drive up Friday night so we can go to all the open houses on Saturday morning.
Since we were at a loose end, we went up to the newly renovated huge shopping mall nearby, sat and had a much-needed cup of tea, walked around a bit, let the kids play on a cool indoor playground, and had lunch.
Then we went back to my brother-in-law's house, where my niece was fresh after her nap, and helped set up for her 2nd birthday party.
The party was nice, mostly family, then the long drive home. We couldn't stomach any more fast food so we waited until we got back to Canberra and went to a proper restaurant for Thai food even though it was pretty late for the kids to be eating dinner.
Report card:
Diet: Ok I guess. Had some party stuff. Didn't overdo it. But I think there was a lot of sugar in one of the Thai dishes, I can feel it. Definitely not a healthy food weekend.
Exercise: Ok. 7,500 steps walking around the shops. Not bad under the circumstances.
Water: Terrible again. Really going to work on this tomorrow.
Sleep: Terrible.
Mental health: Better.
As usual after an unhealthy weekend, I am so ready to recommit! But I need to plan better for these weekends away. It wasn't so bad when we only travelled every second month or so, but it has been much more frequent lately. What really annoys me is that I'm not even eating delicious indulgence calories! It's yuck food that is terrible for me and I don't even like.
Next weekend we are at home but everyone is visiting us for Tim's 40th birthday, and it's also my sister-in-law's birthday the following day. So I'll be catering for cocktails and cake, and also at least seven houseguests. At least I'm in control of the food!
I will leave you with a photo of "the castle" so you can see why we named the house that. I still look at it and think "if only..." but it really wasn't right for us on the inside.
Wow, that was a long day. As usual I struggled with sleeping on the stone slab that is my brother-in-law's spare bed ( to be fair, his own bed is the same) and Tim and I were exhausted in the morning. One big benefit of moving to Sydney would be that we could easily go home after a visit and not have to stay the night!
As we hadn't pre-arranged things with real estate agents, they were all unavailable and we couldn't see any houses. Who closes on Sunday these days? I would have thought they would do most of their business on weekends. But next time we travel up we'll plan and call ahead, maybe drive up Friday night so we can go to all the open houses on Saturday morning.
Since we were at a loose end, we went up to the newly renovated huge shopping mall nearby, sat and had a much-needed cup of tea, walked around a bit, let the kids play on a cool indoor playground, and had lunch.
Then we went back to my brother-in-law's house, where my niece was fresh after her nap, and helped set up for her 2nd birthday party.
The party was nice, mostly family, then the long drive home. We couldn't stomach any more fast food so we waited until we got back to Canberra and went to a proper restaurant for Thai food even though it was pretty late for the kids to be eating dinner.
Report card:
Diet: Ok I guess. Had some party stuff. Didn't overdo it. But I think there was a lot of sugar in one of the Thai dishes, I can feel it. Definitely not a healthy food weekend.
Exercise: Ok. 7,500 steps walking around the shops. Not bad under the circumstances.
Water: Terrible again. Really going to work on this tomorrow.
Sleep: Terrible.
Mental health: Better.
As usual after an unhealthy weekend, I am so ready to recommit! But I need to plan better for these weekends away. It wasn't so bad when we only travelled every second month or so, but it has been much more frequent lately. What really annoys me is that I'm not even eating delicious indulgence calories! It's yuck food that is terrible for me and I don't even like.
Next weekend we are at home but everyone is visiting us for Tim's 40th birthday, and it's also my sister-in-law's birthday the following day. So I'll be catering for cocktails and cake, and also at least seven houseguests. At least I'm in control of the food!
I will leave you with a photo of "the castle" so you can see why we named the house that. I still look at it and think "if only..." but it really wasn't right for us on the inside.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The Castle
Tuesday:
I got to the gym this morning and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. Did the grocery shopping. Went to a friend's house after school, reaching 10,000 steps on the way home. A few miscellaneous tasks, but no writing today. Tomorrow I get feedback from my writing group about my novel! Scary and exciting.
We've been thinking about moving to Sydney for years, it's where both Tim and I grew up and where most of our extended families still live. We travel back and forth a lot. I particularly wanted to be near mum when she got sick, obviously that ship has sailed but there are still reasons to move back there. The problem has been that Tim has a job that is fairly specific to our nation's capital; finding anything reasonably equivalent elsewhere is almost impossible so moving would probably mean a pay cut. But his job is very stressful so maybe taking a step back wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Well he hasn't found a new job in Sydney yet but he is far enough along in his thinking that he was looking for houses online the other day. And we found one that I kind of fell in love with. We haven't seen it in person and there is not a comprehensive group of pictures online, only six - and three of those are outside! But the more I look at it the more I want it, enough to try to arrange to go see it. The inside has everything we want. The real estate agent responded by saying they have had an offer, that we are welcome to top, and that they can't arrange a viewing at times convenient to us. Tricky that we live nearly four hours away. And Tim doesn't have a new job yet. Should probably wait and see what is available when we are ready.
But.
I want it.
Oh well, probably for the best. It has its faults, and probably a lot more that we don't even know about yet.
The thing is, it looks like a castle. It's on a small steep block, three stories tall and very square with actual crenulations around the top like a castle wall. Not everyone's cup of tea. But very definitely our cup of tea - a whole pot of tea!
Oh well. Maybe we can build our own castle.
Report card:
Diet: Great. Another afternoon tea visit where I ignored the unhealthy stuff and just had grapes. I'm looking forward to a bit of chocolate later this evening.
Exercise: Great. Sweaty hiking through virtual California, and 10,000 steps.
Water: Poor. Damn it! Can't ignore my water like that.
Sleep: Ok.
Mental health: Good.
I got to the gym this morning and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. Did the grocery shopping. Went to a friend's house after school, reaching 10,000 steps on the way home. A few miscellaneous tasks, but no writing today. Tomorrow I get feedback from my writing group about my novel! Scary and exciting.
We've been thinking about moving to Sydney for years, it's where both Tim and I grew up and where most of our extended families still live. We travel back and forth a lot. I particularly wanted to be near mum when she got sick, obviously that ship has sailed but there are still reasons to move back there. The problem has been that Tim has a job that is fairly specific to our nation's capital; finding anything reasonably equivalent elsewhere is almost impossible so moving would probably mean a pay cut. But his job is very stressful so maybe taking a step back wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Well he hasn't found a new job in Sydney yet but he is far enough along in his thinking that he was looking for houses online the other day. And we found one that I kind of fell in love with. We haven't seen it in person and there is not a comprehensive group of pictures online, only six - and three of those are outside! But the more I look at it the more I want it, enough to try to arrange to go see it. The inside has everything we want. The real estate agent responded by saying they have had an offer, that we are welcome to top, and that they can't arrange a viewing at times convenient to us. Tricky that we live nearly four hours away. And Tim doesn't have a new job yet. Should probably wait and see what is available when we are ready.
But.
I want it.
Oh well, probably for the best. It has its faults, and probably a lot more that we don't even know about yet.
The thing is, it looks like a castle. It's on a small steep block, three stories tall and very square with actual crenulations around the top like a castle wall. Not everyone's cup of tea. But very definitely our cup of tea - a whole pot of tea!
Oh well. Maybe we can build our own castle.
Report card:
Diet: Great. Another afternoon tea visit where I ignored the unhealthy stuff and just had grapes. I'm looking forward to a bit of chocolate later this evening.
Exercise: Great. Sweaty hiking through virtual California, and 10,000 steps.
Water: Poor. Damn it! Can't ignore my water like that.
Sleep: Ok.
Mental health: Good.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Gold Class
Sunday:
This weekend we drove to Sydney. My husband's cousin's baby turned one and we got up early to get to the party on time. It's an important day for little Eliza because she was born very premature, but now a year later she is absolutely fine. It was great to be there to celebrate. Originally they had planned an outdoor event but the forecast was for storms so they moved it to their tiny flat. The storm didn't eventuate until much later, so it was very hot and muggy and crowded, but still lovely to see the family.
Then my sister-in-law took charge of my children and Tim and I went off to the movies. She had bought me a gift card last Christmas and it was about to expire. It was for a "Gold Class" movie experience - where there are about 30 big armchairs in the theatre and the waiters bring you food and drinks during the movie. We hadn't used it before because the theatre was in the middle of the city - a city several hours away from our house - the idea being that part of the present was her babysitting for us. We saw Hunger Games 3. And I indulged on my food choice. They had a chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream and possibly other stuff I can't remember from the menu, all made with Lindt Swiss chocolate - my favourite brand. They brought it to me in the dark of the theatre in some kind of jar (maybe a mason jar, is that what that is? I don't understand that trend at all, a silly way to serve food) - a big jar! - and I spooned things into my mouth without being able to see what I was eating. It was utterly delicious. Except the mouthful of unadulterated cream. I would have preferred to have that shared throughout other spoonfuls. I didn't eat the whole thing, but it was probably still about a million calories. If dessert calories can ever be said to be worth it, then that was. The movie was pretty good too.
We were actually very lucky to get in at all, considering that when I booked online last Tuesday I somehow booked for that day (last Tuesday) instead of Saturday as I had intended. I had noticed the website kept reverting back to "today" but I thought I had been very careful checking I had the right day and time - right up until I handed over the printout of the ticket and saw the girl's face. Because the session was only half full they just assigned us tickets anyway, which was nice of them.
After the movie we had Thai food, a restrained amount, then went back to my sister-in-law's house. They had Just Dance going and I made myself join in. I love dancing, but I usually avoid exercise when it is so hot and humid, especially when not in gym gear. I get very uncomfortable very quickly. However, I had had plenty of extra calories that I needed to burn off, so I got up and danced. It was a really enjoyable day.
Today wasn't so fun. We went to visit my mother, who also lives in Sydney. She really isn't well. She was very tired and needed a nap even during the few hours we were there. She is eating almost nothing. She struggles to keep down even a couple of bites. I don't see how she can keep going with no food. Her next oncologist appointment is Tuesday, maybe they will have some answers. But it is very worrying. We talked about where she keeps all her financial records, and how I need to have her doctor's phone number. Preparing for the worst. If she gets too weak to look after herself does she go into hospital? Do I leave the kids here with Tim and go live with her for a while, hours away, leaving Tim to work long hours and cope without me? I don't know what is going to happen.
Long drive home. I'm feeling tired and stressed and worried.
This weekend we drove to Sydney. My husband's cousin's baby turned one and we got up early to get to the party on time. It's an important day for little Eliza because she was born very premature, but now a year later she is absolutely fine. It was great to be there to celebrate. Originally they had planned an outdoor event but the forecast was for storms so they moved it to their tiny flat. The storm didn't eventuate until much later, so it was very hot and muggy and crowded, but still lovely to see the family.
Then my sister-in-law took charge of my children and Tim and I went off to the movies. She had bought me a gift card last Christmas and it was about to expire. It was for a "Gold Class" movie experience - where there are about 30 big armchairs in the theatre and the waiters bring you food and drinks during the movie. We hadn't used it before because the theatre was in the middle of the city - a city several hours away from our house - the idea being that part of the present was her babysitting for us. We saw Hunger Games 3. And I indulged on my food choice. They had a chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream and possibly other stuff I can't remember from the menu, all made with Lindt Swiss chocolate - my favourite brand. They brought it to me in the dark of the theatre in some kind of jar (maybe a mason jar, is that what that is? I don't understand that trend at all, a silly way to serve food) - a big jar! - and I spooned things into my mouth without being able to see what I was eating. It was utterly delicious. Except the mouthful of unadulterated cream. I would have preferred to have that shared throughout other spoonfuls. I didn't eat the whole thing, but it was probably still about a million calories. If dessert calories can ever be said to be worth it, then that was. The movie was pretty good too.
We were actually very lucky to get in at all, considering that when I booked online last Tuesday I somehow booked for that day (last Tuesday) instead of Saturday as I had intended. I had noticed the website kept reverting back to "today" but I thought I had been very careful checking I had the right day and time - right up until I handed over the printout of the ticket and saw the girl's face. Because the session was only half full they just assigned us tickets anyway, which was nice of them.
After the movie we had Thai food, a restrained amount, then went back to my sister-in-law's house. They had Just Dance going and I made myself join in. I love dancing, but I usually avoid exercise when it is so hot and humid, especially when not in gym gear. I get very uncomfortable very quickly. However, I had had plenty of extra calories that I needed to burn off, so I got up and danced. It was a really enjoyable day.
Today wasn't so fun. We went to visit my mother, who also lives in Sydney. She really isn't well. She was very tired and needed a nap even during the few hours we were there. She is eating almost nothing. She struggles to keep down even a couple of bites. I don't see how she can keep going with no food. Her next oncologist appointment is Tuesday, maybe they will have some answers. But it is very worrying. We talked about where she keeps all her financial records, and how I need to have her doctor's phone number. Preparing for the worst. If she gets too weak to look after herself does she go into hospital? Do I leave the kids here with Tim and go live with her for a while, hours away, leaving Tim to work long hours and cope without me? I don't know what is going to happen.
Long drive home. I'm feeling tired and stressed and worried.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Shark thoughts
Saturday:
We were supposed to drive to Sydney last night, a 3.5--4 hour journey, but because I was unwell we decided to wait until this morning and leave early. We needed to get there by 11 today. I went to bed at 7:30 last night, before the kids, to give myself the best chance. Unfortunately this morning I was still feeling sick, so they had to go without me. I am a bit disappointed, I'll be missing some fun stuff and I also worry about Tim having to do all the driving alone, but mainly just feeling sick. Not enough to need someone to look after me, I just need to sleep or watch TV, so I am fine with them going.
Today I have four thoughts about food circling like sharks:
1. I don't feel like eating much, just some toast and instant soup will do. We have those. Anything else will probably make me feel worse.
2. Being alone in the house means I can eat whatever I want without anyone knowing. Secret eating.
3. Secret eating is why I am overweight. I need to stop doing that.
4. I wasn't expecting anyone to be home this weekend (and was also too sick for past couple of days) and didn't shop, so there is hardly any food here. Tim has the car. I won't have a lot of choice about what I'm going to eat, unless I feel well enough to walk to the shops, which I don't.
Which takes me back to point 1. You'd think being sick would shut off all the other thoughts about food, but no. I use food as a panacea for everything. Including an upset stomach and sore throat which are part of my current symptoms. I am 100% a comfort eater. Tired, sad, bored, sad, happy, excited, anxious, queasy - food calms and fixes everything! Except it usually doesn't. Except bored. It always fixes bored. Because it's a party in my mouth.
Ok I'm rambling a bit now and I haven't even taken any medication.
We were supposed to drive to Sydney last night, a 3.5--4 hour journey, but because I was unwell we decided to wait until this morning and leave early. We needed to get there by 11 today. I went to bed at 7:30 last night, before the kids, to give myself the best chance. Unfortunately this morning I was still feeling sick, so they had to go without me. I am a bit disappointed, I'll be missing some fun stuff and I also worry about Tim having to do all the driving alone, but mainly just feeling sick. Not enough to need someone to look after me, I just need to sleep or watch TV, so I am fine with them going.
Today I have four thoughts about food circling like sharks:
1. I don't feel like eating much, just some toast and instant soup will do. We have those. Anything else will probably make me feel worse.
2. Being alone in the house means I can eat whatever I want without anyone knowing. Secret eating.
3. Secret eating is why I am overweight. I need to stop doing that.
4. I wasn't expecting anyone to be home this weekend (and was also too sick for past couple of days) and didn't shop, so there is hardly any food here. Tim has the car. I won't have a lot of choice about what I'm going to eat, unless I feel well enough to walk to the shops, which I don't.
Which takes me back to point 1. You'd think being sick would shut off all the other thoughts about food, but no. I use food as a panacea for everything. Including an upset stomach and sore throat which are part of my current symptoms. I am 100% a comfort eater. Tired, sad, bored, sad, happy, excited, anxious, queasy - food calms and fixes everything! Except it usually doesn't. Except bored. It always fixes bored. Because it's a party in my mouth.
Ok I'm rambling a bit now and I haven't even taken any medication.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Comicon or Strictly Ballroom?
Sunday:
On Friday I was feeling defeated and frustrated, and I'll admit I spend the weekend eating whatever I wanted. But I'm ready to give myself a shake and trudge onwards now.
We drove up to Sydney on Friday night. Tim and the kids were going to Comicon along with a lot of Tim's family. I had no interest in that and had originally planned to stay home. But without a dog it was suddenly a lot easier for me to go along and do my own thing and then visit mum the next day. We stayed at my brother-in-law's, which was great except for the horrible guest bed which feels like you're lying on an unpadded concrete slab (their own bed is the same). I didn't sleep well.
Saturday morning they all got dressed up. Pirate husband, superman son and unidentified cute animal (from pokemon maybe?) daughter.
Doing my brother-in-law's Green Arrow make-up. My SIL was Anna from Frozen, her 18 month old daughter (not pictured) was Elsa.
We drove into the city, in two cars, after deciding it was too hard taking the pram on public transport. When we were nearly there Tim realised he'd left his ticket back at the house! He couldn't even turn around for the long drive back because he didn't have a key to his brother's house. He'd have to meet up with them first. The plan was to see if he could buy another ticket, but we didn't know if there would be any left for sale. The kids didn't need tickets, they could get in free. At this stressful point we got to my drop-off spot and after some dithering I got out of the car. Then felt so guilty for leaving him to cope! The worry coloured my next hour or so until I heard that Tim's cousin had had a spare and they eventually got in ok, after a long search for parking.
It was a cold a grey day with some rain, so after wandering through Hyde Park ...
I went into the Natural History Museum. It had skeletons,
And rocks,
And stuffed animals like this seven meter salt water crocodile,
And of course dinosaurs.
I have fond memories of walking through with Aiden holding tightly to my hands. Not scared of the dinosaurs, not really...
Then I went and had lunch at Darling Harbour. Gnocchi with duck ragu. As you can see, the place wasn't busy. It really wasn't very nice weather for strolling along the harbour front.
Ever since I decided to come to Sydney, I had planned that as a special treat I would get an éclair from a favourite chocolate shop - but I couldn't find the place. I was quite disappointed. But then as I headed over to the theatre I found an Adriano Zumbo café right next door. Zumbo is a celebrity dessert chef who has set some particularly fiendish challenges on MasterChef. I bought a slice of chocolate cake there. And then, (I call it a "café" but there were no tables, just a long counter full of pastries) I tried to eat it outside the theatre. A bit messy. I only had a few bites of the actual cake, saving it for later. But I ate the fancy bits off the top - the little passionfruit/honeycomb macaron and the meringue swirl.
Finally it was time for the big event, "Strictly Ballroom". My mum had given me money for my birthday and I hadn't spent it yet so I bought myself a ticket. This show was made into a movie quite a few years ago but I don't know if it was seen outside Australia. It's about defying the strict rules of federation ballroom dancing to do your own steps and follow your heart, and a romance (of course). It was a lot of fun. In a word, exuberant. Even the seats were sparkly.
By the time it was finished, everyone had left Comicon and were nearly home, so I caught the train as we'd planned. Only problem was my phone died! It's weird how helpless I felt without a phone. I wasn't even sure if they still had payphones at the station! Luckily they did, so I was able to call to be picked up from there.
My SIL had planned to go out to dinner with her mother's group (child free) and invited me along. It was a big leap for me, I'm a bit shy with new people and I was tired. But I thought it might be nice, and also meant I could avoid my father-in-law's favourite pastime of arguing about politics. So I went, and had a great time. The other women were lovely, and very welcoming. The food was good too, but the service quite slow so we didn't get home until after 10. The kids were peacefully asleep, the adults had finished discussing politics. I went to bed content after a good day, trying to make the best of the horrible "mattress".
And woke in the dark hours feeling sick and ended up vomiting into a laundry bucket. Urg. I don't think there was anything wrong with the food. Either my recurrent stomach bug, or an inability to cope with two days of rich food.
Felt tired and a bit unwell all today. We went to visit my mother for lunch. The kids built a tent structure out of sticks and giant leaves.
Long drive home. Dinner at a Thai restaurant on the way, which I felt ok at the beginning of and terrible at the end of. And here I am.
On Friday I was feeling defeated and frustrated, and I'll admit I spend the weekend eating whatever I wanted. But I'm ready to give myself a shake and trudge onwards now.
We drove up to Sydney on Friday night. Tim and the kids were going to Comicon along with a lot of Tim's family. I had no interest in that and had originally planned to stay home. But without a dog it was suddenly a lot easier for me to go along and do my own thing and then visit mum the next day. We stayed at my brother-in-law's, which was great except for the horrible guest bed which feels like you're lying on an unpadded concrete slab (their own bed is the same). I didn't sleep well.
Saturday morning they all got dressed up. Pirate husband, superman son and unidentified cute animal (from pokemon maybe?) daughter.
Doing my brother-in-law's Green Arrow make-up. My SIL was Anna from Frozen, her 18 month old daughter (not pictured) was Elsa.
We drove into the city, in two cars, after deciding it was too hard taking the pram on public transport. When we were nearly there Tim realised he'd left his ticket back at the house! He couldn't even turn around for the long drive back because he didn't have a key to his brother's house. He'd have to meet up with them first. The plan was to see if he could buy another ticket, but we didn't know if there would be any left for sale. The kids didn't need tickets, they could get in free. At this stressful point we got to my drop-off spot and after some dithering I got out of the car. Then felt so guilty for leaving him to cope! The worry coloured my next hour or so until I heard that Tim's cousin had had a spare and they eventually got in ok, after a long search for parking.
It was a cold a grey day with some rain, so after wandering through Hyde Park ...
I went into the Natural History Museum. It had skeletons,
And rocks,
And stuffed animals like this seven meter salt water crocodile,
And of course dinosaurs.
I have fond memories of walking through with Aiden holding tightly to my hands. Not scared of the dinosaurs, not really...
Then I went and had lunch at Darling Harbour. Gnocchi with duck ragu. As you can see, the place wasn't busy. It really wasn't very nice weather for strolling along the harbour front.
Ever since I decided to come to Sydney, I had planned that as a special treat I would get an éclair from a favourite chocolate shop - but I couldn't find the place. I was quite disappointed. But then as I headed over to the theatre I found an Adriano Zumbo café right next door. Zumbo is a celebrity dessert chef who has set some particularly fiendish challenges on MasterChef. I bought a slice of chocolate cake there. And then, (I call it a "café" but there were no tables, just a long counter full of pastries) I tried to eat it outside the theatre. A bit messy. I only had a few bites of the actual cake, saving it for later. But I ate the fancy bits off the top - the little passionfruit/honeycomb macaron and the meringue swirl.
Finally it was time for the big event, "Strictly Ballroom". My mum had given me money for my birthday and I hadn't spent it yet so I bought myself a ticket. This show was made into a movie quite a few years ago but I don't know if it was seen outside Australia. It's about defying the strict rules of federation ballroom dancing to do your own steps and follow your heart, and a romance (of course). It was a lot of fun. In a word, exuberant. Even the seats were sparkly.
By the time it was finished, everyone had left Comicon and were nearly home, so I caught the train as we'd planned. Only problem was my phone died! It's weird how helpless I felt without a phone. I wasn't even sure if they still had payphones at the station! Luckily they did, so I was able to call to be picked up from there.
My SIL had planned to go out to dinner with her mother's group (child free) and invited me along. It was a big leap for me, I'm a bit shy with new people and I was tired. But I thought it might be nice, and also meant I could avoid my father-in-law's favourite pastime of arguing about politics. So I went, and had a great time. The other women were lovely, and very welcoming. The food was good too, but the service quite slow so we didn't get home until after 10. The kids were peacefully asleep, the adults had finished discussing politics. I went to bed content after a good day, trying to make the best of the horrible "mattress".
And woke in the dark hours feeling sick and ended up vomiting into a laundry bucket. Urg. I don't think there was anything wrong with the food. Either my recurrent stomach bug, or an inability to cope with two days of rich food.
Felt tired and a bit unwell all today. We went to visit my mother for lunch. The kids built a tent structure out of sticks and giant leaves.
Long drive home. Dinner at a Thai restaurant on the way, which I felt ok at the beginning of and terrible at the end of. And here I am.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Happy first birthday little niece!
Sunday:
I've had three days of unstructured eating and no exercise, which I assume will show on the scale tomorrow. Up until Thursday I had been good but the scale was a bit up on last Monday anyway. Then Thursday night I came down with a minor 24 hour tummy bug thing and mostly stayed in bed or slumped in front of the TV on Friday. I got my appetite back in the evening and made up for not eating much all day.
Then we went to Sydney on the weekend for my niece's first birthday party and then to see my mum. This involved some things I didn't have much control over, like the food I was served, and a lot of things I did have control over, like what I actually ate. No one actually forced that cake down my throat. Or any of the other stuff I shouldn't have eaten.
So I'll get on the scale tomorrow morning and take the result on the chin then start the new week with some exercise then shopping for healthy food.
It was lovely to see everyone on a very family-oriented weekend. My mum is still doing really well, although she's having a bit more pain since they gave her an injection to help strengthen her bones. It made me think of that scene in Harry Potter where all the bones in his arm get magicked away and he has to drink a bottle of disgusting Skel-e-grow (or something like that) to regrow them. A most unpleasant process.
I am super tired;on top of my usual tiredness these days I also spent last night on the rock-hard bed of doom at my sister-in-law's house which didn't help. (Her Chinese parents chose it, good for the back apparently.) So although it is only 9.10pm it might be time for bed.
I've had three days of unstructured eating and no exercise, which I assume will show on the scale tomorrow. Up until Thursday I had been good but the scale was a bit up on last Monday anyway. Then Thursday night I came down with a minor 24 hour tummy bug thing and mostly stayed in bed or slumped in front of the TV on Friday. I got my appetite back in the evening and made up for not eating much all day.
Then we went to Sydney on the weekend for my niece's first birthday party and then to see my mum. This involved some things I didn't have much control over, like the food I was served, and a lot of things I did have control over, like what I actually ate. No one actually forced that cake down my throat. Or any of the other stuff I shouldn't have eaten.
So I'll get on the scale tomorrow morning and take the result on the chin then start the new week with some exercise then shopping for healthy food.
It was lovely to see everyone on a very family-oriented weekend. My mum is still doing really well, although she's having a bit more pain since they gave her an injection to help strengthen her bones. It made me think of that scene in Harry Potter where all the bones in his arm get magicked away and he has to drink a bottle of disgusting Skel-e-grow (or something like that) to regrow them. A most unpleasant process.
I am super tired;on top of my usual tiredness these days I also spent last night on the rock-hard bed of doom at my sister-in-law's house which didn't help. (Her Chinese parents chose it, good for the back apparently.) So although it is only 9.10pm it might be time for bed.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Sharing a house with a parent
Sunday:
We visited mum this weekend, and the most important thing that came of that is that she suggested she lives with us in the near future - that when Tim gets a job in Sydney and we sell our house here she would also sell her house and we would pool the money. She isn't keen on going to a nursing home. Obviously there are pros and cons to this and it needs a lot of thinking about. And it's still contingent on Tim finding a job there, which he has already been trying to do for a couple of years without success as there are not many jobs at his level.
She is doing really well at the moment but of course the treatment she is receiving is only palliative. She is 72 and she has cancer, and might get a lot more frail quite soon.
It's a bit stressful and we need some time to think about it.
Sydney is a bit cooler than here in Canberra but a lot more humid as it is on the coast. I was really knocked around by the humidity and felt quite exhausted and ill with it part of the time we were there. Glad to be home under proper air conditioning, even if it is unbearable outside. I grew up in Sydney but after 13 years in Canberra I'm out of the habit. I have a bit more padding these days too.
I spent part of the hours in the car each way memorising the first 40 elements in the periodic table. It will be handy, and is also a good mental exercise. I'll keep adding more.
We visited mum this weekend, and the most important thing that came of that is that she suggested she lives with us in the near future - that when Tim gets a job in Sydney and we sell our house here she would also sell her house and we would pool the money. She isn't keen on going to a nursing home. Obviously there are pros and cons to this and it needs a lot of thinking about. And it's still contingent on Tim finding a job there, which he has already been trying to do for a couple of years without success as there are not many jobs at his level.
She is doing really well at the moment but of course the treatment she is receiving is only palliative. She is 72 and she has cancer, and might get a lot more frail quite soon.
It's a bit stressful and we need some time to think about it.
Sydney is a bit cooler than here in Canberra but a lot more humid as it is on the coast. I was really knocked around by the humidity and felt quite exhausted and ill with it part of the time we were there. Glad to be home under proper air conditioning, even if it is unbearable outside. I grew up in Sydney but after 13 years in Canberra I'm out of the habit. I have a bit more padding these days too.
I spent part of the hours in the car each way memorising the first 40 elements in the periodic table. It will be handy, and is also a good mental exercise. I'll keep adding more.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Good and bad
Wednesday:
The good news is that Tim has a job interview on Friday in Sydney, which is where we want to move. He could have Skyped it but we think face-to-face is better for something so important. I've talked before about why he needs to change jobs - current one is stressful mainly because of the people - and all our family is in Sydney where we both grew up. Parents are getting older, our own generation is having kids, seems like a nice time to be back with family.
Nothing is certain, of course, but he is very qualified for this job so we have high hopes. But you never know if they already have an in-house favourite. It would be a drop in pay but we feel that it's worth it at this point.
The bad news is that I am sick again/still. That makes three weeks sick with a couple of improvements in the middle, making me think I was nearly better. Yesterday I woke with a horrible sore throat again and started to feel unwell in the afternoon. Today, after a restless night, the throat is worse and I feel generally tired and sick. It is so frustrating! I'm going to miss my son's contribution to school assembly today (no way I'm going to go and infect a hall full of kids and parents) and I'll miss Salsabor again tonight. We've already missed two - or is it three? - classes which makes it tricky to keep up. Luckily we both have some dance training in other styles which helps. I'm just sick of being sick.
I'm shying away from solid food and I'll be living on soup and tea today.
The good news is that Tim has a job interview on Friday in Sydney, which is where we want to move. He could have Skyped it but we think face-to-face is better for something so important. I've talked before about why he needs to change jobs - current one is stressful mainly because of the people - and all our family is in Sydney where we both grew up. Parents are getting older, our own generation is having kids, seems like a nice time to be back with family.
Nothing is certain, of course, but he is very qualified for this job so we have high hopes. But you never know if they already have an in-house favourite. It would be a drop in pay but we feel that it's worth it at this point.
The bad news is that I am sick again/still. That makes three weeks sick with a couple of improvements in the middle, making me think I was nearly better. Yesterday I woke with a horrible sore throat again and started to feel unwell in the afternoon. Today, after a restless night, the throat is worse and I feel generally tired and sick. It is so frustrating! I'm going to miss my son's contribution to school assembly today (no way I'm going to go and infect a hall full of kids and parents) and I'll miss Salsabor again tonight. We've already missed two - or is it three? - classes which makes it tricky to keep up. Luckily we both have some dance training in other styles which helps. I'm just sick of being sick.
I'm shying away from solid food and I'll be living on soup and tea today.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Being good, being bad, and not giving up
Monday:
Yesterday we drove to Sydney for my sister-in-law's baby shower. We had McDonald's for lunch on the way but I checked the carbs and calories online and Tim and I were both pretty moderate: six nuggets and a small fries each, no drink. Tim left the kids & I at the party and went off with the boys. The house had exploded with pinkness and sugar. The girls had descended and decorated everything, then covered all surfaces with beautifully decorated cupcakes, cookies, brownies and lollies (candy). There was even a table in the hall where you could make your own "party bag" as you left, with pink lollypops, pink jellybeans, musk sticks, pink smarties, raspberry licorice, and marshmallows -- plus the gingerbread I had made decorated to look like pink buttons (the theme was "cute as a button").
It was a lot to resist but luckily I don't really have a sweet tooth and everything was sweet! I still would have liked to have a few things but I only had a couple of pieces of chocolate and some watermelon, and also a piece of low-fat cheese that I had brought from home. Also two cups of tea from a gorgeous vintage English teacup, one girl collects them and brought them over for the occasion.
It was all very girly and ... pink. We played baby-shower games and gave presents and chatted and it was a really nice afternoon. The kids spent a lot of time playing their Nintendo or the iPad, I was amazed that I never had to drag them away from all the junk food. They had a few things but didn't over-do it at all. Aiden, who recently turned six, was the only male there and felt a bit shy, he spent a lot of time in my lap or retreated to the bedroom.
I actually thought to myself how lucky I was, for my powers of self-control, that it was all sweet and there was no chips to resist; then right at the end I noticed a pile of bags of chips and Doritos in the corner of the kitchen that had never been put out. So fortune smiled on me. I wasn't sorry, I was really glad. I wouldn't have eaten them anyway, but it's so much easier if they aren't even offered.
After the party the family and the party organisers went to a Chinese restaurant (which was kind of weird as my sister-in-law and her parents are Chinese so they have Chinese food all the time, but it was Chinese New Year so we felt it was appropriate) and again I ate moderately with only a little rice and a bit of everything else. Nothing deep fried. I guesstimate that I even stayed within my calories for the day, despite the party and eating out for two meals. We drove home late into the night while the kids slept in the back.
I don't know if it was the bad food that I did have, or the late night, or complete lack of exercise, or whatever, but my stomach rebelled during the night and I didn't feel so well. I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning to get the kids ready for their swimming carnival! And in the end I forgot to give Jasmine a towel. Whoops.
Anyway, by mid-morning I felt fine again. I worked hard all day finishing a project, no time for exercise unfortunately, then after school spent the next three hours basically ferrying children to their extra-curricular activities. Mondays are very busy for us and I still haven't worked out how to do it without take-away. Last week I at least tried to go for the least unhealthy option, but today I just dived head-first into the fried chicken. Hello salt and fat. I ate way too much, too, and after my husband got home and had his share I picked at the leftovers. I feel greasy and yuck. I'd been so good up until then! Maybe I had just used up all my resist-junk cards yesterday.
Afterwards I briefly had that feeling you get when you've broken a diet and you feel like you've done so badly you might as well give up. Major fail. But no. It is just one meal, just one slip-up. I entered the food into my tracker and didn't stress about the nearly 1000 calories for one meal or the carbs or the fat and salt. It is done, move on. Not only is tomorrow a new day, but this second is a new start. Or not even a new start, I don't need a new start. I never stopped. I tripped a bit but I am still going. A few pieces of fried chicken can't defeat me!
I think I have a couple of weeks now before my next big work project comes in so I'll only have little bits of work here & there, and plenty of time to exercise and plan healthy food and work out how I'm managing next Monday's hectic dinner-time. We have some cooler weather lined up so I can spend time outdoors. I need to do a lot of training for this Verti-cool challenge stair-climb and the best option I've found so-far is still the stairs near the library. I also want to do some running, and more dancing, and get back to the gym (where I haven't been for months, but they don't have childcare during school holidays) to do some weight training. I'm quite looking forward to it all. But sleep first.
Yesterday we drove to Sydney for my sister-in-law's baby shower. We had McDonald's for lunch on the way but I checked the carbs and calories online and Tim and I were both pretty moderate: six nuggets and a small fries each, no drink. Tim left the kids & I at the party and went off with the boys. The house had exploded with pinkness and sugar. The girls had descended and decorated everything, then covered all surfaces with beautifully decorated cupcakes, cookies, brownies and lollies (candy). There was even a table in the hall where you could make your own "party bag" as you left, with pink lollypops, pink jellybeans, musk sticks, pink smarties, raspberry licorice, and marshmallows -- plus the gingerbread I had made decorated to look like pink buttons (the theme was "cute as a button").
It was a lot to resist but luckily I don't really have a sweet tooth and everything was sweet! I still would have liked to have a few things but I only had a couple of pieces of chocolate and some watermelon, and also a piece of low-fat cheese that I had brought from home. Also two cups of tea from a gorgeous vintage English teacup, one girl collects them and brought them over for the occasion.
It was all very girly and ... pink. We played baby-shower games and gave presents and chatted and it was a really nice afternoon. The kids spent a lot of time playing their Nintendo or the iPad, I was amazed that I never had to drag them away from all the junk food. They had a few things but didn't over-do it at all. Aiden, who recently turned six, was the only male there and felt a bit shy, he spent a lot of time in my lap or retreated to the bedroom.
I actually thought to myself how lucky I was, for my powers of self-control, that it was all sweet and there was no chips to resist; then right at the end I noticed a pile of bags of chips and Doritos in the corner of the kitchen that had never been put out. So fortune smiled on me. I wasn't sorry, I was really glad. I wouldn't have eaten them anyway, but it's so much easier if they aren't even offered.
After the party the family and the party organisers went to a Chinese restaurant (which was kind of weird as my sister-in-law and her parents are Chinese so they have Chinese food all the time, but it was Chinese New Year so we felt it was appropriate) and again I ate moderately with only a little rice and a bit of everything else. Nothing deep fried. I guesstimate that I even stayed within my calories for the day, despite the party and eating out for two meals. We drove home late into the night while the kids slept in the back.
I don't know if it was the bad food that I did have, or the late night, or complete lack of exercise, or whatever, but my stomach rebelled during the night and I didn't feel so well. I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning to get the kids ready for their swimming carnival! And in the end I forgot to give Jasmine a towel. Whoops.
Anyway, by mid-morning I felt fine again. I worked hard all day finishing a project, no time for exercise unfortunately, then after school spent the next three hours basically ferrying children to their extra-curricular activities. Mondays are very busy for us and I still haven't worked out how to do it without take-away. Last week I at least tried to go for the least unhealthy option, but today I just dived head-first into the fried chicken. Hello salt and fat. I ate way too much, too, and after my husband got home and had his share I picked at the leftovers. I feel greasy and yuck. I'd been so good up until then! Maybe I had just used up all my resist-junk cards yesterday.
Afterwards I briefly had that feeling you get when you've broken a diet and you feel like you've done so badly you might as well give up. Major fail. But no. It is just one meal, just one slip-up. I entered the food into my tracker and didn't stress about the nearly 1000 calories for one meal or the carbs or the fat and salt. It is done, move on. Not only is tomorrow a new day, but this second is a new start. Or not even a new start, I don't need a new start. I never stopped. I tripped a bit but I am still going. A few pieces of fried chicken can't defeat me!
I think I have a couple of weeks now before my next big work project comes in so I'll only have little bits of work here & there, and plenty of time to exercise and plan healthy food and work out how I'm managing next Monday's hectic dinner-time. We have some cooler weather lined up so I can spend time outdoors. I need to do a lot of training for this Verti-cool challenge stair-climb and the best option I've found so-far is still the stairs near the library. I also want to do some running, and more dancing, and get back to the gym (where I haven't been for months, but they don't have childcare during school holidays) to do some weight training. I'm quite looking forward to it all. But sleep first.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Grooving to Gaga
Sunday:
We spent the weekend in Sydney visiting family. I didn't make the best food choices, but at least I went for a 45 min walk with Tim this morning and then a 30 min walk by myself when we got home. I listened to Lady Gaga remixes which were perfect to get me moving along quickly. I only have about eight albums loaded on my iPhone, I really need to put some more on.
My RunKeeper now has some free training programs, so I've decided that next week (after I'm sure my ankle is up to jogging) I'll start beginners 5K training and I've set a goal of actually participating in a 5K by the end of June next year. That gives me 9 months to get myself organised. I'll probably start looking for one before then. The training program is 8 weeks long. School holidays start here next week, so it's going to be tricky working in lots of exercise but I do have the treadmill at home now and of course I can take the kids out for bike rides and walks, and use Kinect games. Club Gecko only has one long session per week in the holidays but the gym has a creche in the mornings, so lots of options really. My mum will be visiting, and my dad (separately, they are divorced), and probably Tim's dad too and his brother at various times. I'll have to get everyone moving!
We spent the weekend in Sydney visiting family. I didn't make the best food choices, but at least I went for a 45 min walk with Tim this morning and then a 30 min walk by myself when we got home. I listened to Lady Gaga remixes which were perfect to get me moving along quickly. I only have about eight albums loaded on my iPhone, I really need to put some more on.
My RunKeeper now has some free training programs, so I've decided that next week (after I'm sure my ankle is up to jogging) I'll start beginners 5K training and I've set a goal of actually participating in a 5K by the end of June next year. That gives me 9 months to get myself organised. I'll probably start looking for one before then. The training program is 8 weeks long. School holidays start here next week, so it's going to be tricky working in lots of exercise but I do have the treadmill at home now and of course I can take the kids out for bike rides and walks, and use Kinect games. Club Gecko only has one long session per week in the holidays but the gym has a creche in the mornings, so lots of options really. My mum will be visiting, and my dad (separately, they are divorced), and probably Tim's dad too and his brother at various times. I'll have to get everyone moving!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Lying labels and weekend away
Sunday:
When I was shopping on Friday I picked up some Rice Stick Noodles to have with a stir-fry that night. I knew that both rice and pasta were high carb, but the packet said that 100g of noodles when prepared as directed (ie cooked in boiling water) was only 9.8g of carbohydrate -- easy to fit into my new plan of aiming for around 30g of carbs each meal. There were some fairly starchy vegetables in the stir-fry (carrot, baby corn, snow peas) and I had one square of chocolate for dessert; in all I estimated about 25g of carbs.
Two hours later my blood sugar was at an unacceptable 8.3 mmol/L.
I looked up Rice Stick Noodles on my app. It estimated 43g of carbohydrate for 100g! 43 is a little bit more than 9.8 -- not really within a reasonable error margin! So I think the packet lied, or was in error. It's imported from Thailand, so I'm not sure if Australian authorities are responsible or not. I am seriously considering contacting someone to complain/inform. It wasn't really a problem for me, but imagine the results if someone with real diabetes, maybe reliant on medication, trusted that label!
In a way it's good it happened, I learned a couple of things. Firstly, if something looks to good to be true, it probably is! I should have realised that that label was way off, considering it was pure high GI carbohydrate. Secondly, I know that around 58g of carbohydrate -- 4 serves -- is too much for me. This is important to know as at least one website suggested I have up to 55g of carbs with a meal. Further experimentation will show what I can have and remain below the magic number of 7.8 mmol/L. The rest of the time I have kept it under 7.0. Finally it shows me, if I needed further confirmation, that I definitely prediabetic; my body can't cope with large doses of carbohydrate. A "normal" person's blood sugars wouldn't have gone that high after a little handful of noodles.
I continued to carefully regulate my carbohydrate intake over the weekend, even though we were away from home. I had a banana on the road trip, modified McDonald's for lunch with nuggets and a salad and half a small fries, one micro-mini cupcake at afternoon tea and two biscuits at the second afternoon tea at another house, and only half a cup of rice at the Thai restaurant for dinner -- the rest meat and vegetables with nothing starchy or fried. My blood sugars were great all day.
I didn't take my testing kit with me today as it would have been too much to carry walking around the city, so I'm not as sure about today. I had bacon & eggs for breakfast with some toast, a cup of milk for afternoon tea, and two mini fajitas for dinner. All good levels of carbs. But then there was lunch ... I had chicken and spinach and a little bit of potato, good there. A fruity cocktail, not too bad. Then a big chocolate-filled eclair. Probably pretty bad, especially since it was at the same time as the other things. At least I did a bit of walking around the city and up & down the picturesque paths in the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour. In fact, I was walking while I was eating my eclair -- that cancels out, right?
We had a lovely weekend away. I got to see my cousins' babies; Kimberley had little girl Harper (10 weeks) and her brother Jamie (and his wife, of course) had twin boys Ryder and Jesse (about 4 months). I hadn't seen them yet. Then we saw my brother-in-law Nick and his wife, they are newly pregnant. A very baby day! Then dinner with my father-in-law, night at a lovely hotel with ocean views, and the next day wandering around the city. It snowed here in Canberra on Friday, but only 3 1/2 hours drive away in coastal Sydney it was warm and sunny. I ended up carrying around my coat, the kids' jumpers, and Tim's long-sleeve shirt (he kept his T-shirt on!). Tim had his hands full with the eleven books we bought at our favourite fantasy & sci-fi bookstore Galaxy that we hardly ever get to now that we don't live Sydney. The kids had the fun of riding in a train (we don't have trains in Canberra) and they slept most of the drive home in the car so they got to skip all the boring bit. All in all, a really nice weekend for everyone.
When I was shopping on Friday I picked up some Rice Stick Noodles to have with a stir-fry that night. I knew that both rice and pasta were high carb, but the packet said that 100g of noodles when prepared as directed (ie cooked in boiling water) was only 9.8g of carbohydrate -- easy to fit into my new plan of aiming for around 30g of carbs each meal. There were some fairly starchy vegetables in the stir-fry (carrot, baby corn, snow peas) and I had one square of chocolate for dessert; in all I estimated about 25g of carbs.
Two hours later my blood sugar was at an unacceptable 8.3 mmol/L.
I looked up Rice Stick Noodles on my app. It estimated 43g of carbohydrate for 100g! 43 is a little bit more than 9.8 -- not really within a reasonable error margin! So I think the packet lied, or was in error. It's imported from Thailand, so I'm not sure if Australian authorities are responsible or not. I am seriously considering contacting someone to complain/inform. It wasn't really a problem for me, but imagine the results if someone with real diabetes, maybe reliant on medication, trusted that label!
In a way it's good it happened, I learned a couple of things. Firstly, if something looks to good to be true, it probably is! I should have realised that that label was way off, considering it was pure high GI carbohydrate. Secondly, I know that around 58g of carbohydrate -- 4 serves -- is too much for me. This is important to know as at least one website suggested I have up to 55g of carbs with a meal. Further experimentation will show what I can have and remain below the magic number of 7.8 mmol/L. The rest of the time I have kept it under 7.0. Finally it shows me, if I needed further confirmation, that I definitely prediabetic; my body can't cope with large doses of carbohydrate. A "normal" person's blood sugars wouldn't have gone that high after a little handful of noodles.
I continued to carefully regulate my carbohydrate intake over the weekend, even though we were away from home. I had a banana on the road trip, modified McDonald's for lunch with nuggets and a salad and half a small fries, one micro-mini cupcake at afternoon tea and two biscuits at the second afternoon tea at another house, and only half a cup of rice at the Thai restaurant for dinner -- the rest meat and vegetables with nothing starchy or fried. My blood sugars were great all day.
I didn't take my testing kit with me today as it would have been too much to carry walking around the city, so I'm not as sure about today. I had bacon & eggs for breakfast with some toast, a cup of milk for afternoon tea, and two mini fajitas for dinner. All good levels of carbs. But then there was lunch ... I had chicken and spinach and a little bit of potato, good there. A fruity cocktail, not too bad. Then a big chocolate-filled eclair. Probably pretty bad, especially since it was at the same time as the other things. At least I did a bit of walking around the city and up & down the picturesque paths in the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour. In fact, I was walking while I was eating my eclair -- that cancels out, right?
We had a lovely weekend away. I got to see my cousins' babies; Kimberley had little girl Harper (10 weeks) and her brother Jamie (and his wife, of course) had twin boys Ryder and Jesse (about 4 months). I hadn't seen them yet. Then we saw my brother-in-law Nick and his wife, they are newly pregnant. A very baby day! Then dinner with my father-in-law, night at a lovely hotel with ocean views, and the next day wandering around the city. It snowed here in Canberra on Friday, but only 3 1/2 hours drive away in coastal Sydney it was warm and sunny. I ended up carrying around my coat, the kids' jumpers, and Tim's long-sleeve shirt (he kept his T-shirt on!). Tim had his hands full with the eleven books we bought at our favourite fantasy & sci-fi bookstore Galaxy that we hardly ever get to now that we don't live Sydney. The kids had the fun of riding in a train (we don't have trains in Canberra) and they slept most of the drive home in the car so they got to skip all the boring bit. All in all, a really nice weekend for everyone.
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.
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