Excellence again

Monday:

The state final of Acrogym was on Saturday, and Jasmine and her partner Rebekah came 4th! Excellent result. Jasmine and Elise were 7th last year so that is a great improvement. Level one last year, level two this year, we're expecting her to definitely go up to three with that result. Nearly on the podium! The air conditioning in the gym was broken and it was 33C outside so it was a long hot afternoon, worse down on the floor for the acrobats in their long-sleeve leotards. I think quite a few of the kids were struggling due to that. Jasmine's partner made a few mistakes. Still a great result.

Today Aiden's school had its Excellence Awards, he won in Mathematics for his class as he did last year but also received a special science award (only two for the school) with a lovely medallion from the nearby nuclear science research facility. My father-in-law used to work there, and is not allowed to talk about it. We're so proud of Aiden! Only a few more weeks of Primary School. Jasmine is also getting excellent results in her school work.

My weight is currently 74.5kg. I've started the CSIRO low carb diet, but fruit is so gorgeous this time of year I'm not being as low carb as I'm supposed to.

I'm getting to the gym two or three times a week, not too bad but I should go more. On the other hand, it's keeping me out of the garden as morning gym class time is the best time to be out working in the garden - it gets too hot later - and the gym doesn't have lunchtime classes. The garden is suffering from a bit of neglect, everything is growing crazily and needs attention.

I haven't heard anything from that TAFE library job but I have an interview in a week for a position at a public library on Saturdays, which mostly suits me ok as Tim is home with the kids. Of course it would interfere with various things, but I need to get some experience on paper so I can get a proper job. It's in the city in a well-to-do area near the harbour, pictures on the library on the internet look lovely. Travel would be over an hour each way, but at least it is near a train station. Only one day a week advertised, but you never know what it could become.

Suddenly winter

Sunday:

We had a very long hot summer, about one week of autumn, and now suddenly it’s winter. Only 10C when I got up this morning. Sydney doesn’t really get a lot colder than that!

I saw my doctor on Friday and she gave me a new script for two more months of Duromine. I didn’t lose any weight in the past month (I blame Easter!) but I already dropped half a kg in the past couple of days and I’m at a new low, but I’ll wait until official Monday morning to report. Even without that loss, though, I’ve been mostly feeling a bit thinner. My new skinny clothes fit better. My rings and watch are looser. I’m happier with photos. So maybe my shape changed a bit while my weight stayed the same. Nothing wrong with a bit of consolidation.

Very unusually for me, I had high blood pressure. The doctor checked it several times at the start and the end of my appointment because we both thought it might be a momentary aberration. If anything, my blood pressure is usually a bit low. But it was high each time, something like 140/100. I’m assuming it’s stress from work placement (just because it’s new and tiring, it’s not particularly stressful in itself) and I’m to revisit the doctor in a couple of weeks.

I didn’t mention it to the doctor (I will next time) but I’ve been having some pelvic pain on and off the past few months and it’s been quite bad since Thursday, especially at night. Lying down has always made it worse. I had fibroids removed from my uterus a year and a half ago - grape sized non-cancerous growths that are really common but don’t bother most people, it depends where they are - I know they couldn’t remove them all because of where they were. I think either the remaining ones have got bigger or more have grown. I’m not keen on having an operation every year, or a hysterectomy, and since those seem to be the only options my plan is to do nothing for the moment. I know the doctor will send me for another ultrasound and I hate them so much. Having to drink a lot of water and holding it for two hours is torture. There will be tears. And sneaky visits to the toilet when the pain gets too bad.

I’ve decided to fully embrace this National Simultaneous Storytime thing even if it’s not my assessment task (still trying for cataloguing) and I am full of plans. A giant clock poster (the book is a sequel to the Hickory Dickory Dock rhyme, with mother mouse looking for her baby who ran up the clock) and warming up the children by copying the clock and making clock time shapes with our arms, a colour-in and make your own mouse finger puppet activity after I read the story, and morning tea. If I’m going to do something I want to do it well and wholeheartedly.

Speaking of which, my friend Cathy from TAFE finished last year as she was studying full time and just had her graduation ceremony, and received an unexpected award for excellence. Congrats to Cathy! I didn’t even know there was an award, but now I want one! I know I’ve done well in all my classes, first or equal first in the ones you get told the marks for (but most you just get told “satisfactory”, which sucks), but a couple of subjects I know I wasn’t perfect. And Lauren already got that internship I wanted grrr.... I don’t know if there is only one award for best. When I did my Grad Cert in Editing I got the Dean’s Award for Excllence, that was for anyone with a Disctinction average I think so there wasn’t just one available. Feeling competitive!

Excellence

Thursday:

Today Aiden's school had a special end-of-year assembly (only two weeks of school left) and we were warned beforehand that he would be getting an award. Tim took the morning off work so we could both go. Aiden got an award for Excellence in Mathematics. So proud! He's finishing year 5, one more year in Primary School before he moves on to High School.

Then I had an appointment to see an Apple Genius about Jasmine's iPad which wouldn't charge. I thought it probably just needed a clean inside the port, but the Genius couldn't get it to work either. So he gave me a new one! Free! That was unexpected. Apparently because there was no obvious damage (it hadn't been dropped or drenched with water, for instance) under consumer law we get a replacement, even though it was nearly two years old. Nice. 

I also got a replacement for my sneakers. You may remember nearly a month ago I bought three pairs of shoes: black almost-sneakers which are very comfortable and I still have, black "dress" shoes with a bow on which I hated as soon as I got them home and returned and bought black boots instead which are lovely but I haven't actually worn them except to try on as I've had no occasion to, and new sneakers (gym shoes) as I wear them nearly every day and mine were starting to fall apart. But the new ones just weren't as comfortable as sneakers should be and I didn't like the grey/bright fuchsia colour scheme either, so today I took them back. It was within the 30 day return policy so I got new (light blue, very comfortable) sneakers instead! Even though I'd worn the others quite often. One out of three is not a good average for me with shoe choices! But today was a good day for customer service. 

On the other hand, remember that Christmas present that was going on sale today? Yeah, sold out by the time I got there after Aiden's assembly. After a bit of a search I got it somewhere else on sale for a bit more than that place, but still a lot less than full price. Not too bad I guess. 

This morning I got an email from the gravestone (memorial stone, they call it) people about dad's memorial stone, it is finished and installed and they sent me a photo. So that is done. It looks nice.