Baby Shower and Birthday Party

Saturday:

It was a busy day with a baby shower then a birthday party at a restaurant.

The baby shower was lovely, a group of about 20 women, some of whom I knew well, some I had met a few times before and some I'd never met. I didn't really get around to chatting to new people but I was particularly happy that I was able to have a good talk to a woman I'd met a few times and liked but hadn't had time to get to know before.

There was plenty of food, mountains of food. Cupcakes and little tarts and mini quiches and all sorts of things. I ended up trying at least five different things but most of them only ate a little bite or two then left on my plate. My favourite was a pikelet (little fluffy pancake) cooked with raspberries all through. Not sweet, but delicious. Jasmine was invited too, she ate so much! I don't mind as long as it's not too often.

Veronica cried when she opened her gifts and we all laughed at her when she blubbered out "it's the hormones!"

Tim's brother Nick chose to have his birthday party at a German restaurant. I didn't even know German restaurants were a thing. Don't they just eat sausage and cabbage? It reminds me of that joke:

Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss.

Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians.

Except I thought it was German cooking in hell. Because we were in a big group, of course we had to have a set menu instead of choosing. There was quite a lot of concern amongst those who don't like pork! But German is apparently Nick's favourite and it was his birthday so he got to choose! There were certainly lots of sausages, about six different types, and several kinds of pickled cabbage! Pork knuckle and ham and prosciutto, mainly pig products. But there was also schnitzel and pork belly with crispy crackling so that was yummy. And very fatty, I felt a bit ill. And tired, we got dessert (which I didn't eat) at 10pm.

Usually I would say the company made up for the food, but unfortunately it was one of those places where the background noise of music and crowds of people is so loud you can only talk to the person right next to you by shouting and repeating yourself. Aiden was very bored, he played on my phone until the battery ran out then moved on to daddy's. I didn't really get to talk to anyone, so it wasn't a great night for me. Came home and went straight to bed, was probably asleep before the kids. Best part of the evening!

Scans and vinegar

Friday:

I forgot to mention I picked up my pelvic bone scans the other day. The gyno had looked at them and said they were fine, so we're just continuing with the fibroid surgery whenever I come up on the waiting list. The report with the scans mentions that I have arthritis (I'm 46, I'm not old!) and also "increased blood pool activity, suggesting inflammation ... clinical correlation is suggested to determine if further imaging would be warranted" so I'm not sure why this isn't significant? Maybe the other imaging I've had already covers this? I didn't actually speak to the doctor.

In other news, after a couple of weeks of "giving up" on the plantar wart on my foot - after months of various treatments - I decided that giving up wasn't helping. I looked around on the internet and there are some really weird interesting home remedies (like burning it with a red-hot fork, banana peel, or (my favourite) getting someone to buy it from you, literally giving you money and the wart magically disappears) but one that kept coming up was using apple cider vinegar. I didn't have any, but I did have rice wine vinegar and decided to give it a try. I soaked a tiny piece of cotton wool in vinegar and put it under a waterproof bandaid. 24 hours later half the wart peeled off! This has happened before, each time after about three weeks of continuous acid treatment, but it's always grown back straight away. So I am hopeful but not too hopeful. I am visualising the rest falling off, mentally pushing it away. Yesterday, before the half came off, it was a really good day with not much pain but today it is extremely painful. Sharp shooting pains even when I am not walking. Definitely worth it if it's working! Imagine if after all that time and pharmaceutical treatment and pain, a bit of vinegar does the trick!

No way I was getting out to my park today, just walking around the shops was more than enough for one day. Very sore.

I wonder why reading a book is considered a praiseworthy, almost noble, pursuit; but playing a computer game - also sitting still and participating in someone else's imagination - is a waste of time to be frowned upon. Someone else mentioned in their blog (hi Martha!) that people wandering around outside playing Pokémon Go looked like zombies and that maybe they should try looking up at the real world, and (although I like the real world too) that made me wonder why is an imaginary world "bad" and the real world "good" to experience? If we take the exercise component out of it, compare someone saying they spent the weekend driving along the coast looking at the beautiful scenery, and someone else saying they spent the weekend playing World of Warcraft which has amazing and beautiful scenery too - on a screen. The first would (by many people) be considered quite nice and in no way a waste of a weekend, something you could even boast about a bit as if you achieved something, the second would (by many people) be considered a complete waste of time, something to shrug a bit shamefaced about, I "just" stayed home and played computer games. But why? And maybe I'm misrepresenting other people here, but seems that is how many people think. Both involve sitting and staring, enjoying what you are looking at. I often play WoW with my husband and children as a team, we are looking at the same things on our screens and co-operating and talking, no less interaction than if we were sitting in a car together - indeed probably a great deal more. Sorry for the rant, I am honestly trying to work out if I'm missing something.

I've been worried for a couple of weeks that my sister-in-law Ping was upset with me, though I wasn't sure and didn't know why. The only thing I could think of was that I didn't go to the movies with her, and took 24 hours to get back to her about it which didn't seem like a great reason, there was nothing obvious but I just had this feeling. Anyway, I just got an invitation to someone else's baby shower and suddenly remembered! A few weeks ago she asked me to host her baby shower (in a few months) and I didn't react with enthusiasm. It was a bad moment, I was feeling particularly wiped out with all the health and hormonal issues, I'd never had a baby shower myself and only been to a couple, and a friend of hers hosted her last one (I wasn't living nearby then) and it was magnificent and elaborate which really scared me a bit to compete with that. Although I said I'd do it, I know I was rather negative and hesitant. And then forgot about it. And since then have had this subtle vibe that she wasn't happy with me. So! I just sent her a much more enthusiastic text asking for details of when she wanted it etc and she texted straight back with a very lovely message. I feel so relieved. I don't think I was imagining things! We are very fond of each other and I'm sure she was very disappointed with my initial reaction after she showed her love by choosing me. Hopefully it's all sorted now.

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.