Nap time

Wednesday:

On Sunday we had family over for Dungeons and Dragons as usual and dinner. I managed a quick 10 min dip in the pool before they arrived, it's the first time I've been in the pool all by myself. Peaceful. I would have stayed in longer except I had cleaning and cooking to get done. It wasn't really a hot day (but the water was warm) which is why no one else came in.

Sunday night Tim came down sick, and was home all Monday. I'm not sure if I had a touch of the same thing, my tummy has continued to be a bit upset since the antibiotics, despite drinking Yakult (fermented milk drink, sounds horrible but tastes like melted ice cream). I'll try more home-made yoghurt. Anyway, Tim is fine now. He's been very overworked lately and needs the upcoming Christmas break.

I've done a couple more Christmas shopping trips and have now (I think) finished getting presents for Tim and our kids as well as the other children in the family. Just a few more things to get, now; father-in-law, brother etc. I feel very organised this year. We have also already sorted out who is bringing what food on the day. And the least-reliable person is bringing things I don't like anyway, so that is perfect! I don't care if they forget. My part, the turkey and roast vegetables, is no more than I do most Sundays anyway. I'm feeling very relaxed about it all.

I've also spent time organising my study notes and I've started writing a summary for one of my subjects that I did in first semester before I realised it was the aspect of library work that I wanted to pursue. The manual we were given is good, but for other important subjects I've already written detailed notes that have been invaluable in exams and I think useful for when I get a job. I haven't bothered for subjects like Event Management or Promote Literature, but a ten-page summary is a very useful resource when you need to assign a Dewey Decimal Number.

One thing I plan for this two-month holiday break is to make a start on the novel I've been thinking about. I still like my first book, it's my first-born, but I can see now that it has its flaws. I sent it to a couple of places ages ago but I don't think I will continue to try to get it published, at least not at the moment or in its present form. Maybe I'll revise it one day. I'm not sad about shelving it, the work was not wasted if it makes me a better author. And I don't really want publishing houses to associate my name with anything other than my best work! I've been thinking about a completely different story for a year or so, too busy to write during term (and I get all the computer time my RSI can take while studying), it would be good to get a start on writing it down. And my last semester will be a much lighter workload, only three subjects plus placement (work experience) instead of the six subjects per semester I had been doing.

Our garage still has a pile of boxes that don't seem to have anything essential in them, I want to finish going through them (two years after we moved!) and we have also accumulated a bunch of other stuff filling the space - children's bicycles too small for them, broken wheelbarrow, rolls of old carpet. So I've organised for a charity to come and pick up the good stuff like the bicycles and then booked in a council clean up (we get two a year as taxpayers and haven't used the service yet) where they pick up a pile of junk from your curb. We're supposed to have two-car garage here but have never fit in the second car!

Aside from all that, I've been resting! Nothing can send me off to a peaceful afternoon nap like watching the cricket on TV. The commentators drone along about how this is the highest score by a red-headed Englishman on a wet Tuesday and I nod off. The short forms of the game are exciting and I love the Big Bash (three and a half hour long matches) but the original five-day Test matches are long hot summer day dozing material. It's pouring outside at the moment - even better for a nap!

Gargling paint

Friday:

Another bad night (indigestion, night sweats, Tim snoring like he was gargling paint, and pelvic pain) but I had a nap in the afternoon and that got me through the day. I didn't get much done though, except the grocery shopping.

Hmm, nothing else to say today. Have a lovely weekend!

Another uniform

Wednesday:

Today was Jasmine's turn to get her winter school uniform, so I drove her to school instead of her taking the bus (too far to walk). She is short (like me) and the trousers were way too long! The lady said they shrink up a bit in the wash so not cut them straight away - or at all - she suggested something called Magic Tape to fold up the bottoms until Jas grew a bit then they could last years.

There was an embarrassing moment at the end. I also bought Jas a school jacket and she wanted to wear it today so the lady gave me a permanent market and I wrote her name on the label - and only then realised I'd been given the wrong item! It was the other lady's fault but now I'd written my daughter's name on the tag in permanent marker. She changed it for the correct item immediately and I checked very carefully this time before I wrote in it, but felt a bit embarrassed that they now had an unsalable jumper. I suppose they could put it on the second-hand rack and sell it at a discount.

All my energy from yesterday seems to have fled. I edited in the morning, then listened to a Headspace meditation after lunch and dozed off, then felt groggy for the rest of the afternoon. Very glad Wednesdays don't have any after-school activities.

Nap time

Monday:

Really sleepy all day for no particular reason. Could barely keep my eyes open. Had a nap before lunch, and another one in the afternoon. It's another public holiday (Labour Day) so Tim was home to entertain the kids. I didn't leave the house all day.

Several naps

Sunday:

Reducing starchy foods may be great for my glucose intolerance, but it's not doing anything for my weight which is continuing to creep up. I am replacing starches with large amounts of fatty food, in particular cheese which I am binging on in the evenings. I'm not exercising or being consistent with my CPAP or doing anything else to promote my health. And I'm slacking on the low-starch, too.

I'm reading this book about motivation. So far mostly about what not to do. For instance, a movitation like "I must exercise every day to reduce my risk of diabetes, to lose weight so I look better, to sleep better and eventually get rid of my CPAP, and to feel healthier" is apparently wrong on every possible level. A) it sets up exercise as a chore, not a fun gift I'm giving to myself. B) it offers future rather than immediate benefits, which is hard to compete with current comfort sitting around. C) it has multiple reasons, which apparently reduces motivation rather than increases it, you are better off with just one reason to focus on.

One problem I have with where this book seems to be going, is that I have already chosen exercises I actually enjoy while I'm doing them (walking and dance, and even elliptical with the hiking videos). It's not that I'm forcing myself to do things I hate. Yet knowing I will enjoy it still doesn't get me off the couch. Getting started just seems too much effort. Not just exercise, many things I enjoy quite a lot. It's easier to not do anything. But I'll keep reading and hope for tips. I haven't got up to the how-to steps yet.

Yesterday I took Jasmine clothes shopping. We had a productive morning, I clocked up 6,000 steps and I didn't get home exhausted like the day before. My neck was still a bit stiff but otherwise I felt ok. In the afternoon we played Dungeons and Dragons, and Tim and the kids went on a bike ride. I don't ride, in fact my bike was stolen a couple of years ago and my insurance company replaced it but I have never even tried out the replacement. I only rode the original a handful of times, very slowly. I felt wobbly and unsafe and much too high off the ground even though I got the extra-small size. Yet as a child I rode all the time! But as a child I wasn't scared of heights.

Today unfortunately both Tim and I felt unwell again. Stupid germs. I went back to bed for a while in the morning, then after lunch tried to go out for a family walk but I felt ill straight away and turned back, then spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the lounge. At least I had a good nap! Maybe it will help. Tim spent a lot of the day playing computer games but did manage to cook a lovely dinner for us.

Report card:
Diet: Ok to poor.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Very poor.
Sleep: Good if you count two naps today?
Mental health: Ok.

Sunshine and afternoon nap

Sunday:

This morning my children were taking turns wrapping themselves in a double doona and "evolving" then emerging from the cocoon. Cute.

Despite apparently snoring all night I am feeling much better today. It hasn't been a bad 24 hours. You know some illnesses make you feel miserable, either from pain/nausea etc or because somehow they depress your spirits. This one didn't affect mood at all, my husband said the same when I mentioned it. Despite a sore throat and aching body and fatigue, I just felt like myself and was able to enjoy various non-active things instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself like I often do when sick.

I weigh in tomorrow after a week of starting back at the gym. I don't expect to have lost weight, my eating has been pretty bad. A few hours of exercise can't compete with that. But my current focus is getting back into an exercise rhythm.

Quiet day today. I at least got out into the backyard and did a bit of weeding, cut back the huge rosemary shrub and watered a couple of dry plants. Lovely sunshine. The vegetable garden is looking good, most of the seedlings survived their first couple of weeks. The strawberry plants are covered in little white baby berries. The pansies are still blooming. The gardeners came a couple of days ago so the lawn was all neatly mown too. We've been here for nearly ten years and I probably spent the most time I've ever spent in our backyard this past winter, when we had the puppy. It's nice to be out there when it isn't freezing, or raining, or pitch black!

After being outside for ten minutes I came in and had a nap. Afternoon naps are awesome.

Back to the gym tomorrow, and I'll start tightening my food intake.

Tiny bit of yoga

Thursday:

Today I woke up and lay in bed for a while, needing to go to the bathroom but thinking I would wait until it was time to get up because it would give me extra motivation to get out of bed. Eventually I glanced at the clock. And it was PAST time to get up already! I have no idea why I didn't look at the clock earlier instead of lying there kind of wishing it was time to get up so I could go to the bathroom already ...

I didn't have time to get in a walk so instead I did my eight and a half minute yoga video. A few stretches to start the day. I really noticed the tightness in my hips. And my shoulders. And just about everywhere else. I find yoga totally boring but I should incorporate at least that mini hatha more often.

I spent most of the day at Uni. It is Orientation Week and I was expecting lots of stalls for clubs and societies and local businesses giving out free pens. They had that last time, in 2009. I joined what turned out to be a non-existent drama club and lost my $10 joining fee. But today there was one stall of volunteers ready to show people around, and one group of Christians. Nothing else. Perplexing. It was the same on Monday but I thought I was just there too early that day. But no.

I did some study in the library as didn't want to lug the huge hardcover Anatomy book home, and bought my lab coat and some other stuff. The kids were very exited about my lab coat. But as soon as I tried it on I realised I'm going to have to wear this hot heavy thing through the rest of summer. I hope those labs are air conditioned.

When I got home I planned to do some Maths study then fold those clothes that still haven't folded themselves from the other day. The internet went down when I had just started a module, and while I was giving it a few minutes to come back I fell asleep. Sitting up in my chair. For about 45 minutes.

I spend enough time in bed each night, I am pretty sure it is just the heat. It doesn't seem normal to need to have a nap nearly every afternoon. If it doesn't resolve when the weather cools down I will have to investigate further.

A bit over 7000 steps again, and under my calories (giving myself 1600 atm).