Trials and Tribulations...

Was sunny for a change today, before we were hit with a small (tiny) excuse for a downpour, always happens just after I wash my car (or correction: just after M goes and washes my car for me) and then my car gets covered in dusty rain drops again. Don't worry we don't wash our cars at home or waste any water, only get it done at the car wash with the recycled water. Not in this day and draught.

Mr Chocky's (the chocolate lab puppy) favorite thing to do nowdays, is to drag all his layer of blankets out of his bed (he sleeps in a little plastc kiddie pool shaped like a blue shell under the pergola in the sheltered bit of the backyard), first the giant woolen blanket, then the sheepskin blanket and then the shell itself, and bit by bit drag them all up on the lawn, which is not undercover mind you, and then to sit on top of this pile in a majestic way looking down upon everyone and everything. He does this hail, sleet or shine. Everyday. I really wonder what goes thru his little doggy mind sometimes. We make his bed so nice and cozy and neat, and w/o fail the order is destroyed immediately.

Have eaten some more chocolate covered turkish delites today. Having a fight with my willpower. While my sister seemed to have accepted her mysterious "supposed" weight gain of 7kg. I still don't have any idea where 7 kg can be hiding. She now claims to weigh more then me. HA! I have found that different scales give different readings and most accurate scales are usually the ones u stand on that have the slide bar with little metal weights on it which are moved from side to side to adjust to the correct weight. Also I think I should advise her that she if she is weighing herself with clothes on, then she should subtract a certain number from that, depending on type of clothes.

She is moving out with her boyfriend within the next 3 weeks. My mom is not happy about this. I remember when I first moved out, she used to think that I was just going thru a phase and would come back eventually, come back for good. She has now issued us with an ultimatum thatonly one of us can be living out of her house at the time. In that case, it looks like I should get packing. Hmmmm, wonder how M will take the news. Who will cook his dinner and pick up after him? When I first met him, his fridge contained half a bottle of vodka and a packet of frozen veggies in the freezer. Yummo. I was constantly starving at his house. Until one day I decided we were going grocery shopping. And 4 years later ;P

Why is it that winter lasts so much longer than summer?

Have you ever noticed how winter lasts about 6 months while summer only about 3? Winter starts in approximately April-May and finishes in October-November. And then not the whole of the summer is warm -and I like it warm - between 30C and 37C is the most comfortable for me I must say.

But anyways, in other news - the monotony of my job is starting to get me down. When I first got into this type of work, I was somewhat excited, but by now I would have expected to have achieved more diversity in my working life. And I am not kidding about the monotony. People do not last in this type of work for very long. The average is about 3-6 months. I have been in it for about 2 years. I first started when I was at the beginning of my last year and a half of uni. So I was doing full time study, clinical placements and trying to fit in a full time job. It wasn't fun I tells ya. But the unfortunate thing is - it was more fun than it is now. I had way more fun at uni, then after graduating. Is this a common thing or is there something wrong with me. Am I just really irresponsible and immature? Hmmm. But seriously I have outlasted dozens of people.
But the thing is, I know that this work needs to be done and that it brings in much needed resources to our not for profit charitable organisation. And I know my boss would be left in a lurch if I suddenly decided that I just couldn't continue doing this work anymore. So I just try to work thru my slump and keep doing it. *sigh* I am also terrified of being unemployed. I have never been unempoyed. I have been working since I was 13.

I am also trying to plan a small gathering for M's birthday next week. I don't want to make it too big because if I start inviting everyone in his family, I will end up with dozens (and dozens, I mean it) of people. And I am somewhat unprepared to cook a meal for that many. And where will we fit them all. We don't have an outdoor setting and our yard is sloped. And we have a crazy destructive dog who steals food of your plate the second you turn away. Double hmmm. And anyway, I doubt that anyone will actually want to be outside, with the evening temperatures going down to below zero lately. I think I will just invite my family and have something with his family later on. Maybe go out to a nice restaurant (in this case i doubt his dad will make it, his idea of fancy is a schnitzel specials night). And sensitivity is not that man's forte.

Already, this is starting to make me anxious. I am not the best at throwing dinner gatherings. I can cook fine. It's just cooking for so many. Yikes. I have a very small family and am unused to large family gatherings.

I think I shall go and eat some fry's turkish delite lollies to get me out of this funk (hopefully). They are my favorite. I knew I shouldn't have bought that half a kilo box of favorites.

Motivation Come Back

I have completely lost my motivation to get anything done lately. I think Im in a mid winter slump. I would really like to get out of it because it is not helping things at work.
The only good thing to come out of it, is that when I feel this way - I lose my appettite. Wooo Hoo. I guess. Still don't seem to notice any weight changes.

Had a bit of an incident at work last week - had a patient come in with a highly infectious transmissible disease. Good thing it was only transmissible thru contact, otherwise I would have been out of there. Spent the next 2 days disinfecting myself with alcohol wipes and antiseptic gel. Didn't tell M, he already feels that this type of work is not the best thing that has happened to me, and he would have hit the roof. And I know disinfecting myself multiple times and refusing to go into the room, where the assessment was held, until it was also disinfected and sanitized may seem over the top for some, but I would rather employ those measures than catch an incurable disease.

Speaking of incurable disease - I got an sms in the middle of the night from my sister freaking out that she now supposedly weighs 7 more kilos than the last time she weighed herself. I found that hard to believe as she is nothing if not skinny. Sent her a reply message to that effect. She is funny (funny haha) that way. A bit (ok a lot) of a hypochondriac. About 2 years ago she tried to use a bottle of bleach on her dark brown hair in order to become blonde. I warned her against doing this at home and especially if she hasn't tried this before. She didn't listen and ended up looking like a tiger (with black and orange stripes). She then thought she was loosing her hair as a result and had to consult the family doctor about this issue a few times before her anxiety was alleviated. Same thing happened when she accidentaly scratched herself on a table at a club and was sure she contracted tetanus. The list goes on. But if anything it provides for some comic relief.

Still not sure about the Mac vs. PC dilemma. Some people say they love Macs while others feel strongly against it. But you've got to admit that the new Macbook Air is just too cute (and expensive).

Bad computer, bad!

Oh my gosh! I was typing up a post and had sooo much typed up, about what happened to me in the past couple of days and what I had planned for the weekend, and then the internet decided to conk out on me and I lost the whole post!! AAaaaarrggh!
Anyways, I have had my eye on the new Macbook Air lately, it is sooo cute, and I have been monitoring its price and it has just gone down like $500 in price. Woo hoo. If I keep waiting long enough, I mite get it for free. Wooo!
(Has anyone used both PC's and Macs. Is there that much difference between them? Or do they have the same standard Word and Excel and Internet Explorer like programs? WHat about transferring files between them - are they in any way compatible - can I stick a USB in either and trasfer files between them? I have never used a Mac so no idea. )
No, unlikely. So I better try to start saving now if I want one. I haven't got a laptop of my own. Only a work one. And its not the newest technology. Always conking out the net on me.
After fighting with this laptop for a whole day I reckon I could do with some medicinal chocolate.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Having some issues with my Blog Roll. It seems to be dissapearing and reapearring randomly. Not sure what's wrong with it.

Mid Week

M has been using my work laptop for the past couple of days, as our home one has died, and now I am sitting at work picking out chocolate lab hairs out of my keyboard. I tell you him and that dog are inseparable, where ever he goes the dog follows. The dog is called Chocky and we got him 8 months ago.
My boss is away for the whole week, so I am getting a bit of a free reign at work (as we share an office). This leads to a lot of eating at my desk, with my current favorites being cashews, cheese slices, and earl grey tea. I wonder if this has anything to do with my recent weight gain, as since he started being away from the office a lot I have put on some weight (I don't like to eat when someone next to me is trying to work, i feel a bit funny about it).
It's funny, sometimes I get little spurts of willpower and get really focused on weight loss, while at other times like now I feel somewhat unmotivated and lose all willpower to control my eating.
I wouldn't say I am an emotional eater, but I do have some association of food with certain events like for example I love eating in front of tv and hate eating at the table. Apparently this is not good, as you tend to consume more w/o noticing.

In other news: I have rejoined my old gym last Friday (M re-joined on Wed) because M was complaining a lot about how he has gained some weight since he met me. Despite it being only 2-4 kg and not being noticeable at all. Male vanity rears its ugly head! And we have always generally gone to the gym together. Slacked off about a year ago and bought the home gym. But the dog has since destroyed it in his puppy stages. It wasn't very effective anyways. I never used it because it was one of those all in one weight lifting contraptions and I have always used the cardio machines at the gym rather than weights.

Back to work..

Hey,

I have had a somewhat relaxing weekend. I am all for going out and partying away, but sometimes I just need to have a weekend of nothingness and relax by visiting my family and such. Went shopping with my sister and mother, and once again we ended up spending money that we were not meaning to spend. My sister was buying up household items in a frenzy. I mean do you really need that napkin folding melon bowler or what about the fondue set???!! My sister is moving out on her own with her boyfriend for the first time. And may I say she seems a lot more organized about it then I did, when I moved out with my boyfriend at the time. She has thought thru everything including budget, all household items, travel costs, accommodation costs (they have just bought their first property). I just took a backpack filled with clothes and left, once after a big fight with my mom about 4 or so weeks after my 21st Bday (and now I have just turned 25).
I have never been good at organising events or incidents, maybe thats why I have such trouble sometimes organising my diet and exercise regimes. I mean I know that unlike others I probably should not be complaining and I would really only like to lose a few kilos.
I have not had a very good weekend, foodwise, eating well to start with each morning, but then getting tempted by tasty treats at my mom's house and buying little treats for everyone, and then eating them myself.
So here's what I have eaten overall, I decided to write it all down to catch myself when I start to make the mistake of eating something not planned:

Saturday:
Breakfast: 300grms cherries
Lunch: Danish pastry (no filling, just covered with sugar and crispy sweet crumbs), 1 cup of earl grey tea with dash of milk and 2 sugarine tabs

Snack: 10-15 small hazelnut flavored wafers from a bag bought at a continental deli shop where they sell all those tasty european foods, 3 slices of smoked turkey breast, sliced

Dinner: (went out to the pub I used to work at) grilled Kangaroo fillet with herbed potato stack (I asked for it medium rare and got well done - I hate when this happens! M tried to tell me that you are meant to eat it well done, but I knew better than that. Still, did not complain as I have previously mentioned that I used to work at that pub thru uni and knew what the chefs were like - they don't taje any form of criticis of their work well)

Snack: 300grms cherries, 3 slices of Kraft singles

Sunday:
Breakfast: 150grms cherries

Lunch: 2 slices of Kraft singles

Dinner: 1 slice of grilled ocean trout fillet (is it grilled when you fry it in one of those cast iron frying pasn that leaves authentic lines on the meat?), 2 pieces of butternut pumpkin/squash, 4 small dutch carrots (the ones that are sold with their green carrot top leaves - I cut them off of course and did not eat them, D'UH!!), 3 asparagus spears. The veggies were steamed then roasted with a small spray of olive oil and a dash of salt.

Snack: 2 glasses of milo with 4 heaped tablespoons of milo in each glass with full cream milk (( I never drink low fat milk so this is not abnormal for me) P.S. I know, I know - Milo, but in my defense it was the new Be Smart Milo which has 25% less sugar and fat. And I am so hopelessly addicted to Milo - I have trouble living w/o it.), 200grms cherries, 3 cups of earl grey tea with milk and 2 Sugarine tabs in each cup, 3 handfulls of salted pistacchio nuts withshells on (they can be annoying to get off, can't they - for those of you who are fans of pistacchio nut flavor).

This is all I can think of at present time. I know if I am not losing weight or toning up at the moment then something needs to be cut out. I am trying to cut out milo and any other sugary/carby foods. Man I love those carbs!! If anyone has any good diet foods/tips that are applicable in Oz or generally then don't hesitate to leave me a note :)

Low Fat Life

Almost the weekend!! Don't get me wrong I love the people I work with! But weekend - woo hoo!!
UPDATE - Why is it so cold all of a sudden. And I don't mean the past couple of months (DUH! I have noticed it's been winter, ha ha) I mean - BAM! - yesterday and today. I thought we would get thru winter here in adelaide w/o actually freezing my tooshie off. But no such luck. But I still love adelaide nevertheless and would not want to move. Unless it was to the northern queensland. Or Bahamas.
But those are just dreams at this stage. *SIGH*

*LATER* Anyway, I seem to have lost my motivation and willpower for all things health and fitness related for the past 6 months or so. Does anyone have any great fitness plan ideas that actually work? In a short period of time? I know, I know, diets dont really work - you have incorporate healthy eating and exercise into your life so its an overall healthy lifestyle. But who has the time, nowdays to make healthy and tasty meals from scratch every single night. I come home from work at about 6-6.30 and get all the ingriedients out to make a meal, and it often takes to 8pm to actually eat. And most of the time I am making simple things like steak, grilled chicken or fish and steamed/roasted veggies, which takes about 30-45mins. And preparation time. So if anyone has any good ideas for tasty/low carb/high protein tried and tested recipes which are also quick and easy, I'm definetely in!
My M makes it even more difficult by not eating carbs hardly at all, so all things pasta, rice related are out, as well as most potato based dishes (as a side dish is ok). So it leaves the main veggies like pumpkin, zuchinni, parsnip, carrot, (corn for me), and asparagus (i also do brocollinni and snow peas and, brussel sprouts for me - i have tried brussel sprouts - they are not that bad). And it can get a bit monotonous at times. Hmmm.

Men, what more can I say. Sometimes period (i.e. full stop).

I have been in a committed relationship for some time now. I like being in a relationship most days. I mean you always have someone there who can...... What? Complain to you about how the house is not clean, ask what is for dinner, say "Im gonna leave you to clean the kitchen coz I know how much you like to do it the right way", leave the washing and its hanging out til the very last minute (eg. sunday evening at 10pm in winter when it's raining). But for those of you who are/ have been in relationships that lasted for over a year - has anyone ever noticed how your significant other tends to notice when things haven't been done and need doing, but not so much when you have already done the washing, cleaned the kitchen and put everything away in the bedrooms. And then if you don't praise them enough for something THEY did - like vacuuming the rug in the living room - it is made out to be the task that has just saved the world which would have come to an untimely end otherwise!!! Never fear - Supervaccuumer is here! Tam tada dam! Ha ha.
On other subjects - the weekend is almost upon us again! Woo hoo! Who doesn't love the weekend. Altho to me it always seems like the weekend goes at triple the speed to weekdays at work. Why is that? Is true- do we fall into an alternative timezone as soon as Friday nite comes? I reckon for this reason the weekends should be 1 day longer at least. I mean surely they could make up another day for the week to make it 8 days - what about Funday after Sunday? Hmmm. anyways, that's probably enough randomness for everyone for now, altho I doubt I even have that many, if any, readers at this stage, apart from Estrella's Tales from the Darkside who left my first (and only) comment (rock on guuurl) the other day.

See ya later alligators

First Post ;P !!!

Hiya, how's everyone out there in blogger land? This is my first post ever. In this blog I will try to outline my pursuits for fun and work!!! W/o trying to make it 2 boring. Otherwise, my life 2, parts of it, that are more or less uncensored I mean who needs TMI?!!! Hey. Hey?? Anyways, all you happy bloggers in blog land - it's good to finally be here.

TTFN and signing out for now