I love these quizzes, thanks Jadey !!

You are a Dark Red Rose

You represent unconscious beauty and deep passion. Your vibe: sophisticated and worldly Falling in love with you is: wildly carnal and forbidden

What Color Rose Are You?

2005 comes to an end.

Well another year is nearly over. Time to make some New Year's Resolutions I guess ...They will probably be the same as last year: To lose weight, To be a good mother, To exercise more .... I guess most people would have the same. I also want to give up smoking (again) with all the stress of the last few months i've taken it back up with a vengeance. I was just having a couple when I was drinking but that has now escalated to every day (not the drinking, just the smoking!!) and I know it's not good for me but drinking and smoking just seem to go hand in hand with me, i'm so hopeless!! LOL

This year has been a good one for me. I have the best job i've ever had, I have a company car and a company mobile. I have great girls working for me who I consider not only work mates but my very good friends. I have met some absolutely fantastic people through Ozgeek and blogging that I consider to be my very close friends, even though I have never met any of you in real life. DH and I have been getting on a lot better and we're coping a lot better with the routine of "normal family life".

DH has a management position now and he is really enjoying it, he is very happy where he is and things are getting better every week.

We're also looking to the future in that we've starting looking at houses to buy. We've only looked at one so far but it's a start.

The band has three gigs booked for Jan/Feb already so that's looking up. I really love my singing and DH is SUCH a fantastic keyboard player it would be sad for us to give up the band and waste all that talent.

DS is growing up to be a gorgeous boy. He is very well behaved and fits in with all that is going on in our lives so well. He is not one of those annoying clingy children, which is great. He loves going to daycare and i'm getting used to him not needing me so much.

So, all in all it's been a pretty good year and i've achieved most of my goals for the year.

Looking back at photos of myself from this time last year I can see a vast improvement in my health, I feel fitter even though I haven't really gotten fully into the exercise thing, I have lost 15 kilos and my body thanks me for that.

My goals for this year are easily achievable now that I know what to do. I am going to make it my priority to look after myself this year and get to goal weight.

Happy New Year everyone. I wish you health, wealth and happiness for the coming year and look forward to sharing your journies over the coming months and years ahead.

A big congratulations to Kellee and both Jodies for their pregnancies. I hope you all have gorgeous healthy babies and I look forward to hearing all about them.

And last but not least, a big thank you to my own personal support team, Michelle, Kellee, and Kim.

Without your support through all of this there's no way I would be where I am now.

So "here's cheers" for a fantastic skinny 2006 for all of us!

Happy New Year everyone
lots of love
Bri

How girlie are you?

You Can Hang With the Guys and the Girls

You've struck a good balance between girlie and laid back. You can keep it casual but when you dress up, you are as girly as the next girl.

How Girlie Are You?

Confession time

Well, I bit the bullet and got on the scales this morning. It's not good. 77.9kg. That means i've put on 2.7 in 6 weeks. I know a lot of it will probably be fluid and I will be able to drop most of it, or at least half if I - STRIKE THAT - WHEN I do WW week one next week. I have my shopping list ready and I may even leave work at bit early this afternoon and go to the supermarket.

I feel really fat and disgusting. I can't believe I could feel this bad from only putting on a bit less than 3 kilos, I don't remember feeling this bad when I was 15 kilos heavier, actually I do but you know what I mean!!!!!

I have drawn up a table at home and put it on the cupboard. I'm not sure what I want my goal weight to be, right now my next goal will be getting to 73 kilos, which is 20 kilos lost. That's now 5 kilos away, not that long ago it was just TWO kilos away. I'm not going to be angry with myself though and i'm trying to turn this into a positive.

I would like to be somewhere between 63 and 58 kilos when I get to goal, so the chart i've drawn up goes in 0.5 kilo lots ahead for every week. Starting next week (I put my weight down as 79 kilos so i'm doing better than I thought already) and losing 0.5 per week I will be at 58 kilos for my 40th birthday.

It seems so long away.....

I'm still not pressuring myself to be that weight though, i'll see how I go when I get to each milestone. So my milestones are as follows:

• under 75 kilos - I haven't been under 75 kilos since I went overseas 10 years ago and I seem to have an imaginary wall at this level - 3 kilos to go
• under 73 kilos - 20 kilos gone - 5 kilos to go
• to be a 60's girl - I can't even imagine how good this will feel!! - 8 kilos to go
• 65 kilos - 12 kilos to go
• 63 kilos - 30 kilos gone and see how i'm feeling at this weight - 15 kilos to go

I know that with your help, I can do this. Losing weight is the hardest thing i've ever had to do in my life and I know the next few months won't be easy. I have to fight with the emotional eating demons and also the lazy demons, so i'm going to need all the help I can get.

Stick around guys, this is going to be one hell of a roller coaster ride!

Thanks for your support everyone.

Bri

ugh

Went out last night, feeling very very ordinary today. Drank way too much champagne. I really need to get back to eating properly and not drinking alcohol, it's killing me. I can't wait until today is over, not long to go thank goodness.

I think my body will thank me for a huge plate of vegetables for tea and an early night. I'm so very very tired.

Band practice is cancelled tonight (phew) so I think i'll be in bed by 8pm!! MIL is here minding DS cos both daycares are closed.

On a good note, DH and I are looking at a house on Friday (to buy!!!!!) it looks just perfect on the net apart from only having a carport. We have a double garage in the property we're renting just now but we never put the cars in there, it's just full of crap. Perhaps moving to this place (if we like it and if we get it) will finally make us sort out all the junk and get rid of everything we're not using?? Fingers crossed.

Hope none of you are feeling as bad as I do today. Getting home at 3.30am and then getting up at 5.30am to come to work will do that to you! Yikes.

I'm never drinking again!!!!!!!!!!

Bri

Just for you kathrynoh!! 

So glad it's over

I'm so glad that Christmas is over. I feel like i've eaten enough to fill a house or a small country and I feel like Monsieur Creosote from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. (see picture on the left!!). I'm so over eating crap. We have to go back to my brother's house for tea tonight, but we're having steak and salad.

I'm also over this hot weather. We don't have air conditioning here and the house isn't even insulated. I can't wait until we can buy our own place and have a nice cool house like everyone else on the planet seems to have. I don't cope well in the heat. Although I must say, i've coped better this year with being 18 kilos lighter. Last year was a horrid struggle for me.

DH and DS are both asleep and I would love to have a sleep, but if I do that i'll probably miss dinner down the road and they would be upset with us. We have to go back up there in about half an hour anyway.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I scored pretty well. Mostly money (to help with our measly house deposit) and my mother bought me some YSL lip gloss and a YSL eye pack with mascara, concealer, makeup remover and an eye pencil. She also bought me a really nice pair of earrings.

DS scored brilliantly and we now have to make room for all of his toys. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. He got heaps of stuff from everyone (of course) a new table and chairs, a single chair that's shaped like an egg and has a little blind on the front of it (sounds strange but it's very cute) a basket ball hoop and a huge aircraft carrier with little men and a helicopter thingy. There's just no room in there right now, I think i'll have to take the tree down tomorrow so we can fit everything in.

For our wedding anniversary (we don't 'do' Christmas) I bought DH two tickets to see Billy Connolly next February, they're front row on the side at the Entertainment centre. I can't wait. The shows are all sold out and the tickets are selling on ebay for $600 for two! Man I could make a motza. No way are we selling them though, if this is Billy's last tour we want to go and see him, I reckon he'll be hilarious!

Anyway I better go and pack the bags for taking with us tonight and try and wake the boys up.

Talk to you all soon,
Bri

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone. I hope you and your families have a fantastic day. I hope Santa is very good to all of you and I hope to catch up with all of your news very soon.

Sorry I haven't been around much over the last couple of days, it's been so busy around here.

lots of love,

Bri

Yihar

DH wants to start WW on Boxing Day - yihar - I feel so much better now. It's good to know that he'll be doing it too and we can support each other. He's so over being fat, I know that feeling!! That's where I was this time last year, and now 18 kilos lighter I feel so much better. I know I have a long way to go (probably another 18 kilos) but at least i'm getting there. I know what to do, I know where I go wrong and I know how to fix it. Bring on 2006 - it's gonna be my year!

The secret santa presents have started arriving, which is very exciting. I can't wait for Friday, it's going to be so much fun. We're going on a road trip (yes, there is an esky involved!!) to our new office after lunch. The girls and I are providing lunch on Friday (we just decided this morning and it will be well appreciated by our bosses - they love it when we do stuff like that).

We're moving to our new office in the middle of January and it's a brand new building. The place we're in now is just an old house and it's quite daggy and has resident mice which tend to enjoy eating any food that is left out at night time. A new building will be fun and hopefully the mice won't come with us! LOL.

I have been feeling quite tired for the last month or so. I know i've had a lot on but I also haven't been eating properly and i'm pretty keen to get back into routine (I've probably said that a hundred times already, sorry!). I've been back to my old habit of having toast for breakfast every morning instead of my fruit, yoghurt and cereal. Toast doesn't really fill me up so by 10am i'm looking for something else to eat and unfortunately there's been an influx of junk food at work as well as at home so it's not doing me any favours!

Anyway, in saying that, I had better do some work as i've got plenty on today and I can't find my desk for all the files on it so I had better clean up and do some serious prioritising!!

Have a great day everyone. By the way, anyone who wants to see my Christmas present (to myself) just look in the post below! I'll try and get a photo of me actually 'in' the dress soon!

Bri

OK folks here is my Christmas present to myself (actually I told DH he could "buy" it for me for Christmas so the pressure is off him now!!). It doesn't look all that good on the hanger, it needs some serious curves underneath it! haha - lucky I have those! 

5 more sleeps

5 days to go. Geez isn't this week just flying? I just went and bought myself a red dress, I've always wanted a red dress for Christmas and I've NEVER had one. It's gorgeous. Will post a pic as soon as I can. It cost more than I should be spending on myself BUT I do have to give myself the money from the "Emily" challenge so i'll use that and negate the rest of the money as I don't really have it to spend. Well, I did - but I bought a lot more stuff for DS than I had originally planned on (typical!!). Not much else to post today so i'll leave it there and try and post a picture of the dress tonight! I'm so damn excited about it - it's beeeeeee-yooooo-deeee-full!!

Bri

How many sleeps now? SIX

I was reading a column in the Readers Digest today – it’s called Seven Myths About Fitness. It’s quite interesting. I won’t quote the whole thing but the last one was “Men Can’t Get Cellulite” – here’s what it says:

True – because there’s no such thing. “Cellulite is just ordinary body fat plus gravity” says Catherine Geissler, professor of human nutrition at King’s College London. “It’s just more obvious in women because they carry extra fat in areas where the skin sags”.

Did anyone else know this? I’m a bit shocked actually. Happy shocked though cos maybe that means once I lose the flab off the legs I won’t look so ‘hail damaged’. LOL.

I’m excited about Christmas but I have to tell you that I can’t wait until it’s over. My eating has gone way downhill since the funerals (and the weddings and the parties and the barbeques etc etc etc) and I have let myself eat a lot more than I really need to, plus I’m not walking.

I am not going to worry too much about it as I know that from 1st January I’m back on track and DH has said that he is going to get off the beer and do WW with me so that makes me feel better. We’re both going to be walking every morning (no more excuses) and so I know that once we can get back into routine we’ll be okay. I’m just going to relax and enjoy Christmas and worry about my eating/fitness once all the stupidity is over.

We’re going to start at WW week one and go through all the books I have from last year, following the old points system, and just see how far we get. (Watch this space!!).

I'm a bit in awe of you girls who can keep up with the WW at this time of year and go to parties and still lose weight. Maybe i'm just not motivated enough right now.

I want to be at goal for my birthday (it’s a big one next year). Actually I want to be at goal well before that, but I’m not going to push myself too hard or I’ll give up. So right now I have somewhere between 13 and 18 kilos to lose (26 to 36 weeks if I lost 0.5 a week). I’ll see how I go with the "number" once I get closer. In the meantime I’m going to make mini goals. My next one is 73 kilos so I have 3 kilos to go. Once I get to a mini-goal I will be rewarding myself with small items (CDs or maybe a DVD?) and then I will plan the next goal. The one after this will be to get under 70kg, right now I’d be happy to be under 75 cos I seem to be struggling to get past that one (although I know why it’s not happening right now!! Hehe).

I’ve started planning my 40th birthday party already – it’s going to be on Saturday 21st October (the day before my actual birthday). I’ve booked the band and the venue and I’m seriously considering sending out the invitations soon so that no-one misses out. Although there’s always some people who can’t make it I guess. Do you think I’m mad? What do you mean you knew well before today! LMAO.

Anyhoo, I had best go and continue on with my work, hope everyone is well and looking forward to spending some time relaxing over Christmas. Those of us who are still here anyway!

Check you later!
Bri

Saturdays are great!

My aims for the end of this week were as follows:

1. Buy the Christmas presents - done except for the daycare girls who look after DS - not sure what to get them yet.

2. Write out the Christmas cards - done - it took me four hours this morning, I had 75 cards to write and send. It's old fashioned I know, but I love receiving cards in the mail and it's just my thing that I do every year.

3. Wrap the Christmas presents - done.

4. Write a shopping list for Christmas Day - not done yet.

5. Update my goals on the Ozgeek forum - done.

6. Tidy up the loungeroom and sort out DS's toys - not done yet, but i've just put him to bed so I should go and do that now while he's asleep.

I really need an early night tonight, had a late one last night with friends who came over for a BBQ and we played Buzz (PS2 game) until well after midnight.

Also have a lot on tomorrow, cleaning and doing other household chores, so I should try and get an early night so i'm fired up for tomorrow, DH always has Saturdays off so I got a bit more done today than I would normally, but also probably a bit less as I was feeling rather seedy this morning. Too many "chateau de cardboards" last night! hehe

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Bri

Nearly there.

Well, you'll all be pleased to know that i'm nearly finished my shopping. I got my brother and his wife to mind DS last night for an hour and a half (yep, that's all it took) while DH and I went and did as much of the shopping as we could. It's ESDs birthday on Sunday so we had to get those things as well. I even bought DS and myself a few "unlisted" items (oops!). Typical me.

I just have to get a couple of vouchers, a card for DH's brother and three gifts for kids of my girlfriends. Bonus!! It wasn't as bad as I thought. Mind you there were plenty of people out and i'm glad we didn't need any longer cos DH was getting Christmas Cranky!! He also has a bad knee and he kept saying "stop running". Now in the old days I used to struggle to keep up with him cos he's a rocket when it comes to walking, but I wasn't even walking very fast and he still couldn't keep up. I reckon if he hadn't come with me I would have done the shopping in about half an hour. Well, either that or I would have bought more stuff for DS and myself!! LOL.

I'm glad it's Friday though. I'm going home to write out our Christmas cards tonight (75 of them!!) and then post them tomorrow so that they hopefully get to everyone by Christmas Day. Fingers crossed. I could deliver some of them, but I think people like getting cards in the mail, plus we do a Christmas letter each year to update people we don't see too often on what's been happening.

Anyway, loads to do so i'm off to do some work and I shall catch up with all of your blogs soon. I know a lot of bloggers have already signed off for the year but i'll be around for a while yet.

Have a great weekend everyone,
Bri

Is it here yet?

Christmas, Christmas – bloody Christmas. I’ll be so glad when it’s over. I thought I had one free night this week, but no – DH was going to invite some friends over to sit out the front of our house and watch the buses drive past looking at the “Griswaldy” lights (none at our house – bah humbug!! But we live in one of those suburbs where EVERYONE puts lights up – I’m just waiting on a knock on the front door from the Christmas Nazi’s!! LMAO) but now I’ve been invited out for drinks with a client and the people from work.

I still haven’t written my Christmas cards and I don’t even have a complete list because last year’s has gone AWOL!

* takes a deep breath. *

I also haven’t started my shopping yet…..

I’m in big trouble !!!!!

I can’t believe it’s only 10 days away. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh.

DS has to have his chicken pox needle on Friday morning and DH is off work so he’s taking him. I hope he gives him sympathy and cuddles afterwards. Now I’m panicking that he won’t keep a sharp eye on him to make sure he’s ok, you know what men are like!!

OMG.

I have no idea what I weigh as I haven’t had time to get on the scales. Those of you who are regular visitors will be shocked at this and won’t be able to believe it, but it’s true.

I’d best get a wriggle on I think. Maybe some lunchtime shopping is in order, but then I hate crowds. I think I’m having a panic attack right now!
Bri

Phew

Lucky for me I jumped on the scales this morning and i've dropped that pesky extra weight, it was obviously only fluid retention. I certainly didn't drink much water when I was at MIL's last week.

I'm now back to 76 kilos and I feel MUCH better about that. I was really beginning to think that if I didn't get my act together i'd be back at 80 kg by Christmas. Thankfully I don't have to worry about it. I've been eating quite well, not as well as I should but i'm getting back into the swing of things, and I did some walking last week. It really doesn't take long to get unfit again. You certainly go backwards a lot quicker than you go forwards with fitness. Walking to the bank last week nearly killed me, plus it was hotter than Hades so that didn't help.

Thankfully it's cooling down a bit here today. We have to go out to another BBQ tonight and this one is within walking distance so unless it's raining, we'll be walking and pushing the pram. DH will have to drive the esky (chilli bin for you NZ'ers) up there first which kind of seems silly but it's too heavy to carry.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Bri

DS with Mummy's reindeer ears on!! 

DS is fascinated by the tree. 

He loves his Shark outfit.  

ESD and DS 

ESD and DS 

How cute is this photo. This is where I found DS with his cup of milk. He thinks he's the bee's knees!! AND HE IS!! 

My Christmas Tree

My Christmas Tree, which, I might add, DS has already pulled over on himself TWICE and it had only been up half an hour!

Glad I didn't put the lights on now. Good idea Bri!!

We may have to take it down tomorrow if he keeps pulling it over. (Yes, that is a piece of string "trying" to hold it up!) LOL. It didn't work, obviously.

I went for the 'bare' look this year. No lights, and no tinsel for DS to pull off, but he still managed to pull it over.

Nose to the grindstone.....

Back to the grindstone. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, especially since I won "employee of the month" for the whole of Australia last week. Yay me. I'm just very very tired. It's been a trying month. My eating has just turned to shit and I feel really fat, ugly and very sorry for myself.

I can't wait til Christmas is over and I can get back to normality.

I've put back on some of the weight i've lost and i'm now back to 77.7kg. Very disappointing. I haven't been eating anything too bad, it's just the amounts, oh and the drinking. It's hard when you're not at your own house and you don't really have control over a lot of what you're eating. Also when you're tired it's just so much easier to have "quick" stuff - which means convenience foods. I did make healthy choices and watch my portion sizes but when it gets to the two week mark and it's still happening the scales can only go one way.

I tried to change my ticker but there's something wrong with tickerfactory and for some reason I can't get into it.

I have so much to do at home and no time to do any of it.

DS woke up a few times last night, he has to readjust to his own bed again now. Then we had a few yahoos who had stolen a car and set it on fire outside our house, and the fire engine roaring down the street and the petrol tank exploding at 4am was just too much for me to handle.

I had to keep it together for Nanna's funeral, because of doing the reading and I haven't really cried about it yet. It's all welled up inside me and I just know it's going to come out at the most inappropriate time. I've just been so busy and haven't really had time to get over it.

Anyway, sorry for the "whingey-complainey" post. Still haven't found 'Motivated Briony' - she's gone AWOL, I hope she comes back soon.

Bri

I'm back

Hi everyone, i'm back. It's going to take me about a week to catch up on everyone's blogs. I've read a couple but seriously - you people have done some serious blogging while i've been away.

The funerals weren't very nice and i'm glad they're over. Three funerals in just under 3 weeks is just ridiculous and i'm hoping that's it now for a while. Fingers crossed.

I'm very tired. My back is stuffed (had to sleep on the lounge or a single very slim mattress on the floor) and my house is a pigsty. The temperature today must be about 43 degrees, i'm roasting hot and we don't have air conditioning here. Actually there's not even much of a breeze.
I have unpacked the car but that's about it, it's too hot to do anything else.

Back to work tomorrow and i'm already looking forward to the weekend, although I have SO much to do this weekend it's not funny. At least I have air cond at the office so i'll be better off there anyway.

I haven't weighed myself for about a week, i'm sure i've stacked on about 10 kilos, at least that is what it feels like today - probably due to the heat. I'll wait til Friday to see how much damage i've done. Luckily I was able to cook most of the meals when we were away so we had fairly healthy options.

MIL and BIL have been eating takeaway for 6 weeks - I only know this because I had to wash the pots and pans before cooking as she told me she hadn't used them yet. They moved in mid October - Geez - they wonder why they're stacking the weight on! I tried to keep my mouth shut but on a couple of occasions I just couldn't help myself and had to say something to her.
It's just plain old laziness and any excuse will do! I know the signs, I have that disease too!

Anyway, enough bitching.

I hope everyone is ok and coping with whatever is being thrown your way, it's hard sometimes, and it was even harder because I didn't have my blogging friends to cheer me up. MIL has dial-up internet - crikey I forgot how bloody slow it is, thank goodness for broadband! I tried to look at a couple of blogs but it would take 5 minutes to get to the comments section so I gave up.

I also had to print 150 service booklets for the funeral and MIL's printer was doing ONE page every FIVE minutes! You can imagine how much time I spent cursing the bloody thing.
I SO wished I was at home with my beautiful computer and printer and BROADBAND! haha I was even tempted to drive home (2 hours) print them and then drive back (another 2 hours) but I didn't.

I read a bible passage at Nanna's funeral. I'm not religious by any means (a whole other story) and don't believe in all that crap, but Nanna would have liked it and I kept it together and got through it without fumbling, crying or stuffing up. I felt very good after I had finished but i'm pretty sure it doesn't burn as many calories as getting on the treadmill! haha

Anyway, DS is asleep and I had best take advantage and go and put some washing on. Talk to you all soon,
Bri

The angels came this morning and took Nanna to Heaven. I might not be around for a few days cos I have to go to my MIL's to be with her at this difficult time. 

Goodbye Nanna

I know that you're all sending us hugs and best wishes. It's been a bad month for us. I'll be back at the end of next week and i'll update you all on what's happened. I'm going up to my MIL's to be with her as DH has to work. He went up there at 4am after his mum called, and i'm just about to leave. I have packed the car with everything imaginable but i'm sure i'll have forgotten something.
I hope you all have a great weekend and i'll catch up next week. We think the funeral will be on Tuesday so i'll be at MIL's til after then. Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts.
Bri

A Bit Better Today

Hello fellow bloggers, i'm feeling a bit better today. I had a good sleep last night as DS only woke up 2 times. He has really bad nappy rash at the moment but it's getting better. Poor little lamb. It's because he's teething. I think he's getting his 2 year old molars, but he's not even 18 months yet!

I'm so glad it's nearly the weekend. I can't wait to have a couple of days at home to tidy up, I have so much that needs doing and I just haven't had any time at home for the last month.

I'm not going to band practice tonight, I just couldn't be arsed. I know they're going to have something to say about it, but i'm over caring right now.

Have to go and get my picture taken for my driver's licence today, hope it doesn't look too bad, I hate getting those kind of photos taken cos it's not like you can say "make sure I look skinny, this has to last for 5 years". I hate to think when I look back after a couple of years that I will be saying "Jeez, look what a porker I was and i'd already lost 17 kilos - crikey".

Anyhoo, best go and get started for the day - overdue 90+ accounts await me today! (Yay, happy happy joy joy).

Bri