Time to move on.....

Time to move on ..... see my new blog here. It's been a lot of fun, but it's time for a fresh start and time to get serious, no more excuses, no more complaining (i'll try!!).

Bri

Cool stuff to do to waste time!

This is cool. Go to http://www.wikipedia.com/ and put in your day and month of birth (not the year) and you will find information on things that happened on your birthday.

Here are some of mine (22 October)

EVENTS:
1966 - The Supremes become the first all-female music group to attain a No. 1 selling album (The Supremes A' Go-Go).
1969 - Led Zeppelin release the classic album Led Zeppelin II, featuring the hit single "Whole Lotta Love."
1964 - Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but turns down the honor.

BIRTHS
1811 - Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (d. 1886)
1844 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (d. 1923)
1919 - Doris Lessing, British writer
1938 - Derek Jacobi, English actor
1938 - Christopher Lloyd, American actor
1942 - Annette Funicello, American actress
1952 - Jeff Goldblum, American actor
1968 - Shaggy, Jamaican musician
1985 - Zachary Hanson, American musician (Hanson)
1990 - Jonathan Lipnicki, American actor

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES
Anti Police Brutality Day
French Republican Calendar - Pomme (Apple) Day, first day in the Month of Brumaire

A great day

What a great day. I got on the scales this morning and was 1.5 kg LIGHTER than I was on Monday. I have no idea how this happened and, in fact, I was quite bad yesterday with my eating (Henny Penny Chicken and chips and Old Jamaica Chocolate for lunch - oops).


So, my scales are ridiculous and today I love that, but other days (when they weigh heavier) I don't!! hehe

I was thinking about weigh in on Saturday and wondering what clothes/shoes are the lightest that I can wear. I was even considering weighing two pairs of shoes to see which ones would be lighter. God it's so obsessive isn't it? So i'm just going to pick one outfit that I will wear every week, even when its hanging off me, I will own the number that they give me on Saturday and make sure I NEVER see it again. Although in saying that I will make sure I don't wear jeans and a belt or my boots!!

I'm guessing that I will be back in the 80's when I weigh in on Saturday (because the weight I record here is with no clothes on) and that's bad, but its also okay, because I know i'm motivated to get back on track and I know it's all downhill from here (in a good way - to quote a good friend of mine LOL).

In a way I wish Saturday was over so that I could get started. Don't get me wrong, apart from yesterday's little hiccup i'm being very good, only eating food I bring from home and planning meals/snacks etc, but I will just be glad when it is official and i'm back in the club so to speak.

Anyhoo, I had best go and do some work now. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Bri

On the countdown

We're on the countdown now, it's only 3 days til I go to my WW meeting. I'm getting so excited and can hardly wait (or is it weight!!). The scales aren't being very nice to me, even though i'm eating well and keeping within points. Damn them.
This morning I was 79.1, which is much better than (which I won't reveal) my weight on Monday morning. I've been good, no snacking when I get home (which is really hard for me) and only healthy well planned food at work. I've even resisted the cookie jar on 99/100 occasions and the lollie jar on 499/500 occasions!!! haha.

I'm really looking forward to my new start next week, can you tell? LOL.

Bri

Goodbye Old Friend

This week I have done a few things that i'm proud of:

1. The jogging

I seriously thought I would be lucky to jog half a lap of the dam near work. It felt strange to jog. I'm not a very sporty person (no surprises there!!) and my feet felt very strange. It was as if I was running on needles, the pain in my feet was just stupid, I guess my body isn't used to it. I am so jealous of people who can run and I really want to be able to do it, and easily do it, and enjoy doing it, so I will persist. I ended up jogging one whole lap (I wanted to give up after about a quarter, but I kept pushing myself) and it felt good. Then I did another half lap later on. All in all we did 6 laps of the dam (1.5 running, 4.5 walking). Unfortunately our bubble was burst for the rest of the week as there were workmen doing some concreting near the dam and there was just no way we were going down there.

2. The housework

Yesterday I did all of the housework, and I even folded all the clothes and put them away, so that today I could just relax with DS, normally I stuff around and end up only doing half and then having to do the rest on Sunday, but today is my rest day.

3. The shed

Oh, isn't it awful when you move and you have boxes you haven't unpacked and they call to you all the time. There's still things you can't find and you have no idea where they are. Well yesterday I sorted all of that out. I didn't empty all the boxes (don't get too excited) but I do now know where everything is and it's a lot tidier out there.

4. The lunch

DH wanted fish and chips for lunch yesterday, and as tempting as that sounded, and even though I didn't completely resist, I had a hamburger (plain) and only about 2 chips. I made him throw the rest of the chips out as soon as he was finished so that I wasn't tempted.

5. The weight loss thing

When I started this journey in January 2005 I was close to 100kg in weight. I'm not sure of my exact weight because I didn't weigh myself. The scales were not my friend. I was lethargic, slow, fat, I used to ache all over from doing nothing, my thighs were so huge I had to wear pants all of the time because they were rubbing together and I could hardly hold my arms down straight at my sides because of my bulging waist line. I was eating junk constantly and not much fun to be with. On Christmas Day 2004 I decided that i'd had enough, I didn't want to be that heavy or that lethargic ever again.

Last year I lost somewhere in the vicinity of 20 kilos, officially I lost 18 but as i'm not sure of my starting weight I know it is actually more than that. I could have done so much better, but it's not just about what the scale says, it's also about changing your lifestyle and boy have I done that in a big way. I've gone from sitting on the lounge 24/7 trying to breastfeed to working at home, working part time in the office and part time at home, and now managing the office full time and we've bought our own house. There has been a lot going on.

Now that we're settled, back into routine and fairly predictable - it's time to get back to looking after me and sorting myself out. I have started a new blog for my new journey starting next Saturday. I am going back to Weight Watchers. I haven't decided yet wether i'll do points or no count, i'll wait and see what the leader says. So my new blog starts next week with my new weight loss journey and hopefully the new me!! So it's goodbye from me and hello to the new thinner, healthier me.

Wish me luck.

Bri

There's a dam near my new office. One of the girls and I went for 5 walks around it at lunch time. We figure it's about the size of a soccer field. It only took about 15 minutes, but it was better than nothing.

Tomorrow we're taking walking clothes and we're going to try and jog as far around as we can. Wish me luck, I reckon i'll be lucky to make half a lap.

Eating has been okay today, but not perfect. I haven't planned this week so i'm not as "on track" as I would have hoped.

DS is still waking up heaps through the night so i'm really tired and can't seem to catch up on sleep.

Still haven't made a decision about whether or not to go back to WW. I think I should though.

About to have dinner (BBQ) and then i'm off to bed.

Bri

Bra shopping

I've been talking about buying new bras for ages. I kept saying i'll wait until i've lost another few kilos, but my old ones (which i've had for about 5 or 6 years) were starting to show the wear and tear of a very hard life. A couple of them have ripped in the back where you undo the hook and eye thingies and it was all very sad. I bit the bullet and went bra shopping yesterday.

I can't shop in the "normal" stores like Target or Kmart for bras, they just don't stock my size. So I knew I was up for a couple of hundred dollars, comfort comes at a high price for girls like me.

When I was younger I was always a 10DD (and proud of it). My maternity bras were 16Fs and my 'stock' bras that I have just replaced were 14E's! Crikey, hard to admit, but there you have it.

I was actually a wee bit worried that I would need to get 16's, which would have been depressing, but I thought "what the hey" as long as they're comfortable it doesn't matter and I can replace them with a smaller size in about 6 months or so when i've lost my next 10 kilos (or hopefully more).

So do you want the good news ... or the bad news ... ?????

12 G

Holy crap, that shouldn't be possible.

First of all "G"??? What the hell? Why can't I just be a nice D cup like normal people? All you girls out there who are small busted please take note, it's expensive and painful to have big bazzoombas. The lady in the shop assures me that when i've lost more weight, my boobs will stay the same. Very depressing. End of story.

Secondly "size 12"!! yay me - I was gobsmacked. Once I got over the G thing of course. The lady in the shop, who was lovely, gave me a 12 H to try on (she said it was a small fitting) HAH - small - I don't bloody think so - it was a H !!!

I told her to take it away.

So I left feeling happy and depressed all at once. Have you ever felt like that? Two very separate and very different emotions, but all at one time.

Now I have to go and plan our meals for the week. We're still deciding whether we're going to attempt the Optifast thing for a few days this week as a kickstart. I would love to, but I don't think I have the willpower, we'll see how we go, i'll keep you posted.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Bri

Back to basic basics

I'm thinking about going back to WW. I've heard so many good stories about the No Count plan and I think I want to try it for myself. A friend who also used to go to WW is also thinking about going back. She has one of those free registration 'for you and a friend' vouchers. We have to decide before the end of May. I think it would be good for us. We weigh about the same so it would be a good competition against each other as well as on the scales. I'm just finding it so hard to get motivated.

My eating has been great for the last two weeks, but my weight has come down and gone back up (could have something to do with TTOTM) so i'm at the same place I was 2 weeks ago (12 months ago too). I think I need a kickstart and I was thinking about Optifast, but its so harsh and I usually end up giving up before i've even completed one day.

I'm also struggling to find time to exercise at the moment. DS is waking up at all hours of the night and then it takes me ages to get back to sleep so i'm tired all the time. Work is still really busy and there's no end in sight there. I'm going to take my joggers to work next week and go for a walk at lunchtime (I don't really get a lunchbreak and I usually just sit at my desk). Even if its only 15 minutes it's better than nothing, plus it gets me out of the office to clear my head for a few minutes.

I just don't seem to be getting anywhere at the moment and because i've made an extra effort its very disheartening.

Bri

It's Wednesday already

I keep thinking it's Monday..... do you? It's strange.

First of all I have to say congratulations to Phillipa, who has made it to her WW GOAL weight!! Yay. Pop over and visit her blog if you haven't been there before, she is a great inspiration to so many of us!

Anzac Day was pretty quiet for me. Picked hubby up at 9am from the club, he had been to the dawn service. Last year I picked him up at 11.30am and he was tractor faced drunk, this year (picking him up earlier) he wasn't too bad, although he did have a bit of the wobbly boot thing happening! I'm not sure how he can bring himself to have a drink so early in the morning, but his mates were staying on at the pub and he chose to come home. Probably didn't want the wrath of Briony on his head if he didn't!!! Anyway he sat and watched war movies all day while I did the housework, so i'm all caught up now.

I've been quite good with my food this week, as I was most of last week. Can't say i've been good with the not smoking but I just think one thing at a time at the moment is the way to go. I haven't been exercising as much as I would like because i've been waking up in the early hours with DS and then I can't get back to sleep. I have a lot on my mind at the moment, mostly silly stuff, but it still keeps me awake. Then last night I had really bad period pain, which I still have tonight, so that didn't help.

Anyway, two good things happening tomorrow. The Biggest Loser finale - I really think Harry will win, but I can't wait to see everyone and how they are looking now.

AND

The new PS2 Buzz game (general knowledge) comes out tomorrow too. I have to come home at lunchtime to let the pest control man in (I've found 2 red back spiders in the bathroom since we moved in 4 weeks ago and I think it's just better to spend the money and get them sorted out) so I will have time to go via Target to get the new game.

I'm skipping band practice tomorrow night to watch the final show (is that bad?). Our next show isn't til the middle of June and i'm the last one who needs to practice out of the other band members anyway!! (except for my DH who plays keyboard and is very very good, he also doesn't need the practice.).

That's it for me, i'm off to hit the sack.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Bri

Shortest post in history.

Another Sunday has come around so fast. At least we have another short week this week, even if it is split up. My eating has been a lot better this week, but I only exercised once. I really need to increase that. Nothing else to report really today, I have heaps of housework to do so I must go and get started whilst DS is asleep. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.
Bri

Great blog pals.

I am so lucky. I have met some of the greatest blog pals ever in the last 12 months. I just couldn't go through this journey without first of all the motivation I get from reading the blogs of really successful "losers" - you know who you are, secondly the positive supportive and helpful comments that I receive on my own blog from people who, let's face it, don't really know me but are there for me anyway (when people who do know me couldn't care less!) and I am really appreciative of how you all go out of your way to make me feel good about what i'm doing, even if it's eating too much and not being on track.

Three special things happened to me today. First of all Linda rang me at work, which is so lovely. This is the second time she has called me and we just chatter away like we've known each other forever. She is so down to earth and seems a lot like me, i'm sure if (when) we meet in person we would get on like a house on fire.

Secondly, I got the most gorgeous card from my great friend Michelle. She scrapbooked it herself (i'm assuming) and it's just beautiful. Poor Michelle wasn't well over Easter and if you're reading this young lady, rest up and I hope you get better very very soon.

... and thirdly but by no means leastly (is that even a word??? LOL it is now, let's call it a Briony-ysm!!!) the gorgeous Phillipa sent me a poster for my fridge. What a great reminder of how far I HAVE come! I had forgotten how bad I looked when I was really really fat (not just really fat).

I used to have a poster of this very same fat photo on my pantry at the old house, but since we've moved I haven't had time to put it back up, so thanks Phillipa, I have it printed and ready to hang up before I go to bed. I have come a long way, and you have reminded me just how far (they are probably my absolute worst and absolute best photo so you've picked well!!).

I'm now going to share it with all of you, my present from Phillipa, if I can download it that is, i'm not very good at this stuff.

Yay, I did it!!

Also, not sure whether I mentioned this but i've been looking for a nice bedroom linen set for DS - he is so grown up now and sleeps in a big bed at daycare through the day so we've set up his single bed, but until yesterday I didn't have any linen for it so I just had an old blue blanket over it. I saw a Wiggles cover last week but it was $60 and I was a bit miffed about how expensive it was when it wasn't really all that nice.

Anyway, I went to Target yesterday and found this:

Whatever you do, don't ask me how much it cost and don't anyone mention it to my DH if you do know cos I reckon he would blow up. Anyway, much nicer than the Wiggles dooner cover isn't it!! I couldn't get DS to stand still long enough to take a decent photo. He kept running between the bed and the cot saying "my bed/my cot/my bed/my cot" and trying to work it out for himself.

I'm so proud of him and also a little sad that he is growing up so quickly. He does wees on the big toilet now and the way he's going it won't be long before he's doing "the other" there either. He's not a baby anymore!!

Anyhoo, I have to be at work at 7am, which means getting up at 5am so I had best toddle off to bed now. Hope everyone is having a great week. Thanks again for your support.

Bri

Broken record

I feel like a broken record, all I seem to do in here is moan, whinge and repeat myself alot.
I've been maintaining my weight for way too long, and i'm starting to worry about my health and the health of my DH. I have to set a good example for him and also, and more importantly, for my DS. I really don't want DS growing up thinking it's okay to be overweight or obese, cos it's not. It's SOOOO not.

PLAN OF ATTACK

1. Record my weight everyday, this way i'm accountable.
2. Record my food intake, even if its bad.
3. Exercise at least once a day, even if its only for 15 minutes.
4. Drink 2 litres of water a day. Normally i'm really good with my water intake, but lately i've been slacking off. The last two days i've carried a bottle with me everywhere I go and it's made such a difference to how I feel.
5. No alcohol on school nights. This is a big one. When we moved I was pretty stressed, work was busy (still is) as we're helping out our Cairns office with cyclone claims. This will be the case for a while and I just have to learn to adjust. Also moving house was stressful and we're still not fully unpacked. I used this as an excuse to have a drink everynight. One drink then turns into two, or three and then i'm dehydrated, lethargic and lazy.
6. No more smoking. OK I know you all think I gave up, and I did, but then I started having one or two when I was drinking and it's all downhill from there.
7. Plan ahead. This is a biggie. I know that out of all the blogs I read, the people who are truly successful at this weight loss/change of lifestyle thing plan EVERYTHING, and that is one of the biggest keys.
8. I have to stop letting myself listen to my own excuses. If I can't do this then i'm not motivated enough and i'm wasting my time, and the time of everyone else too. I want to be healthy, slim and fit and i'm not getting there by making excuses and letting myself slip.

GOALS

It's 8 weeks until DS's 2nd birthday. I want to be in the 60's by then. This morning I was 78.4, which is the weight i've been now since Christmas. I was 75.2 last November so i've put on 3.2 kilos since then. D'oh.

I'm going to make up some numbers starting at 58 (number of days til DS's birthday) and i'll mark them off everyday so that I can focus on the decreasing days and how i'm going. I will keep this blog updated, even if it's only to add my weight for the day and whether i'm sticking to my goals. I've been invited on a girls night out at the end of April, but i'm going to decline as I can't be trusted that soon.

I don't want to go backwards anymore.

I don't want to stay the same weight anymore.

I want to lose weight and i'm going to make a concerted effort to do so.

Please, please, please kick me up the backside if I don't stick to my goals. I need all the help I can get. This statement actually screams to me that i'm not motivated enough. I'm just shaking my head at myself now. I really want to be slim. I'm not sure what's stopping me, but like my great friend Michelle says - Fake it til you make it - so that's what i'm going to do.

A new beginning and a new journey to the new me.

Bri

Realisation

I just came to the realisation today, when sitting reading other people's blogs and thinking about how I don't have time to exercise, that I could in fact spend time on the exercise bike instead of blogging.

So I did, and now I am back to blogging, and i'm very proud of myself.

I'm leaving the exercise bike in the loungeroom now, I told DH and he says "good idea". I'm going to do 15 mins every morning and 15 minutes every evening and increase it by a minute a week. Very do-able.

Bri

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter everyone. Sorry I haven't been around much. I'm reading blogs and keeping up with you all but I don't seem to have time to comment much at the moment. Hopefully i'll be back to normality very soon. I need to unpack some more boxes today and hopefully get everything sorted out a bit more.

The Easter bunny didn't come to me this year, but that's a good thing. I bought DS a small rabbit and I got DH a RockLea Road Egg (which has coconut in it, so I won't be having any cos i'm not a fan of coconut - wasn't that brilliant thinking!!).

I'm going to sit down today and try to sort out a plan of attack today for getting back on track with my diet and exercise. Wish me luck!!

Bri

Back to basics

I know that i've said this a hundred times or more, but it's back to basics for me tomorrow. I've done enough stuffing around and I need to get back into losing "Virgin Fat" as Michelle says!!

We have a garage full of "stuff" at the moment and the exercise bike and treadmill and my workout DVD's are underneath it all somewhere. I will find them all by the end of next weekend and I will set myself up an exercise routine and I will stick to it.

I have 10 weeks until DS's 2nd birthday and i'm determined to be under 70 kilos by then. I can't even imagine how good it will feel to be a 60's girl, but i'm damnwell going to do it.

I have a box of Chocolate Optifast in the cupboard and i'm seriously considering trying it this week. I know every other time i've tried to stick to Optifast I cave in after a couple of days, but even if I did three days that would be a great kickstart to my weightloss again.

I'll keep you posted on that one. I think I might have 2 shakes and a small very healthy dinner so that at least i'm eating something.

I really love living in our new house, even though we have hardly unpacked anything as we haven't had time and there's just crap everywhere, it's so nice to know that it's ours.

The show last night was a cracker. There were about 200 people crammed in to the small auditorium at the club and they were all up dancing and having a great time. DH and I were very tired and a little over it by half way through the night. We're kind of glad we don't have another show until June, we both need a break, but the buzz you get when people are enjoying what you do is great.

OK update on the house - NO i'm not painting the kitchen red, even though I would love to, I think only two people said go for it, everyone else said stick to neutrals or you'll regret it, so i'm caving in to the popular choice and going neutral. Will keep you posted on that cos we probably won't get any painting done until the end of the year now and I may change my mind again.

Hey, it's my prerogative!!

OK, so now I would love to sit here and 'chat' with you all but I have to take advantage of DS being asleep and go and do some more unpacking and sorting out.

I hope everyone is well and kicking butt in the weight loss stakes, especially all you girls who did the Run 4 Kids today, I can't wait to hear how you all went. Kathryn has already given her "RUN" down on it!! LOL, that girl is a machine I swear - I would love to have half of her energy.

Ciao for now,
Bri

Which sports car are you?

I'm a Dodge Viper!

You're all about raw power. You're tough, you're loud, and you don't take crap from anyone. Leave finesse to the other cars, the ones eating your dust.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

A quickie

Yes, i'm still here. Sorry I haven't been posting or reading anyones blogs. My notifier says I have 167 updates to read - D'oh! That's gonna take a while. We have a show tonight but i'll try and post tomorrow and update you on what's been happening.

Brief summary is - still maintaining my weight, still unhappy being fat, still determined to fix that, still being fairly positive.

Ciao

Bri

4 days to go

Only 4 days to go til we move. DH took a load of boxes up last night and we finally got to go and have a look and stand inside the empty echoing house and say "wow, it's ours". (Well technically RAMS owns it and we won't own it until 2036!!!!!) LMAO.

I have been up all night with DS. He's getting his 2 year old molars and it's been hell on stilts here for the last week. I think i've had about 10 hours sleep all week and i'm a bit over it.

I just got told yesterday that they're cancelling my leave on Monday and Tuesday. I have had to send 2 out of 3 Assessors and one admin to Cairns to help out and it's left us short staffed (understatement of the year!). Don't know when i'll get to unpack now, i'm hoping to be able to do a lot on Friday night and Saturday but at this rate i'll need sleep at some stage.

I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

Sorry I haven't been around much. I haven't checked blogs for a few days, it's just been mental at work and at home and I don't have time to scratch myself. It will all be better soon though. A couple of weeks down the track when everything is back to "normal" and i'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.

On the weight front i'm still maintaining, which is great, but i'm pretty keen to get back into weight loss mode. At this rate i'm not going to get to goal before i'm 40 (end of October) and I really want to make a big effort to do that.

Hope everyone is okay, i'll try and get around and check some blogs now.

Bri

Moving buddies

Woody: Does everybody have a moving buddy?

Hamm: Moving buddy? You can't be serious.

Rex: I didn't know we had to have one already.



Take note toys, it's only six days til we move, and we'll be at work for five of them - get your act together!!!!!

Last weekend in this house.

OMG This is the last weekend we'll be spending in this house. I cannot believe it. DH is at work (actually that's a good thing cos i'm just about ready to chop him into little pieces).

OK I was going to try and post a positive post today (there's a first time for everything right?) so i'll start again.

I can't believe we're finally moving next weekend. I feel like I should be packing and cleaning but ESD (Evil Step Daughter) is here and we're cooking brownies (I know - I know - but i'll try and only have ONE!!).

It is a gorgeous day and I was going to go walking, but now that i've realised that I only have these two days left to pack I think I better pull my finger out and actually do it.

How exciting.

The real estate that we rent this house from have put a HUGE "For Lease" sign out the front of our house so i'm expecting gawkers all weekend now. Another reason to start cleaning because people will probably start making appointments to look through soon. We have one booked in for Wednesday already.

The worst room I have to tackle is DH's toilet. We have two toilets in this house and one is MINE and the other is HIS. I don't go into his EVER, I direct men there when they are here but never women or children, they all use my toilet cos I know it's safe.

I have no idea how bad it will be, or what i'm in for. Maybe i'll be surprised but I doubt it. If you don't hear from me again, you know I didn't survive the experience!! It was nice knowing you all.

Have a great weekend everyone. Oh, almost forgot, anyone who has nothing to do next weekend is more than welcome to come and help us move. I'm sure you're all itching to assist!!

By the way, thanks to everyone who sent us positive vibes regarding all the crap that was going on, it definitely worked cos everything seems to be going okay now, at least I haven't heard otherwise!

Ciao for now,
Bri

I need some good luck

I need all of these things, a rabbit's foot, a lucky penny, a golden horse shoe, a four leaf clover and a wishing star.

I have a sick DS, the workmen are still in our building at work making a lot of noise and causing us all big headaches, I won't have a desk at work for another three weeks, we don't have internet access and email access is at best random, the solicitors have lost our mortgage papers for the house that DH and I have bought (are buying) and we may not be able to settle on Monday (thus causing us to have to pay interest to the other side until we do settle) and the vendors wouldn't let us in to paint two days early and therefore no painting will be done now until the later half of this year as my Dad is moving himself and will be very busy for the next few months as they also have to sell their house.

I picked a bad day to give up eating chocolate.....

But, as a very good friend of mine pointed out, chocolate makes your clothes shrink, so i'm having a cup of tea and then i'm off to bed.

Sorry I haven't been able to catch up on blogs lately (seriously - not having internet access at work is cutting into my social blogging life severely!!), I will get around to all of you very soon.

If anyone has any spare good Karma, please send a little tiny bit our way.

Bri

"Lazy" Sunday

No lazy Sunday for me. Check the before and after photos of our garden below to see what great work i've done today. Hey, it's only 9.15am and i've already finished my project for the day. Go me!!

Life is pretty full on at the moment and very busy. Our new office is great but very unorganised. It will be fantastic when it's finished though. The workmen were still there last week. One of them was using a nail gun on the wall that is right in front of my desk and I was trying to do some dictation and it was very headache creating. Plus it scared the absolute crap out of me everytime he used it, they are very noisy things. LOL

My eating hasn't been so good and my exercise is scant at best, but i'm not worrying about it cos that will just make me worse. I'm still maintaining my weight (sort of) and I am very much looking forward to moving (three weeks today) and getting back into a routine.

DS was fantastic on his first day at the new centre, but day two was a whole nuther story. He lost the plot big time and was screaming and kicking. It was awful. I was in a mess of tears but I had to leave him, otherwise he'll never get used to it. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a bit easier but I think it may be the same as Friday. But I know that by the end of this week he'll be okay and he'll be used to the new people there.

Thanks everyone for your comments about my red kitchen. I still haven't made a final decision but i'll keep you posted. If I do end up going with the red you can all say "I told you so" when I decide it needs changing!! haha

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend, I sure am! Off to colour my hair now (just chocolate brown this time, no more pink for me!!).

Bri

My project for today, weed the garden. Also very good exercise for my arms, but not so good for my back.  

We've let it go a bit, as you can tell by the fact that there are MUSHROOMS growing in the garden!! 

Doesn't it look so much better, i'm so proud of myself for getting stuck into this. That lavender could do with a bit of a trim though!! hehe 

The finished product - and my exercise for the day!! 

Back to work tomorrow

I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. This time off has gone so fast. I guess it's cos i've been busy packing and cleaning and trying to get the house sorted out.

DS starts at his new daycare centre tomorrow. He has been really funny this past week. He has been very clingey and won't even go to his father. He just wants me all the time. I've been having nightmares about him not handling the new daycare and screaming the place down.

I'm sure he'll be okay eventually, it will just take a little while, hopefully only a week or so, for him to get used to it.

I have my car back now. Thank goodness. It is so luxurious compared to the dinosaur loan car I had. I remember how privileged I am now.

I've been mucking around with the paint function on my computer and some photos of our new kitchen. I'll see if I can upload a couple.....

The "before" shot:















The "what Briony likes best" shot


I love red. I've always wanted a red kitchen. This isn't exactly the colour of course and it's not a very good likeness, also the tenants "stuff" is in the picture, but it gives you a bit of an idea. When I said to DH that I wanted a red kitchen he said "you're 'effing' joking aren't you"?.
Hmmm, better get a plan b.






The "safer" shot


This is plan 'b'. A safer neutral colour. Also not a true representation of the real colours etc but gives a bit of an idea.

DH has left it up to me to choose all the colours. I asked him to help but he says he has no idea (and he really doesn't). He thinks the colours that are there already are ok. (Grey and cream - I don't think so!!).

Does anyone have any thoughts?

It's hard picking colours. I bought a software programme called "My Virtual Home" in which you can do the above, but properly. My computer is so old that it doesn't work. My brother is going to install a new video card for me tonight so that I can then use the programme. Maybe it's time to invest in a new computer. I didn't think this one was very old but when I did a diagnostic test a couple of days ago it told me it was 55 months old - so what's that about 4 and a half years and I guess for a computer that is a bit outdated.

One more expense to add to the list of needs!

Edit: Thanks for your concerns about the red cupboards outdating, my Dad is a painter so I will be able to get him to tell me if it will be too hard to repaint them later when they do go out of fashion. I'm pretty keen to have them, even if its only for 12 months. I've had grey kitchen cupboards for the last 8 years and i'm sick to death of them. They just scream 'rental' to me and I need a change. I'll keep you all posted.

Have a great day everyone.

Bri

Fat Hippo, Fat Chick, Fat Pig and Fat Cow - I am all of these things today, but not quite as cute as these pictures are.

I can't wait until we have moved house and I can get back into some sort of routine. I know I said I would be happy if I maintained my weight between a couple of weeks ago and when we move and I am, but i'm not happy. I'm sick of being this size. I'm sick of the hot weather and the sweating and the ill fitting clothes and the lack of compliments about my weight loss.

When the band did our last show a few weeks ago, someone asked me how long I had to go. I hate that. How on earth can anyone think i'm pregnant - and nearly ready to pop. I'm back to the stage where i'm disgusted with myself and I really need to do something about it. I was determined to get back on the treadmill this morning but DS woke up at 2am and didn't go back to sleep until 5am - so I needed the sleep more than getting up at 5.30am to walk.

Now it's too hot to do anything. I can't wait until we have moved into our house and we have the air cond put in, life will be so much better.

On a happier note, you didn't hear this from me but it's Michelle's birthday today. Pop over to her blog and wish her happy birthday! I'll suffer the consequences later! LOL.

Bri

It is so exciting picking colours to paint inside the new house. There are so many choices though. I wish I was a bit better at the whole interior decorating thing. Some people just have a knack for it don't they?

I think i've chosen well, but of course i'll have to run it all past DH.

I got the keys to the house yesterday so that we could get in today to measure up for the painting etc. I was supposed to take them back this afternoon by 4pm (oops its 4.03pm!!) hehe - but I rang and asked if I could drop them off first thing tomorrow morning (i'm not going back to work yet as our new office is still being fitted out). So that means another couple of days of "leisure" (?? yeah right) for me - I can get some more packing done and maybe start on weeding the jungle that is our front garden. Plus the house needs some serious tidying and cleaning.

I love the colours i've chosen for the house and I just hope that DH will agree to my choices. The house isn't very old so it doesn't need anything major doing. The painting etc will take about a week he said, so we'll hopefully get all of that finished before we move in. Just have to organise it with the owner.

Settlement is 27 March and i'm hoping that my Dad will come down the week before to paint and then the smell will be gone by the time we move in on 2nd April. Geez that's not far away is it. Perhaps I should go and do some more packing now.

When we were up at the house today we noticed a lot of bees inside - heaps and heaps of them. They must have built a hive inside the cavity wall and so we'll have to get the real estate to deal with that before we move in. There were live bees but also dead bees everywhere, not sure why they died? Maybe lack of water or food I guess. I hope we don't have to deal with it cos i'm not very good with insects and stuff and I don't particularly feel like being attacked by bees ("or dogs, or dogs with bees in their mouths" - Homer Simpson!!).

My eating has been okay this weekend, but I haven't done any exercise. I will start on the treadmill again tomorrow and maybe do the walk up to the supermarket in the afternoon if its not too hot. It was really hot here today, I was sweating all day just pottering around the house. Bring on winter I say!!

DS just woke up so that will be it for today, hope everyone is having a great day.

Bri

Vacations - good or bad ???

I'd like to say that this is what the beach looked like. It didn't.
I'd like to say I had a great time. I didn't.
I'd like to say that my father and I got on really well. We didn't.
I'd like to say the place where we stayed was lovely. It wasn't.
I'd like to say it was nice to see my family. It definitely wasn't.
I'd like to say I didn't want to come home. But I did.

My father started on me as soon as I arrived, so then I drank too much and gave him what I figured he deserved, the serve from hell! That's the LAST time I ever do that. I should have known not to go on holidays with them. Yikes what was I thinking?????

The only good part was seeing my sister Kim (who I love dearly and don't get to see often) but there were overtones of stress everywhere and it made it uncomfortable for everyone.

I'm glad to be home, even though my DH (not darling husband today, the other option) went to the pub BOTH nights I was away until midnight and once again I came home to an absolute pig sty of a house. For goodness sake, the cereal bowl DS had the morning we left was still sitting on his high chair! Men ..... don't get me started.

I ate well while I was away, better than I would have if i'd been home. The bottle of champagne to myself probably didn't help my weight but I walked a lot and kept busy. I didn't feel able to hand over DS so I could get time to myself (snide remarks were made) so no, I didn't get to relax as I would have liked.

Back to work Monday and I don't even have my car back yet (hopefully Tuesday). The dinosaur loan car they gave me doesn't have air conditioning and it's been so hot i'm not going out in it. DH (did something good for once) got me a nice car from his work to take away so i've been driving in relative luxury for the last three days. Not anymore.

Sorry this is just a whingey post. Hopefully positive Bri will be back after I get on the scales tomorrow morning? Fingers crossed.....

Hope next week is better, i'm starting at my new office building on Monday (I think, I forgot to ring work to check - D'oh!!).

I'm off to catch up on your blogs now. Nighty night.

Bri

Relaxation, here I come.

This is Avoca Beach, where i'm going today. Damn I hope it looks this good when I get there!!

I'm off for a couple of days of relaxation, dump the kid with Grandma and Grandad and walk my little legs off on this gorgeous beach.

Ciao for now,

Bri

Carrots

I wonder how many carrots you have to eat before you turn orange or start growing ears and whiskers? I decided yesterday when (I thought) I was hungry, that maybe its just the chewing and the crunchiness that I like. So I decided to try eating a carrot. Don't get me wrong, I like carrots, but i'm not really a fan of eating raw vegetables. One of the (skinny) girls at work eats carrots, capsicums and the like for morning tea and we all kind of snigger and laugh at her, but it's a much better and low calorie idea than most of the stuff I have. You still get the chewing and the crunchy that you (I) crave and it does fill up your tummy.

I don't think I could eat a capsicum, but carrots seem okay so far.

I outdid myself with exercise yesterday. I did 45 mins on the treadmill yesterday morning, an hour and a half putting the exercise bike together yesterday afternoon and then DS and I walked up to the supermarket in the afternoon to meet DH - it's a 4km walk and it was pretty hot yesterday so I was pretty red faced and sweaty once I got there.

I would like to do the same walk again this afternoon and I have to go to the shops this morning. I'm going away tomorrow for one night to Avoca. I'll be spending time with my Dad and his family so even though it will be a little stressful, DS and I have our own room so we can always escape. I'll take my new book to read ('Feel' - it's about Robbie Williams) and go for lots of walks.

So I won't be back blogging until Friday. Take care of yourselves and i'll talk to you then!

Bri

A good day.....

This is the actual sold sign in front of our new house. That's not our house in the background, it's the one next door. We're so excited. I have loads of packing to do today. I did a heap yesterday too. Also went and did the groceries early yesterday morning so that we're all organised for the week.

I'm making a lamb roast tonight (DH's favourite) but after tonight it will all be WW week one foods for the rest of the week and i'm getting back on the treadmill tomorrow, or the exercise bike if I can find time to put it together today. DS and I are also going to walk up to the supermarket this afternoon and DH will meet us there. It's about a 4km walk so will probably take us about half an hour I guess.

We went out for lunch yesterday with MIL and BIL. We had a great time. I think DH feels much better about having a birthday now, he had kind of barred them after Thursday's sagas!! MIL and BIL didn't stay long, only a few hours as they had to get home to do things today. That's ok, it means DS and I have the day to ourselves. He has been helping me fold the washing! He loves helping (or as he calls it "shelping"!!).

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Bri

Tactics

I was thinking today about tactics and how I can stop myself eating crap.

I have heard of this method, which i'm going to share with you, and i'm also going to try this myself. I knew someone who once attended AA (no it wasn't me!!).

The method they use when they want/need a drink is that if they can just hold off until tomorrow, they will then get roaring drunk. Then by the time tomorrow comes, they have some of their strength back and don't need a drink (hopefully).

I'm going to try this with food and when I feel like eating something bad, I will tell myself I can have a double helping if I hold off til the next day. Hopefully by the time I wake up the next day, my strength will have regrouped and i'll be okay. I will keep you posted on how this goes, if you're interested.

I'm going to do a serious grocery run tomorrow so that we have good food in the house. The trouble when I don't plan the meals and do the shopping is that DH goes shopping on the way home from work and we end up with crap and there's no planning involved in crap is there?

I'm on leave next week (at home packing and cleaning and looking after DS before he starts at his new daycare the week after). Feel free to email me there (for those of you who have my home email address). I don't have access to work emails at home anymore. If you don't have my home email you can try my hotmail address, which you can find on my profile.

I'm hoping to go for a walk everyday with DS and keep my step count up. It's been raining here all week so hopefully next week will be better. Then on Wednesday DS and I are going to spend a couple of days at Avoca with my father and his family, which should be okay cos my favourite sister will be there. Just as long as my father and I can get on alright for the 36 hours i'm there everything will be fine and dandy.

Wish us luck!!!!!

Bri

Bad to worse

OK so the Birthday Gods are conspiring against me. First of all I forgot to get DH a card, then I forgot to even say Happy Birthday. When I got home he said he wanted to go to the tavern for dinner. DS was chucking a terrible two's tantrum when DH was ringing to book a table and they basically fobbed him off and said they didn't have a table except for outside (ah, no thanks, not with a baby!!). Then we went to Lone Star, which is where we were planning on going anyway and they said it would be a 40 minute wait.
Now DH has gone to get pizza (I didn't want to say no and upset him again) and DS is having a happy mcnugget meal.

What a horrid day, I hope that's all the bad stuff for today over with now.

On a good note when I drove past our new house this afternoon the for sale sign is up. Will have to take a photo and post it tomorrow, too dark now!!

Hope everyone is having a better day than me! and my poor DH.

Edit: When DH got home with the pizza he looked pretty happy with himself. I was glad that something had turned out okay for him. He put the pizza down and said it was one "with the lot" a kind of supreme version (he bought it at one of the local pubs who do specialty pizzas - a lot nicer than the chain ones and also a lot dearer but hey, it's his birthday right).

So we began to open the box, all the while i'm thinking - eeeooow it smells suspiciously like a seafood pizza, but i'm not saying anything cos I don't want to upset DH - he loves seafood pizza, I used to be the biggest seafood fan in the universe, but ever since I was pregnant, if I even smell seafood I want to barf my guts up.

At this stage I was feeling quite ill already from the smell and felt that I needed to say to DH "geez it smells like seafood" to which he replied "yeah, I thought that too" (of course he didn't CHECK before he brought it home, maybe he meant he could smell it when he got it in the car!!) - YES FOLKS - you guessed it, seafood pizza is what was in the box. I sat in the kitchen and ate a breadroll and a chocolate frog while he ate the monstrosity that was supposed to be our dinner.

I'm glad yesterday is over, cos today is a new day, and today is going to be great.

Bri

Oops

Oops, bad bad me. It's DH's birthday today. I bought him an exercise bike last week, which has been 'stored' in the spare room with the rest of the boxes that we (I) have been packing. I thought at the time I should get a card but I had plenty of time, didn't I? He said he didn't want to put the bike together until we move (about a month away) so I said fair enough. I'm actually pretty keen to give it a go, but it is HIS birthday present after all!!

Woke up this morning, went about my usual morning stuff, oh crap, then I remembered it was DH's birthday. First of all I NEVER forget. I always make a fuss of him and I always rip him off because he is the unorganised one, not me. I can't believe I forgot. I was in the newsagent yesterday too cos I had to put Lotto on. I feel really bad and now I think I will have to go and buy him something else to make up for it.

We're going out for dinner though so that should make up for it. I guess i'll be driving and he can have a couple of beers, this should keep him happy.

Ooops, I feel really bad. I guess I really DO have too much on my plate at the moment.

Bri

Thanks Mary

Thanks Mary. You can get your own here.

Side splitting laughter

OMG - Billy must be the funniest man on the planet. I seriously nearly wet myself a few times. It was a great night. The worst part was trying to get out of the carpark after the show!! What a poo-fight that was.

One thing it did make me realise though is that if i'm going to another concert there I want to have lost some more weight. Those seats are tiny. My back and legs were so cramped by the end of the show (it was over 3 1/2 hours long). It was worse for DH as he's much bigger than I am. I swear only size 6 people would fit in those seats properly.

My eating hasn't been very good and i've only been for one walk this week (better than none I guess) and i'm being a lot better with my eating than I was last week. So i'm getting there slowly. I think once we've moved and we're back into some semblence of routine it will be a lot easier to eat well and exercise properly again. I'm not going to worry too much about it, I have enough to worry about right now. Anyway, the packing has to count for exercise right?

At least i'm maintaining and not gaining. That's got to be a good thing.

Bri

The Big Yin

Woo hoo, we're going to see Billy tonight. I bought the tickets in November for DH for our Wedding Anniversary (24th Dec). I kept the secret for so long it wasn't funny. I've never kept a secret that long in my life (so don't say you weren't warned! LOL). The tickets were just under $200 and they were selling on ebay for triple that not long after I bought them. We have front row seats on the side, so I jagged really good seats didn't I? I'm so excited.

Michelle saw him when he was in Melbourne and she said he was hilarious.

Apart from that my arms and legs are aching from all the packing and box lifting i've been doing. It feels good. I was going to get on the treadmill this morning but I had to move 5 baskets of clean washing to get to it and thought maybe it would be better just to fold that stuff and put it away this morning. I actually packed a lot of it cos it was sheets and towels. I'm a packing machine at the moment. What's a bet we'll be unpacking stuff soon cos i've packed stuff we need!?!?!?!? hee hee

Have a great day everyone!!!!!

Bri