Words of Wisdom from Marge.

"You should listen to your heart,

and not the voices in your head".

Words of wisdom from Marge, which i'm going to try and follow today. The voices in my head are saying stuff I don't need to hear, negative stuff (you're not getting the loan) bad stuff (why didn't you start saving when you were working in Sydney earning mega bucks instead of wasting all that money on stupid stuff like Playstation games, dinners out 5 days a week, alcohol and CDs) sometimes even nasty stuff (you don't deserve to be happy - you're fat, ugly and nobody likes you).

But my heart says, if it's meant to be it will be and worrying isn't going to make any difference to the outcome. So i'm just going to try to relax a little and let everything happen and stop worrying and doing that emotional eating thing.

I don't know why the monologue in my head is negative, I think I need to learn to love myself more and accept that I am a nice person and that people do like me. I had a pretty rough childhood. I got picked on a lot. We moved a lot and I didn't have long term friends. I envy people who have the same friends they went to Kindie with and I hope that my son has life long friends and not just bad memories like I have from my school days. I didn't let myself get too close to anyone eventually (except boys but that's a whole nuther story) because I knew eventually I would have to leave them and I didn't want to go through the sadness again and again. My father in particular, would always be very quick to blame me when anything went wrong and he didn't understand that I was becoming emotionally barren because of the life that we had and still to this day I feel that I have to seek everyone's approval constantly.

He even went so far as not believing me when a "friend" of his tried to kiss me when I was about 14. Dirty old bastard. Then when I was 18 and working at a petrol station the owner tried to molest me in the store room and my father didn't believe me then either, and told me I had to keep working there.

Sorry I didn't mean this to turn into a confessional about my sad old life. Crikey, i've really opened up here today. I'm wondering whether I should just delete that and write a new post. I don't know why all of that has come out. Sometimes when I write I just let my mind spit out whatever comes out next and today, look what happened.

I guess i'll leave it in. Maybe it's meant to be. Things happen for a reason. Maybe if I wrote down all the reasons i'm cranky with my father it would help me to move on and get on with my life. Then maybe also him and I would get on a lot better.

Someone the other day mentioned starting an anonymous blog, just to let out all the frustrating stuff in your life and get it out, written down and then let go of it. That seems like a good prospect at the moment.

I have a heap of "self help" books at home but i've never read them. I have at least a dozen. I buy them with the best of intentions though. My plan now is to get one out (oops i've already packed them away but that's ok, i'll still get one out of the boxes cos they're not taped up yet so it won't be that hard) and read it, even if it all sounds like crap and wanky american BS - then i'll just get out the next one and see if that's any better. There are plenty of different authors in there - Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer - who I saw in Sydney at the Metaphysical Masters and he was JUST brilliant - I have at least three of those Venus and Mars books and another one called "Smart Women Foolish Choices". One of those will have to help a bit - anyway it can't hurt can it?

Sorry for the rambling today, not sure what's happening with my head at the moment but i'm just going to roll with it. Thanks for sticking around if you're still here and didn't stop reading ages ago!!

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your support too. This journey would be made SOOO much harder if I didn't have my blogger support. Thanks!!

Bri

Trying to stay calm

Why can't someone just ring me and let me know everything is okay? How hard is it to keep in touch with your customers.

I realise that it's probably okay, cos if there WAS a problem, we more than likely would have heard by now.

I just hate waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ...

You get my point, right?

Bri

A new start - again.....

Why is it that Mondays are more often than not "start again days". I have been a little out of control and it's getting worse. So i'm going to start again, tomorrow, for about the millionth time. I guess the good thing is that I do reign myself in and start again, at least I don't give up altogether!!

I'm also going to attempt getting up early to jump on the treadmill. I say "attempt" because DS has been waking up in the middle of the night for about a week now, and if he does that tonight I won't be getting up early tomorrow, but if he doesn't then i'm there, with bells on. Well, my iPod at least! LOL

The first week of this year was great for me. I lost 1.9kg - I think that was my all time record. Since then, i've stayed the same (except today - i'm heavier). This morning I was 77 neat, so i've put back on 0.6 which isn't too bad considering. Now I have to get rid of that and i'm going to be ruthless with myself until I get past that ridiculous 75kg barrier that i've put up. I'm giving myself four weeks, walking on the treadmill every weekday, plus walking to get the mail and do the banking, and on weekends try and go for a walk aswell. Even if it's just going to the shops like I did today, but I parked right on the other side of the shopping centre from where I wanted to go and I walked right to the other end and back, plus lots of shopping inbetween.

I bought a couple of tops, they're Mediums and they are from Valley Girl, so really they're about 12's or maybe even big 10's. To fit into them I definitely need to be under 70kg's. By the time I fit them, it will be winter! I'm not really sure why I bought them except that they were on special and I thought maybe I needed some incentive?? Stupid really.

We received our contract for the new house. It's about seventy-four-million pages long and I haven't had the time or the energy to sit down and read it yet. I guess I better cos I think the solicitor is expecting it signed, sealed and delivered back to him by tomorrow!!??!??!?

Still haven't heard about our loan approval, I guess we'll hear soon, they said about a week but with Australia Day last week I guess that put us back a bit.

I still have everything crossed.

Hope you're all having a great Sunday. Don't they come around fast?

Bri

Sometimes life sucks

Living far far away from (nearly) everyone in your family has its upsides. You don't have to put up with any "Barone-like" relatives popping in whenever they want.

But, it also has its downsides. I never get a break from looking after DS. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love him to pieces. He's so intelligent, so cute and so adorable - how could you not just love him to smithereens!! But i'm either at work, in the car, or at home with DS, that's it - there are no other choices.

The downside is that DH and I NEVER get time to ourselves. NEVER.

We have both been invited to parties tonight and neither of us can go. I thought to console us, I would invite a couple of friends over for a BBQ, at least that way DS is in his own environment and can go to bed at his normal time and we can have a couple of drinks and some adult conversation and pretend we're "out".

The friend who I called said that her and her DH are going out for the night. Her cousin is minding her daughter overnight. What joy and bliss. I can't imagine how good it would feel to have a whole night to ourselves. Admittedly we would probably spend the whole night sleeping (DS has been a little restless this week and spends a couple of hours in the middle of the night awake and wanting to play - which is okay for him - but makes me very tired).

I'm jealous of people who have family that they can leave their child with. This is definitely the biggest downside of having no family around.....

Bri

D'oh

Apparently I did something to my blog so no-one could comment. Sorry guys. I think i've fixed it now, thanks to Kathrynoh - otherwise I wouldn't have known.

I should have just left the damn thing alone. LMAO. Still don't know how to fix the date thing, maybe I should just delete it?

The temperature is going up again today, thankfully i'm at work in the air conditioning and DS is at daycare in the air conditioning. Bummer that its going to be hot for the weekend. Might have to spend all day driving around in the car!!

I keep thinking it's Monday though - is anyone else doing that? Last night I was thinking it was Sunday and I turned the telly on and there's Paul Robinson (Neighbours) still worrying about who is trying to kill him!! haha - Come on Harold get it over with and put us all out of our misery! I was like "why the hell is Neighbours on, it's Sunday night, don't we get a rest from it anymore"?

Then I remembered it was Thursday night. Durr.

Hopefully my brain will start working again by Monday otherwise i'm going to have to dye my hair a lighter colour!

Bri

Help

Fellow bloggers, can anyone help me to fix the Date Header at the top of each post??????
Pleeeeeeeeease?
thanks
Bri

New look blog.....

What do you think? I guess there will be a few teething problems, but I was getting sick of the old one, it was a bit boring, this one is lovely! and has fruit on it! hehe

In the meantime, here is a picture of my best boy (isn't he so very cute??) with my very good friend Michelle inside the new house that we just bought! YAY!!

Bri

Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day.

Not much happening here today, it's still raining so i'll be spending today cleaning out cupboards in preparation for our move (yes I am going to be ruthless) and cleaning. Oh happy happy joy joy. What excitement. I remember in the "olden days" when I would be preparing to go to the pub for a BBQ lunch and getting tanked! Not any more. Does that mean i'm grown up now?

DH has to work today anyway so it's just me and DS. That will be nice.

Bri

A costly exercise

Seriously, this picture shows about how much money we're going to have to find every week to pay off our home loan. It's an expensive exercise. I'm just about gobsmacked.

Where did I put my balaclava??????

Bri

My friend Michelle

Michelle is the most generous, warm, friendly and giving person I think I have ever met in my life. We had the best weekend. It just felt like we had known each other forever.

There were periods where we talked each others ears off and then some where we were so relaxed with each other it was just nice to be in each other's company and not have to force any conversation or make conversation just for the sake of it. There were no uncomfortable silences, not even one!!

I feel such a connection with her it's fantastic. I just know that we're going to be friends forever. It's such a pity that we live so far apart, but i'm absolutely positive that distance won't affect our relationship at all.

It was such a hot day here yesterday and as you well know from previous whinges we don't have air cond or insulation in this house so it was pretty yucky inside. We were supposed to go for a walk along Nobby's beach and to the end of the breakwall but I got soooo sunburnt while we were walking on Saturday that I couldn't go out in the sun at all. Michelle went for a walk around where we live yesterday afternoon (see she IS an exercise machine) while I prepared dinner.

DS just loves Michelle too, she gave him plenty of attention and he lapped it all up. So much so that all the way back from the airport in the car, and still this morning he is asking "where's Michelle?". It's so cute. Michelle - you're famous at our house!!

If any of you ever get the chance to meet Michelle - or for those of you that already have, i'm sure you will feel as privileged as I do, she is one very special lady.

So thanks Michelle, it was an honour to meet you, and I hope we can do it again very soon!

Bri

Nothing to worry about.

Michelle and I are getting on like a house on fire. We went for a walk around the lake for an hour and a half (further than i've ever walked before) and we just didn't stop talking. We're going out for dinner now (just us two girls) so i'll blog more tomorrow.

Here's a photo of us at the Obelisk at Newcastle. Great views from up here.

Michelle is brilliant, and it's just like we've known each other forever.

I'm going for an all time pedometer record today - and we're going out walking again tomorrow. After we look through my new house that is!! Hope my legs hold out. LOL.

Bri

My beautiful friend Michelle

In two and a half hours i'm picking Michelle up from the airport. I'm soooooo excited. We've been chatting by email, MSN, telephone and on Ozgeek for quite a while now (probably about 12 months) and we've gotten to know each other pretty well. Michelle is one of the bloggers I just clicked with, we had an instant friendship and even though we've never met in person, I would consider her one of my very best friends.

She even lent me that gorgeous purple dress I wore to two weddings last year!

She has been my rock when times have been difficult and she has celebrated with me when things have gone well. She is always there for me when I fall off the 'weight watching' wagon and she helps me get back on again with words of encouragement, wisdom and kindness. I owe her a lot. She is an all-weather friend.

I think we are both a little nervous about meeting each other in person. It's so easy to say stuff by email or even on the phone, but when the person is actually there, right in front of you, it's not quite that easy to open up.

I'm pretty much betting we won't stop talking the whole weekend though. I just hope it doesn't go too fast.

So, I probably won't be blogging much this weekend. We plan to go for a couple of big walks (hope I can keep up with her, those of you who know Michelle know that she's an exercise machine!!) - I'll probably be sore for a week!

We're going out for dinner tonight, not sure where yet. There are some new restaurants near the Harbour which are supposed to be nice, might try one of those. I don't think it will matter where we go, just that we get to spend some quality time together and get to know each other on a whole new level.

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will. I'll be back on Sunday to post photos and tell you all about it.

Bri

Sold !!!!!

I just have one thing to say:

YYEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!

I'm not even going to start thinking about how much debt we just got ourselves into, i'm just going to ride the wave of happiness for a little while and worry about all that other stuff later.

Bri

I got Tagged

I got tagged by Kathrynoh – so here are my answers:

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Oh wow, ten years ago I was living in London. I had only just arrived and was staying with my mother and her partner who were living over there at the time. It was the start of a fantastic two years for me. My best friend from Australia came over at the end of January and we worked and drank (and other stuff) our way around Europe for the next two years! ha ha ha

2. What were you doing a year ago?

One year ago, I was working from home doing typing for the company that I’m office manager for now. The baby was only 6 months old and I’d just started on my weight loss journey. I weighed 93 kilos and I never went outside unless it was absolutely essential because I was embarrassed to be seen weighing that much. I had just stopped breastfeeding as it wasn’t working and the baby and I were just getting stressed all the time (which made me eat more).

3. Five snacks I enjoy: Crikey I can only pick 5 ??

-Cheese and biscuits
-Chips
-If I say fruit no-one will believe me but I am actually enjoying some fruit at the moment.
-Snakatas
-Cottage cheese and hot salsa mixed together and served on rice crackers.

4. Five songs to which I know all the lyrics:

-Perfect – Fairground Attraction
-Summertime – From Porgy and Bess (this is the song I always sing when I’m drunk)
-Since I’m in an Elvis tribute band I’ll just say “anything by Elvis” which is more than we can say for Elvis!!
-Khe Sahn (comes from living overseas for 2 years!!)
-Eternal Flame – The Bangles (I sang it at a friend’s wedding once and did the worst job ever – never ever been able to forgive myself. Needless to say – I don’t sing at weddings anymore).

5. Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:

-Boob job (smaller, not bigger)
-Travel
-Buy a nice house
-Buy a new bed – one of those really comfortable and expensive ones
-Renew our wedding vows with a gorgeous (small) dress and a huge party for all of our friends.

6. Five Bad Habits

-Up until New Years I would say smoking – but I’ve given up now
-Swearing (really really effing bad at this)
-Blogging when I should be working
-Blogging when I should be spending time with DH and DS
-Leaving hair in the shower drain – and everyone knows its mine now cos I’m the only one with bright red hair in the family!!

7. Five Things I Enjoy Doing
-Blogging
-Singing
-Spending time with DS
-Drinking
-Eating

8. 5 Things I Would Never Wear (or buy or get)

-A mini skirt
-Ugg boots
-Both of the above at once, especially if (2) were pink!!
-White sunglasses
-Denim and Denim together (ie jacket and jeans) even if they were made from the same roll of denim. Uh uh – BIG no no.

9. Five favourite toys: hmm, could get myself into trouble here – I’ll keep it clean though.

-Playstation
-Heated rollers (can they be considered a toy?)
-Glitter pens
-Scene it (DVD movie trivia game)
-Cards

This part I'm also not sure I get. but I'll follow Kathrynoh’s lead. (although I don’t see your name or blog name there Kathrynoh???)
Remove the top person from the list. Bump everyone up a spot, and put yourself at the bottom.

So its come down to this

ukraine adventure

145

Reflected Thoughts

Bri

and now to tag a few people:

Michelle

Flutter

Kellee

Emily

Jodie (Sydney)

Sorry if you've been tagged already. If you don't want to participate, that's ok, but if I didn't tag you and you want to tag yourself go ahead!! LMAO.

Bri

House shmouse

We made another offer on the house yesterday afternoon. Haven't heard back from the Agent yet. This makes me think two things:

1. The Agent is very slack and isn't doing his job properly.

2. The people are seriously considering our offer and maybe we're in with a chance.

Let's hope its the latter, I don't have many fingernails left.

Bri

The Fashion Police

Kathyrnoh made a good point in her blog about wearing clothing to impress people and it started me thinking. In days gone by I wore a lot of “sexy” stuff. Showed a lot of cleavage. Wore high heeled shoes – sometimes very very high heeled shoes – my thinking was if I was taller but the same weight, it would make me look thinner. I was definitely a member of the Fashion Police.

I also wore a lot of things, not because they suited me, but because they were a certain size, a certain colour or the “in” thing.

Don’t get me wrong I haven’t stopped wearing some of these things, I just don’t do it as often and when I do, I do it for me, not for anyone else.

I now wear clothes because they make me feel good – no matter what size the tag says it is, I wear things because they’re comfortable and I wear things that suit my shape, age (or perceived age!!) and lifestyle.

Maybe it is about growing up, but maybe its also a bit about being comfortable with myself and not caring so much what other people think. My true friends will love me whether I’m wearing a ball gown and I’m all prissy, or whether I have on my oldest daggiest shorts and a singlet, no makeup and my 'tuck shop lady arms' are hanging out all over the place.

Although in saying that, I will be much happier with myself when my current clothes are hanging off me a bit and people start saying “geez Briony – you’ve lost a lot of weight and you’re looking fantastic”.

House news:
They rejected our offer. Now we have to rethink our position. I just want this to be over.

That’s it for now,
Bri

Maybe it's more red????? Whatever it is - it was called "Pure Spice Power" and i'll be steering clear of it next time I decide (in my "wisdom") to dye my hair. LMAO 

Not as pink as Linda's!! It's really hard to take photos of your own hair! haha 

The pink hair 

Here's my sweet potato. I didn't even look at it when I bought it, just picked it up. I didn't even realise it looked like anything until I put it on the chopping board. 

Back to work already

Weigh in number 2 - no change. I'm still 76.4kg.

I just know it's because I haven't been walking. But that's okay, better than a gain. I was on such a high yesterday after Saturday night's show and today is a bit of a let down. Back to the real world.
Still haven't managed to take a self-portrait where you can see my hair colour, i'll try tonight, might even employ the services of DH to assist. Oh and I have a really funny picture of a sweet potato that i'll upload tonight too, see if you can tell me what it reminds you of!!
Have a great afternoon everyone.

Bri

Oh what a night!!!!!

Yihar, what a fantastic night. I had an absolute ball. (Yes, even with the pink hair).

The crowd was great. We weren't expecting many people, since this is only a small club, but there were about 150 people there and they were all really enjoying themselves. A couple of people that came up and spoke to me said they had driven over an hour to get there.

Everyone sang really well and we all had a good time.
I was a little nervous to start with, we haven't done a show since June last year and before that I haven't sung in public (well not sober anyway!! haha) for a couple of years so all the nerves and stuff kicked in when we got to the club. As soon as we got up on stage though I was fine, especially with the crowd enjoying themselves so much. What a blast.

I can't wait for the next show now, which is 11th of February at a really big club in Newcastle. Should be excellent.


I'm on such a high today..... It just doesn't get any better than this!

Happy Sunday everyone. Hope you all have a fabulous end to your weekend.

Oh and about the pink hair, you can't really tell in any of these photos, but i'll try and do a "self-portrait" today and post it later - there's a competition going apparently for who has the 'pinkest' hair!! hehe

Bri

this is early on in the night 

The backup singers!! 

It was such a fun night. 

Here's me singing, dancing chick and "Elvis" in the background! 

Really pink hair - Really!!!!

I found a really cool photo on the net of a girl with pink hair, but I thought if I put it up here, some of you might think it was me. My hair isn't pink pink - like this chickie above, but it's pretty pink - not 'pretty pink' as in cutesy pink but 'pretty pink' as in damnwell pink!! LMAO.

I just hope it doesn't clash with the red dress and my red finger and toe nail polish! I guess we'll find out soon enough. Thankfully it will be pretty dark on stage so not many people will be able to make out what colour hair I have, except that it's NOT blonde. LOL

Some good news
We looked at another house yesterday afternoon and we're going to make an offer on it. It's all very scarey and stuff, but we have to do it. We finally found a house that we are both happy with. Unfortunately the agent is crap and a bit up himself. The other guy we had showing us the first few houses was really nice. Trust us to buy the house from the crap agent. Oh well, it's the house we're interested in, the agent won't be living with us!!

It needs a lot of work - carpet, painting, air cond and a whole mess of landscaping will be required, but it has everything else (even a second toilet !!). The yard is quite small but i'm happy with that. Big backyards are for people with dogs - or 6 kids and we don't need a huge backyard. I'm already envisaging what i'll do to landscape and what kind of outdoor setting I want to buy to smarten it up a bit. Think i'll ring Jamie Durey and invite him over for dinner, do you think he'd come?

Hmmm, maybe i'll just buy some magazines instead - or even better (and free) surf the net!!

Must go and get organised for the gig now. Hey - I have an old photo of the band - i'll post it here now. This is in about 2000 or 2001 - can't remember the exact year? It was the Bounty of the Sea festival at Forster/Tuncurry and we were supporting James Morrison - actually he played before us, so I guess he was OUR support band!! hahaha

I'm the fat chick in the short skirt and "FM" boots on the left (what the hell was I thinking). Actually when we finished and I walked over to the other side of the arena I remember someone calling out "here comes one of the band sluts". Nice eh?

OK the photo download thing won't bloody work so i'll send it via "Hello" and see how that goes. It will probably be a bigger version anyway.

Ciao for now, i'll check back in tomorrow with pictures of my "real" pink hair, the dress - soon to be Jodie's (Sydney) dress - and the details on the crowd!! Let's hope they bring their applauding hands as well as their drinking arms.

Wish me luck!!

Bri

This is the band, about 5 or 6 years ago. We don't have the blonde with us anymore, we have a second brunette. DH is the one on the keyboard directly behind me. What the hell was I thinking wearing that short skirt (see next post for details)!.  

I need to take a chill pill .....

Man do I need to take one of these little suckers
<------------------ <------------------ I've been stressing out to the max about everything, well there is a lot going on in my life. The following things are stressing me out (in no particular order):

• We've been doing double band practice to get ready for our show on Saturday which means I have less time at home and less time with DS
• Our show is on Saturday- this Saturday - like TOMORROW - holy crap
• The house is a pig sty and I haven't found time to clean it
• We're looking for a house to buy and there's always something wrong with them
• DH only gets one day off a week and we have to try and do so much on that day it's not funny (actually he took two days this week cos he's at home with DS while the pre school is closed)
• I'm not smoking
• I'm not drinking
• I had to find a new babysitter because my SIL (from HELL) said she was too busy to mind DS from now on (she and my brother are our only family who live near us)
• I sprained my ankle and haven't been able to walk - but I started again this morning
• I need to dye my hair cos the greys are showing through again, I need to do it a very strange colour cos I want to wear my hair piece on stage and my hair just doesn't match the wig anymore - dammit - I really need a new hairpiece but I can't afford one right now and anyway they came from Melbourne and I can't remember where?????

I'm so keen for this weekend and I just know it's going to be over so quickly. MIL is coming down to look after DS while we're "at the gig" on Saturday night. Actually this also stresses me out.

Thank goodness we get paid well for doing the show and at least we'll have some spending money next week.

Here's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I have a new love in my life, dont know if any of you have tried this yet, but i'm so addicted to it it's not funny. So far since they came out (?Monday) I've had a 600ml everyday: Coke Zero.......

If you haven't tried it and you're a fan of Pepsi Max - give it a go, I highly recommend it.

Anyhoo, that's enough rambling for now, I shall return later and update with photos of the new hair colour, which scarily on the box looks sort of pink. Yikes!!!!!


Have a great day everyone - happy Friday!!

Bri

Drudgery

This week is going so slowly. Looked at "the" house again this morning. I just love it but now DH is pointing out things that aren't how he would like them. They're easy things to fix though. Like the bathroom having no shelves. Paint chipped off all the corners (they have three kids!!).

Ho hum the drudgery of it all. I just want to find something that we can be happy living in and buy it and get it over with. It's a buyers market right now so we should just jump - it's hard though. DH wants perfection - I just want somewhere to live. We'll keep looking for now.

We're looking at another one tomorrow afternoon - it's just around the corner from where we live now but has a very small backyard.

I just want this to be over ...... i'm so impatient.

Weight this morning was the same as Monday 76.4 - probably because of TTOTM because I haven't changed my eating. Still tracking, still drinking water, still counting points and not eating ANY bad stuff.

My walking challenge yesterday of 7,000 steps was whooped cos I ended up doing over 8,000 so i'm getting better. Will head for 9,000 today and see how I go.

We have band practice tonight so i'll probably rack up some steps doing the "left-right-shuffle" haha.

Have a great day everyone.

Bri

Stuff and other nonsense.....

I can't seem to get rid of this tired feelilng. A lot of stuff has been going on since New Years. We've been quite busy at work and i've been helping the girls with typing, which gives me eye strain and a sore back - I really need a new chair for my desk.

We've been doing double band practice to try and get ready for our show on Saturday.

It's been really hot, and I detest the heat. I'd much rather it was winter all year round, it's so easy to warm up but never easy to cool down - unless you're my brother and your have ducted air AND a pool - but we rarely get invited there.

Then yesterday TTOTM arrives. Why is it always worse when it's hot? The pain seems worse aswell. Especially in the middle of the night when DS decides he doesn't want to sleep anymore and he wants to get up and play and yells "Mummy" enough times from his cot that I have to go and sit in his room and try to get him back to sleep before DH wakes up cranky!!!

Anyway, what i'm trying to say is, despite all of these factors AND not smoking for over a week, i've still been excellent when it has come to tracking, water and food. I can't say as much for exercise because of my ankle, but I set myself a goal of 6,000 steps yesterday and I went over it. I'm pretty pleased with that. I know it's not a lot of steps but it's good for me and my sore ankle.

So today i'm going to try and do 7,000 steps and maybe tonight i'll try and do some arm exercises with tins of tomatoes. Although ESD will be visiting tonight so she'll probably want lots of attention.

When I got to work this morning the front door had been left wide open. Luckily it was one of the bosses that left it open and not one of the girls!!

My very good blog friend Michelle is coming to visit in a week and a half. I'm so excited and we can't wait to meet each other. We're going to have so much fun while she's here.

So there's my thoughts for the start of the day. A bundled muddle of stuff and nonsense - make of it what you will .....

Bri

How hard is it?

Giving up smoking, they say, is harder than quitting herion?

Is that right?

I'm not actually having too much drama with it this time. DH says I haven't even really been cranky (well that's gotta be bullshit right there!!). I've just gone cold turkey. I didn't feel like I needed the patches this time.

It's day 7 of not smoking and I feel okay. I don't miss it. Mind you, I haven't had a drink yet. I also wasn't smoking much, maybe one or two a day - six a day at the most if I was at a party and there were others smoking too.

We have a gig on Saturday night. It's at a club in the country. It will be very smokey and there will be a lot of drunk people. I hope I cope alright and don't turn into one of them.

I'm sure i'll be fine .....

day seven and counting ..........

Bri

It really does work!!!!!

OMG it really does work. I've stuck to points this week (and have been under for the last few days by about 2 points a day to make up for not being able to walk), i've tracked, i've had at least 2 litres of water a day and (drum roll please.....)

I lost 1.9 this week - i'm now down to 76.4.

Seriously, I couldn't believe it myself and got on and off the scales about 6 times.

Bloody hell, WW really does work when you stick to it, I had forgotten cos it's been so long since i've stuck to a whole week's worth!

Yay me......

Bri

Doesn't time fly?

I can't believe it's Sunday already. Back to work tomorrow. Well, after I go to the doctor's and get a clearance. Stupid ankle. It's much better now but i'm not able to walk on it for too long, so no exercise for me today.

My weight hasn't changed since Thursday, probably because i'm not doing anything, just sitting around with my foot up, but at least I haven't gained. I have been eating a bit less to make up for not moving around though, only 2 points less (18 points total) and i've been drinking heaps of water to try and fill myself up.

DS woke up early this morning and we brought him into bed with us (I always look forward to this on a Sunday morning). DH doesn't start work til 9am today so we get to have a bit of extra time on Sunday mornings, it's great. Unfortunately DS decided he wanted to get off the bed and in the process kicked me in the mouth. I now have a nice fat lip to go with my sprained ankle. Talk about "in the wars". Oh well, you know what they say "stuff happens" haha.

Have a great day everyone.

Bri

Anything to get out of exercise....

Really, some people will do anything to get out of exercising. . . . .

This morning I toddled off to Officeworks to get supplies for work. We needed a lot of stuff so I grabbed myself a trolley and into the store I went. I was just putting my third box of photocopying paper into the trolley when somehow, goodness knows how - I can't even imagine how this happened - I got the heel of my right shoe caught in the cuff of my left leg 3/4 jeans. Down I went like a sack of ..... well you know .... potatoes. Face planted myself into the trolley, my mobile phone skittered across the floor and my purse and keys jumped out of my hands and all over the place.

OK I know some of you are laughing cos if you were an onlooker it probably was funny. But you know what those stores are like, no ceiling and the sound just travels through the whole place. No I didn't swear, I said "Oops" and "Ouch" - that's what comes from having an 18 month old parrot - sorry I mean toddler - following you around constantly at home.

The staff just fobbed me off and didn't even acknowledge my fall, it was bloody obvious that I'd stacked it and the pain in my right ankle was SOOOOOO bad I thought I was going to vomit.

I knew I had to get out of there, I collected my belongings from their hiding places and limped out of the store to my car, leaving the misbehaving trolley full of goodies right where it was.

I drove to work at 10 km per hour, I don't know how I did it cos my ankle was absolutely killing me, I was sure i'd broken my foot. The guys at work ended up convincing me that I needed to go to the doctor and have my foot xrayed, so I did.

Thankfully, it's not broken. I won't give you the three hours worth of 'waiting room saga' that I have in my head cos it was boring as but needless to say I was happy to finally get out of the doctor's surgery.

I guess now I just have to wait for it to heal and try and rest in the meantime. So much for getting back into walking - like the title says - some people with do ANYTHING to get out of exercise!

We're supposed to be looking at another three houses to buy tomorrow so I guess i'll try and rest up til then and hobble my way around. Thankfully they're one after the other 10.45, 11, 11.15 so I won't be on my feet for too long.

So that's my story. I have now sat at the computer for as long as I can cope. I'll have to catch up with your blogs tomorrow. I had best go and rest my ankle again as its starting to throb.

What's that? Chocolate is good for sprains? really??????

Bri

What a great day!!

One of my blog friends and I (you have to guess which one!!) are having a mini challenge to get under 75 kg – first one to 74.9 has to buy the other one a small gift – that way we’re both winners. We’re weighing in on Mondays and Thursdays. It has really motivated me to do better, it’s fantastic.

Every time I even think about food (like last night watching telly with all the ads for Wendys bloody icecreams) I would remember the mini challenge and tell myself “no”. I mean how hard is it to stop putting food in your mouth?

Actually it is hard, its all psychological isn’t it? The brain works in mysterious ways. I had been eating poorly for a couple of months, giving myself any excuse to pig out and since I’ve been eating well (4 days now) I feel so much better. I’m not as tired, I feel more alive, I’m not bloated and I’m certainly a lot less cranky (just ask DH!!).

DH is doing really well too, he’s dropped 2.5 kg since Monday – yay DH!! And even better than that neither of us have had any alcohol since Sunday (actually I haven’t had any since Saturday). My DH is a pretty big drinker – so it’s a great achievement for him.

He has been a bit ill, but I think it’s his body doing a bit of self-detoxing! LOL

Anyway, the scales were very kind to me this morning (77.2). That’s a loss of 1.1 since Monday morning. I hope I can keep it up. Have a great day everyone!

Thanks to all the new people who are dropping in, it’s lovely to have so many supportive people around!

Bri

I'm not kidding either!!

I know you won't believe me, but since I starting eating properly again, i've been having fruit! Yep, this is Briony's blog - don't check the title and think you're on the wrong page!! Yesterday I ate an apple - "OMG" I hear you say - "who are you and what have you done with Bri" haha - no really, I did!!

I feel great, after only three days of being good. I only managed one walk yesterday, we're so busy at work it's not funny (I really should be working now so this will only be a short post and i'll have to catch up with your blogs later tonight).

I've been for one walk this morning and I found my pedometer so that's a good help. I am hoping to go for another walk after lunch. Especially since it's so much cooler today.

I'll post more tonight, hope everyone is well and happy to be getting back into the routine of normal christmas-less life! I sure am.

Ciao for now,

Bri

A fresh start.

So I started back tracking and counting points today. I weighed myself (not good 78.3) and i'm going to start afresh.

Don't get me wrong, i'm proud of what I achieved last year. Losing 15 kilos is a great effort and i'm not going to forget about my achievements or ignore how far i've come ... but ... I am going to start from scratch and make today's weight my starting weight.

So, here's what i've done this morning. THROWN OUT ALL THE JUNK FOOD that was left in the house. This included such delicious delicacies as Maltesers, Chocolate covered Daryl Lea licorice logs, Daryl Lea Musk lollies, gingerbread, shortbread biscuits, Chilli crab pate, Chilli cashew dip, Thai dip, Camembert cheese, Salted mixed nuts and salted peanuts, Caramel ice cream, a big bag of Curly fries, and heaps of other stuff. Most of the packets were unopened and i'm still feeling a bit guilty, BUT I have to put myself first and I know if I had this stuff in the house I wouldn't be able to resist and eventually I would cave in and eat the damn stuff.

So, clean slate, clean cupboards, clean fridge. But now I have to go shopping to buy all the good stuff to start on WW week one (Points system) otherwise all i'll be having is water, cos that's all we've got right now! haha

I'm just going to wait until DS has his sleep and then we're off. Thank goodness it's heaps cooler today and quite bearable, yesterday's heat was ridiculous and I never want it to be that hot again (unless i'm at work and DS is at daycare where we both have air conditioning!!!).

I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow, this weekend just went so fast. At least we'll be able to get back into normal routine.

We have a huge band practice tonight as we have a show in 2 weeks, we're going through all of the sets from start to finish, so I guess I better go and listen to some of the music to remind myself of what I should be singing.

Have a great day everyone.

Bri

I'm melting

Seriously, it's 44 degrees here today. We don't have air conditioning and our house isn't insulated. It's too hot to blog. Sorry.
I'm going to sit in a cold bath I think. I'm dying here.....
They say it will only be 32 tomorrow - bring it on!!!!!
Bri