I'm cracking up I tell ya!

I have lost my voice...........stop laughing, you sound like my kids!

I have had a sore throat for a couple of days but it hasn't come to anything so I have ignored it and last night while sitting there entertaining a friend for dinner it just disappeared.
I was getting a bit croaky after work and when Pam turned up she commented on it ("love the new sexy voice") but within 2 hours it was gone completely.
It is hard enough trying to get my husband and kids to listen to me when I have a voice but now........................
So I am coughing every 30 seconds or so, have a sore throat and oh yeah, my top lip is COVERED in coldsores *pathetic sigh*.
Andrew's words of wisdom this morning was "stay home"???? What's that going to do, I can still work without talking (but the few of you that know me will know how HARD that will be....LOL).

While I'm bitching, here's another thing.

FREE ECE (effective 1/7/07) which is something the Ministry of Education is bringing in for all 3 & 4 your olds which gives parents 20 hours free childcare..............R U B B I S H !!!

Because our daycare centre new this was coming they decided to put their fee's up $20 a week last week, then told us how much we would be saving with the free ece and also told us that effective of 1/7/07 they are also inflicting another $10.00 fee for all 3 & 4 year olds at the centre to cover costs so they can still provide the same level of care for the kids........WTF!
So basically we were paying $181.50 and our new fee will be $120.00 which looks like it is a $61.50 saving (it should have been a $109.00 before they put on their extra on) but then Reece's after school care programme have just put his fee's up an extra $20.00 per week. Which means that in actually fact we are saving $41.50 which I suppose is still something but we THOUGHT we would be saving around $100.00......nothing is ever black and white these days.

Moving on

As I mentioned earlier I had a friend and her kids over for dinner last night and we decided to get pizza. The one I got (the godfather) I worked out was about 4 points a slice (thin crust) so I could have 3 as I had saved most of my points for the day because I new what we would have and that's exactly what I had, 3 slices.
In my past life, I could easily eat a whole pizza (8 slices) to myself on a cheese stuffed base with extra cheese so I was sooooooooo proud of myself for not going crazy. The only downfall to the meal was olives, I absolutely LOVE olives but they HATE me so I suffered all night with integestion (sp?) oh well I suppose it was a small price to pay for a yummy meal. I seriously can't remember the last time I ate pizza and I really enjoyed it but I don't feel the need to eat it again anytime soon.

I am just sitting here at my desk looking at my pump water bottle which I filled yesterday morning (1.25 litre) and it is still HALF FULL. I didn't even manage 700mls all day which is pathetic, I did have a about 500mls last night but that only equates to 1.2ltr all day -------- NOT A GREAT EFFORT.

I can see I'm going to be the butt of people's jokes today because the other lady I work with in our department keeps asking me things so I can answer her and then she cracks up (ha bloody ha) so I have just told her not to bother because I am not going to talk to her for the rest of the day. Small things amuse small minds!

Not a very positive post today I'm sorry but even though I sound totally pathetic, I'm in a great mood and don't look that pathetic......hahaha

Weigh in

Lost: 100g
Current weight: 92.7kg
Total loss: 17.6kgs

YAY another 100 grams bites the dust!

Even though I was going for 900g this week to put me into the 91's I am very happy as I DIDN'T stick to my exercise challenge I set myself (exercise everyday) and only completed 4/7 days (must work on that!).

Slowly but surely I say, at least I can record a 'lost' and not a 'gain', right moving on.

Met up with my sister after weigh in and we went and had a kebab at the little turkish place up the road and then carried on to Hydro. Nicki (our instructor) was in another bad mood (LOL) and tried out some new exercises which I am paying for this morning. My hips hurt (never had that before) and my shoulders but in a good way.

Weather report: Clear and crisp this morning in Wellington and about 8 degree's....brrrrrrr.

My girlfriend and her 2 kids (same age as mine) are coming for dinner tonight which will be excellent and tomorrow I'm going back to hydro (I seem to be missing Thursday's for some strange reason).

Chilly weekend

Brrrrrrrr it was C.O.L.D. in Wellington this weekend and we had the ole woodburner cranked up ALL weekend.

Saturday was Reece's soccer at 10am and even at that time it was still like ice outside, so we FROZE down at the park for an hour or so. He managed 2 goals this week and they also got their uniforms (finally) with 3 weeks to go.

Went home and the big boy went to golf so me and the kids and their friends 'put another log on the fire' and watched a couple of DVD's and coloured in. We had taken 1 of the boys from Reece's soccer team and his brother home with us which I thought was a really dumb idea at first (4 very active boys) but it turned out great because they all entertained each other. They got to go outdoors about 2pm but were only out there an hour and came back inside because it was too cold.
Me being the good little mother, I thought I would make them chocolate crackles so they could have them while they watched a DVD but only 1 (Adam my little vacuum cleaner) of them liked them????? Since when don't kids like chocolate crackles???
I palmed them off to their mother (who has 2 older girls) when she came for a coffee and to pick the kids up.

Saturday night was VERY quiet and hubby and I were in bed by 9.30pm (yep - party animals we're NOT) and Sunday consisted of us visiting some friends who have just had their 2nd daughter but only stayed an hour because they looked like death warmed up (oh the joys of a newborn) and Andrew headed to golf again (god he's got a good life) and me baking (banana cake) and ironing, cleaning the house and cooking dinner (indian marinaded chicken pieces with herbed potato's and a vegetable pie...yum).

So all in all B O R I N G but at least I got to build the kids a MASSIVE cubby house in their room (with the help of their bunks) which they have been harping me about doing and spending heaps of time with them just playing (somehow I never get enough quality time with them).

Food and water has been average at best over the weekend and re-reading my post its no wonder as all I have spoken about is food.....LOL

My 'exercise everyday' challenge went totally out the window and I managed to not do anything on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Back on track today.

Numeracy

Wow don't they do things differently since I was at school (1986)?

Was really interesting last night at Reece's school about how they teach Maths now.
Basically they don't even look at teaching the kids their times tables until about year 3 and everything is based around grouping, 'tidy' numbers (5, 10, 15, 20 etc) and learning different strategies rather than just learning one way (times tables) and writing it down. They play games to make it fun and the kids love it and learn to use their brains more (there's an idea!).....LOL

www.nzmaths.co.nz is a website they gave us to have a look at which explains it and under the 'family' jigsaw piece, is all about the different games you can help teach your kids.

Not much else to report.

Food was great yesterday even with chinese takeaways for dinner (saved enough points), I'm amazed at what I eat now which usually consists of a chicken chow mein or something with lots of vege's rather than sweet and sour pork or egg fu young etc.

Water was spot on (3 litres)

Exercise completed (lunchtime walk)

State of mind - Positive!

Hydro tonight - YAY and I have alread drank 1 litre of water this morning and it is only 9.08am.

Catch ya later.

Weigh in

Lost: 100g
Current weight: 92.8kg (back to same weight I was 3 weeks ago)
Total loss: 17.5kgs

I'll take it !!!!!!!!!!!
Even though I tried to be on track this week, I did have 2 meals out and drank (again) so I am quite happy with 100g (believe it or not).

I am fluffing around (as I usually do) and really want to get to my birthday goal of being a 80's girl so I have decided to pull finger and set myself a goal for the week. I am going to exercise everyday this week no matter what! I don't care what sort of exercise it is as long as it is something. I started off well last night with hydro and I have my runners on today for a nice long lunchtime walk, Thursday is hydro again and I may even go and use the treadmill on Friday at work.
The weekend is going to be the killer for me and I am going to have to be extra focused because when I have the kids, I find it very hard to exercise. I do run around with them and what not but I do find it really hard to get out myself even for an hour for a brisk walk or something BUT NOT THIS WEEK PEOPLE!!!

I am aiming for a 900g loss this week to put me under the 92kg mark (I thrive on goals if you haven't noticed).

Right, every goal needs a reward and I have no idea what that will be but I am thinking, thinking, thinking. I'll let you know if I come up with something fantastic :)

I'm off tonight to Reece's school for a meeting with other parents about how teachers teach these days. As an example when I was at school, when learning to read we use to sound everything out but apparently they don't do it like that now and since I am helping him with his homework I figured I'd better find out how it is done these days so I can be doing the same thing his teacher is.

The sun is out in Wellington today - YAY!

Queen's Birthday Weekend

I had an excellent weekend.

Friday night we ended up going to the Cossie Club for our anniversary dinner and the courtesy van picked us up and dropped us home (BONUS!), the food was horrible but Helena and Craig were up there so we had excellent company.

Saturday - Reece's soccer in the morning (they got thrashed - haha) and then I picked Helena up for a girls afternoon shopping expedition and I am happy to report that Helena got lots of goodies and a gorgeous pair of shoes arriving this week (hopefully!).

Sunday - Day at home doing the housework and cooking (curried sausages, stuffed potato's and a HUGE vegetable bake ....yummo!). Played with Reece also for a couple of hours while Adam had a sleep (which we paid for later that night because he wouldn't go to sleep).

Monday - Pottered around home again and then Andrew and I went out and got Adam an electric blanket (Reece already has one) and stopped at muffin break for a coffee and muffin. I tried the Weight Watchers Orange Poppyseed muffin and it was really nice.

That's about it really - not very exciting but sooooooo nice having a 3 day weekend.

Weigh in tonight and I'm not predicting anything, I'll just wait and see.

Dilema

It's my 6th wedding anniversary tomorrow and I've just remembered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now let me tell you that I NEVER forget dates, especially my own anniversary so I am in big trouble because I don't have a card or anything. Now that I am into making cards (which he loves) he is going to expect a homemade one eh?......Oh bugger!

I won't have an opportunity to make one tonight and he will be sniffing around for something in the morning so I am just going to have to go to the shops after work and buy one. We usually get each other a wee present as well but with money these days, that's not going to happen so I will just book a nice restaurant for dinner and get Dad arranged to mind the kids and that will be just dandy.

Now let me think *index finger tapping my chin* where do I feel like going (if I'm booking we're going where I want...LOL).

I also just sold my Kirby vacuum cleaner on Trademe and the person took the 'buy now' option within 5 minutes of me listing it (REALLY!), Andrew reckons I didn't ask for enough but anything was going to be a bonus as it has been sitting in our wardrobe for a couple of years because we use Dad's little vacuum now as we have polished floors and only have carpet in the bedrooms. I don't care, the money is going to pay for our dinner out tomorrow night so it was worth every cent.

Until tomorrow...............................

Yukky Eye photo's

If you don't like looking at yuk eye's, please scroll down to my weigh in post below.

Friday




Saturday & most of Sunday




Sunday and up until now (got totally blood red on Monday but eased off a bit today)








I just love gross things like that (weird I know), I always wanted to be a surgeon or something like that (grades at school squashed THAT idea....LOL) so sorry if I have freaked anyone out but I think it looks cool (didn't feel cool though).

Right I'm happy now that I have shared my grossness with you, there is a post below from last nights weigh in.

Weigh in

Loss: 1.4kgs
Total loss:17.4kgs
Current weight: 92.9kgs

Right I'm very happy with that as I thought I was going to lose about 500 grams - Bonus!
So I am nearly (100g to go) back to where I was 2 weeks ago but I still have 3kgs to go to get to my birthday challenge (80's girl) which means I have to get my butt into gear which I should be able to do now that I am over my illness's and injuries.

5 weeks to lose 3kg = 600g per week - I CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

I went straight home after weigh in as I wasn't going to hydro with my eye's being in the state they were but I have FULL INTENTIONS of getting back there on Thursday.
I'm amazed at how much I miss it and I seem to be craving the water.

No devil red bloodshot eye photo's (bugger!)

Well I sent some photo's of the state I am in currently (conjunctivites) but they haven't come through (work's firewalls I guess?) but if they do come through I will post them because they are yukko!

Friday night I picked Reece up from his mates house and was suppose to stop for a chat but I felt horrible so I didn't, just went home and blobbed infront of the TV (very unusual for me).

Saturday I took Reece to soccer and he decided that being goalie was a good idea as the other team was getting too many goals....hahaha this lasted all of 10 minutes because he was missing out on the action being goalie.



Saturday afternoon and night was blobbing infront of the TV again, its no wonder I don't watch TV because there is nothing on and we have about 20+ (sky TV) channels and STILL there was nothing on.

Sunday I had a 5th birthday party that both boys were invited to (an old neighbour) and I had to stay as well (2.5 hours......argh!). I had my dark sunglasses on but when I was inside, people wanted to know why I had glasses on and when I showed them they freaked out because my eye's looked REALLY bad......hahaha kinda enjoyed that part!

Jo (my girlfriend - mother of the birthday boy) does face painting so here are my boys as a little devil (Reece) and Adam as spiderman (to match his shirt and undies...LOL). They have been little angels all weekend because they have been worried about me (isn't that sweet).




Back at work yesterday (Monday) and again I freaked everyone out with my devil eye's, everyone kept telling me to go home and rest but what's the point in that??? I only get 6 sick days a year and I can't afford to use them on myself as I have 2 kids...sad but true.

One bonus to this whole 'being sick' exercise is that I have not eaten anything I shouldn't as I just haven't felt like it. I have been moping around the house so have not been too busy to make decent meals and I have drank more coffee than water but still put in the effort this week.
I had planned to go back to Hydro tonight as my back is now back to 100% but with my raw red eye's, the last thing I want to do is get clorinated water near them, definately Thursday!!!!

So I am quite looking forward to weigh in tonight as I know I am going to have a loss, maybe not the 1.5kgs I put on last week but I'm hoping for around 500g - 600g.

Sick

Well it had to happen right?

I have now got a cold compliments of Adam and conjunctivities compliments of Reece.
Boy do I look 'special' today, I am at work because the other lady is still off (3rd day) with her cold and there has to be someone here......aren't I lucky?
So I am just staying away from everyone and hope that no-one else gets it.

Helena text me last night to see if I was going to Hydro and I was tempted but after Tuesday pathetic attempt, I thought I'd better not risk it as my back feels about 90% now which is great!

I am going to a friends house after work for a wine originally but it will now be a coffee.
Tomorrow we have soccer in the morning and then a 21st but I'm guessing that I am not going to feel up to a 21st, so it may be a quite night at home curled up on the couch with my 'blankie'.
Sunday is a 5th birhtday that both boys are going to and it is at a friends house, so I can't even drop them off and run......LOL

Right I'd better get on with it as I'm a busy girl.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend :)

Oops

Andrew's fault totally...........hahahahaha!

Andrew rang me at 4pm and said that one of the other reps couldn't go to a comedy night last night and did I want to go......oh yeah!!

We went into Wellington and had Indian for dinner (spinach dish - yum!) and Andrew had some lamb creamy dish (I only had a taste as it was too creamy for me) with rice and raita (yoghurt, cucumber etc.) and 2 glasses of wine (within a day THAT weekely goal went out the window). We then went to the Bathhouse and watched the Ben Hurley Choice show which consisted of Ben Hurley (MC) who was hilarious and two of his comedic choices (Alan Pitchard and someone else) who were both very good. The show went for 2 hours and I had another glass of wine in that time......not too bad really.

Got home and both kids were a little off colour (I HATE WINTER MONTHS), Adam has quite a bad cold and Reece's conjunctivities is back. I think with Reece we should have continued the drops even after it had cleared up (or so we thought). The other lady I work with is also off (2nd day today) with a bad cold so I HAD to come to work which means Andrew is home with the boys......hehehehe. I shouldn't laugh really because he is brilliant with them but he does have a short fuse and I have already had 2 phone calls off them and it is only 9.02am.

So a brilliant night out but not so good with the sick kids (poor little mites).

Back I go to no drinking for the rest of the week - OK?

My back is feeling brilliant today but I won't risk going to hydro tonight but will go for a walk at lunchtime as the weather looks great.

Weigh in

GAIN: 1.5kgs (Oh yes you read it right!)
Current weight: 94.3kgs
Total loss: 16kgs

I'd love to moan about that gain but I can't and I'll tell you why:

1. I was NOT good the week before last and had a loss which blew me away but I new it would eventually catch up with me.

2. This week has also not been good as I had my night out on Friday where I went totally overboard with food and drink plus I was slack on other days.

3. I had only done 1 hydro session compared to the 3 I had been doing in previous weeks.

3. I had a wee upset tummy last week and decided not to go to Hydro but if I'm honest with myself, I could have gone.

4. Yes I have hurt my back (more on that to follow) but rather than sitting on my butt and complaining about it, I should have done something about it and I know that the more I keep moving (walking) the better it feels.

5. This isn't an excuse, I just thought I'd mention it. As I was changing into my togs (Cossie for the Australian's) I noticed that TOM had arrived which was quite suprising because I am usually in huge amounts of pain the day before and first day of TOM.

Right, there are 5 reason why I put on that weight.


After weigh in I met up with my sister (the one in the photo from my last post) who comes to Hydro with me and we went to a Turkish Kebab house for dinner (rather than our usual subway) and had a kebab which was really tasty. We then headed to Hydro and met up with a friends who occasionally comes with us and after 10 minutes of chatting we jumped in the water. I was slightly worried about my back but it had been feeling much better that day so I figured it would be OK for Hydro - - - WRONG! I lasted all of 10 minutes in the water and had to get out as I was in agony. I started out at a lighter pace but even that was hurting so I stepped it down even further (waste of time really as it wasn't doing anything for my fitness) but even that didn't help, so out I hopped. The instructor came over and spoke to me to find out what was going on and told me not to come back for at least a week (oh man!) which bummed me out.

Plan for this week:

1. Count my bloody points as I have let that go (again) and watch portion sizes

2. Drink my water (I have only been managing about 1.5 litres a day)

3. NO DRINKING ALCOHOL (just for this week as it is getting to be a bad habit - looks like I'll be the driver at a 21st we are going to on Saturday)

4. No Lollies (forgot to mention this further up but Andrew bought home heaps of lollies for the 21st and I ate HEAPS while getting them bagged up the other night)

5. WALK!!! If I can't go to hydro that doesn't mean I do nothing, I am going to go walking at lunch time's like I was doing a few weeks ago (I have no idea why I stopped?)

If you can recall I wanted to lose 500g a week to get to my goal of being an 80's girl by my birthday and this week has put me back 3 weeks...argghhh! So I have 6 weeks to get my butt back into it and lose 4.3kgs (.716 grams a week) which is a big ask with my history (200g - 600g average a week) but I'm gonna give it everything I've got.

WOW this is the most I've written about weightloss since I've had this blog.....hahaha.

Photo's

Post below explains these photo's.

Not too bad in the first,



pretty pathetic (and trying to focus) in the 2nd.




Maria (birthday girl) is on the left in both photo's and in the first photo my sister Kim is in the middle and in the second photo, it is another lady we work with.

Just in case anyone was wondering - NO I definately hadn't saved enough points for that night..........LOL

Great weekend

What a great weekend I've had, one of those weekends that I really feel I've done something but am still relaxed at the end of it.

Friday:
After work I went home with my sister and we got changed and she straightened my hair (loved that!) and we cracked a bottle of wine. I had only had a banana for lunch thinking that I would 'save myself' for dinner as I new we were going to have dinner at the Working Mens club so the wine went straight to my head and I was the life of the party before the party started.........LOL
My sister eventually dragged me upstairs for something to eat and I vaugely remember going back for a second plate of food (loved their fried rice) and then a small plate of dessert (a little fudge cake and pav). I won a meat pack so I was extra happy (if that was possible) and then danced the night away. Remember I said I would proberly be home by 9.30pm.......nope it was 10pm hahahaha god I'm sad!

Saturday:
Even after Jules comment that I would have more sense and not get paraletic as I had to sit through a hair appointment - nope - got paraletic and sat through my hair appointment with LOTS of panadols in my system. My hair dresser laughed because the last 3 times I have been I have been hungover which led me to believe I got out on average every 6 weeks (not too bad).
Got home from my hair appointment (got about 4 inches cut off - ooohhhh I will take a photo soon) and made a chocolate cake with the kids and then we went outside to play cricket for a while. Had one or two drinks that night with hubby but came to my senses and moved onto coffee.

Sunday:
Rang a girlfriend I have been trying to catch up with for weeks and we met at Lollipop at 10.30am so the kids (my 2 boys and her 2 girls - all the same age) could run around and left about 1pm.
Got home and dragged some furniture of my Mum's which we have been looking after for her into the boys room as they have been sharing a tall boy and it just isn't big enough now. Made a yummy chicken dinner (with my meat pack stuff) and then got everything sorted for today (lunches, bags packed etc) and then went and had an hour long bath (fell asleep) and was in bed by 9.30pm .... noice!

Reece unfortunately came home on Friday with a MASSIVE dose of conjunctivitis and his eyes were swollen shut and gunked up (poor kids) but we dosed him with Bleph-10 eyedrops and by this morning it was cleared up........brilliant stuff!

The only thing to spoil my 'happy' feeling this morning was dropping Reece off at school and twisting my back when I got out of my Patrol (big 4x4)......ouch!
So I am sitting here in a bit of pain but I'm tuff and will just get on with it (as you do!).

Drinkies anyone

It is 2.40pm and I am counting down the time until I go out to the Working Mens Club for drinkies with my mate who turned 40 on Wednesday as well as my sister and about 12 girls from work. I haven't looked this forward to something for a long time, just me and the girls out for dinner and having drinks (I have been saving a few points everyday to let loose a wee bit tonight).

My taxi (ie. husband) will pick us (me and another girlfriend) up when I ring him and it starts at 6pm so I reckon I will ring him about 9pm ..........hahaha I can't 'party' like I use to 15 years ago (my liver sighs in relief), I was quite the little party girl in my day.

I have a hair appointment tomorrow morning (thankfully) which always makes me feel heaps better. I don't really have much else planned for the weekend but I'm not banking on a quiet weekend as it NEVER turns out like that.

My food and water has been fantastic this week plus hydro exercise, so I am really pleased with myself. The weekend is now upon me and I am going to keep myself busy and away from the pantry and if it is nice weather it will help with me drinking my water (I don't even think about it on the weekends as I am out and about).

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, catch ya next week.

Weigh in

Lost: 600g
Total loss: 17.5kgs
Current Weight: 92.8kg

Can you believe that??????? I have stopped trying to work out how this weightloss works, when I think I have had a bad week I end up losing more than when I think I have had a good week - go figure?

I can't believe I am now into the 92's, 80's is just a sniff away - I can just FEEL it. This week has also gone over goal to getting to the 80's by my birthday as I needed to lose just under 500g a week.....oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah :)

Met my sister at subway after weigh in and then we went to Hydro which was like coming home after not being there for nearly 2 weeks.
Oh that's right, I also went and got my eyebrow's waxed after work which was my VIRGIN WEIGHT reward and I look much more 'normal' now the mono brow has gone...LOL

I also confirmed my tickets yesterday for Australia (going 8th Jan with the boys) which is really exciting because I am hoping to be a 70's girl by then.

Also booked my Auckland tickets with my mate this morning, so I can't wait to ring my friend up there and let her know we are actually coming after soooooo long.

Owww I sound like such a 'jet setter' eh? but this is my 2 trips for about the next 5 years......hahaha and both without my husband which I feel really guilty about but he is quite happy to stay home.
I have a long term goal for us to get to some nice tropical island for our 10th wedding anniversary (been married 6 years) which sounds years away (oh it is years away...LOL) but it will take me 4 years to save for the blinkin thing because I want to surprise him with the trip and not have to watch every penny while we are away.

A crappy Week

Crikey, I didn't realise I hadn't done an update for nearly a week (thanks Anne for the reminder) which isn't like me.

I haven't really been up to much actually, just plodding along.

Friday:
Picked up Reece after work from his mates house and had a few wines with the Mum (Pam) who is a lovely lady and we are becoming fast friends.

Saturday:
Reece had soccer in the morning (so cute, I just love watching him play) and then it was home to get him changed and off to his cousins house for a birthday party. Left after having a coffee with my sister and then Adam and I went firstly to Mitre 10 Mega (no not for chicken salad - letter box numbers....LOL) and then I still had nearly 2 hours to kill before going back to collect Reece so I took Adam to Lollipop's. This I think was the best part of my weekend because I walked in the door, Adam took off, I sat down with a coffee and magazine and I didn't move again for 1.5 hours. Went to Pak N Save on the way back to my sisters to get her a nice bottle of wine and some flowers for that night (after having 8 kids all day she deserved it) and back to get Reece. Didn't do anything exciting on Saturday night I don't think, I really can't remember.

Sunday: Mother's Day
Worst Mother's Day I have ever had! We celebrate all those sorts of things (Valentines, Mother's and Father's Day, Halloween, Easter etc) but after getting out of bed just before 8am because all I could hear was Andrew yelling at the kids, he cooked me an omlette (which he usually does on the weekend) and then went outside to work on the fence after saying "Oh yeah, I didn't get you a card or anything".........right, fine!
I then took both boys to a birthday party and the McDonald's down the road and they did nothing but play up (embarrassing!), they wouldn't eat their lunch, they swore repeatedly (hopefully a faze) and Adam kept making running bids for freedom out the front of the place.........argh!!!! I did manage not to lose the plot completely but boy did they get a talking to when we got in the car (we left as soon as the cake was cut). I got home and was told that the boys weren't to go outside as his lordship was working and there were powertools etc laying around and they would get in his lordship's way (can you see steam coming out of my ears!).
They decided to give me the worst day by fighting with each other, throwing there toys at each other, totally ignoring me or doing the exact opposite to what I would ask. Instead of 'thinking' and taking them out, I constantly had little cries throughout the day but still managed to cook them and their father a lovely dinner and I sat down and ate 6 pieces of toast with cheese and tomato sauce!!!!WTF????
Needless to say the little angels were in bed by 6.20pm and I (after cleaning up from dinner and making lunches etc) got to bed by about 8.45pm feeling very sorry for myself.

Monday:
Just got on with it because what else is there to do.
I spoke to Andrew during the day and told him me and a girlfriend are going to book some tickets to go and visit a friend who we haven't seen for ages. We have been waiting for the fares to come up on 'grab a seat' but it has been months, so I just booked them and waited for him to moan at me about us not being able to afford it (he wouldn't have been wrong) and what about the kids etc but it didn't happen.
Andrew then rang late afternoon and asked if I could pick up Adam on the way home and he was already home working and didn't want to go out again (steam's a starting to rise again) which I did and got home about 5.30pm to a beautiful marinaded chicken breast with curry roasted potato's and salad with my favourite bottle of wine waiting for me (Hmm didn't see THAT one coming) and a HUGE apology about what a brat he had been the day before. He then went on to tell me what a brilliant mother (and wife) I am and none of them could function without me (he was a bit over the top but who am I to stop him while he was on a roll.....LOL).

Tuesday:
Got on my scales this morning and I weighed 93.4kgs which was exactly what I weighed last week at WW in the evening while fully clothed and also 300g heavier than my scales.............(not totally naked at 6.15am) so I'm expecting a small gain but I deserve it after my emotional eating on the weekend. Frustrating because I know better but when your head is in that space it is really hard to see reason.

Be back tomorrow with my official WW result.

Comedy Night

Went to a lovely little restaurant in town called Satay Kampong which is a Malaysian restaurant we have been to before. Started with the mini samosas and quid rings and then for main I had a small bowl of garlic rice and steamed chicken (yum) and Andrew had a seafood curry laksa. Washed that down with 2 glass's of wine and felt just right (not over full or bloated).

Carried on to the Bath house where Brendan Lovegrove was performing and got in and seated and then had a tiff with Andrew over something he said to me (totally his fault of course!!!) and then had the shits for the rest of the night. Brendan Lovegrove was funny but I just wasn't in the mood and was soooooooooo angry at Andrew for spoiling my night that I didn't speak to him for the rest of the evening and when we got home, I went straight to bed (childish - who me?).

It could have been such an excellent night - grrrr MEN!
Anyway that was my night.

Must say that I put extra effort into drinking my water yesterday (managed 1.5 litres) and did drink more than I have in the last few weeks but just finding it really hard to get anymore down. Summer was easy and I was drinking a minimum of 2 - 2.5 litres no worries.....must try harder because I really feel so much better when I have drunk lots of water.

I'm finding that my portion sizes are starting to creep back up which I must keep an eye on. Yesterday I poured my cereal and then went and got the 1/1 cup of milk to put on it and it got sucked up that quick that my cereal was quite dry, after thinking about it I realised that it was because instead of 30g cereal, I was eating about 50g which doesn't sound like that much more but when you are still having the same amount of milk......
Lunch yesterday was sushi and I am finding that my usual 1 packet just isn't enough and I was digging into Andrew's pack as well.
So I am taking extra care when serving food and making a concious effort to get my portion sizes back to what they should be.

Right, I'm rambling on now so I will say goodbye.

Weigh in

V.I.R.G.I.N. W.E.I.G.H.T.

I DID IT!!!!!!!! Wow that seemed to take forever but I did it.

Lost: 400 grams
Current weight: 93.4kgs (93.6kgs was my lowest weight that I can remember)
Total loss: 16.9kgs

I was really excited after weigh in and got home to tell Andrew but he was busy getting ready for Dancing with the Stars (with clients this time) so I just got the kids ready and we took off to my girlfriends house.
I did tell her and she congratulated me which was nice but I was a bit deflated by then...............anyway I woke up this morning and started buzzing again...LOL

8 weeks until my birthday, so I have decided that my next goal is to be in the 80's by then and if I do, I'm going to book myself a flight to Whangarei to see my mate as a reward. That's just under 500g a week and I know I haven't been very consistant of late but I am pulling on all my energy to do this one!!!! Watch this space!

Off to the Comedy Gala tonight in town which I am really looking forward to.

Who's a busy girl then???

Boy have I been busy the last few days.

Friday I had the day off as Reece had the 'teacher only' day and I wanted to watch him and keep him out from under his father's feet while Andrew and Dad got onto the fence. Andrew's mother was still staying with us so we had a great day chatting and catching up on the family gossip.

Saturday was another busy day with Reece's 1st game of soccer and then getting all the post and railings for the fence and of course keeping the kids out of Andrew's hair while he cemented the posts in and put the railing up. He had actually gotten rid of the wood with nail sticking out of it and turned all the power tools off, so the kids got a bit of a play around. (Reece scored 5 goals....a natural!). I also managed about 5 loads of washing......mostly the kids stuff, how do they go through so many clothes?????
Saturday night we had a beautiful lamb roast (haven't had one for months) and then I polished off 1 and a half bottles of wine *hiccup* while watching Dancing with the Stars...............god we must have smiled nice because we were on HEAPS....LOL

Sunday Andrew's mother left just after lunch which was sad as she is just lovely. Adam cried because he decided to go home to Gisborne with Nanny and tried and tried to get into that car and then holding on for dear life when we tried to get him out......bless his heart. He had also woken up with conjunctivites and was a bit miserable with that. Plus with Dad helping Andrew I managed to get 2 loads of his washing washed, hung out, dried, folded and put away.

Monday Andrew had leave from work to get the rest of the pailings up, so I took Reece to school, popped into work for 2 hours and then went home to watch Adam (still had conjunctivites). Adam and I ended up going shopping and getting 4 out of the 5 presents I needed for birthday's this month.
Also did 4 loads of washing which amazed me as I had gotten everything up to date on Saturday.

Tonight I had weigh in but will miss Hydro as me and the kids are going to a friends house to give out one of the birthday presents and tonight is the only night we can both fit it in.
Tomorrow night I have the 'comedy night' in Wellington which should be fun and then Thursday night I am hopefully going to fit in Hydro.
Friday night I am picking Reece up on my way home from work at his friends house and will stay for a drink and then we have friends coming around that night for dinner.
Saturday is soccer again, drop Reece off at another birthday party and we are hoping that we have a free night at home.
Sunday is mother's day and I am EXPECTING a sleep in until at least 8am (my sleep ins pre kids use to be 1pm.....how life changes...LOL), then a coffee and an omelette would be perfect. Then taking both boys to Rhian's birthday party and then either 1 or both sisters are coming around in the afternoon...*big sigh*.

I'm tired just re-reading that.

The lady who works with me in the Lab has been away for the last 2 days so I'd better go and I have a mountain of work and our GC machine has just blown a powerboard......bye *waves madly*.

Weigh in

Lost 200 grams........don't know how I managed that with Mother-in-law cooking.
Current weight: 93.8kgs (300g to go to virgin weight)
Total loss: 16.5kgs

After whipping into weight watchers for my weigh in, I grabbed a subway on the way home and ate that, got dressed and headed off to Avalon Studio's for Dancing with the Stars............got Paul Holmes cracks me up.
We had the best night we have had in years, it was THAT good! We laughed and booed and had tears running down our faces (after Paul's dance) and then met up with some of the other Cadbury's people who went for a coffee afterwards. One really entertaining night. A few people have mentioned they seen me and there is an encore show on Saturday night so we are going to watch it (we were at the right of the stage, up the band end).

By the time we got home it was 11.30pm and then we talked to Andrew's mum for over an hour (with another coffee) and managed to get to bed by about 12.40am this morning. It is now 1.44pm and I am really starting to feel it. Andrew's Mum is out for dinner tonight (a cousins house) so Andrew and I are going to have something quick and easy for dinner and then have an early night *yawn*.

Valentines

Andrew and I decided it would be nice to take his mother out for dinner with the kids, thought about where we could go that starting serving early (6pm) and was child friendly etc and decided on Valentines.............BIG MISTAKE!!!!
We got the kids dressed in their 'going out' clothes and they were all excited to be going to a restaurant for dinner (we have only done it 2 or 3 times in the past) and gave them the big 'be on your best behaviour' speech and off we went.
They wouldn't sit at the table and eat anything and kept jumping off their chairs and playing under the table ....... who were these children???? They DO NOT act like that at home and their father was beside himself. They wanted to go to the playroom and we told them they had to eat their dinner first (yeah right).
So after 30 minutes they eventually ate most of their dinner and off they went to the playroom (peace for us..yay!). They were back within 2 minutes to tell us (at the tops of their voices) how 'stink' the playroom was because there was nothing in it, so off I went to investigate and they were right. There was a TV on the wall that didn't work, a chalkboard up one end of the room with no chalk and NOTHING else in the room - an empty playroom. Off I went to ask what was going on and was told by a ditzy waitress that "no there isn't any toys and that TV hasn't worked for ages", I let them know how unhappy I was and told them that a 'family resturant' with a playroom should have had at least 1 toy in it????? to which she just smiled and giggled ..... grrrrrrr!
Took them back and tried to invent some games they could do (while my tasteless dinner was getting cold) and left them to it. The room was suppose to be soundproof..........HA not soundproof when MY kids were in there. They decided running from one end of the room to the other and jumping up and crashing into the wall while screaming was fun..............LOL.
If it wasn't for the other 'diners' I would have let them go just to teach Valentines a lesson (hahaha) but I had used up more steps walking back and forth telling them to keep it down then walking a marathon so we decided to go home (after gobbling down some dessert). Got there at 6pm, left 7.05pm just made an hour.

NEVER AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!

The kids got a right telling off in the car about their behaviour and their response was "oh sorry Dad, can we go again tomorrow".

So I ate too much (which was tasteless) and even had a dessert of cheesecake and peacan pie (matchbox size pieces) with my coffee and Andrew and MIL also didn't enjoy it (oysters were tasteless and roast was dry) and it cost us $108.00 for an hour.............*shakes head* NEVER AGAIN!!!

I just re-read what I wrote, God I go on...hahaha sorry about that.

So I went home and beat myself up about the crap I just consumed (with weigh in today) and then thought "hang on Rachel, it was only 1 meal and I wasn't that bad".

I thought about how I feel now and this is what came to me:

I fit my clothes now, not just squeeze into them and then feel uncomfortable all day - they actually FIT and are comfortable.

I feel 100% better than this time last year and am enjoying being more active.

I am over 16kgs lighter and can actually notice it when I look in the mirror.

Other people are giving me compliment now which feels fantastic.

I am excited about my progress and know by this time next year I will not only be at goal but be maintaining.

My skin feels and looks good.

I'm NEVER sick anymore (touch wood *knock, knock*).

I can play with my kids for more than a few minutes and still have energy.

I feel more attractive and confident.
Yep bugger having a bit too much food last night, its not the end of the world.

Roll on weigh in and those scales I've learnt to love (rather than dread).

Right I'm off to do some work and will give you all a BIG WAVE if your watching Dancing with the Stars tonight (I'll hopefully get a seat at the front).

Busy weekend

Yep the title is correct, I didn't have a minute to rest.

Friday night MIL cooked the best chicken stir fry I have ever eaten....yum!
The boys were still excitied that their Nan was visiting (she arrived Thursday) and were being silly and showing off which is quite noisy in my little house but very cute.

Saturday Reece was devastated when his 1st game of soccer was called off due to rain. He did leave his soccer gear on all day (knee shins and all) which was funny as it was a freezing day and he was running around in shorts and t-shirt.
All I tried to do all day was keep the kids occupied as they were going stir crazy indoor but it was freezing outside and I wasn't going anywhere.
I made a nice salmon quiche for lunch with a salad and the kids had fried rice (home made with lots of ham). Everyone seems to eat when its cold and I went through half a bowl of fresh fruit and gallons of coffee (for Mum and I not the kids....hehe).

Saturday afternoon Andrew, Reece and I went to his friends parents house for dinner (4pm) and we had such a good time. Great food, great company and the kids were fantastic (great decision of mine to leave wee Adam at home) and the 3 bottles of white wine Pam and I drank was lovely too *hiccup*.

I had planned to go to hydro Sunday morning but I just couldn't get myself motivated even though I had been up for a while, so I curled up on the couch for another hour under a blanket.
The kids were going stir crazy again so I decided to go to the shops (Westfields) and take MIL as she hadn't been to Wellington for 2 years and things had changed.
She shopped until she dropped and I hired the kids a double buggy thing which they thought was brilliant. Headed home about 2.30pm and MIL asked to be dropped off at the local pub for a while (she doesn't drink but loves the pokies) and didn't get home until 7pm.........LOL Kids overload!

I made a lovely lasagne for dinner with salad which we ate late after friends arrived in the afternoon for a coffee and chat.

My food was pretty good on the weekend but my water was horrible and the wine isn't going to help matter's either at weigh in but I've had a great/full weekend and feel fab!

Right, I'm off to make a coffee and then have my mid-year review with my boss and tell him how wonderful I am and how he should be paying me more money because he can't work without me.............LOL he always agrees god love him.

Fish and Salad

Yep, I reckon if my mother-in-law visited more often and brought 2 huge snappers with her, filleted them, battered them and then cooked them (and I watched and made a salad) I could live on Fish and salad...............MAN it was yum!!!

Since MIL was there, Andrew decided to come to Hydro with me (and Helena came too - YAY!) and swim some laps. What he didn't realise is that we do actually work for a good hour or so and this equates to HEAPS of laps and he isn't the fit buff boy I first met nearly 20 years ago........hahaha!
He ended up spending a bit of time in the spa relaxing as he ate too much dinner and it wasn't agreeing with him when he was swimming laps - a likely story:)

The boys were really excited to see their Nanny and talked her ear off all night, so she was happy to stay home with them and put them to bed while we shot off.

Very busy day yesterday at work and another busy day today as our department is getting audited (oh joy!) and I am the ISO9001 girl, so it is up to me to deal with the auditors. Being an internal auditor myself, I then have an audit to do on Monday which takes quite a bit of time out of my day *shrug* oh well, can't be helped I suppose..........roll on the weekend!!!!

It is suppose to rain, rain, rain in Wellington this weekend which is going to put a damper on Reece's first soccer game but I will just have to find the umbrella's.

I don't really have much else planned - oh yeah - we (Andrew, Reece and I) are going to one of Reece's mates parents house for dinner tomorrow night. They seem like a lovely couple so we aren't going to scare them with Adam........aren't I horrible!!!
Adam is going to stay home with his Nan as we plan on staying a few hours and would like to enjoy our first meeting with these people rather than running around after Adam who will undoubtedly destroy their house and fight with the kids (how is this my child?). Love him to bits but he can be a bit over the top at this age.

Might take MIL to Westfields on Sunday for a look around as she comes from a small town and doesn't have anything like that up there.

I am determined to eat well and DRINK MY WATER this weekend. I have been a little slack with my water this week also (1.5 litres on average compared to 2 - 2.5ltr) so must get that back on track as I ALWAYS feel better when I've drunk my water.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Weigh in

A little late I know but with ANZAC day and all, I had to wait to get back to work to get on the computer.

LOST: 600g
Current weight: 94kgs
Total loss: 16.3kg

I had wicked stomach cramps which is a sure sign of TOM but I wasn't due for a week and a half but didn't want to risk it, so I went home after weigh in (instead of to hydro) and sure enough..................the flood gates opened! (sorry TMI?)

So I am still (2 days later) cramped up and flooding like you wouldn't believe (oops TMI again) which is weird because I usually only do that the first day and even Helena's Peppermint tea cure isn't working this month......woe is me *puts back of hand to forehead*.

Mothin-in-law arrives today so she should be there when we get home from work/school. The kids are busting to see her as we only get to see her about twice a year (lives in Te Aroroa which is 2.5 hours past Gisborne).
I'm hoping she is going to be chief cook while she is here as she is the most amazing cook and use to do cater for hotels and for huge functions a few years ago and can make mutton chops take like liquid gold............mmmmmmmmm.

Yesterday was spent with a good friend and her 4 kids, my eldest and her youngest start soccer (same team) on Saturday so we were giving them some practice tips and also building ramps for them to ride their bikes over......cool fun!
Had lunch (spinach & Feta quiche with salad - YUM!) and then went to the park for an hour or so. Finished the day off with a quiet afternoon.

Right I am suppose to be getting my mid-year review all typed up (I hate this time of year) and want it to look respectable, so I'd better be off.......see ya.

New fence and friends

New Fence:
The one big thing we did this weekend is get our front fence done, we pulled down the 1.5m white shitty looking thing and put up a 1.8m new charcol wooden fence and it looks fab!
Just another coat of paint (which Dad will do during the week for us) and its all finished. I was on the paint brush painint the inbetween bits and also painting the inside and Dad was on the posts and railings and Andrew was hammering the nails, quite a good little chain gang.

Friends:
Luckily Helena (alias - my biker chic mate) came around for a coffee/tea and I managed to sit down and have a break while the boys soldered on.
I also had the pleasure of seeing Karen and Rachel on Saturday, they walked down from their place. I must say it has been a while since I seen Rachel and she has grown heaps since I seen her last. My first hold ended in tears as wee Rachel just wanted Mummy, even my second hold started out with tears but I eventually got her off to sleep on my shoulder.

Hydro:
Yep went on Thursday night as it is a circuit class and I am enjoying doing two different sorts of classes. It was our instructors last night and she is being replaced by the Monday night instructor who we have had fill in once or twice and she is a KILLER! My sister also met me there on Sunday morning and we had another great workout............god I love Hydro!

Food/Water/Exercise:
My exercise has been really good this week with all but 1 day consisting of lunch time walks plus hydro 3 times a week.
My Water is brilliant during the week but terrible on weekends, I think because it isn't sitting in front of me on a desk and I am busy running around on the weekend, I just don't even think about it. I usually remember at dinner time and then try and drink over a litre at one go and then end up in the loo all night.
Food has been excellent during the week AND all weekend. I was determined to get myself sorted on the weekend's and stop eating stupidly as I was undoing all the good work I had done through the week. I made meatloaf and shepherd's pie on the weekend (Andrew's favourite) but they are both too fatty for me (I get wicked heartburn with mince) so I had a WW meal one night and my vege's and noodles another night.

I AM hoping for a good result tomorrow night on the WW scales.

Photo's

Well I don't know if it was blogger or my home computer but I tried and tried to upload some photo's last night and it just wouldn't let me.
Anyway I sent them to work and here they are.

Photo of my collection of 3 cards and 1 tag I made at my card making class.





Photo of my little tiger Adam.





Photo of my yummy dinner last night (WOK vegetables, WOK sweet thai sauce and Udon noodles).





Not much other news really, I am the only one in my department for the next week so my posts might be a bit few and far between.

Went to Hydro again last night and loved it, nearly didn't go as it was very cold and I was trying to think of every excuse under the sun to stay home (ie. sore ankle, still too full from dinner, too cold) but kicked myself in the butt and went and I'm really glad I did.

Got home and made a RSVP card for a friends daughters party the boys and I are going to next month and also made a pretty pink card for the little girl....so much fun!

Dancing with the Stars

Andrew and I are off to Dancing with the stars in the middle of next month (might be the finals I think) as it is only at Avalon Studio's (10 minute drive down the road) and Cadbury's are the sponsors (who he works for) and he figured it would be a night out for us.........LOL, god love him!
He has been watching this series but I only glance at it every now and then, I don't have any favourites.

Went to my card making class last night and had a ball, I am amazed at what you can do with a bit of imagination (and the right material). I made 3 cards and 1 tag and tried taking photo's this morning of them but they didn't come out so I will try again tonight and post them. I have a very bad habit of rushing and this is a hobby you can't rush, so I made one or two little mistakes but they are hardly noticable.
I am getting into a bad habit of going for my lunch time walk straight to Scrapbook Central which is where I did the class and buying a bit here and there. I realised I need heaps more stuff to do what I really want so this will be a 'one thing a week' treat.

Hydro tonight and I fly solo on a Thursday night now as my friend from work has stopped going, so has my eldest sister and my other sister only comes on a Tuesday night.........Rachel no mates LMAO!

I made a really nice dinner last night (love this planning thing) which was chicken breasts stuffed with herb stuffing and apricots, Kumera hash browns, creamed spinach, carrots and cauliflower...........YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Tonight was suppose to be beef stew/casserole but I wasn't organised enough and didn't get the crock pot on as I had two uncooperative kids to get dressed, fed and to daycare/holiday programme *sigh* god my mornings are hectic!!!
Anyway getting back to dinner, I might do steak and salad as this will be quick and easy.

I am ON FIRE with my water intake this week and can really feel it, I always feel fantastic when I have had my water (2.5 - 3 litres) I wish I could remember this great feeling when I am having an off day.
Food has been within points this week which thrills me no end and my exercise is increasing a little it everyweek.

Weigh in

Lost 1.2kgs (VERY happy)
Current weight: 94.6kgs
Total lost: 15.7kgs

Right - I'm back to where I was 2 weeks ago so I AM NOT going to dick around and plateau for the next few weeks, I am going to get on with it and loose more.

Met my sister at Subway for dinner after weigh in last night and then worked it off at Hydro (aqua) after that.

My card class is tonight (finally) and I can't wait!!!

VERY busy at work today so I'd better get on with it.

Back to it

Hi ho, hi ho, its back to work I go...........weekends are NEVER long enough ay?

Anyway - I had a great weekend, the weather was lovely and I managed to get up to Archiballs (Scrapbooking place) Saturday morning and get some more stuff for my cards. Went to a really nice bakery on the way home and got the boys some lunch and me a beef roll which was beautiful.

Didn't do a great deal on Saturday night.........boring people that we are.

Sunday I did the ole housework in the morning and then went and met Chris H for lunch at Westfields as she was down from Palmy for a look around. Stew (Chris's hubby) took the kids for a walk (who are gorgeous by the way) and Chris and I sat there for well over an hour chatting which was BRILLIANT! Thanks again Chris, I had a lovely time.

Got home and had a fight with hubby........hahaha because he hurried me home (mobile call) so he could go and play golf for the 2nd time that weekend - not impressed!!
So he took my Dad and Reece with him and it was only Adam and I home which was great because 1 kid at a time is amazingly easy nowdays.

I was busting to get into my card making last night so I stupidly let Reece sit next to me and watch plus I also gave him some paper and a hole punch to play with while I got started. I had been working for about 40 minutes and had everything cut out etc ready to go and then Adam started crying (he had been in bed well over an hour) so while I went in to see to him, Reece decided he would use half my clue and stick everything I had just cut out on his piece of paper.........aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!
So I ended up just doing a basic one as it was quite late which looks OK but wasn't what I had wanted (forgot to take a picture before putting it in its envelope).

So there you have it, a nice quite weekend which is great after having people stay last weekend plus other visitors.

My food has been very average (as per usual on the weekends) and my water has been about 1 - 2 litres a day which isn't that crash hot.

Friday 13th..........ooooooooooohhhhhhhh

I love Friday the 13th, black cats and spooky stuff like that.
I'm hoping to have an uneventful day even if it is Black Friday though.

Just plodding along here, went to Hydro last night and both sisters and my friend from work bailed on me but that was fine as I still enjoyed it on my own.

Going to a friends after work today for a wine and then home to watch the Hurricanes!
(our Rugby team for those who have no idea what I'm talking about)

No other plans for the weekend apart from wanting to go to Upper Hutt and have a look at the two scrapbooking shops up there as I have my aunties and MIL's birthday this week and thought I might have another wee go at doing some cards.

Right, I've got another busy day at work today so I'd best get to it. Even though this has been a short week, it certainly hasn't felt like it.

Have a lovely weekend everyone :)

Weigh in

Gain: 1.1kgs
Total loss: 14.5kgs
Current weight: 95.8kgs

Yes its my own fault but COME ON PEOPLE 1.1kgs!!!!!!!
I am back to the weight I was 3 weeks ago, what a waste of time and effort on my part....silly girl.
I did go to Hydro afterwards which was an effort because I was so peeved with myself for gaining, I just wanted to go home and feel sorry for myself but I dragged my butt there and really enjoyed it as usual.

I got slack with my tracking and water towards the end of last week so I am making an effort today to get back on track.

A girlfriend at work showed me some scrapbooking stuff she picked up from the $2.00 shop and it was awesome so on the way home yesterday I managed to spend $16.00 there ($2.00 shop.....yeah right!) and got some really cool stuff.

I made my first ever card last night for my stepfathers birthday and even though it was very basic as I don't have lots of card making stuff yet, I was quite happy with it and managed to add a couple of photo's of the boys as well.......he'll love it.

My card making class is next Wednesday and I am just busting to go and see how it all works and all the different layouts. I really don't want to buy to much until I have done the class (not doing very well with this at the moment...LOL) so I can see what I will and won't need. I reckon it is going to be quite an expensive hobby but I don't care.

Right, I'm off to go and write in my track for today and get a bottle of water.

Easter weekend

G'Day, G'Day

What a great weekend I had, 4 days off has got to be the best idea for a weekend - if only it happened every weekend and having great company visit and an bunny visit and leave lots of yummy food has got to top it off.

Friday was a lovely quite day at home with just Andrew, I and the boys and we played in the backyard and Andrew built something???? (He is always building something..LOL).
I managed to get every single piece of washing washed, hung and folded on Friday and then sat down with hubby and polished off a few glasses of wine.........yum!

Saturday was one of housework which was OK as our Auckland visitors were coming for a visit and I like a tidy house. They arrived 2 hours overdue but in fine spirits and the kids (5 in all) had a fantastic time playing while the boys cooked us a wicked BBQ.
After dessert of jelly, ice cream and fruit salad (I didn't indulge as I was still full from dinner) we all had coffee and hot cross buns which our guests had bought.
I managed 2 after promising myself I would only have one but throughly enjoyed them all the same.

Sunday morning was lots of packing up of our visitors and the giving out of chocolate easter eggs (for the kids) which they had all devoured by 8am and then our guests left and the boys and I just had a lazy day (ahh bliss!).
The only thing I did today that I wasn't happy with was eat 2 more hot cross buns with my after dinner coffee. I don't know why I had them because I wasn't hungry and didn't need them but I was getting Andrew 2 and just got myself 2 as well (auto pilot). Once I was half way through the 2nd one I realised what I was doing and promptly stopped eating but I only wish I had realised after the first bite of my first one...........LOL. So I ended up going to bed feeling overfull and yukky.
I was really disappointed that Hydro wasn't on this morning as well because I really wanted to go.

Monday we had one of Reece's school friends (Jacob) over to play and his little sister who's 3 (Alex) stayed to play with Adam but they just ended up fighting the whole time. Andrew spray painted their bike helmets to make them look 'cool' and then it was 4 hours of watching DVD's, riding bikes/scooters/skatboards, eating fruit/chippies/sausages on bread and more fruit. This was by far the most exhausting thing I have done all weekend. All the people out there who have 4 children I envy as I just couldn't do it, it was THAT MUCH work. I also found Reece up one of our trees which he isn't aloud to climb (took a photo) and his reasoning to getting caught was "But I have my helmet on"........kids!
I was very tired and decided I WASN'T cooking tea and since hubby was digging holes for our new fence, he wasn't up to it either so I went and got Chinese for dinner which was lovely but I just know I am going to pay for it tonight at weigh in.


I have just gotten back from lunch with a friend who is also trying to lose weight so we went to a local bar and had their Thai beef salad which was devine and we both managed to go for a quick walk afterwards before heading back to work.

I will leave you with a couple of photos from our weekend.

My baby

My baby has Asthma...............bugger.

Managed to get him to sit on my lap at the doctors for about 30 seconds while she listened to his chest/back etc but he was a live wire to say the least.
So we walked out with our spacer thingy and wee mask and then popped over the the chemist to get his ventolin. When we were showing his father how it all worked he was as good as gold and thought he was quite special to have this new toy....long may it last. They reckon it is only childhood asthma and it should be gone by the time he hits his teenage years if not before.
AND he didn't cough once last night.......yay!

Hydro circuit tonight and I have just had a phone call from my eldest sister saying she is also coming with my brother-in-law, so with me and our other sister it is going to be quite a family afair.....LOL.

Really looking forward to the Easter break (4 whole days!!!!) and am going to get my shopping tonight after hydro so I hopefully won't have to visit the supermarket again over the Easter break.

I will get on my home computer over the weekend and be able to actually leave comments on everyone's blogs as my work PC only occasionally lets me.

HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER EVERYONE.

Weigh in

Lost 400grams
Current weight: 94.7kgs
Total loss: 15.6kgs

Another 1.2kgs to get to VIRGIN FAT..............yeah ha!!!!

Shot up to the pools after weigh in and did laps until Hydro started (who is this women????) and the women who takes the class must have been in a bad mood because she worked us the hardest I've ever been worked. BRING IT ON!!!

Off to the Doctors today with young Adam as I suspect he may have asthma. Has been coughing for hours of a night and the good ole tixilix isn't working, he also coughs and weezes for long periods if he has been running around............I hope not.

After only 3 weeks of Hydro I reckon my body is changing as my clothes are fitting me much better now (does that make sense?). I am still in the same size but I feel like they are feeling better when they are on (pants especially).

Nothing else to say so I will love ya and leave ya for now........bye bye *waves*

Short Week

Don't ya just love short weeks? I love em'.

I had a lovely weekend and the weather managed to stay quite nice if not a bit overcast.

Saturday I dropped Reece off at him mates house and Adam and I was going to go shopping but I dropped into my sister's for a coffee first (Big mistake) and ended up gas bagging to her for a couple of hours and then it was time to pick Reece up....LOL. We then dropped into another girlfriends and I had a coffee and all the kids played for an hour or two and then finally got home at about 2pm???

I got a text from Helena saying she was out on Trude (her gorgeous motorbike) and was going to pop in so I caught up for a green tea with her and see the 'biker chic' that she really is............brilliant!

Drank a bottle of wine on Saturday night while watching the rugby (how'd THAT happen?) and off to bed.

Sunday my sister arrived as we were going to Hydro then she stayed for a coffee when we got back (god I drink heaps of coffee ay?) and after she left I had enough time for a shower (get the clorene off me) and then I went to Scrapebook Central's Open day. I had so much fun and spent soooooo much money but got on a card course I really wanted to and managed to get my supplies. I could stay in that shop forever looking at all the stuff they have.

Ended up the weekend with a lovely vege and noodle stir fry.

Weekend eating and drinking - Water was terrible, food was OK, bottle of wine not so good.

Day off with my boy

Yesterday I went to the pools with Reece's school for the day and had an absolute ball. There were 54 kids and about a dozen parents and teachers and I was blown away by how well behaved the kids were.
I was in charge of 4 kids (Reece and 3 others) and apart from Reece not having his ears turned on (I'm sure it was because I was there) they were little angels.

Got home totally exhausted at about 3.45pm (after picking Adam up early from daycare) and we had a nice quite afternoon/evening inside as the rain started to spit.

I was due to go to Hydrorobics at 7.30pm (we were having visitors but they cancelled) and even though I was really tired, I was determined to go. I put Reece to bed at 7pm and he wanted me to lay down on his bed with him which I did and then woke up at 9pm................WTF???? Adam was in his bed asleep (Andrew put him there) and hubby was having a nice quite night watching TV. I got up rather peeved and told him so to which he said "oh yeah, I forgot you had that swimming thing on tonight"..........gggggggrrrrrrrr.

I'm soooooooo glad its Friday as I just can't wait for this week to be over.

Reece is going to his mates house tomorrow morning, Andrew is golfing, so Adam and I are going shopping........YAY! I want to start checking out the winter coats as I don't have one and suffered last year because of it so this year I am going to get a decent one.

Sunday sounds like it is going to be a quite one as well which is great too but we will wait and see.

Weigh in

Lost 800 grams............hehehe
Current weight: 95.1kgs
Total loss: 15.2 (got my gold star from WW for another 5kg lost)

I also have mini goals for myself with my weightloss and hitting 15kg was one of them and my reward was to get myself a new pair of swimming goggles and a new swim cap which I did.............BRIGHT PINK!!!! They will see me coming now!

I hit this target 2 weeks earlier than I had anticipated, so I have set myself a new goal (for 2 weeks time) to hit VIRGIN FAT. So I have 1.6kgs to lose in 2 weeks which is 800 grams a week, achievable right?

I ducked home after weigh in because I had forgotten my swimming bag, grabbed that and headed off to Hydrorobics where I firstly bought my new goggles and cap and because I had about 20 minutes before the class started I jumped in the water and did a few laps with those fins my friends hubby gave me AGES ago and had so much fun. I LOVE fins because they propelled me through the water and I could then concentrate on my breathing (something I have problems with) and style. I did about 5 laps before I came up for air which is BIG for me because I usually stop (and have a minor heart attack) after every lap.

Did the Xtreme Hydro class which I did on Sunday with the same teacher lady and thought "no worries, I did this with ease on Sunday" yeah right, what was I thinking!
There were about 35 people in the clasee (the 2 I have been to had 7 in one and 13 in the other) and she worked us twice as hard as the Sunday class..........man was I huffing and buffing when I was finished and sore. I am definately going back to THAT class!

Tommorrow I have a day off work because Reece's school is having a day trip to the local pools (not the one I go to) for a morning of swimming and an afternoon of sports activities (this pool has a HUGE outdoor area) and he begged me to go because and I quote "You never come to anything and every other parent does" god he's dramatic and wrong by the way. So a leave day for me, I'm not actually sure if I will be swimming or not but better pack the cossie just in case.

And again

Well I loved Hydro that much that I got my sorry butt out of bed Sunday morning and went and did another class........LOL go figure!
This one wasn't a circuit class it was called Xtreme Hydro and it was more an aerobics work out (if that makes sense).

I don't know what happened to my tracking but Saturday night we had visitors and I made heaps of food (dessert included) and I just ate and ate and ate. I didn't once watch my points and even ate dessert and I NEVER eat dessert. It was a BBQ so I did manage to eat lots of salad but I then went back and got more meat (and I cooked creamed paua's......ouch!).
Sunday I got up and went to Hydro thinking I would work it off but then managed to eat all the left overs from the night before during the course of the day.

If I could work 7 days a week I would be able to stick to points religiously but get me home and I fall to pieces.

So anyway I'm back at work and drinking gallons of water (something I also didn't do on the weekend) and hoping to make up for my terrible eating on the weekend.
The thing that really gets me is, I didn't need all that food and I didn't really feel like everything I ate, I just went back to the old Rachel and ate everything because it was there and ended up feeling bloated and sick.... dumb, dumb, dumb.

Right I've finished feeling sorry for myself and I am going to go for a MAJOR walk at lunch and drink my water (did I already say that?) and eat my WW cereal for breakfast (yum, I do love WW cereal) and start behaving like a healthly person rather than Miss Piggy :)

Hydrorobics

I went and LOVED IT!
I bought one of those 10 trip concession tickets which will MAKE me go (I hate to waste money) and was very abrehesive about it but once I was in the water I had a ball. There was about 8 of us in the class and it was a circuit class which was really fun and full of variety and I was a huffin and a puffin at the end of each activity. I will definately be doing Tuesday and Thursday nights....thanks Anne!

I also had a WW meal last night as the boys had a 'free night' on my menu plan and could have what they wanted so Andrew had a chicken & seafood laksa (his favourite) and the boys just had 2 minute noodles (their favourite). I ate at about 6.20pm and my class wasn't until 7.30pm but I felt I shouldn't have eaten or maybe eaten earlier (keep that in mind for Tuesday night).

NOTE TO SELF: When going to Hydrorobics, making sure your legs are shaved is a good idea but making sure your armpits are also shaved is an even BETTER idea!!! We are not talking 'ape girl' here but a couple of days growth IS NOT a good look.

Water has been fantastic (easy) and my food which I have bought to work for the week (ie. cottage cheese, vitaweats, fruit etc) has been awesome and I have not been tempted by the work cafeteria once.

In case I don't get back on here until Monday, have a glorious weekend everyone *big waves* Bye.

2nd post for the day

Hydrorobics (or some call it aqua), this was on my 'weekly plan' to go last night and I didn't go because I am a lazy so and so.

I have just come back from seeing a woman on another floor in our building who is 64 and is looking into Sureslim but was struggling with it as she usually eats quite well, it is just the exercise she can't get her head around and I was telling her about Anne who absolutely loves aqua and that I was suppose to go last night blah blah. She lives around the corner from me and suggested that if we go together we would encourage each other and that would keep us going..........hhhmmmmm

So I COMMITTED!!!!!

Starting tomorrow night, every Tuesday and Thursday night I will be doing Hydrorobics from 7.35pm to 8.35pm and I have butterflies..........why is that???

I have even written in my 'tracker' for tomorrow, wish me luck!

Who knows, this may even lead to doing some other sort of exercise (like getting back to our work gym or swimming laps)..........one step at a time Rachel.

Weigh in......

Lost: 900 grams
Total loss: 14.4kgs
Current weight: 95.9kgs

I did actually think all the blinkin water I drank would have flushed more away but the exercise is non-existent so I'm shutting my mouth and not complaining.

I have also started planning my evening meals and exercise and putting it on the fridge, I have written out a two week menu planner and then sat down and wrote out every ingredient I would need to get when shopping and MY GOD what a difference it has made. I (and everyone else in the house) now know exactly what we are having every night and I know everything I need is in the pantry or fridge to make it. So I am not just chucking something quick together when I get home, I am putting more effort into feeding myself and my family and even know how many points each meal is worth so I can work that into the rest of my day.
I really feel less stressed and more calm when I am totally organised....weird I know.

Massive Support

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your supportive comments last week on my "Your fat ay Mum" post. I do know that my little darling wasn't meaning it really and as they say "out of the mouths of babes".

Sick Friday with some sort of 24 hour bug (not very nice) but managed to perk up enough for a couple of wines at a friends house that evening.

Saturday Reece and I went to his school at 10am for a 'working bee' where he rode his bike around with all him mates and I got to do gardening (I HATE GARDENING) and have now realised that there are very big muscles at the back of your thighs (go figure) that I have NEVER used before.........oh the pain LOL. The weather turned to custard in the afternoon so we all just watched a DVD and played games.

Sunday I went and had brunch with my sisters as it was one of their birthdays and in the afternoon I took the kids shopping for a new pair of runners for Reece to wear to school as his last pair (only 4 weeks old) managed to get big holes in the toes...little monkey. Then took the kids back to the local school to ride their bikes on the tennis courts (again) and home for an early dinner, baths, bags packed for the following day and bed.

Did I mention last week that I was going to write down the amount of times I went to the loo as I was just amazed how often I now go (drinking approx. 3 litres of water)?
Well it worked out to be 21 times...........yep really! I have drank nearly a litre this morning and have already gone 5 times???? I have been brilliant with my water and drinking 2.5 litres on average everyday and my toilet trips aren't getting any less.....bugger, bugger, bugger.

I have also been tracking (a challenge Anne and I are doing) and can honestly say that I have been very good (apart from my sick day on Friday - couldn't face food) and keeping within my points, so I am hoping for great things tomorrow night at weigh in.

Right I have a bit to catch up on (blogs and work) so I'll be back tomorrow...bye

Your fat ay Mum?

These 4 words made me come crashing down to earth, they were spoken by my 5 year old which he innocently asked me yesterday on the way home from school.

It instantly brought tears to my eyes (as its doing now) because my "wake up" call to lose weight was when he was about 9 months old and at 126.3kgs I couldn't stay on the floor and play with him because I was overweight and everything ached (knees, stomach etc) and I vowed that I would lose this weight and never have him or his mates (tease him at school about a fat mother) think I was fat and what's happened???
Damn it, damn it!!!!!!!

I think I am more upset than angry by the fact that I decided to lose the weight and here I am 6 years later 29.5kgs lighter but still grossly overweight and pissing around when I could have been at goal YEARS ago if I had just stuck to the programme.

Well all I can say is - if THAT wasn't a wake up call, nothing was. I REFUSE to have my kids embarrased by me and from today (15/3/07) I am going to do what it takes to get this layer of flubber OFF ME!!!

I am going to put myself first for a god damn change and do what it takes. If I decide to exercise and there is something else on - TOO BAD - someone else can change their plans for me instead of me always changing my plans.

I have 34.6kgs still to lose to get to goal and I am giving myself to the end of the year to do it. I know there are a few of you who are shaking your heads and saying that I shouldn't be putting a time limit on it and extra pressure but I am a person who works to goals and loves a challenge and this is a challenge that I intend to keep.

41 weeks until Xmas which means I need to lose an average of just under 900grams a week..............WOW that's quite alot ay? It doesn't matter, I WILL DO IT.


WATCH THIS SPACE.........

Weigh in

Lost 600grams
Current Weight 96.8kgs
Total loss 13.5kgs

Happy with that BUT I had been very good this week and was sort of hoping for a kilo (never happy ay?) so when I got home last night I sat down and thought about why I always loose heaps the first few months and then it takes me months to loose a kilo or two................answer = Tracking!
Pure and simple, I do really well when I track and I mean really track, not guessing half of what I'm eating. So last night I rummaged through all my weight watchers stuff (and there's heaps of it...LOL) and found my 'Deluxe Tracker' and also got out my points guide and supermarket guide (thanks again Sue), and have written everything down for today (I'm at 15 points out of 20 already!) apart from dinner (only 5 points left but I have a WW meal in the freezer worth that) and am really suprised at what I am eating (points wise).
I eat WW cereal every morning but this morning I decided to go back to the 1/2 cup of milk and 30g of cereal and WOW what a difference! I was having nearly 3 times the amount I was aloud and still counting it as 1 serve. I've also noticed I 'forget' to count margarine and mayo for sandwiches etc which really adds up.

Righto so its "Back to Track" which is one of the BASIC things to do but I do forget the basics sometimes.

I have been brilliant with my water this week (approx 3 litres per day) and always feel so much better when I'm on track with that - clensed or something.
Exercise has been nearly non-existent and I still haven't tried the hydrorobics that our local pool run but I have got their timetable written out and up on my wall at work and home and am going to get to it on Thursday night.

This week is full on as I am taking and picking up both kids as Andrew has ANOTHER launch of a limited edition product (Hazelnut time-out bar) which runs for 3 days and then he has a 2 day 'focus' meeting so it is a very long week for him. He is doing about 12 or 13 hour days and then more prep work in the evening for the following day which doesn't make for a happy husband and Dad so me and the boys are keeping away from him.......LOL.

On a brighter note, a friends husband is going away for a few days so me and the kids (she also has 4 kids) are going over on Friday night for a pot luck dinner and drinkies which will be nice and relaxing. Andrew has a friend over the road so he is going to come and have dinner with us and then disappear for a few hours to his mates and pick us up when we are ready to go home.....noice!!

I'd best go and re-fill my water bottle.......see ya!

A new week

Had a lovely weekend, Andrew and I took the boys up to Harcourt Park where they have a paddling pool and huge playground area and spent a couple of hours there (boys were in the pool most of that time) and then went home for lunch. Dad and Andrew decided to get some more concreting done so that took up the rest of the afternoon and the boys and I did some colouring in and watched a DVD.

Sunday we took the kids back to the local school in our area so Reece could try out his new bike (2nd hand from his cousin because his Bob the Builder one is too little now) and also let Adam have a play on the old one (Bob the Builder bike) which we thought was too big for him and he wouldn't want to ride it BUT NO! He is a daredevil and was racing Reece and giving us both heart attacks because we don't have a helmet for him yet (getting one this weekend) so he was very upset when we told them we had to go home as we thought Adam was going to do himself a huge injury.
Photo's above.
Got home and the hubby went to golf and the kids had lunch on the deck (while Adam tried on Reece's bike helmet) and then Adam went for a sleep, Pop came in to watch the boys while I went out for a coffee with Helena, Jo and Rose.....bliss!

Had a HUGE ham salad for dinner, kids and husband's lunch made, bags packed for school, dishes done and into bed by 10pm.

Weigh in

Lost 200grams...........don't know how THAT happened but I am taking it!!!
Current weight 97.4kg
Total loss 12.9kgs

Right - I am sick of mucking around like I have been for about 4 or 5 weeks, so its back into it!!
I think my biggest downfall is exercise (I see you all nodding) so I am going home tonight to talk to Andrew about getting a better routine for ME.

In the mornings I usually take Reece and he takes Adam which really limits me as he has to start at a certain time and has to be picked up at a certain time so I figure if I take both kids in the morning and Andrew picks them both up in the afternoon, that will leave me time to do my exercise after work *shrug*, we'll see.

But I am very motivated (again) and am determined to GET THIS RIGHT!!!

Other news:
Ummmmmmm nothing really, just plodding along with work and kids and housework - ya know, all the exciting stuff......LOL

The Fair is over

...........and I managed to only spend $10 on a hand towel with New Zealand on it for my sister in OZ (boring). I did try to spend more money but there just wasn't anything that took my fancy, even my girlfriend kept her money in her wallet and we only managed to spend money on food which wasn't from the fair as the cue's were anormous!

We arrived Friday afternoon and went to a lovely little cafe in Greytown (Corner Cafe) and had a yummy lunch (I had a CLT which is a chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich thing....lovely) and then headed to our Motel which I booked off the internet on Wotif.com as it was nice and cheap and it was FLASH. We then headed off to good ole Pak N Save and got our supplies (cheese, hummus, dips and crackers) and also some dinner (sushi) and headed back to the motel, unpacked our groceries and booze (bourbon for me, Vodka for Sue) and away we went....
Got to be about 1am after watching trashing E TV.

The fair was very average and I must admit that I won't be going back anytime soon.

Got home Saturday afternoon about 2.30pm.

Took Reece to see 'Happy Feet' at the movies and I had a ball and really enjoyed the movie, Reece got a bit scared in one or two places and HAD to go to the toilet 3 times but all in all a nice one on one time.

Andrew and I then took the kids down to one of the local schools with the boys bikes (Reece is still learning to ride his bike with no trainers) and a frizby and tennis ball and bats and had a really good time playing with the kids.

Andrew and his mate then went golfing at about 5pm and I managed to get the kids feed, bathed and in their PJ's by 6.30pm............rrrrrrrrr lovely weekend.

Stupidly forgot my camera which is a shame because there were definate 'candid camera' moments with Sue and I............LOL

Girlie weekend

Well I have 40 minutes left at work before I bugger off with a girlfriend over the hill (Rimataka hill that is) and spend the afternoon dropping our gear off at the motel we are booked into and then finding a yummy cafe for lunch and then exploring Masterton shops. Out for dinner and drinks............yeah baby!

Tomorrow is the Martinborough Fair which I am really looking forwar too as I haven't been for a few years.

Yesterday I finally caught up with my mate Jo which is an effort these days as both of us are really busy with work, family etc but it was awesome to see her.
We went to -wait for it- Mitre 10 Mega and both had a coffee and a chicken salad (shock horror!), it was lovely as usual.

I also had a thing at school with Reece and his teacher that the school calls 'goal setting' which is quite cool really, we all look at previous work and then all discuss what we think should be looked at for this year to improve. Reece loved having 'buy in' and was quite the 'little man' telling us that he finds it hard to concentrate when kids are running around and making noise or can't sit on the mat for too long because he gets bored etc so that's one goal which he is to learn - concentrate on what he is doing etc.....I actually had quite a bit of fun with it and because he made some of the suggestions the teachers reckon it really works.

Right, I'm off......

Not much else to report really, I'll talk to you all next week........bye