one of those days....

Blissfully unaware of the morning ahead, due to my being a tad forgetful, I had turned my alarm off last night so I could get a few extra winks this morning rather than starting work at the usual 6am. Had an as usual fun time hanging with my sis just talking and watching the telly and in our normal form it was a late night - too many words to be said and too many laughs to be had.  Begrudgingly I pulled myself out of bed at 7.30am for my shower, got dressed, put my toast down and jug to boil, hung out the washing, loaded the dishwasher, vacuumed the lounge and put the kids crap from the lounge away.  It's just such a relaxing way to start the day when everything in tidy and sorted.  I was bringing my honey and peanut butter vogels and fake coffee to my desk chatting to Rob who by some miracle happened to have a late start today.  Usually he is out of here, with our only car, at 7.45am and home round 7pm sometimes later as he is currently a guide at The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company which is in Waitomo, a good 50 minutes drive from here.  Mid sentence my mind had a flash of memory, I almost feel like one of those phones that goes on the blink, working fine then turns off, or randomly displays something you didn't push, well my mind did that!  My work course!!!  I was meant to be on the other side of town at a work tax course at 9.30am....it was 9.09am.. shit!!  Followed by a string of 'shit's as when I am suddenly and unexpectantly put under pressure I seem to become a dithering, hot flashing, sweaty potty mouth.

Rob was left in my wake wondering what on earth was going on and why was I saying 'shit' so much. I yelled at him from the bedroom about the course as I was frantically looking for my half decent work skirt in the wardrobe that of course couldn't be found in my flustered state.  I remembered the advice I had just given to the 14 year old this morning before she headed off for her exam, when panicking close your eyes breath and reopen to start again.  Although every fibre of my body was screaming SHIT and HURRY UP I closed my eyes and forced myself to breath...it helped a little...a tiny little smidge!!  Great for exams but not so great when running late for a bloody course that the boss has paid hundreds for you to attend!!!  Found the skirt and as I am hurriedly zipping the skirt up I accidentally zip my flesh....@#$##$#@#@!!  Carefully while sucking my tummy in and not breathing I unzip my flesh from the skirt and regroup.

Right calm down...now which top....SHIT...SHIT.....SHIT..... I picked one which I quickly threw on, made difficult by my under stress hot flashes and sweatyness.  Not loving it...WHO CARES... really not loving it...HURRY UP...can't do it, by this stage I am opening draws like a mad woman, clothes flying and no draw seems to want to bloody shut because I'm in a rush!  Found a second top...that looks crap...WHO CARES... I FLIPPING CARE...YOU'RE LATE AND IT'S NOT A FASHION SHOW...look I'm going to be walking in late and I don't want to walk in feeling like I look crap too...OK??!!!  Found a third top...OK that will do...by this stage I am a frazzled hot sweaty mess, the thing with hot and sweaty is that this leads to hot, sweaty and frizzy...frizzy hair that is...boofing out in every direction like I am some unkempt mad woman...fantastic, feeling really beautiful at this point!

OK no time for full make up here but I am going to be walking into a professional business environment where I'm not only going to be late, when it was advised all over the emails regarding the course to be there early, but I am more than likely going to be the most under dressed person attending.  Right so a quick brush of foundation powder over my face, won't do much but will make me feel a little better, now for some mascara.....BLOODY CASEY....muttering as I run to her room, which is a tip by the way, picking things up on the hunt for my eyelash curlers.  You'd think I had not bought her some of her own and that we hadn't had the discussion five thousand times about using things and putting them back.  Finally found them, quick mascara application taking care not to stab my eye as is likely in a rush and as has happened many a time on just such an occasion, feeling successful that this was avoided this morning, throwing things into my handbag, smoothing my frazzled hair, gulping my fake coffee and grabbing one of my toasts to eat on the way.  Oh shoot forgot to tell the child who is currently sleeping, as she has an afternoon exam, husband patiently waiting in the car, ran back inside to wake up said teen, good luck was fired at her with a fleeting kiss and as I was running out the door I yelled make sure you shut all the windows and lock the door when you leave!  As we are driving to the course and I am shovelling my vogels into my face to finish it in time, I remember that I forgot cash for the bus...*sigh*.

So thankfully I was actually only five minutes late but like a naughty school child I was reprimanded by the course leader who said 'there are seats at the front I'm sorry as that is all that's left, if you had been here early like advised you would have had more choice" to which I smiled sweetly and took it!  Now the course was great, as great as one can get for a tax course, met a nice lady who also works from home and we talked about having coffee some time next week so that was a plus.  However, forgot I am now caffine free in all that rushing and had not one but two coffee's in the course break while chatting to someone and didn't realise until they were gone.  Went into the second half of the course hoping like mad that my body doesn't do anything crazy as a result of having caffine after nearly two weeks without it...I'm sure you are all aware of the laxative affect that caffine can sometimes have and this was in the forefront of my mind as we delved into deemed dividends and associated persons tax rules!  But it's OK people nothing happened in that department and there is no manic twitching either, which was my other concern, it seems to have had absolutely zero impact on my body...phew!

Right so the bus timetable would have worked beautifully had I had the cash needed to get a ticket, but since I had forgotten the cash I needed to walk in the opposite direction to get cash by which time I had missed the bus.  But silver lining was that the place I got cash from was Spotlight so taking every advantage of the sucky situation I found myself in I indulged in my guilty pleasure of buying fabric just because I like it and came away with some beautiful fabrics.  Have I told you how much I love fabric?!  I LOVE FABRIC!!!

I was walking with my lovely bunch of fabric to the bus stop when I suddenly realised I didn't have my drink bottle anymore (this may seem not important but anyone who knows me knows that I go nowhere without my trusty drink bottle, and it's a metal one so it keeps the water nice and cool - I know I have issues!!)...man!  But the bus wasn't going to be there for another half an hour so I had time to kill.  I turned around and retraced my steps...not in the hotel toilet...not in the hotel conference room...walked all the way back to Spotlight and found it on the counter.  Now back to the bus stop and by this time the chaffing in my inner thighs was getting a little stingy as each inner thigh  was fighting for position - skirts in warm weather (or when one is flustered and sweaty) when one has to walk further than the kitchen for fake coffee or the bathroom for the toilet is not a good idea...and I know this...but yet I still choose to wear the skirt...hmmmm.  So with each step hurting a little more than the last, I fantasised about the leggings I would soon be wearing at home and reminded myself of what one of my wise teenagers said the other day "Mum do you know that pain is only in your mind - it's not real"...Hannah I tried rolling with that but girlfriend inner thigh chaffing is real and it HURTS!!  

At least there was a seat at the bus stop and a mural that made me smile and twenty whole minutes later the bus finally came.  Two buses and over an hour later I was finally walking down my driveway, thankful that we live down a long drive off a culdesac as the teenager had done a stella job of locking the doors and shutting the dining room window, however the window right next to my computer just next to the front door was wide open!  As were all the bedroom windows round the back...teenagers!!  But maybe just maybe she had had a morning like mine and so I need to give the girl a break because sometimes it's just one of those days!

Take care and till then

more of the journey...

Oh my goodness...just sitting down to write a post to update the journey progress and I am interrupted by having to tell one of the teenagers the same thing I have told said teenager fifty million times and still it is news to the said teenager every bloody time I say it!!  I just know that the mummy birds actually get their little clawed foot up and give the nearly ready babes a fair boot out of the nest...I just know it!  I'm telling you it's getting crowded in the Red Delicious nest and the wings of my babies are getting too full of feathers and in my face and there are moments when I am really looking forward to them flying out on their own and having some room in my nest again.  But then the flash of annoyance and impatience passes and I look at the photos of them all at six months old that hang on the wall just in front of me as I write this and a flood of memories come at me of the years gone by and I know that I am not quite ready for that next stage...not yet my little babies not yet.

Anyway I digress, so unlike me I know!  So we are approaching the end of week 3 of the new journey, I mean the actual journey is in it's 38th year but I am referring to the one I spoke of 2 weeks ago where there were goals of lots of walking and no eating of chocolate.  How has it gone you ask....

Progress report so far (day six of third week)...
walking is actually going swimmingly, while I have missed the odd day due to excuses that nobody really cares about or wants to hear and while some days I have to force myself to get off my very generous behind and out the door, I am actually really enjoying the walking...shocked the heck out of me!  Not only that but I am really noticing the benefits of walking and how different my day goes when it includes some form of exercise, no seriously now!  I mean I have heard all that talk for years and thought yeah yeah sure whatever floats your boat but now that ones body does not have the bounce back of a young perky spring chicken the benefits are more glaringly obvious.

Not only that, but I no longer feel like a penguin in a wet suit walking down the road in my 'exercise gear' feeling totally uncomfortable with the wind, my too tight sports bra and my shorts eating thighs situation.  I may look exactly the same, I try not to study that too much, but I 'feel' better and that's what this journey is about right?! And let me tell you when you walk fast, listening to great music with a 90% success rate of holding back the song longing to burst forth for fear of looking like a crazy loon, a girl can work up a sweat.  And boy walking the streets of Hillcrest (for those who have no idea it is a hilly suburb...in case the name didn't give that away) these legs of mine feel the burn, this may not be the case for those of you with obvious muscles but for those whose muscles are a little 'hidden' shall we say it is a flipping good work out.

The only down side for me is the swollen hands situation, which is the original reason I have always hated walking as opposed to going for a run.  For some reason walking makes my hands swell up and I become 'Kelly sausage fingers' ...let me just say not the superhero power I was after or would ever choose.

My hand right now as I am typing this

My hand post walk

Sausage fingers aside...another interesting development is that I have suddenly become a person who takes copious amounts of flower photos....yes I know!  I am that person!!  My instagram feed is taking on a very floral feel and I actually have to stop myself from posting yet another picture of yet another bloody flower.  I just can't help it, it's spring and when you are walking you just notice all the amazingly beautiful plants as you walk past and why not stop and take a photo right?!  I am rather stoked that I did finally manage to get a photo of the elusive bee - do you know how many photos I have taken trying to get a bee photo and then by pure accident I capture a bumble bee mid flight with it's little tongue out - magic!

 And as for the chocolate - well I am pleased to announce that not one chocolate bar or block has been purchased or has touched these lips and I am feeling just a wee bit proud of myself.  Not only that but I took it one step further to see just how far I could take the deprivation and have changed to decaf coffee.  I know right!! The headaches were ridiculous, it was not a fun couple of days for the smaller members of the house who can't help but up the annoying quotient when one least needs it.  I was a grizzly bear out from hibernation far far too early, snapping and snarling and panadol was basically a placebo as it had no affect on the vice like grip of caffine withdrawals.  However, I am now out the other side and it's been a full week on fake coffee, decaf - the coffee when you're not having a coffee!  Why you ask did I put myself (and my family) through this - well it was prompted by my visit to the Occupational Medical Specialist that ACC sent me to and while the outcome was not what I was wanting I think it is actually far better.  Turns out I have OOS not tennis and golfers elbows meaning that I will never be covered by ACC but also that the work I do on the computer as an accountant is 'hurting me but not harming me' - best words ever!  With those words all my worry and fear left the building and now it's about managing the pain when I have it instead of worrying that one day I will be brushing my teeth using my toes.  In that appointment he mentioned that caffine was not good for OOS as the whole problem is muscles not relaxing properly.  And let's face it for this girl caffine is not taken to relax oneself but rather to prop oneself up when one is a night owl in an early birds life and far to defiant to change ones ways so consequently burns ones candle at both ends.  So I made the plunge and bought some decaf and now not only am I the flower loving, no chocolate eating person who raves about the benefits of walking but also the decaf coffee drinker!  Wonders never cease.

Right so onwards and upwards and the setting of new goals...

my two goals for the next 'undetermined amount of time before I blog about my progress' are...

1. get more sleep - I am not setting times here as I am a bit of rebel when it comes to 'having' to be in bed by a certain time and even though I set the time I still defy myself - I have issues OK?!  So what I am looking for here is to be conscious of how my body is feeling and aiming to be kind in the sleep department rather than staying up just to watch telly!

2. cut down to one teaspoon of sugar in my fake coffee from one and a half teaspoons- sounds ridiculous but for a sweet tooth who has recently given up chocolate for a season this is not that ridiculous

OK I think that's enough said for today as I am looking at this page and there is an awful lot of words!  Why is it that always when I am thinking about writing a post or writing more frequently that I think I have nothing to say and then I start writing and out comes a novel?!

Take care and till then

how does my garden grow...

It's about time for a long overdue garden update of what is season two for the Red Delicious venture into gardening and growing ones own veggies.  Well...a month has passed (or there abouts) since I last posted about my garden (just realised that was on Facebook not here!) and it has been a month full of gardening woos for me.  In summary I would say the last month has been the war of the snails.  I'd come home full of anticipation and excitement with my new baby veggie plants and lovingly replant them in my garden, give them a bit of water, a bit of gentle conversation and leave them to grow for the night.  Next day I would check on my little babies horrified to discover that all that was left was what one could only describe as a plant nub!

Now I just want it known that I really tried to warn them, I sprinkled those sharp little egg shells everywhere round the garden, I mean they should have received the message loud and clear that the Red Delicious gardens were back in full spring swing and their presence was not welcome.  But no....I replanted the courgettes three bloody times!!!  That is some flipping expensive snail food I was buying each week with the groceries.  So I'm sorry to tell you I just had to resort to snail bait which I must admit made me a little sad, but then I looked at my baby veggie plant nubs and sprinkled that stuff everywhere with reckless abandon and no guilt!  I would much rather that they just heeded the egg shell warning but I'm afraid that the consequences of their non-compliance was death!!  The garden did indeed become a snail graveyard for a good week but now fear reigns over the snail kingdom in our garden and we have won the war.

So snails in line and the garden now a blanket of egg shells (just in case!) my little veggies are finally starting to grow and I still get so much joy from watching them.  In the back garden I have a rhubarb, two courgettes, two baby belle capsicums (one was ravaged by the snails but has made a miraculous comeback), a cucumber, spring onions and a sea of spinach.  In the pots on the deck the cherry tomato plants have taken off and are doing really well and this year I went for two different types so will be really interesting to see how they compare.  The replanted strawberries that my Mum gave me are doing really well and so far we have had two delicious strawberries from them and lots more growing all the time.  And the self seeded lettuces that I replanted into pots for the deck are producing plentifully and we haven't had to buy lettuce for a few weeks now.  Most of the herbs are ticking along nicely, the basil, oregano and thyme are doing well and I have the ingredients in the cupboard to finally make my first ever pesto.  The rosemary is finally starting to grow a full year after I first planted it but sadly my mint looks sicker every day so I'm thinking I need to buy a new one and start again.  'Mint is easy' they said, 'it will grow like a weed' they said...well apparently not for me...do I give off anti-mint vibes?!

And that my friends is how my garden grows so far in season two of this beginner's venture into gardening.

Take care and till then