The men in my life. And other things.

Hubby.

Is stressed and not a great deal of fun at the moment. He is off at the MIFF with his bro, watching a film. I have been giving him lots of cuddles lately. He is bringing me home a freddo frog. Bless him.

Dr. Mike.

My boss. His daughter (about my age and recently hurt in a car accident) rang him up during the ward round today. And he was so lovely to her. So, so lovely. It made my heart melt. It makes me realise the special relationship that fathers have with their daughters. And what I missed out on. I think about it very rarely, but when I think about it, I get sad. And then I think about all the nice men in my life and I feel better.

Prof. Michael

Said I was a good “MRI jockey” (I pull up the radiology films during the memory clinic meetings) and a good clinician. I was very happy about that. Because Prof. Michael is somebody I look up to.

Dr. Phillip.

No, not Dr. Phil. He is just so nice. Nice almost to the point of being irritating. Almost.

Mr. Kevin.

My teacher in high school. Taught me around the time my Dad died (year 9) then again in years 11 and 12. Another great bloke. Almost like a father figure and there at the time I really needed one. I really owe a lot of my success at high school to him. I have stayed in contact with him and we chat on occasion. I shot him off a little email today.

Nick

Was a fellow in my year of uni who works at the hospital I do. I didn’t know him very well, but we chat. We were both getting coffee at the same time so we sat together and had a yap. Another good bloke.

 

In other news….

• Did pilates today.
• Having more dental work on friday 😦
• I think I might get a stylist to do a “wardrobe audit” for me. It is the same old case of too many clothes and not a thing to wear. And I always wonder whether they look good, with my curvy frame. A nice, well suited outfit does absolute wonders for my body confidence.
• Did step on sunday. May well go tomorrow. Dunno.

A Salutary Lesson.

I had not been to the dentist for about 2 years.

I ignored the fact that chewing was uncomfortable on the top right hand side. 

So I went to the dentist, told I had to have fillings. Then yesterday, I went expecting 3, and came out with a root canal and the need for further appointments.

Yeooowwwww (in my jaw and in my wallet)

So I went out with some work colleagues and had far too much wine. Felt seedy this morning.

Went to Jazz ballet class at the Dance Factory in Richmond. It was the Beginners / intermediate class and it was fun but difficult. If I were able to do dance lessons every day, I would love that!

Think I may go sleep off  the rest of the grog now….

headslapping.

I had a chappy that I went to med school with be rude to me on the phone. He had also been unhelpful to one of the interns and put the phone down on her. So, I thought, “I’m not copping that, buddy!” and sent him a little page telling him to pull his head in. 

In true bully style, he went to my colleague (a softer touch than I) to tell her to tell me what to do. Why could he not face up to me? Perhaps because he knew that he would be put back in his box. Hence my derogatory comment about alpha-males (he is one) on facebook. 

I say, it is good for their soul for somebody to tell them “NO” once in a while. 

Anyways…

I am doing better, food wise. Straight 7’s on the chart.

I am reading a book called “The bride stripped bare” by anonymous. Really good.

I made up a recipe tonight:

Sassy’s Rockin’ Fish.

2 (or however many you want) fillets firm white fish. I used basa.

A bit of cumin, paprika and turmeric (and chilli to taste). A few shakes of salt.

Put fish in non-stick baking dish (or grease one up). Tip spice mixture over the fish.

Put in oven at 180degrees. Cook fish till cooked. 

Sprinkle with lemon and eat. Was very tasty.

Went to another pilates class tonight. Missed out on free dinner at Jacques Reymond. (The drug company dos are not that good anyway, and am watching my figure). Also, the pilates studio has a prize draw for whoever goes to all their classes in the block. On offer is an 8 week pilates course for free, and one of two shiatsu sessions. Bring it on!

Nitey nite.

Bingeing and Splurging

Ok it was a rooolly good weekend, but not a great deal of restraint was shown.

Fridee night: Left work early after there was no more work to do and my colleague gave me the ok. So I went to Doncaster Shoppingtown! I was like a kid in a candy/toy store. I went into Mecca cosmetica and bought a ridiculously expensive cleanser made by Madonna’s dermatologist (no, am not kidding) and some really nice foundation sticks that do not make my skin oily. Then I bought a really pretty but oh-so expensive bag from mimco. Then some HOT brown boots (the right style, colour and capacious enough to fit my sizeable calves), and better yet at about 60% off, for $115!! Then a nice present for Nanny, some tops from Veronika Maine and a nice, but cheap necklace from forever new.

Then I went off to visit a colleague at her flash home in Eaglemont. She is a new friend of mine who I met via the geriatric training sessions. She is a great girl and we get along really well. I had left a handbag in her car and I went to pick it up. I met her 2 kids, 3 years old and 18months old. We had a good yak ‘n cackle.

On saturday, I had to go do a round at work. Then Ian and I went for lunch. Then on road trip, with my sister, mother, brother and his grecian goddess girlfriend. With moi driving the 4 of them. Luckily, with my nerves of steel, we made it to Stawell in one piece each. We got tailgated by a b-double truck and my bro rang the cops on him. So funny. Macdonalds was had for dinner 😦

Then, today, we had nannas 90th birthday. She has completely lost her marbles and can only recognise close family members. She did not know it was her birthday and did not want to go out “in the cold” and actually started crying when we took her out of her nursing home. My sister, who is an aged care nurse, talked her into the car. She was quite funny, with her frontal lobes being out of order, she pulls funny faces and makes quite funny comments such as, when I reminded her that I was married (she attended the wedding) she said “Why’d you do that???” She can behave inappropriately at times too. It is quite sad. In a way, the party was more for her family members than her, it may be the last one she has, certainly the last milestone birthday.

Then, after much sausage rolls, saveloys, soup, home-made pavlova, cheese, dips and bickies were eaten, we made the 3 hour back home together. Hence the weekend has been a bit of a write-off food wise.

Oh, and I have been keeping the scores: (stars denote exercise taken)

Wednesday: 8*

Thursday: 5 (thai out with girls, watched portion size, scones at afternoon tea)

Friday: 7*

Saturday 5* (maccas for tea but good first half day)

Sunday 5 (see above)

Hmmmm….. Will need to do better.

pifartes.

That is, pilates complete with farting.

I did my first pilates class for a coupla months – and by God, was it hard! My glute med have atrophied. And all that squeezing the tummy in and straining when feeling a bit bloated results in whoopsies. The noise can be camouflaged but the smell, unfortunately, cannot. But it was a great class with Sophie, she is a very good instructor.

I heard about some contemporary dance classes for beginners. Would love to give it a crack. But oh, the time! the time!

A flash of inspiration today….

I need some way of keeping myself from having calorie and junk food amnesia. I was considering going back to calorie king to record my intake but it is very time consuming and boring and I have things that I would much rather be doing. So I thought I have to have a simple way of recording it. 

So….what I am doing now is putting a score out of 10 on every day on the calendar. Taking into accout stuff like

• Portion Controls
• Extraneous things like cakes, chocolates, sweeties etc
• amount of vegies and good proteins eaten
• Alcohol   etc.

And then a star beside it if I exercised. 2 stars if it was a big exercise.

I would aim for a score greater than 7 most days with the odd slip below 5 (not more than once per week).

I have not worked out the reward system is yet, but I feel that a certain amount of points or stars should earn a prize.

Best thing is – it is a reward (rather than punishment) system and it is simpler than calorie counting.

I think today should earn a 7.5 or 8, but I will round up. And I got a star for pilates. I will record them when I do my blog, so I can be cheered on.

On work….

It is giving me the shits. I need the “WTF?” stamp so I don’t need to write a big spiel in the notes.

That was the weekend that was…

A stupid saying but I don’t care….

The Weekend at the Mother In  law’s

Got there on satdee, and ate and ate and ate and ate. Lovely delights, such as home-made sausage rolls and samosas, banana lollies, freddo frogs, pappodums, twisties, cheezels, mulled wine, normal wine, coke (full sugar), cheesecake (cherry ripe yummmm), chocolate cake and curry. Sadly, with the rain having set in over greater Bendigo, there was no bonfire. My MIL knows how to put on a great do and everybody young, old, autistic and canine, had a lovely time. The dog was extremely well behaved (apart from a tiddle inside and a lick to a 3 year old’s face) and fawned over.

This morning, we went to the Archibald Prize exhibition. It was great. There were some really good shots. I particularly liked the one of David Helfgott.

 

Getting Clucky and Nesting

I want a bigger house to fill with kids. I have been surfing real estate websites. My cluckiness comes in ever-increasing waves. But I would like to finish with my training first. And get off the anti-depressants and not re-lapse (the headshrinker thinks this christmas, I might be a goer). Not good to be on medication while pregnant. Hubby wants to have a bubba but not until I am ready (think if it were his choice we would have one already). At 30, I have a few good years left but I don’t want to leave it too late.

I have gone of the pill, having been on it for most of my adult life, to see what I am like off it. My hair and skin have gotten a bit oilier, and maybe my appetite has decreased, but we shall see. It will definitely help with my mood, as the pill can contribute to depression, I am told in good authority.

 

Places I would like to go before I get up the Duff:

Now, I know that having kids will not necessarily spell an end to travels, just a change to the type of travels. I am lucky that I have the excuse of going overseas to medical conferences.

The places I would like to go before I have kids are:

• South America
• Morocco
• The safer parts of the mid-east (just saw a nice travel article on Damascus)
• Japan
• and we are going to Spain already.

Yay and Boo.

Yay for:

• For me. I found out my research paper was accepted as an oral presentation at the national gerries conference in Sept.
• For the dog. Just because.
• For the group certificates coming
• For it being the weekend (going to the mother in Law’s in the sticks for curry and a bonfire – could get messy if I fart too much)
• For the lovely pinot noir I just bought.
• the weather

Boo for:

• The hairdresser. I spent the much better part of 200 bux on a haircut and semi, to have one side a little (about 8mm) longer than the other. And having a blow wave after that was less blow wave than assault and battery (the apprentice did it and was rough). I think the apprentices should do the hairdressers hair before being subjected to the general public. I will not be going back. This is not the first time I have had an asymmetrical cut or a dodgy colour. humph. (By the way, the hairdressing salon is called Rhubarb and it is in Lygon St Brunswick. One word. Don’t)
• A surgeon who shall remain nameless
• A care co-ordinator who I work with
• The yucky metallic taste in my mouth
• The bad (but free) pizza I had at lunch. For good pizza check out 400 gradi on Lygon St in Brunswick. Yummm. But book.

De-Stressing the Healthy Way.

I am finding myself increasingly stressed at work. I am lucky to have a secure job, but working in the Public Hospital System has its own set of unique stressors. If I divulge them here my job will no longer be secure.

I indicated to another (senior) doctor that I was frustrated with some aspect of management. He said “go home and have a stiff drink”, jokingly. I said “that’s not healthy”, especially when it becomes a habit. 

I realised on the way home that most of my stress management involves some form of caloric intake – a choccy, a nice meal, a glass or two of wine. My stress relief coincides with dinner time. 

So I went home, got hubby to give me a back rub (I have a sore back) and the dog was in the room and I gave her a nice pat and had a laugh at her antics.

Talkin ’bout my generation is on also, always good for a laugh.

And, of course, this blog.

I am feeling better already. Home made fish n chips for dinner.

Having a massage on thurs for my sore back. Having a haircut tomorrow. Aaaaahhhhhhh.

Random Sunday Musings.

1. Big Props from the Big Boss.

Have spent quite a bit of time with the Prof this week, other bosses on leave and such. On Friday night, we went to a Memory Clinic get-together dinner and I sat next to the Prof. He said to me at one point “You’re Very Good”. Which made me very happy and my head swell. I slipped in that I wanted a Job with the service. Probably being a bit forward but hey – one has to do what they have to do.

Drank far too much wine that night.

 

2. The Physicianly Generation Gap.

I examined for the “mock” FRACP exams on Satdee morning with the mutha of all headaches (think the folks I examined got marked down a little because of this :)). I examined with a Physician nearing retirement. We saw an obese lady for one of the long cases and he professed to not knowing much about obesity. He said “We never saw much of it in my day. I, myself, have been the same weight for years”. So I explained all the new stuff about obesity. The world is a different place now. Will probably have some young whipper-snapper telling me about the new things in medicine when I am nearing retirement. 

 

3. My Sass and Bide jeans and body image. 

I squeezed myself into my new S&B jeans today. They only just cover my arse crack (or natal cleft in medical terminology). They are quite tight but there is not too much muffin toppage (none that I couldn’t artfully cover). I will be happy when they are comfortable. Whenever that is. It seems funny that I barely fit into the largest size of S&B jeans. They clearly do not want larger ladies in their couture. So why do I want own a pair? Why does fitting into them loom large in how positively (or otherwise) I view myself? I am fit and well, why can I just not be happy with how I look?

I did feel nice in my new jeans, my tailored jacket and my boots today (notwithstanding the frequent need to tug at the jeans). I felt pretty. I had an “I look nice” day, not a fat or ugly day.

4. ANTM

I don’t watch Australias Next top Model, but I saw an article about one of the finalists, who is a chain-smoking, swearing teenage bogan from Sunbury. They were comparing her to the sweet, graceful, educated Sarah Murdoch.

WTF? They are looking for MODELS, not Nobel Laureates. All they need to do is take a good photo and look good in couture. And I can name many models that are badly behaved. Sheesh.

 

5. Lentils

I like them and feel all virtuous eating them, but they give me the toots.

On that note, I sign off.