Naming the Nude.

I only had 2 takers to name my nude (painting). Julia and Penny. She does not look like a Penny. Or even a Penelope. Julia is a nice sentiment, but is a bit anglo. So I will call her Giuliana. I was thinking of Giulietta, but there was a girl at school named Juliette who was mean to me 😦

Anywho, the dog is acting odd….she loves sitting in front of the heater but she pants uncontrollably.

It was fricking cold today. Did not reach 10 degrees.

Food: Fruit 2, Vegies 5, chocolate yes – Lindt Dark orange intense yummm (quantity quite constrained given that it is the time of the month and I want to dip my head in a vat of nutella. small glass of wine. Points (/24) 24.5 whoops 26 – I ate custard.

exercise: Pilates 4 points used. – net points 20.5

On Dickheads.

I learned a salutary lesson today.

Sometimes, even though a person is a dickhead, doesn’t mean they are not right.

And also, even dickheads need to be heard.

At work, I saw a patient, mother of dickhead, and dickhead son was present. It was good that I realised that he was a dh early on, because it allowed me to be objective and hear his quite legitimate complaints, and help him. And his mum. It’s not her fault her son is a dh.

So that is my thought for the day.

I went to see my friend yesterday. She gave birth to her second bub a week ago, and she and her hubby were having a party. A baby-warming party. Beautiful little female bubba. Didn’t cry at all, except for a little period when she was hungry. She stayed awake for everyone to give her a cuddle. Breaking the baby cuddle democracy rule, I had two cuddles. I also practiced burping the baby. Very cool. Newborns are small and easy to wrangle. It was lovely to see hubby looking so comfortable holding a bubba too.

cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck. Was all ready to get the engines running last night, but I need to get stuff sorted out, get off medication etc.

Ok.

Yesterday: exercise – run 20 mins , xtrainer 20 minutes. 20 minutes is a good time for me, long enough to build the speed up, short enough so I don’t freak out about the time. Eating: not so good, with afternoon tea. ended up about 6 points in debit (negative). whoops.

Today: exercise – 20 minute swim in wuss pool (3 points), eating – vegies 6 serves, fruit 2 serves. small glass wine. 23 points. rooly good. So was 4 points in credit. Yeeha.

I got my second delivery of organic fruit and veg. We got a bigger box this time, just as a challenge. The service of this lot seems a bit better. Now, what to do with the red cabbage.

I just read in paper “Wintry weather hits melbourne”. Derrrrrrrr.

Also, I have just done some impulsive evening baking. I hate seeing bananas (or, indeed, any food) go to waste. Yet I have a tendency of ruining recipes, because I assume the recipe rules don’t apply to me. I tend to use a bit of creative licence. Hope the banana bread works out – I substituted the oil for low fat milk. It smells good baking. It is good having a dog, because she likes leftovers. The only thing she won’t eat is banana, funnily enough. She had a go at apple on the weekend, but I think she only ate it because her humans were eating it.

I saw a fellow at the Portland pub last monday evening. He was a big, buff fellow and looked vaguely familiar. My suspicions were confirmed today, it was Police Chief Simon Overland. My, he looks strong and brave !

Nuuuuudes.

But first I went for a fricking cold run with shells, and it was raining as well. We ran about 4.5km before I got a blister and we walked on for about 5oom and sat down and surveyed the damage. I decided that we would jog as slowly as possible back. We jogged, yapped, talked politics (she is against mining taxes, I am very much for them) and had a giggle. We did not go as fast as we had planned but we did do 10km and it was fricking cold so we did well to even get out of bed.

On the way home, went to the 2xu sale at the Collingwood Town hall. I wanted a rainproof jacket, but the 2xu jackets were very tight around the hips and baggy about the waist (ie fitted better for the average male). So I bought a “stretchy” sweat wicking vest with pockets that are for ornamental value only, some full length pants x2 (1 boot cut, 1 tights) and 2 ripper long sleeve tops. Plus a gym bag.

Then went on to my art class, where I started my painting – found a tasteful photo of a nude to paint. The beginnings of the painting look good and I am looking forward to hanging her. Anyone have a good name for her?

We went to the “local” for dinner; the local pub does Spanish food, which is quite good. We had some bread, olives, chorizo and paella. Had some choc icecream for dessert. We hired the movie “the hurt locker”, but a bit too scary to watch. Hence I am half watching and half drawing pictures. But good to see these films, to get some vague idea of what the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan go through.

Me, I don’t want war. Violence begets violence begets fear begets bigotry begets fear begets violence. I prefer subversive knitting as a form of protest.

Anywho.

Food (/24) 33.5

Serves fruit 2 Serves Veg 4 Alcohol 2 glasses.

Exercise: 1hr 45 minutes, 10.5 points burned – net food 23 points.

Tomorrow: hope to do some exercises (no excuses – have good gear now), then plan to go see my friends new bubba.

Em – no controversial remarks about Redheads today. 🙂

All Hail the Ranga Overlord!!!

saw that on facebook and thought it was funny.

Ooooohkay.

WW Points (/24): 26 (including 1 wine, sliver of Morsey’s fudgy cake)

Serves Fruit: 3  Serves Veg: 5

Exercise: 10 minutes elliptical, 18 minutes intervals. 4 points.

Now…. I need to find something to paint. As in a subject, not a surface. I like nudes. I typed art nudes into google and got a whole lotta porn.

(Brutal) honesty

Firstly, a lovely dinner with Morsey – salmon, wine, choc cake. Yumm, and lovely to see her in real life. Good to have friends that actually exist.

I have been waxing lyrical about accepting myself, shortcomings (fat rolls, controversy and zits) with my strengths (brains and a razor wit). I have not been worrying about my diet.

And guess what? I have gained 2.5kgs! Too many happy weeks.

My name is Cilla, and I weigh 77.5kg. (audience claps at bravery).

Fuck.

It is hard to get the balance right. We celebrate all our self-esteem with a faceful of chocolate and just eating too much. So where is the happy medium? The balance between neuroticism/weight loss and self esteem/reckless abandon? I just don’t know, I seek the balance but just have not been able sustain it.

Perhaps the aiming for 2 fruit and 5 veg is a tentative step in the right direction. Worrying about what I should eat rather than obsessing over what I should not. I have honestly charted my food intake on weight watchers, after having just told Kat what an annoying exericse it is. It was a lot. There are too many “celebratory days”; too many excuses to be sociable. It just happens too often. I am frightened to restrict, frightened denial of any food will severely impair my quality of life. I need to challenge this.

I just need to keep stepping in the right direction. I need to just keep trying.

Crankypants fatbum.

I went to Hamilton and Portland with the boss on sunday and worked very hard monday. Pub meals both nights. Not compatible with 2 fruit n 5 veg. Compatible with grease. And the Royal at Portland does an awesome home made chicken Kiev and frickin awesome chips, both of which I partook of.

On monday morning I ran around lake Hamilton (well not exactly around, to and from and a little bit of around). Got some beautiful photos, which I will add when I can be arsed. Sorry.

This morning, up at 0530 to catch a plane to Melbs. Beautiful sunrise. Straight back to work and saw the boss. Had a chat with him and managed to put my foot firmly in my mouth (funny, didn’t think I had that flexibility). He got quite annoyed with me. See, I have an unfortunate habit of occasionally saying what comes to mind, and occasionally even like to be controversial. It fell flat today. I just beat a hasty retreat, ran back into my office and hyperventilated, wishing I could swallow the words. I really hope that a stupid offhand statement doesn’t destroy any faith he had in me, he did seem to like me.

Anyway just repeating my thoughts makes me realise how absolutely NEUROTIC I am being. But I have been in a tizz all day about it, and it hasn’t helped that I have been exhausted. Plus the fruit and veg people stuffed up our delivery and they have been on my cranky list. So this contributed to the dietary indiscretions outlined on facebook. Though I realise that this is the way some people eat every day.

I was even going to give Pilates a miss but I have learned that the grumpier you are the more the benefit from the exercise.

Anywho, tomorrow is a new day. I need to have a shower (take the fuzz off my legs – left the razor at home), tidy up for the cleaner and think happy thoughts.

No wonder it felt harder.

Well, Shells and I went for another long (1 hr) run. It felt much harder this time, I thought I had a monkey on my back or something. I was blowing harder than last time. I thought I had gained 5kg in extra weight.

Shells started yapping to me in the middle and I said “Can’t talk. I have 15kgs on you, it is hard”. I also got blisters :(. I didn’t get niggles though. It’s one thing or the other.

So I had a little meltdown at about 1.3km from the finish and wanted to walk because of the blisters. Then I thought “Hey, I walked 45km with blisters….I can jog 1.3km.

Then we sat down for a coffee at Kanteen (home of the beautiful androids with their beautiful android children and cute puppy dogs) and I figured out why it felt harder.

Last time, we did 7:40minute kms. This time, we did 7:18 minute kms, including drinkee stops and hills! A whole 22 seconds per km faster!!! Gawd, I love my runkeeper! It also does a little map where we ran.

Well, enough bragging…I had better get prepared to catch the tram to Art Class.

Tonight we are going to try out Mamasita, a modern Mexican restaurant. Should be good.

Why I like the pool and hate Miss Universe.

I have been a member of the Gym at Brunswick on and off for about 5 years.

I have been to the indoor pool there more in the last few weeks than I have in the previous four and a bit years. I got the pool bug in Noosa on the conference. Why the indoor pool? Because a. it is warm and I am a wuss in the cold, and b. It warms my heart to see the oldies doing exercise.

Now, the reasons I have for taking up swimming are thus:

• It is warm in there. Wonderfully warm, when it is horribly cold outside.
• It doesn’t feel like exercise.
• I get some good thinking done.
• The sound of water gurgling in my ear-holes is relaxing.
• I like backstroke; I like any exercise that you can do lying on your back (minds out of the gutter people)
• Any little aches, pains or niggles dissolve into the water, so that it is not so much exercise as analgesia.
• I don’t even mind “nuding up” in the change room. I don’t especially like it (am not an exhibitionist before too many glasses of wine), but I don’t go to great lengths to cover my rude bits because nobody else does! Most people even give you a coquettish smile when they are nuded up.
• The best bit is the SPA afterwards. SPAAAAAAAHHHH.

What I don’t like about it:

• Finding stray bandaids in the pool. Gross.
• I get all paranoid that my shoes will be stolen, yet never seem to put them in the locker. Everyone else leaves their shoes out.
• The smell of chlorine (though vaguely addictive)
• Stepping into warm water makes me wanna go piddle (which I always go to the TOILET to do, thankyou very much).

Anywho.

My rant for the day is about Miss Universe Australia. What is wrong with her, you ask?

Plenty:

• Her name is Jesinta. Jesinta!! Her bogan parents can’t spell Jacinta. Bogan parents usually own bogan children. I know the bogan is lurking in there somewhere, doesn’t matter how well you tan it and clothe it in a designer frock. Hell, if she were wearing fake Burberry and moccies she would be a damn sight more likeable.
• She looks exactly like every other freaking Miss Universe Australia: that is, anglo-saxon, tanned, Long blonde hair(shade differing from caramel to barbie), white toothed, thin. Why can’t we have a Nigella Lawson type to buck the trend? Jana Wendt? Lee-Lin Chin? (now THERE’s a stunner).
• She is 18 and super-confident. This equates to cocky and precocious in my book. What do you know at 18? Unless, that is, you spent your childhood in War-Torn Sudan and spent 9 months in a leaky boat to get over here. Give me one of those girls. She might actually have something good to say about “world peace” and “women’s rights”. What has Miss-poorly-spelled-Jacinta done for society? Sweet bloody diddly.
• And being 18, I would feel very funny about any bloke I know ogling her. That is barely legal.

10,000 hits

I wonder how many of them were mine?

Thankyouse all for your following, for keeping me in line, inspired, in check and in a good mood.

My gosh, it is windy.

p.s. I bought a sign to hang in my house “My house was clean last week, sorry you missed it”. Love it.

uuuuugggghhh

I feel a bit sick.

I went to Newcastle this weekend (actually shoal bay) and met my hubby for a conference. We stayed at the Shoal Bay resort and spa. The spa was alright. The pool was entirely too cold.

Had a great time, good to meet hubby’s internet imaginary friends. Found a lovely cheap art supplies shop in a back street of Nelson Bay and bought a few supplies that I need for art class.

But back to my initial comment….I am feeling seedy.

As my little old Macedonian ladies say “Tooooo muuuuccch”.

Have over-indulged in wine, fatty breakfast treats, and lobster bisque (one could argue that any lobster bisque is overindulgence, given the cream content).

To compound the bloaty sense of uneasiness, the GPs at this conference had a set of scales with bioimpedance analysis (measures your body fat). On the upside, my visceral (midriff) fat was low, but my % body fat was high. Too high. Which tells me what I have intuitively known for a long time: my arse is too big.

Mercifully, my scales at home have been broken or have run out of batteries. Perhaps weighing myself needs to be an at the doctors thing, rather than a daily thing.

But I was ok otherwise, went for a swim and a run. Which is something, I suppose 🙂

I am watching my 2nd girl crush on TV – Abby from NCIS. She is on good news week. But Ziva is my favourite. She kicks butt. She is my first girl crush.

I have been playing cupid as well, caught up with my friend, littlesare, on friday night. She has been through a bit, including marriage gone horribly wrong, and is now considering getting back on the proverbial horse. I racked my brains, pondering the man-drought out there. Then I flashed with inspiration – somebody that I don’t know that well, but is one of my 320 closest facebook friends, who is a lovely fellow and would be perfect for littlesare. I thought to myself “Oh my God I’m fricking Brilliant!!!. She had a little meltdown when he called her, but then called him back and arranged a date. Good on her. They will have beautiful babies together (ok, may be getting slightly ahead of myself….)

Better do some folding and other drudgery. Work off the seediness.