Friday 29 February 2008

First Months Wheight Results

Though I have only lost 1/2 a kg I am definitely doing the happy dance. I have lost 5 cm, 3 of which came from my thigh. Actually I suppose when you think about it I actually have two thighs so really that is another 3 cm so over all it is around 8cm in total. Now I am really happy!!!

I have the exercise worked out all I need to do is get better at the diet. I still have a coffee everyday but I have cut back big time on it. I am also drinking a lot more water which is great. I had over 3 litres yesterday. (It was hot).

It is a long weekend this weekend and I am helping one of my best friends to start her diet. I am really excited. She is going to start it on Monday though. We have a small work reunion tomorrow at Sizzlers so I think she wants to enjoy herself a little first.

It's late so I will sign off now.

Wednesday 27 February 2008

Jacobs ladder hits 2

I am a sucker for punishment. My boss was away to day so I was by myself. It was 37 degrees C. I walked up the stairs at work all day instead of the elevator and then I killed myself on Jacobs Ladder. I actually did it twice. What an idiot. My right calf has been spasming every since I got home and I have been trying to fill up on water to get rid of a headache. The things we do to be lean mean fighting fit machines. I worked out that over the day I walked up 660 stairs. Tomorrow is a day off. I am taking the elevator!

Tuesday 26 February 2008

CPAP

Many of my friends have been wondering how I have been doing on the CPAP machine. I am now into my third week on it and information downloaded from the machine last week said that I no longer have apnoea's. I am still tired but not as tired as what I used to be. When I am falling asleep at work I have forced myself to get up and climb the stairs to wake me up a bit. Doing something different normally helps.

The mask I have is a second one. The first one just sat in your nose and kept falling out every time I moved. The mask I have now covers the nose. If it moves it is usually OK but last night it kept moving to a point where the rubber cover would vibrate with the pressure of the air and wake me up. I think I must have woken more often with that than I did with the apnoea's. Oh well like I said at least I am not as tired. I still feel tired at the wheel but my vision doesn't blur which is good (touch wood).

Speaking of driving it is time to get to work.

Monday 25 February 2008

One Word

Ruth Tagged me again - I think I will have to do two words in some areas.

OneWord… You Can Only Type One Word (It is not as easy as it looks)

1. Where is your cell phone? Which one - bed and bag?
2. Your significant other? Looking
3. Your hair? Auburn (currently anyway)
4. Your mother? Sleeping
5. Your father? Tassie
6. Your favorite thing? Craft
7. Your dream last night? NA
8. Your favorite drink? Ice Coffee
9. Your dream/goal? weight loss
10. The room you’re in? study
11. Your ex? NA
12. Your fear? loneliness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Where ever
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Skinny
16. Muffins? depends
17. One of your wish list items? travel
18. Where you grew up? Australia
19. The last thing you did? game
20. What are you wearing? Clothes
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pet? Devoted
23. Your computer? social life
24. Your life? It's a life
25. Your mood? good
26. Missing someone? Yes
27 Your car? Red
28. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite Store? scrapbooking
30. Your summer? hot
31. Like someone? NA
32. Your favorite colour? Many
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? September
35. Who will/would re-post this? ????

Just a quickie

This is just a quick note to tell you that I am attempting Jacobs Ladder everyday now. That is right I am a sucker for punishment. I have worked out how many times I have to climb the stairs at work to make it equivalent to once up Jacob's ladder. I managed to do just under 2/3rds today. I even stuck to my diet pretty good as well. I can't wait to do my measurements at the end of the month. I know the kg have not dropped off my I can feel a difference in my thighs (either that or the washing machine stretched my pants rather than shrunk them). Here is to weight loss!!!!

Sunday 24 February 2008

Exercise Plan

Just finished a 30 minute session of Hip Hop Abs. It is so much fun and really works you. I have and exercise program now. It is as follows:
  • Sunday - Hip Hop Abs with Sam
  • Monday - Pilate's
  • Tuesday - Circuit with Sam
  • Wednesday - Jacobs Ladder
  • Thursday - Whatever I feel like
  • Friday and Saturday - days of rest.

In four weeks I am supposed to do Jacobs ladder twice. The only way I can do that is to not use the elevators at work (i am on the 4Th floor). I have my whole team behind me helping me and giving me advice.

My bosses wife wants to come and do hip hop abs with us once the baby is born. I think that will be fun. She is really nice. She will also meet us at Jacobs ladder and so some exercise there as well. Oh and for all of you who think my boss is nice ... he said that he would rather be thought of as a Sadist. You decide.

Anyway it is time for the Biggest Loser to start soon (my inspiration) so I will leave it here. I will be weighing and measuring in at the end of the month. Ruth has got my figures so far so I will get her to let me know how well I have done (or bad). I know I haven't lost any weight but if I haven't lost some cm off my thighs there will be hell to pay!!!

Saturday 23 February 2008

Monthly Challenge 2

It is that time of the month again and I am ready to hand in my next creation. This one is more my style than the first one. The photo is of my cousin when she came to visit a few years back. She didn't think she looked good in photo's (yeah right).

The challenge this month was to use 1 Twiddlybitz wood cut embellishment; 1 patterned page and one journaling page of Creative Imaginations paper. I have also used Bazzil paper, a mulberry paper daisy, two skeleton leaves, four brads, tanned tassel, alcohol ink, Folk Art metallic champagne paint, and finally Crillion Connection cardboard letters in pearl.

The Bazzil is the main background. I used the border from the patterned page to go around the outside of the bazzil and then I cut a thin strip of the pattern itself to create a lace look at the bottom.

Once the photo was secured I then laid out the tassel braid and stuck it down with double sided tape and used the brads in the corners to help hold it in place.

The alcohol inks were used on the plant section of the Twiddlybitz and I painted the the butterflies wings in the Folk Art paint to help it stand out better. The body of the butterfly is a mix of paint and ink.

I didn't like much of the selection from the journaling paper. The fancy swirls were too much or the wording didn't fit. I cut out a small section that has pale writing in the background. The rest is pretty much layout. I will be handing it in tomorrow.


Friday 22 February 2008

Things we do in the dark

Yesterday was not a good day for me. I had to get up early for a special training day for our members. I got to the venue (Challenge Stadium) at 8am and nearly died when I saw the room. I was a small poky room on the second floor that overlooked the main swimming area on one side and basketball on the other side. The air con didn't work so there was a huge monstrosity of a portable one with two arms. It reminded me of the robot from the B & W TV show Lost in Space. It was also very loud but as soon as it was turned off the room became hot and stuffy.

The white board could only be used on one side and only the red pen worked (the black one was dead). This meant a trip back down the stairs (after Jacobs Ladder the night before) to get another one.


The Lapel mic decided to screech if it was under one of the speakers so the speaker himself had to side step in the small confined area that he had.


Once everyone arrived and the session started I sat down and suddenly realised that I hadn't even printed off the feedback sheets. I walked out of the room only to hear a girls school arriving full of giggling and squealing teenagers. It was hard to hear but I finally got J on the phone, told her my log on and where to find the forms. She phoned me back a few minutes later stating it wasn't there. I then did the mad phone around the states while she checked my inbox for the copy. Finally while I was talking to my counterpart in Melbourne, J found the forms and started printing them off. One of the sponsors was not interested in the speaker so he offered to go pick them up which was nice.


In the meantime the school had piled into the swimming area for their annual carnival. There must have been well over 500 girls in there. Think back to high school sports carnivals and how much you screamed then times that by 500. This could be heard in the room we were in. Even the siren to start the races was annoying. So while I was madly phoning people someone shut the door to the room. The door can only be opened from my side with a key. I was locked out!


I trudged back down the stairs to get someone to bring up a key. Luckily by the time I got back up the stairs someone was near the door and let me in. I then went and sat down knowing that all was going to be okay (touch plenty of wood). It was then that I looked down and this is where the title for today's blog comes in ... below is a photograph of what I saw on my feet!





Thursday 21 February 2008

Incentive

I have the exercise happenning but the diet is a bit of a problem. To cut a long story short I told my boss that if he was going to punish me on Jacobs ladder each week (yes did it again) then I needed incentive and the weight loss was not enough. With the help of my fellow co worker R we managed to convince him and also get him to sign an agreement ...

Now to back track a little. Sam has recently purchased a DVD by Sean T that is full of Hip Hop Ab sessions. It looks gay but it is lots of fun. My boss thinks it sounds hilarious and doesn't think there would be any benefit to it. I however, having done it twice, can already feel my back muscles getting stronger.

As many of you know my boss also runs a mile when I mention the word scrapbooking.

So the agreement is that he will participate in the following .... if .... (it is signed, dated and witnessed)!
  1. if I lose 7.5kg in 5 months he will do a 40 minute session of Hip Hop abs
  2. If I lose 20 kg in 12 months he will come along to a 2 hour card making session on a Sunday afternoon. (I'm thinking Stampin' Up Party here we come).

The thought of him sitting there doing cards is enough to get me off the iced coffee so I have told my team what is happennin and they are all baracking for me. If they catch me wih coffee then I wll have to pay hem $10. I need my money more than my coffee.

Wednesday 13 February 2008

What a day

The issues started at 2:30 am this morning when I suddenly awoke screaming due to a bad cramp in my left calf (I know I am exercising when I start cramping). Normally when it is that bad I tend to limp for the next couple of days. All I could see in my future were stairs. I thought my boss is going to think I am making excuses to get out of this so I stayed awake for the next 15 minutes rubbing heat cream in it, stretching and walking about to get it to stretch out.

Consequently I awoke late and left for work half an hour late. I got half way there to find out that there had been a 3 car pile up at one of the major arteries to the city that I go through. Traffic was banked up at least 4km. I realised that by the time I got to work I would have to turn around and leave for a 10am appointment (which happened to be on the way to work). I phoned to see if I could come in early only to be told they had been expecting me at 9am (which was wrong) and it was now 9:20. Anyway I went to the appointment and it was finished in little time.

My day was looking up from there until after work I was looking down Jacob's Ladder. Yes today was D day or should I say J day. JACOBS %$&%* Ladder. I saw no angels on that stairway!! My boss wanted me to try twice but I understand now why people on the biggest loser throw up because I felt sick after going easy the first time. He did it four times. We then went back into the park and he decided it was time for sit ups and push ups. (Thank God I got out of lunges). He had me doing 10 sit ups; turn around and 9 push ups, turn around and 8 sit ups, turn around and 7 push ups.

Lets just say I am lucky I managed to drive home because I legs and arms were jelly!!! I have a 6 week plan though. In 6 weeks I will be doing it twice. (Cough cough).

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Great Scrapbooking Ebay Store and Exercise

I can't hide this place for any longer. If you like a good bargin for your scrapbooking then you must visit Entahlly on ebay. They cater for international buyers as well as Australians and have a great range of scrapbooking flowers (plus motor parts and other items). I get all my leaves and flowers from here now. For example the frangipani's are almost half the price on the site than in a store and that is with postage included. As for delivery they are very fast. I paid for an order yesterday and received notification last night that it had been posted. I will stop now and you can go look for yourself.

On another note, Sam came over Sunday evening and instead of circuit we did Hip Hop Abs. It is done by an American Guy and we had so much fun doing it. My back was killing me later though which is good because I need to build strength in my lower back. Sam was supposed to come over tonight but she has a cold and I had stuff I had to get done. Unfortunately my stuff never got done because my Stampin' Up arrived and now I have to put it all together. Back onto the exercise topic and I am doing Jacobs Ladder tomorrow. My next blog will be after I leave hospital!!

Sunday 10 February 2008

I've been tagged

Ruth nicely tagged me so while it is still the weekend I thought I had better complete it:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Dorm Parent
2. ESL teacher in South Korea
3. Bank Officer
4. State Trainer for a software program

Four movies I would watch over and over again: - this is hard since I usually only watch things once…
1. Dinotopia
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. Sense and Sensibility
4. Jurassic Park Trilogy

Four places I have lived:
1. Papua New Guinea
2. Tasmania Australia
3. Perth Western Australia
4. Pusan South Korea

Four places I have been:
1. Canada
2. South Africa
3. Prague
4. Egypt

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Anything that is savoury and has pastry
2. Chocolate
3. Freshly cooked white bread
4. Chicken Treat Chicken

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Snorkling in the clear blue warm water off a deserted tropical island
2. Canada
3. Bed (which is where I am going to soon)
4. On Safari

Four people I think will respond:
1. Betty
2. Cousin Tina
3. Aunty Bev
4. Don't know anyone else with a blog other than Ruth

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Losing weight and getting fitter
2. Sleeping better
3. Blogging more and getting to know more people
4. SCRAPBOOKING

Four things I say regularly:
1. Okay
2. TESSA!!!!
3. How did you filter for that (work related)
4. A couple of words I probably shouldn't type in! :)

Busy Busy Busy

My week is getting so full now that I bearly have time to get on and blog and, Heaven forbid, no craft work!!!! If I don't blog during the week I am going to try and do it on the weekend.

The weekend is here now and that means time to spend in the studio. I finally finished the story book I was making last night. The photos are below. I am really happy with it. All in all there is probably $60 worth of products involved but I figure scrap booking and the enjoyment I get from making things for other people far outways a session at any therapist and therefore I am saving money.

I have used a variety of papers but the majority is Basic Grey. They have a lovely girly paper pack out with princess/royal rub ons to match. I love it and it is good to scrap for a girl for once and not the numerous boys that seem to be around the place. I have also used some Tres Jolee papers which match the Basic Grey wonderfully. All in all I had fun creating this. It will be something for mum to pull out on those special occaisions for the embarrassment factor!










As promised I have also included the photos of the items I made at my Stampin' Up party. The first one is a box that can open up flat.

I love this card. To get the sunset colours a multie coloured stamp pad and plain roller were used. A circle was punch out of a post it note and stuck to the page to create the sense of the setting sun.
Last but not least, the friends card. There is a small tool that you can purchase to distress the edges of the paper. I find the edge of scissors works just as well.

Well folks that is it for the craft. I really need to tidy my studio. It is still in a mess from when I made my fathers album and I have made the story book and a monthly challenge as well! I might take before and after photo's just to show you how large a space I have to work in and how quickly it can become a space not much bigger that a 12x12 sheet of paper!
Diet wise I am having major problems giving up the coffee. When Sam was here the other week for our circuit training she saw I had a mouthful left in a glass and poured it down the sink. Speaking of circuit she will be here this afternoon. At least it isn't has hot as what last Sunday was. We were dripping and that was inside with the air-con on. I still have Jacob's ladder to look forward to on Wednesday as well!!! I think I will need divine intervention for that one.

Wednesday 6 February 2008

In the words of Sid the Sloth ....

HELP ME!

My boss is really into health and fitness. He has been sort of supporting me in the background with my attempt at weight loss. For some reason he phoned me up this afternoon and asked if I wanted to go for a jog after work (it would be a fast walk for him and after a 100m a really slow walk while I caught my breath). Fortunately for me I didn't have my exercise clothes with me and I already had a previous appointment. He was very happy to hear that I was interested and eventually after much setting and resetting of dates it was decided that on a certain day next week and the same day each week following we would go for a 45 min "jog." Once it was all finalised and in the Calendar he then told me that the jog would be up and down Jacob's Ladder. There is something like 270 steps zig zagging up the side of a cliff!!!! I am 5 foot tall and each foot weighs 20 kgs. I can barely make it up two flights of stairs at work before my legs turn to jelly.

I just burst out laughing and said "thank God you used to be a nurse because you might be called upon to give me the breath of life at some stage!" I then said that I would therefore walk and not run. I will be happy if I can get up it at least once. I must be insane to try and attempt something like this right now. I woul never have done it when I was 50kg!

Monday 4 February 2008

I WON!!!

Wonders will never cease. I walked into my local scrapbook store this afternoon to spend $100 that I had for free. Being a new month I decided to buy the next kit for the monthly challenge. To cut a long story short I had bought a lot of little individual things which needed to be counted out so the shop closed and I was still selecting. The lady then had to count them all. I had to use the full $100 in one go but I was around $25 short so she assisted me in finding other things. I kept apologising for keeping her here because by now she would have left (it was 20 minutes after the store closed). Anyway I then asked for my monthly challenge picture from last month. She pulled out the entries and I noticed mine wasn't there. She asked if I had seen the winning one and if it was mine. It was right at the front door and I had missed it. She couldn't believe I had been in the store all that time and not notice that I was the winner. The prize is $50 of free stuff, which she requested I get on another day because she really wanted to go home. :) You can see a picture of the winning page in monthly Challenge 1. .

As for the Aunt who sent me a laptop message for my birthday, you are the best Aunt and I hope that my struggles with my weight will help you with yours. Our medical history is so similar to each other that if I can do it then you can do it. We'll encourage each other. We want to look nice for the family reunion at the wedding in Jan.

I have lost 1kg. I could say that after exercising yesterday in the heat and sweating profusly that it was all fluid but I am not going to say that at all. It was me and all my hard work (not - still struggling with the iced coffee issue).

As for my other creations you will have to wait until the end of the week for photographs as I will be out for most of the week.

By the way the heat is still here and we are getting lightning so now I have the humidity to look forward to. Global warming is so not in fashion any more. Time for a nippy era.

Weekend

So much for the thunder storms but they were right about the heat and humidity. It got to 47 yesterday and was so humid. Sam and I exercised last night as well. We did it inside rather than out. I think she was hoping I would say it was too hot. :)

Saturday was kinda boring but Sunday was great. I had a stampin up party which was lots of fun. We only made three things rather than the usual 5 but with all the talking going on we would never of had time for 5. I will post photos later once I have taken them.

My current project at the moment is a story book for the mother of G (little girl at the wedding). I have a sequence of about 40 photo's where I just sat and watched her play. The result has become a fairytale with her as the Princess. I am quite pleased with it. I will ask permission from her mother first before I post photo's of it on here because her name is used throughout. Not sure how to block it out.

Well it is Monday morning which means meetings at work all morning. I had better go if I want to beat the traffic.