Just4Jo - A fat chick trying not to be...

Just realised that I haven’t posted an update since Wednesday!

How bad is that then??

OK, the presentation that I did on Thursday night went well, although I spoke too fast! I am sure that everyone got what I was trying to say, but time will tell…….

We went out for drinks after the conference was finished, and then for dinner, which turned out to have been double booked at the restaurant, so we ended up going to another pub and having a meal there. It was still good though!

I decided to be an adult though, and went home at about midnight…….

Found out the next day that some got in at 3.30am, and 3 of the group still hadn’t made an appearance back at the hotel by 7.30am! They had a flight to catch at 10.30am!

I am WAAAAAY too old for that carry on – especially with work the net day!

Friday night I ended up going out to a work mates place for drinks for her birthday, and got home at about midnight again!

I must say that my husband wasn’t none too impressed with that, but I am sure that he has forgiven me now!

I only had one night at home last week, so I guess being a solo dad was wearing pretty thin by Friday night!

I have spent all weekend with him and our girl though, cos I missed them like crazy through the week! It has been blimmen good to have some quiet family time, just pottering around doing stuff…….

Oh yeah – weight in!

I weighed in on Saturday morning and recorded a loss of 2.4kgs! YAY!

Takes me back down to under the dreaded 120kg mark, and I am now sitting on 119.8kg.

I plan on walking in the mornings again this week, so hopefully that will mean a good loss next week too!

Ummmmm, what else??

Oh yeah – someone asked about care for Rhian, and if we had sorted something out?

Well, we ended up going with the friend of the lady that used to look after her. Rhian already knew her, so that was great!

Although I must admit, this first week has been a little emotional!

I guess it must be hard for Rhian, cos she has been going to Julies every day since she was 3 months old!! Now all of a sudden that has all changed and she has a completely different routine.

A few mornings this week she has cried when we have left her, and I have ended up in tears too.

The silly thing is, that Cathy says she stops after about 30 seconds and is happy as for the rest of the day!

In fact one day last week, she packed a tantrum cos she didn’t want to come home with us! She wanted to stay and play!!

Anyway, there may be more changes in the wind, as Julie is not sure that the job she got is really for her, and she is missing Rhian terribly! Not to mention her own kids of course, who are going to after school care – which they hate!

So, a decision will be made this week about what she is going to do, so Rhian might just end up going back to her beloved Julie after all…… we will see!!
I’m also thinking about my future with Tupperware at the moment.

Don’t get me wrong…….. I LOVE the stuff!!!
But I am finding that I am not dating as many parties as I would like, and I am taking it too personally! I know that it is not ME that people are saying no to – it is Tupperware, but it is hard to separate those two things when the person is saying no to your face! Hehehe…

Also, I am getting pressure form my manager to recruit others and branch out as a new manager myself, and I just don’t have the time to do that at all!

To be honest – I would LOVE to make loads of money selling plastic stuff, but I also would LOVE to be able to spend some more time with my family. And to be a manager you need to be averaging about 2 – 3 parties per week!!! That is 2 – 3 nights out of my week that I would have to dedicate to selling Tupperware
And like I said – I love the stuff, but I love my family more!!

Anyway, I haven’t made any firm decisions as yet, but watch this space……..

OK, time to toddle off to bed now, since I am getting up earlier, I am finding that I need to get to sleep earlier too!

Fancy that!?!

I just had to post this!
I got it in an email the other day, but only just really read it this morning.
I love the last one!


READ EACH SENTENCE SLOWLY AND THINK ABOUT IT!

Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear.

Don't cry over anyone who won't cry over you.

Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.

Don't let the past hold you back, you're missing the good stuff.

Best friends are the siblings God forgot to give us.

When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your best friend will be there.

Nobody is perfect, until you fall in love with them

Remember, every minute spent angry is sixty seconds of happiness wasted.

I feel BLAH today.
I have loads of work to do (namely the presentation that I have to do for this evening) and I can't be bothered doing any of it!
I had a Tupperware party last night, and that went really well, good sales, great people.
Just the way I like it!   Hehehe
But sleep seemed to be something that neither Chris or I were to get much of, thanks to our wonderful daughter!
She decided that last night she would play up and grizzle for hours.
She wanted her dolly, then she wanted her bottle, then she wanted her other dolly, then she wanted a cuddle
ARGH!
I think the last time Chris went in to settle her was about 1.30am and neither of us had been to sleep at all up until that point.
We let her cry it out for a bit, and then all was quiet so she FINALLY gave in and went to sleep, thank god!
But then when my alarm went off at 5.45am this morning, I nearly threw it out the damn window!
I turned it off then reset it for 6.30am and had a glorious 45 minutes of extra sleep!
WONDERFUL!!!!
I still look like I have been up all night, and have lovely big black rings and puffy bags under my eyes!
YUK!
A really good look!
NOT!
Anyway, I wont be going out walking tomorrow morning either, as I am staying at my boss's place in town overnight, and I imagine that tonight will be quite a late night, so I am picking I wont feel like walking at all.
I haven't even packed my walking gear anyway, so there is my answer!  Hehehe.
You see, I have a choice.  
I can go out to dinner and drinks tonight with the group from work, and NOT DRINK AT ALL then drive home from the city at whatever time we decide to finish up.
OR
I can stay at my Boss's place overnight, so that way I can have a few drinks along with everyone else, and I don't have to worry about driving home again.
BRILLIANT IDEA JO!!!
Well, I think it is a brilliant idea!
I don't think Chris is too impressed, as it means that he will be a solo dad for the evening and also tomorrow morning.
Still, it doesn't happen often, so I am sure that he can cope with his darling daughter while mummy is off shmoozing!
YAY!!!
Righto, best I get back to sorting out this presentation, otherwise I might not be going out at all tonight!

I did it!
I got my butt out of bed this morning and went for a walk again!
3 Days in a row!
HOLY CRAP!!!!
I even had to wake Teagan up, cos she was still asleep when I got up!  Hehehe...
I love it out at that time, it is so quiet and peaceful.  
It really does make a great start to the day!
Just hope that I can keep the momentum up!
My food and water intake has been fantastic over the past few days.
I am averaging about 2 1/2 - 3 litres per day, so that is all good!
Although I seem to spend more time in the ladies, than I do at my desk!  Hehe...
It certainly helps with the constipation problem that I have been having lately!
Also helps that I am on medication for it too I guess!
Just wish that I didnt have to rely on pills to make me go to the toilet!!
Enough of that!
I have a Tupperware party to do tonight, so things will be rushed this evening.
I wont have time to do much of anything at all, excollect Rhian, go home, get changed, pack the car and go again!
Then tomorrow night I have a work conference and dinner, and I have just found out that I am required to do a presentation!
ARGH!!!!
Wish I knew that three weeks ago!
So, now I have just what is left of today, plus tomorrow to get together all the information that I need, compile it into something that makes sense, and then create a slideshow in PowerPoint so that it can be projected onto the data screen for everyone to see while I am talking!!
ARGH!!!!
Might pay to go do that then instead of mucking about on here!
I'll be back................

I just ate the hugest dinner ever!!!

LOADS of baked vegetables and a chicken breast cooked in garlic, soya sauce and honey!

YUMMMM!!

But my eyes were bigger than my belly – surprise surprise – and I ate too blimmen much!

Will I ever learn???

Hehehe..

Ah well……….

I got up and went out walking again this morning.

Shocked myself in the process!

Two mornings in a row?!?!

Holy crap!

I felt great afterwards too.

Makes me wonder why I don’t do it every morning!

I’m gonna try for three in a row and get up and go out again tomorrow morning too!

Wish me luck!

DragonBoat practice last night – it was really choppy so we didn’t even get out into the harbour, we just stayed in the lagoon. That was bad enough!!!
I thought for sure that we were gonna end up in the water at one stage!

One team that was practicing DID end up in the harbour, and in the water!!

They didn’t capsize, just sunk! Took too much water on board and down they went!

It was a school boy team, so you can imagine the hell they got as they came in on the resuce boats from the other school teams that were around!

Too funny!

Makes me remember what it is like to be young and foolish again!

I’m still foolish, just not so young anymore!

Hehehe…..

Righto, time to go watch the end of Coronation street!

Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone I watch that will ya?!?

I knew that I was in for a gain, and I knew that it was gonna me a biggie, but I didn’t honestly expect that much!!!

Managed to gain 3kg in just 10 days!!!

WOW – that deserves a medal in itself!

Not going to dwell on it, cos that gets me nowhere at all.

Instead I have to acknowledge how it happened, accept that it did happen, and work my lard ass off to get rid of it again!

So, today started with a walk at 6am, followed by a day of detoxing with loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, plus about 4 litres of water.

I also had DragonBoat training tonight, so that was another bout of exercise to rid chase the excess flab away!

Dinner was cooked by my darling wonderful amazing tolerant husband, and was a lovely green salad (lettuce from our own garden) a plain baked potato and some fresh fish that he cooked with garlic wrapped in tinfoil and baked in the oven!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

I’m still hurting in places I didn’t know I had, and even sitting here is proving to be a bit tedious, so I’m gonna go and relax with the aforementioned husband, and chill out for a bit before getting a semi early night, to be ready to start tomorrow off with a walk before work again!

Failure is NOT an option, and although I gave myself a bit of a break over the Wedding weekend, I got too blimmen carried away and now have to pay the price.

Won’t be doing that again in a hurry!

Nighty night!

I am buggered

My arms ache, my shoulders ache, my butt aches, my back aches, my thighs ache, my calves ache, I'm sunburnt and look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.....

BUT.........

WE WON!!!!

Our DragonBoat team WON the Social Grade competition yesterday in Masterton!

WOOHOO!!!

I am absolutely STOKED!!!!

So all the aches and pains are totally WORTH IT!

It feels amazing to be a part of a winning team and to actually be INCLUDED!

YAY!!!!!

We went out this morning to pick up a few bits and pieces from the shops, ended up having lunch in the mall - it was lovely.

Then came home and had a 2 1/2 hour nanna nap! NICE!!!

I didn't weigh in yesterday morning, cos I was up at 6am and had a million things to do, so weighing in never even crossed my mind at all!

I KNOW that I am heavier than last week - I can feel it!

I had already eaten breakfast this morning when I realised that I hadnt weighed in, so I PROMISE myself that I will do it tomorrow morning and face the music!

I have some hard work to do - I know that!

I can think of a million excuses, but none of them justify all the takeaways that we had last weekend!

Hehehehe......... even if they DID taste terrific!

Anyway, I'm on track now and have been since Tuesday, so that is great.

I just have to find the time to fit the exercise into my day that my body needs!

Last week was completely mental - I think I had something on every night.

This week isn't much better!

Monday I have DragonBoat training

Tuesday is free

Wednesday I have a Tupperware party to do

Thursday I have a meeting and dinner with work

Then I am free!

YAY!!

We have NOTHING on next weekend - it will be BLISS!!!!

Even though I am aching all over right now, I am seriously thinking of getting out and walking tomorrow morning before work - at least it wont be hot!

What else?

Dunno!

Oh Yeah! Photos!

Here is one that was taken at Carla's wedding last weekend:

Kate, Amelia, Rhian & Me




And here is one of the view from where the ceremony was held (if you can see past my huge head!!)

I can't remember where I found this, but I remember thinking that I should share it with you all!

It just goes to show that there are men out there that don't actually LIKE the skinny supermodel type!!!

YAY I say!

I hope this link works, cos I'm doing remotely - via email.........

http://www.lardbiscuit.com/lard/truefa.html

We are home!!

The weekend in Auckland has been very busy, very good, very interesting, very long, and very very tiring......... But it was GREAT!

The wedding was beautiful!
The ceremony was just GORGEOUS!
Carla looked DIVINE!!
Kaylee looked BEAUTIFUL!!
And the words of the service (both the wedding and naming ceremony) brought tears to my eyes!
It was truely amazing!!!!

I have pictures, but they are still in the camera - I'll get onto that this week sometime!!

We got lost more times than I can remember!

I forgot to take tops to wear, so we had to go shopping.

Rhian was sick - literally - the night before the wedding, and Chris was in the shower with her at midnight. Then she was sick again at 2am, so spent the next couple of hours being cuddled!

Then she came out in little red marks at the wedding, which we thought were insect bites, but once we got back to the motel, we noticed that the marks had grown into HUGE kick ass welts, so we freaked out and set off to find an After Hours Dr.

Found it, but they had moved, and even if we found the new premises, they closed at 5pm. It was 6.30pm.

A lovely lady on the side of the road directed us to another one, and just to make sure we didnt get lost again, we headed back to the motel to get the trusty map.

It was at this time that Rhian decided to throw up again. All through the Hire Car and rented carseat!

EWWWWWW!!!!!

Back to the motel to bath her, clean the car and the seat and then head off to the Dr.

Found the Dr - they closed at 8pm - it was 8.03pm

I cried.

The Dr agreed to see her.

Thank God!!

Apparently it was an allergic reaction to something - maybe the grass? And apparently the welts and throwing up were totally unrelated!

Huh??

Anyway, we then had to find an after hours pharmacy, which turned out to be a few suburbs away, so off we headed.

It was then that I was introduced to the wonderful burgers at Wendys.

Wendys in Wellington only sells ice creams.

Wendys in Auckland sells burgers and chips!!

NICE burgers and chips!

Anyway, after filling the prescription, and our tummys, we found our way back to the motel again, and settled in for the night. By the time we got back it was 10pm!

Luckily there was to be no more throwing up to be done that night!

YAY!!

Next morning we met an internet friend of mine, Kate, at Maccas for breakfast.

See the pattern here??

Wendys, Maccas, did I mention Burger King already??

Anyway, we were able to stay for about an hour and chat away quite nicely before having to head off to the airport to catch our 11am flight.

HA!

Turns out that the 11am flight, was actually 11.30am!

AND..........

It had been cancelled anyway!

Some STOOPID bird had decided to fly into the engine and ground the plane for the day!

So, we were transfered onto a later flight, and had to sit at the airport with a grumpy sick child for an extra hour!

ARGH!!!!!

Finally got back to Wellington, and I had to go to work! SUCKY!!

After work was DragonBoat practise, then home to a hot bath - kindly run by darling husband!!

Then I made the fatal mistake of trying to give Rhian her medicine, which she promptly threw up (plus the entire contents of her tummy) all over me and her.

Time for another change of clothes for her, and me too of course!

Today was work again, Rhian seemed fine, so she went off to Julies - who incidentally DID get the job that she applied for, and starts on MONDAY, so we now have four days to find a daycare centre for my girl! Do you know how hard it is to find a centre with a vacancy for an "Under2 year old"???? ARGH!!!!

After work Rhian was still fine, Chris and I were not!

I have a crook tummy - probably from eating too much crappy food over the weekend, and am totally constipated - havent been since last Thursday to be precise. While Chris is the exact opposite, and I'll leave you to figure out what that means!

We are both NOT happy campers!!!

Anyway, we gave Rhian her dinner, and half way through she decided to throw it all up again...... what a waste! Hehehehe......

Off to the Dr again (3rd time in a week) and once again, they can't find anything wrong with her, so we left empty handed and no better off than what we were before we went.

But, she is sleeping now.

And Chris and I have made a deal that the tv WILL NOT stay on after 9.30pm cos we both NEED sleep!!!

So, that means I have about 4 minutes left!

And since I still need to send an email, I better get my butt moving!!

Tupperware party tomorrow night - might make enough money to cover all the Dr's visits! hehehe.......

Over and Out!

P.S. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

PREGNANCY Q, A & more!

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labour, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidermal?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labour?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

"ESTROGEN ISSUES"
10 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE "ESTROGEN ISSUES"

1. Everyone around you has an attitude problem.
2. You're adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelette.
3. The dryer has shrunk every last pair of your jeans.
4. Your husband is suddenly agreeing to everything you say.
5. You're using your cellular phone to dial up every bumper sticker that says: "How's my driving-call 1- 800-".
6. Everyone's head looks like an invitation to batting practice.
7. Everyone seems to have just landed here from "outer space".
8. You can't believe they don't make a tampon bigger than Super Plus.
9. You're sure that everyone is scheming to drive you crazy.
10. The ibuprofen bottle is empty and you bought it yesterday..

TOP TEN THINGS ONLY WOMEN UNDERSTAND
10. Cats' facial expressions.
9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colours.
8. Why bean sprouts aren't just weeds.
7. Fat clothes.
6. Taking a car trip without trying to beat your best time.
5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell.
4. Cutting your hair to make it grow.
3. Eyelash curlers.
2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made.
AND, the Number One Number One thing only women understand :
1. OTHER WOMEN

Until we go to Auckland and until my big girl goes on a plane for the very first time ever!

HOLY CRAP!!

I'm only doing half a day tomorrow, so that is all good!

Cos I am sooooo over this week already!

Found out today that the carer that we have for Rhian is getting a "proper" job and therefore we need to look at alternatives.

A bit stressful at such short notice, but there ain't much that can be done about it, so we just have to deal with it!

And on that note...... I have to go and pack!

Have a cool weekend everyone!

:)

I know that I have already tested the remote posting thingee, but I want to find out if it looks any different if I send the update from my work email account, compared to my hotmail account.
That's all.

Thought it was about time that I did a proper update after my weekend!

Now, I'm not sure if anyone actually saw the entry that I posted on Saturday morning before we left, but I weighed in at 119.9kg, so that was a loss of 1.3kg for the week.

I was happy with that!

We had a fantastic weekend away with good friends, good wine and good music!

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and can�t wait until next year, when we will go for two days, not just one!

YAY!!!

I totally underestimated the power of the sun though, and the effects that it would have when mixed with wine.....

Needless to say - I got pretty plastered, and had a VERY early night, while the rest of the crowd partied on!

Still.... I woke up on Monday morning feeling fine, so I went out for a walk to clear my head. Walked for about 45 minutes I think, which included a lovely scenic route along the foreshore.

Nice!

We got home on Monday evening and I couldn't even be bothered turning the computer on at all....

Last night I was supposed to go to Dragon Boat training, but had a headache, so I gave it a miss, and went home and had a quiet evening instead.

I am supposed to be going walking with Helena tonight after work, but it is pissing down with rain here, so I am starting to think that the walk might have to be called off!

I have a Tupperware meeting tonight anyway, so at least it will stop me from having to rush around like a mad thing!

Ummmm.... What else?

Eating was good over the weekend, my water intake was great too, except on Sunday when I drank more wine than anything else!!!

I'll be weighing on Friday this week, cos we are heading off to Auckland at midday on Friday for Carla's wedding on Sunday.

It will be the 1st time that Rhian will have been on a plane, so that will be totally interesting!!!

We will get home next Monday at midday, and then I have to work half a day, so no doubt I'll be buggered!

Then the weekend after, I have my first DragonBoat regatta to compete in, so I am really looking forward to that too!

PLUS next Wednesday I have a Tupperware demo, AND the following Wednesday as well!

ARGH!! Where the hell is February disappearing to????

Now, this whole losing weight thing is a hell of a lot harder to do the more times I try it too!!

I remember a couple of months ago, the weight just fell off me, now it is tiny wee baby steps all the way!

NOT FAIR!!

Although I won't be giving up any time soon, it is certainly a harder road now.

Makes me more determined to get there, but also a little angry that I have to.

Does that make sense???

Looks like all my entries from 9th November forward are lost and gone forever!!!

BUGGER!

This is what I got from JournalHome:

Journal Home has experienced a devastating hardware failure which left the Journal Home network in critical condition for 3 full days. In any event Journal Home worked hard to get its network back up and running in a timely manner.

Journal Home is back online (intermittently), but not back to normal...due to the hardware failure we have lost a massive amount of Journal Entries. It seems that any entries after 11/9/2005 have been corrupted and unrecoverable (the irony 11/9 - 9/11). But, we haven't given up, yet! We are still working hard to hopefully recover these Journal Entries. Though,
the evident truth reveals that this may be impossible.

I can understand the frustration and inconvenience this has been for you, though like any functioning website Journal Home is at the mercy of its digital service, hardware, and electrical equipment and devices, we are not exempt to failure. Even the largest companies (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft) all have there mishaps, hardware failures, and data losses. Do forgive my
candidness about this situation, this is not an excuse, but more so an explanation.

I do understand that for you Journal Home provided an outlet and in some cases it served as your website (more than just a blog). That is why I hope to restore Journal Home fully, but I cannot make any guarantees because corrupted data is sometimes unrecoverable, but rest assure that Journal Home is working hard to restore as much data as possible.

Besides, the lost of journal entries, Journal Home seems to be operating as normal, except for the occasional site up and down times which are happening due to behind the scenes maintenance and work that must take place in order to get the site back to a steady state.

If you are interested in knowing exactly what happened with Journal Home then please read further for more details otherwise, please do not let this mishap steer you away from Journal Home and its services. We have setup preventative maintenance methods to greatly reduce the chance of this happening in the future. Read further below:

Journal Home network and services went down Friday, Feb. 3, 2006 around 10:00 PM. A terrible storm was brewing in the area and lightning struck the power box which housed Journal Home network, this power outage not only affected Journal Home but others in the area which shared the power box. Journal Home had a power supply device in place to prevent such occurrence, but this strong burst of electricity must have overpowered the device and
simply took it out along with Journal Home network of servers. This crash caused Journal Home systems to perform a hard shutdown, which in return affected the hard drive and data backup unit.

Journal Home completely rebuilt the server and network by replacing the damaged hardware with new hardware. The Journal Home website was stored on a drive which was not affected by the outage therefore, the same Journal Home look and style was restored fully. The most corrupted data was the backup files and the database files, which is all of the Journal Home data
such as user login info, member profiles, journal entries, etc. To get this data back, Journal Home had to go through a complicated tedious process of restoring data piece by piece and weeding out the corrupted data. This was successfully done after a few hours of intricate work and detail. The only data which was not successfully restored were the journal entries, as
mentioned above. With there being well over 11,000 journal entries this made the task of restoring the damaged data even more difficult.

Just testing out the remote posting via email....

Does it work??

As many of you would have found out over the past few days - my old journal at JournalHome.com is extremely unreliable, and it seems to be down more often than it is up these days.......

So......

I'm trying out this journal cos it seems to be where most of the others all hang out.....

But I'm still trying to get the hang of it, so please be patient with me, OK?