Slinking to my goal ...

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Friday, January 9, 2009

Almost 15kgs down ... YAHOOO ...Progress Shots ...

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Then 3 Aug 2008 - 84 kg ... now 9 Jan 2009 - 69.4 kg (14.7kg loss)

EXCUSE THE HAIR .. bad hair day ..lol

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Side profile

Weight loss - 14.7kg

Cm’s lost
Chest 18
Waist 23
Abdomen 13
Hips 20
Total cm’s lost - 74 cms

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78 Kgs (5 kgs lost) - 9th September 2008

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74 kgs (10 kgs lost) - Over halfway - 30.10.08 .

 

Start
Weight 84.1 kg
Chest 112
Waist 108
Abdomen 111
Hips 120

Month - 3
Weight 74.4kg
Chest 96.5
Waist 89.5
Abdomen 104
Hips 106.5

Month - 4

Weight 72.6kg
Chest 95
Waist 86
Abdomen 102
Hips 104

Month - 5

Weight 69.9kg
Chest 94
Waist 85
Abdomen 98
Hips 100

Weight loss - 14.2kg as at 23.12.2008

Cm’s lost
Chest 18
Waist 23
Abdomen 13
Hips 20
Total cm’s lost - 74 cms

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Roughing it with Dad

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Sometimes Dad is cornered and is squashed and is clung to and becomes a giant with two cling-ons ..

The kids are in hysterics throughout - and at the end Dad collapses in a exhausted heap ..

Me .. I'm happy just to photos .. and then run ... when I'm cornered to be squashed ..

Yep .. call me a wuss ...

Mmmm .. amazing what a difference a month and a half can make ...

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From this ..... to this .. YEEHHHAAAA !

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Someone supersized the cabbages

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The caulis are taking over too .. (we've already taken 3 out .heh heh)

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The lettuces are healthy

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Ooohh and look at the cucumbers flowers and the strawberries (NO FLOWERS - what the heck !!!!)

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Corn patch .. .YUMMMMM we have ears ... heh heh

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OK so anyone can grow potatoes .. but holy smackaroo ... who planted all those!

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Mmmmm something's amiss .. no carrots after 2 months .. someone's brought a dud pkt of seeds .. won't do the seed tape thing ever again me thinks!

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The tomato plant has been revived .... Yahooo .. and OMG it's flowering!!!

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The pots look a heck of a lot healthier!

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The cherry tree has come back too .. YAY!

(Yep I'm killing grass to make some MORE gardens - eventually)

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Oooooh look at the flower garden in full bloom .. we only planted it last year!  ... and the flaxes and grasses have grown too .. much better than the overgrown weeds and lavenders .. heh heh

Awwwww ...

The sunset here last night ....

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Saturday, January 3, 2009

20 Questions for Planning New Year’s Goals

This is from: http://simplemom.net/

Writing about taking care of yourself on January 2, 2009

bench overlooking the water
Photo by Khalid Almasoud

There’s been a growing trend of disdain towards New Year’s resolutions.  I can understand why, to some degree, but I, for one, really like them.  The trick is knowing how to pick the right resolutions, and then develop a healthy, realistic game plan for making them happen.

Some of you make resolutions, and some of you don’t - but many of you took the time to reflect on this past year.

Trust me when I say I’m talking to myself here - I can join the throngs of people who make resolutions in January with good intentions, and the lofty goals are long gone by February.

I prefer to make goals for the year instead of new year’s resolutions. With resolutions, you “resolve” to do something - and then hope for the best.  With goals, you set a marker in the distance and make plans to get there.

Today, I’m posing a few questions that might help spark some ideas for your 2009 goals. 

Vision Questions for 2009

1.  What skill do you most want to learn this year?

2.  What is one skill you already have that you’d like to improve this year?

3.  Name three books you most definitely want to read in 2009.

4.  In what specific area do you most want to encourage your spouse?  What are some ways you can do this?

5.  Think of one of your major life goals.  What will you do this year to make you one step closer to reaching that goal?

6.  Name your kids’ biggest strengths.  What are some ways you can specifically nourish those strengths?

7.  Name your kids’ most prominent weakness.   What are some ways you can encourage their ability to overcome it?

8.  What is one of your strengths?  Think of some specific ways you can exercise it this year.

9.  What is one of your weaknesses?  Brainstorm some ideas on how you can overcome this deficiency.

10.  Think of an important relationship aside from your spouse and children.  How will you nurture that relationship this year?

11.  Name a few ways your physical health could be improved.

12.  Name a few ways your family’s financial health could be improved.

13.  In what way do you want to draw closer to God?

14.  What is one area of home management that frustrates you?  Think of some specific ways you could improve your attitude about it.

15.  Have you ever created a family mission statement with your spouse?  If so, why not do one for this year?

16.  Name one specific thing you could do with your spouse this year that will deepen your intimacy.

17.  What is something that is continually undone in your life?  What will you do to fully complete it this year?

18.  In what ways will you be involved with your local community?

19.  What is one thing you’d like to accomplish by your birthday this year?

20.  Think of three words you’d like to describe your 2009.

Mull over these questions this weekend, and see what sparks. Perhaps your answers will point to one specific area in your life that you want to focus on, to change or strengthen.  Or perhaps your answers will reveal an overall theme, a burden within you that you’d like to see come to fruition holistically.

20 Questions for a New Year’s Eve Reflection

This is from: http://simplemom.net/

Writing about inspiration on December 31, 2008

moon reflection
Photo by Philipp Klinger

A new year is a great time to reset your internal clocks, re-calibrate your settings, and re-chart your course. There’s something encouraging and natural about using a fresh calendar page to make new goals in your life, which is why new year’s resolutions are so popular.

But made in haste, resolutions can be pointless at best, discouraging and depressing at worst. When they’re vague, broad, and unreachable, you’re almost setting yourself up for failure. But when they’re specific, productive, and attainable, resolutions can truly be an ebenezer in your life for some healthy changes.

The next few articles here on Simple Mom have the goal of helping you reflect on this past year, eagerly anticipate the upcoming year, and decide on some reachable goals that will recharge and mature you.

Reflect before you resolve

I’m in favor on new year’s resolutions - but why not also use the turn of the clock to reflect on this past year? Before deciding on how you want 2009 to be different than 08, take a moment with your journal and answer some - or all - of these questions.

These questions can be a catalyst for digging deeper into personal reflection, or they can be icebreakers between you and your spouse for a New Year’s Eve conversation. However you want to use them - use them to your benefit.

Reflection Questions for 2008

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

5. Pick three words to describe 2008.

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2008 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2008 (again, without asking).

8. What were the best books you read this year?

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?

15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home?

16. What was your most challenging area of home management?

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2008 for you.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Christmas 2008

In the meantime .. coz I haven't got round to organising photos etc

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Searching for a good read ...

Soo  .... I LOVE READING .. and BOOKS .. and MORE BOOKS ...

... I've been thinking a lot .. as you do .. and ..

I decided I want to extend the type of books I read in 2009 ..

Nope not a NY resolution .. just me ... trying something new ..

I posted on EBB about any online bookclubs .. and a reply mentioned Oprahs and NZWW

So I went and signed up for NZWW Bookclub .. and then went over to visit Oprahs BookClub friendly site ..

I copied the looonnng list and are going to check out the library to see if I can work backwards and get reading some of them ..

I'll keep the blog updated with my progress :-)

Complete List of Oprah's Book Club Books

2008
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
2007
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
2006
Night by Elie Wiesel
2005
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
2004
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
2003
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
2002
Sula by Toni Morrison
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald 
2001
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry 
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Cane River by Lalita Tademy
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir
Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
2000
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Open House by Elizabeth Berg
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
While I Was Gone  by Sue Miller
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan  
1999
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton 
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay  
River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke  
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
White Oleander  by Janet Fitch     - Read
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve 
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink 
Jewel  by Bret Lott
1998
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage 
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat 
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen  
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
Paradiseby Toni Morrison
1997
The Best Way To Play by Bill Cosby
The Treasure Hunt by Bill Cosby
The Meanest Thing To Say by Bill Cosby
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons   
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Songs In Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris
The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou 
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds 
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
She's Come Undone  by Wally Lamb
1996
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Monday, December 29, 2008

I guess ...I kinda have to admit ....

.... to having a phobia/quirk .....about getting washing folded .. and in to where they belong!!!

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Case in point the third photos .. goodness knows how long that has been in the shed .. (we'll call it DH's 2nd set of "drawers" huh ?..)  ....

The load on the chair .. well I put it there to "MAKE" me fold it .. it's getting to day 2

... and that smallish basket full .. well thats todays' ...

I'm very happy to put everything in the wash .. and then finally (eventually) get it to the washing machine ... and then happy to get it out on the washing line (most times) without having to re-wash it ..

.. getting it in no problem .. the boys and I have a game .. I get the pegs off .. and they scoop the clothes up in to the basket ... saves them ripping the clothes off by the hems ..

Where it all comes unstuck is at the folding and putting away bit .. maybe coz of the magnitude of the job .. coz I do about 4 loads all on a day

.. to catch up .... (slack housekeeper I am! )

.. or MAYBYE .. I just hate folding washing knowing it'll be on the floor within a couple of days

.. and on it's way back to the washing basket again .. to start it all over again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Kind of like me and housework in general really but that's a whole new post!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

A sign of the times ?????

These came in the mail yesterday morning .....

Sign o the times

The only 30th (or 21st for that matter) parties that we will be going to in the future will probably only be our nieces and nephews ... or our own kids ...

BUT .....

I don't feel old !!!!!!!!!!!!!