Shrinking violet

Firstly, that’s not an invitation to call me Violet.

A new week has begun, and that means another date with my personal trainer, and my dietician.  Both of which went exceptionally well.

Despite a late start to the morning, I still had time to have my morning shake (so exciting..), take Mark to work, post a few letters, and then get to the gym, get changed, have my blood pressure taken, and still manage to fit in a 30 minute warm-up on the treadmill before my trainer arrived for our session.
Overzealous perhaps, but the more cardio I fit in before my session starts the more supervised weights I can fit in when my trainer does arrive.  Otherwise it’s more cardio with her and less weights.  I like the more cardio with me, then more weights with her option.

Remember…  I’m a man on a mission, a mission to lose weight and get fit, and so far, so good.

It’s starting to pay off too.  I’ve set myself  a personal reward of a “deep tissue massage” (NOT that sort either!!!  dirty minded reader!), for when I lose 10kg (22lbs).  Hopefully that won’t take too long, as since I started this program 2 weeks ago, I’ve already lost 6.4kg (14lbs).

How exciting!  I’ve even had to punch two new holes in my belt.

So for those of you who actually get to see me in person from time to time, you’ll be seeing less of me quite literally.  Woohoo!

That’s it from me though, I’m going to grab myself some more sleep before bowling this evening.

Have fun.

Lots of Love

Violet…  *laugh*

Sweet serenity

Sunday afternoon and it’s nearly 4pm and I’m still not dressed.  Lazy!

We did have a pretty late night though.  We were awake until nearly 2.30am this morning catching up on all the Torchwood and Dr Who episodes that we’ve missed since we moved here.  They were certainly worth the wait.  I loved them.

Other than that, the weekend has been pretty quiet.  Yesterday was a non-gym day, and I’m thinking today might be a non-gym day too.  Although I am considering going later this evening.  But we’ll see about that later on.

Not much else to report, we had an hours bowling / practice yesterday, in which I managed to bowl two “Turkeys” (3 strikes in a row), not in the same game though, but I’m certainly getting the hang of my new ball.

So that’s it, that’s as exciting as life is right now.

Hope you’re all having fun yourselves.

Boxed In

Another weekend is here already, and fortunately this time the sun is out.  Shame really, and that’s almost a direct contradiction to what I’d normally say, but this time it’s a shame because the tasks I had in mind for the day are all inside ones.

Namely, unpacking more boxes.  Relocating from one country to another is absolute hell, and while I’m still slightly rethinking the wisdom of unpacking everything fully in a rented property, I’m really getting a bit sick of finding that things I need are still packed.  Namely books, stationery etc.

It’s a bit of a treasure hunt finding anything, the removalists who packed everything had either a mean streak, or a very warped definition of what items actually are.

I’ve just finished going through a box marked “stationery” only to find a kitchen spatula, several boxes of cuff-links, a couple of wallets (unfortunately all empty), postcards, computer equipment, dog leads, essentially everything EXCEPT stationery.  So the search will continue.

To be honest, it’s moments like these that I wish I was still back in my home in Bacchus Marsh.  Oh well, no point thinking about that, someone else lives there now.

I think I’ll just break the day up with lots of outdoor breaks on the decking out in the sun, and have the sunroof in the car open when I go to the gym later today.

Ahh…  so much for the sun, in the time it took to write this small post, the sky has filled up with ominous grey clouds again.

Welcome to Seattle, where there are four seasons; Rain, More Rain, Even More Rain and Drizzle…

Brush with death…

Brush with the law…  Brush with death…  WTF is going on?!?

You’d think given I was pulled over yesterday by the police for a crime I didn’t commit (see yesterdays entry), that the police would at least also be out in full force looking for people that really are breaking the law.

Apparently not.  Although given how slack the upholding of the law appears to be here, I’m not too surprised, nor, if I’m to take it that little bit further, and with due consideration and respect for those affected by it, I’m also not surprised that this country has such a high number of shootings in schools, such as the Virginia Tech incident of last week.

Anyway, fortunately for me I’m feeling a little flat and tired today, so whereas I would normally accelerate quite rapidly when the traffic lights turn green, today I was a little “blah” I’ll get through the intersection when I’m good and ready.  I couldn’t have picked a better day.
No sooner had I entered the intersection than a Ford F250 truck came roaring through the intersection and through the red light.  The driver, the whole while had his head turned looking out his window across at a sports field.

It’s certainly pretty sobering to realise that had you just been a couple of seconds faster than you were that you would have been involved in a pretty horrendous accident.  At the speed the other car was traveling I dare say, and yes, I’m guessing, but, I would suggest that my car and I would probably have not survived the impact, especially given the offending vehicle was twice the size of mine.

It’s a damn good thing I’m not a violent person, nor am I allowed to carry a gun here or I probably would have taken aim.  That’s twice in a single week that I’ve nearly either been in, or witnessed an accident caused by drivers not paying attention.  The majority of which are talking on the phone while they drive one-handed.  Incidentally, Washington State has recently passed legislation (that’s not due to come into effect until next year) to make talking on the phone illegal.
However it’s a secondary offence, you actually have to be doing something wrong first before you can get into trouble for the phone as well.

BLOODY RIDICULOUS!  …and to think people are complaining that they need their phones, and they perform business from their cars.  For god’s sake, and the sake of those on the road with you GET HANDSFREE and BLOODY PAY ATTENTION!

Ok, rant over.  /drama

Have a good one!

Brush with the law

I had my first run in with the Sheriff last night.

My clean record has been sullied, I’m a criminal.  I was even getting ready to start banging my tin cup back and forth across the cell bars too.  Or at least mentally preparing a schedule for turning all the other inmates into my bitches.  One can just never be too prepared you know.

Getting back to the story.  I’d not long been home from the gym, showered, changed, and was back in the car on my way to pick Mark up from work, when everything went pear-shaped.

I’ve commented numerous times in the past how much I despise a large majority of the drivers here because they don’t use their turning signals, forcing myself and many others to attempt to psychically divine their intentions when turning, so of course when it comes to my own driving, I’m extra careful that I indicate my intentions.

So imagine my surprise, when just after I’ve had to pass a reversing car on the hill to our house (go figure, why go forward when you can create havoc for everyone else?!), put on my right turn indicator, stopped at the Stop sign, looked left, looked right, noted that there was a Police car coming from the left and that I had plenty of time to safely make the turn, so completed the turn.
A short distance down the road, I indicated my intentions to turn left, I had the right of way, there was no other traffic, I turned, and then noticed flashing blue and red lights in the rear-view mirror.

Initially I figured the police car was going to pass so moved to the right of the road, it didn’t, so I pulled over, put the cark in Park, turned the ignition off, and wound down the drivers side window and waited the arrival of “The Sheriff”.
To be quite honest I was a little concerned as to what I’d done to warrant this special attention, but figured it was best just to be nice, sit in the car and patiently await the nice officer.

On arrival at my window “The Sheriff” informed me that I had failed to Stop, and failed to use my turn-signals.  I was very polite, and said that wasn’t the case, that I had in fact used them, AND stopped and that he was incorrect.

He requested my license and registration, so I gave him both my licenses, my Australian one (figured I might as well make it blatantly obvious I wasn’t a local) and my Washington State license, and my car insurance card (oops, I got confused), he thanked me and asked for the registration papers, which I got from the glovebox, before he returned to his vehicle to order a pizza…  or perhaps check my record for felonies, likes/dislikes, relationship status, hobbies etc.  *laugh*
A couple of minutes passed during which I realised it was also nearly the end of the month…  Ahhh, time to build the quota of convictions/penalties for end of month.  Of course.

When he returned he advised me that this time he was only going to issue me with a warning and returned my papers.  I again, pointed out that I was confused as to what I was being warned for when in fact I had come to a complete stop, even describing the car I had passed, and just how far up the road his police cruiser was, and that in fact I had used my turning-signals.

Hmmm, which come to think of it…  I was turning right, from some distance in front of him, as he was approaching on my left…  He’d never have seen my turning signals anyway, least of all from a distance when I was also braking for the next turn and traffic, and the turning signals on my car, and quite a lot of others are red, therefore blending with the brake lights.  Anyway…

He then commented that it was actually the corner that I was turning out of that was hard to see, so he really wasn’t sure if I’d stopped or not, and that he’d also not seen my turning signals.  A hah!  I was right, quota time.  I could be wrong, but I suspect, given that most drivers here don’t use their signals, that he figured he could confuse me into accepting a fine.  Fortunately I didn’t get one.

He apologised, and wished me a great day.  I smiled and wished him one right back.

Phew!  That could have been messy.  Especially given the 10kg’s of contraband, hidden illegal aliens, and bodies I had stored in the glovebox underneath the registration papers…   Oh, for those of you who’ve not realised, that was sarcasm.  I’m a law-abiding citizen.  Well at least as long as I know I’m being watched.
Again… I’m kidding.

An interesting evening to say the least.  Guess it’s time to shelve my plans temporarily for scheduling “bitch conversions” in the local penitentiary.

Tootles!

Vicarious alcohol

It is done.  Yesterday afternoon on the way to pick up Mark from work, I dropped by another bowling alley to have my ball drilled, and to have the finger grips replaced.  It took 45 minutes, but after a little bit of effort, my ball is now, I believe, fit for regular use in a manner that won’t leave me bleeding.  Which of course makes me very happy.

Initially I was only ever going to have my name engraved on the ball, and that was mainly because so many people in our league have the same coloured ball.  In fact, even Mark does, although his ball is much lighter, and I doubt he could pick mine up, so there’s not much chance of confusion there.

I’ve mentioned previously that the ball is also scented.  Lemon-lime fragrance actually, so of course that immediately made everyone think of cocktails, instantly highlighting the budding alcoholics amongst us.  So it seemed only natural that I have “just add vodka” engraved on my ball.  Especially given that for many many years while out clubbing, I was rarely seen without a glass in my hand containing Vodka, lemon and lime.  Incidentally…  Green and Gold are colours usually associated with Australia, so I’m being patriotic too!

Of course, now, I’m not drinking, not until at least December, so my bowling ball is my vicarious foray into the world of cocktails.

Well, must dash, it’s nearly 9am, another grey and wet day here, and it’s time to take Mark to work, and fit in another gym session somewhere during the day.  I’m hoping to go this morning and get it over and done with, but we’re waiting on a delivery.  …And you all know how that works…

“We’ll be there some time <insert day here>, no, we can’t give you an exact time, but make sure someone is home.”

There’s nothing like the convenience of knowing when someone or something is to arrive.  Not like I have a life.  Well I don’t really, outside of gym and bowling, but I do despise being trapped in my own home.

Have fun, wherever you are!

Blood sport

Who’d have ever thought bowling was a blood sport.  Not me, but I now stand corrected.

I’ve bowled, and I’ve bled.

I spent another morning in the gym this morning, but this time requested my trainer not blast my arms and shoulders like we’ve been doing recently, as I had a one hour bowling lesson to attend directly after.  Usually by the time I’m finished at the gym my arms are so tired they shake simply holding the steering wheel.

So today, instead of blasting my arms, we blasted my legs, glutes, abdominals.  So I was easily able to bowl today, even if my legs were pretty tired by the time I got round to it.  It’s cool though, I plan on having a sleep very shortly after this post is published.

Anyway, the gym is going well, I’m still working out how to budget my food groups and calories properly to stay within the dietician specified guidelines.  But that’s a small price to pay for having vegetables back.  Let’s just say I’m pretty happy, even if I have to stand in front of the fridge with scales in one hand and a calculator in the other.  *laugh*

Back to the bowling.  I’ve got my new ball, it’s been custom drilled to suit me, and noone else, unless of course you have the same sized hand as me…  and if you do, back off!  It’s my ball, I don’t want to share and have it all made ‘gungy’.  So with new ball in hand (bag actually) I headed straight from the gym to a 1 hour bowling lesson.

If you didn’t think you could work up a sweat bowling, you’re wrong.  You can, especially if you’re the only one bowling and you’re bowling one ball after another.

I actually even managed to score quite a lot more strikes than I have previously, and am starting to get the hang of how a weighted ball works (they can curve across the lane if bowled correctly).  One problem, my new finger tip insert broke free and slipped inside the ball, so when I bowled, a nice chunk of my finger flesh got caught between the ball and the finger grip resulting in a nice big blood blister, which of course happened early in the lesson, so by the time we were half way through I was starting to leave bloody fingerprints on my ball and wondering just how hard it’d be to bowl with a stump where my finger used to be.

Ok… slight exaggeration, but I do have a nice pair of matching blood blisters.  Ron, my coach and pro-shop operator was kind enough to take my ball away from me and go and re-seat the finger grips again, and adjust the thumb hole a smidgeon, which made all the difference, until of course the finger grip slipped again.  But it didn’t interfere too much with the lesson.

Besides… Ron introduced me to this fabulous product called “Skin Defense” which is much like a spray-on Band-Aid back in Australia, essentially it’s a paint-on protectant to seal and protect the blister from further wear.  It’s exceptionally effective.  Only one problem.  On broken skin, it STINGS LIKE A BITCH!
So the first 20 seconds while it dries, you grit your teeth and try to think pleasant thoughts.  Truth be told, I really wanted to let fly with every single piece of profanity that I usually save for when I’m driving.  So if you’ve been with me in the car…  You can imagine what my reaction was.

But it was all fun.  The fingergrips have also been reset.

I’m considering later on this evening having my ball engraved.  Mark has his name on his.  One could say it’s a “Marked” ball.  *boom boom*  I’m thinking of having my name, and / or “Just Add Vodka” engraved on mine.
Why “Just Add Vodka”?  Well, because, my ball smells like lemon and lime…  It seems only natural that vodka be included in the mix somewhere.

But that’s enough from me, I’m tired and hungry, so I’m going to mosey off and have some lunch and a nap.

Jamie and David…   Happy 10th Anniversary for yesterday!  It was great chatting to you both, and I promise, the card REALLY is, or will be tomorrow… in the mail.

… and…  a belated Happy Anzac Day to everyone back in Australia for yesterday, and all the Australians not at home but are in the same timezone as me, for today.

Cheers!

Not so much goin’ on…

Yet another grey day here in Seattle, thank the gods for my new sun therapy lamp, at least it’s not as dark as it could have been.

Bowling wasn’t too bad last night, it was however exceptionally quick, as last night was our BYE night, which means we didn’t have another team to play against.  So rather than take up to 3 hours like it has in the past, we were finished in just on an hour.  Nice and speedy, for a relatively early night home.

I got to christen my new lemon-lime scented ball, which was a bit of fun, as opposed to the balls I’ve been using, this one will curve if bowled correctly as opposed to bowling a straight line.  Looks cool, if only I knew how to make it do it EVERY time as opposed to occasionally.  But, I have some more lessons tomorrow.

That’s about it for the moment, aside from trying to get my computer back in order, file / scan all my photos and update my resume (again!), there’s not much else going on.

So I’m off to the gym, then back home to get back into it all.

Hooroo!

Success and a complete lack of Jazz Hands

There’s no sign of any “Spirit Fingers” either.

Today marks the start of the second week of my 32 week program, and the verdict is in.  Since last Monday, I’ve lost an astounding  4.6 (10.2lbs), which I’m pretty happy about.  In fact the belt that I bought only a few months back has now run out of holes, so I’m going to have to punch some new ones.

I’ve also met with the dietician again today, and I’m ecstatic to report that I now have vegetables and salad greens back in my life, in addition to the shakes, and servings of lean protein (fish/chicken/beef etc).  After a week of shakes and not much else, I couldn’t be happier.
In fact, I’ve just finished eating a huge salad with some grilled chicken.  Very tasty.

That all out of the way, I’ve been to the bowling alley and had my ball all drilled, plunged, plugged and customised to me.  I’m so excited, not only is it my first ever bowling ball, it also marks the end of my needing to use communal bowling balls.  *happy dance*

Moving on…

I was chatting to a friend last night who I met for the first time a couple of months ago after communicating via the Internet for nearly 9 years, and she told me something that I found to be absolutely hilarious, which I’ll share with you below, names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Friend:  so, yeah.. after you guys left, Angus and I were askin’ em how they liked you guys, etc etc…

Me:  hahaha, you were?  funny!

Friend:  and Jake said something about how you guys were cool, and he liked your accents and then he says but Mom, i thought you said they were gay…

Me:  ROFL – that’s funny

Friend:  and I said well… yeah… they are.. and he just didn’t understand… poor kid, all he knows is Will and Grace, and he doesn’t think Will’s gay, just Jack, so… LOL he was expecting something a little different I think

Me:  bwahahahaha  - jazz hands and high camp?

Friend:  I guess LOL, at least some flitting around….

Me:  bwahahaha that’s priceless and cute - I don’t flit, or do camp or jazz hands, sorry to disappoint

Friend:  ya know, I’ve tried ever since he first asked me what that word meant years ago, to explain to him that gay does not mean prancing little fairies in women’s clothes, but he never believed me… I think he gets it now LOL

Me:  hehehe, I burst his bubble did I?

Friend:  nah hell, i don’t think he was disappointed at all. they both really liked you guys.. I’m just hoping maybe they learned a little you know?
i hate the shit they pick up at school and it’s hard for me to un-teach it

Let me tell you, I’ve not laughed so hard in a long time, and just thinking about this conversation again got me to smiling.  The innocence of children.

It just further proves that perceptions can often be twisted through the media or via peers.  Fortunately though, I have a fantastic friend, who has two awesome children, who are lucky to have such an open and honest mother.

All it takes is education.

Have an awesome day!

Slasher films and Happy lamps

A strange combination I promise you.

I recently bought myself, what I call a “Happy Lamp”, it’s a light therapy lamp from The Indoor Sun Shoppe.  It seems that large numbers of people are negatively affected by the lack of sunlight in northern climates, which can and often does lead to depression, or S.A.D.  Seasonal Affected Depression.

Having lived in Australia all my life until relatively recently, I’d never heard of it before, let alone experienced it.

That’s changed though, the darkness of winter, and the prolonged grey days here have been gradually wearing me down, even the houses here are very limited when it comes to windows, so it seems that I’ve always got a light turned on somewhere just to be able to see what I’m doing.  No wonder I wear glasses now, and that’s only been since I’ve lived here.

But, I have a “happy lamp” now, it’s sitting on my desk shining sun like rays onto my face and into the corner of my eye (as directed).  I don’t want to kill anyone, so I guess it’s working.  Although Mark, regardless of where I live and how much sun I get, can still press my homicide button, with little, or no effort.

So the SunStation at a mere $237USD (I know!  Expensive, but it beats having to take drugs!!) is my saviour.  I’d still prefer to be experiencing real sunshine, but for the moment this will do.

Moving on…  We finally watched two of the NetFlix movies that have been sitting in the lounge room for nearly a full month; The Covenant, and Black Christmas.

My reviews will be very short…

The Covenant, not too bad, a sort of tired story that’s been done a thousand times, but it’s saved by the eye candy quotient, although even that’s pushing it.

Black Christmas…  Well let’s just say that I’m glad I missed it at the cinema’s during December.  It’s a Slasher film done in the old fashioned Slasher way, lots of gore and screaming with the obligatory naked girl in the shower scene, but otherwise the premise is pretty tired.
If you’re going to watch it, get a large group of friends, and everyone should share the cost of hiring it.  Or just “borrow” a copy off the Internet and delete it immediately after you watch it.

*laugh*

Ok, that’s me done for another day.  Cheerio!