Kill me now

Or at least bring me some mashed pain killers.   *laugh*

As always, my Monday morning started with a Personal Training session with my trainer; Aaron, the ingénue of all things athletic.

This morning, inline with yesterdays promise to myself that I was going to increase the intensity of my workouts in the lead up to the wedding I’m going to in March, I asked Aaron if we could step up the sessions.

Well, he heard my request, and being the overachiever that he is, thoroughly kicked my ass.  I’m so sore it’s hilarious.  Of course it’s a good sore, from being productive.  But all the same, if I sit in the same position for too long, say driving the car, when it comes time to moving again, I feel like I’m 900 years old.

Haha!  The results had better be worth the effort.

On the upside, I can now push my watch half way up my forearm, and it tends to slide around my wrist and hang upside down, so something’s working.

It’s all good.  I am going to go crawl off somewhere soft for the remainder of the evening.

Hooroo!

Carpet Cleaning Guru

I swear…  I should just start a company cleaning carpets.  It seems that’s all I’ve done for weeks.

Sick pets, dirty feet, soot from the fire place…

Or for those Aussies who remember the old Sard commercials… “blood, guts… grease from the rod!” *laugh*

When we moved into this house, because of the increase in carpeted areas, I made the executive decision to buy a steam carpet cleaner, and a semi-automated smaller unit for smaller areas.  I think they could almost be due for a trade-in or replacement.

I was apparently tempting fate by purchasing them, as they seem to have been in use full-time since the day they arrived.

I finally got the last of the pet issues sorted last night (stains, not health, although Mulder is coming along nicely! 🙂 ).  The new furniture arrived for the breakfast nook area without any problems.  Ikea even reappeared within 24 hours to replace the incorrect doors they’d given us with the correct ones.  Everything was going swimmingly.

That was until the courier for the doors walked grease into the house and straight on to a white rug.

Argh!

I’ve spent most of the afternoon trying to get it out.  At least now its shrunk from the size of what I guess was a size 13 running shoe, to half the size of my closed fist, and faded in colour from pitch black, to a pale, pale green.

It never ends.

That aside, I’m feeling heaps better again.  Checked in with the dietician today, and am down a further almost 10lbs or 5kgs.  Plateau has officially been breached.   Woohoo!

Outta here, I’ve got a date with Heidi Klum and “Project Wunway!”

Nite.

X-filed

I spent the morning at the gym again today.  No real shock there for anyone who knows me.  The day did start with a visit with my 20/20 Lifestyles Doctor to discuss my progress, followed by an hour of racquetball, then a workout, meeting with my dietician, and finally home.

When I got home from the gym today there was a message on the answering machine from the Vet asking me to call back for Mulder’s blood test results.

My blood instantly ran cold, and irrationally I convinced myself that if I didn’t call back, there’d be no bad news.  Silly really.  Of course I called back, only to get a slight reprieve, in that the Veterinarian was busy with patients and would call me back later.

While that obviously didn’t give me any information, realistically there’s nothing I could do but wait.

The call has since come in.  It’s not great news, but as far as bad news goes it could very definitely be worse.

It seems my little boy, has the beginnings of kidney failure.  Fortunately it’s been caught early, and while irreversible can be managed though a specialised diet.
Only there’s one catch.  He’s already on a specialised diet, and the Veterinarian is currently unable to answer my question as to wether the new diet will meet his existing needs while also supporting the ongoing health and function of his kidneys.  In her words “very good question, I’ll call the company and get back to you”…

This is going to make for some interesting juggling on my part.  Two cats, two diets, and never the twain shall meet.

Mulder who’s 12, is to have a low protein diet to maintain he’s health, while Oliver who’s nearly 3 still requires a diet higher in protein.

Poor little bugger, he’s already on antibiotics as of yesterday for a urinary tract infection…
He’s spent the entire afternoon so far curled up on my lap cuddling.  He’s not just a pet, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him happy and healthy for as long as I can, keeping his wellbeing and comfort as the priority.

I will say right here and now though, I am dreading the day (should it ever come) that I have to make any euthanasia decisions.  At least though pets have it as an option.

So it’s not quite the happiest day, but it most certainly could have been a lot worse.

Gotta go, there’s a kitty that needs more attention.

Cheers!

9 years… Today and Yesterday

This multiple time zone thing can really mess with your head if you let it.

As some of you may know, if you read yesterdays posting.  Mark and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary yesterday (or we would have had we been in Australia).
Since we’re not, and going by calendar date, it’s today.

So while we acknowledged it yesterday, I believe we’re going out for dinner for it tonight.  Should be fun.
Not that going out for dinner is anything different, or overly special, we do it pretty regularly.  Just because we can.

Moving on and speaking of old tired things.  Poor Mulder (cat) is not well.

He’s 12 years old now, and due to his age we ensure he gets a regular checkup and blood analysis done at the Vet.  He wasn’t quite due for his next visit yet, but overnight he was in a lot of toilet related discomfort involving a fair amount of pain and blood.  Poor kitty.  Fortunately afterwards he was ok and comfortable enough to cuddle up with his Dad (me) and go to sleep until morning.

So first chance of squeezing him into the Veterinary Surgery I whisked him off for a thorough checkup.  His results for his annual blood work (older cats are prone to many diseases including kidney failure, these tests are proactive to catch anything early) won’t be in for a couple of days.  But, we did discover the cause of his discomfort.
The poor lil bugger has a urinary tract infection.  He just wasn’t meant to have an easy life when it comes to his waterworks.  Fortunately though, with a daily dose of antibiotics for the next 2 weeks he’ll be back to his chipper old self.

Phew!  Now I just have to cross my fingers that his results all come back clear.  He and I have been together a lot longer than Mark and I have, and truth be told, I’m pretty sure I’d miss the cat more. 😉

Ok, best dash, it’s time to change and head back to the gym for a game of racquetball.  This week has been a good one so far, my weight is steadily declining again.  Yay!

Cheers!

Coming together finally

Tuesday is just about over, yet another day that flew past ridiculously quickly.

It started with a very welcomed sleep-in, before I hit the gym.  Not to work out this time, but to have some blood drawn for some lab work.  Essentially it’s a check to see how much my overall health has improved during the 20/20 Lifestyles program that I started back in early April of this year.

Post blood draw, it was a quick dash to the gym cafe to grab a breakfast shake to break the overnight fast or “breakfast”.  How’s that for educational? 😉

Then home and start trying to sort out the kitchen.  It’s not completed yet, but I’m getting there.  After all, I did have nearly AUD$2000 of Tupperware to sort through and to try and find storage for.  Don’t ask.  All I’ll say is that I stupidly sent Mark to a Tupperware party on his own…

…and if anyone tries to tell you that you can never have too much Tupperware, send them my way and I’ll slice, dice and store them in my surplus.

That’s about it.  It was sashimi for dinner, nice and filling and very healthy, and now I’m off to have coffee with a friend.

Oh, early next year I’m going to be in Edinburgh, London, Paris, Melbourne, Tokyo, Honolulu/Waikiki…  If you’re in any of those places (friends and family excepted as I plan on catching up with you anyway!!!) let me know, it’d be great to meet some of you.

Cheers, and have a good one!

Balancing act

The snow’s all gone, and it’s been raining for almost 2 days here now.  Shame really, I’d have preferred snow, and I know that there are other places in the world that need the rain more.

So much for the toboggan…  It’s going to live in the garage for a little while longer in the hope that we get more snow.

Being Monday, it was back to the gym first thing this morning for a session with my Personal Trainer.

That was at 8.30am this morning, and finished at 9.30am.  It’s now a little after 3.30pm and I’m still sore.  *laugh*

It’s a good sore though, the discomfort you feel after a good workout, and this was certainly one of my more intense ones.

As a warm up I ran 2 miles inside on the treadmill (remember, it’s raining here), did some stretches, then moved off to do some balance and core work.

Today’s session involved my using 3 basketball sized medicine balls.  One for each hand, and the third for my feet, to do balanced pushups over the floor.  Surprisingly I was able to do them.

Then, it was on to balancing on two of the same balls, one under each foot, standing with knees slightly bent, no holding on and slowly doing squats before standing up straight again.

I think I’ve missed my calling in a Circus somewhere, as surprisingly that was pretty easy as well.

Easy then, not so easy now, for the next hour afterwards my limbs were shaking.  But a hot shower and something to eat fixed that.

The weight has started coming off again, and with the increased intensity and challenges of my new workouts, it’s going to be interesting to see what the results will be.

All I know is that while the workouts are fun, and challenging, I’m interested and enjoying myself.

Who knew that would ever be the case! 😉

Cheerio!

Week ending

It’s been yet another busy day here today, and I’m astounded at how fast the week has flown by.  It seems it was only Monday yesterday, but here it is, Friday evening already.

Gym this morning, followed by an hour of racquetball, shower, and 50 pushups (we were doing 100 at the gym, but ran out of time), and I’m exhausted.

But, not enough that Mark and I couldn’t go out shopping this evening.  Primarily because we had a $20 voucher that had to be used this evening before it expired.  Of course the nature of the beast is that you go into a store with $20 to spend, and come out having spent a whole lot more.  But, they were awesome bargains. *laugh*

We’ve purchased truly ugly Christmas decorations, which are to be gifts for our friends Richard and Jason.  Each year we try and give each other a truly ugly decoration that MUST be displayed on the tree.  Last years was a doozy, this years stands to be in the same class.  😉

Oh, and we found an Asian Fusion restaurant called Yama in Bellevue which was pretty fabulous for dinner.  If you get the chance you NEED to go there.

But, now we’re home, the pets are all inside, and it’s time to unwind.

Hooroo!

Black Friday Sales

Much like the Post-Christmas Sales in Australia, there are Black Friday Sales here in the US after Thanksgiving.  Of course, much like in Australia, there are Sales and there are “sales”.

If you read the advertising properly, or if you shop around, you’ll generally find that a large majority of what is on offer, really isn’t any cheaper, it’s just being marketed a different way.

Take for instance the Playstation 3.  Currently when you buy it you get 5 free Blue-ray disks and a wireless controller.  I know, because we got one a few weeks ago.  But with the sales, it’s being re-advertised in a big bold manner stating the “bonus controller and 5 disks”.  Like wow.  There’s no surprise there for most people.  But I’m sure there are many who get suckered in by it.

There are bargains, you just have to know where to look.

I digress…  Just for a change.

One sale that Mark and I were aware of, and one that appealed to us greatly was the Lego Store sale.  It was a pot-luck style sale.  You select your items at normal price, then when you’re about to pay, you randomly select a scratch card, which reveals the discount you can receive on your purchase.  Either 10, 20 or 50% off the purchase price.

Good deal!

Of course we only got 10%, but it’s still a bargain.  Also because we purchased over a certain amount we also earned quite a substantial amount of Store Cash Credit, and further loyalty points towards future purchases.

Hell!  It’s Lego, we’ll be back.

We’re now in the proud possession of the following:

Lego Mindstorms
Lego Eiffel Tower
Lego Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jet
Lego assorted Batman Fridge Magnets

How much fun!

Oh, it’s not all been sales though, we both worked out at the gym this morning with our trainer.  I broke my old record of 1 mile constant running (no idea what the conversion is, but it’s a distance that until recently I’d probably have driven), breaking the 3 mile point, then after an epic shopping session, played an hour of racquetball.

Now it’s time to rest.  At least I know that whatever I ate yesterday has now been burnt off.  The status quo has been reinstated.

Nite! 🙂

Happy Friday!

Well to those of you reading who are in the appropriate time zone…

It’s a little after midday at the moment, I’ve been to the gym, and pulled a hamstring muscle, which I can promise you is not a pleasant experience.  The most disappointing part was I didn’t do it during the actual workout, I did it afterwards when I bent over to pick up my water bottle.  It just spasmed.  Ouch ouch ouch!

So now I can pair my injured hamstring with my sore neck from Wednesday.  Must be the old age creeping up on me.  Creeping… Nar it jumped off the ropes and dropped it’s elbow on me.

Other than that, I’m fine!  Phase 2 of the gym program is nearly over, and I’ve enrolled for Phase 3.  Initially I wasn’t going to, as I feel I now have the tools to continue making all the positive changes in my life to continue losing weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  But, I also discovered it was the most economical way to ensure I have a Personal Trainer twice a week for 12 weeks, and a Dietician every 2 weeks for the same period.  So not only is it good for me, but it’s economical.  Two of my favourite things.

So there you have it.  I’m going to go rest for a little while, then go attack the pile of boxes again.

Hooroo and have an awesome weekend!

The gym will never be the same

Speaking of which, I’m not long home from this morning’s workout with my trainer; Aaron, and I’m suffering from a severe case of “jelly arm”.  The workout we did today was awesome, but right now, even typing is causing my arm muscles to tremble.  Pretty funny really.
All together now… Awwww.  *laugh*
It’s good though, the results speak for themselves, and while we’re on the results track, the weight is coming off again.  *HAPPY DANCE*

Moving on…

Having been sucked into the Facebook community a few months ago, I’ve managed to re-establish contact with quite a few friends, and have been inundated with fun little videos, sheep throwing’s, cyber cocktails etc.
Most recently though (well not necessarily that recent, but sometimes I don’t check too often), my friend Luke shared a video with me, of what appears to be a music video.

You’ll have to see it for yourself.  You’ll need speakers to enjoy it properly.

All I will say on the matter though, is if this class is ever offered at the gym, I’ll be one of the first to sign up for it.  The treadmill has never looked so enticing.

Enjoy!

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI]