Pretend Blogger!!

Ashleigh proudly showing off her braces.

The halloween party. The girls look great.

A winery we dropped into on our Mildura weekend. Would be nice to do a houseboat holiday and stop at places like this along the way.

The pool area where we stayed.

The entrance to one of the best thai restaurants I have been to in downtown Mildura.

Ashleigh modelling a dress I got for $15 on Bridge Road on my Melbourne weekend. You can really see why she needed braces in this photo. Those eye teeth have nowhere to go.

Harbourtown area in Melbourne.

Our disappointing Japanese Tepanyaki dinner. Company was unreal though.

Jarryd with my neices bearded dragon lizard.

I love reading blogs. I read blogs every day and used to comment on so many blogs, but life has got in the way. I am spending so much time on the computer just with facebook, the blog has taken a back seat.

I started this blog mainly as a diary of events that the kids can look back on hopefully one day. It's turned into a bit of a weight loss saga at times but the one thing I can truly thank the blog for is the wonderful friends I have made. I hate writing. I love reading well written blogs and wish I could write like that but the truth is that it is a chore to blog. I will never shut down my blog but will use it for photos and milestones and interesting things that happen in our lives.

My marriage has been a disaster for the last 2 years but we went to Mildura a couple of weeks ago and made a fresh start. The past is the past. No bringing up of old crap that we are never going to agree on. My part is less computer time which I totally get.

We have a house guest at the moment that has been here for 6 weeks. It's not an ideal situation but he is a good friend and he is down on his luck losing his marriage and business in the last few years. Not good timing for our marriage recovery having someone extra in the house but he would be on the street if we didn't take him in. He has been a great help around the house and has looked after the kids a few times. He has 2 boys that he has here occasionally. But this house is so crowded and I am over it.

Ashleigh got her braces on a last Monday and is coping really well. She had to have 4 teeth out prior and it was horrible. But she looks so pretty. Jarryd is heading down the same path. He has a baby tooth that should be down but isn't and the dentist is concerned something is stopping it. So she did xrays and we find out next appointment in January.

Weight wise, I am the same as I was 6 months ago. I guess I should feel good that I haven't blown out over winter which always happens. I am still 20 kgs down but it is slowly creeping back on so the journey continues.

Nikki has turned 13 and I am officially the mummy of a teenager :( She had a halloween party that got a bit big as you can see from the photos. Lesson learnt for Nikki. They were all pretty well behaved though except for the kid that decided it would be fun to throw food around a wet area. She won't be coming back - LOL!!

I'll try and do at least photo posts more often I promise.

Neglected Blog

Yes I know, I am very overdue for an update. Thanks for the reminder Penny.

I do get very bored with this blog sometimes. I am not a natural writer so just can't be bothered sometimes. I really admire people like Chris H who updates her blog several times a day. I'm more a reader than a writer - LOL!!

I'm up and down with my weight loss again. I have stayed the same, lost and gained over the past 3 weeks but have still managed to stay just above the total of 25 kgs lost. I know girly issues have a lot to do with this but I also have had trouble staying on track so no excuses here. I am taking it one day at a time. Tracking has been perfect the last 2 days so we'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm not stressing about it.

Nothing hugely exciting happening here. Nikki's netball has finished for the winter season so that has freed up Saturday afternoons. Jarryd is still playing soccer until mid September and then we are sport free on the weekends.

We have had our share of winter sickness. Jarryd is my worry at the moment. He picked up a virus a couple of weeks ago which triggered his asthma. We went to the doctor and he told us to get straight on to the puffers. Flexotide - a preventer and ventolin 3 times a day. His main symptom was a dry cough which got better but over the last couple of days has got bad again. He was hospitalised when he was 4 with asthma but has been ok since then. No real flare ups so we took him off the preventer after discussions with the doctor. He is well and truly back on it and I think he will be every winter now. We'll see how he goes during spring and summer. I am well and truly over winter now. Roll on summer and some hot weather. My poor baby is coughing in his sleep as I type. Might be a trip back to the doctor tomorrow I think.

Steve and I are going through a rough patch again. He went away for work last week and I did miss him. Since his shed has been rebuilt, I just don't see him. He has his computer set up out there with his music library and I know he is still trying to set things up but I seem to be getting the blame for me not making the effort to spend time with him. Well hello, I know where I would rather be on a freezing cold night. In the lounge in front of the tv with the heater going. He is very welcome to come and join me but the thought doesn't enter his head. Ashleigh made a comment the other night which hit home. She said she liked it better when daddy didn't have a shed because he was inside most of the time with us. Most nights he doesn't even come in to say goodnight to the kids. Very sad really.

I know people don't change and he has never been one to communicate his feelings but I really thought after the counselling, he would make more of an effort to talk to me. Just isn't happening. I find more things out through friends than I do from him. He just tells me, when pushed, that he thinks nothing has changed in our lives. Well I say the same, nothing has changed on his part either. We are still living seperate lives in the same house with the occasional intimate moments. Very occasional.

I am reaching that time in my life when things are probably starting to change. The dreaded menopause. My periods are becoming more irregular. This month it came a week early and was really heavy. Steve just doesn't get what is going on with me. I guess not too many men do understand womans issues. Sex is the last thing I feel like sometimes. I know this is also a reason my weight is up and down so much.

I got home last night from my meeting and Steve asked how I went. I told him I had gained this week and his response was that I was very bad and made a big deal of how he wasn't allowed to have a cigarette so why was I allowed to gain weight. He gave up smoking nearly 12 months ago. I was very hurt by his comments and just don't understand why he has to compare my weight loss with his giving up cigarettes.

Ok enough about that. I don't think I will ever understand how his minds works and he probably thinks the same about me - LOL!!

I finally did my tax online and we are going to get a nice big return. We were thinking of going to Thailand in March but that may have to be postponed to later next year. So we will definitely have a family holiday possibly during the Christmas school holidays. I so need a holiday. It's been nearly 2 years since our big Queensland holiday. I would love to go back up to the Whitsundays so we shall see what is on offer.

I have a couple of mini breaks coming up. A trip to Melbourne with the girls in mid September and a 3 days break in Mildura in mid October that Steve booked ages ago with one of those travel auctions on TV. I am actually looking forward to it. Probably just what we need. A weekend away just the 2 of us.

OK I won't promise when I will be back. But I do promise to post some photos next time. I just went and got the camera to see if there were any decent ones to upload and there is nothing. So I will take the camera with me in the next few weeks and take some interesting photos.

Til next time..........

25 Kgs Gone Forever

Yes I did it. I needed 700g at weigh in tonight to make it 25 kgs lost. I lost 2.1 kgs taking the total to 26.4 kgs lost since the end of October.

I wasn't sure how I would go this week. I have been sick since Friday and haven't done any exercise since last Wednesday so I was pleasantly surprised. Our wonderful weigher Don suggested I probably shocked my body because I had gone from exercising 5 times a week to nothing. All good I say, but I am keen to get back on the treadmill. Wow didn't think I would ever say that!!

I have been totally blown away by the support I have received this time around. I have met some wonderful people on the weight watchers forums who have kept me going in the very hard times. Jo and Sammy have lost huge numbers and have become very valued friends in real life. Also I am going to the most supportive meeting I have ever been to. There are 3 other friends I go to the meeting with every week. Tania, Karen and Sandy. You girls are especially inspiring. Tonight we lost over 5 kgs between the 4 of us. So to everyone who has commented here, on facebook and the ww forums, I thankyou so much.

We have been bitten by the winter bugs in our house. Nikki started coughing last Monday. Just a dry, annoying cough. I got her to the doctor on Thursday and he said it was a virus and gave her some puffers to take to help with the cough. They have really helped and by today the coughing has totally stopped. She kindly passed it on to me, but because I'm asthmatic, it has gone to my chest and I had to get some antibiotics which I started last night. I'm feeling a lot better today. But now Steve is coughing and blowing his nose and dying of the 'man flu'

The kids went back to school yesterday so all the sport has started up again. Nikki has only 3 weeks of her competition netball left. They won't make the finals this year. It seems like a really short season but she did miss the first 5 or so weeks with her ankle injury.

So now that I have lost 25 kgs I am looking forward to getting to the next milestone of 30 kgs and that magic 99.9 kg mark. Only 6 kgs to go!!

Up, Down, Up, Down

That is the story of my last 4 weeks. The scales are ultimately moving in the right direction. I lost 1.8 kgs this week but that was after a 1.3 kg gain last week. Very frustrating!! I am 700g off of losing 25 kgs and I want to get there so badly.

I look back on this journey. I lost 20 kgs in 5 months and it has taken me 4 months to lose the last 4.3 kgs. Having said that, I am now at 108 kgs which is the lowest I have been in a very long time.

My mission for the next month is to string 4 losses together in a row. I am so sick of yoyoing. I have no-one to blame but myself for this. I really don't know why I lose the plot but I am sure I am not alone. I do know that I get my best results when I track HONESTLY!! This is something I intend to put a lot more effort into.

I look at how far I have come in the last 9 months and do feel proud. I was on the treadmill tonight before I got picked up for weight watchers and my friend Karen was very surprised at how much I have improved in that area. We were regular walking partners in summer and she commented there was no way I was able to exercise like that 6 months ago. I do enjoy the treadmill because I push myself to levels higher than I would if I was walking along the beach.

I have joined a challenge on the weight watchers website to lose 15 kgs by christmas. It is 23 weeks until christmas. How scary is that. If I lose 15 kgs that will take my total weight loss to 40 kgs. I think it is totally doable and I am going to do it. My main motivation is Steve's works christmas party. It would be 12 months since I have seen a lot of these people and I want to blow them away!!

Onto other news. We have know for a while that Ashleigh will have to have braces but now the time has come. Her 2 eye teeth haven't come down because they have nowhere to go. She has to have 4 double teeth taken out asap and then a month after that the braces go on. She is very scared to have these teeth out and so am I. They will do 2 at a time in the chair so she will need to be very brave. Originally we thought she would have to have a top and bottom plate for 12 months prior to all this to make room but after having full dental xrays done, it won't be necessary so I guess that is one thing on our side. It will be a long, expensive process as many of you probably know from experience. My poor baby!!

My nephew did indeed have swine flu but has recovered and didn't pass it around to anyone thank goodness. We thought my mum might have been next because she was in contact with him 2 days before he got sick, but 2 weeks on, she is fine. It has been a dreadful winter for sickness. Nikki has been coughing for the last few days. No other symptoms, just a very annoying dry cough.

We are well into the second week of the school holidays and as usual they have flown. Nikki and Jarryd were supposed to go to Steve's mums for the first week but we got a phone call the day we were due to take them over to say Steve's uncle had collapsed at home and wasn't expected to last the night. He has very advanced cancer. Nearly 2 weeks later, he is still lingering. Existing on morphine. The doctors are amazed he is still going. Just awful for everyone around him. They don't let animals suffer like this!!! I don't get it.

Steve is off on a motorbike rally this weekend. Why he is going camping in the middle of winter is beyond me. Couldn't think of anything worse. I just hope the rain lets up so they don't get too drenched. We have had a lot of rain here in Adelaide in the last few weeks. Very badly needed but still not enough to break the drought.

I'll be back next week to let you know if I've cracked the 25 kgs. You better believe I will be giving it my best shot.

A Great Result

Well after 2 gains, I decided to put everything into it this week. I tracked everything and the result...................

2.7 kgs loss taking the total to 23.8 kgs gone.

I made the decision to commit 100% and it paid off. Now I just have to back it up next week.

One of the big things that has helped the hunger this week is home made vege soup. I made a big pot full of vegetables and added 1 cup of barley to bulk it up. I'm really enjoying it in this very cold weather. Nothing like a big cup of steaming hot soup to warm you up.

Speaking of the weather. It has been shocking here in Adelaide in the last 2 days. Yesterday we had some very strong winds and lots of rain. We so need the rain but I hate it when it is so windy. We live in a beachside suburb and copped a lot of damage about 10 mins from here. One street had about 15 concrete power lines flattened. We lost our power for most of yesterday. It did go on in time to watched 'Packed to the Rafters' last night. Just as well!!

When I got home from work this afternoon, it was out again but soon found out it was just us. Because they still haven't finished the work on the shed, the filter for the pool is still out in the weather. Because of all the rain, the temporary power cord from the pergola to the filter had filled with water and tripped the safety switch. Luckily it was easy fixed when Steve got home.

My 5 year old nephew is waiting on tests results to see if he has swine flu. He started school this term and a child at his school was diagnosed last week after an overseas holiday. My nephew is a very active child and was falling asleep at school yesterday and had very high temps. So him and my sister are in quarantine. Luckily we haven't seen them for a couple of weeks although my mum has been in contact with them on the weekend. So we will be keeping away for a week or so. Test results should be back tomorrow.

School finishes here for the term on Friday. Where did this term go?? Nikki and Jarryd are heading over to Stansbury to stay with Steve's parents for the first week. I wish this year would slow down because my big girl will be finishing year 7 at the end of this year which means she is off to high school next year. That makes me very sad. I can still clearly remember her first day at school and now she is only 6 months away from finishing her primary years.

I'm really looking forward to the holidays though. All the sport stops for a couple of weeks which means no Saturday games and no practices during the week. Bliss!!

Have a great week everyone.

On Track

Why do the old habbits creep back in without me even realising it?

I find myself reaching for that bag of chips without thinking, or biscuits. without giving it a second thought it is in my mouth. I want this so badly but yet again I am doing things to sabotage myself getting further in this journey. I have been stuck around the same weight for 3 months now and I have no-one to blame but myself.

I had an interesting weigh in this week. I wore my sandshoes instead of my usual thongs. It is getting a bit cold to be wearing thongs at night in the middle of winter. I truly thought I could weigh in socks. I knew I couldn't weigh barefoot but thought socks were ok. Wrong!! I had to weigh in my sandshoes and I gained 600g which was recorded in my book. After the weigh in, I asked if I could weigh my sandshoes and guess what?? They weighed 600g. So technically I stayed the same this week.

I have made a pact with myself that I will track every day. I have been struggling with wanting to eat chocolate or sweet things at night. Janice from the ww forums suggested meringue nests with ww chocolate mousse and it really did the trick.

So I am very determined to have a loss this week. I have still lost just over 20 kgs but I look at what could have been in the last few months and to be honest it really depresses me. I know everyone goes through a slump in their journeys and when this happens I tend to give up. Not this time. I have made so many new and wonderful friends this time around and the support is amazing so there is no giving up.

Not much happening this weekend, thank goodness. The usual soccer and netball on Saturday but nothing planned for Sunday at this stage. It will be nice to have a quiet day and hopefully catch up on some cooking. With the help of Nikki and Ashleigh, we have been baking cakes and biscuits for their lunch boxes. I have also been making vegetable soup which I am loving and it is good to take to work on these cold days.

I'll be back after weigh in on Tuesday night to update hopefully with a nice loss. I am certainly due for one.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Slackest Blogger Award Goes to ME!!!

A few photos of our last few weeks...............

We made a cake tonight. A honeycomb vanilla cake. Might have the smallest sliver.


Ashleigh got her ears pierced today with some birthday money. She was braver than me!!

Our backyard is still a building site. Progress is being made though.

Not the best photo because of the flash, but I got my wedding and engagement rings remodeled with the Krudd money. I had lost diamonds in two rings and my engagement ring needed a lot of work because all the claws were breaking. It is 17 years old now!! Also I've had them joined together because I was so sick of them all spinning around my finger in different directions. I've also gone down 2 ring sizes.

Ashleigh's 11th birthday party.

This was our present to Ashleigh. A portable dvd player. A huge hit!!

Nikki's new bunkbed I got on ebay for $230. A brand new double futon. She has wanted a double bed for ages and now she also has her own room. Jarryd has to share with Ashleigh for a while until we can one day afford to build on another bedroom.

My weight loss is still going well. Although this month I have managed to gain 900g, then lose 2.7 kgs, then gain 1.2 kgs in 3 weeks. Nothing I am really doing different except a few comfort foods are creeping in with the colder weather. I made a pact with myself to challenge myself on the treadmill 5 nights a week which I have done for 2 weeks now. I have decided to get the EA Active wii game. I have been tossing up between that and the wii fit for a few weeks now so if anyone has an opinion either way, I would love to hear it.

Our backyard is finally starting to take some shape again 3 months after the fire. The shed is up and we have extended it a bit so Steve and his brother are concreting the extra bit tomorrow. Because they didn't rip up the old slab and it is not perfect, they have to come back and paint the concrete and then Steve can start moving things in. Wonder how long it will take to become cluttered again. NEVER I HOPE!!!!!

I must admit that I am again struggling with blogging. I just can't be bothered updating because I guess most people who read keep up with my life on facebook. Maybe I need to make it into more of a blog about my weight loss at the moment to keep me accountable and to motivate me to keep going. My main goal at the moment is to get my weight under 100 kgs. I have 10.6 kgs to go. I haven't been under 100 kgs for god knows how long!! I saw a friend today who I hadn't seen for a while and she told me she can really see the difference now. I know that is what is more important than what the scales say.

So I will be back sooner rather than later.