So Close!!

I took Ashleigh and Jarryd on a walk with a fellow ww friend and her kids on Saturday morning and stopped at one of the many beach playgrounds we go to.

I am very happy to report a 1.6 kg loss this week taking the total now to 19.4 kgs. So close to 20 kgs gone forever. I guess I went against all the rules this week and didn't eat enough so I am very happy to have lost that much.

I have felt quite depressed about losing our dog. She was so much a part of our family and it's just so hard to get used to not having her around. When I am depressed or anxious about things I just don't feel like eating. I have been having 3 meals a day but just haven't felt hungry for much else. Oh well, like I said, I have stopped counting points anyway so I'll just keep going with what I am feeling and see where it takes me.

I've been tagged by Carlton and Jo, so I'll have a think about it and post it at a later date.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Bittersweet Weekend

Our night out on Saturday night with the ww girls

Saturday was truly one of the worst days of our lives. We had to have our german shepherd Bonnie put to sleep. She was nearly 15 years old and we had been expecting something like this to happen but it's still very hard to deal with. I came home Friday night after picking Ashleigh up from girls guides and she was dragging her back legs along the concrete. We knew straight away it was bad. Steve was out on a boys night so Nikki sat with her for hours. She didn't seem to be in pain or wasn't showing it. When Steve got home, he too sat with her for a few hours. I guess we all knew this would be goodbye. Saturday morning her breathing wasn't too good so we said our goodbyes and Steve took her to the vet. We knew she wouldn't come home.

Nikki was so upset. We all were but Nikki took it the hardest and cried most of the day. Nothing I could do but comfort her. Steve came back from the vet and broke down. I've never seen him like that. She was our first baby. We got her just after we got married 14 years ago. It's the little things that are so hard like her not greeting us when we drive in the roller door. Or she always sat out by the back door waiting for someone to come outside. And last night we had leftovers which I always put in Bonnie's bowl.

It is so very hard. She was one of our family!! RIP Bonnie. You will be very missed.

Onto a brighter note. We had a get together of some of the Adelaide weight watchers. We formed a facebook group with ladies who have or had over 30 kgs to lose. Derry, Sharon and Sonya are all very close or at goal and looked unreal. The others, Joanne, Jo, Tania, Kazz and myself are at various different stages of our journeys and we all looked hot too - LOL!!!

We had dinner at a thai restaurant and I think everyone really enjoyed their meals. Then onto Cibos for a coffee and a few of us headed to the casino. I had to catch a train home but a few of the others partied on and had a great night by all accounts. Thanks girls. It was just what I needed to take my mind off of things and I really enjoyed meeting the girls I hadn't met before. We'll definitely do it again soon.

Yesterday we had a family lunch for Jarryd's 8th birthday. It was a lovely day and Steve's parents and sister and kids drove over from the Yorke Peninsular for the day. My mum, grandma, sister, brother and SIL and their kids were there too so there were quite a few of us. Some of the kids went in the pool but I think it was pretty cold. It was a great day.

Then last night, Tania came over for our usual Sunday 5km walk. She brought her 6 month old daughter Mikayla with her and she was just delightful. Lots of smiles and chatting along the way. Thanks Tania. It was lovely to walk and chat about life.

This morning I caught up with a friend and her kids and we went for a walk in the sunshine and then came back to the Largs kiosk for coffee and got the kids some hot chips for lunch. It is a holiday here in Adelaide today for Adelaide Cup.

So like I said, it sure has been bittersweet this weekend!!

Gotta Love Long Weekends

It's Adelaide cup weekend here. And Jarryd's birthday weekend. We have lots of family and a few friends here on Sunday so I have some cooking to do tomorrow. I will post some photos next post.

I had a 1.2 kg loss this week taking the total to 17.8 kgs. It was more than I hoped for considering I am on antibiotics for a stye in my eye. I am loving the freedom of not tracking. Well I am tracking but it's already done each day because I am following a broad menu plan that is up on my fridge. Basically 3 meals a day and fruit for snacks during the day and some sweeter things at night to combat the night munchies.

I had to go back to the doctor this afternoon to get my eye checked which is improving. I have to use this thick cream for 2 more weeks and then go back again. He checked my blood pressure and I was a bit shocked to see it had gone up a bit. 140/90. I don't know much about blood pressure because I've never been on the high side so not sure if it's anything to worry about. He asked if I was stressed. After coming home and thinking about it the answer is YES!!

I am dealing with a very head strong 12 year old who thinks she is 18 and can do what she wants and tells me often that she doesn't have any rights. I need to learn how to deal with this because at the moment I just blow up. I need to learn to ignore her because it's normal. I was the same. Always had to have the last say. And it is effecting my stress levels. I am getting crankier if someone drives slow in front of me and can feel myself getting stressed so much more these days. Any ideas for stress management????

I am off for a girls night tomorrow night with a group of Adelaide wwer's that are on various stages of our journeys. We are going to a thai restaurant for dinner and then we're going to hit the casino. I must remember the camera or Jo will kill me. So there will be photos.

Talking of photos. Lots have asked for progress photos. Do you know I still don't see a lot of difference. When you have 60 kgs to lose - 17.8 kgs is not alot. Yes that's right. I don't think I've admitted here that I have 60 kgs to lose.

I took progress photos at 10 kgs lost and I will do the same for 20 kgs and post them. But you might be lucky enough to see some from the girls night or Jarryd's party. If I can't avoid the camera that is - LOL!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

After my gain last week, I went back to basics and drew up a weekly menu planner taking into account lots of filling foods. I stuck to it to the letter and was rewarded with a 1.7 kg loss this week. Woohoo!!!! The total now is 16.6 kgs in 17 weeks.

Looking back on my gain last week, I truly believe it to be fluid. Last Thursday, weigh in day, I ate very little, drank about 3 or 4 cups of coffee and hardly drank any water. I hardly went to the loo and looking back I know that was the problem. Martine left a message on my last post that was along the lines of............. It's sometimes good to have a gain so you can go back over things and reaccess. That's exactly what I did and was duly rewarded.

So I am one very happy girl here tonight.

Very busy weekend coming up. Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment to check out a stye like growth on the inside of one of my eyelids. It's on the bottom of my left eye. Of course I have been thinking horrible thoughts. That's me so I'm going to get it looked at to put my mind at ease. Then I'm off to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner with a couple of girlfriends.

Saturday I have a dentist appointment to get a long overdue filling. And then I'm going to the Port V Geelong NAB cup game. Is it still called the NAB cup - LOL!!!

Sunday will be flat out. I'm catching up with another friend for lunch and then Nikki has netball trials in the afternoon. Then my Sunday walk with Tania and Jo. Hopefully Tania will make it this week. We missed you last week.

I can't believe it is only 2 weeks until Jarryd's birthday. My baby boy is going to be 8 :(
Where did those 8 years go? We were going to have a party on the Saturday but he came home last night with an invitation for another party that day so it might have to be next weekend instead. OMG that only gives me a week to organize something!! It can't be nearly March.

Have a fantastic week bloggers and thanks so much for all your support about my weight loss. I have made so many wonderful friends on this journey. True friends!!!

First Unexplained Gain

Andrew McLeod was great signing all the kids things and so patient. He even got handed a newborn baby to hold and have his photo taken - LOL
This was taken at the 20/20 cricket game for the bushfire appeal.

This is our gorgeous sunset the other night and skinny Jo at the kiosk after our walk.

I think I spoke too soon last week about 15.6 kgs gone forever!!

I put on 700g this week for absolutely no reason. I haven't done anything different and it isn't TTOM so I will move on. Nothing I can do about it now. Thanks Jo for making me realise that it's not all about the scales. I can see so many differences now in my body and my fitness so it's all good really. Just disappointing.

I have revisited my tracker because my leader advised me to change things around a bit. I might be having too much salt and in the last 2 days not enough water so I'm probably retaining fluid. Water isn't an issue most of the time but I do have days where I know I haven't had enough. Also I need to eat more fruit. Although I am staying within points, I can see I am eating too many water iceblocks and also too many cruskits.

Anyway I am not dwelling on the gain. Next week will be a loss for sure.

Steve surprised me on Valentines day with a gorgeous gold bracelet. Things are going very well with us. We have both worked on the things that bothers us and we are both much happier.

I have put a couple of photos on of the fundraiser we went to on Tuesday night. The Adelaide Crows and Port Power AFL teams had a 20/20 cricket game to raise money for the bushfire appeal. It was a great night and the kids got lots of players autographs. They raised a lot of money and it feels good to be able to donate some money.

Have a great weekend everyone.

A Little Loss

Well after losing 4 kgs in the last 3 weeks, I was fully expecting a small loss this week because of TTOM. I lost 300g which I am very happy with. Taking the grand total to 15.6 kgs gone forever.

Nothing much interesting to report this week. Just the usual work and school routine. The kids have all settled very well into school and they are all happy with their teachers. Ashleigh, who was the subject of bullying last year is happier than ever. One of the girls who bullyed her is in her class again and Ashleigh has come home on many occasions saying how nice she is to her now. Not sure what has turned her around but I'm not complaining. I am very happy with the way the school handled this because splitting up the 2 girls this year has worked out very well for us.

I, like everyone else has been devistated by the fires in Victoria. My best friend in Melbourne knows a few families that have lost loved ones and some of the stories are very distressing. The only good thing to come out of all this is the way Australians are pulling together and helping these people who have been left with nothing. It is going to be ongoing for months and years to come but I know they will be looked after and not forgotten.

Just a short post because I am about to walk and get the kids from school so I'd better get going.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone and a lovely Valentines Day for those who celebrate the one they love. Steve might even get lucky - hahahaha!!!!

I've got my 10%

Sunset on Australia Day at Semaphore. The beginning of the heatwave

My new hair. I had it coloured last night and am very happy with the result. And yes I know my computer desk needs tidying - LOL!!!!

I am a very happy girl tonight. I lost 2 kgs taking the total in 14 weeks to 15.3 kgs and I got my 10%. I am loving this journey and the wonderful friends I am making so I really want to thank each and every one of you for your support.

I truly believe it has finally sunk in that I don't need all the crap I used to eat and I'm not craving or looking for the chips, chocolate and lollies anymore. I'm enjoying trying new, healthy food and I'm loving the way I am feeling.

We had an interesting week. For those that don't know, Ashleigh had an accident in the pool on Sunday night. She accidently got hit with a plastic water pistol and the bleeding from her nose wouldn't stop. To make matters worse, the blood was coming out of her tear duct which I have never seen before and it really freaked me out. I called an ambulance but because of the heatwave in Adelaide, they took over 40 minutes and it had finally stopped so I cancelled it. The next night, she woke up at 1.30am and the bleeding was worse so I called the ambulance again. Luckily they were only about 10 mins away and advised us to go to the hospital to get it checked on case it was broken. Luckily that was ruled out and it hasn't bled since but it was very scary.

The weather has cooled down a little. After 7 or 8 days of over 35 degs with most of those days over 40, the last couple of days have been around 33. Bliss!!! Although tomorrow is going to be 43 again. I'm over it!!!!

The kids have settled back into school and life is a blur of school, work, sport, homework and normal household duties but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love this busy time in my life.

Steve and I are getting on so much better. He is communicating better and life is good. He even surprised me by winning one of those travel auctions to Mildura which will be fun. Not sure when we will take it though, maybe later in the year in Spring.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Weigh In

Just a quickie to let you know I lost another 1 kg last night taking the total to 13.3 kgs lost in 13 weeks. Very happy with that because I know I am retaining fluid with this disgusting hot weather.

I guess you would have to live on Mars if you didn't know Adelaide is having a record breaking heatwave. It's day 4 of 40+ temperatures. Wednesday got to 45.6 deg and it was just disgusting. It was like a sauna outside. We are expecting a cool change next week of 39 deg!! Up until last night's 7 day forecast there is just no relief.

So our pool is getting a big workout. Thank god for a pool in this weather. Steve is always complaining about the maintenance he has to do on it but when you look at the fun we've all had in it this week, it sure makes it all worth it.

I haven't walked since Monday which I am missing. This weather really takes it out of me and I just have no energy by the time I get home from work. Plus most nights have still been 40 deg at 9pm so there is no way I'm walking in that. I have been trying to do some laps of the pool but it's hard when there are so many people in the pool all the time. Oh well, I'm not too worried. It will cool down eventually.

So needless to say, all we will be doing this weekend is staying at home in the air conditioning and pool. I just hope we can see a change come through by next weekend.

Happy Australia Day

Ashleigh's pavlova dessert. Looks so good but I didn't even crave it.

We saw so many pelicans.

Ashleigh looking for crabs.

I hope everyone is having a lovely day off for Australia Day. We've had an awesome weekend.

Went to pick up the kids from Stansbury and had a great couple of days away. It was so good to see Ashleigh and Jarryd after a week with nana and pa. Steve's mum suggested we go to the pub for tea without the kids but 2 volunteered to come with us. We walked along the beach to the pub and it was so nice. Pelicans, albatros and lots of seagulls made the trip very enjoyable. I love living and holidaying so close to the beach. I am truly blessed.

I got stuck into the sparkling rose and Steve and I ended up a little drunk. God knows how - LOL!! Made for a very funny walk home. I should mention here that Steve's Aunty took the kids back to Steve's mums for us in the meantime.

And even better we came home with so much garfish that Steve's brother caught.

Tania came to get me last night and as we had organized a walk along the beach. We both had a surprise when Jo turned up as well. Good old facebook network. We were just going to do jetty to jetty which is 3 kms but Jo pushed us further to do the 5 km walk I'm training for. Now 5 kms might not seem much to some of you but hey I wasn't walking at all 3 months ago. It was so nice to have such great company on a gorgeous night. After we had a coffee at our local beach cafe and we were talking so much, we had no idea it was nearly 10pm. Thanks so much girls. I really look forward to making this a regular event.

So today I'm having a lazy one. Got rid of 2 kids but gained 1 and they are in the pool. Adelaide is in for a big heat wave me thinks. 41 for the next 3 days and then high 30's for the forseeable future. Thank god for the pool and the new air conditioning in the car.

Have a wonderful Australia Day everyone. I'm so glad I live in this wonderful country.

Slack Blogger

Thought I should take an updated photo of me. Like most overweight people, I shy away from cameras but like someone pointed out - WHY!!

Photos don't lie. This is how other people see me. So in this photo I see a slimmer face. When I work out how to put photos on the side of my blog, I will put a disgusting before photo and then I can add my progress photos.

So talking about progress, I lost 1 kg this week taking the total to 12.3 kgs. Very happy with that. I have upped the exercise in preparation for a fun walk I am doing in Melbourne with SamH. I have about 2-1/2 months so be able to walk 5 kms without stopping. I have done this distance but always stop 1/2 way for a coffee. Don't think I can do this on a fun walk - LOL

As I mentioned in the last post, Steve and I had marriage counselling last week. Initially I was disappointed he still can't see my side of things but after having dinner out that night with some friends, I decided to make the effort to try and do what he wants. Like going to bed together to talk instead of him going to bed and me sitting up watching TV or being on the computer. Must say, we are communicating much better and this week has been a good week for both of us. I know I am expecting too much for my blokes bloke of a husband to change completely but he has definitely made an effort. He has even come walking with me twice this week which is something he didn't do before. So we shall see how things progress, but I am feeling a lot more positive about things. I also talked to him again about yelling at the kids so we shall see how that goes when all 3 are home together.

Ashleigh and Jarryd have been at Steve's mum and dads this week and we are going over to pick them up tomorrow. Back Sunday in time to walk with Tania and then Monday I am going to walk 5 kms with another friend and see how long it takes me. That night there will be fireworks at our local beach for Australia Day. Then the kids are back to school on Monday.

Also tomorrow we are having our car airconditioning fixed. It needs a whole new condenser which is going to cost about $500. Bugger, more expense but I'm not complaining about this one because we are expecting a week of very high temps next week. I think it will be up to 40 on Wednesday.

I want to say to every one of you who reads my blog or comments on facebook that I couldn't do this weight loss journey without you. I have so many people I look to for inspiration and motivation and I feel that I am winning this battle because of you. Please leave me a comment if you visit my blog. I love reading blogs and love getting comments on mine.

Have a fantastic long weekend everyone.

Weigh in Day

Well the scales are still heading in the right direction. I lost exactly the same as last week - 900g taking the total now to 11.3 kgs. I started fast start yesterday so it will be interesting to see what the scales say next Thursday.

I'm also still very much on track with drinking 3 litres of water a day and have even got all the girls in the office motivated with the ww principles. I'm trying to walk 4 times a week and I'm really enjoying my walk to the beach to see the sunsets. I read on another blog about a website called MapMyRun.com. I googled it and have worked out the walks I do. I am managing about 3 kms at a time. The other night I walked from Grange Jetty to Henley Jetty with a friend. It felt a lot longer than my normal jetty to jetty walk I do from my local jetty and I was totally buggered when we finished. When I tracked it, it was 5 kms!! No wonder I was stuffed!!

All good though because another wonderful person I have met through the ww forums - Sam (her blog link is in my side bar) has asked me if I would like to do a fundraising walk with her when I am in Melbourne in a couple of months. It is 5.1 kms I think. So I definitely need to do some more of those 5 km jetty walks before then.

I can't believe next week is the last week of the school holidays. Ashleigh and Jarryd are heading over to Stansbury to stay with Nana and Pa next week so it will be a very quiet house next week. Just Nikki, Steve and I.

Speaking of Steve. We have our counselling session tomorrow afternoon and I am feeling strangely nervous. I really wonder what we will get out of it. Nothing has changed despite me sitting him down and spelling it out a month ago. I'll let you know how we get on.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Busy Sunday

We had a very productive day today. It was a glorious day here in Adelaide and we were up and out of the house by 10am. Mind you Steve left at 6.30am to play golf. Anyway I had organized to meet a friend at our local beach kiosk for a coffee this morning and I stood her up last week because I totally forgot we had arranged to meet. How bad is that?? I've never done that before. I blame old age!!

Ashleigh and Jarryd rode their bikes and I walked. I checked my mobile before I left and there was a message to say my friend couldn't meet us because her son was sick with an ear infection. We still went and I really enjoyed the walk in the sunshine. It used to be a 30 minute walk a few months ago but we got down there in 20 minutes today. Had a coffee and the kids had some chips for an early lunch. I had 5 chips and I tracked them - LOL!!

Then we had to drive to pick up Nikki from Port Wakefield. Half way point between Adelaide and Stansbury where she had been all week.

On the way up there I noticed a market garden shop and we dropped in on the way back. I spent $20 and came home with so much fruit, veg and even a 5 kg bag of spuds. Well worth the effort.

Jarryd has been missing Nikki so much. He told me Ashleigh's no fun because she doesn't fight back. She's the quiet, passive one. And Nikki and Jarryd are always tormenting each other. Well I kid not, within 5 mins of coming in the back door, Jarryd had sooked off to his room because of Nikki. Our peace has been shattered. It was so quiet without her.

I have been 100% on track so far this week. One thing that has been letting me down big time is drinking water. I was so busy at work last week, hours went past and I realised I hadn't even drunk one bottle of water. So this is day 2 of my water challenge. I challenged myself to drink 3 litres a day and so far, so good.

Back to work tomorrow but at least we have a few more coming back from holidays so hopefully the pressure will be off a bit.

Have a great week bloggers.

Scales are Heading Down Again

I have just finished week 10 of weight watchers and this week I lost 900g taking the total to 10.4 kgs. Woohoo I finally made it to 10 kgs lost. I have been dancing around that figure for 2 weeks now. Christmas certainly didn't help.

I had a lightbulb moment this week. About a month ago I bought a couple of work shirts which I hadn't worn yet because I hadn't been at work. Just plain button up shirts. I buy them at a factory outlet and they don't size them by number, they size them by M, L, XL, etc. I bought XXL which I really wouldn't know what the equavalent number is. When I put one on on Monday morning, it was like a potato sack. It looked ridiculous and it was swimming on me. I took them back today and got XL. So although I haven't noticed a huge difference in my journey so far, I realise that is a victory. I have gone down a size. I really don't want to buy too many new clothes at the moment for obvious reasons.

So my first week back at work has been crazy. Like a lot of places at this time of year we are on skeleton staff. There are only 3 of us there instead of the usual 10. We can't keep up. There have been days where I haven't even had lunch because I am the only one in the office. Oh well, I only work 9-1 tomorrow and then we have a few more coming back next week.

Nikki has been in Stansbury all week by herself staying with her Nana and Pa (Steve's mum and dad) I don't think she wants to come home and I don't blame her. She has been swimming and kneeboarding for the first time. Apparently she was a pro and didn't fall off at all. She'll be back on Sunday and then next weekend we head back so Ashleigh and Jarryd can have a week over there. When they come back on the Australia Day long weekend, it will be the start of the new school year.

Steve and I finally have a counselling date. Next Friday the 16th. I am looking forward to it and will be writing down a list of points to bring up so I don't get sidetracked. Wonder what we will get out of it.

Well I'm off to update my weight watcher tracker and head to bed. It's been a long week.

Have a great weekend everyone.

400g Gain Over Christmas :(

Had a glorious beach day while we were away. I love the beach. Very rarely have holidays away from the water.

Steve's mum and dad bought the kids their table tennis table and Jarryd got a Ben 10 bike from Santa.

The only photo I have from Ashleigh's dancing concert. This outfit was for the Grease Lightning finale.

Well I bit the bullet and weighed in this morning. I gained 400g which is what I lost last week so back to pre christmas weight.

I'm not even disappointed. I enjoyed christmas and I haven't gone out of control. There were a couple of days where I couldn't stop eating the chocolate that was lying around but it's outa sight now and I don't even think about it.

It just goes to show I truly don't have any willpower. If tempting foods aren't around, I don't really think that much about them but have them where I can see them and they wear me down - LOL!!!

So New Years eve tomorrow night!! How did that happen??

I'm not making a new years resolution this year because I never stick to them. We have nothing planned which is fine. Last year it was 40 deg and we had so many people over it was crazy. This year it's going to be 24 ish. Our local beach has fireworks so that's where we will go. I think I partied too much over christmas so I really don't mind staying home this year. But you never know, it's still 36 hours away. Anything could happen.

We all got very spoilt on xmas day. Nikki got a ripstick and Ashleigh and Jarryd got bikes.

Steve was in charge of my present this year. I had no idea. I got a sandwich press and some outdoor solar hanging lights. I would have preferred jewellary - LOL!!!!!

So it's all over for another year. Back into healthy eating and exercise. Thanks to everyone for your motivation and support through this blog and the ww forums. I am feeling more positive about my weight loss than I have in years.

Have a fantastic new year's eve whatever you decide to do. See you in 2009

Merry Christmas

Just popped in to let you know I lost 400g today taking the total to 9.9 kgs!!

Bugger just missed the 10 kg mark but I will do that next week.

I am very happy with 400g gone. I have had a few days drinking this week and although I didn't go over my points, I haven't eaten enough food because I've counted a lot of alcohol points. Never mind, all the parties are finished until new years eve. I'm not drinking tomorrow because I might have to drive to Stansbury which is 2 hours from Adelaide.

We are going away until Sunday. Steve has to go back to work on Monday. It will be a wonderful, relaxing break with Steve's family. They live in a beautiful country coastal town and I love going over there. We just don't seem to get over there often enough.

I wish everyone a very special christmas with family and friends. Enjoy the holiday whatever you do.

Another Good Week

I'm happy to report I lost 1.6 kgs this week taking the total to 9.5 kgs in 7 weeks.

Again I was shocked by the loss especially since I had a huge night last Saturday and drank far too much. I had been very careful during the day and didn't use too many points and I think I drank more than I ate on Saturday point wise - LOL!!!

The exercise has dwindled a little this week. When the kids were at school, I was in a very good routine that I would walk and pick them up at least 3 times a week. Now they are on holidays that routine has gone so I need to make sure I am still walking. The kids are getting bikes from Father Christmas and Steve bought a bike recently so I will definitely be investing in one early next year. I haven't been on a bike for about 30 years so that will be a laugh!!

I am ready for christmas. I just need to get one more present for my next door neighbour who always spoils the kids rotton. What do you get a 26 year old kid??? And she is still a kid at heart. Last year she bought all 3 of my kids a nintendo ds game each. She's very naughty. So I really need to put my thinking cap on and think of something special for her.

Ashleigh's budgie has had another 2 babies. They are still in the nest so that makes 5 babies altogether. The 1st 2 died, but the 3rd one survived and he is fully grown now. There's lots of chirping going on in the nesting box so we'll see how these 2 go. After they come out we are going to take the nesting box away. Sky (the mummy bird) needs a rest - LOL!!

I work a 4 hour shift tomorrow, 5-1/2 hours on Monday and then we breakup at lunch time on Tuesday. Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait. Even though I only have about 10 days off, it's a break and I need a break.

If I don't get back here before next Thursday, I wish everyone a very special christmas. I hope you all have a lovely day with family and friends.

2 Weeks to Go

First things first.

I lost 1.2 kgs this week taking the total to 7.9 kgs in 6 weeks.

I am so happy with tonight's loss. My scales are really playing up at home and I totally thought I hadn't lost anything this week. I am going to try very hard not to use my home scales. It does my head in.

I have finished all my christmas shopping and all the presents are wrapped and under the tree. I have not written one card though. Just can't be bothered. How bad is that? And the funny thing is that we have only received 1 card so far. I think everyone is in denial!!

I bought something off of ebay for my sister to give the kids and after 2 weeks it seems it has gone missing in the post. Luckily I insured it so I will get my money back but what a pain in the bum. It's a buzz game and buzzers for the PS2 and the bundle is around $100 new in the shops. I got this one for $40 so I doubt I will get another one so cheap.

School finishes here tomorrow and I have mixed feelings. I am happy the routine will stop for 6 weeks but it means when they go back next year my first born will be in grade 7 and I'm not ready to accept that yet - LOL!! They all got their reports yesterday and because the teachers have been involved in industrial action for a lot of this year they decided not to write any report summarys of the year in their reports. How bad is that?? A report card with ticks and nothing else. It's so impersonal and I think it's very bad on the teachers parts. I agree with what they are asking for but not writing end of year reports is absurd. They didn't have an end of year concert either for the 1st time in 8 years for us if you include kindy events. It doesn't feel right.

They also got their class placements and I was floored when Ashleigh came home and told me she is in the same class as the kid that has been bullying her all year. After discussing it with the principal today, we have decided to keep her there for the time being. There were 2 bullys and they have been seperated so hopefully that will make a difference. But I do agree that Ashleigh needs to learn how to stand up for herself so I am going to make this problem known to the new teacher and the school counsellor as soon as they go back to school next year.

She is actually feeling very positive about next year which is a good thing.

I'm counting the days until work finishes. 7.5 working days to go and then I am off until 5th January. It's not much but I am so looking forward to having a break from work and doing nothing.

Have a great weekend everyone.

A Little Loss

I lost 600g this week taking the total to 6.7 kgs in 5 weeks.

I was a little surprised I only lost 600g this week because I have been very focussed and have not gone over my points in the 5 weeks I've been on this journey.

The only thing I noticed over the last couple of days is feeling very bloated and because TTOM is next Tuesday, I should be grateful that I had a loss this week. In fact this time last month I only lost 300g so I think that's going to be the pattern every 4 weeks.

I have my work christmas show this Saturday night and traditionally it has been a huge night of eating and drinking. We are going to a dinner and show package so there is 5 hours of drinking. I really think I will try and pace myself but I'm going to save lots of points so I can enjoy without feeling guilty.

I am planning on finishing my christmas shopping on Saturday morning. I'll get over to the shops when they open and shop til I finish. There is no way I want to go anywhere near the shops in the last couple of weeks before christmas apart from doing food shopping. I don't have too much else to do so hopefully it won't take me too long.

Ashleigh had her dancing end of year break up last night and came home with a lovely trophy. She did say towards the end of the dancing year that she didn't want to do it again next year which was fine by me. But after 4 weeks off, she is already missing it and she's saying she might do it again next year. Bugger!!!!! I was really looking forward to having a break.

We've had a traumatic couple of weeks with Ashleigh. She has had a couple of girls bullying her all year. Nothing too serious, niggling her and putting her down. I have tried to get her to stand up to them but she's just not that sort of kid. If it was Nikki there wouldn't be a problem but Ashleigh doesn't want to rock the boat.

Well on Tuesday night she came home and told me one of these girls had threatened to bash her up if she told me about them harassing her. Well, I did something I should have done months ago. I was on the phone to the school that quick, Ashleigh didn't have time to think about it. It was addressed very quickly and the girls were all brought together. Of course they denied it. But they have left Ashleigh alone for the last 2 days. Thank goodness there is only 1 week left of school. I have been assured they will not be in the same class next year.

We as a family have never had to address bullying. I can't believe how bitchy some girls are. From telling Ashleigh what she should and shouldn't be wearing to telling her how slow and crap she is at sports. She is picked on because she is too nice and wouldn't hurt a fly. I really do worry about the future for her because she just won't stand up for herself and she certainly would never tell a teacher what's been going on for fear of upsetting the girls who have been bullying her.

I feel very sad when she tells me what they do to her. I just want to wrap her in cotton wool!!!

Sunny (for now) Saturday

These are the photos that I took of our duck pond visit. The earlier photos are from Ashleigh's camera.

Jarryd in Steve's bike leathers!!

The girls are holding another blogger Tania's baby girl Mikayla.

How old is she now Tania? It goes to quick. And you can fill me in on how old she was in these photos.

Our afternoon in Stirling in the Adelaide Hills. Such a pretty town.

Jarryd and Ashleigh are having afternoon tea at a bakery.

It took me a while to download these photos. We are saving all our photos, so I will post some more archive photos later. It's so much fun to look back on the kid's early years.

I have 2 extra kids here today so I'm about to take them to the beach for a walk. I wonder how many will come home wet again??

Ashleigh played her last cricket game of the year this morning. Can't say I will miss the early mornings.

I had coffee with a blogger I met through the weight watchers boards. Joanne has lost over 30 kgs and is 1/2 way through her journey. I feel like I had a free counselling session because she was so inspirational. Thanks so much Jo, I had a great afternoon. We'll do it again.

We did take a photo but you'll have to visit her blog to see it. I hate it of course but I'll have another one taken next time we are together and see how far I have come.

And if anyone know how to link to another blog (so I could have linked Jo's and Tania's) please let me know.

I am definitely feeling fitter. I have gone from the couch potato stage to the starting to enjoy walking in the sunshine stage. Still slow compared to others but it will build up slowly.

Having said that, I am off for that walk.

Look What I Found in the Archives..................

I found some of these old photos of the kids

I can't believe Nikki is now 12, Ashleigh is now 10 and Jarryd is now 7.

Where did that time go?????

Nikki's 1st netball game. She was 5 or 6.

This is a better photo of my hibiscus. It is just stunning but the flowers only last on the plant about 3 days.

I am very happy to report I lost 900g tonight taking the total to 6.1 kgs in 4 weeks. I'm very happy with that.

I've been doing some christmas shopping on ebay and picking up some bargains. I got Nikki's christmas present that was in the Target catalogue last week for $100 on special for $60. Can't say what it is in case she gets to read this - LOL!!

Ashleigh's budgie has finally come out of the nesting box but we have discovered that it has a problem with one of it's legs. Instead of going under the bird, it is out to the side and after doing some investigation on the internet, it's called splayed legs. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it now so it is going to be a special needs budgie. If we had caught it while it was still in the nesting box, we could have tried tying it's little legs together and it could have corrected it. But because the bird is now nearly fully grown, it won't fix itself now. Ashleigh was so upset but she has realised that the baby will adapt and is already climbing the sides of the cage. It probably won't be able to sit on the perches like other budgies but she has already held it lots of times and it is becoming quite tame.

Can you believe the naughty mummy and daddy have been at it again and the mummy is sitting on 3 eggs again!!! We might have to seperate them if this keeps happening - LOL!!