Well...

[Guest guest]

Ok.. well I have spent $1,200 on a personal trainer so far. I have been at it 3 x a week for almost 6 weeks and walk on the other days.

Drum Roll Please... I have lost a grand total of 0.00 and I have lost in cm's a total of about 2. So what gives?? I have given up wine Sunday - Thursday, and basically, I have cut my wine intake by half I would say in the six week period. I have cut out chips, cheezles and my beloved brie. I have given up pate also.

So what will I give up now??? I am obviously not meant to be under 86 kilos -because for love or money, I cannot get below it. I don't eat any delicious foods anymore, I eat the occasional bit of chocolate... so what now?

[Guest guest]

Hi Mel,

I have only left the house once as well, this morning when I went and got Guitar Hero 3 for half-price at Kmart and put it away for my son for his birthday and a half-price suitcase for my daughter, who is going to travel to Holland in Feb to be an au-pair, and then on to visit her father in LA! She wanted me to get her one from Myer for $299 reduced to $184.........but I got one that was reduced from $129.99 down to $64.99! She is such a bloody snob that if she finds out where its come from, she will go ballistic, but it ticks all the boxes - decent wheels and handle, lightweight, stable etc. Then I did a bit of grocery shopping but it has to be said that Coles wasnt that great when it came to after Christmas bargains, apart from the seafood - I bought salmon steaks and rainbow trout fillets, yum!

Well, I have had a rollercoaster time of it in the past week, it has to be said. We got back from our 3 week Tassie tour late on the 17th and a couple of days later my ex-husband rang me, from Scotland, out of the blue. We hadnt had contact since 3-4 years ago, when he told me he had a girlfriend. I was devastated because I was secretly hoping that we might be able to work out the logistics of being from other sides of the world, somehow, which is why we were separated for 4 years before finally divorcing 6 years ago. Anyway, he had broken up with the girlfriend about a year before, was thinking about me and so we started to chat. He has been on the phone every day since. Its like the intervening years have never happened - we have slipped easily back into the friendship (and a bit of flirting!) that we had before. You see, he was my penfriend for 7 years before we met so we have a lot of history, in fact, I would say that he is the person who knows me the best, including my parents who dont always "get" me. He is talking about coming over in maybe August 09 and the two of us going to NZ together. He has never been and I havent been to the South Island yet. Anyway.......lots and lots of emotional stuff which I had suppressed, which is all coming out now. Of course, I WOULD have to pick this time to try and come off my anti-depressants and 3 days after starting to cut down my dose, I completely lost the plot (yesterday) and so I have gone back to my usual dose until I figure out how to come off it a little more gently. The withdrawal symptoms were horrendous!

Then there was the Christmas which wasnt a Christmas..........every year my daughter comes to stay and despite all my efforts to make a nice lunch with all the trimmings and trying to get her what I think she will like, she is cranky with what she gets about 5 mins after opening it, and always nicks off to her friends house straight after lunch and stays there for the rest of the day/night. It doesnt help that her friend's mum used to be her pastoral care teacher at school and is all the things I am not - slim, has a lovely home, married, a lot more money than me, etc. It always makes me feel completely inadequate, like I am not good enough. Anyway, this year I suggested she spend it with my parents, since, for once, they were going to be home on Christmas Day and because she is off to Europe next year. And yeah, she had a run-in with my mother - glad I didnt have to put up with the drama! It made for a very quiet Christmas Day though and Dom and I ended up visiting a friend, , who is a single dad, and I knew that they were having a quiet one too. and I ended up polishing off a bottle of wine that I had bought at Pipers Brook (what a great vineyard that is - gorgeous setting!), and he let me ring a friend in the UK on his Skype, which was very exciting!

BTW, Dom and I drove around the whole State of Tasmania (unbelievably windy roads and all!), had exactly 2 days of completely clear weather the entire time and absolutely loved it! The scenery is breathtaking, lots and lots of wildlife (I loved all the echidnas wandering around in the wild, and the fairy penguins just doing their thing was the best) the people are so friendly and easy-going and the food was excellent. We discovered a little "hole in the wall" Chinese place which had the BEST food I have ever tasted! And it was Bandster friendly They were SO busy (one of those all you can eat things) that when they brought out each metal container of food, people just descended upon it so each of us only got a little bit of each dish at a time, so it was about as fresh as you could get. Launceston's best kept secret, I think! Of course, lots of lovely salmon too I will be back to Tassie, for sure.

Unfortunately, we got home from our trip, my house looked like a tip and it was hard to be back, really. I had been working SO hard with my studies, followed by my Grad Ball and then off to Tassie, that in reality I hadnt done much around the house in months, apart from the basics. So I have spent most of the past week trying to tackle some stuff around here, which is downright depressing although it does feel nice when it all starts to come together. BTW, I have a job offer, a post-grad position at OzCare, doing community nursing (yes, I am now a bone fide registered nurse!) and it feels really good, since they (ozcare) only offered ONE post-grad position here and there are many of my fellow nursing students who either couldnt get one or have had to relocate to take one up. One of my friends is moving from Roma to Ipswich to take up hers, leaving her husband behind in Roma. Another friend is moving from Toowoomba to Kingaroy but will be spending the first 6 months in Ipswich - she broke up with her boyfriend because of it too. I tried to get a job without having the post-grad but soon discovered that no-one wants to know until you get that vital first year under your belt. I did get in touch with a medical centre to get a job as a practice nurse, same stuff again, didnt want to take me on because I am too inexperienced, but he did tell me that if I get a post-grad (which is normally 4 days per week) that he would put me on for the other day. I e-mailed him to let him know but that I had been offered full-time at least for the first 5 months and he said I may not want to work for him after I get a taste for community nursing! Nice to be wanted though, isnt it? He is wrong though, practice nursing comes a close second for me to community nursing and one of my mates worked in his medical centre for one of her clinicals and raved about it, so I will SO be there!

Anyway, I have just woken up from a nap (OK, a 5 hour nap), the events of the past few days had taken their toll. So, Mel, and Rob too.........this time of the year isnt that great for a few of us but just think, 2009 is just around the corner, full of possibilities I love New Years for that reason, I can put the past year to rest and just start with a clean slate )

Take care Mel, and everyone else too, I would have gone mad this past year without SydBand's support!

hugs

Mon

PS My hairdresser isnt back until the 17th of January - I will hardly be able to see through the hair over my face by then, not to mention the foils which are growing out at a rapid rate........by the time I see her I will be looking very chav indeed

From: SydBand [mailto:SydBand ] On Behalf Of MelSent: Saturday, 27 December 2008 5:02 PMTo: SydBand Subject: Well...

Well... I have left the house only once a day since Christmas Eve... to get the grey out of my hair and a cut. Whopptie Do! The house looks like a bomb has hit it, still can't get my act together long enough to do anything about it, I keep saying maybe tomorrow. Usually takes the tree down, but she is off to Port tomorrow for a week or so, so I have to do it, another chore I hate with a passion ~ Bugger!

Rob, special times of the year are always going to be hard when you can't see the ones you love. I have the opposite problem, no one wants to do Christmas in my family since my sister died 20 years ago. You would think that my parents would be able to do it for my kids and my brothers kids sake, but no... we have to do it before Christmas, then Christmas Day is an aboslutely nothing day. My kids bugger off to their mates or girlfriends and Craig and myself sit and watch tv... boring. Oh well... Christmas is a difficult time for many many people. None of us are immune to issues and dramas. You are doing the right thing, send a gift and a text, but never expect a response. This is a grown man for goodness sake, he should know bloody better in my opinion. Obviously since leaving your home he has lost his good manners.

Leeanne... I hope your day was ok on your own whilst your daughter worked... I did read on the mad message board you had a good shopping day yesterday... excellent!!! All sounded lovely what you purchased.

Everyone else, hope your Christmas and Boxing Days were lovely... I am enjoying watching the cricket and doing nothing much at all. Very looking forward to heading to Port on the 1st and the beach... and then of course the big countdown then until Craig moves to Singapore in the first few weeks of February, and then I will be sharing my time between home and there ... God help this house when I am up there. All scary stuff it is... but looking forward to being half way to Harrods and Rome - that is how I am looking at it.

Mel