I had the massage & it was so good. The reason I have been having so much pain & discomfort is because I have torn some muscles. This has probably been caused by my back-pack. I knew this but didn't want to really know this.....
What a funny world this is. I just got a call from another boss asking me to do a buddy shift with a young girl who has a chromosone disorder that mimics Autism. This shift is for respite & is a 7.5 hour shift once a month. They had asked me once before but I was going to be away in Victoria when they needed me so that got someone else who hasn't worked out. I think this will be challenging in a different way. Keeping up may be the challenge. She lashes out at other children apparently & they need someone "who is a strong mother figure" to keep her under some control. I'm not bothered or nervous about this.
I mentioned to this boss that I would go back to the other client if she decides not to smoke inside & she said she would mention that to her. It's a weather thing at the moment.
Having the massage today I was so tense. It took me ages to relax. She's almost as good as a physchiatrist though. She used to be a nurse & described graphically the care that's involved working with the aged.
This going with the flow is a little like white-water rafting at the moment.There's a bit too much turbulence for my liking.
I have a very large pot of Pho Bo ( a Vietnamese beef soup) going at the moment & it smells beautiful. I have a beautiful recipe for it.
We had a very wild hail storm a couple of hours ago & it looked like it had snowed. I rugged up as soon as I got hope & stoked the fire & I'm feeling like a nanna nap right now. Massages do that to me. Imight just have one I think, cheers, cate zzzzzzzzzzzz

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Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

Didn't get that nap. I got another call about work. This time it was from someone else but about the woman with the brain tumour. This person was so excited about me taking on the job that she wanted to just go over it all & make sure that I was ok with everything. She actually was able to reassure me that I would be fine. It also does not include cooking which was a great relief! The client is lovely apparently. I now feel much more confident & happy about it. It's a shame that it's not more hours but at least i'll feel useful.
It looks like I may now be catching up with my nephew & family at Vic market, rather than Melbourne zoo which I will enjoy more. Mum doesn't think Melb zoo is a good idea so who am I to argue with my mother? My nephew's wife suggested Vic market. I love Vic market. Now I have to ring my sister back & see if she can cope with it. She is allergic to so many things- perfumes, de-odorants etc but no-where's any good really. She hasn't seen me since I lost weight so I told her we have to catch up!
I'm going to spend tomorrow with my MIL. I haven't seen her all week & feel like spending some time with her. She sounded happy about it, so that's nice.
Catch up tomorrow as no-one seems to be about tonight, cheers, cate

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Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

Hi Cate,

Sounds like you are destined to do the job with the lady with the brain tumour (no pressure though) and I can understand why they would want it to be you. I bet you will make a huge difference in her life just by being there for her and being yourself.
So pleased to hear that the massage has been some help and you need to make sure you get those palpitations checked out ASAP. The heart is not something you should muck around with. Have you told the doctor why you want to see her because I know that most doctors will squeeze you in if there is something wrong that needs attention.
Sorry I sound like an old mother hen
Take care
Beck

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Old mother hen, Beck? Make that a caring person. I appreciate you worrying about me.
I didn't suffer any palpitations today thank goodness and promise I will ring the doctor's surgery on Monday or if/when I have them again. I feel much more positive about working with the woman with the brain tumour. From now on I am going to look at my job as a volunteer job & the little pay I get will just help a little. At least I can claim all of my mileage back as a tax deduction because it's essential that I use my car for work. That helps a little financially. The once a month respite job with the teenage girl is a 7.5 hour shift @ double time so that's good. I find going to work makes me want to do more around the house. It motivates me. When you're home a lot you think that things can be done today or tomorrow so it's much harder to get going.
I discussed with my LH that I really want to get an exercise bike. He has been negative about it because he says I have had them before ( 2 in 30 years) but end up selling them. Now that I will probably have to give up walking with a back-pack(probably) I want something I can do every day, even if it's raining. I picked one out today. I don't want a complicated, expensive one but found a simple but comfortable York one at our local sports store. The owner of the store is such a lovely young woman so would like to buy one from her, rather than a large sports store. He agreed so am going to ring Monday to reserve the one I saw today. It's put together so I'll see if my son can pick it up for me.
It looks like I'm not going to do the Aged Care Course in the near future so can use some of that money. I have a feeling I am going to start feeling very useful very soon. A brain tumour-poor thing. Apparently this woman says there are people much worse off than her and does not feel sorry for herself. How lucky I am to have had such a healthy, happy life. My husband has always been healthy, our children are healthy & so are our grand-children.
I spent most of today at my MIL's & she cooked us braised steak & onions with potato, carrots & silver beet. I haven't had a potato for ages. It's a very over-rated vegetable. We had a good day & I was able to do lots of cleaning without her getting crabby.I gave her kitchen a really good clean.
After yesterday's hail storm & torrential rain overnight it was a beautiful day for my LH's golf. He is blessed I think. It never rains when he plays golf.
My Pho was absolutely delicious. Vietnamese food is so nice & so healthy. This is my baby I've decided as I am not a good cook, nor do I like cooking but I cook a mean Pho!
I am meeting my nephew at his father's home now, not Vic market. He decided this would be best as he has things to give me that my sister left me and it would be hard to take them to the market. He's right. Mum & I can go there on Friday morning before I fly home if we feel like it.
It's nice to have some activity in the forum today & nice that Wishes is participating in the game. We could do without the crappy spam we're getting lately though. I have reported this one so hopefully it will be deleted.
St Kilda are getting flogged by Collingwood so I'm not watching.
Did anyone else think the opening ceremony was absolutely boring? I liked the drumming but the rest (well what I watched) zzzzzzzzzz
Cheers for today, xo Cate

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Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

Ring, ring...
"Hi Mum. What are you doing tonight? Have you had a couple of drinks?"
"Why?"
"We're at a cocktail party & I was wondering if you would mind picking us up later".
"I'm in my PJ's....I suppose I could get dressed again....What time?"
"11.30?"....
I asked my LH if he would come for a drive with me & he agreed.
"OK. We'll be outside at 11.30".
"You could message me when you get here"
"We'll be outside at 11.30".
" Great. Thanks Mum!"
OK I'm a sucker but he's a really good son. My LH just said to me that he can drive their car home so they don't have to worry about picking it up tomorrow. My DIL's mother is looking after their kids at their place & my son was only going to have a couple of drinks so he would be ok to drive home but he must be having fun & has got the taste. This is the first time he has done this so it's ok. I'll have to go & get dressed again though & I've already washed my clothes & have them in front of the fire.
I think I'll just put something over the top of my PJ's. Being a parent is funny really.
I've been playing around tonight tidying up my computer, doing a defrag, disk checks etc. I'm quite happy with my laptop really. It performs much better now that I have broadband of course & I seem to have heaps of disk space. It doesn't have much RAM though but I don't think it matters too much to me.
Ramble, ramble....better go, cheers, cate
It's a 22km return trip

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

An hour after ringing he sent me a text to say don't worry about picking them up. They were having such a great time & would catch a cab home much later.
He just rang & I am picking him up in about an hour to take him in to get his car. They had a ball but he is suffering. We have to wait to make sure the alcohol is out of his system.
After his msg last night I went to make us a hot drink before going to bed & asked my LH if he would like a liqueur. He gave me a funny look & then said that would be nice. We had a Drambuie & it nearly took my head off. Nice though but I don't think strong alcohol is for me any more. Whoah! We only had one & I hate to think how I would feel drinking cocktails all night. Ohhh!
It's good that they had a night out together as it's hard when you have kids. They didn't wake for my DIL's mum which is good. It's the first time she has baby sat for them. I had suggested they ask her next time as she gets jealous of us having them or spending much time with them. I'm pleased it worked out.
I had better go do some ironing before I go so will head, cheers, cate

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Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

Does anyone think an exercise bike is good for reducing leg size?
I have been searching for tips & exercises. I have no idea of stretching etc & have ended up having no idea whether riding an exercise bike will slim my legs or make them bigger. Talk about conflicting information. There is so much out there. I might go visit Wishes diary & ask her.
I have had a weird, lazy day day today. I must exercise tomorrow, rain or not.
Cheers for now, Cate

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

I got so interested in Wishes diary that I ended up reading it for ages & never got around to actually asking her about it or posting there. What a journey she has had & is still having. A very impressive woman! Looking at her photos I think answered my question. Cyclists look so defined & shaped, toned. I read somewhere that cycling upright is better for trimming the legs but I don't know how true that is. I used to love sitting upright & reading a book while I rode.
The exercise bike that felt comfortable does not have a heart-rate monitor on it but I don't know if I would bother anyway. It's a York. I'm sure I would never use an elliptical machine and I want to have the bike in my living room where I can put it in a reasonably unobtrusive spot, where I can see outside and/or watch tv from it.
Weight is GW+4kgs which I am not stressed about. I have not been strict lately and have been enjoying some dark chocolate and red wine. I have had too much chocolate but have been having it at the right time, as per maintenance guidelines so it doesn't seem to have affected the scales.
I have not eaten bread at all for about 10 days and have managed to get my system regular at last. I used "Colon Cleanse" (Packaged & distr by Denmar International) that I got from the health food shop & followed their instructions, using it every day for one week. It's fairly extreme I think so I am only going to use it if I get seriously constipated. Since that week I have taken 2 Coloxyl every night, which seems to be agreeing with my system & not causing me any discomfort. I wish I had never, ever taken a laxative in my life & my bowel would not have become so lazy & dependant.
It's a beautiful day today after a miserable wet week-end. I am about to have lunch & then go for a walk. I think I am going for another walk when my LH gets home from work as I spotted a tree on our block last week that looks like a pine. It may be a King Billy or something else quite rare or our OS said it may be a native cherry tree which look a little like pines. I have never seen one on our block before. You can't propogate native cherry trees & it's a mystery how they grow. Our son has quite a few on his block. I might take a small branch off & bring it back.
We have so much wild-life on our 50 acres. I love it. We have Pademelons(Rufous Wallabies), Bennett's Wallabies, Echidnas,wombats, Eastern Barred Bandicoots & Tasmanian Devils along with various birds of course. We don't have any cats so we have many birds very close to the house.
I am now looking forward to starting with the new clients. Like my mum I need to take time to digest things & get used to the idea of change. I'm now looking forward to the challenges & meeting new people.
I have tried contacting the Physio who seemed so excited about getting me on a government sponsored program but who has not returned my calls. I have a feeling they are not being passed on so should be able to contact her tomorrow. I can get 5 appointments per year free and get some exercises geared to me personally. I have a feeling her enthusiasm may have been linked to the government grant to buy exercise equipment which she now should have. I hope I'm wrong as she seemed very nice and it sounded like fun. I'll try extra hard to catch her tomorrow. I may wait outside her room & catch her in person! I'll try ringing her first.
I had better have my lunch so I can head for a walk. Pho again. It's delicious. If anyone wants my recipe let me know. It's obviously apres Cohen's(has some rice noodles in it & hard to have exactly weighed ingredients) but it is very healthy.
Cheers, Cate

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

I'm going for a long walk in about 15 mins so thought I would quickly type now & not come back tomorrow. Because I'm going away for a couple of days I want to spend more time with my LH the next 2 nights & not ignore him because I'm reading posts in forums. I do spend so much time doing this or reading a book.
I've been trying to work out what clothes to take to Melbourne. My sister hasn't seen me since I lost the weight, nor my nephew & his wife, so I want to impress them if possible. We're not going anywhere to dress up but I'll try to look as good dressed casually as I can which means my nice black slacks, rather than jeans. I'll wear my jeans the other 2 days! I agonise over what I'll wear to anything. When I didn't think it mattered much what I wore it was certainly easier but no fun!
Cheers until tomorrow when I should catch up with the physio & also buy an exercise bike, Cate

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

Wrong- the Olympics have hardly got going & already I'm sick of them & my LH, much as I do love him loves every sport known to man.
It's so good to have others play the game "the person underneath". It has led me to check out other diaries etc & has expanded my horizons outside our little section of the much wider, broader forum. It's interesting to see other perspectives & tokeep an open mind.
By the way any suggestions re an exercise bike would be welcome. Would I be wasting my time?
Cheers, cate

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Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

The more you read about exercise the more confusing it is. Too much info, too much contradiction. Thank goodness for Cohen's. Now it's just about getting fit & firmer.
I always feel a little nervous when I am going anywhere but especially so when it's on my own. I don't like going away without my LH. I'm actually a sook. I miss him when we are separated even only for 2 days. I map out everything that I have to do like which tram, how much it will cost etc so that I have the right money for machines etc. I've always been like that. It's not just a 50's thing. I wish I wasn't but it is.
Speaking of which I haven't checked out tram fares or the Skybus from the airport so will do that now. Cheers, Cate.

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

The joys of the Internet. The skybus is $26 return & I can change buses & get a free shuttle directly to my hotel. Easy peasy.
ok no excuses- time to get on the move & work out what clothes I'm taking. This will require trying things on I think. Cheers, Cate

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!

OMG It's freezing here. I think I have picked a good couple of days to get the heck out of Tassie! Not that it will be much better in Melbourne but it will be a little better.
I think I'm packed. It's hard when you have a brain that tries to cover every eventuality. I also have to bring back an Aboriginal bark painting & an Amish quilt wall hanging so have to try to leave room in my bag.
I am going out to 8-ball tonight much as I would prefer to stay in front of the fire as I will miss my LH & will only stress if I stay at home.
No-one's about but I thought I had better say good-bye until Friday night when I'll be back home. I should find time to post then. Saturday is going to be my first shift with the teenage girl with Autism(sort of) so that will be full on.
I did not go anywhere so consequently have not bought the exercise bike. It will have to wait until next week now.
Hope everyone is going well. If you're dieting well, good for you, if you are maintaining weight, same. If you are struggling at the moment take heart. There's plenty of time before our Aust. Summer to get there if you knuckle down now. I must lose some more before Summer if I want to look good in a dress or shorts. I am still carrying fat in my legs & thighs & really losing more weight(5kgs or more?) will be the answer I think.
Cheers for now, Cate

__________________
Lost 36kgs 2007(Cohen's),now maintaining.
"Nothing tastes as good as slim feels".Mmm?No!Not even French Champagne!!