Holiday Round-Up

Being back at work after two weeks off sucks. A lot. I got far too used to waking up a whole 2 and a half hours later than a work day that I managed to sleep really badly on both Sunday and Monday night this week, terrified as I was at sleeping through the alarm (I didn’t, by the way). Consequently I am slightly dazed and confused this week…

Still, it was a great two weeks off, comprising as it did Christmas and New Year. Christmas was spent in a fab country house in Perthshire (http://www.lhhscotland.com/property?id=250) in the company of all my nearest and dearest friends. We had the place for a week and it was great – a little shabby around the edges, but that just made it feel more homely. Loads of bedrooms (with a varying quality of beds by all accounts), room for the dogs, a great big table in the ‘kitchen’ for breakfasts and informal meals and a lovely country setting. I wont bore anyone who might be reading with all the details, but here are my edited highlights:

1. Everyone arriving and taking a tour round the house and squealing with delight at it’s size and perfectness for the occasion (disclaimer – ok, maybe not everyone squealed, but you get the idea)
2. A dinner party every night. Well, that’s what it felt like as every couple took turns to make dinner. It was lovely to sit around a big table and chat. Mostly about boobs it would seem…And that wasn’t the chaps! Anyone who was there who doesn’t now know my bra size can’t have been paying attention!!
3. Getting the chance to speak to most people individually as well – it’s a much better way to really catch up with people.
4. A walk up Ben-y-vrackie outside Pitlochry. Beautiful day, lovely walk, even if I did turn back before most people and therefore not actually walk up Ben-y-vrackie. As usual I was the slow crap person at the back, but luckily there were enough of us walking that the fitter, speedier people could push on ahead, while I was encouraged up the (lets face it, not that steep) hill by the Fiancé and Wastrel. Who were both totally lovely and encouraging when I wanted to turn back after 5 minutes. In my defence the first five minutes was the steepest bit (as I noticed on the way back down), and I’m not that good on hills as rubbish hamstrings and Achilles tendons make it really really bloody hard for me. But they encouraged me up and spurred on also by a pregnant HMcM, who said she was planning on turning back after half and hour and surely I could do that much with her and then we could both head for the pub (she didn’t, by the way, she outdid me!), I pushed on up. But I’m very glad I did go further as the view was lovely and the walk exhilarating. And good for me too, no doubt! So thanks to those who kept me going.
5. A trip to the Damn and Fish-Ladder in Pitlochry with Wastrel, HL, BC and the Fiancé. Ok, so this is slightly strange, particularly as the only real attraction is the salmon moving up the fish ladder, which they weren’t doing in the depths of December, but I had a really nice chat with Watrel in the Drover on the way there and the light was lovely (the promise of snow that never came).
6. Watchnight Service at Kirkmichael Church on Christmas Eve. I probably shouldn’t have gone to this because by Christmas Eve the slightly annoying cough-ette that I had been suffering had turned itself into a full blown nasty cough that had left me croaky and horse. However, Christmas is not Christmas for me without a trip to Church and some carols. So I trooped off with H and CMcM and croaked my way through a great number of carols. It was a slightly odd service as the minister had rushed there from another service in Rattray, there was no organ but a CD player that kept refusing to play the tunes (the minister gamely just started us off without music and as we all know the words and tunes anyway, we survived), and half the congregation seemed to be visitors, but it was friendly and Christmassy and we weren’t told we were going to burn in hell, so it was all good.
7. Christmas Day itself. Which was marvellous. It started with stockings in the McM’s room as they had the biggest bed and chairs, followed by a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and bucks fizz. There were presents throughout the day and black tie for dinner. Which was brilliant! We all love dressing up at the best of times, but it was great to see everyone all poshed up for the Christmas meal – which was goose, quail and ham, with various sides. All delicious! Fabulous presents were given and got, games were played (I highly recommend Sardines in a big house and posh frocks!) and it really was a magical Christmas.

On the down side I spent nearly all of Boxing Day in bed feeling rotten as my cough had stopped me sleeping both on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. I was also turning in to a snot monster and really not looking forward to the drive back on the Saturday. I was so worried I wasn’t going to be well enough. This meant I had to miss the bracing Boxing Day walk, which I would have liked to have done. Thankfully a day in bed was what was needed and I was able to drive back the next day, even if I spent most of the drive trying to hold back the cough, resulting in a massive coughing fit when we stopped the car at any point.

When we got home all tired and coldy, we found our Freeview box was no longer working. As analogue is not worth trying in our flat, this left us in a rather quiet flat (we listen to the radio through the TV). Unable to bear this we just had to buy a new telly (go figure) – sucked in as we were by the offer in Sainsbury of a Sony Bravia 32inch TV for £349.99. We only went in for groceries, but neither of us is very good at being the sensible, can we afford it, one. By the time we used up all our Nectar points it only came to £300, which was a total bargain, even if it was bigger than I wanted to get… But it’s working well and I’ve got used to it in the living room now…

New Year was much quieter, partly down to me getting over my cold and the Fiancé getting it. Thankfully he was never party to the cough, but it hit him hard none the less. Poor thing. He’s still only just getting over it now. Thankfully (again) we had planned on a quiet New Year, just the two of us, so I braved the kitchen and made us lamb shanks with mash potato and asparagus. Washed down with lashings of Prosecco (if you can’t kill a cold with Paracetamol, try alcohol!), it was a lovely evening. We dressed up again too, because, well, why not! And the first thing he said to me after the bells? ‘We’re getting married next year’. Eek! So much to do…

And then it was back to earth with a bump and back to the beginning of this post. Work. Bleugh. On the plus side we’ve been really quiet, so I shouldn’t complain too loudly… On the downside 7am is a real shock if you’ve got used to 9:30…

But I did manage to go swimming on Monday and, miracle or miracles, PUT ON NO WEIGHT over Christmas and New Year (and no, I don’t know how). So to record the swimming:

32 lengths
30 minutes

Not my best effort, but not bad for the first go after the festive period. I’m going to try and up my swimming this year as I would like to lose another stone in the next six months. A tall order that may see me resorting to going running again, when it’s lighter, watch this space!

Ouchie…

Today I am feeling like an old woman. Although not as much as I did yesterday. In my hurry to get to work (ha!) I managed to stumble and fall slap bang down on my knees and hands. It was one of those falls where you know it’s going to happen but you try desperately to prevent it, which in the long run not only makes you look more foolish, but hurts a hell of a lot more. Needless to say I swore a lot. On the plus side a nice woman did stop and ask if I was ok, which is nice. And on the double plus side my tights miraculously did not rip. Boots thick black many denier. I recommend them!

On the down side I did manage to skin my left knee quite badly and it was pretty bloody by the time I got to work (another 15 minutes walk). Thankfully I work in a small building with lovely first aiders who managed to patch me up pretty well. It’s just so embarrassing when something like that happens – you feel such a plum all splayed out on the pavement and then even more so with a skinned knee like a small child. At least I didn’t cry or go in to shock, even if I was a bit shaken for the rest of the day. So today I am hobbling about like an old lady as my knee has chosen to swell up a bit which means it’s still quite sore. It stopped me sleeping well last night, so I’m also in a bit of a daze today…

It does mean, however, that I can disregard the extra 3 pounds that the scales declared I had put on this morning as clearly I wasn’t standing on the scales with an even distribution of weight through both legs and therefore it doesn’t count.

Or something…

Still I managed to fit a swim in this week, despite having a hundred and one things to do, and I’m glad I did. It was a good hard swim too as the pool was pretty quiet. I couldn’t use my usual lane as some people were being examined on their life saving abilities (they all seemed to do ok), but it was quiet enough for me to use the fast lane (until someone else came to use it, fast I am not!) and then the main bit of the pool. As it was quiet I was able to add some backstroke in to my usual routine, so rather than ploughing up and down the pool doing breaststroke for the whole time I did five lengths of breast stroke followed by one of back. It knackered me out and my arms still ache today (I went on Monday, but the achey arms could also have something to do with falling over yesterday, I did fall pretty hard), but the swim felt great! For the record:

30 lengths breast stroke
6 lengths back stroke
32 mins

Hopefully this will all help prior to eating lots of lovely rich food next week…

Getting very excited about Christmas next week now. Have finished all my sewing projects, which I am extremely pleased with, finishing the final two on Sunday. I’ve really enjoyed doing it all and I just hope that everyone likes them as much I enjoyed making them! We’ll soon see…

More Swimming...

Back at the pool tonight, which is good as I've not done any other exercise since last Monday!  So tonight I did:

34 lengths

30 mins

Breast stroke again.  It was lovely as the pool was really quiet, so I got my lane to myself for the last 10 or so lengths.  Which meant that I also did 2 lengths of back stroke at the end, as a bonus (so really the total should be 36 lengths, 31/2 minutes).  Love doing back stroke, but it really knackers me out!  Probably because it's the only one I can do vaguely right!!  Still, great swim, feel good for it.  

I think it helps that when I go to the pool the Fiance comes down to meet me when I'm done to walk me home (ah...).  It's not a particularly nice walk home so it's nice having some company, particularly on these dark nights!

So I'm still at my X-1 stone and 2 some pounds.  Which is good.  It went up a little near the end of last week, but I think that was mostly water retention as I'm sure I didn't eat anything extra than I normally do that would be particularly bad.  All part of the fun of being a girl I suppose.  

And I managed to walk to work this morning, despite running a bit late.  I took the bus most days last week, which is dreadful, but I was very very bad at leaving the house on time!  Also had a bit of a walk on Saturday as we went into town to look at shops for Christmas presents.  Managed to get no Christmas presents, but buy myself a new handbag I didn't really need in the Debenhams sale.  Ah well...  Let's call that my reward for loosing a stone!!  Just to justify it...  

Actually doing quite well on the Christmas present front.  Have pretty much everything for the family (which is handy as we're off down to the parents this weekend) and pretty much everything for the Fiance.  Phew!  Also managed to make two more Christmas present for friends this weekend, which just leaves three to do there.  Very pleased with them all too.  Did have problems with the stitching on one piece that I'm still not sure about.  Could not work out what was going on.  I kept getting loops in the stitching on the back of the fabric.  I changed the tension down as low as it would go and it improved on the up side, but not on the back (it definitely needed to go down anyway, not very good at remembering to try it out on a piece of scrap first).  I think it must just be the fabric/my machine not getting on.  

So getting excited about Christmas - just looking forward to giving people the gifts that I've spent so much time on!  And really enjoying getting stuff for my secret Father Christmas stocking.  Will be going in to London while we're down south and hoping to finish it off then.  So impressed with my organisational skills this year!

Swimming...

Yes, I finally went to the pool tonight, after a couple of weeks away from it.  Was feeling very chirpy this afternoon (getting excited about Christmas, seeing friends etc), so figured it would be a shame to waste the energy.  So, to keep a record of what I did:

30 mins

34 lengths

It's a small local pool, 23 meters I think, so a total of around 782 meters in my half hour.  Good swim.  Actually overtook someone in the slow lane, which was secretly very satisfying!  Started off in the general melee of the main bit of the pool but was getting too annoyed at having to play slalom with other women (it's ladies only on a Monday) after 15 laps that I moved across to the slow lane, which had emptied down to just two other people.  Usually I swim in this lane, but it was quite busy when I got in to the pool at 5:45.  

Realised for the first time too that I swim faster if I actually use my legs properly.  I had been trying for weeks to work out how to make them work more effectively (mostly involving watching other people's legs under the water.)  So rather than the usual ineffective caressing of the water that they usually do, leaving my arms doing all the actual work, I actually kicked out properly with them, got knackered and felt great!!  I know this is a bit of a 'derr' situation, but breast stroke was never my stroke when I was younger (go backstroke!), and I don't think I've ever paid attention to how to do it properly.  Or least something approximating properly.  Any other advice is welcome...

Why I hate November...

Yup. November, my least favourite month. Not only is it so so hard to drag my backside out of bed when it is pitch black in the bedroom but you get days like today. Days where it is not likely to get light all day because of the grey clouds looming over head disgorging themselves of every drop of rain that they possibly can. And then some more. And I have to walk to work in this. Bleugh. And then even if it does brighten up as the day goes on it will be dark again when I'm on my way home. In fact, about half an hour before I'm even thinking about leaving work. Perhaps this is because I live in Scotland...

I did very well today though in that I did actually walk to work rather than getting the oh so tempting bus. It's just under 2 miles to my work and at my current walking-to-work speed I do the journey in around 30-35 mins (depending on the traffic). Whether I get the bus or not usually depends on how late I am running, rather than how wet it is outside, so I was pleased with myself at walking anyway despite being a bit late and it chucking it down out... Knowing I've done at least one, if not two good brisk walks a day makes me feel better when I don't find time or energy to do any other exercise.

But my most exciting news, the telling of which seems to have been dampened by all this rain, is that I have finally reached my second marker point on my weight loss quest. Yay! The first marker point was losing 10 pounds, which I managed to do in June. For this I was rewarded with shoes! Nice white shoes (no Essex girl jokes please) that are the most comfy shoes I own and now no longer white... My second marker point is having lost a stone. Yay! Which I did at the end of last week. I don’t have a reward for this yet, but do now owe the Fiancé dinner…

I now officially weigh X-1 stone 2 7/8. Which is just (minutely, but who cares about that) over a stone, down from X stone 3 way back in March. I'm particularly pleased because although I would have liked to have reached this marker point much sooner, I have at least attained it and in a sustainable way. As my doctor said: I'd rather you lost a small amount and kept it off than lost 2 stone and put one back on again.

As for what my other marker points are... well, they will reveal themselves as the come along I'm sure, but I think the next one shouldn't be too hard to achieve as I think it should be crossing over that stone marker threshold - getting down to X-2 stone and 13 pounds! The final marker point will be either achieving X-4 stone or being a size 14, hopefully two states of affairs that will coincide. I can't remember the last time I was a size 14, in fact I'm not sure I've ever been a size 14... ;o)

Mid-week update...

Well, I didn't get to the pool on Monday as my head managed to convince me that I was getting a cold. Turned out I wasn't and shouldn't have listened to it. I live in a state of perpetually 'almost getting a cold', so I really should ignore it until my throat actually swells up or my nose no longer works...

Have also just eaten 100 orange and lime tic-tacs, which is not so good for this week! Only meant to have one or two and then the whole pack was gone... Funny how that can happen sometimes. Other than that though, haven't been doing too bad on the food front.

But I had an exciting moment this morning when my scales told me that I had finally crossed over the stone marker (which is X stone and 3 pounds, by the way)! By 4 ounces (X-1 stone, 2 5/8), but still, over the stone marker. Then I stood on them again and they changed their minds, quite stoically, to being 1/2 pound over the magic number (X-1 stones, 3 1/2). Boo! And they refused to change back... Just goes to show I shouldn't stand on the scales more than once... But it maybe means I'm pretty close now... Woo hoo!

Worst blogger ever...

That's what I would appear to be...

Clearly I am not cut out for this blogging lark.

However, for anyone out there who may be interested (and for my own records, if such things exist), I have hit a new plateau. And boy it's an annoying one. I am now teetering on the brink of having lost a stone. So much so that a mere 10 ounces stand in my way. Why is it the little bits that seem hardest to shift?? I'm now annoyed that I have scales that give ounces!! On the bright side it means I don't have to buy dinner for the Fiancé yet (his treat at helping me out with the weight loss thing. We wont mention the stone and 3 oz that he has lost in the time it has taken me to lose less than that. Pah!).

But seeing as the Fiancé had friends over on Saturday who brought evil snacks with them (and left many of these evil snacks in our flat), I've done pretty well not to put a couple of pounds on over this weekend...

Will try and head to the pool tonight though, see if that can’t help shift those niggly ounces. Was lovely that last time I went one older lady (who did a length every 5 mins or so) said I was a fast swimmer. I nearly drowned laughing...

Thinking of the snacks, I think that keeping myself busy helped... I was at my sewing machine for most of yesterday and enjoyed myself immensely. Put some old Dr Who episodes on in the background and made not one but two Christmas Presents... Only 3-5 (depending on how many I intend to do altogether) to go... How many weeks is it now til Christmas?? Bugger...

Enjoying the sewing though. Will post up some of the pics once Christmas is over and done with (in case there are any interested sewers out there). Can't really do it before in case any of the friends find this thing and stray on to it! Would be rubbish for them to see their presents in advance. Not that I think anyone would bother with this pathetic excuse for a blog!

Needless to say I am learning all sorts of exciting new sewing techniques, including button holes, complicated things which involve proper patterns, and embroidery. Although I'm not sure I'm artistically talented enough for the latter... We'll see when I've finished (if I finish) the thing I started last night...