Greyhounds. Ocsober over.

Happy Halloween! I bought chocolates for the kiddies, but alas no kiddies came to our door. Hence lots of little crunchie bars have been eaten. I am taking part in Halloween begrudgingly. It's an American thing, and I think the US needs to have less influence on the world rather than more. But far be it from me to deny the kiddies (or myself) chocolate.

I have been craving a lot more chocolate and sweet things while Ocsober has been on. Perhaps the pleasure centres in my brain need a tickle and if it isn't from wine, it needs to be from chocolate? Perhaps this is something I can work on..... only 13 days till I fly off to my health retreat in Koh Samui.

All of you who read my blog will know of my love for dogs. We have been dog-sitting a greyhound for a friend. Readers, I have fallen in love. Elvis the greyhound has stolen my heart. He started off a bit aloof, but now he takes his spot on the couch in between myself and my fella, usurping Bella. They play in the backyard and are adorable. #teambelvis . He is a handsome boy too, and always gets up to say hello when we wake up. Bella has started doing that with him - usually she only gives us a side-eye from the couch. #teambelvis follow each other around the house. It's too cute. I think we need to consider adopting a greyhound. They are, by all accounts, very good pets.

By way of update, we are going for our counselling appointment for IVF in December. It was delayed because the police check for my fella was delayed - he has a common name and shares a name and date of birth with many criminals....poor foresight from his parents, really.

Without going into too much detail, with the waits and delays for IVF, I seem to have lost my nerve regarding having a baby. My brain is stuck between the anticipation of the rigours of IVF and the anticipation of the rigours of parenting, hence I am led to wonder why I am bothering with any of it at all. It's an uncomfortable place, mentally. I have always imagined myself as a mum, and now I am, largely out of fear, questioning it.

I read somewhere (in a Fairfax publication, therefore true) that infertility was about as stressful as death of a loved one. I am not sure about that, but it certainly lends some validation to the mental discomfort I am feeling now. I am off to speak to my therapist about this. It's prudent.

And that is enough about that.

The things I can control, I am doing a reasonable job of doing. I have not developed a drinking problem, nor an eating problem. I am doing my exercise and doing my job well. I have discovered makeup primer and apply it diligently, as well as bronzer, because, even if I am not feeling bright I can look it. I am doing ok.
 
I love the dogs being around, they are legit the best.

The other thing I have done is sign up for a 10km fun run, the first I will have done in a couple of years. I want to get a PB (personal best time). My PB was set 5.5 years ago. I am 5.5 years older but I have accumulated a lot of mental toughness in that time. Time to unleash the beast. It's good for me to have a goal like this.

Goody 2 shooz.

Greetings, interweb friends!

I've been rather slackola on the bloggy front of late, but I've been very good in other aspects of my life....

Lately, if a day goes by where I don't run, I crave it. The thing I like doing at the moment, run wise, is going to Prinny park and doing a Fartlek session (it has nothing to do with botty toots). And, as with everything, there is an app for that. I am also actually enjoying my group sessions and look forward to them.

Must be the time of the year, with the weather improving.

I have performed a hardcore declutter (to borrow from FF) of my wardrobe and drawers. I can actually find stuff now.

I have been eating my veggies.

I expanded my cooking repertoire into Fillo Pastry.

Behold my spanakopita, full of green goodness.

I have taken the advice of a professorly type and been doing the "small amounts frequently" thing on the thesis. I have put a fixed time goal on the first chapters of the thesis (Dec 3). Might have to tee myself up a special reward for it.

I have even cut back on the wine. Quite substantially. And feeling better for it.

I have been loving the guts off this stuff:

image from coles online. No artificial sweetener.

I have been appreciating the abundance of spring.

However the goodness went out the window today - we went to Taste of Melbourne for some good food and drink, and plenty in the way of champers.

At the back was the dish of the day- the soft shell crab souvlaki from the Gazi stand. I have never been able to get into Gazi, so it was great to try some of their food. In front is a braised wallaby bun!

We saw a whole lamb being butchered ("oh, so that's where those chops come from").
It's good to have a feel for the provenance of the produce, is it not?

Ok so there was also good food had last night. I have been a bit obsessed with all things mozzarella/ bocconcini at the moment. But the king of them all is burrata. Like a sac of creamy milky goodness.

Here is a gnocchi dish I ate last night, with Burrata.

The sac was cut open and all the runny cheesy goodness leached out into the tomato sauce. Very simple and very good!

But it's back on the straight and narrow tomorrow....

Meanwhile, we have been in full spin mode with the state election in Victoria. Pretty much all of the ads have been focussed on lambasting other parties rather than what the party can offer. It's just a race to the bottom, mostly. Though the Greens look like they might nab a few lower house seats in the inner city, unless the dirty preference deals between the major parties scupper them.

ugh...
off to beddy-byes....


What about you? What have you been obsessed with lately? 
And what good habits have you adopted?

Dry July

Well Hello again.

Where has this year GONE? We are halfway through already!
It is the first of July, first day of the new financial year, it is the middle of winter (prime time for cracking open bottles of red wine)

Most notably, it is the first day of Dry July, which is a fundraising event where people get sponsored to abstain from Alcohol for a month.

A cursory glance at my blog will reveal how much I enjoy a soothing glass of vino, so there will be some adjusting to do. Like everything uncomfortable in this life, it will probably be good for me.

Sponsorship funds are donated to cancer research. I have elected for my funds raised to go to St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne.

I have selected this hospital because the staff here did a very good job of looking after my ex father in law, Nigel (he was my father in law at the time) before he died 8 years ago. He had a nasty, aggressive tumour called a glioblastoma multiforme, a lesser known, less common but almost universally fatal cancer with an average prognosis of 1 to 2 years from diagnosis.

The staff at St Vincent's were wonderful and took a lot of time to explain things. Nigel was a lovely man and I get sad thinking about him, he was only young and  not ready to die. I am sure he would be sad with what ended up happening with me and his son, but he probably would have understood eventually, that was the way he rolled.

RIP Nige, hope there is good beer for you up there, and lots of licorice allsorts.

If you can, and would like to donate, here is the link to my fundraising page.

Even if you can't donate, I hope you enjoy what might be some amusing posts. I might even have to come up with some non-alcoholic drink recipes, which I will duly post.

Cheers! (with glass of sparling water in hand)....

The weekend in review. Setting the intentions for the week ahead.

Sunday evening can be a bit of an anxious time, a bit of a downer, especially if the week ahead is big and scary and busy. I actually have a lot of stuff on this week (including twice I have to look nice to get my photo taken - oh the stress!)

It is a good time to think about all the nice things I did on the weekend. I never used to enjoy my weekends, used to see them as a big chasm of nothing. During the time which I shall refer to as my *special single time*, I learned to fill my weekends with fun things. I was too scared to sit at home, for fear of what might enter my mind. Finally I got to a point where I was happy to be busy but happy to just chill in my own company. Now I like a bit of both. This weekend was a nice mixture.

Friday night I had nothing planned, and the fella was at a work function, so I got down and dirty with my washing. I have one of those old top loader washing machines, 10 years old, and it cracks the sads every time I do sheets and towels in there. It makes loud thumpy noises then stops, so I have to stand by it. But I digress.

Saturday, we started slow. The fella has bought a stand-up paddleboard, and we have used it before and taken turns. He is a bit past sharing his toys, so, bless his cotton socks, he bought a second hand one that I could use. Recently I bought a wetsuit, what with the water getting colder and all. It was a cheapy but does the job.

There was a time when I would never have had the confidence to strut about in a wetsuit, or a bathing suit, but this year has seen me wear an bikini and don said rubber suit. Like a boss.

St Kilda Beach, making a bold fashion statement. The steed is on the right of the picture.

Though the water was flat (and therefore good), the wind was very strong, and it was hard to paddle anywhere. Even harder to stand up, hence I kneeled. It is hard to kneel and paddle and go in the direction you want. The photos are indicative but neither show the exertion on my face nor reveal the cuss words I said. Behold.

I ended up going out near the boats, but paddling into the wind, my little girly arms soon became exhausted and I ended up on all fours on the board, thinking that I would like a nice cuppa tea and a lie down. I paddled back to shore and had a breather. I hit shore downwind of where I had left my stuff. We got back in the water after my breather to paddle back upwind, but ended downwind further.

Practice makes perfect, anyway.

That night, we had a birthday party to go to, and had to wear a hat. We could have gone with a running cap or a fedora, but decided to get a bit creative and make our own.

Blogger Smaggle encouraged us to do something that would have delighted us as a child in this post, and I used to love me a bit of crafting - Mum would have us amused for hours with bits of material, paper, glue and glitter, though budgets were tight and resources were sometimes limited. It was great to be able to have carte blanche for paper and sparkly things at the newsagent, on my discretionary income!


I went for a tiara ensemble, and the fella had a hankering after a fez. I was instrumental to the architecture of both, showing my childhood facility with cardboard and scissors. The fella got a bit cranky trying to put his hat together, and putting on the sequins to spell kia ora (he is kiwi, he is doing the moroccan/kiwi fusion thing). I calmly took over and made the had sufficiently fez-like. See?

Tassel was fashioned from magazine paper and sticky tape, by me.
You will be glad to know we won a prize of a box of Lindt chocolates for our efforts.

Today's outing consisted of visiting a friend with her newborn girl, a first child. Such a relaxed little bubba, who was happy to cuddle with the visitors. Mum was doing very well, bless her. Rather than flowers, I bought her some fancy ready meals from a posh foodstore; meals that could be eaten using one hand. I learned the importance of this on a blog somewhere. The couple appreciated it.

Now onto things I want to achieve this week. I am all for small, achievable goals. Here they are

• Do my best at running training, don't use the presence of a fill-in coach as an excuse to slack off
• Be prepared - pack lunch, get out breakfast things, arrange outfit the night before. It makes me feel very virtuous. 
• Watch a movie off fetch-tv; I have had this for a few months and only watched one film. I should put it to good use.
• Eat vegies at lunch and dinner each day, as many as I can get in. To this end, baby spinach leaves have been bought. The good, pre-washed ones.
• Keep the weeknight alcohol minimal. And the weekend alcohol reasonable.
• Go for a ride or long run on Anzac day.
• Stay calm in all the busy-ness

What are your goals for the week? Did you enjoy your weekend?