The End Is Nigh. Masterchef.

So the end-date has been set and the clock is ticking....10/8/2015 is the due date for submission of the thesis, but I hope to get a full draft to the supervisors prior to me going to Barcelona in mid-June. I am now officially balls to the wall, trying to get it done. Goodbye weekends for the time being. I respond well to a deadline, particularly with something nice like a big trip afterward!

I am super looking forward to Barcelona. For the first couple of nights, I have booked a nice hotel with a pool so I can get over my jetlag. There is this whole thing about "earthing", getting your feet onto grass, sand or into water is very therapeutic in treating jetlag.

I also look forward to the Barcelona sunshine. Here in Melbourne, the weather has got the winter memo a bit early, and it is a bit foul. I am craving cosy knits, soups and thick socks. And, as always, chocolate

One TV show that speaks to me of winter is Masterchef. It is about the only reality show that I am able to tolerate, although I get super stressed out when the contestants stuff up or get close to time.

It is Marco week on Masterchef. Old Marco Pierre White. I actually don't particularly like him, he looks like he is acting as a baddie in a C grade drama. The "nice" words he has with the contestants are entirely unconvincing. In fact, the only time I felt he was being himself was when he told a chef (bought in for an immunity challenge) that he "hates" salmon roe and it "ruined" the dish.

We had our garage sale last weekend, and sold some stuff. I am in the process of selling some more stuff on ebay.... super interesting, I am having to measure lots of lengths. I have already had an item "bought" by a Phisher...

Perhaps induced by my deadline, the weekdays seem to whizz by very quickly. I am getting my hair did on the weekend, perhaps a bit shorter.


How do you go with deadlines?
How do you manage jetlag?
What reality shows can you watch?

The Melbourne Chill. Perth. Garage Sale.

Melbourne weather, go home. You are drunk.
Seriously, the forecast maximum for today is 12 degrees. The current temperature in my workplace suburb is about 9 degrees at 2pm. I am sitting doing the PhD thing, feeling very ratty. I would dearly love to go outside and purchase some thinking fuel (ie Chocolate and chips. With coke zero as sugarfree drinks cancel out the calories of the food...right??) but I really don't want to go outside.

I am also counting the days 'til I head off to Barcelona. 34. Barcelona in June will be nice and balmy.

With the recent chill, the dog has been going stir-crazy, as she does not get walkies as frequently. She has taken to licking my partner on the back of the neck, ears and face to try and get his attention. Yet she does not seem to like to go outside when we send her out for a piddle (she sleeps and spends the day indoors, the spoiled thing).

Last week, I was in Perth at a conference. The weather was gorgeous there. I stayed in a hotel on the banks of the Swan river, and this was the view from my room at sunset. Gorgeous, huh!

Despite the enforced sedentariness of a conference, I managed to utilise the hotel gym to work up a sweat. 
I got to present my paper arising from my PhD data, my 15 minutes of fame. It was well-received. I won a young investigator prize. This is me with my prize. It is nice to be recognised by one's peers.

In Perth, I got to see some long-lost cousins, who live there. I hadn't seen them in over ten years. It was wonderful to catch up. Time flies.

But back to reality this week. The cold and the hard work. The end is close but it can be hard to maintain focus and keep faith in what you are doing. Just gotta keep at it.

Our neighbours arranged a whole-street garage sale, which is being held on Saturday. I have a lot of things I want to cull, but they are a bit too nice to put into an op-shop. My partner is the same. We will be spending our evenings price-tagging our goods.

I hope that you are staying warm and dry, wherever you are.
Do you have any tips re running a garage sale?

Turkish Get-Ups. In defence of trakky daks.

Well happy Sunday to you all!

Melbourne weather had gotten the memo regarding Autumnal weather, with sunny days but crisp mornings, interspersed with the odd bit of rain. However, it has obliged us this weekend with some mild mornings. Such mild mornings are very compatible with leaving the house early (ie 7:45 am) of a Saturday to get some exercise done.

As I think I have bored you with mentioned before, I have really been enjoying Crossfit classes. There are a lot of things I can't do in this class. Jumping onto a 20 inch box is very difficult, for example, and a bit hard on my recovering ankle. However, most exercises can be scaled down then gradually increased as your ability gets better. For instance, I started with jumping on 3 weight plates, about 11 inches off the ground. If I have a lot of jumps to do, I use only 2. I relish the improvement.

The other thing I relish is the new physical skill set. I love being able to do pull ups (even though assisted by bands) and olympic-style weight lifting. A new skill that I learned yesterday was the Turkish Get-Up. I did it without any weight in my hand, to get the movements right. Here it is when somebody does it properly

It is harder than it looks, even without a weight. I went ker-splat a few times. Then, after practice, I got the movement and did 3 in a row, each side. I still wobbled a bit but I did it.

Any complex movement that involves moving your body from flat on the ground to upright in a repeated fashion (eg burpees etc) is very good cardio, as well as working just about every other muscle in the body. These kinds of exercises were developed for the military, as these guys had to get super-fit without a lot of space or equipment. They are great even for us mere mortals!

______

Some people are very anti-trakky dak, and won't be seen anywhere with them. That is cool. I have been a long-time lover of the soft pant. Yet as I get older, I get vainer, and now I am after a look that is super comfortable yet nearing trendy. I need weekend outfits that take me from brekky out at hipster cafes, for walks and then, as I am now, to sessions of PhD writing and a bit of stretching during breaks.

Currently the sports luxe look is in. Trakky daks are referred to as Joggers, and some have been appropriated as workwear. I have found a couple of great pairs that can look less bogan with a bit of effort. Behold:

The denim Jacket is from Esprit, the kicks are the most expensive item in the outfit and from Frankie4. The trakky daks are Kmart, $15! Photobombing dog, provenance unknown via the Pound.

Well, I had better get back to doing my PhD writing. On Tuesday I am off to Perth for a conference. I get to present some of my research there, and I am very excited about this. I also get to see some of my Perth-dwelling cousins who I've not seen for ages, and meet up with colleagues at the conference.

I hope that your week goes well.

What have you got planned?

Are you pro trakky daks?<

A soggy ANZAC day in Melbourne.

Hello, friends.

I am typing from my usual Saturday/Sunday position - ie my desk at work. I am multitasking.

• Writing up a powerpoint presentation, as usual creating too many slides then having to ruthlessly cut back (all killer, no filler). Googling how many slides ought to make up a 10 minute powerpoint presentation (about 14).
• Reflecting on my week, and contemplating the existence of the "Fuck You" Fairy*. 

I have been "on leave" writing my PhD. However I have dealt with some work things via email. It is a toss up as to which is more painful: writing the PhD or dealing with things from work on a week off.

I am feeling marginally guilty about not having made it to a dawn service, but reflecting on how lucky I was to be able to visit Gallipoli in June last year. I have been looking back through my photos.

Lone Pine Cemetery

The trenches - sometimes they threw grenades, sometimes food and cigarettes

ANZAC Cove from afar

 

It was surreal, walking along that beach, imagining the Diggers landing.

My favourite picture, a verse that resonates with me.

And now to get back to it. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, wherever you are.


* The Fuck-You fairy is a tongue in cheek thing I made up. Basically it refers to the force that acts when you have made peace with what is and made plans. The fairy flies in, says "fuck you" and you have to change your plans again. The fuck you fairy is not a bad thing, it is kind of like Murphy's law.

What is your version of the fuck you fairy?
And what are you up to this weekend?

Fighting back with a bit of awesome

To paraphrase Carly Findlay.

The work pressures continued over late last week, and they were making me feel overwhelmed.

I took the weekend to have a good look at what was going on. To take a few deep breaths and make a plan. To see that the anticipation was worse than the actuality.

I took myself off to Crossfit this morning, when the only sensible thing to do was stay in bed. (Brrrr chilly 6 degrees.)

Among other things, I did this.

That is all for now

Keeping the equilibrium.

In times of stress, I feel I need to very deliberately offset the stress with nice things.

For instance, I spent all Sunday, alone in my work office, working on my PhD. It is in many ways like the last phases of a marathon - you can see the finish but it is hella painful.

I am on leave next week to spend some quality time with this bad boy.

Hence, last Saturday was active relaxation time. I went to a nice local shop called Village Vineyard, the owner of which is a lovely lady whom I have met socially

I only bought the essentials

I got my Namaste on at Yoga.

I got my eyelashes tinted and permed (PS it's awesome), and had a facial. PS. My skin is still a quagmire, despite multiple measures. I see the dermatologist next week. Unfortunately anything very effective for acne is also a no-no when trying for a bub.

I have been doing plenty of exercise. Yesterday I did some pull-ups. Granted they were assisted by a big elastic band around my feet to take some of my weight. However I was super-excited. I have also been lifting heavy weights and perfecting deep squats. Very challenging to the balance.

Here are my badass hand grips which helped my hands not to be chafed to shreds

But some more very stressful news this afternoon sent me into a bit of a tailspin.
It really is a matter of quickly trying to claw the sanity back, psychologically.
The stress acutely intensified my gratitude for the very excellent things in my life. The acute stress lasted an hour or so, then I could raise my eyes above it.

Life really is about trying to keep mental equilibrium among all the vicissitudes. Much like I need to keep my balance while doing awesome crossfit moves by making rapid postural corrections.


How do you regain your equilibrium after a stressor?

And she has risen.. I think.

Just like Mr. Christ needing a few days and being right as rain after, I am definitely feeling better for a few days off.

I made the decision early not to do any work on my thesis over the long weekend.
Instead, I had a mostly "shouldless" weekend.

I ate some restorative bacon - Lolo and Wren is a great cafe in West Brunny. Bacon really does make things better.

I binge-watched this.

Love these Girls.

I did some crossfit.

Not me. From gymbowie.com

My ankle was a bit better.

Less cankle, more ankle.

Hence I went for a run. Only 15 minutes or so, but it was good

Not me either.

I ate chocolate till the desire to eat chocolate was exhausted.
(I am doing a mindful eating thing - it is suggested that we give ourselves the licence to occasionally eat as much as we like of something yummy - we often eat less than we think we are going to.)

And dusted off a bottle of this, and drank. It was delicious.

I spent some time with my fella. I encouraged him to take a couple of days away from working. He did as he was told. Time to reconnect.

I caught up with Nicole for an Indian Feast.

I did some hard-core decluttering, and have a big pile of stuff to sell to a clothing store.

Though coming to work and casting my eyes over the piles on my desk made me want to jab a pen in my eye sigh, I am building up a head of steam again. I have a week "off" in a couple of weeks, actually to write my thesis and attend some appointments. There are conferences interstate and overseas coming up in the next couple of months.

Thank you all so very much for your very lovely comments on my last post. It helped me get up and dust myself off.

How were your Easter Weekends?
Do anything interesting?