New House

Yup - all settled in at the new house, and mostly unpacked. Just a few more boxes to go and then I am done. Si's parents moved their stuff across yesterday and we had the first night with all of us there including the 2 dogs and the cat. They seem to be getting on okay - Rissick is a little scared of Oscar but he will come right. Oscar is such a clingy dog and he whines and carries on when left alone or separate from Si's parents and Riddick doesn't like it.

Nothing really eventful happened with the move at all.....have taken Porsche for a walk around the park and have started back on track with my protein shakes. So far so good - last week I had managed to get to my 'NO GO ZONE" of 105.5 kgs......actually 105 kgs is the upper limit I had set myself with the steroids etc......so was time to get back on track. Well this morning I was 102.5 kgs, so a much better outcome. I know some of this would have been TOM as well, but still was enough to give me a kick up the pants.

The goal is be between 95 - 98 kgs by my Birthday in late November and I am sure that it will be achievable if I keep up the exercise and sensible eating.

Saw the Dr last week and he gave me my xray result.......yup I have an abnormal sacro-iliac joint and that is qhite often linked to pssorasis (sp) so yesterday I ended up having a biopsy taken off my elbow and we should know the results in a few days.

Sunday would have been Mum's birthday, and this is the first year that I have acknowledged it but not gotten upset about it....not sure if it is that I am coping with it much better as I have Si's mum down here now or that I was just too damn busy moving house.......I certainly think it helps having Si's parents, but it is still not the same as Mum.

OOPS - I forgot - the one stupid thing and very annoying thing about the move is that we have no internet and we are unlikley to have it for two weeks!!!!! We were first told that they had run out out ports........and that it was a first come first served basis, so they had switched off the port at our house (previous people) and given it to someone else.........we then heard back from the broadband team and apparently it is not the case.....it is that the Feilding exchange is being upgraded in stages and at the moment, yes they have a shortage of ports but it should all be resolved within the next two weeks. Still extremely annoying, but what can we do? Satelitte internet is far too expensive - actually I am not sure we even have it in NZ.

I am in my second to last week at work and we are moving buildings tomorrow - and probably won't have internet here till Thurs/Friday either.....I am really going to feel cut off from the world. So if you want me.......RING ME.!!!!!

Oh - other work news - I have an interview on Thursday for the oncall/casual job. It is for a company I used to work for in Auckland that I loved and on call/casual to them could mean anything from no hours to about 60 in a week, so will be interesting. I really really want this as it should give me the flexiblility I am looking for in as such as I want to concentrate on my fitness and health as well. Will let you know.

Last few days......

Well I haven’t heard anything about the casual/on call job and the other one I wanted I was not successful in getting an interview. Apparently they had over 200 people apply and I just wasn’t what they were looking for. I am beginning to think that my CV needs an overhaul as it is just not getting the attention that it used it……either that or I am applying for the wrong positions.

Anyway – enough about that for the time being. I picked up Porsche yesterday and she was happy to see us. Took her through to the Kennel and Cattery where Riddick is staying and she will be there till Saturday afternoon when we pick them both up. Going to be so nice having them back with us, although I have forgotten what it is like to have the cat sleeping on the bed…….I wonder if he will still want to.

Have taken tomorrow (Friday) and Monday off work. Tomorrow I thought I would get all the packing done (very little) and get the washing done etc so that means the weekend will be all about moving and unpacking.

I start my morning walks with Porsche at the park on Sunday, rain or shine……..we are going to go out for at least 1.2 kms every morning before work and then once I am finished I will aim to increase it and go for longer walks as well as get to Curves or the swimming pool. Actually my schedule is worked out so mornings are for exercise and afternoons for job hunting, chores etc.

Hopefully we will not be offline for long, if at all……see ya from the other house!!!

Two sleeps to go till Porsche is back and 5 sleeps till house moving

I get my baby girl back on Wednesday afternoon and I am so excited. She is going to the kennels for a couple of days till the house is ready to move into but I can’t wait. I am planning on taking her for lots of morning walks now that the weather is nicer and especially if I am not working.

I am hoping to have next Monday off to settle in after the move and also to help Si’s parents with theirs. Will be interesting to see how it all comes together.

I went to the Dr’s today to get a script for my supplements as I have been really good at taking them and I am almost about to run out of some of them – so need to keep on track. While I was there I asked him about my back xray that I had recently as well as the blood tests for Celiac disease. As is transpires I am not Celiac – thank goodness, and I have an abnormality in my sacroiliac joint which is why I have been getting the back pain. It is also link to psoriasis which is now what the Dr thinks I might have on my elbows………so another couple of blood tests to rule out Rheumatoid arthritis (another Auto-Immune condition) . But it seems we are getting to the bottom of everything……..which takes a load of the mind as now at least I know I am not going nuts.

Weight is up a little…….now up to around 103kgs. Dr is not too concerned and nor is the nurse and the nutritionist at my surgeons office. As soon as I get moved to the new house I have a new regime I am going to start – especially if I am not working – kind of like making ME a full time job by going for walks and scheduling in regular exercise. I have also made a tracking diary and a weekly planner for exercise.
Jobwise – I finish in 3 weeks and I am looking forward to a break. I have been applying for jobs but hard nothing from most of them. There is an on call casual one that I would quite like and one fulltime one that I would jump at…….but nothing else really grabs my fancy……although I did bump into a guy I knew from school who might be hiring in the hospitality industry……….and work is work.

Great resource for planning walks

I have started to try and get myself sorted for when I get to the new house and have some walks all planned out already. I am loving Mapometer website as a resource and I used to use it previously. I have already worked out 3 walks from my house and they start at 2.67 km and work up to the town block which is 8km!!!

I am also looking at starting the Couch 2 5KM program at some point - although I think I will do it as a walking program first, and then build up to running. More on that in a couple of days!!!

I am thinking that I would like to get back to swimming at some point as well, although I really don't like the sharpei legs and I do have lycra swim shorts they are just not that comfortable. The Makino Swimming pool is really good and if I am not working then I will try and head to some of the daytime aqua classes.

Oh I have also applied for a job at a company I used to work for when I worked in Auckland, and it was a job I loved. This is only an on call casual postion and it will involve shiftwork, but it would be nice to get a foot back in the door and ease my way back in. I am hoping that a contact I have makes things a bit easier - but we will see. Fingers Crossed.

12 Sleeps to go!!!!!!!!!

Well after some thinking about what is important to me, I have decided that I am going to leave Lions. I do not need my valuable time spent in meetings talking about doing something productive. I do not want to be part of the “old boys network” and it is not really going to achieve much for me.

This weekend has been a bit up and down – I was getting a little down about finding more work as I didn’t get an interview for a couple of the positions…..in fact, they for one of them they only had my application for about 2 hours before deciding I wasn’t suitable……oh well, their loss.

I talked this over with Si on Saturday as we were heading out to see Riddick …..and I worked out that apart from my wedding, I have not actually had a full on holiday since 1994 as I have always had the habit of taking a couple of days here and there or having to use my annual leave for surgeries or too look after Mum & Dad when they were sick. And I really really think that I need to take some time out for me………but that is going to make things tight financially, but as Si said, while his parents are living with us it takes the pressure off, although will make things a bit tight with Christmas etc……….but even if I can temp or find part time work any money I earn will be a bonus.

I am lucky enough to be able to head down to Christchurch to spend some time with Roz in late November. Unfortunately it is just me going down, but as I am going on a Thursday and Si will be working. He also thought it would be nice for me to spend some one on one time with Roz and her family. It the weekend just before my birthday – so we are using it as my birthday present.

On the way back from seeing Riddick we almost got flattened by a bus coming around the corner on two wheels – the driver managed to get it under control however I really thought this was a “we are going to die” moment. Very scary.

The weekend itself was very uneventful – trying to save money hard at the moment as we have the bond and rent in advance to cover as well as the moving costs. Not going to be a cheap exercise……so at the moment, it is try to save every penny. I am making lunch for Si and I and although it is not the best Weight loss surgery food – I am making cheese and chowchow sandwiches with a piece of fruit for lunch. It seems to keep me going and my tummy seems to be able to handle it.

Oh – now I guess I should update about the specialist……I saw him on Wednesday afternoon, and he was happy with how things are going, although he ordered more blood tests and a back x-ray as he is not happy that I am getting a sore back and still getting a rash even though I am on the prednisone. He said that there should be no problem with us having children (if we decide to) with the medication I am on so that is cool. I have another set of bloods to do at the beginning of October and then monthly after that for another 3 months to see how things settle down as it can take several months for it to all kick in.

Well that is probably enough dribble, although I do have more that I want to talk about, but will save for posts later on in the week. I am hoping to do a youtube update at some point and I will have to tell you about my fly buys points purchase…….oh and I guess start the countdown till we move……12 sleeps to go!!!!!!!!!

Specialist appointment & why do we bother?

This time tomorrow I will be here……..(taken at about 8am this morning out the car window) don't you just love the beautiful spring morning and the blue sky?


Palmerston North Hospital seeing the specialist to discuss my Auto Immune Liver Disease. I have a few things that I want to bring up with him and one of those is my blood tests. For the last few weeks they have been going in the wrong direction and although I am not feeling anywhere near as bad as what I was I am still getting some nasty bouts of pain and itching.

I also want to discuss my meds and if they will have any effect on my ability to have kids, and although we are not 100% sure when and if we will have kids we don’t want the medication to rule it out if possible.


Now onto the other part of my title – why do we bother? Simon and I joined the local Lions International club when we moved to Feilding, I was a Leo (young Lion) in my teens and loved my contribution to helping our community, but we are getting very frustrated at the old man’s network and stick in the mud attitude that it seems 90% of the club has. There were several issues that Simon & I raised yesterday after doing our shift at the mini golf, but all of them were swept under the carpet and we were pretty much told that because they had been doing it 40 years it was the right way and that nothing we could even suggest was worth listening to.

I came home and have done from pretty much every meeting I have been too worked up and angry at the stupidity of some of these men…..and Si thinks we should resign as it is just not enjoyable and we don’t feel that we are achieving anything and it does not seem likely that we will. Why bother…..??? We both just come home angry and upset and it is wasting precious hours of our time to achieve nothing to help others. Maybe it would be better just going to visit people in rest homes and chat to the lonely….I think I would feel like I was achieving more.

The deal

Okay so here is the deal – we sat down last night and talked things over together as a family – including Si’s Mum & Dad. With us going into a rental they have been stressing a bit as of course they have not had to pay rent or anything for sometime, and on their super-annuation on top of there other expenses it was going to make things very tight……..so the upshot of all of this is that I am going to put the Real Estate thing on hold for a little bit. It is still something that I ultimately want to do, but we think that I would be better earning some money at the moment as that will take the pressure of all of us.

It also means that we get to cement the great work we have done with out debt consolidation and actually get some money behind us. That means that we will actually have some money saved in the bank ready for me to start my Real Estate business in say 9 – 12 months. So I not giving up on the Real Estate thing, just taking a little more time to get it done and not put so much pressure on myself. As it is with trying to get it done I have come down with a sore throat and have almost lost my voice…..actually it just sounds really husky and sexy.

So I am going to be applying for jobs in the local area and hopefully making some money, pay of more debt and get ready for when I can be in a position to do it well.

No guarantees

Well here I am finally doing another update. I have been a bit tired and run down the last few days and trying to fit work and study and me time all in together and I managed to forgot a couple of important events over the weekend, so now I have some making up to do.

My study material arrived on Thursday last week, and I set aside Sunday to get started on it. I am pleased to say that I have completed 1 of the 7 papers already although it is a bit harder than I thought an I realize that I am not good at distance learning…I much prefer a classroom environment where I can feed off other people. BUT I am not going to let that stop me, and I have the benefit of having 3 other intelligent people who I can bounce ideas and thoughts off……..and we also have a good support network and I can contact the tutor at any time for any questions. So far I haven’t needed that.

So the aim is to have it all completed within the next 4 weeks, and that might be a stretch especially with having full time work as well……but we will give it a go. Unfortunately the licensing board only meets monthly and they hold the application for 14 days before it goes to the board. So even if I get the certificate and get the company I want to work for to submit my application through quickly, the earliest I will get approved is early- mid November…..which is a bit of a worry as all of the laws change on November 17th.

There is also no Guarantee that I will find a company to take me on, and you can’t sell unless you are actually a licensed Real Estate Agent. Most people who call themselves agents are actually just approved as salespeople….. anyway, as I said, there is no guarantee that I will get into an agency…..so I have also decided to apply for jobs in the local area as well……….and surprise surprise there is actually 4 jobs that close in the next week or so that I am interested in. If I am successful with obtaining one of them I can always still do the real estate thing – the qualification lasts 3 years before I would have to re-sit it, and some steady money would be good. Now I can hear some of you saying that I should STICK to one thing, BUT honestly I am being careful not to put all my EGGS in one basket……..I can always say NO to a position if the real estate career does take off.

Actually Si had a good thought, which was if I was to get full time work that was not Real Estate I could still work for an agency helping out with open homes etc in the weekends, which would get me some practical experience as well.

So now I want to hear your thoughts on that matter? Feedback really needed, either comment here or email me at janine.hallewell@gmail.com