Wet weekend

Well I am pleased that we managed to get rid of the colder wet weather before Christmas (fingers crossed). I was uncertain as to if my Motorcycle training would go ahead with the weather, but luckily the rain held off till afterwards. So after about 20 mins of putt putting around on this scooter thing, the instructor got me to do some tests and viola I have my basic skills handling certificate and I can now go to and sit for my learners motorcycle license.

Here is me on the little (very little) scooter.


Had a great time on Saturday afternoon catching up with Janene in Palmy and it was lovely to see Jo and Jenny there as well, all checking on on Janene's fabulous progress. Some of Janenes comments take me back to when I had just had my surgery and was learning how to use the tool. We were talking about some of the little things that come with this surgery such as not drinking when you eat. I am a bad one for doing this as I need a little lubrication otherwise I tend to retch......however I think my little lubrication has crepted up and I am going to try to knock that on the head.

Oh, the other thing I am working on, is breakfast. I am not sure that I am getting enough from my breakfast as I find that I am often wanting to snack about 1- 2 hours later. So Simon and I are trying protein shakes for breakfast. Now I have never been a shake person, and I find them boring.....but I will give it a go for at least all of January and see what happens. Actually over the last couple of days I have gone back to basics on a few things.....and am obviously the better off for it as the scales on my official Monday morning Weighin are 106.3 kgs - so I have lost 2 kgs over the last week. So that makes a total loss of 70.7 kgs since my heaviest and now a total of 6.4 kgs to lose before I am under 100 kgs.

Anywho, off to work for my last two days, I have taken Wednesday off as we want to head away not long after lunch, and lunch is a get together with my brother and family as well as Dad and Val. So we will do the semi christmas thing then and head off after dropping the animals at their holiday home(kennels and cattery). So if I don't manage to post before Christmas. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, safe driving for those who are and see you when we all return from our various celebrations.

Love

Janine

7 Sleeps till Santa……and 2 sleeps till my Motorcycle training.

I am so excited, I am like a kid at the moment, I am finally going to learn how to ride!!! Hopefully I do okay and I earn my basic skills handling….then I just need to do my theory and I will be licensed to ride, which means I will be on the hunt for a cheap 250 to learn on.

I have been kind of taking it easy over the last week and not done a lot. I had my last Avon delivery (before Christmas) this week and now I can take a little break from it till mid January. I really only do it so I can get stuff for myself cheaper, but realistically the price of the catalogues etc makes it not cost effective. Oh well – I kind of treat it like a hobby anyway.

Oh, I was going to take a pic of out house with the Christmas decorations etc – but the cat has pulled over the tree so many times and broken most of the ornaments……so the only thing I have to show you is my Christmas mantle display – which a friend made for me. It is really lovely!!



On the body image front – I am now starting to hate the loose skin, especially when it comes to trying to find a swimsuit. I am so little up-top that I have had to go with a tankini top and lycra shorts for the bottoms (hate the loose skin on my legs). Actually I hate my arms as well and I really think I would be better off with a wetsuit. But once again my bottom half is still to chunky to feel comfortable in one.

Body image is one of those weird things that I am not sure will ever come right. I was reading a post by Jaxx recently about things that you can do to feel more confident about yourself everyday……

Something we should all live by everyday....

1. When standing in front of a mirror and taking a look at what you think are "problem areas" (problem areas according to the media's beauty standards), focus on your dazzling smile, killer hair, and great cleavage instead of how you don't have great abs.
2. Take a good look at Rubens' nudes and Renoir's bathing beauties. You will find they are beautiful. If you look like that, you too are beautiful!
3. Apply make-up (but not in an amateur way; browse the 'net for information on techniques that will suit you). The high you get from seeing your face come to life is unbeatable.
4. Develop a fabulous strut. Try to walk swaying your hips a little. Don't be afraid to get in touch with your feminine side.
5. Highlight what you like about yourself by buying clothes that draw attention to these areas. Got a great cleavage? Show it off a little!
6. Believe you are beautiful. Think beautiful and live beautiful. Walk on the street and feel beautiful. Hold your head up high, toss your hair, and take a deep breath. If you don't believe you are beautiful, how will others see you as beautiful?
7. Smile, smile, smile. Nothing makes a woman seem more attractive than a friendly smile.
8. Avoid programs that show impossible beauty. Don't get caught up in the lie!
9. Don't be afraid of the mirror. Look at your body and bond with it. Feel those curves and be thankful you are healthy.
10. Understand that the most important part of beauty comes from within. Outer beauty fades through time, but inner beauty lasts throughout your whole life. Cultivate your spirit, read, soar, and don't spend so much time in front of that TV!
Now I know that I need to work on most of these things….although I am proud to admit that I have a fabulous strut!!!

I am going to work on these some more, and I am going to re-find my motivation. I would really like to lost the next 8.3 kgs and finally be under 100 kgs for the first time that I can remember. So, my next post will be about how I believe I will achieve this and the steps that I will take to make the most of the tool that my surgeon has given me.

14 sleeps to go…..14 sleeps to Santa

Yup – only 14 sleeps till presents. Now some of you asked if I really had a pressies cupboard…..and I do. At the moment most things are wrapped, although we did have to get some more wrapping paper last night, so a few more to go into it yet. I have got really good at buying gifts throughout the year and it helps that I sell Avon, so sometimes I get some really good deals.

So here are 2 shelves of our pressies cupboard. There are even presents in the pink bag!!!



Now Si is pretty sure he is not getting a present from me this year since I got him the bike, but I am trying to source him something he has been waiting for a while.
I have been asking him for a pic of the bike, but he hasn’t given me one yet, so I thought I would show you a pic from the internet. The only difference is our one has the sissy bar on the back so I don’t fall off.



Oh, as mentioned, I have been really busy with the wedding preparation, and all the invites have gone out and I am starting to get RSVP’s. It is quite exciting. I have scanned a copy of the invite for those to see, although they didn’t scan as well as what they look. The black is velvet flocking paper and the other is a shimmery paper which reflects the light really well.



Looking forward to this weekend, we are having friends over for a BBQ on Saturday evening and that is all we have to do……that and the NZ Christmas cards that I must get out soon.

I would love to hear what plans you have for Christmas….are you staying home, or heading away for a few days like me. I am off to Lake Taupo for 4 nights.

In Control

You know with all these Christmas functions I normally (pre surgery) would have pigged out at all of them and most like gained like 5kgs!

We I am really happy to advise that after 3 do’s in the weekend I remained exactly the same as that I have been over the last couple of weeks. Do I feel like I missed out at all? Not a bean, in fact I think I enjoyed myself more as I didn’t stress about what I was eating. I can have the odd scorched almond and not demolish the whole box in one sitting, and I can take or leave anything.

Last Christmas I found it much harder as everyone was watching what I was eating, because it was so recent that I had the surgery and some people were critical of how little I was eating or the choices I was making. This was before we realized that I had a stricture and that I was at times quite uncomfortable.

The work do on Sunday was brilliant, it was at Makoura Lodge. We had a blast there doing the golf driving and the pistol shooting, which I have to say is much harder than it looks. The bbq was devine and the whole team really relaxed. I hope to have some pics soon.

After the do we did our normal grocery shopping and then we had a powernap and were ready to tackle to pressie cupboard to see what we had stashed away over the year. We were pleasantly surprised with what we had in the cupboard and went off to the warehouse to fill the gaps. So all pressies are now bought and wrapped and back in the pressie cupboard ready to be handed out in a few weeks time.

Location Location Location & Festive fun

I think I have found a new calling!!! I really like Real Estate. Mind you I think the reason I like it, is that I get all the fun of looking at houses without the stress of having to pay for it!!!!

This week has been really interesting going around lots of open homes and houses for sale with Si's Mum and Dad. Some of the agents out there are utterly appaling, and don't listen to the buyers requests at all, and some bend over backwards to try and find the right property. Si's Mum and Dad told me I was made for real estate as I remebered what they were looking for and what they liked and disliked about every single house, even down to the floorplan!!! If only it provided a more stable income.

So it sure has been a busy week with looking at all those houses and we also had Si's new motorbike arriving......pics to come. It finally got here on Friday night at around 9pm after a mix up with the trucking company. Got the sissy bar installed yesterday morning and then headed of to the family christmas bbq out at my cousin Paul's place in Tangimoana. Was nice to see everyone, although I was a bit hot and my neck got a little burnt!!

Saw Si's Mum and Dad off on their way back to Auckland before racing off to the Lions Club christmas function last night. I was part of the organising committee, so I needed to be there early to do some of the decorations etc. We even had a visit from Santa and I ran a quiz about Christmas.

Today we have my work do out at Apiti, which is where I grew up on a farm. I would realy like to show Si around up there, so we might go up a little earlier so I can show him around a bit.

Now, one thing about my blog, I noticed that in the last week I had over 70 'Hits" or views, and only ONE comment left. I realise that some people don't know how to comment, or they are reading through google reader, and although I don't actually write my blog for anyone elses benefit but my own.....I feel a bit hurt sometimes that no one wants to leave a message. Which is stupid I know, as I am one of the worst offenders at popping into other poeples blogs and not commenting. So, I am changing that, and I will be commenting on other peoples more often!!!

For those of you who don't know how to comment or wish to do so privately, feel free to just drop me an email.

Phew - done and dusted

Well, what a month November has been!!! That had to have been the busiest time I have ever had!!!

Work - we have had a special project on during November so things have been really busy for me as I have had had 4 people in the Nelson area working and I have had to do all of their booking in and managing their workloads. Now for me this means constant phone calls to farmers scheduling their tb testing and then dealing with the fallout when on the day it suddenly isn't convenient. Also just the logistics of getting my 3 additional guys down there and keeping them happy. Thankfully the last one arrives home tonight!!! On top of all that we have had the Tender for the 2009 - 2013 Tb testing contract happening, and we had to pull all that together this week to be submitted Friday afternoon. Fingers crossed we get at least the same workload - otherwise I could be looking for a new job!!! Won't know will March though, so no point stressing about it.

Wedding - well the wedding of the century is taking place in our neck of the woods - for anyone who doesn't know, but Dad is getting remarried on the 6Th Feb next year and somehow I got nominated as the wedding coordinator!!!! This apparently means I get to organise everything, and make sure all the invites are done etc - and oh btw if November was busy enough- it all needed to be done then!!!!!!!!!!!

Weight - things are pretty stable there - I can pretty much eat anything now, although still heaps smaller portions that take longer to eat and my weight i guess kinda reflects that. I usually drop between 1- 2 kgs per month now, and honestly with the amount of excess skin that I will have I am actually really happy with that. So my current weight is 108.3 kgs. I am roughly a size 18 ontop and a size 20 - 22 on the the bottom (depends on brand). I think for me now my weight loss will have to come frome exercise and I still do not put a very high priority on it I have to say, although I do need to work on my fitness, as when I run (short spurts)I still get really puffed.

Birthday - Yup another year older. Turned 36 last Sunday - 23rd November, and had a lovely day with Si. Kept things very low key this year and just went out for lunch in Palmy and had a quick look at motorcycles as Si's one has spat the dummy.

House - Although since Leeloo died we have not been 100% happy with where we are living we have decided that the price is just too good and Riddick seems to have some good road sense and we can make this house our home.......at the moment it still feels like just a house!!! I think eventually we will move to Palmerston North but for now this is it, so we are going to try to make the most of it.

Motorcycle - Si's motorcycle has once again spat the dummy and this time looks as though it not worth fixing. Now with Si getting better with his back and now being able to do a little more - and of course his physio appts etc we needed another vehicle. So do we buy another car or another bike. Well Si hunted everywhere for a bike in a good price range that was not too old as we would have to finance it.
He couldn't - bt within 10 mins I had found one that was perfect for us, and our finance company agreed, so yay- Si has a new bike which will be here later this week (they are shipping it). It is a 2006 Suzuki Boulevard S50 - photos to come once it arrives.

Well I think that catchs everyone up till at least yesterday, and man what a day that was. Got up at 7:30 ish am and decided I needed to catch up on the housework as I had certainly let things lapse during my busy November. Was great to put some music on the stereo and enjoying housework. Once that was done, Si and I popped into town to get some christmas cards away and had a morning coffee/hot chocolate at the local coffee bar. Then headed home to work on the invitations, but got sidetracked by Si, who wanted help int he garage - as he needed to make room for the new toy (see above)
So about 90 mins later and a whole car full of boxes and rubbish and it was off to the rubbish tip, Man Feilding charges like a wounded bull for dumping rubbish - $25 for a small boot load, 40 for station wagon!!! Free for recycling!!!! So we were a little lucky and our boxes were considered recycling, so they only charged us the $25for the non recyclables. Much more expensive than what Wellington charges are.

Grabbed some lunch at the local cafe and then quickly raced to my old primary schools Gala Day. It was good - although I remember them being alot bigger and more organised when I was there. Maybe that is just me wearing 'rose coloured glasses'!!

Home to get the invitations for at least the people Dad and Val were going to be visiting on Sunday done so they could take them with them. The rest I will need to get done this morning. - All 50 ish of them!!! Went shopping for groceries and spent a little too much, but it seemed all the big stuff (like bags of dog food)were needed this week and with the day we had had, we ended up buying a cooked chicken for dinner and I didn't realise but it was $14.00 for a cooked chicken!!!!

Went to bed fairly shattered but for some reason I can't sleep so got up at 5am to write this, and so far it is 5:46 and I am still typing......My god I can't imagine what this is like to read!!

Si's Mum is arriving today for a week, they have managed to sell the house in Auckland, so she is coming to look at houses down here. It will be fantastic to have them closer and I am really looking forward to it. It also means that we will have another busy week ahead, with looking at houses etc with my mother in law, to the bike arriving, work and every Christmas party scheduled for next weekend. More on those later - can't have everything in one post.

I will try and update more often this week, although that might be a stretch - at lease a photo pot of the new bike.

PJ Party & massive update.

Okay so here goes for the mammoth task of updating. It has been so long since I did a decent post and so much has happened in the last month.

To start with, probably best to fill you in on the family events.......well as many of you know, my Mum died just over 3 years ago and my dad was really down for a bit there but then started going out and meeting new people. Well I am really pleased to finally be able to announce that my Dad and his lady Val are getting married.

They weren't going to announce the happy event until Val's birthday in February, but thankfully they have decided that the news was far to happy to keep a secret for that long and the happy event is now scheduled for Waitangi Day (6th Feb). I am apparently the coordinator for the event and so far my jobs are all the creative stuff which I am not so good at!!!!!

What else has been happening. Well Simon and I officially joined Lions International, and we have been busy with running the mini golf and going to the oratory contest. I am getting a real sense of community spirit by doing something that is giving back.

Okay so now to me. Well I have not been losing weight really - I seem to have stabalised for anow at 109 kgs. I am really happy with this as I have not really done any exercise although I am waking up earlier now and it doesn't seem like such a chore to go out and head off to the gym. Not sure if I really enjoy the actual gym though, I think curces was alot more fun and only 30 mins long.

On friday last week I met with my surgeon for my 1 year post op check up. It went really well, and he is really pleased with where I am at, although he did tell me off for not taking all of my supplements......actually I have been really naughty and not taken any for ages.

To celebrate our 1 year surgiversary, Annie myself and Michelle arranged to have a slumber party weekend, so I went down to Wellington on Thursday to spend some much needed quality time with the girls. I went down mid morning and met my brother for lunch on the Thursday and then popped over to my old job and caught up with the team there. I then popped out to Westfield shopping centre and caught up with Jo. Was fantastic to see her and I realised I had not seen her since March 2007.

After coffee with Jo I met Annie there, and she had an appointment with a salon so I decided to get my nails done. Money very well spent and I am constantly amazed at how something so small can affect your outlook on yourself.

We headed over to pick up Michelle and we had a dinner of chicken and salad wraps and then headed out to a tupperware party for one of Annies workmates. I ended up buying a lunch box type container which has 4 sections, which hopefully will make lunches a bit easier.

After the Tupperware party we went to Annies house in Upper Hutt, and pulled out the mountain of clothes that Michelle has shrunk out of. We had many laughs that night with all the trying on and catching up and it looked as though I would be spending a while heap of cash on new clothes as it seemed most of the either fit me or were too big.!!!!

We had a lazy morning the next morning and had lunch at subway before heading of to see Zola and David at Southern Cross hospital. Was just like in hospital - us three causing havoc nd laughing so much. We all looked stunning and as usual we forgot to take a pic.

That night was more laughing and chatting and I finally decided on what clothes I was going to buy. I made some really good choices and did not overdo it. I think I must have come home with about 30 new garments though and even some extra special ones.

Saturday morning came far too fast and it was time for me to head off around lunch time to spend the rest of the weekend with Si and of course to vote. As I mentioned we forgot to get pics of us in our gladrags, but since the time was meant to be a 1 year anniversary of when we all hung out I think we spent more time in our PJ's - here is a couple of pics of us in them amongst the mountain of clothes that we were trying on. Actually every sitting surface had clothes on it!!! Was fantastic.





The rest of the weekend was really relaxed. Got out and voted and then went to the A&P show which was at manfield park. Was really impressed with all the Alpaca's there and if I had some land I would be tempted to get one or two.

On Sunday we decided that we really want to put in a veggie garden (although I hate gardening)so we picked up the Rotary Hoe from dad's and are busy turning over the soil this week, getting ready to plant in the next couple. I will try to take some pics when we have it looking a bit nicer and fenced off from the dog andwhen it is ready for planting.

Where has time gone?

I can't beleive where time is going. thngs have been so busy for me at the moment at work and socialy. I have been working most nights and at least the Saturdays.

We have had a heap of social engagements and Lions Club is also keeping me really busy.

I promise I will do a proper update as I have alot to say, but for the meantime, everything is great just flat out.

I am heading to see my surgeon for my 1 year post op tomorrow, it is a couple of weeks early but near enough. I will be staying with Annie and Michelle, whom I had the surgery with at the same time, so should be a hoot.

Will get some pics and I will update when I get back - most likely Sunday as Saturday is looking a bit manic at this stage.

Byebye Leeloo

Well what a shitty week I have had this week. I have been so flat out at work this week that I have consistantly been leaving about 1 hr late everyday and today I have about 3 hours of work to do, which I will head into the office for shortly.

Then on Wednesday night, Simon and I went to play our game only to find that his game account had been hacked by some little bugger who either deleted or moved most of his characters and they had also stolen in game money from our "banks". This is really frustrating as these are characters that we have invested alot of time into. I know it is just a game and most people just won't understand. It is not actually that we have lost anything at all, and we can recreate it all if we needed to, but the feeling that someone could be a low life scum to hack into his account just for kicks sends the bejezzers up me.

Then last night, Si suggested going for a walk after our very late dinner, so after watching some telly, we decided to take Porsche for a walk (10:30pm) just around the small block. (something we are trying to get into the habit of. So off we went, and we got to say 30 metres from home when I saw our beautiful tabby lying on the road. I quickly took Porsche home and Si checked Leeloo out. She was dead.

She was always the very adventureous one of our two cats, she actually followed me to Dad's one day, and we have caught her out on the road many times, and kinda knew that this day would come eventually. I just had hoped that it would not have been so soon. She would have been 1 year old on Tuesday. Guess she used up her 9 lives.

Actually looking back on yesterday it was like she knew. She was very cuddly yesterday and she just kept lying around looking at us both. Both Riddck and Porsche are going to miss her alot. I will try and find the video of her and Porsche together when she was just 8 weeks old, bossing Porsche around on her first meeting with each other. I also think that something else must have been at work last night as we have never ever been out for a late night walk, and it was like we were meant to find her then - before she was too badly damaged. I will take her into work today and make the arrangements to get her cremated (for those who don't know - my office is based at a vet clinic)




Well here I am at work , and I have managed to find the video of her and Porsche. As you can see they thought the world of each other right fromt hat first meeting.

October Already

Where this year is flying to I have no idea. I have been really busy with work, alot happening and several work trips, another couple coming up over the next two weeks.

Okay, so I know you are all wanting to hear about my hair and if I shaved it off or not, well I did.....and most people who have actually seen it in Real life like it. (Apart from my Dad - but I believe you can never truly make Dad's happy.

Anyway so here it is. I couldn't get a really good shot of it, so it is only a mediocre one. Will get some better ones soon hopefully.



It has actually had two weeks growing since then, and I already have almost more regrowth than blonde. It is really interesting to see how my hair grows and which ways it sticks up!!!!

Oh, I have had a scale victory recently as well. I am now under 110kgs, Currently sitting at 109.5kgs. I had hoped to be under 100 kgs by the time I see my surgeon on Nov 7th, but I think I will revise that and say that by Christmas/New Years I would like to be under 100kgs.

Anyway - that is it for me for the time being. Will try to update more often, just that my life is pretty boring and routine, and I am sure you don't really want to hear that I got up, went to work, made calls, came home, ate dinner, played my game, went to a meeting, etc etc etc.