Hoop hoop hooray!

It's January, and it's time to shake off the extra pounds which I've gained not just over recent weeks, but over recent months. So far, so good: I'm back following Weight Watchers Online and have lost 3lbs since the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately the year didn't start too well healthwise: two weeks ago I was floored by a virus infection which started off as a cold and left me feeling extremely fatigued. The very same thing happened to my mum and faithful travelling companion who are both trying to recover from it at the moment.

It's only now that I'm feeling ready to get fit again. Who needs to pay a hefty gym membership fee to join a gym in these times of economic gloom, when you can buy a couple of bits of equipment which you can easily use at home? Over the last couple of years I've particularly found the Reebok Mini Stepper as an effective way to get fit and has also helped to relieve my lower back pain too.



Yesterday I bought a hula hoop. The whole thing started off as a bit of a joke, but then I thought about how this could really help me tone up and get my waist back again :)



I had a hula hoop as a child and loved it, but back then it was possible to achieve more than the 7 or 8 revolutions I struggled to achieve yesterday. It was a good laugh using it though!

(pictures courtesy of www.argos.co.uk)

It's a no from me for the eggs factor*

Christmas time, mistletoe and wine. It was fun, but it was all gone in a flash, just like the Christmas trees which were blown down in Tuesday's 100 mph gales. Although our local Christmas tree defiantly remains upright and fully lit!

Even though a few hardy souls still have their trees up and strings of lights round their windows, most of the motorised reindeers have nodded their last, the trees and baubles are put away, we marvel at a set of lights actually lasting for four weeks (before they're put away to mysteriously fail before the first weekend of December 2012) and the cards are consigned to the Morrisons recyling bin. Yes folks, Christmas is over for another year, most of us are back to work - although no-one told a certain bus monopoly which has been operating a limited service since Christmas!

Anyway I digress. We need to take stock, to clear the decks, to declutter our minds and detox our bodies, and generally catch our breath after the Christmas rush.

What we do not need is Easter eggs on the 5th of January! Not so much egg-on-face as in-your-face the minute you walk into your nearest supermarket. And don't even start me on the Valentine cards...

Why can't we just let time pass naturally?

* I do love Mini Eggs, so that's the reason for the picture. Just don't buy me any till April :)

The "big year" (yawn)

Two days into 2012 and I'm already bored with the London-centric media's obsession over this "big year". Which of course means only two things: the London 2012 Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee. Both have a lot in common: in a time where there seems to be no solution in sight to the national (and worldwide) recession which is still spiralling out of control, both are a luxury which this country can't afford.

I have always loved the Olympics, yet the idea of them coming to this country still leaves me cold. Don't ask me to explain why, as I honestly don't know, but when I look at some of the practical aspects it all becomes a bit clearer.

Competitors and spectators from all over the world will descend on not just London, but also some other British cities too. No doubts they will be made very welcome by the majority of the population, but after the summer's so-called "riots" I would worry that they may be a target for the scum/low-lifes who despite the recession will always find money for drink, drugs and designer goods "by any means necessary". I've visited many countries over the years, but all of them felt safer than this one.

Then there's the poor transport system in this country. Having travelled all over Europe, the one thing I never fail to notice is the impressive transport infrastructure in place in many countries, even those with a lower standard of living to our own. Arrive in some European countries by air and you can take a train directly from the airport into the city, where you are then faced with a choice of buses and trams which run from stops which clearly state when the next bus/tram is coming, and it might even arrive on time. Transport in Britain is a shambles - bus and train companies whose timetables aren't worth the paper they're written on, poor services, rising fares etc. And don't even ask a bus driver why the bus was late or why you've been waiting for about 40 minutes since the last one, when it's allegedly a 10 minute service - you'll only get a grunt at best, or a torrent of abuse.

Finally, there's our climate. The Olympics is a summer showpiece, so why give it to a country where the weather is an obsession, probably because it's so rubbish most of the time?

Then of course there is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Never mind that this country is going to hell, that the government is killing off public services and making us work till we drop, that's if we'll all still have jobs, that is. No, let's wave a flag and be proud to be British, for just one day let's forget how crap this country is. There is one good thing about it though: as with the royal wedding last year we're getting an extra day's bank holiday. Now that is worth celebrating.

Goodbye 2011!

I came across this the other day and it really appealed to me. New York has a "Good Riddance Day" at the end of the year which gives people a chance to say "good riddance" to the things about the past year which they're glad to see the back of.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/New-Yorkers-Say-Good-Riddance-to-2011-136402413.html

Personally I'll also be glad to say "good riddance" to 2011 for so many reasons, both personal and on a wider scale. However it wasn't all bad - no year is all bad, and good things do happen.

I have so much to be thankful for - good health, a happy home life, a relationship which is stronger than it's ever been, a job which I genuinely enjoy doing, and having just enough money to get by. We had a couple of very good holidays in Pisa and Dublin this year. Earlier in the year I finally reached my target weight and dropped a dress size for the first time in about 20 years. I know that's totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but it was a major achievement for me. (I put it all on again in the second half of the year of course, but that's only a temporary blip).

Just like my weight, my own health was up and down this past year, but I end the year with the crippling back pain under control - although that right knee is still very dodgy :( Meanwhile my mum, who has had a pretty rubbish year healthwise, ends the year in, touch wood, a reasonable state of health by her standards.

I'm not into all this new year resolution nonsense, as they are doomed to fail, but the new year gives us a blank page to make some new, hopefully happy, memories. I'll be sharing them on this blog of course, and I hope that all the readers of this and my other two blogs get the chance to make lots of happy memories of your own in 2012.

Lots of love and best wishes for the new year ahead!


Laura xx

....but you can never leave.

If someone asked me to describe this wonderful, life-changing experience which is blogging, I'd borrow from those great philosophers The Eagles and say it's a bit like the Hotel California - you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

2011 has been particularly horrible for a lot of reasons, some very close to home, others in a wider world context. Meanwhile in blogland, there were several moments over the past year when I seriously considered quitting blogging, one of the reasons being that I felt I wasn't delivering on the promises and (what turned out to be unreasonable) targets which I'd mentally set myself. And that's not what blogging should be about. It should be spontaneous, and fun, and all the things which resulted in me keeping three blogs going, as I still do.

The other problem was that it was impossible to keep EuropeCrazy topical and up to date, due to time constraints. A lot of blogging is about 'the now' and topicality is everything. Writing an album review a year after its release wouldn't exactly go down too well in music blogland, for example. So I had all these little unwritten posts in my head, but when the time came around to publish them, I just felt they weren't relevant anymore.

If you think all this is leading up to an "I've decided to quit blogging" announcement, well....it's not. Let's go back to The Eagles, because I'm going to check out for a while but have no intention of leaving. Because I love blogging, and I want to keep on doing it. I want to celebrate the 5th birthday of my first-born blog EuropeCrazy in March 2012. I want to take Planet Salem (which is 4 years old tomorrow) into its fifth year. And as long as there's food to eat and clothes to buy, there's a lot of life left in good ol' Random Ramblings too.

The big difference is that I'll be blogging a lot less than I used to, and won't be promising anything which I can't deliver. After the 2011-50 ends over at EuropeCrazy, I'm going to step away from the computer for a little while, however will still write the odd blog post. And that time will hopefully come when I've caught up with myself, when all the jobs are done, and I'll be ready to throw myself back into blogland with a vengeance.

Retail therapy (again, I know)

Off to Matalan with mum this afternoon, and what a very productive day it was for both of us: mum was very lucky to finally get the new pair of boots she was looking for, we got some Christmas wrapping paper, oh and I bought two new coats. Not one but two. A black one and a purple one.

Now I like coats, and I like purple coats, and there are probably not enough purple coats in the world so here is another one for my collection. Although it's probably more "grape" than purple I guess.

Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan...

Made this, just over an hour ago - my first attempt at some speciality Irish cuisine...potato pancakes which are better known as boxty. It was OK, although my mashed potato to grated potato ratio needs some work as the end result was a bit soggy. Nevertheless I'm glad I tried it!

It'll be a while before I try it again though, as I'll need to sustain my good work on the diet front. I worked hard and lost 2lbs last week, which has probably been undone by the boxty :)

Like it!

Loving this new Aldi ad with the wine-loving parrot. Hope you "like it" too :)

Champiñones al Ajillo

I've been too busy to blog lately, so only just getting round to publishing this. It was actually a couple of weeks ago that I took the plunge into cooking one of my favourite tapas dishes at home. And rather yummy it was too, although the garlic aroma was circling around my house for several days afterwards :)

Who said anything about a diet??

As you know I'm a crisp addict rather than a chocolate fan, but this is well worth getting excited about.

The other week one of my friends at work introduced me to Thorntons Ginger and Chilli chocolate, which is pretty amazing. Especially if you like your chocolate with a fiery kick, this will be right up your street. Yum.

Goodbye CRT, hello LED

It was the end of an era this week at EuropeCrazy HQ, as we finally took the great leap forward into the digital TV revolution. Our trusty old 28" flat screen CRT TV...

which was once state of the art back in the day, made way for a 37" LED TV...

It wasn't a spur of the moment decision but it's been researched for ages, and whilst I'm in 'life's too short' mode, now is as good a time as any to take that step.

It's not just a flat screen TV, it's one of these "smart tvs" which you can get BBC iPlayer and YouTube on. And it's got Freeview HD as well.

It is extremely fab and I hope we get as many happy viewing years out of our new TV as our old one gave us. I'll just need to tear myself away from it to write a few blog posts now and then :)

This time, we'll get it right

For some bizarre reason, I'm borrowing the post title from the England World Cup Squad football song from 1982. They weren't singing about Christmas shopping of course, but I thought it was an appropriate title tonight.

Today saw part 2 of my Christmas shopping bonanza. In 2011, I have decided to be even more organised than ever and get as much Christmas shopping done as early as possible. Today, like last Saturday, was very productive. A jewellery blitz in Next was followed by a card/gift bag blitz in Card Factory and then it was on to Boots for a 3 for 2 on Champneys spa stuff. Finally. I've moved on from all the Sanctuary goodies to something new :)

It's been a good weekend all in all. Last night, we finally made it to our favourite local Indian restaurant for my birthday meal, 2 week later than planned as I hadn't been too well around that time. Happily the work-stress is finally starting to ease off, but it's still the worst time of year for that....roll on January!

October

As months go, October is probably one of my least favourites. It really hasn't got much going for it: the holidays are over and there's not much to look forward to, the weather gets colder, the days get darker, Christmas is being foisted on us by every high street store before it's even Halloween, the fireworks start going on sale for all the anti-social low lifes to let off every night between now and 5th November, making our streets even more of a no-go area than they are already. My mood sinks so low that I end up comfort eating, getting fat, gaining weight, getting angry that I'm getting fat. And don't start me about work...

Anyway being the optimist I am, I'm trying to think of something good about October. Then I remembered that this is probably my favourite time of the year for clothes. I might have said on this blog before now that I love autumn fashion, and that's still the same. You can forget all the trendy designer shops - my favourite clothes shop is the magnificent Matalan. Good quality clothes at reasonable prices, you can't go wrong.

One of my major autumn/winter obsessions is boots. When you live in a country with a climate as utterly dire as this one, you can't have enough boots of course. On Saturday I headed for Matalan with my birthday money and bought not one but two new pairs of boots for the winter. One of them is a knee-high dark grey pair, the other is a mid-calf brown pair (pictured above). Today was like a winter's day, so I wore the brown pair to work, and they passed the test.

Last word on my birthday - I did very well this year...two pairs of boots, a new skirt, a Father Ted DVD box set, a crystal bracelet, two bottles of red wine and still some money left to spend. Result!

Seamus the Sheep

Meet my new friend from Dublin :)

Hilarious Irish TV ad

This is an ad for One Direct car insurance which I saw on TV whilst over in Dublin, I still think the guy's singing is side-splittingly hilarious - can we swap him for the Go Compare guy???

Wacky Woollies!!

If you go to Dublin (and probably anywhere else in Ireland I guess) and go into a gift shop, you won't be able to avoid the various souvenirs featuring a multi-coloured array of mad Irish sheep. They are called Wacky Woollies, and I totally love them! Yes I know I'm probably far too old for what is probably a 21st century Irish update/variation on the Mr Men, but who cares? They're fab. The picture you see above is of a Wacky Woollies shopping bag which I bought whilst in Dublin two weeks ago.

You'll find everything wacky and woolly at Carroll's Irish Gift Stores, there are tons of these shops in Dublin and they're online at http://www.carrollsirishgifts.com/category/COLLECTABLEScollectables/COLLECTABLESWackyWoollies

(nearly) September 30th

It's my birthday tomorrow, so I thought I'd check out who will also be blowing out the candles on their cake tomorrow. Of course another year older means that there is inevitably more candles than there's space on the cake ;)

Anyway, I'm impressed that I'm sharing my big day with the likes of Barbara Knox, Johnny Mathis, the late Marc Bolan, Rula Lenska, the fab Basia Trzetrzelewska, Monica Bellucci, Marion Cotillard, Star Academy 2's Georges-Alain Jones, and Ola Jordan.

So happy birthday to all of them, happy birthday to me, and if tomorrow's your big day then happy birthday to you!!

Unfortunately I've decided to postpone my annual birthday dinner at my favourite local Indian restaurant as I'm not in tip top health at the moment...however it shouldn't be too long till our usual annual treat!

Linda Pritchard Pizza!

I wonder if the person in charge of pizza-naming at Asda was inspired by Linda Pritchard's 2010 Melodifestivalen entry, "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" when they were thinking of a name for their absolutely delicious spicy veg pizza?

Note to chief of labelling: your pizza is impressive, your spelling is not. Jamacian? Hmph :(

Turn again to life

The governor of New Jersey just read this out at one of the 9/11 commemorations and I wanted to share it here.

Turn Again To Life
Mary Lee Hall

If I should die and
Leave you here awhile
Be not like others sore undone,
Who keep long vigils
By the silent dust and weep.
For my sake turn again
To life and smile
Nerving thy heart
And trembling hand to do
Something to comfort
Other hearts than thine.
Complete these dear
Unfinished Tasks of mine,
And I, perchance
May therein comfort you.

9/11 remembered, ten years on

As with all major events/tragedies, people always ask the question, "where were you when ......happened?" We all have our stories, and as we commemorate the 10th anniversary of that shocking, tragic day, I thought I’d share my own personal story here.

On 11th September 2001, I was heading off to Barcelona with faithful travelling companion for our annual summer holiday. Sitting in a departure lounge in Luton airport, surrounded by a vast majority of Spanish citizens, we were completely unaware that the attacks had taken place. Flights continued to depart and by the time we boarded the flight from Luton airport, the Twin Towers had fallen, and we still didn’t even know.

Our flight was probably one of the last to leave the UK, before airspace was closed and all flights were suspended. We arrived in Barcelona, still completely unaware. September 11th had a different meaning for the Catalans - it was (and remains) Catalunya’s National Day. After checking into our hotel we headed out on that hot, sunny Tuesday evening. The streets, bars and restaurants of Barcelona were buzzing and busier than ever due to the public holiday, and we wanted to be part of it. We joined in the party atmosphere, still unaware of the events which unfolded.

It wasn’t till very, very late that evening that we finally found out. On our way home, people were handing out free newspapers in the street - a Spanish-language equivalent of the Metro newspaper. On the front page, there was a picture of two skyscrapers, on fire, and a headline about the USA. I couldn’t understand a word of Spanish, so couldn’t really make sense of it. Back at the hotel, I got a message to phone home - when my mother finally told me about the terrifying events in New York.

One week later it was time to go home. It was a difficult journey home for many reasons, including missing our connecting flight due to long (but very necessary) delays/security measures. But we got home eventually, back to a changed world when things would never be the same again.

It will never get any easier watching the images of what happened that day, watching them over and over again in the numerous commemorative documentaries which have been screened over the past two weeks. Today many commemorative events are taking place to remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, and who will always be remembered in the hearts of their loved ones. My thoughts are with you.

The countdown is on

One more working day left and then it will be time for my annual two weeks off, which will put a much-needed smile on my face. Unlike previous years there will be no traditional 'summer holiday' but I'm determined that the approaching 'staycation' (to use that very 21st century term) will provide some necessary rest and relaxation and may yet bring some surprises. And, no doubt, a trip to Matalan.

I'd like to say that there would be some kind of blogging bonanza, but right now I'm struggling to recover the blogging mojo. I'll try and do a post or two though...

Did I hear jingle bells???

Yes it's the 17th of August.

SO WHY ARE THERE BOXES OF CHRISTMAS CARDS ON THE SHELVES IN BIRTHDAYS???

Sorry for shouting, but this kind of thing just makes me so grumpy and sends me into despair.

Christmas in August? Bah humbug. Some of us have still to go on our summer holidays.

When I am through with you

These showery days and chilly nights make it feel like summer is over :( however two days off work is good no matter what time of year it is. Apart from the retail therapy mentioned in the previous post, my long weekend also involved some decluttering and charity bagging, and actually finishing a book for a change - Mark Cavendish's "Boy Racer". Oh, and I've even made serious inroads into the "Damages" season 1 boxset at last, currently on loan from faithful travelling companion. This programme is very addictive viewing, and after each episode I just want to see the next one. Also, the theme tune (which gives this post its title) is very good too.

I'm certainly not stuck for things to do during this blogging break. Work, rest, and play. On Monday I even slotted in a game of Beehive Bedlam at teatime and got to level 13 then decided to quit whilst I was ahead. Not for me the complicated world of modern gaming (although my fondness for The Sims will never die) but give me Bloobs or Beehive Bedlam and I'll be happy for the rest of the day.

The revenge of the maxi dress, and some other stuff.

I spent the early stages of this (so-called) summer on an elusive search for the maxi dress, the one which doesn't make me look like an elephant, or a 4-person tent, or a multicoloured explosion in a paint shop. Needless to say I gave up, with the realisation that they're all made for tall people and I'd have to cut a few inches off the bottom of a very, very long dress.

So it was a massive surprise today to finally meet the maxi dress of my dreams, perfect in every way. And even better, it was reduced in a sale!! Of course I bought it! Had a very nice day of retail therapy.

Now I'm no fashionista, but I do like clothes. A lot. However, why do the shops persist in trying to sell us such ludicrous "looks"? This year, it's been 'colour blocking'. Whoever thought of putting pink and red together? What were they on?

The other fashion issue which continues to irritate me: if our nation is becoming the obesity capital of Europe, then where are all the big sizes? Why do the more affordable fashion stores persist on overstocking size 8s and 10s which remain unsold? It's time the size-discrimination stopped.

Big girls want fashionable, affordable clothing too!

Unfortunately in recent years there is a generation (of all shapes and sizes) who have grown up with ill-fitting low-cut T-shirts, low-slung tattoo-flashing jeans, tracksuit bottoms and hooded tops, and those people will sadly take a bit more persuading to smarten themselves up if the opportunity ever arose. The chav style is here to stay, it seems, which is very sad indeed.

I've been off work today and tomorrow, for what I call a couple of days' "sanity leave" to (a) clear my head and (b) get things done. So far I haven't been able to achieve either of these objectives :) oh well there's always tomorrow I suppose! Right - off to bed!

What's the world coming to?

I am still shocked and saddened by the events in Norway yesterday: the Oslo bomb, followed by the Utøya massacre. I wanted to write something about it, yet it's impossible to find the words to describe my anger, shock, revulsion at an act which appears to have been carried out by a lone, sick individual.

My thoughts and prayers are with you all in that beautiful northern land. May you all stay strong and let no-one destroy your spirit.

Sinus infection, day three hundred and forty five

OK it's only 10 days, but it feels a lot longer....

As Madonna might have sung, "mucus makes the people come together" but enough bad puns, because it's no laughing matter. I'm fed up with constantly blowing my nose. I'm fed up going deaf every time I blow my nose. I'm fed up with the face-pain, with the dizziness, with the headaches. And then the hayfever attacks come, and that triggers the recurring sinus infection, and it all starts all over again.

Having practically no sense of smell is bad enough anyway, but I could really do without all of the above as well. And don't even start me on how worn out and tired I'm feeling right now. So I'm too tired to blog at the moment.

Back to the rules :(

Those (mainly) rotten, busy and stressful couple of weeks, inevitably led to comfort eating on a big scale. The diet took a hammering and the scales went up. My ear/sinus infection of the past week didn't help either - I'm still trying to shake that off, by the way.

But over the last few days we've had, to use that well-used phrase "closure" in a way. So it's a good time to get a grip and get on with it. Even though it's "summer" and I should really be relaxing. But of course September is my "summer", when faithful travelling companion and I hit sunnier climes for a week. So I need to get in shape!

Our 2011 summer destination is, as yet, unannounced but there are a few ideas kicking around. News to follow in a few weeks....

In other news...

It's been a while since I blogged, so I thought it was about time to dip my toes into the blogging pool once again.

"Summer" has been a non-event so far, weather-wise; whilst people in some parts of Britain were sweltering, we still had the central heating and were reaching for extra clothing layers, and the most essential item in our summer wardrobe was a waterproof jacket. Summer up here is like wintertime, only with lighter nights. It's been a nice surprise then to have two rain-free days, yesterday and today, with nice warm temperatures to match. And some sun.

The past week has been pretty surreal. There has been time off work, leisurely lunches and lovely days out, notably at Ayr (pictured above)which is my favourite Scottish seaside town. It also has some great shops for some much-needed retail therapy and the sales (usually a disappointment) provided some nice bargains.

However something much more unpleasant also happened a week ago; I can't say much as it's still being investigated, but all I will say is that we have been victims of vandalism and all in all it has been a horrible experience which we can only hope was a one-off.

In the totally-crap-year sweepstake, 2011 is galloping past previous winner 2008 and already winning by several lengths. (There has been a lot of personal darkness in this year so far, some things I haven't written about on here out of respect to loved ones).

Yet I am always trying to stay upbeat in spite of everything, trying to keep things moving along and being strong for everyone. "Keep calm and carry on" could be my catchphrase. But even glass half full people like me will inevitably crash and burn eventually, before picking themselves up as we do. I had that moment on Friday night, but having got through the weekend I'm feeling better and ready to move on again.

But what happens if you can't?

You know, I learned something today.

I learned that maxi dresses are not for me: after three attempts at trying them on, I've decided it's three strikes and they're out. After losing all this weight and not thinking of myself as the fat girl anymore, the last thing I want is to buy clothes which make me look like a beached whale.

Oh, and I also learned that it's ok to eat a big Indian meal, a high-points risotto, and a great big Magnum ice-cream lolly, and stay the same weight I was last week.

Boot camp sucks.

That's the verdict after two days. Of the 15 rules of boot camp, the one which completely floored me was the 2 litres of water per day thing, which resulted in a total humdinger of a headache. It's not as if I'm detoxing - I love my strong coffee and diet fizzy drinks too much to give them up, do you want to push me completely over the edge???? - but that headache was a total stinker and ruined my whole day.

However the exercise element is going very well, so it's not all bad.

And anyway tomorrow night is Indian night! Mushroom pakora, chicken tikka masala, rice and nan. Who said anything about boot camp???

The first rule of Boot Camp is...

...let's talk about Boot Camp!

For the next 21 days* I've declared war on the wobbly bits and decided to tone up, get fit, get healthier.

That's the plan anyway.

So day 1 is over, and it's gone well. 20 days to go....

*Needless to say, this plan does not include the fab Indian meal which I'm going to have on Wednesday, or the nice big lunch I'm going to have on Saturday. Well you've got to have something to look forward to, haven't you??!!!

Mushroom Risotto!

Tonight I made my first ever mushroom risotto, which was if I might say so a very successful first attempt. Arborio rice and chestnut mushrooms - yum. And very filling too.

All good so far: until I put it into the recipe builder on Weight Watchers Online....18 points.

EIGHTEEN FLIPPIN' POINTS! You're only allowed 29 per day! It was, of course, the olive oil to blame, so next time I'll be substituting Fry Light. And admittedly it was a massive, dinner-sized portion, a bit too much for supper time!!

Happy Friday and the sun is shining

A rarity here: a dry day, some sun to go along with it, and allegedly 25 degrees. Which is about the hottest I can stand - any higher and it gets unbearable. We're never happy :)

Anyway, I lost 1lb this week, despite the excesses of the bank holiday weekend....going in the right direction.

Finally getting better.

Not counting my chickens or anything, but I've been free of back pain for exactly one week. The back pain which has over the past 18 months at times been so crippling that I haven't been able to function at all, and which has stopped me doing a lot of things I wanted to do/should be doing.

What made it better? Believe it or not, 10 minutes every day on my mini-stepper which seems to be great physiotherapy. And so far, it's working. It may not always work, but I'm enjoying it so far. It's also had a very positive effect on my mood too. Now I just need to shift these extra pounds - lost 1lb this week so heading in the right direction :)

The ups and downs of the numbers game

This week, it's been all about the numbers, and the ups and downs.

Quite appropriate in a way...a big chunk of my daily nine-to-five involves producing stats in various shapes and forms, and strangely enough I remain just a little fascinated by stats, even when the working day is over.

So....

This has been a record-breaking and totally amazing week over at EuropeCrazy, mainly thanks to a certain annual song contest :) so thank you all for visiting my blog during that time - and if you like what you saw, don't forget to call back regularly as you will be very welcome!

Now the bad news :(

I gained another pound this week, which is probably more of my holiday weight...oh well I need to work hard, no in fact I need to work much, much harder to lose all the weight I've gained over the last 4 weeks. After all, it's only 4 months till our next holiday. Destination unknown (at the moment).

Four pounds :(

Three weeks' break from Weight Watchers, five days in Italy. It was inevitable that there would be weight gain. And there was. Four pounds, to be precise.

But what the heck, it was fun while it lasted!!!

Tomorrow the fun ends....back on the diet, however I'm feeling confident that I'm going to succeed. Back to work tomorrow too....oh well.

R**** W******

For some people, it was the highlight of their year, whilst for others it was all too much - like that little scene-stealing flower girl above! (picture courtesy of www.mirror.co.uk)

I refer of course to the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton which took place two days ago. I'm no royalist by any means, and my own view is that the British royal family are an unaffordable luxury, especially all the hangers-on. And why do royal weddings always take place during recessions, when, allegedly "Britain needs a feelgood factor"? When in fact they actually mean "Britain needs a smokescreen to make people forget about how s**t this country is".

Let's 'go compare'.....

1973: Tory government, recession, strikes, 3 day week, Princess Anne marries Captain Mark Phillips, ends in divorce.

1981: Tory government, recession, riots, mass unemployment, Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer, ends in divorce.

1986: Tory government, massive gap between haves and have nots, Prince Andrew marries Sarah Ferguson, ends in divorce.

2011: Tory government, recession, mass unemployment, Prince William marries Kate Middleton....

Of course the best thing about it was getting an extra day off work, turning this into an extremely fab 4 day weekend. Again, despite my cynicism, I did tune in for curiosity value, to see "the dress" and the important parts of the ceremony. Kate was a stylish and graceful bride in a classic, timeless dress which was a million miles away from the bizarre creations of "Big Fat Gypsy Weddings" or indeed for that matter, Princess Diana's creased taffeta disaster from 30 years ago.

The most annoying thing for me about any royal wedding is the flag-waving lunacy, the street parties, and TV presenters knocking themselves out to see who can suck up to the royal family the most. It's the Last Night of The Proms gone mad, and the kind of "Britishness" which I just can't identify with, even though I'm a British citizen.

Despite my cynicism, I have to say that I wish the couple well and hope that they have a long and happy marriage which will weather the storm of life in the spotlight. The couple's relationship seems to be more 'real' and is built on a stronger foundation than some previous royal couplings, so maybe this one will work out and the fairytale wedding will have a happy ending.

Goodbye work, hello relaxation (well for a couple of weeks anyway...!)

So although I'm not a royalist by any means, I thought it was most considerate of Wills 'n' Kate to tack their wedding on to a public holiday weekend = et voilà, the four day weekend (for all those of us lucky enough to get that...and apologies to everyone having to work it).


In something totally unrelated, I'm still loving Yankee Candles and treated myself to some new ones this week, although tonight I'm burning an old familiar aroma: baby powder.

(picture above courtesy of www.yankeecandle.co.uk)

Tomorrow: pre-holiday stuff all day and all the control-freak-military-precision that involves, combined with a curious eye on that big event.

Long weekends and holidays

2011 has been pretty rubbish so far, in many many ways, yet I'm feeling some optimism now. Easter always seems to signal a positive turning point, and although it's been a long time coming, it is almost here at last. So there's a nice long weekend to look forward to, followed by a three day working week, followed by another nice long weekend which nicely rolls into a week off. This usually involves a short break in a European city: I guarantee that there will be an announcement this weekend!!

It's been a very stressful time of late as I've been involved in updating my training course at work, which has been very rewarding but which along with other life/work stuff has mentally and physically taken its toll :( I was involved in delivering the first of the new updated courses yesterday and today, which went well, however I'm going through yet another bout of fatigue where I'm tired all the time, even after a good night's sleep. Therefore I'm welcoming this holiday period as an opportunity to unwind. There are so many outstanding household tasks demanding my attention at the moment but I'll have to prioritise them - after all, you know what they say...'all work and no play' etc.

So there will be time for fun, and retail therapy, and pre-holiday planning, and getting out and enjoying this rare spell of dry warm weather too. And maybe even a little bit of blogging over the weekend :))

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!

Reached my goal weight today, so I thought I'd rope in one of those fab South American football commentators to announce it! It's been hard work, but achievable, and I didn't need to make too many sacrifices either - just a few small but significant changes. The journey continues though, as I've given myself another two pounds to lose - but there's no rush to lose it. Meanwhile this weekend it's time for celebration :))))

Dropped a dress size!!

My WeightWatchers journey continues, and I'm now (yet again) 1lb off my target weight. Even better news is that I have now officially dropped a dress size after 6 months of my latest dieting adventure.

I'm beyond excited....if only for the reason that I'm not exactly the most committed to any weight loss plan as (a) I love my treats and (b) my social life almost exclusively revolves around eating out. The other important point is that, this time, I've lost weight and dropped a size despite months of pretty horrendous ongoing back pain which has prevented me from doing my usual aerobics etc...it's the first time ever that I've managed to lose weight by following a plan alone.

So, let's hear it for the WeightWatchers ProPoints plan. It really works if you stick to it. And if it works for me, it should work for anyone.

Onwards into April...

So a new month starts tomorrow, and it's going to be a mentally draining one work-wise, and a physically draining one at home so it's time to clear the decks again and I'm going to take another month off blogging. Meanwhile the diet continues...to be honest it hasn't been so successful over the last few weeks, but I'm trying very hard and trying to eat more fruit and make lots of home-made soup (specialities: carrot and lentil / parsnip and red pepper) and resurrecting my old tomato and chargrilled vegetable pasta sauce recipe, throw in some pasta twists and voila! Here it is. Another attempt to get into Blogs of Note.



There will be a diet update at the end of April. There is still some motivation as I'd usually be due to be going on holiday at the beginning of May, however due to personal circumstances at the moment this could change and could be delayed or maybe not. Anyway when there is a holiday announcement...it'll be announced!!

Smells like summer.

British Summer Time is here. Hooray!! And for once it actually started with bright skies, dry weather and a bit of sunshine. No I'm not hallucinating!!

One thing I particularly love about summer is the summer fragrance: those special editions of perfume which try to capture the feel of the season with light, fruity scents. My favourite summer fragrances are made by Escada, and this year's edition is Taj Sunset which boasts their trademark mango aroma. I bought it yesterday in The Perfume Shop, which is currently doing a special promotion where you also get a free cosmetic bag along with the 30 ml bottle for £19.99. More info here.

Recently it has been a personally difficult time for different reasons. I'm not going to write about that part of my life, if only out of respect to my loved ones, but I only mentioned this to put in context why I maybe haven't had the time, the inclination or the energy to blog so much of late. But I am filled with hope and welcome the change of season.

Even if 'summer' inevitably fails to deliver on the weather front, I love it when the days get longer, the nights get lighter and you suddenly feel like you have all this extra time on your hands. Which will inevitably be devoted to damage limitation in the garden and catching up on all that painting and decorating which I totally neglected in the summer of 2010. My plan for a blog break every three months is going well and I'll be taking another month off in April.

Sniff.

Laura the red-nosed blogger
Had a very drippy nose
She's had the cold for two days
Now she wishes it would go

She's blogging from her sick bed
But her schedule's very tight
Lots on at work tomorrow
So she'll need to get an early night (that's a first ha ha!).

Stayed the same....

....this week. Didn't gain weight, didn't lose weight. Fine by me as there were lots of treats around mum's birthday last weekend, and believe me I wasn't even thinking about dieting back then!

I wasn't thinking about dieting tonight either. Just back from a very nice evening of dining out with some friends....lovely food and lovely company = my perfect kind of night.

And then I'm lunching tomorrow!! So needless to say it's back to "drastic measures" from Sunday onwards, with hopefully some good news to report one week from now.

...plus one.

Gained 1lb since my last weigh-in two weeks ago. Which isn't too bad considering I got a lot for it :) anyway there was probably more damage done but it was probably damage-limited by the good work I've done over the last five days.

Definition of this week: focused and hectic. But enjoyable in a strange way. Very tiring though.

Zzzzzzz....

Fancy a cuppa?

I meant to mention a few weeks ago that my old espresso machine decided after three years that it didn't want to be my espresso machine any more and conked out. So the search began for a replacement. I was pretty shocked to find that you couldn't get a half decent machine for 30 quid anymore - and that the going rate is now (at the very least) double that. After all my price comparisons it was John Lewis which delivered the best deal on my very handsome new DeLonghi espresso/cappuccino maker, which is pictured above, and which has now had pride of place in my kitchen for the last month or so.

It makes top quality espresso and thanks to that little tampering gadget it also produces the 'crema' which you get in proper espresso bought in proper coffee shops so I'm well pleased. Hope I get at least another three years out of it :)

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but cakes and chips excite me

The title of this post came to me on Saturday night, whilst watching the tedious parade of chart rubbish on one of the music channels with faithful travelling companion, who is rather partial to that Rihanna person. The bad pun will probably escape you if you're not familiar with her latest single - y'know, the 'controversial' one about Marks & Spencer (tee hee).

Anyway I digress. 'Self-destruct week' came to a grand finale on Saturday with some of my most favourite cake from my favourite local bakery. These photos don't even come close to doing it justice, but what the heck, let's try. It's basically as much cream as it humanly possible to fit on a cake, interrupted by strawberries and some sponge.

Let's hear it for big plastic boxes!

On the plus side, a major phase of my ongoing decluttering exercise at EuropeCrazy HQ was completed today, as I finally finished clearing out my big bedroom cupboard. Result: lots of shoes and bags off to the charity shops, lots of old hoarded paperwork destroyed or scanned in my "paperless office", lots of shoe boxes gone to the recycling bin, and the remaining shoes, boots, trainers and bags all stored in four of Poundstretcher's finest big plastic 40 litre storage boxes (2 for £8.00, what a bargain!) plus I've now been able to move the boxes of old videos which were skyscraping from the top of my wardrobes, into the freed-up space in the cupboard.

Result!

Nothing left in the tank

A little continuation of the previous post....it's been a week of self-destruction in dieting terms, as I completely quit for a whole week and proceeded to eat and drink all the things I really shouldn't have been eating and drinking. It was fun though...but you get tired of it too, so in time-honoured fashion, tomorrow is another day and it starts all over again...lots of home-made soup, water, fruit and other healthy things, as the double chin is beginning to reappear as is that spare tyre :(

I guess I made the decision to go off the rails for a week for comfort eating purposes, as I'm feeling really stressed at the moment, well between Mondays and Fridays anyway. I'm involved in a piece of work which is pretty demanding and time-limited, and basically I haven't got anywhere with it. What do you do when there's nothing left in the tank? When you start thinking but your mind feels empty? How can I overcome that....and explain to a group of people who are looking to me for ideas, that I don't have any? I've only got tomorrow to come up with something: let's just say I'll be a lot happier when Tuesday is over.

EDIT 28.02.2011: I got a little bit of inspiration and a couple of ideas: let's hope it's enough.

In search of the blogging mojo and time management skills

I'm a little lost on both fronts at the moment....had hoped that my little blogging-break in January would bring all the hunger and inspiration back. OK, they came back, but I'm still struggling with a lack of time, as I continue to catch-up with various other things which were put on hold over that last, manic, crazy, wonderful 12 months. And despite having lots to blog about, for some reason, everything seems to go a blank when I sit down at the computer....

Been a bit run-down/stressed of late and that's not helping matters. Then there was the two weeks when I was literally brought to a standstill by that crippling lower back nerve pain. Then (cue ad voice-over!) I discovered Voltarol Emulgel, which if you'll pardon the pun, has brought me "back" again to fitness levels approaching some kind of normality at last. Today I walked to and from work without any pain, and not even one crippling twinge. It's (hopefully) getting better at last....!

Meanwhile, back at EuropeCrazy HQ...

...the main news has been my continuing weight loss, currently totalling 8lbs, and which I'm really really really delighted about! There was a brief blip, but we're allowed that from time to time, and it wasn't long till I was back on track. Still a little bit to go yet, but reaching my lowest weight for about 15 years is, as the ad says....priceless.

Of course we don't need any excuse to go shopping for new clothes, although I'm 'between sizes' at the minute, especially when it comes to trousers/jeans. Anyway I bought a couple of new coats in George (Asda) a couple of weeks ago, which are very nice indeed. Pictures courtesy of www.asda.com.

Bidding January a fond farewell.

So I guess that's it then, my month-long blog break is officially over and it's back to blogging again. Of course I did manage to sneak in a few posts on the three blogs, but these couldn't wait! I'm going to try this experiment where I'll have two months blogging then one month off so expect some down-time in April, July and October this year. That's the plan.

Anyway I rather enjoyed the "break" which was a mixture of work and play. I started decluttering at home, although this is a massive job with no end in sight any time soon. On the 'play' side it was a chance to watch a backlog of movies and start working my way through box sets (current status: Boston Legal Season 1, One Tree Hill Season 5. Sounds like a football result.)

On the down side, there still hasn't been any time to read any of the books on my bookshelves which continue to scream "read me!" Maybe I'll do 'book month' on the next blog break in April :)

All in all, January was pretty ok. The weather wasn't too bad, after the infamous snow of November/December, and I got some weight loss too. After a spectacular fall off the wagon over last weekend, I'm back on track and entering what you would call 'phase 2' where the focus is going to be on improving fitness. Again....that's the plan. Now all I need is to stick with it :)))

Seven is the magic number

Yesterday I lost 2lbs, bringing my weight-loss total to the magic number of 7lbs. I'm thrilled about this, as it's the first time I've lost weight by following a plan on its own - usually it's been a half-hearted attempt at a plan, backed up by lots of exercise. This time however, my recurring back pain has prevented any exercise attempts, although I'm doing more walking now. The important thing is that the commitment is there, and the WeightWatchers ProPoints plan is totally workable. I know this is going to sound like one of those dodgy testimonials, but if it works for me it can work for anyone. I lost 2lbs directly before going on this plan and have lost another 5lbs since.

Not getting too excited though, as I'll probably repeat the last three weeks' results and stay the same.

The one piece of advice I'd give anyone is that if they're going to lose weight, DO NOT START IN JANUARY!! Start in October/November instead, take a well-earned break over Christmas and resume in January. It works.

Live lobsters???!!!

I'm not really one for weird dreams - well they probably happen but I maybe just can't remember them - but I thought I'd post about the weird one I had on Thursday night. And no I hadn't been drinking, or eating cheese, or anything out of the ordinary.

Anyway two of the bosses whom I do admin support for, wouldn't let me leave the office until I got them a live lobster, because one of them wanted to boil it in a tank and have it for dinner. As you do. So there I was, running around the office, trying to find a live lobster. I don't know how it ended, but I think it's some kind of metaphor for a part of my job I've been trying and failing to succeed in over recent months. Or maybe it's something else entirely. Maybe we all just want to hear the new Lady Gaga album.

January: work in progress

This month I've been decluttering my house, and have finally got started on that big scary cluttered bedroom cupboard. I would probably be a prime candidate for one of those home-show TV channels where they go into someone's house and try to psycho-analyse the reasons why they're holding on to so much, why they can't let go of the past etc etc.

Stuff all that, I'm just a hoarder, always have been. But I'm trying to do something about it, honest :)

Killjoys on the rampage (again)

Found out today that due to new rules I won't be allowed to blog during my break time and lunch time at work anymore, so it's only going to be evenings and weekends blogging from now on :(

Quite sad really, as I used to enjoy passing on excitable pieces of news which couldn't wait till night-time!

2010: game over

So that's another year almost gone. When the history books come to write the story of 2010, the verdict will probably be that it was more than a bit pants. Recession, depression, cuts, job losses, the government from hell, weather chaos, volcanic ash, more weather chaos, more recession and depression...you get the picture. Not one of our better recent years.

Which makes me probably feel just a bit guilty for having had, on the whole, a fantastic year. Most of which was due to my adventures in blogland, and getting to live the dream one more time by going back to Sweden, seeing my favourite singer Salem Al Fakir in concert and then getting to meet him once again. When I wasn't doing that I was spending most of the year writing about him over at Planet Salem. 2010 was Salem's most successful year yet and that was reflected in the visitor numbers to Planet Salem, which also had its most successful year and I got to know so many lovely people through that website.

EuropeCrazy meanwhile had to take a back seat for most of the year, but I'd love to put a bit more time into that blog next year - there's always so much to discover and write about, and that's a good place to share it.

Apart from blogging, and Salem, and Sweden, so many other good things happened to me over the past year. I got an award at work for my training course stuff, and despite 'Slim For Sweden' being followed by months of 'Binge for Britain', I managed to turn things around and lost 6 lbs in the lead-up to Christmas, taking my weight to its lowest point in about 15 years. Despite spending vast chunks of the year battling crippling back pain, this has eased off a bit at last (touch wood) enough to get me up on the dancefloor at our recent Christmas night out :) and hopefully this will be a turnaround and I can finally get back to full fitness.

I also got some fab new gadgets this year, notably the laptop computer which I'm typing this post on at the moment, finally got my wireless broadband to work properly, and got a touch-screen phone.

We discovered a new country (Slovakia) and revisited an old friend (Turkey) - fingers crossed that we'll be able to make it to some exciting European destinations next year :) of course we also discovered some nice new destinations closer to home over the summer.

All in all, my 2010 was pretty great. Which by the law of averages means that 2011 should be a bit rubbish. But on the other hand, life's what you make it and I'm determined to make it another good one.

Before I head off for a month's blog-break (as detailed in this post at EuropeCrazy) I want to thank all my regular visitors and blogging pals for your friendship and support over the past year. I hope 2011 brings good health and happiness to all of you.

OK I'm outta here....but I'll be back in February. Bye bye....and happy new year!!!!! :)

December 2010: cancelled due to adverse weather conditions

Well, they've cancelled everything else so they might as well just cancel the month too :(

It has probably been the most surreal two weeks I can remember for many years. 15 days ago in my part of the world, a lot of snow fell in a very short time and the country was paralysed for days. Drivers couldn't drive, non-drivers couldn't get public transport because the snow hadn't been cleared from the roads or the railways, because we are ruled by a terminally incompetent government whose only goal in life is Scottish independence! How could we be independent when we can't function in a few inches of snow????

As I made my way home from work on Monday 6th December, through a main street of early-closed shops and pollice directing traffic, it then got worse. At least I live locally and could walk home - but many were stranded overnight on motorways in cars and buses for almost 20 hours.

It didn't get any better as the week progressed - with almost eerie scenes of shops closed because people couldn't get out to work in them, there were food shortages because the delivery vans couldn't deliver, no-one's getting their online shopping and don't even start me on the mail deliveries....meanwhile in my little corner of the public sector, our office stayed open with a skeleton staff, and life went on. Until a frozen pipe and a flooded bathroom had other ideas and forced me to stay home.

Happily that situation was resolved and the 'big thaw' finally arrived, providing a couple of days' respite. But it wasn't to be long before the snow returned, bringing even colder temperatures, icy pavements and tougher walking conditions. Christmas lunches and parties were cancelled all over the place, and my big weekend of Christmas night out (Friday) and Shakira (Sunday) was also put in jeopardy....although it all went ahead - with a few anxious hitches, but nothing as bad as potentially expected.

Now the bad weather is affecting the rest of Britain, and everywhere else is getting the same story. Maybe it's time that the powers-that-be started thinking of this country as a "snow country" and get all the appropriate structures in place. But then that would probably be a bit too much to ask....

Sweet dreams

Yesterday I bought a rather gorgeous new duvet cover.

(picture above courtesy of www.tjhughes.co.uk)

Heavy snow...!

We really shouldn't be getting snow at this time of year, but as I look out the window at 10.00 am on a Sunday morning, a few inches of snow have fallen overnight and at the moment it's so heavy that it's virtually zero visibility. Apparently it's about minus 4 degrees today.

But it's nice and warm in here - fingers and everything else crossed that the new central heating system doesn't let us down over what's going to be a long long winter.

In the meantime, Christmas is going on all around us - yes, the world's most insignificant Christmas lights are back, and in traditional control-freak style I've got most of my Christmas shopping done. At the moment though, I can't totally focus on the forthcoming festivities if I'm honest: my mum's still very sick and the only thing that matters is looking after her and helping her get well again.

My other focus at the moment is losing weight of course: this week I stayed the same, which I was quite happy about, considering there's not been much in the way of exercise due to a nasty recurrence of my back problem.

This is all beginning to sound like the blog of doom and gloom isn't it....don't mean it to sound like that, as my mood is significantly lighter than it was a week ago, and I feel as if I'm coming out of the dark tunnel. There are always some nice, happy things going on too, and I really need to write about them as well, because I'm a glass-half-full kind of person after all :)

...I've only been looking for this for 25 years!

This post shouldn't really be over here, but it didn't really fit EuropeCrazy either, as it didn't mention anything in particular (!)

If someone was to ask what was the best thing about the internet, apart from blogging of course, I'd have to say that it's the world's biggest and best jukebox!

SAD-ness, weight loss and a little black dress

After having my suspicions over the past week or so, I finally threw up my hands in the air yesterday and admitted that I'm going through yet another bout of the winter blues. For a number of years I've suffered from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) as, apparently, do millions of other people in this country.

When you get to the stage when you're no longer able to function, when you're unable to cope with even the simplest task, when you just want to shut the door and never come back out of the house, when you find it 99% impossible to socially interact with your workmates and friends, then that's the time to admit it's back again. The hardest part is trying to explain it to people who don't understand, who think you're just being anti-social, or weird, or just plain "off" with them. When in fact I'm still the same old me, only shut inside this dark tunnel with everything closing in. So I know what to do to make it better...getting the light box out this week, and going to try Vitamin D (one of my friends suggested this really works).

It wasn't all bad yesterday though: I have lost 2lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss over the last 4 weeks to = 4lbs. Have also lost inches over the last couple of weeks and starting to notice a difference in my body shape.

Something really good happened today: I went shopping in Matalan and bought a fabulous little black lace mini-dress which I'm going to wear to a Christmas night out. The best thing of all was that it was in a smaller size than what I usually buy! Here it is, courtesy of the Matalan website:

She's taller and thinner than I am though :)

Climbing the walls!

No I've not taken up abseiling or whatever you call it....it's just week 2 on the WeightWatchers Pro Points Plan. No, there's nothing wrong with the plan at all, it's one of those "it's not you, it's me" situations.

Unlike last time, when I was only playing at losing weight (although I did lose a bit back then), this time it's serious and my level of commitment over the last 2 weeks has been, if I might say so, very impressive. However this has led to increased levels of agitation and grumpiness, which I'm not really used to, but if that's the signs of unhealthy food withdrawal then so be it. I guess it's a bit like someone giving up smoking, (a habit which, thankfully, has never interested me) and going through that withdrawal phase, although in a different way.

It's weigh-in day tomorrow and I'm very, very nervous. Fingers crossed the hard work pays off....

Answers 24 hours from now.

Keep it (un)real

Feeling a bit strange at the moment. Nothing new, I hear you say, but it's as if I'm having this out of body experience, like staring into a shop window. A kind of outside-looking-in feeling I guess.
Don't really want to be involved in anything right now, apart from blogging and cosy nights in with my loved ones. Don't want to go out or socialise. I'm not depressed or anything, just going through this little phase of unreality, this 'please leave me alone and don't bother me' phase. Always get this way at this time of year, it's just hit me a little earlier than usual.

Of course that doesn't apply to my parallel blog-life, in which everyone is welcome and I still very much feel a part of. Although it's frustrating that there aren't enough hours in the day to write all the blog posts I want to write. So in the meantime, as in the real life....you can only do what you can :)

It's ok....

Stayed the same on this week's weigh-in. Which is ok considering I only officially restarted WeightWatchers on Monday but it's actually my third week proper.

What really pleased me was a 1½" inch loss. That mini-stepper might just be getting me results, however due to a slight back pain relapse there hasn't been much action over the last few days.

So all in all, it's early days, but I'm quite happy.

Back on track

Last night I rejoined WeightWatchers Online: this also coincided with the launch of their new ProPoints plan.

For the last two weeks I've had this little lead-in period to get myself into the habit of watching what I'm eating, and also building up my exercise. Of course my ongoing lower back pain means no more aerobics for now, but I'm on the mini stepper and it seems to be improving my general fitness and my walking-to-work speed. Maybe not quite at the power walking stage, but it's verging on brisk :)

I need the discipline of WW right now, to make me think about what I'm eating instead of jumping in and eating any old rubbish. I know that there's going to be a number of "stages" over the coming weeks and months - now I'm at the enthusiastic-beginner stage, but then it won't be long till the novelty-wears-off stage, followed by the bitter-and-twisted stage (who said that's already happened????)

Anyway the first two days have gone well.

Until tomorrow night, when I'm going out for dinner :0

Oops!

Zzzzzz....

Been feeling very tired this week, even though the general fitness levels are finally rising. Had a lot of stuff to do at home and that combined with my internet being out of action for a while, meant that my planned return to regular blogging was put on hold (yet again). Oh well, maybe next week???

Tomorrow is weigh-in day, which I'm quite nervous about even though the willpower has been very strong this week. Of course the new Weight Watchers plan starts next week so I'm rejoining WW Online next Monday when the Pro Points plan gets underway. The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a build-up with the food diaries etc so getting ready to throw myself into being a complete diet bore once again!

Fresh start

I've decided that too many things have been getting me down lately, which isn't really like me. The back pain got to such a painful stage that I couldn't function; I got so stressed out with work stuff; and I got frustrated that all the things I'd planned to do in my 'month of limited blogging' didn't really work out. And then there was the weight gain....

So I've decided it's time for a more positive attitude. I'm feeling a bit better now - the back pain is now at its most manageable stage in months, and I even got one of the rooms painted today, finally felt some achievement.

The big news is that I've decided to rejoin Weight Watchers in the next couple of weeks, as I'm curious and intrigued by this new plan which was mentioned in all the newspapers yesterday. Although I'm feeling better now, I still can't throw myself into exercising the way I used to, so I'll have to concentrate a bit more on controlling the food intake. More to follow!

It's not been all bad though, as there have been some good things going on - a couple of weeks ago I went out for a night out in the city with faithful travelling companion, and we spent an overnight in a hotel which was very nice indeed. Must do that again sometime :)

Let's do the time warp again

Tonight the clocks go back, signalling the end of British Summer Time (what a joke) and bringing in, for a SAD sufferer, what is my least favourite time of year. Darkness, darkness and more darkness. But someone mentioned the other day that it's only about 8 weeks till the shortest day and then it starts getting lighter again.

I know it's a bit early but to completely confuse myself, I've been all around the house in the last half hour and have put back every watch and clock so it's now 9.55 pm and not 10.55. Determined tonight to get that extra hour's sleep, it's about the only good thing that this clocks-back carry-on has going for it, really.

There seems to be some kind of ongoing campaign against daylight saving time/putting the clocks back and if this actually comes to anything, count me in. Found this Guardian editorial which makes some very pertinent points: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/oct/30/unthinkable-double-summertime-daylight-saving

Not only would we save energy, but those of us whose moods can often be (very) seriously affected by the dark nights, would get an extra hour of daylight per day, thus improving our moods and productivity. What's not to like?

But this is Britain, and this country is totally rubbish at the minute, and it's yet another thing which is never likely to happen. We live in hope though....

Day 2

It was a little bit better this morning, but by late afternoon the sneezing and the dripping started again and hasn't really stopped. Now I have a headache which I didn't have before, so the best course of action is paracetamol and an early night.

I've got to feel better tomorrow....too much to do and I can't be ill :(

Sniff.

In the words of the ancient Azerbaijan philosopher...."drip drop, drip drop".

That's the sound of my nose this evening. This morning I woke up with a slightly ticklish feeling in my throat, followed by a stinging in my ears, then the dripping started at precisely 3.45 pm this afternoon, followed by a very aggressive bout of sneezing which has lasted for the past five hours. Add to that my impersonation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (10 weeks early, I know) and voila! Your humble blogger is in the depths of the annual October Cold, which I could probably set my watch to every year.

Hoping, hoping, hoping it won't last long. Maybe that was why I've been feeling so down lately, because this was working on me?

Anyway it's a good excuse to get the cosy winter pyjamas on and wallow in self-pity, interrupted by violent sneezing of course. I'm sitting here, in my bed, with two hankies stuffed up my nose. A more glamorous image you couldn't possibly think of :)

Update tomorrow. For now though, it's paracetamol, a hot water bottle and an early night - well early for me anyway - lights out at 11pm tonight!

The downward spiral

I am reliably informed by my biorhythm generator (the chart which, with spooky accuracy, describes my life) that I am on a downward spiral to the bottom of the emotional and intellectual scale, so that would probably explain why I'm so fed up and why my brain is scrambled at the moment :(

Better.

Apologies for the self-pitying tone of that previous post, but that's how I've been feeling the past couple of days, so it has to be said.

On the plus side however, I got my haircut this afternoon which is a great delight as I've been searching for a new hairdresser for the last 6 months since the infamous hair-butchery incident earlier in the year. I like my new haircut - it's just like my old one only done properly - and as someone once said, "I'll be back".

Feeling a bit better tonight after an evening of rest and relaxation. In these days of very limited blogging (even though I'm actually writing a blog post, right this minute) I have come to treasure sleep, and early nights, and not burning the candle at both ends. But I miss the blogging-buzz too. I suppose these few weeks is just about restoring the balance before throwing myself into it all again.

So in the new tradition of my limited-blogging weeknights, I'm off to sleep now. At 11.20 pm. Who'd have thought it?

Low

Can't explain why, but I've been feeling very low, and very sad, and agitated, and irritable over the last two to three days. For no reason.

Unfortunately this also means that I say hurtful things, and that I can misinterpret the words of others to be hurtful too.

It will pass....I just wish it would hurry up in passing.

10, 10, 10, 10, 10

So what earth-shattering thing was I doing at the never-to-be repeated time of 10.10 am on 10.10.2010?

Painting radiators in my house actually, which is earth-shattering enough to me I guess.

During my 'month of limited blogging' (which will probably go on for about another 4 weeks) I'm painting my house and doing other little home-improvement things and outstanding jobs which should probably have been done about five years ago or thereabouts. And I'm also trying to get fit again, although these efforts have been hampered by a recurrence of my lower back pain, which reached such a crippling level during the week that at one point I couldn't move at all. Happily, it's getting better and I'm beginning to walk normally again.

The plan to join a Zumba class has been abandoned for the time being - need to concentrate on getting my walking speed up again before I can even think about dancing :)

Also, some good news: lost 1lb this week, which is probably due to increased water intake than anything else. But the most important thing is that it's a start, although the focus in the next few weeks will be on improving fitness rather than losing weight.

Duffel coat / going brunette for winter.

Bought this today in Peacocks, with my birthday money :) http://www.peacocks.co.uk/product/index.jsp?productId=4370121

Tomorrow I'm going brunette for the next 5 months or so. That will solve the problem of my red hair clashing with my red coat!!

Happy birthday Google.

Two big significant birthdays this week: Google's and mine ;))

Anyway Google is 12 today, which means it was born in 1998, which was my first year on the internet too, which therefore means I can't remember web-life without Google in it.

Happy birthday Google, and don't get too stroppy now you're a teenager!

Autumnal

Although the weather has been rather nice over the last couple of days - no rain and even some sunshine, the fact remains that autumn is knocking on the door. So I guess it's time to change the colour of the blog yet again to a more appropriate autumn background.

Been feeling very lazy over the past couple of days. And why not? Still on holiday.

Holiday.....celebrate!

Finished up at work today and I'm not back in the office till 28th September :)))))))

Random Ramblings is now officially on summer holiday. Check out my post over at EuropeCrazy for more info...the same applies to over here of course.

See you later!

Do as I say, not as I do

I ranted recently about everything my town doesn't have. What it does have is lots of fish and chip shops and takeaway shops, all fighting for our cash, particularly the lucrative school dinner market. Whilst out at lunchtime today, I couldn't believe the number of high school pupils standing outside a chip shop, (not one of the better chip shops either) eating sausages and burgers and chips. I shook my head and pondered depressingly to myself about the next generation of the obesity crisis, no wonder we're the sick man of Europe, blah blah blah.

So far so good. But then I made my way to another chippy - now this is one of the best - ....and entered it.

Fritters. Yum.

Yes I know I'm a bit overweight, and have a family history of heart disease, and that I'm storing up major problems for myself for the future, but hey....what the heck. Sometimes you just have to.

October 2010: payback time.

Ironing board covers? Forget it.

God I hate this town so much. And every day I get little reminders, like pop-up windows, reminding me why I hate this town so much - and this is just since yesterday:

You can't get reasonably priced 2 litre bottles of Coca Cola: you have to buy 3 litre ones.

You can't buy decent leggings unless you're a size 10.

You can't buy decent bath essence.

Now add to the list the complete absence of ironing board covers.

I hate this town. The only decent thing about it is the buses and the trains, taking everyone to more decent towns than this one. My only consolation is that there are worse towns than this one, believe it or not.

Time out

Got a day away from my desk and took myself away to another room for some time-out to catch up on work before finishing up for hols soon.

It was nice because I took my iPod with me (a change from our now music-free office environment) and I definitely found that a playlist of Empire of the Sun, Jamiroquai, Oskar Linnros and the complete works of Salem Al Fakir boosted my administrative productivity, alongside my self-inflicted strategy to boost it even more:- lights off + heating turned off + window open = type faster. I sound like a wannabe dictator in the making, although I'm far too nice for that.

Frustration, frustration, frustration....and a blogger with a board

I'll be having some major work done in my home towards the end of the coming week. That's straightforward enough so far, although the usual chaos and carnage is expected. The timing's pretty rubbish as I'm going on holiday in 9 days' time but there you go.

However one other piece of work which urgently needs done....well it hasn't been done, we've had three rotten days as a result of said workman making a complete c**k-up and this really needs to be done...we're fed up. Alors on danse....

On the up side, the holiday is approaching (although my weight-loss battle has been lost this time, but, as those two nice Latvian boys once sang, "the war is not over"). Planning to start Zumba in October, providing I can get some co-ordination and a sense of rhythm by then :)

Even though I spend lots of time on the computer and I'm employed in administration, I wouldn't really call myself a computer whizzkid so I'm particularly chuffed that I've been able to set up a messageboard for Planet Salem. I was previously a blogger, now I'm a blogger with a board.

Messing around again

You'd think I had nothing better to do, spending my evening messing around with blog templates when in fact real-life-stuff is actually taking over, big time, and big upheaval is on the way at EuropeCrazy HQ - I'll find out on Tuesday just when it will all happen. All that and a holiday in two weeks...

The guy who wrote the unfinished symphony

That's who I feel like. In work and at home, I've started so much but not managed to finish anything.

Blog/internet time will be limited this weekend - now there's a major challenge! - in order to finish off some long overdue tasks.

Weight: stayed the same this week, but that's ok as I've made no effort whatsoever to do anything about it.

The opportunity has presented itself for me to go to a Zumba class, which is very tempting however there could be a slight problem here as I have two left feet and no sense of rhythm :)

Brrr.

A surprisingly sunny day followed by a surprisingly chilly night. I'm sitting here at EuropeCrazy HQ pondering whether or not to a) put the heating on; b) get the hot water bottle looked out; or c) retrieve the industrial-strength dressing gown from the wardrobe.

I guess summer's over then :(

My new obsession.

I'm a coffee-holic, always have been. My coffee machine is one of my most treasured possessions, a trip to Whittards is like a kid being let loose in a toy shop, and going out for a coffee is always a fulfilling adventure.

However, drinking instant coffee at work hasn't always been so fulfilling. Until this week, when I discovered Percol Espresso. Opening the jar is like an explosion of the senses, and drinking it ...well, wow.

I wondered why I got a bit more hyper than usual today :))

http://www.percol.co.uk/

Relaxation/Laziness.

It's what weekends are all about :)

The most exciting thing I did all weekend (apart from blogging and watching a virtual concert by my most favourite singer in the whole wide world, you know the one) was...going to Aldi. For anti-ageing creams and stuff, which are actually rather good.

Yep, after the little expeditions and retail therapy trips of recent weeks I chose a wind-down weekend before I have to start list-making for my Turkish holiday, which is just 21 days away. Like, no pressure or panic. Aargh!

Unfortunately I've had a major fall off the fitness wagon this week, so it's right back on it again tomorrow!

All killer, no filler

I know this is a music-related post so it doesn't belong here, but here it is anyway....

This weekend my iPod reached full capacity.

Now there are two things you can do in this situation: you can buy a new one with more capacity, or you can get the quality control hat on....

I like my old iPod too much to get a new one, so I went for option two and ruthlessly un-ticked about 100 songs on iTunes. Of course the best thing about having an iPod and iTunes means that you're only ever going to listen to good stuff, that you'll never have to suffer Scouting for Girls or "JA-SON DERUUUUUULLLOOO" ever again. But sometimes it just gets a little overcrowded so it was quality control time :)

For me, my iPod is the world's best radio station, and today the world's best radio station just got better. There are now exactly 1000 songs on it, no more, no less. Today I was off work for a very productive day of pre-holiday retail therapy (for a holiday I still haven't booked yet) and my day was soundtracked by my new leaner, meaner iPod, on shuffle and I didn't have to hit the skip button once :)))

Sunday morning swimming, inch loss and pedometers

As part of my ongoing fitness drive I went to my local swimming pool this morning. I hadn't been in a swimming pool since my summer holiday last September so I thought it was about time that I went back.

And then I realised why I hadn't been for so long. Half the pool fenced off for swimming lessons, and no room to swim because of some seriously beyond-morbidly obese people. No offence to big people - I'm no stick insect myself, but these people were huge, massive, in a Channel Five 'Britain's Fattest Swimmers'-documentary-kind-of-way.

Anyway I enjoyed it, when I did actually get some space to swim :)

In related news, I didn't lose any weight this week but there's good news on the inch loss front. In the past two weeks I've lost 3½" in total, from various places!

Never managed 10,000 steps per day with the pedometer though - came very close yesterday with 9433 steps and walked a total of 4.67 miles. More about that adventure, later tonight over at EuropeCrazy.

Owwwww...

One is feeling a little rough today. That'll teach me :)

Socialising!

Please excuse me tonight because I'm a little...."well-oiled" :)

Today was my best friend's final day in the office, tonight was her leaving night and then it was onwards to the local Wetherspoons....a great night had by all, but I'll probably pay for it tomorrow as I'm really not used to socialising on a "school night"...

The joys of online friendship

On yet another non-related topic, my online life continues to bring me so much happiness and (virtual) social interaction in a way that the 'real life' often fails to deliver. I have "met" so many lovely people who share many of my interests and outlook on life - how often can you say that about the day-to-day?

I found this lovely blog post tonight which, for me, just said it all, and I wanted to share it with you.
http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog/2008/03/15/friends-ive-never-met/

To all my (true) blogging friends: thank you.

Unreasonable, but still dreaming

It's not fun having your dreams crushed. I know I'm being completely unreasonable but just don't expect me to stop dreaming...

New week, new challenges!

On Saturday I bought a pedometer as I'm curious about just how many steps I take each day. Aren't you supposed to walk 10,000 or thereabouts?

Today, apparently, my walk to work consisted of the grand total of 1315 steps. As I'm mainly desk-bound, I don't get so much walking whilst at work, but I do have a little trek at lunchtime so I'll be counting again.

Edit: actually I forgot to put the pedometer on at lunchtime, so today's steps won't be such an accurate reading.

Big fanfare....today's total steps including walking to and from work followed by brief aerobics/exercise session = 3134. Hmm. I'll smash that total tomorrow because Tuesday is lunchtime power-walk day :)))

It's going to be quite an emotional week ahead: my best friend at work, who is a good few years older than me, is retiring this week. On the one hand I'm really happy for her, and she's getting out at the right time (!) but on the other hand I'm really going to miss her of course. (We will of course be keeping in touch). Anyway I think it's beginning to hit me now that this is her final week, we've worked together (in the same building, originally in the same section but then in different sections) for 15 years, so it's only natural that I'm feeling a bit down about it now :(

New trainers

Had a really good day today, and it started very well with a trip to Sports Direct on what was a very fruitful search for new trainers. £15: job done.

(picture courtesy of http://www.sportsdirect.com/)

So here it is, merry Christmas.

Yeah you heard right.

Today is 7th August 2010. To all intents and purposes it's still summer: people are still on summer holidays, works and offices are still not fully staffed, schools and colleges are still on leave and in denial about all the 'back to school' stuff in the shops, and although the nights are drawing in it's still light till 9.00 pm.

Whilst in our local branch of the wonderful Card Factory today, we spotted our first Christmas cards of 2010.

I really don't want to say any more :(

Finally, a result.

I'm at the end of week 2 of my diet/fitness plan, during which my body totally broke down, I got stressed (non diet related), I got sad, I got cranky and agitated which just isn't me, and all in all it's just been a pretty c**p fortnight.

But this morning I went on the scales. I've lost 1lb. Maybe not much when you think how much some people lose in a week, but that's a big big deal for me. And I'm happy about it. And it's Friday.

Now I just need to sort all the other stuff that's stressing me out....now that could take some time :O

Body = shutdown.

My body now feels as if it's gone into a total shutdown, so giving it a rest until Sunday again.

Will try to eat sensibly this weekend, although I'm going out for dinner with my friends tomorrow and then lunch with faithful travelling companion on Saturday.

I'm quite excited about Saturday, because we're planning a day trip to a part of the country that I've never visited before. Fingers crossed the rain's not too heavy.

Day three of the fitness regime.

And on the third day my body couldn't take much more, with the combined hit from three consecutive nights of painting, three days of work and resuming my walking/exercise routine.

Tonight I rest.

Banishing my evil twin

From today it gets serious. I've decided to say goodbye to my evil twin, the one who sits around eating too much rubbish, drinking too much cola and "grape juice", not exercising, taking the bus to work instead of walking....I could go on, but I won't. I'll only depress myself.

So I've decided, starting today, to draw up a six week fitness plan, listing achievable goals and trying to get the old Laura back, the one who actually can achieve something when she puts her mind to it. A bit like my old "Slim for Sweden" plan, only there's no Sweden at the end of it :(

There will be a summer holiday though, somewhere, announcement coming soon!

Of course there are other bits to it too: earlier nights during the working week, and spending less time on the computer = so no late night blogging from Monday to Friday then!!