They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest We Forget

I feel sick. I just made, and ate, a (chocolate) cake in a cup and now I feel sick. I shouldn’t have made it, shouldn’t have given into the craving. Ugh, I can’t believe I did that especially with weigh in day tomorrow.

I really need to work on my willpower and not giving into cravings.

Ugh.

Weight – 87.6kg

I put on 200grams!! What the frick is with that? I was so upset this morning and it put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day

I thought I had done pretty well this week but I guess there were still too many treats such as crunchie bars (treat size) and feijoa muffins. The problem is I’m really starting to love baking and improving my skills but unfortunately the end results get eaten…by me, as well as by everyone else.

Is there a way to balance baking with weight loss? I guess willpower is the key.

I have found some yummy sounding recipes for cupcakes in my blog browsing and would love to try them out but I know it will be very hard to resist eating too many. I guess that is just something I need to work on.

I didn’t have breakfast this morning which I know is a no-no but DS was very grizzly and clingy and it was enough to try and get him fed and myself ready let alone trying to have breakfast myself. I am very proud that I didn’t do my usual thing of going to the petrol station and buying an Up n Go so I guess I can pat myself on the back for that.

Saturday night is takeaway night but I know what I can have that isn’t too bad, as in it’s not the best choice but it is the better choice. It’s the Wendy’s Grilled Chicken burger small combo with diet coke. When I was counting my points before the wedding it’s what I could usually fit in and work around pretty easily so that’s what I’m going to have and I’m looking forward to it

Good luck with keeping up the healthy eating for the weekends, I’m told it all gets easier once it becomes a habit

xoxo C

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We had a massive blitz on the gardens and lawn today. Mum picked DS up this morning and took him for the day so we could concentrate on getting some stuff down without having to keep an eye out for a certain little boy.

Hubby started earlier than I did of course seeing as I had to work till 12 but I got stuck into it and it felt good, very constructive. I called into Mitre 10 Mega on the way home and picked up some gardening gloves that have a rubber coating to them to protect my nails a bit better, some Yates carrot seeds and a small bag of Yates Black Magic seed raising mix.

I’ve joined the Yates Autumn Veggie Challenge as a bit of motivation to stay up to date with everything in the garden. There are 2 x $1,000 gift cards and 3 x Yates Garden Sprayers to be won, all you have to do is register at http://www.yates.co.nz/vegie-challenge/autumn-2011 (sorry tried to insert at link but I’m having technical issues), keep a blog on how your veggies are going and get your friends and family to vote for you.

How to win:

People’s Choice Award – Goes to the person with the most public votes
Yates Choice Award – Goes to the best entrant as judged by Yates
Encouragement Awards (x3) – As judged by Yates

What are they looking for?

• Use of Yates Products: Of course we want to see you using our products. Submit photos of you using Yates products in your garden.
• Quantity of Posts: This competition is about sharing information with other gardeners. So the more information the better.
• Quality of Posts: This means helpful gardening advice, interesting commentary and honest blogging.
• Photos: Not only do photos show the progress of your plants and prove that you’re actually growing from seed, they may also help other aspiring gardeners.
• Public Support: Your family, friends, neighbours and members of the public are able to vote for you.

Wish me luck Also if you would be so kind check out my blog and vote for me I’d love you forever!

You can vote for me here – http://www.yates.co.nz/vegie-challenge/autumn-2011/gardeners/Dzinergirl (again, sorry about the lack of link )

I’ll post some photos of our garden tomorrow, including some of the vege garden with the rhubarb and lettuces planted and photos of me planting the carrot seeds into the garden and the cauli and brocolli seeds into seed trays.

Stay tuned and as always thanks for reading

C xx

I’m on fire this week

This morning before the First Aid for Littlies course I was going to I walked down to the BP/Wild Bean Cafe to grab a (trim) hot chocolate. I thought I would get back with at least 10 mins to spare but they were mucking around, so I had to run the last 100m so I wouldn’t be late. Yes, I did have a hot chocolate in my hand as well and part of it ended up the back of the stroller :(. Got the heart rate going though!

I also went for another walk this evening with Mum, we had a bit of a gander (isn’t that a funny word!) at some different streets in the neighbourhood and peeked through the fence at the local Playcentre.

So I feel like I’ve done very well today

Food Diary

B – 2 pieces of toast – marmite and apricot jam both with olivani

S – Small trim hot chocolate

L – Small bowl of pasta (leftover from dinner earlier in the week), glass of cordial, most of a mandarin.

S – Banana

D – Sausages in a Tomato & Onion Sauce with approx 1 1/2 cups of Jasmine Rice. 1 1/2 x fish fingers (leftover from DS’s dinner). Glass of Diet lemonade. Glass of juice.

Work tomorrow so I don’t know if I’ll get a walk in, possibly in the evening again. Will try hard to keep my eating in line too.

Hope you’re all well

C xx

* Gazing into my son’s eyes and knowing he trusts me completely.

* Sitting in bed in the mornings while feeding him, complete mum and baby time

* Watching him sleep in my arms

* Hearing him giggle when I tickle him or blow rasperries on his tummy

* I now know the right things to say and the best way to help when friends have a baby or even when clients have a baby/are pregnant

* Making new friends through coffee group (and hopefully Playcentre when I start too!)

* Watching him playing and talking to his toys

I haven’t posted in a while, we’ve had a bit of serious thinking to do in the household lately. The topic being money of course and me going back to work. I’ve been in discussions with my boss and he’s waiting for approval from the big boss for me to go back part-time. Problem is I was hoping I could negotiate a better rate but it was a resounding no, all increases are apparently on hold until further notice.

So there has been some major number crunching going on and with the addition of childcare to the budget and more petrol for travelling we come out ahead…slightly.

The whole topic has me feeling down. I don’t want to leave my baby with a stranger, I’m worried I’m going to miss too much. Honestly, I don’t know how DH copes. Is it different for dads? Or do they just get on with it?

Our get out of debt plan is going to take a bit longer.

And in the meantime I”m still looking at all other options.

*sigh*

I just came across this fantastic product from The Vinyl Room, I wish I had a big enough wall (and some spare dosh) for it!

www.thevinylroom.co.nz

The calendar comes with blackboard squares, numbers and the inspirational quote shown above it. Just write on appointments with chalk and rub off for next month!

It’s available in 2 sizes 1200 or 1600mm wide.

I also LOVE this, this and especially this one.

See The Vinyl Room for more details and more awesome wall images.

Climb the Mountain

I tried to climb the mountain today. As I inched my way up the path, I felt out of breath and had to turn back.
I tried to climb the mountain today. But, It was so hot outside, I thought I had better stay in my nice air-conditioned house and rest up for tomorrow’s attempt.
I tried to climb the mountain today. On my journey, darkness started to fall and I was full of fear, so I had to return to a safe place.
I was ready to climb the mountain today. But I had so may other things to do, so instead of climbing the mountain I took care of the much more important tasks; I washed my car, mowed the grass and watched the big game. Today the mountain will have to wait.
I was going to climb the mountain today. But as I stared at the mountain in all it’s majestic beauty, I knew I had no chance of making it to the top, so I figured why even begin trying.
I had forgotten about climbing the mountain today, until an old friend came by and asked what I was up to lately. I told him about all my plans to climb that mountain someday. I went on and on about how I was going to accomplish the task.
He stopped me and said, “I just got back from climbing that mountain. for the longest time I told myself I was going to try to climb it but never made any progress.”
“I almost let the dream of making it to the top die. I came up with every excuse of why I could not make it up the mountain, but never once did I give myself a reason why I could. One day as I stared at the mountain and pondered, I realized that if I didn’t make an attempt at this dream all my dreams would eventually die.”
” The next morning, I started my climb. It was not easy, and at times I wanted to quit. But no matter what I faced, I placed one foot in front of the other, keeping a steady pace. When the wind tried to blow me over the edge, I kept walking. When the voices inside my head screamed, stop! I focused on my goal, never letting it out of sight. I kept moving forward. I could not quit because I knew I had come too far to stop now. Time and time again, I reassured myself that I was going to finish this journey. I struggled mightily to make it to the top, but I CLIMBED THE MOUNTAIN.”
“I have to be going,” my friend said. “Tomorrow is a new day to accomplish more dreams. By the way what are you going to do tomorrow?”
I looked at him, with intensity and confidence in my eyes, and said, “I HAVE A MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB.”

Author unknown