New healthy beginning

I have now decided to get off my fat arse and do something about my weight. I'm what you might call overweight but not obese. As I am 5'1" its slightly easier to see when I've got a few extra pounds sitting on me. One thing I want to focus on is my lower body. I'm quite happy with the upper half and suprisingly I don't mind my "schmacko" arms.

It all started when a friend started the 100 Pushups Challenge. I thought I may as well give it a go, and Pat is going to do it with me (although he gets to start on week 3). I'll also be doing alot of walking. Vanessa's kindy is just around the corner and I walk her there and back every day so I thought why not continue? And that's exactly what I did this morning. I went for a nice brisk 1 hour walk along a creek that's near here. It felt good and I'm even thinking of going again this afternoon.

I also get my dog over from Melbourne this weekend and she, being a Labrador cross Akita, needs alot of walking so she will motivate me to keep it up as well. It's only been a day and I already feel really good within myself. And i already eat fairly decent so only need to make one or two changes like drink more water and less soft drink. I'm already a housework freak which also burns the calories, and I know a bit about exercise from when I had a personal trainer for a year. Every little bit counts.

Tips:
* Park as far from the shop door as possible for that extra bit of walking.
* Walk to the shops when possible.
* Use public transport more often.
* Use the stairs instead of the escalator/elevator.
* Having a cup of green tea in the morning boosts your metabolism.
* Drink at least 1-2 litres of water a day.
* Do sit-ups, push-ups, squats etc in front of the tv instead of sitting on the couch
* Walk the dog.
* Take the kids to the park on weekends.
* Play a casual sport on weekends (cricket/footy with friends)
* In summer spend time at the beach swimming or walking along the shore.

Now to see if I can follow my own advice :) I will be posting up a before shot and my measurements soon.

My Heart, Vanessa

June 23 2004, 7.30am, with one final push she is in this world. 3.3kg and healthy my daughter Vanessa Ann is born. As the nurses place her on my chest, they cut the cord and she is her own tiny person waiting to learn all there is to learn about this life. I breathe in her smell and position her mouth onto my swelling breasts as she takes her first feed. A tear rolls down my cheek as I fathom that after 9 months I have created this beautiful child who will from then on in depend on me.

I will forever remember that moment. Born on the due date and only a 4 hour labour. I only had the gas and did not make a sound, which funnily caused the midwives to think I still had a few more hours to go when her head was in fact peeking through. They broke my waters as her head came out which is apparently lucky in some cultures (would like to know which). I find myself looking back on this moment when I feel myself at a wits end as to what to do to make mothering her a more calmer place.

Don't get me wrong I love her to bits and she is in a way my saviour, but there is times (and I'm sure alot of parent's out there that understand) when I ask myself why. Time's when I want to hand her over to someone else to deal with. But then I remember the moment she came into my life and that makes it all worth while.

To watch her grow and become her own person, to expand on her bright personality and to see her slowly grow into the person she will be as an adult, it's... in a word... amazing. To be there through her happy and sad times and to comfort her when she is sick or scared. To be the one she turns to when she's having troubles and doesn't know what to do, even if all I can offer her is a hug.

The last four years has seen alot of ups and downs on my part and she has been through alot herself. Myself moving from house to house either on my own or with my parents, her father moving house alot with different people. And now a move interstate which she has settled into quite well. I am blessed with how good she adapts. And even though I do complain about her misbehavior and disobedience she really is a little angel.

She loves anything to do with nature and will always be picking up a leaf here, a rock there. She loves to draw and paint and just about anything creative she can get her hands on. She loves to have a book read to her and also to sing and dance. She also loves animals and will always give them cuddles (unless I hold her back because it's a stray).

All in all she is my little butterfly and I wouldnt have her any other way :D

My Life Laid Out

Life is a rollercoaster

Life's a bitch and then you die.

Why is it that when we seem to be heading in the right direction and getting ahead and things seem to be looking up.... life rears its ugly head and bites us in the arse yet again!!!

Makes you wonder what you have done in a past life to deserve alot of the stuff that happens everyday. Its not what you have done... Life is Crap!!

What brought this about you may ask. Well just as we thought we were getting ahead with money, a few extras popped their head in so we come out into no treats not even a $2 chocolate bar mode. Lets all give a great big sigh.

That is all

The Hunting Begins

Vanessa is in Kindy, house is organised, everything is settled so time to get a job. I am pretty flexible in what sort of job I will go for. But this doesn't mean that this will be easy. I have Retail and Hospitality experience so first thing that pops into ones head is "There are heaps of those jobs out there, no problem". Here's the problem, I can't be in a job with extended periods of time around food due to my skin allergies, and I only have limited times I can work due to Vanessa. This cuts the available jobs for me down to a small handful.

I have had one interview since I started looking two weeks ago, and it seemed promising. This was last Thursday and the manager said she'd give me a call by Friday. Whether this meant the next day or Friday week I don't know as I have yet to hear from her. I also had a phone call about distributing free Lindt chocolates at shopping centres and as much as I would have LOVED the job the hours were incompatible with my availabilities.

So I am now back on job search sites in the hope that I can find something, anything. I have thought about getting a cleaning job but the hours most cleaners do are after hours. I have applied for various admin/receptionist jobs and been knocked back or didn't hear from them at all. I have also applied for sales assistant jobs and not heard anything.

So I will be printing out some resumes this week (about 30 or so) so I can do the shopping centre drop offs for Christmas casual jobs. Here's hoping I hear from at least one of those.

Here are a few sites I have been looking at:
www.seek.com.au
www.jobsearch.gov.au
www.careerone.com.au

Quick Note #1 FB Apps.

I am an addict to alot of these. Mainly the Playfish ones like Bowling Buddies, Word Challange and Pet society. But majority of them are addictive all the same.

I find I tell myself "Just one more game then I'll go to bed". That one game turns into another hour before I realise it. It is fun converting others though. Well back to the world of facebook applications for me.......