Holidays: Day 6: Mum

Mum came up today to help MIL with a small sewing project.  A log cabin chicken.

I have made them before and MIL wanted to learn.  Hers still needs to be stuffed.  This one is mine.

While they started I got to the horrible task of ironing my hexagon flowers.  I hate that part of the sewing process.  But now all 30 that are made are ironed, ready for the joining hexies to be added.

I made us lunch - home made pizza again, oh how I love thee - and then made more Honey Oat Cookies since there are none left for me to take to my sewing day tomorrow.  Yum.  I added almonds again.  I think this will need to become part of the permanent recipe.

Tonight Ross & I are off to bowling.  He has joined a bowling league.  So he'll bowl, I'll cheer him on.  He started last week and loved it (he used to bowl many years ago so he is getting back into it).  I am looking forward to seeing him in action.

When we get home we are planning on sleeping in...

Our hiking tent.  We have never tested it out so we figured it was time, especially since we will be using it at the Rogaining event next weekend.  To me, it looks just big enough to squeeze one person into, but it is designed for 2.  Hmmm....  We will see.  LOL

I'll leave you with Shiva, looking very happy in Ross's arms....

xox

Tarot and Baking

Saturday I had my Tarot workshop.  We got there at 10 and spent some time getting to know each other.  It was a good group of 6.  4 of us had all been in the same Basic Tarot course, although we hadn't sat near each other so didn't know each other.  We spent the day going through the Major Arcana in detail.  We looked at the Tarot meaning, the symbology, the numerology, and the astrology associated with each card.  There is so much to take in.

At the end of the session we were meant to all do a detailed reading, but before we got to that we had already gone an hour over time.  So we are meeting again tonight to finish up.

I spent yesterday in the kitchen.  Firstly making a big bowl of veggie soup, then baking.  First up I made Hazelnut cookies.  I'll be honest, not a huge fan of them, although my MIL loves them.

That was followed by Chocolate Cream Cookies.

Now I tell you - these are sensational!  Kinda like an Oreo, but tastier.  I had some cream left, so I added cocoa and decided to sandwich together some of the Hazelnut cookies.

It improved them, but they are still not really to my taste.  They are nice, just not my kinda cookie.  :o)

Throughout the cooking I read a book.  It is "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold.  A movie was made out of it that I had wanted to see, but never got around to.  The book was excellent.  Very moving.  I highly recommend it.

Last night Ross and I spent snuggled up watching TV.  No book.  No laptop.  No DS.  Just us.  It was sensational.  And way too long since we have just spent time like that together.  :o)

xox

Muffins and Sneakers

Friday night I bought new sneakers.

I spent way more than I could afford, so hopefully they are good strong solid sneakers.  I went to Athletes Foot and got measured.  I was quite prepared to walk out if they did not listen to me, being a fat person claiming to be a runner you would be amazed at how people refuse to listen, but the girl was great.  She measured me for womens and mens shoes (I have very wide feet) and did the fit print thingy.  I told her I did not want anything with arches in hem as my feet are half a size different so the arch always sits in the wrong spot in one foot.  Rather than telling me "You need arch support" like I usually get she said "fine".

We picked a few pairs to try on, all different brands.  I picked the Asics - the most expensive of all the pairs I tried unfortunately.  But they felt really good.  I got a mens 9 1/2.  The last pair I was sold were a mens 11 - no wonder my feet have been flopping around for the last 6 months!

Note to self - don't shop at Rebel Sport again, stick with Athletes Foot.

After shopping I met up with Ross, Em, and Bryan for a wander and some dinner.  Ross and I both got a vegie focaccia.  We have this same thing most times in the city, but for some reason Friday night it was gross.  Neither of us finished it.  And we both ended up with diorreah Saturday and part of Sunday.... 

Note to self - never get that again.

So the weekend plans of yoga and a long ride got swept away with tummy pains and trips to the loo.  I did some baking though (when the diorreah subsided obviously) and made my famous Honey Oat Cookies and a new Muffin recipe.

Marbled Choc Chip Muffins.  Vanilla muffin mix with choc chips and choc muffin mix all combined.  Delish!

This afternoon I took the sneakers out for a run.  The sneakers did great - I did shit.  I am still really mad at myself for losing so much running fitness that I worked so hard to build up.  I struggled.  I alternated between walking, and my usual shuffle-run, and actual running.  I felt horrid.  Uncoordinated, and heavy footed, and breathless, and just bleh.  The sneakers did great.  My feet were a bit sore towards the end because these shoes are so much firmer than my old ones, but I am guessing they will get used to it.  But I could not get into a rhythm.  I struggled with my breathing.  And I felt awful.  Definitely no runners high today.  Hopefully Tuesdays run will be better,

Tomorrow night I am catching up with Mel for dinner.  I am sure she will kick my self-pitying butt.  :o)

xox

Book Club

Guess who has been baking again...  :o)  The first one is Polka Dot cookies - I got the recipe from the Newspaper.  I tried it with M&M's and also Smarties.  The Smarties lost their colour and the M&M's cracked.  I'll try a generic brand next time and see if they work better.  Either way - they taste delish!  The 2nd one is my own concoction.  Chai Latte Cookies.  The recipe was for coffee cookies but I substituted - and the result was amazing!  The spices in the Chai cook beautifully.  Definitely a winner.

This morning was my first Book Club meeting.  I have to admit, I was quite nervous.  I am always nervous meeting new people though, and this was a group of new people.  It was fantastic though.  It was really interesting hearing other peoples thoughts and interpretations on the book.  The interesting thing was there was discussion of a character I can't even remember!  I'll have to go back and read it again now.  We have picked the book, the date and the location for next time and I can't wait!

After Book Club I rode to the library to offload the heavy contents of my backpack and to grab a few more books that I have on hold.  The library was shut!  I forgot it doesn't open until 1 on Sundays.  I dropped off the books in the after hours chute then rode to KMart to try and get a copy of the book for the next Book Club.  KMart have changed their book section, and it now sucks.  One shelf of novels, that's it.  I'll have to go to Big W on my way home tomorrow night - they have a better selection.

All up I rode about 28kms today which is the most I have ridden in ages.  The ride in this morning was sluggish and hard.  I haven't been on the bike for a week and I could feel it.  At one point I even stopped to check if I had a flat I felt so sluggish.  The ride back was great though - despite the head wind.  I was more energised and my legs got that cool tingly feeling they get when you are getting good exercise in.

I haven't been for a run yet (I was with Grandad all day yesterday) and my legs are pretty tired now so I will do it tomorrow night.  The Start Running Group starts in 11 days and I want to get 3 or 4 runs in before then so I won't feel so blah on the first night.

xox

Still nothing happening

I am debating if I am going to blog on days like this when there is really nothing happening. I am sure it is boring. But sometimes I just feel like writing.

Another weekend spent mostly at home, trying to give MIL something of a break from constantly taking care of Grandad. Saturday I spent reading, writing, and cooking. Ross was at work all day which was the only down side as I really miss him on weekends, but he is so happy in his job I would never let him know that I am kinda feeling a bit lost without him there. Thankfully Grandad takes up a lot of time and energy while he is up.

It is weird, he is only awake for an hour or two at a time, but it is so intense. You have to watch him constantly as he is always waiting for you to turn your back so he can try and get up to look for his cigarettes – which we have to hide or he sneaks them into bed and tries to light up in bed in the middle of the night. Fortunately we have heavy wooden chairs on a tiled floor so we can always hear the scrape as he pushes the chair back. However Saturday afternoon we obviously hadn’t pushed him in far enough and he managed to slide off the chair. MIL caught him just as he was about to throw a glass on the floor looking through the cupboard for those blasted cigarettes.

Anyway, I did get some writing done. I have now written 2 chapters of the novel and I also got to work on the next children’s picture book story I am preparing to send to the publisher. I have forwarded the first one to my second choice of publishers and will prepare this one for the first choice. Right now it is still too long so needs a lot of tightening up. Hopefully it will be ready in a month or so.

Saturday afternoon I felt like baking and made some Peanut Butter Choc Chip Cookies. These are seriously the easiest cookies I have ever made. Anyone who has kids who like to cook, this is the recipe for you!

Sunday I got up early to make Ross breakfast before work. I found a recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes and thought I would give it a go. Can I just say – YUMMMMMMO! I will NEVER get those pancake shake mixes again. These are so much better.

I spent the rest of the day just reading and helping out with Grandad, as well as doing some chores etc around the house.

What I didn’t do was get out for a run or a ride. I am really struggling right now. It is cold, I am tired, and, well, nothing else really. These two things keep me off the roads. I need to find a way to make myself do it. I know I feel better after I get out there, but getting out there is so hard.

This morning I was so exhausted I cheated and brought the car to work. Grandad was up 4 or 5 times last night (I lost count). Every time I was just warm, or finally comfortable, or dozing, I heard the inevitable grunting and the springs bouncing as he tried to get up. So up I got….

OK, tonight, assuming I get home from the doctors before dark (nothing serious just a check up following on from the events in Feb) I will go for a run. No excuses.

xox

Recipe Page Updated

I know I have been really really slack updating my recipe page, but I am home taking care of Grandad this morning so I thought I would play catch up.  On the Recipe page you will now find recipes for:

Chocolate Crackles
Classic Salad Dressing
Sweet Potato Croquettes with Tangy Salsa
Lentil & Rice Pilau
Sticky Date and Toffee Pudding
Kylie’s Green Vegetable Soup
Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Some of them do not yet have photos, but they will be added next time I cook each recipe.  Enjoy!

xox

Knitting, Beading, Cooking

Sorry I have been absent for several days.  I will try and catch up on blogs shortly.

Friday I spent yet another day sick in bed.  I am certain it is related to lack of sleep.  However we now have a baby monitor and take turns having it in our rooms so we can all hear Grandad and we can all get some nights of good sleep.

Yesterday I was feeling a lot better and went to a WEA class to learn to make a scarfe/shawl.  It was called a rainbow scarfe, but that related to the texture of the yarn rather than the colours.  However I decided to relate it to my colours as well.  It was knitted "in the long" which means rather that doing 20 stitches and 200 rows, you do 150 stitches and only 25 rows.

As well as the scarfe/shawl we learnt some beading to go on one end.  I hadn't done beading before so I found it a bit challenging.  I ended up putting it down and concentrating on the knitting.  Mind you, I didn't finish in class. But when I got home last night I finished the scarfe, and I finished the tassels which I was super proud of.  This afternoon I sat down and all of a sudden the beading clicked and I ended up finishing it.  I am really proud of the result and it is a very unique scarfe I now own.

This morning I decided it was cookie baking time.  Mum was coming over for a couple of hours and since we have to sit in the kitchen (Grandad sleeps in the lounge) I thought baking cookies while we visited would be lovely. 

I made Chocolate Sugar Cookies.  The recipe said it made 7 dozen.  It made 10 dozen!  Luckily Ross loves cookies.  They are really yummy, but I am going to experiment with the recipe before I put it up as I think it could be better.

Mum brought over a bag of green veg from her garden.  I opened the bag and stuck my nose in and the first thing I thought was  - SOUP!  So I put the leeks, silver beets and spring onions in some veggie stock with a couple of potatoes and some fresh parsley and fresh spearmint from our herb garden.  I also did up some soup grains (spit peas, barley, lentils etc).  I blended the veg mix and added some cream then put back on the stove with the grains.  The result was fantastic!  I forgot to take a pic, but I will definitely make it again so will snap a pic then.

In all I have had a good weekend.  Thankfully the anxiety from the caffeine withdrawal is pretty much over with.  That was a truly horrible feeling to have all the time.  And hopefully the tummy pains are over with as well.  Am looking forward to getting back on the bike this week and also going for a couple of runs.

xox

Weigh In

Well, one week of my new calorie counting is done and dusted. I'll be honest here, I didn't "count" every day.  Or most days really.  But I have been a lot more conscious and have stopped buying that morning bag of wicked twisties every day, and the afternoon bun.  The result was a 1.9 kg loss, so I am extremely happy with that.  I will be more vigilant this week, and will be riding to work every day again as well.

I finally set up my Facebook Fan page for my cards.  It is called 'photo cards by kylie ann'.  Anyone who is on Facebook, do a search for it if you are interested in my cards.  So far there are only 9 variations up, but more photos will be here this week and I will have about 15 or so up soon.  I'll post the pics at the bottom of this blog for you.

Today has been fairly easy going.  MIL had several things that she needed to get out and do so I have been here with Grandad most of the day.  He has been asleep for most of it though, only getting up for an hour or so to have lunch and a cuppa.  He was really perky yesterday but it seems to have tired him out for today. 

While he was up I decided to do some baking to give me an excuse to stay in the kitchen with him without it looking like I was watching him.  I made my specialty - Honey & Oat Cookies.  I love these!  We won't even discuss the calories though...  LOL  But I figured that Ross could have them for breakfast.  He doesn't usually bother with breakie but with his new job I would like him to have something.  And I know he will eat these.

I also decided to make something for dinner.  We need something Grandad can eat with one hand, so nothing that requires cutting.  We had soup last night and pasta bake the night before so I also wanted something with protein in it.  I ended up doing a pasta bake, but added lentils and TVP.  Hopefully it tastes okay.

I was hoping to get the garden bed ready for planting as well, but domestics have taken up the day.  Not to worry though, I will do it next weekend.

Here are the cards I have up so far, in case you are interested.

xox

The Weekend So Far

Well, we are heading toward the end of the second day of the long weekend. It has been an interesting couple of days, some good, some challenging.

It started Friday night. My MIL got a call that her Dad (Grandad) has been in a car crash. Only a minor one thankfully, however at 92 years old a minor crash can jiggle things around. By the time she got up there the paramedics had been called. They got to the hospital and my MIL finds out this is the 2nd crash in the last couple of weeks and also that he has had 2 falls in his house in the last week that he has not told us about.

Grandad lives a good 45 minute drive away if there is no traffic. He lives alone and until recently has been doing fine. MIL saw him last Sunday and all was well. However when she got to his house to pick up a few things for him things were different. A week of Meals on Wheels dinners were lined up on the counter unopened. The cat had been locked inside with no kitty litter. The cat food was dried up and had been there for days. We don't think he had eaten for a week or had he fed Blondie (the cat). He was in the same clothes he had been in the previous week and no PJ's had been used. He had burned his pillow so he is smoking in bed again.

The hospital in their infinite wisdom wanted to send him home after 2 hours. MIL managed to talk them into keeping him overnight. However considering he can't get up or down on his own, can't shower, can't go to the toilet unassisted I am truly disappointed that he was sent home the next day. We explained that he lives alone. They pretty much said take him home. MIL said he would be sleeping on the couch as we have 3 adults living in a small house and they said that will be fine. Not happy.

So Grandad has been here since yesterday. Thankfully he is eating now but he still needs a great deal of assistance. He sleeps about 18 hours a day. I am not sure if he is going to be able to go home. We talked about me and Ross moving up there but the logistics are too hard. I would have to leave for work at about 5.30am and would not get home until after 7.30pm including a 30 minute walk at night through a very unsafe neighbourhood. Plus there is the fact that with both of us working and with the extended travelling time we would not be there enough to take care of him anyway.

I am not sure what is going to happen but for now he is here and a neighbour is taking care of Blondie. The poor old thing is so frail. None of us are sleeping as we are all listening out for if he gets up in the night as we are so afraid he will fall. Hopefully we can get him into care fairly quickly.

OK, so on to the good parts of the weekend so far, and there have been some.

Yesterday morning I decided to skip yoga and go for a run. I haven't been out for 3 or 4 weeks. I didn't realise it was that long, but geez the time goes by quickly. I decided no more shuffling, I am going to run! I lasted 3 minutes. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt. So I started walking, I did a few more spurts - running, not shuffling - and got home sore.

After some breakfast and a clean up I hopped on the tram, switched to a train, and took myself out to visit my Grandma, who has been in a Nursing Home for a while. We never really got along, so I have been a bad Granddaughter and not visited for a long time. But she was really friendly and we had a wonderful visit.

I came home and helped MIL with Grandad and helped with dinner. We had an early night.

This morning I got up early to help Grandad get up and get him some breaky so MIL could have a sleep in. I got all the animals fed and got cuppas ready for Ross & MIL. Then I got myself ready and headed in to the city to go to the Botanic Gardens to meet my Mum for a walk and to take photos. We spent a few hours and had a really good time. She also bought me this wonderful book from the Botanic Shop.

Ross and I have had several attempts at starting veggie gardens, that have had varying degrees of success. This book was written by a South Aussie, so all the planting times and everything are very specific to where we live. I am going to start getting a garden bed ready tomorrow so we can put some spinach in, which is one of the only things we can plant at this time of year. Hopefully this one is successful.

Tonight I am going to make some parsnip soup for us all for dinner. Ross is working early tomorrow on the other side of town so he will have an early night. I will be here all day so I am going to try and get MIL to go out for a while, at least for a walk with the dog or something, just to get out for a while. Ross is staying at Mums tomorrow night as he is working just a few kms from her place tomorrow and Tuesday.

That's it from me. I'll leave you all with a few pics from this mornings wander....

xox

Chocolate Crackles

Not much more to say on that except for YUMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!  LOL

No time for much else today.  Am running massively late.  Slept in a bit but not too much, showered, dressed, got my helmet on, grabbed my bike.  DAMN!  A flat tyre.  Not just a flat - a whopping great 3 corner jack has torn the tube.  Not time to change it so run inside, change shoes and run for the tram.  Just missed it. 

Needless to say I got to work about 40 minutes later than I normally would so I have to fly today.

Hope you all have a great day!

xox

MDC Official Times are In

Thank you all so much for your amazing comments yesterday.  You are all so wonderfully supportive and I do thank you for that.  So here it is...

Official Times for MDC

Kylie  -  38:43 mins
36-40 year old females  -  59/63
All women  -  495/512
Overall  -  683/708

Ross  -  22:52 mins
36-40 year old men  -  14/24
All men  -  96/196
Overall  -  219/708

I am happy with that.  Actually I am really happy.  My watch said 38:46 but I thought the official timing would be quite different which is why I said around the 39 minute mark.  And I didn't come last in ANY category!  YAHOOO! LOL

Last night was cooking class.  No photos yet I am sorry.  We made Sweet Potato & Cashew Croquettes with Tangy Salsa - SO yum! - and Sticky Date with Toffee Sauce.  We only cooked up 1 croquette to try, and I took the mix home.  I will make them tomorrow night and you can have photos then.  And the Sticky Date looks great, but we are going to do the sauce tonight and serve it up and will take pics then. 

Tonight I am walking home from work.  The way I will probably go is about 8.2kms.  I am still a bit stiff from the weekend and I won't be timing myself, this is just to get some distance in my legs.  We head off to Heyson in 5 months so we need to start concentrating on that.  I will do a few sprints on the way home too. 

My next running goal is to get to 5kms, then after that it is time to look at speed.  I am hoping the sprints will help with that.

Have a great day everyone!

xox

Working and running and cooking

Yesterday was a horrible day.  Work was nuts.  All the yucky clients we have had a problem, the banks were going berserk, the Real Estate Agents and Conveyancers were cranky, and the guys in the office were not doing things they should have which made my job more time consuming and frustrating.  I also had a personal situation come up that was scary and worrying that was (and is) consuming my thoughts.

By 5pm I wanted a Strongbow and a couch.  The thought of going for a run was mortifying.  But it was the absolute last chance I had to go for a run before the MDC so I geared up and headed off.  From the first step I knew it was gonna be yuck.  I couldn't find a rhythm and everything hurt.  I was really hoping I could find a good rhythm and the motion would help ease the stress of the day.  But no such luck.  It was cold, it was windy, and 2/3 of the way through, it started raining.  The good thing about the rain is it made me want to get inside, and the quickest way to do that was to keep running.

The result, I ran the entire 4.2km course with no walk breaks.  It took 43 minutes, 30 seconds.  It hurt.  There was no runners high, and although it is the absolute best I have done, I did not feel good at it.  I tried really hard on the ride home (in the wind and rain) to get excited about my run, but it just wasn't there.  I guess sometimes that just happens.  Sometimes the runners high and the joy just ain't there.

Today I had a training course off site for the morning.  I didn't learn a lot as most of it was stuff I was already doing, but I came back with a couple of improvements I can implement.  I didn't get back to the office until 1.30pm, of course with a full day of work on the desk.  Thankfully the cranky clients were nowhere to be seen, so I just worked through what I could and I will deal with the rest tomorrow.

Tonight I wanted to make the Parsnip Soup from Monday nights class.  I had sent Ross out for supplies and I got cooking as soon as I got home.

Now I am not really a soup person.  I like it well enough, but it's not something I get excited about.  I also don't necessarily like parsnips.  But can I just say, this soup ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is SO yummy and filling and absolutely devine.  The recipe is meant to serve 6, but the 3 of us all had a serve and there is only enough left for 1 more.  :o)  Ross is taking it for lunch tomorrow.

That's it for me today.  I just read back over this and realised the beginning is quite negative.  I was going to apologise, but then I realised that would be apologising for my own feelings and I don't do that any more.  I am sure things will be back to normal next post!

xox

Thinking About Food

Last night was our first Cooking Class for this course which is the Gourmet Vegetarian class.  As with the last one we did, week 1 was a demonstration and information night.  Natalie made Parsnip Soup (which I plan on making tomorrow night), a Ricotta Flan with honey roasted vegetables, and Dreamy Pavlova.  We got to have a little taste of it all and everything was SO good!  Next week we are doing 2 recipes on our own - a sweet potato croquette with a tangy salsa, and sticky date and toffee pudding.  Ross is going to do the pudding, and I will do the croquettes.  I can't wait!

I have actually been thinking a lot about food lately.  While I am content with my plan to not focus on my weight, I am interested in being fit.  And part of fitness is what we eat.  In the last 2 months or so I have been getting out of control with my eating again.  Not all day like I used to, but in the mornings.  I have a good breakfast, then about 9.30ish I lose it.  I am not hungry but I start eating crap.  It finishes at lunch time when I am so full.  Then I don't eat in the afternoon, have a healthy dinner and go to bed.  The hours between 9.30am and 1pm are really ruining things for me.

I want to eat good whole foods - not crap.  And I want to be in control of my eating.  Not control it as in calorie counting, but be in control of myself.  So I am going to start slowly.  The one thing I have noticed I have started doing again is using butter.  I hadn't used it in a couple of years, now all of a sudden everything is slathered in it.  So the first thing I am going to do is stop with the butter.  The other thing is to stop visiting the bakery.  If I can do those 2 things I think I will be well on my way to starting to get this under control.

I have a book called "Intuitive Eating" by Evelyn Tribole at home.  I think I will dig that out and start reading it.  It teaches you to be aware of your bodies hunger signals and to eat what your body needs, not stuff it full of crap.  I really want to get control of this as I know that if I fuel my body right, my fitness will benefit.

Daily Goals
1)  Drink 1.5L of water
2)  Go for my final run before the MDC
3)  Dig out the Intuitive Eating Book
4)  Try not to get too annoyed at work
5)  Don't binge this morning

xox

I Know I'm Not Perfect, But I'm So Close It Scares Me

That is what it says on my new soup mug.  I saw it in the Post office on Friday and just couldn't resist.  I used it this morning for my oats with honey and cinnamon.  It was so delish, and I am sure it tasted even better coz it was in such a cool bowl.

I have had a great weekend.  Yesterday was long and exhausting, and so much fun.  It started with a trip to my new favourite shop - Smiggle!

Em introduced me to Smiggle several weeks ago, but this was my first little splurge.  I had so much fun, and of course, everything has to be pink!

From our shopping trip we got on the bus up to Gumeracha, and headed off to the Medieval Fair.  Rather than tell you everything, I figured the best way to show you what we got up to is with photos.

The portrait at the bottom there is meant to be of us.  I think it is a good likeness of Ross, but not so much of me.  My lips are NOT that plumped unfortunately.  But it was fun to have it done, and look at my boobs and my upper abs!  Hot hot HOT!  LOL  We did have an amazing day as you can see.  There was jousting, and dancing, and sword fighting, and food, and art, and shopping, and everything else you can imagine for a medieval fair.  A great day.

Today was errands, and shopping and housework.  Plus an afternoon of relaxing and cooking.  I wanted to make pasta cups, but I couldn't find the big pasta shells I wanted.  So I decided to use similar ingredients and make my own version of a ricotta and summer veg lasagne. 

It tasted really good and I will definitely be making this one again.  The only thing I might do a bit differently next time is perhaps add a bit of fetta.  It didn't necessarily need it, but I love fetta! 

That's my weekend in a nutshell.  This week I start my next cooking class, I have my last run before the MDC, some cycling, cooking, the MDC, and who knows what else.

xox

35 Minutes

This weekend so far has been great.  Started last night with my night out which started with dinner and shopping with Em.  As always we had a great evening.  From there Ross & I headed off for the Rhino Room to see a Comedy Show.  What a sensational evening!  A couple of the comedians were only average, but most were great and the headline was awesome.  We had such a great night!  And I finally marked the first thing off of my Day Zero Project List!

This morning we got up and went to Emma's (a different Emma to the one we saw last night).  We have had some of our things at her place for a few months in storage.  Now that we have a storage shed it was time to get it all out so that she could have her shed back.  We had a quick catch up then did a couple of trips back and forth between her place and storage.

By the time all that was done we were starving, so off the Mama Carmelas for a vego pizza for lunch.  Now normally when we have a pizza we have 4 pieces each as well as a couple of pieces of garlic bread, and often there is room for ice cream.  Not today.  One piece of garlic bread, 3 pieces of pizza, and I was completely full!  Very unusual for me.  But I guess one of the side effects of being sick for over 2 weeks.

By the time we got home we were exhausted.  So we decided to have a sit on the couch.  After about 10 minutes I suddenly felt like going for a run.  I haven't been out for a week, so I got my ankle braces and my shoes on, and off I went.

I walked for 6 minutes, then started my shuffle-run.  Don't ask me where this came from, but I somehow managed 20 minutes!  I did approx 2kms without stopping.  I walked for 5 minutes then started running again.  I ran all the way home, which took another 15 minutes and was approx 1.5kms.  So in total I ran for 35 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am staying steady on 6kmph, which I know is what a lot of people walk at, but I really don't care.  I am running and I am running for over half an hour and that is all that matters.

It's hard to believe that only 4 months ago I was struggling to run for 45 seconds.  And just 3 months ago 1.5 minutes felt like the end of the world.  And I was stuck on 1.5 minutes for ages without improving.  It killed me.  Now I can do a 20 minute run!  What an achievement.

I also found the 2 PERFECT running songs for me.  'It's Raining Men' by The Weathergirls, and 'Hey, Baby' by DJ Oritz.  Both have the perfect beat for me and I felt amazing running to them.

Tonight the plan was to make a Pavlova, but it was 5.15 by the time I got back from my run and they take a couple of hours to cook, so I decided I'll do it Monday.  Dinner was Quesadillas.  I have never made them before, in fact, I have never had them before, and I didn't have a recipe....  But I saw a photo of them on Amanda's blog and thought they looked yummy.  So I made up a recipe and gave it a shot.

I call it Spinach & Mushroom Quesadillas with Lentils.  And it was absolutely DELICIOUS!  So quick and easy, and so yummy and filling.  We will definitely be having this again.

Off to bed soon for an early night with a good book.  Tomorrow we are off to see our nephew for his 7th birthday.  Geez, they grow up so fast.

Hope everyone is having a great long weekend, and you all take a moment tomorrow to give some thought to our Diggers for ANZAC Day.

xox