I'm off
Mood:  irritated

Right, this will be my last blog entry in Tripod. I've got fed up with it falling over all the time. I dunno why it does it, but the last couple of months every time I've gone to post it's taken me forever. So here is the new home of Fluffie Bunnie Blog. Come visit me there! And please update your links if you're kind enough to link to me!

http://fluffie-bunnie.blogspot.com/

Anonymous sperm
Mood:  incredulous

So I'm sitting at my desk this morning when Dave says from across the room that apparently there's a shortage of sperm donors in Southampton.  I'm like, don't they pay you for that?  Yes he says, up to £250.  Excellent, I'm thinking, that's money for old rope.  We can send him off to, ahem, donate into a cup every so often and that's next year's holiday paid for.  Yay! 

Then I read the actual article and it turns out the reason no-one is donating is that some new law has been brought in scrapping donor anonymity.  WTF?  Who thought that was a good idea?  You go off and donate and 16 years later various youths appear on your doorstep calling you daddy.  No thanks!

Guess we'll have to pay for our own holiday :-)

All about me...
Mood:  chatty

I swiped this one from Crazydogmama and NoRemorse.  I don't usually bother with these but this one was short enough for my teeny attention span...

1. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what's the first thing you think?
It really depends...some days I think I look ok, others I look like shit :-)

2. How much cash do you have on you?
About £20 I think

3. What's a word that rhymes with "TEST"?
Zest

4. Favourite planet?
Uranus.  Snigger snigger.  I am such a child.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your mobile phone?
A client.  How boring.

6. What is your favourite ring on your phone?
I have the A-Team theme.  Soooooo cool.

7. What clothes are you wearing?
Blue combats, red vest top.

8. Do you label yourself?
Nah

9. Name the brand of your shoes you're currently wearing right now?
Slippers - the joys of working from home!  No idea what brand. 

10. Bright or Dark Room?
Bright please.

11. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

12. What did your last text message you received say?
One from my mum asking when we were getting back from hols.

13. What's a saying that you say a lot?
"One hun-drrred meeeeeeeeeeeellion dollars".  Dave and I have been saying that to each other ever since we saw the movie SWAT :-)

14. Who told you they loved you last?
Dave

15. Last furry thing you touched?
Either Neo or Eddie, not sure which

16. How Many Drugs Have You Done In The Past three Days?
None whatsoever, unless you count the lovely lovely pills that stop me having babies.

17. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
Do people still use film?  All digital for me!

18. Favourite age you have been so far?
This one.  33.

19. Your worst enemy?
I don't think I have any.  I'm very lovable :-)

20. What is your current desktop picture?
I have this fantastic picture of The Iceman Chuck Liddell.  Very inspiring when I feel like I can't be bothered to go to the gym!

21. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"Right I'm off to get some lunch" to my husband.

22. If you had to choose between a million dollars or to be able to change a major regret?
I don't think any of my regrets are that major.  Give me the money!

23. Do you like someone?
Lots of people.

24. The last song you listened to?
"Sophia" by Nerina Pallot.

Happy again :-)
Mood:  bright

OK I've cheered up again and got over my post holiday blues :-)

Had my personal training session today.  I've done no weights since the session a fortnight ago so I asked Michael to go easy on me.  Naturally, his response was to up all my weights and make me stand on wobble boards throughout the whole session.  For instance, I'd just got used to doing my chest press on a stability ball, so he decided it would be fun to put my feet on a wobble board at the same time.  And up my weight.  Bastard :-)

Still, I was quite encouraged to see that I hadn't lost all my muscles on my week off.  And I'm definitely making progress.  All my weights have gone up since I started and I can now do press ups on the stability ball unsupported.  When I first started I couldn't even do one with Michael helping to hold the ball in place.  Next week is my last session, and I've been thinking about whether I would do it again now that I've used up all my "freebies".  I think I would.  Having the trainer there definitely makes you push yourself harder.  You feel like you can't do anymore and then he tells to you have two more reps, and somehow you squeeze them out.  Then there's the obvious plus of having someone work out your programme for you so you don't have to, and making sure you get your technique right all the time.  Since I can't afford to keep having one session a week I think what I will try and do is save up and then book another course of 4 sessions in a few months time.  I reckon that would be more beneficial than just having one a month.

After the gym Dave & I took the dogs for a run.  Yes, I know I said in this very blog that I was never running again, but I wanted to do some cardio today and we were short of time, so it just seemed sensible to combine it with dog walking.  And you know what, I managed a lap of the common which is about 2 miles.  Not much, you may think, but last time I tried running outside I only managed about half of that.  So I was pretty chuffed.  I must be getting fitter.  I'm never going to really enjoy running or take it seriously, but I figure the odd run for a bit of variety can't hurt.  Especially when it's a gorgeous day like today.

We're off to the in-laws now for dinner.  I decided after holiday that I would try and give up booze until Christmas.  Or to be strictly accurate, until our Christmas party, which I think is on December 15th.  It's not that I drink that much, but it just seems a good idea to do without it for a few months.  Plus it's wasted calories and I'm still hoping to drop a bit of weight.  Tonight will be my first test as mother-in-law always has wine on the go, and dinners with in-laws can sometimes be a little stressful mainly due to father-in-law's Alzheimer's, so I usually knock back the wine gratefully.  LOL. Will let you know how my willpower holds up :-)

Back again
Mood:  down
Now Playing: Kaiser Chiefs

I'm back!

Holiday was great.  For two days it did nothing but rain but fortunately it was really nice on the days we wanted to go for nice long walks.  On the rainy days we were forced to stay in the cottage with copious DVDs and munchies.  Mmmmmm.  Have not sorted through all the pics yet but here's a couple to start with.

View of Lee Bay from a VERY hilly walk:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eddie & Neo playing in the garden:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really got into the photography thing on holiday.  Started to try and understand more about different techniques etc.  Dave read some stuff about how to photograph the moon and I managed to snap this one to wards the end of the week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting back home has been a bit of a downer though :-(  No holidays now until Christmas and I have a ton of work to do for the rest of this month.  Plus I have to stay on top of my ETM course ready for my assessment weekend in December.  So I'm feeling a bit snowed under right now.  Will have to try and be very organised with my time for the next few weeks.

Holiday!!!
Mood:  bright

Tomorrow we're off on our hols for a week.  Yay!  We're going to Ilfracombe in Devon.  We're planning lots of long walks with the dogs, but lest you think it'll be a super-healthy-energetic holiday, there's also going to be lots of cream teas and plenty of lounging around watching tv.  We have a load of films and books plus the entire season 2 box set of SVU to take with us :-)))

Not much to report since last week.  We went to see Clerks II which was really good.  We also had another visit from the hedgehog!  This time I went back out after the dogs had been safely shut indoors and managed to catch him not rolled into a ball:

 

 

 

 

I have finished 5 out of 6 units of my coursework for my fitness instructor course.  Had a bit of a blitz on it this week, as I wanted to get it out of the way before we went away.  I now know the names of lots of bones and muscles and understand how the cardiovascular system works.  Yay me!  I found the anatomy stuff really interesting.  But kind of freaky.  I thought beforehand that finding out how my body worked might kind of, I dunno, empower me or something.  Instead it just terrified me.  So many things that could go wrong!  Once I knew that my entire existence depended on my left ventricle pumping blood round my body (you see, I did learn something) I suddenly developed an irrational fear that it would stop doing this for absolutely no reason.  And all those muscles and ligaments just looked like injuries waiting to happen.  It's like when I learnt how car engines worked.  For years I had happily driven around without giving a moments' thought to what went on under the bonnet.  Then all of a sudden the whole process seemed so incredibly complicated, it was a miracle to me that the engine ever worked at all.  That's kind of how I felt about my body.  I tried explaining this to Dave and he just looked at me like I was completely mental.  LOL.

Anyway, I seem to have digressed a little.  Oh yes, the course.  I've booked my practical course/assessment for December 8th.  Eeek.  I'm kind of nervous about it.  Before then I have to plan a lesson and write it all down as my final bit of coursework.  Then I have to actually do it on the course.  I'm going to have to do some practising when we get back off hols.  I think it might be an idea to go along to some proper aerobics classes a few times as well, just to get a feel for it.  And nick ideas off the instructors, obviously.

Right well I gotta go pack now, so I'll sign off.....back in a week!

Training
Mood:  chatty

OK, we're done with the rant.  I feel better now :-)

So yesterday was my second personal training session, and the first "proper" workout - last week was more of a general assessment to see what I could do.  I told Michael that my goals were to improve my upper body strength and eventually to be able to do pull ups and full push ups.  So he's done me a programme just based on that to do for about 5-6 weeks.  No arm work at all, just chest, back & shoulders, which will work bi's and tri's a bit as well.  And more emphasis on the back at the moment.  So here's what I'm doing:

Lat pulldown
Dumbbell press on stability ball (hard!)
Bent over rows with dumbbells, standing on those wobble board things
Press ups on stability ball (reaaaaally hard)
Shoulder press
Plank

So lots of core stability stuff along with my weights.  It's very different from what I've been doing before, and higher reps.  Judging by how sore I am today it certainly seems to be working my muscles.

On Monday Dave & I decided to have a mini-TKD session at home.  It was cool.  First we practised our patterns and did a warm up.  Then we unveiled Rupert the punch bag, got out our pads, and did lots of kicking and punching.  It was fun.  Think we might do it again this afternoon.

In other news, I had my first talk with my Focus tutor for my course.  I have to do the first 3 units before we go on holiday at the end of September.  So really, I should be off doing that right now instead of blogging :-)  I've started reading the course notes and watched the DVD.  I'm finding it a little weird as it's basically aerobics, and I haven't done "proper" aerobics for years and years.  All of my cardio workouts are either in the gym or based on combat/martial arts moves.  So grapevines feel a little pathetic and girlie to me right now.  However, I have to keep reminding myself that it's a means to an end.  I have to suck up those grapevines (there's a weird visual) to get the qualification so I can go on to teach the cool stuff.

Enraged
Mood:  irritated

I don't get angry very often.  I get grumpy every now and then, but it's not often I get so cross I want to hit something.  Yesterday was an exception :-) 

First of all I made the mistake of picking up the Daily Mail while I was waiting for my personal training session in the gym.  There's a reason I never buy that paper.  The front page story was all about the fact that now you can buy stamps online you won't have the queen's head on your mail.  Shock, shock, horror, horror.  Some twat from The Royal Society of Stuck Up Middle Class Tossers (ok, that may not have been the *exact* name of the organisation) was moaning that it shouldn't be allowed to be called the "Royal" Mail any more and how appalling this was.  Not like there's anything more important going on in the world that they could have put on the front page, then.  I hate royalists.

Anyway, after reading that and working very hard in my session with Michael (more of that later) I ran into a friend I hadn't seen for a while.  We have mutual friends in common who we used to live next door to.  They got a puppy from the same litter as our two, a bitch called Willow.  When they were little they used to play together all the time.  Here's a picture of my boys with their sister (Willow on the left):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, last year the couple split up and Willow has been shunted around from one place to the other.  The friend I saw yesterday said that she had seen them recently and Willow had put on loads of weight, was not getting walked, had no toys, gets left on her own all day and was not getting any attention.  Basically neither of them really wants the dog anymore and can't be arsed to actually do anything constructive about it like try and find her a good home.  Now I know that's not exactly total neglect and abuse but it still made me really f*cking mad.  If you get a dog then it's your responsibility and you need to give it the love and care it needs.  I was this close yesterday to driving over there and just bringing the poor little thing home with us.  We're going to end up like Skwigg with 3 big dogs running round our house if we're not careful.  We have seriously thought about taking her but three dogs is a lot of work.  Two is bad enough :-)  Plus there's practical considerations such as going on holiday - we can just about cram everything in the car with our two in the boot, but three dogs just wouldn't fit.  We'd have to get some sort of A-Team style van to move us all around.  Actually, that would be quite cool :-)) 

OK, that's my rant for the week over.  Normal service will be resumed shortly :-)

Lyrics & creepy crawlies
Mood:  chatty
Well, as predicted, I could hardly move on Wednesday after the personal training. I kind of like that though - it means I know I've worked hard. Does that make me weird?

My course notes turned up yesterday. I was expecting huge amounts of material but actually it was only two spiral bound books and a workbook to do the assignments in. One workbook is about structuring classes and the other is the anatomy & physiology stuff. I think that's the bit I'll find the most effort to learn - all those Latin names of bones and muscles and stuff. I used to be pretty good at exams back in the day but it's so long since I tried to learn anything new I think my brain may have forgotten how to do it. I feel like Homer Simpson - every time I learn something new, it pushes old stuff out of my brain. Yet still I can remember the lyrics to just about every song I have ever liked. 90% of my brain cells must be taken up with lyrics. One day I'll need some crucial bit of knowledge, you know like what number to dial in an emergency, and all I'll be able to think of will be the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody.

Gaaaaaaaah. I just got dive bombed by a crane fly. I hate those things. It's like creepy crawley safari in our house tonight. Earlier Dave had to squish a large and very scary spider. When we got the puppies I had high hopes that they would grow up to become good spider protectors. Previous dogs I have known will chase and squash spiders and suchlike. Not these two though, they just watch them run around and look vaguely interested. Then they get confused about why I am perched on the highest point of the sofa squealing. No help at all.

Yesterday I did Body Combat and then Tae Kwon Do. That doesn't nearly kill me like it used to, which I guess means I'm getting fitter. Just as well, if I'm going to be teaching combat. We did the new routine last night - combat 29. It's bloody typical, I've done combat for years and it's always had the same moves, all of which I can do. Now I've decided to train they've started throwing in exciting new ones like doing a double side kick without putting your foot down. My balance is lousy so I tend to fall over quite a lot when I try that one. That's going to look good on my "please pass me as an instructor" video :-)

Thursday night TKD is now moving to Friday nights. On the one hand, that's good because the class is earlier and it puts it on a separate night from combat. On the other hand that means if I want to get in as much combat and TKD as possible (which I pretty much always do) I have to do:

Thursday - combat
Friday - TKD
Saturday - combat
Sunday - TKD.

Not exactly a nice balanced week really, with all the workouts thrown together in a big lump. Still, all good practice for when I get to be an instructor and am (hopefully!) teaching combat a few times a week!!!

Exciting new things
Mood:  bright

Well today I had my first ever session with a personal trainer.  I really wasn't sure I'd enjoy it - thought I might be kind of self conscious.  But it was great.  I really wish I could afford to do it every week.  I totally can't - the only reason I'm doing it at the moment is cos it's 6 sessions in exchange for doing his tax return :-)  He had me doing all sorts of core stability stuff, like standing on one leg to do lateral raises, sitting on a fit ball to do shoulder raises, etc.  It was all about being very precise and concentrating on getting the technique just right.  And I could definitely feel the difference, it made me isolate the muscles I was working on.  I think I will know about it tomorrow.

Continuing with the exciting new things, I have booked my fitness instructor course!  Woo hoo!  I'm very excited.  Hopefully the stuff will arrive in the next few days so I can have a look through it and get started over the weekend.  Yay! 

At the moment we are doing accounts for one of our clients who is a butcher.  He keeps all the accounts stuff out in the back room where his stock is.  It's seriously gross.  Most of the bank statements and invoices are covered in bits of blood.  The dogs went mental when it got here.  Yesterday Dave was sitting on the floor trying to look for invoices and the dogs wouldn't leave him alone, snuffling through every bit of paper.  I think they were trying to help, but what with their big wet noses and lack of opposable thumbs they're not the most helpful office assistants.