Wednesday Dec 22
Today is going to be challenging. I'm going out for Christmas lunch with my workmates and then G and I are meeting another close friend for dinner in Newtown. How am I going to manage two meals out on the same day!
Lunch is at a nearby Japanese restaurant. I'm not much of a raw fish and ocean veggies kind of girl so I settled on tempura battered mixed veggies & seafood for an entree which I shared with my friend. For a main I chose chicken katsu which is essentially chicken schnitzel with Japanese BBQ sauce and white rice. Might not have been the healthiest choice, but at least it was cooked!!
I passed on a soft drink and on an alcoholic beverage when we changed venues. That was pretty easy. I don't really like alcohol and it's empty calories anyways! Then it was on to JB Hi Fi to pick up a couple of items. Shopping in the city is madness!! I met G at Town Hall station and we caught the train home together.
Steak, salad and a small serve of thick cut fries. Divine! Chai tea and water to drink and we passed on dessert. All in all, not too bad. Time passes very quickly when the 3 of us get together and by the time we got home and settled, it was 11.30. Something in the chai tea wasn't agreeing with me, so I stayed up for another 45 mins to see if the feeling would pass.
Tuesday Dec 21
I think it will take more than 1 night to catch up on the sleep I missed. What a hectic weekend-- from sickness to Santa! I was too tired and too busy to exercise, so tonight's session with J will be interesting. Well, I guess I'll know for sure in less than 12 hrs!
Today is 'progress photo day', so I have 3 changes of clothes with me: my work clothes, the original photo clothes and my workout gear. 2 quick changes and a couple of photos later, I find myself running from one side of the Centre to another. That in itself wasn't so bad. Kicking my butt with my heels and then high-stepping it - knees to chest was quite another story! I totally felt like a knob. Oh well, with only J as a witness, I guess I can cope!
The fun begins in the middle white room where the swiss gym balls and weights live. I was doing ok until we got to the third set of squats. My quads were burning. In my head I kept counting down both the reps and the seconds. On my last squat, J says to me, "ok-you're gonna hold that one for 10secs". I think if I had had the energy I would have shot J a look of complete disbelief, but alas, I did not. I barely had the wherewithall to stay upright. In fact, the moment J uttered the number 10, I collapsed on the floor. My legs were JELLY! Needless to say, lowering myself to sit on the ball to do my shoulder weights nearly landed me on the floor again! This exercise gig is some crazy stuff!
It is getting easier though. I do have to admit that. I like feeling like I've accomplished something and believe me, spending an hour with J totally gives me that feeling! I staggered down the stairs and out to the car, thinking only of the warm bath that would welcome me home.
45mins later I emerged. Relaxed. I'm liking this whole relax and read in the bath routine. It's working for me!
Monday Dec 20
Hmmm...the big decision this morning is what to play with FIRST! G is off to work and it just me, S and all of the new toys! We settled on our own rendition of Disney's new soon-to-be-released movie 'Tangled'. It was wonderful to spend time together. I love her so much.
Around lunch time, we dressed her up in her very special Princess Tiana dress that we bought her in Disneyland, put her hair in a bun, put on her tiara and added a touch of make up. Then it was off to Westfields to have her picture taken with Santa. She looked gorgeous! Even Santa thought so!
After lunch (she had McDonald's and I had, well, not McDonald's sigh...) we watched a bit of tv until it was time to take her back home. I'm not so good at this part. And today, neither was she. When I went to hug her good-bye, she clung to me and wouldn't let me go. Moment's like these seem to expand & contract my heart all in the space of an instant.
Then home to spend a quiet night with G.
Sunday Dec 19
Ok. Totally have much more empathy for my parents around Christmas. As a kid I could never figure out why they were so tired Christmas morning. Now I know. Up until 2am trying to put together a present for S. Insanity!! Oh soooo tired when S comes bounding in to wake us up at 6.50am. Seriously, did my eyes even close??
It was worth it though! S had a blast opening all of her presents! It was heaps of fun! G & I opened a few of ours too. I can't wait to curl up over the Christmas break and watch all of Fringe Season 1 and read 'The Brain that Changes Itself'. Delightful!
Our close friend K came around to share Christmas lunch with us. We tucked into our roast chicken, prawns, salads and bread rolls. YUM. The hardest bit is all of the candy. And we didn't even buy that much for S this year. Still, having it around is tricky. At one point, I almost popped one in my mouth out of habit! Then I thought of J and my food diary and filled up my water bottle instead. It didn't have the same impact, but it also didn't make me feel guilty!
We tucked S into bed early and I wasn't too far behind!
