Signing in from Singapore

The travelling tart is on the move again and I'm writing this in the Skyview Lounge in Changi Airport in Singapore. It's not quite the Qantas Club which is where I usually hang out, but since I'm travelling Singapore Airways and KLM on this trip and I'm not a member of either of their lounges, I did a bit of research and discovered LoungePass.com who for about $50 a pop, will let you use selected lounges in various airports around the world. so figured I'd try it for this leg of the trip (since I've got a 7 hour stopover here) and see if it's worth it. The answer is yes - sitting here in a peaceful lounge, in a comfy chair in front of a huge TV screen, with free WiFi, a glass of sauvy blanc and some sushi on the little table beside me with the prospect of some coffee (and cake if I want to be naughty) in a little while. Christmas was lovely for us but relatively quiet - and just a wee bit of badness in the eating as opposed to wholesale slaughter! Boxing Day was even quieter, then back to work for me for one day. It was a fairly significant day for me as I've been working with and supporting someone for a long time now (who will shortly be my new boss I think) to put together a programme which will centralise our training systems across site. I had a chat with him yesterday as the roll out of this new training model will begin while I'm on leave and he wanted to bring me up to speed on where it was at. So exciting times ahead for me in the months to come - with a new boss, no longer have people reporting to me (and I'm ready for a break from that) and the opportunity to increase my generalist knowledge and experience in Learning and Development. So that's a quick update - will try and update a couple of times from Bonnie Scotland. Meantime sweet ones - take care and happy new year when it comes. Love Z xx

Doggone!

Well today we've had a bit of angst and excitement that I could well have done without. I went to leave for work this morning at 7am, Bloss had come downstairs with me and opened the door to the shed to let Zanna out - and she was nowhere to be seen.

We searched the garden, I drove up and down the nearby streets but couldn't find her. We apparently had a severe thunderstorm last night - I didn't hear the thunder as we had the aircon on. Zanna is pertified of thunder and normally finds a dark corner to hide in. If we're home and I hear thunder I usually bring her up to lie beside our bed. It was still bucketing down this morning making trying to see her difficult. We then discovered that she had somehow managed to squeeze through this really small space where the fence meets the wall of the house and there's a tap there - she'd managed to turn the whole tap fitting round 90 degrees in her efforts to escape.

I had to go off to work but Bloss spent the morning walking up and down the bike track by the river opposite our house and driving around and around the nieghbourhood but couldn't see any signs.

By this time I'm sick with worry - and have phoned the local vet, the pound, the shire council dog catcher, placed an ad in the paper for Boxing day, and had an announcement made on the local radio. While at work I made up some posters and on the way home at lunchtime put them up in some of the local shops, service station etc. We live in an area which is like two towns divided by the river so I concentrated on our side of the river, thinking she wouldn't have got on to the bridge and crossed the river.

About half an hour after I got home I got a phone call from a lady who had just seen my ad in the local shopping centre. She told me that around 9.30 this morning she and a friend had been in the town over the river right down on the beach looking across at an island there which is accessible at low tide. She saw what she thought was a dingo running up and down the beach on the island as if it wanted to get off the island but couldn't as the tide was too high. She had binoculars with her and then realised it had a dark collar on and when she saw my poster of Zanna she thought it was her.

So Bloss and I hightailed it over there - and on our way down to the beach to try and get a close look over to the island we asked a young couple we passed if they had seen a big dog go past. Turns out they and and when we showed them Zanna's picture they confirmed it was her and she had passed them about 20 mins earlier (by this time it's around 2pm). So I set off walking along the beach and Bloss went by the road and we agreed to meet at the point a bit further round.

Imagine the joy and relief when I'm almost at the point when I see him and her coming along the beach towards me. He'd found her walking along the road quite unconcerned and none the worse for her experience.

So for us the difference between a happy and a sad Christmas day. I had taken the phone number of the lady who called and rung her back to express my deepest thanks for taking the trouble to call me - she didn't actually live locally - about 30 kms away.

And here she is now - just took this picture - she's absolutely knackered after wandering round the countryside for half the night and half the day. Just so thankful to have her back safe and sound.

Love Z xx

Nearly Ready

Well I'm sitting here thinking through what I've done and what I still have to do and I think I'm just about right.

Presents for everyone here - tick
Presents for everyone there - tick
Christmas cards sent - tick
Ham in the fridge - tick
Desserts organised - tick
Fruit and vegies bought - tick
Prawns ordered - tick
Suitcase packed - tick
Booze bought - tick

So no last minute rushes to the shops for me - I'm working tomorrow but should get away around lunchtime so will pick up the prawns then and that should be it. We always have a cold Christmas meal - sometimes it's at lunchtime, sometimes in the evening - with family who are shift workers you learn to move it around depending on shifts. However this year No 1 son is filling in for his boss so he's on standard day work hours - otherwise he would have been doing nightshift Christmas night so that was a bit of a bonus. Bloss is already on holiday - lucky sod, but as well as tomorrow I work Thursday before flying out first thing Friday morning.

News from Mum is finally coming good - it was all a bit worrying there for a few days. The anti coagulant they gave her before her op. worked a bit too well and when they started to operate she lost a lot of blood and her blood pressure dropped dramatically. They had to bring her up to minimum anaesthesia which in fact meant that she came to and had a quick confab with the nurses while on the operating table - rather bizarre! But she also had an epidural so no pain. She ended up having to have 6 units of blood so it's kind of knocked her around a bit. The actual op on her hip has been highly successful and she's coming good now and got home yesterday - it's still night time there so will ring in a few hours and see how she is. But there were a lot of calls back and forward from my brother and sister to me and from me to the hospital for a few days last week. I'm trying to prepare myself for a bit of a shock when I see her - it's 3 years since I last saw her and my brother and sister had warned me that she'd aged a lot in the last six months with the pain of her hip. But my sister's last email warned me that Mum had become a 'wee old lady' and that was never how you would have described Mum - so a bit of mental realigning for me!

D in L has started a new family tradition this year and is having us all round on Christmas Eve and the theme is Mexican - think No 1 son is making tacos and DiL is doing the margaritas - sound like a good fun night. Christmas morning we're having breakfast with a friend and former neighbour - been doing that for the last probably 12 years but a bit different this year since unfortunately they parted company earlier this year. However she is adamant that the tradition will continue but I think it's going to be quite tough on her. One of her sons will be home for Christmas but the other one is in London working. We'll have a lazy sort of day after that - always a bit sleepy after champagne at breakfast time! Then at night No1 son and family will come down for dinner.

I had thought that I'd need to spend Boxing day getting my packing finalised so hadn't made any plans. However as I said I'm pretty right with only a couple of last minute things to go in so who knows what we'll do - just thinking that we've a couple of movie passes we got from work so might do a movie. It's bloody hot here today - currently 32C and very humid so I'm sitting in the lounge wearing bathers and a sarong with the aircon going. Bloss has just brought the coloured fairy lights up from the pergola downstairs and draped them all around the balustrade of the deck - so they should be pretty when it gets dark.

Eating has been really quite good these past few weeks - not losing but holding steady. I've been quite good this year and decided that the calendar turning over into December wasn't an excuse to eat like a horse for the next month so have been exercising a fair bit of restraint when the Christmas goodies and treats come out.

Tarted the tart up yesterday - hairdressers first up - a fairy scissors trim since I'm growing it (my hairdresser's term), a few light foils and a colour - lovely sort of creamy blonde - really liking this colour now. Then in the afternoon visit to the beautician for waxing - legs, underarms, brazilian, lip, eyebrow. Got a new beautician as my last one has moved to Brisbane. Thought the last one was good but this one is amazing - she's got a real magical touch with the wax - she oils you first and the wax seems to come off so much easier. Then I had a quick spell in the solarium - lovely golden brown colour now - but 3 weeks of cover up in the wintry wilds of Scotland will see that disappear pretty quick.

Oh well this has all been a bit of ramble - kind of just emptied my head out to you guys - sorry it's not very exciting. Next post will be from Bonnie Scotland - unless I think of anything exciting to tell you during my 7 hour stopover in Hong Kong.

Have popped in a few photos just to make it a less boring post.


Josh complete with the goggles he wear to do his swimming lessons, and Curtis in our pool

Curtis in pensive mode


Josh helping 'Porter' (his name for Bloss) I'll tell you the story behind it sometime - with the BBQ

No 1 son and beautiful DiL - heading out to a work function

Ho Ho Ho - Merry Christmas to you all
Love Z xx

Merry Christmas Everyone

To all my Blogging Besties, their Blogger Companions and their little Budding Bloggers and also to all those who just pop in briefly for a read

Wishing you all a wonderful Happy Christmas and hoping that 2008 has many magical things in store for you all.

Love and hugs

Zanna

xx

Counting down!

Well I'm counting down the days to Christmas - and they're going too fast - still not quite organised but gradually getting there, and of course counting down the days till I leave for Scotland - two weeks today. Mum has her op. today - spoke to her last night and she was feeling pretty positive about it all - so just hoping everything goes smoothly. I'll ring my brother or sister first thing tomorrow morning which will be tonight there and they'll be able to tell me how it all went. She doesn't want anyone to visit tonight as she doesn't 'do' anaesthetic very well and is likely to still feel pretty crummy. Busy weekend ahead - got a work do tonight for Bloss's (real name Craig!!!) team - champagne and nibbles outdoors at a local artists colony, then tomorrow night a dinner with my team - to welcome a couple of new people to the team and farewell one who has had a promotion. I've had a great week since I got back from New Zealand - have left the grog alone, and been quite sparing with the points and dropped 1.4kgs (though must be totally honest here and say that 1kg of that was the 1kg gained as a result of gadding round NZ). But good to get shot of it so promptly and a little bit more besides. Will try to keep the focus on for the next week and get a few more grammes shifted. Had my work performance review yesterday - first one with this boss - I'd worked with my previous boss for 7 years and we had a bit of a mutual admiration society going! Anyway seems like I've managed to impress this one too - nothing but positive comments and very keen to help me develop further and move up the ladder. There's some work happening at the moment on a company wide basis which will impact on the role I have now and will hopefully result in a slight change of direction which in turn should set me up for a step up in a year or 18 months if I want. So as the saying goes I'll suck it and see - actually quite excited about it all - have been in my present role for almost 5 years and whilst very comfortable doing what I do, I guess I feel I'm starting to become a bit stale and I'm ready to head off into a fresh paddock! So 2008 could be an exciting year for me. I can't see there being too much travel - I need to conserve some holidays - so we'll probably just plan for 10 days or so somewhere around June/July. It's Bloss's turn to pick a destination so we'll see what he comes up with. Other news - have got my trip to London to catch up with my old school friend all booked. Going to fly down Sunday afternoon 6 January and back again Tuesday 8 January. So will catch up with him, but also have the Monday free in London - so might manage a spot of retail therapy - maybe catch up with Amy and wondering if Phil's back in London - and if she'd be interested in meeting. Maybe some of you who are in touch could see if she's interested. I've only ever been a lurker on Phil's earlier blog when it was open, and then an avid reader on her travel blog so she probably has no idea who I am. All right guys that's the news from me this week - should manage a quick post before Christmas. Till then take care Love Z xx

Getting good at this now!

I'm becoming a regular blogger meeter - last night we met up with Lee-Anne and Col while we were in Rotorua. It took me nearly all day to make contact as I had one of those crazy days with my mobile - first up I left it lying on the bed in the motel in Palmerston North (fortunately discovered it was missing before we'd gone more than a kilometer up the road), then when I went to send a thank you text to Chris I discover I've run out of credits - drrrr especially since I had bought $20 credit but for some reason it hadn't been added to my account. So then thought I'd use Bloss's phone but guess what - he had forgotten to charge it and the battery was flat as a bloody pancake! So I ended up finally phoning Lee-Anne from a public phone booth in Taupo. But we triumphed in the end. Lee-Anne and Col came round to our motel armed with a bottle of that delish NZ Sauvy Blanc then we all headed off to a nice restaurant for dinner. Once again we got on like the proverbial house on fire and it was natter, natter, natter all night.

Bloss has now become a fully qualified Blogger Companion. It's lucky he's just as chatty as I am and is happy to meet and chat to both bloggers and their companions.

We're now back in Auckland staying with our friends there and fly home tomorrow early afternoon - but the nice thing is that I don't go back to work till Monday. And then last night when I was doing my usual wideawake thing in the wee small hours, I realised it's only just over 3 weeks till I leave for Scotland. Far out I'm going to have to go like a wee train when I get home to get myself organised for Christmas and then all sorted out and packed plus of course go to work too!!

Anyway must away - have just been handed a large Coke Zero (with just a tiny splash of Bourbon).

Here's a couple of photos from last night:


The Blogger Companions - Col and Craig

Col and Lee-Anne

Bloss and I

Lee-Anne and I

All right kiwis, possums and others - have a good week. I apologise for not commenting much lately - a bit pushed for time so have been doing a quick read to keep up with your news on Bloglines but haven't been taking the time to open up and comment but I"ll try to do better next week.

Take care

Love Z xx

Grown Up Blogger Now

Well folks it's official - I'm no longer one of those people who has never met a fellow blogger in person. Last night I lost my innocence to Chris and Anne!!!! We had a fantastic night although both Chris and I admitted to having had a few nerves during the day - don't know about Anne - I forgot to ask her! But it only took a couple of minutes and we were chattering away non stop. As she says on her post today I caused a bit of confusion with the names - while I admitted that I was really an Anne not a Zanna, I forgot to tell her that Bloss is only my nickname for Craig so we had a bit of a giggle about that. Craig and Peter (Anne's husband)were excellent blogger companions and cooked tea on the BBQ for us - poor Stew missed all the shenanigans as he had to be in Auckland this week. And that tea - oh my gosh - it was awesome and I think Chris's family will be dining like kings for the rest of the week! So thankyou so much to you both Chris and Anne for giving us such a wonderful welcome and hope that we can do the same for each of you in Central Queensland some time.

And now a few photos :


Craig and I at the 60th Birthday party - the real reason for this trip to NZ

Chris, Anne and I


This one is specially for Julie who told me I had to make sure I gave Anne a big hug from her. So like a good girl I did what I was told.

Now some of us have seen photos of Chris's paintings - but did you know that she does pottery creation and painting. Here she is with one of her creations



And look at this lucky lady who got an early Christmas present. Thanks so much Chris.

And now fast forward to tonight, we've not long arrived in Rotorua - just spoken to Lee-Anne (private) and planning to meet up with her and Col in a hour or two for a couple of wee sauvignon blancs. More to come!

Nothing much to say really!

I'm having an ordinary sort of a week - not doing anything too bad but not exactly setting the world on fire. Good old TOM showed up after a 6 week break and while I don't really suffer, I do find that I tend to feel a bit mediocre for want of a better expression. So weight wise nothing too exciting just been really maintaining but need to lose some more before I get too settled into maintaining but like so many of you I seem to be turning the handle but the motor refuses to crank. However come the weekend I'm sure I'll start to spark up - need to finish packing as I'm working till Wednesday and have evening appointments at beauticians, hairdressers and kennels with Zanna every night and then we have to leave here at 6.30am on Thursday to drive to the airport and then we're up, up and away to New Zealand and then early the following week I have my first live blogger meeting with Chris and Anne and then hopefully Lee-anne - I'm so excited but nervous too. But it will be good practice as I plan to do more of it when I'm in Scotland. Hoping to get to Edinburgh one day to catch up with Lainey and Shauna. My other hope while I'm there is to meet up with a guy I went to school with. There were 3 of us in the Higher Latin class - two boys and I and I think I used to lead them terribly astray. Anyway after leaving school I saw and heard nothing of this guy - Al for many many years then about 3 or 4 years ago we got in touch through Friends Reunited and we've been emailing reasonably regularly ever since. I had originally thought that I might be able to catch up for a night on the way home to Oz as I passed through Heathrow but of course I've now got a flight direct to Glasgow from Amsterdam so won't be at Heathrow. So then I emailed him telling him I was coming and wondering if he was going to be up in Scotland seeing his Mum (who lives only about 10 miles from my Mum) while I was there. Unfortunately he leaves to go back to London from Scotland on 28 December - the same day as I leave Australia. Anyway we're both really keen to meet up so I might have a quick jaunt to London for the weekend - there's some nice shops there!!! (major understatement) and I should be able to pick up a cheap flight there and back. But it's going to be so strange meeting up with someone I once knew well - and last saw 36 years ago!! when I was 16. We've both changed heaps - we exchange photos (think I've improved out of sight since then and he's now drop dead gorgeous! - I'm a granny and his children are 12 and 16.) - but I think underneath the silly 16 year olds are still lurking! So there could be an interesting post about the reunion coming up in early January. Right, can't think of anything else worth mentioning. My next post will probably be from 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' and I'll make sure we capture plenty of photos of the Kiwi/Kiwi Scot/ Oz Scot meeting. Have a brilliant week good people. Love Zanna xx ps Thinking that since Chris and Anne have always thought of as my blog name Zanna - they'll probably keep calling me that instead of my real name Anne. And every time they say Zanna, Bloss will probably look round thinking that they're talking to the dog!!! pps And for someone who didn't have much to say I've managed quite a lengthy post!!

Lynched by Livy

Well I've been nobbled again - this time by the Lovely Livy. Today I have to share with you 5 random facts about me that you don't already know. Now since I am one of those menopausal ladies whose memory has run off with a younger man/woman and I've been blogging for a couple of years - the bottom line is I've no idea what I've already told you all. But I'll try to dig down in the memory bank and find something you just might not already know. 1. I wasn't a virgin until I got married! There now .... that got you all sitting up straight. And what's more it's true. My maiden name was Brown but I married a guy whose surname was Virgin - absolutely true - I have a marriage certificate to prove it. So hence I wasn't a virgin until after I got married. Just for your interest we actually changed it to something similar but more normal when I was pregnant with our eldest son. 2. Nowadays I come across now as a very feminine sort of a person who enjoys things like perfume, mascara, false nails, jewellery and high heels. But I was an incredible tomboy as a child - spent many hours riding my pony through the forests behind our home with only my dog as additional company. I also acquired many farming skills and spent many school holidays helping in the milking parlour at my uncle's farm - so yes, I can milk a cow. 3. I was one of the first two woman in Scotland to achieve a Certificate of Professional Competence in National Road Haulage Operations (a Transport Manager). The ensuing article and photo in several national newspapers several months later (while I was still known as A. Virgin) resulted in a series of obscene phone calls from a bit of a filthy smooth talker. What he didn't know was that while he was making all these suggestions about the underwear I was wearing, in actual fact I was nine months pregnant with my eldest, absolutely huge and definitely not wearing brief undies as he fondly imagined! 4. I said in my last 'tag' that I'm not a swearer - just something I don't do - might think it occasionally but don't usually verbalise. However I got rid of the above smooth talker by letting rip one day with everything I'd ever learned while working in the transport industry - not pretty I can tell you..... and the funny thing ... he never did call back!!! 5. At one stage of my life when we were rather short of funds, I took up part time market research to earn a few extra dollars. This was a fascinating experience where you have to sell yourself rather than a particular item or concept so that people will talk to you. One particular survey I was involved in was looking at Australian woman and the lives they had led. It could have been a really invasive survey but was incredibly well written and designed so that the participants usually ended up quite happily giving the required information (which was all anonymous anyway). But I was asking women about the relationships they had had, pregnancies they had had, contraception they had used etc. Very personal stuff. It was mind blowing stuff and amazing to find how many people had a story - which you would never have guessed on first meeting them. What was intensely gratifying to me was the number of these woman who after participating in this interview with me, said that they had unearthed emotions, thoughts and feelings that they had buried for years and actually ended up thanking me for letting them talk to me. A very humbling experience for me and one which gave me much more understanding of my 'sisters' in this world. Well chaps, that was a big story - hope you enjoyed it and now who can I tag? Maria - you thrive on this! and I need to keep nurturing my little flower. Cat - you have far too much time on your hands and I need to stop you getting up to mischief! Betty - I've just stumbled across your blog and you've got lots of interesting ideas and thoughts. And I think you're nowhere near as tough as you make out to be! Joc - because I know you're special but you still haven't realised it yet! Anne - because I suspect we're very alike in lots of ways and I'm going to be lucky enough to meet you in the next couple of weeks to find out just how much! Go girls go!! Love Z xx

Caught by a Cat!!

Cat has tagged me so here goes: Four dishes I like to cook (actually I'm over cooking - used to do it lots but now it's just a means of fuelling the body) Baked Atlantic Salmon Lamb Loin Chops in Mint Seafood Delight Shortbread (the real stuff) Four qualities I love in people Fun and laughter Self honesty Caring Personal pride Four places I have been Marrakesh, Morocco Seville, Spain Tokyo, Japan Havana, Cuba Four things in my bedroom Bloss (he's chained to the bed!!!!) Full length mirror - how can anyone leave the house without looking in one?? A glamour pic of me taken when I was 40 A sheepskin rug (Beck will understand the significance of this!) Four dirty words I like to use Bugger Shit Filthy Grotty (I'm not a swearer - don't shrivel up and die when I hear swearing but it's just not my style.) Four people I'm tagging (all the L's cos I've learned an "L" of a lot from all of them) Livy (who lives in my part of the world and is a bit of a rebel like me - or what I used to be) Lainey (who I get to meet in about 7 weeks and who talks funny like I do) Lee-anne- private (who I might meet in about 3 weeks who likes the same wines as I do) Lyn (who I'd love to meet in a couple of weeks but might run out of time, but is one of the reasons I got hooked on blogging several years ago) Love Z xxx

Big Things Happening!

But not much on the weight loss front. However I have got into exercise much more this week - actually went running on Saturday - first time for about four months and did enjoy it though have a bit to do to get back to where I was. I've also walked for the last three days too, so feeling good about that. Food has been rather good but still a smidgin of alcohol creeping in!!

But the big news .... I have yet another overseas trip planned for this year - I fly out on 28th December for three weeks in Scotland with my family there. That will make four overseas trips in the same year - what a gadabout!!

The story behind this latest trip is that my Mum has to have hip replacement surgery - this all flared up about 6 months ago and she's now in constant pain and unable to stay actively involved in her usual social life which revolves around lawn bowling. She's been waiting for a date to come through for her surgery but in the meantime I could hear that the whole business was dragging her down and the feedback from my brother and sister was that the last few months had aged her considerably. She's normally an incredibly active, positive, progressive and youthful thinking lady despite being about to celebrate her 75th birthday in January. So after a recent phone call when she sounded quite down, I had a discussion with Bloss and said that I thought I should try and schedule a quick trip back to see her and cheer her up. Obviously I wanted to try and plan this around such things as being there after her op rather than during, trying to go when I already had public holiday leave and getting a reasonably priced airfare. It all came together beautifully with my travel agent finding me the last remaining seats on some great priced flights, the date for Mum's op coming through to line up with those dates perfectly, and my boss allowing me to have leave.

Then I had the lovely task of telling Mum on Sunday night that I was coming. She's over the moon and it sounds like it's just given her the pep up she needed. Needless to say I'm very excited too - I haven't seen her for 3 years and although I saw my sister 2 years ago when she and her husband were here, I also haven't seen my brother, wife and 2 little nephews for 3 years either.

So on 28 December (only 7 weeks away), I fly from Brisbane, to Singapore, Amsterdam and then Glasgow and then leave to come back again on 16 January. So I get New Year's Eve (Hogmanay to us Scots) and also Mum's 75th birthday on 11 January while I'm there - how good is that!

So will spend a lot of my time there driving Mum round as she won't be able to drive. I'm sure we'll have lots of lunches, morning teas and visits to the old Aunties and other relies, who will all be so excited that "Anne from Australia" is back. But what a great incentive for me to get my act together and really focus on getting a few more kilos off before then.

We went to one of my company's Christmas party on Saturday night. We picked up my friend Shaz on the way - and shared a couple of champagnes with her - she was celebrating as she had just heard that her son, DIL and 3 grandchildren were coming back from the US to spend Christmas. Anyway a selection of silly photos followed and like a good little blogger I'm sharing them with you all.


Shaz and I posing like the couple of charlies we are

Shaz and Bloss

Bloss and I doing the gooey look on the settee

Bloss's fault - managed the 'soft focus' on this one.

Having major dramas at work this week, nothing I can't solve but time consuming nonetheless - still trying to support another area through process issues, support one of my people who is having to move across the country with her husband and family and really doesn't want to leave her job with me, farewell another one who has scored a job closer to home on many thousands of dollars a year more money, and so recruit three new team members in total since I 've had a vacancy since before I went on leave when another one had to leave and move back to Darwin for family reasons. Then the one remaining one who has been having major problems with her knee has to go in for surgery on that in two weeks time. The joys of being a team leader! (and wondering if I'm wearing the wrong perfume!)

OK that's my news for the week - a big 'un but a good'un. Hope all is well in your world.

Take care and live every day like it might be your last.

Love Z xxx

Jamming wth JibJab

Thanks to Maria and Christine for posting their movies and the link on their sites - loved theirs - and have had so much fun and laughs doing these!!
Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!
Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!
Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free! And lastly one of Bloss and his mate.....
Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Do you think there's a convention on?

Well guys, I'm getting the feeling that there is a big out of town convention being held at the moment - and the audience you ask? I think it's being held especially for that special part of our psyche called 'motivation'. It seems to me that there's an awful lot of us in Blogland who can't find our motivation at the moment and I reckon it's because they've all left town to go to the Motivation Convention. Now while this makes life incredibly difficult for us right now, we need to focus on the positives from this situation. When the convention is over, all our motivations are going to return with a vengeance filled with new vim, vigour, ideas and staying power. Now won't that be good!

But far out, I bloody wish this convention would finish soon!!!

So yes people I'm struggling too. I haven't fallen off the rails but I'm just hanging by my fingernails - and it's bloody lucky I wear false ones or I'd never be able to stay on. I haven't had a really bad week - in fact the weekdays were pretty good food, water and alcohol wise but a fair few drinkies on the weekend, constant munchies too and whilst I didn't go wild with the biscuit tin, bread bin or cake box, I just ate my way through a heap of fruit - but it was still all extra points. So it's Monday again and I'm back up on the rails and just trying to take it a day at a time. What's disheartening for me is that if I don't stay virtually 100 per cent on track then not only do I not lose, I actually start to fluctuate upwards some days. And as for exercise - well I just can't seem to get going. I'm going to try and push myself to do something this week as I know that once I get going I feel great and it becomes self perpetuating.

And now since everyone says they like to see photos on posts (and I'm no exception) but couldn't think of anything exciting to take a photo of and I was at work with limited resources - so here's the best I could come up with.

Me in my office wearing my "Miss Moneypenny' glasses. Bit of story here - when I bought these glasses (just magnifiers) I referred to them as my Miss Moneypenny glasses as I thought I looked like the famous Miss Moneypenny of the James Bond movies. Now as some of you may know the actress who played Miss M died recently and when I checked out some of the old pics on google - guess what she didn't even wear glasses. But for me the name stays with these glasses! And yes my hair looks flat and boring but get a root perm next week (could say something cheeky and naughty here but will restrain myself)

And this is a view of my office - note that I'm a bit of a plant lover and my walls are adorned with pictures of places we've been on holiday. I tell people that these pics remind me of why I'm here - so I can go there!!! Also note the water jug and glass - such a little angel aren't I?

Ok sweet ones, nothing else exciting to report so I'm off to walk with Zanna - isn't that a clever girl? Have a good week and if anyone sees signs of that convention ending please let me know and I'll lay out the red carpet and hang up a sign to welcome my motivation back!!!

Love
Z xx

Anyone got Hair Fertiliser

Well after the response to my wig photos, it would appear that I need to fertilise my hair and get it to grow real fast so I can shed 10 years off my age!! Thanks for all your lovely comments - it's quite weird - when you put the wig on and look at yourself in the mirror it looks very false and wiggy, but when I saw the photos I was pleasantly surprised. I was at R, my hairdresser's on Saturday and took the wig along and she shortened the fringe a bit for me and thinned it out a bit on either side so it's even better now. So it's been well worth the money - it's given me a plan of what I want to do with my hair for a while - you know that it won't stay in any one style for too long - I get bored and want a change either in style or colour!

So anyway my real hair - is now being allowed to grow with just strategic trims but meanwhile has gone really blonde - good colour for summer and since I'm now quite golden after my solarium visits, the two blend quite well (even if I look 52 instead of the 42 I could look!!) Here's a couple of pics:

Bloss wasn't around to the best I could do was take a picture of myself in the robe mirror in our bedroom.

Look a bit washed out in this one - but I think it's the fact that I'm taking it myself and so the flash is really too close.

Now Kirsty had a good idea - she (like me) always reads the section at the end of the Slimming and Health magazine where they investigate a celebrity's shopping trolley. She listed what favourites you'd find in her trolley and invited us all to do likewise. So here goes

Weightwatchers Sour Cream - love this stuff - great on rice crackers with some salsa, and yummy with microwaved jacket potato.

Crunchy Combo Sprouts - you can buy these little punnets in both Coles and Woolworths now - a blend of sprouted peas, lentils and mung beans. Absolutely delicious in salads and if I get the munchies - sometimes a handful of these does the trick.

Gluten free Rice Crackers (the larger square ones) in original flavour. These are quite hard to get but are so tasty - the gluten free doesn't matter to me but I just love the taste. See above with the sour cream for how I like them.

WW Individual Ice Creams - love them all but my favourite is Cookies and Cream for only 1.5 points - a lovely after dinner treat

Seedless Grapes - I always have fruit and yoghurt for morning smoko - usually an apple or mandarin, a small Nestles yoghurt and 100g grapes

Wholemeal English Muffins - my favourite weekend breakfast - a poached egg (love them done in the microwave in the poacher gadget) served up in a muffin

WW Tuna - usual work day lunch for me is a massive salad - everything chopped up in a large containers - lettuce, tomato, all colours of capsicum, celery, radish, cucumber, crunchy sprouts, sugar snap peas, avocado, spring onion with flaked tuna or salmon, or maybe chopped up leg ham or chicken and occasionally a sprinkling of WW grated cheese.

Heaps of Fresh Vegies - I love vegies especially asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, bok choy, cabbage, brussel sprouts and then of course all the salad vegies I need for my lunches.

Frozen Vegies - for the nights I can't be bothered or have no time the prepacked bags of ready to microwave steamed vegies - not cheap but so quick and easy

Diet Pepsi or Soda with a Twist - for when I'm being a good girl and not having any alcohol - I'll have a couple of glasses of one of the above while I'm preparing and eating tea.

OK that's my top ten - carry on with Kirsty's challenge and tell us yours.

Haven't had a bad weekend - but not that good either - a few glasses of Sauvignon Blanc (a Marlborough NZ one) - those NZ Sauv Blancs are just so irresistible - so crisp and fruity and this one was on special - down from $17 to $9.99 so had to buy a couple didn't I? Foodwise I've been OK but it's the add on of the wine that does me in. Anyway Monday morning - back on the straight narrow again.

Will post again on Wednesday - Day 14 of the Kiwi Countdown challenge.

Till then, ciao babes

Love Z xx

So what do you reckon??

Ok guys - some pics of me with my wig on - verdict please!!

Oh.... how could I have forgotten - I was the recipient of a very special award this week, courtesy of Maria - thankyou Maria - this makes me feel very special. Now I think I get to award it to some people - and that's hard as every single one of you out there affects me in your own way and to me deserves to be called fabulous - but I'm going to say - Chris H for your absolute dedication to blogging, Beckie (who is now private) in celebration of how good things are in your life now, Briony (also private) for the world that is just about to unfold for you, Anne for the demons you are conquering yet still living a wonderful life, Livy for the sheer interest and variety you bring to your posts and finally Julie 'cos you seem to me like my kindred spirit.


So here it is - and congratulations and thank you my friends for the wonder and support you bring to my world! Wear it with pride!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody and go forth and multiply you totally fabulous bloggers!

Love Z xx

Day 7 of 50 day Challenge

UPDATE
Saw the doctor this morning - he's not sure so putting me through a few tests - first up had a cardiograph - that was all clear, then sent me for blood tests to check for helicobacter - should know those results by the weekend. Then if I'm still not right I've to have a gall bladder scan next week. Meantime he's put me on medication which should settle things down. Felt absolutely dreadful by the time I'd had all the tests - it was after 1pm and I hadn't had any lunch. So before going back to work I stopped off at home and ate my salad for lunch. Once that was down I felt heaps better and have felt much better all afternoon and still feeling not too bad tonight. So here's hoping it's going to clear up on it's own.

So far so good with my challenge - it's been a good week - I've managed to keep reasonably well on target with all my KRAs (work jargon - Key Result Areas!!)

7/7 Water - 2 Litres
7/7 On Points
7/7 Track
6/7 No alcohol
4/7 Exercise

Exercise is down because it rained one morning, I was hung over one morning and I've been not well again. Starting to feel like a 'moaning minnie' with my health lately. But in the early hours of yesterday morning wakened with a heavy head and the feeling that something was stuck in my throat/oesophagus which in turn made me feel quite nauseous. Still feeling like it today so have been lucky enough to score a cancellation with my doctor at 11.15am this morning so will see what he has to say - thinking it's either a recurrence of gastric reflux which I have only had once in the last five years (although this feels quite different - no pain as such) or maybe my gall bladder. But no point in trying to self diagnose - I'll see what the doc has to say.

Had a lovely weekend - the boys stayed over on Friday night and they're just both so much fun now - Josh now into playing board and card games and Curtis happy to play with toys for hours at a time. We all (Bloss too!) went for a walk on Saturday morning then their Dad picked them up. At night we went to the company awards night. We had a great time - I had a few wines (and since I hadn't had any for a while I had a buggar of a sore head on Sunday) but I also danced up a storm so managed to work most of it off. Foodwise I was excellent - there were nibbles like spring rolls, party pies etc and I just didn't touch them, then entree was trays of antipasto and once again I left alone. It was a buffet for mains and I had one potato, vegies and a piece of chicken with little or no sauce, and a piece of rare roast beef. And sweets - I have no idea - by the time they were available I was off being a social butterfly - lots of people to catch up with and I didn't gete round to having any.

So what does all this translate to - a loss of 900g this week so very happy about that.

This is me ready to head off to the Awards Dinner

A close up

And yet another one - pity my eyes are half shut - and no I'd had no alcohol at this point!

Don't think I've much else to say at the moment. Things getting a bit hectic at work so will have to dash. Another area of the plant is having some process issues and have manned up accordingly but need someone to coordinate this influx of people and the attendant issues like accommodation, expenses, rosters - and my name was the one up in lights! (Actually the manager of that area apparently requested me - we've worked together in the past and he knows I'm an organiser)

So toodles my friends and have a great week - I'll update if the doc tells me anything spectacular!

Love
Z xx

Faffing around on Friday

I pinched this little fun quiz from Lauren's blog (and I was only lurking - sorry Lauren, next time I'll stop and talk) 1.YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet & current car) Miffy Rav 2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Cherry Garcia Brownie 3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Red Dog 4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (Last 3 letters of one of my dog's name and first two letters of my other dog's name; use whatever names you like also and where they came from) Mitza 5. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Black Chardonnay 6. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Walter James 7. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Nielson Nice 8. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Spring Lily 9. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Grape Safety Bootsie (are they an article of clothing?) 10. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Toast Pandanus 11. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Travel Lightning Tour Pleased to report that I've been on track so far - and still in the right frame of mind for the weekend although I do have a company do to go to on Saturday night - Bloss celebrates 25 years with the company. This afternoon I go to pick up Josh and Curtis who are staying overnight as their Mum and Dad are going to the Silverchair/Powderfinger concert tonight. So looking forward to a fun evening with them. OK - have a top weekend everyone. Love Z xx

Can't quite reach it!

You know that space you need to be in to eat healthily without thinking about it and be focussed and embrace exercise with joy.

I started off the week with great intentions and was great for a couple of days then life got in the way and I wandered a bit. Not too far since I've stayed the same this week but I'm annoyed with myself - that's a waste of a week. But anyway another one has started - me with a gastric bug so I'm actually sitting up in bed typing this and drinking lots of fluids - water mostly. I've had a funny tummy with the associated trips to the little room since yesterday but since I wasn't sick or in pain I just ate as normal but then last night I had to get up a couple of times in the night and again first thing this morning and so decided that I'd give my tummy a chance to work out it's problems and stay home and just have fluids for 24 hours.

We had another full on week with Josh's 6th birthday on Wednesday and on the weekend with our visitors from WA - it was so lovely to finally meet Bloss's brother. His wife I had already met but hadn't got to know her properly and the same with their children - only the younger two came (12 and 15) but top kids. So there was a lot of sitting around on our deck talking and drinking cups of coffee and then later in the day glasses of wine. Then on Wednesday the dog was sick - she had been off colour on Tuesday night and when I got up to walk with her at 5am on Wednesday she just wasn't well - we only walked a little way and she kept stopping and looking at me and finally stopped right in front of me as if to say ' Hey ma, I can't do this today' so we headed for home. I came home from work mid morning and took her to the vet and a couple of needles, some medicine, and $100 later she was OK thankfully - he reckoned it was gastric - do you think that's where I got mine!!!! But at least I did get up and walk 3 days last week so things are improving.

I think I'll set myself up with a bit of a challenge. I've worked out that it's 50 days tomorrow till we leave for NZ so that's a nice round 'make a difference' kind of a number. I won't aim for a specific weightloss - my aim will be to to be on points, track, exercise, drink lots of water and leave off the alcohol till then and I know that I'll then get an accompanying satisfying loss on the scales.

As I say in my side bar I'm hoping to have my first ever blogger meeting when I'm there with Chris H and Anne and anyone else they manage to round up. We haven't quite firmed up the schedule yet but it looks like we could be in Palmerston North on Monday 3 December (Chris I'll email you soon and sort out what we'll be doing) and Anne - hoping madly that you're around then too. I'm not sure where all the rest of you are - I still do a fair bit of lurking from time to time - so if you lurk too - come out the woodwork and maybe we can catch up briefly. At this stage I think we'll be in Auckland for a couple of days, then down to Taranaki, then to Palmerston North then probably back to Auckland for another day or so. Leave me a comment if you'd like to catch up or email me on anni.porter@gmail.com .

Ooohh getting quite excited at the thought of another trip - maybe this will kickstart my A into G!!!

Just bought a wig on Ebay - I'm toying with the idea of letting my hair grow a bit - haven't had longer hair since I was 14 - my face shape then (round) and the fact that my hair is so fine and not really plentiful meant it looked pretty ordinary. Anyway thinking I might persevere and try something a bit different and my hairdresser suggested getting a wig to give me some idea of whether or not I'd like it.

I got this one for $22 - don't think it's me - it seems to sit further forward on my head with my hairline - but I'll take it with me to R next time I go and maybe she can trim a few bits - don't care if it's U/S at the end of it, if it gives me any ideas on whether or not to try something different. R, my hairdresser has suggested a look like Susie Elelman who is apparently on one of the morning shows - she looks like this

So thinking this might be good - she obviously has fine hair and not a lot of it so similar to me. Might be the go - we'll see.

All right sweet ones - -I've waffled on long enough - wish me a leg up for the coming week (no not over - get your minds out of the gutter!) so I can reach that good space.

Love
Z xx