TeuchterTex

2011-09-20T10:52:00.002+01:00

Just dropped my car off at a new garage, almost like leaving your child with a new nursery - I did say almost, lol, but I worry about what they'll tell me it needs done, and if it makes it through it's service with flying colours or a big black mark coz it needs more work!! It's only 4 yrs old but that's not young by my standards, it's the oldest car I've had for 8yrs but it's my pal now :-)
This is on top of finding a new doctor, looking for a dentist, and a vets - got the doctor sorted, just working on the rest which might be easier as there's a vets near the garage,,,,,
Youngest has settled into his new school almost without incident, so I'm on the lookout for telltale signs that things aren't as smooth as they look but trying to enjoy the plain sail we have just now. He's found Cadets, a junior army club type thing that two of the local girls he's got to know have introduced him to and he's really enjoying that 2 evenings a week. We go swimming at least twice a week too, and are just waiting for him to turn 14 when he can start using the local authority gyms - yeehaa - sweating alongside mum should be interesting :-) The evening dog walks are another way for us to chat and get some exercise as well as meet other folks around the place, and of course get tips from other dog-walkers about good routes too, it's very interesting countryside with lots going on with it being harvest-time and a very extensive warren of paths used by walkers, dog and normal, lol, horse-back riders and mountain cyclists, will need to take the camera next time we wander around!!
I have started back on the healthy diet and exercise regime I used to have before life threw me a curve-ball and have dragged my pal along into the world of gym and swim, he's just about coping and actually kept going when I had labrynthitus and had a week off, so he's completed the brain shift for exercise but needing work and effort for the healthy eating part but that'll come as he learns the food is for fuel message, with a wee divert into treats occasionally too!!
The house decoration has ground to a halt as I was distracted by the good weather into the garden, then the poor weather sent me to the gym, and now I need to schedule painting woodwork or I'll never get it done, lol!!

2011-09-02T17:33:00.000+01:00

Copied from an Ileach's blog about a famous son of Islay, the island I call home,,

It's not often that I have the chance to publish a lecture from Lord George Robertson on my blog. When Carl from the Ileach contacted me and asked if I would be interested to publish it, I didn't hesitate for a second (thanks very much Carl). What you'll find below is a fascinating account of a milkman's son from Islay who played a very important part in American History. Lord George Robertson delivered this fascinating lecture to a packed house at ICCI last week:

Major General Alexander McDougall
By
The Right Honourable the Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT GCMG HonFRSE PC

Covering a whole wall of the old chapel of West Point Military Academy, the premier leadership training institution of the US army, are plaques commemorating the key military leaders of the American war of independence. In pride of place at the top, understandably, is that of General George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States. Immediately underneath that plaque is that of ‘Major General Alexander McDougall’ with his date of birth and his date of death 53 years later. Few people who see that plaque know that behind that simple name is the story of a remarkable man who was born at Portintruin, just outside of Port Ellen, on this island of Islay in 1732, two hundred and seventy nine years ago. “Alexander McDougall, a milkman’s son who helped to found a nation, blazed a trail across the American Revolutionary scene like a meteor”, said one history of that time.
There is here an amazing story, of a boy from Islay who in his twenties became the captain of two privateering warships, was afterwards a successful New York merchant, and, when the revolutionary tide started to flow was a key agitator and street leader whose provocative essay led to a jail term for libel and turned him into a hero in Britain’s 13 American colonies. He then became a soldier who rose to the highest rank in the American Army in just three years, serving under General George Washington. He was also a politician, an elected member of the first US Congress and was selected by that Congress to be the first US Minister of the Marine and was lastly a financier, first President of New York’s oldest Bank - the Bank of New York, which would be the first company registered on the New York Stock Exchange. He died at only 53 years of age in 1786.
After his death President George Washington called him a ‘pillar of the revolution’. So who was this man and why has he received so little notice for his starring role in the creation of the world’s most successful nation? Alexander McDougall’s father, Ranald, was a tenant farmer at Portintruin Farm, but also at Torodale and Nether Killean Farms in the parish of Kildalton and Oa on this island. Continue reading....

In 1738, when young Alexander was 6 years old (the same age as myself when our family left Islay) his family emigrated to America on the promises of a Captain Lachlan Campbell, promises of a better life which were to turn hollow when they got there. The McDougalls received some solid education at the church they attended at Ballynewtonmore Farm and they took to America good references from the local minister.
After a 3-4 month miserable journey by sea, Alick’s father rebelled against the man who had taken the 470 people from Islay, broke away and worked on a dairy farm, known as Beekman’s Pasture. He and the young Alick carried the pails of milk round the streets of Manhatten – then a pretty small place. (It is worth remembering there were not much more than a million people in the 13 colonies stretching from Georgia to Maine at that time).
McDougall went to sea at the age of 14. It was a rough and difficult life but unusually he thrived. At the age of 19 he took the long, difficult journey back to Islay (as we always do…..) and married a cousin, Nancy McDougall, daughter of the local Surveyor, Stephen McDougall. Although persuaded to stay he returned to America with his new wife.
Back at sea, at the age of 25 he Captained the ‘Tyger’, an 8 gun sloop with a crew of 62. Two years later he was Master of the 12 gun sloop ‘General Barrington’, with 80 of a crew. Ostensibly these were British warships fighting the French, but they also used that as an excuse to be privateers robbing ships of many nations and trading in slaves, molasses, tea and rum mainly from the Caribbean.
Off the back of this trading he became a prosperous New York businessman and quit the sea. He was wealthy. He owned land in and near New York, a tavern (a ‘slop-shop’) and a sloop called the ‘Shuyler’. He sent his sons to the Presbyterian College of New Jersey – now Princeton University. But “some would never accept him as a social equal”.
One of the Livingstons, part of the biggest Tory faction in New York, said this of him at the time, “Suitable to the savageness of his clime and disposition, goes forth a hungry Scotchman as a robber of mankind”. Another comment on him at the time was marginally less unkind, “A Scot whose heavy stuttering brogue identified his ancestry, he had broad shoulders, a muscular neck and a well proportioned head – all combing to give him a rugged appearance.”
He was known as a snappy, even flamboyant dresser and this was seen by the ruling classes as vulgar. He was dismissively referred to as Captain McDougall.
By the early 1760s, with McDougall in his early 30s discontent was rising at the attitude of the British government. The ‘Sons of Liberty’ were formed as a militant patriot body and McDougall was quickly seen as a street leader of the Sons.
In order to pay for the wars with the French and the Indians the British Parliament brought in the Stamp Act, the Mutiny Act and then, disastrously, the tax on Tea. The patriots’ slogan was ‘No taxation without representation’. The Boston Tea Party let a fuse. The New York tea party followed and McDougall was one of its principle organizers.
In 1770 McDougall wrote a pamphlet called ‘TO THE BETRAYED INHABITANTS OF THE CITY AND COLONY OF NEW YORK’. Distributed at night with a small boy hidden in a box who would jump out and paste it on walls, it provoked a disproportionate and counter-productive response. McDougall was arrested and charged with ‘False, seditious and infamous libel’ and, refusing to pay bail, was sent to the New Gaol of New York.
He served 5 months in jail becoming famous throughout the 13 colonies. He was visited by so many people that he had to schedule appointments, and eventually only in the afternoons, since he was writing so much. One commentator said it was more of a social event than a confinement.
On the 14th February, McDougall’s supporters arranged a celebration of the 45th day of the year. This number 45 was symbolic of the 45th edition of John Wilkes’ newspaper, the ‘North Briton’ which had led to the English MP’s own imprisonment for libel.
A Boston newspaper reported the celebration thus, “forty five gentlemen, cordial friends of American liberty, went in decent procession to the New York jail and dined with McDougall on 45 pounds of beefsteak, cut from bullocks 45 months old. The highlight was the arrival of 45 virgins who sang 45 songs”. Some serious questions, it has to be said, were raised about the veracity of the term ‘virgins’. One critic suggested they were all 45 years old.
In the history of West Point the author, Lt General Dave Richard Palmer, says that after prison (the charges were dropped), ‘wherever appeared that high forehead, accented by a receding hairline and puffy eyes, one could expect to hear hot words or hotter action from this Son of Liberty.
WAR
The resistance to Britain turned to war in the 1770s and McDougall was swift in joining the Continental (Revolutionary) Army.
In 1775 he was appointed Colonel of the First New York Infantry Regiment. He was 43. He was made a Brigadier General the following year, and the year after that Major General – the highest rank in the army, only Washington, the Commander in Chief being a full General. As a field commander, where he was happiest, he took part in the battles of Germantown, White Plains, and he was largely responsible for the successful war-saving retreat, Dunkirk-style after the Continental Army’s defeat at the Battle of Long Island.
McDougall was sent to command at West Point, a strategically vital point on the River Hudson, which flowed from the Canadian frontier down to New York. Referred to as the ‘Gibraltar of America’, it was vital to the war’s success. Had the British taken the Hudson they would have fatally divided the revolutionary forces. McDougall commanded West Point and the wild but hugely important Hudson Highlands for much of the war although he tried valiantly to get back to field command.
He supervised the building of the construction of the forts at West Point, the creation of a great Chain, a boom across the river, and he was posted there again to deal with the situation after Major General Benedict Arnold, a hero of the early war, defected to the British. Arnold whose name McDougall gave mischievously to the main fort at West Point, is commemorated with only one statue in America at the field of the battle of Saratoga. In an early battle he had been badly wounded in his leg. The statue is only of Arnold’s wounded leg. It says that that was the only patriotic part of him. His name is chiseled out of his plaque in West Point’s chapel.
The war was long, it was a war of attrition, brutal for the soldiers who were underfed, alternatively too hot or too cold and ill-paid and badly treated. The rest of the colonies however saw little fighting, fared relatively well and felt little sympathy for the poor souls fighting in the forests and on the battlefield for their freedom. This was to lead to a near mutiny in which McDougall played a major role - but that was later.
In 1778 the Americans signed a Treaty with the French against the British. It was a sadly premature moment of joy. In the history of West Point it was called a ‘wild, delicious, delirious time’.
The same history quotes contemporary records of McDougall, “who always displayed ‘much of the Scottish Character’ and was, when plied with wine ‘affable and facetious’ On such occasions he often described his ‘national peculiarities and family origin’ an act which never failed to convulse his audience in laughter. ‘Now gentlemen, you have got the history of Sawney McDougall, the milk-mon’s son.’
The joy was short lived and the French were reluctant to translate the Treaty into committing troops. Spirits plunged and in 1780 Alexander Hamilton, one of the moving forces of the Revolution and a founding father of the United States said this, “Our countrymen have all the folly of an ass and all the passivity of a sheep in their compositions. They are determined not to be free and they can neither be frightened, discouraged nor persuaded to change their resolution. If we are saved it will be France and Spain who will save us. I have the most pygmy-feeling at the idea, and I almost wish to hide my disgust in universal ruin”.
Two years later, and a year after he had been elected to the Continental Congress, McDougall had a furious fall-out, and clash of personalities with a fellow General, William Heath. (Familiar names to us at the time - Heath, Clinton, Thacher, Howe).
Heath had taken command of West Point and McDougall disagreed with his method of working; so he bitterly attacked him in public. Heath arrested McDougall and placed him on 7 charges, “conduct unmilitary and unbecoming an officer”. After a court marshal of 3 months where McDougall defended himself he was acquitted on 6 of the seven charges and reprimanded (gently) by Washington for calling Heath a ‘knave’. It did him little harm.
This was perhaps because McDougall was a very popular leader of men. There are many references to his conviviality. When Lord Cornwallis was defeated at Yorktown and surrendered his whole Royal army in October of 1781 there were wild celebrations when news two weeks later reached West Point. Dr Samuel Adams recorded in his diary “if our joy on the glorious occasion may be measured by the amount of liquor and wine we drank, it is beyond dispute that we were exceedingly glad”.
McDougall led the festivities. At dawn it is recorded that “after drinking a little coffee with a very hung-over Col Crane, the jubilant revelers took some wine and ‘cold collations’ with General McDougall”.
In his official biography, by Roger Champagne there is another hint about his leadership skills, “McDougall was direct and outspoken, too talkative perhaps, an affable drinking companion who made as much fun of himself as others, and who regularly invited his junior officers to share his table”.
Well, he did come from Islay...
Member of Congress
McDougall served in the Continental Congress as a delegate from New York from 1781-2 and again from 1784-5.
In 1781 the Congress decided that it could not continue to run its affairs by committee. It created four Departments of State – Treasury, Foreign Affairs, War (the Army) and Marine. McDougall was elected as the first ever Secretary of the Marine Department. He accepted, but with two conditions. One was that he be permitted to rejoin the field army for half the year and second, that he be allowed to retain his Major General’s rank (and, given his now poverty, salary). The congress declined his conditions but in his time in the post one of his tasks was to oversee to the appointment of John Paul Jones as first head of the US Navy. Jones, also to be an Admiral in the Russian Navy of Catherine the Great, came from the small Scottish town of Kirkcudbright in Galloway. One of his daring exploits as a marauding sea captain was to enter Lochindaal at this island and fire at Islay House. (Or so Tom Freidrich and Lady Clare Margadale tell me)
His conditions having been declined McDougall returned to West Point where he stayed in command on and off, until the end of the war when Washington took personal command. Even at that point Washington believed West Point was the most important location in the war.
However in 1783 the unpaid, underfed, undervalued troops who had won of the War to liberate America were in a state of real unrest and there was a serious risk of a military coup. McDougall was nominated to lead the delegation along with Alexander Hamilton to Philadelphia to plead with the Congress, of which he was a member, to pay the back-pay and treat the veterans with some justice. Their efforts averted the threatened coup and may well have saved the infant nation.
The British finally left New York, their last toe-hold on the continent, in 1783.
America’s proud commercial capital was a sad mess. 40% of houses had been destroyed. Refugees were everywhere and the economy was in ruins. Inflation was rampant, debt was huge and some desperate people were turning to violence.
Alexander Hamilton was galvanized into action. He proposed that a Bank be founded to lead the economic regeneration of New York. That bank was the Bank of New York, now the Bank of New York Mellon (who have given a modest donation to allow a memorial cairn to be erected in memory of McDougall at Portintruin). McDougall was nominated by Alexander Hamilton to be its first President. The bank was to be the first company quoted on the now mighty New York Stock Exchange.
McDougall did the job for a year, but being a man of restless action, resigned saying it was ‘too confining a life for me’. He went back to being a member of the New York Senate where he fought (successfully) for the separation of the church and state (the Church of England/Anglicans had opposed the patriots whereas the Presbyterians formed the basis of the Sons of Liberty.) and (unsuccessfully) against the issuing of paper money. He was carried into the Senate on a stretcher to vote on the latter issue.
Alexander McDougall, Islay-born but American by adoption, rebel by habit and inclination, a leader of men and a valiant fighter for liberty died in Nassau Street, New York City on June 10, 1786 at the age of only 53 years. He was buried in the graveyard of the Old Presbyterian Church. His memorial stone is situated prominently today on the wall of the First Presbyterian Church of New York in Greenwich Village and that stone will be replicated on the cairn to be erected on the hill overlooking his birthplace here in Islay.
We can now see why, after his death George Washington rightly called him a ‘pillar of the revolution’ and the New York Gazeteer said this of him on the day of his massively attended funeral; “Of strong intellect, prudent and sagacious in council, of deliberate courage in the field, he had equal claims as a soldier and a statesman.
While integrity, love of country, fortitude and ability continue to be esteemed, this sentiment will be the faithful guardian of his fame.”
The milkman’s son from Islay did well.

I did it!!

2011-08-29T21:33:00.000+01:00

Well despite various thwarted attempts, I finally managed to set up a membership for our local sports centres :-) I get the use of 12 sports centres with varying facilities but will be using the East Sands, St Andrews and Cupar ones the most, but I'll have a shot at some of the others just for fun! I'm booked in for an induction for the gym at East Sands tomorrow night but am hoping to change that so I can go with my pal when he pays his dues tomorrow - it'll be a saturday or monday next week but it'll get us started!

Today I found another challenge site for swimming,
http://www.splashpath.com/home and have already started the Loch Ness challenge, which I know I've done it before but not with this all-singing all-dancing stuff, lol, I'm a sucker for gismos now and will be getting my pal to do it too, then we'll see who wins - always work better with a challenge, yay!! I've done 2.1% already in two sessions and my fastest 25m was 37sec, which is pretty slow again but it can only get faster :-)

New house, new school, new term!

2011-08-16T20:42:00.000+01:00

Well the school year started today in Scotland and junior had a really good first day in 2nd year at his new school, made new friends already and even if they fall out, he knows he's got plenty more to choose from as he attends one of the biggest in Scotland:-)
I've been decorating and digging out weeds depending on the weather, and discovering that I can handle a drill for towels rails, make chests of drawers and beds!! I was never stopped from doing these things, just lazy as the husband always did them, I did do some bookshelves and small stuff to show my daughter that us girls can do some stuff though I had got much more laid back, so I've enjoyed getting to grips with some serious diy!!
The garden was a grass-cutters dream, that's all that had happened for about 6 years, borders, bushes and small trees all left to go their own way, so with the help of gardener daughter, her musician boyfriend, car-mechanic son in 'help mother' mode and youngest keen to do anything, we got stuck into various problem areas but I surprised myself and my new neighbour Tom by getting out a huge (though rotten) tree stump and nettle roots in a net round them!!
Lots more to do but a good start has been made inside and out :-)

Proper smilin' today!

2011-05-19T19:08:00.000+01:00

Had it confirmed this afternoon that my new house is in the bag, just a bit of paper shuffling and we're moving next month!!
It's a strange situation coz i want to be all happy but it means we're definitely splitting up but the trust has gone so we have to,,,,,,,
I think I'll just try to be happy that things are going to be more settled, the wee guy can get started in a new school with a seriously good HMI report and a great 2nd and 3rd yr syllabus, instead of being forced to decide standard grades at the end of 1st yr!! Not one of the many changes being dragged into the Scottish education system in some areas - thankfully not all :)
Not been too bad food-wise despite the tension yday and today over various problems with processing the bank stuff, and that would normally send me to the chocolate stash - lol, if I had one but the cash is short this month so silver lining in there too, lol!!

Am definitely feeling a bit better with this good news, stroll on the move :)

Smile though your heart is breaking,,,,,,,,

2011-05-17T21:27:00.000+01:00

Well we all survived Christmas but it wasn't the happiest, lots of tension between my husband and I that rumbled on and exploded at the end of feb when I discovered he'd been having an affair for 6months, and to rub salt in the wound the third party was older and fatter, not much comfort really coz I've spent 2 years improving myself and trying to get as slim and fit as I was when we married 22 yrs ago bit of a kick in the teeth when I'm already down to be honest and it's taken a while to get through some of this.
We had been talking of moving to another part of Scotland, so I kept looking and we have started the process of buying a house for me as part of my settlement. There are lots of legal things, and pension rights to be sorted by a lawyer next year along with the divorce but just getting sorted in a new area with my younger son is going to help my peace of mind - it wont help the hurt but the area I'm moving to already has friends nearby who are aware of the situation and are ready to help - with tissues and tea if required!!

Due to the obvious upset, comfort eating reared it's ugly head, esp with the 3rd party's shape, but I've only gone adrift by a stone, I've still the first 3st away and have caught myself before it gets any worse. I have been back at the gym after several weeks off for packing morning, noon and night it felt like. The swim today took it out of me, so I know I've some serious work to do but I feel so much better coz I've started back on the path, I filled in yday's and today's food diary and have a diet buddy on the site I use now so that should all help to get control before I move next month and all the adjustments that's going to take too!

Need to remember I'm doing this for me :D

Oooops!

2010-11-16T22:14:00.000Z

I have been totally distracted from recording life, just living it has been a challenge lately!
I've kept up with some of my challenges but the Iron man one faded out, though I'd nearly finished the 3 elements, I was second in the *calorie challenge* for October which took up a lot of time and we seem to have adopted the *cake flower expert* for several days a week - one of my daughter's friends makes use of my elder son's empty bed and has been great company for younger son whilst daughter was away, bonus:)
I made it into the next stone down 2weeks ago which I was delighted about, and I've had 2 personal trainer sessions which were a huge eye-opener for me - I can do sooooo much more than I thought, yay! The gym has several offers for block booking trainer sessions so I'm going to see which one suits me - it won't be the 50 sessions for £800 though, awwww, one a week for a year would be fab but out the price range for my Christmas pressie this year :)
My main achievement lately is cooking from scratch for nearly every meal, balanced carefully, with something yummy at the end, often created by the *cake flower expert* who's been enjoying experimenting with ingredients he's never heard of, never mind tried. Mostly they've been successful but one dessert was sooo sweet even he couldn't eat it, and he's got a serious sugar craving!!
The next few weeks in the lead up to christmas are going to be busy, as they are for everybody but I'm looking forward to working out at the gym and getting all the extra cooking done, as well as having some fun - hubby's home for Christmas this year so that's def something to look forward to :)

Baking,,,,

2010-09-28T10:09:00.000+01:00

Yeah, okay so it's not quite the same as the piccie but I haven't made bread for 12years - don't really know why, because I find it very soothing, and kneading's a good workout for shoulders and tum!!
Will do better next time, using half wholemeal and half white flour too, so the wholemeal(on the left this time) one's a bit lighter - you wouldn't believe it has twice the amount of yeast compared to the white cob loaf,,,,, and yes I know it looks a little squashed but heyho, I *know* what's in it and that's the important bit for me:)
That's the thing I like about my weightloss site is you can add all the ingredients and them how many portions and bingo - you know how many calories are in each slice, and because it's in the recipes, you only do it once, which is not how often I'm planning on doing the bread, twice a week should keep us supplied on Monday and Thursday mornings I think, so I should have an update and hopefully improved effort later this week:)

More changes

2010-09-23T15:10:00.000+01:00

Well the Biggest Loser online club is going to join with wiehglossrecources, so I'm gong back to the original conline club!! But I'll be getting 3mts free membership as a sweetener and most of the people I've got to *know* are moving over too, so are the challenges so the Iron Man's coming too:)
Got a tank light for daughter and went to the shopping centre, her pal Jason's with us and he's a hoot - shopping's his favourite activity, yay, we even manged to get some jeans for daughter who's a seriously fussy size 6 with very long legs, bless her!!

New site - New Challenge

2010-09-21T14:24:00.000+01:00

On a new weightloss site I have found an Iron Man Challenge. We've to run 42kms, swim 3.86kms and cycle 182kms approx, these are pretty big amounts before Christmas, not as it should be over one weekend I think. I changed running for rowing as the achilles wouldn't cope with that at all!!
It's meant I've arranged my gym sessions round these activities, with free weights added to two of the 4 weekly sessions, youngest's gym sessions have changed with a new timetable so everything's getting tweaked to fit. It's also added a new focus to my sessions, and using the stepper for any 5-20mins gaps has helped get me back into the exercise groove!!
Another birthday has come and gone but instead of feeling frustrated that things haven't gone as quickly, I'm getting a new push forward because I haven't gone backwards, slipped a little but not full-scale reverse which I would normally have annoyed myself with, so the brain-shift has worked :D

How we forget the simple things,,,,

2010-09-07T21:08:00.000+01:00

I was posting a comment on another blogger and I'd forgotten that, like me, people have comment moderation on and I think I've put a comment on twice, with slightly different wording so it just shows - I need to do this more often so I remember the basic rules!!
If you're reading this, feel free to bin the comments or only publish one - I was struggling with the sign in stuff too all at the same time, sorry!

Yeehaa

2010-09-02T20:32:00.001+01:00

Had a great time today, the only fly in the ointment wass I strained my achilles heel again - was doing so well and had run for a minute with no hassles but the second set was just chancing my arn, or foot and it became very sore quite quickly so I stopped fast and muttered darkly under my breath:( But my swimming session went well - was feeling tired by the time I got there but divided up my 60mins into 12ths and counted up the time that way practicing my arithmetic while I worked! It's amazing how you can distract youself with mental exercises, 1/12, 2/12=1/6, 3/12=1/4 etc, found it quite entertaining when I got to 10/12. or 5/6, *not far now* and then the gym guy came in and emptied the spa to change the something-or-other, and it wasn't filled up by the time I was finished and I know that going into the sauna or steam room make me feel very tired - not something to do before attempting to walk home - a 6.5m hike!!
So when I did leave, I realised I didn't have any suncream and believe it or not I needed it at 1pm in brilliant sunshine whist walking in a brisk breeze so I got half-way and phoned my chaufeur to pick me up at a convenient spot and chattered all the way home about my achievements, lol!!
So today's exertions took 3hrs altogether - fab!!

Life

2010-09-02T08:54:00.000+01:00

Life doesn't half get in the way of getting fit sometimes, grrrrrr, rellies, deliveries, being kind to others - well that was hubby but he took the car, kid to college, nagging about jobs to the same *kid* and then the middle kid who's finished her course, getting titch organised after school and dealing with his disappiontment when he saw the car was still gone, so my campaign to *get back to normal*ie *back to the gym* hasn't gone smoothly at all.
Off to the gym by myself this morning so I can run my own schedule instead of doing things around others, and as the weather's good-ish I'm planning to walk some of the way back and will phone for a pick-up when I get too knackered - it's 6 miles away and I'll be carrying my kit bag -it's not exactly small either, lol!!
Right, off to get sorted!

How time flies!

2010-08-20T12:19:00.000+01:00

I can't believe Ali MacGraw is over 70yrs old, she was actually 32 when she made Love Story, at least a decade older than implied in the film and you'd never know it!!
Anyway, it's been a while since I made time for blogging but hubby's recovering from his surgery and youngest has started at big school, successfully phew!
The gym has had a body swerve for a couple of weeks as Al's had checkups and reviews to attend which seem to always be when I should be there and with only one car, I understandably take a back-seat but next week there should be a clear run at it and get back into a good routine. Food's not been too bad though there have been extras here and there but not too much damage has been done as far as I can tell from clothes, the scales have stopped showing any regular weight, it scrolls up from 14st something to 19st something and can stop anywhere inbetween, bought manual scales and they're really mince so I'm going to start next week on the gym scales and use them every Monday from then on!!

Friday

2010-07-30T22:25:00.000+01:00

Well I slipped a little today and didn't get tea in the oven before going to the gym, but I have an excuse,,,,,,, we had to leave early to drop daughter off for one of the gardens she does and if I'd put the chicken in the oven then it would have been cooking for over 4 hours - pizza night was a good alternative and with 40mins swimming along with a serious weights session at the gym, I reckoned I'd get away with it lol!
I can finally say that my dumbell weights are now 7kg for all exercises which isn't too bad considering I started on 4kgs in Jan and had a very inconsistent record for a while but even with the holidays I'm managing 4 sessions a week, 2 are weights ones and the other 2 are cardio, along with lots of swimming with the youngest when the older 2 are in the gym.
It's been a different summer but we've managed to have quite a lot of fun and I've kept track of my eating and exercise. It'll be very tricky next week when Al's in hospital but I can only do my best with such a worry - rhinoplastic surgery isn't very pleasant or pain-free so lots of TLC will be needed but I'll be doing lots of special cooking which actually means not much eating - I often find that by the time everything's ready I've gone off the idea!!

Wednesday and Thursday

2010-07-29T20:06:00.000+01:00

Had a great day y/day, spent it at a friends house with the children helping to clear the monoblock driveway of weeds. We took our garden hose and extention cable so we could get the powerwasher going as it's a long driveway but we hit a snag, the hose attachment for the outside tap didn't fit, awwwww, so they had to do it the old-fashioned way with a stiff brush and little gardening fork. But they rose to the challenge and got half of it done, which was pretty good going in amongst the showers and daughter got some more of the wall she's biuulding done - so all in all we got lots done and had a great blether at the same time!
Today's task was to get them all down to the hairdressers for serious levels of tidying up, youngest was 'tidied up' by his sister with our hair clippers last week but it was needing some help as our clippers are pretty knackered and she struggled, Daughter's and eldest's hair was needing a decent chop but the instructions for daughter was feminine short with soft edges as the last time it was far too boyish and as she's very slim and nearly 6ft tall it didn't really flatter her at all - this time was much more sucessful and she got exactly what she wanted befoire she goes off on her holiday. Eldest is fairly straighforward - much shorter than it is now, thanks and you've guessed it, he's happy with his cut too.
So I have lovely, smart children who are willingly doing chores as I actually remembered to get real cash out and pay them for their efforts at the weekend - now they've got actual cash to count and want more, bless them:)

Tuesday :)

2010-07-27T19:57:00.000+01:00

Well things are going well today too, started off a bit late and had tow tiny petit filous for brekky before running out to the hairdressers where I was much more relaxed for a change, something I'm not famous for!
After that it was lunch and then kids to the gym for a workout and swim, youngest sat with me for 30mins until the older ones were ready for swimming and they didn't appear for another hour, longest swim session ever. My ankle's still very achey so last day of rest for it, looking forward to getting some rowing done tomorrow when youngest's at mini-cirkids, and showing eldest some weights exercises that I can do now always a good boost for my confidence and for his when he realises he can do them too!!
So the list is complete for today, I even remembered to take the meter readings for the gas and electric as we're changing suppliers, an extra to tick off the list yay!!

Monday!

2010-07-26T19:50:00.001+01:00

How I love Mondays now, used to dread them with a passion as it would be the first day of dealing with tricky adults, then trying to teach children that had somehow lost the rule book on civility never mind reasonable behaviour and finding that break and lunchtimes didn't come quick enough or last long enough. I recently spent an afternoon with some kids and really, really enjoyed myself and I really think I need to get back to the positive relationship I used to have before it all got ruined but not yet, might see what I can do volunteer-wise after the holidays.
Today's tasks were to have a long lie reading a Jodi Picoult, then a leisurely breakfast, followed by a mammoth ironing session that's been put off for weeks, shower, lunch and off to the gym. Quick stop at Tesco for milk and bits, then home, eldest making tea, and watch something good on telly - actually *Galaxy Quest*. (www.traileraddict.com/trailer/galaxy-quest/trailer)
I can safely say I did everthing on my list, yay, and I just love that film 'never give up, never surrender', lovely escapism!!!!

Who owns BP??

2010-07-25T15:46:00.002+01:00

Who owns BP??? Just watched Barrack Obama blethering on telly and decided to check why the British are getting this in the neck. Innocent or guilty, the company have been skating on thin ice for years with health and safety issues but I took a dim view of the british % being made the bogyman when the american % is only 1point less!
UK investors 40%, US investors (inc JPMorgan) 39%, Rest of Europe 10%, Rest of World 7%,
Miscellaneousc 4%
Feel free to criticise the company BP but it's a mistake to think the letters stand for British Petroleum!

My apologies for the mini-rant but one gets tired of listening to others aportioning blame where it should be shared.
Oh and just as an aside, very few people I know think the Lockerbie bomber should have been released but would be very interested in seeing the documents from both UK and US govts on that one, ours for all the use they were, have been published already!
Need to get to the gym later, far too grumpy today, grrrr!

When kids come for tea,,,,

2010-07-24T20:45:00.000+01:00

Youngest's friend was invited over so they could both go to football at the gym, then he came for tea and a play and ended up staying over night - his mother was in shock as he never stays anywhere - she can never get rid of him, lol, but he's really comfy and relaxed here. I think it's because everybody's older than him and nobody hassles anybody, it was Friday which is a pretty relaxed day esp in the hols but I don't mind why, just pleased he enjoyed himself. His mum came round this morning to get him, as he requested, at 10.40am - safely missed his swimming training that started at 10.30 - very smart but in time for us to leave for youngest's karate so not annoying me!!
We had a good time there, youngest was really sweaty when he was finished so his work out was a tough as mine, then we had lunch and came home to chill. I really enjoy having him all to myself, with the youngest it's always tricky getting time just with them but we've got it sussed just now - he likes cooking so the twice weekly cooking sessions are proving popular, with all three of them actually, and another opportunity for one on one with all sorts of subjects coming up for discussion!!

It's a family thing!

2010-07-22T21:22:00.000+01:00

We have got a temporary membership going for eldest so he can come to our gym with us and it's given us all a new level of enthusiasm for our exercise there. Youngest's pal is coming to one of his classes tomorrow too so we're making full use of the facilities with our dodgy weather!!
Oh and I've finally made it into the stone below - been stuck for a long time but the weight's finally going down properly and *I feel good, nana, nanah*:)
Only another week or so before Al's back but daughter might go off to Islay with a pal now we can't go as a family - it'll be a first but I'm gently encouraging her, spreading wings is what being a teenager is all about and she definitley needs to get hers flapping, lol!

This week's progress so far.....

2010-07-14T23:35:00.000+01:00

Well the hall is nearly done, just need to dig out the sewing machine to get the curtains sorted and hang some pictures and it'll be completely finished, yay! I still managed my session at the gym this eveining with the wee guy and survived th cold shower afterwards too, something's wrong with the water in that place the spa was off limits and the pool was freezing, then the cold showers - not amused but I did mention it s, supposed to be o at least they might have a chance of getting fixed. Lots of people on their way out tonight and nobody but me mentioned it, strange!
Did a good shop y/day £61, supposed to be £60 for the week but I've got stores in for this and next week so still on track for my TMS challenge!!

That was a surprise that wasn't!

2010-07-13T20:52:00.000+01:00

Hubby was told on Friday that he was being sent home early to get his broken nose fixed and because he wasn't needed on the ship in dry dock, but somebody has changed the rules and they need him now, :(
I have a to-do list that was getting too long for one week so I'm trying not to be too pleased he's staying aboard. The other thing is that he needs to stay out of the country for more than 6months each year to keep his tax money, so although it would have been good to see him, he would have had to stay out of the country at another time to make the right percentages
We were frantically painting the hall a light, supposed cream colour but it's pretty white, to give him a surprise but the steam's gone out of that now, no panic but I've a few ideas on new curtains that used to be in the lounge for the front door and to line the bathroom and bedroom doors as the frosted glass is a bit too see-through, oops!
So I've ended up with plenty of time to get these things done, must dig the sewing machine out of it's box and see how it actually works!!
I felt really pleased when I could tick off several items at once on my to-do list, yay:):)

What's $200 in £????

2010-07-10T22:28:00.001+01:00

Over on the motivation station they're trying to see how far $200 will get you buying groceries, some posters hope to make it last 5 weeks, but I'll need tofind a currency converter to try this out- maybe about £300, need to check that but it's a challenge I can't resist!
Our second holiday over to Islay has had to be cancelled because after hubby's run in with head-butting thug, he needs rhinoplastic surgery and it has to be done when he's next home - so the ferry has been cancelled and all arrangements scrapped :(
The police have got nowhere finding the guy who did it and we're left with hubby needing surgery and a nasty taste in our mouths - not been back to Asda since it happened but should go to see if they've removed the sail-boards on the ceiling so the CCTV could be used to help others! So frustrating, grrrrr!!!!
Onto better thoughts, I've binned formal dieting and am using controlled eating, which mainly means thinking about what I'm doing *do I really want this?* *do I really need this?* and so far have lost another 2lbs in 2 weeks so having more success at the moment but still weighing snacks and carbs, eating loads of veg but less fruit - don't think the fructose was helping my quest for a fitter bod!
Oh and I've taken up running, only on the treadmill but I can sustain 11.5kms for minute bursts, I know I'm better at rowing but I can do 1km in 7.58mins which is mince but can only get better, 6months ago it took me 22.35mins to do 2kms so it's improving slowly but took my eye off the ball whilst concentrating on other things and have decided to work on improving my speed and style to speed up my weightloss too!
Right off to find a currency converter to see how far $200 will take me in Scotland, lol!!!

£303.03, I was pretty close so off to work out some menus:)

He's on his way!

2010-06-28T09:04:00.000+01:00

Al's off to work today, he's flown from Edinburgh to London and is waiting his next flight to Houston - not exactly a short commute but he loves his jet-setting life. He grew up on Islay (famous for it'sfabulous whiskies) as the second son of a distillery worker who went into the local co-operative shop and thought he'd be threre for years but got itchy feet and signed up for Her Majesty's Royal Navy!! Ships would have been obvious for an islander but not him, he went in for submarines and for years enjoyed himself but things change and he left after 15years and now he's all over the world - has seen more of the world than he ever did in the Navy as he was on Polaris and Trident subs which *never went anywhere* they just patrolled around under the oceans, except once he went to the US Navy base in Florida for them to pick up missiles!
I didn't put any pressureon him as he'd been in the navy when we married but I was very thankful he changed jobs as I had got tired of 40words a week from us to him and nothing back, the survey ship has e-mail and he's got skype on his laptop so communication is vastly improved, and I get texts telling me where he is in his journey - that's why I know he's made it to London!
For the next 8 weeks our eldest is on college holidays, middle one has finished her course and is looking for a job, and school ones start on Wednesday when my youngest leaves primary forever, I can't wait!!!!
Today I'm going to be spending some time sorting out activities for us to punctuate the next month with, when we're getting friends over and activities at the gym for titch and me to enjoy, but I'm off to the gym now for my aquarobics session!

And a great father's day,,,,

2010-06-20T20:53:00.000+01:00

was had by all! It's not often that Al's here for special days, he'll be missing his birthday in July so it was great to have him here for some
We've had a lovely day here fussing over him, feeding him favourite meals and baking him a request cake - chocolate marble, yum!
The weather's been great and we even managed to keep him away from his precious DIY, he was allowed to hang 2 doors that have dried properly after being painted but other than that, zip work!
Now enjoying the very first episode of Black Adder, set in Richard the 3rd's time, Rowan Atkinson at his best as the snivelling second son, brill!!

Surveys

2010-06-16T09:58:00.001+01:00

Over at the Motivation Station I found this from Kris the other day,,,,,,,

I recently came up with the idea of an article about how American women feel about their bodies and their health compared to women of other parts of the world. However, in order to really write a proper article, I need to do a lot of research on both subjects. I know you all recall, and may have even read, French Women Don't Get Fat, and every other varietal of the theory that "I am not American therefore I have a weight-loss secret that you need to buy." I intend to either prove that we are all the same and these books are just marketing ploys (ok, technically half true without needing the research), or that perhaps American Women Want To Be Fat! Say what? I know none of us want to be unhealthy, but if we have the tools, and have the reasons, why does the scale not budge, why do we have pig-out/freak-outs, and constantly buy new books and exercise equipment? Is it the media, a gene, chemicals in our food, or fear of the unknown and/or change? I would love my friends and readers here at The Motivation Station work with me on this concept by answering some (I mean a lot of) questions. Please answer all questions that you feel comfortable with, and email them to krisleighsen@gmail.com if you want to stay anonymous from the site, or post your answers and what you think about this article that I would like to write in the comments section. I will definitely share my findings from this survey and the article with you all once complete. I hope that you all find this concept as interesting as I do.

I don't usually answer surveys but felt like having a go this time,

1) Age:
46

2) Ethnicity:
White Scottish

3) Current Location:
Bathgate, Scotland

4) Are you currently dieting?
Yes

If yes, what diet are you on?
Calorie counting

5) Are you over weight based on health charts?
Yes

6) Do you feel guilty when you indulge in something fattening and/or sugary or are you satisfied with the treat?
Usually earn treats, occasionally work them off if I've miscalculated!

7) How often do you exercise?
6 days a week

8) What do you do for exercise and how many days and hours per day do you do it?
Classes and cardio/weights equipment at the gym, swimming too

Mon 2hrs, tues - rest, wed - 1hr 45min, Thurs - 2hrs, fri - 3 hrs, Sat 1hrs, Sun 1.30mins.

9) If you miss your exercise one day because you went out with friends to enjoy yourself do you feel guilty? Or were you happy that you took a day off?
Happy because I will have earned it.

10) How often do you think about food?
Quite a lot, I'm working out a lot so need to eat too!

11) How often do you think about your weight?
Frustrated just now, so a lot!

12) How often do you weigh yourself?
Almost everyday but understand fluctuations so don't let them bother me.

13) If you gain one ounce do you freak out? Or does it not even phase you?
Small changes are to be expected.

14) What would you change about your body?
Want a tummy tuck when finished, if I ever get there!

15) Are you happy in your own skin?
Is anybody?? No not just now.

16) Did anyone ever say anything to you when you were young that triggered an insecurity about your size? Yes

17) Why do you think that incident had such an effect?
My father died when I was 16 and my 3 elder sisters decided to comment everytime i put a couple of lbs on, I look at photos now and see a slim, fit teenager but that's not what they saw, so neither did I at the time.

18) If someone orders just a salad at dinner would you as well? Or would you just get what you want?
I get what I've scheduled myself, salad doesn't hack it for me.

19) Why do you think American women are obsessed with weight?
Personally, I think all women are obsessed with weight, that's why I've filled in your survey!

20) What culture do you feel has the best outlook on positive self-image, and why?
Italians, they like curves AND are allowed to eat, but still have a healthy life expectancy!!

Here's the questions for you to copy, send your answers to kris at the e-mail below;

THE QUESTIONS

(open to ALL WOMEN: Any age, body type, race, ethnicity, profession, vegetarians, etc!)

1) Age:

2) Ethnicity:

3) Current Location:

4) Are you currently dieting? Y/N

If yes, what diet are you on?

If no, describe a typical day’s menu.

5) Are you over weight based on health charts?

6) Do you feel guilty when you indulge in something fattening and/or sugary or are you satisfied with the treat?

7) How often do you exercise?

8) What do you do for exercise and how many days and hours per day do you do it?

9) If you miss your exercise one day because you went out with friends to enjoy yourself do you feel guilty? Or were you happy that you took a day off?

10) How often do you think about food?

11) How often do you think about your weight?

12) How often do you weigh yourself?

13) If you gain one ounce do you freak out? Or does it not even phase you?

14) What would you change about your body?

15) Are you happy in your own skin?

16) Did anyone ever say anything to you when you were young that triggered an insecurity about your size? Y/N

17) Why do you think that incident had such an effect?

18) If someone orders just a salad at dinner would you as well? Or would you just get what you want?

19) Why do you think American women are obsessed with weight?

20) What culture do you feel has the best outlook on positive self-image, and why?

21) Do you have anything to add regarding this concept?

Thank you so much to all who participate. I may quote you, so please let me know if you want to stay anonymous. I will let this survey sit for a few weeks, so I will remind you in the near future in case you are very busy these days. The email is krisleighsen@gmail.com.

What do you think? If you have any friends or family that would enjoy this survey/article please pass along, or post on your blogs. Thank you!

Anybody else want to share????
Send your answers to themotivationstation or kris at the above e-mail and see how everybody else feels!

Grrrrrr,,,,,,

2010-06-15T09:37:00.001+01:00

Weigh-in this morning and I'm up 900g, can't believe after such a good week that it's gone up so looking at everything to get the numbers going down. I've been at this for 17months so I know what I'm doing but sometimes things can slip, maybe more water needed with the level of exercise I'm currently doing, or maybe more food as I'm inclined to err on the side of *less is more* and that's not what I should do but not very often, only on rest days which would make sense.
I haven't even lost inches/cms so that's what's really annoyed me as I can usually cheer myself up with that. Going off to the hairdressers this morning and should be feeling good about that but now feel guilty as it's supposed to be a treat but I can't cancel getting my roots done, so maybe I can convince myself it's essential maintenance, lol!!
Strange thing is I'm wearing clothes that are smaller than anything I've worn for 15 years but I don't know what I weighed then so can't compare and I shouldn't let the scales dictate but I need to see them going down because that's how I've always measured my success. I should just chuck them out and only use scales at the gym on Wednesday mornings, might find the strength to do that!!
On a happier note, OH's nose didn't get any sorer, the bruising predicted was only at the corners of his eyes and hasn't been too sore - police phoned but they havn't got anything so don't rely on CCTV to help - improve your powers of observation each time your out so if you ever need to, you could give a decent description if something happens to someone else, when it's happening to ourselves it's very difficcult - this guy pointed a pencil or pen at my OH's side and he just kept looking at that to make sure the guy didn't stab him with it but apparently this is a common trip to distract victims from looking at their faces.
We now play spot the discription, and the wee one's supposed to find them in a crowd - building up skills but it's giving us a laugh too:)

(Changed the design colours so hopefully the problems have been fixed!)

Good week until,,,,,,

2010-06-12T22:35:00.000+01:00

We've had a really good week getting doors changed in the house, after 4 yrs of messing around with hollow, bashed ones we've now got ones like these,,,,,,
(http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9274014&fh_view_size=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372016%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372049%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372274%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9392104%7d%2fspecificationsProductType%3dtimber_doors%2fspecificationsSpecificProductType%3dknotty_pine__glazed&fh_refview=lister&ts=1276377769383&isSearch=false )
with two long frosted glass panels to the handle thenwooden panels in the bottom with silver handles and now we need to take them all off again to paint, phew they will smell a bit but the low-odour paints we've used previously just don't hack the daily treatment of kids crashing about. We're going to paint them in the garage and bring them in when they're all dry. The skirting will be a bit stinky for a while but it'll all look lovely in the end! We had to get more wall paint because the fancy light-reflecting paint we bought last year may look good for a while but looks seriously dirty now and i've tried everything but the paint actually rubs off if you get it too wet so we bought *normal* silk emulsion that's *washable and scrubbable*, so here's hoping it does what it *does what it says on the tin*!!
Today we went over to the gym for youngest's session of karate, OH did some weights then went for a swim, I was treadmilling at different inclines and speeds then I went onto the wave machine and sweated some more and we all got together for lunch. Trip up to collect middle from the plant nursery she volunteers at, then quick change for her, some hand-washing for me as the washing machine's broken, and then we dropped her off at a pals for a bbq. We decided to go shopping at Asda in Livingston and I spent 2 hours wishing we hadn't, OH went to the loo and got accosted just outside them by some drunken b*****d that wanted his car keys/money/phone/anything of value! Thankfully he kept walking towards the front doors of Asda and got in there just after the pig decided to head-butt him which someone witnessed thankfully, as the cctv wasn't pointing OH's way, but it took 2 hours of careful questioning before the police were finished getting a statement, then we went to macdonalds, the shopping never got done and i'll have to drink hot juice again as I've no decaf but apart from a sore nose, OH's fine so nothing else matters!

Now I understand,,,,,,,,

2010-06-08T15:06:00.000+01:00

Now I understand the surge in interest about this type of class, the lady doing our class was Julie, mentioned in the website and it was fabulous fun - did the whole class which I didn't expect and enjoyed every minute of it :) We were all starting from the *beginning*, so nobody was playing catch-up or should I say I wasn't playing catch-up which gives one much more confidence when trying new stuff!
The weekend went well exercise-wise as well as family-wise, daughter did college garden at gardening Scotland ( http://www.gardeningscotland.com/information.php ) and they got a silver gilt I think but also she came 11/36 in Britain in a Landscape construction competition - she was the TOP female competitor for Britain for 2010 and we're pleased as punch for her, she's bouncing around feeling seriously chuffed with herself, and of course can put it in her CV for getting a job now she's finished college! The gardener she voluteers with had a show garden in memory of his patrner and won a gold so she was pleased for him too!
We managed to pack in a proper visit to gardening scotland (to admire daughter's work properly!), pizza hut and a decent swim all on sunday, and I used my new waterproof mp3 player, kept me going through 50mins of swimming - fab!!
Only lost 300g on Sat weighin but it's started going down the way so that gave me the extra push to do more, on track with thepeteplan ( http://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/the-pete-plan/ ) week 1 and working through that will keep me focussed, with the swimming going up a level in effort and time, then zumba and well as next kg up in my weights workouts I feel I'm finally getting on a track I can stick to for the next 6 weeks I'll be following a schedule which always helps keep the motivation going!
Working towards our next holiday on Islay - happens to be *show week* when the big agricultural show is on when we'll be seeing loads of folk we haven't seen for years and they'll be very surprised to see what good shape I'm in, very satisfying frame of mind compared to times I've gone before and wanted to hide up behind the horses so folk wouldn't see how much I'd put on - not that they'd be nasty, I was just self-concious but I'll be slaving away to make sure the changes are continued, some people would be surprised to see me now never mind in 6 weeks time!!

Week so far,,,,,

2010-06-03T22:34:00.000+01:00

Back at aquarobics y'day felt really good, and had lunch with a pal there - ordered a baked potato with chicken and bacon, came mixed with mayonaise so it had to go back and another one came shortly after that my allergy would let me eat and really enjoyed it. Later it was down to the high school to find out what life will be like for youngest when he starts ther in August - what a thought!!
Today was a *normal* day, dropped middle at college, visdited mum and then shopping tesco for me and B&Q(diy store) for hubby, then home with a thumping headache, owwwch! Recovered a little of go to the gym with my new waterproof mp3 player and get on an exercise bike, felt much better atferwards, with baked salmon for tea with loads of veg, I'm finishing the day much better than it started:)
Tomorrow I'm going to my first zumba class, somebody somewhere said we should do something that scares us evey day, well that will be my scare for the week!!

Making decisions!!

2010-05-30T14:07:00.000+01:00

Sometimes we bimble(wander) along doing the same things over and over without realising that the my be good for us but we need to different things to keep interested. I have been doing the same sorts of things for some time, and eating the same things really too, so i've had a big shake-up!!
I've re-organised my kitchen cupboards, changed my schedule at the gym and with better weather, planning for more outside exercise and have found tescodiets where they give you menu's, that you can swop, but a basic structure to work around!
So I'm starting June with a clean kitchen, well had to clean it out before filling it again, schedules at the gym have been changed with junior's timetable being re-arranged, and very different food being prepared from scratch - I like cooking but got in a rut so these new menu's are great for unusual ingredients too!!
The garden's blooming courtesy of some extra effort when I had a really bad cold, couldn't take that to the gym but I could drip happily in the garden sorting out new plants and getting the weeds out before they took over the grass, phew!
OH has just arrived back from the Gulf of Mexico and despite the ash cloud and BA strikes he was only a few days late and he's ready to do some DIY around the house, so I'd better get the brushes and rollers out - I'm usually painting behind wherever he goes with his sander or drill, lol, off to dig them out the cupboard along with some sandpaper to the fiddly bits - oooh I love spring fever :):)

Well, what can I say???

2010-04-24T15:09:00.001+01:00

Well the dog's almost recovered but hubby go stuck until Thursday, that meant he was around to help with my mum when she fell ill on Tuesday. We just went round with her shopping (Mum's 79) in the morning and found her dreading another upset tummy - she gets these quite often always attibuted to a chill, or food that she shouldn't have eaten which is all nonsense, she has casually diagnosed IBS but nobody's every bothered to do the proper tests until she got really bad on Tuesday night and phoned me on Wed am to say she still felt bad - the doc did do a housecall and I was there to make sure she told the truth *oh I'm much better now* is the usual refain that she wasn't getting to trot out this time.
Sure enough the doc wanted her in hospital to stop the bleeding and to get everything investigated, so hubby was around to drive us and drop us off at the right doors, yay!
They've found out it's warfarin thats caused the problem so she just stops taking it and is careful about problems again, and she should be fine:)
The rest of the week was spent visiting her with my wee bruv but I'm going in tonight with my kids so they don't worry anymore about granny - they're other granny went into a different hospital and never came out 18months ago, so they were understandably very upset about the one they had left being in one but things have been dealt with differently and her treatment would appear to be easier so got everything crossed it stays that way!!
Got back to the gym this morning and did 3000m on the rower and 500m swimming so feeling like life is getting back to *normal*, however long that lasts:):)

Poor doggie's feeling better!

2010-04-20T22:03:00.000+01:00

The dog's feeling much better these days and is jumping up when youngest comes home from school again, we get a lovely welcome too now, whereas just after the attack he would cower in his bed to see who was coming in and sniff round later when he was sure nobody else was coming in.
We've also had another distraction, hubby's still here, he should be on a survey ship in the Gulf of Mexico but the Icelandic ash cloud has stopped his travel and he's now 2days overdue, with very little likelihood of getting there anytime soon - he's just phoning the office now to see if he can get any answers and also to show willingness to try to do something from over here if needed. The travel folk might get shirty but he's willing to try anything to get there, he likes his job:):)
The result of this on the rest of us is the kids think it's *great* and I'm enjoying the extra treats of having lunch out in quiet restraunts with no kids (they're back in school/college), but it's playing havoc with my schedule for the gym - just don't feel the urgency to get there at all! To combat the aversion, I packed my new gym bag with all the things I'll need tomorrow this afternoon and no matter what temptations are on offer - I'm gymming first!!
I normally love going and the buzz afterwards but my routine has been stuffed with our trip to Islay, the dog being attacked and now hubby's delayed departure, so I'm looking forward to dragging my sorry backside there tomorrow and getting the sweat running:D

Poor doggie

2010-04-15T21:30:00.000+01:00

Our week has been pretty messed up as our dog was attacked by two Great Dane dogs on monday morning and he had to have stitches in various places and has several leaking wounds that can't be stitched or they would go septic. The poor soul has been wandering around with a plastic cuff round his neck to stop him nibbling his wounds and he clunks around the place trying to do normal stuff but he's absolutely terrified of going out just now, and quakes at the smallest dog - even the wee thing that lives next door.
My husband had a few scratches and bruises from being knocked to the ground by the first dog, and jumped on by the second, so he's suffering badly from flashbacks and trying to *get on with things*, but needing some tlc every now and again!
The rest of the time I've been catching up with washing, cleaning and cooking - the gym's a distant memory but hoping to go tomorrow for a swim and get food back in control over the weekend, then onto the hard grind again next week. Got a couple of fitness magazines and they have some exercise routines, so I'll get my diary done for next week with food and gym stuff, and just get back to *normal*:D

Found them!

2010-04-12T13:31:00.000+01:00

Here we go,,,,,,,

Port Charlotte Lighthouse House just tucked in behind the main feature!!

This shows what a fab house it was, and for some of the time we did bask in sunshine 'cos we took these photos:) There were only two bedrooms upstairs as the original 3rd one has been converted to a bethroom and store(for the family) but there's another bedroom down stairs that youngest bagged, with an en-suite as he made sure everybody he talked to knew all about it, very impressed he was but the whole house had a lovely relaxed atmosphere to it and the sunroom on the front was high enough to give views all through 180', the house I used to live in when we first moved to Islay was the manse which stands half a mile away and I used to see this house from my bedroom window, so it was very strange - in a nice way - to stay there!

Back to basics

2010-04-12T12:10:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely Easter break on Islay and saw lots of rellies and friends, as well as chilling out with some walks!
The adventure really started before we left, mum was coming with us and suggested we stay somewhere closer then her son/my bros in Dumbarton, so we phoned a few hotels and found one that had 3 bedrooms, 2twins - one for the boys and one for her(mum) and daughter to share, and a double for us! We were driving down in 2 cars, I was driving ours and hubby driving hers so she would have wheels on Islay and could visit or just 'go for a drive' like she used to when she lived there. So we stopped at bros for a wee break, after they picked up eldest in Greenock, they we all set off for the Tarbert hotel.
We took the Loch Lomond road and swept up past Luss thinking everything was going fine, then the potholes started, the roads in Scotland are dire just now and they're are only some that have escaped the pot-hole fairy! With a little more caution we approached Arrocher and drove towards the 'Rest' with caution. The rest's full name is the 'Rest and be Thankful' because the old cars used to get to the top of a very steep, winding road and 'rest' at the top to let the engines cool. When my mother first travelled to Islay in 1939, just before WW2 was declared, they had an old Humber and her adopted brother George (a hungarian refugee) didn't listen to 'get a cloth' first, and took the radiator cap off - thus burning his hand, well he didn't do it again and his name lives on in family folklore:) You can still see the original road in the bottom of the valley from the 'new' one constructed in the 40's or 50's I think!
We swept down some of the other side, then realised the pot-hole fairy had been busy and preceeded with caution onto Inverary which stiil looks the same as it did the first time I saw it 34yrs ago when we stopped there on our way to our very first ferry trip to Islay!
Quick pit-stop there for coffee and loos, then off we go for the next bit down to Lochgilphead, Adrishaig, lots of wee hamlets and into Tarbert, a few dodgy patches but straighforward journey and doing it early evening meant most of the trucks and delivery vans were parked somewhere - bargain!
The hotel was lovely and the journey to the ferry was 10mins instead of the original 3hrs, fab, the ferry itself was uneventful bar the scruffiness we noticed on deck - the winter had been hard on the West of Scotland too and they hadn't had their usual painting weather!

The house we rented was this one, need to find the photo and come back to this!
We had a lovely relaxing week, with very mixed weather. I got some walking in on various days but the best one was Wednesday when I got dropped off at Balimony, walked over the ridge to Octofad Farm and then kept going until I got to Port Charlotte, brief comfort break at the Port Mhor centre and off to the Lighthouse House on the other side of the village! Sunshine all the 5.8miles I walked in 2hr 5mins, it was fabulous, hadn't done the walk from Octofad to Port Charlotte since I was a teenager, so it was good to take my time and admire all the changes to original houses and the new ones which had been built in sympathy with their surroundings. It was lovely to go back into the past but tempered with new things, it wasn't a maudlin journey but an uplifting one that I was really glad my husband was happy for me to take, he had to drop me off and leave me with 14 heifers shouting at me for their breakfast!! (beasts of all sorts approach vehicles hoping/thinking a meal's in the boot/back, quite scary until the 'townie' remembers they're usually more scared of us!)
Anyway, off to find the photos that seem to have gone into the wrong place - ie where I can't find them, lol!

March Challenges

2010-02-28T22:20:00.001Z

I keep myself on this weightloss journey by finding different challenges to keep me motivated. So today after my gym session I went into the pool for the start of a swimming challenge I found on the swimmers board (on WLR) swimming from one end of Loch Ness to the other, 34kms, I did the first 500m today and feel great too:) Technically should be at the Inverness end by the end of June at 2kms a week but I feel very bouncy after doing the 500m today so we'll see - I might get quicker and hubby's promised me a dolphin MP3 player for Mother's day, that'll keep the boredom at bay and I've been told about a counter thingy that goes on your finger but just now I use a coin and turn it over every 2 lengths, I know there are 5 turnovers across the pool tiles so I can count complete tiles as 10's, counting lengths - sorted:)

I still take part in the 10k Friday challenge which has seen my completion improve by 5mine since I started it in November, in the exercise calories challenge I was 4th out of 38, actual amount was 23,872, so I moved up one space but this month I don't think I'll be so obsessive about that one, I found it took up a lot of time, being a sahm I have that but I need to do stuff here and I was running out of energy to do housey things:(
So for this month I'll do my treadmill on 11 incline to prepare for hill/mountain climbing in the summer, weights (free and machine - I like the mix), swimming Loch Ness, 10k Fridays, rowing - March challenge on concept2's website, re-start the 100 pushup challenge and finish each gym session on what I call the *glidey* machine, it's a stepper come cross trainer that has a gliding motion for your feet/legs to do similar to skiing, but I find it's a great polisher for my sessions!!
So I start March feeling very positive, I've lost 12lbs and have sorted various interests to suit me, my children as really enjoying to the gym, eldest is happy at college, hubby loves his job and my mother at 79 is still happily and safely driving!
All is right in my world and I am very grateful and thankful to find myself thus!

Nearly finished February.

2010-02-25T20:36:00.000Z

I now know why my mother used to say *doesn't time fly* I can't believe it's nearly March, been very busy this month with my gym challenge and have got more than 20,000exercise calories which is a new record for me. With my children going to the gym now, i've been able to go for two sessions some day and really enjoyed the opportunity - this time last year i wouldn't even walk into one, far too embarrassed to admit I needed to change things to complete strangers but eventually i got myself a bit fitter and joined in the May.
Since then I've followed my own regime but I think the time has come to get some advice from the trainers there but I'm still working on that! I managed to get things back on track and one of my *cyber friends* started a challenge that I've been following for 4 weeks, the idea is to get fitter and improve body shape rather than only to loose weight - just as well as in 4wks I've only lost 4lbs but that's in the same time i've worked off all those calories so they almost balance each other out!
I've another 4 weeks to go to the end of that challenge but I've much further to go on my weightloss journey. Something we were all trying to do was eat new foods, this is something very difficult for me to do as I have a wide variety of food intolerances but as I've been cutting out the junk, I've found it much easier to integrate some of them back in, still have problems with turnips but hey I can live without them!!
TMS has us loving our houses this week so I've been cleaning and de-cluttering - starting with my wardrobe and dumping all the clothes that are too large now, loved it:) Nearly got the kitchen finished - how do so many odd things end up there? Pliers, one glove (it's always one!), a cup from a flask that was thrown out last year, tubs with no lids, lids with not tubs, lol, had to take stuff over to the re-cycle centre - too much for the bins!

The garden's covered in snow again so it's inside tidying for now - though the windows are next:):)

My imagination will be amazing!

2010-02-06T17:35:00.000Z

Quote of the Day

"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will."

– George Bernard Shaw

I have the imagination, and the will, just working on the creation of a fabulously fit and healthy me:)
End of the first week of youngest being a member of my gym and he's really enjoying all the classes I booked him into and i've enjoyed being there more often but seemed to be more relaxed, though my ex clas for this week are quite impressive - it's at 5129 for 5days - because some days are split into 2 sessions I'm able to do a bit more:D This bit is the will to improve and my end goal, to wear my wedding dress dyed a shade of tourquiose to match my favourite jewelry, made by Sheila Fleet in Orkney. She's got a wonderful collection I usually buy on my yearly sojourn to Islay but this year I bought them in john O'Groats as we did our fab *tour of Scotland* instead. I really must spend some time getting a photo album done on here - love advertising Scotland whenever I get the chance:D

Are we what we eat??

2010-02-03T15:25:00.000Z

Quote of the Day

"The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter."

– Norman Cousins

About Norman Cousins

American writer and editor Norman Cousins is best known for his book, Anatomy of an Illness, an account of how he used nutrition and positive visualizations, including laughter, to heal from an illness diagnosed as fatal. He was born in New Jersey in 1915. He served many years as editor-in-chief of the Saturday Review, a job he loved. Under his guidance, circulation increased from 20,000 to 650,000. He received the UN Peace Medal for his world activism. He died in 1990.

I'm off to investigate this guy, but positive visualizations keep me on track, look fitter, happier, etc!

How much??

2010-01-31T20:15:00.000Z

I can announce that I have expended 19,014 in exercise this month!! On weightlossresources one of the members has a calorie tracker that we can all add our workout stuff to and I'm going to be 5th or 6th out of approximately 30odd people, woohoo! I'm quite chuffed about this because exactly a year ago on the 1st of Feb I signed up to change my sedentary, unhealthy life for a better one and I think it's safe to say I've achieved that goal:D

**"Far away in the sunshine are my highest inspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead."

– Louisa May Alcott**

Really liked this as it's exactly how I felt and still feel, I might not achieve all of my highest aspirations but I'm having a damn good try and am enjoying the journey towards them now!

Happy Progress!

2010-01-21T14:33:00.001Z

I have succeeded in TMS challenge of 5 exercise sessions, 3 weeks in a row because in the last 3 weeks I have seriously cranked up the exercise, I'm doing 3 aqua aerobic classes a week, the salsacise on a Tuesday and still maintaining my competitive edge with thedlondeone's monthly calorie tracker, and of course the 10km Friday challenge, rowing, and now the 100 pushups (you can tell she's trying to kill me lol:)) In amongst this I have been following the Biggest Loser 30 day Jump Start, which has helped give specific progress to my workout along with all the other stuff!!

I'm seriously enjoying all this and can't get my head round why I didn't do it sooner, but there lies madness, you can't keep asking why didn't I? You have to move forwards and enjoy the now:)

I've also been much more careful with my food and am more likely to have a peice of fruit than a biscuit, thanks to TMS challenge at the beginning of Jan, so gradually I'll get the right results and start to look forward to getting more clothes, teehee!!
Oh and in amongst all this I've been shining my sink and getting to grips with my household chores in a more positive way - all in all a very good start to 2010!!

Challenge 2

2010-01-11T21:01:00.001Z

The snow's melting finally though it's only gone from the roads it did mean I got to the gym today, and I've just been over to The Motivation Station and found out this week's challenge is to do 20mins of exercise a day. I'm looking forward to completing that as I've just started the Biggest Loser 30day Jump Start which has exercises in it too:) I know the losses on the bigest loser are extreme and am not trying to enulate them but I do enjoy watching the programme and it has made me braver in the gym than I would have been - if they can do it so can I!
Our youngest has just gone back to school after the Christmas break and daughter's college has opened again, it closed last week because not enough students could travel, she was one that waited at a bus stop for nothing to happen! Eldest's college didn't have any issues as it's on the other side of the country - yes a whole 65miles away, lol!
I found flylady.com who's helping me organise my house one day at a time, rather than leaving it to do in 2 days before visitors and then leaving it for a month, even the kids are noticing things are much calmer and still getting done, yeha!
Really feeling positive about the coming months and the changes I'm making for all of us should have long-lasting effects.

Success with Challenge!

2010-01-08T22:21:00.000Z

The Motivation Station Challenge for this week was to replace something unhealthy for healthy and I swopped biscuits for oatcakes and/or fruit and I've done it!!
I also got hubby back from the Gulf of Mexico, he had to fly from Houston to Frankfurt to Edinburgh but those airports were fine and all went well - upstairs snoozing away now as I type:D
Managed to stay on track for my housework and found some fun to enjoy with my kids, some dvds and veturing outside for a laugh and snowball fight! Youngests school due back on Monday, daughter's college cancelled classes this week and she starts again on Monday too with a bit of luck!
Have also re-started our chore charts, usually a good way to keep everyone motivated to help in the house so mum doesn't get overwhelmed and they've been great this week - sweetened with a little pocket money for the younger ones, eldest knows he's costing a fortune at college so is very willing, bless them!
The snow has just started again so hubby's really going to get a surprise tomorrow when he wakes poor soul, had him all muffled up today to make sure the temp change isn't too traumatic - it's a bit of a contrast lol!
Right off to get the diary done for next week, and the menus, and the message lists, life is never dull!

It's still coming down

2010-01-04T23:24:00.000Z

This is totally amazing, we've been using the sleds to bring the shopping in from the car the few times we've made it to the supermarket - the car had to be parked at the end of our street, so there was plenty of walking to be done then! We did finally get some grit last week so the car can just make it down the street but the lump in the middle of the track will take out my bumper if it doesn't start to melt soon - or maybe I'll have to get out there and skim off some height, a bit cheaper than getting a garage bill to put the bumper back on!!

Doing a healthy eating challenge with The Motivation Station, for this week's challenge I've decided to substitute biscuits for oatcakes and/or fruit to improve my 5-a-day ration that our goverment is always advising us to achieve. I actually feel a lot better when my veg ration is bigger but fruit I kinda get stuck with bananas and blueberries, with frozen raspberries at this time of year, so adding in a few grapes and an apple with oatcakes should make it more fun - I can only try:D

Now I can do this!!

2010-01-04T23:07:00.000Z

Our snowfall from last week covered our car and the temps not got above -1'C for weeks, unheard of for so long but used to be common when my mum (now 79) was wee!

Proper snow for Scotland!!

2010-01-03T00:36:00.002Z

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-02T22:41:00.000Z

Hope the new year has in store all the things you wish for! My new year has started the way the old one finished with us being snowed in again and our council not very interested in gritting as it's *too icy* - yeah for us too that's why big snowploughs are needed, honest! We dug out yards of 6inch ice from under the three vehicles along out bit of street and managed to get our car out for some essential shopping - sales, what sales?? Haven't been to any as I don't want to be out for long incase I can't get back in again, like last week when the car was parked out in the main road:(
Right enough moaning, I'm re-starting my fitness campaign on Monday when I return to the gym, come hell or high snow I'm going to get there because it's important and if I slither into someone else's car in the car park, I'm insured, I'll cope!!
The house had it's cleaning fest for Hogmany, we all clean for visitors to drop by but over here they don't do it like on Islay. When we were teenagers on Islay there would be complete strangers *first footing* around the village, they came with shortbread - so your house would never know hunger, booze so your house would never know thirst (though a few could have done with some juice or water!!) and fuel so your house would always give a warm welcome! My adopted brother was very dark-haired so he was sent out the back door with all this stuff and had to knock to come into the front for good luck you see, he was in demand at quite a few houses and used to visit with alsorts of folk he didn't see from one year's beginning to the next! In Argyll, we still did this with our children, visiting friends in the wee sma' hours, but in the east, here, it's not done at all - there's parties in folks houses but you need an invite and with hubby away I wasn't doing that this year but next is possible.
Anyway my new year's resolutions are to continue my weightloss journey whilst getting fit, and to complete it by next Christmas, and also to widen my circle of friends through my hobbies and through charity work of some sort - still looking into where I could be useful but something outwith children's education!
I want to make more of an effort to get to know my neighbours, who are very pleasant people but I don't *know* them, and to keep this house tidier so I can invite them in for a tea or coffee without embarrassment! This reflects on my younger son who's going to be encouraged to invite his pals over more - we got out the habit when I worked full-time and need to make an effort to start again.
And lastly, to work harder in my garden, I abdicated a lot of work last year to my daughter who's doing landscape design at college and needed basic experience but this year she can try for real work and I'll do my own garden again!!
Hope your beginning has been a good one:)

Motivational sayings

2009-12-18T22:57:00.001Z

Just a few saying picked up from others that keep me going

~Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

~People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, which is why we recommend it daily. (This one made me smile!)

~Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in day out.

~We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.

~If you can imagine it, you can achieve it, if you can dream it, you can become it.

~If you talk about it, it's a dream, if you envision it, it's possible, but if you schedule it, it's real.

The last one's a favourite! I can talk about being fitter and slimmer, I can see myself fitter and slimmer, and now I've scheduled next year so I get real and finish the job I've started!

Only a week to go!!

2009-12-18T21:51:00.001Z

Have had a really good day with a christmas lunch at the gym with friends I've made at the aqua aerobics class, and the salsa one too! I also did my aqua class first thing despite being snowed in and then the 10k friday challenge - 18m47sec, soo chuffed that's coming down nicely. I also did the rowing 1000m in 4.35min can't seem to get that down to 4.2ish but working on it:D

When I was out some clothes arrived from the catalogue and they fit beautifully, I've gone down 3/4 sizes (depending on shop) and 'normal' size 9 shoes - don't need extra wide anymore, hurray!!

AND it's only a week to go until we have our last official visit from Santa, my youngest will 'know' next year so it won't be quite the same but this time I will cherish the fun and excitement!

We're battling snow over here, a whole 4/5inches for goodness sake, tut! I'm afraid we have a very dim view of how the English cope as their roads and airports seem to struggle an awful lot. A few of our roads are closed through the Highlands mostly but the panic you see from the telly is hard to take seriously because as our weather changes we'll get far worse and just have to get on with it.

Anyway my New Year's Resolution is to carry on with the gym, keep eating healthily and learn more about blogging and use my blog more!!

Have a great time during the Christmas break and I'll drop by here much more!

Back to life!

2009-11-20T21:50:00.000Z

Finally managed to get back to the gym today after pulling a muscle in my neck 3 weeks ago:(
It took 10 days to clear up, then I was helping my husband decorate my mum's lounge and fuss over her as she was fighting a chest infection - it kept her in her bed while we were busy though, lol!
Youngest came back from camp with some extra company that kept him abed for days - a chesty cough that triggered his asthma, so he was off school for a week, poor soul!
Then hubby was fighting shivers and shakes, the insulation team arrived today to do the cavity walls, the car had to be checked over for a *knocking sound* AND the conservatory man came over with his Christmas list, oops sorry estimate!!
All-in-all a rather busy time lately but trying to get back to some sort of normality so the gym was first on the list, yay, not last for a change:)
And the next thing was to update here and try to do it more often, now I'm off to see what everyone else has been up to!!

Autumn

2009-10-05T10:11:00.000+01:00

Autumn has hit pretty hard here, the trees got a right battering at the weekend and bits of them can be found all over the roads and gardens, but that's normal stuff unlike the problems round the world.
I always find it harder to loose weight when the days get shorter because confort food is so lovely but calorific and i do less walking in this kind of weather, but this year's different. I've got loads of lower cal recipes, or cal counted ones so at least I know how much I'm eating and I'm a member of a gym that I love going to - my times of day are usually between 9 and 12 and the gym is practically empty so I can sweat and gasp without folks realising how unfit I am lol!! I have my ipod on so I don't hear myself either but I do check my heart rate monitor to make sure it's not too high! Recently the weighloss has slowed to a stop but I'm doing much more and have better sessions in the gym so I know it's muscle replacing fat and we all know that's heavier!
Life in general is rolling along, housework has to be repeated and I'm finding ways of making it more fun, but there's nothing more satifying than scrubbing a grubby bathroom when you're looking for things to do, and let me assure you with 3 gardeners in the house, the bathroom can get grubby very quickly.
Gardening leads me to last weeks fun. Over at a friend's house we lifted her monoblock round her garage and used some of it to start a wall for a border, daughter is learning Landscape Construction and Design at Oatridge College and friend said she could practice on her garden so her wall-building skills were being polished and will get more polished as there's plenty more wall to build - the border is about 30m/yards long so it will take a while waiting for a half-decent day so the mortar will set! And then we get the fun bit, planting it out and building some others for planting out too. Friend has arthritus in her back and needs raised beds to tend and far less grass to cut, hence the wall-building frenzie!
On Saturday, during the worst of the bad weather, hubby and I had a lovely indoor job, putting up new tracking for cutains at my mother's bedroom window and hung up new light curtains on the inside track with heavier ones on the outside track that she'd wanted us to swop from one room to another so that all got fixed. Then I looked out the windows we were hanging the curtains in front of and got a bucket of soapy/vinegary water, with the hose, and got them all cleaned, rinsed and squeegeed to a shine - love doing windows that are really needing a good slosh, the sun came out just after and they positively sparkled. How strange but sometimes doing good honest cleaning is good for you:)
Right, I'm away off to do my windows now, they're looking seriously mucky and I'm looking for that glow again!!

Rowing for fun?

2009-09-11T23:28:00.000+01:00

Never thought I'd be a fan but a bod on weightlossresources got me onto rowing at the gym and I do a 4min challenge each week to see if I'm improving, and guess what, I am, yay!! I added another 6m to last week's score and can now row 920m in 4minutes, can't believe 'couch potato' me can do stuff like this now but I ain't complaining, it's helping the weight come off so I'll just keep going, woohoo!!
Hubby's back from his ship and can't believe my stamina in the gym now compared to when he left 5 weeks ago, such a difference and I keep smiling about it which is the major change for the better, I like going!
My crafting hasn't started this week, but it's my birthday this weekend, so I'll get everything out after that and get started on the christmas cards, really can't get my head into that zone until I've done the birthday thing!
Really looking forward to good things this weekend:D:D

Getting on with things.

2009-09-08T20:40:00.000+01:00

This week has been a 'get on with things week', eldest is at college, middle is there each day and youngest is at school so I've been doing houseworky things. Motivation for gym has left the building but will be back tomorrow as I desperately need the exercise cals lol!
My healthy eating style is needing a boost so I had a look at some recipes on weightlossresources, the website I've lost over 3st or over 40lbs with and found some chicken recipes that sound good so I'll give them a go. The kids will all try new stuff now - they've had so many experiments that they know mostly mum chooses things we'll all like and I weigh everything I eat to keep things accurate, they get extra potatoes or pasta, grated cheese or whatever. All of my children are tall and slender so I'm only trying to make sure they have healthy food, and lots of exercise - including in the rain Scotland's famous for and let me assure you this last wee while if we had waited for dry days to do stuff in, we'd have been waiting for weeks!
My brother is re-training to become a plumber and comes over to our house for several nights each month for training with a company near us, he's due on wednesday so eldest's room was getting sorted today. made the bed, hoovered but haven't cleaned the window yet, will get round to that tomorrow!
I've started a rowing challenge on the Concept2 website using the machine at the gym and was 6 out of 17 for my age and weight section on their ranking page, each time I go to the gym I'm trying to improve it so stroll on tomorrow's session, I am strangely really enjoying the challenge of different disciplines needed for each machine and pushing myself a little bit more each time I'm there, I was so scared when I joined that i had tears in my eyes when I filled in the forms, a level of emotional wobbliness I didn't expect but hayho, I carried on and 5months down the line I'm getting far more out of it than I ever expected!!
When OH gets back this week, he joins me so I need to show him the improvements that I've made to my routines and he spots me in the weights area - excellent :D
My crafting has taken a backseat lately so I'm hoping to get some stuff out in a wee while as I've a few specific cards to do for family occasions so I'll need to get to them, and get started with the christmas ones - really love doing them!

Weekend aleady, times-a-flying!!

2009-08-29T14:04:00.001+01:00

I really can't believe I'm at another weekend but it's Saturday and for a change I went to the gym today, at 8.30am!!! had a great time as it was practically empty but my hrm's playing up sometimes the hearbeat is detected and other times it's not so I had to go with my exercise planner and it's cals calculations today, it kept going on and off, which made it worse but the chest strap may need a new battery, not sure yet. And I beat someone in the pool, me, lil' ole me actuaslly swam faster then someone lese who looked like they were going fast but obviously weren't!!

Eldest son's watching What Killed the Mega Beasts on Discovery Science with daughter and younger son glued too, so they're learning something and I'm skiving on here but I bought Daddy Day Care, Daddy Day Camp and Where's my car??? so we're having a dvd fest tonight, might get some popcorn and fizzy juice to get the total effect!!

I also bought Steel Magnolias for a good greet when daughter goes to college on Tuesday, REALLY going to enjoy the house to myself for the first time in over a year, well since elder son left school last year!!

After all the upset I decided to decorate elder son's bedroom as a surprise for his homecoming y/day, yes well he was bored with no TV and the surprised was well recieved, he loved it so i was chuffed, I know most people pinch their kids rooms when they move out but I knew he be back and forward to he=is digs and had chosen walpaper but never had it put up so with a bit of paint and some new bedding and a rug, the room looks brand new!!

One really bad weekend!

2009-08-25T20:31:00.000+01:00

On Saturday night I decided to take the kids to the cinema and nearly got hit by another car who didn't pay any attention to the fact that I had right of way on the roundabout! Then we nearly got rear-ended by boy racers on the way home - not something I'm going to repeat anytime soon!!
On Sunday I wished I had been nudged because things just got worse so I thought I'd let cyberworld see what can happen to a normal person who thinks everything she needs to worry about is traffic on the M8
*My son was due to move into his flat today for starting college tomorrow and it all went wrong!
My day started badly because I couldn't get my bro on his phone and he was coming in his van to take stuff to Greenock, I wanted to check when he was arriving:( He was due at 8.30am and by 8.50 the air was blue and I was packing the car with the essentials, tv, dvd player, ipod clock, some clothes, pots, towels, kitchen utensils, you get the picture! By he time we'd finished it was 9.10 and we needed to leave as we had to meet the landlord at 10.30 and the M8 is notorious for problems any day of the week:!

So we left daughter in case Uncle Ru turned up and needed a guide, and because she didn't fit in the car and set off on the 'big adventure':)

Typically the M8 was fab and we got there in 50minutes and nipped into Lidl for some essentials and to use their loo lol!

And we waited, and waited, and waited, we checked the flat door again in case the landlord has arrived through the back entrance, and waited and waited. After about 30mins we phone the Edinburgh number we had - no answer, so we waited, and waited, we went over previous conversations he had had with the big lad and came to the conclusion that the landlord thought the 23rd was Monday not Sunday, argh.

I can't get there for 10.30 on a Monday morning 'cos the wee guy only goes to school at 8.30 and the Kingston bridge in Glasgow is a nightmare in the rush hours (7.30-9.30), so we decided to see if anybody was in at Uncle Ru's, who still wasn't answering the phone but was only 30mins away:)

When we got there auntie was in, Uncle Ru was out with only boy at football - had lost phone and forgotten all about it, double arggh! We had lunch there, yes lunch and then decided that since Uncle Ru was on nightshift he could take big lad over to Greenock for 10.30 tomorrow and deal with the landlord. Big lad has cheques for rent and deposit and anything I've to sign will have to be done here when landlord is on his way home (Edin number so he has to go past), or by post!!!

Big lad transferred everything into Uncle's van, left another message with landlord and I came back with small lad, a headache and no interest in making dinner so we're having a chinese meal and I'm going to enjoy every mouthful!

The good news is daughter tidied up everywhere downstairs, it looks fab and I only ate half the Chinese, well I am on a health kick and there’s only so much egg fried rice I can eat these days!

Just after my meal I had a policewoman at the door asking if I own a Peugeot 308, yes, number******?, yes and were you in Tescos today, no say I, I was in Greenock, was anybody else driving your car? No I was driving it in Greenock. Someone driving your car was in the petrol station this morning, Oh right that was me, you said Tesco's not the petrol station, yes I was there about 8.20, says I,,,,,,,,,
It then transpires that the attendants had phoned the police about 9.10 to say someone had driven off without paying for a paper and petrol and they'd given my reg number!!

So I rummaged around in my bag trying to find the receipt that I don't always get (but will from now on, if I ever go there again) and explained whilst moving the rummage to the car in the garage that I drive a diesel car and paid for my fuel with my Tesco clubcard then a bank card at the pump, I never went into the shop at all. She wrote it all down in a statement and got me to sign it and said she was quite happy they'd made a mistake on the reg number, told me to always get a receipt and left, not a good day at all!!*

Monday wasn't a whole lot better because the landlord left the big lad in a flat with no power, so he had to organise a power company to come out and reset the metre and they can't come til Wed afternoon so he stayed at his uncles last night and tonight and finally should be able to get sorted out tomorrow and actually stay there tomorrow night, and get to know Greenock before his course starts next week!

My husband tried to cheer me with the old adage the troubles come in threes - not for three days honey, you had it bad!!!

Wow, time's flying.

2009-08-20T20:09:00.000+01:00

Can't believe it's nearly a week since the last update but time flies, not always when you're having fun!
Our younger son went back to school this week and is sitting doing a homework report for tomorrow, I know everyone's desperate to establish routines but homework given in the first week is a new one on me and I'm a teacher but he's not moaning too much, bless!
I've had a good week on my diet and the exercise at the gym was fab so things are going along nicely there.
Had to go over to Mum's today to sort out her phone, there was a fault in the line but she never thought of phoning BT from her mobile one, just me lol!
Hubby's had a good week in the north sea messing around on his survey ship but e-mails and skype are a far cry from trident subs when he used to disappear for months with no contact except a few words each week the had to be checked by the sensors, not the easiest things to write!
I've been thinking a lot about the house move and trying to organise a trip up to Inverness to see a few houses when OH comes home so I'd better get off here and find somewhere to stay!

Another week's gone by, how??

2009-08-14T18:41:00.000+01:00

Well I've had a week of looking for properties in the Highlands, moving up to anywhere between Inverness and Thurso, not much of a problem lol!!
This week my brother was over for his plumbing course, to give him more qualifications for earning some more cash and he had his son with him, kids all happy and played together very well. went over to mum's and made tea there y/day while I still can!
Right off to do some more chores.

Where we're at!

2009-08-09T15:16:00.000+01:00

We are at a crossroads at the moment. We moved to our present house to get away from social problems others were giving us and moved in a hurry.
So the way ahead isn't obvious do we stay or do we go?? We live in a town with sirens and traffic screeching all the time and we come from Islay on the west coast of Scotland which is pretty quiet and can't get used to the noise. We have just spent 3 weeks in an RV touring the Scottish Highlands and have seen various places we fancy living in, I should say that my hubby works abroad so our location depends on proximity to airports and train stations:D
So while we look at properties, I'm trying to continue my weightloss journey and keep the house running as normal, the joys of indecision:D

The beginning

2009-08-09T14:15:00.000+01:00

The introduction, I'm a wife, mother of 3 and a primary teacher taking a break and decided to have a go at this:)
I've been on a weightloss journey now for 6 months and need an outlet for thoughts and comments on how it's going, it's bumpy just now but improving!