What I've been up to the last couple of weeks

eating...too much...but trying, again, to get that sorted. Seems being at home is making it much more difficult to resist temptation! However, that is the one and only downside to me being a 'domestic goddess'.

Exercising...not enough, but more than last year! Still treadmilling my way to a clear mind. Discovered a website called Sparkpeople that is a great help in logging what I have achieved (or not!) and getting advice and support from others seeking a healthy lifestyle.

Gardening...my little veggies are growing nicely now. Pictures to follow.

Decorating...our 'den' is almost finished, again, photos to follow. All that needs to be done is to get my OU certificates up on the wall (they're finally framed!) and a few bits of filing put away tidily.

Family...seeing more of mum and dad now that they are permanently home from the seas of the Caribbean. They have become my once-a-week jogging partners, but not this week, mum and I have sore tonsils and are feeling rather lethargic.

Cars...highlight of the month.....we sold your reliable Peugeot 206 and are now the proud owners of an Audi TT. Hub has wanted one for ages and we thought, why not, while we can! Kids don't fit too well in the back , but we're a two car family and the other car is bigger. The Audi is for hub and me, for our 'couple time' when Lee gets time off during the week, when the kids are at school and we get to go out and about for lunch.



On a more sober note, I discovered today that my aunt, who has suffered from bowel cancer for a few years, is finally on morphine and has, at best, 10 days left with us. Particularly terrible for my cousins who also lost their dad to cancer 15 years ago.

Enrique....at last!

Enrique has a new album due for release in June, not that I am bored of the 3 other CDs I have, but more would be lovely!
If you haven't heard Enrique, here y'go...


and this is probably my favourite...
Not only does Enrique sing it beautifully but it also reminds me of some very happy times on the road in our campervan.

Lastly, if you're so inclined you can sing along to any of his tunes! I'd like to join you, but when I'm pounding away on my treadmill, the best I can do it mouth the words! Besides, I'd never do the songs justice and would probably upset the neighbours :o)

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Where have I been for the past few weeks....

not far, I am still here...albeit noncommunicatively :O)
Been a bit busy of late. Not with work, although I have done some OU testing for KE308 this week, and did one day's casual work two weeks ago when they were desperate and clearly didn't want to pay a supply teacher!

I've been busy looking after my health, more so with exercise than with decent eating, but I'm working on getting back into good habits with food (even made my own chicken and veg soup today and son ate it, so it can't have been too bad as he doesn't, like his father, 'do' soup!)

I've also been busy pottering in the garden. The spinach, lettuces and carrots that I planted from seed are doing nicely. I was given a bit of raspberry plant from my brother in law and that has survived and is looking strong. Spring onions have stems...not sure how they are doing beneath the ground and am resisting the temptation to pull one! Cress was sampled yesterday in a salad, very tasty :o)
I attempted to separate some of the lettuces yesterday, they haven't wilted today so all should be well!
I also had to recover lots of spinach seedlings from the patio because this morning the wind and rain blew over the plastic pot they were growing in! I poked them back into the compost as best I could, it remains to be seen if they survive!

Spanish is coming along nicely, at least on paper, understanding it spoken is quite a different kettle of fish and is going to take time. Don't bother checking out my Spanish blog as I never really got it off the ground, it took much messing around trying to include accents and upside-down question marks!

Quite a few photos to upload to Flickr this week. Mainly of the decorating (the room's finally finished!), the garden and a trip to see my nieces last weekend.

This week...

Been back from Spain for almost a week now, and the weather here has been better than it was there! I got in a few hours on the sun lounger and devoured two good books, the rest of the time we went out and about as it was too cloudy for sitting around or swimming (although I did brave the 17 degree pool for 2 x 15 lengths).

So what have I been up to?

We continue to do a bit more to the decorating downstairs, got the coving up and holes in the walls filled ready to do the sanding this coming weekend. Planned out how to fit computer desk, pool table (new addition to the room), treadmill, sofa (new adition to the room...will keep the kids away from the 'living' room so hub can continue his zombie-like state betwen night shifts!) and enough shelves to house my favourite books collection of OU books and novels. Not an easy task in a room that is 3.5 x 3.5 m! And not easy even though I have already sold hundreds of pounds worth of books on ebay! Still, it should all fit, and if we treat ourselves to a flat screen on the wall the kids will have a nice den, and I will have a nice area to get away from the rubbish on the TV to read, exercise, or use the internet.

I've discovered green fingers! We have a small corner of the patio that had no use (it's at the top of some steps which now go nowhere - they used to lead up to the dinig room before we added a two storey extension 9 years ago) and I have made it my growing patch! I've planted seeds for carrots, baby lettuces and spinach. I also bought some patio pots and have planted chives, cress and tomatoes. We'll probably get a ground frost now!

Anyone who knows me fairly well will know that I'm not much of a domestic goddess, but I am trying! I do enjoy pottering about the garden with my secateurs (spelling?), now I am doing something a bit more productive and may (or may not!) save a few pennies on the food bill. I'd like to give potatoes, broccoli, and strawberries a go but don't have much space, other than room for more patio pots.

Next, to improve my domestic skills I intend to have a go at some proper home cooking or baking! Sounds more tricky than planting so I am having a think about this one! Grabs a few library books with some glossy pictures of deliciosu looking dishes and am weighing up how easy they look to make, and how much stuff I will need to buy (herbs? flour? loaf tin? flan dish? I only have salt and vinegar in my cupboard,and a baking tray and 2 roasting tins in the oven!!)

Healthy eating got a bit slack in Spain I rediscovered the taste of crisps and chocolate and wasn't very active...I know I've put on a few pounds, so I can't wait to get back on the treadmill. I was tempted by a resistance band in Tesco, well, it was only a fiver, so I got it and have looked up some moves on the Web. I also dusted off my dumbells (had them almost ten years and they've never bene used!) and got another library book on what to do with them!

Practising Spanish also got a bit slack in the lead up to the holiday, but I did use it to order food and drove family potty telling them anything I could translate, from food packets to electoral advertisments! Evening classes start again this week and I really should be looking at the preterite tense, but I have two chapters to test for KE312 by the weekend.

I'd better get cracking then!

Photos......

are here:

Hola from rainy Spain!

I hope the weather in the UK is as nice as it is here! We have plenty of grey clouds, some rain, and the odd burst of warm sunshine, but as soon as I get out on the sunlounger with my book, MP3 player and an iced drink.... it clouds over and I get goosebumps!

Having a lovely rest though. Been out to Mijas, a very pretty village nestling on the hills overlooking the coast, and to the crocodile park in Torremolinos, kids loved it but I felt a bit sorry for the crocs and alligators in their cemented, un-natural environments. Highlight was we all got to hold a baby croc.

Photos to follow, at the moment I am lucky to be typing this...it's the first internet connection I've had since we got here 6 days ago!

Just call me a domestic goddess!

It was my last day at work yesterday. It wasn't as sad an event as I thought it would be. I know I wanted to leave, but I was sure I'd feel a bit upset because I'd think about missing all the social contact, but I just kept telling everyone I'd be back as a parent helper and that made me realise there's nothing to be sad about. I can still enjoy being with everyone, just without the stress of the job!

Anyway, I had a lovely send off. Lots of gifts...




and a beautiful crown...!



And tonight we are going out for an Italian in Rochester. Should be fun, just wish I didn't have this sore throat and achey legs that make me want to retire to bed at 8pm...we don't eat til 8.30!

So, what shall I do today? Wash...iron...change beds...pack cases, yes, nearly time to fly to the sun!

I haven't been on my treadmill for a week as I didn't want to push myself and come down with any worse than a sore throat. But I am pleased to see that my size 16 jeans fall down unless I have a belt, see below!

Crisps.

Would someone perleease come round and remove the crisps from my cupboards. Hub bought 2 huge boxes of Walkers because they were 'a bargain'. I have no willpower, I am eating them even when I don't particularly like the flavours, and I am ruining the hard work I am putting into jogging!!
But hang on, it's not just crisps. There was the individual pot of trifle and the Ainsley Harriot Heaven bar earlier this evening, the Twirl yesterday for lunch plus numerous other 'snacks' that I have conveniently chosen to forget.
Definite trend going on here...fat, fat and more fat.
Perhaps I should do double the workout tomorrow, but a whole hour in one go? I don't think so!
So I'm one grumpy piggy this evening and could eat anything in sight without even realising food had passed my lips.
Ese es todo. Hasta manana....

What did I do today?

Treadmill progress is here!

Been busy today, a bit of shopping for some holiday clothes. Seem to have gained a few pounds as I couldn't do up some size 14 trousers from New Look :o\ But I did get into size 14 tops :o)

A bit of frieze removal in the study, ready for sanding when hub gets time. Photos to follow. Can't do them now as they are stored on the laptop and daughter is MSN-ing.

Tonight's job is to type up my comments on the chapters of KE312 that I have been testing over the last few weeks. Be nice to get that done and dusted so I can crack on with some Spanish. I need to get listening to some Spanish, understanding spoekn Spanish is definitely my weak point. Reading and writing no problem. I already knew that I'm not a good audio learner so must get practising.
Hasta luego!

Bother!

Can't believe I forgot to look out at the lunar eclipse last night...I was ironing and listening to a Spanish CD. How could that have become more important than something as awesome as an eclipse? I have my priorities all wrong!!
For anyone else who missed it...BBC news have a nice piccie:

Naughty naughty!

I'm just about to ruin all my hard work this week...hub has gone for a kebab and chips, but boy will it be yummy! I might regret it later when the heartburn/indigestion kicks in!

I've been playing today. Both kids went out for a few hours. Did I iron, clean or do anything constructive? No...I added a few silly bits to my blog, not very useful, but fun!

Script Marking

Well, my application has been acknowledged. Fingers crossed....

Dusted off the treadmill

Monday: 2 miles walk/jog in 24 minutes
Wednesday: 2 miles walk/jog in 22 minutes
Today: 3.2 miles walk/run in 30 minutes

Last time I remember using it regularly I found it difficult to jog for more than a minute (I was about a stone and a half heavier and it was more than a year ago!), this time I did 2 or 3 minutes walking at 5+ mph, with 1 or 2 minutes jogging at 7-8mph, and it really was no sweat, pardon the pun. I even managed to hot-foot it at 8.5 mph for a few minutes. Very pleased that I'm off to a good start.
My goal? To be able to go out jogging for an hour and to tone up my lower half.
If I manage to keep up a regular exercise routine I'll log my progress in fitness and weight in separate blog. It'd be good to be able to look back and say I have made progress towards a fitter me! Watch this space...

It's official!

Look what plopped onto my doormat this morning! I'd forgotten all about the certificate. Guess I should frame and display it somewhere. Study is currently being decorated, or rather has been emptied.....and left for weeks unloved and uncared for! Conservatory is packed full of stuff from the study, not a good sight! Now where can I put it so that it doesn't get creased or lost.....suggestions on a postcard please...