Month: April 2013

A Different Impulse…

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I have just got back from a brilliant impulse!

I went to have my whiskers zapped with electrolysis… Yes, these things have to be done as we get older! Sitting waiting for the painful treatment ( and don’t let anyone tell you it’s not!) I thought wasn’t it a shame I hadn’t booked a massage…so I just commented how I wished I had booked one.

After my vanity treatment the young woman said she had a free slot in half an hour if I was interested….I jumped at the chance, and I am so glad I did!!

I was given a 45 minute Aveda de-stress massage. Oh how I had needed that! Strangely it was more painful on the left side than the right, but that may be because of my right knee pain.

I have just walked the dog round our garden, breathing in the late afternoon/early evening air, slightly chilling now with the blue sky allowing the earth heat to escape. Hopefully it took all my stress with it!

So you see, following your impulses an be really good for you!

May you have a peaceful day.

L x

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Impulses

Are you driven by your impulses?

Actually what I want to ask you is ” are you an impulse buyer”?  I am…you can tell, I bet! at this moment I am kicking myself for not following my first impulse a few weeks ago!!

I saw a shirt…OK, you knew this was going to be about shopping, right? Like many shirts I buy from this particular shop it was a large long one with lots of pin-tucks all over. This one was in a light blue..it called to me! (well, they all do!) but I had a friend with me and I was trying to be good, and not give in to my “I want ” urge. we were due to meet another friend at a new haberdashery/knitting shop I had discovered in a magazine and we were a bit late. I thought I’d go back afterwards, but it never happened. I told myself I would go back another day and if it was there then it was meant to be…

So, a couple of weeks have passed and I went today…IT HAD GONE! Someone else is wearing the beautiful blue shirt! This is one of those boutiques that only buys one of each thing…but they have two other shops the other side of Kent. To make matters worse the lady serving in the shop obviously thought I was not the right customer for her shop (not that she is the owner!) and said she couldn’t remember the shirt at all!!

I seethed! I politely said it served me right for not buying it when I saw it, and left. Inside I was so cross…with myself for not following my first impulse; with the lady for being unhelpful and making me feel too fat/old/wrong for the shop; and with my friend for being there so I showed off being good not buying it!

Of course, none of this matters…the world is still turning, no-one has been hurt, and the sun will come up tomorrow. It also proves right the chap who wrote the book I have been reading …Blink by Malcolm Gladwell… which basically says follow your first gut instinct!!! In the future I shall GO FOR IT! World, be warned!

In the meantime…I wonder if anywhere else stocks those shirts….or is it on eBay..????

L x

 

 

Yoga….where?

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Morning World, how are you feeling?

I have decided I want to add another string to my bow of living a healthier life, and Yoga has always intrigued me…
Why haven’t I don’t it before, I hear you ask ( well, just pretend you did!). I have dabbled at school, with the odd class, but now I feel it’s time to take it seriously. I know there is a yoga centre on the way to Battle which I must contact, but also I have asked Adam the trainer to ask his teacher if she does classes nearer to here.

I am constrained a little on the days I can learn it..I must get back to golf, back to going up to London regularly to see more of Hubby,can’t stop training… So, with only 7days in the week, and really only 5 I can use without cutting into the Weekend, Monday night or Thursday night ( if I can move after training!) look to be the best bet.

I have been watching Hubby managing to bend his leg up under his body whilst stretching out the other one and all flat on the floor and feel I really ought to be able to do the same! Ok, so there is a load less of him than me, but I have always thought I was more flexible…Hm, an element of competition creeping in here? Better watch that! Hold on whilst I just check I can …reach…my …toes…Yes! Phew! Ok, so on with the search!

I love starting the new week with a new “thing” to achieve! I’ll keep you posted on whether I find what I’m looking for.
In the meantime, have a FAB week!

Lx

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Oh, Buck Up!

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I am giving myself a good talking to today! “Buck Up” being the nice way to put it!!

Yesterday the “old Liz” reared her ugly head… And I sat at the kitchen table, and ATE! I felt sorry for myself, just because my knees hurt when I exercise/walk/go to sleep. I feel sluggish, and down.

Now, to be kind to myself it might be something to do with the powerful painkillers and the stomach pills to counter the bad effect the pain killers have on my tummy. These mean my insides are in shock, and not working as they should (nuff said, don’t panic!) and I seem to be bloating.

However, all this doesn’t mean I should give up on how much I have achieved so far!! It does NOT mean I can’t train in some form or another! Ok, so nothing gives me the “high” of jogging then training, but it just means I have to find a different way of doing it; and that is why I have a personal trainer!!

Ok, so there have been a few setbacks in other areas…the boiler getting thru £750 worth of oil in a month, the dog bringing home a dead lamb ( it was already dead we think), the cottage loo mysteriously leaking at the base then stopping ( my mother haunting us?) BUT I am so lucky in that I have earned the money to pay for more oil; the dog is now on the lead and will never be allowed out alone again; the loo seems ok so I don’t need a new one!; the boiler is now fixed so the cottage guests are warm with hot water when they want it.

Counting my blessings here as hard as I can, folks! And boy, do I have blessings!!
And my men keep telling me not to worry about things in the future as they may never happen.

So, I await Adam telling me new training routines to keep up the weight loss.
I WILL stop the grazing of food by not sitting at the kitchen table for hours on end!
The weather is getting better so I will be able to get into the garden and pretend to know what I’m doing there.
Art starts again today so I can try something new there.
I have new windows so no more drafts.

Far more important that all those “things” are…
I am loved and can love.
I am alive and can breath.
I can move and achieve.

So my thought for today will be …

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Hugs to all of you and thanks for letting me main to you. Feel free to kick me up the backside!

Lx

Maybe Next Time

20121029-055943.jpgBad news folks – my run is off due to knee trouble.

Just before skiing, back in January, I twisted/pulled my knee but still managed to ski thanks to strapping and ibuprofen gel. Since then it has always hurt when jogging and working out.

Then last week after training i could hardly walk and i have been in pain since. so much so I could hardly walk up to 3.8 mph on the treadmill on Thursday.

SO I drove to the doc”s who has referred me t a specialist next Wednesday. I have seen this guy before, and he is good. I just hope he can get it going pain free soon! there is a suggestion of tor cartilage – though being new to running I don’t know how bad this can be.

In the meantime Adam is going to have to alter my workouts to protect the knees whilst keeping the metabolism going. This week he had me boxing, throwing the medicine ball like a basket ball – it is soooo not like a basket ball!! AND I was never that good at netball in the first place!!!! At the end he had me planking on elbows and toes for 3 x 60 seconds.

Actually I was secretly pleased at how well I did on the planking, but please don’t tell him!

Next week we will use the bosu, so that should be fun!

In the long run (oh, so bad!) I am really hoping I will be fit enough for a 5k by the end of the summer (if we have one). I cant believe I actually miss jogging and how it makes me feel when it stops! It has really helped with the weight and the depression. Even my blood pressure is down! Wednesday I will have a non-fasting blood test to see if my cholesterol is down too…Woohoo!

In the mean time, my thoughts and prayers go out to those caught in the Boston Bombing; and to those running in the London Marathon this Sunday.

Lx

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New Week, Clean Desk

IMG_0737Is this how you started your week? Not me!

As always I drive Hubby to the station so he can wing his way to The Smoke, then come home to The Breakfast Club on Twitter.

That in itself is a great way to start…connecting with other folks and other lives; giving and receiving news, advice, hugs, jokes etc. There is always something to make me smile,as well as sometimes things that make me count my blessings!

This morning gave me the umph to clear out my desk in the study! We have just got a new sofa, the first of the planned changes to the room, and I am having fun moving the furniture around to see what fits best where and what colours are still needed in the room. Having got the bug of bringing a chair down from upstairs and moving old sofa up I then opened the bottom draw of my desk…..first time in ages!

Oh boy! There were things in there I haven’t seen in decades!! Including the first card my Hubby ever wrote to me – he had tracked me down after meeting at a party, gave me his telephone number ( this is pre-mobile days!) and hoped we could go out the following week for a meal! I remember being so excited… lost quite a few minutes daydreaming!

Then I found our daughter’s last birthday cards, a few sympathy cards, and other stuff. I didn’t cry- I didn’t want to!! Looking at all the wonderful messages to her was really uplifting, and when I found the old prep school book for that year I was able to read her obituary by her best friend. The the laughter started when I found her brother’s picture in his leaving play! He looks so young! SO do all his friends!! Cute! Ah, those were the days.

Have I finished? Of course not!! There is still mess over the floor, my collection of postcards from art galleries, writing paper and envelopes, and a very old recipe for a strawberry mouse! Will I finish clearing up? I have to! I am alone this evening and I want to enjoy the tidy, clean study and the new sofa in all its gloriousness!

Am I going to do it now?… NO!!! The sun is shining and the dog and I want to walk in to whilst we can!

So….IMG_0720Later, Dudes!!! 😉

L x

Friday Thoughts

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YES IT IS!

Is this how you are feeling? I am a bit, due to a kidney infection…thank goodness it’s not Cystitis!! I used to have that sooo badly until I had a caesarean birth with our Son. This is just leaving me uncomfortable and very tired. But it’s going!

So, we all look forward to Friday, don’t we? It signals the end of the working week for most of us, and the start of a relaxing time, or at least time at home.
For me it signals a changeover in my holiday cottage, saying goodbye to guests hoping they have enjoyed themselves, and hello to new faces. It means a huge wash of bed sheets, towels etc, getting them out of the way before Hubby brings home his washing from London.

This time Hubby is returning from a trip to Tokyo. He has been away from me for 11days, caught and hopefully got over a cold ( no, it didn’t sound like man flu- he sounded dreadful on the phone!), and is ready for home food and cuddles. No choice about the last two, poor chap!
After all these years ( known eachother for 29 years) I still feel happier when he is in the country than abroad. Now, don’t get me wrong, he can annoy the hell out of me- especially if he comments on something I haven’t done! The cry of “well, do it yourself then!” can be occasionally heard!!

How spooky! He’s just emailed me!!

I am looking out over the garden watching the sleet come and go, and trying to “gird up my loins” to get going. After all …

IT’S FRIDAY!!

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Have a great weekend wherever you are, and whatever you will be doing.
L