A Surprisingly Good Weekend!

It's only Sunday afternoon and already I'm shattered from yet another busy weekend! Now, if I'm honest I'd been partly looking forward to, and partly dreading this weekend - as some of it was WAY outside of my comfort zone, but I've ended up having a lovely time! Hopefully it's been a weekend to remember for Simon and Gemma, the Stag and Hen who we were celebrating with.


Saturday morning started early, we were out of the house for 8.45am to drive to Combat Paintball in Thetford. Now, I am of the more cuddly and comfortable flavour than most, and I shall be honest and say I wasn't particularly looking forward to this part of the day. I don't really do cold, wet, muddy, overally, shooty, outdoorsy type things. Walking Bayleigh is about as adventurous as I tend to get! However, Gemma and Simon are very good friends, and this was their Hen and Stag day so I pulled on my "Fuck it, let's get stuck in" head and went for it.


The safety brief was fun, the fighting talk was hilarious, getting kitted out was a task all of it's own. I still wasn't expecting to enjoy paintballing, merely get through it.....but once that gun was in my hand, it was a different story!!! It's amazing how much you get into it, team spirits were high and we were all really up for having fun and I honestly enjoyed every moment. One of the Hen's had even added to the  experience by bringing home made cakes with her! I had made the decision to get stuck in and never regretted it. I even felt a bit upset that we had to leave before the last game to get home for Bayleigh. I ended that part of the day with soaking, freezing feet, covered in mud and forest, a bruise to be proud of on my arm and a strange urge to have another go sooner rather than later! :)


The evening was spent at Gemm's (for the girlies) and out on the town (for the lads) and fun nights were had by both parties, us festooned with flower garlands, surrounded by palm trees and supping on cocktails whilst putting the world to rights - the boys by doing Manly Grr things, namely having a dinner consisting of many, many meat products, much beer and a visit to a couple of "Gentleman's Establishments" which seems to be de rigour for any self respecting Stag Night these days! 


I'm so glad that I bit the bullet and shoved myself out of my comfort zone, the part of the day I wasn't looking forward to ended up being the part I enjoyed the most! 


Another rather wonderful surprise was had this afternoon. West Ham started today rock bottom of the Premiership, and with a game against Liverpool this afternoon...no-one expected us to do anything except lose, and lose royally. However, West Ham had one of those days that us poor fans hope for each weekend, a day where we played wonderful football, the players had fire in their bellies and determination in their eyes and they turned over the Scousers, not just a win, a well deserved win, and a final score of 3-1. A weekend I'll remember for a long time, and for once, for all the right reasons :)

The girlies ready for PaintBall, The Manly Stag, The Hawaiian Hen Night and my reminder of the day!

Noms!

I do like to eat some odd stuff sometimes :o)


Last night Hague made a delish chilli, and he made a LOT of it! We couldn't eat it all, and so some was saved. For today's dinner I decided to buttify said Chilli (which was complete with the rice it was served with originally) with a bit of grated cheese. Hague informed me this was "mucky" (said in the delicious way only a YorkshireMan can say it) as it had the rice in.....not the fact I was making sarnies out of chilli and cheese, oh no, just the fact the rice was mixed in with the chilli!


A Facebook status survey declared this as Nomz, and I must say it was delicious. There is something so wrong it's right about spicy food eaten cold (did I mention it was cold chilli? lol)


Sometimes a girl just knows what she likes! ;o)


This was followed up by today's discovery of utter deliciousness.....Yeo Valley Lemon Curd Yoghurt. Now, I'm not one for OMGing all over the place, but....OMG it was bloody gorgeous, if you like yoghurt and lemony things, go and buy some. No, seriously, next time you are near a shop, buy some! You won't regret it I promise!!

Weighing Up My Options

I really do need to lose weight – I was planning on going back to Slimming World just after Christmas, but never got round to it, then it was February, then Valentine’s Day, and yet here we are, the 22nd of February, and still I am eating whatever I want and avoiding the scales like the plague :o(

When I DO put my mind to it, I can lose weight with the best of them. When following Slimming World before I lost close to 7 stone, but have since gained all of that back, with interest! So as you can see, my need to lose weight is not a case of “Oh I’m so fat, if only I could lose 7lbs” I really do need to lose significant amounts. I am classed as morbidly obese, and currently, I am the biggest I have ever been. This is not a good state of affairs at all, and for the first time ever, I am feeling that weight. I am hideously unfit, and get out of puff exerting the smallest amounts of effort to do the simplest of things, I ache and am not liking my reflection in the mirror. All of my gorgeous clothes are hanging in the closet, too small for me to wear.

This is all my fault, no-one else is to blame. There is no underlying issue, bar my love of foods and drink that are bad for me! Only I can do something about this, and I need to get myself into the right frame of mind. Recently, the more I’ve been thinking about what I need to do, the more I’ve been pondering which system to return to, either Slimming World or Tesco Diets.

The last diet I followed was the Tesco one, I really enjoyed it. It was something different for me, and could make it fit in quite easily with the lifestyle I lead as it was basically calorie based. I enjoyed the foods and lost weight on it, I crashed off of it in a huge way when Dan was in hospital, and never managed to get myself back on track. This might have been down to the fact that I didn’t physically go to a class each week, so it was easier to ignore the texts urging me to weigh in, but on the other hand, if I’m honest, I would have just as easily missing Slimming World classes as well.

Slimming World on the other hand, is comfortable for me, I know the system inside out and know I can lose weight on it as well. I can always eat when I’m hungry and adore the free foods such as pasta, potatoes and rice. The one downfall of Slimming World is that I get stuck into a rut and get bored with eating the same meals over and over again.

After re-reading what I’ve just written, I think I am leaning towards Tesco, it forces me to eat different foods, and if I’m honest, also forces me into varying my diet.

I have a Hen Night this weekend, but after that, nothing to stop me getting back on track for 4 weeks. I could quite easily lose half a stone in that time, even a stone if I’m lucky. So what is stopping me? Nothing whatsoever, except me of course….

TFI Friday!

That was a looooong week! My body clock is all over the place, I'm so tired I can barely think, and I feel like my feet haven't touched the ground in days!


I've been working odd shifts this week, starting off with a night shift on Monday and I've been gradually been moving back round to days - this sounds okay, but in reality it's whacked my body clock totally out of sync. I struggle anyway with fitting into a normal routine as I suffer from something called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. This is a sleep disorder where your internal body clock is significantly delayed. What this means is that my natural pattern for sleep (when left to my own devices) is to fall asleep around 4-5am and wake up around 8 hours later between 12 and 1pm. 


DSPS isn't about being lazy, it can be a real problem to live with. It's like living with constant jet lag. The world works on a 9-5 day, and most people fit into the normal sleep patterns of dropping off between 10-11pm and waking around 7am. Imagine having to wake up 5 hours early, every single day - and then trying to be a productive member of society! Or trying desperately to get yourself some sleep when you're feeling wide awake at 1am, 2am, 3am....watching the clock get closer and closer to the time of the alarm whilst you are still wide awake. 


Sometimes at work, I have to go in on an early shift, this starts at 5.45am. For me, this is like asking me to work right through the time my body is desperate to sleep and I struggle ridiculous amounts. I'm lucky, most of the time I start work at 11, which, whilst this still means I'm up "early" it's not overly early and I can get through the weeks.


This is probably why I love my weekends so very much, I can feel comfortable and awake, I can leave the alarm off and wake up when my body is ready to be awake, and stay up until I'm genuinely tired. One blessing is that Hague is the same, so there is no problem with one of us wanting to go to bed early whilst the other is a Night Owl....is that reason 79088304022 for me loving him so much?? lol!

Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is one of those strange days during the year when emotions are thrust upon you by virtue of the date. Today we should all declare our deep feelings to our loved ones so they know that they are adored and appreciated.

To be honest, it’s always seemed a bit hokey to me, why should the 14th of February be the day when I decide to tell my other half that I love them? Why should the giving of love tokens be dictated by the splashes of red and pink festooned around every shop?

I think love, lust and passion should be spontaneous, the urge to buy a surprise gift, or to cover someone in a bombardment of kisses should be driven by feelings not a calendar. Personally if Dan decides on some random day to buy me a bunch of flowers as he knew they would make me smile, that means a million times more to me than if he had bought some today, just because he felt he should.

I tell Dan I love him every, single day – and he does the same. I never leave the house without giving him a kiss, and never go to sleep without a kiss either. I catch his eye and grin during the evening, and he will come up and give me a hug if I’m in the kitchen. We do little things for each other every day that show our feelings, this to me is the key to showing someone you love them! Don’t get me wrong, grand gestures are always fun, but are way more fun when they’re impromptu and totally unexpected!

Life should be surprising – so I shall have my Valentine’s Day in a million little ways every single day, and I shall have the flowers, chocolates and sweet sentiments on the day they are appropriate for whatever reason…..and I shall love My Daniel more and more on each and every one of those days.

18 Again!

Well that's what I'm telling everyone :) Thursday was my 36th birthday, so I feel fully justified in saying I'm 18 again lol!


As always I had the day off work, I never work on my birthday - it's the one day of the year I want to have a lie in and do whatever takes my fancy, and as it was a Thursday, I took Friday as well :)


We didn't have much planned, and after I had my hair prettyfied we pretty much had a relaxing day...with presents and cards, chilling out together and watching some films. Friday was busier, as I don't need much of an excuse to play with the new camera we took a trip to a local zoo (thank you Tesco Rewards) and spent a lovely few hours wandering around the practically empty zoo, taking pictures and enjoying the animals, it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and even the weather was kind!

After a wander around the shops in the afternoon, and picking up a couple more bits for the living room, the evening was spent with a couple of drinks and some films - perfect!

Today has been another relaxing one, with a bit of a lie in, and some playing with my new lens (yep, I have well and truly caught the bug) and soon we shall be making our way to my Sister's for the evening, always fun!

I know I'm too old really to still get excited about birthdays, but I do. It may seem childish to some, but you know what? I like presents, birthday cake, birthday treats and being special for the day. I like the reflective and optimistic feeling of the end and start of a year in my life. My only real problem with birthdays is the age thing lol.....I'm not entirely sure how the hell I'm 36 years old, I don't feel it, and surely by now I should have grown up? Surely the adult-ness should have kicked in by now? Perhaps it's just totally passed me by, I certainly hope so!

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

The "Official" Birthday Portrait ;)

Roller Coaster Ride!

That's what life seems like at the moment, never a nice, steady kind of life. It's wonderful highs and horrible lows, one after another. It's enough to make you seasick!
We've been so busy recently, work, travelling and seeing friends and family. Our feet don't seem to have touched the ground in the last few weeks, so I am definitely looking forward to the next few days...


It's my birthday tomorrow, so I have a couple of days away from work - and birthday surprises to look forward to! I'm also having my hair done, and popping to Lush in the evening for a party! I'm happy with the little things like that, and as long as I can spend time with Hague I'm happy really!

February?

Already? How has that happened? Just 33 days into the year, and already a couple of the targets I set myself haven't even got off the ground, but one.....my 365 project, has really taken me by surprise! I am OBSESSED! Every day I am consumed by the need to take a photo, and have already found myself frustrated by the limitations of my little Nikon, so a DSLR is waiting in the wings (just waiting on a CF card).


I am thinking more and more about the composition of my photos, always wanting to take the best picture I can, in a way which will be a reminder of the day at the end of the year. I'm so glad I decided to do this, and it has quickly become a huge part of my life. I'm tracking the year on The 365 Project and the community there is amazing, so helpful and friendly, in fact I think I'm spending more time on there than Book of the Face now! Something which would have been unimaginable a few weeks ago!


The weight loss and fitness haven't got off the ground yet, a combination of flu and being skint have meant that I've not yet been able to get started, but am planning on returning to Slimming World on February 14th, a Valentine gift to myself of sorts :o)


2011 has already been a rollercoaster ride, continuing the usual MitcHague life of ups and downs...but it's been one with some lovely fulfilling moments so far, here's to the next 11 months!