Sick Days

I have been feeling rough since we got back from our week away. I must have caught Master Z's lurgie and have had an annoying tickling cough and no voice for the last 2 weeks. TBone and Master Z are thrilled that I haven't been able to nag or complain, I have not been impressed that I can't tell them all the really interesting things and words of wisdom I have to impart.


I have had to have time off work as well, which is not something I would normally do. I had last Thursday off, then went to work on Monday and went home after an hour. I then went to the Doctor on Tuesday, who diagnosed viral laryngitis and advised I just needed to stop talking! She may as well have told me to eat a bowl of coriander! I was not impressed. But, she did give me a certificate for Wednesday and Thursday so that I didn't keep going in to work and when coughing up my lungs spread it around our office and my mum has still had Master Z both days. This has meant I have been able to catch up on sleep, read, write, catch up on some more sleep - all without cleaning, cooking, uni deadlines or work to worry about. 


Despite feeling like death warmed up, it has been wonderful and has been a great re-charge. Particularly as this weekend is the start of December madness. Christmas tree chopping down and first work Christmas party on Saturday, with the Christmas pageant on Sunday!


I love December!


This week, I am thankful for sick days, and for knowing my sickness is very short term and self-limiting. I am also thankful for my mum being able to look after Master Z when I need, and for the month of December and all the fun and excitement that it brings.


Linking up with Kate today at Kate says stuff for Thankful Thursday

Chantel x

Craziness

Things have been crazy busy since we got back from holidays and my body has finally decide to give up. I have no voice left, which must be bliss for TBone and Master Zeb, but now I am starting to feel like death warmed up. 
I haven't had a chance to come near the computer for non-uni related things, I have so many blogs to read and so many ideas for posts to write.


So while I take the next few days to catch up, I will leave you with something that I thought was going to be cute (I mean, how could kittens not be cute!), but is really just downright ANNOYING!!!!

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So sorry to do that to you! Will get back into it over the next few days, honest :o)

Chantel x

Did the Doctor Really Order This?

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I'm baaaacck! It is great to be home and back into a routine, but I want to know how can one week be so stressful and so therapeutic at the same time?


We had a wonderful week, we stayed in a small chalet down south, among the forests, beautiful green rolling hills and wineries. We were able to relax, unplug - forced I might add, as there was no mobile reception and only one channel on the TV. It was a great opportunity to enjoy each others company and reconnect after a long 5 months where TBone has been working stupid hours 6 days a week and going to bed at 8.30pm each night as he had to leave at 4.30pm the next morning.

But, poor Master Z was the sickest he has ever been. He was full of cold, conjunctivitis in both eyes, croup at night, had a mouth abcess, was teething his 2 year old molars and had an ear infection. He was so unwell, but was such an amazing little trouper and just slept most of the week without too much complaining. He would get up for a bottle of milk -wouldn't eat anything else due to a sore throat and mouth - and then take himself back to his cot. This meant we weren't able to leave the chalet much, so the planned wine tours and nature walks went out the window. Holidays with little ones are definitely a different kettle of fish to what we are used to!

But, I wouldn't change it for the world - except his sickness of course. It forced us to have down time, to relax (when I wasn't worried about him), we talked, laughed, had long Master Z cuddles, made plans and spoke of our dreams, drank lots of wine and caught up on many dvd movies that we haven't been able to see for the last two years.

It was a great recalibration and now that Master Z is on the way to recovery, I can appreciate it as being exactly what the Dr ordered for us.

Have you had a holiday that was not quite what you planned, but in hindsight was wonderful all the same?

Chantel x

Holiday

I am going to be away for the next week - to somewhere that looks nothing like the picture above! - so this site will be very quiet. I am going to aim to be super vigilant with my 12 week Body Transformation goals and am going to take the opportunities our new surroundings provide to exercise in different ways. My hardest task will be limiting the awesome wine I am going to be surrounded by.


I also want to have a good think about what I am doing this whole blogging thing for and where I want to go from here. At the moment, I am only really getting 1 or 2 posts a week and I need to evaluate if that's how I want to continue, or if I want to do other things.


Have a great week everyone and see you on the flip side.......

Chantel x

Sunday Session - Blur versus Oasis

The great musical rivalries, Beatles vs Stones, Wham vs Duran Duran, NSync vs Backstreet Boys, Take That vs Boyzone - but the one that was most relevant for me, was Blur versus Oasis. I was never in one camp or the other, just got to relish the awesome music that came out of that era.


I love Damon Albarn and thought that Liam Gallagher was a bit of a wanker. I do, however think Noel Gallagher is an amazing writer and it was when I saw him interviewed the other night on Jonathan Ross that I got thinking about the rivalry between these two bands. Of course it was all fuelled by the British tabloid media at the time, and I think Liam may have had a lot to do with stirring the pot too. Jonathan asked Noel is he would ever consider doing  a collaboration with Damon Albarn and he gave a very positive answer - if only - all my 90s dreams realised :o)


Here is a few of my favourite videos:


























Sorry for the poor quality and not original vids, all quite heavily copyrighted, but the beauty of these bands is to see them live anyway!


Linking up with Thea as always on a Sunday

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - Week 6

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Sunday will be the end of Week 6 of the 12 Week Body Transformation and will be the half way mark. 

I have lost 6 kilos so far, so am sort of on track for my 15 kilo target - just need to step it up a bit. I have found it really hard to exercise this week as I have been sick a few days, so haven't really ventured out of the house. I had a migraine Monday, which although sounds bad, I take as a good sign as I only get them when my hormone levels are changing. I figure as I lose weight and fat burns, my hormones change, so often when I have been dieting or exercising I will get a migraine. That's me trying to see a positive out of 32 hours of hell and a foggy head!

I need to kick the exercise up a level, so will try and fit in a Super Session at the gym tomorrow with a 5km run, 10km bike ride and 2000m row again. 

We are going away for a week soon, so that is going to be a pressure point for me. We are going to wine country, so I will need to do everything in moderation. My plan is to do all 3 DVDs each day, as well as doing a walk each day - which will happen as the scenery where we are going is just magic! We will eat out each lunchtime, and cook dinners in our chalet, so I will make sure our dinners are pre-planned and will have salads for lunch - which I am more than happy to do this time of the year. Wine will be my downfall, but I am not going to say 'No' to it, as I would then end up begrudging everything, throw a tanty and throw all my hard work out the window. I think I will approach it with moderation, allow myself a glass or 2 a day and not have any snacks. I think this will be the best way for my mindset and I will just have to hit the exercise extra hard.

So half way, and still really enjoying it! Have a great weekend. 

Chantel x

Thankful Thursday - 30 minute special

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I am just not finding any time to write blog posts at the moment, so decided I would have a crack at writing one in the 30 minutes I have for my lunch break. I figured that linking up with Kate for her Thankful Thursday would be a good way of keeping myself to a time limit.

I love this time of the year. It seems as though once we hit November, we embark on a whirlwind of social events, holidays and sunny days, with no let up until after Easter. This week I am thankful for:

• Holidays - we are going to spend a week in a chalet on a farm down the south of the state. Can't wait! TBone has been working long days with only Sundays off since June and it will be so nice to spend some time together relaxing, drinking some wine, reconnecting and enjoying Master Z.

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• Christmas - November 1st means I can get out my Christmas planner and start using my christmas mug and breakfast bowl. I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the festivities, but most of all I love the family traditions. This year, I am excited that we can start our own little family traditions as Master Z is old enough to understand. We will be able to go and choose a tree to chop down, we will be able to decorate it and he will be able (sort of) to understand the whole Father Christmas and present thing.

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• New Cars - we pick up a new car on Saturday. I love the smell of the interior, the excitement of putting the first kilometre on the clock (yep, saddo here!) and finding out all the new features. And this one is red - so surely it must go faster???!!

30 minutes almost up, just enough time to link in to Kate's page.

What are you Thankful for this week? Head on over to check out everyone's week.

Chantel x