The recovery

This morning I got up and considering it was raining, I jumped on the cross-trainer for 25 minutes. It wasn't easy and I had sweated up a storm by the end of it. We had some breakfast and then headed to Chermside Shopping Center to hopefully go and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

We walked around for a while and then tried to get tickets but the upcoming shows were sold out. There were seats available at the 3pm show so John, Caz and Hazel headed home and Ross and I stayed to buy the tickets, wander around a bit more among the throng of Boxing Day bargain hunters and ended up in the pub watching the Boxing Day test match.

Just before 3, the rest of the family arrived and we headed upstairs for the movie. It was a packed cinema and the movie was pretty good. It left itself open to plenty of follow-on movies.

Back at home, we had (surprise, surprise) ham and salad for dinner. We played some Wii in the evening before heading to bed about 10 after a lazy Boxing Day.

Heading up to Brisbane

This morning Ross and I set the alarm for 7 and got up to go for a walk. We walked for about 50 minutes along the coast, up hills and back again. It was beautiful this morning and heaps of people were out and about. It was a great walk and we ended up back at the apartment around 8.30 to find John and Caz having breakfast on the balcony. We had some breakfast with them before packing up our stuff and checking out of the apartment.

Caz drove us up to Pacific Fair where we stopped for coffee and and some food. Caz and I wandered around the shops for about an hour before meeting up with the boys again about 12. I did some last minute Christmas shopping before we headed back to the car.

We drove back up to Brisbane and stopped off at Ann's place. She pulled in the driveway 3 seconds before we did! We had some lunch with her and Dad and caught up on the latest news. Ross and I hadn't been to Brisbane since 2007 so it was nice to see all the work that Ann had done on the house. The new kitchen that Dad helped her with looked great and they were working on the laundry the day we arrived.

In the afternoon we went to an electrical store to sort out one of the Christmas presents before leaving Dad and Ann to drive to John and Caz's place. This was the first time that we seen their place and the renovations. They have put so much work into the house and it is looking really good.

We spent the night watching Inglourious Basterds after Caz cooked a yum meal of turkey steaks with cous cous and carrots. We stayed up for a while longer before heading to bed. Zeus the 3-legged cat decided to spend the night in our room but about 2.30am I kicked him out as he was licking Ross on the head and being a general nuisance :-).

Last day of work for Ross

This morning I woke up, showered and headed out to Ikano for a waxing appointment. I had breakfast at Dome first and wandered around the shops for a bit before going to my appointment. Once that was done, I looked around a little bit more but then decided to head home.

Back at home I had a pretty boring day. I did a few bits and pieces on the computer and tried to start updating my CV but soon lost interest. I rented some movies off iTunes for the plane. I then laid on the bed and read my book until I had finished. It was a great series - all three books were good and I really enjoyed reading them. I had it when you finish a good series or book because you know the next thing you pick up will not live up to your expectations. I plan to read My Sister's Keeper next so then I can watch the movie.

By about 3.30, I was incredible bored so I text Ross to see what he was up to - no response. I sat on the couch and watched crap TV for a couple of hours until he came home. It was so nice to have some company again! We spent the night making portobello burgers, having a glass of red wine and watching Shawshank Redemption on DVD - a great show. It's so nice to have Ross back home.

Since I finished my book this afternoon, I started reading "Malaysia at Random"; a book that was recommended to us by the Millers. Maddie had gotten it as a going away present from one of her friends and it is filled with interesting and unusual facts about Malaysia such as the fine for killing a tiger is 15,000 ringgit and how to artificially inseminate an Asian elephant!

A great day watching New Moon

I woke up with Ross this morning and text Sonja to see if she wanted to go walking around KLCC Park. I met her just before 8 and we walked for about an hour before having breakfast at Chinoz. We did a couple of errands before walking back to the apartment to shower and then head out again.

I met Sonja again about 10.30 and we drove over to the Gardens to go and see New Moon at the Gold Class cinemas. We bought our tickets and then went to have coffee at the Starbucks in Borders. Just before 12, we headed back up to the cinemas, made ourselves comfortable with our doonas and pillows and settled in for the movie. As you can see from the photo, we were the only ones in the cinema.

Basically, the movie, just like the first one, followed the book pretty well. This movie had a lot more action than the first but the acting and script writing was still pretty crap - laughable at points. But it was still a pretty good show.

After the movie, we looked around a few shops and then headed to Yo Sushi for some late lunch. We did a few more bits of shopping before heading back to the car and driving home.

I didn't do much in the afternoon and when Ross got home I was too tired to cook so he picked up a salad from California Pizza Kitchen for us for dinner.

As usual, we watched some TV before heading to bed.

Still feeling like crap!

This morning I had planned to get up and walk with Sonja. I woke up with Ross at 6.40am but just felt so awful that I text Sonja to say that I would not be going walking but would call her later. I read my book for a while before I fell back to sleep until 10.30.

I rang Sonja when I woke up and we made plans to meet and go for nails. I was going to walk over but just didn't feel up to it so I picked up Sonja downstairs and we drove to KLCC. We walked into the nail salon and got busy with pedis and manis. They did a pretty good job although I asked them to take off the polish from my fingers.

After nails, we went to the Vietnamese restaurant and had some Pho Bo for lunch. From there we grabbed a coffee at the Coffee Bean before picking up my drycleaning and alterations and heading home.

Back at home, I watched the Twilight movie which I had taped last night. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed the first book and it did pretty much match up. Let's see what the next movie is like.

Ross came home about 6.30 and we made a beef stirfry for dinner. Ross continued working and I watched some TV before heading to bed.

Today's photo is Black who found a warm spot on top of the TV cabinet behind the sound system.

Roast lunch and relaxation

We didn't do much at all today. I still felt crap so I spent the morning in bed reading. In the afternoon, we went to the Fabulous Fish 'n' Chip Shop for their Sunday roast. We chose the roast beef which was a great choice - complete with cauliflower cheese, roast veg and Yorkshire puddings.

On our way back home we picked up a Starbucks and spent the rest of the day on the couch watching the rest of the Californication series. Surprisingly, we got hungry again and made a pasta with left over Nando's chicken and some frozen veg. Not bad.

We both headed off to bed about 9.30.

Today's photo is of my WeightWatchers weight tracker chart. You can see my weight from January until today. When I started WW in June 2008 I weighed 75.1kg. Today I weight 66.7kg. I lost 10% of my body weight - not bad! I unsubscribed from WeightWatchers today - a good feeling! Hopefully my good habits are here to stay.

You can see the last drop in weight which was pretty dramatic and due to me cutting sugar out of my diet.

A wonderfully lazy Saturday

We both woke up reasonably late this morning and stayed in bed until about 10. We headed out to the Blue Cow for breakfast - bacon and eggs with hashbrowns and mushrooms - yum!

From there we drove to the Matrade Exhibition Center to have a look at Art Expo 09, a major art show where galleries from around SE Asia bring their work to show and sell. We wandered around the various galleries; there was some interesting stuff but nothing that really grabbed us (or fell in our price range!) but we did get some info on the location of galleries in KL.

We drove home and spent the afternoon vegging out. We watched the movie Se7en - I'd forgotten what a messed up movie that is! We ordered dinner from California Pizza Kitchen and I had an amazing grilled vegetable salad.

We didn't do too much else for the rest of the night. We watched the Liverpool game before heading to bed.

Leaving Singapore

Today we lazed about in the room until we had to check out. We dropped our bags downstairs and headed to the Coffee Connoisseur for some early lunch. We picked up a takeaway coffee, walked back to the hotel and got into the car ready for the drive home.

It took us just under 4 hours to get home. We went through intermittent rain (and heavy rain - see photo) on the way back and by the time we got home we were exhausted.

We dropped our bags and spent the afternoon laying on the bed watching TV before ordering Nando's delivery for an early dinner (which we also ate on the bed!).

In the evening, we watched Enemy Behind the Gates - a great show. Ross fell asleep before the end but I watched the entire movie before turning out the light and going to sleep.

A pretty casual day around KL

This morning we had breakfast at home and then Tara and I walked over to KLCC in time for our nail appointment. Sonja met us over there and we all began a couple of hours of pampering. We opted for the cinnamon and pumpkin masque treatment with the heated booties. It was great!

Sonja headed off with Emma and Maddie to go see Inglourious Basterds. Tara and I wandered around KLCC for a while looking in the Petronas Gallery exhibition. We had some lunch at The Apartment before picking up a couple of things from the supermarket before walking home.

Later in the afternoon, Tara and I took Eddie over to the park as JB was not feeling well. We spent an hour or so over there watching Eddie play on the equipment before heading home. We rang up the Magnificent Fish and Chip Place and ordered some fish and chips for dinner. Ross and I drove up and picked it up. It took forever because the traffic was so bad!

We ate our fish and chips and watched MILK before heading off to bed.

Dad gets his new car and Patrick turns 1!

This morning I didn't do too much and about 10.30, Dad and I headed over to Sefton Plaza to run a few errands. They had rung up to say that Dad's car was ready so we went to get a bank cheque from CPS for the remainder of the amount owing. We also dropped off the last bit of paperwork for Dad's pension payments and he should receive his first payment on Monday! Pretty quick!

I ducked into to Target to find a present for Patrick who was turning 1. We bought him a cloth book and some bath toys. From Sefton Plaza, we drove over to Stillwell Hyundai to see Ron about Dad's car. It was almost ready, they just had to do the window tinting and a final inspection before Dad could pick it up. So we finalized all the paperwork and Ron said that it will be ready to pick up at 5.

After that, I dropped Dad home and headed over to Kate's place again to pick her up to go see a movie. We went to see "Julie and Julia" at the Chelsea Cinemas. I had forgotten how nice those cinemas are. There was talk that they were going to be shut down and there is an action group that is helping raise funds to keep it alive.

As for the movie, Meryl Streep was fantastic. She played the quirky Julia Childs character so well. The actual plot of the movie was a bit boring but it was still a nice movie to go and see. Definitely a chick flick. Afterwards, I dropped Kate home, picked up Dad and we went to Stillwell again to pick up his car.

It was pretty exciting driving a brand new car off the lot! I think it may take Dad a while to get used to the fact that he has a new car and also get used to driving a manual again. From the ca yard, we drove straight over to David and Donna's for dinner to celebrate Patrick's first birthday. It was the first time that I have seen David this trip and he was doing really well. Patrick was up and about and wasn't quite sure what to make of his birthday. Donna's parents, Andrea and Gary also dropped over to see the birthday boy.

In a couple of weeks, Timothy and Annabelle turn 10 - amazing! I left a couple of cards with Donna for them too. It was so nice to catch up with them all again - what great friends! It's amazing to think I have known David and Donna for over 20 years!

I drove the new Getz home and Dad and I both headed straight to bed. I spoke with Ross for a while before finally getting to sleep.

Dad's new car!

Both Dad and I slept in late this morning. Dad didn't wake up until 10 - unheard of for him! I had some breakfast and then we headed out to go car shopping for Dad. We started off at Hyundai as the Getz was on the top of Dad's list.

Ron, the Hyundai dealer, showed us the various models and we took one for a test drive. It was amazing how many features they included in such a small car - ABS brakes, power windows and mirrors, MP3 player connection and Bluetooth, 5 year warranty, volume controls on the steering wheel, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear shift, and the back seats not only fold down but they fold up again to make a huge back space area which is completely flat.

On the test drive, it was really nice to drive. Quiet and pretty zippy especially considering that we drove the 1.4L and Dad was interested in the 1.6L. The drive away price was $15380 but when we sat down with Ron and we did the numbers, the price came down to $14500 which included window tinting. Pretty good!

Although we were pretty sure that this was the car for Dad, we thought we should go and have a look at a couple of other dealers. We drove out to KIA and Suzuki but neither of them could match what the Getz was offering.

We went and had some lunch at Mawson Lakes and Dad made up his mind to buy the Getz. We drove back to Hyundai and sat down with Ron to do the paperwork. Dad wanted the metallic green colour and Ron said it would take probably a week to have it delivered.

We drove home pretty happy! I dropped Dad off and then headed up to Tea Tree Plaza to look around the shops. I didn't find anything so I drove home, changed into my workout gear and then walked around the lakes three times while the sun was still shining.

In the evening, we walked across to Blockbuster and borrowed Angels and Demons on DVD. Dad cooked us a stir fry and we settled in for the movie. Pretty good but a bit predictable.

I'm really happy for Dad getting his new car - it was a good day!

A really good day in Adelaide

This morning I went back to the naturopath to find out the results of my iridology analysis. When Michelle brought up the photos of my eyes I was struck again by how beautiful the human eye really is. She took me through the images and pointed out brown splotches which indicated a build up of toxins in certain areas in my body. She also pointed out a whitish area which indicated that my kidneys were irritated and the top of my iris above the pupil was a bit murky indicating problems with digestion.

She also mentioned that the shape of my pupils indicated that I have problems with my shoulders - but she did say that she was no pupil expert! So we talked through these things and also the questionaire I filled out relating to stress and anxiety. She asked me to stay on the detox diet for one more week and prescribed two other herbal supplements - one general one that will work on shifting the toxins and aid my digestion and the other one that helps relieve tension and anxiety. I booked in to see her one more time before I leave where we will do all the tests again to see if there has been an improvement in two weeks.

Once I got home, Dad and I were both ready for lunch. We walked down and around the lakes before going to the cafe for lunch. Dad had brought his paperwork for the pension with him so we could go through it.

After we walked home, we got in the car to do a few errands. First we stopped at Sam's Warehouse where I bought Dad a 35mm slide scanner so that he can transfer all his slides into a digital format. Next, we drove down to Enfield to go to Centerlink so that Dad could submit his paperwork.

While Dad went there, I walked around the shops and bought some neat placemats and table runners as well as a spiral peeler which makes long strands of vegetables such as zucchinis, carrots or cucumbers. I had heard about these things before and my friend Elyse has one and makes "pasta" out of peeled zucchini - yum!

I met Dad again in the coffee shop and we drove into town to go to the museum. We wandered around the exhibits and I was particularly interested in the minerals exhibit - just beautiful! We left the museum at closing time and walked back to Rundle Street to have a look at the shops and then go to see a movie.

I bought a pair of earrings in one of my favourite boutiques. At the cinemas, we decided to go and see Inglourious Basterds (yes, that is how it is spelt :-)). We bought our tickets and then went to the Stag Hotel to have something to eat and drink. The naturopath told me I could drink things that weren't sweet like vodka, lime and soda so I had one of those and we ordered some hot chips to tide us over.

Back at the movies and we both really enjoyed Inglourious Basterds. You could definitely tell it was directed by Quentin Tarantino. It was a dark subject (Nazi occupied France during WWII) but in true Tarantino style, the quirky characters, over the top violence and comedic plot made it a great movie. Brad Pitt was really good and it was suprising to see Mike Myers in a serious, albiet small, role.

We had a quick coffee at Scoozi before heading home. A great day in Adelaide and I think the weather is finally warming up! (Or maybe I am finally getting used to it!).

A slow day

Today I didn't do much until lunchtime. Dad and I walked down to Oakden Central and had a meal. My lasagna was not much chop! After walking back home, we grabbed our stuff and headed out to do a few things.

We drove down to Gepps Cross where they have just opened a major home center with all sorts of stores like Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, HS Home etc. We went into Barbeques Galore to see if we could find a rotisserie for the BBQ. Unfortunately they did not stock Beefeater BBQs.

From there we wandered around a few furniture stores as well as Harvey Norman. Finally, we drove over to HS Home. I ended up buying a new quilt cover set and two sheet sets that were on special. I ended up with 1000 thread count king-sized sheets for $120 - I thought that was pretty good seeing as the crap ones usually cost this much!

Back at home, I dropped off all my stuff and got ready to head over to Kate's place. She had invited me for dinner and a DVD. I arrived at 5 to find no-one at home. I gave Kate a ring and she was only a few minutes away so I let myself in the backyard to play with the dogs.

We went down to the shops and picked up a beef tenderloin to roast and picked out Revolutionary Road for our DVD. Kate put the roast on and we watched Celebrity Master Chef while we waited for it to cook. After dinner, we put on the movie and curled up with the heater and blankets.

The movie was really good. Interestingly, it was pretty captivating despite the fact that actually nothing much happens with the plot. Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were amazing.

After the movie I headed home but on the way I couldn't help but stop and take a photo of the beautiful moon.

Bits and Pieces

Dad and I walked over to Woolworths at Gilles Plains this morning to get a few things from the shops. On our way out we stopped for a coffee. Back at home, we sat down and worked out what Dad was looking for in his new car so that we would be prepared when we went out to have a look.

About midday, we drove down to the trophy store opposite the ABC to have the plaque made up for the "Best mobile campfire award". We waited while they did it and it only took them 5 minutes! From there we drove to Main North Road to have a look in Ray's Outdoors for a rotisserie for our BBQ. Although they didn't have one in stock, they said that they could get one in.

We then headed up to Tea Tree Plaza to have a bit of a look around. I needed a new Medicare card so I went to the office and sorted that out. Dad and I wandered about the shops for a while and I bought a small handbag very similar to my existing brown one that is falling to bits. We also picked up our movie tickets for Mao's Last Dancer.

Back at home I lay in bed reading my book. After another sunny day, it was already freezing again. About 6, we headed back up to Tea Tree Plaza to watch the movie. It was a great story and I am now looking forward to reading the book.

We headed home and after watching a bit of crap TV we headed to bed.

Today's photo is of the ammonite I bought at the markets yesterday.

A sunny Monday long weekend

This morning, we drove down to Port Adelaide to have a look around the markets. We stopped to have breakfast as a little cafe before walking down to the Port River. The weather was actually pretty good today and although the morning was pretty cool, once the sun came out, things started to warm up.

We wandered around the markets and I bought a few beading supplies as an ammonite fossil which shows the suture marks of its shell beautifully. There was plenty of stuff in the markets: lots of second hand houseware stores as well as some 2nd hand clothing stores but most of it was pretty junky.

From the markets, we drove out to Outer Harbour and followed the coastal road. We stopped near Henley Beach and took a quick walk along the beach as the breeze was still cold. We ended up at Glenelg where was parked and wandered about.

We walked up and down Jetty Road looking in the shops. I bought a top at Jeans West which was on sale. Once down into Mosley Square again we thought we would go and have a drink at the Grand. We walked into the bar and the smell was awful - stale booze - and our shoes stuck to the floor. We decided to give it a miss and went instead to a new pub across the road - some kind of Irish pub. We found a spot up on the balcony in the sun and Dad enjoyed his beer while I stuck to my sparkling water. We watched the world go by below.

As it got a bit cooler, we decided to head home and walked past the new Magic Mountain theme park. It's pretty different to what it used to be! We drove home along Anzac Highway.

Back at home, I wanted to make the most of the sunny weather so I headed out for a long walk. I cranked up my iPod and did 3 laps around the lakes before walking home. It was good to be out and about. I actually managed to work up a sweat! Everyone and everything were also making the most of the good weather. There were comerants out on the rocks drying their wings, cats laying in sunny spots amongst their gardens, and lots of people walking their dogs.

Back at the house, I showered and then cooked up some fajitas for dinner using up some more of the roast lamb from last night. After dinner, we watcher "My Father, Romulus" with Eric Bana on DVD. It was a good movie but a bit slow. Ross text to see if I could Skype him so we chatted for quite a while. Dad was watching the second Harry Potter movie so I settled in with my blanket to watch it. We headed to bed after midnight after a great long weekend Monday.

A super lazy Sunday

I made scrambled eggs this morning for breakfast for Dad and I. After brekkie, we walked down to Bunnings so that Dad could get a couple of things to finish his "Best Mobile Campfire Award" for his mate. Apparently, during one of the last scout camps, they had packed everything up and headed to the pub for some lunch. They went inside and ordered and shortly after they heard someone shouting about a trailer being on fire in the carpark. They went out to have a look and sure enough it was their trailer! They had been using a smoker on the BBQ and although the fire was out, obviously there were a couple of live embers that sparked up as they drove down the road. Apparently it was quite a fire! The publican even called the fire brigade. Hence the award for his mate.

So we walked down and found some paints and a plynth for the "mobile campfire" to be mounted on (see photo) before walking home. Dad headed up to Woodhouse again and I took up my position on the couch with my book and blanket (still bloody cold!). I whiled away the afternoon reading and watching the SANFL and NRL Grand Finals before Dad got home about 6. I had just put the lamb roast on to cook as he got home.

About an hour and a half later, we sat down to a good ol' Sunday lamb roast with roast pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots and broccoli, brussel sprouts and onion. Yum! So this detox diet is not all too bad when you can still eat a roast! I just couldn't add any sauces, mustards or gravies but that's no big deal.

After dinner we watched The Full Monty before heading to bed.

Although Sonja and I had played phone hockey for most of the day, she left a message to say that he was doing well but there was a slight chance that he would need to have another surgery as his lung was still bleeding. If that is the case, he will lose some of the lining of his lung.

Health and Fitness Check:

Weight: no idea but at the naturopath I was 70.6kg

Exercise:

Walking: 30mins + 40mins + 30 mins + 40mins

Beading catch-up

This morning I headed out to beading class to catch up on the projects I missed while I was in Singapore. It was just me and the instructor, Hester, today which was a bit weird but also meant that we finished fast.

Today we made a bracelet by weaving circlets and linking them together and we also made a pendant on an adjustable cord. Both projects were pretty easy but a bit fiddly. I like the bracelet and can imagine making the circlets that look like flowers using different beads for new bracelets and even earrings. It was good to learn how to tie the adjustable knots too.

My next catch-up class is on Friday and we will make two rings.

After the class, I headed home and picked up Ross from the office for lunch. We went to KLCC again, this time to Nandos. I dropped him back at the office and then I headed home. I did a few things on the computer before spending the rest of the afternoon chilling out on the bed watching TV. I even had a bath! What a lovely day!

Ross made spag bog for dinner and we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which happened to be on TV.

Movie in 3D

This morning we walked over to the Coffee Club for breakfast. It was nice to sit outside and it was relatively quiet too. From there, we walked over to the cinemas to see what was playing and bought tickets to the afternoon session of UP in 3D.

We headed back to the apartment where I laid on the bed watching TV for a while until it was time to go see the movie. As we went into the cinema we picked up our 3D glasses (see photo). The movie was great although it did take a while to get into the swing of the 3D. It was a pretty funny and cute movie. The best character was definitely Doug the dog.

From the movie, we went back to the apartment and relaxed. In the evening, we made pasta and ate it while watching Jerry McGuire - an oldie but a goodie. It was a nice lazy Sunday.

Health and Fitness Check:

Weight: 70kg

Exercise:

- Walking on treadmill: 70 mins
- Free weights: 30 mins
- General walking

Not much on the agenda today

This morning began with me heading to the gym. On my return, I ran myself a bath and while it was running had breakfast. After satisfying my hunger, I soaked in the bath for quite a while trying to rejuvenate my sore bones while keeping my foot out of the water!

Once dressed (obviously!) I drove over to Pavilion to have lunch, wander around the shops, book into a new hairdresser, buy some movie tickets and do some more food shopping. I also bought myself a new watch at Fossil. I had been looking for a white watch for ages and finally found one I liked.

By the time I had done all that it was 4.30 and I headed home. Ross blew in the door just after 5, quickly got changed and headed to the gym for half an hour. We then headed back to Pavilion to catch a movie - State of Play with Russell Crowe. What a great movie! It had been a long time since we had seen a good crime/ thriller at the cinemas.

We headed home after the movie but on the way we came across the BMW exhibition at the bottom of the mall. The new Z4 convertible is my new car of choice (if I had a choice!!) - see photo. At home we cooked up some fish cakes (Weight Watcher's recipe) to snack on for dinner. They were really good and so simple. I simply chopped up a chilli, some coriander and spring onions. Popped them into the blender with some fish sauce and the fish. blended it until smooth then made them into little patties and cooked them!

A day for recovering

After a pretty crappy night of little sleep, I took the opportunity to try and sleep in after Ross went to work. This lasted until about 9am I guess.

I spent the rest of the morning pottering around in my PJs before Ross convinced me to get out of the house and meet him for lunch. We ate at San Fransisco Coffee House and then headed to Starbucks for a coffee afterwards (as you can see by the photo).

I dropped Ross back at the office and headed home where I pulled the curtains and took up my position on the couch to watch Season 1 of Brothers and Sisters. I got through 4 episodes before Ross got home.

We ate last night's pizza leftover's while watching American Idol and then watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom before falling into bed.

The worst part for me about being sick is it has really interrupted my workout schedule - I had just started to get on a roll! It's always the way :-(