Sick day

So I wanted a couple of days off this week, due to the fact it rained all weekend and I didn't get any of my stuff shifted down to the folks. Problem is that I just feel way too guilty to be able to pull a sick day when I'm not sick so yesterday I was a good girl and headed off to work. Then it turns out I was getting sick. Not 'I can't possibly work' sick, just the good ol' 'bugger I'm getting a cold' sick. One benefit of working in customer services is if you get very sniffly, to the point you are sneezing the entire time whilst trying to serve customers, you get sent home. YAY! Woke up this morning still feeling a bit under the weather so I called in sick, which meant I got to take a couple of loads of stuff to the parents, and I got to go and see my neices swimming lesson.

Isn't she, pretty in pink!

I have not seen my neice swim for over a year now, aside from summer time in their pool. She used to have swim lessons on a Monday, and I used to work Tues-Sat, so I was a regular viewer of her lessons. Since we have all shifted around she now has lessons on Tues, and I work Mon-Fri, so there just has not been the opportunity, until today. My goodness she is a great swimmer now. Dolphin diving, backstroke, freestyle, all coming together - fantastic for a 4 year old. Well in a few months she will be 5, but still, WOW! Its unfortunate that I will be moving so far away, but with a work schedule of 4 days on, 4 days off I will make the effort to visit regularly to catch up with all the fam-damn-ly. The cool thing about shifting so far away is I now have someone I can go away and stay with (the biggest downer of having my entire immediate family living in the same tiny town is I had nowhere else to go ... lol).

One step, two step, tick-i-ley under there

Little neice was having a good time too. She wasn't keen on hopping into their pool over summer, unless the temp was over 24 deg C or something. However this pool is nicely heated so she was in like Flynn, whoever Flynn was. She had a great time, hanging off my sister, swimming around. She is even quite happy to get dunked under water, all-be-it briefly, but hey, she is only 20 months. She is such a cheeky wee thing, loves having her photo taken, but then again don't they all. Methinks it helps having digital so they can see the picture instantly, absolutely no concept of having to wait for film processing. Ahh the age of INSTANT, they all want it NOW.

Splish splash

So I think my sister is a great Mum. I am so jealous, but hey, dems the breaks. Maybe oneday my day will come, maybe not. I shall just have to focus on my farmer boy, my horses, and finally my science career, and enjoy all my neices and nephew, and be thankful that when they are tired and grizzly and have a stinky bum, its not my problem. Hehehe

Five days of work to go

... well after this weekend anyway. YAY! So I opened a new bank account today. I thought it was going to be simple, then when I was there I thought I wasn't going to be able to at all, but luckily the bank staff were being nice and they let me open one. Apparently their policy is to not open any personal cheque account unless you open it with $2300.00 or something similar. Ummmm, really? Nope, don't have that. And to open a savings account you need $5000.00. Ok I will check my other pocket. Ummmm, nope, don't have that either. Fortunately they asked me why I was opening the account, and when they learned that I was planning on having my new jobs wages being direct credited into it they were fine with it. So YAY, I have a new bank, and account. And in a week's time, well in a little over a weeks time, plus two weeks until my first pay comes through, I will be able to use it.

Hmmmm, food for yesterday. I didn't get a chance to enter it yesterday because I had a wee visitor last night, only briefly, but enough so as I could not be bothered coming online to enter it. Two toast, butter and jam for breakie. Grapes for morning tea. Half a can cream styled corn for lunch. Grapes, dried nectarine, bagel chips, fruit and nuts for afternoon tea. Macaroni cheese, mushrooms and tomato, 2 small pieces of chicken for dinner. And plenty of water.

Food today. Porridge, milk and brown sugar for breakie. Dried nectarine, nuts and dried fruit, bagel chip for morning tea. Half a can cream styled corn for lunch. Dried nectarine, bagel chips, and fruit and nuts for afternoon tea. Macaroni cheese, mushrooms and tomato, pork slice. Not enough water by a long shot today. I think it's because it was cold. Better go and get myself a glass right now!

Quick food post

So 2 x toast, butter and jam for breakfast. Half a carrot for morning tea. Half a can of spaghetti for lunch. Half a carrot and nuts and raisins for afternoon tea. Three pieces of chicken, a carrot, and peas for dinner. Also drank plenty of water. Happy with my food today.

Spent exactly no money (exactly no money to spend) but its payday tonight so Wheeeeee!

And my lovely DFHHBF phoned me tonight, I haven't told him but I love him *giggle*. Don't want to freak him out, even though I am moving across country to live with him in a week and a half .... lol Oh and DFHHBF stands for dairy farming horse hating boyfriend

Time for a quick blog

Its gotta be quick as I have a LOT of tidying to do due to the fact the Real Estate agent is coming over tomorrow to see the place to rent it out. And my place is an absolute tip .... arghhhhh. Of course procrastinating on here is not helping a heck of a lot!

So food wise today I was again fairly good. I had porridge, milk and brown sugar for breakfast. Half a carrot for morning tea. 2 slices of pizza for lunch. Half a carrot, nuts and raisins for afternoon tea. And 3 slices of pizza, a large bowl of rice and gravy (didn't need such a large bowl but it was left overs ... hows THAT for an excuse!) for dinner.

Money wise I was excellent. I did not spend a single cent (not that I have a cent to spend). There is a book I am keen to buy, but I figure if I can get this book once I have $100.00 in savings in an account as a reward. Its not a large sum, but it will be a start, and it is far better to do it this way than my usual, I will buy this book and replace the money next pay ... never happens!

Work was ok, fairly quiet, but only 8 days to go .... hooray!

So how am I doing today?

I had a good day today. Filled up the vehicle, so I have enough gas until payday. Great. I did wake-up to the wee surprise of my monthly. Not so great, but these things happen (well monthly anyway ... lol). It's been surprisingly heavy this time as well. Bah.

I ate fairly well today. Breakfast; 2 x toast, butter and jam. Morning tea; half a carrot. Lunch; half a can of spaghetti. Afternoon tea; half a carrot, nuts and raisins (didn't measure how many). Dinner; pork chop, mashed potato, carrot. Very good indeed if I do say so myself. And I drank quite a bit of water for once, so again that was good. Im a very good girl today.

Financially I was pretty good today. Diesel for the ute, tampons, packing tape, and nuts and raisins. I spent $90 total today. Plus Mum thinks its a good idea that I open new bank accounts at a new bank, so YAY, I'm on the right track!

I worked this sunday

So I worked today. No big deal, except I don't usually work Sundays. Well I haven't for a long time, however with the new job I will be, but heck, really, I was just stuck for a title!

My parents at my sisters. My mother HATES photos so you have to snap when you can.

Went to the big sisters for dinner last night. Roast pork for dinner, and Mum made a cheesecake for dessert. Was totally delicious! I ate way too much. Story of my life, well my past life as I am, once again, resolving to lose weight! This is probably resolution 9,486,215 but you gotta start somewhere. I got my Fonterra job by utilising 'The Secret', so I am now going to apply it to my weight, and my finances.

My little neice. She was a bit grubby yesterday, but still the life and soul of the party.

My two neices. The older one didn't want any photos taken last night, so this was all I got. Yes that is a singing santa dog, six months early but I'm off-loading stuff.

I achieved my food goals today. I was STARVING hungy, moreso than usual. I wanted chocolate. I wanted a coke. I wanted ANYTHING bad. But I didn't succombe. I waited until I got home and had a couple of pieces of toast with marmite, before dinner. Todays food list is thus - Breakfast; 2 pieces of toast with butter and jam. Morning tea; half a carrot (raw) and a piece of banana cake (my co-worker brought it in and I didn't want to be rude. Wasn't a large piece). Lunch; left over macaroni and cheese with mushrooms. Afternoon tea; half a carrot (raw) and 3 krispie biscuits, two pieces of toast with butter and marmite. Tea; 3 pieces of chicken, rice, 1 x carrot, peas, and gravy. No WONDER I'm rather large at the moment. Cut down on portion size MichaJ!

And financial goals all good today too. I have decided to close two of my current accounts at my current bank (2 savings accounts with NO money in them), and retain my current account and my Visa. This current account will become my house account - rent will go in, mortgage will go out. And I need to get both of these accounts paid off and if I don't use them as my main accounts this WILL happen. Balance of these accounts are - current account -$1200.00; visa account - -$1500.00. I then plan to open 2 new accounts with another bank. A current account and a savings account. I will use these new accounts with my new job, and automatically transfer money over to my old accounts to get them paid off (if I can get this done through my salary that would be GREAT). So the idea behind this plan is basically so I start off from scratch. Set up a debt repayment plan and then focus on building wealth. I shall do this on Thursday, which is payday. Rock on my new life. Wheeeeeeee

Dang weather

Well the awesome news is that I got the job with Fonterra at Whareroa, so in two weeks time I am moving to Eltham to live with my Naki boy. Now I'm scared, new job and the whole moving in thing sounded fantastic when talking about it, but now its all happening I'm a lot nervous. Which is a good thing, and totally normal! I go from 'I can't wait' to 'Can I do it all in time?' ... lol

Winter flowers under one of my trees

So, yeah, I have two weeks to pack and tidy and clean my house, and get it rented so I can then shift all of my stuff and start my new life. The garden needs a serious makeover, and it's bloody raining, so that is off the cards today. Bit gutting but I did manage to deadhead the Agapanthus and a few rose bushes. I got interrupted deadheading the roses, first by a neighbour (which was cool) and then my folks (which was also cool), at which point it then began to rain so I had to come inside. Now I would be able to pack up inside, if I had anymore boxes, but I don't, so I'm hanging out online, watching TV and waiting for quick breaks in the weather so I can head outside and finish the roses I started, and maybe get a quick bit of weeding done. The cool thing is my Mum said that she was going to get in a load of bark, which is what I wanted to get my gardens finished. Plus Mum and Dad are going to spend next week here working on the gardens, so that is very cool of them, and greatly appreciated. As a big thank you to them I am going to SAVE money from now on. Be very careful about putting a sum away for a rainly day. I will also pay them back of course, that goes without saying for me. But the best gift I can give them is to get real with my cash handling skills. I wonder what it is about me that means I spend more than I earn. I know that this is a society problem, ie I'm not the only person like that, but I wonder what it is specifically about me that needs to spend money on 'stuff' that I don't need.

Before deadheading Hydrangas

I had Thursday off work so I can work for Carly on Sunday (so Carly can go and race) so Thursday I decided to tackle my Hydrangas. The above is the before picture. My house roof needs painting (saving object number 1!) and the shot looks a little dark, but I think that it may be mostly my computer. Anyway they look quite bushy with LOTS of dead flower heads, now ...

After deadheading Hydrangas

this is how the garden finished up. I deadheaded both Hydranga bushes (I'm pretty sure I am not spelling that correctly) and I weeded the garden on the right hand side. I got hit by rain on this day as well, but hey, a bit at a time will get it all done, ay?!

So tonight I'm off to my sisters for tea. Mumsie and Dadsie are going to pick me up on their way past. Wonder what shes got cookin .....

The afternoon was fine

If anyone out there is a garden purist you may not want to see any images or read any notes. You have been warned ... lol. So I did manage to haul my ass out and do a wee bit of gardening. Bear in mind they are only half completed as I do plan to bark them to try and stop the weeds, once I can afford to get some bark. My photos are not brilliant photos as the sun appeared then disappeared then appeared etc. This is just feeble excuses, my photography is just not up to scratch these days and I really really need to work on it. So one of the gardens that I worked on is a 'rose garden' on the corner of my house. I currently have a layer of horse poop on it, which grows weeds really well. I have yet to horse poop any other garden, and I can do that easily as I have A LOT of horse poop, time is not always on my side however. The other garden is an oval shaped rose garden that had a couple of ground cover plants on it. One ground cover is nice in summer, the other I didn't like so much. I have dug both of them out in Micha style. This involves a dig and flip technique and we shall see if that works. They only took me about an hour of work, so thats not so bad. Got a bit of a sting off of some stinging nettle, but it wasn't a major. Im glad that I did manage a bit of gardening, finally. Will depend on my mothers reaction of course ... I did dig out quite a few bulbs, which are pretty, but also annoying for people who garden with forks, such as myself. I might get in big trouble for this. I can hide. I can hide very
well ... lol






Aside from my wee bit of gardening I did not achieve a heck of a lot else. I have done 4 loads of washing and did a bit of tidying. Fed the horses, and ate fairly healthy so YAY! But I am so hating my weight right now. I was quite bad last week food wise, which is not good after having a really good week the week before. Time to jump back onto the wagon I guess. And its time to get some kind of exercise regime going. If I am serious about losing 10kg I need to get serious with my food choices and my exercise. It is NOT that hard, just a bit of determination and control. That is all.

One day off and its wet and nasty

I only have sunday off this week, and typically its wet and nasty. It had to come since the rest of the country has had really bad weather and we haven't, but still, booooooo! Great excuse for lazing inside but I did want to do some gardening and take some photos, but never mind.

Went to Liz and Jamies last night for Uncle B's birthday. It was great fun, though both of my neices (aren't they so cute) ended up in tears, both from falling off of me being a donkey (well I thought I was a horse, Kayla said I was a donkey, gee, thanks .... lol). As per usual I spent more time with the three kidlets rather than with the adults, but I tend to find in a room full of 7 adults one never gets much of a chance to say anything anyway ... lol

The coat I bought Docs is way too big, so hopefully I can get it swapped at Saddlery Warehouse when I am next in Taranaki.

I have another job interview, this time with Fonterra, so rock on. I really want to work for them as they are such a big company, and thus will have lots of opportunities for me to progress through the ranks, I hope.

Well the fire is roaring, and I have about 5 loads of washing to get done today, thank heaven's for owning a dryer ... the ONE thing I can take to Trents when I shift as he doesn't have one, everything else we have two of ... lol

I can not wait to shift over there .... bring it on!

I didnt get the job

In fact I got three rejections today. How bad is that? Its starting to get me down, obviously. Ive been hunting for 2.5 months already and its totally sucking. Rejection after rejection. Don't know what the hell I am supposed to do. I know, stay positive, the right one will turn up, keep focused. But ahhhh, its just depressing! "Insert expletive here"

Did I achieve my latest goals

HEALTH AND FITNESS AND BEAUTY
Eat healthy food only Pass, and I lost 1kg as well. Hooray!!
Drink water or hot lemon drinks (1 x milo per day) only Pass!
5km run x 4 Fail, big time, no exercise what-so-ever, aside from walking down to feed horses
20km or 1hr indoor bike trainer x 3 Fail
Wash face x 2 a day Pass
Blowdry hair and make-up for work and going out Pass
Vitamins every day Pass
Book in for a cut and colour Pass! And I had it done!
Research aerobics classes in Hastings and Waipuk Fail but I decided I couldn't afford it so it was a calculated fail

FINANCES
Work out exact debt total Fail
Budget for 12 June 2008 Pass
Stick to budget Fail, would have done but had to go to Taranaki for job interview

CAREER
Apply for jobs in Taranaki Daily News Pass
Fonterra website Pass
Agriquality website Pass
Search agri-science websites/companies in Taranaki Pass
Taranaki jobs Pass
DoC Pass
Be positive, happy and helpful in current job Pass

PERSONAL
Group email everyone on Hotmail and Xtra Pass
Update blogs at least once, with photos Pass
Bebo, Myspace and Facebook at least once Pass

HOUSE AND GARDEN
Box up books for sale Fail
Tidy up ringbinders and photo albums Fail
Mow lawn Fail
Dig up vege garden Fail
Weed rose gardens Fail

Could have been better, could have been worse. The garden plans were for this weekend just gone but since I had to get to the Naki, they got shelved. Onward and upward next week ah!

My long weekend

I had a fantastic time in Taranaki over the weekend. T played footy on Saturday, and we went to the aftermatch for a bit, then the pub, then got Indian takeaways and ate them at T's mothers place and watched the rugby. Sunday we just mucked around a bit. T's family came over for dinner (that would be Mum, Sis, Bro in law and 3 kidlets under 4) - chaos. It was good fun though and my roast dinner and dessert all turned out great (well the pumpkin didn't cook that well and my custard had lumps, but it was mostly good).

Monday was the big interview day. It went well I felt, but it all comes down to the other candidates and their experience so fingers are crossed thats for sure. I also had a quick 15 minute phone interview with Fonterra on Friday. It is an interview to see if they want to interview me face to face. They rang D at Napier yesterday apparently, and confusion reigned as Fonterra thought that I still worked their so D played along. Hopefully its not a major. The Zelam job would be fantastic for the interest factor, Fonterra would be great for the money, hours, and proximity to home ... time will tell as they say. I have so many things crossed

Im one giant knot

Job interview

Yay! I have a job interview in Bell Block, Taranaki on Monday. It is for Zelam, an agricultural chemical company for a research technician, which would be fantastic for me. Well at least it will get me heading in the direction that I want to be heading into. They guy on the phone sounded good so Im feeling pretty positive about it. It is while a lady is on maternity leave so it is only temporary, but its a start. Fingers crossed for Monday then ah.

Too much TV, not enough chores

I slacked off a bit, well alot, today. Watched a wee bit too much tv, thus didn't achieve the completion of many chores. I did get three loads of washing washed and dried, well mostly dried, I have it sitting in front of the fire to ensure it gets totally dried before I fold it up and put it away. I also fed and groomed the horses, supermarket shopped, tidied up my dining table, cleaned the toilet, and tidied up my rubbish as something had gotten into it and it was all over the floor of the outdoor shed.



I wish I had tidied up the clothes in my bedroom and done some gardening, but I will get the bedroom done during the week, and heck, the garden has waited 12 months already, 2 more weeks won't matter.



I have made a decision with my garden however, and that is to put wet newspaper down and cover with bark chips to stop the weeds. This should be a nice and easy way to tidy them up quickly and easily without weeding beforehand. It will also tie all of the gardens together by having the common theme of bark. Once it is done it will then mean that it is an easy maintainance garden as the weeds will be supressed, and ones that do come through should be fairly weak and easy to pull. I shall do an online search shortly to see how much bark costs exactly, so I can get some and then get stuck into it. Doesn't all have to be done at once, but sooner rather than later would be good so I can get this place rented out!



I have been eating very well all this week, thats 7 DAYS! I actually enjoyed my supermarket shop today. I did a brief shop yesterday and was sooooo tempted by chocolate but didn't buy any. Today I was so focused on the prices of everything and getting what I needed to get I didn't even look at the candy at the entrance to the checkout. Fantastic progress!


Since I was taking photos of the horses today I decided to snap a shot of my wee staffy dog Docs. She's nearly 12 years old now, and deaf, but she is still a cutie. She lives with the folks, cause they are far more stable in their living arrangements that I am.

And now off to find the cost of bark .....

Just when you have a whinge ...

... 'life' does something to put your life totally in perspective.

So I was at my folks place last night, having an argument that ended in tears because I am quite stressed out at the moment, with trying to find a new job and a lack of funds thanks to the high cost of diesel amongst other things. I said 'I hate my life' ... which I don't really, I just wasn't happy in that moment. So I went home, watched TV, felt sorry for myself, and went to bed.

Got a phone call at 7.20am and was told that my sisters garage and office had burnt 'down' over night. My sister and her family were not home, and it didn't spread to their house and they have insurance but they still lost a lot of stuff. Turns out it was arson, some punk-ass, chickenshit, piece of crap, no doubt about it. Police have leads so I'm pretty sure they will get them. Fortunately, or not, the dumb-asses stole a shotgun meaning that the cops will take it extremely seriously and they were working very hard today at locating the ass-wipe that they suspect did it. No friggen excuses, and if they come anywhere near me Im going to kick their arse, no hesitation! Selfish little bastards. The picture is of my 4 year old neices bike. Apparently she was upset but was told that no lives were lost, the house wasn't touched, and she can get a new bike, and by the end of the day she was quite over the excitement of it all.

On the upside I had my haircut today. I really like it. Im going to stick a picture up. I am working very hard at improving myself with wearing make-up, jewellery, a new haircut, and a more intensive beauty cleaning regime, plus a healthy eating plan that I have actually stuck to for 6 days so far! I usually cheat, you know, 1 cookie here, 1 slice there, coke zero, now THAT doesn't count ... Well it does because for the first 2 weeks I lost nothing, this week I have lost a kilo, so YAY ME! And each time I get tempted I tell myself I have gone 6 days eating healthy, don't ruin it NOW!

2nd in line for job

Well I got the phonecall from Agriculture ITO today, and Im second in line for the position. It depends on how well the number 1 candidate did on their isometric test as to whether I get a chance or not. Pity they didn't test both of us to see who was better, but oh well, life goes on.

Applied for job at Fonterra this week, and Im getting the PER1 form and the job description for a job at DOC as well. There is also a job at Dow AgroSciences in the paper to apply for, I just have to phone and see if they are happy for me to email my application through, or whether I need to physically post it.

Wish I had some milk as I would quite like a milo, I will just have to have a hot lemon drink instead. And now to sort out my budget for the next two weeks .....

Goals 10 June - 18 June

HEALTH AND FITNESS AND BEAUTY
Eat healthy food only
Drink water or hot lemon drinks (1 x milo per day) only
5km run x 4
20km or 1hr indoor bike trainer x 3
Wash face x 2 a day
Blowdry hair and make-up for work and going out
Vitamins every day
Book in for a cut and colour
Research aerobics classes in Hastings and Waipuk

FINANCES
Work out exact debt total
Budget for 12 June 2008
Stick to budget

CAREER
Apply for jobs in Taranaki Daily News
Fonterra website
Agriquality website
Search agri-science websites/companies in Taranaki
Taranaki jobs
DoC
Be positive, happy and helpful in current job

PERSONAL
Group email everyone on Hotmail and Xtra
Update blogs at least once, with photos
Bebo, Myspace and Facebook at least once

HOUSE AND GARDEN
Box up books for sale
Tidy up ringbinders and photo albums
Mow lawn
Dig up vege garden
Weed rose gardens

So what did I get up to lately

Just got back from Taranaki, and I'm off work sick today - which sux! I don't enjoy being ill. Its only a cold, but enough to make me feel miserable and not very happy.

I had an interview with Agriculture ITO on Friday. I had to take a couple of days off of work to attend the interview. I so don't know whether to tell my current boss Im searching for a new job in Taranaki so I can live with Trent. Most people have told me to not say anything but I feel like such a lier, arghhhh, its totally stressing me out. The interview itself went 'mixed' as I tell everyone. I felt I was good with the questions about myself, but terrible on the questions about the company. I knew I should have researched them! And Im not too sure where the role could take me, where I wanted the role to take me. I will find out whether I got the job on Wednesday, but Im not holding my breath.

Trent played rugger on Saturday, and I had my better lens so they turned out better than the last ones I took. This is just a brief shot of him waiting for some action. I adore him, which is rather weird for me as Im usually quite independent and weary. He just thinks Im crazy ...

So I spent the weekend with my man, helping feed out, milk, and we got a couple of pigs too. Ok so he does the majority of the work and I do my best to learn what it is I need to do. The pigs are very cool. We have called them Rosco and Enos after the cops on Dukes of Hazzard. One is for Rog and June (Trent's bosses) and one is for us. I was so excited! We also bought and 'built' an office desk and rollaway and chair, so now he has a nice little set-up office. So I cried when I left - big girl that I am. Trent just thinks Im crazy ... hahaha

Pass/Fail

Things got busyish and I got sidetracked (very easy to do in my case) so I don't think I have done so well on my last goals, and I have missed a week so bah anyway here is my pass/fail listings .... Methinks I need to print my weekly goals OUT so I have a constant reminder, not just a list in my head, and confirmation if I go onto the computer. I am doing well in the career area though, so thats good.

HEALTH AND FITNESS AND BEAUTY
5km run x 3 Fail
20km or 1hr indoor bike trainer x 2 Fail
Wash face x 2 Fail
Blowdry hair and make-up for work and going out Pass - HOORAY!!!!
Vitamins every day Fail

FINANCES
Work out exact debt total Fail
Budget for 11 June 2008 Fail

CAREER
Fonterra website Pass
Agriquality website Pass
Search agri-science websites/companies in Taranaki Pass
Taranaki jobs Pass
DoC Pass
Be positive, happy and helpful in current job Basic pass

PERSONAL
Group email everyone on Hotmail and Xtra Fail
Update blogs at least once, with photos Ooops Fail
Bebo, Myspace and Facebook at least once Pass
Take divorce papers into courthouse Pass!! Hooray!!

HOUSE AND GARDEN
Box up books for sale Fail
Tidy up ringbinders and photo albums Fail

General gobble-de-gook and goals for 29 May 2008 to 04 June 2008

I am so much happier now my house is tidy. Sure there is still the odd pocket that needs a spruce up, but it is 1000 million times better! Im a happy chappy thats for sure. Now the cleaning of the house, and tidying of the garden needs to happen.

Had a quick lunch with Rae today. It was good. We had kebabs. Rae is all good. Busy at work and stuff, just got back from Cains, and is off to Melbourne in a fortnight. Lucky for some!

Health and fitness is going well. Managed to run x 3, but only one cycle. I'm feeling good though, and eating fairly well, so thats good. No weight loss as yet, might have gained 1kg, but it is 'that time of the month' now so I usually gain a kg or 2 so I'm hoping thats it.

So goals for 29 May 2008 to 04 June 2008

HEALTH AND FITNESS AND BEAUTY
5km run x 3
20km or 1hr indoor bike trainer x 2
Wash face x 2
Blowdry hair and make-up for work and going out
Vitamins every day

FINANCES
Work out exact debt total
Budget for 11 June 2008

CAREER
Fonterra website
Agriquality website
Search agri-science websites/companies in Taranaki
Taranaki jobs
DoC
Be positive, happy and helpful in current job

PERSONAL
Group email everyone on Hotmail and Xtra
Update blogs at least once, with photos
Bebo, Myspace and Facebook at least once
Take divorce papers into courthouse

HOUSE AND GARDEN
Box up books for sale
Tidy up ringbinders and photo albums

Did I achieve ANY of my goals .... lets see

HEALTH, FITNESS AND BEAUTY
5km jog x 3 Pass! Hooray!
20km bike x 2, or indoor trainer for 1hr Fail! Boo! I only did 1 session
1hr kayak x 1 Fail! Too wet and too poor (50km drive to river)
Wash face x 2 a day (simple for most I know, but I only indulge once a day at present!) Pass!
Vitamins every day Fail! Forgot about this one
Blowdry hair and makeup for work days Pass!!! Hooray

FINANCES
Budget for next 2 pays (4 weeks) Pass!! Wasn't that hard
Write down exact debt total Fail! Totally forgot

CAREER
Research Agriculture ITO as mentioned by Naki Boy Pass! I applied and everything
Fonterra job site Pass! Checking it regularly
Research other dairy/science industries in the area Pass! I found Zelam & applied for job there
Be positive, happy and friendly at current job Pass! My attitude is a lot better but can still improve

PERSONAL
Keep blogs updated at least weekly Pass! Need to take more photos though
Meet with Rae for lunch Pass! Had lunch today with Rae
Email friends, Bebo, Facebook, Myspace Pass! Checking all 3 regularly

Additionally I forgot to include House and Garden. I didn't set any goals but I got my entire house tidied up, as evidenced by my previous post so PASS!!!!!

Before and afters of inside house

Today was about day 6 of rain, and that means it rained for everyday off my 4 days off. Thus today I finally got off my ass and tidied my house. Here are the before and after shots. Hopefully I shall now keep my house this way as it will be far more relaxing and far less stressful. I might even start CLEANING since I no longer have to do much tidying!

My lounge, by far the toughest area, and still needs a lot of work, but its a start. I have a lot of sports equipement that I need to find room for, including my horse gear. See the saddles on the couch, bike in full view obviously, and the boxes stacked behind the computer from the dining room.

My dining area, not that I ever dine here, except for breakfast. My sports equipment used to be stacked behind the table under the window. Its now stacked in the lounge, behind the computer under the window ... lol

My bedroom. Where oh where did I get all of my caps from? Im not so sure about the crochet rug, but my nana made it for me so its ok where it is for now. Probably can not tell too much difference but I did pick up a little and tidied the tops of my dressers.

The spare bedroom, the easiest to be done as I only had to put the duvet onto the 'naked bed' that I just hadn't gotten around to doing since my last house guest.

What is my problem?

Man sometimes, actually most times, I am my own worst enemy.

My folks just popped in, and gave me a hell of a fright. At which point I became the most ungracious host. Why the hell do I do that? They ended up staying under a minute! For goodness sake, I can be such a loser.

Part of it is due to the fact that I am not proud of my house, at all. The garden is overgrown, the place is a mess, I am just permanently embarrassed! Obviously not embarrassed enough to do something about it. Oh sure I make half hearted attempts. I often use the excuses that I work hard during the week, I need a bit of couch 'time out', I'm tired, I don't feel so well, I'll do it tomorrow, you know the ones. I have made a bit of headway today, tidied the dining table and kitchen bench, sorted out my personal papers and burning the ones that are extremely old, still there is plenty more to do.

Another part of it is that I am not so keen on surprises, I liked things to be planned, I'm really not a spontaneous person, and when things take me by surprise I get defensive and just plain rude! Why is that? I need to loosen up, thats for sure. The messy house does not help as I am just plain embarrassed by it, and my appearance too.

Anyway I have baked some Anzac biscuits to take to my parents as a peace offering, with a healthy serving of 'I'm sorry for being such a jerk' pie.

Before pictures

So I decided to take 2 before photos of myself. I think I should print them out and stick them over my entire house as what I really want for tea is fish n chips and coke, but I won't. Its only day 1 and Im already waivering. Dear oh dear.

So

Health, Fitness and Beauty

The before pictures

My weight at this stage is 75kg. 10kg to lose.

I can not believe that my chin goes down to my neck on an angle like that! Well lack of chin. Lol. Then the next problem is the tummy and rolls - ewwwwwww. And my hair! What on earth can I do with that hair?

So I achieved a 5km jog this morning. Great start, but then again day 1 is easy, well thinking about starting is easy, day 1 you hopefully still have some motivation going rather than oh one more day won't hurt I'll start tomorrow. But as with everything its going to be time that will tell.

Goals for the week 22 May - 28 May

HEALTH, FITNESS AND BEAUTY
5km jog x 3
20km bike x 2, or indoor trainer for 1hr
1hr kayak x 1
Wash face x 2 a day (simple for most I know, but I only indulge once a day at present!)
Vitamins every day
Blowdry hair and makeup for work days

FINANCES
Budget for next 2 pays (4 weeks)
Write down exact debt total

CAREER
Research Agriculture ITO as mentioned by Naki Boy
Fonterra job site
Research other dairy/science industries in the area
Be positive, happy and friendly at current job

PERSONAL
Keep blogs updated at least weekly
Meet with Rae for lunch
Email friends, Bebo, Facebook, Myspace

Long term goals

I totally forgot to put up my long term goals last night, so here they are. Oh and I have changed 'Training' to now be Health, Fitness and Beauty. The beauty I really need to work on, Im a tomboy at heart, and my Naki Boy would prefer that I am a little bit more feminine, and when I think about it, I would like that too. So without any further ado, here are my long term goals

HEALTH, FITNESS AND BEAUTY
Lose 10kg in 10 weeks
Colour my hair when my finances allow
Get my ears pierced (if able to as I had infection problems when younger due to cheapie earrings) in 4 weeks
Have a great wardrobe of clothes when my finances allow

FINANCES
Visa paid off
Overdraft paid off
$10,000.00 in emergency fund

CAREER
Move to Taranaki in 8 weeks
Science based job
Further study
Earning at least 45k a year

PERSONAL
Make an effort to be more outgoing and social
Get more self confidence
Smile and relax
Be patient

I'm baaaack

Seems like a long time, no blog, and it has been on this site, but I do have some from my myspace page. I might try and copy and paste them over to get some continuity of sorts. So I think I shall expand the topic of this blog to include my house (needs work), my finances and career (need work), and my training (definitley needs work). Like everyone else I have much to do and what feels like little time to do it. Being Winter at the moment time does feel short. I get up at 5.30am (dark), feed horses (about to be another seperate blog), go to work, come home, feed horses (dark), feed myself (not as well as horses), go to bed. And every other weekend I drive to Taranaki to see my Naki Boy. Hopefully the career section will soon include 'shift to Taranaki' where I shall find more time to work on my life.


TRAINING


I completed the Coast to Coast in February 2008. Since then I have not done a single ounce of training. I had a sore right leg that I figured would come right eventually. It didn't. So off to physio I went, thankfully ACC still covered it despite the injury occuring 2+ months ago. Now it appears to be healed and I NEED to get back out there, but its winter, and its dark, and its cold so Im procrastinating. If I blog this at least weekly I hopefully will get inspired to resume training, either that or Im going to balloon into a ginormous white marshmellow woman. I also need to remember that I love the events, its just the training I whinge about.

HOUSE

I bought my house nearly 1 year ago. It was not my first choice of house, or even my second or third come to think of it, but I had been searching for 2 or so years and so it felt like either now or never. Its a fairly old house, between 1900 and 1920 or something, can not remember. The exact records no longer exist thanks to the huge 1931 earthquake that makes Hawke's Bay, and moreso Napier, famous for Art Deco architecture. It is an old shepherds house and needs a major remodel, but time and money will see to that. At present it just needs a bloody good clean and tidy, and the garden definitely needs a spruce up and weed. These things I can do without money, just need to get off my lazy ass, set myself some tasks to acomplish and go from there. Oh and it is located about 250M from a railway - just reminded by a train going past. The house doesn't shake but you can hear the trains clear as day. Luckily there are not many going past these days, I like trains, and I sleep like the dead. My little cottage is on 1 acre, with 3 of my parents sheep. I graze their sheep, they graze my horses. I win ... lol. And speaking of parents, they actually own half, I COULD NOT afford this place on my own, so I owe them A LOT.

FINANCES AND CAREER

My finances need a tidy up (understatement). I have a terrible habit of buying magazines, junk food (also does not help with training) and then scraping to pay my bills, and eating at my folks or my sisters. I DO get all of my bills paid, but I DON'T have anything saved for a rainy day, or even a mildly cloudy one. My finances DO need to get sorted. I have tried this many a time, never tried to blog about it though, maybe THIS will be my saving grace rather than Naki Boy having to be it.

My career, or lack of it, is a great disappointment to me. Why have I never had a career, why have I always had jobs? I think part of it is due to the fact that I always NEED to get a job so I have money to live, of course. I also think a MAJOR part of it is that I just don't have the strength of belief in myself. I have a degree in Science, major in Conservation and Ecology. I am bright and clever and intelligent. Why am I working in, what is essentially, retail? Time to change, and this is why I am shifting to the Naki WHEN I have a career job, not just any job. Too many times have I taken the job because I needed it and then stay their because Im 'comfortable', I may be bored but I am comfortable. I want the career so I can begin to earn more money, the money I deserve, so Im not struggling with the pittance I am on, increased food and petrol prices do NOT help. Don't get me wrong, I AM grateful for the job I have, but I am capable of so much more.