Winter's here!

I couldn't believe just how cold it was this morning..... I had been woken at 2.56am and failed to return to my slumber...when I dared look at the clock next it was 4.59...and I knew it was only a small matter of a half hour before that rude bleeping would force me to get up.
I fleeced up, with hood...and put my running shoes on, despite my toe not being entirely happy ensconced within the shoes. I only managed to walk the beach - just did about 2.1km, then I braved (or stupided if that can be a word!) the cold icy sand and went barefoot to do some sprints - managed 4 x 80m sprints on the firm sand - before I decided to get out of the freezing wind (it was still only 8 degrees), get some shoes back on my frozen feet and get into my shower!
More of the same tomorrow.
Tonight I was going to ride the pony, but... that same cold southwesterly was blowing, and it's always a few degrees colder up there than down here on the coast - and I just didn't have the heart to take his warm rugs of, to make him prance around at my expense in the cool. If I had some competitions planned, it might be a different kettle of fish, but with nothing immediately looming on the horizon, Saturday's another day!
He didn't seem too perturbed.
Tomorrow's back with those dastardly agencies that love to put all sorts of junk on the tables in front of us. Still, it's easy to resist these days. I've got my lunch ready - pecan crusted chicken breast with baby spinach leaves.
Back to kickboxing on Saturday morning, then off to ride.
Our concrete slab is being poured in our back room on Saturday morning - consequently our laundry is non existent at present - which makes washing clothes interesting, or it will anyhow come Saturday.
We had an attic ladder installed today - so much room up there! No wonder Diamante our lovely python has enjoyed that space! No sign of her at present, so she must be keeping a low profile.

Some things you may not know about me

Okay, I've been tagged by the lovely Cherub.

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I was born in Bridport, Dorset in the UK.

2. When I was 7 we moved to Auckland, New Zealand where I lived for 13 years.

3. The very first job I had when I first left school was packing smoked eel in Whenuapai in the evenings...

4. I hate the smell of milky coffee.

5. I am allergic to coriander leaf. Just the smell is enough to make me want to hurl.

6. I have never wanted children - and luckily (for them for that reason!), I don't have any.

7. I always wanted to be a hairdresser when I left school, but was offered an apprenticeship on the proviso that I provide 'extras' for the luxury of having that job. Needless to say, I decided hairdressing wasn't for me (LOL, hence the smoked eel soujurn). That was Graeme, the owner of Saks Hairdressers in Auckland. Eeuuw.

I am tagging
1. Sue
2. Pip
3. Jadey
4. Barb
5. Linda
6. Leanne
7. Michelle

Fabulous weekend

Well, this weekend the wind luckily decided to disappear - we have had the strongest, coldest southwesterlies blowing last week. Now they have been replaced by ..just beautiful deep blue sky and warm weather - well, 22-23 degrees.
I saw in the paper that the whales have started their migration Northerly - with one humpback photographed off of Long Reef beach north of Sydney last Friday.
So...my scanning of the waters has commenced in earnest!!! I can guarantee it will almost be like the Kit Kat ads.... I'll be looking, looking, then head up to my car and then they'll all be their, breaching, leaping... frolicking...
I had to jog on the beach barefoot this morning. It's still too painful to put a shoe on my foot - poor little toe is still twice its normal size.
Figured that the frozen-ness of my feet on the run would help keep the swelling down.
Sort of therapy .
The saddle fitter came back to readjust my saddles for my horse - what a difference a few weeks back in full work makes to a horse's muscles - when he readjusted them before my horse still had a marked muscle wastage on one side, so he had to account for that when he restuffed them. Now all that has gone and my horse had shown crabbiness again under one saddle - well, it appears that one was built up a bit more on one side to allow for the muscles - which have reappeared, so it was sitting heavier on that side because of it.
What a difference when I rode him in the new fixed version - he felt like a dressage horse...

off to kickboxing again tonight.
We've now officially lost the use of our back room before the new slab is poured on Friday...so a whole week of my dog trying to go through to the back room to get out to the backyard and us having to walk her around through the back gate...
hope she can hold on during the night... otherwise I will have to shove my husband forcefully in the small of his back to go and help her ... hehe.

work, toes and silly things....

What a week.
Well, during the kickboxing warmup on Wednesday night which consisted of a 30 pushup/30situp interlude, during the switch from pushup to situp my little toe must have caught on the matting and wrenched backwards.."Ouch" I proclaimed, then watched it swell to about three times the size of the other one. Hmmm. No matter, keep going, just being careful not to miss-hit the bag when I was kicking.
Got home, iced. ..oh...and showered...
next morning, still swollen, tried foolishly to put running shoe on, decided that Thursday morning was not going to be a usual run, so I barefooted down to the garage and did a small dumbbell circuit.
Got into work, got humiliated yet again by my 'manager'..I shall use the term extremely loosely.
Somehow, my emailing a PDF document through for approval, and the subsequent manager approving, and then denying... was my fault. No matter.
Had a chat with the bigger boss today and told him what's been going on for a while and that I was really considering my employment options at the moment as I was finding that type of attitude really difficult to continue working with. I've now been humiliated in front of a company that we were sponsoring an initiative of, and a few too many times in the office. Scorpios and Geminis should never work alongside each other!
Looking forward to the weekend - hopefully I'll be able to get a riding boot on my foot so that I can safely hobble around my horse and also so that I can ride.

Totally freeeeezing!!!

Omigod, the wind this morning was from the South West...and boy did it cut you like a knife. I jogged the beach in my fleece....which is pretty unusual for me..honest.
I am so loving the really low tide this week....
Back to kickboxing tonight!
Well, I critiqued myself in the mirror this morning - and there are definite body composition changes happening before my very eyes.... finally! And trousers that I bought a couple of weeks ago that were snug are getting pretty loose already. I think it's the combination of
the cold
the Precision Nutrition plan and
the kickboxing

oh... FINALLY today..our hot water is back on the roof....I will not miss boiling water for 1/2 hour in the morning for my bath.

I can't wait to get home from kickboxing to get in the shower ...bliss! hehe.

Weekend...

What a weekend! Ha, well, hot water... let's say that baths are becoming boring.. but still, better than nothing! Tomorrow is the day we have our solar power heater back on the roof.

Oh..our roof... it's finished. Just like our ads say, we made the right choice. The houses on either side of us are tiles, like we had. But our new sleek steel roof, just looks stunning. Can't wait until the rest of it's finished now.

Friday night. Hairdresser to Caroline, 'what colour were you thinking of?' (me, plan ahead?), me to hairdresser, 'whatever you think, i trust you'. Mwaaahaaahahahaaaa
well, it's gone from blonde to dark browny/auburn. Whoa. what a shock. Oh well, it'll fade off.

Saturday was an early start - I wanted to throw some rose petals into the water off of Sandon Point where I scattered Mum's ashes last year. It's been 2 years since Mum passed away.

Then went to kickboxing...then rode the horse - it was howling a freezing gale up there, but the pony just acted cool, calm & collected. Then my girlfriend brought her 3 year old off the track filly over for a roundyard session & ride around the property with 'uncle Kado'. Uncle Kado reckoned this young filly was might perty and kinda hot stuff for a young chick. This young thoroughbred was as cool and calm as her old 'uncle' in the howling gale. Sensible pony.

Took Suki up for her weekly treat up to see Kado yesterday. It really is 'Suki's' time up there when she's there. Poor Kado kind of resigns himself to the fact that I will get to him once I've dried Suki off from her several swims in the dam.
All up there were 6 dogs up there by the time we had finished - Grace the foxie cross, Boris the Mastiff/Ridgeback (who I just LOVE - he's one special boy), Jack the schnauzer (with a little too much attitude, but he fell in love with this new older woman that was around, one Ms Suki), Mindy the pomeranian cross, Bundi the springer spaniel cross and Ms Suki, the kelpie cross. It was probably the most dogs that Suki has ever been 'loose' around and they were all fabulous together, so she had a great day.

Paul was off down at Wakefield Park doing supersprints with the Snotmobile yesterday and while he was sitting on the grid, someone came up and said hi to him, it was Matt from the Body for Life forum! Very cool.

Last night I finished typing the assessments for my special populations module (the penultimate)...it is now safely emailed to Fitnation with my exams being sent to my JP as we speak...

Well, this morning I headed down to the beach - the tide is out for miles at the moment. Bliss! So I jogged 1.5km then did a 200m fast run / 200 m soft sand jog x 4 then headed home to heat water/draw bath....

Yay..it's Friday!!!

Well, Friday has rocked around quicker than expected....it's raining too. Silly me decided I would do a dumbbell session in my garage yesterday instead of hitting the beach..but then I had to do another garage session this morning because it was pelting down. So..I grabbed out my old step, did some boxing technique moves & alternated with my version of a step class.
THEN I had to haul butt back upstairs to get the water that was boiling on the stove into my bath! LOL it seriously is like being back in the dark ages. Novel. Very novel. But if that damn solar heater isn't back on my roof today then the novelty will wear very thin very soon..like..now..!
Of course, who knows if it will be possible to stick the thing back on when it's raining.
Getting my haircut & coloured tonight. One day I will get around to sticking some photos of me on here - but...no need to scare people so soon.
Now, I really hate getting my hair coloured at the hairdresser. So much time wasted!!!! But I finally decided to relent and let them do it...trouble is, having short hair requires cutting every 4-5 weeks, which means... recolouring. So I always figured it was not only a waste of time but a waste of money too. Oh well, you only live once.

Oh...my horse..well, I started to lunge him (pre-riding as he has 'isseeeuws'). He must have just had a bit too much pent up energy, because the first excuse he could find (the sensor light coming on outside the shed) he started bucking and careering an snorting around me, then the head went up, neck arched, tail went up like an arab (he was clearly pretending to be a black arab stallion apparently), and he bounced his way around me again. Finally I managed to get him to stop, he let out the biggest snort. And..all was quiet and mosy again!
Funny bugger!

Aaah, well, off to kickboxing tomorrow morning, then up to ride the pony - weather permitting.

No Hot Water!!!!

Now, amidst all the joy of having a new roof, new gutters, new back room, there has to be a little pain right?! Well, that pain is possibly going to be in the shape of COLD showers for a few days (at least I hope it's only for a few days...well, I hope it's only 1 day...)..We have had one of our two roofers off sick yesterday with the vomiting bug...then the other left after a few hours feeling queasy also...then the crane turned up as promised this morning to remove our solar hot water system from the roof. Now that thing has been there for 20 years at least, and we thought for sure it would crack or be damaged in the removal process...(actually I better not speak too soon..it still has to be picked back up by the crane and returned..) anyhow, the hot water plumber said it still looked in great nick! Well, we see what happens when it gets put back on.

This week has been so busy at work. So many projects going on at the moment - we have budget left that we need to spend!! Crazy time. New TV commercial in the pipeline, two brand 'stingers' being shot for the Lifestyle Channel, New online brand centres, new online colour centre, and new photo shoots for new brochures!!!!!
But... I have beached on Monday morning (LOL, sounds like I did a whale impersonation), kickboxed on Monday night, hit the beach with my friend on Tuesday morning, - and the sand has been hell, no hard stuff for those two days, Rode the wild beast last night who was just pretending that EVERYTHING was so scary as he leapt around like a young loony, it helps just to laugh at them when they do that - that way you don't portray any nerves (because if you're scared, then there must be something really scary around), and it really calms them down...eventually. Luckily this morning, the tide was a little lower so I had some firm sand to jog on, then I hit the soft stuff for some sprints, tonight is kickboxing again.

Something is working at the moment. The fat is starting to drip off me, which is great... this is generally where I start to get into strife. I get scared to change things, but I KNOW that changing things is the best thing to do to keep it up.
I need to add more weights back into my routine but at the moment I'm enjoying beaching in the mornings and kickboxing/riding at nights. That will have to change! I think I might have to swap one of my beach mornings just with some dumbbell workouts - or swap my Wed kickbox workout for a good weights session!

Winter was here this morning....

12 degrees when I dragged myself out of bed this morning. Of course, locked in the sanctuary of one's warm house doesn't allow one the luxury of knowing this until they are heading down the driveway...shivering....
Took a while to warm the old bones up on my run this morning...so I opted for soft sand sprints after my 1.5km jog.
Can't wait unti June when the whales start migrating back up North.... imagine jogging along the beach as a humpback whale is playing around in the water nearby....I will have to take my camera each morning just in case.
We've seen a few heading through each season - pods of pilot whales and the odd humpback or two. Spectacular stuff.

bizarre

I can log in from work to this blog, but not from home... must check security settings!

I think I have officially mastered the most withering look today.... my day has been filled with dealing with idiots. If only people could use their brains.

But I digress... just came across a couple of recent photos of my dear little girl, Suki - who has many more names, and answers to them all (spooky, spookalini, spooky bear, banana bear, pooky nana bear...you name it...). She developed a heart murmur this year, and is currently on heart pills and now more recently diuretics to help keep the fluid from the lungs. I don't know how much longer we'll have the pleasure of her divine company, but I am grateful for every day that I do.

More Rain....

I really hate dreary days... probably the reason why I never missed leaving the UK as a child...winters in the Gong are bad enough, but...nothing could compare with a bleak UK winter.. grey stone cottages, grey trees, grey footpaths, grey sky .. that is, when it's not dark (which is about 18 hours of the day). Quaint.
There... I feel better now after wallowing in greyness memories.
Still, did a good kickboxing workout last night, but it was skipping rope hell. I have this hate/hate relationship with the skipping rope. I watch these others, doing these flash moves not an 'oops' to be heard. Then there's me, oh, and to be honest, a few others all managing a few childish skips before oops..giggle..sh!t.. Oh, and the instructor thought it was great to do an extended skipping warmup last night - complete with making us (or trying to make us) do one leg, then the other...then knees up, faster..yeah right. There was much oopsing from me last night. I have a real problem with focus and momentum when I just can't do something. My boredom levels overtake me.
Don't get me wrong, I love the kickboxing class, the way it gets you sweaty and the way you can get stuck into the bag kicking and punching the bejesus out of it. BUT I do have issues with the lack of fitness qualification of the instructors, and consequently the contraindicated exercises that they try and make people do. The lack of knowledge in correct form for certain exercises such as squats. I CAN'T HELP MYSELF when I see people doing things wrong that could possibly cause them injury. I HAVE TO HELP THEM CORRECT IT. Those people then think...why is SHE telling me this? she's just a newbie freak that can't skip.
Gosh. what a whingey whiney blog so far. Riveting stuff caroline.
This is what happens when you start the day with the sound of wet stuff falling on the tarp above our heads. Yes, where most people have a roof, except those people that live in a tent, or in our case, us idiots who are having renovations which we were told would be about 2 weeks in duration...and now look like 2 months would have been a better calculation.
*sigh* I can see why people just DON'T BOTHER. LOL.
Especially when you remember ALL the things you TALKED about that you wanted. Then all of a sudden, all the things you TALKED about BEFORE they quoted, are 'extras' ... KERCHING, KERCHING, KERCHING... goes the sound of the cash machine...
Perhaps I should have stayed in bed this morning.
Clearly I got out the WRONG side. But, if I did, my husband didn't make a sound as I trampled him into the mattress in my hasty exit.
Well, no beach this morning. Just walked the streets - I live in a very hilly zone on the side of our escarpment, so it makes for a great workout walking our streets. Then I finished off at home with just body weight squats, lunges & my peterson step ups. Jeez my right knee makes some interesting squelching sounds doing these....

low tide...

It's been excellent down the beach this week with low tide - so much firm sand to just jog, run & sprint on! YAY!!!
So far this week has entailed (apart from lots of work...! *yawn*):
Monday morning - ummm...the alarm failed to wake me....did have a shocker of a night's sleep though. Sometimes it's okay to go with the flow....
Monday afternoon - thankfully kickboxing! Did 1 hr study ...
Tuesday morning - Beach - mixed 1.5km jog with firm sand sprints - 80m
Tuesday evening - Ride the wild pony. Poor thing, had the dentist check his teeth on Thursday and it appears that in his last accident he must have fractured a tooth - and stopped using one side of his mouth...all fixed now though... teeth all even again, so hopefully he'll start using that side again! Got home to find Precision Nutrition v.2 waiting for me, so can't wait to have more than 5 minutes to get stuck into that!
Wed morning - Loads of firm sand still - jogged 1.3km then did 200m fast run on firm sand, walked up to soft sand, then jogged 200m in soft sand - did 5 circuits of that, then went down to the firm sand and did a mix of 60, 70 & 80m sprints, then decided to stretch & head to the shower..
This evening is kickboxing again, more beach tomorrow morning, ride pony again on Thurs night, and beach friday morning, then sat am will be my weights session - legs, chest & triceps. - I'm only doing one weights session a week at the moment purely because I am enjoying the kickboxing - and that's quite an upper body workout too - and then I can just concentrate more on getting a good leg workout in. Did notice a vein in my shoulders starting to pop out in my shoulder workout last week... much to my husband's horror at my excitement LOL.

have we moved to the northern hemisphere?

It's positively balmy outside...about 27 degrees to be precise! Just like a mid-summer's day in the UK! what the??? Although someone at work said they'd just heard on the radio there are 'snow showers' on the way tomorrow for the blue mountains...huh?? LOL, you can guarantee...if we've still got no roof on the back room, we're bound to be in for snow in the Gong (be a first, but hey!).
Kickboxing was another good hard workout last night - we did lots of kick routines against the bag - low, power and head kicks...that gets the heart rate up!!

This morning's sunrise - complete with full moon setting over the escarpment, was quite spectacular once again....
and...there was some firm sand...so I avoided the soft stuff like the plague and did some good 60m firm sand sprints - until the tide started to claim my spot!
Off to ride the pony again tonight.
Splashed out and ordered Precision Nutrition v2 yesterday - thank god the special is $50US off because that's about how much the international postage was! Ouch. Still...the Metabolism Advantage book has been excellent, so I now eagerly await the new investment.

Tomorrow is up in Sydney, well, St Leonards at our advertising agency, then Surry Hills to our PR agency...so will have to pack well for my food!!! Our advertising agency ALWAYS brings out this reallyYUMMY stuff though...LOL...it's a real exercise in self control to avoid it.

sunrise

This morning the sunrise was just stunning.... and I have to say, every morning when I get down the beach I think the same thing..I should bring a camera down. But do I? nope.
Well, there was a fabulous fluorescent orange/pink strip along the horizon..couple that with the beautiful silver ocean with tinges of pink....magic.

There was a bit of sort of firmish sand so I jogged that, then did some 60m soft sand sprints with a walk in between. That was HARD. I think the last few I ran out of puff at about 40m! LOL.
The funny thing was there was some young boy jogging along the soft sand past me, and I'd just finished a sprint and was having a drink, as he passed me he picked up his speed and ran for about 20m, then slowed down again. What the? I just wonder what this 15yo boy was trying to prove to this old 41 yo woman?
Hmm, son, when you're 41, come back down and we'll see what speed you're doing through the soft sand. LOL.