Wednesday 23 May 2018

So....yesterday - in addition to the meatball meal, cake and hotdog I ate, I went on to eat so many of the cakes that I got from Ikea....  Yesterday I didn't do any exercise, and I did no work on the house.  I started to feel pretty crap about myself.  When I went to bed, I decided that I was going to have a think about what I wanted to do and how I was going to change.  I decided that this morning, I would email about the floorboards, and call about getting a quote just for 1st fix on the bathroom and the radiators done (as the whole quote was too much), and I was going to work on the tiles in the back porch - because I am able to do that.  I also decided to write down a circuit training plan incorporating all the exercises and stretches I need to do to get my hip/butt/calves right for running.  I have also decided to start calorie counting again.

So - I have emailed/called, I have written down my circuit training plan...and I have started to do the tiles.  I am currently having a break because its not easy!  I'm on my hands and knees not only trying to get broken tiles out but trying to get the little bits of grout out because the new tiles are not fitting in the gaps!  Its doing my head in - there is going to be soooo much prep work before I can even start thinking of putting the new tiles in.  I've already broken or chipped some original tiles that were okay and now will need replacing.  This is how I have left it....

The ground is uneven too - and some of the new tiles are going to stick up - so I'll have to try and chip away some concrete underneath.  The worse thing though is definitely that the tiles wont actually fit in....and I might have to get the wet cutter out and try and take just 1mm off - can't imagine that going well.  If I fill the holes you can see in the pic, with the new tiles - they don't fit stick up all over the place - and look awful.  I can't leave em like that so i have my work cut out!

Meanwhile, I let the kittens outside and after a while thought that I'd not seen them for a bit...went and looked and found the big silver cat (a neighbours cat) around the bottom of a tree with both kittens up it...and both my big cats hiding in the long grass....so silver cat is ruling all four of my cats! I obviously saved them all....hoping that May - the black and white kitten is going to grow the biggest and kick its ass!!

So, I'm going to finish my coffee and get back on with the tiles.  I just need to keep chipping away (literally) until I get it right.  I am resisting the urge to just get the new tiles in - I am a very impatient person - so it is difficult to resist that urge!

See you later......

So...I now know why I'm having such a nightmare with the tiles! The white ones are about 1mm bigger than the black ones!

This might be a small difference - but makes ALL the difference when it comes to getting them to fit!!!!

I called the guy at the tile shop and he said...Oh, I've never heard of that before! Well, I'm not lying...or stupid! I felt I had to convince him that it was true!  They will replace them...but in a week!! GGrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Tuesday 22nd May 2018

Hi

My plan was to meet Yvonne today in Exeter - I lazed about a bit in the morning - then ended up rushing like mad to get a shower and get ready!

We met at the new Ikea...I asked Andy if there was anything he wanted - we both could not think of anything, but I knew I'd come back with something!  We met in the restaurant - and I had meatballs and chips and cheesecake! lol - it was yummy!! When I arrived all I could think about was meatballs and hotdogs!! There was a guy sat near us who left 2 meatballs! Who even does that!!

 Its always nice to see Yvonne - we get on so well - even though she joked again about not liking my blog lol.

Yvonne is seen below - modelling the small set of tables and chairs which will be perfect for the annex dining room - once we have sorted it out!

We had a nice chat and walk around Ikea.  Yvonne was telling me that's she is back on track for the gastric bypass....she had to lose about 9kg before seeing the consultant - she did it and got the okay. She then went straight to Mac donalds drive through!!  She pointed out a very small bowl and said - I'll only be able to eat an amount of food that would fit in this bowl. I said...well next time we come it'll be cheap then...you can just have one of my meat balls - she said, oh I don't know if I could manage a full one! I said good I didn't wanna give you a full one any way!!

 Anyway....I could have bought lots of stuff....I did actually buy lots of stuff but I could have bought more!!  I got some knives and forks, wooden forks, little vase, 3 rugs (hall runners), 2 washing up brushes...and cake, and meatballs, and more cake!  Then - after all the meatballs and everything I had eaten when we met - I had a hotdog on my way out!

When I got home and put the hall runners down - I realised that they look a lot smaller than they did in the shop!  They will probably look good when the floor underneath has been sorted out - and we might need another one....I don't think Andy was too impressed with them!

So, I'm now sat in the garden with a G&T....

Monday 21st May 2018

So - had physio appointment this morning because of my hip.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to explain exactly what was wrong and where the pain was and so forth - but she was brilliant and able to see what the problem was by getting me to do certain movements etc.  Most of the problem seems to come from my calves! I always end up with problems in my calves.  I did my back in earlier in the year and the osteopath mentioned my calves.  Apparently the lower calf is so tight - that it will have a knock-on effect up my body! Now I know why I can't do proper squats! lol.  Also, she reckons that when I did my back in - my body started to use different muscles to compensate.  If I stand on my left leg and lift the other one up I'm fine - the other way around however, I stick my hip out because the muscles are not working properly.  So when I run - I am doing a similar thing!  So - I have exercises to do and I HAVE to stretch my lower calf muscles out.  If this is not possible I need to see a podiatrist for inserts into my shoes - to lift my heel.

So happy that I now know what the problem is AND I can carry on running - just shorter distances and on the flat.  If I am in pain I am not actually doing any damage or making it worse.  So - although I don't want to be in pain - I should still be able to do the 10k race i have coming up on 10th June!!

I have had such good experiences with osteopaths and physio's this year - it makes such a difference having somebody who knows what they are doing, tell you whats going on with your own body!  I am going every time I have any niggles....as soon as you know that you can do something about it - its great! If it means I can carry on running and get less injuries - its awesome!

S'anyway....I've drawn out all the lines on the boards to show where the new floor boards are gonna go...trying to work out what I need to buy and in what lengths - a lot more complicated than it sounds!  I also took up one of the boards just to have a look at the joists and make sure there were no bodies and anything else unexpected under there....it was fine lol.

So I think I'll email the woman at the timber place and just give her all the measurements and see what she can do! Nervous/excited about laying a floor on my own by myself!

Meeting Yvonne for lunch tomorrow - spoke on facebook - told her I was writing a blog again and told her that I read back to 2010/2011 and that she had slagged me off for writing a blog - when I didn't exactly lead an exciting life! lol.  She remembered it well - said "I remember you being so mad at me about that!" and I'm glad lol...but she didn't take it back or anything hehehe

It's not like I mind - if the people around me don't read it then it means I can be honest about what I say and not worry about what people might think!

So...Its now 4pm and I am going to get changed and go for a run on my running machine (after doing the exercises given to me by the physio!) and I am going to try my SHFT again.

Catch up...

Hi!!

I am trying my best to remember what I did on Friday....Andy was working....

Oh - I went and picked up the replacement tiles for the victorian porch -a nd spoke again about the wood I need for the hall....came back and dug some broken tiles out....I didn't have an exciting day!

Saturday....was a really nice day again - and me and Andy spent most of it in the garden and waiting for helen and Paul to come around.  We found some tent pegs and got the tent properly up...we got out a game that he got me for my birthday and set that up - got some bbq food...I put some weed killer/lawn food down - on a section to see if it made a difference (it turned the grass black - which is supposed to be temporary!).

Helen, Paul and Eloise got to our at about 4pm - and we generally chatted....sat in the garden....Andy and Paul were hitting golf balls into a net, but me and Helen always seem to find a million things to chat about!

Eventually - not until about 7pm - we made some food! Then we came in and played pool, listened to music, drank!  Had a jolly good time as we always do - before crashing!

Sunday - Helen and paul got off quite early - and me and Andy decided to go for a walk down netherclay - there is about 22 acres (could be more) with pathways, and the river tone - and lots of trees and it is really nice to walk around.  I went running there a week or so ago, and was amazed that we had that just 3 minutes away - so i wanted to show Andy.  We had a really nice walk - and then decided to carry on - went down towards Longmead where they do the parkrun - and we ended up out walking for about 2.5 hours!  did about 16,000 steps!  My hip was quite painful after a while though....

We came back - played cards in the garden and did another bbq - before coming in, watching a film - and getting to bed quite early!!

A good weekend! :-)

Thursday...

This morning - despite my sore hip that means I cannot run properly - I tried out my new gadget - the SHFT.  Took me a while to get kitted up! with my polar watch and chest strap, my new polar foot pod, the SHFT chest strap and the SHFT foot pod, get everything synched, got my app on the phone ready (already wearing my new trainers!) and off I went - just up and down my road (its 1/2km from my house to the top of the road)...I expected to be out for about 20 minutes.  The app - gave me a warm up - and 3 lots of 6 minute runs...I ended up running 4.3km.  The app was telling me in my ear that it was analysing me - then told me that my foot was spending too long in contact with the floor.  I then had to run trying to improve this! I didn't know how to do that! lol.  I was trying to take baby steps - and then just trying to run faster! Was really frustrating though because it was just painful to run - so my stride and everything is probably different to when I am not in pain.  Anyway afterwards I could see all sorts of info about my running!  I know that I am not a heel striker! I land neutral/midfoot which is supposed to be the best way to land.  I know my stride length, how long I am in the air - my body bounce, step length, brake effect - lots of things that mean nothing to me atm, but it means I can find out! and once I get my contact with the floor reduced, the app will help me work on something else to improve my running! JUST NEED TO BE ABLE TO RUN! So, I am very pleased with that!  My trainers were good too - although I think they will be better when I have broken them in a bit! 

Anyway...

Our plan today - as Andy was off work - was to spend the day in the garden and play games and have a BBQ...but it wasn't quite warm enough! So I ended up cutting the grass again...(ended up doing 20,000 steps today!).  Then Andy got out our huge tent and we put that up - we wanted to see if we had wrecked it, because last time we put it away it was raining and we never got it out again to let it dry.  Anyway - it was fine! It brought back memories of when we used it last which was years ago, when the kids were younger.  The things I remember about that holiday was Adam was sleep walking/talking, and freaked the twins out - me and Andy had joined Helen and Paul in their caravan and I got a call from Lissa.  She was freaking out saying Adam is being weird!!  When we got there, Adam was gesturing towards his room in the tents demanding to know what colour the invisible pipes were!  He then threw up! I also remember cooking sausages and stuff and watching huge black clouds coming towards us - we just managed to get it cooked and run inside the tent with the food when we ended up in the middle of a massive thunder storm! It was quite scary and apparently lightening hit a tree in the field we were in.  We played lots of games too - got the kids running an assault course carrying a cup of water...I also remember us getting chinese take-out and eating that at a table inside the tent - and we taught the kids how to play poker and Connor thrashed us all!

So - the tent is fine - but we can't find the tent pegs. 

It had got nice and warm after about 4pm so we stayed in the garden, having a drink, playing cards and chatting! Twas much fun!!

We then came inside - got take-out AGAIN! and watched TV - until I fell asleep about 10.30! so we got an early night!

Birthday!

So...I'm now another year older.  Can not believe that I am actually 47 😒.

Last night Paul was here as he had a conference today in Taunton - and Andy didn't get home until about 9pm....but we sat and had a really good laugh, a few drinks and take-out! So that was really nice.

This morning - I got up and opened my presents off Helen and Paul that Paul had brought last night.  I did extremely well!!  I got a moisturizer, a bottle of rhubarb vodka, some bath bombs especially for runners (epsom salts) some weird bubble things in different flavours that you add to prosecco, and a cool hoody that says - I was normal 3 cats ago! hahaha!

Then I got some awesome pressies off Andy! I got a medal holder for running medals! I need to get some now!  I got some really cute signs - one of which was so touching that I totally filled up!!

This was one of the really touching signs:

and this was the one that made me cry:

This made me emotional because Andy always tells me things like this! I love him so much!

This is for my medals:

I can't seem to turn it around!!

I Also got some rhubarb and ginger gin - the same one me and our Joanne managed to drink almost a whole bottle of in one night! A picture about running with different running termonology just as Grunpy - when you cant run because you are injured! lol.  I am grunpy at the moment - especially because he got me this awesome gadget - where you have 2 pods - one goes on your foot and one on your chest and it analyses everything about your running and coaches you to improve things!  Unfortunately however, one of the pods does not seem to be working and I've had to get in touch with the company - they have not replied yet...

He also got me a polar foot pod which will connect to my watch - which is very cool! I love seeing stats and stuff! I got a book about running too, with a load of different running workouts!

I got a pair of period knickers off Lissa hahahaha really made me laugh when I opened it - because this is what I told her I wanted when she asked me.  I'm sure they will come in very handy!! lol

I got £20 off Andy's parents which is super sweet of them....

We then went to Running Needs and I got the latest version of the running shoes I have been wearing for the past 2-3 years.  They are amazing!!!  So - I have all this new running stuff and I can't go running because of my stupid hip!!!

When we got home I had a parcel off Lissa - it was Lush stuff off all 3 of the kids - it had been left in the porch and the porch smelled amazing when we got home lol.  I love lush stuff!  I also received a £25 Dunelm voucher - with no name on it - but I suspect it is off my mum and dad!  I've put a post on facebook asking whoever sent it to let me know who they are! Don't wanna say to my mum - did you send me this - for her to say no.....

Another good but slightly worrying thing I got through the post was a cheque off Water 2 business (water rates) for £305!  Problem is - we are not a business, and I told them that when we moved in - and we have only ever paid them £304....so they have sent me more money than I have ever paid them! this came with no explanation at all!

So - I now need to go get ready as we are going out - but I'm getting a super purry cuddle off Mercky....

Okay so I got ready - and we got a taxi into town - and had a few drinks - then went to The Skewer House - which was pretty awesome! Had awesome chicken on a skewer with sides of chips and hallumi - hollumi - omg cannot spell it! halloumi?

I ate way too much - but did stop myself finishing food that was just toooo much!  We then went and had another couple of drinks:

We then got a taxi home and Andy beat me at pool because he is cruel!  I think he did try and throw the games so I'd win - but I was too rubbish and drunked!!  All in all I had an awesome day! A very happy birthday!

Mon & Tues

Mon

Today -  I went for my long run - 10km.  I always tend to do this on a Monday.  Today it was awful.  I just couldn't run! The pain in my hip was too much - and the other hip started to bother me too.  So - a lot of walking was involved.  It all just pissed me off to be honest....I came home and made an appointment with a physiotherapist - can't get in until next Monday....  I am going to HAVE to stop running for a while. :-(

Then I mainly got jobs done! Went to the tip and got rid of all the carpet we pulled up over the weekend.  I go to that tip SO often!!

I then went and found tiles we can use to replace broken ones in the back porch and found where I can get floorboards to replace the big pieces of board that have been put down in the hall.

I started to get up all the staples in the floor that had been pinning down the underlay....bored much?  Then I started cleaning/scrubbing the tiles in the back porch - it is NOT easy trying to get them clean. WAKE UP!

That pretty much sums up Monday!

Tuesday

Well today started when I woke up at 6.11am.  Way too early!  I made a coffee and went back to bed and read my book for a bit (Your Best Stride) surprise surprise - its about improving your running!

Then - got up - cleaned a few more tiles and got more staples out of the hallway floor - now I am in the middle of getting up all the carpet gripper from around the sides.  Then - I might try sanding a little bit of the floorboards - to see how it comes up.

Its my birthday tomorrow...yay - another year older (crying)....

I've just seen some pics from 3 years ago (2015).  This was quite special - me and Andy were going out to the local Italian for a meal - and all the kids were going their separate ways...off out somewhere or another.  Ended up just me and Andy - having a drink at home before we headed to the restaurant.  When we got there all the kids were there waiting for me!!  I don't know why but this is probably one of my most memorable birthdays!  It was so awesome to see them all there - and so nice that they had all gone to the effort!  We had such a good time too - had a proper laugh!!  Ahhhh makes me miss them all so much looking at the pics!!

Here are a few pics:





We went back home and partied!!

There are a few video's that won't upload on here - try copy and pasted these links....

Connor laughing without smiling! Kills me everytime!

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOHtr1BTzExTB3ZbK2tzT8GA_jXw7SHJiAMlmnhvyLNxkbn3O_4d7prCKhg-vXnRA/photo/AF1QipMDhJeXoaUL4RbvUfUOmR290dEqZSxyptnjeGOM?key=ZTdxb3R2RWZnX2dGaDRYTndxVUN6OS1QSC1haG5n

Kids singing

https://photos.google.com/rediscover/CgZwaG90b3MaL3RtOkFGMVFpcFBCTzBXTnc1ckQxVmxHZnBjRHBJN0dQcWl1ZHBhMXJrWXB4RDZ0MjNhOlRJTUVMWV9QSE9UT1NfU1VHR0VTVElPTl9DUkVBVEVEOjM3ZTU1MmFjMjFlODJiYjM/photo/AF1QipOT35GkitLJIbKOaKZXydJzjfqRLEyL3eFvqbBA