February 27 2013

Hi y'all, I did it again.  I was out last night and forgot to post.

Well I went to see Duke Special with my friend from work.  Do you know him?  He is kind of brilliant.  Quirky.  Fun.  Strange.  But brilliant none-the-less.

Before the gig we went to La sperenza for food.  OMG, it was DELICIOUS.

I had mozzarella balls with a chilli and tomato dip, then cannelloni, then chocolate fudge cake with ice cream.  Yes I was stuffed, but you know when something tastes so good you just have to try something else?  Yeah?  That was me yesterday.  A couple of glasses of rose wine and I was good to go!!

Overall, as you can see it was a great night.

I hope yours was good too.

:-)

February 26 2013

This is not getting any easier.  I have to be honest here, I figured that at this point I would be used to writing my wee blog post of an evening.  I thought that enough good things would happen in my day that I could easily find things to write about.  And good things do happen to me, it just seems that so many of those pesky good things happen that I don't have the time to post!!

What a problem to have!  I tell you, I am not really complaining here.  I know my life is sweet.

We went out for tea tonight.  It was baby girl's birthday boxing day.  Whats that I hear you ask?  Well in order to prolong a birthday celebration we decided that there should be a birthday eve and a birthday boxing day.  Great idea, yes??

So we went out for a family tea, just me, baby girl and R.  It was lovely and we stuffed our faces.

Not sure it really helped my getting fit, but sure it only happens once per year!!

Another thing that happened was I got my second weighin and measurement check at the gym.  I have now lost 6 kilos and 9 3/4 inches off my body.  I am retty darn proud.  The girl at the gym gave me this whole lecture about how I have put on muscle mass and thats why my weight hasnt gone down a lot, but I am not worried.  9 3/4 inches!!  Thats pretty amazing.

Bikini body here I come.  (next year) (maybe)

PS Sorry I am late, again.

February 25 2013

It's baby girls birthday today. She was 23. It amazes me that I can have a 23 year old daughter. I don't feel that old yet, so how can my daughter be that old.

She went to get a tattoo of her wee brother and wee sisters initials on her wrist. I was not impressed. But I suppose it is her body!

We went out for dinner to a Chinese restaurant. It was great.

Overall it was a good day.

I am tired tho. I was at the gym. Again I hear u ask? Yes. S came in and we did our workout this afternoon. Then I went back in the evening and did a Zumba class and an aerobics class. My word but my arms, shoulders and thighs are sore.

We are back again tomoro to do another workout.

That's dedication!

February 24 2013

Late again.

I am getting bored with this blogging thing.

We were at my cousins baby's christening today. A luvly little girl called Freya.

It was nice to see my family again. My granny is getting on a wee bit now and it's horrible to think that one day we will lose her.

She has already lost two daughters. My mum and my godmother. It must be hard for her.

Have u lost anyone? How did u cope? Remind me to talk about this again in the future.

We went for a walk round Hillsborough lake yesterday evening. We didn't go until after six. We got there at half, at seven we were back in the car. Half hour round the lake. A good pace set!

February 23 2013

Went to the gym again today. Muscles sore.

Enough complaining!

R's mum gave us a fish tank and fish today. R spent this evening cleaning it and sorting things out. We now have a tank in the living room. He likes it. I am not so sure!

Baby girl went out with her mates tonight. It's her bday on Monday.

February 22 2013

Well if I thought yesterday was ad I hadn't been to the gym yet this morning. They changed my programme and that together with yesterday's gym work means I am in pain today!

But you know what they say. No pain. No gain.

It hurts so it must be working.

R was off work today which was luvly. It's great spending time with him.

He is off again tomoro and Sunday. Woohoo.

What else happened today? Well baby girls fish Ginge is sick. :-(

S went to the gym again today.

Baby girl is staying at S's house tonight. Weird for her to be away. The house is empty without her.

We have lit the fire and watched a lot of Warehouse 13. Have you watched it?

Hope your day was a good one.

Laters.

February 21 2013

I am so wrecked tonight. I really don't have the energy even to type. However I have done this daily so far I wanna stick at it and see how far into this #365 project I can go.

Today I think I might have overdosed a little at the gym. I went this morning and really pushed it. I worked so hard on the crosstrainer then one of the girls asked if I wanted to do Tone and Core. Well, who am I to say no? So I did that.

Then I walked up to work. Walked home. And was so tired I fell asleep for a couple of hours.

Then I got up and went to the gym again with baby girls cousin S. It was her first time there. I probably shouldn't have signed her up for the hardest class first. :-)

Legs, Bums and Tums.

Oh my giddy aunt

It kills

The amount of squats I did today would make a gymnast sore! I don't like them. I appreciate I need to do them tho.

I came home and was so tired I made R go to the chippy for dinner.

We all watched Monsters Inc and now it's bedtime.

My legs are sore.

February 20 2013

Today I had an assignment to do. It's due in tomoro. I had done NO reading for it at all. But five hours start to finish and it's done. Woohoo. I am so pleased.

Today was a pretty good day overall. We started out with a visit to the Cupcakery for peanut butter cupcakes and they were delicious.

Then we went to archery, well R did. I sat in the office and did my assignment. Home for banana and toast an episode of Australian Masterchef then it's gonna be bedtime. Night night all.

February 19 2013

Yay for Tuesdays. Well yay for this Tuesday anyway. I am off work for a week now. Today was busy. I had a lot to do to try and get organised for having my week off. But busy is better than bored.

I got home before baby girl and R. I put dinner on and watched a bit of Australian Masterchef. Then baby girl came home with her cousin, my sister and her cousins fiancée. We chatted for a bit. They went home. I finished making dinner just as R got back. We ate together, something I think is really important, then baby girl went to bed.

I watched a bit more Australian Masterchef. Then we went to bed.

All in all a pretty good day.

Did I tell you I am off work for a week?

WOOHOO!

February 18 2013

Mondays get a bad name. They are usually the first day of a working week. The day you have to get up early for after a weekend of no alarms. The day that tires you out, cos you never go to bed at a proper time on Sunday.

Poor Monday.

But Monday also brings new hope. Yes it is the first day of a working week. A new chance to do new things. To try something different. To work a little harder. To do a little more.

My Monday started earlier than usual. I was in work for 8. It was one of those days. You know the ones where your phone doesn't stop. When people keep asking you to do new things. Where you never actually get anything finished. Yeah. I had one of those days.

After work I went to the gym. I worked out. I increased the intensity on the bike. I pushed myself a little more on the weights. Then I did a Zumba class. I worked hard there too. And sweated. I sweated a lot. But no pain no gain.

I came home after 8 and was so happy that dinner was done. I had made it last night but baby girl finished it off and made wedges. Yay!

We watched a little TV. And then we went to bed.

It was a good Monday.

I hope your Monday was a good one too. :-)

February 17 2013

Hi all.

Today I went to the gym nice and early. I was finished my work out by midday.

Then home and we went out for the day.

R, baby girl, boy and I went to Shaw's Bridge for a walk. Just over two miles. It took about an hour tho. Not everyone can do a mile in less than 20 mins.

Then we went to Ikea. We bought new shelves and I got a couple of photo frames.

After that we left boy home. We came back, had dinner and watched a movie together.

A good day.

:-)

February 16 2013

I had a luvly day today. I woke late. Then I had a bit of breakfast. Then tidied up the house. I watched TV. I read my book. I listened to music. I was alone all day.

It was kinda great.

After R and baby girl came home I made dinner. We ate. Then I washed up after dinner.

Now baby girl and boy are upstairs playing on the wii and R has just went to bed cos he is tired.

I get to watch what I want on TV again. :-)

February 15 2013

I went to the gym again this morning. I did a legs, bums and tums class. Then the instructor said she was going to do 20 mins of spin class. I decided to try.

I did 15 mins in the end. But that was 15 mins of spin class I had never done before. I am very proud of myself.

Me and baby girl went to the cinema this afternoon and watched Beautiful Creatures. Have you saw it? We enjoyed it.

I love spending time with my daughter.

We came home. Had dinner. Watched Life of Pi on DVD.

Interesting movie.

Bedtime now tho. I am tired.

Good day, spent with baby girl.

My favourite kind of day.

February 13 2013

I am wrecked. I think every muscle in my body is sore.

Gym workout. Followed by Zumba. Followed by Tone and Core.

That was hard work.

But.

When I finished the instructor came up to me and said she could see a real improvement in me. Earlier one of the other instructors had said the same thing when I was in the gym.

I have been working hard. Maybe it's finally starting to pay off.

I know I can feel it in my everyday life. Walking up stairs doesn't kill just so much. Even walking home from work (20 mins walk) feels easier. But for them to tell me they had noticed. I kinda floated home.

I just kept replaying the conversation in my head. They can see the difference too.

It's been six weeks of slog. I still wouldn't say I like the gym. But I like the feeling of being fitter.

Today was a good day.

February 12 2013

Me and R went to the ice hockey today. Belfast Giants vs All Stars. It was a testamonial match.

It was good. But not as good as the usual ice hockey matches we go to.

I love spending time with R. We get on well. There is almost never fighting! Lol.

Baby girl went to see her daddy again. I am glad that works out for both of them.

I do feel like I haven't seen her in a while. We gotta have some mummy/daughter time soon.

How do you make sure to spend quality time with your loved ones? Any tips you'd like to share?

February 14 2013

A Valentine's letter to me ten years ago

Dear Tina

First and foremost you will survive.  There are a lot of things that will happen to you, sadness and heartbreak and major life changes that you feel have broken you. But I promise the light is just around the corner.

Baby girl will survive those horrible teenage years.  She is a good kid underneath all that and she just didn't know how to handle the heartbreak any more than you did.  It was her way of coping.  She hurt herself first so that no-one else could hurt her.  Wasn't that what you were doing too?

Baby girl with her cousin

She grows into such a wonderful adult, and is proving to you everyday that you being a 16 year old mum did not mess her up.  You did a brilliant job with her.  She is polite and kind and goes out of her way to make others feel good.  She is also a little spoiled, but then she always was.

Tina, when your life changes in the mid 2000s, it feels that there is no way out.  You feel you will never be happy again.  I promise you it will happen.

Get on the internet, the perfect guy is waiting for you.  Tina, grab him quick, and stop beating yourself up that bad things will happen to you.  He really does love you as much as he tells you he does.  He really is that much of a nice man.  He does care about baby girl.

You will get married.  Imagine that.  I know that must be a shock to you, cos it was a shock to me when I realised that was what I wanted too.  But you do it.   Its a quite small wedding (about 15 people).  It will be a great day.  But you will still miss your mum and god mother.

Our wedding day

Go to uni, it won't be the right decision for you, but do it anyway.  Those skills you learn will come in handy.

Go to concerts.  Go to lots and lots of them.  Everytime you think you can't afford it, just do it.  You are building memories.  You will make new friends.  You will enjoy it.

Me and Kat von D

Sunflowerfest 2012

Embrace changes Tina.  What feels difficult now will get easier.

And if I could offer you one piece of advice I wish I had done earlier.....join the gym now.  Its much harder for me than it would have been for you. 

Its fun....just do it.

Enjoy yourself Tina.  There are a lot of changes coming for you in the next ten years.  But they are all worth it.

Love you

Me xx

February 11 2013

Sometimes it's harder to find something good in my day. It's not that it was a bad day. It's just that nothing really happened.

I went to work. I went to the gym. I did Zumba.

I came home. Me and R made dinner. We ate dinner.

Baby girl went out for dinner with her daddy.

Me and R watched TV.

It was an ordinary day.

But there, right there is the good thing.

I had an ordinary day when nothing bad happened.

I have a job. One that I kinda like, most of the time.

I am fit and able and can afford to go to the gym.

I have food and a house and a husband who loves me enough to make dinner with me.

I have a great life.

February 10 2013

What a day!

I woke early, without a hangover :-) and had breakfast. Then I went to the gym.

After that I came home, helped R with the cleaning and then me, R, baby girl and boy went out for the afternoon.

We went to do archery. Baby girl didn't really like it but she did try. And actually got an arrow in the gold!

I started out not too good, but after some instruction from R I fixed my stance, and actually started hitting the target. And with more practice I got it in the gold circle. Quite a few times.

I think I might be good at archery with a bit more practice.

Boy did really well too. He seems to enjoy it.

After we went to a few shops.

Then we left boy home.

Then we came home. I made dinner. And after I had a long relaxing bath.

Overall a good day.

Enjoy ur Sunday.

It's Monday again tomoro and another week of work!

February 9 2013

Today was a luvly day. I slept late (10.30) then walked to the shop, had breakfast, watched tv then went to the gym for an hour.

When R came home from work we went to pick up boy.

Then me, R, baby girl and boy went for dinner at Blue Chicago Grill, and we went to see Warm Bodies. I read the book last week and baby girl finished it the day after me. We enjoyed the book. I thought the film was pretty good too.

Dinner was gorgeous. I had chicken strips and baby back ribs and big chunky chips.

R had a Hawaiian burger and French fried onion rings.

Baby girl was good and had a chicken wrap.

Boy had a burger and chunky chips.

Then three of us had desert.

I had strawberry pavlova. R had chocolate fudge cake. Boy had double chocolate muffin. And they all came with ice cream.

Scrummy.

We then went to visit R's parents.

Now we are home. Watching Enchanted on DVD and about to open a bottle of Moët. I am a lucky girl.

I hope your day was just as good as mine.

February 8 2013

Hi everyone. And by everyone I mean me. Since I have no readers yet.

Maybe one day.

So today in work one of the doctors bought me chocolates. Just because I was helpful to her and answered all her questions.

It was so out of the blue. I gave her a hug to say thanks. It was sweet.

That is what I am thankful for. I did my job. Nothing more. And she appreciated me and showed me that.

We should all be a bit more like that.

Do you tell your work colleagues they have done well? Do you buy your friends chocolates just because?

February 7 2013

Oops I missed yesterday. Again.

So it was a day like any other day. I went to work. I came home. I made dinner. Baby girl and R were out. I got to watch what I wanted on the TV. Yeah ok maybe it was a good day.

When they got back we all chatted then it was bedtime. :-)

February 6 2013

Hi all. Today one of the girls in work asked me how I was enjoying married life. I suppose I am still a newly wed. I have been married just over two months. I was with R for about three years before that and we lived together for two of those. Before we lived together we saw each other pretty much every day.

It wasn't a big deal for us to get married. Nothing really changed. We had already worked out most of the niggly who does what around the house. And who leaves dirty socks on the floor (me).

But when the girl in work asked me I just smiled and told the truth without thinking.

It is the best thing I have ever done since I had my daughter.

I live with the two people I love more than anything. Baby girl and R.

I am lucky beyond words.

I count my blessings everyday and am very grateful.

February 5 2013

Hi all

Today a friend sent me a link to photos of her beautiful baby boy. A couple of weeks old and he is just the cutest thing ever.

She had a C section so can't drive for a while. I am really looking forward to her bringing him in to visit us in work.

As much as I am not a 'baby person' I think he is super cute.

Are you a 'baby person'?

February 4 2013

So it seems I forgot to post yesterday, today being the 5th.

Sorry about that.

I went to the gym again. I did my workout, with the extra minutes on the stepper and crosstrainer. Then I did the Zumba class.

The first time I did the Zumba class I thought I was going to die. Now, I am not saying it was easy this time round, but it wasn't as difficult. I really think this is working.

My fitness levels are going up. I am still no Jane Fonda. In fact I am nowhere near fit even. But I am getting there.

It did tire me out tho.

I have went to the gym Saturday, Sunday, then Monday. I am tired. I came home from the gym Monday and thankfully baby girl had made dinner. As soon as I ate I was ready for bed. But me and R watched TV for a bit. Then went to bed. I slept from ten o'clock right thru.

I guess that's why I forgot to post yesterday.

Hope your day was a good one.

February 3 2013

Happy Sunday.

Today we got up early. Me and R went to church. Then home, picked up baby girl. Took her to a friends house for a bday party.

I went to the gym.

We picked up baby girl. Then we went to get boy.

We were going to go to ten pin bowling but the lanes were full.

Instead we went to see Les Mis again at the cinema. This is the second time we watched it. It was still as powerful. Though I didn't cry this time!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything nice?

February 2 2013

Today I went to the gym. I did seven minutes on the stepper. Now. I know that doesn't sound great. But four weeks ago my legs were killing me and my heart was racing after two minutes.

I did seven minutes on the crosstrainer too. Again, four weeks ago I managed two and had legs like jelly.

I also ran on the treadmill. Admittedly only for a minute. But it was actual running. Well jogging. I did ten minutes fast walking too.

Overall I am very pleased with myself. I have tried hard over the past four weeks. I have a way to go BUT I am getting there.

I also went and did some bag packing for a local charity. Four and a half hours standing packing other people's bags. Some people were luvly. Some not so luvly.

Overall it was a great day.

February 1 2013

Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits

Happy first feb to you all. I hope you had a great day.

I didn't go to the gym today but I did go to the hairdressers. It always feels good to get my hair done.

I also met my friend for lunch. We just ate in her office but I haven't seen her since before Christmas so it was luvly.

How was your day?