He's Here!

Yes, our new grandson has decided to make an early appearance!  Brandon Martin weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz yesterday at five to midday.  His mother gave birth with just the gas and air, and very tight squeezes of dad's hand, together with those dirty looks that say 'I hate you!' and 'You're never coming near me again!'

Both mum and baby are doing very well and will go home from hospital today, and they'll travel in the car dad has just bought, after selling his motorbike.  And, I have talked him into allowing the baby to be wearing a nightie at night - they won't remember the middle of the night feeds, when you are barely awake enough to know which popper goes where, on those babygro thingies.

We have seen a picture of his bruised face, as he was born face-first but, unfortunately, won't be able to hold him and cuddle him until next Thursday week, as I have everything organised with work so that we were due to be there a couple of days before his due date.  Ah well, at least everything has gone so well, that we are not needed until then.  Dad, our son, has been feeding and changing him already, and as he already has a big sister, they are in good hands.

Congratulations to them, with all our love to a very special family.

Diet Update - probably boring you by now

But, it's not boring to me!  I lost another 1 lb this week!  Phew.  We've been out to eat twice this week, and I'm afraid I took no notice of what I was supposed to order, just had what I had and thoroughly enjoyed it.  However, I was then very careful about what else I was eating, so as to limit the damage.  So, this week I am a very lucky, 17 st 4 ½ lbs.

In other news, I have been sewing, but I have no pictures as yet - all will be revealed soon, I promise, with a surprise present I had!  Patience now, y'hear?

And, more news is that Mr T and I are due to visit the Americas before the end of the year!  Yep, we are doing the tourist-y bit of Route 66, but in a car.  No, not boring just sensible at our age.  We will be celebrating our 35th Wedding anniversary in the summer, but can't get away until later in the year.  We shall also be going with our great pals, N and G.  G is my uncle but so young that he won't readily admit it, cheeky monkey.  But, we went to Zambia and Mombassa together five years ago, when we were all celebrating our Pearl (30th) anniversaries.  Oh, and I found out recently that 35 years of wedded bliss is celebrated with Coral.  Hmm, me thinks we need to scuba dive for that one!

Our new and good friends, L and T, are possibly going there as well, and at a similar time.  We met them on our last holiday to Egypt last October.  They came by to see us this week, and I just realised I already posted about this, sorry, but it was great to see them.

Right, you might be able to tell that I am sitting in my kitchen, v.v. late, posting this, so it's time I was off to get my, much needed, beauty sleep.

NB. Picture courtesy of The Nature Conservancy; Coral reef in American Samoa

Photo © Keoki Stender, Fishpics Hawaii

Headache & Warning of Colourful Language

Ooh, I do have a headache today.  No, not because I've been out on the razz, though we did go out again last night, but I am very boring and don't drink.  Not becuase I don't like it - I do, I do!  but it seems to hate me and, if I do have a drink, it acts like a poison on my body and takes a week to get over it. Bah, I do dislike this getting old malarky.

No, we went out with some friends we met while on our hols in Egypt last October.  They came to stay for the night as they were on their way to Glasgow.  It was really lovely to see them again, and it seemed like we'd only seen them last week instead of four months ago!

Anyway, when we'd gone over all our holiday pics, we toddled off to our beds and we have a telly in our room.  So, I switched on the latest episode of 'Shameless' ** that we'd recorded.  Oh heck I am really enjoying this current series!  I don't know where they get their ideas from, but they are so shocking!  However, once we'd watched that, I turned over to some +1 channel and saw next week's as well!  I don't even know what time I finally turned off the light and went to sleep, but I sure was tired when I 'came to' this morning.  Then, needing to feed our guests their breakfasts, I left it up to Mr T to make the porridge, while I sat at the table chopping up strawberries and putting them and some blueberries in bowls, and making the tea.

One a diet note - I made a mistake when I went up to the loo this afternoon (no, don't worry, not anything remotely 'Shameless'-like) but, I pulled down my jeans without undoing them!  Woo, hoo the inches must be coming off, eh?

** Please note the 'Shameless'  series is very explicit, with loads of swearing, violence and adult content - phew, thank goodness!

Valentine and Pressure

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day to You!

It is also our daughter's birthday, so me and nanny's best girl made her a cake yesterday, and this is it!  Isn't it wonderful?

I've just worked out that a single slice (of chocolate mud cake, with butter icing) will be a less than generous, at least, 6 points of my ww diet!  Oh well.  Then Mr T and I are out for our, romantic, Valentine's dinner this evening, ahh.

Speaking of 'aah' add a 'yum!' to that and you get what we had for our dinner one evening this week - a neck of lamb stew - a meal from my childhood, with carrots, onions, potatoes and pearl barley, mmm.  We cooked it in my new passion - a pressure cooker!  This stew took 45 Minutes instead oft he 4 Hours it would have done in the oven, and was absolutely delicious.  We have been using it to cook soups as well, so far. 

We originally bought the pressure cooker to use in the caravan, when we go South next month, to visit with our new grandson, due on 7 March and, hopefully on a mini tour of the England-shire - Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Cardiff in Wales, for my uncle's surprise 60th birthday party.

Now, I have to wrap up said daughter's birthday pressies - a sewing machine (bought from a pal for a very reasonable price) with Cath Kidston's 'Sew!', which I hope she will love!

Ciao for now.

Another one (and ½) bites the dust!

Diet Diary - week 2

Yay! Another 1½ lbs off, so I now weight 17 st 7½ lbs.  Now, while I would have liked so have lost 6 or 7lbs each of the two weeks I have been doing this, I do feel slimmer and lighter already, and the 'bloatedness' has gone right down.  Surprisingly, I have only lost inches off my hips, not anywhere else.  This has happened before when I have cut right down on the fat I have been consuming. And, my bum looks slimmer!

My aim for this week is two-fold - drink more fluids, and walk more.  I walked this morning for 20 minutes, and earned another point for this!  Apparently, it is not good to not use up the extra 'Activity' points, so I can have 25 instead of the 24, today.  And, as Mr T says, if you walk more you lose weight, and if you're lighter, it makes losing weight easier.

On another note - we have our daughter's birthday on Sunday, yes on, Valentines Day.  So, we have nanny's best girl coming over to make and decorate a cake for her.  Daughter says she wants a weightwatchers cake, but we'll see.  Then, Mr T and I are going out for our dinner.  I have yet to make daughter's birthday and Mr T's cards, so I'd better get on. bye for now xx

Shock

I joined the lovely Weight Watchers a couple of weeks ago and, not only did I weigh more than I thought, but it was a massive one and a half stones more than I thought, eek!  Oh, I had quite smugly gone on after Christmas saying 'Oh, no I never put much weight on over the holiday, an I haven't this year, either'.  Which I believed wholeheartedly, as we've got some digital weighing scales - though we have had them for a few years.  I was feeling tired a lot of the time, and my trousers seemed tighter, as well, if I'm honest, did all my clothes.  I just put that down to middle age etc.

But, instead of weighing in at the 16 st 4 lbs I expected, it came in at the humungous 17st 11lbs - nearly blimmin' 18 stones, heck!  I thought long and hard about what to write here about it - whether to put the exact weight or to be coy.  But, if I am to be totally honest and be wholeheartedly committed to losing this weight then I have to put it out there.  I am relying here on the fact that most of anyone who might read this, doesn't know me, phew!  And, those who do, and want to make fun of me or whatever, can bugger off! 

Anyway, last week I had the Big Weigh In from My First Week = and lost 2 lbs - not a huge amount for a first week of feeling deprived and hungry, but Hurrah anyway!  This week isn't so bad, as I've been less hungry, and the craving for cakes and sweets has all but gone, which is strange as I'm usually addicted to cakes and sweets.  However, I am determined to succeed at this now - especially as I have to take pills for blood pressure and cholesterol - or, I'm at risk of a heart attack within the next five years, the GP tells me.  A very sombre thought.

I am not to do this all alone though, as I have Mr T doing the diet, as well as my daughter; I have the weekly class, the online Points tracker; a facebook page that our leader has opened.  The list is endless.  So, here goes!

Now I lay me down . . . . .

This is just how I feel - like having a doze for a week or two.  I have just completed a mamoth paperwork task, that I just hope never to have to do the like of which again (if that last sentence makes sense, then wow, quietly).  I have really enjoyed working with the students I had for the last few months, while they are on their practice placement, and they are good people.  But, I just had not realised quite how much work there was for me to do at the end of it, and didn't prepare because of this, gah!  However, I have a mentor for the next leg of the work, and so I should, in theory mind, be a bit more prepared and, have only ONE student and related paperwork to do.  I feel like I'm gabbling at the moment, sorry.  I have been up since 4.30 am so that I can finish.  No, this wouldn't usually have happened, but life got in the way, for several of us, and well this is the upshot.

Right, I'll leave you there, suffice it to say that I can now get on with some sewing, marmalade making and knitting, woo hoo, still quietly.