Well, here I am, starting when I probably should be finishing – but… what can I say? I didn’t feel like writing when I should have been starting, so I didn’t. Nothing much really happened today – first thing this morning, though, after I’d finished my walk (2.28km! I think that’s the furthest I’ve “walked” in one go in over 30 years!) I rang the doctor’s to make an appointment to get the results from my latest blood test (something to do with thyroid function, I think!) They turned out to be much the same as the last lot, so now “they” (you know, the ubiquitous “They”, whoever “They” are this week!) say that I don’t have to have another one for six months. Suits me just fine! I also had to get a new prescription for my Warfarin tablets, as unbeknownst to me, I’d used up all my repeats – which was why I’ve been not terribly happily swallowing five 1mg tablets for the last three nights, instead of 2 x 2mg and 1 x 1mg tablets, which is what I usually have 😦 Anyway, all sorted out now! 🙂 After that we had to call in at the vet’s to get some more of Flipper’s anti-arthritis drops (why can’t they make them for humans, too!) and then on to Eastland Shopping Centre in Ringwood. “But why Eastland?” I hear you whispering behind your hands “Why not The Glen, or Doncaster Shoppingtown?” Well, because we’d completely run out of the tea which we usually get from T2, and there’s no T2 shop at The Glen! There’s one at Doncaster Shoppingtown, which is a right cow to go to at this time of the year – but mainly because not only does Eastland have a T2 shop, but it’s been newly “renovated”, and I wanted to have a look-see if it had changed much (not that I’d be able to tell really, as we go there so seldom that I can’t remember what it looked like before!) The facade facing Whitehorse Road is certainly different though… very modern and up-beat! 🙂 So we went to Eastland, where I walked into Just Jeans, and was actually able to buy a pair of jeans there! This doesn’t sound like much, but believe me, for me it is! I’m still having enormous difficulty in getting my head around the fact that I don’t have to rely solely on Big Girl shops any more – in fact I can’t rely on them at all! Now my problem is that the Big Girl shops don’t have anything small enough to fit me! (which is a bit of a shame, because they do have some really nice tops…) To be able to waltz on in to a shop like Just Jeans and buy a pair of jeans – that’s a marvelous novelty for me! It also really brings it home to you just how disparate and un-coordinated clothing sizes are! A size 14 is not always a size 14 – it all depends on the fashion house, the designer, or label on the back of the neck or waistband – and it shouldn’t! I have two (2) pairs of size 16 jeans that I can’t wear, because they’re so big on me that they’re in danger of falling down around my ankles! I have one pair of size 14 jeans that fit me very nicely (and even they’re starting to get a bit “loose” around the waist!) Today, as I said, I walked into Just Jeans and tried on a pair of size 14 jeans, which fit quite well, but they had that funny sort of “hipster” waist, that end somewhere about three inches below your waist. I don’t feel comfortable in that sort of style, so the girl brought me another pair of size 14s – with a slightly higher waist and very narrow leg bottoms (anyone remember the old “stove-pipe” pants of the 60’s?) Well, I could get them on – j-u-s-t – but they were uncomfortably tight around the waist, so I said “No – I’ll need a size 16 in these!” – so off the girl went to look for a size 16. She eventually found some (in the wrong stack, she said) So, I’m now wearing (or I will be, after they’ve been washed!) a pair of size 16 jeans that aren’t from a Big Girl shop where they deliberately label the sizes smaller so that women will feel happier about their size and shape!
This morning I played WoW – still working with my un-dead Hunter, who’s now level 14 – and really enjoying it! These are all new (to me, anyway!) quests and scenarios – still far too easy, but fun nonetheless, simply because they’re “new” 🙂 It seems that the starting and primary quests for Night Elves, Blood Elves, Humans and Draenei haven’t changed at all – but although the Forsaken starting area is in the same actual location, everything else has changed – so far, for the better! I’ll see how I go tomorrow – at level 14 I could go off after Dishu, in the Northern Barrens, and as I can catch a Zeppelin from Undercity (the Forsaken capital city) to Orgrimmar (the Orc capital city in Durotar) it wouldn’t be hard to do – however, whilst I was on a side-quest in Silverpine Forest, I came up against a “Silver Special” called “Gorefang” – one of the few Rare creatures that a Hunter can Tame for a Pet. I quickly dismissed my Spider Pet, and took out my trusty Taming Wand and managed to subdue him – so now I have a large silver-grey wolf (actually, he’s a Worg) Pet. I’m undecided though – I could now go after Dishu, or I could wait until I get to level 21 so that I can get a Ghost Saber-tooth cat in Darkshore. The long and short of it is that at the moment, I can only have two Pets – which I now have – the Spider (whom I haven’t named) and “Gorefang” (whom I have called “Spot” 🙂 ) I can’t remember off-hand what level I have to reach before I can have three Pets, though as I level up I’ll eventually be able to have up to five of them (different Pets to make use of the three different attributes – Ferocity, Tenacity, or Cunning – for different needs and situations) So – that’s where I am at the moment on World of Warcraft!
Food: well, there’s only one more (broken!) bit of the Christmas fare to nibble through! Amongst the items in the Christmas Hamper we got from Julian’s sister was a bag of extremely delicious spiced ginger biscuits that actually came from Phillippa’s here in Melbourne! We’ve been having one a night, and now there’s only one broken biscuit left, which we’ll share tomorrow night. Then, that’s it! No more Christmas “eatables” until Christmas next year! (thank goodness!) This morning we were back to our “normal” breakfast of two Uncle Toby’s Vita Brits with extra bran, half a banana (sliced) and 200ml of skinny milk. Lunch was two Ryvita crispbread with low-fat ricotta, ham, and some slices of tomato. Dinner tonight was sausages, and the usual chips and half a tomato, and steamed broccolini. Tomorrow night we’re having slow-cooked corned silverside, and we’ll be having some mashed potatoes, made with low-fat plain Greek yoghurt and chopped chives – there’ll probably be our usual half a tomato and some sort of green vegetable – all of which I’m really looking forward to! Corned silverside is a very economical dish, because you can generally (depending on its size!) get three meals out of it! Hot with vegetables for dinner, and about two lunches-worth of sandwiches made from the leftover cold meat (really nice with a dab of hot English mustard, or even a dash of tomato sauce!)
Weigh-in this morning. Not too bad – perhaps things are starting to look up (or perhaps I should say “down”! 😉 ) I went down three points – from 65.5kg to 65.2kg! I didn’t do my afternoon walk today because I was busy walking around Eastland, and wobbling around on one leg, trying to balance while I tried to get legs in and out of tight, skinny-legged jeans, but this morning I made it to 2.28km on the treadmill, which took 40 minutes. You know, I don’t have a competitive bone in my body – I generally don’t give a damn who comes first, or who’s better than someone else – but I do feel that I have to compete against myself. Whatever I did last time, I have to do better, be faster, go further, than I did the last time – consequentially my walks seem to be getting longer and longer! First, it was that I had to get to one kilometer… then, 1.08 kilometers… and then 1.25 kilometers… it’s now got to 2.28 kilometers, and I’m beginning to wonder if in the end, I’ll end up living, sleeping, eating, and showering, all on the ruddy treadmill! 
And all this, coming from a totally un-competitive person, who loathes and despises exercising! I wonder what the scales will say tomorrow…
I have two tasks tomorrow – one is to think up interesting and innovative meals and side dishes for Julian to cook, now that he’s cooking for two again… and the other is to work out what we’re going to be planting in our veggie garden next week! Well, I know what I want to plant, the thing is, is it the right time of the year to be planting it! I guess I’m going to have to do some research! As for recipes – I printed him out a whole bunch of nice sounding dishes a couple of weeks ago – I think they’re still sitting in his “In” tray on his desk in the Den here! Still, he got a nice new recipe book for Christmas – I’ll have a look in there and see if anything grabs my attention, or starts my mouth watering! And if any of you reading this have any really nice recipes you’d like to share, please feel free to email them to me! Thanks! 🙂 And now, once again, I’m afraid that’s about it from me for tonight! Please feel free to drop by again tomorrow night though, to see if Winterwight has managed to get her Ghost Saber-tooth cat, and if I’ve decided what to plant, or found any nice sounding recipes or side dishes, and if my weight’s still on a downward trend, or if it’s decided to keep on going up! There’ll be lots of news tomorrow night, I’m sure, so until then, please bee good, remember that life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance, and don’t forget to keep cool – or warm – depending on the weather, to drive carefully, and to look after yourselves – but above all, don’t forget to stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂
My Word! 