Sweaty Betty

I've never seen the appeal of running.  Unless you have a bus to catch or a serial killer to outrun, why would you bother?  When we had just started at school and I didn't know anyone, one of the Mums tried to convince me to join her running group.  At the time I was really lonely and desperate for some adult company but even that couldn't convince me that running is a good idea.  Now walking, that's a whole other kettle of fish.  Whether it’s a brisk trot or a sauntering stroll, I am a fan of a good walk.  You get a bit of exercise without getting all sweaty and you still have enough breath to have a chat.

In a break from my usual low-key exercise choices, I recently started going to Zumba classes.  The search for a new yoga class was proving unfruitful so I thought I would go for something a bit different.  Who knew that a seemingly normal human being could be so uncoordinated!!  I did much better with the music I recognised, as at least if I knew the beat was about to change I could figure out we were going to change sides but with the songs I didn't know, I was constantly two steps behind or waving the wrong arm like a big eejit.  Then I made the fatal mistake of looking in the mirror.  Never look in the mirror.  The mirror is not your friend.  The mirror dispels the illusion that you are sort of keeping up.  It shows you just how red and sweaty you are and confuses you when you try to copy the teacher.  My advice is to stick with watching her feet and hands in real life and focus on breathing through that stitch in your side.  The first few weeks I left a dripping sweaty mess, a situation not helped by the humid weather.  Now that the evenings are getting cooler and dare I say it, my stamina has improved a bit, things are a bit less gross at the end of class. 

How is it that when you are actively looking for something it is nowhere to be found and yet when you have given up, it pops up when you least expect it?  The universe is a tricky trickster sometimes.  Not one but two evening yoga classes appeared in my Facebook feed recently after months of nothing, so I've booked in to a Wednesday night class as I figured exercising two nights in a row would be a bridge too far for a couch potato like me.  Really looking forward to getting back on my mat, though I may need to knock the dust off it first.

The long and winding road

Regardless of how young you may feel, there are certain tell tale signs that you are getting older.  Maybe it's a bit more salt than pepper in your hair, maybe it's a few extra laughter lines round your eyes or pounds round your waist.  Sometimes the signs you are aging are not quite as visible.  Like when the time comes to have your first colonoscopy.  Yes the C word that no-one wants to think about, much less talk about.  Thankfully not a rite of passage that everyone will need to undertake but for those of us that do, it is something that is all too easy to put to the end of the to do list (and we all know that things down the end tend to never actually get done).  Let's face it, there are much more pleasant ways to spend an afternoon.  But rather than die of embarrassment, I made the decision to just get it over and done with and so yesterday I did.       

In my post procedure sedated state I decided that a colonoscopy is a bit like a wedding.  The preparation beforehand is the worst part, on the day itself you get to wear a special gown and when it's all over you are left feeling a bit deflated.

All clear and 5 years till my next recall - result!

You know that check up you keep meaning to book?  That test you need to schedule?  

Put yourself and your health to the top of your to do list and in words borrowed from a wise woman named Mary, JFDI - Just F***ing Do It!

I blame Pinterest

Anyone who has ever spent any time on Pinterest and clicked on the DIY and Easy tabs, will have come across a multitude of things that you just know are not going to be quick or easy to make and will in no way resemble the picture you just pinned.  And so the term Pinterest Fail was coined. 

While tidying up last weekend I came across several half finished craft projects.  Right I thought to myself, one of these is getting done today.  I chose the beach art project I came up with on holidays last year which technically hadn't even been started but I had everything I needed and I didn't feel like knitting (a blanket project that will probably be finished in time for me to be a little old lady with a blanket round her knees).

The result, while not quite a fail, did not live up to the image I had in my head.  But hey, I managed to finish something.  So I'm calling it a Pinterest Meh.  

(It's a spinifex beach grass wreath, for those of you too polite to ask but who are wondering "what the *$%# is that?".) 😊

Crafty Conundrums

I am not generally a rule breaker.  I don't live on the edge or colour outside the lines.  I like order and clean lines and tidying up (not to be mistaken with cleaning, I could live the rest of my life and happily not clean my house ever again because I would much rather pay someone else to do it for me).  

But an orderly life can be a boring life and sometimes I feel the need to veer off course and shake things up a bit.  Sometimes it's a little thing like hacking up a pizza any old way.  Other times it's bigger, like moving to a new country without knowing anyone (or speaking much of the language) or deciding to dye my hair blue.

Since coming back after my trip home at Christmas, I have been feeling restless and unsettled.  Like something needs to change or start or I dunno, just something.  A recent trip to the library saw me drawn to the craft section.  Maybe this is what I need to start doing?  I have always liked a bit of art & crafts but have come to the realisation that while I like and appreciate art, an artist I am most definitely not.  The local arts centre is running beginners art classes and the thought of it filled me with dread.  

So I am sticking with the crafts side of things.  Over the last few years I have done a variety of workshops - wire lantern making, origami, crochet, silver clay jewelry, glass art.  While they were all quite enjoyable, none of them really grabbed me by the throat and screamed "this is it, this is what you should be doing in your spare time" so it looks like further pondering is required.  In the meantime, I will have to content myself with crafting slightly askew pizza...  

The lost art of conversation

For a while there, I was worried that I had forgotten how to hold a conversation.  I'm spending too much time online, I thought.  I've lost whatever fleeting grasp I ever had on the subtle art of having a conversation with another actual human being in real life.    

The setting for this possibly over dramatic line of thought was the return journey from a weekend away.  We had been to stay with some friends who we don't see very often.  They are perfectly nice people and while I get on well with them, they're technically his friends not mine so there is not that shared history and camaraderie you have when it's your friends you are talking to.  I found it really hard making conversation with people who are not complete strangers but whose day to day lives I am not hugely familiar with.  

I'm fine with a 5 minute chat at school pick up time or the disjointed on - off talking while you are sitting on the sidelines during football practice.  Relative strangers don't require much from a conversation.  The weather is a trusty and perennial topic, especially in a country with weather patterns as changeable as this.  I can easily pass the time of day with a stranger in a waiting room or the queue at the supermarket.  

My stumbling block was more of the "so what have you been up to since I saw you last?" variety.  When you see someone once, maybe twice a year, how could they possibly answer a question like that?  How do you (without sounding weird) ask getting to know you questions when you kind of, sort of, already know them a bit?  With some people a quick scan of their Facebook posts beforehand can provide useful conversation starting fodder.  Alas, not everyone chooses to share the intricacies of their life online.  Leaving me back at square one, over-thinking what I should say next.  

Take the time for yourself

Recently I talked about choosing how best to spend my time with other people.  Lately I am all about taking a bit of time for myself.  Now I'm not going to be ridiculous and imagine that any of us have huge amounts of free time tucked up our sleeves but when I renewed a library book for the second time (meaning I will have had it 6 weeks) and it's not even that long a book, I realised that if I don't make/take the time for myself, no-one is going to hand it to me on a plate. 

So on the odd day that I arrive early to pick up the kids, I sit in the car and read for 5-10 minutes.  I've put a stash of hand cream and nail varnish beside my spot on the couch so while I am watching telly I can try to transform my dry wizened winter hands into something not resembling a witch's.  Note to self, must start wearing gloves.

Yesterday, having realised the tap had been turned to hot and the bath was half full of scalding hot water and therefore not really suitable for children who have a conniption if the temperature exceeds tepid, I decided to lash in some cold water and hop in myself.  Despite having inherited a fancy spa bath when we moved in here, I rarely have a bath.  By the time the kids had finished eating dinner (they are the slowest eaters in the world), I had had a nice soak for myself and was ready to get out so they could jump in.  All 3 of us trying to squeeze into the bath together would not have been remotely relaxing.  As with so many things in life, timing is everything.

Now that I have eventually finished the book, I'm thinking I need to start putting a bit more activity into my day so weather and humour permitting, I'm going to start going for a quick trot round the block while waiting for the bell to ring.  Mostly this is because one of the people I see regularly at pick up time is a particularly active grandma who always goes for a walk rather than waiting around.  Nothing like being shamed into activity!! 

In real life you rarely get a big fat chunk of time for yourself so stake your claim and grab your 10 minutes wherever you can.

Nude Minstrels

Some days it's the little things that have the most impact. 

I've been looking for a nude nail varnish for ages.  I have gazillions of dark varnishes for my toes but it seems like 30 seconds after I put a dark varnish on my fingers it has chipped so I figured it was safer to stick to something more neutral.  Everything I've tried has either been too pale or too peachy or just gick.  I was in a shop looking for a grey scarf (to no avail) when I cruised by the nail varnish section.  Without much hope of success I bought another pale nude looking varnish thinking, hmm this is probably going straight into the charity shop bag but low and behold, I think I might be on to a winner with this one.  It is called "Bride to be" by Essie.

Then a couple of days later when I was looking for a corn fed chicken (which are nigh on impossible to find here), I found Minstrels!!!  Now I appreciate that Minstrels are not normally a cause of great excitement but they don't sell them here and while I was never particularly fond of Galaxy chocolate, I am partial to a bag of Minstrels.  The tag line suggested the bag was the perfect size for sharing but I took that to be optional. 

So the moral of the story seems to be, it's good to have a plan when you go shopping but never discount the fact that you could end up bringing home something completely different.