Whirlwind

I think I'm actually getting worse and getting on here to write at the moment, instead of better.  Mostly because my life is still a steady whirlwind of craziness, what with work looniness, ongoing flat stuff, some dating and social stuff, and a healthy dose of fund-raising activity for my upcoming charity challenge.

Amazingly though, in the heart of all that lot, the scales are very (very) slowly creeping down.  Halle-frickin'-leujah!

Last week mostly passed by in a series of rather long hours in the office.  I made it to circuits on Friday lunchtime, and worked damn hard, to the extent where one of the girls I was partnered with said afterwards that she was thinking she might have to drag me out the room when I passed out.  I think that might have been a good effort then!

Friday night was quite peaceful, as I had a few quiet drinks after work with some colleagues, and got myself home by 8.30pm, for some pizza and an early night.  Thankfully, I ended up not being needed in the office over the weekend, so I spent Saturday doing some shopping and washing that was much needed, and then hit the cinema in the evening, with another couple of quiet drinks afterwards. 

Sunday was looking like a glorious day, so I twisted my tame Aussie surfer's arm to come for a walk somewhere in the countryside with me.  A nice 5 mile loop and Sunday roast at a country pub was definitely what was called for.  I find it funny, that for two people who dated until recently, Dave and I chat like a couple of gossiping old women - maybe that's why we were doomed! :o)

Unfortunately the weekends general relaxation has been undone again by the working week silliness, and it was 8pm before I left the office.  I went home though, and cooked up a storm.  Six or so portions of healthy food went into my fridge that night!  When I shopped on Saturday (not having done a proper full-on food shop in weeks), I planned two big dishes for the week, that I could then have leftovers from.  So Monday night I cooked up a lamb stew with lots of root veg and a bit of tomato and red wine in the sauce - celeriac, butternut squash and carrot into the mix.  I also attempted braised red cabbage with apple as a side dish - I think I overdid the spice a bit, but it wasn't bad!  After dinner, the rest of the root veg, went into the big saucepan for soup, and I three big portions of winter veg soup to go in the fridge and freezer for later.  I'm proud of myself for staying organised, because the cooking session on Monday night, means I don't have to do much now til the end of the week. 

The other big dish this week, will be an attempt to recreate something Hannah cooked for me - a sort of veggie lasagne with a kick of chilli in, and layered aubergines on top.  I've got carrots, mushrooms, peppers and spring greens to go in the dish - should be tasty!

All of that really helps me to stay on track when everything else is going a bit loopy.  I had lunch with a friend of a friend yesterday who's possibly also looking for a flat, and tonight I've got a flat viewing (unrelated to yesterday).  I need to do a cheer-up dinner for Hannah on Friday, and haven't even started to work out the conflicting plans for this weekend yet!  One thing at a time.

Other than that, I'm heading out for a much-needed run this lunchbreak, and keeping on top of my sponsorship efforts for the cycle challenge (I think I'm up to £120 so far of my £200 pledge, with another £25 or so already promised which is fantastic - now I just need to go and spin / cycle some more to get my legs going!).  I also got home from work one day last week to be greeted with a lovely parcel from Kate (http://teacake-kate.blogspot.com/) who had sent me down gorgeous 3/4 length cycling shorts that hadn't fitted her .... well, they fit me perfectly, so I'm a happy girl - Kate:  I promise faithfully to go get them very muddy somewhere fun soon!  Thank you, thank you, thank you ......