Since my last, rather more exciting than usual post, my free time seems to have jumped ship to join Shrek and Princess Fiona in ‘Far Far Away’ - I can’t think of the last time I had so many things on at once!

Firstly, of course, I’m now in wedding planning mode - still trying to decide on where and when atm but we’re set on a church wedding and I have reception venue brochures to look at and cheer me up whilst engaged in the other things I have on atm including:

- job hunting: in the weeks since finding out my contract isn’t being renewed (did I mention that?) this has become something of a part-time job in itself. Personally, I think being able to organise a job hunt, attend interviews, learn to drive and plan a wedding all at the same time whilst working full time on top means I can do just about anything. Sadly, the employers of Exeter don’t all agree with me so the hunt continues…. Maybe I should actually put that last sentence in my applications…

- driving lessons: whilst these were progressing nicely until before we went to Brussels, they’ve now taken a bit of a U-turn (do you see what I did there?) as my instructor is leaving BSM. I get on really well with her so I’m going to see if she’s going out on her own and will take me on - until my next official lesson with her on Saturday I’m in BSM limbo though :/ On the plus side, I’m now much better at driving my new fiance’s car and I think he’s much happier at the thought of me driving it too!

- Java/JavaScript: these have taken a bit of a backseat lately but I’ve been given an extension for the first assessment which has taken the pressure off a bit and hope to find time at work to catch up on everything when things quieten down a bit there

- losing weight: this has also taken a bit of a backseat since Brussels as I’ve had so much to that has meant leaving work early I haven’t been able to take a lunch hour and spend it at the gym. I don’t seem to be putting any weight on which is good, and I did walk home from work today to get a bit of exercise, which I might start doing on a regular basis if the weather’s good so I’m doing *something* that doesn’t involve sitting at a computer!

- the aforementioned ‘at work’: whilst I appreciate still having employment, and thus an income during my jobhunting, all of the above would be a lot easier to fit in if I didn’t have it on top of everything else!

On the one hand the fact that three of the above must be sorted and past tense by the time we go to Florida in 4 and a half months is comforting; on the other hand the fact that three of the above must be sorted and past tense by the time we go to Florida in 4 and a half months makes me want to curl up into a little ball and wake up in Orlando when it’s all over!

Categories: Diet and fitness, Driving, General, Study, Wedding
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Have been ill with a filthy bout of Freshers’ Flu this past week - getting better now but it’s still clinging on :/ I foolishly attended the TKD demo last week despite feeling like death warmed up - completely failed my destruction technique which wasn’t that much of a surprise and was very glad to get home and not to leave the house again til the weekend. Would still rather be flopped on the sofa watching daytime tv, but you can’t stay off work forever so back to work this week.

Have also now had 3 driving lessons with my instructor, Amy, who’s lovely It’s going ok I think - need to work on braking more gently, but my steering, gear changing, general observation and, most importantly, my confidence are all coming on in leaps and bounds Have another 16 hours paid for, taking me up to early December, and then we’ll see how it goes - I think I’ll need another 10 at least but am hoping to get it sorted not too far into next year. Hoping to go for the theory test in not very long anyways, once I’m happy with it.

Categories: Diet and fitness, Driving, TKD
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Today was an important day in my life as a female adult with a partner. I cooked my first Sunday lunch for the two of us, and Kev’s brother and his fiancee, and it was a success Considering it was my first attempt at roast potatoes and home made stuffing, as well as the first time I’ve cooked for more than two people in a long time (the most I’ve ever cooked for being about 12 whilst working as a campsite courier but that was spag bol and therefore just mince, sauce and pasta, and was at any rate many moons ago now), I feel quite pleased with myself! Really quite looking forward to the time, one day, when we have a nice house with a big kitchen and dining room now so I can entertain more often

Aside from that, and related somewhat to food, my other big achievement of recent times is losing a great big dollop of weight over the past few months - I started this year at 14.5 stone and I’m now 12.25 - still a fair ways to go but my jeans now look like the pair of trousers you see ‘Slimmers of the Year’ standing in for their ‘ after’ shots so I’m quite happy

Categories: Diet and fitness, Friends
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Just as I was getting into the swing of my exercise regime, I got out of bed last Sunday and managed to tweak/pull something in my calf, causing exruciating pain whenever I did anything involving bending my leg such as using stairs or getting into/out of the car I was going to start going to the gym again today but it happened again when I was walking to work this morning - not to the same extent as last time but still hurt climbing the stairs to the office although it doesn’t seem to be as bad now. Not sure whether to hang it all and go to the gym anyway or not atm.

On the plus side, I had lost a few pounds when I weighed myself at the weekend and my jeans are loser on me I shouldn’t really look at this week as a setback but more a decrease in pace I guess - I am sticking to the diet so can’t put any weight back on at any rate!

Categories: Diet and fitness
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I’ve pretty much stopped playing WoW now completely, to the point that I shall probably cancel my account and maybe revisit the game when the expansion is released. Speaking of expansions, I’ve been giving Guild Wars another try lately and am finding it a lot more enjoyable than I have done in the past. The Guild Wars Factions expansion is out at the end of April so we shall probably get that - there’s a preview event this weekend that I shall maybe try out on Friday evening, as we’re away this weekend (Mothers’ Day), although by then I might also have Oblivion (the long awaited Elder Scrolls 4) at my disposal, and I am really looking forward to playing that - it looks amazing!

Changing the subject somewhat, the last couple of weeks have been both good and bad in terms of my diet and fitness. The bad news is that my shoulder/collar bone area popped out of place twice in TKD last session and once for no reason at the weekend. I went to get it seen to and apparently it could happen again any time over the next week or so until it’s fixed itself and it twinges when doing things like getting changed or moving my arm in certain ways - no holiday training for me for a few weeks then.

The good news is that I’ve gripped the bull by the horns as it were and am in full on calorie counting and exercise mode, both of which are oddly addictive when you want it to work badly enough! My new (and ongoing) “diet” revolves around not having more than my daily allowance of 2000 calories a day - I’ve found that just by reducing portions and omitting some things makes achieving this fairly simple and I’m averaging at about 1700-1900 a day at the moment. Combined with this I am also making sure that I exercise every day during the week - I walk to work and also go to the gym/do TKD daily and that way I am burning off at least 400 calories a day - making a total loss of at least 400-500 a day, which should work out at about 1 lb a week or thereabouts.

I’ve found dieting and exercise are much easier if you accept one thing - it takes time. I used to get frustrated and lose motivation if I didn’t notice the difference after a couple of weeks. Now, I know that as long as I keep exercising to burn those 400 calories, and as long as I don’t go over 2000 a day, the weight will take care of itself, albeit slowly. One day, maybe not for another year or two, but one day, I will be who I want to be in terms of weight and fitness

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games
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Last night, whilst at Starz - the home of the best barbeque ribs in Exeter - I had…. a salad!! I consider this to be my biggest achievement to date in my quest to lose weight and become fit It did have steak in it, but I figure it still counts as everything else was a fruit or a vegetable.

In other news, my next grading is on Saturday 4th March - why on a weekend?? Why?? I like my lie-ins dammit!

Categories: Diet and fitness, TKD
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Well, I’ve been using Dvorak for about a week now and am finding it much easier altho still some considerable improvement needed. It feels better than using Qwerty did (Qwerty itself now feels most odd indeed) altho passwords and non-letter keys are still proving to be a pain. My guitar practice is also going well - I now know what ’sus’ and ‘add’ mean in terms of chords and my theory is getting better; still need to work on getting to grips with barre chords tho as they’re not flowing yet.

In other news, I’ve given up on the gym in favour of walking to work - it’s cheaper, means I can still leave at 4pm and makes me feel a bit more alert in the mornings. It also means I am no longer quite so old woman like with excess gym on top of TKD I’m also having another of my WoW phases, altho not at the expense of other things like the afore-mentioned guitar, TKD and domesticity.

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games, General
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Yes, I’ve been to the gym again so the regime is going well so far, at least in as much as I’m still at it. I’ve upped my fruit intake aswell and as a result of making my own lunches have lost the mayo and lashings of spread that I used to have in my sarnies too. I really should weigh myself at some point so I know how much work lies ahead of me but I’m afraid of getting too hung on up on weight when what I’m really after is slimming down and getting fit - I’d measure it in belt holes but I don’t wear one so I guess the other option is just to assume that it’s having the desired effects

Found a tenner I thought I’d lost aswell earlier so, what with that and the prospect of a new sci fi comedy, Hyperdrive, starting tonight, which may or may not live up to Red Dwarf and here’s hoping it does, and an otherwise fairly relaxing evening planned, I’m having a pretty good day all told

Categories: Diet and fitness, General
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I found the best thing ever yesterday whilst looking for something to do that wasn’t related to housework or watching films - online jigsaws!! I used to love doing jigsaws as a kid and keep wishing from time to time that I had some now but they take up so much room - and now I can do a different one each day and the only box I have to worry about is the one containing my hard drive :p

On an unrelated note, I went to the gym today for the first time in ages - start as you mean to go on and all that. The aim is for three times a week with TKD as normal and weekends off (bar those with extra TKD that is!) - even my body should start to feel the effects of this before too long! As this is costing me an extra £7.20 a week, I am also embarking on homemade lunches from now on, which should work out healthier all round

Speaking of which, need post-exercise sustenance……

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games
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Yesterday there was a 2 minutes silence in memory of the London bomb victims last week - people in London itself left their offices and stood outside to show their defiance to the people responsible which I think was a nice gesture to make It’s thought that most of the bombers died in the explosions - too good for them if you ask me. Queen are holding their concert in Hyde Park that was postponed from last Friday and have invited all the emergency personnel who worked to deal with what happened as a tribute to them which I think shows what down to earth nice guys Queen are

Been playing WoW a bit again recently, having gone off it for a while. I’ve started an Undead Warlock on Mal’Ganis (going to be Demonology/Destruction I think) and a Human Mage on Icecrown (going to be Frost/Arcane), which I thought would be nice as one is PvP/dark and sinister and the other is PvE/light so to speak. So far, I’m preferring the warlock, I think because the Undead lands are totally new to me and the human lands are getting to be as familiar as the Troll/Orc lands are. I also like having a pet Much to Kev’s delight I’ve also started getting a bit more into my (now 57) priest, and did a disastrous UBRS raid last night which was my first ever. We’re both in a largeish guild and are both a bit concerned that desire for numbers and classes may have overtaken the desire for quality a bit

In a rare diet update, I’ve decided to start eating 2 small meals during the day (other than breakfast/dinner) as opposed to just lunch as my blood sugar seems to go through the floor if I don’t have something every couple of hours :S

Anyways, only another 5 and a half hours including the gym to go and I can go home

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games, Important events
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Seems an appropriate title as I can’t seem to stop doing it today!

Saw Bridget Jones Edge of Reason and it was fantastic Love that girl!

Speaking of fantastic, the beta for World of Warcraft ended on Thursday so am now waiting (along with several of my friends) for when it gets released and we can play it some more Nice end to the beta all told - the devs sent all their uber nasties to the cities and ganked us all (well, not me as I was being good and doing my essay but it was quite funny watching everyone else get one shotted by lvl 60 chickens!)

Only another 400 words or so of said essay to write now …I think it’s decent as essays go but you can never tell with these things :S Got another couple of weeks before it has to be submitted tho so plenty of fiddling time left yet

Am still trying to lose weight - have resorted to pretty much fruit and a couple of slices of bread to last me until dinner which i refuse to not eat as normal as that’d just be a pain. With that *and* pilates *and* the gym *and* walking to work *and* possible other form of bodily torture inserted elsewhere into week it *has* to pay off! Doesn’t it? Please?

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games, Study
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