carolejo's daily Check in

[carolejo]

The store didn't have any lemons last night!! What a disaster!

Don't worry though. I will go shopping properly soon and get some then. I think I'm gonna need to get some cayenne pepper too as I have just about every other kind apart from that.

I'm feeling a little better today - my cold is really just an annoyance rather than something that is really slowing me down.

Yesterday NoS was good. No Shuggage though cos I didn't get back from the office until late. In the office again today so might not manage it this evening either. I even missed my aerobics class yesterday too cos my conference call didn't finish until nearly 8:30pm last night! At least there was plenty of Urban rangering to and from the bus stop though.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

It also helps to listen to Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song" while you drink it... LOL..

Have a nice afternoon girly!

Feel better
Peace and Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

We-ell, I squeezed half a lime (no lemons!), added the juice to some maple syrup, added a good shake of cayenne pepper and mixed it 50/50 with cold and hot water.

I have to say, it may well be purifying ME, but it's not purifying the environment as I've been polluting the livingroom with far too much methane gas tonight!

Liked it though. It tastes GOOD.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Hey CJ... Perhaps that's just the virus making it's way out of you..
I didn't have any gas from the lemonade.. But I didn't shake in the cayenne.. I just used a tiny pinch... Keep on drinking the stuff every few hours... You'll lose water weight and get full of Vitamin C power!
Vitamin C is an antiviral too...

Glad you liked the taste.. Limes eh??? LOL..
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

The cold has now settled on my chest and I'm coughing a lot - which is not currently doing anything except give me a sore throat and make my chest hurt. Blergh. I need to find myself some Lemon Glycerine and Honey Linctus, I think.

S's two oldest sisters have arrived for a visit in Amsterdam! YAY! We're totally psyched. These are the first members of his family we've seen since his Grandmother's funeral.

Last night we went out for a big restaurant meal to celebrate, so I declared it an inpromptu S day. I Essed by having bread, Starters, Maincourse AND a dessert (Fresh baked bread with herb butter, warm pastrami salad with light mustard vinegar dressing, Wolf-fish baked in parma ham with green beans, a pesto-cream sauce and a few fries, poached pears in Cinnamon sauce with Gingerbread parfait) It was REALLY REALLY good and truly S-worthy. Apart from that though, I had a textbook NoS rest of day.

So today I shall do about 5 hours of work (from home) before lunchtime and then go out to meet up with S and his sisters in town. I'll have a couple of hours still to do over the weekend, after they've left, but that's no big deal.

Oh, and I also did my Shovelglove yesterday too. I can feel it, cos I hadn't done it in about 5 days.

C.

[carolejo]

Well, I must have overdone it with the hammer, cos my back was a little sore over the weekend. Fortunately I don't seem to have done myself any major damage, so 3 days of resting it has fixed it up. I'm gonna do a very gentle 14 minutes today. Don't worry! I promise I really feel better and I'm really going to take it slowly!!

The sisters have gone back home now, but it was nice to see them. Our next visitors arrive just after Christmas, so we've got a week of calm to get everything sorted out. I'm really starting to look forward to a quiet christmas in Amsterdam, with just the 3 of us (Lyra-the-cat included of course). I think I'll bake some mince pies at lunchtime too. If I do this, I'll allow myself to have just one to taste and check they're OK, but I'll put the rest in a storage tin for christmas eve.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

I think I'll bake some mince pies at lunchtime too. If I do this, I'll allow myself to have just one to taste and check they're OK, but I'll put the rest in a storage tin for christmas eve.

Uh oh.... warning warning... mince pie tasting commencing!!!
Beware! LOL..
You should have made them on an S day CJ.. LOL..
Good luck having just a taste... I know you will control yourself...
By the way, what ever happened to your apple syrup?
Is it all gone!??? LOL..

Feel better today and don't lift from a twisted position... If you are shovelling or hammering, turn your whole torso so you are "behind your stroke"...
Once your hammer moves away from your hara (you know, the place where all those Japanese guys committing suicide stick the sword?) you are putting your back in danger and disconnecting from your source of power...
Rock on Warrior CJ!!!
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

So... I made 12 mince pies completely from scratch. I let them cool and then ate one(1!) mince pie with my afternoon tea and a little brandy butter on it. A further one has been left out on the cooling rack for the Boy to eat when he gets home and the other 10 are safely boxed up and sealed away. Like that they'll keep for weeks.... not that they'll escape being eaten for that long, I'm sure!

I know technically that mince pies are an S, and I also didn't eat it with a meal, but I really don't feel like I broke the diet at all in this case as I was totally in control of it all. I just feel pretty good about only eating one and like it was the right thing to do too.

SG was gentle and I was very mindful of my body position. No undue aches or pains have resulted from it either. I think I'll be fine from here on in as long as I'm careful. There's a funny thing about getting stronger - once upon a time I was so puny that I couldn't have even lifted anything that was heavy enough to do me any harm anyway Well, not any more! It just makes good form even more important.

C.

[carolejo]

Oh, and the Apple Syrup is going strong. I've started eating a small piece of toast spread with it to round off my breakfast in the morning. It seems to stop my inner brat from whining. Yes, it's sugar, but it is all natural and whole, not refined at all. Another iron-rich foodstuff in my diet is certainly not going to do my any harm, either! Now I'm not so toxically 'addicted' to sugar, it's much much easier NOT to go crazy. I really can be happy with just a little. It's really amazing.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

That's funny CJ!...
Your inner brat!~ LOL..

Congrats on limiting yourself to one pie! Great work!

Didn't you say the apple syrup was made with concentrated beet sugar or something??? I think Reinhard says, on the homepage, no one ever got fat from eating beets...
LOL..

Have a nice evening!
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

You're so right!

It's OK then! It's NOT an S *grin*

Seriously though, the stuff contains only unrefined sugar beet juice and apple juice. There's nothing else there. No nasty chemical stuff, no weird jelling agents, nothing. I reckon it's gotta be better for you than eating jam on your toast, and Reinhard isn't against that either.

C.

[carolejo]

I really should know better.... but right now I'm eating this large bowl of Kwark (like a kind of fromage frais / yoghurt stuff) with blueberry sauce right after I finished a large plate of homemade Gujarati curry.

I cooked the fantastic curry from scratch cos S is gonna be late home tonight and I was bored. I ate it, loved it and so on (got me some for lunch tomorrow too!), but I'm STILL bored and lonely. I KNOW the kwark won't make me feel any better, but I'm still eating it. This is about the closest to a major food binge I've been since I started out in June!

Right. Now I've finished that, I'm going to put my nice big coat on and go for a walk around the neighbourhood. That's what I should've done in the first place!!

Oh well. Sanity will prevail in the long run. Tonight is gonna be a long night though I've GOT to somehow meet some more people over here! I'm just not making new friends fast enough.

OK. Coat, hat, scarf, gloves. Let's go get some air at least. Blergh. I feel really stuffed now. Well, I only have myself to blame I suppose! Don't worry, I'll pull myself back out of this rut quick enough.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Carolejo!
I really feel for you girl! But you've only been living there for a few months now and, hey, it takes time to find new people! Don't feel so pressured to create immediate friends as you might just be inviting people into your life from a need based place, and those are usually weird relationships... Cut yourself some slack.. It's hard to form new friendships...
Especially given the fact that you are living in a foreign country with a different language...
What about going back to that exercise class?
Maybe, with your love of cooking and entertaining, you could create a little cooking group????
Yoga? Hash house harriers???

Give it time CJ... Believe me, I know how tough it is to feel lonely, and I don't get out nearly half as much as I probably should... But try to create a peaceful atmosphere in your home and take time to just meditate and enjoy being with YOU!
As far as eating too much... It's Winter, you are feeling isolated and bored... Not good excuses but you are human, so believe me, you aren't alone.. I'm sure plenty of us here are eating a bit more than usual these days...

By the way... You sound like you should open up your own little Indian curry shop!!!
Peace and Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Cheers Deb.

It's gonna be OK. I know that now in the cold light of day. Don't worry, I've not given up on the exercise class - they've just broken up for the Christmas holidays. I'll be back there in January.

Never got much further with the Yoga than enquiring about it... now it seems that my language classes will probably clash with it - they start in January too. The Hash will be back... you guessed it! In January

Today I was going to get up and go to the office, but neither of us slept very well. Consequently it's gone 10am here and I'm only just getting started for the day - usually I've been going already for 2 hours by now! Fortunately nobody is counting but me.

Last night I walked and walked and walked for about 2 hours. I started off going away from town, walked all around the sports fields, then thought "hey, why not walk into City Centre?" (It's about 3 miles). So off I went, just walking and not thinking about anything much and listening to the sounds of the night, people walking by and so on. I ended up right by Waterlooplein at about 9:45pm so I caught the metro back. S met me at the end of the street shortly after 10, - he was on his way home from work. He'll have a long day today again and for most of this week as it's Year End stuff. Tonight I'm gonna clean my skanky house though! YEAH.

So, Yesterday.... NoS
BUT Exercise

I ate lots of things I shouldn't have. Chocolates, Kwark dessert, samples of dinner, more chocolates, candy cane off the tree, you name it.

BUT I did my Shovelglove for 14 minutes and I UR'ed for just over 2 hours.

Probably not that terrible and today I get another chance to get it right - just like every single day. Today is not affected by yesterday. It's a CLEAN SLATE!

Love to all,
C.

[carolejo]

ps: the worst BINGE eating day since I started doing NoS and the worst day of eating even if you count the S days... and it's still no worse than what I used to eat pretty much all the time beforehand.

Huh. That's a pretty disgusting thought, really!

[gratefuldeb67]

Congrats on your long walk CJ!!!
What's the weather like where you are?
It's darn cold here, but I saw some people walking around 10pm the other night anyway.. They were just all bundled up..
May you be protected on your evening walks girly..
Also good luck with deskankifying your pad!
I ate some sour cream in the night! Maybe it is like quark??? LOL..

Peace and Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Hiya Deb,

Today it's grey and overcast and damp, but hasn't been raining all that much. Just drizzle. Last night was slightly cloudy, crisp and dry though. Probably about 1 or 2 degrees above freezing. I bundled myself up well with coat and hat and gloves and scarf. I was toasty enough that I even took my gloves off halfway round.

Deskankifying has kind of commenced with the laundry, whilst I'm still 'pretending' to do some real work . Today is gonna be such a washout as far as that goes! Some days you just *know* you're flogging a dead horse, huh?!

Happy Winter Solstice, by the way. Today is the shortest day.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Flogging a dead horse!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now you're talking my language!!!

You are so funny girl!

Hey! Happy Solstice to you too.. Ring them Solstice bells and light a candle or something!
Too bad we can't teleport ourselves to Maine.. I hear Freakwitch is going to have an all night bonfire!
I imagine there will be all kinds of fun going on there!

One of my musical friends here in Great Neck has had Solstice music parties every year for over ten years.. But she just had a baby a few months ago and this time she isn't... I will miss it!

See you later on tonight... Gonna go shut down the comp soon so I don't become a piece of petrified wood or something sitting on my bum!
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Well, after Tuesday's major flop, yesterday was a TEXTBOOK day.

NoS
MILA

So far today is going well too. Had a borderline (probably too much sugar in it) breakfast of 2 Eierkoken spread with Apple syrup, but they sure tasted great and are far from nutritionally redundant, so I'm gonna stop worrying about that and concentrate on the 80% - as Reinhard would put it. There were very few options for breakfast in the house at the time, so it could've been much worse. Lunch was 2 cheese and onion toasties, a mandarin and a couple of Lychees.

I've also just done the main Christmas food shop, which was fun Planning out which goodies I want to eat come the weekend. Yummy. *drool* I nearly had some serious trouble getting back home though as it didn't all fit in my 50 liter backpack. I came home just about sitting on the bike, bent double from the weight of my pack, with 4 additional carrier bags hanging off the handlebars! Boy, that was really hard work - I'd forgotten how hard it is to steer when there's stuff swinging about all over the place I guess I got a little carried away in the store, given that I've now been paid in the correct salary into an accessible bank account in the RIGHT COUNTRY for a change , so for about the first time since I got here it wasn't a case of "Hmmm... Can I really afford to buy that..? Do I really NEED it?"

So, that's my update. I've hidden all the christmas goodies away in the cupboards (out of sight = mostly out of mind) and am feeling confident that I can leave them untouched until after 6pm tomorrow, which is when my personal holiday deadline is. 27 hours to go. YAY!!

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Good for you CJ!
You will feel happy that you didn't continue to binge out of control...
That's not what holiday celebrating should be like, though many of us have years and years of deprogramming to do on that topic...
Love,
Deb

[vtrain]

Carolejo,

Just wanted to say that I love your avatar...very stealth!

[carolejo]

Thanks V!

C.

[carolejo]

Well, so... I've been lurking a little over christmas, but haven't felt like posting again until today.

The Boy and LyraCat and I had a lovely, quiet, peaceful and restful few days over christmas. We ate plenty of junk and quite a lot of good stuff too - all of it tasted divine, but we didn't really overdo it seriously. We've both realised what the results would be and neither of us is very keen on that "really stuffed, slightly queasy, sore and bloaty stomach" feeling that comes of truly overdoing it. Yesterday we both walked into town and then all around for about 2 hours in total. On our walk, we saw a boy riding a unicycle all the way along the riverbank, lots of houseboats, some all decked up with christmas lights and a man walking along with a siamese kitten peeking out from the top of his jacket, all wide-eyed and looking in secure and cosy wonder at the world! Steve read my mind at that point and told me to give that idea up already, Lyra certainly wouldn't appreciate it!!!

So, now today, tomorrow and the first half of the 29th are N days for us, then we have a round of new years' visitors arriving, so we'll be Essing again between 29th Dec and 2nd Jan... although again, we probably won't go too crazy.

Anyhow, hope everyone had a good festive season.
love C.

[carolejo]

to paraphrase a certain british comedy show from the late 90's:-

"this week, I have mostly been eating icecream".



Yup. I've been falling off the wagon. Ben & Jerry's 'fossil fuel' icecream with the remains of my christmas port wine and berry sauce (made to go with the venison that we had for christmas dinner). Hmm. Not allowed on an N day.... but it was very S-worthy and it did taste amazing - in a guilty kind of way.

Oh well. Try again today, shall we?

Onwards.
C.

[carolejo]

Still falling off the wagon, and today 4 people are arriving to come and stay with us over new year, so NoS is suspended anyway.

At least that pesky icecream is no longer around to cause trouble

Actually, I'm not too unhappy at all, the old me would've eaten the whole 1 pint tub in a single sitting. This new me ate it in 3 separate sittings...

Perhaps there's still food for thought here.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Actually, I'm not too unhappy at all, the old me would've eaten the whole 1 pint tub in a single sitting. This new me ate it in 3 separate sittings...

Perhaps there's still food for thought here.

Good on you Carolejo! Yes I think it's better than eating the whole thing in one shot...
There are always better and worse behaviors to choose... And having smaller portions is always better...

(Just don't buy anymore for a few days okay? LOL....)

Heck!
It's really hard this time of year... Just seems like a natural thing to want a few more treats than normal...
Hope you are enjoying Amsterdam in Winter~

Peace and Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Well, the last of my guests stepped into a plane about half an hour ago if all is well, so The Boy, the Lyra-Cat and I have the place to ourselves again! I really LOVE having people to visit and stay, but it's always nice too when they've gone again and you get to have some quiet time.

Tomorrow it's back to work for real. There's a ton of stuff to do and I'm kind of looking forward to that too, in a way. I was worried that as I'm working at home tomorrow I'd be looking around at my messy house going "Oh my God! I can't even *think* straight in this pigsty!" but I voiced my fears to S and he's just vacuumed the whole place for me, whilst I took the kitchen to task.

So... The past couple of weeks have NOT been very good from a dietary standpoint. They've been a bit less disasterous from the point of view of exercise, as I've done lots and lots and lots of Urban Rangering around the city with guests in tow. Probably a minimum of 2 hours walking around every single day. Museums, churches, red-light district (just to look of course! ) the waterfront, canals, bridges. No Shovelglove for nearly 2 weeks either though. It's back to it properly tomorrow morning.

2 days to go till the weekend. I'm gonna try my hardest to make them 'Picture perfect' Then the week after that, everything restarts and I get to go back to my aerobics class too.

Happy New Year to everyone. May 2006 be a good one for you all.

love C. xxx

[gratefuldeb67]

Hugs girly!

Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Yesterday was THREE days until the weekend, of course!

Today is going well though.
So far I've had 2 normal, reasonable plates of food for Breakfast and Lunch. Only this evening to go. I've also done my SG again. Boy, that was hard after a couple of weeks off! Don't worry though, I took it nice and slowly.

I suppose today is also nominally 'Day 1'. I'm gonna have another shot at 21 days straight on habit. I'm not going to count them all down though, just try to be good and hope that the 3 week goal sneaks up on me. I'll reset the count if I don't behave.

So, first day back of 'normality'. so far I give myself a big

C.

[carolejo]

Yesterday I was pretty good, but not perfect.

I did have a single slice of baconham (very thin sliced, uncooked, cold-smoked ham, from the bacon joint so not at all fatty unlike black forest ham) whilst I was cooking dinner which was truly random of me since I was making Thai Green Curry which of course doesn't require any baconham! There was only the one slice left though and it was starting to dry out in the fridge. It winked at me when I opened the fridge to get some fresh coriander out... Yeah, definately can't call it a perfect day all the same.

Today I'm really eyeing up the avocado in my fruit bowl. I want it. I really want it . I already ate lunch though (microwave lasagne) and tonight there is more Thai Green Curry (I cooked 4 portions so we're having it again tonight) so I can't really put the avocado with that. I know I could legitimately claim that it's just a raw fruit / veg and therefore subject to my personal NoS 'tweak' of "can have up to 2 portions of fruit in addition" but I'm totally aware that I don't *NEED* to eat it. I only just had lunch and I am NOT AT ALL hungry!

I shall resist and eat it for breakfast tomorrow instead. I only hope it's a good one after all that. Avocados are such random things and you can't ever tell until you open it whether some numpty has put it in the fridge somewhen and thereby completely wrecked it. It's horribly dissappointing when that happens.

[carolejo]

Steve and I had some great news yesterday. He got the 30% ruling through. This is a thing for people recruited from abroad to fill roles for which there was a shortage of qualified Dutch people. It means that he gets a rebate of 30% of the income tax he's paid so far, and then will get 30% of it back on each paycheck! In Holland, basic tax is 46% and higher tax goes to 58%, so this is very significant. For all that money, I think what we get is a country that doesn't dissapear under the North Sea as soon as the wind blows - more than 50% of the Netherlands is BELOW sea level.

So, we celebrated by sharing a small (100g) bar of milk chocolate and drinking a bottle of Cava. Yesterday was an S for Celebration, but we only essed in the evening for the celebration, so I'm also calling it an S for Success.

Love to all,
C.

[gratefuldeb67]

That is definitely celebration worthy!!!!
I am happy for you both

Enjoy the weekend girly!!!
Talk to you later....

Hugs!
Debny

[carolejo]

Nice weekend! Not a bad monday so far either. The weather is crisp and clear - wide powdery blue sky and sunshine... arse cold though (minus 2 degrees C), which I suppose most of you Northern and Midwestern States types will probably consider to be 'warm'!

yesterday I went hashing again. The harriers were very pleased to see me which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside . Hee. Good little walk / jog around the sloterpark, through a surprising amount of mud too. Then some really icy-cold beers for afters. Talk about 'brain freeze' when you neck those down too quickly!! Ouch! I turned down an 'on in' visit to an indian restaurant as I'd left the boy back at home with ingredients and instructions to make a large vat of irish stew.

I've come into the office proper today for a change of scenery. It *is* a change too, as I now have an official office in a different building to the one I was in before. Good side is that there's a fixed space for me to plug in my laptop. Bad side is there's no microwave in this building, which limits my lunch options somewhat, and there are considerably less people - which is good for getting work done, but if I didnt' want to see anyone else I could just as well have stayed at home. On balance, I quite like it though.

No SG most likely today. Some walking around with my laptop bag, although not as much as before cos this building is right next to the bus stop. Oh well. Tomorrow I'm back in my aerobics class too, so I suppose I'm not doing too badly. Foodwise I've been pretty good too. It helps that there's absolutely no random chocolate vending machines in this building either!

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Sounds good CJ... I think it's nice to have a place to get out to instead of working completely at home... Less likely to get cabin fever...
As for the microwave... can you get a small toaster or something and at least be able to make toasted cheese sandwiches or something..
How was the Irish stew?
Have a nice day!
Enjoy your aerobics class..
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Stop press!

I have FOUND a small canteen with a MICROWAVE at the back of the warehouse!! Ha.


C.

[carolejo]

Yesterday I got back after work and really had to fight with myself NOT to get a slice of pizza on my way through the train station hall. I WON THE BATTLE though!

Then I got into the house. S still wasn't back (working late again on the year end processes, he finally got in just before 9pm. Work had fed him Pizza, which he ate half of and gave the rest away). I was ravenous, so I put my bowl of (very tasty) leftover stew into the microwave to heat up and did my 14 minutes of Shovelglove whilst I was waiting. Hah.

So, Monday was

PERFECT NoS
PERFECT SG
AND I Urban ranged some too

Today I don't feel so good though. My bowels are misbehaving I've started the day with weak chinese tea and a bowl of plain boiled rice with a pinch of salt. It's probably going to be an S for Sick day, but as I plan on limiting myself to rice and perhaps a little boiled chicken, I don't think it will be a day of joyous and gluttonous eating, in any way.

C.

[3aday]

I hope you feel better soon,
Becky

[carolejo]

Feeling quite a lot better now, so a diet consisting of just boiled white rice and boiled chicken for a day seems to have reset the system. It's most strange as my digestion is usually very robust. I've no idea what might have upset me so. Tja. Just one of those things I guess. I'm not severely ill so don't worry. I'm also 99.9% sure that it's not infectious either! (it's always hard to know what you can say without it being "too much information" )

Still did my SG though. And I'm off to my aerobics class in about 15 minutes time. It's certainly not slowing me down any.

C.

[carolejo]

Ha. Sadly I spoke too soon

Today I feel as rough as chuff. I've no idea what the hell is going on, or why my whole digestive tract seems to have gone into meltdown, but hey. Sadly, I can't even skulk at home as I have a colleague coming over to help with my project work (I get a 'data monkey' to train up! Yay! ), so I have to haul my sorry ass all the way out to Schiphol-Rijk every day for the rest of this week.

If this hasn't settled by the end of the week, I'm gonna drag myself off to the doctors' office. In the meantime, I guess I just have to take as good care of myself as possible.

Yesterday was a good diet and exercise day though. Yes, I had 4 small meals instead of 3, but there was definately no excess and no esses. (small bowl plain boiled rice for breakfast, small bowl rice with boiled chicken for lunch, small bowl plain rice and avocado for tea, chickpeas with lime juice for supper).

Today I had some Ontbijtkoek "Breakfast cake" - Like a low sugar gingerbread made with rye flour instead of wheat - for breakfast as I was running out of the door. That was about 2 hours ago and I've currently got that 'empty hungry not hungry' feeling that comes of digestive chaos. Time to get me a large glass of 50/50 Coke and water, I think. Tastes horrible, but it's pretty close to isotonic balance and the caffeine might perk me up a little too.

S for SICK

[carolejo]

Apart from the 'medicinal Coke' I didn't sin at all yesterday, so it was still a sucess despite not feeling well. I skipped SG though.

Today I feel a bit better, so things are pretty much back to normal.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Good CJ!
You're lucky... If you weren't better, those chick peas for dinner, might have turned you into a walking time bomb..
LOL...

Keep feeling good!
Love,
Deb

[3aday]

Glad you are feeling better!
The chick peas in lime juice sounds deeelish.
Do you serve them hot or cold?
Do you just squeeze some lime juice and that's it?
I love chick peas!

[carolejo]

I had another 'medicinal coke' today to keep me running this afternoon. I'm back up to about 85% now I reckon, but I'm still having to watch out. My current project is a KILLER and my brain is totally fried, even though it's only 4pm. I think I'm quitting for today already. I'll have to spend about 10 hours of this weekend working anyway, so if anyone has an issue with me bunking off early (they won't!) they can sue me

The chickpeas with lime are a pure comfort food of mine and are eaten cold. Theres just something about the texture of the chickpeas that I really like. Take one can of chickpeas in brine. Empty it into a sieve and rinse well. Stick the chickpeas in a bowl, squeeze on a little fresh lime juice (about quarter of a lime's worth for a 12OZ can works well, but it depends how tangy you want it) and add a twist of freshly ground black pepper. Mix. Eat.

If you want to make it better still, chop up some fresh tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese into cubes and add these. finely chopped red onions, sliced pitted black olives and wilted spinach leaves are also good additions. Cubes of Cheddar or Gouda cheese work well in place of the Feta, if that's what you have to hand. None of that's necessary if you just want a 'slumming it' healthy small meal though.

Yummy. Now I'm HUNGRY just thinking about it!

[gratefuldeb67]

Feel better CJ!!!
Don't fry your brains!!!!
LOL...
Hugs..
Debny

[3aday]

Thanks for the recipe.
It sounds simple and magnificent.
Luckily, I can throw in the feta.
Having a Turkish husband, we always have yummy feta around!
I understand about the "medicinal" Coke.
It makes me feel better when I am down and not feeling 100%
Try not to work to hard this weekend.
Becky

[carolejo]

Well, I had a bit of a pig-out on Friday evening but it still wasn't DIRE or even in the same league as everyday pre-NoS. I definately Essed the rest of the weekend but didn't overdo it. This morning I stood on the scales and I'm back down to pre-Christmas proportions - that's to say 88kg, the lowest weight I've been in the last 5 or 6 years for sure.

I'm bouncing all over the place again this week, with Tues, Weds, Thurs back in the UK office dealing with some project related chaos and some team meetings. It'll be nice to see everyone again, anyhow.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Yay Carolejo!!!
Hugs and Congrats!
Debny

[3aday]

That's awesome!
Very cool!

[carolejo]

Well, so far not so bad. Travelling around really does mess with your eating though as you don't have that much control anymore. That said, yesterday breakfast and Lunch were fine - but I was at my sister's house for dinner and CREAM CAKES *MAY* HAVE BEEN EATEN

They did taste good - and the company was much liked as well. Haven't seen Allie for several months so it was great to catch up. It was also a kind of 'pre-emptive' celebration because my boss sent round the slides for Thursday morning's meeting and there are large changes afoot to the team structure, which are all looking like 'Promotion time' for me It's certainly a strange way to find out (by reading through the meeting 'preamble') but nothing about the company I work for surprises me anymore!!! I'm also not going to be holding my breath - it looks a bit more like a "would like to have" rather than a "this has been signed off by finance and general management" at the moment, so it may not come to anything. It's still very nice to know that you are valued though.

Tonight is a work team dinner in an italian restaurant. At least that shouldn't be too hard to behave in - unlike Chinese which is pretty much an automatic fail under those circumstances! Don't get me wrong, I love italian food too, but at least you're not expected to each choose a dish and then put it in the centre for sharing, so you do have some idea how much food there is with no need to 'virtually plate' it.

Nice NoS approved breakfast so far today, so on track again, as always.

C.

[carolejo]

Back at home. Bliss. Just wish there wasn't so much work to be done!

I've been about 70% good whilst I've been away. Today I plan to be 100% good, cos then there's the weekend to come.

C.

[3aday]

Glad you are back at home!
Have a great weekend!
Becky

[gratefuldeb67]

Have a great weekend Carolejo!

Hugs,
Debny

[carolejo]

The Boy's Birthday is today, so it's an S day. I'm not planning on doing much essing until this evening though. Just started the day off with a bowl of 'Peanut Butter and Maple Syrup Oatmeal' (I like the peanut butter kind that is made from whole nuts and doesn't have any sugar in it - but I wanted a little sweetness along with it for the oatmeal, hence the maple syrup. It was a good choice cos it didn't make it 'super sweet'). You were all quite right - just like eating a hot batch of peanut butter cookie dough! Yummy!!! Actually, I've had to 'import' peanut butter from Britain to over here, cos all of the stuff I can find in the Netherlands has eighty tons of artifical crap and a load of sugar added - YUCK. Sorry guys, but peanut butter should be at least 96% peanuts, with a maximum of 3 ingredients in it - none of which is sugar. (peanuts 96% or more, a little peanut oil or palm oil is permitted, and a little salt too)

For his birthday, I bought Steve a book called "cooking for blokes". He has repeatedly mumbled about wanting to learn how to cook edible food, so if he follows the instructions in here everything should be fine. I'm looking forward to trying some of his efforts - although with some trepidation. As I mentioned before to Becky, he's quite capable of making totally inedible concoctions from the most promising-sounding combinations of raw ingredients! Neither of us have any idea how he manages this. It's like a kind of magic!

[carolejo]

Oh, I need to report my new membership to the 'My panties fell down' club

Yesterday's Hash was in Niewe Sloten. It was an eventful and memorable run for me in several ways - on a couple of occasions I nearly lost my knickers! It seems I've now lost enough weight for my underwear to become loose. Of course, being me, I just *had* to share this particular fact with my fellow hashers and therefore I have now received my hash handle (Hash nickname)! Henceforth in hash circles I shall be known only as "Droopy Drawers"

Further amusement and genesis of my new name took place when somebody realised that I'd got a Ph.D. too, so I was actually "Dr Droopy Drawers", or "3D" for short.

[gratefuldeb67]

Dr. Droopy Drawer's will be giving a lecture on the phenomenon of
pants loss due to shrinkage in mass plus gravitational pull..

LOL..

Congrats DDD...
LOL..

So.. did you get a megaphone and say "Hey!!! My underwear are falling down!!!"...

What a club! Only in Amsterdam could one expect drooping panties and drinking beers as public "club related" activities!

Have a nice day CJ!
Love,
Deb

[3aday]

That is too funny DDD! Congratulations on earning that nickname!
Happy Belated Birthday to The Boy! (My indedible cooking compadre)

[carolejo]

Too. Much. Essing.

Not enough good behaviour here. I mean, that bar of chocolate last night was really gratuitous and I didn't even enjoy it all that much. What a waste!

Today I will try to do better. So far so good. It's nearly lunchtime too.
C.

[gratefuldeb67]

We were watching the original version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, last night and *dying* for a giant bar of chocolate!!!!!!
LOL...

We had a glass of chocolate soymilk instead..

But it didn't have a golden ticket...

Some days are harder and now you know that if you aren't even going to enjoy the S (due to Reinhardian programmed N day guilt!) and it's going to be a waste, you can just keep repeating...
You are pre disapproved!!!

You learned something CJ! It's a long journey...

Have a good day!
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

WHINGE WHINGE!!

Yesterday was not bad, but still not perfect. I did not need to eat the avocado with my bacon and tomatoes for supper - although I consoled myself with the thought that it could have been so much worse, it's still not really 100%. The additional biscuit I had mid morning was also not NoS sanctioned! Neither was the 4 gummy piglet faces I ate.

Today I had an apple, orange and cheese salad for breakfast. I've just had a bowl of mashed potatoes, kale and smoked sausage with gravy for lunch. Not too bad, if you overlook the handful of squirty whipped cream I ate whilst I was preparing lunch - just to test that it hadn't gone off, you understand!

Work is not going so well either. Project X is likely to go down the pan. The whole thing feels about as productive as trying to paint the Forth road bridge - but just by throwing a tennis ball that's been dipped in paint at it! Now Mr Large Customer has finally supplied me with the data I requested for project Y... only 3 months late! Of course, it's all "We've given you the data you asked for, so when will it be finished?! Hurry up! It's urgent now. " It's a game we like to call "Hurry up and Wait".

One final whinge too, I've got a tummy ache. It feels a bit like PMS cramps, but it's definately the wrong time of the month for that. Blergh.

Sorry about that folks. Hopefully normal service will be resumed soon!

[gratefuldeb67]

Hey CJ!
Your little blunders are better than full on binging...
Really try to stay away from the candy and whipped cream if possible..
Those are too easy to reach it seems!!!

Sorry about those tossers at work!

(That tennis ball scenario was really funny though!)

Maybe we should celebrate Australia day with Big Phil instead... LOL...
Hugs!
Deb

[carolejo]

Yeah. I think I'm hitting a point of rebellion and 'self sabotage'. I'm sitting on my own ticket here, it's ME that's holding me up!

At least I'm starting to realise this 'self destructive behaviour' is all down to me, so the cure is also within my grasp.

I feel like I want to stamp my feet like some spoiled brat and throw a three-year-old stroppy fit and shout "But it's not FAIR!!!!"... which I know, intellectually and logically, is really silly Firstly, where is it written that "life is fair"? Nowhere, that's where! And anyhow, compared to most people I've got everything I could possibly need, most of the things I really want and I'm doing really well.

I think I need to spend a small amount of time this weekend taking stock, doing some naval-gazing and counting my blessings... Not too long - cos that would be *really* self-indulgent, but just enough time to convince myself that it's all do-able. Hopefully I'll then be able to have a jolly good laugh at myself, shake off the 'black dog mood' stuff and move on. Afterall, I'll be an OLD woman of 30 at the start of next month. 3-year-old stroppy fits are unseemly in a person of my age!

[gratefuldeb67]

You are a mere babe CJ!!!
Love you so much!!!

No more piggies for you till Saturday!!!

Hugs!
Deb

[3aday]

Omigosh CaroleJo....you are human

I have faith you will get right back on track!

Oh wow. Turning 30 is awesome. I hope you enjoy your 30th year as much as I did.

[carolejo]

Thanks guys!

Apart from one handful of canned whipped cream (less said about that, the better! ) today has been pretty good so far. My stomach is growling though and there's about an hour to go before dinner. I guess I'd better call up the Boy and find out how late he's working today.... Then I can start prepping dinner, which will help me not to cave in at this point and ruin an otherwise pretty good day.

I think I'm also going to start doing what piratejenny does, and mark my perfect NoS days on the calendar each day.

...AHA! I hear the door! Steve is home!

C.

[carolejo]

So far, today has been textbook perfect. Just Dinner and the evening to get through - shouldn't be a problem.

Yay!
C.

[carolejo]

yesterday was my first textbook NoS perfect day in.. well, WEEKS.

I've not been hideously bad. I've still been much better than pre no-S, but I was definately breaking the rules in miriad of small ways... Death by a thousand cuts, as it were!

Well, now I'm going to re-affirm my commitment to this. I marked the first NoS symbol on my calendar. It looks good, and I'm only going to do this on days that are COMPLETELY perfect. Now I want a whole row of them though, so I'm going to try extra hard.

On a completely different note, my efforts to meet people and make new friends are going quite well. Some of the hashers are turning into pretty good mates. I'm off to a Burns Night party this saturday with some of them and have been invited along to a few other non-hash related things too. There's a girl in my aerobics class that I've been talking to quite a lot, although we haven't met up outside of the class yet. My Dutch course starts next Wednesday too and although there won't be any Dutch people on a "Dutch as a foreign language" course, I'm at level 2 already (above Steve - some self study and a lucky natural talent for learning languages. Personallly I think this is better cos if we were in class together we'd never NEED to talk to anybody else! At least this way he'll be able to make some friends of his own too) so I've deliberately picked the course where everything is explained in DUTCH, rather than the one with English explanations. At least that way I'm not likely to meet only Brits or Americans. (No offense guys, but I know plenty of Brits and Americans already! The point is, without the common language of English, I'll be forced to use Dutch to communicate with the people I meet in class, so my Dutch will be improved all the quicker.)

Now, if only my work life got back in order. This project is *still* an unmitigated disaster! Oh well. At least nobody else thinks this is my fault.

C.

[3aday]

Have a nice weekend my "Super" cultured internet friend!
Becky

[gratefuldeb67]

Is Heineken a Dutch word???
LOL..

Happy S days CJ and Becky and all the gang...
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Of course Heineken is a Dutch word! It's brewed just round the corner from my house.

I prefer the other local brew though, Amstel Beer.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

It is???
Wow...that must make your block stink of hops!!!
LOL...

Haave ein goot taag...
Karole!
LOL...
Love,
Deb

(ps... that wasn't really Dutch! LOL..)

[carolejo]

in real dutch:

ik wens je een mooie dag! I wish you a nice day

I'm looking forward to my Dutch lessons, then I'll be able to write stuff like that without having to go to Babelfish! http://babelfish.altavista.com/

Happy Saturday, everyone.
I'm off to eat me a wee bit o' haggis, and wash it down with a wee dram o' whisky.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Boy was I far off the mark!!!!
LOL..

Mooie Dag to you and Haagen Daaz to me!

Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Hi All.

Had a great weekend - the Saturday day was spent on cleaning and pottering, then we went out to the Burns Night party... The Boy was quite abstemious (he's still suffering from the aftereffects of a major office christmas party several months ago and most booze turns his stomach still - he REALLY overdid it that time! ) but I consumed a bit too much malt whisky and port and beer. He was very nice to me on Sunday morning though even though I was not deserving of any sympathy and let me lie in bed, sipping some nice cups of tea and reading a trashy novel until 1:30pm!! How decadent is that, huh?

Well, then I had to get up cos I was starting to crave some serious salt and grease, so I had a couple of rounds of sandwiches (ham and cheese on malted seed bread), with some really heavy-duty smoked german sausages as a side dish. Then it was time to head on out for the hash.

This week's hash was in the Amsterdamse Bos (forest). As most of the people who showed up had been at the same party on Saturday night, none of us were feeling particularly athletic, so we mostly strolled around the trail, rather than running it at full tilt. Suits me better that way anyhow. I found myself wandering around the forest in the crisp winter sunshine, bathed in birdsong and a feeling of wellbeing and peace. It was absolutely the right thing to do for busting the last traces of hangover out of my system.

Afterwards, we went for a chinese meal. I loaded my plate up with a sizable quantity of goodies and ate it all - as it was an S day, I wasn't going to worry, but once I'd finished my plate I felt comfortably full and didn't need to eat anymore, so I didn't.

Today - so far so good. Ham and cheese sarnies for breakfast, Tuna steak and spinach for lunch. I was going to have some quinoa with it, but I managed to burn it, so I had a couple of slices of bread instead. Oh well.

On On!
C.

[3aday]

Sounds like a fun weekend!
What is a hash?

[carolejo]

Becky, take a look at http://www.harrier.nl

It's a "running club with a drinking problem".

They have groups (Kennels) all over the place, so there might even be one near you if you fancied giving it a go!

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Ello dahling!

Wots a sarnie then??? LOL...

(thats supposed to sound cockney..LOL!

I can't believe your weekend CJ! And you sound so ebullient!!
That lazy decadent and greasy day sounded great!
Good thing you just sauntered around instead of really running..
I think you might have hurled otherwise!
LOL..

I had a half of a beer last night and was totally stupified by it!
I guess I don't have too much tolerance..
Went out to see my friends play music.. It was great!

Glad we both had a fun Sunday!
Woo hoo...
Have a mooie dag!

Peace and Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Sarnie - Sandwich, of course!

Actually, I didn't feel sickly with my hangover at all - I just felt like there was a full percussion section practising INSIDE my head!

Today has been a bit of a breadfest. Sandwiches for breakfast, 2 slices of bread with lunch, and we're also just had homemade chilli cheeseburgers for dinner. Oh well. At least it's a good quality multigrain seeded loaf. I have to say, the bread over here in the Netherlands is about a gazillion times nicer and healthier for you than the crud there is in Blighty! I vertually never ate any bread back in the UK, cos it was mostly so horrible, but over here it's really become a staple of my diet.

Adkins, eat your heart out!

C.

[Traveler]

CarolJo, I eat only multigrain bread, it's great. Also, when I eat multigrain bread, it seems to help me control my hunger better than other breads. Best regards, Bob

[gratefuldeb67]

I believe that its fatkins...
LOL...

Yay CJ and Bob and whole grain and nuts!!!

Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Baked sweet potato with ham and cheese....

Actually, it's not as bad as I thought it might be. It's a bit ORANGE though!



C.

[3aday]

If I ever have a hangover again, I'm coming over so we can eat greasy food together. Just wait 12 hours for me!

[carolejo]

So far (and it's bed time for me in about half an hour from now), a textbook day again today. That makes a 6th little crossed out S symbol in a row on my calendar. Yay!

C.

[carolejo]

mmmm. I was a little premature with the symbol-drawing! I scoffed down an Avocado before I went to bed!

I don't know what it is, but I've really been craving avocados at the moment! (no, I'm *definately* not pregnant, before you even suggest it! ) I can't seem to walk past one without wanting to eat it, then and there. I feel like I could get 3 or 4 of them a day and it still wouldn't be too many!

I think I may have to join up with 'Avocardo Eaters Anonymous' to get the help and support I need in busting this terrible new habit of mine

In my defence, I had kind of planned on eating it with breakfast, but decided at the time I didn't need it. I should just of eaten the damn thing and been done with it then and there. Oh well.

C.

ps: Oooh, but it was a good one! Just the right ripeness, creamy and rich and tasty and no brown bits at all. *salivates*

[gratefuldeb67]

I will join Avocados Anonymous with you CJ!
I love them!!!

They are very healthy and full of good fat... maybe that's your comfort food for now... I say just consider the two or three avocados as a meal..
Just try to include them in your daily meals...That's the habit you want to forge into steel......Not noshing...

Make a dinner of guacamole and chips or guac and cut up veggies~

But really, it's not a pint of ice cream which I am guilty of ice cream indulgence last night... Well not a pint...

We went out to find some nice fruit for dessert, but nothing at all looked acceptable... So I caved in and got some ice cream...
But as usual, in recent months, the stuff just didnt' taste as good since it was not an S day... And I wound up having hallucinatory type dreams too, since it was this crazy powerful eggnog flavor... I really think nutmeg is a kind of hallucinogen or something! But I only ate about 1/2 a cups worth, and I'm debating if I should dump the rest... I'm not going to have anymore, but Richie liked it and so I think I'll try to save it for Saturday...

Big Hugs and don't worry! I had plenty of weeks, especially during Winter, which were far from perfect my first year... Still do... But just stick with it and stay positive... I'm sure that pre NoS you would have had no markings on your calendar at all.. so you are getting there!!!!!
And kudos to you on being open and honest... That is fantastic...
No denial and all that bad stuff.. This is where you are now..
You are in avocado eaters anonymous~ LOL...
But awareness is the first step in changing our behaviour eh?

Love,
Debny

[carolejo]

Nutmeg in sizeable quantities IS in fact a hallocinogen (spelling? wots dat? ). About 2 tablespoons of freshly ground nutmeg is about all it would take to get off your face... and probably very sick in the process! I've never actually tried it, mind - I kind of like being in my own head, mostly. It's certainly amusing enough in there for me, without adding a whole load of additional stimulants into the mix

I wouldn't mind the Avocado habit so much, if they weren't so damn expensive here... AND unreliable. Sometimes you get them and they're really great, other times it looks like some idiot killed them by sticking them in cold storage and they went all icky, stringy and brown inside. You can never tell till you cut them open either, but which time it's too late!

Oh well. I don't think it's a big deal at all in the macro sense of things. Afterall, as you pointed out, it's not like it was a pint of Haagen Daz or anything!

[Hunter Gatherer]

Ooh, avocados are delicious. Some of my friends think I'm weird when I just peel one and eat it by itself. Mmmm.... avocado....

Isn't the amount of nutmeg required to hallucinate very close to the amount that could kill you? I seem to remember hearing/reading that somewhere.

[3aday]

Oooooooooh. Avocados, there so healthy.


But, I am a bad girl by nature and like them in chicken sandwiches (um, breaded and fried chicken) with some onion, munster cheese, and of course, bacon!

But, you are right, an avocado by itelf, when it is perfectly ripe is soooooo good. Almost dessert like but 100% natural. I have to remember to pick one up (but, of course I'll probably forget and eat it when I am at the Village Inn with the my unhealthy sandwich!)

[carolejo]

HG, I'm with you on the 'peel and eat like an apple' school of thought. Although I also like to put a little black pepper and some balsamic vinegar on it. They really don't need any more jazzing up than that...

....Oooh! Avocados! Thank god there aren't currently any in the house, or else I'd be eating them again!

Becky, yes, I also love them with Bacon. Try making a pasta salad with bacon and avocado sometime It's to DIE FOR.

C.

[carolejo]

So.... did you miss me?

sorry guys. Haven't been around for a while - I had my 30th Birthday last Friday and have had a house full of guests and a big party since I was last here. I'm not going ANYWHERE NEAR a set of scales for quite a while now!

I've not managed to catch up with how everyone is doing, so sorry if I missed something major. Please drop me a note here telling me if you've had some major trauma or triumph and I'll go take a look. Man, traffic on here is definately taking off though, cos there sure are a lot of posts I haven't read. Go Reinhard and NoS, Go!

But now it's back to 'normality'. The last of my 6 houseguests have been escorted to the train station this morning. Cleaning, tidying, sorting out and general 'relaxing' would be on the cards - if I wan't working today and out at aerobics tonight, anyhow. Nevermind. It will wait.

In the meantime, a very merry un-birthday, from me, to you

C.

[3aday]

Happy 30th birthday!
I hope you have an amazing year!
Becky

[doulachic]

Happy Birthday!

[gratefuldeb67]

Yes CJ! We did miss you for sure!
I was thinking "What happened to CJ??? Did she fall into a vat of apple syrup???" last night...

Here's a big birthday pinch on your bum!
Have a great day and hope you had a fun birthday girl!!!!!
Love,
Deb

[carolejo]

Good day yesterday. Aerobics class was really busy for some reason - we ended up sharing the steps, only it looked so funny I think I did more giggling than actual stepping Today I really didn't want to get out of bed though - in fact, I still feel like I'm sleepwalking for some reason! It must be that usual February hibernation thing kicking in - now Christmas and my birthday and Steve's birthday have all gone for another year. At least the sky is pretty here today, lots of little puffy clouds wizzing around up there. the sun is also just starting to peek out over the top of my neighbour's houses (opposite), so soon my desk will be bathed in sunlight, streaming in through the windows. Perhaps that will help me to wake up some. In the meantime, I'm off to make another cup of tea!

C.

[3aday]

Sharing a step bench?
I would pay to see that!
I could never do that. I think I would repeatly collide with my partner!
(No coordination)
I liked step class but I was always embarrased that I was always "off" or going the opposite direction of the rest of the class.
Again, Happy Belated birthday.

[gratefuldeb67]

Good day yesterday. Aerobics class was really busy for some reason - we ended up sharing the steps, only it looked so funny I think I did more giggling than actual stepping

Laughing is good "cardio" exercise too!!!

Today I really didn't want to get out of bed though - in fact, I still feel like I'm sleepwalking for some reason! It must be that usual February hibernation thing kicking in -

Those bears really have it made... Hibernating through this time would be so great!
LOL..

Have a nice day CJ and enjoy some tea for me~!
Good for you on your Step-Laugh class yesterday....

How do you say Step Class in Dutch???
Shtoopen klass???
LOL...

Love,
Debny

[carolejo]

Yesterday I only scored 5/6. I sinned last night when I got back from my Dutch class by eating the last of the icecream left over from my birthday weekend. It was Ben and Jerry's New York super fudge chunk. Yummy - but not in any way NoS approved for N days!! There was about a quarter of a pint left, so at least I ate a 'normal' serving size and not a "pre-NoS serving size" (in those days, I was a firm believer that all decent icecream comes in SINGLE SERVING packets... even if the packet is actually a 1 pint tub!)

I don't know why. I'm not going to dwell on it now though. That was yesterday. Today is a new day.

Right now, everything around me smells of coffee, cos I just dropped a cup of the stuff. I thought I'd stepped back quick enough to avoid being splashed, but obviously not cos I can really smell it, even after cleaning up! Oh well. It was yucky office machine coffee anyway.

C.

[carolejo]

Eee, I don't know what's the matter, but I'm *really* hungry and I only ate my (reasonable sized) lunch about 2 hours ago! It's at least 5 hours till dinnertime! No, I'm not thirsty - I've drunk about 3 large cups of water already. May have to go get some fruit from somewhere.

Could be tricky as the office I'm in today is about 5 miles from anywhere useful and I got here by bus.

C.

[gratefuldeb67]

Well only two more hours to dinner!
Fruit is a good idea...

Oy!!! Why does Winter make us want to eat so bad!!!????

Let us know how it all went down later
LOL..

Love,
Debny Super Chunk....

[carolejo]

Well, a nice cup of proper tea and an apple I found lurking in the bottom of my laptop bag have tided me over for the time being. Disaster averted! That's even allowed within my own version of the NoS rules, so I can continue to feel virtuous about it all as well.

I am wondering if I'm coming down with a bug or something though. The Boy Steve as 'man-flu' at the moment (I guess most of you know the drill. If a bloke has a tiny little sniffly cold, they think they're ready to die, yet if someone chopped their arm off or there's a lump the size of a golfball growing somewhere it shouldn't be, they act all tough and macho and continually claim that "It doesn't hurt, there's nothing wrong! I don't need to go and see the doctor" )... Still, I suppose there is a SLIM chance that this time he's actually really ill and has managed to infect me. My head feels very spacey and a bit achey. I've got a belly ache too, but as TOM is visiting right now, the last bit is not *too* surprising.

Right. Time to leave this office and start heading home before the traffic gets too bad.

C.

[carolejo]

Darn it! Came home and CAVED IN when I saw the cadburys caramel bars in the freezer that my sister brought over from England for my birthday!!! Only ate one bar though. Could have been worse, I know, but I really DO need to get some proper control back.

Having a fairly pissy evening, actually. Came home from the office and the house is still filthy after the party this weekend (Like it was really going to clean itself in my absence..?! ). Even so, I didn't expect to walk through the door and think "Eww! My house smells of socks and stale beer and damp towels! YUCK". My nose is actually quite sensitive normally and I don't think a house should smell of anything, let alone stuff that icky!

The boy is in a foul mood and has had to go out on a work 'team building' thing the evening. He's annoyed that he's not allowed to drink at the moment cos he has some meds for a stomach ulcer, even though it'll be a free bar. Besides which, I think he might actually have a cold too cos all he really wants to do is curl up and sleep. Anyhow, we rowed a bit on the phone cos he doesn't want to go to Zwolle for the folk festival this weekend. Anyhow, I'M GOING, even if he isn't! .

So, when I was done eating the chocolate, I ate myself some chickpeas with lime juice and a WHOLE PACKET of fresh coriander leaves and some black pepper - we also badly need to go shopping cos there's next to nothing left in the house apart from crisps, chocolate and beer. Then I scrubbed BOTH bathrooms, the kitchen sink and am on my 3rd load of laundry. Only 8 more loads of laundry to go - there's all the bedding and towels from 6 guests as well you see.

My. This rambles a bit. Sorry about that, folks. Feels better now though. Thanks for 'listening'.

C.