FittyPod

Had a great time in Sydney - I didn't freak on the climb, Bon Iver was FANTASTIC and I wish I lived in a house furnished exclusively by IKEA. I also bought my self an iPod shuffle - there just isn't a case to bring my 30g EnnyPod to the gym (tucking it into my pants really isn't a good way to keep it working) and it was less than $70 to get myself 250 songs onto a cute little pinky-purple clip.

I plan to put my upbeat music onto it so I can shuffle away at the gym, but thought it would be great to do a CD swap, like a few of us did about two years ago. It's easy for me because I made a CD for two people at work and currently listening to it in the car, so I already know how mine will sound.

Interested?

1. Email me your postal address (EnnyPen at gmail dot com);
2. I'll send you a CD with my postal address; and
3. You send me a CD with a CD of YOUR workout songs!

Even if you're not a gym bunny, I'd love a CD of music that makes you feel like moving.

In the event of my absence

The Hun and I are in Sydney tomorrow and Thursday - for bridge climbing, Bon Iver, Bondi Beach and IKEA. I mocked up a wedding inspiration board which I love and was planning to show you tonight, but I will leave that for another time because I got an email forward that I thought was pretty cute and hadn't seen before (and wanted to show you before it was everywhere) (ignore that last bit if these are ooooooooooooold) (click to enlarge):

I'm loving them

Things I'm loving at the moment...

• Our birdie boys! Tesla and Seymour are doing really, really, really well. Tesla has learnt to wolf whistle, which delights us beyong what should be socially acceptable. That said, our excitement about getting a handle on toilet training mustn't be socialy acceptable - we get them to step up and up and up on our fingers and then call out 'poop! poop!' and a fair amount of the time they'll hunker down, turn their belies into a little upside heartshape, and do what they're being asked! This gets a lot of praise, because it's showing that they're responding to training, but also we are having to clean less crap off the floor, couch, table and clothes. We're getting much better at reading them, and their personalities are really shinging through!

• More birds! An upside of having our own birdie boys is that the blown off seed is bringing more and more other birds into our tiny courtyard - a dozen sparrows seem to be living in the tree by the back door - I plan to buy a little bird bath/feeder to blow the seed in to to cut down on the weeds and make it a little easier for the crazy fellows to get it.

• Microwave popcorn! It's crunchy, salty, warming and inherently fun, and technically it's like a veggie, right?!
  

• Wii Fit! Mumsy let me borrow hers, and I can't wait to give it a go once the microwave poprorn has settled.

• IKEA! We're stopping off their on our way home from Sydney next week and I finally got my catalogue last night, and read it until past 2am in the morning. I've got my eye on some shelves, some bedside tables, some vases for wedding table decorations and a few hundred other things. It just seems like such a fantastic place - I can't wait to be a home owner and go totally nuts on adorable floating shelves with lighting underneath, and TV units with wall panels to hide cords and attach flat screen TVs to.

• Wedding planning! Oh yeah, it's getting close to time to knuckle down and make things happen... I have a groom, half a bridal party, a date, a venue, a celebrant, a photographer, a jewllery designer (Yay Jen!!!) and 20 Google documents crammed full of ideas.

• Vegan friendly friends! I have a new work friend that came here from Brisbane and he is completely delightful. He is always so friendly, and upbeat, and fun. AND he is a great cook and loves to make things that I can eat - he made the worlds most FANTASTIC vegan mudcake the other week and shared the recipe with me. I will get his permission to share it with you if you are interested, but I can not WAIT for an excuse to make it and share it with others.
  

• Fun family nights! Last night mumsy, dadsy, middle bro, youngest bro, youngest bro's gf, myself and The Hun went to see a small local theatre production that was starring a family friend and one of my martial arts students. It was a really good peformance that everyone enjoyed, and then we headed out for a fantastic indian meal in Dickson! It was just a really, really good night.

• Fun family! Middle bro has made such amazing progress over the last 12 month or so. Not only has he shown amazing mindfulness and self control by giving up alchohol, he has lost close on 50kg, he has a fantastic level of fitness, he is proud of his appearance and he is having a positive influence on many, many people. He is housesitting for some friends for 6 weeks and he is showing even more maturity by maintaining his outlook, and his attitude to everything is just continually improving and he continues to amaze me. I am really, really proud of him.

• Me! I've been trying to be more concious with what I'm eating, and I've lost a kilo on average this week. I'm liking the way it's made me feel - cutting down on my portion sizes, keeping my fruit and veggies up, and feeling positive. And I've looked at myself in pics from last night, I've looked at my reflection, and I'm seeing the difference that concentrating on my health is having on my mental AND physical apperance. I'm in a good place at the moment. And I love it.
  

How predictable

First trip back to the gym, spent in terror that I might be getting dizzy...

I did 15 minutes at 126 heart rate (fat burn for 26 yo) and 15 minutes at 110 heart rate which felt like a fair bit of work until I realised that it was the fat burn rate for a 60yo. Look at me, going the distance.

It's going to be a tentative crawl back into the gym - my spewaphobia is just that severe. And while I understand the convulsing should be the most terrifying, I technically wasn't there for that so it doesn't seem all that real to me.

In better news I've been watching my weight this week and dropped 1.5kg... hooray for stinking hot weather in Canberra!

Wedding tradition

From here, and about to be crossposted on Facebook:


Ah ha ha!!!

Unhappy New Year!

This sort of story absolutely terrifies me...

A Canadian woman rushed to hospital on New Year's Eve for what she believed was a kidney stone gave birth to a baby boy instead, local media say.

"This is some kidney stone, isn't it," the woman, cradling the newborn in her arms, told Canwest New Service. "We're still in shock. We just can't believe it."

Juanita Stead, 36, said she did not suffer morning sickness or put on extra weight during her pregnancy, and continued to menstruate and so she had no idea that she was pregnant.

A hospital X-ray on New Year's Eve for back pains revealed the truth.

"The technician looked at me and said, 'My dear, you're pregnant with a full-term baby.' And I said: 'No sir, you got the wrong woman and you're looking at the wrong screen. There is no way I'm pregnant," she said.

Nicholas was born soon afterwards.

Coincidentally, the birth of the couple's first child, two-year-old Cameron, also caught them off guard.

Stead knew she was pregnant with Cameron, she said, but he arrived two months early.

"I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and out he popped, right into the toilet," she said. Her husband scooped their first-born out the toilet and put him in his mother's lap until an ambulance arrived, she said.

It's like those stories that you read in Dolly - 'I went to the toilet and pooped out a baby!' - that terrified you in school, then amused you in your early 20's, then terrify you once again...

Lisa the creepy vegan

You might be aware that The Hun and I have been working our way through Six Feet Under (hint: If you want to watch it yourself, there will be some spoilers here now).It's been a bit of an obsession, as in,I came home from work early last Friday just so that we could watch five in a row. We've just finished season three which was a bit of a snorefest. We only half-watched the first few episodes because we hoped it was just a dream. It wasn't. The rest of the episodes in the season can be summed up as: Someone dies, Nata and Lisa fight, David and Keith fight, Funeral, Fin; or Someone dies, Lisa is missing, Nate drinks, David and Keith fight, Funeral, Fin.

While the season wasn't that exciting (which was REALLY dissapointing because the first two seasons had us on the edge of our seats!!!), it was the character of Lisathat bothered me the most.

Lisa is a vegan. And when she was introduced I was REALLY hoping she would be cool... she was on such a cool show! But instead, she came with a whole bunch of stereotypes. She was a bit of a loner, she carried on about food a lot, she was soft spoken and alwasy eager to keep people happy. Then, annoyingly, as soon as she had a baby, she was all like 'oh no, don't worry about making me a fish-free salad, I need the protein'. Nice one, writers. Like us vegans don't get enough of that protein BS without you including it in the script.

(On a side note: check this awesome quote I read here today: "“There is enough protein in plants to grow an elephant, horse, or hippopotamus. Certainly there is enough protein to grow relatively small people.")

So, not only was she a crazy vegan, she was a real doormat for Nate (one of the main characters). They were friends in school but it turns out that he used her. He'd rebound to her and she would just hang on that, she later recalled these moments as some of her happier times "remember when that girl stood you up and you got wasted and then came to my house and we had the best sex of my life....". She kept shirts that he left at her house like decades ago, she was basically stalking him (and I'm pretty sure she was trying to entrap him with that baby of his she had). Basically, she was pretty pathetic.

And yet.

The similarities are a little uncanny.

Hello Enny the crazy vegan. Hello the girl who pined after a boy for a long time, based on the feeling they would be together in the end.

There's some truth to that Seinfield quote about how if there was someone exactly like you in the world, you would despise them.

Update to the previous post

The doctor said it was nothing to worry about - it would have been overexertion and probably some dehydration.

But if it happens again, then to come back and they'll look into it more. GAWD, I HOPE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN.

On the plus side, I am officially the most hardcore person I know, so that's something...

Not a good way to start the year

Do you know what's more embarassing then getting all ready and sweaty in the gym?

Getting red and sweaty in the gym, feeling a little dizzy, starting to stand up then deciding you can't really, then sitting down on the floor near the wall, then trying to get your brothers attention, then him just getting angry because he's already on the next machine and he thinks your telling him to change machines and he has no problem with the machine he's on, then him pulling his headphone out and yelling at you that he can't hear you and you can tell he just thinks your f*cking around, then him finally coming towards you so he can hear you say you think you need some help, then taking your shoes and socks off because it's so hot, and reaching around to maybe losing your bra straps because it's so hot and it feels so tight, then realising you feel sick so you spread your towel out in front, then a staff member comes because your brother told them you needed help, then answering the staff member that your symptoms are that it's hot and you feel dizzy and that you think you're going to vomit, then the staff member fetching you a bucket, then you ask him if you can just lie down and go to sleep, then him saying no because then the room will spin and you'll feel worse and it will pass soon and that you just need to relax, and then you realise that you can't see or hear anything, and then all of a sudden you're aware that someone is holding your headback and you've managed to throw up all over yourself and the floor and not in the bucket, and then you start to feel a lot better even though it sounds like you're underwater, and then you think you hear the girl say that you've shat yourself and the guy replies that it happens, and then there are three staff getting an oxygen mask out for you, then the girl gets you a bottle of cold water, while one guy makes small talk and the other questions your brother so you can fill out an incident form, then you're taking deep breaths through an oxygen mask and feeling it tickle your nose, then you're apologising over and over for throwing up and causing hassle and freaking out that you may have shat yourself, then your bother points out that one of your martial arts studens is walking past, then they give you a tshirt to put on over the new singlet and shorts that you bought just so you could get back in to the new year and lose those 6kg for your wedding, and then you feel a fair bit better and get up to go home and stop in the toilets and find that thank god you didn't wreck yourself and the girl must have been nothing that at least you didn't sh*t yourself and when you're in the car your brother tells you that you passed out limp and started convulsing before you vomited on yourself, then you thank him for helping out and profusely apologise for getting vomit on his towel and promise to return it good as new, then you drop him home and your dad wonders allowed if you have some kind of heart problem, then you get to your house to tell your fiance and he is angry worried because you're just not the type to have the fire to battle through exercise until you make yourself sick, then you assure him you're going to the doctor at 9am on Monday anyway so you will definitely bring it up.

That is.
And I still have a headache and feel funny in my throat.

Last one for the year!

This one is doing the rounds, so why not?!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Now a whole lot... I got engaged, started a new job, went to a Buddhist initiation ceremony, got IPL, Graduated and became a pet owner.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I usually do the whole 'eat right, look hot' resolution, but it very rarely happens... probably best I don't make any. Here are the ones I made here last year, and didn't do very well at!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! Two of my friends had babies this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Not this year, no. Thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit? I stayed in Australia this year - boring...

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A wedding, a bit lest fat to jiggle, a little more money to spend, and a house of our own to live in.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 21, when we got engaged.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Again, getting engaged! Though that wasn't entirely of my own merit... though getting my new job was!

9. What was your biggest failure? My attitude for most of the year, pre-engagement.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major! I the worst flu I've ever had, but there was nothing else (blood results from two weeks ago come in next year).

11. What was the best thing you bought? My iPod stereo and the birdy boys!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? The Hun's!!!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The same few people who make me feel like a doormat, though I'm bit by bit getting better at stopping it, and holding my own.

14. Where did most of your money go? A fair amount went in to my savings account! Other than that, I spent a fair amount on rent and bills, and lunches that I should have packed rather then bought.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting engaged!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
(a) Happier or Sadder? Happier.
(b) Thinner or Fatter? Like 3kg lighter?
(c) Richer or Poorer? Richer!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Celebrating what I have.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Whinging and carrying on like a spoilt child.

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2008? The Huns house for presents in the morning, my parents house for presents mid morning and lunch, back to The Huns house for after lunch, back home for the night sitting in front of the TV.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I stayed in love.

22. How many one-night stands? Why start now?!

23. What was your favorite TV program? Dexter, 6 Feet Under and Harry's Practice.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No.

25. What was the best book you read? Second Glance.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Laura Marling.

27. What did you want and get? A fiance and some birds.

28. What did you want and not get? A house.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Oooh, SATC was FANTASTIC, but I also really enjoyed Iron Man. Nom nom nom.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27, I worked and had a bunch of friends come to a bar near my house before La Porchetta for tea!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A house.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Comfy-lazy. Though I did better with office wear, and am going to keep improving on it.

33. What kept you sane? Opening my eyes to see what I have. And my internet friends!

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Michael C Hall and (slightly less appropriately) Zac Effron.

35. What political issue stirred you the most? Live Export and animal treatment.

36. Who did you miss? Max and my friend who passed away last year.

37. Who was the best new person you met? I don't really meet too many people, but I met my new boss which was exciting.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Don't sweat the small stuff.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it"

40. What are your resolutions for 2009? Have the best year of my life.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

December dots

• I am playing a LOT of this game. My highest score is just over 40,000 atm, but I'm thinking I'll be able to beat that tonight.

• We've started watching Six Feet Under - something we've been meaning to do since middle bro told us it was the best finale to a show he ever saw. We're halfway through Season 2 and it's REALLY good.

• How was your Christmas? Did you get spoilt? The birdy boys were the present for me and The Hun for each other, but I got the Beyonce CD (FINALLY!), this fantastic Dilbert book, a Jade bracelet (still in the mail), the Marly and Me book (which I'm having trouble getting in to because of the way it is written!), a beachy type bag, a Josh Pyke ticket (which I can't use as I'll be in Sydney for the Future Music Festival), some pirate tattoos and a few other things. I got very spoilt and had a great day hanging out with the family and visiting The Huns family after I ate way too much.

• New Years is coming up soon! We're planning to go to our friends house - he lives less than 2 minutes walk away, so it's super convenient for us... we're lucky he's offered to host for the last three years!

• Jacqui the dog is settling in really well - she only ate a meal for the first time in almost four days the other day - her previous owner was feeding her only minced chicken, so she was refusing the dog food! It didn't do her any harm though, middle bro weighed both the dogs the other day - Pounder was 4kg, Jacqui the dog was 9kg! That's more than double Pounders weight, and they're the same height!!! They're getting along really well though, check out these pictures that middle bro took the other day - I think they're in luuuuurve:

• With new years coming up, I'm refocussing my effort back on the gym, with a target to be happier by my birthday (at the end of March). Damn that Victoria's Secret show we taped...

• The birdies are going well too - they are starting to learn to wolf whistle (which I think is great!) and are a lot easier to get out of the cage now. They still try to fly which is totally retarded, but now they are much quicker to run back over to your foot to get up higher again. Lovely little fellows they are!
  

Jacqui the dog for Christmas Eve Eve

Eldest bro and eldest bro's gf got a new puppy last week - a gorgeous little staffy cross named Galileo. They brought him over to family tea last Monday and we saw a bit of a change in Pounder... it seems that having another puppy around calmed him a little, gave him something else to concentrate on other than his own craziness.

Mumsy and dadsy had done a bit of looking around for a friend for Pounder, and yesterday one of the local rescue people came to check out our house and approve us for this lovely girl, Jacqui:



Jacqui was rescued from a puppy mill, a 2 year old girl who had already been used for litters for the prior 18 months. She was described as follows: ...would love a little doggy friend like her when she goes to her forever home as she thrives on company, both human and dog. Jacqui walks well on a lead, is perfectly house trained and is learning some very important manners from her foster carer who used to be a dog trainer! Jacqui has a delightful personality and would suit a person who is looking for a friendly and very happy dog. So we were hoping she would be a good influence on Pounder.

This is what mumsy and dadsy picked up from Sydney today:


A little bit 'chubbier' than what was in the photos, but you can tell Pounder is very happy about it!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Oh sunny days

I went to brunch with gf1 and gf2 this morning, and it was the first sunny weekend day here in like a month.

So I got burnt.

You would think the girl who is going back in two weeks to get two more moles cut out would be a little more sensible.

Other than that - not a lot to report. I'll either hear from the doctor this week about the results of my blood tests, or he'll elaborate a little more when I go back on the 5th for some cut-chop-cutting. The hypochondriac in me is kinda hoping there is something going on, so that I sort my health out, the other half is hoping that there is nothing and I'll just wake up to myself and eat right.

Next year will be my year - there will be so much fantastic stuff going on, and I am looking forward to getting myself toight and terrific before my birthday, and maintaining it for the big day.

ZOMG.

HOW. EXCITING.

306 days to go!

Weeeeeeeeeeee!!

S-M-R-T

I know what birds like

Keyboard tapping.

Tesla is obsessed with it, and displayed his ability for total adorabless by coming over to my keyboard and tip-tapping at the keys. Squee! Until he started to try to lift them with his beak.
Squaw.

Is it too much to ask to buy them their own keyboard for Christmas?
Considering I dropped $50 on a play pen that they don't really like, plus some clean spray and a Christmas toy...

"We are not impressed."

The big three

I have an appointment with my favorite doctor tomorrow - the one who cut out a multitude of bumps and lumps and moles for me over the last little while.

My three questions will be:

• What is this mark that sits right in front of where I part my fringe that I thought was a burn from my straightener but has been there for months?

• Can you please check all my moles for me? I'll get mostly nude if I have to because I don't want cancer, but I'm going to feel REALLY uncomfortable.

• Judging by the syptoms I'm about to describe to you, what is the likelihood that I have IBS or some kind of food allergy that I am going to hate, but will feel much better for having had diagnosed?

Post your best bets in the answers and I'll let you know how close you are!

Not asking much, just a token, really a trifle...

Some B2B (brides to be) make outrageous demands.

Do not cut or die your hair until just before the wedding.
I want everyone to be under 65kg.
Your partner is not good looking enough to attend.
You must attend all three of my showers, my kitchen tea, my hens night and girly sleepover.

Me?
All I ask is a select few of us learn this dance.

(if I were leet enough I would have embedded it here, but I can't work out how, so you have to click through).

Review: The Deck at Regatta Point

For reference: The Deck at Regatta Point.

Waiter: Drinks?
Enny: I'll have a vodka, lime and lemonade.
Waiter: Sure.
Enny: And are you able to ask the kitchen what on the menu is suitable for vegans? We called ahead and the said there were a few things.

Time passes

Waiter: Okay - you can have the salad or the bruschetta.
Enny: Bruschetta sounds great! If there's no tallow in the wedges or chips, can I have some on the side?
Waiter: Okay.

Time passes
Waiter brings out bowl of warm cherry tomatoes covered in vinegar

Enny: Hi. Sorry. Um. Should there be bread with this?
Waitress: Did you want bread with it?

Enny: I thought bruschetta was meant to come with bread?

Waitress: The bread is not vegan. Did you want the bread?

Enny: Um no. He didn't tell me that it wouldn't come with bread...

Waitress: We won't charge you full price, did you want something different?

Enny: He said there was salad or bruschetta and that was it?

Waitress: We don't have any salad.

Enny: What about the pasta with tomato sauce?

Waitress: It has egg and milk in it.

Enny: Isn't most pasta just wheat and water?
Waitress: Our is not.
Enny: ... just forget about it.

I eat the warm tomatoes covered in vinegar. During this time I find out they gave me warm soda water, vodka and an f*load of lemon, and they don't come back to check on us in 2.5 hours, 1.5 hours after the water has run out.

Enny: ... This is ridiculous. I'm thirsty and where's the bill?!

I ask for the bill and sit down.
I go back and ask for water - they point to the fridge and I get my own three bottles.
10 minutes later, still no bill.
I go back and ask for the bill again.
I go to the bathroom.
I go back and ask for the bill for a third time and he gives me a docket.

Enny: Are you kidding me?!

The bill is spelt out like this:
Misc meal $21.90
Misc meal $16.90
Misc meal $24.90
...
...
Misc drink $6.00
Misc drink $7.00
Misc drink $7.00

...
...

Enny: Hi. I'm just wondering how much you're charging me for lunch? I got the bruschetta without bread.

They reprint the bill. One of the misc items has changed from $21.90 to $16.90.
They charged me $16 f*cking 90 for a bowl of warm cherry tomatoes.

Rating/Review for The Deck at Regatta Point.
Fail.
1/10.
Useless service, incompetent waitstaff, zero communication.
Only worth going for the view - you're better off buying a softdrink from their cafe and sitting on the grass to drink it.

Out of blog-fice

Hey there!

Bonding is going slowly but surely - unfortunately I won't be back here until Sunday night... I'm off to Queensland tomorrow after work for a martial arts camp.

Tesla is the more confident one and also the meanest one - Seymour is the quiet one who is getting a little bullied. Apparently it's all play, but I'm sure we'll all warm up to each other soon enough.

I can't wait to come back and bond with my little boys!!!

Hi friends

They arrive tomorrow!!

The one on the left is Seymour, he is my little boy.
The one on the right is Tesla, he is The Hun's little boy.
The other one was for us, but the guy was keen to keep one of the yellow ones as they are rarer, and it's easier to tell them apart when they are quite different.

Aren't they beautiful?

The bird man is bringing them over tomorrow and helping me set up the cage. I can't wait!

I got to hold Seymour on the weekend when I went around to visit them - he sat on my finger and looked up and me and made a little noise. He has a spot of green on his face because he was out in the grass and bumped his head.

This may just turn in to a crazy bird lady website, so bear with me.