More happy ramblings....

Another great week, both training wise and "other" wise :)

Other covering career, family, love life, finance, knicker size.

Firstly, the training.  I loved every minute of my training this week.  Every single farking minute.  I really did.  Even when it was tough, I still loved it.  And you can't beat that.

So summary of week:

Monday - 7km road run with Bentley Man
Tuesday - 10km (?) I keep forgetting my garmin - with Summit Sisters and some little intervals thrown in
Wednesday - A day of rest.  Sort of.... :)
Thursday - Naff all.  Actually I had really jumpy legs on Wednesday night so thought a day off might be the go
Friday - 6km with Bentley Man - bloody tough little run - too much uphill to declare as "fun" but the fact that we did it on an unlit road on a friday night in the dark with headlamps under the stars and then had a beer after made it fun.....
Saturday - 27km with the motley crew out at Faulconbridge Point.  Totally awesome morning, gorgeous views, brilliant company, 27km seemed "easy" in these conditions.  I fucking love my running friends.  Great to see Bentley man and Graham come along and do their longest runs ever (one loop 13.5km) and Maylinda the little champion did her longest run ever ever ever and was charging ahead to clock up 27km yesterday.
Sunday (today) - I wanted to do 10km to make the tally for the week 60km - managed 9.91km.  Lets round that up to 10km!!!  I thought I was struggling at about 7km but it is amazing what a great song and a bit of a mental talking to will do for you - managed to actually speed up a bit on the last few kms. But that was probably to get it over with.  I wanted to do 10kms to round up to 60km but also because I fancied some garlic bread tonight.  Been dreaming about garlic bread.  Got home, didn't fancy garlic bread at all.  Had hummous.  And cruskits.  Possibly a better option.

It is fair to say I have been sort of floating about on a cloud of happiness lately.  I won't bore you all with the details but honestly, it's fucking great.  And I should really stop swearing.

Last night went to see Ball Park Music - they were amazingly good, and, the support band, Eagle and the Worm - hello????  Brilliant!!!  Youngsters, maybe early twenties, little brass section, lovely boppy music that could have been written in the sixties or today, just timeless, gorgeous, beautiful music.  We got in the standy upy bit and danced away, what a totally brilliant, happy, joyous gig.  I think everyone walked out of there smiling their heads of singing FENCE SITTER!!! FENCE SITTER WITH YOU!!!!

And next weekend is shaping up for more fun, my lovely man is coming down to see me and I am just over the moon about that :)  

Euphoric Post Run Ramblings

So here I am enjoying a "Monkeys Fist" Pale Ale, full of post night time trail running endorphins and of course the beer endorphins.  Is there any better feeling?  I'm not sure.

Tonight I did the Summit Sisters Tuesday session again which was once again totally brilliant.  Unti she sprung speed intervals on us.  Which at the time was hard.  But only for two minutes.  Times Four.  Then it was ok again.  It was actually good to get pushed and have someone watch.  For the lazy runner such as myself, this is EXACTLY what I need.  There was a lot of internal grumbling going on in my brain but it was good.  I guess speed work AND hills is hard, but a wise man once told me that hills are good in the dark because you can't see them and so your brain doesn't do that mental thing where it just assumes it cannot run it, so you stop and walk.  We didn't stop and walk so the theory must work. 

Last night I ran 7km with Bentley Man.  Thought I would struggle because of Sundays long run, but I felt fine, right until the last hill.  Luckily he kept going and literally dragged me mentally up it.  Another really respectable run in the bag.  Getting a reasonable consistency happening now which I am very happy with.

Tomorrow is a night off because B Man is coming to visit again. Thursday I have the option to go to the Summit Sisters run or go see the family.  Is it wrong to want to go to the Summit Sisters run?

Saturday planning long run with Bundy - Saturday night is Ball Park Music!!!  Woo hoo!!!  Another great week flies past......

Weight Watchers Wine

Another fabulous weekend has whizzed past.  This is how I've managed to get old without even noticing, seems I've been having such a good time I haven't noticed that I am now officially ancient. 

Anyway, Mr B (not Mr Bentley, the other Mr B) came down on Saturday and we went out for dinner.  So that was nice.  Then we drank a lot of good red wine.  And talked a load of nonsense.  So that was nice too. *Beams in a slightly retarded way*

Sunday was the replacement run since Woodford to Glenbrook was cancelled, so 8 eager individuals left my place at the ungodly hour (ungodly after drinking red wine and talking shite until almost midnight) of 6.30am and set off for a nice hilly 20km run.  The run consisted of two laps of 10km and I seriously doubted my ability to do both laps but surprised myself by bouncing up and down at the halfway mark BEGGING the girls not to leave me with the boys and come and do another lap.  They agreed and I think we all surprised ourselves this morning.  Very very nice run, great company, challenging little route, I just loved it and I love how I am feeling stronger and stronger with every run.  This week I did Pump class on Monday but ran every other day except Wednesday.  So I managed 52km and a few faster runs for me, one with Summit Sisters and the other with Bentley man.  So feeling good about the week and the running but not the bloody weight!  Over the last three weeks I've been running on average 5 days a week - and I've put on two kilos!!!!  I hate that!  Am I watching what I eat?  Yes!  Am I eating junk?  No!!  Am I drinking heaps?  No!  Am I hungry all the time?  Hell, yes!!!  Anyway, I can see another couple of days of meat looming (thank you Dr Dukan) to fix that, and I am currently imbibing a Weight Watchers accredited wiine.  Yep, you read that right.  No carbs and 70 cals per glass.  And it is LOVELY. 

So in other news, I did a reverse park today.  And I was going back to my car and saw this lady pointing at my rather ineffectual attempt at parking and laughing and clearly pointing out to her partner that the owners parking skills were up her arse.  So I did what any proud person who totally lacks the reverse parking gene would do, and walked past, pretending it wasn't my car.  Furtively hanging about waiting for them to leave so I could get out of the rain and get into my car.  So that was good as well.

Anyway. This WW wine is fab so I might sign off now and go drink some more :)

Protein Balls Take Two

Today I decided to try again with the protein ball idea.  Total success!  They were yummy.  Here is my made up recipe which just seemed to work.

Small bag almond meal
About three tablespoons of LSA
A good whack of cocoa powder  (the unsweetened kind)
Coffee flavoured low carb protein powder
Citrus rind (comes in a bag from the cooking section) - but only a wee bit
Cinnamon - I used lots and it tasted like one of those yummy cinnamon buns
Water
Teeny wee bit of rice bran oil to bring it all together.

Form into balls, sprinkle with cinnamon - seriously - heaven!!


Then in a ball kind of a mood, I made lamb balls:

Lamb cut into cubes, in blender with yoghurt, mint and garlic cloves.  Form into balls, bake in over.  Die with the garlicky lamby gorgeousy goodness of it all.

Finally, I went chicken balls:

Chicken thigh cut into cubes, in blender with lemongrass, ginger and chilli and a little bit of almond meal to bind it all together.  Form into balls and bake.

So, that is the weekend food sorted, got my exciting visitor coming tomorrow, a group run on Sunday morning, I've done a good little week of training and I am a happy camper:

Monday - Pump.  Arrrghhh.  Can't sit down, getting up from my desk hurts, brushing my teeth hurts, raising my eyebrows hurt!
Tuesday - my first run with the Summit Sisters - awesome!!  Pissing rain, puddles, trails, bush and fabulous company - came home soaked, tired and happy.  This will be a regular Tuesday night thing now.
Wednesday - ok I lied.  It wasnt THAT great a training week...
Thursday - 7km in the dark with Bentley Man.  This too is going to be a regular thing and we are working towards a goal that is a little bit challenging and a lot exciting.  Plus he is great company. 
Friday - Laps of the Sack of Knap.
Saturday - don't know yet!!  Might google and see whats on - B Man coming to visit - FARKKK!!!
Sunday - group run - 20km - W2G cancelled so we are doing two laps of the local 10km Saturday morning run.  Looking forward to seeing my running buddies.

All in all, so far has been a wicked week, really enjoying this night time running business.  All is really well in my world. 

Glow Worm Trail Run

Today was just fabulous.  Great company, beautiful scenery, fantastic course, great organisation - seriously - it had it all.  Except for heat.  It was SERIOUSLY cold - we got out of the car at Lithgow and it just hit us.  Can't ever remember feeling so cold.  God, Lithgow is one bleak place.  Ugly landscape, unattractive people, cold weather, the only thing the town has going for it is McDonalds and that's saying something.

Anyway. Enough being cheeky.

We got there a full two hours early so it was all about leaping about from foot to foot to keep warm.  Finally it was time to run and to strip off.  That was vey unpleasant.  Then we got running.  Within 500 m there was a water crossing.  Take your time and go over the stepping stones and stay dry (and warm) or balls out and dive in, running through the river (and it wasn't a little piddly one) in absolutely freezing water.  Yep, guess what I did?  I ran the heck across that water - yep and that felt GOOD!

Off we took and it was such a relief to get running and get warm.  What a beautiful beautiful run.  Really really loved it, loved the tunnel and the having to use the headlamps although I was kinda on my own and little scared but then people started appearing out of nowhere and it was good.  After the gradual 10km uphill to the tunnel it was a sweet downhill 10km to the finish, although my lack of much training since Japan apart from a spurt this week meant I wasn't race fit, although my legs felt strong.  I guess all that walking makes you fit for WALKING!  Not running!  But it was a gorgeous day and I don't get hung up on times or placings or any of that shit that shouldn't concern anyone except the top three, maybe four.

So, next week is the next Sydney Trail Series with Chris, week after is Woodford to Glenbrook and an exciting day beforehand which I am SO LOOKING FORWARD TO but in order to protect the innocent and keep myself nice I will keep to myself. 

All in all, it's been a very interesting week, and I have another one coming up, then two nice races over the next two weekends.  Need to sort my shit out for July - talk of Gold Coast and of course Adelaide, but if I don't get my act together I will be going nowhere and racing nothing.....!!!

Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device

Best band I have ever seen live full stop....

this is them in their early (tracksuit wearing) days.....

I'm loving this delve into the past....

Thanks Andrea for the memories....xxx

Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster (Rockpalast '80)

Tough day.

Andrea's birthday.

She'd be wanting me to listen to some Stiff Little Fingers and jump around my bedroom.

So,

Living Colour - Back in Black - Arguably better than the original - awesome to run to!

Phew!

"Sit with yourself, and you will discover the universe.

Explore the Universe, and you will discover yourself."

Someone smart said that (i.e.: not me), and it is so true.  I've been on a little voyage of discovery lately and it has been enlightening, sometimes a little scary and really quite wonderful.  The big change I have made is to try and shake off the shackles of expectation.  What people expect.  What the norm is.  What people SHOULD do.  I am happy with the voyage, I am doing it my way and I am learning, learning, learning!!!  And I love learning.  About myself and the world and other people and how we perceive things and how sometimes, some things are best left unsaid and some things are just best done and embraced and no talking is really needed.  And I'm learning about what makes me happy, and what I enjoy and the kinds of people I like to spend time with.  And how to make cheesecake.  

Being outside a lot agrees with me.  Doing stuff with like minded people also agrees with me.  I think I am mellowing in my old age, because just about everything seems to agree with me these days!!!  Anyway I pretty much spent the whole weekend outside, which is one of those things I love.  Another interstate visitor weekend which meant a lot of exploring and this weekend started with a run around the river before breakfast, breakky at The Deli and four hours of climbing up and down stairs at Wentworth Pass.  Went right down to the bottom this time down some very dodgy steps and all that Japanese hiking made it feel very easy indeed.  Beautiful scenery, beautiful day, about a thousand times I remembered how lucky I was to live in this wonderful country.  Japan is beautiful in the countryside but their cities are so full of people and flashing lights and every available space is used up, so I like Australia much better because we have space and there are a lot less of us!! 

Saturday night we had a little cooking class at my place and we each made a dish, so we ended up with a dinner for kings!!  We had a fancy desert, but, I think we earned it!!!  It's so nice to hang around the kitchen cooking, eating, drinking, dancing to the iPod and generally being silly.  I forgot chopping.  I am a master chopper. 

This morning we ran on the local trails around Knapsack and up Lovers Walk, with a detour through the Knapsack Race course, just to make up the Kms.  Joy in running on the trails this morning, much joy.  Then hoofed it into downtown Parramatta to Criniti's for the best garlic prawns and salad and sauvignon blanc and soon it was time for the airport and more goodbyes....which seems to be the way things are going these days!!  Next weekend Canberra, the weekend after Brisbane, and in between I will be plotting my next trip to California via The Cayman Isles....!!!

Big day tomorrow, big changes, lots happening and hopefully lots changing; Fingers crossed!!!

So, I went back to work.

Ha.

Possibly indicative of my mood, I was spotted telling my boss that a certain supplier could "stick it up his ass" to snickers from the rest of the office and mumblings of "she's baaaaack....".....

I sat through a Board Meeting where I suddenly saw two of our Directors as the two Old Guys from the Muppets.  So possibly not the greatest start to being back at work because I giggled a lot to myself.

However it must have been all that crazy sex I had in Japan (haha) because everyone commented on how I looked today, like I was relaxed, younger, happier, etc etc.  So forget botox and just go to Japan.  Ok Ok I didnt have any crazy sex but I just liked writing that and imagining I did.  But obviously hiking in the fresh mountain air and hardly drinking and eating lots of shitake mushrooms is good for ones complexion.

Anyway, have to forget Japan and start planning a new adventure.  And I know what it is.  It is California and then Grand Cayman.  And it will be later this year.  And the California bit will involve hiking and seeing Helen and the Cayman bit will involve seeing Alison and possibly Cuba, cos it is close.  And now that I have the travel bug - oh dear.  I am not sure what will stop me....

But first, THIS WEEKEND - FARK another weekend of firsts.....fark, sometimes I wonder what the hell I am thinking then others I just think YOU GO GIRL. I am kind of at a crossroads with myself at this point in time, not quite sure whether to applaud myself or retreat into the background saying very little.....we shall see!!!!  But all I can say is - another adventure, if I haven't challenged myself enough this year, honestly I will tell you, but I appear to be able to keep the momentum up pretty well on my own.  So this weekend is another new thing happening, and it is fair to say I am having all sorts of shitting myself moments combined with THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT moments combined with WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING moments.  So all totally normal really.

One day, I will die. 

Yes, that is a very mundane thought.  But before I do, I would like to think I stuffed a lot into this life of mine.  I certainly intend to stuff as much in as I can between now and when that happens.  And whilst I do it, I will try and surround myself with people who care about me, and who wish me well and who love me.

Amen :)

As "easy" day hiking on the Komodo Kodo Trail, Japan. 

Last night in Japan....

....what an adventure it has been.

Tokyo, toilets, food, Shinkansen, chopsticks, bento, maps, mountains and sunny trails. Getting told off all the time for forgetting my shoe manners. Having the cleanest bum ever. Loving Dichon and other root vegetables. Crap fashion. Ugly shoes. Tea. Being in the arsehole of nowhere with nothing but a backpack of running gear and Richard. Noodey communal baths. Lovely shampoo. 1970s dodgy hotels. Pickles. Asahi beer in bed every night. Vending machine iced coffee. Sore feet. Hills with twice the elevation of Kedumba. Crazy crazy train stations. Beautiful rivers. The onion restaurant. A couple of million shrines in the mountains. The biggest Tori in Japan. Geisha. Temples. Zen Buddhists. Japanese maples. Azaleas. Crap hair driers. Crazy running clothes. Shiseido. Chicken gizzards and fish guts. Wasabi. More tea. Sake. Loved it all. Loved all of it :)

Pooped

Japan you have so much to offer, but you have totally worn me out. The last day of the hike we were prepared for. We stayed in a Japanese family home the night before and our "conversation" consisted of making appreciative noises over their food and their sake, and jabbing at points on the map, where we'd been. And where we were going. Big mountains, difficult, and slippy were three words bandied about. Richard could talk to them in his Japanese, but I had to do hand signals. Still, I got my washing done and a lot of sake so I got by....!!! But we learnt that the last day was to be the most challenging so far, and there was to be huge steep inclines then more and more and more.

The trails continued to be beautiful and I will never forget the Kumano Kodo journey. On the last day I swear I thought that farking hill could not possibly keep going up - but it did. I thought about bush step hell and how I might have been in it. Imagine 6.5km of bush steps. Nightmare. However eventually it ended, only to be replaced by a very technical rocky downhill...bd careful what you wish for...

On the trails I had lots of time to think and to reflect on my life. Some changes ahead. Some realisations. A lot of questions. Toughest physically few days of my life - mentally too. But some of the most enjoyable and peaceful.

Lots of wonderful experiences in Japan, many many surprises and coming home with a whole new perspective, new direction and very very happy :)

But it's not over yet, so bed now because tomorrow is another jam packed day .

Japanese Trail walking

Is farking hard but very very rewarding. And my observations of the Japs are this. They love their coffee, their beer, and should you be stranded in the smallest village in Japan, there will be a vending machine with lots of beer, lots of coffee and fuck all else. As was evidenced by today's 25km hike up the biggest mountains I've ever come across, only to find this tiny tiny town with three vending machines and a shop that sells eggs, root veg and nothing more. By the way, the eggs are for taking into the hot spring with you in a bag. By the time you are cooked so is the egg, and I presume then you eat it. The whole town is a spa town so the smell of the sulphur is very strong around the river, and being a one street town this means you can smell it anywhere close to the river including our bedroom.. ..But the hot springs are so refreshing. Yeah and now I'm so experienced, I'm doing the noodster thing every time. Last night was my first night working out Japanese footwear protocol. We worked out there were five shoes. One for outside, one for in. One for shower, one for toilet, one for Spa. Mr Japanese host laughed and laughed when I got it wrong...I laughed too, but honestly...five pairs? Pink ones just for a wee wee? And on the singing toilet? With the warmed seat?.....
Again today was beautiful, challenging and exciting. Coming into town at the end of a long day of climbing massive hills with the backpack you bought at the two dollar shop in Emu Plains is kinda weird. Carrying enough gear for a six day hike seems to get mysteriously heavier by the day..... I have worked out I didn't need half the stuff I brought and I really thought I'd travelled light. I really didn't need my hairspray or my makeup bag...honest. i had to hide it from Richard, but i think he saw it....
Could have done with another four of five nitrous oxide patches for my Achilles but the ice bath at lunch helped a lot. Pretty sure I won't be able to restock here. Raw fish and boiled eggs is about it in this place - but if is pretty special and I'm loving it ....

Hiking Japanese style

Today was wonderful. After spending the night in a tiny hotel in Kii Tanabe we got up early for a crazy breakfast of bread, yoghurt, pancetta, strawberries and sausages. On the one plate. After shuffling our luggage to the right spot (which involved wheeling our big cases about 5km round town til we found the right place) we were off on the bus to the Kumano Kudo Trail. Well those crazy Japs know eff all about showing correct elevation on their maps. Fark! Talk about mountains? Really really steep hills relentlessly rolling in one after the other. Despite lots and lots of walking in the big cities, this was exactly what I wanted. For the first time I felt totally relaxed. I felt like someone who had stole something at Tokyo train station running about two km for that bullet train. What an experience!!! But today was so beautiful and peaceful and fun, I just loved every bit of it. For lunch we stopped at a town with about five buildings, it was tiny, with one Ryoken and a vending machine....but the "runch of the day" was amazing. Oh my god these people know all about fresh food. Mountain vegetables, all fresh and totally yummy, chicken, rice, best lunch so far. I say that every day though. Hiked on for about 17km to arrive at the tiny rural village where we would spend the night. Room with futons on the floor, bean pillows and mats on the floor. Dinner was spectacular by the river with the windows open, sitting on the floor. Things lije a whole fish (i ate the head, the tail, the lot). Bath after in the hot springs (yes Joh I nuded up!!) and felt warm for hours after, like being in a sauna. Hair and other bits smell totally wonderful. Tomorrow is 25km and having a closer peek the elevation is kind if scary. But it was so lovely today, challenging enough without wanting it to be over. And the shrines and things to see in the way were fascinating. We even had some running, we found ourselves on a really steep hill but it was all pine needles and soft bark underfoot so we ran down it giggling and laughing and generally being silly.
Sitting here beer in hand, kimono on, wondering how my life has suddenly become so rich and full of wonderful people and experiences. The funny thing is, the people have always been here, I just wasn't paying attention....

Tokyo

Tonight I ate my first oyster. And spat out my first cup of tadpoles garnished with seaweed. No, seriously, it had the consistency of lumpy goo and tasted fishy and rank. The oyster was yum though. The raw fish....nice if smothered in wasabi!

We shopped in all the crazy chaos of Shinjuku and Harajuku today. We did Tokyo Hands and I loved it. I got up and ran before the day started and saw all sorts of things, a homeless man with eight cats all on leads, and a man living in an Ikea box. Despite their love of the marathon, I saw very few other runners, but smelt a lot of drains.

I'm looking forward to getting to the mountains here for clean air and a hike...

In the meantime I am loving the food and giving everything a go, even last night 'parsons nose on a skewer" - that's chicken bum flaps (fried) for the uninitiated....

I managed to buy a pair of high heeled wellies and a petzl headlamp, Tokyo is the craziest place to shop I have ever been.

Next stop a big train ride, crisp clean mountain air and lots of meditation....ommm....

Tokyo

Tonight I ate my first oyster. And spat out my first cup of tadpoles garnished with seaweed. No, seriously, it had the consistency of lumpy goo and tasted fishy and rank. The oyster was yum though. The raw fish....nice if smothered in wasabi!

We shopped in all the crazy chaos of Shinjuku and Harajuku today. We did Tokyo Hands and I loved it. I got up and ran before the day started and saw all sorts of things, a homeless man with eight cats all on leads, and a man living in an Ikea box. Despite their love of the marathon, I saw very few other runners, but smelt a lot of drains.

 I'm looking forward to getting to the mountains here for clean air and a hike.....

In the meantime I am loving the food and giving everything a go, even last night 'parsons nose on a skewer" - that's chicken bum flaps (fried) for the uninitiated....

I managed to buy a pair of high heeled wellies and a petzl headlamp, Tokyo is the craziest place to shop I have ever been.

Next stop a big train ride, crisp clean mountain air and lots of meditation....ommm....

Owls and Shit

Ran with my beautiful son last night. Fabulous, just fabulous.  Things appear to be on the mend in his world which makes me the happiest out of all the wonderful things that have happened of late.

The job - they want to second interview me!!  It went really well!!  I'm pretty excited!!!!  And I won't die if I don't get it, but will be excited if I do.  So that's a great place to be  - especially as I finally got a letter of offer and a contract from my current job - only a couple of years in the making but hey!!  Now it is the Paradox of Choice.....as someone once said.....(but in a totally different concept, the cheeky bugger)....

And that other thing.  Well.  What can I say?  Not much, except a huge big grin from ear to ear.  It's eclipsing the moon at present, that smile.

Three sleeps till Japan!!!  Can't wait.  Two nights in Tokyo, sightseeing in the big city, shopping, eating, drinking, and GOING TO KARAOKE BARS, running round the city in the mornings, chalking up the bars at night....then the peace and tranquility of the Pilgrammage from Tanabe across the mountains.  Now that I am paying attention, I am very very very excited, esp about the hotel on the last night of the hike, which is up on a cliff and underneath is a hot spa in a CAVE!!!  Woo hoo.  And it too has KARAOKE!!!  And in fact an Onsen and a small city in a labyrinth underneath the cliff. Wierd concept, looking forward to seeing this.

Richard has told me he has been doing 10km runs daily.  I don't know whether he thinks I am going to want to run every day AFTER 8 hours of climbing Japanes Mountains and looking at Shrines, but if he does, he is a complete idiot.  I'll be in the bar sipping that Japanese beer and telling war stories. 

Curt and John are very excited because they have AN OWL.  And, as John put it.....HE IS FUCKING BRILLIANT.  Not sure what constitutes brilliance in Owls, but according to John, swooping on your prey without making a sound and catching it comes in first, as does sitting on your clothesline and giving you a death stare when you try to photograph it.   Cos Curt said he got the camera out and the Owls eyes cut right through him with a right fuck off death stare when he tried to take a pic.

So I think I can go to Japan safe in the knowledge that Curt is ok, will be ok, and is making solid plans for his future.  And I have some wonderful things to come back to. :)  All is well.

The BEST weekend

Had THE BEST weekend in as long as I can remember.  And I am a very happy camper right now.  Very happy, very surprised, in fact this weekend came at me from a totally different angle and the total sideswipe was utterly unexpected but totally delightful.

So, in summary.  The Weekend.
First up - dining.
Had the choice on Friday night of fancy Sydney restaurant or small family owned restaurant where they are totally passionate about their food.  Read - Italian hand signalling type of passionate.  Chose the latter. Tastebuds happy with that choice.  Rolled home feeling full and happy.  I didn't think we could match Flower Drum in Melbourne, but it seems we did.  Well, almost.  Flower Drum will be my all time favourite lunch ever in my whole life.  I think I grinned from ear to ear for the entire meal.  Which makes eating difficult, so it was lucky the meal was beautifully simple despite the chopsticks.

Post Hiking - found place with open fire but with people looking at each other unhappily with no food.  Moved next door to Tapas place with comfy sofa, fabulous tapas menu and craft beer.  Spent the afternoon sharing secrets on the sofa and eating and drinking our heads off.  Left with happy, warm, smiley contentedness that was partly related to the exercise endorphins and largely related to the cosy intimacy of the comfy sofa and related tummy pleasing goodies - and the company :)
Saturday night -  Village Indian delights with matching wine - delicious.  Glad we did that massive hike though ;).

Next up - Hiking
Chose the Undercliff Track to showcase the very best of the Blue Mountains.  The nature gods put on the best possible weather conditions for a long hike and the waterfalls were flowing, the lyrebirds were singing and the sun was shining.  Could there be anywhere better in Sydney than a sunlight dappled mountain trail on a Saturday afternoon?  I'm trying really hard to think, but no, there is nowhere better you could be.  And with fabulous company, I guess that is the perfect day.

Finally - The Big Smoke
No visit to Sydney would be complete for an out of towner than a trip to the big smoke so we dutifully made our way to the Oyster Bar to watch the world go by.  Management had a different plan however and found us a table right on the water in the most perfect spot, so clearly the RM Williams country looks pays off in the big city!

The weekend ended with goodbyes, the airport and then lots and lots of introspection on the way home.  How could I have possibly missed these signals for so long?  And what am I going to do about it? 

However, in the meantime, I have Japan to look forward to (five sleeps!!!!) and the excitement of all that plus training for my big race and the possibility of a new job, new company, new life.  For some reason, my life has decided to change gear, step itself up a notch and go full throttle ahead, after a little bit of idling for a while.  That's a great thing for me and I am totally loving it, if not surprised by the alarming pace of it all.  If I had to describe how I feel about it, I would say I am EMBRACING it all, enjoying it, learning from it all and trying to stay compassionate to everyone around me.  And writing it all down so that when I am 70 and have no teeth I can giggle to myself about it all......

Protein Balls

Wow - crazy day.  Actually, today could be and has been a catalyst for a number of rather large decisions both personally and professionally....

But first - home made protein balls are a huge liability in your handbag, especially if the texture isn't right and the glad wrap is a bit loose.  It's fair to say that my new Guess handbag is not looking (or smelling) so great right now.  In fact it looks like someone has taken a dump in it.  And then smeared it around my notebooks, wallet and hairbrush.  Yeah try brushing your hair with protein balls in your brush (just before a first date)....

Thing is, I overdid it on the "good" ingredients (read, the totally WRONG ingredients, the ones with loads of calories).  So my protein balls have very little protein and are laden with dates and nuts and more nuts and berries.  And just a wee bit of protein and cocoa.  And shit loads of coconut.  Nope, don't come to me for a protein ball recipe, that's for sure.

Although despite the codeine I am taking for the Never Ending Fecking Pnuemonia I have to say I am pretty damn regular, if you know what I'm saying.  So maybe I could market them as Laxative Protein Balls?  They are bloody lovely though, and very very filling. 

Anyway.  Work.  Oh Please Lord Deliver Me From These Evil Stupid Fuckwits.  Ok ok, I'm frustrated.  Been working on a project for 2.5 years.  1.5 years ago I say, you know what?  This project is senseless.  If it were my money, I wouldn't do it.  We should get out.

And they said, oh really, do you think so, why is that, listened and then agreed to can it, kaput, goodbye, closed it down.

Actually no, I work for Government so that never happened at all.

So it went like this....we can't do that (because we don't make decisions, we're government), we have to deliver this project, lets pretend we didnt have this conversation.  And on we went.

Now, seriously, 2.5 years into the project, $10m spent, our partner goes, I dont really like the sound of this.  I think this project will make x y and z happen.  And I'm not terribly comfortable with that.

And my response?  Hmmmmm.  Interesting concept 2 weeks from go live, $10m of our money spent later and 2.5 years in the making.  I felt like I was on the set of Star Wars.  Or maybe some other film that was crap and unsuccessful.  So maybe not Star Wars.  Maybe, Weekend at Bernies 3. But seriously.

And I haven't even started on the actual issue behind this, which is like telling Steven King he can't write for shit.  Well, in that realm.  So professionally, there are challenges.  God I love a challenge, but really, this little suite of them make you want to cover your ears and go LA LA LA and rock back and forth in a corner a bit like Carrie (getting the Steven King references in here like a bandit, I am).

And I haven't even started on my handbag story, my Japan theory or the weekend ahead of hiking in the mountains with my interstate visitor who may or may not have a backpack.  Or my still droopy eye.  But it will be a very very big relief to spend this weekend on the trails in the mountains philosophising (is that a word??? is it spelt right??!!) on all this and more with a good friend and by Monday I am sure I will have ALL the answers.  If not, I will have covered some wonderful trails and potentially drank a nice Guinness or two, and talked a load of shite.  Intelligent shite, but shite nonetheless.  Bring on the weekend!!!

Also, I had fun making faces at myself in the mirror this evening when I got home.  And then I looked around to see if anyone was looking.  Which is odd because I live alone.  And then I realised this and made some more stupid faces.  Fuck it felt good.