My Cross Stitch

I said I wasn't going to blog about this today but I decided to anyways! I am working on a cross stitch designed by Mirabilia Designs. If you are interested in cross stitch check out the gallery of Mirabilia's designs at Mirabilia. They are beautiful intricate designs that use not only standard cross stitch thread but also metallic threads and beads. I have completed one of her designs previously and it is quite a feat! They are large at times complex designs but the end result is so worth it!! I am making good headway with the one I am doing currently which is called Royal Holiday. Here is what the finished product will look like...



and here is what I have done so far...



I still have a ways to go but it is getting there!!

Water Challenge Result

Well I finished my week long water challenge yesterday so I weighed in this morning. The result was I lost 1.5kg (3.3lbs) so it isn't quite the 5lbs Dr Goglia said I would lose but at least it was something for my efforts! It is now day 2 of my Quickstart program and it is going pretty well. I am a bit lethargic but not too bad. I find breakfast a bit horrible as I am not an oatmeal eater so it is really hard to have oatmeal every morning. Give me bacon and eggs any day!!

Mia was playing with her toys today and she started playing with her spinning turtle. I thought I would post a few photos so you can see the toy that inspired the name of my blog...



We had a quiet day here because of all the rain we had. I said I was going to post all about the cross stitch I am doing but I can't be bothered taking photos of it right now - I will do it tomorrow.

Was disappointed with the tennis women's final last night. I really wanted Henin to win!! Lets hope Federer wins tonight!!

Quickstart

So today is the last day of my Water Challenge. I will weigh in tomorrow morning. I don't really feel any lighter so I am guessing things haven't changed too much. Today was the day that I also started Dr Goglia's Quickstart program. It is a 3 week program to kick start your weight loss. The menu for my first week is as follows...

Breakfast - 1C oatmeal and 1 banana
Morning Tea - 1 apple
Lunch - 1/2C rice, 4oz chicken or fish, 2C steamed veggies
Afternoon Tea - 1 orange
Dinner - 4oz fish, 1C zuchinni, 1C other steamed veggies, 1C salad

It doesn't seem too bad - there was actually quite a lot of food for lunch - I couldn't finish it all! You can substitute other veggies and fruit if you want. This is what I had today but tomorrow I will have some different veggies. Fingers crossed that this kick starts things!!

Today was a pretty quiet day overall. I am so proud because for the first time since my back surgery on 14th December I did a 1 hour walk on my treadmill. I have been slowly building up the time and finally I have made it to 1 hour. It felt GREAT!!

We took Mia to the park this afternoon so she could have a swing on the swing. She just LOVES it!! Check out the pics!!



I am looking forward to watching the Australian Open Women's Singles Final tonight. Go Henin!! I am working on a cross stitch at the moment so I will do that at the same time! I will post tomorrow about the cross stitch and show you my progress!

My Naughty Beagle

I am writing this post from the desk in my husband's study using his Mac rather than my laptop which I normally use. Why are you using your husband's Mac you ask? Well that would be because the other evening, one of my dogs Brandon decided he was going to be a naughty boy and chewed through my laptop power cable. As a result the battery on my laptop is now flat so I can't use it. I went to the shops today to see how much a new power cable would cost and it is going to cost me a whopping $99!!! This dog is costing me a small fortune!! To the right is the culprit...

Brandon is now 4 years old and looking back over the last 4 years I don't even want to think about all the money he has cost us with the things he has destroyed. Some examples are...chewing through the surround sound speaker cables, chewing and ripping a hole in our nice couch (which still to this day hasn't been fixed because it is so bad the whole thing will need to be re-upholstered. Luckily the back cushion hides it!), chewing the electrical cable and insulation pipe to our air conditioner, too many socks, bras, undies and tea towels to count, ripping to shreds numerous dog beds, chewing the wood off the bottom of our dressers and the list goes on and on. And the other day Brandon decided it would be fun to steal a wooden spoon and eat it. Needless to say for the next days he was pooing and vomitting wood chips (mostly at 1am, 3am and so on). We actually have 2 beagles - the other one is named Alex and he is very well behaved. He doesn't steal things or destroy things. We got lucky with one of them I suppose!

Here is a pic of our 2 boys in a more "tender" moment. They can be good boys sometimes...

Mia's Playdate with Oakley

Today was a fun filled day! Cass and Oakley came over and we had a blast. Oakley and Mia had a wonderful time playing with the toys (and stealing them from each other!!) and they had a great time in the pool splishing and splashing.

It was another stinkin' hot day here today - as usual!! It was +38 yesterday - not sure what it got up to today though.

I got my confirmation of my enrolment in my next University course called Understanding Imprisonment. Should be interesting! It is all about the history of Australian prisons, deaths in custoday and how prisons are run. I can't wait!!

Day 5 of my water challenge is almost complete...only 2 days to go...

Tennis

Since I did basically nothing all day today but watch the tennis I thought it was an appropriate thing to comment on. The Australian Open has taken over Channel 7 and I am LOVIN' it! There is something about watching tennis that I absolutely love which is a bit strange when you think about it...2 people across the court from each other pounding a little rubber ball back and forth and sweating proufously doesn't normally sound like my idea of fun but boy do I love it! I was very disappointed today that Serena Williams got through to the semi-finals. I much preferred her opponent Azarenka. She by far played a better match so it is very unfortunate that Williams came back after 1 set and a double break down to win. Not happy Jan!!!

Now, my favourite player by a mile is Roger Federer. What an amazing player!! I just love watching him play - his movement is so fluid and he always stays so composed!! Off the court he seems like a really nice guy and is always so humble. If I wasn't married...and he wasn't married...well...you know...


Federer is currently playing against Russian Davydenko and is down a break so I hope he gets the job done and gets into the semi-finals. Time to get my Federer fix...

Australia Day Finger Painting!!

Well we decided to celebrate Australia Day a bit more by doing some finger painting. It was Mia's first time painting and I think she was kind of like "what the heck have you put on my fingers??" but by the end she seemed to be enjoying it. Here is the final result...

Australia Day 2010

Today is Australia Day where we celebrate all things Australian. It was exactly 1 year ago today that a pregnant version of me was walking across the stage at the Ipswich Civic Centre at my Australian Citizenship ceremony. I remember clearly my name being called, going up onto the stage, shaking the Lord Mayor's hand and then walking down the line of politicians who were handing out all kinds of goodies such as Aussie hats, flags, plants etc. It was a pretty special day!


Today however certainly hasn't been as exciting as that. It has been pretty quiet in fact. I worked on my essay that is due tomorrow and Mia had a wonderful swim outside in the backyard shell pool which she LOVED!! Check out the pic...

It is also day 3 of my water challenge and as usual I have spent most of the day going to the bathroom. I can't wait to weigh myself at the end of the this week and see if the challenge worked. I thought for sure that I would feel really bloated but I don't at all. I actually feel quite good!! Starting on Saturday I will be doing Dr Goglia's Quick Start program for 3 weeks. The program is meant to kick start your weight loss and as such you can only be on it for 3 weeks. The foods on the menu seem really good - nothing that I wouldn't eat. It is mainly drinking your appropriate amount of water and eliminating carbs from your evening meal. I am getting excited!!!

I HAVE TO GO!!!!

I wasn't going to blog again today but as the end of day 2 of my water challenge approaches I have made the decision to permanently attach my ass to the toilet. I have never peed as much as I have over the last 2 days in my whole life!! This is CRAZY!! This water challenge better work!!! Oh oh...time to go...again!!!

My Water Challenge

I am now reading a book by Dr Philip Goglia called Turn Up The Heat: Unlock the Fat-Burning Power of Your Metabolism. In his book (which is GREAT) he talks about the amount of water you are supposed to drink per day to lose weight. He says most people are not drinking even CLOSE to enough (and that was totally the case with me!). According to him, you are to drink 1 ounce of water for every pound you weigh. I have to drink SO much water it is crazy!! But he said if you change nothing else in your diet, exercise etc for 1 week and just drink the required amount of water then he said you will lose at least 5lbs in 1 week. So I have set myself the week-long challenge. I am too embarrassed to post my starting weight so I will just tell you after a week how much I have lost. Wish me luck!!

I also found out from Dr Goglia's book that I wasn't eating enough which is strange because I thought that I eat a lot but I am not eating the right things for my metabolism. That is what his book is about - what metabolic type you are and what you should be eating to increase it's efficiency. It is a really fascinating read - very scientific based. It has you work out all kinds of totals regarding what you eat, your metabolic rate, your active metabolic rate etc and these numbers generate which part of his program is right for you. The best thing is is that you don't have to give up the foods you love! As long as you are eating the right proportion of things for your metabolic type then that is the key. And you also get 1 free day per week to eat whatever you want....BRING ON THE PEPPERONI PIZZA!!!!

My goal is to lose 15kg (33lbs for the Canadians/Americans out there) by the end of June. Wish me luck!!!

My very first blog!!!

Wow!! My very first blog. I have always wanted to set up a blog but have never gotten around to it. But thanks to my friend Karrah and her blog she has inspired me to get off my butt and set up one for me! Thanks Karrah!!

Well I will keep this one short today. I am sure you might be wondering the reason for the title behind my blog...Spinning Turtle. Well I am sorry to disappoint you but it is pretty boring!! I was sitting here setting up my page and was wondering what on earth to title the blog. Mia was playing on the floor with her toys and she started playing with this Fisher Price toy...and it happened to be a turtle. Now this turtle isn't just a normal turtle...it has round balls in it that spin when you press down on the turtle's head. Hence the name I chose...Spinning Turtle.