So glad I was not there…

So you know I said I (almost) wished I was there.  As I lay in bed on early Sunday morning and listened to the wind howling and rain bucketing down I was thanking my lucky stars that I was not racing that day.

Oh my word the conditions were bad.  The wind was gale force, it was cold and it rained off and on the whole day and night.  And 1800 people had to do an Ironman.  Each and every single one of them gets all my respect.  In conditions like that to race for as long as they did… wow!  Somewhere out there for 17 hours, it was bad enough spectating and I had a warm rainproof jacket on.

Normally when I watch and Ironman I really wish I was racing and say that I would love to do another sometime.  Not this time. I am now saying NEVER EVER again. There is no way that I would want to put myself through that.  The mental toughness that they all showed not to give up when having to cycle straight into that wind was amazing.  I don’t think I would have that.  I would be the one sitting at the side of the crying my eyes out.

So to everyone that did the race yesterday – WELL DONE!!! To my brother on his first Ironman and to do it under 12 hours – wow Scotty fantastic.  To my sister – you are amazing.  I knew you could do it.  I always amaze and inspire me.  You are so strong and make me so proud.  Love you both.

Guess who was the one that burst into tears as my sister crossed the line – and it was not her….

40 Random Acts – Update.

Just a quick update on my Birthday project – 40 Random Acts of Kindness.

Some of my friends decided that instead of donating time, toiletries etc they would prefer to donate money to my chosen charity. AWESOME.  So, just to let you know that we donated R 2 000 to Cuyler Homes, party of Algoa Bay Council for the Aged.  They said that their greatest need at the moment is money towards outings for the old folk, petrol or small snacks (tea) while they were out, so I requested that the money be specifically used for that.

We also donated loads of toiletries to them, with toothpaste and soap for each resident (64) as well as chocolates, sweets and things. Some of my friends also made up little packs of scented talcs and other little luxuries, including warm socks for winter.  I still also have a few more packs from my family to collect and hand over.

All in all I think the 40 Acts was a great success (even if some if the acts were slightly delayed) and I would like to thank everyone that helped me get to the 40 items.

Some of the Acts include:

• doubling a restaurant bill and giving the 1 half to the waitress,
• giving car guards unexpected amounts (R20)
• donating craft stuff to a rehabilitation hospital
• Donating nappies to a centre that has babies of various ages
• Donating baby clothes.
• Donating used but good condition running shoes.
• Giving dinner to a security guard
• Attending a charity event where the proceeds when to Ubuntu Education Centre
• Giving money to a street beggar (yes, I know but I could not say no)
• Doing shopping for an elderly person
• Taking my mom out for lunch (she does so much for me)
• Picking up litter at a nature reserve

And many more that I can’t think of right now.  I had a couple of friends who said once they started they and their kids really got into it and it made their day fantastic. They enjoyed it so much.  I also found that instead of getting cross or worked up about something that might have annoyed me I just though “Act of Kindness” and smiled or waved them passed (if they cut me off).  It made my day a lot calmer.  I am going to try and keep the thought going.

So once again, thank you to everyone that helped and did an Act of Kindness to help me celebrate my 40^th.

I (almost) wish I was there

Ironman fever has hit PE – again.  Race week always has such a great vibe, so much so that it makes me almost wish I had entered.  Not quite but almost.

At least this year I will be doing the Corporate Challenge.  It is 10% of the full Ironman, so even shorter than a sprint at 380m swim, 18km cycle and a 4.2km run, but at least it is something and I get to run down the finishers chute – if I finish of course.

This year both my brother and my sister will be taking part.  It will be my sister’s 5^th Ironman and my brother’s first.  It would have been absolutely amazing to stand on the start with both my siblings, but I know I am not in the right time in my life to be doing a full ironman.  It takes so much commitment and with Little OL my priorities are elsewhere.  I will however be down there at the start and supporting them both the entire day.  I love the atmosphere, the vibe and the energy.  I will be crying with emotion and screaming with excitement for all the atheletes.  I know what it is like.  It is the most unbelievable feeling in the world.

So to everyone taking part on Sunday – you have all my support and best wishes and just remember ENJOY

Finishing Ironman South Africa in 2009

The best laid plans

So my Birthday did not go exactly according to plan.

Little OL started vomiting on Friday night; we could just not keep anything in her so I took her to the doctor on Saturday morning.  He booked her straight into hospital and onto a drip overnight.  Yes, so I spent my 40^th birthday eating hospital food and sleeping on a chair next to her cot.  This will be remembered and reminded at her 21^st.

Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes and who has assisted me with the 40 Random Acts of Kindness.  On my side it got off to a good start on Friday and then got slightly side tracked over the weekend.  As soon as I have gotten everything together from all the various people who have offered donations I will let you know how we did.  I think we came pretty close.

Thank you again.

In celebration of my Birthday – HELP!

It is my birthday on Saturday and I am turning 21…. Ok not quite.  40! Yip I can’t believe it either.

I have ummmmm’d and ahhhhh’d about what to do to celebrate my birthday, should I have a party, should I not.  Well, I decided NOT.

However I would like you all to help me celebrate anyway.  What I want to do is 40 random acts of kindness (or good deeds).  Now I know for a fact that I am not going to get through all 40 in one day, so I have taken Friday off work, but I am going to need more help – that is where you come in.

I would like each of you to do something “good” on Saturday.  It does not have to be huge, it can be not swearing at the person that cut you off in traffic (or not cutting someone off – I’ll take any good deed).  It can be making a donation to your favourite charity, picking up a piece of litter, helping somebody pick up something they have dropped or even just smiling at somebody.  Just something that is going to make somebody else feel better.

Or you could help me with the donation I have decided to make.  Instead of gifts I have asked my family members if they will help me make a difference in the lives of a few elderly people.  I would like them to give me simple things like toiletries (soap, toothpaste etc.), warm socks or a chocolate.  There is a home around the corner from where I work, these people live on the state pension and for them talc is a luxury.  If you would like to give to them please contact me, or look at this website link.  Algoa Bay Council For the Aged - (go to downloads and then 25 ways to help) Or if you are not in PE, then you could possibly find something similar in your area.

So, PLEASE help me celebrate my 40^th birthday by doing a good deed.

Cookies, cookies and more cookies

You would have thought that by getting unlimited wifi at home my blogging might have increased.  As you can probably tell, that did not happen.  I have realised that I don’t do internet at home.  When I am at home and Little OL is awake then I will spend the time playing with her.  If she is asleep then I like to do something a bit more creative.

My latest obsession – cookies!  I am going to blame Hayley for this.  After she posted her delicious condensed milk stamped cookies I realised I needed to try them out. And then I realised that I also needed one of those stamps.

Cookie Stamp

So, in the past couple of weeks I have made Hayley’s condensed milk cookies, a short bread biscuit (stamped), a white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie and a chopped nut and choc chip cookie.

Chopped nuts and choc chip cookies

I have also put back most of the weight that I lost!

Little OL has also discovered the joys of licking the spatula!  Hmmm cookie dough.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Weight vs body image is a funny thing.

I have never been on a diet and I have never been too concerned about my weight.  I have never really thought of myself overweight, even if at times the scale has edged towards that direction.  If I have ever thought that I did need to lose a few kg’s it was more along the lines that needed to tone up than actually lose weight.  That is not to say that my weight did not (does not) fluctuate.  It is just that I did not really notice it.

That is until now, and it is odd!  My weight is the lowest it has been in nearly 12 years, so why on earth do I now feel the most self-conscious about it?

At the end of November my sister decided she was cutting sugar out of her diet.  Not to lose weight, but to see if it made a difference on race day, when she had the sports drinks. Kind of like an extra boost.  She challenged me to do the same.

I thought it was a great idea, but decided that I probably needed to cut a few other things out my diet too, like take-aways, white bread and chocolate.  The sugar thing did not last past day 2, but I stuck to the others.  Who know I ate that much junk!!!  I lost 7kg in 3 months.  Just to put this into perspective.  I am not dieting, I have not changed anything else just those three things.  I still drink full cream milk and have full cream yogurt.  I still have butter on just about everything.

The thing is before I started I did not even think I needed to lose 7 kgs!  Now though I keep thinking I should lose a few more!  Not enough to actually drink skim milk though.

Helping Mommy

The terrible two’s?  Yes sometimes, but most of the time I just absolutely love this age.

She is such an independent little person, she wants to do everything herself, which can be bit frustrating for both of us as her desire out strips her ability at the moment.  She also wants to copy everything I do.  Over the past week or so we have been working in the garden, preparing the soil in the veggie garden and planting seeds.  She received a little gardening sets for Christmas from one of her aunts, it is coming in very useful.

Preparing to plant seeds

Watering the seeds

DIY Cake Stands

For all my saying “I hate Pinterest” I do spend a remarkable amount of time on it and have found some quite fun ideas.  One of them was cake stands made from candle holders (or glasses or terracotta pots or basically anything).  I had two candle sticks that I found in a second hand store for R1 each, obviously to good to let go and I knew that some day I would find a use for them.

Two old candle sticks - R1 each (bargain)

When I was getting ready for Little OL’s party I remembered them, as well as a post I had found from Sugarbelle via Pinterest.  All I needed was some spray paint and a little bit of time. Finding the time on a day that was not windy proved to be teh hardest part… do you know how windy it is in PE in February???

I sanded them down a bit, washed them and then sprayed each one with a different colour.  One thing I will say is that my spray painting skills are seriously lacking!  I am however happy with the end result, if I turn them around and face the drips away from me.  Instead of glueing the plate to the top I just used prestik.

Prestik around the top to hold the plates

I liked this idea better as I can now use different plates depending on the occasion, or what I plan on putting on them.

Add a plate and done!  So easy.

Completed stand

For Little OL’s party I stacked them up and put the cookies on them.  I am really happy with the way they turned out.

The stand in action

More Teddy Bear’s Picnic photos

In addition to my first set of photos, here are some more.

Picnic baskets

 

Picnic Basket with ciabatta breads for the adults

 

Honey Sandwiches for the kids"party packs"

 

Desert Table - the kids filled up their picnic baskets when sweets and goodies from here.

 

 

All in all I was very happy with the way everything turned out.  I made almost everything, including the cake stand that the cookies are standing on… yip you read that correctly.  I will share details shortly.