Cate's Diary

Wow Cate, but you are quite the active one, aren't you!? hehe!

It's awesome being back on track -- and I can see you are also being affected in a positive way~! YAYYYYY for Cohen's~!!!! :D:D

Keep it up lady!!

mwaaa xx
 
I'm glad that you are enjoyed the zumba more this time. It sounds like a lot of fun. I can't coordinate hands and feet so don't do that sort of thing in public :D. I have great fun at home doing the Wii Just Dance and give my friends and family a laugh at the same time. Both of my sisters and one of my neices have been professional dances which makes my attempts even funnier for them. :)
Hi eyckmans, It is a lot of fun! There are a few steps that I can't do yet & feel totally unco but I'll get there. The legs didn't feel like they were going to give out on me last night. I actually don't care if anyone laughs at me any more. I love that fact. If I can make someone laugh that's a good thing. Most people are too worried about what they look like to worry about me. Now, sisters....they're another story. Professional dancers- eek! I still sing in front of singers. What the heck! I'm 57 & it's ok to be ok in my skin I reckon. One thing I would hate though is for anyone to think that I was trying to look young. That is tragic!

Wow Cate, but you are quite the active one, aren't you!? hehe!
It's awesome being back on track -- and I can see you are also being affected in a positive way~! YAYYYYY for Cohen's~!!!! :D:D
Keep it up lady!!

mwaaa xx

Hi sweets, I am active these days & loving it! I feel so positive and happy & exercise & feeling slim make all the difference. I'm much more confident in everything that I do when I feel slim. It's not even just about what the scales say. I know that I shouldn't be so body conscious but I am. I hope it's not an obsession but it is very important to me. I'm so glad you are back on Cohen's & are feeling positive again. Do this for yourself Luvbug. Love yourself as you deserve to be loved. Don't work too hard sweets- don't want those rotten migraines coming back. Sending you a big kiss back & a hug, xoxoxoxo Cate
 
Late night last night but had a good sleep-in with my LH. He's not due back at work until Monday week which is nice. Have eaten very healthily & have ridden my bike & done 2 sets of weights today.
Had a visit from an old friend who we have not seen much of since we left our last business (a hotel). It was really good that he visited as I was trying to get the courage to ring him as we found out a couple of days ago that his younger daughter(16yrs) has Leukaemia. I think he was coming to tell us but I'm glad that I knew already. She has also had a stroke because of the medication. I think the visit was good for him as we talked about other things as well as her. He has a business taking people horse-riding up in the mountains & said he needed to get a page set up on Facebook but has no idea about it & very little time. I have offered to have a go at setting it up for him & he was very happy about that. I have a group set up up for the area we live & that was easy. I had a bit of a look but need to check a few things with him now that I have an idea what is required. I'll have a crack at it tomorrow. He is a bit of an abrasive guy but we both like him. He isn't the easiest person to get on with. It will be good to be able to do something that will help him out.

I seem to be showing everyone how to use their own phones lately. It's quite funny really. A friend of mine from Tai Chi is struggling a fair bit financially at the moment. She's an artist & is very talented. She does magnificent water colours of the Tasmanian landscape. It takes her a few months to do a painting & they do not sell for a huge amount really. She relies on sales of prints of her paintings to survive in the mean-time. She has some in galleries but, of course, it's a bit lean money-wise over Winter when there are not so many tourists.
She gave me one of her brochures last week & today I took the time to have a look at the web-site listed in it.
The link no longer works.
I did a Google search under her name and found her under another site.
There are many spelling mistakes but the biggest problem I see is that when you go to her "e-shop" & try to order a print (I did this to see how much they are) it does not give you an option of clicking on a specific print & then ordering it in a specific size. It just gives you the option of ordering an unspecified print in a particular size which no-one would want to do. Because most people shop online now (I think) or at least do their research online this may make a lot of difference to how many prints she sells.

I can't wait to tell her about it and not sure if I should wait until next Wed when I see her at Tai Chi. It's also not something I can explain properly over the phone I don't think. I might call her tomorrow & see what she says. She is a bit of a worrier though & I don't want to worry her unnecessarily when it's wanting to help her that I wish to do.

I'm also doing an article for my Tai Chi teacher to put in a newspaper promoting her & Tai Chi. I have completed it and am waiting for her to give me a photo to include with it. If she forgets again I think I'll take my camera with me next time.

I do everything for free & I guess it's about time I tried to make some money from the things I do. I love proof-reading but no-one uses proof-readers any more. Almost every book I read has spelling mistakes. I don't worry too much about my posts in here because I just type fast but if I am doing anything for anyone else then I'm much more fussy.

OK. It's time to go. I won't go back & re-read this post or I'll delete half. You can tell what I'm like by how I post. I put how I feel in here & share so much of my life with you all. I hope I don't bore you to tears. I guess if I did you could just stop reading it! LOL.

Much love to all, xoxo Cate
 
Exercise yesterday-
Bike & weights in the afternoon (240 reps)

What I am eating-
I am eating Cohen's food & my weight is stable. Everything I read tells me that I should be eating grains, beans, rice etc & I'm starting to wonder if my diet is balanced. when you're on the weight-loss part of Cohen's you cut out all of these things but re-introduce them on re-feed & then are told to continue with them on maintenance as part of a healthy balanced diet. I fear mine is not & I am missing out on valuable fibre & nutrients. The truth is I am so scared of putting weight back on that I am steering clear altogether of the starchy Carbs. I think the time has come for me to try various breads etc again to see what I can & cannot have. I'm not sure if I'm gluten intolerant or if it's yeast or what so I'll try to find out. How silly to be scared of doing so!

Today-
Even though the day is a bit ordinary I think we'll go get some wood. I can't do weights today & it's too windy to go walking around the bush. My exercise can be getting wood instead. We have some ready to cut out in the open where it's reasonably sheltered from the wind.
We'll be at an 8-ball tournament all day tomorrow and will head off walking around town. I'm going to get a haircut at last! Short, short?

Anyhow it's time to do the dishes and extract a digit.
Bye for now, xo Cate
 
You've just hit on one of my pet hates. I can't stand it when I find spelling mistakes in a book and I seem to find more and more lately. I know I make a lot of mistakes but I'm not a professional that is charging people to read.
One of my sisters that was a dancer wants to go and do some exercise dance classes with her daughter but like you is worried that people will think that she is trying to look young. She is at least 30 years older than anybody else in the class. I keep telling her that they will be impressed as she probably dances much better than most of them but she hasn't plucked up the courage yet.
I like to do exercise like your collecting wood as it's great to combine exercise with something useful..
Have a great weekend.
Val
 
Hi Val, Tell your sister she really should go. How lovely it would be to do it with her daughter! I don't care about looking younger as I'm happy being the age I am. Exercise & dance is not about trying to look younger for me, as you know. I want to be really fit, healthy & strong. It is so much fun & would have to be good for my ticker. It was only thinking what some people may think my intentions are that has held me back in the past. No longer! As Eleanor Roosevelt said "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do."
I feel like I have a really good balance with my exercise now.
My week looks like this-
Tues- Zumba(75 mins)
Wed- Tai Chi (60)
Every other day I do either bike then weights (60 mins) or a walk (30-60 mins) or wood gathering (60-120 mins) and I usually have one day a week when I'm a relative lazy-bones & do little. It feels like a good balance.
Thanks for your visit Val xo Cate

PS. I set up that Facebook page for our friend today. It was easy but there was no way I could set him us an admin so it looks like I'm the one. Whoops. I would need to start a group instead. I'll see what he thinks.
 
It has happened by accident really but I feel like I'm taking a holiday from the forum but only because I have been busy with other things.
I'm really happy and all is well. Tomorrow is another full day but I'll try to pop in some time during the day. Spring has sprung and the weather is beautiful. I'm going to post some photos soon.
Lots of love to you all xoxo Cate
 
Spur of the moment decision-
Have booked air-fares & accommodation to go to Melbourne this Saturday morning, coming back Sunday night. Our AFL football team, the Saints, are playing in the Grand Final. We can't get tickets to the game(not given up though) but are going over just to be there and to soak up the atmosphere.
If we win you might hear me cheering wherever you are. It's very exciting! Whatever happens we're both good sports and can take a loss.
GO SAINTS!!!!!
Nice day today. I think I'll head off for a walk. Zumba tonight:)
Cheers for now, xo Cate
 
Zumba last night was fun but ouch! I didn't do enough warm-ups of the old knees.....I'm still not sure it's good for my bones but it's good for my soul & my metabolism. Now if only my right knee would come good....
Tai Chi was lovely today as usual. Nice lunch with my friends after. Just had a visitor (who barracks for the opposition in the GF) and that was nice. I really like her & she keeps in touch with us. She used to work with my LH.
We're off to 8-ball tonight unfortunately. I don't much like our local comp. as it's a really poor standard & the team we are playing has a real drongo playing for them. My husbands team in another comp won their match last night 8-1 (best of 15 games usually, , but 1st to 8 in the finals) & they are now in their grand final. He's chuffed. I will be able to go as it's on a Sat, not a Zumba night.
Time to get organised- do some dishes etc before we have to head out.
Bye for now & love to all, Cate
 
Zumba-
An executive decision has been made & I'm not going back. It's too hard on my body. I don't feel bad about this as I'm sure most people I know couldn't do it.

I'll go back to my walking & bike & weights & Tai Chi. I feel so relieved that I have made the decision. It was just too full-on for me, especially my knees. I could just picture needing a knee replacement because of it. Really! Ouch!

Our next-door neighbours have been burning off again & I am suffering a little with my asthma. It has confined me inside as well on a lovely day. The day our neighbour tossed out her old husband & got a new bloke was not a good one for me either. This one seems intent on "tidying up" the native bush by burning. He should be living somewhere with lots of concrete, like a city.

It's almost time to go pick up our GS so I had better change into something respectable. I was dressed to go get some wood with my LH & I have to head for town (Taekwondo etc)
Bye for now, Cate
 
I'm getting excited about going over to Melbourne. I bought a Saints t-shirt & jacket today so along with my new Track and Field pants & my Saints ear-rings I'm ready to go!! I'm going to be comfortable this time. Cleaned the Nikes- I'm ready for lots of walking. I'm not taking anything dressy. My LH will take one small bag & I'm taking a small back pack only. Travelling light & comfortable. GO SAINTS!!!!!
 
Hi Val. We did have a lovely week-end but it sort of got flipped over. The game was a draw, & in our football code (AFL) if it's a draw at the end of the Grand Final they replay the match again the following week. It was a very strange feeling when the siren sounded. I really feel for the players. I think it is to our advantage though as we were being thoroughly thrashed and made a huge come-back. One more minute!!! LOL. The other team and their supporters were so confident that they would win that I do feel we now have the upper hand. It is still only a game though & we will cope with whatever happens. :) We won't go back to Melbourne for it though.

Our week-end-
If the other team had won their captain & coach were going for the cup presentation to where we watched the match. Win or lose our entire team & coach were going to be there. There were bands booked & it would have been a huge night. The next day there was to be a function down at our club-rooms in Moorabbin & we were going. It all got cancelled & then we had no plans whatsoever.
We went back to our hotel & checked in & watched tv for a while. We then wandered off & had a meal at a favourite Italian restaurant. we enjoyed a lovely bottle of red wine, shared a Pizza & a large Italian salad, walked around town for a while & wandered back to our hotel. We settled into the bar & had a lovely evening - me drinking bubbly, my LH cider. We played a few games of pool & retired happy.

Next morning we woke up slightly hung-over & not terribly hungry so went for a big walk around the city(3km?), worked up an appetite & had breakfast. We checked out of our hotel & stored our bag. We decided to go down to St. Kilda to check out a Sunday market we used to go to over 30 years ago when we lived in Melb. We caught the tram & got off at the far end & then walked back along the esplanade. We did not buy anything. I am so over shopping. We had a lovely coffee in Fitzroy St at another favourite Italian place, Toppolinos. We then trammed it back into the city & decided to head out to Richmond to look for an authentic Vietnamese restaurant where we could get a good bowl of Pho Bo (beef soup). We hopped on the 1st tram taking us to Richmond & ended up walking & walking & eventually I asked a woman if she was a local & if she knew a good place to go. She gave us excellent directions to a place where she said it will be packed with Vietnamese people & is the best place to go. She warned us that it was a big walk.
When we got to it she was right-it was packed. We had a fantastic Pho Bo there. It cost us $8 each! Can you believe that? Only $8!
Exercise for Sunday!!
My LH reckons we walked a minimum of 12km. We walked constantly for over 3 hours. I am so glad I wore my Nikes!

We trammed it back to the city & bussed it out to the airport. We got home about 8.15 Sunday night, exhausted but happy.
I weigh .5kg less than last week :)

iPhone!! YAY!
Last week I went to a few Telstar outlets expecting to get an iphone & was told I would have to wait about 6 weeks for one.
On Sunday while we were waiting for a tram to St Kilda I spotted a big Telstra store & went over & asked if they had any in stock. They had one! The one I wanted. We waited an hour to get it organised but I am now the proud owner of my new toy. I love it! The woman who ended up serving me asked if I had one on hold & I said "No". She looked shocked & said "I'm sorry. We only have them for those on hold" The guy at the front of the shop came up & told her there was one hidden away that I could have. NICE!
So....our team may not have won the Grand Final but hey we still might & I got lucky.

On a much sadder note I just got a call from the friend who's 16 yr old daughter has Leukaemia & she died this morning. How very sad & how very brave & thoughtful of him to ring us. What can you say? So sad.

I won't edit this. I sound so happy amongst such sadness. Life is like that isn't it. I love life & that is one of the lessons that I take from everything around me. Enjoy your life. This is it. Make the most of it.
Lots of love to all of you,
xoxo Cate
 
Today's card-
I am grateful for being alive today. It is my joy and pleasure to live another wonderful day.
Flip side-
I balance my life between work, rest and play. They all get equal time.
Today-
I am heading off shortly to do some shopping, visit the MIL & go to Tai Chi. My LH is up at the big tree that came down in the storm as one of his mates has arrived with a huge chainsaw to cut it up. It's over a fence & came up roots and all.

SNOW!!
For the 1st time since we moved into our home 7 years ago it has snowed here. It has almost gone now & wasn't heavy but we are only 310o above sea level! The mountains look spectacular!

Bye for now folks, xoxo Cate
 
Hi Folks, Nothing much to report really. I'm eating healthily, been a little lazy this week but I put that down to needing to get over my trip to Melbourne and exposure to all the fumes of the city. I have had dreadful hay fever-stinging eyes, sinus pain, sneezing etc.
We had a visit from my husband's sister last night. She invited herself out for dinner. We had a lovely evening with her and our grand-son. I love the fact that she feels so relaxed with us and at home. :)
Today-
We will go off & do some work tidying up the big tree and maybe some gardening. I planted out some Bok Choy seedlings yesterday but had better wait a while before planting out the tomatoes. They'll go mad while we're away. Hopefully our son will remember to water them for us. At least he won't have to worry about the dogs as we're putting them in the kennels for the 2 weeks.
I think I'm rambling about nothing so will head.
We're going to a show tonight. We always say that if there's a show on locally we should go & one of my Tai Chi friends is in it & keeps asking me if we're going so we will tonight.
Funeral-
Is tomorrow at 2.30 which is exactly the time of the kick-off of the replay of the AFL grand final. It would be wrong not to be there so we will. So will our OS & DIL. The funeral of the daughter of a friend comes before a football match any day.

OK- I'm gone. Love to all, xoxo Cate
 
We didn't go to the show as neither of us felt 100%. I think it's hayfever but my eyes are really sore & I keep sneezing etc.
Yesterday's funeral was really, really sad. There were so many young people there who were so emotional. About 50 of her school-friends & pony club friends were there. Many of them spoke & each one was very upset & emotional. It was incredibly sad & draining. We did not stay for the drinks & got back home to our YS & his GF. Our OS, DIL & the GK's came up & we watched the rest of the football (we got thrashed) but it didn't really matter. We had a full-on family get-together & we all enjoyed that. I still fell drained & tired but I'm about to have a bite & head off for a walk. My week has been upside down.
I had a good talk with our YS before he headed back to Hobart. He has to make quite a few decisions soon & I think I helped him with those. He wishes that he lived closer and so do I but it won't happen. I'm glad that he lives only 2.5 hours away, rather than in another state or country. He loves catching up with all of us & we love seeing him.
My husband is gone all day today running a golf comp. My home is now empty & it's time I got moving. I just yawned a great big yawn. Food!! Walk!! Do it Cate!!!
Bye for now, xoxo Cate
 
Didn't go for a walk yesterday but rode my bike & did my weights. I still don't have a lot of energy though & will need to re-build my fitness gradually. Hay-fever tires you out.
I am having our younger grand-son for a few hours today while his mum & dad go to an app't in town. I had better batten the hatches. He was quite naughty on Sat night & that is unusual. I will have a talk to him today about it.
No-one's about so I'll head. Love to all, xo Cate
 
All funerals are sad but that sounds like a particularly sad one, no wonder you felt so drained afterwards.
Both my kids suffer from hay fever and sometimes it is really draining. Take care of yourself, it won't harm to relax a bit more than usual.
 
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