Marathon Sunday*

aka if you can't join 'em, cheer for 'em
aka it's far better form to hand out refreshments and yell encouragement than to sulk on the couch at home feeling jealous and disappointed
If I'd been running, which I really really wanted to do - and which I WILL be doing in 09 - then I wouldn't have been part of the great Coolrunning cheersquad - our motto: what we lack in numbers we make up for in enthusiasm - and wouldn't have spent the morning with the lovely Secret Sara (sign painter extraordinaire), Pink Lady, Kylie and Davo, waving our streamers and yelling at people to remember, you're a marathoner! and think of the medal! Noddie wouldn't have been doing thisor this(or this)I really really wanted to go the after-race do and catch up with some of my lovely imaginary internet friends but I couldn't, especially after Noddie behaved perfectly the whole five and a half hours we were there but was asleep in the car within minutes of setting off for home. I had a brief Pouty McSulkfest but am over it now. Huge HUGE congratulations to everyone who toed the line on such a hot windy day. I hope the jelly snakes and icypoles helped.

More anon, cheerers from the sidelines!

Automaton

I started a new blog as a convenient spot to write down my 'ten things I'm grateful for' every couple of days - and blogger thinks it's a spam blog and has locked it until a real live person has reviewed it and decides that I am not a spambot!! I've never been perceived as a possible threat to the workings of the internet before. How thrilling.

Things have been a bit nuts here. Saturday really started when I worked until 11pm on Friday night - instead of leaping nimbly from the couch o' slumber to work out, cook, vacuum etc I slept in until eight o'clock (bliss) and then lingered over a cuppa and a magazine until nine, when it was time to pick Noddie up from her sleepover at Nanny's (see bliss, above) and go to J's Nan's 90th birthday brunch. The rose of the sleepover is not without thorns, however: Noddie always stays up late and is Over Excited, not the best for a crowded noisy gathering of rellies. The brunch dragged on and on and we got home again at quarter to three, giving me an hour and three quarters to transform the place from its usual squalor to a vision of loveliness in readiness for the gathering of the clan in honour of my Mum's 70th birthday. I also had to make and decorate a cake worthy of my esteemed mater, and tend to the horribly ill Spousal Unit (barking bronchitis. We expect to be quarantined by the Biosecurity Health Response team shortly. We are looking forward to it). It's a good thing daylight savings didn't start until Saturday night so no-one saw that I hadn't even vacuumed (shock horror). Guests: 12, including the in-laws. Drinks: several. Party: great fun.
On Sunday morning I hosed the place out, propped the Spousal Unit on his recliner in front of some car racing, and went out with Noddie to catch up with a friend of mine down from Sydney. After lunch and a bit of gazing at Art Deco masterpieces, Noddie hit the wall with a splat and slid down it with an ugly smear. To be fair, the exhibition should have been labelled "unsuitable for children": after all, what is a platform with a chair on it but an invitation to climb up? And there wasn't really any harm in her crawling under the jewellery cases, they looked perfectly sturdy.
Then it was Monday, and the work and kinder week began. I'm putting together the jigsaws of Masters applications for next year, which is taking a bit of time - I'm applying for three courses, which means getting certified copies of three sets of eight pages of academic transcripts plus my passport, plus three statements as to why I'm applying for these courses. Because I want to and you're near my house is about 291 words short. Good thing I'm an accomplished bumph-spouter, no? Then I had to line up academic and professional referees to sing my praises on multiple bits of paper (stamped addressed envelopes attached). Let's just say there's a lot of unfolded washing piling up. But I have been exercising. Every day. Go me!

More anon, folk in a flurry!

Doublethink

Now that the rotten stinking pig bastard everlasting bronchitis seems to have buggered off altogether touching anything wood within reach and I am back to regular exercise - yay! yay! - I'm having to manage a mad kind of doublethink. You see, I am currently as weak as an asthmatic kitten and as slow as a drunk slug. Let's not mention the Return of The Lard. All the gains from all that work last summer and autumn have evaporated. Gone. I'm frustrated and discouraged. *frowns/pouts/feels depressed*

ALERT! ALERT! Bleating and wallowing in self-pity imminent! Intiate evasive action! Activate doublethink!

But what is doublethink, you ask? Avoid those unsightly wrinkles, dear reader, and knit not your brow. Doublethink works like this:

1. Eradicate all memory of how effortless things used to be, how 2km or 40km or 15km were just ordinary swims, rides or runs. Pine no more for those dear dead days. That was then, this is now. Suck it up.

....while simultaneously.....

2. Remember how very good it felt to be that strong, and know, somewhere deep down, that I can get back there. Remember how consistent effort works. Remember that it does work.

See? Tooooo confusing - like a speeded-up game of table tennis that is only visible at the very corner of my eye. But it's helping me get out the door each day. Lumbering will change to ease, 17km/hr will become 25. 1000m will become a warmup. Patience, grasshopper.

Unrelated: the chappie who cut my hair today (whom I had not previously met, and who did a smashing job BTW) asked me if I believed in angels. He told me they have messages for me. He seemed otherwise perfectly normal. This is by no means the only angel-themed strangeness to happen lately. Hmmmmmm.

I've been writing a list every day of ten things I'm grateful for. It's changing me.

More anon, cherubim!

10 things I am grateful for

as I sit here after my first ride in weeks
(in no particular order)
- My new, extremely fetching hibiscus-patterned bike jersey
- Nice warm arm and leg warmers
- The wind I was riding in today, because it made me feel strong and brave
- The vivid red geraniums someone has planted along the bike path
- My darling Noddie and the Spousal Unit
- Pink painted nails Noddie and I did while we were having a picnic on the verandah
- Enough money to pay the bills (and buy pretty bike jerseys)
- The hilariously gratuitious key-change in the song "Love Really Hurts Without You"
- The dear, kind souls on the Coolrunning Depression thread who are so quick to rally around a mate having a rough day.
- My stinking rotten stupid pig bastard everlasting bronchitis seems to have finally buggered off (touch wood) so I can start to shed some lard and think about fun things to do this summer. More anon, keepers-at-it

Hooray for holidays

We don't muck around here at Chez LBTEPA when it's school holiday time.
On Monday we got new shoes and took the train and the tram to the beach to paddle, eat icecream and make sandcastles. Yesterday we fulfilled Noddie's long-held ambition and rode on a purple train to Bendigo, to meet up with blogger Royalty - the magnificent Beckie! What pleasure to spend a day in the sunshine with her. Next time we will stay longer.

Tomorrow we are going to the Show. We love holidays.
This week I felt an unfamiliar and astonishing sensation - I had some perceptible energy. Energy! I tell you what, this stuff is ace! If this keeps up, next week I am going to start getting up early again. Maybe even think about some exercise! Oooooh!

More anon, gadabouts!

Lots of things

I can't really blog properly at the moment. My head is full of everything. It's bordering on overwhelming, yet far too boring to put out into the ether
Hope everyone is well. Take care and see you soon

Party time

J had the day off yesterday and Noddie was home sick with him so they spent the day getting ready for a party! Just a party because Noddie thought it would be a good idea. Great fun! They made a cake and fairy bread and blew up balloons; we ate cheese and biscuits, and dip, grilled prawns and chocolate fondue, all by candlelight - how cool! Then we sang along to daggy 80s music (from Mummy's ipod) and played Noddie's instruments and danced and generally had a lovely time. Noddie decided she was having an upsy-down sleep, requiring her pillow to be placed at the foot of the bed - most disconcerting when I went in there later to check on her.
My darling Doggies did the right thing last night - goodbye Swans, mwahahahaha! So what if we get a shellacking from the Cats next week, they have been lay-down misere favourites for the flag since round one. My boys played sensationally and that's enough for me. Anyway, we might win!Severely undermining my belief in the power of vitamin C, zinc and wishing things away, I have awoken this morning still coughing and achy all over. Enough is enough - enough worrying, enough feeling ashamed and a failure, enough scoffing ibuprofen to get through workouts, enough bleating. Enough bloody everything: I am Officially Out of the bay ride. I am more unbearably disappointed than I can express, but enough of that too.
Now we are off to Noddie's swimming lesson where she will show her teacher that she has mastered the freestyle arm stroke (although it was funny watching her doing it all backwards), and then to buy some Dora sandals. I don't remember promising these but apparently I did.

More anon, Springtime frolickers!

Fed to the back teeth

with
- this constant sinus headache
- my footy team
- feeling tired and off colour all the time. For two months. WTF?
- getting exhausted by stupidly small amounts of exercise ( a 5km walk? taking Noddie to the pool? F#$% that for a joke)
- Noddie's cheek and defiance. We're going to have to have another family meeting. Sigh.
- Noddie's incessant coughing (oh come on, you knew I was a bad mother)
- Lance Armstrong
- broken sleep from getting up to Noddie two or three times a night.
- Noddie coughing herself to vomiting point every night, poor little bugger
- changing sheets at 3 am
- feeling disappointed that My Year Off Uni (aka the Year I did All Sorts of Cool Things) has turned out like this
- worrying I won't be able to do the Bay Ride, and having to decide whether I'll do it by next Wednesday because that's the last day for refunds
- my flabby bloated waist
- 'resting' when it seems to be doing F#$% all good.
- feeling undisciplined and greedy and lazy
- my own tiresome whingeingThanks for listening and not sending me a big can of HTFU and a spoon (unless you think I need some. Then go right ahead). Think of it as giving the Spousal Unit a break.

The other day I heard Noddie tell her swimming teacher I can't do it, it's too hard. I was horrified - it's just Not the Sort of Thing We Say here at Schloss LBTEPA . Stop laughing! Afterward we had A Talk about what to do when something is difficult and you feel discouraged. She has been practising saying it's hard, but I'll keep trying.
Better set a good example, hadn't I?

On a brighter note, I like my new job so much I'd almost do it for free.

More anon, back-molar grinders

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, to Noddie's Dad, and to all the Dads out there. You do a great job and we love you all!A 5km charity walk when lots of Dads would be sleeping in. J, you and Noddie are champs.
Now go and get your prostate checked.
I know I said this last year. Have you done it yet?

More anon, fish-and-chip picnic lunchers!

Half cut

No, I am not inebriated. I sent this email this morning
Dear
I am unable to participate in the half-marathon this year for medical reasons. Oh well, the MCG will still be standing next year!
Thanks again for organising such a great event
LBTEPA
Trying to build my running kms, and my bike kms, and not get injured, and get better from this Rotten Pig Bastard sinus infection was just doing my head in. Something had to give way; alas, it had to be my much-anticipated trot around the hallowed turf in 2008.
Speaking of the RPB sinus infection, I took Noddie to the doctor about her latest germ-o-rama and while I was there spoke to my doctor about how to manage this situation. He’s been away, and is a lot more sports-minded than the one who’s been looking after me in the interim. Following this visit, Secret Sara and my mum received the following sms
Crap crap crap dr says bay ride v unlikely. Going home now to cry, then work out a Plan to increase likelihood.
I did go home, but I didn’t cry. First I ate an entire box of those wonderful wonderful rice cracker thingos that taste exactly like salt-and-vinegar chips. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Then I put on some loud boppy music, did the dishes, vaccumed, put some washing on and cleaned the kitchen. Sara rang and was funny, supportive and gracious, coz that’s the kind of person she is - thanks mate!. Mum rang to tell me that the five times my Dad did the Bay ride, he never did further than 100km in training and I have the same endurance genes – thanks Mum!
I read some blogs and Commodore fired me up. I flicked onto an Age online article and was inspired. A Plan started to germinate. The Spousal Unit came home with a massive, unexpected pay rise. Yay for you, J! He liked the Plan.
Now the Plan is This: get to the start line.
Now now, don’t scoff. There’s genius in simplicity. I’m going to rest as directed and do what training I can after that, keep losing weight and staying off the grog, take my echinacea and zinc and vitamin C and eat my vegies. Subject to a fortnightly review, I’m going to believe I can get to the start line. If I can do that, I'll take the day as it comes.

This just started playing on the stereo. Time to put on my favourite t-shirt.More anon, possibly-deluded but cheerful!

Good signs

So far at least half a dozen people at my new work have told me you'll love it here, it's a great place to work.
Other good signs:
Freeway all the way so even though it's twice the distance it takes half the time.
Lots of windows
Nice (not grey) paint, lots of plants and paintings
Green tea, Earl Grey tea and capuccino machine supplied
Actual real meaningful work

Enough

Warning: this post contains even more self-absorbed navel-gazing than usual

Yesterday Noddie and I were at the finish of the Hill Ride O’Doom to cheer in Secret Sara when we ran into a fellow Cool Runner, the charming M, and his lovely girlfriend. I find M intimidating, which is stupid, and unfair since he has never been anything but encouraging to me - in fact, I wouldn’t have the running goals I do if he and his friends hadn’t been so nice to me when I started. When he remarked that he thought I was supposed to have been riding I didn’t know what to say. Sick again? Not in it because my doctor told me I wasn’t to? It all sounded so lame, so ‘excuses’, so again she’s not doing something she said she would because of some pathetic made-up reason. It sounded like that to me. I hated the words coming out of my mouth, and what these two people I admire must be thinking of me (of course, it's highly unlikely they were thinking anything of the kind!!) The feeling of wimping out, and in particular letting Sara down, had been plaguing me all day. My mind was going in circles.
I shouldn’t have got sick.
There must have been something I could have done that would have prevented it.
Maybe if I just do some little exercise thing each day this infection won’t be such a train crash
I could have had a crack at it.
I’m a piker. I don’t try hard enough. I let people down
I shouldn’t have got sick.
Please note that no-one other than myself said any of these things to me! Stop it, me!
By mid-afternoon, Sara safely cheered across the line – Sara my friend, you are a LEGEND!!!! – I was getting myself really worked up. Confused, tired, sorry for herself LBTEPA needed a good snuggle in the logic blanket to feel better.
Here’s the talk we had. I have left out the ‘yes, buts’ as they were many and I am sure you can imagine them.
FACT: a dodgy thyroid, however well-managed, and recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome, mean my immune system is not 100%. It may never be (although I'm working on it). This is not an ‘excuse’. It is reality. It needs to be managed.
FACT: Noddie started kinder this year and as children do, has brought home every germ going around. This is not an ‘excuse’. It is reality. It needs to be managed.
FACT: My doctor forbade me from training to target the Hill Ride of Doom. This is not an ‘excuse’. It is reality. The last time I disobeyed medical advice went badly. Lesson learnt.
FACT: My ‘A’ event for the winter is the Bay in a Day. Consistent training will get me around. Gung-ho heroics like attempting a gruelling 110km while on antibiotics are counterproductive. This is not an ‘excuse’. It is reality. Suck it up.
FACT: I feel as though I let Sara down. She doesn’t think so. Suck it up. Move on.
FACT: Blaming myself and feeling ashamed for getting sick is predicated on two faulty premises: I am completely in control of everything that happens to me; and everything is about me. ENOUGH. LET IT GO.
I found these conclusions comforting.

Today Minerva and I went out for a bit of a spin that turned into a brain-shaking slog-fest straight into a howling headwind. Think 17km/hr in the small ring on the downhills. Ack. After 25km – about 20km after it first crossed my mind to pack it in, by the way - I cracked like a nut and took the first right-hand turn just to get away from the wind noise. The new road was nice, rolling uphills and zoomy curving downhills, but by the time I got to Whittlesea I was tired and it was starting to spit. You will be so proud of me: I thought, I could ride home, but I’ve done enough for today. I want to run tomorrow. That’s enough.
I found a warm coffee shop with nice magazines and rang the Spousal Unit to pick me up - right in the middle of prayers at church (ooops). He and Noddie drove out to meet me and we had a nice lunch together.

My friend Mary is doing her second Ironman as we speak, and I start my new job, my new career tomorrow.

More anon, strivers

You're joking

Another sinus infection, with an extra helping of bronchitis-if-I'm-not-careful? More antibiotics? More "resting"? This is starting to become depressing.
*Insert litany of whingeing and lengthy wallow in self-pity pool here*
Now the Plan is this: take antibiotics. Continue eating lots o'veggies, sleeping, drinking green tea, and scoffing echinacea and vitamin C (fat lot of good it's doing, mutters bitter twisted LBTEPA, before being escorted out by the CheerTFU police). Swim ride and run like it's 2047. Eighty years old and still going strong.
Feel frightened about lack of fitness and upcoming events. Say nothing. Keep plugging away.
More anon, faux-phlegmatic friends.
Faux-phlegmatic friends....That's fun to say.....

Catch up

Long time, no post, eh?
To the woman who let her 3yo cry and beg for Mummy all the way through the 30min swimming class, who when I mentioned this to her answered, “I know, I’m happy with that”: well (as I said to you) Way to get your kid keen on swimming.
To the pool management who said it was policy that they couldn’t overrule the parents: your policy is wrong and you should be ashamed.

To the supermarket people: Thanks for finally giving me the $50 I got out on eftpos but the cashier forgot to give me as I was rushing Noddie away from the lollies. They weren't arguing about it or anything; it's a very small market that sometimes resembles a sheltered workshop and it took them five days to check the video footage.
Thanks a MILLION times to them as well for looking after Noddie's Teddy. We were all devastated when we couldn’t find him. At one stage Noddie told me she missed Teddy, and I said, when that bear comes back I’ll tell him he's a naughty bear for making us so worried. She answered, I won’t be mad at him, I’ll cuddle him and tell him I’m glad he’s back. We were so happy when he was waiting for us by the cash register four days later when we went in to buy some bread!

I was absolutely worried sick about the weekend’s long bike ride. You know how you get stuck on those righto-it’s-crunch-time-you-slackarse thought loops? I ‘knew’ it was now or never – if I didn’t do close to 100km, at least 4.5 hours, the Bay in a Day was just doomed. So melodramatic! I’d planned to ride with Secret Sara, aka suck her wheel the whole way as she’s been training so consistently, but she had to change from Saturday to Sunday morning and I had church. So Sunday afternoon it was. I was up a bit late watching the diving – congratulations Matthew Mitcham! and had had a few sherbets as it was J’s and my tenth anniversary and we had a big fight about how his habit of leaving everything to the last minute (in this case, arranging babysitting, the ONLY thing he’d been asked to do, not that I was ropeable about it no no no no no) meant that we were not, as planned, in a swish hotel with a spa, but at home eating takeaway chinese, which subsequently gave me food poisoning. Fun fun fun.
I had an absolutely Brilliant Plan for the oh-crap-I-have-to-do-this-hard-thing-and -I'm-scared ride. I expected it to be thoroughly horrid and that I would hate it! Then when it was horrid I said to myself, well, you knew it was going to be like this, so just calm down. It worked a treat! I have to say though, most of the time it was pretty nice. I mostly rode through paddocks and along country roads. It was nicely overcast and there was hardly any wind, and although there was one mofo steep hill that I had to walk the second half, the other side was so steep I hit 62km/hr! Wheeeeeeeeeee! I ended up doing 95km in 4 hours 12 minutes. A huge mental barrier has been smashed. As I smsd to Sara, with 8 weeks to go, I think I will be able to whinge my way around the bay now after all.

Then again, as one of J’s friends remarked when J told him what I was doing for the afternoon, that’s what cars were invented for. Note to self: investigate chamois butter
That's enough about me – pop straight over to SB’s blog and congratulate him on completing a ONE HUNDRED MILE RUN!!!! And also to Benson’s page to tell him very well done on his second Ironman. Don’t mention the platinum togs though

More anon, wearers of padded pants :P

I needed that

Left Friday 05.00, got home Monday 23.55. Hammered it - out every day by 8.30am, never home before 8.30pm. Mucho champagne. Tired. Content.
Ann and I have known each other since we were 18. So good to be just me for four days. Snigger. We went here twice. Gorgeous river views. Excellent salt and pepper squid.
Second-last stop on the 8-hour winery cruise. Fremantle maritime museum from the Rottnest Island Ferry. Rottnest IslandWesternmost point of Rottnest. Another beautiful beach. A quokka. Rottnest Island pub and the view from our table. Perth Carillon. You're not the only one concerned at its phallic symbolismCelebrity blogger meetup - the lovely Hannelie! What a pleasure.
Don't make me go home.............

More anon, not-all-that-enthused-about-unpacking types
Next: a Plan to get back into things. I can feel some stickers coming on

Respect the distance

I've been a total crock the last couple of days. I had a migrainy-thingy yesterday. J got home late and I hadn't organised things well enough to fit in a run. I had an allergic reaction to something last night so I am weary and dopey from the drugs. The Olympics are on TV and although it's sunny, it's chilly and a bit windy. I have to pick Noddie up from kinder at 2pm. I'm going away for four days on Friday.
210km is a long way. I.Will. Ride. Today. Sometimes it's just about getting out the door.
LATER
Done. Home. Warm again.
:)

WWSD

Text to Secret Sara (my riding buddy and a complete legend)
Had 2 much wine + 4 hrs sleep, thought What Would Sara Do? so rode to Whittlesea.

OMG how great was the opening ceremony???? I was glued to every second of it! It was so nice sitting there with the the heater on, watching the grand spectacle with the rug over my knees and J snoring in the recliner by my side. It was wonderful - the 'dream rings'! the unrolling scroll! the magic carpet dancer! the admiral's journeys!the tai chi dancers! the low incidence of cute children! You rarely see such good goose-stepping these days, either, and when the middle-aged gold-medal gymnast with the torch just flew into the air to light the torch it was just breathtaking!
My favourite is always the the athletes' parade, although it went so fast, it was hard to find all the tiny countries in my atlas, and there was a disturbing tendency toward beige uniforms - I know ours were rather, er...shiny, but the colour was lovely.

Four hours' sleep was worth it, although I did have to channel the mighty Sara to get on my bike for my long ride. The wonderful Spousal Unit took Noddie and a picnic to Whittlesea, my planned turnaround point, so I couldn't wimp out even if I wanted to. Which I did. Crikey it was hard. I struggled to maintain 20km/hr. Had I really had that many sherbets to celebrate 08/08/08? No, as it turned out - the stupendous headwind that I was too busy blaming myself to notice on the way there was a glorious tailwind on the return journey! Bliss! Topped off with a dozy afternoon watching the olympics it made a Very Good Day.

This morning I was running in the heavy cold stupid rain. Although I was soaked, I was sort of enjoying myself in a cold wet way. It was good to be out there moving strongly. All of a sudden I noticed the first pink plum blossoms with their promise of Spring. Born to be alive came on the ipod, and I thought to myself, Yes. Yes, I am.

More anon, blessing counters

As you were

Blogger mates are the BEST. Thanks so much for your thoughts and concern ((hugs)).

When my future employers emailed yesterday to tell me that they are placing me in the job I applied for (depression support) after all, my response was 30% disappointment and 70% relief. If I had ended up working on the suicide line I would have made sure I did a good job, and I do plan to work on a higher-demand phone service in another six months or so...... but it would have been a very intense introduction to my new career. This will be much more manageable. Twenty-four more sleeps until "I'm going to" (be a psychologist) becomes "I am". I can hardly believe it. No more sleeps until the Olympic opening ceremony!! I have watched every opening ceremony since 1976 in real time. Three a.m, schmee a.m., if that's when it's on, that's when I watch it. My getting up for the Athens opening ceremony was a bit of a suprise to the Spousal Unit, since the Sydney Olympics were in our time zone and everyone watched them, but he's got the idea now. I'll get at least one sleeve of Noddie's new cardie knitted tonight. Last time I was embroidering her christening dress - ah, memories..... I'm tipping plenty of martial arts and possibly some fireworks, waddya reckon? Then it's a 24/7 sportfest for the next two weeks at casa del LBTEPA. By the end I will want to strangle the stupid parochial channel 7 announcers -I am interested in sports even if there are no Aussies in them! I don't wanna see the ones we do well at more than, say, twenty times!! Grrrrrr!* -and will have sworn off all products from any of the major sponsors. It's the price I pay. There's always SBS.
Iron Wil's HTFU and get your lardy arse out of bed mantra -
Get up. It sucks. Then it doesn't. Go and Train. It sucks. Then it doesn't. In that order. Always
- was the only thing that, well, H'd me TFU and got my lardy arse out of bed and into the freezing starry morning for a run. It was the first time since I've started again that I didn't feel like Dumbo minus the avian capabilities. I wished I'd gone the long tights instead of the shorts though, brrrrr.

More anon, sportsfans!
*always good to practice ranting in advance

Oooh

When I got my letter of offer for my New Job (did I mention I have a new job?) it wasn't for the one I'd been interviewed for!!
*Short pause whilst the grammar police take LBTEPA away for a beating*
Naturellement I went into a flat spin, immediately assuming they'd mistaken me for the chickybabe in the interview group with the sheaf of extra-specific hard-core fab-o certifications - and I'd resigned my old job and told everyone and it was all going to go horribly wrong. That's normal, no? After repeated frantic phone calls I was on first name terms with their receptionist, a kind person who reassured me that she would, she really would pass on my messages as soon as the HR person got in (now go away and stop ringing please).
I'm wavering between being flattered and terrified at being told what happened: the interviewers sit down with the HR people and work out who they think would be best on which phone service, and they decided that I would be best placed on their suicide help line! Am I up for it? They think so, and by crikey I will do my level best to be.
You know what? Three weeks off running is like starting again! Ow ow ow. My calves and my foam roller are back hating each other, my balance feels off and I am frantically re-reading Chi Running to try and recapture the magic hahahahahaha. Breathes in, breathes out. Patience, grasshopper. This too will pass.....
We've just had the morning pack the bag with lunch/homework/show and tell/face washer/drink/money for 'incursion' (= visitor (with dress ups this time) - don't ask, just do not get me started on what a complete (starts with W rhymes with plank) Noddie's kinder is, just don't get me started) frenzy. Noddie and the Spousal Unit have set off together hand in hand up the hill. Awwwww.
The washing is folded, the dishes are done, the beds are made. Minerva and I are out of here!

More anon, fanciers of fluffy green cocktails!*
*grasshoppers LOL I am so funny

Overnight sensation

Well boys and girls thank you so much for your kind comments on my New Job. It is likely that there will be Numerous Gratuitous Capitals in this post as I am officialy Over Excited. After almost ten years (it doesn’t sound so bad if you say it fast) of on-and-off part-time study, taking breaks to have Noddie etc etc, I will finally be working as a psychologist, for a depression support phone service. After three months I can start to work in the other types of services provided by this agency, such as drug & alcohol work, suicide helpline etc etc. As well as allowing me to actually earn a living at something I'm trained to do and fairly good at *does happy dance* , I'm hoping that having this job will make it easier to get into the Master's program I am aiming for next year.
I couldn’t be more flabbergasted. You see, most people – even my dear Spousal Unit – have this image of LBTEPA as effortlessly goal-oriented. I think of something I want to do, I set a goal, I make a plan and I go for it. True. But I never really believe things will work out the way I want them to. Why should they? The world doesn't revolve around me. So every single time I manage to pull something off, every single time a plan comes together ( *puffs on imaginary cigar* cause I love it when a plan comes together) I am astonished, delighted and extremely relieved. I got away with it again!
I have three more weeks in my old job - give or take a long weekend in Perth visiting my very best friend, hurrah! – an excellent send-off lunch, a week off to finish our tax, burn down the house, oops I mean clean out the study and the sleep-out, and then my new working life will begin. The weekend I finish work is also the tenth anniversary of that memorable evening when J and I got together (let this be a warning to you: drunken one-night stands can go horribly wrong) so we are off to a posh hotel in Bendigo for some (ahem) “couple time”.
Yesterday Secret Sara and I rode to Whittlesea together. She did 20km extra at each end, making a round 100km! Go Century Sara!! You are a legend!
Here's another entry for Captain Obvious 2008: riding with someone like Sara is So Much Fun! Conversation topics included clothes, weight loss strategies, dogs, bike saddles, gatorade, psychotic killers, Fear Of Hills, and training with hangovers not that either of us would ever do such a thing no no no no. I felt very heartened that I could manage 60km fairly easily after three weeks off. The possibility of actually doing the Hills O’Doom ride is still hovering in the back of my mind. I’ll decide closer to the time so the Spousal Unit and my doctor don’t have me committed.
Today will be my very first run since the Gold Coast Half. I wonder if I can remember how?

More anon, excessively cheerful types!