But I stayed strong

Yesterday's post was somewhat prophetic on the sleep front.  I went to bed very tired and then I woke a few minutes before my husband's alarm went off at 4.45am (he was going to his swimming squad), so I listened to him get up, get dressed, make himself a coffee and head out the door.  Then I couldn't get back to sleep, with the day ahead's details running through my head. I was still awake at 6.15 when my little girl had to have her blanket put back on. But shortly after I must have falling back to sleep, only to have to get up and get the children ready for school at 7.  So wrecked, and impatiently getting my disorganised children ready for school, I turned into late 'shouty mum'.  And the magic lasted all day long :-(

I can however feel good about making it to the swim centre and doing 40 laps in the same time it took me to do 30 last week.  It was not quite the meditative experience as last week, as I was sharing the pool with some school groups.  They left just the one lane for us and the kids had the other 3.

Anyway the 'staying strong' relates to the thought that I had at around 5.30pm that a glass of wine may have helped my mood.  I was not actually tempted but just thought about it for the first time since starting this kick.  Anyway, as I cooked my super delicious dinner (see photo) and even more so when I finished eating it, the thought passed.

Tomorrow is another day, and with a bit of luck I will get a better nights sleep and tomorrow the children will all be angels.  Angels who will be able to find their school shoes and remember to go to T-Ball Try-Outs after school!

I'm thinking a long walk/run with my dog will be in order.  I need to take a photo at school and supervise a chess class, but besides that the day is mine between 9 and 2.30 at least :-)

Oh, and the neighbours insurance assessor came today and he is going to have the tree taken care of - yeah!  Then will come the drama of the fence replacment ... you can't wait to hear about it!

Getting back in the swim

Like most Aussie kids of my generation, I was taught to swim when I was in the first couple of years of school.  I never thought of myself as being particularly gifted.  My performance at subsequent swimming carnivals during my school years, was at best average and at worst pretty pathetic. My greatest swimming achievement is not drowning as a child despite having a backyard pool and a nasty big brother, swimming in huge surf, dirty dams and local rivers.

Not too long after leaving the school yard, medical practitioners started telling me that swimming was a good activity for me as it was perfect for my dodgy back (I blame genetics and horse riding).  To which I uniformly replied "I don't like swimming".  Simple.  Flash forward 20 or so years, after about a 12km walk with my girlfriends around the local environs, I became crippled by Plantar Fasciitis.  Long story short (if its not long enough already) I got treated, was given orthotics for my trainers and told to swim instead of walk.

So, I found that my Gym employed a fit young man who used to swim for South Africa at the highest levels and trained at the Australian Institute of Sport.  I signed up for three swimming lessons focused on freestyle and away I went!  And guess what?  I LOVE swimming now.  I find just being in the water relaxing.  I find doing laps meditative.  I love the effect that it has on my physique - when I do enough of it.  I still hate all the rigmarole with getting changed and showering and washing and drying my hair after.  But all in all I am a convert.

Having said that, it has been a while since I swam laps due to a minor operation on my shoulder at the end of last year combined with School Holidays and the pesky requirement to supervise my children while at a pool.  BUT today I went to the same swim centre that I have been going to for years with my kids, bought a pass that entitles me to 10 sessions in the pool and jumped in and swam 750m quite happily and I feel FANTASTIC about it.

What is the secret to my success you may ask (besides the aforementioned young South African man).  It is (training aids - which he and my chiropractor recommended).

And following on from yesterday's post, I did get around to ringing my insurer about the large Eucalyptus tree that is lying prone across my fence and yard and was told, among many other interesting tidbits, that if I claim for my destroyed 6 year old $200 trampoline that my premium will go up $110 per year ... fancy that!