I have almost been back at work for three weeks, long enough to work through the phases of denial, depression and acceptance that I do actually have to work for a living and might as well just get on with it. I did ease myself back in, namely by taking a long weekend that turned the first two weeks back at work in to four-day blurs that seemed to slip away quite satisfactorily.
My Christmas break was unique (I suppose they all are), because of the sheer weight of activity that it involved. This might sound like we took day and weekend trips, visited multipel tourist attractions and enjoyed the companionship that only comes from spending quality time with one’s family. What crap. For the first time I can remember I lost weight over my Christmas break……6kg in fact……by virtue of two things: two karate lessons a week and persistent physical strain from projects around the house. Do you remember that nice view from my place? It came with a hill…..and pushing wheelbarrows of sand up that hill was funny for about five minutes. With the pool, the base for the water tank and various other things I went up and down that hill enough times for anyone’s lifetime. The upside? Well, I needed to lose the weight, and the pool is fantastic.
Thank goodness we paid someone to put this together.
The results, I have to say, are great so far. The kids (and Beloved K and I) are loving the pool. We’re in it nearly every day, and it makes a real difference when you’re feeling too hot or just had a rough, wearying day.
Child S lets us know just how much fun it is in the pool.
Child A can see clearly now the water is not in her eyes.
The karate lessons have been interesting, and I feel like I’ll stick to them this time. The feeling at the dojo is welcoming, and I will have my first belt grading test in about three weeks. I think part of the secret is I’m not just doing it for exercise/weight loss. I love it the most because Child A and I do classes together, and having done it for five years she is much more advanced than I am and can (and does) tell me everything I’m doing wrong…..great father/daughter time. I’ve continued keep reasonably healthy, watching what I eat, walking the dog in the mornings (a couple of times a week, anyway) and doing the karate classes. I also gave up beer for February which, apart from the temtpation repeatedly (and deliberately) offered by my neighbours each weekend, has been pretty easy. And no, I haven’t just switched to an equivalent amount of wine! In all I’m down by 8kg, the belt has come in two notches and my size 43 business shirts fit again.
Musical update – I still can’t sing a note, but Child A is in her high school’s concert band number two, and Child S has had his first two viola lessons. I could give you the inside view on Child A’s venture into secondary education, but I think that’s a whole separate post. I wonder when that will happen!
Cheerio!
