Thank Ryvita it's Friday!

Had a pretty good (if not exhausting long) day in London yesterday. Got quite a few bits sorted out at work, and despite the fact it took me three hours to get there (I left home at 6:15 and arrived at 9:15!) I quite enjoyed the trip... plenty of time to stretch out and read lots of crappy celeb mags and drink over-priced coffee on the train! ;-)

At lunch, it was raining, so John and I checked out some of the sales in the shopping centre under Canary Wharf (SO many lovely shops!), and I managed to buy an over sized stripey shirt at a bargain price from Gap... I think it's the old Smiths fan in me that makes me buy stuff like that! Was good to catch up with John and hear about his new house over a coffee in Starbucks....

Last night, went to Robert and Emma's place for dinner. Emma and I did a relatively short, but very fast paced run, whilst Robert cooked us the most delicious roast chicken dinner... he even followed my dietary requests, and I was allowed a little bit of mash rather than a stack of roasties... For some reason Emma and I got the raving giggles, which ended up with us both sobbing on the floor! Poor Robert! How is it that girls can do that?!?!?!?! Who needs booze! What a tonic that was! :-D

Tonight, Mark is taking me out to dinner as a big thank you for looking after him and the house recently, which is rather cute of him! Particularly cute as it is the terribly expensive local restaurant that we are going to! I could get used to being spoilt... Am going to try and resist counting weightwatchers points tonight, although I find it difficult!!!!!! You might have gathered that once on a diet/fitness regime, I can get a *little* obsessive.... understatement! ;-) People who know me well enough, know that it will generally even out somewhere along the line.... although I am terribly focused on meeting my target weight this year. Only 1.5 stone to lose! ;-)

Tomorrow no real plans - have an exercise DVD to do and there is some stuff to do around the house, and we might take in some local museums - too often we both forget what a beautiful and cultural city we live in! Mark has more of an excuse for this as he has lived here his whole life, but I really should be making more effort to see some of it! I need more guests here to encourage me to leave the village and explore!

Sunday am orf to Norwich to check on the house, and visit Annie and Jack and Nikki and Carlos. Hopefully will try and catch up with Mark and Lindsey and possibly Kate... if I get up early enough!

Anyway... back to work.
Lots of love and have a great weekend
Hayls
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Exclusive Footage

Click here for some exclusive footage of me following one of my exercise DVDS... man, those sit-ups really hurt!!! ;-)

Glaswegooooo

Yay! am a happy bunny... I have booked my flights to go up and visit Jen, John, Helena et al in Glasgow in March... really looking forward to it! I have also managed to tie Mark down to a weekend that I can take him away for his 40th birthday, also in March. Have sorted out where I am taking him (a surprise), and just need to make a few arrangements...

Last night we also discussed a few holiday plans; including trips to the Hebrides, Cornwall, sailing on the Broads, and possibly another week on the beach in Cambodia (sorry Jen/Helena!)... but all of this is a little up in the air!

Last night had a good netball match (exhausting but fun!), but the footie was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. I cooked some nice "Cod in Lemon and Dill Crumb" (a variation on a weightwatchers recipe), with butternut squash and carrot mash (God, I love my potato ricer!). Tonight we are having tuna steaks, and am trying to think of something exciting to do with them....

Been for a run at lunch, and intend to do one of the exercise vids at home tonight (I have to do something to take my mind off not drinking alcohol in January!), and tomorrow will be up painfully early to go and sit up a bloody tower in London. Actually, am looking forward to catching up with John and hearing all his 'moving home' news. Tomorrow evening, Noel is over and I am going to have dinner with Robert and Emma, and possibly a run with Emma beforehand!

No rest for the wicked....
Hayls
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Fitness Freaking

Sorry for not blogging for a week... not an awful lot been going on really! Have managed to shed a pretty significant 5lbs this last week (basically the toll from Christmas and the build up), so this is where it starts to get tough. Getting rid of the weight that has been wedged on tight for the last ten months or so! hmm....

The running club is well and truly re-instated at work. Managed to go twice last week, and went for a 3.5 mile run at lunch yesterday too. I have also managed to dig out my old Nell McAndrew "Maximum Impact" DVD, which is a killer! How does that woman manage to look so bloody serene throughout it! she even manages to smile throughout... whilst I am floundering around the front room and groaning in agony. After a couple of sessions of this, I decided to buy the Jade Goody one (don't laugh). I thought I would at least get to see someone looking fatter and sweatier than me?! The trouble is, she doesn't!!!! The cardio section didn't even really make me work up a sweat, and the bloody woman manages to do 30 press ups, whereas I can currently do about five! Darn!!!!! I wonder if Bella Emberg does one?!

Had a nice, if uneventful weekend. Unfortunately, Mark worked... I walked into town in the rain on Saturday, did a spot of sale shopping (bought bedding and a potato ricer?!), and had a cuppa round at Robert and Emma's... in the evening we just chilled out when Mark got home. Sunday, I did the fitness DVD, and Rob and Emma came over. We went to look around Cottenham village, as they are potentially looking to buy a house... they were not awfully impressed... it rained... and we went home. In the evening, again we just settled in front of the fire. Mark has had a stinking cold for days now, and didn't feel like doing anything too lively.

Tonight am back into the breach; netball starts the new season... brrrrrrrrrrrr.... it is SO windy outside, and part of me is wanting to just stay at home. Am sure I will feel more like it when I get there! ;-) Afterwards, might join Mark to go and watch the second half of a local derby football match, and then home to cook the fish I have just bought from our Grimsby fish delivery guy, which is always delicious and very fresh.

Spoke to Jen yesterday. VERY excited about her impending visit in March, and am planning to fly to Glasgow for a couple of days when she is down so that I can meet her little daughter, Helena, which I am REALLY looking forward to. It is just a shame we will not get to spend more time together in her 3 weeks over here... I guess I just have to learn to share her! (well... her in-laws have to rate pretty highly on the "must see" list, but still!... pout).

We have just heard that Andy and Srey Neath in Cambodia are getting married in April, so there is a very vague possibility of a trip there too, finances permitting... very exciting!

Anyway... on with work!
Best wishes
Hayley
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Normality

Whatever that means! :-) Am back at work in a full office, and have just been home to switch on the washing machine... the guests have gone, the Christmas cake is half eaten, and there are only a handful of choccies left! The New Year's resolutions have started in earnest... all is good with the world!

Saturday
Had a lovely weekend with the pares actually. Saturday, we strolled around the village for a bit, and in the evening just fried some fish dad had bought over, had a cheeseboard and then watched some crappy TV... was nice to chill out! I was also pleased that I managed to get a cheap pair of Merell hiking boots in the sale in the village.

Sunday - New Year's Eve
Mark worked so I took Mum and Dad into the city for a bit of a shopping spree. We had quite a successful day. I managed to spend the money Tracy gave me for Xmas on a new Fossil watch. It was just what I was looking for. I also managed to get a load of new bedding for both bedrooms, and some perfume I was after... all in all a good haul.

In the evening, I just cooked and we all stayed in and drunk lots of wine! I did smoked salmon and goat's cheese pate with bruschetta and avocado for starters, tuna steaks with a green peppercorn sauce, minted new potatoes and big old salad for main, and Irish lemon pudding for desert (my speciality!). At my rather stupid request, we watched "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" on DVD... maybe not a good choice of film for watching with your parents! The last time I watched this was around 10-12 years ago, and I had clearly forgotten quite how gruesome it was, how weird ("arty!") it was, and quite how often Helen Mirren get's her kit off and has sex in it... hmmmmmmmmmmm............ After a shaky start (Mum voiced some concerns), they actually go into it! It won't be something I will be pulling out for family viewing again, although it *is* indeed a complete masterpiece.

We watched the AMAZING fireworks on TV at midnight, and saw a bit of Joolsy... all very nice.

Monday - New Year's Day
Again, a very pleasant day, albeit one in which I spent most of the day in the kitchen! Mark's parents came over, and shared lunch with us and my parents... I cooked a cauliflower and cheddar soup with garlic bread, which (although it pains me to say it) was absolutely gorgeous! Mark had planned to go to football with his Dad, but the match had been cancelled due to a soggy pitch... so we all stayed in and watched the recent remake of "Flight of the Phoenix", which was actually superb. Mark's parents went home after "Clash of the Titans" (gotta love that film! The special effects are.... errr........ well.... special!), and I cooked sausage and mash, with rice pudding for desert. Yummy! In the evening we settled down and watched "The Four Feathers", which was kind of ok (major redeeming factor was Heath Ledger, mostly topless!).

Tuesday
Back to work today. Poor old Mark has gone to the funeral for Noel's brother, and Mum and Dad have gone home.... sigh! Not a good start to the New Year for Mark.

On an up note, I have managed to revive the running group (we are going tomorrow - eek!) and have so far stuck to my unrealistic diet and drinking ban.... joy! ;-)

Hope you all had a great new year?
Much love
Hayls
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Happy New Year

Well... last day of work before the New Year. Am really looking forward to it this year, although it is going to be a busy one for me. I have Mum and Dad coming tomorrow (Saturday), and they are staying until Tuesday - so I have three dinners to plan, including a special one for New Year's Eve. It's a bit tricky with Mark being a vegetarian; my parents don't mind fish (Mark will eat fish, thankfully) but I don't think they would want it three nights in a row, which means a bit of juggling the menu for me. Ah well, am sure it will all pan out! ;-)

Yesterday eve turned out quite busy in the end. Did a mercy mission (my last good deed of the year), and took a drive out to Sutton Gault to pick up a 'baby stair gate' which had kindly been donated to me via www.freecycle.org. I had posted a "Wanted" on there for one, because Doug and Angie's dog Molly has had a suspected stroke in the build up to Christmas, and the poor old girl kept falling down the stairs. Freecycle is bloody great (they have them in lots of different areas worldwide). I am in the Cambridge branch, and have found it a blessing. You can issue requests for things, which may or may not be successful, and you can get rid of things you don't want. Things that are too good for the rubbish tip, but too fiddly to sell. We have offloaded an old composting bin and a bookshelf on there, and there are even people who will remove rubble or soil, if they want it for gardening. I think it is a fabulous scheme. The couple that donated the gate were very sweet - they lived in a fairly remote farmyard near Ely, and ran a kennel there for rescue dogs (http://www.poplarfarmkennels.org.uk/). They seemed entirely committed to their cause.

After that, I cooked kedgeree and we headed off to the cinema to see Flags of Our Fathers, which was excellent. It must be difficult to find a new way of shooting war scenes - especially a landing on a beach, but this was really well done. Very sentimental, as is the way with Clint Eastwood directed movies, but excellent and thought provoking nonetheless.

Tonight I am just going to be shopping/cleaning for the grand visit. Not entirely sure where or how to entertain Mum and Dad in the next couple of days (Mark is working), but am sure I will think of something! On New Year's Day, Mark's parents are joining us for lunch, and Mark and his Dad are going to watch the football, so hopefully the weather will hold out for them (and for us - would be nice to get out for a walk and burn off the booze/good food from the night before!).

Today am refining my New Year's resolutions list... it has some firm faves there, and some new ones:

1. Lose weight! An obvious one... ALWAYS looking to lose that stone! This time there will be no fannying around.
2. More exercise... REALLY must get the running club back in order. I was doing SO well, but have been disgustingly lapse since my return from Asia. One of the guys in the office is pushing for a few of us to sign up for a 10k run in Spring, which a few weeks ago would have seemed easy... but at the moment it seems like an insurmountable challenge.
3. Go blonde and grow hair... a new twist on a firm favourite. I like the challenge of trying to turn my now red dyed hair blonde without ending up with a full on ginger hue. Growing my hair has been an aim since the first day I had it cut off, circa 1983. I might compromise and aim for a very short bob...
4. Save some money!
5. Do some voluntary work.. perhaps mentoring for the elderly?
6. No drinking alcohol in January (have done this successfully for the last two years), and maybe cut down for rest of year?! Have cut-down HUGELY since leaving Norwich, but it would be nice to take it a step further.
7. See my friends in Norwich/London/Surrey/Leeds/Bexley-on-sea... generally catch up with ALL those people I have been meaning to catch up with, but never do!

I think that's enough to be going on with for now... ;-) There are a few others we won't go into here... wish me luck!

Hope you all have a fantastic and happy and drunken New Year, and let's look forward to an exciting 2007!!

Much love,
Hayley
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The Egg Came First

Some more fascinating facts from BBC Magazine..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/