Tour Down...Oh my Lorna...Under....

Unless you have been living under a rock (or happen to miss the GIANT BLOWN UP BIKE in Victoria Square. Dead give away!)  you would know that Adelaide roads has literally been taken over by bike riders...lots and lots of bike riders. Some, I must admit, are pretty alright on the eye ;) and some I cheer from the sidelines going YOUR FRICKEN AWESOME! Because lets face it, they may not have the physic of a full blown bike rider but seriously, I give them kudos where kudos is due as they are getting out there and being active! Those hills they ride up, definitely not for the faint hearted!

Now obviously with this take over, it means that there is a lot of Lycra wearing individuals out there. Now Im not against the Lycra, Im sure it has and serves a very good purpose for the sport (particularly if you have a nice bum!) but what I do not get nor does my eyes appreciate is WHITE Lycra. There should be a rule that says that if you plan to ride your bike (GO YOU) and you want to wear the Lycra (again GO YOU), any colour is fine EXCEPT white (or red because I have just seen a very disturbing picture which is not safe for this blog!). Now I know that white has good insulation properties with the sun etc but by golly, seriously....NO. Its like telling a teenager that the skirt she is wearing looks like a belt and is inappropriate. No one wants to see ya bits. Any of it. Regardless of whether your female or male. White Lycra is wrong. 

End of Story.

In other news, by now, you have all probably heard that Mr Lance Armstrong aint the man we all thought he was and he has admitted to Oprah that he is a cheat and he did indeed dope. I personally haven't listened to the whole interview yet (only listened to part 1 yesterday whilst working, part 2 will be listened to today) nor do I actually understand or know the full story as I honestly havent followed it 100%, but to me now, I just dont feel he is completely sincere with his apology and/or am I sure we are still getting the entire truth... 

He WAS an inspirational man and what I cant seem to wrap my brain around is that this man, he had cancer. Cancer that made him loss part of his manhood. Cancer that could have ultimately taken his life. Could it possibly been because of the doping that he got cancer in the first place? (I dont really know whether it could have, so Im happy to be proved wrong!). What continues to baffle me is WHY, once he had recovered and beaten the cancer, would you go back and continued to dope. He was given a second chance at life, he had the chance to right the wrongs and yet, he went back to the wrong. I just dont get it.
 
Tell me, whats your opinion on the whole Lance saga? Do you believe him? Do you think there is a whole other motive for his confession?

PS - I personally believe that this kids bike rocks on! I want one!

She's Alive!!

Ive been AWOL...sorry but just think, Im giving your brains a break from my rants! :P

As you all probably know, two awesome things happened on Friday. Firstly, I got accepted into the uni course I wanted to do (Bachelor of Science - Health Promotion through Curtin Uni in WA via distance education) which means my life just became no life. The second is that I FINALLY FOUND A DRESS!! I can all hear you sighing "thank lornas, she wont whinge about it anymore" haha.

This is what it looks like. Its a Karen Millen dress:

So now to find some bright shoes and a clutch to match. I think Pink maybe the colour of choice but we will see. 

The weekend has been busy-ish but mainly for hubby ninja. We went up to our friends place on Saturday so he could help my friend do some reno work on his house...I however made friends with my pillow. For the last 5 days, I have had this persistent headache. Panadol doesnt seem to want to touch it. It come and goes as a full blown headache and yesterday afternoon I gave in and went back to bed for a few hours. As I type this, I can feel the dull headache getting angry again. So this post may not be very long. 

As such, no exercise has happened this weekend. I was meant to go for a run yesterday morning but the thought honestly made me want to bring up my dinner from the night before and I took it as a sign to take it easy and continue to hydrate and nap if I could. I have a dr appt on Monday morning so will ask him what he thinks. 

When we left my friends this morning, we got caught in the "Ride like Crazy" ride. I totally give kudos to the riders who had to pump those legs getting up some of those hills. It definitely looked like a ride not for the faint hearted. I could see the relief on their face as they come down the other side of a hill and said to Hubby, that it would be that relief and buzz as you come down the other side that would makes me push to the top. Cycling is never something I have tried besides RPM (which doesnt really count). Maybe one day, might need to add that to my list!

Today I had to put on my big girl panties and go to my pops 80th birthday (my darling sister who I dont talk, to was to be in attendance). I had organised most of it from the, invites and place cards, balloons etc and regardless of how I felt, I dragged my sorry self and put on a big smile. After all it was his day. All went went besides the fact my sister refused to talk to me. 

There was an overweight (and I mean very very large) 1 year old. I bite my tongue. Hubby Ninja read my mind and knew. Im glad we are on the same page on this topic. I wont rant about this today, but you all know my thoughts. 

After lunch, Hubby Ninja took me to a BIG W so I could purchase some much needed sports socks and for me to see if they had the Mish Bridges One Active Weight Bar! SUCCESS!! 

I also bought a new book called "the 20/20 diet" by Lola Berry who is a Leading Australian Nutritionist. Ive read some of Lola's stuff recently online (http://lolaberry.com/) and was going to buy her book off the inter webs, but it seems they have released it at Big W. Ill give you my review once Ive read it. 

So hows your weekend been? What did you get up to?

Fakes sites and forgetful brains...

Before I start I have to share this. I literally laughed out loud and had tears....

Oh my Lorna, So funny and its seriously legit! If you want one (I will laugh btw if you do), you can get from catchoftheday.com.au for $39.95 plus postage. Hilarious!

So the hunt for a dress continues. I thought I found one last night. It was a Karen Millen dress. I was in love:

I know, its black. Mother Hen Ninja was none to impressed with the colour choice but there honestly was no other colour except red (and it takes a very special someone to pull red off and I aint that special person!). But alas it was not meant to be. Upon my investigating ninja skills, I discovered that the site (and many others) were fakes. I looked on the actual Karen Millen site, both here and in UK and they dont have it. :( Im all saddy pants and yes Nerdy Ninja, Im pouting. haha. 

So the hunt continues. 

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to have funky nails. I dont do normal french nails often (and when I have, my boss tells me to go "funky" them up coz its not normal for me! haha) so Im also on the look out to get some gel nail polish. My Ninja-father's girlfriend gave me her UV lamp as she doesnt use it, so trying to workout what the best option is (as there are many and some dodgy ones to!). I have to visit David Jones today (and maybe visit Mac Ninja if she is around) to see if they have the OPI Gel as Ive heard good things about it. My current nail salon uses gelish and Im a bit hesitate because it doesnt seem to last the two weeks as advertised (or it could be the way they apply it, Im not sure). 

Today is also the day I find out if I got accepted into the Health Promotion course at Uni. Id be able to tell you right now if I did, however I seem to have forgotten my login number (its in my other handbag!) Gah. Ill keep you posted.

Hope you all have a lovely day. It is going to be a hot one in Adelaide today (42 gah!) so make sure you stay hydrated!!! I will with Lorna :P

**UPDATE** 

I GOT INTO UNI!!! WOHOO!!!

Scales, dresses and tantrums...OH MY!

Today has not started out very well at all. I left my coffee on the bench at home but thats not what started it.

Jumped on scales this morning for the WWW. After being really good and working out 5 times last week I was rewarded with a measly 100g loss. WTF body WTF! This round has definitely NOT been my round and more than once have I wanted to ditch the scales across the room and watch it smash to smithereens. According to the tape measure Ive lost CMs in this round so one would say I should be happy with that. Im not. My goal is 70kg and under. Im still bloody 5.8kg away from it and even though it doesnt seem like much, it feels like eternity til I reach it! 

I know I can get there. I have to be persistant. 

Right now, right in this minute, I lack the positive attitude I normally have. Im at a loss. 

Well at least its a loss somewhere right?

Last night I went for another run which is kind of an accomplishment. I said to myself JFDI. My hip is a itsy bit sore but not feeling to bad. See how the rest of the day goes.

Also been looking at dresses....lots and lots of dresses....and Im still yet to find one for finale. At this rate Im going in a glammed up garbage bag with glittery heels. Dont think Im joking either! Im running out of time to buy one online and stores are just full of crap. I didnt think it would be hard to find a dress thats knee length, shows a bit of the girls and not look like a fluffy bit of fabric. 

Boy was I wrong. Online is like Im looking for a dress to go to a gypsy wedding and the stores have dresses which are so short, one would think I forgot the dress part all together and am wearing a wide belt. 

Exhibit A ('I-killed-a-bird' look)

 

Dont get me wrong, I have found some nice ones, but not in my size and I have been told by mother hen ninja that I must venture outside the square and go for another colour other than BLACK! 

This is when I believe if Lorna made cocktail dresses, I would not be in this dilemma. The decision would be easy! I think it maybe time to write her a letter and make the suggestion :)

So tell me, have you found a dress? Where did you get yours from?

Oh Lorna, she is on her soapbox again...

So I have a few pet peeves. Most are very generic, for example - liers, backstabbers, people who wear FRESH make up to the gym (seriously who the hell are they kidding?), stupid people, arrogant people, uneducated people who think they have a right to an opinion when they dont know the facts (okay Ill stop there coz that will just take me onto a whole other rant about FIL1). You get my drift. But my biggest pet peeve is overweight/obese children/babies (and not just because of biggest loser USA, although this has probably just fueled me more so lately) and its also another reason why I want to do Health Promotion at Uni.

Yes yes, I know Im probably gonna open up a massive can of worms. So sue me. Actually dont, heard the term, you cant get blood from a stone? yeah well that would be me. 

Anyways, last night when walking the doggies, a mother and her children got out the car. Said woman was not a small lady, she was rather large. Next came the daughter, who I dare say was no more than 6 years....very large....and her two sons, on the edge of being big. Did I judge the mother? Yep I did. I went there and I totally had to restrain myself from going all Jillian Michaels on her arse.

What gets to me more than this, is toddlers who look like mini sumos. Don't bother giving me the excuse, oh but that is just baby fat, they will grow out of it. There is "baby fat" people and than there is setting the child up for a host of long life problems and Im not just talking about the self esteem or confidence issues, Im talking REAL life long problems like coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, knee and hip problems, sleep apnoea....shall I go on?  

According to the Bureau of Stats in Australia, in 2007-2008, around 600k children (1 quarter of children) between the ages of 5-17 were overweight or obese which was up by 4% from 1995. Wowzers! Other studies as well have shown that once these children become obese, they are likely to stay like this into adulthood and increase their chances of having the real life long problems which I mentioned above. Just keep in mind as well, this doesnt include those between the ages of 1-5 years old either.

So why are these children obese...ultimately its the lifestyle thats been created for them and the convenience of high fat, high sugar products which line our supermarkets but at the end of the day, I think some parents have become lazy in the high speed lives we all live. What ever happened to the days when McDonalds/KFC etc where a TREAT and not a staple menu item?

Now I know, Im not a parent myself, so some of you are probably thinking, now come on Sensai, you havent lived a day in my life and you know, you are right, however, what I have learnt from seeing some parents like the mother and daughter combo yesterday, is that I will not allow my child (coz when I do have one, its only gonna be one!) to consume high levels of over produced products and they will be encouraged to be active and not sit hours on end in front of the TV or computer. They will be encouraged to do dance, football etc and I will support them to be active. I will not pacify my child with lollies and junk. 

And whatever you do, dont say to me, oh but clean foods like fruit and veg are more expensive that the convenience food because my retort to this...so how much are your medical bills? Or dont give me the excuse, oh by little Jonny or Sally cracks if I dont give them what they want....Ummm your are the parent and adult (do I need to give you examples of today's society and how rude teenagers are now because parents were trying to be friends with their child and not the parent?)

At the end of the day, the lifestyle any child lives, is the sole responsibility of the parent, particularly at the small age where they are unable to defend themselves or know right from wrong. What they put in their mouth is not something they have chosen and is the decision of the adult. Just because it tastes awesome and makes you happy when you eat it, does not mean its good for you or your child? If your eating too because you think it makes you happy...well thats another can of worms for another day.

DISCLAIMER: I am no expert nor am I saying that what I have written is gospel. Its just my own opinion and I understand that others may not share my opinion. I understand that there are many facets to this issue (eg marketing etc). Ultimately at the end of the day, we all have a choice. 

Okay, who stole the weekend?

Where the hell did the weekend go? Im back at work at 730am in the morning and right now my keyboard looks like an awesome pillow. Im exhausted and Im just outrightly annoyed and the day hasnt even started.

The weekend was consumed mainly by being at the in-laws, having petty arguments with the in-laws (over organic milk - see facebook for my rant on this lovely bit of story) and than yesterday doing sweet FA whilst the boys ripped the roof out of my friends place. Some would ask, why are you so exhausted than, you werent in the roof. Honestly, I just dont know why Im tired. Maybe my irons low again (note to self, get more iron tablets) or maybe Im just being emotional coz Im female and I can? Maybe Ill blame the moon. Damn Moon. 

Saturday saw me walking up lofty again (and not getting lost getting there!!) with some lovely ninjas from 12wbt. I got to meet some new faces and hear their stories. Made it to the top in 59mins 48secs which is 3mins better than last time. It was a considerable amount cooler and WINDY at the top. I did however look a lot more relaxed at the top this time and not so dead.

 

I also have to admit I wasnt slugged with the terrible DOMS like the first time, maybe because I stretched and also hydrated constantly on the walk, plus I also walked another 3km in the afternoon to my MIL's neighbours place to help them with their daughters new ipod (*shudder* sometimes the knowledge I have is not worth having!!!!). I did however get to meet her doggies. She breeds wirey coat Jack Russells and I think I fell in love....

How adorable are they! They have so much personality as well!!! Maybe a new member to add to the hobby farm when we move there?? Must convince Hubby Ninja. 

In the evening, FIL1 and I went into the paddocks to check on the alpacas. A few females are due any day now. I had one particular alpaca (dark one pictured below) come right up to me and literally kiss me on the cheek! So beautiful! love these creatures! Also pictured below, you will see a brown one, look at her belly...yes thats not normal and yes thats a baby trying to move into position we think!! Simply amazing!

My two alpacas were in another paddock far from the house, so I couldnt get to them to get photos. Once I do get photos, Ill show you. Their names are Ralph and Fred :) Both are runts but I always have had a soft spot for the under dog! 

So all up, exercise wise, things have been good. Food wise has been good to until last night when dinner was a blow out but considering I didnt have a treat night saturday, Im not really beating myself up over it. I managed to sway the in-laws to not have their "alpaca mince" stuffed capsicums by buying some nice Enzo's pasta and sauce for tea on Saturday night. 

So tell me, how was your weekend?

Way up the hillside, greener grows the grass....

Posts will be short and if they don't make complete sense it's coz I'm on my tablet pc. I cannot type quick on it and lose my thoughts before I've got the first word typed.

I'm at the farm escaping the concrete jungle. Its so peaceful up here but I'm sure it will prove to have a tale or two. I've already been told they are having stuffed capsicums for tea tomorrow night....with alpaca mince... yep you read that right....I said I'll organise our tea separate.

Today has been boring really oh except my trip to heaven to pick up my new water bottle. I'll take a pic tomorrow. It's perdy.

Got an early morning tomorrow as some of us Ninjas march up lofty! Should prove to be another sore week but it's worth it! Be great to see everyone! I'm gonna call it a night i reckon!

What are your plans for the weekend?