Satisfaction

Life is good ... things are still working out well with my four days on, four days off and commuting back and forth between Auckland and Waihi Beach. I find by my last shift on I'm getting pretty tired but recover pretty quickly on my days off. The first day I have a couple of hours sleep in the morning before I leave Auckland, travel to Waihi Beach and keep myself awake and go to bed early, have a good 12hrs sleep and wake up feeling pretty good.

It's bliss having the four days off and I'm finding I'm spending some really good time with Bill and the kids.

The flat in Auckland is still going well. We are all (3 of us) working pretty long hours so we all don't see a huge amount of each other. Infact sometimes I might go 3 days without seeing anyone, quite bizarre. But when we are all together there for dinner we have quite a good social catchup. I think it helps that we're all a bit older in age group and maybe a bit wiser and past the whole 'party mode' era.

My weight has stabalised at the moment and I've stayed the same (102kgs) for the past 3wks give or take 100g. So I'm happy with that.

Got a few more things to catch up on here in Waihi before I head back to the big smoke tomorrow.

I certainly can't complain about anything ... Life is good!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

OHHH MY WEEK JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!!!

Official weighin today .... At 5.50am getting up and ready for ambo duty today I hoped on the scales and my eyes jumped out of my scull like a cartoon character!!!

99.8kg!!!!!!

Can you believe it???? I'm struggling to .... I'M IN DOUBLE DIGITS!!!! FINALLY!!! After 18mths I'm finally under 100kgs!!! Ohhhhh those numbers looked so beautiful today!! I was dancing round the room singing 99.8 ... I'm 99.8 ... 99.8 ... I'm 99.8!!! While Bill trying to sleep grumbled at me ... I didn't care ... I'm 99.8!!!!

So in one week I lost 5kgs!!!!! exactly!! 104.8kg I was last Thursday. I've never lost that much weight in one week!!!! Shows what complete determination can achieve!!! And this is the most determined I've EVER been to lose weight!

And to top it off I was talking to the First Aid tutor here at the station this morning who lives in Auckland (there's a First Aid course being held at the station today) and we got talking about my Auckland application and she said if you need a place to stay on your days up there come stay with us. Absolutely perfect!!! She's with St Johns so she understands my work, they're a retired couple (so no late night parties to keep me awake) with no kids at home in a 4 bedroom house and they both work during the day (so I can sleep when I need to after night shift) and they were looking for a border!!! I can't believe it!! Fantastic!! Ohh and she's on a weightloss program too so no temptations!! She just has to go home to talk it over with hubby but she said she thinks it will work out perfectly!!! And she's a sweetie!!!

Ohhhh this is all just perfect!!!!! Doin the 90's girl jig today I tell ya!!!

Happier than a cat with 10 fish!!!

I was shocked to see a weight of 101.1kgs on the scales this morning ... I stood in stunned silence for a moment. My weight has been the same all week (if not slightly up) and thought I was going to have another 100g pathetic loss like last week ... but no!!! 

1.6kgs gone!!! And that means .......

... I'VE LOST 20KGS!!! Yabba Dabba dooooooo!!!!

No make that 21.5kgs I've lost!!! *big grins*

Sooo ... you know what else that means???  A new photo (finally) to put on my blog ...

Before ...

20kgs gone ...

Don't really like to skite but there's no one else I can skite to, so sorry guys ... I'm quite chuffed even if I do say so myself!!!

Hmmm ... now which charm to choose!!

The weighting game ...

Spent the day getting a warrant of fitness and service for my ambulance today. It took 11hrs!!! I ended up doing a milk run on the way back dropping off this and that, picking up this and that ... 7.30pm tonight I finally got home!!

Had a cool little moment at Ambulance Head Quarters ... the Paramedic that helped me on the spinal job I did last week walked in (without me noticing) and said in a loud voice to everyone "Ahhh, here's the best ambulance officer in Waihi Beach!!!" I smiled and chuckled quietly. Very 'feel cool moment'

Had an all time low weight on the scales this morning ... who knows what tomorrows weighin will bring. I've been OP all week but yesterday the scales were up 1.5kgs and today all time low. Hopefully they will stay low, but really don't know.

The Regional Support Officer came to the station the other day (my station managers boss) and said he'd heard about my job application and said I needed another patch on my arm before I could be considered for any job. He asked me if I was still enrolled to do 'nat cert' (next qualification) to which I replied yes. And he said "well wait until you've done that and then you can look at getting a paid position". At first I was pissed off but after thinking a bit about his response, took it as a compliment. Basically he said in short ... it's nothing against me 'when' I don't get the job, but it's purely that I don't have enough qualifications. I've since been told that St John has signed a contract with the DHB (district health board) that they will have an AO (ambulance officer qualification - 1 level above me) on every ambulance. Hence why they asked for that level in the job vacancy advert.

So at the end of the day I would love to prove him wrong and get the job, but won't take it personally if I don't get it. Simple case of wait and see what happens ... much like the scale results tomorrow ...

This could have been me ...

20kgs lost in 52weeks makes an average of just under 400g a week. The weeks I've had a 400g loss sometimes I've been disappointed. Yet if I look at the wider picture ...

Having a small loss is only half of the celebration. Over 15mths I put on 50kgs!! That's an average of just under 800g gain each week ... every week for 64 weeks. Very possible to do if you don't care about your body.

So ... a 400g loss is not just a 400g loss but a potential saving of 1.2kg if I hadn't been watching what I ate!

I think sometimes we focus too little on the huge achievement of what NOT putting weight on is. That's a victory in itself and a very commendable one!! I hear people getting down on themselves because they have gone up and down over a year and maybe only lost a couple of kilos for that year ... but it's not just a couple of kilos that they lost ... it's a potential saving of putting on 40 odd kilos PLUS losing a few on top!!

And to think in the future ... if only we could do this (yet sometimes I think not). 20kgs gone this year (well I'm talking positive here that I'll make my mini goal in 3wks) then another 20kgs gone next year ... that will make me only 82.6kgs!! Ohh baby that figure looks fantastic!!

AND ... to think in a year if I hadn't restarted this journey I could quite possibly be (by going off the average weight I was putting on) by the end of next year ... scary figure ... 206kgs!!!! Hard to believe isn't it??? The picture above is a before photo of someone who was 206kgs.

OH MY GOD that is the biggest lightbulb moment I've had for a long time!!

Feels so good to be moving in the right direction no matter how slowly!!!

Almost 4hrs late!

The family and I went to a potluck bbq last night along with about 20 others. It started at 5pm so me and the kids went along first with Bill following after 7pm. I was still on duty till 7pm so had to go in uniform.

I'd only been there about 20mins when sure enough the pager went off. So I had to run out the door leaving my poor friend to babysit my kids till I got back or Bill arrived. I let them know I should be back in around an hour.

I got back from my job just after 7pm and was sitting in the ambulance filling about paperwork. Wrote the form out that says I'm taking the truck off the road and just about the make the phone call (now 7.20pm when my shift finished at 7pm) ... and couldn't believe it ... beep, beep, beep!! Bloody Sabastian (the COMMs operater for our area) had dropped another job on me! I was never gonna make it to the potluck dinner.

8.20pm I finished that job and the first thing to do when I got back in the ambulance ... ring that rascal Sabastian and tell him MY SHIFT IS OVER!! lol And what do I find?? No reception on my mobile ... unbelieveable! So no paperwork finishing off just yet, off I drove back home and as soon as I found mobile coverage I pulled the ambulance over on the side of the road to take me off. I told Sabastian he was cunning and dropped another job on me before I could take it off the road. He laughed an evil laugh in reply. Cheeky bugger!!

So I walked in the bbq at 8.45pm ... almost 4hrs late!! The good side was that by the time I got there people had stopped eating the nibbles (chips and dip, cheese and crackers) and made it easier for me to resist them. Not one eaten! Dinner I just had the salads, corn cob and grilled courgettes. No meat. A friend saw me writing something on my hand and I told her it was my points for dinner and one stroke for every bourben I have. She couldn't believe that even on a night out I still count points. Sure! I have a very bad habit of having a couple of drinks and forgetting what I eat or drink afterwards. This way I didn't forget.

And this morning on writing in my points on my tracker I was spot on ... with 0.5pt to spare even ... wahoo!!

Happy Birthday Malachi!

It was Malachi's birthday today ... yep all our yearly events happen in about 6wks of the year! We had a mum and son day out together, just the two of us.

We took a drive down to Bayfair shopping mall in Mount Maunganui and checked out the gaming store where he got to choose his playstation games for his birthday present. Some 'buzz' games which we're gonna play together as a family tonight. We then shopped for some new clothes and shoes for him.

Met his grandma and grandad for lunch and then I checked out a jewellery shop for my pandora bracelet... yep I got it!! And three little charms, one for every 5kgs I lost so far!

Tonight we having Malachi's chosen dinner and then chocolate birthday cake (of course just a sliver for me)

Thankyou for your wonderful comments. I need to have my little tantrum every now and then. Very proud of myself for staying on track regardless of my mindset of the day.

Very nice day!!! And my boy is ten years old, wow time goes by fast!

Dinner for two ...

Nona ... you asked how the hare is doing?? In his words he is 'shattered, knackered and not really focussed on weightloss at the moment'. We both at the stage now of dreading getting up to do it all over again each day. We work hard and feel proud of our achievements at the end of the day, but getting to be a bit like groundhog day. But summer is short and we have to make hay while the sun shines.

There's been a few special moments interjected to keep our spirits up. Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary. We were ushered outside to sit on the deck by our two oldest (12yrs and 9yrs) at 6pm and told not to come inside till allowed.

We were signalled to come back inside to a candlelit dinner in the lounge with spaghetti bolognaise and a glass of wine served. The first evening meal they have ever made for us and was all organised by them. They even went to the butchers to get the meat! It was so nice to have our kids old enough to do special things like that for us.

As we sat down to eat they took the two younger ones into the bedroom to eat their dinner (that they'd cooked) and give us some adult time with no kids. They then put themselves to bed at 8pm and we sat and chatted, sipping on our drinks.

Delightful evening!! Special kids that I have!

I also got my birthday present from Bill yesterday, a couple days late but that's ok. A voucher for 3mths personal trainer sessions. I've never had a personal trainer before and feel quite nervous about it. This guy looks over your whole diet and exercise so hopefully he's ww friendly! lol. This time round I haven't done a lot of exercise but I'm sure that's the next step to take and this will be a good incentive to get me kickstarted. I'm excited and nervous all in one. Great idea of Bill's, one that I'd never have thought of myself! Impressive!

Weighin tomorrow and really don't know how it will go. I've been on points for the week but TOTM arrived a few days ago so the old bloated feeling is hanging around, as usual. I'll see tomorrow I guess!

It's my day to do what I wanna ...

Back in blogland again. Things were definately hectic with the busiest summer we have had yet (in 4yrs). And our wages bill was half what it was other years so definately a good profit made. Now just have to spin it out over the winter time, that's the tricky part.

My waistline took an expansion as expected with a 1.6kg gain over the two weeks. But hey that's ok, I've dealt with it well and back on track again, so it will be off in no time.

The other little bit of news ... It's my birthday today!! yay me!!

Bill asked me a few days ago what I wanted to do for my special day

Dinner out? No too expensive if we take the kids and too hard to get a babysitter and besides I'm on ambo duty tonight so don't fancy sitting in a candlelit environment in my uniform and the pager going off and having to leave Bill with two half eaten meals.

Dinner at home with a bottle of wine? No, like I said I'm on duty (yep I didn't plan that one too well did I?)

Appointment to a hairdresser? No not really my way of spending a special day, sitting looking at a mirror with ugly flaps of silver foil.

Shopping trip to Tauranga? Nah. Dress shopping doesn't do it for me yet, not till I've lost a few more kgs.

Trip to a day spa?? Heck no! Having some skinny dropdead gorgous lady analyse my rolls?? Don't think so!!

So Bill was at a loss as to what to do ... I said in a small wee voice ... "There is something ..." Yeah? What? ...

A day on ambulance duty ... What??!!!? lol Yep! But a duty where I'm third man, goafer, no decisions to make ... just enjoy the day for what it is without the stress of having to train someone new ... so that's what I'm doing ...

I've put myself on with two competent officers as an observer ... hahaha!! And I put my shift as starting at 8am (not 6am like normal) and finishing at 3pm (not 6pm). Ok so you can officially say I'm addicted, if that's my choice for a birthday treat!! And treat it will be!!

The day has started off lovely already with my two eldest making me banana on fruit bread for breakfast ... they wanted to make me a full course cooked breakie but given my points limit we compromised with fruit bread. Awww ... the sweeties!!

So I'm going to make a fun day of it!! After all it's only once a year I get my own way and do what I want to do!

Dis Santa's doin da boogie!!

Shhh!! I'm whispering this so Bill doesn't hear ... but ... guess what????


I AM LIGHTER THAN BILL!!! I AM OFFICIALLY IN THE LEAD!!! Whoop whoop!!! What a wonderful christmas present to myself!! Ohhhhhh yeeeaah!!!!! 1.3kgs I lost this week!!

I thought when I had a stay the same last week that hopefully the fluid would be gone this week, giving me a double whammy loss today!!

Unfortunately (and I'll say this real quick) Bill had a little itty bitty gain. And while I feel empathy for him, he's been cheating so nahhh I don't feel sorry for him. heheh!

And it's been a verryy loooooooong time since I've been lighter than him.

This brings my total to 18kgs lost and now have under 40kg to lose... woah still a long way to go but feeling good and confident I can make it.

Let's just hope I don't stuff it up over Christmas!! If I don't get a chance to say it ... hope you all have a fantastic Christmas!! Relax and don't stress!!!

Awww thankyou

Not a lot has happened over the weekend ..ooooh ... other than having two compliments given to me in two different parts of my world.

The first came from another retail owner in the street. She asked me if I'd lost more weight because it's really showing. Infact the other compliment that came today from another ambulance officer said the same thing.

I said "Yes I have actually, thankyou for noticing". It's always hard to know how to respond to compliments like that, but I think I handled it well.

I remember someone telling me the first time round that people don't start commenting until you've lost around 15% of your start weight. It's very true. 15% for me is 18.4kgs lost ... so a little earlier than usual, but hey I'm not complaining!! Always makes one feel more motivated when others give positive feedback.

Slow and steady ...

It's official!! Bill and I are having a race to lose weight!

For the last 18mths I've been heavier than Bill ... alot heavier ... 20kgs heavier. And slowly bit by bit I've been catching him up (or down should I say). I am now only a couple kilos heavier than him. Me at 107.7kgs and Bill at 105.6kgs.

So the race is on ... first to 90kgs wins!!

Even tho I'm 2kgs behind him I know I can do this! Bill is a classic hare ... starting with a bang and he'll lose it fast, 2-3kgs a week. That is, while it lasts! He won't hold out tho, he doesn't have the stick ability like I do. He'll flake out half way there and lie down for a nana nap! I know it! hehe!!

While I, the tortoise on the other hand, will plod away slowly bit by bit and pass him 5mtrs before the finishline! Watch me baby, I'll win ... no worries!!

He wanted to give me a helping hand by making it a percentage thing like on biggest loser ... but no way ... I don't need no helping hand. That's just to make his ego feel better when he doesn't win! lol

I was all inspired to go for a walk tonight after reading Chris and Janene's blog. But dinnertime came round too quickly and I just ran out of time. But after dinner I made the suggestion to Bill that we go out as a family for a walk and he jumped at the idea so off we went to walk around the Martha Mine and Pumphouse in Waihi.

We got there at 7.20pm and as we came to the entry gates by our car at 7.45pm the gates were locked!! So we had to walk back to the other entrance. We walked quick smart hoping that gate wasn't locked too or we might be spending the night sleeping under a tree. As we got there the guy was just about to put the lock on the gate... phew! Lucky! It turned our 20 minute walk into a 45 minute one, so that's gotta be good. And my ankle held out good, well onto being fully mended.

So the next thing to do ... choose my prize. My reward for winning our race to 90kgs. We've made the prize something worth $200. It's not allowed to just be money, so I have to think of something cool worth that much ... Any ideas?? I need to seriously think about this, after all, the prize will be MINE!! :)

This woman can fish

We all went out as a family today for a stint of fishing off the rocks. It was my first expedition on rough terrain since my surgery. And I'm pleased to say my ankle did really well. Can't say much for the fish tho! We lost about $14 in snagged hooks, broken lines and lost bait with not one fish caught. After an hour we gave up and Bill raced home and got the kayak and we spent the time kayaking in the bay and playing cricket on the beach.

Came home looking a little like Santa with rosy cheeks. It was good to get out on a Sunday. Normally I sit at home and get housework done and watch a bit of telly. Problem with that is I get bored and eat too much. I still ate quite a bit today but went for cherry tomatoes and strawberries which kept my points down.

I have a couple of points left now that I've finished dinner so might end the night with some more strawberries and ww icecream.

Shmokin!!

My great aunty (aged 82yrs) sadly died on Sunday so today I travelled down with my sister and brother in law to New Plymouth for her funeral. Was good catching up on all our news. It was our first proper catchup (other than phone calls and txts) since the funeral of her boys 3mths ago. Wow, can't believe how quickly time has flown by! My bro in law couldn't believe how much two chicks could talk ... continuously for the 3hr trip there and back ... hey we had a lot to catch up on!

I am SO back on track it's fantastic ... I'm on fire again ... finally!! Been months since I was excited about losing weight. I started off the day with a light brekkie (choc up & go 1pt) to allow for those funeral 'must eats to fit in and fill in time' foods while politely sipping tea and telling all the other great aunties how well we are doing ... my favourite scenario ... NOT! Don't get me wrong I love them all but repeating the same thing over and over is not my cup of tea.

Anyway, backtracking a bit ... calling into a cafe for lunch I had everything under control seeing a 'lightly seared scallops served on a lettuce salad' choice on the menu. I reiterated to the waitress (very politely of course) that I needed the scallops cooked in as little oil as possible. She assured me that wouldn't be a problem ... ehemm ... on receiving our lunch (40mins later!!) it was DRIPPING WITH OIL!! Not just the scallops but the 'salad' (bowl of lettuce with a few slices of tomato) was dripping so much that the lettuce had gone see-through!! Yuck!! I ate the scallops and a quarter of the lettuce and left the rest! But it was marginally better than my sisters lunch ... a chicken fillet burger with the fillet still RAW in the middle!!! (she put it down as soon as she realised).

The funeral was very sweet, she lived a wonderful fulfilled life and was a dag of a lady!!! I did very well at the funeral with all the food around me to temp me considering my growling tummy!! I consumed only 3 mini club sandwiches.

Then on the way home had a vege salad (no cheese) and lamb 6inch sub ... yummo!! All fitting in my points for the day ... ohhh and I tried the new 'fling' choc bar ... boy oh boy are they good!!! And only 3.5pts for the whole thing or 2pts for 1 of the twin bars. Quite low in points ... but dangerous!!!




For those of you wondering how my foot is going ... here's a pic ...


I meet with the surgeon tomorrow to check how it's going. I'm secretly hoping he'll give me clearance to go back on the ambulance. Infact I have my hopes set so high, I'm taking my uniform in the car and if I get the go ahead will go onto duty after the 10.15am appointment ... fingers crossed!!

I need to bottle this mojo ... or even better find the recipe, and give it out to everybody!!!

Just what the doctor ordered!

I got the sweetest phone call from Lynise on Monday to say she was kidnapping me for the day on Wednesday and taking me to her hairdresser to get rid of the greys I mentioned in my blog. I was blown away and it was the best thing I needed!!

So at 10am she picked me up and off we went. I nervously walked in to her hairdressor and had to admit that my haircut was home done. How embarrasing but she was lovely about it.

We discussed what colour I wanted and I told her something bright and 'punkish'! (delayed teenage rebellion coming out in me). "Cool! We'll have some fun" she said.



It was so nice having a hairdressor actually listen to me and not talk me out of something radical. We decided on a bright red, blonde with a dark brown base.

As she was washing the colour out she made a comment about it being VERY BRIGHT! As I took a look in the mirror I told her I LOVED IT! A look of relief come over her face followed by a big smile.



I got her to 'trim' up the mistakes and I had to chuckle as she commented how tricky it was to trim something that 'had no rules'.



Then she proceeded to get out the hairdryer!! I exclaimed "are you going to blowdry my hair?". She saw the look of horror on my face and asked "Oh don't you blowdry your hair?" Ohhh nooo!! Me and the hairdryer don't see eye to eye! lol but told her to go ahead anyway.

After a few moments she realised what I was talking about. "ohh I see what you mean" lol. A bit more product later and it was fine.

Taa Daa!!!








Lynise and I then went for a coffee and bite to eat at a cafe down the road. I suddenly realised my unusual haircut wasn't so unusual. In the few hours at the cafe I saw 3 people with the same haircut!! lol

We had a great catchup and talked the hours away!

Thankyou so much Lynise!! What a godsend you are!!!

Does my butt look big in this??

I'm leaving for conference in just over 24hrs!!! Wahooo!!!

I won a grant to attend "Traumed" in Whangarei for 3 days! 10 people over Hauraki/Coromandal region (st johns) were chosen and wahoooooo ... they picked me as one of them.

What is Traumed?? It's a conference on Emergency Trauma Care attended by all sorts of professions in the health industry like ED Doctors, nurses, ambulance officers, surgeons ... you name it. So I'm going to be surrounded by some very experienced peps!! Time to act like I know somethin!! lol

On the Saturday night they have a dress up nite in which we're supposed to go to the theme "Saturday night at the movies" ... what the heck does that mean?? After much debate the four of us going in the same car decided it meant "1960's - Rock 'n Roll" ... So I managed to get some stuff together to go as "the Fonze" from Happy Days.

Then this morning I got a letter in the post from St Johns explaining about the conference, including the 'saturday night at the movies theme' ... go as your favourite movie charactor! Ohhh nooo ... so a quick call to my station manager (who is also going) and an executive decision was made ... we're going as ... wait for it ... THE TELETUBBIES!!!!



Can you imagine it?? Dressed up in big fat suits!! Trying to have a few drinks in that thing ... oh my goodness!!! Someone laughed that if we have too much to drink we might fall over and not be able to get back up!!! HAHAHA!!!

Should be a bit of fun anyway ... hope I don't get the purple one ... he's gay!!!

What the... ????

I spent last night at a training session for ambulance put on by the police about how to deal with a crime scene so that ambulance officers entering a crime scene don't contaminate any evidence. It was a very emotionally draining session with lots of photo's of actual NZ historical murder scenes.

I came home ready for bed. As Bill and I sat chatting before turning out the lights we heard a few 'bumps'. As in the past I presumed it was the naughty cat jumping from the kitchen bench except the fact that Bill pointed to the cat right next to me. We both looked at eachother and Bill jumped out of bed to look out the back window. The security light of the liquour shop next door was on and I quickly heard the familiar sound of a steel pole that is usually used to lock their back door. I jumped to my feet fumbling round for the phone and rang 111. Given the time (11.30pm) and darkness (and the fact that I had already taken off my glasses for the night) I found it really hard when the operator asked me for a description. All I could give her was that there were 3 (that we could see) thin built guys with light coloured hoodies on. The cops were on their way and I was warned from the operator not to go investigate ... as I watched (and tried to silently frantically stop Bill grabbing the metal vacuum cleaner pipe and putting on my running shoes). I told her yep, sure, no problem. She then went on to insure that we weren't to contaminate any evidence. I didn't tell her but felt like saying "Listen lady, I've just spend three hours in a training session put on by police on just that subject".

The next thing the alarm sounded and I saw two guys go sprinting across the back carpark and disapear into the creak. I explained what I'd seen to the 111 lady and she thanked me and I hung up. Feeling quite bummed that once again they'd gotten away.

My thoughts then went to Bill ... he'd been gone over 10mins ... where was he?? I gingerly walked outside and around the front of the shop but couldn't see him anywhere. Then the security guard turned up and relieved I asked him to look around for him for me.

Five minutes later (which seemed like an eternity) Bill came puffing along the footpath. They got one of them!!! And this is his account of when he left the house ...

Little punks breaking into the shop next door!! Shit that could be my shop they are rading. "I'll get the car and suprise them. F*%^K thats the alarm going off. Running down the road checking each driveway and listening i work out that they have gone into the creek and making for the bridge or across to the vacant section next to the bridge. Armed with my manly vacume cleaner pipe I hide and watch the little barstards make a break for it down the road towards me..."STOP U LITTLE SHITS", They split 3 down Dillon St and one back up the road. "He'll Do Me" I think and start the chase. 200 meters and im stuffed. "stop soon shit head or have a heart attack" My thoughts out loud. "Stop you f&%$K" i yell with my 'weapon' in hand. 40 meters later he stops and after a few "stop man the cops are on thier ways" pant, heave, "shit I am fat" mind games he does!! GREAT I can breath again. We walk facing each other and i coax him into stoping. "PUT DOWN THAT BIG THING" he yells;

"Come closer, I'll put it down" I reply.
"No just put it down" pleadingly he says.
"Ok, Ok there it is on the grass... come back here"
"No you're big too"
"I cant fuckin change that can I??!!!"

We walk face to face backwards down the street and I slowly gain his ground. Standing a metre away I say "come back and talk to the cops and sort it out with them"
"Nah, leave me alone, don't hurt me"
"Don't run!!!" (thinking I'm actually too fucked to run!!!) "The cops are coming down the road behind you. Come back towards the shops"
"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" He squealed like a little pig
"Cool! Just tell the cops that and sort it out with them" Still trying to dredge my breath from the bottom of my bowels
"Don't grab me man! Don't grab me!!" He pleaded, walking down a driveway.
"i know these people! You don't want to go down there! Come back towards the shops. What's your name?"
"Jake"
"Whatever! sort that out with the cops. Just keep walking with me"
"I didn't go inside"
"You were still with them"
"Just don't touch me"
"Nah, nah, nah ... we're sweet" All I could think of was doing a 'Homer on Bart'!

Two hundred metres from the end of the road I grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt and drag him across the road.
"You lied! You lied!!! You said you wouldn't grab me!!"
I was laughing so hard to myself ... you little shit! Of course I'm going to lie, you broke into a liquour shop!
Grabbing his colar and the bottom of his shirt I tied them firmly in a knot and dragged him down the road. He stuck his right arm out of his sleeve as if to punch me. I yelled "Don't fucken hit me man or I'll beat you!! And I'm BIGGER THAN YOU!!!"
"Let go of me, let go of me. You lied" When I tried to grab his arm to put it behind his back he yelled "Don't touch me! It reminds me of my stepfather!"
"Don't give me your sob story you whining little shit!"

After throwing the guy into a hedge three or four times I saw the cop car coming down the street. Holding him on the ground with one arm and waving to the cop car with the other, I thought they noticed me. They didn't! Now I was nervous! And the goon tried to wrestle himself away from me. Back into the hedge he went! Finally the cops see us and reverse back down the road. They jump out and 'Jake' struggles hard to try and break free. I pick him up laterally and throw him into the concrete. Then jump on him with my knee followed by a 105kg of fat!!! The cops yell out "Is this one of them?" Heaving I say yes.

They grab him and one takes him to the car, the other asks for details.
I let them know that the others went down the other street, while making my way back up the road to my vacuum cleaner pipe. "I need some details"
"It's Bill from Beachmart. I just need to go get something from back up the road"
Recognising me they took off down the road to get the other little shits. I pick up my pipe and think "Shit I need to hide this too as I could be viewed as a lethal weapon"

For the next while we wait with the security guard for the owner of the liquour shop to arrive, which seems to take forever. He arrives and tells us while he was on his way from his home 15kms away he encountered 3 abandoned horses galloping towards his vehicle on a main state highway! He TOO rings 111 to report the incident. They reply "I'm sorry sir, but all our officers are currently tied up with a robbery in progress"
"THAT'S MY SHOP!!! I'M TRYING TO GET THERE!!"
They compassionately reply "Well aren't you having a bad night!!!!!!"

An hour or so later the cops turn up with all arrested in the back of the vehicle!

PHEW!!

I passed!!!

Some very exciting news to share today ...

Remember that 60hr assignment I had to do for my next patch on ambulance?? I got it back today and I passed with flying colours!!! The comment at the bottom was "an excellent job! Well done!" Everyone I know that has done this assignment has had to redo parts of it and resubmit so I feel very chuffed that I got it right first time.

As my dad said he would have to pass me given it was grief (well not all of it, some was on NZ Law and Legislation) after what we've all just been through.

So this brings me to being a Primary Care 2 officer. Next is National Certifical in Ambulance Care which takes a whole year to do (part time) and brings me to Ambulance Officer ... then onto Paramedic. So I'm slowly getting there bit by bit.

Hmmm ... a little too many points there

As you can all see by Chris's blog we had a great time ... but I must say I'm disgusted at some of the pics ... especially the one with me poking my tongue and doing the fingers ... really don't know why I did that!!

But all that aside it was so good to get to know some of the bloggers in person. We'll definately have to make it an annual thing.

We set off for home at 10am and I finally walked in the door at 7pm last night!! What a long day!!! 9hrs on the road, and that was with minimal short stops.

Back into normal routine today and enough of the slacking around. I've spent the last week sneaking food into my mouth that I shouldn't knowing I was going to be having a blowout on the weekend.

So weighin tomorrow morning, get the gain over and done with and back into it again. Walked the kids to school this morning. Been a very long time since I've done that.

Water is nearly drunk. Cereal, yoghurt and banana for breakie. Salad for lunch, boy I am being a good girl!

3hrs of work to go ... Not in the mood for work today. Sleep sounds like a better idea!

Fun day out

We'd told the kids we would celebrate both their birthdays by taking them up to Rainbow's end on Sunday (yesterday). When yesterday morning arrived there were severe weather warnings saying we'd be getting over 120mm of rain in the next 12 hrs!!!

But Bill was still determined to take them. I begrudgingly agreed telling him we'd regret it! So in the pouring rain with raincoats and spare clothing aboard we set off. As we got nearer to Auckland the clouds started to part and infact blue sky and sun started to show. Bill looked at me with a smirk and requested an apology. Hmmm ... I wasn't going that far ... yet! :)

As we drove by Rainbows End the kids were squealing with excitement but we couldn't see many people there. Infact we couldn't see ANYONE!

Driving in the car park we noticed the main gates were closed!! By why? The sun was shining! Bill got out to look at the sign ... CLOSED!! Due to heavy flooding! Hmmm ... glad I hadn't given that apology yet! But I was sad for the kids all the same.

Next stop we decided was the movies at Sylvia Park. We got there to find cars and cars driving round and round like a swarm of bees not knowing where to land. I said to Bill it was like the ultimate hunting trip but with NOTHING to hunt. We drove round and round for half an hour joining in everyones frustration. Quite cruel really making us pleb dummies look round and round for something that obviously wasn't there. We made it a game for the kids, trying to spot for elusive reversing lights or even more elusively the rare species of keys being pulled out walking towards the car. Bill and I thought it was quite fun but as we finally gave up and drove away the kids didn't think it was so funny.

So next stop ... Manukau movies. Yay a car park and right out the front door! We tried to scam it so we could send the kids to their movie and Bill and I could go to ours but the times didn't work out right. So Bill and I and 5 kids (4 of ours plus 1 friend) and 7 lots of popcorn, drinks and icecreams trundled off to see Harry Potter.

I was a bit worried as some of it got quite scary especially for Jese (5). Two and a half hours later we finally emerged, kids bouncing off the walls while mum and dad tired and dragging our feet!! Boy was it long!!! Probably didn't help that I am so not a science fiction type person. I hate watching anything that looks remotely unbelievable. Infact I'm ashamed to admit that I even closed my eyes for part of it! lol Shhhh!! Chris you didn't hear that! But the kids loved it and that's all that mattered.

Next stop ... 10 pin bowling. Everyone had a blast and Jese (5) the youngest ended up winning!! Beginners luck I say! (and yes I probably am a sore loser, especially to a 5yr old!! lol)

Then it was dinner at the drive through (Wendies of which I had a baked potato and salad). On the drive home we were listening to talk back on the radio and they were talking about weird fears people have. They wanted people to text in some examples so Bill dared me to txt my fear ... so I did!! About 10mins later the dj said "Eewwwww we have a disgusting one here folks! This one makes me cringe just thinking about it!! This lady has a fear of her husband's slimy butt rubbing up against her leg at night!!!" Bill and I cracked up and did a high five!!! The whole car was roaring with laughter!!!

Next stop ... home ... finally!!!

A great day out with the whole family, something we haven't done in a very long time ... but ohhhhh so expensive! Boy the cost adds up! Hate to think how much we spent, but definately worth it!!!