Tuesday-tell- a- tale

Today started off as a normal day. Nothing extra ordinary. I did some of my household chores and started off for work around 7:30 am, because I wanted to get some work done before the others came in to office.

I reached office around 8 am and finished off all my work by around 10 am, when I decided to take a break( truant break, I call it) and decided to go to the British Council to get them to send my IELTS scores to the Masters program in Science writing that I am applying for.

Around 10:30, saw me pass a roundabout that had just been changed to a signal, which had a lot of work going on around it- I was driving at around 50 km/hr, when I suddenly felt a jerk on my neck, to the right. I knew something catastrophic had happened and then things started all going out of control.

My car, lost control and jammed into another car coming in from the left most lane and it stopped moving. I got out of the car, because my hands and legs were still moving and I was alive to see a big truck had rammed into the posterior of my car and my car was thrown against the other car and was jammed onto its side.

I had had an accident- the first in my life time. I used to think I have seen and done everything but this just goes to show, there is always a first time.

And I had no mobile phone with me- it was just one of those days- no one knew I was out of office and no one knew who I was.

I stood by the roadside, the truck driver who looked like he was in a daze and the car driver shaking his head in disbelief, waiting for the highway police to come and guide us.

We were blocking traffic and people were staring at us, but I was totally unconcerned. My only fear was the yelling I would get from my husband, once he came to know that I was out of office, when I shouldn’t have been.

I guess, we do reap what we sow, right ?

Weighing and Waiting Wednesday

Today I continue to be 87 kgs- no gain, no loss. So that is good.

As to the diet, I have not been eating very well, as I should have.

For one, there were those cookies sitting in my fridge, and they were homemade- and were so crisp and slightly burnt on the under, just as I like them. So I had a couple over a couple of days- making it an average of about 2 per day for about 3 days- and they were a good size of a cookie.

They there was the cup of tea beckoning me in the morning, when half asleep, I woke, to get breakfast ready for my husband, who likes a hot breakfast before he goes to work at 6 a.m. To get rid of my morning grogginess, I have taken to drinking a big cuppa of black tea with– about 3 teaspoonfuls of sugar- some days, when one does not do the job, I drink a second cup. This has been going on since November. I need to get rid of this habit. This is one of my new year resolutions.

And then there were the odd fruit here and there, that did not come into my diet chart.

As far as exercising goes, since I have no one to help me with housework these days, I have been doing it quite regularly on my own. Some research shows that housework can count towards at least the warm-up before exercises- so I have some to my credit.

This is good because I am not at all a housewifely person and add to it laziness, you have one volatile combination. But in my prelude to a new New Year, I have been doing some dish-washing, kitchen mopping, gardening, washing clothes, sorting clothes and making beds- chores that to most people would be mundane but are extra-special to me, because I almost never do them.

I tried to keep up with my December resolution of walking every day, and I did it except for the two days we had extra special rain, right on Christmas and on Boxing Day.

Perhaps these are the reasons why my weight has not climbed, though I had some dietary indiscretions.

 

Thursday : Joy/Joyful

Welcome to Tuesday at Ten! The Tuesday blog Link up where you have 6 full days to use the “prompt phrase” as a part of your writing.

Each week I post a prompt phrase and you finish the phrase and write how that phrase fits you and your life or your thoughts.

Whether it be just writing a story behind the phrase or being as creative as you wish using photos, poems, art, or graphics – whichever creative way you choose.

You have 6 days to write and link up your blog at the bottom of the page so that others can link up with you.

Be sure to visit your “link up” neighbor and spread the joy of connection! A new Prompt word is posted every Tuesday Morning at 10am, the link up closes at 11pm the night before.

Every Monday evening (the day before the new word is posted) I will choose ONE highlighted writer of the week to be highlighted and shared on the Tuesday at Ten Facebook page for all to see. You will also get an award graphic for that week to post on your blog.

Make sure to visit the Tuesday at Ten Facebook page to view the winner and for daily news!

Remember – it’s not about being perfect, it’s about being YOU. Have FUN

This weeks prompt phrase is:

{ JOY / JOYFUL….. })

JOY/JOYOUS

When I was about 10, I was given a book as a prize for winning a competition. It was called “Born Free”. I remember the central character in that book was called Joy. I used to think it was a perfect name for a woman who had captured and bred a lioness and then released her into her freedom. So for me, Joy here was associated with the joy of freedom. Her husband supported her in this decade long venture and a life time of giving for animals facing extinction.

Another memory of Joy, is Dennis the Menace’s friend, whose name was Joey( spelt differently, of course) but in a child’s mind, he was and is called “Joy”.

Joey and Dennis, along with Margaret, Gina and a lot of other friends were part of the comic world with which I grew up. I have memories of my father, reading these comics to me, when I couldn’t read, until the time, I learnt to read myself. A partner in Dennis’ various escapades, this little boy remains in my memory as ” a good friend”.

And finally, I associate Joy/Joyful with the happiest of all occasions- the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas, was and is a joyous occasion for me and my family. Many of the carols we sing around Christmas, have the word “Joy” in them.

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee is one of them.

Oh come, all ye faithful ! Joyful & Triumphant is another.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Staying Sharp

How to keep your skills sharp and ready for use at all times ?
A wonderfully insightful post.
Susie

McAlister Tactical Strategies

“Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers

I participated in a Dale Carnegie course many years ago and I remember the final speech from our instructor, Debbie. The point of her speech was to say that now that we have a new set of skills from the course, it’s important to keep them sharp. Debbie emphasized the point by telling a parable: A young, ambitious lumberjack was sent out for the first time and in his first few days he chopped down an impressive number of trees. However, after a week he noticed that even though he worked just as hard as he had those first days, he cut down fewer and fewer trees as each day passed. His frustration grew and finally he asked a veteran lumberjack why his productivity was dropping. The veteran asked a simple…

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Wednesday: Waiting & Weight-ing

It is Wednesday. Almost half the week has gone past. This week, in addition to the weekend, there is the additional anticipation of the celebrations for Christmas at the beginning of the weekend. It is a good time to reminisce and also to look forward to new things.

On Christmas Eve, we attend the crib service, where we sing carols and interact with others ( who can manage to come with their busy schedules) and enjoy the company of little children, who are given gifts. The twilight hours are magical.

For my personal journey of weight loss, I am at 87 kgs now. I have been walking everyday for a minimum of one hour, ever since the weather has become good to walk. I have decided to walk no matter what, in whatever weather. In the heat of summer, where temperatures reach up to 50 C in the shade, this might get difficult, but I am going to do it. I am not sure if I am losing weight, yet, but yes, I am aching all over.

I am going to start a diet, ( I know I mustn’t diet) but I just need a quick jumpstart. It has been a roller coaster ride since my resolution to lose weight when I was 90 kgs.

I have been through the Juicing Diet- I lost about 5 kilos on this diet but then gave up( as I usually do) because my juicer gave up on me.

Then I was travelling in November, so everything went for a six. Ever since I returned from Boston, I have been jet lagged; staying awake at night and sleepy in the day time. The sleepiness at odd hours brought a lot of changes in me- a severe sugar craving for sugar in tea ( which I had given up almost a year earlier), sweets ( chocolates and any other thing that was sweet) and then sleeping in my office. These binges are still going on, though it is more than a month, since I returned from the US.

I am trying to lose about 7 kgs urgently, through the Rosemary Conley Diet plan. My goal is to lose 7 kgs by January 23rd, 2016. I am writing my goals down as Danny would recommend. In addition, I will be doing a few strength exercises and of course the daily walks.

So I wait and watch.

Weight on 23rd December : 87 kgs

Measurements : 40, 42, 43.5 inches

Tuesday : Tell-a- Tale

It took me about a week to complete reading this book ” The man who cycled the world”, written by Mark Beaumont.

Reading is a pleasure and a passion for me- most weeks I read about 3-4 books. This last week has been different- this book took me about 6.5 days to complete.

Why did it take me so long to read this book ?

For one thing, this book has a lot of geography in it- the places Mark cycled through, as told by a person who has actually seen it and experienced it- was a novelty plus- he wasn’t a tourist- he saw the places from the perspective of a person who wanted to get the job done.

The job on hand : To get the world record ( Guinness Record) in cycling the world and he wanted to do it in less than 200 days. The previous record was by a person who did it in around 250 days. This whole goal setting thing was fascinating for me, with my constant struggles to improve myself and so I held on to every detail of the book and tried to get the most out of it- almost as a person who sucks a bone and gets the most meat and marrow out of it.

Did he beat the record ? 

Yes, he did- in 197 days and a few hours, he traversed the globe,  I would say, around the equator, which is probably the widest part of the globe- crossing the two mandated points, in order to qualify for the record. He cycled about 18,500 miles around the world.

Goal setting and how he did it ? 

Mark’s overall goal was to beat the record but he broke his goal into small aims- like one country at a time and when even that looked insurmountable, he broke a country into one day at a time, trying to achieve a target of a 100 miles per day.

What did I learn from reading this book ?

Man can do anything he sets his mind to. All he needs is :

1. A determination
2. A strong focus
3. Help from people near and dear
4. Help from people not so near but yet, whom one can make friends with
5. A goal, aims and targets( Read post by thebikinibookworm on SMART goal setting)

When all these are put in the proper places, man can achieve his dream, because everything else, including nature will come together to put things in their proper places till his dream comes true.

Monday- News & Mews

It is Monday morning where I live.

The newspapers this morning report that Ms. Spain was crowned the Ms. World 2015. As with all pageants and competitions, there are controversies when one contestant is crowned over another. The issue raised here was whether the final answer provided by Ms. Lebanon on what the Ms. World title meant to her and her answer was about ” modesty, love and serenity being important for the world”.  I didn’t watch the pageant and this is from yahoo news that I read this.

Honestly, I find these Ms whatever pageants frivolous and a tremendous waste of money and time. A Chinese contestant from Canada was denied a visa to enter China( which was hosting the pageant) because she had had outspoken views on Chinese religious policies.

What is the point of a Ms. World competition that does not encourage competitors to have a free view point of thinking ?

Do you believe in freedom of speech and do these matter in world class competitions which people think are for people to gawk at beautiful men and women from around the world ? Is it better that the contestants provide answers or speeches that seem ” right” for the occasion or should their individuality be counted towards their assets ? What do you think ?

The Misinformed Pageant – “The capital of Mexico is Mexico town…” “The duck is the largest flightless bird…” “Consuming buttered scones can lead to pregnancy.”