Time has rushed on by...

I can't believe it has been over a year since I posted.

I also can't believe I turn 40 next year! Eeeps! So I have decided that to help make it a celebration, I am determined to look and feel better at 40 than I did at 39.

My youngest and last boy is 3 years old, and the left over 10 kg of excess weight I accumulated having 4 boys has stubbornly stayed. I haven't made big efforts to change this, as I was busy with life: work, boys, knitting.

But lately I have been starting to try and work in more exercise throughout my day as a way to improve the way my body feels and works.

And now I have a more concrete goal - to get rid of that 10kg over the next 12 months.

My biggest hurdle seems to be food - the mental energy to carefully plan calorie controlled food and portion sizes that will boost weight loss seems beyond me.

A colleague of mine has similar issues, and her husband and her have been trying Lite 'n Easy for a couple of weeks, and been very happy.

So I decided to give it a go. The things I love about Lite 'n Easy so far: no contracts,no attending meetings or consultations, easy to order and flexible plans (eg you can have full meals for 7 days, or 5 days, or just lunch and dinner, or just dinners. So far, the food has been much nicer than the supermarket lean meals. Much better quality. Not haute cuisine, but basic, healthy food.

The convenience of easily choosing meals and then not having to think about the portion sizes so far is helping my resolve - having the exact food I need to eat for a calorie controlled plan does help me with resisting temptation. There are even some little treats as part of the planned menu.

I have jumped right in and started with he 1200 calorie plan and the 7 day lunch and dinner. Have found myself a little peckish occasionally. The meal portions are probably close to what I eat, and the dinners are probably a little bigger than my usual portion sizes. I am a grazer, and finding I can get a little hungry between the meals, even with spacing out the snacks included with the lunch. I will try and stick it out for a couple of weeks, and see how my body adjusts.

It is a big change for me going from a fairly neutral position of intake being burned off and not adding weight, to having to reduce my food to less than what I naturally feel I need to eat to maintain my energy output.

My husband tried the lasagne, and it is favourite of the frozen lasagnes he has tried.
I quite liked the roast beef and vege dinner - yum!  And had a very nice salad with some chicken and sesame soy dressing - the salad was very fresh tasting.

Haven't been so keen on the crumbed fish dinner and the apple crumble - although I haven't met too many apple crumbles that I have liked better than my home made version.

I'm hoping that combined with good long walks several times a week, this will be the boost I need and hopefully by Christmas the changes will be obvious.

Lighting

I am quite often captivated by a modern twist on a traditional style. The popular ghost chairs are one such example. In my recent search for lights for our lounge and dining, I stumbled on another the Mercator Charlotte chandelier. Love the combination of shiny black and the traditional chandelier. Very Victorian gothic with a hint of modern in the shiny black fittings.

Alas, budget restrictions being as severe as they are, and the practicalities of living in a house with 4 boys and frequent IFOs (interior flying objects - a phenomenon which may have had something to do with the need to find new lights), meant I had to cast my lustful eyes elsewhere.

A day of shopping and hours more browsing the web - my husband and I eventually settled on this slightly more budget and IFO friendly design from Beacon lighting:

With the sale on which gave a discount on the second pendant, the price was bargain basement for a nice light fitting. Can you sense the theme? Black, a little bit of ornateness.

Very pleased now they are in. They diffuse and distribute the light from the halogen bulb very nicely. Hmmm - would it be overkill to get the smaller version for over the stairwell nearby? Possibly, as they are 'statement' fittings. Might have to go for something tamer for the stairwell. The stairwell adjoins the kitchen, which will need different lighting anyway - so may look for something for the kitchen and stairs that work well together.

Battlements - Paddington Tower

Battlements - Paddington Tower, originally uploaded by kimleyzboyz.

This is the view from what is currently the main living area. I love seeing the iconic Paddington Water Tower across the way.

From the battlements - to the West

From the battlements -to the West, originally uploaded by kimleyzboyz.

Views from the front landing. The landing is pretty small, and exposed to the Western sun in the afternoon. It would be so nice to have a more substantial landing out the front, possibly with awnings to provide a little shade without interfering with the views.

Pink Palace

IMG_1166.jpg, originally uploaded by kimleyzboyz.

My Pink Palace. She needs some pampering, and a decent colour scheme, but she has solid bones, regal, soaring ceilings upstairs and lovely views from the battlements.

I am fairly new to renovating and DIY. Fairly minor dabbling previously, such as splashing on some fresh paint.

I have a lot to learn and a long way to go to make my palace shine like it deserves. But every good journey starts with an idea and some planning.

I will be using my blog partly as a renovation journal: to record questions, problems to solve or research along the way - and hopefully progress! The journey will be a slow one.

Comments, opinions or suggestions are always welcomed.

Porters: paradise for paint and wallpaper

Not only is Porter's Paints the most fabulous store I know of to feel inspired about paint and wallpaper, it happens to be oh so handy to my favourite yarn store, Tangled Yarns. So much colour and texture to inspire in such close proximity!

So I popped over to Porter's Paints after my regular knit 'n knatter session. I now have a shade card to help me make some colour decisions. I was never keen on wallpaper until recently, but some very nice wallpaper is making my rethink that view. Porter's Paints has the most lush wallpapers at the moment.

Our upstairs has the lofty ceilings and VJs that characterise 1930s Queenslanders. However, in the 1980s, the previous owners built in under in 1980s style: mission brown brick and aluminium windows. Tiles in very pale blue/grey. Not really sympathetic to the original character. However, it was solidly built, and I have hopes that we can improve it.

A few decisions to be made: Replace the windows with more traditional windows, or does it not matter so much because we want to keep the lower level fairly unobtrusive? To bag or render the exterior brick? To do the same to the interior, or use some of the brick walls as feature walls? Can I find a colour which will nicely complement the tiles, and still offset the mission brown brick.

Choices...choices.

bobbing

A little like bobbing in gentle ocean waves. Little ups and little downs.

Little ups like cuddles from Alexander, then Alexander giving really nice cuddles to Xavier, then Kynan giving Alexander a kiss on the head. 3 boys being completely adorable and sweet.

Little downs: 5 minutes later they are all shrieking and pulling at each other. Xavier gets whacked in the eye by Kynan.

Little ups: Kynan running to the freezer to get an ice pack for Xavier, saying "Sorry Mummy" and "Sorry Xavier".

Little downs: frustrating attempts to dowload Microsoft Office and refusal to acknowledge our product key, which is valid because we have used it before.

Little ups: desperate to get word up and running on my lap top, because inspiration for a novel plot is flowing well.

I can handle the these sorts of life rythyms, with only occassional curse words involved.