Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Rollin', rollin', rollin'....

That's the song ringing through my head at the moment although all I can remember beyond that bit as far as words go is "keep them...la la lala....something something something Rawhide!"

I don't have a rawhide, but I did make it to the $1000 target late yesterday which is a huge relief! My interview yesterday was ok, but I let my nerves get me a little and in a moment of babbling told them how I'd run out of tasks in my job and in a moment of boredom had stolen my boss' orange and held it for ransom till he gave me some more to do.....funny ha ha - yes, funny peculiar and not appropriate for an interview - definitely. They had asked how long until I finished working here - hope they see the funny ha ha side of my answer!

Yesterday I started writing to businesses asking for help with fundraising. I also wrote to the social club at work asking for their assistance and was surprised and giddy with prospective excitement when I got a call from the Vice Pres who just wanted to know when I was travelling - fingers crossed they might be able to help me do some fundraising!

Tonight I have an appointment with one of the PTs at the AIS to get a program but it also dawned on me today that once I've rebuilt some fitness I can start training with Sarah (another triathlon coach who has a great group of long distance/HIM/IronMan athletes which is where I'd like to get to and where I have sent a few people I used to coach). Looking forward to one day getting up to the level needed to train with that group!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Slowly coming together

So looking back at my list the other day of things to do:
  1. Casino Royale - it was a brill night as you would've read in my last post.
  2. Dego - tentative date is Friday 10 Sept. Will be confirmed on Monday
  3. 100 Club - time to start writing letters...had hoped to get a local radio station involved in the advertising but they are doing another person's trek the next two months :P
  4. Race partner - had a sniff from a friend but I think they are just too snowed under at the moment.
  5. New Job - I have an interview this afternoon which is very promising.
Other good news is that my fundraising is finally starting to get some traction. I need to hit the $1000 mark by the start of August and I am only $80 off :) Yay :)

So here's hoping my next up date will include me saying I made the $1000 mark and that I have a new job and that the 100 club is underway with prizes coming in!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

"My sides hurt!"

That was the most accurate call of Saturday night's Casino Royale antics. Pussy Galore was laughing so hard at one stage she gasped between giggles "My sides hurt from laughing!"

We started the evening with a potent cocktail that would render anyone incapable of driving and so you can imagine how our poker skills progressed from there. Thankfully our host come bar tender come croupier was on hand to make sure the game flowed.

All guests we assembled and advised that Mr Bond would not be joining us as he had been murdered and the assassin was someone within the room. Everyone was issued their clues to who wasn't the murderer and what wasn't the weapon and then it was all down to who was the best sluth. Detectives perused all the possible weapons in the eveidence room while some others settled at the poker table for a battle of wits. Those not playing poker assembled in the bar (around the kitchen bench) regaling each other with hilarity while carefully scoping out the opposition. In the end, there was a bit of a rush to guess the right answer with Xenia Onatopp (aka Tia) taking out the coveted prize of Detective Extraordinairre. Camille Montes (Peta) was not only the murderer but also won the Poker Challenge and Jaws (Paul) took out best actor for both his acting and his efforts to look the part. Most entertaining award though would have had to go to Solitaire (Sophia) who had us all in fits of laughter with her breezy enjoyment of all aspects of the evening (especially betting on the craps table).

All in all it was a great night. We raised $230 to go towards the research undertaken by those sponsored by Cure Cancer Australia which is a good effort.

Words can't encapsulate my gratitude to Steve and Dee not only for coming up with the idea, but all of the artwork, the food and the willingness for them to open up their house for the evening. It was amazing from having Bond movies theme music playing in the "bar" and Casino Royale being projected on the wall in the lounge near by the poker table to their efforts to accommodate the non-vegetarian guests (the fake ham in the cheese and ham triangles had everyone fooled as did the fake sausages in the mini sausage rolls). The evidence room was brilliant with 13 weapons ranging from nerve gas (in a scuba tank) to a voodoo doll and a sexual torture chair equipped with handcuffs and a whip. There were hand painted pictures of playing cards on the walls, helium balloons and everyone had their own name badge (with the funniest being Nick's which read as "Mr Big - Nick" for which many of us had to look twice on reading it. All details were covered with guests getting a character brief, chips and a packet of cards they could take home to practice their poker skills. There was nothing our fine hosts didn't cover and I just can't thank them enough.

We took a couple of shots which I will get on here shortly so you can all have a giggle.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Back in the swing

At the start of the blog of my journey I promised a no holes barred/honest report. I think you can see that you've got that so far!!

Although I don't know how I am going to get there, I am striving ahead with my plan to do this trip. If I have to go back to retail/hospitality/cleaning work then so be it. Likewise if I have to sell my car to fund it that's ok too - I'm loving taking the bus to work (it almost feels like I'm back living in Sydney/Newcastle!).

Last night I finally did my first gym class at the AIS - by all reports from the regulars it was the hardest they've done in the last couple of years and I couldn't have picked a worse night! They welcomed me with open arms though, getting me through all the terminology for each activity and although I was completely demolished by the end of the session I was heartily satisfied.

Yesterday also saw me get good news from the doctor - my iron levels have returned to "normal" (with normal being what the average non active person should be). It was enough for him to give me the green light to ramp up my training from the occassional light session to gradually smashing myself. I do need to up my vitamin D intake for the next 4 months and I do need to stay with the iron tablets for at least the next 3 months, but I can drop the dose of that to one tablet/day now. So now it's just up to Steve the super huge boxing soft tissue therapist (that being the only thing soft about the guy who is 6"10' and 127kg) to give me the green light on power work using my shoulder.

As it stands I've had a significant blow with my job/income status being very shakey, but I've been waiting 2 years to get my iron levels out of the "reserves" - it was literally sitting between 12 and 18 and now has jumped to 79 - so that news is huge as it was the one thing that would physically prevent me from doing this trip. My resting heart rate has even come down from 76 3 weeks ago to 70 - what does that mean? It means I'm getting fitter and that my heart is starting to be more efficient. When I was at peak fitness, I sat generally between 48 leading into the end of the season and 52 at my laziest part of the off season. Still a way to go yet, but happy to be making some progress on the health front.

Things to do:
  • this weekend is the Casino Royale night
  • still need to finalise the degustation date which has moved back to early September
  • still need to get prizes for the 100 club raffle
  • still need to find a race partner
  • still need to find a new job

Offers of assistance very welcome! :)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

All over red rover

It's been a sad couple of days after a lot of soul searching but it does appear that my challenge is over. When I made the decision to take on the challenge it was with a number of factors in mind - I had a team mate to take on the challenge with; I was going into a much better financial position and so it was part of a social responsibility; I had been improving in my health; and, my studies were looking to be strong.

Now, I don't have a team mate, I am still sick, my job has fallen over (the work I did drove the change to abolish my position - go figure, you can actually do yourself out of a job by working hard) and the subject of my research paper for uni has lost interest in my studies.

So it's back to survival mode where I just have to find a way to get through the day while saving as much money as I can until I catch the next wave of stability - turns out this wave was a huge flop. My mindset has changed from the beautiful mantra Jason gave me a few days ago to this - Life's Lessons: Hope only ever leads to devastation. When you're on your own it just sucks.

I'm back in the office today attempting to hold it together in the knowledge that I only have a few weeks left here and yet I am working on future engagement strategies - an insane waste of energy given they are scaling back engagement and yet it fits so well with the APS's ability to maintain bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy.

Living as a blue collar born and bred in the white collar world is just too hard when you have no-one to help you up when you're feeling down or being fucked over. So it's time to return to the ranks of unskilled labour where people tell it how it is rather than get your hopes up for something that was never going to be. I wish they never found my tumor and that it ran its course - my life has been a series of battles and failures ever since and yet I'm told I should be grateful I still have it? I have nothing to be proud of and even less to be grateful for.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Let the pain begin!

Sure, I know, the title should be in the vein of all things sporting and good and thus read "let the games begin" but as far as fitness, if there is one thing I've always been terrible at, it's my abs. When I was younger they were always just there and were pretty strong/good (as you would expect of someone who was active). Since I hurt my back....whoa...different story.

Tonight we're off to do "TO THE CORE"...eek! My panic is starting to set in as I realise I am about to kill myself with exercise. I was going to see Steve the super giant soft tissue guru in the morning, but now I am riding my bike to work so the editor from "Inside Finance" (our dept's internal newsletter) can take a picture of me on my bike to go with an article about this trip. Not sure which activity tomorrow morning would've been worse, but needless to say I need the exercise.

My cold is finally starting to dissipate and I'm beginning to get some energy back even though my eyes/head is telling me to sleep. I'm getting through work by rocking out to the Glee albums on my iPod and am limiting myself to one coffee in the morning and a chai latte in the afternoon so I get a better sleep at night (so the theory goes). I couldn't sleep on saturday night because of the mess in my house - I am working every day now until the Casino Royale fundraising night and my house is still not organised and nor is the spare bed built (the room is working great as my chinese laundry drying space at the moment!). Although Jamie and Pip are old friends from my ADFA days I can't have them sleeping in a messy house! So one night at a time I am going to start the clean up. Tonight is the smallest room but the most loaded - the understair storage closet....bring it on! Sore abs and all :P

Saturday, July 10, 2010

mmmm...swimming....

The swim yesterday was brill! My first time back in the 50m and I'd forgotten how lovely the AIS main pool was. It was so good DJ and I went back for more today and Dee and Steve joined us. Earlier today Steve, Dee and I all joined the AIS gym too. It's a great deal - $57/month for as many classes as you like. You have to go out there to pay which sounds like a hassle but it isn't - if you're away or you don't get out there by the time you're due to pay, you just pay the next time you're there. So for now my payments are due on the 10th of each month, but when I go away on the trip I don't arrive home until 2weeks after that so I just pay then and it'll start from that date (say the 24th) and run to that date and no longer to the 10th. Does that make sense?

So on Monday we're doing "To the core" and on wednesday I'll do my first spin class ever - super excited and super crapping my pants at the same time! I'm so glad to have compression gear to get me through it. Tomorrow it's off to work at DFO again and then back to the pool for a swim and well earned spa. Right now though it's off to bed - this keeping healthy stuff is well tiring!

Oh, forgot to mention that I spoke to my Uncle William and Aunt Pauline today over skype. It was so good to see them (first time in 18 months) and was a welcome boost to have a chat with them.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Persevere and allow mind to defeat matter!

Yesterday I nearly gave up. I'm so exhausted between work, uni, training and fundraising all I ever want to do is sleep. It's now 6 weeks into my challenge and as strange as it sounds I still have an inkling that my Mum is pulling strings from the other side to keep me going.

Dee had her citizenship ceremony today and it was just lovely to see her all sparkly with excitement. I have vague recollections of my parents becoming Australians when I was young and it was really nice to be able to share that with Dee again today. I came back to work trying to hang onto the positive vibe and on opening my email I had a message from a lady who works for the same agency as me but she is in another building and I have never met her. She saw my advert on the intranet looking for a team mate and wanted to reach out and encourage me on my challenge. I melted.

Shortly after I checked my fundraising page and my friend Jase made a very generous donation. He's overseas and we haven't spoken in a few weeks, but I dropped him an email thanking him and he said he'd meant to do it weeks ago but forgot and wrote himself a note yesterday to make sure he did it today. His timing was impeccable as it always is :)

Jase also set me a challenge of getting my shoulder and fitness sorted out by getting strong and fit enough to swim 1km non-stop as the first step (not an unfamiliar thing for me as a swim coach, but I've only been doing about 200-500 non stop the last few times I've been in the water so I don't over do it on the shoulder) and the second step is to join him and his training partner's challenge of getting under 18minutes for the km. They started at 20mins, so that is my second challenge once I'm up to the full km. So it's back into the pool tonight!

Thank you Jase and thank you for the mantra: "Persevere and allow mind to defeat matter!"

Thursday, July 8, 2010

What's the point?

No one really gives a damn about anything these days, so what's the point in caring? Everyone is looking for donations for this that and the next thing and most all of them have a really important cause. My challenge is just another cause in the mix but one that I give a damn about. I just wish I knew how to help people see they are saving their own futures not just mine.

Where is all this coming from? I'm still sick with a cold - 4 weeks now and why? The tumor I had changed the way my body works. My stomach freaks out at almost everything I eat, I don't absorb iron very well at all, I'm vitamin D deficient and yet I get out in the sun/daylight and take suppliments. I'm completely wrecked from this cold but without iron I'm completely wrecked anyway. And who cares? Honestly no one really does. Why should they? Everyone has their own lives to deal with and in reality who do I have? A blog no one reads and a teddy bear who is in bear hospital because I hold him so tight when I cry he's falling apart.

Dee, Steve, DJ, Paul and Mars obviously all care and have been great trying to help me raise funds and Mary is letting me live in her house at a rental rate massively below the market rate, so I can't really complain. But when you're always sick it just really sucks and it's hard to stay positive all the time. I'm one week short of having my period for 6 months. When you don't absorb iron that doesn't really help. I'm always tired and I always have to be strong. Cancer stole my mum and with it knowledge of my youth that only she had, my only source of strength, the one person I would always look up to and who would never fail me. Cancer has also reduced my health, my happiness and my will - I fight every day to find a reason to keep going.

What's the point? No one should have to feel the way I do. I wish people could see by helping to find a cure they are helping themselves. Cancer affects 1 in 3 people. 300 Australians are diagnosed every day. I wish I could just make it all go away, for me, for the 300 who were diagnosed today, for the 300 who will be diagnosed tomorrow and for everyone living with cancer. We need a cure for all cancers. Do you see the point? Anyone?

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Back into it

Sun glorious sun! The AIS pool let us down again this morning, so after a coffee we did a 40min walk before jumping in the dragon boats. I've almost got paddling sorted as far as timing, but have a lot of strength, fitness and technique to sort out. Sweeping was ok.

The house is getting organised and soon I'll be able to focus more on fundraising. In the morning it's back to jogalong - last month I did it in 50mins & 9secs so I hope to drop a minute or two but I am still sniffly & coughing, so we'll see.

Today was a good day - let's hope we all have many more to come thanks to the team at Cure Cancer.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Strapping, Swimming and Sweeping

Blah! I've already missed a day - told you I was crap at keeping a diary! In my defence, work was pretty full on yesterday and as it was I didn't get dinner until 10pm (more on that later).

Today I conned Steve (the brute fixing my shoulder) to let me swim tonight and sweep in a dragon boat in the morning. He said yes on one proviso - he was going to strap up my shoulder. To say it's just a little bit would be an understatement....I can't bring my elbow close in to my body or raise my arm above my head. I got to the pool only to find out a swim school kid had an "accident" in the pool and they had to close it! I'm all strapped up with no where to go. We're hoping to jump into the water in the morning if the 25m is open again before going of to HaGs training where I am going to start learning how to sweep a Dragon boat. I'll see if I can get a picture or two of my shoulder - it's incredibly well strapped up!

Last night I cooked my first ever lasagne with another virgin lasagne maker - we rocked! Steve the Brute though wants some left overs next time and given he's freed my back up so much already (making it easier for me to train) it's the least I can do. For now though, it's off to bed - I'm exhasted