TV implosion!
So we go on holiday on Saturday and the Sky+ box is still stupidly full. So tonight instead of being sensible and studying, I am settling down to 5 episodes of ER. The ER backlog is due to the Desperate Housewives bonanza. I had to watch all the episodes with the finale last night, as I couldn't stand to find out second hand what happened.

And talking of what happened, I have the opening episode for season 2 all sorted. Mike Delfino is Zach's real father, and he hasn't killed creepy husband after all. He bounds into the house to find Susan and Zach at an impasse, and Zach kills him. I'm guessing, anyway.

As well as the ER fest I have both Scrubs and Joan of Arcadia lining up. I have no taste in TV. This is due to my mother refusing me to watch trashy tv like Dallas when I was younger.

Mr LMG is fortunately out with the lads, so I have the tv to myself. Once this current glut runs out, I will be hanging around waiting for Sopranos and Six Feet Under, and rueing giving up on Nip/Tuck halfway through season 2. What did I do before Sky+?

A week in Spain without tv will probably be good for me. I'll post my holiday reading list later - it's eclectic to say the least...

Venus Fly traps for the man who has everything (Mr LMG) - it's his birthday soon...

Duh!
Totally forgot to mention the nikewomen yoga class that turned up in my inbox. Go to www.nikewomen.com, click english/uk/master the moves and there is a pdf and mp3's of both the music and the music with a talk through of the moves for yoga and relaxation. I have them on the Zen now, so I can take it on hols. Hoping to fit the yoga in after the runs (runs are 20-30 mins, the yoga is 30 mins - a good length of time).

Looks like I'll try the cool running program - hoping to accelerate the first couple of weeks into one - we'll see just how out of shape I am now...

Couch to 5k

Let the calm descend...
Apparently I have been stressed for the past 4 weeks. And I didn't even realise it. Mr LMG tried telling me, but I thought it was perfectly normal to be a bit grouchy in the morning. My body tried telling me, by totally skipping a monthly cycle (and no, I am not pregnant) and my back tightening up so much I was hunched over like a geriatric. Turns out that exam stress, job interview stress and eating and drinking like a pig aren't so good for you.

Well, now I have my head in order (I know what I am doing job-wise, I have settled some weight loss demons for the minute) I am formulating the PLAN. (More procrastination, I hear you say? Hell, yes). I have entered a 5k run 6 July. I have 6 weeks to get back to running. I have been inspired by a few blogs here, excuse me while I do a little roll-call: Dietgirl has reminded me how horrible starting running can be, but also how worth it it can be when you get going, and it can be done, Cathy has reminded me how having a goal to focus on helps enormously, especially to organise my time better and Beanz reminds me that it's the taking part, and competing against your self rather than others that's satisfying. So I shall dig out a good 6 week beginner's schedule and stick to it. The hotel in Spain has a gym so I have no excuses.

Now I have the running sorted, I need to sort out the weights. I have a few plans which I have dallied with before, but the one which keeps coming up is BFL. I used to worry about what would happen if I mixed BFL style weights with running and calorie control. Blindly, I thought this approach wouldn't work. However, I take comfort from the fact that the number one way to lose weight is my own diet and exercise regimen (Thanks to Fit Julie for that link). So I feel happy to use BFL with my running plan and forget about HIIT for the minute.

Foodwise, I am using John Hussman to calculate the calories required, using a factor of 1.2 for non-exercise days and 1.4 for exercise days. The principles for eating are an amalgam of Food Doctor, BFFM, Fat Girl Slim and French Women don't get fat. No 'diet' foods, 5 meals a day, plenty of flavour, protein + carbs at each meal where possible and small amounts of really good chocolate, cheese and red wine, all within the calorie counts. To count calories, I'll be using WLR. The final bit of the jogsaw is WATER. I am SO bad at drinking water. I know, I know... It's the key to weight loss, blah, blah, blah.

So there we have it - a PLAN.

Topic: Music
Just listened to the James Blunt album 'Back to Bedlam'. If you like Damien Rice, Tom McRae, men who sing ballads and play guitar with a piano, you will like this.

Plus he looks a bit...

like this man...

before he cut his hair, married la Gynnie and named the fruit of his loins a bit too literally.

They look freakily similar. Does this mean James is destined to also marry an actress and become a huge star in the US? Possibly not, but rush out and buy the record anyway.

Shopping
Holiday countdown - 8 DAYS TO GO.

Went to Tesco last night and got totally distracted by the 20% sale in clothing. And on the way back from college today I got sucked into Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins where I just had to make use of my 10% student discount. Yay.

The cute white top is to replace the one I wore to death before they were particularly fashionable 2 years ago. I bought the original to wear to Eygpt, you have to wear long sleeves or your arms get pinched (nice woman friendly culture - not! Not a place I'm in a hurry to get back to). The belt I've had for a while, and the new green skirt hasn't really come out very well in this photo but the batteries on my camera AND phone are dead at the minute. Anyway, the skirt has gold sequins on alternate panels - cute but problematic for jewellry matching - so I invested in the wooden bangle. Couldn't resist the jade/turquoise bangles either - they accent some other jewellry I have, which I must post sometime.

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You may wonder why a very cheap white vest warrants a post, but I have a chequered past with white t-shirts. They usually end up with red wine stains all over them. I only ever spill red wine on myself when I am wearing white. My aim is usually far too good to spill a drop! So anyway, I end up buying cheap white tops which I generally bin at the end of the holiday or after a couple of washes when they fall apart. There are some clothes it just isn't worth spending money on.

And I found a bikini which kind of fits - I wouldn't say it flatters, but not bad. Was about a quarter of the price I normally pay for a decent one in Bravissimo. And it has sequins! Yay. The black jersey dress is to throw on over a bikini when lounging between pool and room.

Did I say it's 8 DAYS TO GO!

Hmmmm......
Have pretty much decided I don't want to go and work for G's company. Better the devil you know, and all that. Everyone's as crap as each other, and if they can't persuade you otherwise, then they're not doing their job right, are they?

The problem this leaves me is what I'm to do now where I am. I desperately need role definition, and I know of a couple of big changes coming - I just need to get a foot in the door in the right place.

I'm at college all week, then next week we have a bank holiday, so a short week, and then it's off to Spain for a week's holiday. When I come back, I want to see some serious decision making by those around me. Should be fun.

In other news, I have rearranged the furniture in the study for the 4th time in 12 months, and it almost feels right. Still running out of space, so it's time for a serious ebay session. It's amazig what people will pay good money for...

Beanz's Flapjacks
Topic: Recipes
I have nicked this recipe off Beanz who I 'know' off some WW and running sites. I've run it through WLR for the calorie count - looks scrummy. I have replaced the margarine with butter - decadent, but I couldn't resist. It's not particularly healthy, but I am looking for a recipe I can adapt and it looks a good starting point.

Oat & Sultana flapjacks
250g butter
250 g soft brown sugar (or demerara)
150 g syrup
400 g rolled oats
100 g SR flour
2 tsp baking powder
100 g sultanas
50g sunflower seeds
75 ml orange juice

Melt margarine with sugar and syrup in a pan or in the microwave oven.
Mix in dry ingredients.
Stir in orange juice.

Spread mixture between 2 lined baking tins (10” x 7” x 2”), pressing down slightly.

Bake at 180?C for 20 -30 minutes until lightly golden.
Allow to cool in tin before taking out an cutting into portions.

Each tin makes about 20 pieces.

per serving:
Calories (kcal) 140.8
Protein (g) 1.8
Carbohydrate (g) 18.9
Fat (g) 6.5
Fibre (g) 0.6

Digital love
Topic: Playlist
I love my Zen and now I can rip all the new cd's I have had in the past couple of months and add them in. Hurrah! 30GB of digital joy.

This is my mellow playlist for tinkering about on the computer:

Save Me - Aimee Mann
Strange and Beautiful - Aqualung
Black Metallic - Catherine Wheel
Yellow - Coldplay
Take my hand - Dido
Just the Way I'm Feeling - Feeder
So Long, Marianne - Leonard Cohen
Still - Macy Gray
Polly - Nirvana
Wonderwall - Oasis
Higher than the sun - Primal Scream
There There - Radiohead
New York - Richard Ashcroft
Birthday - Sugarcubes
For what its worth - The Cardigans
Linger - The Cranberries

Stick it on shuffle and hum along...

New computer
Still finding my way around it and installing all my data and software, but it's pretty cool and super fast. But the absolute best bit is the card reader. I can take photos on my phone, take out the memory card, stick it into the SD card adapter and plug straight in. Or take the memory card straight out of the Olympus camera and plug straight in. Don't belive me? Here is a photo of my new specs taken not 2 minutes ago:

and a photo off my phone (from the great black suit hunt of 2005):

I'm sooo impressed! Not with the suit, which I did not buy - far too tight around the hips.