I'm back...
...and back on the wagon. My new 12 week challenge is over on Data Monster which will bring me up to the day before my 32nd birthday. Eeek - I'm getting old.

I'll write a bit more about the hols another day. Don't have any photos, which is an entry in itself, but we had a good time, ate well, slept well and drank a bit too.

I'm trying to clear up the study and sort out my schedule for the next few weeks. After the reading I did on holiday I'm on a bit of a mission on the 'organising my life more effectively' thing.

Still haven't caught up on the blogs, but my first run of my 12 week challenge is tomorrow morning. I intend to get up bright and early, run, shower, breakfast and catch up on the blogs before work. After work, I am taking Mr LMG to a super-swanky restaurant for his 31st birthday.

Oh, and I have the new Coldplay and Oasis albums to listen to too. Top listens on holiday were James Blunt (who I have raved about before) and the newish Natalie Imbruglia album which is easily her best so far.

Off to Fly Lady for some domestic inspiration on the organisation front now and then I shall clear this desk...

Packed!
So I thought I was really clever and had managed to pack everything into one bag, but have now remembered I still haven't bought any sunscreen and haven't packed my bag of toiletries. And me getting ever so more girly in my old age (I wore lipgloss to work today - unheard of 6 months ago!) it is one damn big bag of toiletries.

So I'm off to buy the sunscreen and check out some bags too. For the next week I shall be here, using my 3 spanish phrases:

'Dos vinos tintos por favor'
'No puedo comer pimientos tengo alergia'
and 'No lo tengo'

Salud!

Tagged!
So Mich tagged me and even though I am going on holiday in less than 24 hours and haven't packed nor bought suncream, I couldn't not join in.

Basically I am to pick five of the “If I could be a” and write my decription. Then I add one of my own to the bottom of the list, along with my name. Then I can tag 3 other people to do it.

Now, I'm not sure who to tag, but I'll give it a go and say Bisous, Dangergirl and Cathy at Works in Progress. Tagging ain't everyone's bag though, so if you're not up for it, I won't be offended. Plus I'll be sunning myself in Spain and will be far more interested in tapas, wine and coffee for the next 7 days...

If I could be a scientist…
If I could be a farmer…
If I could be a musician…
If I could be a doctor…
If I could be a painter…
If I could be a gardener…
If I could be a missionary…
If I could be a chef…
If I could be an architect…
If I could be a linguist…
If I could be a psychologist…
If I could be a librarian…
If I could be an athlete…
If I could be a lawyer…
If I could be an innkeeper…
If I could be a professor…
If I could be a writer…
If I could be a llama-rider…(by Ogre)
If I could be a bonnie pirate…(By Teach)
If I could be a servicemember…(By Jeremy)I
f I could be a business owner…(By Blue 944)
If I could be an actor… (By Blue 944)
If I could be an agent…(By KelBel)
If I could be video game designer…(By KelBel)
If I could be a comic book artist…(By Stoli)
If I could be a hooker…(By Pollo Loco)I
If I could be a crack addict (by Elizabeth)
If I could be a porn star (by Elizabeth)
If I could be a mime (by Garrison)
If I could be a DJ… (by maria)
If I could be a knife-thrower (by Katherine)
If I could be Zsa-Zsa Gabor…..(By Kal)
If I could be a welder…(by Minnie)
If I could be employed…(by Minnie).
If I could be all things to all people…(by Minnie).
If I could be Homer Simpson… (Lee at Oh No, the Blog!)
If I could be a NASCAR driver…(Lee at Oh No, the Blog!)
If I could be the Dreaded Pirate Roberts No. 7,453…(Lee at Oh No, the Blog!)
If I could be a circus performer…(Sarcomical)
If I could be a superhero… (Michie at Meeshmellow World)
If I could be a guru...(LMG)

So my 5 are:

If I could be a writer I would write a book called the career woman's guide to eating, drinking, lifting and running. A guide on how to have everything, juggling career, health, decadence, relationships etc. I may have to invent a 30 hour day though...

If I could be a doctor I would have a surgery that had it's doors open at all hours, and listened to the patients even when they just wanted to have a chat. I hate going to the doctors and feeling under a time pressure to blurt out what you think is wrong. Let's have a little humanity, relaxation and chat.

If I could be an athlete I would want to be Tracy Morris who ran the fastest British female time in the London Marathon 2004, despite working full time as an optomitrist and being 35(?) at the time and went on to finish the Athens marathon at the Olympics (unlike Paula Radcliffe). Hope for us all.

If I could be a DJ I would inflict my taste of indie pop on the world 24/7. Pixies, Cure, Franz Ferdinand, et al...

If I could be a lawyer I would sort out world governance and resolve all kinds of trade and poverty issues. He he. Think big. Why not.

and for my addition:

If I could be a guru I would teach people how to have a strong internal locus of control. You are in control of your own destiny and to blame others when things go wrong is just succumbing to the role of victim.

That was fun...

Reading List
So here's that list I've been promising:

'One for my baby' - Tony Parsons (can't stand the man on telly or in the papers but he writes a damn fine novel about relationships)

'Not on the Label' - Felicity Lawrence (battling with my liberal upbringing vs. capitalist leanings - totally a rebellion thang - what's best - home grown or a free market - dodgy territory all round)

'Design for a Life - How Behaviour Develops' Bateson & Martin (random purchase - hoping to shed light on the whole nature/nurture thang)

'7 Habits...' - S Covey (a classic and one I have never managed to finish. Have listened to the abridged audio version many many times)

'Hitchhikers Guide...' - Douglas Adams (still rereading having read these when I was 15. I honestly can't remember very much. Where my hormaones really so addled I couldn't take in a comedy sci-fi plot - what a worry...)

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!