Crunch time...

...but unfortunately I don't mean crunch as in 'Cadbury's Crunchie' but as in I could very nearly fall off the bandwagon and I really, really need to...well, not!

To date I've lost 23lbs (10.4kg).  However, I went on holiday to Morocco for 3 weeks and didn't really do any exercise whilst I was away, for one reason or another, and since I've been back (just over a week) I've been under the weather with some kind of virus or something.  So I'm now beginning to panic that I'll just stop going to the gym and not even notice!  It could happen!  How do I know?  Because I've seen it happen!!

I have missed exercising, I missed it whilst I was on holiday and I've missed it being back home.  Life feels weird being back and having not gone to the gym yet ~ but how long will that last?  I know that I've lost a lot of my fitness over the past month, but I also know that it will come back quickly as long as I don't leave it too long.

So as things stand I need to get well (still feeling like poo) and then get back to the gym as soon as possible.  In the mean time I have to confess to buying a bag of marshmallows!!!  Yes, yes, I know.......but what's done is done.  Actually my confession doesn't stop there....I didn't just buy the bag of marshmallows, I also ate them!!  I mean, let's face it, there's no point in buying them to look at!

I am nearly half way in my weight loss.  I still have another 21-28lbs (9.5-12.7kgs) to go and that's not going to happen with me eating marshmallows and not going to the gym.

Right, I've decided...whether I'm well again or not, I'm going to the gym tomorrow.  Even if I only manage a wee 30min run (optimistic eh!! haha) then at least I'll have broken the 'haven't-been-to-the-gym' thing.

Yup....that's my plan....................

...............................................it's going to hurt isn't it?!?............................................................

They say there's the 7 year itch...

...and I think I've just had one!!

The original meaning for the phrase "The 7 year itch" is the inclination to become unfaithful after seven years of marriage, but the meaning is often  been extended to refer to the urge to move on from any situation, and not even limited to those of 7 years' duration.  (copied unashamedly from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/seven-year-itch.html).

So...the past 7 years have been interesting.  They have been...em...challenging (for want of a better word)!  However, it was just this morning that I realised that I had lost something along the way ~ and this weekend I reclaimed it....and that was my cleaning mojo!!  I calculate that it was circa 2005 that it went awol.

I used to be known as 'Monica' (ref. 'Friends' and her cleaning maniacal ways) and I was ok with that - others...perhaps not so much - but in about 2005 I lost 'Monica'.  However, this weekend I reclaimed that part of my personality and it feels amazing!!  It wasn't a conscience decision, it just happened.  My flat has never been so clean and I am so darn happy.

Why-o-why am I blogging about this?  Well....I think it's symbolic (granted most things can be manipulated to look symbolic, but I'm pretty sure THIS is symbolic).  I have had a few fairly gigantuous, life altering situations in my life in the past 7 years where I've had very little control and they had a fairly substantial effect on me...which is not surprising.  However, if I had access to a time machine, I wouldn't go back and change any of it because I'm a big believer in what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (metaphorically/mentally speaking, because I'm pretty sure if you were in an accident that didn't kill you but disabled you, you probably wouldn't feel stronger in the slightest - unless we're talking mentally, in which case there is a chance that you would be, depending on how you coped with the aftermath...but I'm digressing).

So...7 difficult/challenging years, steep learning curves (yup, plural) and feeling like I'd lost part of who I am as a person, or perhaps 'carparking' some aspects of my personality for a while, however I seem to have come to a point where I'm comfortable with where I am and who I am.  I'm not naive enough to think that there are not other challenging times ahead ~ but I feel that I've managed to regain substantial parts of me that maybe I shouldn't have let go of in the first place, but hey - I've always 'liked' to learn the hard way!!

It has been most satisfying scratching this 7 year itch!!

I stepped on an ant...

...deliberately, and I still feel bad!  It was a couple of weeks ago, I was in my uncle's office chatting away to the guys there when I saw this wee ant crawl across the floor.  Before I even put my brain into gear I had splatted it with my shoe.  Why??  I've no explanation, but I do feel bad.  The ant wasn't causing me any harm nor did I detect any imminent threat to either my safety or those around me (surprisingly).

The thing is that I genuinely still feel bad for doing it.  If it had been an accident then fair enough, but I actually went out of my way to kill the ant.  What I'm now stuck with is ~ what to do next?  I'd quite like this feeling of guilt to be removed from my conscience as I'm now finding it rather bothersome...so if anyone has any suggestions, please do get in touch!

View from my adopted bench...

Blue sky with not a cloud in sight!

I returned from Morocco on Monday and I stole some of the gorgeous weather and brought it back with me.  It's amazing what you can get through customs these days!! :)  The lovely weather is certainly helping to appease my post-holiday blues.  You see I fell in love.  It took less than the 3 weeks that I was in Morocco to fall in love with the country and the people (well ok, not everyone - there simply wasn't enough time to meet everyone whilst I was out there, but the people I did meet certainly represented their country very well.  Well except perhaps the woman in the taxi who thought it was ok that Soufiane said he was going to marry me for a visa, oooh or the man who spat on the ground because he disapproved of me restyling Outman's hair!!).  I think it's always difficult to return back to 'normal' life when you've had some time out.  I'm rejuvenated by shiny, new things (when I say 'shiny, new' I mean things/places etc that are different to my 'norm') so when I get home I have to re-adjust...takes a wee while.

 So yesterday I had arranged to meet up with a couple of mates in the park after work.  We all wanted to get outside since we had all been stuck indoors for the majority of the day.  I arrived half an hour early so that I could find a quiet spot in the park and chill out.  I did a marvelous job of achieving what I set out to do and here are the photographs as evidence.

It was brilliant being re-united with my friends even though I may have upset them when I didn't answer quickly enough, when asked if I had missed them when I was away!!  (I kinda did, but I wasn't really away long enough to really, really miss them!!)

My adopted bench for the afternoon

The railway bridge crossing over the River Dee

Didi, Jb & I

Pete looking fetching in my scarf!

Me (with tan from holiday!!) & Didi

The tale of a Moroccan Rose...

There is quite high unemployment here in Morocco and also there is no social welfare.  Due to a combination of the two, there are quite a lot of beggars on the streets.  A Moroccan friend of  mine told me that he thinks about half the beggars don't actually 'need' to beg but are 'professional' beggars.  But some of the people have ingenious ways of making money.  For example there are very few places where you'll pay for parking - however, almost 100% of the time when you go to park there will be a man in a yellow reflective vest or a work overall, wandering about showing you where there are free parking spaces, helping you get in or out of a space - and when you leave you give him money....maybe about 7p -15p...so not exactly going to break the bank (a damn sight less than the criminal charges you have to pay back in Blighty).

Another way of making money is there are quite a lot of children who go around selling flowers like individually wrapped roses or for example, when we were up in Chefchaeoun, in the mountains, the kids were selling garlands of flowers.  I bought a garland of yellow flowers when I was there...

for the grand total of 2 dirhams (15pence), but then the kid came back and said that he actually wanted 5 dirhams.  My Moroccan friend Mounir told the kid that he couldn't do that, that once he's agreed a price that's the deal done, but the kid was really insistant.  So, through Mounir, I told him that if he gave me my money back I'd give him the garland back ~ which is what we did.  I wouldn't have minded giving him 5 dirhams in the first place (even though my friends told me that that would have been way too much to pay) - but I wasn't happy about him coming back after the sale to tell me that the item had gone up more than double in price.  Mounir said that there would be an adult or older child telling the kid to get more money.  So in the end I 'borrowed' the garland.

On Sunday I, with my uncle and 3 friends, went by train to the city of Fez - which I think is north-east of Rabat (me + geography =  confusion!!).  Near the end of the day we were walking along the street and I was walking with my friend Soufiane.  This little girl came running over trying to sell him a rose for me - which I thought was a bloody good idea....he wasn't so keen, but between the cute wee girl with her big brown eyes and my unashamed harrassment for him to buy me the rose, he finally gave in and bought it for me!!  :D

Granted it looks a little worse for wear now, but I still love it...my Moroccan rose!

A love affair...

...warts and all.

I arrived here in Morocco 2 weeks ago today and I'm now into my last week here.  I have fallen in love with this beautiful, colourful & exotic country, with it's friendly people who are brimming with character, tradition & customs.

The weather is crazy hot here now. It usually is 23-25degrees at this time of year in Rabat...but because I am here it's 37-40degrees!! Haha. Having said that I'm pleased to report that I'm still coping with the heat really well. I think that one of the great things about being here for 3 weeks I don't feel the need to be rushing about trying to fit a lot of things in, so I'm living at an easy pace - which to be honest fits in with the pace of life here. The only crazy fast thing around here is the bloody traffic. These people seriously cannae drive.   My uncle summed it up really well the other day about how they sometimes go about things. Traffic lights for example: "It's like someone took a photograph of traffic lights and thought 'yup, this is a good idea, let's use them' but without finding out how they are meant to work!". So true. You're standing waiting to cross the road, the green man appears, so you would expect to be able to cross the road without the fear of cars driving right at you....WRONG! The traffic that you are crossing directly in front of are stopped (well are meant to be), but the traffic that's turning the corner are on green....so it's like a giant game of chicken as to who's going to be able to cross...pedestrians or the cars!!! Brilliant!

There is no such thing as queuing around here. I remember when I first arrived in Rabat at the train station. I said to my uncle that I needed to go to the ladies. He was about to come and find me because I was taking so long!!! Why? Well I went to the ladies and stood in line....except NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE observes a queuing system here (seriously, how British do I sound??). They have absolutely no worries about pushing either right in front of you or directly into you to move you if that's going to be more effective. Being British and a bit dim, I just kept re-queuing until this big burd stood on my foot in her haste to move me out of the way and I thought "ah f*ck this" so counter-pushed her out of the way and got the next cubicle!!!  No one takes it personally...it's just how things are around here.  Trying to get service...you have to be rude (or perhaps 'assertive' would be a better word) to get served!! I have to admit that I'm a wee bit worried about coming home - it'll probably take a bit of time to re-adjust to the British way, because I have really got into the swing of things around here. It really is survival of the fittest...and I've decided that I'm darn well gonna survive!!

Oh and by the way - there is no such thing as bins around here. Everyone just throws the litter on the ground!!! I still can't do it and still gasp in shock when I see someone doing it....and then proceed to tut.  Hahahahaha. Really, it should've been the British that colognised Morocco rather than the French, they'd be in a better shape, I'm sure!!!  (JOKING!)  I found out the other day that the reason there are no bins out is because some eejit decided, a few years ago, to start bombing places up by putting bombs in bins ~ unfortunately killing people in the process.

So to sum up so far, you take your life into your hands every time you step anywhere near a road, you need to be assertive to get served or want to go to the loo and it's ok to throw your litter on the ground....and yet, despite all these things going against how I live back home, I love it here (and by the way I'm not saying that we don't have non-queuers/mental drivers/people that throw litter on the ground back in Britain- it's just not to the same extent).  I feel that when you come to Morocco you get to meet Morocco warts and all!    There is so much to fall in love with here.  I can't even begin to adequately describe how generous, friendly and warm the people are whom I've been lucky enough to meet whilst here.  There is amazing architecture, stunning scenery - especially if you go up into the mountains - and you're surrounded by such rich culture and history...I can't see that it would be possible to not fall in love with Morocco and its people. 

P.s.  It helps if you keep a good sense of humour & a smile on your face if you decided to go around the medina in Marrakech.

How things change...

On the 2nd May 2009 I flew out to the West Coast of America with my friend Miss B for a 3 week road trip holiday.  We started at San Fran, headed down the coast to LA, up to Las Vegas over to the Grand Canyon, back to LV then up to Death Valley, on to Yosemite and finally back to San Fran to catch our plane home.  It was a bloody brilliant holiday.  We got on really well & never fell out which I think is pretty impressive when you consider that we were in each others company almost 24hrs a day for 3 weeks and because Miss B had to put up with me moaning about the heat...a LOT! 

I've never been very good with the heat and there's a damn good reason for that...I was born and bred in Scotland.  Heat has never really been something I've had to get used to.  My skin is so white that I glow in the dark, which is handy sometimes but it does mean that I'm a little (understatement of the year) prone to sunburn....

This is my back after a day on the beach in Aberdeen!!  I'm a sensitive soul you see...which is reflected by my skin.
So whilst we were on holiday I found the heat quite a challenge...my eye lashes sweated (which, by the way, is nippy on ones eyes) and in general I felt uncomfortable ~ all swollen etc.

Fast forward exactly 3 years to the 2nd May 2012 and I'm flying over to Morocco to spend 3 weeks with my Uncle Kenny and Saad.  For some reason I've adapted really quickly to the heat, actually *touch wood* so far I've not been uncomfortable in the heat at all...I'd even go as far as to say that I'm enjoying it.  Only yesterday I commented that it felt a little chilly - it turns out that it was a mere 21 degrees!  Brrrrr...where's my cardi?!  However, I'm gonna be tested because it's due to get up to 33-35degrees by tomorrow.  Already this morning I've got the impression that today's gonna be a scorcher (yup - I'm milking this!!)

I have a theory that because I'm no longer carrying around excess fluid in my body, after cutting out wheat and yeast, it is why I'm coping so much better.  Water expands in the heat - hence the swelling and when you've got excess fluid in your body you sweat more (n.b. this is a theory based on no medical expertise whatsoever).

I may be a lot more comfortable in the heat, but some things don't change and in my case that would be that my skin still burns like sugar.

Anyway....must dash, it's illegal to stay indoors when the weather is as beautiful as this....

:)