Week 29 – w/c Saturday 16th July, 2011

Saturday (16/07/11) ~I managed to go to the gym first thing on Saturday morning. Then I grabbed a quick Flat White and Brioche for breakfast before racing home to get showered and changed. I met up with Chev at Sylvia Park and we went shopping and then had coffee and a bite to eat. We did not end up seeing a movie as there were only 4 choices. Had a quiet night at home and fell asleep while reading. No photo.

Sunday (17/07/11) ~ I got to have a sleep in and then went grocery shopping. Popped potato bake in the oven and met Steph for rescue kitty photo shoot at Raewyn’s. Then we zoomed over to the North Shore for the Scooby mid-winter birthday catch up. It was great to see everyone and we got home just after 7.30pm. I tidied the apps on my iPhone and Mark’s iPod after seeing Steph’s organised iPhone4. I then read until I fell asleep.

Monday (18/07/11) ~ I had lunch at Ironique in Mt Eden and got quite excited because they had Coconut Cake; although the pink icing was off-putting. Went to Raewyn’s for kitten cuddles; Casper and Lenee are so cute!!

Tuesday (19/07/11) ~ After watching The Food Truck Mexican episode I decided to try Mexicali Fresh; absolutely divine. In my opinion it was a little on the expensive side, but very, very tasty. I made the effort to walk there to get some exercise.

Wednesday (20/07/11) ~ I think that I was off work with the flu? No photo

Thursday (21/07/11) ~ New library books. Exciting!

Friday (22/07/11) ~ Cannot remember. No photo

Dogs and Cats

I think it is fairly obvious that I am an animal lover from the pictures I post of our cats and the volunteer work that I have done with cats over the past 5 years.

Normally, I try not to read animal stories as they just make me upset. However, sometimes I think it is important to read them so that I can get angry and spur myself into action.

First, there was the story of the man in Glenfield having dead cats in his freezers and also numerous cats living in disgusting conditions. He claims he is an animal lover. I claim that he is a cat hoarder and while he thinks he is “doing right” by these animals, he is being more cruel by keeping many in cages surrounded by their own excrement and others that were sick etc. Apparently, there were complaints made nearly a year ago but nothing was done. Why?

Secondly, I read the story about the two dogs that were killed by a “cross breed” dog. Once again the blame game is happening and unfortunately it would appear that the dog is getting the lion-share of the blame. I feel absolutely gutted for the two dogs that were killed and their owners; I cannot even imagine how terrible it would be and how helpless they felt. I feel angry at the owner of the other dog; she should have had it leashed and it would appear that she did nothing that would suggest she was apologetic for the situation. This to me speaks VOLUMES about the situation. Once again the dog is going to get the blame when it is obvious that the owner also needs to take responsibility for her actions and potentially the lack of training and discipline. She even kicked her dog. Seriously?!

I have to insert a disclaimer here…while we had dogs when I was younger I do not know dogs as well as I know cats. But I do have some thoughts…

There seem to be more and more attacks by dogs and calls to ban particular breeds of dogs. I noticed some comments on the Paw Justice Facebook page yesterday about people that do own larger dogs and cross breeds i.e. pit-bull/bull mastiff and have no issues at all. It would seem that these dogs have been raised by owners that know how to raise a dog the right way. I have read more and more blogs written by Ashley Owen Hill who founded Lucky Dog Rescue in the US. Here is her latest blog about bait dogs. After reading numerous blogs by Ashley, I am beginning to doubt whether viciousness in dogs isn’t so much about the “breed” of the dog, but more that care (and time) has not been taken to train and raise the dog. There are instances where badly treated dogs still want to be loved by their abusers….actually they just want love.

As dog attacks become more prevalent in NZ it is evident that some things need to change radically and very soon. So, while I do appreciate that all dogs in NZ need to be registered, I think that better checks need to be in place to ensure that dogs are not just going to owners with no experience with dogs. Or at least get people to go on mandatory dog training courses. Also, the public should not feel afraid to report owners who may not be doing “right” by their dog/s.

I have a huge issue with free animals on Trade Me. They have tightened their controls over the sale of live animals, but I still think that many traders go unchecked. I am sure that many pets go to loving homes, but there are still those that probably do not. Again, it comes back to my belief that no animal should be re-homed without being desexed first and if you have to get the new owner to cover that cost then so be it. If you let your animal have a litter of puppies, kittens etc. then it’s your responsibility to stop the breeding cycle and then get your own pet desexed especially if you are selling them to people that you do not know.

A few years ago I removed 2 female cats and about 11 kittens from a family as they had to move and could not take them with them. Apparently, letting these two cats get pregnant was their “thing” to do at Christmas. These female cats had never had a life of their own and had, had multiple litters. It was just not fair on them. Then this family just re-homed them to whomever. At the end of the day there are so many deserving animals that need a home so why add more.

What is the answer?

Summer is coming…

I have been meaning to write a quick blog about the change of seasons since I read this lovely “autumn” blog  from Jessica (‘How Sweet it is’). Jessica’s was the first of many blogs that I have read about the Northern Hemisphere change of seasons from summer into fall. I did not realise just how many American blogs I read until most of them started talking about fall “colours” and recipes with pumpkin!

I adore spring. I think it is something to do with new life and renewal. I also love the smell of fresh flowers especially freesias; ours had started popping up in August. It also means that we are well on the way to summer; long days, hot nights and beach days.

This year I have decided to just enjoy summer (despite the humidity that is characteristic of Auckland) and in preparation for a lovely long, hot summer I have decided to take 4 weeks holiday. This means spending more time with family and lots of time at the beach. I am craving the holidays that I had in my teens and am determined to make the most of it.

This morning I read Jenna’s blog and I got really excited about summer. For me, her blog sums up the easy-going summers of my past.

So I am going to LOVE summer because it means:

Golden sand

Sparkling ocean and white surf

The smell of strawberries in the sun; actually all berries and stone fruit

BBQ’s

Icy vodka and soda with a twist

Healthy doses of vitamin D

No shoes

Zucchini and tomatoes from our garden

Basil

Swimming

Long walks

Music on my iPod

Relaxing with family and spending time with my nephew and nieces

Playing on the back lawn with our cats

Sunflowers

Picnics
Sweetcorn

What are you looking forward to?

Music I Want and Cannot Get

A few months ago I heard Natasha Bedingfield’s song ‘Strip Me’ at the end of a movie. I loved it and raced to my iTunes account to download it. Unfortunately, that song and album ARE NOT available in New Zealand. Not impressed. I have requested it from the library to see if I like it enough to buy the whole album. I am still waiting for the CD. I was a bit annoyed, as I buy 90% of my music through iTunes and the rest on CD. I just wanted 1 flipping song!

I had forgotten about the Bedingfield saga until last night. I was watching ‘Drop Dead Diva’ on DVD and there were a couple of songs played in the background by an artist called Jessie James. She is an American Country-Pop singer and I loved her songs ‘My Cowboy’ and ‘Blue Jeans’. I raced to iTunes only to find that she has one song available in New Zealand and it is NOT the one that I want.

I was furious. I went to Google and came up with an MP3 version of the album on Amazon. #Excitement!  I added it to my Amazon cart and filled out my address only to have Amazon tell me that MP3 purchases are NOT available to people outside the USA.

Potentially I can use my sister’s Amazon account (she lived in NYC) or her Australian or US iTunes accounts. However, it still does not solve the problem that most people would not have this option available to them.

So what the hell do I do? I cannot get my music the way that I want and if I order it on CD it’s going to take a few weeks to get here. I am all about instant gratification re: music so I am really angry as I want the songs NOW!

I love you iTunes but NOT when you limit what I can buy because of the country where I live I hate your guts!

On a side note…Lisa wrote a good blog about NZ TV networks and piracy. Many people have had enough in little ‘ol New Zealand.

Four Friday

I stole this list of prompts from Alice (and Wallace)

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE

To be honest I could actually name one company where I had 4 different roles over the 4.5 years I was there. Instead I will try and be a little imaginative…Business Analyst, Client Services Consultant, Sales Rep and Retail Sales Chick.

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER

10 Things I Hate About You, Bring it On, Easy A and The 13^th Warrior

FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN

Auckland….so suburbs: Titirangi, Milford, Avondale and Glendene

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH

Castle, Drop Dead Diva, The Closer and True Blood

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION

Reading (Michigan), Fiji, Bali and Melbourne

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY

Twitter, Google Reader, Facebook and Stuff

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS

Cheese, Pasta, Chocolate and basil

FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED

St Dominic’s Primary School, Glen Eden Intermediate and Auckland Girls’ Grammar

FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW

Home reading, Melbourne, Sydney (hugging my sister) or Rarotonga

"Cheers to the freaking weekend....."

3 months, 4 days

Jumped on the scales this morning and I am the same weight. I am not sure whether I should be happy about this or not. Suffice to say that my behaviour last week was not conducive to getting fitter and losing weight. We went to a party on Saturday night and I drank WAY too much and then had Hell’s Pizza (which incidentally was gross as I have been spoilt by my sister’s amazing homemade pizza) and woke up on Sunday morning feeling like shittles. I had some toast and a coffee and then ended up going on a food bender with a burger, fries, coke and then party food. So it is AMAZING that I did not put on weight.

After a pretty good workout this morning Mark and I had a conversation and it went a bit like this:

Ness: “we need to go to the gym tomorrow morning too”

Ness: “so we really need to be coming to the gym more”

Mark: “it’s hard to get up in the morning; it’s hard to come at night….”

Ness: “suck it up (cupcake)”

I will let you know if we make it to the gym in the morning (Friday).

Yesterday on the radio during their ‘I Like’ segment:

Female Caller: “I like the new homeopathic diet I am doing as I have lost 3kg in a few days by using the product and also eating 500 calories”

DJ: “500 calories isn’t enough (sic) and of course you are losing weight….when will people understand that it’s about energy in, energy out”

Female caller: “I am burning up my stored fat”

I am not a qualified professional, but I think that she is possibly burning a little stored fat, but also lean muscle mass because she’s simply not eating enough. Even the Biggest Loser contestants eat approximately 1000-1200 calories per day.

So honey how about washing those measly 500 calories down with some Lemon Detox Diet yumminess!

My friend Liz realised very quickly into changing her lifestyle that eating too few calories was prohibiting her weight loss; so she read up more and realised it was about burning more calories than you were eating. 

What sends all your good food and exercise 'train' off the rails?

Turned a Corner

I met with my personal trainer at the gym this morning and at the end of my treadmill cardio session she told me she felt I had “turned a corner” in my training.

Why had I turned a corner? Well this was one of the first times that my  heart rate did not go above 160bpm and it was also coming down faster during the rest intervals. It does not sound a lot to be excited about; but believe me she was! It means that my recovery from my maximum heart rate is getting better and therefore my fitness is gradually improving.

I have been a bit slack with my cardio workouts and while I love the cross-trainer with a passion; my personal trainer has been getting me to do interval training on the treadmill. I hate it. It is really hard. Although I think about how well they do on the Biggest Loser and I just push through. I do not know if other people find this, but when the speed is increased I feel like my legs can barely keep up with the treadmill belt. I have visions of flying off….which would be quite funny although quite painful. Also, I am determined not to hold onto the handles as there are "no handles in life".

A few months ago I did a few interval sessions on the treadmill interspersing running and walking. Trust me…this was a challenge but oddly enjoyable. I can understand the sense of accomplishment that Kate felt when she finally ran solidly for 20 minutes. For those people that run all the time it might seem much, but to people that have not run (or do not run) it is huge.

I need to start doing more cardio so that the Sculpt 6k on the 4^th December is a breeze. I also need new walking/training shoes.

When did you realise you had turned a corner in your exercise regime?

I received my first book to review from Penguin! I have already made a start and it is awesome! In addition to the Penguin books I think that I might start reviewing some of the other books I read and really enjoy.

What book or books are you reading at the moment?