Resolve

In my quick gallop through the last few months yesterday I didn't get around to weight chat. Well, it is not pretty!

I was around 16.3  when we got hitched and have now jumped up to 16.11. Gulp.

Exercise other than golf largely disappeared for a couple of months and the sweets and treats which I was mostly avoiding pre-wedding made a fun re-appearance.

Hey ho. It's not too painful as long as I put a stop to it NOW and start to reverse the process asap.

It is difficult when you feel as though you are on siege footing. When Rich's mum was so poorly, he was visiting her almost every day, sometimes for several hours at a time. I visited a couple of times each week too. It meant that our time together was limited and tired. Meals were at odd times and we often didn't have the time or inclination to cook proper meal. It also inevitably means that, when you do have time for some fun, you tend to go overboard with food and drink.

(I know that fellow blogger Peridot is going through a longer and more extreme version of this siege and I know how hard it is to stay in a healthy place. Keep at it Peri but don't beat yourself up for slipping! This is bigger than you.)

I have some great targets for weight loss coming up though. I'm 50 at the end of November and am having a big party on 1st Nov and we're off to South Africa for a big trip in December. I want to be a good stone lighter before those milestones!! Ideally I'd like to be under 15.8 as that was my recent low weight and it would be lovely to see genuinely fresh fat.

The exercise is being reinstated in the form of personal training twice weekly, swimming, golf and dog walking.  I'm also back to logging calories on my fitbit. Only day 2 and the calorie counts have not been very low but I've made a start and with some organisation can get back to healthy ways.

Now, enough of that, more wedding pics?

Yes, it was a blue and white Sheffield Wednesday themed wedding of course! When my friend from the golf club who is also a Wednesday nut (and talented embroideress) suggested that she could sew a little owl onto my dress, I jumped at it. I LOVED it! The cake was half and half, white and silver at the front and blue and white stripes eith badge etc at the back! Childish I know but it made us happy!!

So much water under the bridge

But I'm still trying to drop weight!!

I have missed blogging. I have stupidly replaced it with playing silly games on my phone which is not nearly as much fun or anything really. Damn you Wordscape with your hypnotic but utterly pointless disc.

Here are some bullet points on what has happened since my last post.

We got married. My dress fitted (snugly but I'll take it) Yay! Here are a few pics.

We had a short minimoon in Wensleydale ("cheese Gromit?). It didn't rain too much which, if you remember June, is a minor miracle. We saw lots of waterfalls and ate and drank like princes.

When we came home Rich's mum Sue, who had been diagnosed with cancer and early dementia before the wedding, went downhill much more rapidly than anticipated. We think she held on for the wedding and then decided to go quickly afterwards. She wouldn't/couldn't eat and we spent the next 9 weeks visiting her in hospital and latterly a nursing home where she sadly died 3 weeks ago. She was only 72 so there is no upside to this other than to say that I think she didn't want to linger.

Her funeral was last Tuesday and the family and Rich and his brother in particular did a great job and did her proud.

Shelagh had been going downhill too although remained mostly happy and healthy just very doddery and increasingly frail. I knew she would not last long and sure enough, after a few bad days and recoveries, she finally deteriorated quickly and decisively one Tuesday night 3 days after Sue had died. We took her to the vets and let her go peacefully like the true lady she was.

We haven't been too bad to be honest. I thought I'd be in bits but it was so obviously her time and she had had nearly 16 years of a great life.  What's to mourn?

These are pics of her last paddle in the stream and last stick just a week or so before we said goodbye.

And on that bittersweet note I'm going to sign off. I'll be back soon.