Tyranusochilsrex

So I was driving home tonight after my first spin bike class of the week.  It wasn't quite dark - the days ARE getting longer people!  And there I was feeling very lucky because I do have one of the best commutes to work in terms of time, distance and best of all, the views.  

The back road into my village sits quite high above the Carse and I can see all the way to the Oil refinery at Grangemouth and Knockhill Racing Circuit to the East and then all the way up to Ben Vorlich and Stuc a Chroin at Lochearnhead and all the way down and over to Ben Lomond in the West.  On a crisp clear day it's awesome.  At night you see the twinkly streets lights of the Forth Valley and Clackmannanshire.  But tonight...

It was there looming in the inky blue semi-darkness.  It's scales and rough skin was marked by the white slithers the ran down it's humped back.  It was still.  And tonight it was not for moving.  Occasionally I could see it open it's beady eye take a look around and decide that it was not for moving.  I breathed a sigh of relief and continued along the road to home.  Coming over the brow of the hill to stop at my driveway I seen it peaking over the houses at the front of mine.  One day I thought to myself... One Day...

One day I might be brave enough to march up to the beast, look into it's beady black eye and carry on walking up until i reach the top of it's humped back ridge.  Perhaps I'll wait until it's shed it's winter coat, which could even have been right up until mid May but these days more like mid March (depending on the weather of course).  This beast likes to hold onto those last slivers of whiteness with all it's strength and might....  the Tyranusochilsrex.  

I didn't dare stop to take a picture of the inky blue beast tonight but below is one where it almost has his full winter coat one...

Ange x       

Reason, Season, Lifetime

Have you heard the saying that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime?  I think this has rung true for me over the past year or so. 

I had lunch today with one of my oldest friends since school.  We've not seen each other for a while but it was nice to catch up and was just like old times.  She's heading off to Australia for a month in 3 weeks time with her family and I'll miss her. 

She won't thank me for this but the photie below is when we went on a school trip to Germany's Rhine Valley about... *whispers* ahem... cough... 17 years ago!!  Jees!  I think we're ageing well and my hair has calmed down a wee bit since then. 

In this photie is Julie (another great friend who emigrated to Australia 3 years ago), Wee Stephen Giannandrea (who is now an architect and lives in Brazil with his wife a 2 kids), Donna (who I met today for lunch) and Me.  On the end.  Hiding in the corner with my Umbro jumper on.  They were the fashion in those days - honest!

Ange x

Blog Flitting and Why I Love Twitter...

Project Everest was going to go through an extreme makeover (of sorts) last weekend.  I toyed with the idea of moving the blog over to a new space.  A Square Space to be exact.  I spent last Friday night, Saturday and Sunday setting up a new blog over on Square Space.  I was even considering paying $8 per month to blog!  But after my illness last week I was mulling it over and decided that blogging for me is something I enjoy doing and I do not want to pay for it.  I blog about all manner of things and I don't want to have to pay for that hobby.  So for now Project Everest is staying right here in it's original home.  I may make a few changes to the top banner cos the one I made for the Square Space blog was pretty damn cool.  

However, if you are a more professional blogger (or have money to spare each month) then Square Space was very easy for a relative non-technical computer person to set up and it really did look rather professional.  I would recommend it.  I have played around with Wordpress but find the templates a bit dull or just not what I am looking for (and again I don't want to buy a new template).  In saying that if some nice person would like to design me a new simple blog template for Wordpress then I would consider moving.  I want to add pages to store things I like that I catch sight of (mostly via Twitter), I want to jot down some of my favourite websites and blogs and share with you guys here.  There's lists down the right hand side of this here blog but how many people actually check them out?  I think a dedicated page would look better and more professional. 

Although not very technical at computery type stuff I am a geek and like to have an eye on what's going on.  So to remedy me finding cool things that I'd like to share with you people, and not being able to set up pages on this blog, I am going to resurrect my Tumblr site that I set up in December 2008.  I would say Tumblr is a cross between a blog and Twitter.  A short blog where you can post blog posts, pictures, quotes, favourite links to websites... anything really.  You can find it here.  http://projecteverest.tumblr.com/  I'll try to link to it from this blog so that you can go check it out if there's anything I find worth sharing.

Which brings me nicely on to why I love Twitter so much.  Now is love a bit too strong a word to use?... for me the answer is no.  I love Twitter because first and foremost I am quite nosy and I like to know what people are up to.  I like the short little paragraphs that can, in 140 characters, give you a sense of what someone is feeling, doing, hating, loving or capturing on cameraphone.  It's also connected me to a load of cool people I would otherwise never ever have come into contact with.  I'm not talking about celebrities or anyone like that because lets face it @lancearmstrong is never going to reply to me or even read my Twitter timeline is he.  No these are just people on Twitter (no not Twits but Tweeps).  There are some people that I don't know why I follow them but I do because every now and again they Tweet about not bad stuff. 

I don't know if I'm any good at tweeting.  Sure I get replies but mostly from the same people I know will reply.  I don't seem to engage people in great debate or anything.  Well except when I tweeted about bacon rolls on Sunday mornings and got a new follower that all they do is tweet and retweet about eating bacon and the many different recipes that bacon appears in.  I didn't block this one... yet!  

But every now and again I get a nice new follower and I think to myself wow this cool person is following me! and it's kinda nice you know.

Another thing I love about Twitter is that it's been a means in which I have found loads of cool stuff through people tweeting links to music, art, walking, gear, outdoors just anything and everything really.  Like a very cool online village that I've become part of - when in ral life i probably would not have been part of it.  I've found gorgeous artworks and illustrations that now hang on my wall from @BenAndFi 

I've had info about bikes from @CliveAndrews  @owenp and @flyingfoxbikes   I've found lovely little trinkets of cross-stitching craftiness and handmade jewellry from people such as @misofunky @ladyluckrulesok  I've had inspiration from courageous and bold women such @AnnieBeee @cupcakemafia and @theclimbergirl  plus there are loads more favourite tweeters that provide me daily with amusement, replies and banter @1obster @MarkOfRespect  @cyclingtheamericas  @stewyphoto  @macrobert  plus loads more, I could go on but I won't.  Instead I'll create some new lists on Twitter and categorise people as I see fit, such is my want.

And that's it.  This blog was nearly on it's way to a new home but never.  And a few little reason why I love to tweet on Twitter.  Job done.

Ange x 

Musical update: 
I quite like the song Stay Too Long by Plan B  a nice wee tune.  Plus don't tell anybody but I love the songs from Glee!!  It's fabulous.  :o)

Oot the game!

*warning: if you are of a weak disposition you may not want to read* you have been warned.

That's where I've been for the past three days - oot the game.  I've been struck down by 'a bug' that's going around.  First of all Ryan and my sister had it over the weekend.  Then when i came home from work Mum told me that Dad had it.  Then Monday night I could feel that something was up in my belly.  Or something was down.  But something not nice was happening...

I spent most of Monday night/Tuesday morning being sick and the rest! and I never slept at all.  The pain was bad but that nauseous feeling is the one thing that I do not like at all.  Once I was sick I felt better and thought that was it.  But no.  It brewed again and an hour after the first outbreak, the second one came and so on.  (Sorry was brewed too descriptive a word to use at this point?!).  This went on all night.  By 3am I'd decided it was safer for me (and the new carpet that mum's just had laid on the staircase) if I slept on the couch so I decamped down there and turned the telly on for company.

I never slept, too scared incase I was sick, too scared in case I did something else!  Several more trips to the bathroom were had before I noticed the time lapse between each trip was getting longer.  Then the tennis came on which pleased me (Murray V Nadal), something to watch that I enjoyed.  Also by this time Mum had gone to work and Dad had been up and gone back to his bed and then...

One more almighty trip to the bathroom...  It was not good this time.  Stomach cramps that would end my day (at least that's what it felt like).  When the business was done I couldn't raise my head much above leg height and decided the safest option just now was to lay on the bathroom floor until the sickly dizziness subsided.  I did shout on my Dad but he was out for the count.  A while later, not exactly sure how long, I thought I'd better get up as it was getting cold there on the floor.  So up I got, slowly, very slowly.  Ok things seem fine.  Gathered myself and went and lay on the living room floor wrapped in my quilt halfway between the radiaor and the telly.  I felt safe here, no dizziness when i was laid flat out.  Then I looked at the telly.  I'd seen the first set of tennis and now they were on set 3!!  I must have been on the bathroom floor for around an hour.  Damn!

Anyway Mum came in from work and we managed to get me onto the couch with the basin at the side (just in case), water and lucozade too.  I still didn't sleep.  Instead I dozed in and out of dreaminess.  Then the daytime tv programmes came on and I was woke by a whiney lassie in that Doctors programme that I've never really understood.  That was it.  Any chance of sleep was now gone.  I felt a bit better.  Still a funny belly though.  I lay in my bed and dozed in and out of Murder, She Wrote; Diagnosis Murder; Flog It; Ready Steady Cook and the rest.  I was getting really tired by now and my cravings for a big cold drink of Irn Bru were now more rampant than ever but I decided that it would be suicide to try and drink that at this juncture.  I set my video to tape some programmes I wanted to watch and tried to sleep but it was no use.  I was still up at 10pm on Tuesday night which was probably something near a whole 38 hours since i'd gotten up on Monday morning.  Tired was an understatement.  My head was also pounding with a headache again probably due to hunger and lack of sleep.  I fell asleep and woke up around 4am, then dozed off again and it was about 9am when I woke on Wednesday morning feeling a bit better.  Still a bit shaky legged, grumbly of tummy but no sickness!  yay!

On Wednesday I had my first bite to eat - toast and a cup of tea.  Then for dinner I had a piece on square sausage.  It was good.  There has been no sickness or the other stuff for a good day now.  There has been lots of daytime tv watched.  Most of it is rubbish but what else is there to do when you are off sick.  

Today has been a lot better.  Trying to eat and so far I've had toast and tea and I'm just about to have my favourite - mum's homemade macaroni cheese.  Yum!   Whilst laying on the couch or in my bed my consant companion has been the iPhone.  It's great.  There was no way I could have gotten messages to people without it.  Really, where would we be without the mobile phone and in particular the iPhone.  I kept up to date with the happenings on Twitter and the various blogs I read.  One story that unfolded was a girl who does some nice designs had her work ripped-off by another girl and she sold 'her' design to a well known clothes shop (who probably knew the work had been plagiarised).  I felt sorry for her (@gemmacorrell on Twitter) but after readng more I found that it's quite common.  How bad is that?  I actually managed to watch Steve Jobs announce the arrival of the Apple iPad! (iPad?).  I played Bejeweled 2 and have got to level 151 and over 17 million points - no joke (this is the Endless version that i've been playing for months).  I've checked out cool stuff that I want to buy but can't (i'm still on the shopping ban remember!) and also whilst lying on the couch i've noticed that the streets lights have taken until 5pm to come on at night which means the days are getting longer and it won't be long until we can play outside for ages!!!  Oh oh oh and today I watched Andy Murray get into the final of the Australian Open tennis tournament - Well Done!!

Today also I had my first shower in three days, washed my hair and now I think i'm ready to return to work tomorrow.  It's ok though.  It's fine, the toilets are just out the office and along the corridor... I won't have far to run :o)  

Ange xx              

To-Do, To-Don't: my head is spinning

Spinning has been all the exercise I've been doing of late.  For about the last 3 months actually.  I go with my friend Elaine who has been motivator-in-chief over that last wee while and long-term confidante extraordinaire (along with Linda!).  Before Christmas we stepped it up to 2 classes a week.  For me there are 5 stages of spin.  1) the dread an hour before you go.  2) the excitement of getting there.  3) the high of starting off on the warm up and getting going.  4) the absolute horror halfway through when it gets tougher and tougher you're dripping with sweat and you're quads are burning!  5) the final 10 minutes when the instructor announces "only 2 more hard-working tracks left team" and then the exhiliration when you finish.  You just feel great, you're face is bright red, but you feel great and that's the reason I go back.  But it's time to get serious again because you never know what come up in the future!...

Spin classes take place at The Peak which is a new fitness and sports centre that opened in Stirling in April / May 2009.  It's a good place and I really like the atmosphere when you go in.  There's an ice rink, swimming pool, gym, fitness studios, sports hall and a couple of 12m climbing walls.

In all honesty I haven't been to the gym at work since about October 2009, instead preferring to go to spin and yoga classes.  It's a pity too because It's quite a good gym but tended to get busy when I went straight after work.  Then I just sort of got fed up with it.  I mean I couldn't run and felt like I was just going and plodding away with not much happening.  Now I'm swithering about whether or not to join The Peak gym.  Currently I'm spending about £36 per month for spin bike classes and for an extra £3 (£39 per month) I could become a member and use all the facilities and go to any of the numerous classes they run.  But... I still pay my membership for the work gym at £13 per month which is a great price.  The only drawback here is the classes are limited in variety, there is no spin.  Hhmmm I shall have to think this one over for a bit before I commit one way or the other.

I've decided to try running again too.  I haven't tried this for about 5 months really.  I've stopped getting physio as the last one (NHS guy) told me after 4 appointments that I didn't need it any longer and my legs / knees would be ok (probably cos I hadn't been up a hill or ran to test them).  So after my expedition up Dumyat on 1st January 2010 I can confirm that the knee pain is still well and truly there.  It was a real downer as soon as I started to feel it coming back on.  But on the positive side, the next morning the pain had all but vanished.  So I decided I wasn't going back to a doctor/physio or any other thing like that.  It seems there's problems that even they cannot fix.  I will instead be trying to build strength into my muscles and will actually get my arse into gear and start using my TP Therapy roller kit properly too.  Oops.  Since I got the TP Therapy hip and lower back kit back in September it has kinda just lay there with the occassional use (sorry Kristian!!).  But no more.  It will be getting used as well as my big foam roller.  The thing is it's sore to begin with but once you've done it a few days you get used to it and you can feel where the pain (tight muscles) need loosened.  No pain no gain as they say.  For that is what the pain is afterall - tight muscles.  Calves, Hamstrings, Quads and IT bands - although technically the IT band is a tendon and not a muscle.  Trust me.  I have researched this until my brain bleeds.  Now the only question about running is whether or not to put the ortho insoles back into my gutties?  I'm thinking not.  Everything I've read seems to indicate that you should but then there's a few (including my last physio) who say NO!  And I would like a complete dork if I took my trainers off and ran bare foot!  The Nike uniformed brigade would turn and look with disgust because they've been programmed into thinking that £100 trainers ARE worth it.  I know they would, I used to be one of them.  But having tried different trainers I can testify that it doesn't really make one bit of difference to me.  I'd probably be just as good running in my Converse plimsoles.  Ach the dilemmas...

My shopping ban is going well.  Except I seem to still be spending money on food!  I mean I need to eat but it's the extras I pick up when I'm in the supermarket that needs to stop.  I've only bought three tops since my self imposed ban.  Two of those were in an online sale at £5 each and one is a new top for spin class/gym so it's useful and much-needed.  White is the new black for the gym I feel.  Other than that not much money is being spent at all - yay!  Which leads nicely into this...

BIKE NEWS:  There is no news!!  I'm really getting fed up now but an update from the bike shop indicates that Cube are being very slow.  As soon as it's delivered I will get an update on here going.

My book of 2010 is taking shape nicely.  

It is a lime green Moleskine soft backed notebook and is dedicated to 2010.  It is a list of to-do's.  It is a log of inspirational quotes.  It may even hold a few little short stories!  New to-do's are being added as and when they spring into my head.  Each one having a different colour.  There will also be a section when each to-do has been completed.  Hopefully it will be a reminder to actually do things during this year as with each new year we all usually say I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that but how much of these to-do's do we actually complete during the year?  Probably less than half.  Some of the to-do's are grand ideas indeed and others are just normal things we might take for granted.  Examples are: a trip to a beach on Skye and a visit to the cinema at least once a month.  

I feel we are all friends here now so lets share...  What are some of your to-do's for this year?

Ange x

Music:  Dogs Days by Florence and the Machine  An old song that's been about for ages but turn it up full blast in the car and it's even more fan-bloody-tastic!!