Moggie Madness

So as you all know, I’m doing the 12 week challenge for the fat-fighting challenged at All For Women. Thank you to all the girls who have joined me on what promises to be a most amusing journey - for the moggies if nobody else. I already eat a reasonably healthy diet, although my love of chocolate certainly makes an impact on the scales. I decided that my main problem, despite having a mad-paced frantic job, is that I don’t do enough exercise to compensate for my love of chocolate and all other yummy things. Out comes the treadmill where it is cooler and I see it every day and so far, use it far more regularly. I’ve also plonked the exercise bike beside it so that when I feel sick of the treadmill, I don’t feel like I have an excuse to beg off for the day. I’ve lost 1.3kg to date….which I’m not sure is due to the increased exercise, six chocolate bars less a week or a bit of both. In any case, while the numbers on the scales continue to drop, hopefully I will continue to have the motivation to go through with it.

The moggies of course think it is all quite amusing and think the treadmill makes a rather comfy snoozing platform - or is it just the novelty of it being outside of the cat free zone for once? Only time will tell.

Well good morning everyone and boy is it an early one for me after getting home so late last night. Nevermind, the dogs had a nice long walk (as did I), enjoying the sunset as it dropped behind the bush in Park Ridge. I think we must have made quite a sight, my partner and I, walking one enthusiastic little silky terrier cross and a big placid ridgeback side by side - all within the confines of an over 50s village in the bush. I imagine the residents were thinking that management had relaxed their standards a bit. But it’s all good news for the over 50s residents - we were just visiting. Anyway, on with the carnival!

Welcome to the February 11, 2008 edition of all women blogging carnival.

Kathleen Gage presents Your Recommendations Just Don’t Work! posted at Street Smarts Marketing & Promotions, saying, “Many people who want to market using the Internet are seeking highly effective ways to do so. Learn one proven strategy to give you position, credibility and visibility while increasing the numbers in your opt-in subscriber list.”

Cindy King presents Consistency For International Business Success posted at Get International Clients.

Cindy King presents Easy Small Business Strategy Strengthens International Client Relationships posted at Cindy King.

Jenny presents The New Mom Blog Network On The Block posted at the so called me, saying, “Review on the new digg-like community for moms and/or all parents.”

Tali presents Become a Blogger with Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick posted at The Marketer Review, saying, “If you’re a beginner blogger, or just want to move your blog to the Wordpress service, Yaro Starak’s and Gideon Shalwick’s Become a Blogger is just for you.”

Nicole presents I Hate Weddings posted at Makeitbetter’s Weblog.

Nicole presents Separation: The Key to Everlasting Love? posted at Makeitbetter’s Weblog.

GrrlScientist presents A Possible Solution to the Bias Against Women in Science posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, “[career] This suggestion is put forward only somewhat in jest, because it serves to illustrate an important problem in science.”

Health and Beauty

Lana Burris presents You are More Resilient Than You Think: Lessons from New Orleans posted at Happiness Quotient Headquarters, saying, “Historically, we are not very good predictors of our own ability to bounce back from adversity. We are besieged with anxiety and hypervigilance. Yet researchers are finding that resilience, in humans, is more the rule than the exception.”

FitBuff presents What Women Look for in Men - 5 Tips and Tricks to Score Big! posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, “Lucky for you, here is your own personal cheat sheet, so you can score a perfect 5 out of 5 on the first date pop quiz.”

DotLobby presents How to Talk to Girls - Part 1 posted at DotGirlfriend.com, saying, “Show me a man that doesn’t want to know how to talk to girls, and I’ll show you a homosexual (”Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” as Seinfeld points out).”

Aparna presents Mehendi (henna) tattoos and allergy posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming, saying, “If you are likely to attend the Mehendi (henna) ceremony at your friend’s wedding, think again. The intricate, hand stenciled designs could give you something you didn’t expect – an allergic reaction like redness, inflammation and intense itching.”

Lana Burris presents Change Your Luck by Changing Your Viewpoint posted at Happiness Quotient Headquarters, saying, “We all want to be lucky, yet how much of luck is what we make of it?”

Peta Fletcher presents 15 Tips For Losing Weight After A Twin Pregnancy posted at Twin Blog.

Holly Ord presents Do You Know What’s in Your Cosmetics? posted at Woman Tribune.

Home sweet Home

GP presents So You Want to be an Innkeeper posted at Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range, saying, “”We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” this quote is an innkeeper’s creed”

A.Lee presents Constructionist Artist Varvara Stepanova | eArtFair . com posted at eArtFair . com, saying, “This blog is about art. Yes, tons of info on Picasso, Warhol, and other famous artists. It does however also include art articles on great WOMEN artists, such as Stepanova. Even though you might never have heard of her, she’s featured in many of the world’s very best museums around the world, as a Russian artist who MADE A MARK on planet earth. Interesting read…, even if you’re not (yet) an art collector.”

New Old-Fashioned Gal presents My January Lettuce Surprise posted at Diary of a New Old-Fashioned Gal, saying, “Isn’t it amazing how resilient life is?”

Anne Maybus presents The New Australian Food. posted at My Day Off.

GP presents It Takes Strength to take a Risk « Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range posted at Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range, saying, “Courage is like a muscle. Just as you wouldn’t run 10 miles your first week out - you don’t have to begin building courage by running the NY Marathon .”

j blu presents Pictures of Hawaii | Beautiful Hawaiian Sunsets at the Beach posted at Local Kine Hawaii.

the simple nickle presents Cheap Eats: Recipes for Around $1 Per Serving: Dark Molten Chocolate Cakes posted at the simple nickle, saying, “These individual chocolates cakes are perfect for Valentine’s Day or another special occasion: simple, delicious, and always impressive.”

Megan Bayliss presents Rose attacked by worm. Age 16 and raped by uncle. posted at Teddy Tour, saying, “Home is not always the safest place to be. Parents unable and unwilling to care for her, they shipped Jamila Rose off to her Uncle. After repeated rapes by him, Jamila took to the streets of Sydney where her misery and fear were further exploited. Now 36. Jamila Rose is getting her life back to where she wanted it to be. Help women like Jamila have a voice. Join the Teddy Tour: a sistership project between All for Women and Imaginif.”

Parenting and Family

PlanningQueen presents 10 things to make Back to School mornings easier. posted at Planning with Kids.

Joanne presents 10 Adoption Profile Tips posted at Forever Parents.

Christine presents Our Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) Travel Plans posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Warren Wong presents What Commiting To Something Means And Why You Should Do It posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, “Here are good reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid of commitment.”

Glowicki ProBlogger presents 13 sites to be used on valentines day 2008 posted at Glowicki ProBlogger - Blogging Tips, saying, “Make a presen online for your man on 14th!”

James DeLelys presents New Book/Video posted at Author James DeLelys, saying, “Video of new book!”

Luke Houghton presents Accidental exposure of my nakedness posted at sevendaymother.com, saying, “A funny story about something my daughter did to me…”

Shopping and Money

Melissa presents One Week’s Food: Our Version posted at A Penny Closer.

Carol Bentley presents Death of the long letter posted at Carol Bentley.

Mandy presents Movie Mode - How Good is it? posted at The Photographer Blog, saying, “This is my new blog about digital photography and taking photographs”

Anne Maybus presents The Tall Poppy posted at The Tall Poppy.

Lynnae presents My Grocery Shopping Method posted at beingfrugal.net.

Nandita presents Budgets « Searching for Crabshells posted at Searching for Crabshells.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Our Financial Goals and Resolutions for 2008: #1 Fund A Web Startup, #2 Retire posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thank you!”

This week has been a bit of a stressful one for myself and my family. Late last year, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. However, they caught it early and have been able to treat it successfully by having a full mastectomy. We have had good news since the surgery - it was completely contained and has not spread. I had the opportunity to talk to one of the staff at the Kim Walters Choices program which operates out of The Wesley Hospital. While it is highly unlikely that she will ever read this, I would like to say a big thank you to Janine for her advice and support. It has made a difficult time that much easier for both my mum and myself and we are very grateful that this program exists. Also a big thank you to Kevin Walters, who started the Choices program as a memorial to his late wife, Kim.

The Choices program is a free community service for women who are affected by breast cancer and they rely on the generosity of the public and major businesses to continue providing this vital service to the community. Their annual fundraising venture is Think Pink week (14-19 July) - a fair way off yet but something to keep in mind. No woman wants to think they will be personally affected by breast cancer but the reality is that it affects more than one life.

Part of the grounds of the Wesley Hospital, on the banks of the Brisbane River.

What is it about boxes?? Cats just love them! We have an entire room full of empty boxes in what I call “the cat free zone”. It is one room in our house where I have decided that no cat will tread and technically should be fur free. Most of our nice clothes are kept in the closet in there, all the empty boxes which for some reason or another I can’t chuck out yet and our camp mattress which we would prefer not to have tiny holes in it next time we go camping.

Unfortunately, thanks for a dodgy door knob, I can’t shut the door while I am in the room and inevitably, one of them will scoot inside while I’m not looking. Not really a drama though….they generally give their position away quite easily, playing with the plastic and styrofoam and generally having fun. This box hasn’t quite made its way into the cat free zone yet and Rosie is just LOVING it! Apparently there is room for one cat only though…..Mojo is not allowed in and neither are pesky humans with cameras!

At the beginning of the week, I was telling you all about how much fun Mojo was having in his harness exploring the great outdoors backyard. Well we decided that Rosie might like to join in on the fun too but seeing as though we only had one harness, this posed a bit of a problem. Whenever I put Rosie in the harness, Mojo would complain rather loudly at the screen door that he wanted to come out too. Also the style of harness we had didn’t fit Rosie all that well and I didn’t like the way it pulled around the neck.

So today I went on the hunt for a new cat harness that fitted around the shoulders, much like a traditional car harness for a dog. It turns out that there aren’t any, well not in most of the stores we went to. So why not look for a dog harness instead?? I’d seen the Puppia ones on the website but the sizes were all wrong for the moggies - the smallest one was too small to go over Rosie’s head but the next one too big. I eventually found two EzyDog harnesses at Pet City which are meant for chihuahuas but fit Mojo just perfectly. Rosie’s is a little snug around the neck because she has such a boofer head and neck but it still fits okay….here she is still getting used to hers. I would have gotten a snapshot of Mojo too but he’s outside already having a ball.

So this week, I’m being thankful for those little tiny handbag sized dogs because if not for them, they wouldn’t make dog harnesses in a size perfect to use for cats as well.

Late last year I decided that I would probably make more of an effort to exercise regularly if the gym could come to me rather than the other way around. I’m just not very good with gyms. When I exert myself, I turn into a walking beetroot and while I don’t mind getting all hot, sweaty and red-faced, I don’t like the weird looks it attracts from other women exercising. I also dislike that when you go to a gym, there are two types of people there - the hard core gym junkies who think exercise is fun and can’t get enough of it and then there are the women who go not to exercise but to socialise. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about - their hair is always immaculate, they never break a sweat and typically they walk out of the gym wearing Gucci sunglasses and then go have a coffee and cake because they have “worked so hard daaaahhhling”.

More power to them really but what I want to see at a gym is a bunch of lard arses just like me. Yet they are always mysteriously absent - I’m thinking they get scared off by the gym junkies and the socialites. It would be great if someone had the foresight to open a gym exclusively for fatties like me….the kind of people who will appreciate that cellulite is not evil and that any weight loss goal worth achieving requires a certain element of sweatiness and being red-faced. Part of the entry requirements could be that you must have a BMI of 28 or over or you can’t come in. You know, I wouldn’t even care about exercising in front of men, so long as they aren’t perfect Adonis like creatures who snicker when I drop barbels on my toes or jam my finger in the weight stack. See, there’s a perfect business plan out there for someone with sufficiently more motivation than I do.

Anyway, I bought a treadmill last year as well as a set of light arm weights and decided I would be diligent and exercise in my own home, away from the socialites and the gym junkies. For a while I was doing really well and then I got a nasty virus which made me feel like the treadmill was my worst enemy. In any case, I have decided to befriend my treadmill again because Leigh is calling all fatties for the Inaugural AFW Biggest Loser Challenge. Wish me luck gang, I’m definitely going to need it.