What a Rollercoaster!

It has been a while since I last wrote ... there are many, many reasons why, but mostly I haven’t had the time to do so.  The past month has been a rollercoaster ride for our family, with numerous, wonderful, wonderful highs and some pretty awful lows.  

We had an amazing day at the Townsville Cup.  Everyone looked gorgeous and for the first time in years I felt beautiful.    I was surrounded by fabulous friends and was able to share the day with my sister and mother – something which I will cherish for a very long time.  Many, many a drink was had and there were also many, many laughs, jokes and stories. 

Thank you to my dear friend Sharne for helping me to put my outfit together and to my darling sister for helping me get ready and enjoy such a great day with confidence.

The day seems so long ago now – the following week was every parents’ worst nightmare.  Our youngest son, Archie was admitted to hospital on the Monday and was on an IV drip for 8 days.  He had a bacterial infection in the muscles of his neck (rare as hens teeth according to his paediatrician).  We are so lucky and grateful that our GP was on the ball otherwise things could have been far worse.  To add to the stress of the week, I went ahead with my scheduled surgery on the veins on my leg. 

Owen and I were supported throughout the week by our amazing family – Norny, Ranga, Pa, Uncle Dan, Aunty Zoo, Aunty Andrea, Uncle Pete, Bec & Chris and all of our wonderful friends, especially Alene, Ron, Mark, Melissa, Tanya, Eric, Racheal, Brian and Tracey – their love, support, gifts, text messages, phone calls, hospital visits etc really helped us get through the week. 

We are also super grateful to the kids’ school – their support of Archie was amazing and so too was their care and support for Imogen, Darcy and Sullivan.  Archie is now back at school and has returned to his usual larrikin self.

Last weekend I snuck off to Brisbane to surprise my Dad for his 70^th.  It was a wonderful weekend, sharing stories and reminiscing with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and old family friends.  The “Old Fart” had a blast and is already planning his 80^th.  He just needs to remember that his liver isn’t the same as when he was 30!  Thank you to Phyllis and Neville for helping me with my surprise visit.

Despite all of these highs, I’m struggling big time.  I haven’t been able to exercise since the surgery on my leg, am in a lot of pain and all I’ve wanted to do since is eat and eat.  I have come to the realisation that I was using exercise as an anti-depressant and that I need my “drug of choice” big time.

I am desperately fearful o f putting weight on and feel like things are spiralling out of control.  The next 12WBT starts on Monday and Owen and I have made a commitment to ourselves and to each other to really make an effort to eat clean and follow the nutrition plan as closely as we can.  In the meantime I am working on making sure that my fears about putting weight back on don’t become a major excuse or a catalyst for undoing all of my hard work.

I am going to return back to basics and take things one day at a time – that is my current commitment to myself and my family.

Life is a rollercoaster .... we can either learn from the highs and lows and enjoy the ride or sit on the sidelines.  Right now I’m sitting on the fence.