The Lady Hooligan’s Page

Had a nightmare exam paper. One of those that you literally only put your name on. (I hope that counts marks!)

Had I known in time, I would have asked for the paper to be deferred until October, and then worked my sorry butt off to get it done! As it is, I’ll have to re-register for the module at my own cost and then work my abovementioned sorry butt off to get it done by October!

Actually, I’m pretty proud of myself. Not many people I know would register for a course in basic Mandarin Chinese. That said, I’d prefer to have passed it! And to actually be able to SPEAK Han Chinese at the end of it! Not machine-gun style, but at least hold a basic conversation! On second thought, if that basic conversation is held at machine-gun speed, I won’t mind at all!

So, what needs to be done?

• Find out when the second semester registrations open. Get a quote for the module.
• Register!
• Break down the 10 lessons into 10 weeks, with two weeks for revision. 12 weeks in all! Start NOW.
• Set aside 7 hours a week. 3 hours for CD drills, 2 hours for conversation, one for calligraphy practice and one to work on assignments. Can’t be that difficult…
• Spend an hour a week at a Chinese restaurant, even if it’s only drinking bottled water - maybe with calligraphy practice, or have some conversations.
• Do every assignment, even those who aren’t compulsory.
• Go see the lecturer. She won’t bite.
• Listen to the Berlitz course as well. Can’t hurt!
• O ya… and then speak to Chinese people! Tell them I’m learning Han Chinese!
• Think of the benefits: being able to go work in China and Taiwan without stress, getting good deals in hannalant-shops because I can bargain for them, and being able to converse with perfect strangers in their own language. O ya, and being able to check off a tick on my bucket list!

It is time for a radical career change. And by radical, I mean precisely that! From a library career to the body piercing trade.

I spoke to many different people while I was off from work these past few days. Not all of them got the details - heck, I only thought of some of those details a few minutes ago, myself! - but I received some interesting thoughts from all of them, which I have collated into one big idea of my own! (Synergy, folks!)

I’m going to stay in the library for a few months longer. That doesn’t mean that I have suddenly become happy with my job - merely that the extra money will come in handy while I’m setting up shop. Also, the fact that I have a job will make the initial visa application, for attending the piercing course in England, easier. (I won’t be squatting on England’s sacred soil!) As I shall also have to top up my savings with a personal loan, being in a salaried job will also make the application for that a lot easier.

OK, when?

My initial thought was to attend the course in November 2011. That means I have until the end of October to save up (with the deposit being paid out of my annual bonus end August!) for this wild ride. However, the whole trip is going to cost me a small fortune anyway, and the longer I give myself to save up, the better! And if I can build my business to be able to carry some of the financial weight, even better!

The alternative would be to resign after all, and use my leave money for the greater balance of the trip.

Or - of course - to do all the above. Give it time, save up, and then resign right before I leave for England!

Just don’t want to give the matter so much time that I end up not going at all!

reached my first target in my quest towards a slim, trim body. My BMI is now 36. Yes, it’s way, way above what it should be at 24, but it’s definitely down from what it was! My celebration would be a smoked salmon salad somewhere nice. Don’t know where and when, yet. Rustenburg doesn’t have THAT nice places to eat…

I also bought some green stuff for my apartment. A catnip and a chocolate mint (I kid you not!), as well as a fern for my bathroom. The kitties both love the catnip (I cut off some of the straggly bits) and I suspect I’ll have to keep the original plant high above their reach if I ever want it to grow well!

I know now why I have failed to gain any REAL slim in the past. Simple reason, really - I’ve tried to do everything at once, and - failing that - gave up way, way too soon! This time around, I have made the decision to treat this project like eating an elephant - bite-sized portions at a time!

I need to change my habits, first. Instead of driving to close places (like work, church and choppies!), taking a walk. Instead of eating candy, opting for fruit! Drinking water instead of fizzy drinks when I’m thirsty. Restricting myself to two mugs of coffee a day (I’ve lived without - so it won’t kill me to keep that consumption low!) and eating breakfast, even if it’s just a bowl of high-fibre cereal (with some honey, to make it palatable!). And then, once these habits are firmly in place, going all out on the HealthPointe program!

I put a new battery in my pedometer and actually bought myself a new set of bathroom scales! German, this time, with a 5 year warrantee. (That’ll teach me to go for the cheapest stuff!) The first thing said bathroom scales told me this morning (Bought them yesterday!) was that I’m exactly 100g off target from my first mini-reward! Should reach that at tomorrow’s weigh-in.

My mini-reward system also got overhauled a bit. Instead of giving myself something nice for every 2 Kg removed, I created rewards for every time I lowered my BMI score by one point! At my height, that translates to roughly every 2.7 Kg removed. I’ll do some nice things inbetween as well, but those are my mini-goals. It keeps the process interesting.

I guess that’s my other big issue - boredom! If I want to get active and stay that way, I’ll have to find myself something to do that’s (1) not repetitive and (2) can be measured and rewarded! Maybe join a dance class, if I can find a hip-hop class for grown-ups!

I have decided NOT to resign after all! However, this is a conditional decision, and I don’t think the conditions will be met any time soon, so the resignation option will remain on the table.

To begin with, I haven’t been reimbursed for the newspapers that I have bought at all this year. The result being that I am going to cancel my subscription to the newspaper. I simply can’t afford to pay the money from my own pocket every month!

I’m also still waiting to receive a phone line. At the moment, I’m using my personal cell phone for work purposes, another expense I can’t afford to have.

I’ll ask for a meeting with my boss next Tuesday, before the big staff meeting.

If I resign today, I’ll have enough money available to pay off a massive amount on my bond. The rest will have to be covered by other means, either by moving back with mom and renting out my place (yuck!) or actually going vagabonding for two years and renting out my place in the interim!

If I go vagabonding, the question remains open on what I shall actually be doing to create an income.

I have a few options there. The first is building my Amway business to such a level that the commission income pays my day to day home and travelling expenses. That would be the best option and - obviously - not the easiest one to take!

The second is to take a chunk of my pension money and invest it into training and supplies for my own mobile body piercing studio. That’s something I can do while travelling and with very little capital outlay. Or I can rent space at an existing studio if the owners are so inclined. I can even work temp jobs at various piercing studios, gaining experience and making contacts and friends along the way.

I could also combine the two options, saving up some Amway money for the course I intend to take and then work from there! This way, I know my day to day expenses will be covered adequately and it would take a big load of stress off my back when applying for visas in Europe. I can plan my travels in such a way that I hit the youth summer hot-spots in time and do some serious seasonal business. That should enable me to travel further without undue stress as well!

Decisions, decisions…

I’m seeing D on Friday. Will take this issue up with him. He can’t really tell me what to do, but he can shape my thoughts and give good advice. Maybe that’s what I need…

I bought a serious vacuum cleaner yesterday. It’s a - drumroll, please! - SAMSUNG! 2000 Watts of super suction. This afternoon, I applied said suction to my living space/kitchen floor, with spectacular results. I hate sweeping, so this would definitely be the way to go in future.

I applied some carpet cleaner to the cushion on my grandma’s chair. It has a cream-coloured background, but had been decorated liberally with reddish brown kitty paw prints. Well, between the foam cleaner and the SSS (Samsung super-sucker), that cushion is now clean.

[I think I'm going to get Samsung to sponsor a bit of my blog. Can't be THAT difficult...]

The cyclist I was expecting next week will be arriving tomorrow. That’s one of the reasons for my hasty cleanup effort. Now that my living room is both neat and clean, however, I must say I feel rather good! I’ll tackle my table tomorrow morning - lots of junk to toss, rather than decorate! - and then a quick swipe of the bathroom, to see to it that it’s “man-friendly”. I’ll leave my bedroom be until next week, but it definitely needs to be tackled as well.

My bedroom won’t be such a massive effort, once I’ve started on it and set my timer right. I reckon it can be cleaned up and out within 3 hours of concentrated effort. The biggest single issue would be my “boy cupboard”, which hasn’t been touched since I moved in here 6 months ago. There are papers in there that seriously need to be either shredded or burnt, but I think I’ll simply tear them up into small bits and chuck them away.

Another project that I’m rather loathe to undertake is the defrosting of my fridge and freezer! I will have to borrow a cooler box from my mom to put the frozen vegetables and meat into while I clean up the mess that is my freezer… Actually, it’s not that bad. - like everything else, it just has to be started!

I have already decided that tomorrow’s menu would be creamy chicken and mushroom soup, with fresh, home-baked bread. I’ve never made either, but I have all the ingredients and utensils for baking bread and the soup can’t be that difficult, either! Just hope the man likes soup - not many men do… Soup is a very forgiving dish to prepare - can’t mess it up too badly! - just have to find the perfect mix of ingredients to “chuck” into the mix! And don’t know if I should make it chunky or take the blender to the pot… Will decide once the soup has been cooked… Maybe I’ll just cut the breasts into small bites and let the pot decide for me!

I bought a sharpening steel yesterday as well. It’s actually not as tricky to use, and I think it’s kinder to blades than regular sharpeners. After all, if it works for chefs in fancy restaurants, then it should work for people like me, too!

I found a challenge for myself - going sugar-free for at least a month. I reckon that since I have gone caffeine free for a whole 6 weeks of Lent, another 6 sugar-free weeks won’t be that difficult. In fact, I think this is the boost I need to get myself serious about HealthPointe once and for all!

What I realised is that my attempts at gaining slim are usually sabotaged by what I call my “sweet gums”. So if I can curb the sugar cravings, or eliminate them altogether, following a proper eating plan should be a walk in the park!

So, starting on Monday, 25 April, this kid’s going to go sugar- and refined starch-free. Couple that with drinking lots of water and going for walks all over and I might even be gaining slim BEFORE I go on HealthPointe… THAT would be a cool motivator as well…

As with the caffeine, I suspect that the first two weeks would be the worst. That means I’ll have to find myself some things to do that have nothing to do with my normal routines and do them when the cravings hit! Shouldn’t be too hard - maybe some embroidery work or scrapbooking or something. Or go walk around the block! Or even - heaven forbid! - some house-cleaning! Just like with the caffeine, I have created a 42-block grid. Going to put a sticker on it for every sugar-free day. Should serve as a motivational tool. (I like giving myself stars!)

What I am looking forward to, though, is the moment that my body realises that it won’t get as much sugar as it was used to, and starts looking for other sources of energy, namely fat! Can really, really use less blubber.

Don’t tell my mom I said this - I’ll deny it vehemently and you’ll seem like a liar - but living on one’s own after so many years with your parents is a massive adjustment!

I’ve been in my own apartment for a little more than 6 months. Scary. But what’s even scarier than that, is that it took me those almost 6 months to finally figure out the ergonomics of my kitchen! I spent the best part of tonight reorganising my pantry cupboard, my condiment cupboard (where my glasses are, too!) and my pot and utility drawers. Now, finally, everything I use regularly is within easy reach, and a lot of stuff on their way to the welfare office.

I’ve been off coffee for more than a month now. At the beginning, it was terrible, but I can actually not imagine myself getting back to coffee in two weeks’ time. Maybe one cup a day of the best coffee I can afford, but don’t think I’ll do the mugggggz and muggggggz of coffee to myself again. I like myself better, caffeine free.

On the 25^th of April I plan to start on 6 weeks’ worth of sugar- and refined flour-free living, as well as walking my way up to 10 000 steps a day. The six weeks that I’ve survived without caffeine have proven that it won’t be such an impossible quest.

After the sugar free weeks, I shall start on the first set of 3 HealthPointe cycles. After all, the steps and sugar free period would have been perfect preparation… Could use the fitness and the leaner body….