370,000 Steps Later

 I did it. 

30 days. An average of 12,000 steps a day. 

I was very consistent. It wasn't a chore. 

And I did it. 

The other great thing is that I raised around $400 for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. The donation page is still open and you can donate here if you would like. It's a great charity.  https://www.steptember.org.au/fundraisers/AmandaPearson

It feels good to have done this well. 

It feels better to think I might have helped some people out, even if it's in a limited way. 

Today's song:

Things that have made me smile today

 I'm too tired to write at then moment, but here are a few things that put a smile on my face today. 

1) I created avatars for most of my team - with a great deal of success. 

Everybody had the right for refusal, but the team were happy. Here's what mine looks like. I got the hair and lipstick right anyway. 

2) I've got my 12,000 steps in for the day. One more day of the challenge. I should have done 360,000 steps over the month of September. I've impressed myself. You can still sponsor me. The link to my sponsorshp page can be found here. 

3) Somebody is coming over tomorrow to fix my couch. At a reasonable price. Better fixed now that never. And it can be done while I'm at home. 

4) I walked in on the cat having a wank tonight. He's a tripper. It makes him happy - I just left the room and let him at it. 

5) The view from the top floor at work was really nice tonight. The light was amazing. Pity about the bird poo. 

6) I've got tickets to see a movie tomorrow night. 

7) I'm having a haircut tomorrow. 

8) I'm having all sorts of great ideas for the novel - and writing things down. 

9) I'm not, nor have I ever been, with Optus for a phone carrier. 

10) I have the knowledge that my tax is finally getting done tomorrow.

11) Now that I have written something, I can go to bed. 

That will do. 

Today's song is in memory of Coolio - it's the only song of his that I know. 

Steptember Check In - Two days to go

 With two days to go, it appears I've gone a little bit above and beyond on this Steptember Challenge. 

I signed up to do a minimum of 10000 steps a day. Going by how things have been going, I'll have an average of 12,000 steps a day, clocking over 360,000 for the month of September. 

Am I surprised? Yes. 

Am I proud of myself? Yes. 

That I've raised a bit over $360 for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance - I'm stoked about that. 

There's two more days of the challenge. I'm working from the office tomorrow, with a training session after work. 

Friday I'll make sure I get my steps in. 

Hopefully, as of 1 October the steps will keep coming. 10000 steps a day is not a stretch. If I was still running, I could be doing a lot more, but this is a bloody good effort.

Tomorrow, work is doubling any donations, so if you feel like donating, it would be a good day to do it.

The link to my fundraising page can be found here.

Today's song:

Avatars

One of today's tasks was to create an avatar of myself for some corporate webpage. As somebody who hates being photographed and being easily triggered when my photo is on the internet, I'm a bit more comfortable with the idea of an avatar to represent me. 

We were give a website to go to (bitmoji.com) given some basic instructions. 

It wasn't hard. The day itself had had some challenges. I was looking forward to a Bahn Mi for lunch, only to find my closest decent Vietnamese bakery was closed and the other two decent ones had long queues coming out of them. (the closest bakery to home isn't great and their Bahn Mi aren't a patch on the ones down the road). 

So I login to this site and follow the instructions.

Thing is, I don't have a bloody clue what I look like. 

Sure, hair is easy. My long curly mop was catered for. Even the baleage in my ends I could do. 

My eyes are dark green. Fine - but their shape? I couldn't see an almond shape in the options - but are my eyes close set, or way set or normal? I don't know. 

Then the nose. IT's been described as a snout. It's also been described as a downhill ski run, the tip being raised. Again, I don't know. 

And the options didn't do double chins. And don't ask me what my face shape is. Sort of oval? I don't know. 

There was a make up option. I put some red lippy on, gave myself a heavier set body with big boobs. 

Oh, and they had no Harry Potter glasses option. These were the best I could find. 

And this is what they came up with. 

It will have to do. 

Today's song: 

In the Doghouse, Again

 Cats, by nature, are creatures of habit, and Lucifer, being a cat, is no exception. 

Some of Lucifer's quirks include:

• Sleeping most of the day under his crochetted blanket
• Impaling me on one claw when he wants a treat or attention (same thing I think)
• Coming to my 9 am Monday Morning meeting. 
• Rolling over and presenting his tummy, only so I can rub it and so we can have a play fight.
• After which he goes back to his blanket on the bed. 

Yesterday, after finding the charming bugger had thrown up on his blanket at some stage, I put it through the wash. Then, while it was on the line, I discovered that the cat is going through the motions of destroying said blanket. So, instead of putting the blanket back on the bed once dry, I left it on the couch, ready for some mending. 

Now, Lucifer knows that if I take the blanket away from the bed, more than likely, he's going to be going somewhere - whether that be Aunty Blarney and Uncle Barney's place, or back to Nanny in Myponga. He doesn't like this much at all, but as I keep telling him, it's better than being sent to cat jail. 

The other thing that happened yesterday was some springs went on my couch. No idea why. It's a sturdy couch and maybe my fat arse got too much for it. But some of  the springs have come away from the frame. I upended the couch to have a look. These springs had ripped through the matting which keeps everything tidy.  After trytng to fix it, I called a friend and he's coming around this week to make some repairs to the springs. My hands don't have the strength to get them back in place. 

As for the rip in the bottom of the couch, the small black creature spotted this. The small black creature thought this was great. This morning, after breakfast, the small black arsehole of a cat climbed up into the couch through the hole and did not come out all day!  He's lived with me for over two and a half years and never done this. He normally spends the day asleep on the bed. He gets regular cuddles from my during the day to break up the monotony of working from home. (He also gets very sooky if I go out for more than half an hour, showering me with love when I get back.)

This cat saw there was a hole in the matting and he took his chances. 

Despite calling him, shaking his treats at him, sitting on the couch (he was up in the back, it appears, which is pretty sturdy, so he wasn't sat upon) he remained in the dark cavern of the couch. 

He's got a history of doing this. When he went to Blarney and Barney's one time, he spent two days in the base of a Jason recliner - only coming out to eat and poo. 

We can't have this around here. 

At lunchtime, I went and bought some duct tape. 

After work, with the cat still inside the couch, I upended the it again, with two objectives. Firstly, to get the cat out of the couch. Secondly, so I could use the duct tape to patch up the holes. 

Needless to say, the cat was not happy being evicted from his hidey hole (No animals were hurt in this manouevre - okay, maybe his pride was a little dented.)

And we will see what goes from here. 

So far, he's upchucked his dinner. He's been demanding treats. When he gets his belly rubs, his snort of disapproval has been loud (He's very cute when he does that. It's an almost human "Hmmph" sound that he makes). 

While I was at the gym, I told Jay about all this. She reckons he's going to do a Shawshank Redemption and start picking away at the duct tape to get back into the couch. 

For the moment, he's back on his blanket, giving me side eye when I got in for a pat and a cuddle. Don't be surprised if he kills me in my sleep. 

Here's hoping I'll be here to write tomorrow.

Today's song: 

Sunday Stealing: Trapped in a Room

 It's been a big day. Masons days are already big days. Days when you give somebody their third degree, evne more so. So I'm knackered. 

Questions, as always, provided by Bev and Kwizgiver at Sunday Stealing. (Bev's computer is on the fritz)

1. If you were trapped in a room with the person who asked this for 24 hours, what would you do? The answer cannot be romantic or sexual. 

I have no idea what's being asked here. Being locked in a room with anybody sounds like complete torture. Next. 

2. If you could learn any language instantly, what would it be? 

I would love to be fluent in French (if not Spanish). My French is reasonable, but I wish I got to practice more. 

3. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

Controversial opinion, but I'd probably pick up James Joyce's Ulysses. I've only been trying to read it for 30 years... but again, this sounds like torture too. 

4. Favorite song lyric? 

"Throw down your guns, don't be so Reckless."

I love that whole song. 

5. Favorite album? 

One of the following - and that depends on the day:

• The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
• Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales
• Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
• Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water or Bookends

6. Which time of day would you say is best for you work-wise?

Strangely between about 3-5. I seem to be able to concentrate best then. 

7. What do you think people assume about you from first glance?

I try not to think about that as I've spent years in therapy trying to not worry about what people think about me. I know that I get approached by charity muggers regularly, so I imagine they think I look friendly. 

8. Favorite city that you haven’t visited? 

San Francisco. Seattle. Bilbao. Tokyo. Vancouver. 

9. If you received $10,000 but had to give it away, what would you do with it? 

Probably give it to a Leukaemia charity. I give a bit to that one. If not to Fred Hollows or Catherine Hamlin Fistula Charities. Maybe I'd divvy up the money between the three of them. 

10. What is one book you wish you could get all your friends to read? 

Up until yesterday I'd probably say Louis de Bernieres Captain Corelli's Mandolin - it's always been a favourite. But I finished Julia Baird's Phospherenscence yesterday and was bowled over for it. As a non-fiction book it's amazing. 

11. What is one movie you wish you could get all your friends to watch? 

The Princess Bride - no scrap that, all of my friends have seen The Princess Bride. You can't be my friend if you haven't seen The Princess Bride. This week I'd be telling my friends to watch one of my English films. Either A Royal Night Out or The King's Speech. Both are wonderful. 

12. If you could create one thing, what would it be?

An automatic cat fluff piucker upper. Some would call that a Roomba. My house is too messy for a roomba. 

13. If you could play any musical instrument, what would it be? 

I've always wanted to play the piano. I wish I had the time to learn it now. 

14. What is your favorite item of clothing?

My black dress with cherries on it. It's gorgeous. A bit 50s. Very unlike me. 

15. What is your favorite card/board game? 

Cards Against Humanity. I'm not really into board games, but that one is good fun. Very funny. 

Today's song:

The alternative

Geelong supporters will disagree with me, but that was a bloody boring Grand Final. Seriously, a complete snooze-fest. (Not helped by not caring a fig who won - absolutely no investment in the game).

I did my normal trick when it comes to the footy. I met Blarney and Barney at the pub. At half time. Why prolong the boredom?

I sat down, ordered a pot of cider and started to watch the match. 

After five minutes, I decided to put the time to better use. 

I got out my knitting. I took my glasses off so I couldn't see the big screen clearly. Why bother seeing the game clearly. It was apparent it was going to be a walkover from the end of the first quarter. 

Other than a couple of semi-inebraited Cats supporters in front of us loving every minute of the game, nobody was cheering. Nobody appeared to care. What was the point in being there?

Photo credit @pandorabehr. Note Lance the Unit showing his disgust. 

In my defence, I can get into the football. When the Crows are playing, I'm good at shouting that the telly. I attend the Hawks vs Crows games when they're played in Melbourne with Barney and Norty (Although I sometimes bring a book). I'm known to yell for Collingwood at the annual ANZAC Day match because I barrack for the Crows and whoever is playing Essendon (Hate Essendon with a passion - arrogant drug cheats). 

So I spent the third quarter of the game talking to Blarney and Barney knitting. It was pretty obvious Sydney weren't going to show up to the match. 

One guy came up to me at three quarter time and asked if really was that boring, pointing at my knitting. 

I had to smile and nod.

We left the pub as the fourth quarter was commencing, checking the final score when we got back to theirs about ten minutes later. There was no point staying. It wasn't going to get any better. 

Barney turned on the Bledisloe Cup. I got my knitting out after the only interesting bit of the rugby. The Haka. Gotta love the Haka. 

And I went home at half time. That wasn't looking promising either. (It wasn't, the Wobblies got drubbed). 

There might just be a pattern going on here. 

On the good side of things, I've nearly finished this sleeve. 

Today's song: