Not-so-fun fact you might not know about me #6

 

I loath celery... There is very little food I won't eat, but celery is something that comes from the devil's bottom in terms of taste! It is so foul that the very smell of it makes me dry retch! I dislike aniseed a lot, & liquorish for that matter, but celery, especially raw, is the foulest thing anyone could ever put in their mouth & masticate... 

I am not a fussy eater... I have eaten snails in a French restaurant (in Melbourne many, many years ago) I have tried intestines (not sure what kind, but I actually tried them in the Philippines) I have consumed modern day Absynthe, I love steak & kidney puddings & pies, lambs fry & other foods which are not to everyone's taste... but if there was one food I would banish from this earth, it would have to be celery... It just adds insult to injury that it's so good for you & actually has negative calories!!!

More you might not know about me #5

One of my (irrational) OCD things is to peel labels off things once they've been purchased... I cannot leave a price tag, sticker or advertising label on something either I, or someone else I live with/visit/happen to know, have bought... If you ever check out my book shelves or DVDs, CDs or anything of mine it will not have a price tag on it... Why? Because it's no longer for sale!!! Nor does it need a sticker with "bonus track" or "shortlisted for the Booker Prize" stuck to it... it doesn't need anything on it to promote it's sale because I already bought it!!! OK?

Fun fact you might not know about me #4

I am passionate about history... 

I always have been, & always research the local history of any area I find myself living in! 

I have been researching my family history for the past 22 years... heading for 23, now! 

I seriously am addicted to history now I'm living in London! Every corner you turn, every building you enter, every person you speak with is a new story or a new slice of the history of this beautiful & amazing city! 

The River Thames is the beating heart of this place, too...

I still have to pinch myself from time to time... I just can't get over the fact that I live in the city where Dickens created such amazing characters as The Artful Dodger, Fanny Squeers & Lady Honoria Dedlock, Where William Shakespeare trod the boards & became the Bard... 

Where Henry VIII had 2 of his wives executed & broke with the Catholic Church. Where Queen Elizabeth refused every suitor & Queen Victoria & Prince Albert had 9 children... where Punch & Judy were first performed & where Samuel Pepys wrote copious diaries... Mozart played here, Anna Pavlova danced here & Wordsworth wrote here... People of a generation before mine lived through conditions which we would find unimaginable today... sending their children away to keep them safe, & working, living, doing everything as normal in the face of nightly bombing raids which saw thousands die & tens of thousands become homeless night after night after night... 

The history of this amazing city gets under your skin... I am just so lucky!

Fun fact about me #3

I received my first camera when I was a wee child... along with a black & white film. The camera was actually an old one which had belonged to my Dad, but I loved it & took lots of photos of my family with it... 

Later, when I was 17, I spent a whole summer working for a lovely family in their stationary shop. I spent all my earnings from that summer on my Pentax SP1000 camera & have taken so many photos on it that I have no idea how many thousands... it travelled to the UK with me in 1995 & to New Zealand in 1989, even the Philippines in 2003/4.

 It took me a while to embrace digital photography - but once I did, I did it with passion!!!

Now I tend to photograph every experience, even if it's just walking to the shops... I like to capture the world from my own personal viewpoint!  

As a footnote, it took me a while to realise that my Grandfather, Jack Arthur Ritchie Martin, was also a photography buff... he snapped pictures of my Grandmother, Helena, as well as places, family, events & holidays... I just wish he'd written more about them on the back or put them in albums with notes attached...  It is lovely to know that we shared a passion in common, though!

Fun fact you might not know about me #2

I eat m&ms in colour order from darkest to lightest... I have done this for many, many years, maybe as long as m&ms have been in my life! I have tried to work out why I do so, & the only thing I can think of is that I also eat jelly beans in order of my favourite flavours. I dislike the black ones badly, so I usually start by giving them to someone who'll appreciate them (aniseed... Blegh!) then go to purple & so on through to my favourite which is white! For some reason they are delicious! (not even sure what their flavour is, but it might be vanilla-ish...) 

Fun fact you might not know about me #1

After working in retail for over 10 years (while I was also an unemployed actress) I still "face up" my bank notes in my purse... I also keep them in order from the lowest denomination in front to the highest in the back... there's usually little difference between them, however, as I rarely have any "big notes" in my purse! British ones are easiest to face up, as we have HM Queen Elizabeth II on one side of each note! (above photo: British bank notes)

above: Australian polymer bank notes - traditionally the smallest denomination features the reigning monarch on it's face. The other notes feature Australians who are considered to have furthered the development of the nation.

above: Euro bank notes... the highest denomination I have ever held is a 50 Euro note.

Return to the blog...

Wow! Look at at that! A whole year on...

I just didn't have the heart to write about self-improvement when I was struggling just to make ends meet. My weight went up & down & up again as I comfort ate my way through 4 house-moves & the stress of what to do when one situation failed & another was miserable for me. I loved working with CJ & MJ, the boys whom I cared for in 2012, & who are still very precious to me! I really loved their parents, especially Kathy who is one of those rare people who lives by the compassion & action that Jesus showed us... time & again she has said the right thing, or done something, put wheels in motion for me just when I most needed it. I count her a very precious friend & feel so very blessed to have her in my life. The boys also continue to fill me with joy & I love the opportunities to spend time with them, either visiting, catching up for a meal or babysitting when their new nanny is not available.

I love my new boys, JJ who is 4 years old & his little brother AJ who turned 20 months today. They are bright, alert, creative, fun, funny, challenging, talkative... all the things you'd expect of pre-schoolers! I am constantly exhausted at the end of the day. Living with a family again is something I appreciate more now that I've done the "live out" option for over 12 months... London is expensive & the impact of living with someone who didn't want me there, just wanted the rental income, was brutal. I now love my little room, under the roofline, with the shelves & wardrobe built in to suit me, the TV bought for my entertainment & a family I love & feel completely at ease with..

I am making regular payments & inroads into the debts which have been eating away at my sanity & my soul, making sleep difficult & life a nightmare at times... it is impossible to overstate the stress which comes of inadequate income & demanding debtors... No wonder I comfort ate myself to almost 100kg. Not something I am proud of, but something I need to aknowlege, forgive myself for & move forward.

I weighed myself & had an analysis of my body fat yesterday. The results were pretty shocking. 98.0 kg (although last time I weighed myself I was 99.8 which was really a shock!) My body mass index (BMI) is 35.6 which is very overweight (although the national average is 33.2, a good BMI is 29), My body fat is 44.5% of my overall weight!! That is really horrific as far as I am concerned! If I lost most of my body fat I would weigh just over 50kg, but a safe, healthy weight for me would be between 50.9 & 68.8... I think at this stage I'd be thrilled to get down to the 70s for the first time in over 2 decades...

Clearly I do need to take stock anew & get more excersise into my life, reduce sugar & fats in my diet & reduce the quantities I am consuming...

I'll keep you updated.