Project Excess Baggage – Week 3

Alrighty, again thank you for all your comments and virtual support – it means a lot to know there are both people in my corner and others on their own journey.

This last week didn’t go according to plan. I talked about that a bit below, but everything was not lost. Where I’d usually throw my toys out of the cot and say it’ll never work, pass the wine, I’m continuing to write everything down, own it and attempt to work through what’s behind the glitches.

What I struggled with…

Aside from Sunday’s planned blowout, I had a not-so-great day on Tuesday. I mentioned it to a friend I was working out with on Thursday morning, and she asked why. At the time, I had no idea and told her so. It was only when yesterday afternoon ended in tears that I put two and two together.

At the beginning of last week, I began calling breeders to get on the wait list for cocker spaniel puppies early next year. One local breeder came back to me and said they’d had a litter born just a few days previously, and a couple of the pups weren’t yet spoken for. As tempted as I was, it was too early with us being away for all of March and me being in Vietnam for a couple of weeks in May.

Then, yesterday afternoon, we put the Christmas tree up, and I shed a few tears placing the ornament I’d bought to honour her. I shed a few more when I realised we wouldn’t need the bells on the bottom row this year, as there was no dog to creep under and steal presents.

Later in the afternoon I watched an Aussie Christmas movie on Stan – Nugget is Dead. The movie was great, but the title sort of gives away what happens – Nugget is the family dog. I cried my eyes out – and then cried some more watching Last Christmas (the twisty bit makes me sob every single time). It made me realise just how much I’m missing Kali and how the grief is still there and bubbles up occasionally.

I also realised how all of that was feeding into my emotions last week. It happens and it’s okay.

Last week’s exercise…

On the exercise front, we had some massive rain – proper Queensland rain – but we still walked.

• we did the 5 at 5 (5 kms at 5 am) Monday-Thursday – including two mornings in the rain – and also Saturday morning
• I did a shorter afternoon walk on two days
• one swim in the rain – it was lovely, I had an empty lane
• Two strength sessions
• One dance-fit class

On the menu last week was…

Again, breakfasts were simple – a poached egg on a single slice of rye sourdough. Lunches each day were salads with either poached chicken or tuna – except for my blowout on Tuesday, where I blew out on Chinese takeaway for lunch. Snacks were an apple or rye crispbread with cottage cheese and tomato.

Our evening meals were:

Monday – Steak with Diane sauce and salad (Fast 800 recipe for the sauce)

Tuesday – Diana Henry’s Paprika Chicken Soup. (The recipe is behind a paywall at The Telegraph.) This was great as leftovers for lunch the next couple of days.

Wednesday – Pork chops with a warm bean salad

Thursday – Vietnamese Shaking Beef with Tomato rice and salad from Vietnamese by Uyen Luu

Friday – Ate out at the local Vietnamese. We shared calamari with coriander satay sauce and pickled carrot and daikon, rice paper “tacos” with prawns and herbs, and Vietnamese roast duck with Asian greens. (Grant had rice, I didn’t).

Saturday – Spanish Fish Soup from James Martin’s Spanish Adventures. The soup base is essentially fish stock, grated tomato, finely diced onion, carrot and capsicum, and cannellini beans. We cooked some deep sea perch, salmon, squid tubes and prawns in that. Naturally healthy, this tasted so much more decadent than it actually was. The picture is crap (everything is so beige), but it tasted great.

Sunday – all bets are off for the ceremonial putting up of the Christmas tree. The menu included little sandwiches, scones, Pancetta and cheese pinwheels, and sausage rolls. We also shared a bottle of bubbly – my first alcohol in three weeks.

This week, I tried Heineken’s Zero beer, and it is probably my favourite so far because it tastes just like a full-strength beer. I may even buy some for Christmas Day to have in between bubbles.