Home Improvement, now with less painful comedy!

I'm sorry Tim Allen, but really, you were one of the most unfunny guys on tv in the Nineties. And I should know, I watched a hell of a lot of TV back then.

Anyway, home improvement time! I have several issues with our house that will need some serious addressing. Or have been in need of some serious addressing for some time already. I think it's time to put my shoulders under it and get some of that out of the way, and it's always fun to blog about this stuff, isn't it?

My biggest concern about my house is the lack of storage space in it. We have a small kitchen, with a small amount of available shelving space. There's odd corners and a weird layout that prevents us from getting more out of the space in the hallway. There were three built-in closets when we bought it, but we knocked the wall out between two of those to house our washer and dryer, leaving little space in closets to use for storage. There is still some spaces here and there that we could use for storage, but if I'm honest, I don't think I want to clog up what little space we have left with our stuff. We need to redo the storage spaces we have to provide us with the storage space we want. This is going to require some out-of-the-box thinking and tinkering, I expect, and I hope not too much in terms of expenses, but I am excited to get stuff going so we can make our house a better place to live in.

One of the spaces that has always bothered me, was the closet in our study. As you can see from the blurry picture below (sorry), it was a silly storage space. There was one shelf, to the top, and the rest of the closet was empty space. Not very efficient.

We had tried to build some shelving to the right of the door before for our printer and scanner and the toolbox, but they were not very accessible. The shelves were too close together for us to open the scanner on top of the printer easily, and there was no light, making actually seeing what you were doing a pain. The toolbox is a heavy beast, and heaving it in and out of the space was pretty tough.
The rest of the closet was occupied by an old server that the BF wanted to use for personal fidgeting, but the thing was enormous. The shelf you can see there, with the bottle and the Zyxel-box on top, is resting on top of the server. Just to give you an idea of its size. We had leftover crap like our old hoover, a yoga mat, my ironing board, and other bits and bobs hanging around there. This was actually taken after a thorough cleaning session, when I tossed out 6 plastic bags of crap and old shoeboxes and other nonsense. Within a week, there were backpacks, cardboard boxes and other nonsense stuffed inside on top of the piles you can now see here.

The plan was hatched to add shelving to this closet so we could make better use of the space, but it never really happened. You know how it goes. Then this Saturday, I went to an amusement park and came home to...

Surprise! Shelves!

The BF lured me into the study after I got home at midnight with an excuse ('there's something in the printer, could you get it for me?') and I think I was grinning from ear to ear when I found my new shelving. There's space in the bottom for a large crate where I can store soda bottles, empty or full, along with our old hoover and some cleaning supplies, three shelves where we've got space for crafting supplies, tools and toolboxes, and one that's still practically empty, and a new shelf where our printer now resides with enough space to open up the scanner without having to twist your neck to see if you're doing it right. There's space left to the right of the door between the wall and the shelves where my ironing board fits perfectly. I've got all sorts of plans to use this space even better, I'm going to move some stuff around and get some new boxes that fit between the shelves so I can move some more stuff around...

It's the beginning of something big, I tell you. Like the snowflake that started the avalanche.

I am such a bad planner... Or: why I always pack an umbrella.

Last Sunday, I decided I wanted to go for a walk. I got up at 9 for the birds and my skin was giving me so much grief I couldn't go back to bed, so I got dressed, grabbed breakfast, grabbed my bag, left a note on the study door for the BF (who was still sound asleep), left the house... And went right back inside because I had failed to take notice of the torrential downpour of rain that was currently flushing our streets. I don't generally mind a bit of rain, but that was a bit much...

I tried again, after an hour, but it was raining even harder than before, and out of frustration, I got back into bed but couldn't sleep anymore anyway. I checked weather reports and radar images, but it seemed like my plan to get a bit of fresh air (and seeing as it was cold, some much-needed relief for my skin...) would have to be postponed. At 3 pm, it finally seemed dry enough to go out. I packed an umbrella, just in case, though.

There's quite a bit of green around where I live, and you can find little paths like these everywhere. You'd never guess that at the end of that path runs one of the main roads through our little city, or that not 50 metres to the left and right of me were residential areas.

I had hoped (and checked the radar before and that backed me up on this) that it would remain dry for the time being, but within 5 minutes of my departure I got gradually more drenched by a thin veil of rain that was already falling for a while before I truly took notice. By that time, though, the drops were getting bigger and bigger and I was glad I had packed an umbrella.



I happened upon some birds taking a bath in their roadside private pool, and a bit further, upon a family of swans on the (rather narrow) path that scared the crap out of me but thankfully they quickly moved into the water and left the road to me. I think swans are terrifying.. But that might have to do with me being attacked by one when I was young.



I followed a road I had never walked on before and it took me out to the back of the hockey fields and along a little track with football fields on the one, and a little fenced-off pasture on the other, until I crossed a bridge and ended up on a freshly paved road. There was a little overgrown lock to the side of the bridge and I don't know why, but it looked so pretty!

Onwards I went, following the path, since there was only one way for me to go besides back. (and there were still swans there, so onwards I went!) At one point I was sure I was lost, but since there was only straight on for me to go... I walked. And suddenly, I remembered exactly where I was and recognised a road I travel on at least once a week.

As I was nearing the end of the path and closer to crossing the road into a residential area again, the sun even came out for a bit and I even spotted some wildlife. Do you see him? Hiding to the right behind the overgrown lock? Yup, a stork. Fishing for little froggies.

I was glad to have gone out for a bit after all. I was only gone for about an hour, but it was very refreshing (literally, thanks to the rain) and relaxing to just get some fresh air and to clear my head. Supposedly, there are more of these tracks around the sports fields, so I think I need to head out and find some more soon!

Silly workouts

If you have spent any time on the fitness board of Pinterest, you will no doubt have come across some weird-looking, unusual-sounding pins about health and fitness. I know I have. So for your entertainment, I decided to slap some together in a post and discuss the topic 'silly workouts' with you!

- Lazy Girl Fitness. Now, let's start by saying that this is obviously awesome. Workout while you do laundry, brush your teeth, wait for the microwave to ding, are cooking, or reading a book. But let's be honest too: It looks sort of silly to do lunges with a toothbrush in your mouth. Plus, I'd be mortified to fall down and accidentally swallow the toothbrush. Or, ew, a mouthful of foam. (Gross. Really. Ew.)

(Lazy Girl Fitness. Pinned here.)

- Water workouts. Yay, summer! Yay, swimming weather! Yay, working out while swimming... In a pool filled to the brim with squirming, annoying kids, where there's hardly any room to hang from the side of the pool without getting kicked in the face, jumped on, pushed under water or bumped into. Because, by a show of hands, who among us has his or her own private swimming pool that they can jump into and do these exercises in private without all the above fears, plus the fear of looking like a tool? Not me, that's for sure.

(Tone in the Pool. Pinned here.)

- Ballet workouts. What's with the sudden fascination with ballet?! I did not see all these pins a few weeks ago and now, *POOF*, ballet workouts all over the place. Why?! Now, don't get me wrong, I know how much work goes into practicing ballet and what it can do for your body. I have never been a dancer, but have known several over the years and had a long conversation while on a school trip to a theatre with one of the dancers there about her daily routines, and GODDAMN that sounded like a lot of work. But let's be honest here.We all know what will happen thanks to these workout routines, and that's people with no stretch in their legs, or no ballet history at all, plié-ing all day long. I'm sorry, but the image in my head... Combined with the image below.. Is making me think that this is one of those exercise routines that should be done indoors, with the curtains closed, in a dark room. 

(Ballet workouts, image by Raymond Hom. Pinned here.)

That's about enough from me, now it's your turn. So share! What wonderfully ridiculous workouts have you found through the miracles of Pinterest?

Life: an update

Whew, it's July already?!

I am truly sorry, bloggy friends, for the lack of posts on this blog. I have been busy with all sorts of stuff and it kind of drained my blogging inspiration...

- I organised my secondary school reunion. It was great fun! So nice to see everyone again, and it was fun to see that some relationships sort of picked up right where they were left 7 years ago. It had a good 'like old times'-vibe to it. I loved hearing what everyone was up to, completely forgot to actually eat, and was dead tired by the time I got home (at 00:30, so it wasn't that late...) I ended up with a lot of food left over so I donated it to my parents as a thanks for borrowing their car, camping fridge, party tent, tarps, and my dad himself because he helped me get everything set up, and we had a leftovers-bbq the following weekend at my parents! My dad has been working on a new woodwork project: an outdoor kitchen. It is looking stellar, even though it's not entirely finished yet, and he bought himself a shiney new Weber barbecue to go with it! He's planning on tearing down the old shed in the back garden and replacing it with a sort of porch to house the outdoor kitchen. Can't wait, I foresee many barbecues there in our near future!

- I broke my phone during the reunion. I was opening a door for my sister (she was coming over to take the pictures so I didn't have to do it), and one second it was in my hand, the next it was on the floor, a hideous crack running from the lower right to the top left corner... I may or may not have sworn quite loudly. Okay, it was so loud it echoed between the apartment buildings across the street. I'm not even exaggerating. I'm getting it fixed, which is a hassle, and expensive too, and I miss it so! My precious... My... preci. Eh. Sorry.

- We're teaching the birds a new trick and it's working great! We are teaching them to listen to certain words, starting with 'step up!' when they need to hop onto our arm or hand. We do this by holding our arm a ways away from their perch, holding another bit of food in our other hand, and tell them to 'step up!'. They hop on, get a few bites of food, we take the food away and let them step off our arms onto the perch, and then repeat the process. It's entertaining.
We've also let them fly loose more often in the entire living room, but they mostly fly to the one brick wall in the house and start nibbling on the bricks. I think they're enjoying it more than before, though, since they seem much more relaxed.

- I have been working like a monster on my new dieting plan, and it's going okay. I got a heart rating monitor and I'm pretty excited to use this starting Monday, since I want to do more cardio training programmes, I've added more exercises to my schedule to ensure that I leave no muscle group out of my training, and the physical therapist is making me do calf raises (which hurt like a dog, by the way) to strengthen and stretch the muscles. I would love to keep better track of my calories, but I used to do this on my phone and, well, since I don't have it back yet... I'm telling you, I am lost without it!
The whole dieting plan is taking up a lot of time, though, so much, in fact, that I have done absolutely zero creative things. I keep looking over at the cubbies full of yarn in my living room, and keep wanting to start something, do something... But I don't know what and why. Depressing.

- Plus, it appears that summer has finally begun over here! In fact, I am sweating out of my jeans right now. Not exactly comfortable, I can tell you that. The temperature in my house is absolutely ridiculous when it gets slightly summer-y outside, so I'm living in a bloody sauna right now. It's also caused my eczema to flair up, making me hate the heat even more.

- I applied for a job! A parttime job as a junior programmer at the company the BF works. Imma be a certified nerd, y'all! It'll be for about 8 hours a week (at first), leaving me the rest of the week to run  my translation business. It'll be a programming job, not something I'm used to, and the learning curve will be steep, but it'll be a job that will require a lot of thinking and I quite look forward to it.


So that's pretty much it, I think. Now you're basically up to speed with why I haven't been blogging!

Upping my game

I seem to have hit a plateau. It's not a solid, sturdy plateau, since I see my weight bounce up and down a bit (I am still weighing every day and really should not do that...) but it's making me a bit annoyed. According to the BF, it's because I am now building up MAD MUSCLES YO, meaning that my weight might go down slower now that my body is adjusting to more muscle tissue. If so, this is of course a good thing. We'll have to wait and see. I have been taking down measurements this weekend and will compare next weekend to see if there is any difference.

Even though my mother (who I have casually informed of my change in diet and subsequent weight loss, as she came with me to the gym yesterday and I had to discuss it with people there) thinks she can see some difference in my tummy, I am not really noticing any difference in my overall appearance yet, though I have noticed a slight difference in a certain area. My boobs are not their bountiful self! In fact, if I have a couch-potato day (hey, we all have those every now and then, right?) they feel particularly tea-baggish at the end of the day. So yesterday I asked for some more exercises that target the chest muscles, to help them perk up a bit more while I lose weight.

That was yesterday morning. I am now really, really sore... Making me realise that I had little to no real exercises that target that area! It's a good thing I asked.

While the trainer was explaining my two new exercises, I asked him about planking since pins like these have been making the rounds on the fitness-boards recently and I was curious. According to various pinners, this exercise could also do wonders for your chest, but my trainer informed me that, while this exercise will engage a lot of different muscle groups, it is mainly meant to strengthen your core, and is not a good exercise if you want to build up overall muscle. He even told me that, with my training schedule and the 3 workouts a week I have planned, there was no real need to include workouts at home on the off-days. It was an interesting conversation, to say the least, because it was contradicting to a lot of things I had thought I learned over the past few weeks. I might keep up the sit-ups and exercises at off-days, though. It feels good to do them.

Another interesting conversation I had yesterday, was with my physical therapist. While I was doing calf raises to stretch my deeper calf muscles, the source of my injury, he was explaining about nutrients and how common knowledge about them was severely outdated. We have a saying in Holland (originating from a commercial from somewhere in the Nineties): 'Two ounces of veggies, 2 pieces of fruit, they'll keep you fit for a long time!' (that's a very liberal translation, by the way, of "Twee ons groenten, en twee keer fruit, dan hou je het een heel stuk langer uit!") However, the decline in nutrients in fruit and vegetables over the past years makes it so, that you'd need a hell of a lot more than two ounces of veggies and 2 pieces of fruit a day to reach the recommended daily intake of nutrients that are most common in fruit and vegetables. He thinks that it would be in anyone's interest to include multivitamins in their daily diet. Once again, interesting perspective on what I always thought to be common knowledge!

He also explained another up-side to my change in eating habits and diet that I hadn't actively noticed: due to the taut muscles in my calves, I got a lot of midnight cramps in my legs, at least as often as once a month. However, when I switched to a different diet and included a lot more nuts and fruit into my daily intake, I started to take in certain nutrients that counter this effect! I haven't had any crampy legs these past three weeks. (Though I must add, not thanks to midnight cramps. Those calf raises yesterday were killing, and my legs were so painful that it took a lot of effort last night to find a pose in bed to sleep comfortably.)

To make a long story short, I am still on the right track. With the help of proper exercises and therapy, I might just be able to make my goal of losing those 30 kg before the end of the year, but not only that, it'll also help me with other issues I did not even realise were caused by my bad health and habits! And that idea is making me pretty excited to see what the future will bring.