Author: Maria Runs

WIAW- feeling nervous

Hello all. This week I remembered to take photos yesterday (Tuesday) and this morning I had my hospital appointment, so I spent all of yesterday (and all last night) feeling very nervous. More on that later- onto the food.

Breakfast:

Muesli, apple, oat milk.

Plus mint tea.

Lunch:

Tomato soup, ryvita chilli crackers, caramelised onion hummus, clementines.

Afternoon warm-up:

Rooibos tea from Storm teas.

I had a little walk in the afternoon, then made some more mexican casserole for dinner.

Dinner:

Mexican casserole topped with cheese, rocket, mashed avocado with lemon juice and some salsa.

Dessert:

Some mandarin and ginger tea (yum) and a mint slice.

I made these on Monday as Andy’s family were coming around to watch the football. They are from Sweet Vegan (the recipe on the front cover- look here ) and they are amazing! Basically a brownie base, topped with a minty filling and then topped with melted chocolate.

Covering the brownie in the mint filling. I was very impressed with how the brownie turned out- not sure if I have ever made vegan brownies before (I had no eggs so had to make a vegan recipe) but the brownies were still moist and very rich and I think would be lovely on their own.

Then covered in melted chocolate (it was meant to be dark chocolate but I had none!).

Plus I got to use my cake stand 🙂 The recipe made loads so we sent his parents and brother home with a tub each too! It was very popular and I would make it again for sure- I love mint and chocolate together.

If you fancy having a peep at other people’s food, then be sure to check out Jenn’s blog.

So onto my hospital appointment. I was very nervous (I get very nervous before any appointments and have had to have my blood pressure monitored several times because it gets so high when I go to the doctors) and somehow convinced myself I would be having more of the horrible examinations- plus Andy was going to work from home and take me, but he had to go in for a meeting so I had to drive myself (which is fine) -finding where the parking was just added to my general panic. I did not even have breakfast before I went- just a mint tea as I was feeling very nervous indeed, so I packed a clif bar but never ended up having it. Anyway, my appointment was for 8.30am, with the consultant. I got there with time to spare but it turned out the consultant was not there, and they could not get hold of him either. Blah blah in the end after waiting ages I saw a different doctor/ registrar (I really am not sure what the titles mean), as well as a nurse. At least I am on the waiting list now (no date yet), but the bad news is that they will probably not be able to do the keyhole surgery as the cyst is just too big. They will try (and I have signed to say that is OK) but he thought it more than likely that I would need the open surgery. Pants. I only just got back to my car before the 2 hour pay and display limit ran out (seriously- why on earth do hospitals still have pay and display???) and I did feel very teary (I think a combination of the nervous energy, being hungry, having to sign forms about possibly needing blood transfusions and my general panic about the thought of being cut open). But I just have to get on with it. I came home (and suddenly felt really hungry) so made some pancakes as it was brunch time, and chatted to Andy on the phone which made me feel much better. Thanks for all your comments too- they of course make me feel better, and don’t worry, I am not getting down- I just want to be back to normal.
How are you with things like doctors appointments? I just get so nervous, even if they are just routine appointments, and I don’t really know why. 

My routine, and a guest post (sort of)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

This is my routine at the moment (went to the docs last week- was signed off for 3 more weeks and told there would be no way I will be back at work until after the op, whenever that will be).

I still get up when Andy gets ready for work. Have breakfast and a big mug of mint tea (I have been feeling dehydrated in the mornings recently).

It turned out that life is too short to remove the stones from cherries, so I chopped them in half, put the stone-free half in my muesli and ate the other half right away.

Potter around at home- maybe put a wash on or something if I am feeling OK, listen to the radio (often a 5 live phone in until I get annoyed with it). Or watch Top Chef. I love Top Chef.

Go on a little walk with my mp3 player for company. I have been getting through the massive amount of marathon talks that I have missed since December as well as other podcasts. Today my choice was The Food Programme (very interesting, about the Olympics and the sponsorships and feeding the athletes, work a look (listen) here). I walk pretty slowly, but I enjoy the fresh air. Normally after 15 mins I am feeling good, and then wonder why on earth I just can’t go back to work, and decide I might add another loop on the end. Then after about 25 mins the pain gets worse and I realise why, and just wish I was a little closer to home! Sit down for a rest once I get home.

Make some lunch plus some nice tea. Check emails/ internet- this can easily waste 2 hours!

Listen to the radio (I quite like radio 5 from 2-4pm), do a suduko, tidy out a drawer, read a magazine…

Have a snack or another warm drink.

A delicious afternoon snack- a big smoothie with frozen banana, cherries, maca powder, coconut powder and almond milk, topped with some Graze frangipane mix.

A delicious hot chocolate- warm almond milk with some montezuma’s minted hot chocolate, which is basically flakes of dark chocolate with mint oil, all frothed up and then dusted with cocoa powder to see if I can get the star shape right.

I tried some Cococardio the other day, after getting a free sample in my last i-herb order. I am not a fan- it was too bitter for me. Ah well, if you don’t try, you never know.

Then watch Top Chef (if I didn’t watch it in the morning), and see Andy when he gets home.

Hooray, then I have some company!

I made some bread for dinner the other day- 1/2 white and 1/2 wholewheat flour with some munchy seeds and rosemary mixed in. Yum, I love seeds or nuts in bread.

We have dinner together, and at the moment are getting a bit addicted to The Killing (only the first series- we are behind the times with this one!). Exciting daily routine indeed!

I feel like getting outside and some fresh air is really helping with my sanity, and even a small change of scenery helps. I have my hospital appointment on Wednesday, and while I am glad that it has finally come around, I am also getting very nervous about what I am going to be told. It means that my operation will be closer too, which of course is good, but I am very very scared about having an operation, having general anaesthetic and so on, and so in a way this will be the start of the more scary stuff. I know it is not super serious or anything like that, but I know that I almost have to get worse before I can get properly better which is a bit strange.

Anyway, I promised a guest post. Andy actually said to me yesterday ” I suppose you don’t have much to blog about any more do you?” (thanks!) and so I asked him to tell me about his run.

“I went out the door, ran for a bit, had to stop to cross the road. Ran a bit more, didn’t really see anyone. Oh, I think the new Next will be opening pretty soon. Saw a few runners in Welwyn. Saw some people in a field doing some shooting.” I asked if he saw any rabbits: “Well, only if there were ones in that field with the shooters“. OK- maybe I should not have asked.

 Any other Top Chef fans out there? At the moment I am re-watching the Vegas series (with chefs way ahead of any of the other series I think)- it is one of my fave reality TV shows I think. Or your favourite reality TV show? We have just discovered Storage Wars on netflix and that is rather addictive too!

Brighton half- spare place

Look at what arrived this morning:

Yup, the race pack. There is no way I am doing this (it is only 30 days away now), and when I came out of hospital and realised that, I had already missed the cut off for cancelling (where you don’t get a refund, but ÂŁ10 off next years entry). After it came this morning I looked on the FAQ’s and it seems that you can transfer a number. So, if anyone fancies running it (it is Sunday 19th Feb), please let me know and I will happily send out the number to you. Seems a shame to let it go to waste, plus it is sort of annoying to see it there. Have a look on the website for details of the course etc. I have emailed them to get the transfer form so I am ready to go.

Thanks 🙂

Oh, and a few of you asked about those amazing chocolate pecans yesterday. I got them from the Montezuma’s website– I went there, must have registered my email address, but didn’t buy anything. Then a few days later they sent me an email saying they had noticed I visited their website and didn’t buy anything, so here is a 10% discount! Well, it was rude not to use it surely? So, if you are unafraid of Big Brother then might be worth a try! 🙂

WIAW- a frosty day

Monday morning was very frosty indeed.

On Sunday afternoon the pond was still frozen solid, so it was clear it would be a heavy frost- I think everything looks so pretty when it is covered in white- even the cars!

Anyway, welcome to another WIAW and head over to Peas and Crayons if you fancy having a nose at what other people are eating.

So I went for a massive mug of peppermint tea to warm me up.

Breakfast– muesli, apple, soya milk, peppermint tea.

I did brave a little walk outside, and was hungry for my lunch after that- partly from the cold I think.

Lunch:

Toasted sourdough with mixed nut butter and blackcurrant spread, grapes, and satsumas. That sourdough was sooooooo good- we had some at the weekend but I think it was even better toasted. If I lived in San Francisco I would visit Boudins every day.

Snack:

A few chocolate pecans and a tea-pigs latte.

Can you see the heart shape? I will get better! Love the Aerolatte for the froth!

Dinner:

Not sure what it was! It was from the freezer and it was not labelled (I normally label everything)- it seemed to be giant cous cous, black eye beans, carrots, sweet potato, peppers, tomatoes… It was tasty anyway. With rocket and nutritional yeast.

Dessert:

A provamel caramel pot that tastes just like those little tubs of creme caramel you can get with all the yoghurts. Yum. 🙂

And look what picture got emailed to me today:

Hello? Is It Tea You’re Looking For?

From here. I do find the actual video rather funny (especially when he phones the girl), plus I love silly puns, and I love tea!

I think I had about 5 cups of tea that day- peppermint, vanilla rooibos, raspberry, peach, spiced winter…. I needed it to stay warm.

What is your favourite warm drink?

 

Getting to know my Garmin

Hello all

I think I have cracked it! Nearly.

Yesterday I set out on a little walk, and decided to wear my Garmin to see how I got on. I actually wrapped up warm, walked around the corner before I remembered and had to go home and get it- whoops!

Using it was pretty easy- when I first turned it on (at home once I had charged it) it prompted me to select things like my age, weight, other stuff I can’t remember- for some reason I thought it was a twisty dial but it is just buttons on the side, so very easy.

Then, I had to press a button to search for satellites, and then press start. It did beep at me after I had walked one mile (one lap it said) but although I pressed OK the first time, the second time I didn’t notice and it carried on recording until I pressed stop. Not sure if I can turn that off because the beep is annoying, but if not it is not the end of the world.

Then it got a bit harder. The instruction manual said just to go to Garmin.com/intosports, or Garminconnect.com, and to download the software and then follow the instructions. I did the first one, but then realised that was for not using the internet or something, so then Andy helped me with the next bit.

Then it is not too hard- it plugs in to the USB port, and when you go to the connect site (and log in) you should in theory be able to click “upload” and it will upload new activities. This took about 3 goes and in the end I had to do it manually (clicking through “my computer” to find the file)- I un-plugged and re-plugged it in a few times as it did not seem to register. Anyway, hopefully it will get easier as I get used to it.

Now, I can’t do a fancy pants screen shot, but the photo came out OK. Anyway, this is what is exciting- there is a map, a line to show my walk and another one to show the elevation. How exciting. 🙂

I must say that using Nike+ is super easy and good for any techno-phobes like me (I only learned to type when I was at uni- before that I hand-wrote everything as I was actually “scared” of computers after something at school which I won’t bore you with), whereas the Garmin seems more complicated and I don’t think the website makes things that obvious. I think once I start running again (one day…..) I will keep with the Nike+ too- I like all the challenges on there and the count of my total miles, that sort of thing.

I actually walk faster than I thought. Also years ago I had a bad knee ( it is still not perfect)- it got really sore and painful of I was still for a long time (eg the cinema) and would feel like something was wrong when I went to straighten it after it was bent for a while. Crouching down then standing up was really hard as it felt like it would give way. The doctor just told me to rest it (which seemed silly when the resting made it worse) and to strengthen the leg muscles to help the knee joint. Since taking up running (and aerobics and body pump) it has been loads better- I had not really thought about it but just this last week I have noticed that going down stairs it has started to bother me again, and it is getting stiff while I am sitting. I need to start running again! I did feel several pangs of jealousy while on my slow walk I was overtaken by many many runners out for a lovely lunchtime run. But I am sure the time will fly by.

I went to the GP today, and am signed off for another 3 weeks, but she said to me (quite frankly) that it may be longer as the cyst is big, and until they take it out it won’t get any better- plus when they take it out I will then be recovering from an op. So, ideas to help me pass the time please!

I have: Listen to the radio, watch a series of Top Chef on TV, do brain training and suduko on the DS, tidy out some drawers/ cupboards, read some magazines/ books, write out some recipes into my nice recipe binder things, do internet shopping (oh, hang on, that is not such a good idea!)….

Thanks 🙂