Busy being active...

Tennis is back on with a vengeance, I've been playing 3 or 4 times a week. Poor Chris has become a sport widow and doesn't he just love hearing about good/bad runs & splits and the miss hits and winning shots!!!

Monday nights is Ladies Doubles and I am in a team called the 'Hippos' but those other zoo animal named teams can smirk all they like we are on top of the ladder. I'm playing as a number 2 and our team is strong. The evenings have been beautiful, balmy and pleasant. The setting sun is a problem til about 8pm but after that there is no advantage on either end. Some of the older courts have bull ants on them, this keeps you on your toes, the coach is happy we are not standing flat footed!

Thursday nights the Mixed Double comp is played and last night was the first night they needed a fill in. We played in a thunderstorm watching the lightning around us. The storm skirted around the Marsh so we played on dodging the fat drops of rain. By the end of the first set we were soaked in a mixture of rain and sweat. The humid stormy weather did little to cool us off and we weren't deterred by the rain or the lightning. At one point I was trying to serve and had the setting sun and rain blinding me.

Friday mornings is Cardio Tennis, a mixture of a cardio workout with tennis drills. I am getting lots of pointers from the coach and I think it is really helping my game. Burning off 400 odd calories is a bonus. Down side to all this tennis is my forearm has started to ache and I really noticed the soreness when carrying the groceries. I will have to start wearing my tennis elbow strap again.

I told Chris I wouldn't play Saturday being the 4th time this week but they are short & need another player. Saturdays are a lot of fun, being very social. I am making new friends and enjoying the welcoming atmosphere.

Training for the Kids Run is coming along nicely but we struggle sometimes in this hot humid weather. Even when the  thundery clouds roll in in the afternoons, the temperature doesn't drop much and it takes a lot of effort. Wednesday night we  ran at the Melbourne Zoo at 715pm.

Running Buddy and I went into Melbourne to run in a twilight race. Not really a fun run as there were many runners there who were out for a PB time. Originally advertised as 8km around and through the Zoo, the course was shortened to 7.2km because of the Meerkat exhibit works. Buddy and I ran a great time for us. The course was hilly, shady and just beautiful.

We've learned that our Pharmacist is also a competitive runner and she met us at the start but then sprinted off on her long legs bettering our time by 9 minutes! We've been comparing Garmin times & encouraging each other with our training.

The selfies aren't getting any better, not like the running!

Hot report...

Normally when the weather is hot for days on end, like it has been this February, I hibernate in a cool place, draw the shades and only venture from one air conditioned place to the next. But I have been venturing out, running, playing tennis and the like. I am tolerating the heat much better this year, its not like me at all.
I have been furtively looking to the cloudy thundery skies for rain but it has been as dry as dry.

And yet I am calm.

Busy with life and exercising and working and not much blogging.

I was reminded today that 30 years ago on this day that a huge dust storm rolled over Melbourne on a 43 degree day.

I remember sitting up in a classroom on the third floor of the Alfred Hospital School of Nursing as a brand new nursing student, watching in horror & amazement as the dark cloud darkened the sky.

 

 

 

It was both amazing and frightening at the same time.

A week later the state was ravaged by the Ash Wednesday fires.

This reminder sparked the 'where were you when the dust storm hit' conversation. Chris remembers that he was working at RSA in Sth Melbourne on that afternoon.

Where were you? Do you remember that day?

So there it is, another anniversary. 30 years since I was one of these students embarking on a career in nursing. I wonder how many of group 1/83B are still nursing. I only know of 2 others from this snap for sure.

We certainly don't dress like this any more and all of us don't look like this either.

Run...

squeezed in a 10km run this afternoon & am trying to link this with the Garmin



and reminiscing over this photo

More pics...

My brother-in-law sent a disc of photos from the party, lots are the same as the ones we took but there are a few different ones...

While Harvery Norman had their 9c print sale I ordered 63 prints so will have lots of scrapbooking fodder for the weeks ahead (if I can just get organised)

Wild weather...

Australia is proving on this Australia Day holiday that it is a land of extremes.

We've had blazing temperatures on one side of the country, fires here in the south and flooding rains up north.

We had just sent one brother & wife back to the West and another pair up to the floods. Home only a few days and Duncan had gone from Toowoomba to Brisbane for a gig and now is stranded in Brisbane unable to get back home.

Our thoughts are with all those battling once again with floods and storm damage as we wait down here for a few drops of rain to water our parched gardens.

Check out the sea foam in this video

http://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=4877236821508

Australia Day...

Happy Australia Day everyone. Lots of celebrations going on over the weekend, we'll get a public holiday on Monday to continue the celebration of this great country. Tonight we have many more new citizens and worthy Australians awarded and lauded.




I played in the Austalia Day tennis tournament and had a lovely day playing with the girls. I teamed up with a new partner and we played really well together. We had some laughs and some success with trying out moves we have recently learned from watching the Australian Open! We are glad to see that even the champions can serve up some double faults as well and luckily we dont have to put up with the squealy grunting that goes on.

I was really surprised to see my little sister's best friend playing in our tournament today. She had come down from Ballarat to play on the grass for the first time. Her husband and 15yo also teamed up to win their grade.

It has been a really nice day.

Nana's 80th...

The weekend has gone by in a blur. Many photos were taken. People came and went from the airport. We took over the Quest motel in Narre Warren. There were more Mitchells than you could poke a stick at. Brothers and sisters were reuniting and cousins were catching up that hadn't seen each other since they were babies. Elderly people were remarking about the grownupness of children. And blind genetisists could see the strong family resemblence.



Quite a crew but still missing a couple



Grandchildren and one great grandson, again not the whole bunch

I was very proud of our offspring




The family photo I didn't get at Christmas

The trick candle tricked Mena a few times. She got very emotional when her oldest son gave his speech.

Only blues for this family

Duncan was a one man karaoke machine

 

This joker came all the way from Manchester to be at the party

It is such a shame that they are spread around Australia and for them all to be together is such a rarity. Plans are always made not to let so much time pass before it can happen again but it isn't easy and its not for a lack of desire.

Hopefully it will happen again soon.

28 years...

Happy anniversary to my darling husband. 28 years ago we stood together and said 'I will'. And we have through thick and thin, good and bad, happy and sad.

Circumstances this year means we are spending the day apart as his familys' reunion begins. Tomorrow I will join in the celebration of his Mothers' 80th birthday with a lot of family members from around Australia and one cousin from England.

No doubt many many photos to come.

keep on running...

I thought I was going to dial back my running this year but things can change.

My best present this Christmas was a Garmin GPS watch that can time your splits and replay the courses you have run. After each run I eagerly download the activity to compare and relive the experience. I am loving the Garmin. It has helped keep us on track.
We have been training for the upcoming Run 4 kids and found a twilight run around the zoo to keep us motivated in training. The 8km run is 2 laps in and around Melbourne Zoo which should be novel & interesting and another to cross off the running bucket list.

I've also compiled a folder with all my bibs and time certificates. A bit nerdy. No a lot nerdy really, but I am proud of my progress and so will be adding to the folder this year when I wasn't anticipating to. Some runs I will repeat to help Running Buddy with her goals so it looks like a long run in to the MCG is on the agenda.

I will not be doing Tough Mudder. No. No way. Not ever.