August 2012

Hi Guys,

August has flown by, and here's a quick recap of it from our end.  This month has seen Andrew finish course #7 of his masters... and another A was earned.  For his final project, he had to write a 20-page research paper based on seven big articles that he had to find, so he was super busy with that, (and I was the proof-reader, tea-maker, and shoulder-rubber).

The bonus was that once he finished his course in the first week of August, he had the rest of the month off... it was so nice having my husband "back," and we packed quite a lot in, the first of which was a stand up paddle (SUP) lesson that we had bought on Groupon. 

Since it's winter here, the water and air are pretty cold, and even though it was sunny at 8am, I definitely didn't want to fall in, so I was super gentle on the rowing. 

Andrew getting measured for his paddle-height. 

All ready to go... just having a quick lesson on the beach. 

The instructors showing us how NOT to fall off.

 That same night we went to the 50th birthday party of one of Andrew's workmates... she said on the invitation that it was a "winter theme," so we came all bundled up in sweaters and scarves, but a lot of people had gone all out with renting polar bear outfits, etc.  We had a great time dancing and hanging out with all kinds of new people. 

Furry friends at the 50th birthday party

Down the street from our house is a Thai restaurant, and we tried it out with some people from our apartment building... actually, they've all moved to new places now, but we still get together sometimes... they are from Finland and the UK... fun times, and super yummy food.

Thai Street restaurant

A couple weekends ago there was a massive marathon, 1/2 marathon, 10km, 5km, and 2km race that went right by our place.  It was really great to go watch everyone.  

Originally we had planned to run the 10km race, but when I looked into it, it cost $50 each to do it, and we just couldn't part with $100 for a run by the beach that we do for free all the time anyways, so no go. 

Apart from that, another interesting thing happened.  Before we found out the cost of the race and were all keen to run it, we bought matching Nike dry-fit shirts (in different colors though) to encourage us to train for it.  Andrew wore his about twice, and I washed it and hung it on our building's communal washing line to dry, along with two other of his white shirts.  

A couple hours later I went down to pick them up... only two shirts there, and the nice new Nike one was missing.  Now, you can't see our washing line from the street, so it would have to have been some thief from our building, which is rare.  I posted a sign on the wall asking anyone who may have taken it "by accident" to please return it to our apartment.  No luck.  

About three weeks went by, and then last weekend we were walking by the clothes line and saw Andrew's shirt hanging there with another dude's wet clothes.  We were sure it was Andrew's b/c it had the same little flaw in the material on the shoulder, and the side-tag was cut out, just like Andrew had done.  So Andrew grabbed it off the line, stuffed it up his hoodie, and "stole" his own shirt back.  :)

Since then, we've been trying to sleuth out who this guy is, and we think it's the new guy who's just moved in... haven't said anything to him about it, but stealing laundry is not a good way to make friends, mate.

Anyways, Andrew is happy to have his shirt back, and will hopefully use it to race in a cheaper 10km some time down the road. 

And speaking of Andrew, last Friday I came home from doing groceries after work, and he proudly told me, "You'll never guess what's on the kitchen table for you."   And this is what I found:

 Man, I thought we were gonna be having strawberries for dinner when I saw this (and we pretty much did)  :)  Turns out he had bought a massive container for $5 off someone at work, and had then come home, washed them, and cut up heaps of them for us to eat.  Very nice. 


In other news, I am still training a few friends twice a week in our building's parking lot, which is going well.  

 A couple of weeks ago though, I got my certificates in the mail saying that I'd finished my entire Personal Trainer course now, so I decided it was time to get some paying clients.  To do this, I thought we'd move our sessions out of the parking lot and down near the beach where my services would be more visible to passer-bys.  So here we are...

The  first day I made a sign on my whiteboard and propped it up against a tree near where we were working out:

That day I noticed that a lot of people who were passing by were walking or running, so for the next session I adjusted the sign a little... better marketing hopefully:

 Unfortunately, so far no one has called.  The closest I've come is a little boy (about 6) the other day walking by with his parents taking a look at us, reading the sign, and then saying in this little whiny voice, "Mummy, can I try that?"... his Mom took him by the hand and walked off.

And then this other dude roared by in a truck, stuck his head out the window, and bellowed out, "Yeaaaaaah baby- love you girls."  Not quite what I was aiming for, but hey, not gonna give up quite yet. 

All in all, not a bad view for when you're working out:

Okay, these last few pics are a few more for my Dad to prove I can cook  :)

Scrambled eggs, brown rice, and veggies with Greek yogurt

Baked chicken fajitas with avocado... Andrew's are wrapped up, and mine are not (I don't like too many carbs at dinner)

Andrew's cheeseburgers by candlelight... again, I had mine bun-less

Baked chicken breast over salad with tomatoes, roasted pine nuts, and balsamic dressing

And then some baking... Protein Power Muffins with raspberries, quinoa, and chia seeds.

 That's all for now, peeps... more to come next month. 

~Team AC