Dear Electricity Company

I am feeling extreme dislike towards you (I had to thesaurus 'hate' so I didn't feel so wicked hating. I did this after I had an internal debate about whether it's okay to hate companies or whether it's just as bad as hating people, but then I thought it's probably as bad, because it eats away at me to hate, whether it's company or person, so I decided to go with extreme dislike so I won't dwell on it or let it eat me as much..).

Back at the start of the year, when I signed up with a cheaper company, why didn't you just let me go? Why did you lure me back with illusions of loyalty and trust? Why did you promise me easy transactions and offer to match the cheaper offer of the new company? Why did you display for me your proud Australian history and seem confused and suspicious of a new company who seemed likely to take our money and go bankrupt immediately?

How come every time I tried to discuss our plans with you, you eventually realised I needed to be James? Then why did it take you 6 months and 26,000 (ish...) confused sounding phone calls with various employees to change our account to both of our names? How come you had to completely cut us off as customers twice to achieve this (not that we weren't grateful for the 'Welcome!' packs each time we re-signed up...well, James re-signed up - why, to this day, over 6 months later, can't anyone in your fabulous nation-wide company enter 2 names as account holders even though you all claim you will and then blame 'the last person you spoke to' for the discrepancy?!).

Why did you forget to send our last bill??!

Fortunately for all of us I'm kind of a bill-anticipating crazy person, so I knew we'd probably get 2 all at once, when you guys realised you hadn't charged us yet for last quarter.

But why today, did I get such a GIGANTIC, HUMONGOUS, LARGE bill?! There was no discount!!! Our rate has gone up much more than 10%, and the bills were another third and another half (respectively) higher than any bill we've ever received before!!! I know they've 'upped' their prices too, and I'm not a fan of them either right now, but STOP blaming the government!!

I pride myself on always expecting the worst with financial matters, so that I'm never unpleasantly surprised, but you WON! You outdid all of my gloomy expectations and predictions about the size of this bill. It is enormous :(

And then, after keeping me on hold for 45 minutes just now, why did you offer me a $25 credit? I don't want one! I just want the 10% discount! Aaages ago! When you offered it to me! Back when we were still your customers of nearly four years, before we became new customers, and then new customers again...and again. I might be more excited about the $25 if I really thought you'd ever give it to me, but nothing in our history gives me much hope. And so you tell me to call in 2 weeks, and get the process started to receive that 10% discount, because according to your records, we've just become customers again after transferring to a different company, and you can't give new customers a discount right away. I don't even know what to say to that. We signed with the other company sometime last summer, for 1 day, until I called you, you offered me the same price, and I called and cancelled within my 10 day cooling off period. Really? Just signed with you?

Glad game? Well, I can be glad to finally be able to empathise with people in movies who finally just turn to the closest wall and begin banging their heads up against it.

I think I'll go do that now.

Sincerely,

Someone whose Christmas you just ruined, and who will now turn off her computer, and everything else in the house, before participating in the aforementioned physical activity.

'Children' (AKA I Love Conference!! :))

Just a quick quote I love so far from one of this years General Conference talks :) It's actually partly a quote from a Christian mother from another faith from her blog, but this is a paragraph from the talk given by Elder Neil L. Anderson called 'Children' in the Saturday Afternoon Session - I loved it. You can find it here.

"Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”7"

I really like that last bit :)

I always enjoy going up to the chapel with my family to watch conference, but yesterday we actually came home for the second session so the girls (who were kind of crazy) could go to sleep and cause I wasn't feeling too smashing (hold the cards and flowers, I'm fine now :) And no, not at all pregnant), and I really, really enjoyed watching it at home with James, not worrying about the girls disturbing the general peace!! In fact I liked it so much that we're going to watch this morning's session at home again while the girls nap, and then just go up to the chapel for this afternoon's session :)

If you haven't yet, I highly recomment watching/reading/listening to some - it has been really wonderful :)

Fitness Challenge: THE END!!!

It's all over :)

After 12 weeks of a whole new lifestyle, I lost 7 kg's (still got 1 to go over the next whenever) :) I also know that weights are supposed to be hard, and have even gotten used to doing them :) I've started playing netball. I feel GREAT :) I like eating healthy. I am fit. I like shopping, and I like getting dressed up :) I am more confident. I am soooo happy :)

I know, there should be some great photo of me in my hot new wedding dress right here, except that the photo doesn't exist! I only had my camera for the ceremony before it RAN OUT OF BATTERY!! Sob! So I stole Bethany's for the reception, but she lives in Sydney, and I don't even know if there are any of me on there anyway! BUT luckily the shop has an online shop, and here it is:



I bought it in Adelaide and to be honest it's not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something flowy and pretty and chiffon-ny but trying to find something flowy and pretty and chiffon-ny with sleeves and easy access for feeding Ana was a little bit ambitious (sigh). We shopped Adelaide city. We shopped for ages. The girls went crazy. Thank goodness we had Bethany with us - she was such a big help! I was about to give up when I found this one. Not my usual style, but it's kind of a cocktail dress, and I've never had one of those before. Purple is usually my least favourite colour but I liked that it was kind of bold :)

Add a black cardi (it was freeeezing!), a black bling ring and some patent black stilettos and I was good to go :)

It was so much fun dressing up in something new, and feeling slim and fit and way more confident than I felt 12 weeks ago!!

And we danced the night away :)

So the fitness challenge is over for now. I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want, and don't HAVE to exercise unless I want to :) But I think I will keep at least a lot of it up :)

I am soooo grateful James suggested we do this again and made me work hard, and I am excited just knowing that I can semi-easily lose the weight that I put on when I had our babies. Hopefully next time I won't put on as much, but I'm excited to do this again to get back into shape after the next baby.

Yay for the fitness challenge 2011, and yay for getting my new dress (happy sigh), and yay for it being over!! :)

Fitness Challenge: Week 11

I am sick of being healthy.

But I have enjoyed losing this weight immensely!

I ordered some maternity recovery shorts. They are my last hope! I wasn't going to, but James thinks they'll help me feel healthy and strong again after each pregnancy (like they're meant to) and is convinced there's nothing more worth it, so he sweetly insisted which is nice of him. He thinks I should also get the during pregnancy ones but they're not cheap, so we'll see how these go first!

I exercised most days last week, until I fell and hurt my shin - it's just a big egg and bruise but it hurts like crazy, still, and is hard to walk on and even though Mum thinks I'm making a big fuss over a little thing it's killing me!!! :P

On Saturday morning I had lost another kg!!!! :) This morning, I had not.... so I will keep going through this last week, and James wants to see me shopping for that dress for the wedding on Saturday :) I have a nice dress but I can't feed in it, which could get awkward for me, or rather upsetting for Ana! :)

So only 1 week to go - I can almost smell the finish!!! :)

I AM getting over it, but I am SO GLAD and GRATEFUL that I did this challenge and that James has helped me so much - it feels sooooo good getting back into shape!! :) This morning I pulled out almost the last of the clothes that now fit me - only a few more items to go. Golly it feels good :)

Fitness Challenge: Week 10

Woohoo I'm down 1 more kg!!

Now I've lost 6!!!!

And although James continues to tell me it's not important how much I lose as much as how strong I get, I'm loving it :)

All I can think of is a massive bag of chicken breast fillets or mince - that's a heck of a lot of weight that I was carrying around that I'm not! No wonder I'm fitting into my old clothes and feeling great!! :)

Last week I didn't exercise again - this was due to being out of the habit and wasted. I know, bad :S

I am exercising this week.

I did however get back onto the no junk food part of the challenge last week.

So 2 weeks to go, and 2 kg's to lose!!!

Aaaah! Gotta suck it up, wish me luck, I can almost feel the fabric of my cute new dress :)

Fitness Challenge: Week 9

At the end of last week I had a bad attitude.

So this week I did everything wrong. I mean everything.

I ate junk food every single day, even if it was just a few marshmallows to cut off my nose to spite my face (our house isn't stocking much in the way of junk food at the moment...).

I didn't work out once - although I had an awesome game of netball Tuesday night, which I decided to do despite my determination to do everything wrong, because I love it.

I slept in if I could possibly manage it (generally not..).

I didn't drink quite 2.5 litres of water each day. Ha!

I even ate after 7pm.

Shocking, right?

I stayed the same weight I already was. This would have been more fun if I'd lost a kg. But I didn't. I did, however, have a break from my overdoes of health and fitness and I'm kind of okay going back to it this week. I am 2 or 3 kg's out from my goal weight, only 3 weeks left, and just under 3 weeks until I go to the wedding for which I am going to buy cute prize dress if I reach my goal, so I really need to lose a kilo this week and next!!

So this week I will resume the challenge, and next week if I'm not low enough, I'm totally going the 'The Devil Wears Prada' diet. Anyone not know it?? The girl in the movie totally seemed to be working it!

Fitness Challenge: Week 8

Exercised every day last week.

Feel bigger.

Didn't lose any weight.

Over it.

Come on last 2 or 3 kg's - be gone!!!

Only 4 weeks left...