Wednesday 24 September 2008

Progressing (and cat fat)

I really need to say a big thank you to those of you who sent me kind words and prayed for me yesterday as we had the social worker meeting that I was so unhappy about. It was so much better than I feared, for which I am really thankful. As is so often the case for things like this, I now feel like a big baby for how stressed I was about it.

The evening didn't start well though. First, I had to work later than normal (due to concentrating so badly during the day!) Then I got home. And first let me say that I have never ever had anything stuck in the plughole of our kitchen sink. Ever. That is, until yesterday, ten minutes before the social worker arrived when I was trying to get the washing up (from monday) finished (okay started). And it turns out that the plughole of my sink is exactly the diameter of a bit of kitchen equipment that I use oooh, twice a year but happened to use monday. Which got totally stuck.

ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! So frustrating! And it turned out that I had exactly ZERO knives that were thin enough to get between the thing and the sink to lever it out, and I was beginning to consider unscrewing the U-bend. J came home and found me in a bit of a state, holding a sharp knife and stabbing away at the plug hole in tears. V. attractive. Fortunately not long afterwards my eight years of metallurgy training kicked in and I realised it was likely to be tin-plated mild steel, which is ferromagnetic - ten seconds and a trip to the fridge door later, we stuck a magnet on it and it lifted easily away.

Really wish I'd thought of that earlier.

But then, the meeting itself actually went really well and, as I said, I feel stupid for how worried I was. This meeting we covered 'relationship' and 'lifestyle', which wasn't too traumatic. In fact, that's an understatement - some bits of it were actually quite nice as we had to talk about how much we liked each other - it was like being back in marriage prep! Next time we're going to do 'childlessness' and 'health', which I'm not hugely looking forward to, but I do think I've learnt one small thing - various moments have made me realise that our SW is doing her best to respect our privacy, even though the process itself is very invasive. The next meeting is on Saturday, but I'm hoping I've used up my emotional trauma quota for the week and will glide effortlessly into it, smiling prettily. In a slightly odd twist, though, my parents are arriving for a four week (on and off) visit on Friday, and the SW wants to meet them - is this normal??? So that will be weird.

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In other, not-at-all-exciting-to-anyone-but-me news, today is my WW 'weigh in day' and the scales say I've lost nine pounds. This is as much as a whole decent-sized baby, which I find strangely pleasing. But babies aside, nine pounds is nine pounds! Before I started this, I reasoned that my body mass index was absolutely perfect - as long as I was wearing 3 1/2 inch heels. So my ultimate aim is to lose enough weight so that I have the same BMI in flat shoes as I used to in 3 1/2 inch heels. Roughly, that also translates to losing the full bodyweight of my cat, so that I weigh as much holding the cat as I used to with no cat (our cat is not petite). I'm hoping this will act as a good motivational tool - if I'm tempted to stray, I just have to look at the cat and imagine his entire mass turned into fat cells and distributed across my body. Nice image! Bet you're glad you read that. Feel free to try it on a cat near you.

11 comments:

  1. I am so glad to hear that it went well! I could not stop thinking about you...I had no words the other day, so the best I could do was pray.

    So, you are a complete genius for the magnet trick - never would have thought about that...what a resourceful mum you will be...

    Congrats on the 9 lbs! That is fantastic. I love your fat cat image. Sometimes what I do is I force myself to carry around the amount of weight I want to lose, just so I can remember how much I want it gone. Usually around Christmas when I gain 5-9 lbs...I will carry it around in handweights...then somehow my brain flips a switch and it starts to seem easier to lose...and I am ready to exercise and eat healthy again..

    So flipping glad that your SW visit went well!!! Continue on...

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  2. The one day I don't check your blog and I miss your stressing about the SW visit! So glad it went well :) I'm trying to work out if it would be dishonest to find some random stranger who is slightly less potty about grandchildren to stand in for your real mother for the SW to meet. It probably would be, but I can't say I'm not recommending it! Don't worry, I'm sure she'll behave (well, kind of sure!).

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  3. so glad to hear the update and that things went well. Will be praying for the next visit! that is incredible about the 9lbs also!!! impressive.

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  4. Oh I'm happy to hear that it went okay. I hope the rest of the meetings are enjoyable as well (is that possible?).
    Love the idea about the fat cat. So funny--best of luck with that. Looks like you've got a good start already.
    (what is it about my sitting down to comment on your blog? Every stinkin' time, the wee one finds me...more pulling, screeching...)

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  5. Thanks so much again for helpful and kind words! Filoli, I am loving the handweights idea - great way to tell yourself the weight has got to go! Especially if they are the kind of weights that are awkward adn get in the way - I guess if it's Christmas weight, maybe you could just carry around the turkey for a week or so before! That would definitely be awkward.

    Lucy, I can't believe you didn't check my blog for an entire day. I'm going to have to get a new sister. Although the replacement-parent idea is such a good one... okay you can stay. (I'm not AT ALL SURE she is going to behave, by the way).

    Anna - thank you so much :) I was really glad to read your update!!

    Lori, I think your little one is trying to remind me that life isn't going to be easy AFTER children, either!!

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  6. "Stabbing away at the plughole"...!!! I have to laugh at that!

    So, you are a metallurgist? They are rare finds - those people. My father is one. Not lying at all. He's a metallurgical engineer and used to have these textbooks on such profoundly daunting subjects such as Thermodynamics, whatever beastly class that must be!

    I'm really happy to read the stufy went well! Really great!!!

    Cindy

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  7. I meant "study" as in "homestudy," not "stufy" - darn this blasted keyboard!

    Cindy

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  8. Yes! Metallurgist by training, although sadly, sadly not doing it as a job now. Sigh - I really liked it. But none of that kind of industry in this area, and I had to move here to get married... in the career / love competition, love definitely won. I'm glad, and i mostly like my current job, but i do miss all that metal some days...

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  9. not sure who led me to your blog-- but I can relate to the stress about the social worker visits. Can a stranger really decide whether or not you are fit to be a parent? On our first visit, I was running late and the social worker was standing outside our locked front gate in the pouring rain. I was sure we were doomed. Hang in there & congratulations on the nine pounds!

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  10. arrgghhh! That's a terrifying story, Sarah! I hadn't even worried about being late yet - I'll add that to my list ;)

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Over to you!