Getting Fit - Mountain Biking

The big news is that I'm now down to 92Kgs, that's a loss of 5Kgs so far. The target remains 85Kgs so we're headed in the right direction.

The regular riding is definitely helping as is the change in diet. amazingly I'm actually enjoying the changes and don't miss snacking on an entire packet of biscuits opting instead for a banana. The riding continues to get easier and consequently more enjoyable. One of my secret joys is the comments from other riders, especially the fit ones. Last week I was riding with a friend and as we were half way up a 20 minute hill I was chatting away (a new development for me, I used to be dying at that point) when I heard my friend puffing & panting. On asking if he was OK? he asked me to slow down so he could keep up. Not words I would ever have expected to hear especially from a guy almost 10 years younger on a fully carbon bike!

Weekend

Saturday didn't start too well as Joel was running from the kitchen to the lounge and slipped on the tiles smacking his mouth against the step - Ouch! There was much blood and screaming so Dean took him to casualty (a private and expensive affair) where he was brilliant for the doctor! It looks like he will lose both front teeth but thankfully all will heal quite quickly and no stitches were needed.

Oscars And Bits

Well no we haven't won an Oscar (although some of Eli's tantrums could well be nominated!), actually our Blog is now listed at Oscar which is a UK based online mission resource, so well worth taking a look at.

Got to rush as I'm off early for a ride before the manic day ahead; leadership training session followed by birthday party and stuff.

Star Of The Week

Joel continually makes us proud, but this week is a bit special as he was awarded the 'star Of The Week' award for the nursery class. What makes this all the more special is that he got it for listening! We had to check that this was right but it is.

Joel got to wear the 'Star of the Week' badge and was given a little certificate too. Needless to say he's very proud of them both.

What a star!

Butterfly World

Paula accompanied Joel and his class on their first school trip today to Butterfly World in Paarl. He had an absolute ball - firstly riding in the car with one of his new friends, Pabatso, who is a Sotho speaker solely and yet manages to get by in an English speaking nursery - aren't kids amazing!! He was then treated to up close and personal experiences (a) with the butterflies themselves in a wonderfully humid and hot enclosed area, and then with a couple of snakes and (thankfully!) some enclosed tarantulas and other such "lovelies".

Valentines Day

Joel's school emailed this photo to us. For Valentines Day the kids were allowed to ditch the uniform and wear red & white (so some went in blue & white!). Joel doesn't look too chuffed by the whole thing. The kids are from both his nursery class and the reception class.

Sadly the reception class teacher wore a Man Ure shirt but luckily she's not in the photo, phew!

Picture Resizer

Here's a really useful utility from Microsoft. In fact, this is so useful that you can almost forgive Microsoft all their previous sins.

If you regularly post photos on a Blog or website this utility is for you!

Getting Fit - Mountain Biking

I've been making a serious effort to shake off a few kilos and get fit in the process, but I also want to have fun whilst doing this. That means the gym is a non starter! So I've been mountain biking on and off for a couple of years now and really enjoyed it, but late last year the group I was riding with let me down. I chased them for a while but had to concede defeat as they were all too busy with their own businesses to commit to regular riding.

Chris Nissen Update

We've not posted on the Blog for a few days as we never seem to find the time or when we do we're just too tired to say anything worth writing.

Family life continues to be great, both boys are blossoming at their respective nurseries. Joel astounds us by the day with what he's learning. He comes out with some real pearls of wisdom and often has us cracked up. Eli loves going to his nursery/crèche run by Leanne, a friend from church. He's supposed to be moving at Easter to the same nursery Joel went to but given how happy he is we're reconsidering the move.

Home Affairs - Residency

We started the process of applying for permanent residence this morning and so embarked upon a long and slow journey with Home affairs which could take up to 3 years to complete! Hopefully things will go a bit quicker than that as we're applying on kinship grounds and as such the paperwork we have to provide is very minimal.

Lazy Weekend

It's the weekend so that must mean it's time for the paddling pool - again! As is very evident, the boys adore the pool and have so much fun in there. Eli soon had enough and decided that he wanted to climb so had a go on the climbing frame. He struggled with the rope side but shinned straight up the ladder side much to our horror! Eli was immensely pleased with himself so there'll be no end of him climbing now.

Three of the best piccys can be seen at Finnie's in Focus