speed session; day 1 of work placement;

Running

I was up with birds (or the annoying rooster that someone in the street thinks its appropriate to keep).  It was fantastic running just before sunrise, except for thinking I may roll my ankle at any moment.  1km at race pace with 200 metres walking recovery X3.

Clinicals - Day 1 - 8/100 hours complete
I am so tired I hardly feel like blogging my day.  It was day one of my placement and after not working for 6 and 1/2 years, it took its toll.  I'm ready for bed.  I didn't have to do to much today.  This morning I started by learning the fire drill, watching dvds on infection control, elder abuse and manual handling, having a hand washing assessment and then shadowing another worker for the afternoon.   Tomorrow I have to start at 6.30 in the bloody morning!  When am I going to run?????   Waaah!  I got home with enough time to drop my bags and head to the boys school for an hour long meeting.

On a happy note I got 9/10 for an anatomy quiz on blood vessels.  It was a uni test and I got the highest score that anyone revealed on the course Facebook site.  Many posters revealed a failure mark and I was very stressed before hand.  Phew!  A confidence boost that I needed.

So tired right now - bath- bed (and maybe a little/lot of chocolate please!)

20km & A Day Out with Thomas

Running

Yesterday I ran 20km!  In less than 2 hours!  Well- not too much less than two hours.  I'm pretty happy with that though I did push pretty hard and the course was pretty flat.

A Day Out With Thomas

I won a family ticket to A Day Out With Thomas (the benefits of spending too much time on the internet!) so off we went to Thirlmere for an ASD kid's dream day!  It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there and we got there pretty early to get started before the crowds built up.

It was a fantastic day.   The twins went on jumping castles, had their faces painted (I was amazed at how still T2 sat while he got his face painted) slides, explored beautiful old trains, rode on little trains, got to watch a movie about trains, sampled some sausage sandwiches and had a 40 minute ride on a real steam engine.  We were there for four hours and the boys played impeccably.  A lot of littlies became overwhelmed and I believe ages 4-6 is the perfect age for this outing.  We managed to avoid buying the masses of merchandise available for sale and had a really, really enjoyable day.

The steam train we went on - Donald I think :-)

Thomas and Toby mini rides

T2 sounding Thomas' whistle

Never too old for a train ride!

T1 enjoying the view on the ride

The Fat Controller made an appearance - T2 loved him and did really well answering his questions

Inside the mail train

The train yard

Such beautiful old engines

Now I'm about to do an impossible anatomy quiz that my fellow students have mostly failed (nothing like Facebook for creating student hysteria).  Ironically its mostly on blood pressure (think impossible equation calculations) and mine is going through the roof right now.  Afterwards - chardonnay, Call the Midwife and a bubble bath - oh and chocolate of course!

The longest I've run - ever!

Running
This morning I went out for an 18km run!!  In fact it was a touch over.  Thankfully, it was perfect conditions - a good cloud coverage and a mist of showers every half hour or so.  I'm glad I didn't leave it any later because its been pouring ever since.  If all goes well I'll be in a really good position come May 18th - half marathon day!

18 KMS!!!!!!!!

Life
After my run my MIL and I did some cooking for the week ahead.  Unfortunately our local Coles don't seem to be stocking the nut free choc chips.  So we decided to make ANZAC biscuits (well it is April!).  They are pretty yummy.  I was fairly hungry this arvo so tucked into quite a bit of food - hot cross buns, ANZAC bikes, chocolate.  Ooops!  Oh well.  I must try to be a bit healthier!

Its not too early for ANZAC biscuits - is it?

I ate a few too many of these!

Another day, another assignment/ test.  I'm almost finished my TAFE coursework and soon will just have to worry about uni.  I'm already a bit over it and its only week 6.  Bring on mid-semester break!

This arvo my husband, T1 and eldest went to Leichardt and watched Manly get smashed in the pouring rain.   T2 had a therapy session so I had some peace to do some study.

Autism
Last week of Term 1 this week.  Overall, I couldn't have wished for a better start.  A few things are going to change next term to hopefully keep T2 on track.  But I'm really happy with the school, the boys' teacher and how everything has worked out.

A pretty chart for you!

Running

Last night both my eldest and T2 kept me up.  I'm not sure why....a bad dream/sleep disturbance/asthma???  So I wasn't up for a morning run this morning.  After I'd finished the Monday morning cleanathon I do with my MIL every week I forced myself not to sit down, but to lace up the joggers.  It was the middle of the day, 27 degrees and sunny.  According to my training program I was due for a speed session- 2 minutes hard running, 2 minutes easy running/shuffling repeat x5.  Today was my fourth day running in a row.   It hurt, I won't lie but collapsing into the pool afterwards was heavenly.  Tomorrow is a day off running.  Tomorrow is all about hitting the textbooks and preparing for T2's IEP (Individual Education Plan).

I'm pretty impressed with myself for working out how to do this! Hey I'm a GenXer - don't laugh

Do you love running charts/stats?

10 weeks to go....

Running

...until the SMH Half-marathon!!  They even sent me an email reminder.  Today was my long run so I did an easy 13km.  In fact, today's run was much easier than yesterday's 5km.  There were a lot of bikes and runners out this morning.  It was good to see people from the under 5s to the over 75s.  Great to see.  I'm studying aged care at the moment. And let me tell you, its a daily reminder to look after your health so hopefully we can enjoy a healthy old age.  If I could only get my father to give up smoking..

High Tea at Burnt Orange

The benefits of a long run include being able to enjoy a high tea at Burnt Orange in Mosman.  I have been there before and last time I had their signature fish pie...and hated it!  This time friends had invited myself and my MIL to high tea.  And it was delicious.  We had a table at the edge of the deck which looked onto the harbour and it was a picture perfect day.  I didn't take too many photos because I would have felt a little weird.  One of the best thing about Burnt Orange is window shopping in the gorgeous gift shop.  I've been there twice and I think its time for my long-suffering husband to be introduced to the beautiful view and atmosphere.  And I've had one bad food experience and one good food experience so I need at least one more visit to make an objective assessment ;-)

Yum yum yum!

Love the button tea set

Unique toys in the gift store - a good one for kids with ASD

A great display of books

Another good one for kids on the Spectrum

For all the budding scientists

A unique selection of quality toys

Autism

My husband has many wonderful qualities and is an absolute gem.  He has one major failing that I regularly remind him of.  Crippling motion sickness.  I didn't understand the extent of this until I witnessed him have an episode.  Now, my idea of a perfect holiday is a cruise around tropical islands.  Until now I thought that I would be a nervous wreck if I took T2 anywhere near s cruiseship.  Horrible images of him going overboard or just getting completely lost in a floating city spring to mind.  And then last week I stumbled across this....Autism on the Seas.   They even run autism friendly disney cruises!  Pity we'd have to get to the USA first.  If we start saving now, how many years....

Did anyone else used to watch The Love Boat?

They even employ specially trained staff!

This is just so great!

Where was your most successful holiday taking your child on the Spectrum?

Speed Session; High Tea at Radisson Blu & the roller coaster of autism parenting

I woke up this morning and it was 6.40am.  On my half-marathon plan for the day was a speed session - 1km, 2min rest, 1 km, 2min rest and another 2min. I spent 10 minutes in bed saying to myself will I or won't I head out for the pain fest.  I got my backside out the door and did it!  It was the first speed session since I've started running again.  It hurt...but afterwards I felt great. I used my Garmin Forerunner 10 but it started beeping at me every 30 seconds.  T2 had pushed all the buttons and set it to 30second repeats.  He is NEVER getting his hands on that watch again :-)

After I dropped the boys at school my mother-in-law and I caught the bus into the city.  I had a birthday voucher from Zara to spend.  The last time I went there it was lunchtime and it was chaos but this time it was early and I immediately spotted two items that I loved!  I've got to say that since I've stepped up the exercise and trying to eat better (well, except for a gigantic high tea!) its so much more fun clothes shopping.

I'm starting to love this store

my new jacket - love it!

my new shirt - buying this made me happy :-)

Then we headed down to the Radisson Blu for High Tea with French bubbly.  We may have got a little giggly!  Its a beautiful old building with the most comfy lounge chairs.  The food and service are consistently excellent at the Radisson Blu.  We wiled away the afternoon chatting and decided we would return for our Mother's Day gift, and maybe spend a night at the hotel, with eldest son.

Beautiful old building

Love the decor.  An art deco feel?

I can't chose a favourite item!

Added bonus - Sochi in the background!

The only negative - tea bags :-)

It had been a perfect day.  Great company, a shopping high and a lazy lunch.  The twins have been going great at school.  But today, unfortunately, T2 had a public 'behaviour' while we out in the late afternoon.  Often he saves his worst behaviour for public consumption (or is it just me being horrified?  I don't know).  Anyway, without going into detail, no harm was done, except to my pride.  And after a few tears in the car (mine!),  T2 realised what he had done wrong and how upset I was and later he said sorry.  At the time I think he knew that he was doing the wrong thing but didn't understand he was doing any harm.  Kids with autism often look like any other kid.  I felt like explaining that he had a disability.  But I know that it probably wouldn't do any good.  If people can't 'see' it they often don't 'get' it.

We all got home, calmed down and its nothing a nice bath and some good chocolate hasn't healed.  I know I'm lucky in so many ways, though sometimes it doesn't feel that way.