Elastic Dreams

My body clock clearly isn’t in the weekend vibe as I’m still up with the birds. On the plus side at least I have plenty of time to spare before I head back to the gym for my first Body Pump class. 7 weeks ago, I was a powerhouse weight lifting machine, today, I’m more like a wimpy kid, but hey, I have to start somewhere! I’m sure I’ll be hurting like hell tomorrow, but I tell myself, pain is temporary and right now I’m just relieved I manage to finish the class in  one piece!

As I’m leaving, I bump into my trainer, Kathy, who’s got an hour to spare. I suggest she spares the hour chez moi and we come home to catch up over tea and cake. (Chocolate Coconut Cake here’s one I prepared earlier!) Best of all, Kathy and I are back in business, I’m going back to Personal Training on Thursday. Bring it on!

After our little tete a tete, I’m inspired enough to organise my early bird entry for the 2012 Sun Run in February. It’s a 7km coastal run from Dee Why to Manly. I did it last year and I’ll do it again. I’ll try to beat my 2011 finish time – it’s good to have a goal! It’s great to have something in my diary, other than doctors’ appointments.

The weather is still  wet and wild. Not ideal conditions for being outside but perfect for soup making so today I try my hand at Donna Hay’s Easy Vegetable Soup. It is indeed ridiculously easy, super quick and exceedingly tasty.

In the afternoon, the weather has a change of heart and the sun makes a long awaited guest appearance. Not wanting to miss out on the sunshine, we head out for coffee and our weekly visit to the supermarket. I can’t resist another  box of mangoes. I’m loving the Mango and Coconut Gelato  I made last week and am going to make it my mission to find some more mango magic recipes this week.

We’re going to see Mary Poppins tonight so we  have a speedy supper at home. Thank heavens for batch cooking. I grab some Spaghetti Bolognaise from my freezer stash but stretch myself to make some Garlic Bread from fresh. It’s oh-so-garlicky and I kinda feel sorry for the people who’ll be sitting next to us tonight!

Mary Poppins is awesome. We actually saw it about five years ago in London but can’t remember anything about it. It’s a total treat of an evening. Highlights include dancing on the ceiling (don’t get confused with Lionel Richie!) and Mary Poppins flying around like it was going out of fashion.

I don’t know what it is with these fictional characters, is it me and my age or are they  just very philosophical all of a sudden? After all Winnie the Pooh has the Tao of Pooh to explain the basic principles of philosophical Taoism and now I see Mary Poppins’ songs are all heaped with VAM (Value Added Meaning.)  In the latest addition to her repetoire, Anything can happen, she sings “stretch your mind beyond fantastic, dreams are made of strong elastic…anything can happen if you let it, you won’t know a challenge till you’ve met it, no one does it for you, no one but yourself.”  I like it. A musical with meaning!