Happy Old Bags Reunion

I consider myself to be lucky.  Very lucky.  I have the most wonderful set of girlfriends whose ages range from 30 something through to 60 something.  They come from all walks of life, some are old chums from my school days, there are a few who share my hobbies and interests, others I have kept in touch with from the various jobs I've had, and latterly the lovely colleagues from my present job.

It's the latter that ended up with the dubious group title of Happy Old Bags.  I'm not sure which one of us came up with it but it formulated years ago and still makes us smile, even now.  Just to quickly put you in picture, there is a shortage of parking spaces around our campus, therefore it was necessary to arrive extra early for work to get parked.  This in turn meant we'd gather up in the office with at least 30 minutes to spare, so whoever was in first would have the kettle on ready and waiting for the rest to arrive.  Over coffee before work we'd put the world to rights, have a little moan here and there, and very importantly share a confidence or two that you can only do with trusted friends. That said, most likely we'd be laughing at some story one of us had to relate because we were (still are)  terrible pervs.  Age has no barrier to women perving! No-one could mention Hugh Jackman or a bare chested David Gandy without 'phwoar' noises being emitted round the room followed up by a plethora of smutty innuendo's.  We'd set off snorting with laughter once again and I think it's this that earned us the name 'Happy'.  We're still wondering about 'Old Bags'.  You might have a theory on that!

Hugh Jackman

David Gandy

A few of the group have left for reasons of redundancy or retirement, but we gather up occasionally for a gossip-fest and leisurely lunch and this is what we'll be doing on Tuesday next week.  It's the Easter break and we all work term-time only (one of the perks of working in education) so it's an ideal opportunity for the Happy Old Bags to convene.  I know we'll all come away with our spirits lifted and glad we met up.  It's a known fact that laughter is the best medicine, and I know that better than most.

Happy Monday with ANIMAL CRACKERS (The Best of BBC One's Walk On The Wild Side) [Shamrock ...

This made me CRY with laughing!

 

Poked, prodded and pinned

The fine chap I visit for my acupuncture sessions has been treating me for the pain in my hip.  He's succeeded in taking the edge off the pain and I can certainly walk better without careering into shop displays and members of unsuspecting public.

No kidding, when I am in pain I walk like I'm drunk!  It's not so bad if I can stride out a bit, but if I'm walking slowly such as in the supermarket, or a really busy street the pressure builds in that hip and the pain feels like a severe stinging sensation.

Andrew at Spirit Acupuncture near Chesterfield moves heaven and earth to render me pain free and have me leave his clinic walking a straight line.  However, this is likely to be a lengthy process which is mainly due to the complexities of my issues.  After a few weeks I decided to ask him to take a different path with my sessions; one with which I could incorporate further benefits.  You see, I struggle with my weight, and I can easily change from size 14/16 to 18/20 in a short space of time.  Naturally this isn't helping the cause for my foot and hip.  I'm given to understand from other acupuncture converts that a weight loss solution combined with healthier eating is highly achievable.  So buoyed up with anticipation I consulted Andrew during which I told him about my lifelong negative relationship with food; the comfort eating, the digestive problems and my general lack of well-being.  I like my consultations with Andrew; he takes his work very seriously and is certainly a person who goes the extra mile.  And he's up for a laugh.

During the weight issue chat this week, we suddenly found ourselves chuckling at the thought of Peter Kay in his Slimming Consultant guise.  I told him about my time with Slimming World, about how much I'd lost before the despondency set in.  It's not the same for everyone.  Some people do incredibly well and manage to maintain their success.  While I had my own successes there, there were things about the group sessions that held no inspiration for me, and as a result I lapsed.

In the following clip from You Tube, Peter Kay will have you in stitches, and how he presents is of course, an exaggerated version.  But true.  Don't let that put you off if you're thinking of going though!




So after we'd stopped snorting about the loss of a pound here and there (yes it's to be celebrated!) we got on with the poking, prodding and pinning session.

While Andrew has been treating my hip, he's been concentrating on pinning my left upper arm.  He first feels for the pathway and applies a little pressure (poke!).  In most spots I don't feel anything but the pressure.  When he hits a blockage in the pathway it feels sore and that's the area he will pin.  Some places are so sore that any pressure (poke and prod!) he applies will elicit a loud expletive from me.  I apologised at first, but he assures me he's heard worse, so I just carry on swearing life a fishwife!  The feeling of soreness under pressure lasts less than a second and I never feel the pins going in.

For the weight loss, he pinned inside my outer ears, areas in my foot and I lost track of where else.  After the session I felt absolutely fine and will be going again tomorrow for 'round 2'.  We discussed a different eating regime.  No diet as such, but given some of my symptoms we both agree that cutting out dairy, bread, cereal and potatoes might be worth a try.  To take things a step further I am considering trying the Paleo eating plan.  I've already cut out the bread, cereal and spuds, and have been careful about everything else.  I've substituted cow's milk for Almond milk, but I confess to having a preference for Hazelnut milk as it's nicer in coffee.

 I thought I'd succeeded in keeping it fairly gluten free. That is until I read a small amount of dark chocolate such as 70% cocoa solids is OK to have.  At work we have a Costa coffee outlet and there I found a bar of Divine dark chocolate  labelled at 70%.

Feeling a choc feast coming on I took it to my office and checked the label.  Along with the good stuff, it contained (note past tense!) milk and gluten.  Not good news but I got stuck in anyway.  I have to say, it's no substitute for Cadbury's chocolate but a couple of squares of Divine satisfied the choc craving.  Truly, I really didn't want any more.

So watch this space and I'll be letting you know my ups and downs in all this.  If there are any gory details I'll spare you those!

Grumpydrawers husband

I'm not intending to say much about Mr Grumpydrawers who, from now on will be referred to as K.  He'll feature from time to time if only as a further reason for me to moan, grumble, and generally go-off-on-one!

He's a great bloke with a rather distorted sense of humour, and quite honestly does make me laugh out loud from time to time.  Like when he presented me with THIS.....................

Yes, I forgave him!