Random pleasantness

On the train on my way to work this morning, I felt a warm  snuffling on my ankle and realised there was a guide dog under the seat beneath me. He was a gorgeous glossy black labrador with big feet and a wet nose. I have always taken very seriously the message not to engage with guide-dogs while they are on duty. Does sleeping on the train count as being on duty? I don't really know, but this was the existential internal dialogue I was having as the dog snored, sighed, rolled and stretched out across my feet. We stayed that way for the 20 minute trip into the city; me, sitting stock still in fear that I might interfere with his duties, him just enjoying a good nap. It was a funny situation, but I really enjoyed being a guide dog cushion for a while. When I got home this afternoon, my own dogs gave me the once-over. They were less impressed with my disloyalty!

Water water everywhere...

Well, it's been a mad few weeks in south-east Queensland, with flash flooding, tidal flooding and pretty much any kind of flooding you can think of. I live in one of the worst hit suburbs of Brisbane. Our house came through entirely unscathed, while homes no more than 300 metres away from us were inundated to their roof lines. It all feels quite surreal; except that it's very real and the damage is palpable whenever we leave the house to do a local errand. Mud everywhere, people's worldly possessions lining the streets to be hauled off to the dump, army trucks (actually, I haven't seen any of these but I know they've been here) marauding the streets, police patrolling to deter looters. We ended up taking our planned two week holiday a couple of days after the floods hit and left our house for a displaced local family to stay in while they cleaned up. If there is any silver lining in this cloud of devastation, it is the reinvigoration of community spirit that has suffused our neighbourhood. From near and far, practical help, goods, money and emotional support has been flowing into town. I met more of my neighbours in three days than I met in the two years we have lived here and all sense of private property has flown out the window as people share houses, power, cars, etc with those who have lost theirs. It is humbling to be part of it. My only personal 'complaint' is that my gym was flooded and is still closed. Hopefully it will reopen next week. I have tried to mobilise myself to do other non-gym related exercise, but the local running tracks are pretty stinky and the snakes have come out to play as they seek drier territory. I did manage to get in a couple of wonderful swims in the mouth of the river near my family's holiday spot while we were away, but I can't bear to swim in chlorinated pools, which are the only option now I am back home. I knew I was having a relationship with exercise, but now I realise I am also having a love affair with my gym. Fingers crossed, it reopens next Wednesday. Can't wait!

Stress is a killer

On some level, we all know that stress is bad for us. If we haven't worked it out intuitively, there's more than enough research and popular media accounts out there in the ether of all the nasty things stress does to us to sink several thousand ships. Having MS puts a whole new perspective on the dangers of stress. Things have been a bit stressful around here of late, as we face some challenges and try to support people who are close to us who are dealing with challenges of their own. Yesterday was a stressful day, so today, my legs don't work properly. My central nervous system is clearly calling time out and has taken its bat and ball and gone home (*select preferred sporting metaphor here*). All there is for it is to rest, meditate, be calm and kick that stress to the kerb in the hope that tomorrow is a different day...

Best ever flavour combinations...

...peanut, chilli and egg
tuna and olives
chocolate and peanut butter (works equally well in porridge as it does in ice-cream)
maple syrup and pecan (made for each other).

Others?

Lunch of champions

Quinoa, black beans, sweet potato, tomato, red onion, green capsicum, avocado, spices and hot sauce. Yum!

48 hours in

It's been almost exactly 48 hours since the Thermomix arrived. Now, this blog isn't about to become an advertorial for Thermomix or a slavish rendering of Thermie (see - affectionate abbreviation already) converted recipes. But, I just want to say this. In its first 48 hours with us, we have used the Thermie to make:

1 loaf of bread (success - we even milled some of our own flour for it)
1 batch of pasta sauce (okay)
1 jug of fruit and vegetable juice (success)
1 thai green chicken curry (success for the carnivore)
1 batch of chilli jam (success)
1 batch of porridge (not great, prefer it the old fashioned way)
1 batch of muffins (okay, but I think it was more work than doing it manually).

Any way you look at it, that's quite a lot of cooking. The cool part is, all of that took a sum total of about two hours (thermie cooking times included, oven cooking times excluded). I am having fun!

300

Today was a milestone; I burned 300 calories during my cardio workout at the gym. Three hundred calories isn't much to write home about for a fit and active person. Indeed, four months ago, I burned at least 500 every time I hit the gym (which was pretty much every day). But in these times of MS recovery, 300 is a big deal. It is interesting looking at my otherwise healthy muscles and knowing that it is the neural pathways that are holding them back, making me feel weak, tired and unsteady on my feet. But the truly counter-intuitive thing is that vigorous exercise actually alleviates the fatigue. After burning my 300, I managed to clean the house, cook lunch and do laundry. So, the message is clear; unless I am projectile vomiting with fatigue or a danger to myself on the treadmill, it is exercise for me. This makes me happy, cos it's what I like to do.