crankymonkeys in london

For almost two years now I’ve been a runner. I’ve been slowly increasing my distance and am now doing two 15-18km runs a week.

I have found that running for more than an hour at a time requires some changes in what I eat:

a) To avoid getting runners diarrhea (lovely thing, let me tell you :), I absolutely cannot have any coffee before I run and I need to limit sugar and yeast in my diet.
b) To keep me from getting dizzy (which I tend to have a problem with) I need to drink a lot of water throughout the day, every day, and to avoid sugar.

I almost have my dizziness and digestion under control with a diet that doesn’t include any refined sugar, has limited wheat and yeast and lots of water.

However, in order to understand why I tend to have these issues in the first place, I sort of found an answer in the place I didn’t expect… [...]

I absolutely love having a self-hosted Wordpress blog. I have worked in web design&development for over a decade and I love getting my hands on the code and tweak the theme.

If you don’t know CSS or HTML or PHP that well, a self-hosted blog has other benefits – for example it opens up the whole world of plugins to you – little “programs” that make you site run more efficiently, and be more interactive and fun.

Here’s the list of the plugins that I currently use and am very happy with to recommend.

Top: Sainsbury’s
Trousers: Zara
Boots: Jones
New hair colour: Gina Aveda hair salon

Once in a blue moon I find something nice in the clothing department at Sainsbury’s. I never volunteer that information to my husband (he’s a bit posh like that :) but my latest buy is this top, which is super soft and a nice cut. [...]

Sometime after Oliver’s 3rd birthday in November I stopped lying next to him at bedtime and waiting until he fell asleep. Now I put him to bed, tell him a story, sing a few songs and if he starts screaming when I leave, my mom will go and pat him for a while until he calms down.

He’s started to scream less and less now when I leave, he’s used to the routine that nana will take over once I go. However, he really really does not seem to want to fall asleep on his own and … [...]

This is my favourite cake – a sponge with crushed strawberries+sugar in the middle and lightly sweetened whipped cream and berries on top.

I usually make it for my birthday, and for anyone elses birthday as well if requested. If I could, I would actually make it for dinner every day, I totally have a sweet tooth and many times in the not so distant past I have skipped dinner to just eat cake.

Sugar doesn’t make me feel very well though, so last year I was sugar free for several months while I tried to figure out some health issues. Once they were figured out and the main symptoms gone, I went back to sugar… little by little it grew into a daily habit again. [...]

I know people LOVE to read about gross and debilitating illnesses ;), so let me tell you —– my GAWD, labyrinthitis is a BITCH!

(this post will have a lot of ALL CAPS)

The dude is out. I mean OUT. [...]

I was going to write a proper post but can’t. Everything is just too effed right now. J cannot sit or stand up due to some virus… a virus that’s damaged the balance system in his head. Doctors didn’t say how long recovery will take or what he should do other than rest… Naturally he’s [...]

I read the BritMums blogging predictions for 2012 today and there was one that totally struck the chord with me:

Veteran bloggers will rethink their focus. Just like magazines get makeovers every few years, longstanding bloggers will update and adapt their blogs to reflect their changing interests and online skills. Those who started blogging as new parents will switch from “baby blogging” to write about other topics that interest them, taking their audience and influence along with them.

I have definitely reached the point in my blogging life (this blog will soon celebrate its 7th birthday) when it’s less about adjusting to life with child(ren) and more about all the other things that make up my life. [...]

January

The 1st of January brought the Euro to Estonia and I made some new year’s resolutions that I sort of forgot about half way through the year. On 7th of January we found out that J’s dad is sick and this twist in our lives ended up defining most of the year for us.

At the end of January I started getting ready for Oskar’s birthday… [...]

I’m loving playing with brown, grey and navy at the moment. I no longer own a black pair of work trousers that I just wear non stop with a different cardi (like I used to in my previous life in Canberra :|). [...]

I’ve discovered that December really isn’t one of my favourite months. I mean it starts out all nice:

- in the beginning we have our wedding anniversary which we tend to spend in a spa all loved up;
- then school finishes with all the lovely Christmas plays and fairs and general excitement;
- then when double digits start it’s J’s birthday, which the kids love as they get to blow out candles on a bday cake;
- but then when the double digits start rolling on, the weather gets nastier, windier and is still snowless, everyone starts getting sick one by one and no one in the household can no longer sleep through the nights AND the kids ask every darn minute of their waking moments whether it’s Christmas yet… [...]