MAJOR milestone !

/ MR

This-morning I very nervously weighed myself again.

I did it because yesterday, having donned a pair of leggings (I can’t keep buying jeans and finding they’re unwearable after a while) and gone shopping, come home, finally finished an umpteenth enormous bunch of delicious white grapes that the Woolies Metro over the road has been tempting me with and settled in to do some serious overlay mosaic crochet, I realized I was distinctly uncomfortable around the waist. Going to remove the leggings I saw (1) that my flab was being forced out above the waist by them and (2) that their waistline was all bent over. The obvious conclusion was that I HAD PUT WEIGHT ON. Ugh !

Hence this-morning’s activity with the scales.

Expecting to find myself something like 3 kilos up, I found to my astonishment that I am in fact another half-kilo down: today I weigh

79.4 kilos.

That may make you wince and wonder why I would be chuffed, considering that ..

(typical bloody Google: June 2013 ???!) ..

but I’m about 168 cm, just for starters; and somehow I dunno that the average Aussie sheila has grown 7 cm, even in 9 years !

But the real point here is that I haven’t been in the seventies, kilo-wise, for longer than anyone alive can remember. Certainly I can’t !

And together with my new-found lack of kilos comes a new-found thinking about Moving Out: I’ve come across a delightful unit at an amazing rental price in .. wait for it .. Ballarat. And if they accept my application I SHALL GO THERE. I’ve dithered and havered about leaving the big smoke for so long that I disgust myself.

In fact, I disgust myself on many levels, these days ..

I have no friends here in Melbourne, not any more. No-one travels here to visit me, not in these C-19 days, when Victoria is riddled with tales of infection. So why should I stay here ? Why not go Somewhere Else ? Stringer is with me wherever I go, after all .. And although I’m going to view a truly beautiful place in North Melbourne on Monday, it’s a studio; and I don’t really think it fair on The Boodster to not provide him with at least one room to get away from me ! (Yesyes; there are those who consider that perhaps an eight-room house wouldn’t be enough distance ..)

The one thing that might keep me tied to Melbourne is my wonderful GP, Cecile. However, she herself has pointed out that we can do video consults so there’s almost zero need to visit her; and an occasional trip down as necessitated by, say, my bi-annual exhaustive health check would be a pleasure. Ballarat isn’t far:

Anyvays, that’s the current thinking. Knowing me, I may well disgust myself further and decide on relieving myself of most of what’s left of my possessions in order to move in to a studio (it is such a beautiful environment !).

So you ain’t hoid de last of dis ..

28 thoughts on “MAJOR milestone !”

  1. Congratulations on reaching that milestone weight. Well done. We moved away from the big metropolis of Perth five years ago, and I could never go back there. Busselton is small, but not to small. I’m not sure if Ballarat is similar in size, but as I remember from a fleeting visit it has a lot of colonial character. When we were travelling around Australia we considered Echuca. It had the reputation at the time of being the top place to retire in the country, and when we visited it we could see why. It’s a beautiful place. I’m sure, that just like your furry companion, you’ll land on your feet wherever it is you land.

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    • Ah, thanks heaps, Chris ! – that’s valuable input, apart from the compliment. :D
      I hadn’t realized you live in Busselton, remembered as a place we used to be taken to en famille when children to visit friends of my father’s. Now if Perth were the same place as it was in, say, the early ’50s ..

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  2. Perth is not the country town city it once was, it’s huge now. Busselton has a population now of around 35000, so also not the place you used to holiday in as a child. It’s what I’d consider a perfect size. It’s about 2 1/2 hors drive from Perth, so not to far away for times when we need to go there. We knew no-one when we moved here, but by joining a women’s walking group, we’ve now made more friends than we’ve ever had before. It’s a very small country city rather than a country town.

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  3. Indeed I accept that the west has changed beyond measure, and will continue to do so. Melbourne is not the place I lived in between 1965 and 1974 – not by a country mile ! My problem is that as I keep moving the places I left keep changing; and so I can never go back to anywhere familiar. Might as well go somewhere new then ..

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    • Cheapest rental to be found there is $410 per week. Bit outa my league, Chris ! :D
      I had actually thought briefly of returning to the west because my nephew lives there and I love him very dearly. But I couldn’t afford the trip, let alone the rents !!!!

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  5. Congrats on your milestone; that is great!

    and you are most adventurous. I can’t even fathom moving across town, away from my peeps. But it’s really about having peeps, and if you don’t have peeps where you are, nothing to stop you from flying the coop!

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    • Thank-you, Michele ! :) The lack of peeps is Stringer’s and my own fault, for we thoughtlessly forgot about most of those we knew as we went on our merry way entirely involved in each other. Lesson learned, but too late.
      I mentioned you to another professional just yesterday, in a discussion about knitting entrelac. He’s a German, Norman Schwarz; and I declare he must be about as clever as you !! :D

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  6. Gosh – you are a nomad at heart – never settling for long. But at least it keeps life interesting. But Ballarat? Wouldn’t the cold aggravate your arthritis? Plus I hear it is quite a clicky place – they don’t like newcomers. I had a niece in law move there and two years later she still hasn’t made friends but she is young – an older group might be better, but could be worse. The other problems with moving seems to be easily sorted wherever you go. All the best with the decision. It will be an adventure no matter what.

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    • I’m not, really, Amanda; it’s this damned pensioned existence that does it. Were I possessed of enough money, I would’ve found somewhere in a nice suburb without any large bored dogs left alone by their bogan owners to bark mindlessly all day. Existing on the age pension means one’s sentenced to living in the same place as people who one would not from preference dwell among; who park multiple vehicles all over their ‘gardens’ and have three thousand and eleven children who all play outside screaming continuously from morning to night. It is a trying existence. I suffer. Either the North Melbourne beautiful place or the Ballarat cheap one would suit as not being like everywhere else I’ve been; but of course I may not be accepted at either.

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      • I wish you luck in your quest, M-R but note that we too have bored barking dogs left alone all day, albeit by upper class bogan owners in a more affluent suburb. The ignorance permeates all socio-economic levels. The children of these folks may be less numerous than at your location, but they act far more entitled, and this breeds nefarious behaviour. Whether it is knocking over a neighbour’s full garbage bin in a temper tantrum spreading refuse all over the lane, screaming obscenities outside your door, in a fit of frustration of emotion over some minor inconvenience, or the crazed dog owners I referred to in a recent post, or even attempting to steal your large potplant presumably to sell on gumtree, out of view of security cams, these are all the wonders of living in a medium density suburban lifestyle. At least the sea is on one side of me! There is never a perfect place unless you want to be in a remote location – but then you are without facilities. It is a matter of the best of the worst and letting it be, for me.

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  8. Let us know about the Melbourne studio M-R – I’ve lived in a studio and it is do-able!

    I’ve also heard how cliquey Ballarat is – these inland towns can be terrible that way, Lord knows this large town puts up huge walls against anyone new – and it’s worse with the older age group, they’ve grown up together. It takes years to break in here, and we all need some support network… I’d just keep this in mind if I were in your position when making a decision. Best of luck!

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    • This kind of input is practical !! – thanks, Sue. :)
      But the North Melbourne studio was an excellent example of the wide (long ?) lenses that make all distances in real estate photos seem at least twice as lengthy as they are. It was adorable, with a super kitchen and bathroom; but the living|sleeping space is TINY. Boodie would go bonkers cooped up in it; and frankly so would I. I’d have to rid myself of virtually all my furniture. Wonderful environment, too: I could SPIT !!
      The thing about snobs is this: since 29th September last I have had nobody to even talk to, let alone spend time with; so it would make no difference to me if Ballarat were cliquey. I’m spending tomorrow doing the VLine and back to view a nice-looking unit of 3; and the agent tells me that no. 1 has been there for about 12 years and no. 3 for about 8. Since I intend NEVER TO MOVE AGAIN, this is about my size. :)
      Will update on it ..

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  9. I think you’ve done really well with your weight and you made me laugh describing how you had some “pour over” in the midline of your leggings. You already know I think you’re entirely too hard on yourself! And I really feel for you in making the decision as to which new home you’ll choose. You have some good options, but I would imagine making that final choice is a little stressful. You’ll feel so much better when you can finally land. :-)

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  10. Oh good for you M-R. That sounds like a decent weight for your height. I’m so impressed.

    And Ballarat? If nothing really holds you to Melbourne, why not? You can surely get nicer places for the money there? I have a friend who lived in a studio apartment for many years, but it does feel a bit limited to me. Still, if it’s REALLY nice, and has what you need, it could be a great option.

    BUT I see there is another email I haven’t read so maybe there is more news?

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    • Not decent ENOUGH, my dear Sue ! Onwards and downwards I must go, ever so slowly. Now that I’m here, it seems a waste not to go as far as I can; and I do not fear becoming victim to an eating disorder. [grin] Anyone who enjoys her milky coffee with two corn thins sandwiches of cottage cheese and Bonne Maman jam is unlikely to show bone ..

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Go on - you can say it. :)

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