Hello soba tomatoes and guest of honour!

Yes, this blog title is yet another reference to not 1 but 3 myspace blogs:

1 - HELLO: Hi Kaori! I'm glad you are now on blogger as well and that I can read your myspace page, as well as you reading my blog. If you ever do get annoyed with myspace, you can easily post blogs here :)
2 - SOBA: Kaori, I loved your Yamagata pictures...especially the soba. YUMMY! It takes me back to all the delicious food from Northern Japan...mmmm....I'm hungry now! Yamagata is so beautiful. I hope to return there next June (for rainy season :( ) I wanted to comment on your page, but myspace won't allow it!
3 - TOMATOES: People getting sick from tomatoes is unfortunately quite common these days. 15 years ago there was some sort of report with a link of having too many tomatoes and the incidence of cancer. But I don't think it was that reliable, as only a short time later it was revealed that tomatoes - especially in sauces that have been left for a few days - actually helps prevent a form of cancer because the enzymes from tomatoes help build up your immune system - or something like that. So I don't know where things stand. All I know is I love tomatoes - and hopefully you'll get better soon Chris.
4 - GUEST OF HONOUR: Dude, am I honestly the person you're waiting for??? That's so cool. I'm special - and stuff! So do I get red carpet treatment the whole time I'm there? Looking forward to it, if that's the case :)

Alright, all the comments are done, so let's get to today. Last night I decided that I was going to the gym at 6am. One thing about me: once I set a goal, nothing stops me. And I got it in my head that I wanted to wake up early, so that's what I did, despite the fact that I got to bed quite late. Was chatting to the boy, but I was loopy. Good loopy of course. This kind of loopy is when I'm tired but stubborn enough not to want any sleep. It's easier for O to get me to bed when he is there in person, but apparently me being this loopy is the equivalent of me being drunk. I don't remember much of the things I say and do when I'm loopy, so I have to rely on the ppl who were present to tell me what I did or said. But apparently I'm funny, so that's all that matters :)

With around 6 hours of sleep all up, I manage to get up at 5:45 to go to the gym. Got there at 6:15 as I was distracted(!), but I still ended up doing a 20 minute cardio session. That was fantastic. I got home at around 6:45, got showered, changed, ate brekkie and was out of the house at 7:10 to go to work. I felt fantastic all day. I looked it too. I took a glance in the mirror a few times today (yes I love myself!) and I was positively glowing! My skin looked fantastic - like a Snow White complexion - nice and clear. And all day at work I felt so positively happy. It's like ppl knew I was happy today. It's that whole thing of "whatever you project out comes back to you". I must have been all smiley, but I didn't realise it. It wasn't forced. Everyone just felt open enough to approach me, or maybe I was open enough to be approachable. Whatever it was, I hadn't felt like that in a while - and I loved it. And I want to feel like that more often. Perhaps a small part of it is knowing that I'm leaving soon and just being happy about it. The girls at work noticed too. Second in command lady made an observation comparing myself and another girl that is leaving for Cuba tomorrow. The other girl has been very vocal about her excitement and thrill of going overseas again. She's going for 2 months (still a very long time) and has been raving about it, counting down from 12 weeks ago and constantly talking about it. I was the opposite. I've been dubbed the 'quiet achiever'. I'm going overseas for at least 8 months, maybe longer if I want to explore more. This has been planned for over 2 years and everyone has known about it and has known that this was my mid term goal - ever since I started working there just over 2 years ago. I've been counting down since maybe 400 days ago, but never made a big deal publicly about it (well, maybe with you guys. And I have been vocal with my plans, but not to the extent that the other girl has). When I was asked if I was excited, I said not yet. She didn't believe it and said she could see the quiet excitement in my eyes. The impact won't hit until I start packing. The second impact will hit when I step into Dawn's house in November, dump my bags, sit at the edge of the bed and just say, "Wow, I've made it. I can get excited now!". The quiet excitement is obvious from everyone's point of view. I'm just very calm about it. It's not self depracating, it's me being the quiet achiever. It suits me well.

I was energised at work and perhaps a little tired from lack of sleep, but I would have felt much worse had I not had that workout. My goal was to go to the gym everyday for the next 20 days. I did 20 minutes today, 35 minutes yesterday, 65 minutes on Saturday, 15 minutes on Friday and I will continue going to the gym. My cardio fitness is quickly returning. I'm going for another 20 minutes tomorrow before work. I've done a shift swap this week. Usually I get Tuesdays off, but I've got Thursday free this week, otherwise I would have gone for a longer workout tomorrow. I love the fact that my gym is so close to home.

Began preparing and buying some stuff that I will need for my trip: vitamins, diaries, recipes - a whole bunch of small stuff. Got home and now I am relaxing. I'm happy - it's still the endorphin release from this morning's workout. I'm happy to be vegging out and am looking forward to tomorrow morning's workout.

So I've had a really great day and I know it's going to continue. Perhaps this is the way my quiet excitement is manifesting. I'm loving it. Here's to continued happiness for not only me, but you guys too. Thanks for reading - I love ya all :)

See ya!

QUOTE OF THE DAY: I'm moving into the winner's circle :)