So today, on the way to Woolworths I had an epiphany. I wish I could say it was while I was watching the sunrise over the Opera House or during a mellow moment of contemplation by a running brook, but I can’t. I was just walking with David and my granny trolley to Woolworths and BOOM! It hit me! While we discuss which type of jam to buy or something equally scintillating, I decide that I will write a blog. Just like that.
I decide this is a great idea. It is something meaningful that David and I can create together. I can supply the content and he can be the technical wizard that delivers my virtual ramblings to the masses. As I’m a bit behind, (I’ve always been a bit of a late bloomer,) this will also keep me meaningfully occupied while I’m getting me all radioactive.
It’s going to be pretty cathartic too. I can relive my first leg of this incredible journey, and share it with the world. What’s that they say “better out than in!” Best of all, I can combine my love of storytelling with my love of food, and share all my recipes and those of my wonderful friends and family along the way. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve kind of been brought up on the premise that food is love, and just like my friends and family, I’ve always found food to be an enormous comfort.
The other thing about the blog of course, is that like me, it has a bright future. I see it as a kind of living and constantly evolving thing. I don’t know how it will pan out, or how successful it will be, but I know that it has the potential to be of great value and benefit to me, and hopefully to others, first and foremost my friends and family, and then the wider community.
It’s official. There’s a Tsunami of Words in my head. When I decide to start this blog, albeit a bit retrospectively, I just didn’t realise there was so much I needed or wanted to say. Now that I’ve started writing the words just won’t stop coming out. Excuse the crass analogy but it’s a bit like writer’s diarrhoea! I want to write all day. Even when I go for a nana nap this arvo, the words keep on coming. I have to concede defeat, put the nap on hold and hit the keyboard instead.
Despite having the energy levels of an empty battery, something within me is supercharged. Or maybe it’s just adrenalin. Even though I feel completely and utterly exhausted, I’ve still got enough left in the tank to write just one more paragraph. And then another one. And another. You get the idea!
I also find the time and energy to do some last minute baking. I’m feeling a mad urge to do as much as possible and fill the freezer with yummy stuff as I know that once I’m radioactive I won’t be able to bake for others for a couple of weeks, not without contaminating them anyway! I’ve been thinking of things I can make for the freezer. Today I try out Chocolate Coconut Cakes. They look quite yummy. David’s giving them a taste drive and I’ll take one to my counsellor tomorrow. The rest can go in the freezer should anyone be brave enough to visit when I’m radioactive girl!
The other big news today is that it was with a heavy heart I have to withdraw my entry into the Mud Run. I’d signed up for it ages ago and was planning the 6km schlep through the mud with my friends Tracey, Alice and our trainer Kathy. This was on my Wish List after my first run in with Cancer. After speaking to Tracey last week, I realise that with the best will in the world, there’s no way I’m going to be fit enough to drag myself through waist high mud and tackle big, fat, great, dirty obstacles in less than 4 weeks. The simple truth is I’m just not fit enough. I know there’s a lot of will, but there’s just no way! I know now, I have really turned a corner, because instead of sulking and winging about it (I am a Pom after all, it’s in my genetic make up!) – another plan scuppered, thanks Cancer! – I’m thinking that hey, it’s not so bad. There’s always next year, and I’ll go harder and faster!
Over the past couple of years my body has undergone a total transformation. Joining Weight Watchers in January 2009 and dropping those 25 kilos was positively life changing. Going to the gym and discovering that I LOVED exercise was an absolute revelation. I’m happy to say that I’m fitter and healthier than I’ve ever been in my life. There’s a certain irony to all this, here I am, in the peak physical condition and then I go and get Cancer! But actually, the flip side is, that this is incredibly well timed. Never before has my body been in a better position to fight back and kick Cancer’s ass. Furthermore, living with Cancer has made me sit up and take notice of how I treat my body and what I put into it. I’mreally having to stand up and take responsibility for my health and wellbeing. So… when I pull out from the run, I know it’s the right and the most responsible decision.
