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Citizen #182

9 Apr
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Citizen #182 from all angles

After a four and a half months break, 26 Whales, two Monuments and nine Gnomes later, I finally carved a Citizen of Gigglesville. What a long break. I had almost forgotten how to carve a Citizen on balsa, taking a longer time than I normally would with #182, the first one for 2019.

But it looks good, I must say. It was awkward to hold, being so small and the balsa being so soft; I have forgotten what it’s like to control my strength. Despite all these shortcomings, I am pleased because there’s no strain at all on the left gripping hand and I can play golf without any nagging pain.

Maybe I should continue with more Citizens on balsa instead of the others on Meranti to preserve the hand. Reaching 200 population count is not impossible if I keep at this.

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Beer’s the Culprit

8 Apr

I am semi-convinced now that beer is the culprit on my weight gain the previous weekend, having down three glasses. This week, despite two big birthday dinners, a little champagne, wine, whiskey and cake but no beer, there was no weight gain which is good. In fact, I am starting the week with a slight 0.2lb decrease from last Friday’s weigh-in. Yay!

If things work out this week and looks like I am back on track, I anticipate a couple more pounds can be shed by this Friday. Stay tuned for the weigh-in then.

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Not Being Disciplined

5 Apr

This week I was not being very disciplined as far as the 16/8 diet is concerned. I didn’t keep to the 16/8 window, rather it was more like 15/9. And I snacked throughout the week on things that I don’t normally eat. Bad…

Subconsciously, I wanted to see if what I ate had any bearings on the outcome, whether it would affect the weight within a few days. I hope not to repeat this again though.

So what exactly did I indulged in? Sweet preserved Chinese plums. Sugar right there! And cookies and candies. More sugar! I even ate chocolate and suffered the consequences, remember my Endometriosis?

Prior to the start of the week, on Sunday night, I drank three glasses of Kronenbourg beer to replenish my soul after that morning’s energy-sapping golf game and this immediately spiked up the weight. And although we had gym on Monday, I didn’t push myself enough to at least burn off the beer calories.

Thankfully all the week’s snacking did not add on anymore weight and only a teeny weeny reduction when I stood on the bathroom scale this morning for the weekly weigh-in. So the increment at the start of the week was due to Sunday’s beer. I think by not keeping to the 16/8 regime played a role in this result. This is not the way to go if I want to reach my target weight goal; I’d better be more disciplined.

But April being the family birthday month – Mom’s, the twins’ and mine, it’s impossible to stay disciplined when there are birthday dinners lined up to celebrate. In fact, I have a big birthday dinner celebration tonight with my golf friends and with the family come Sunday night. Hmm… I’d have to manage and stay more focused.

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March Madness All Over Again, Part 2

4 Apr

The 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament is drawing to a close soon. The better seeded teams lived up to their billing in the Sweet 16 round of this year’s Women’s Division 1 basketball. Unfortunately, M1’s university did not make it pass this round. Their best performance was in 2016 when they made it to the Final Four.

This year, my prediction picks for the Women’s Division 1 were spot on for three out of the four that qualified for the Final Four. May the best team wins!

And now that M1 has completed her undergrad studies, I am indecisive if I will continue to follow basketball, her alma mater or even the NCAA thereafter. Also because M2 being in Ireland, basketball is not a big thing at her college, the interest in the game may diminish once the NCAA concludes. We shall see. After all, there are still some good teams out there to follow.

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The Predator

2 Apr

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It was a sad ending for Munch Pots 5.1, 6, 7 and 8 over the weekend. Right after discovering the Calamansi Lime tree having four caterpillars to my delight, they all mysteriously disappeared the next day to my dismay. What a quick turnaround within a day!

Initially, I thought the rain displaced them or even some birds came swooping down on them for food. And I found myself standing in front of the pot, staring intently at the branches looking for caterpillars! It was quite a funny yet sombre scene. And it’s something more sinister that I discovered…

A predator.

One level higher in the vicious food chain, I found this grasshopper lurking amongst the leaves. And it could only mean one thing, feasting on juicy fat caterpillars. Oh my poor Munch Pots…

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Scotty, Oh Scotty

1 Apr

The outcome from the Iron Challenge golf tournament at my golf club over the weekend was not a result I had hoped for. Although there were more Red Tee boxes moved up (compared to last year) to shorten the distance to green to make it friendlier, this didn’t help my game.

And while I was mentally and physically prepared, there were areas that were such let-downs, it deflated the spirit. The putting especially with my Scotty Cameron putter.

Whilst I had a slight mishap only in one sand bunker, the putting was the biggest let down. On that hole, a Par 3 mind you, I took three shots to come out from the sand bunker with the 56 wedge and the damage wasn’t that bad until I had to putt. I took three putts to hole out. That hurt.

And on the next hole, the Par 4 where I blew up last year with the bunker failure, I was three on the green and three-putted as well. Scotty, oh Scotty, why did you fail me when it’s most critical?

In fact, the putting throughout failed me this time. I can only conclude that playing in tournaments sometimes bring out the worst in judgement and shots. And it wasn’t emotion, the sand bunker or fear that got the better of me.

It was my putting or should I say inability to putt well when it mattered most. In total, there were six holes that I three-putted. Six holes and that’s enough in a tournament situation to be costly.

Oh well. Another year, another experience chalked up. Did I have fun? Well, a couple of dunked balls each in two holes that resulted in double digits on the score card was another factor, along with the inconsistent putting to erase all the good gained. It could have been better. Sigh…

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Iron Challenge Again

29 Mar

This year my golf club has scheduled the 2019 Iron Challenge for this Sunday, 31st March instead of towards the second half of the year. And I have been mentally preparing for it, not just physically. After last year’s outing, whereby I still remember my bunker failure, I need to stay focused and not be out-of-sorts especially if I end up in a sand bunker.

The remedy? Putting a 56 degree club in the bag.

All this while, I never had a sand wedge because there was no need for one. And if I landed in a bunker, the 52 degree or P wedge worked fine. Unfortunately, on that fateful Challenge day last year, the 52 failed me.

So this year, with this additional club to help me get out of sand trouble, I hope to have a better and more enjoyable outing. I have been practicing and teeing off with my 4-iron the last few games and gaining my confidence with it. Come Sunday, I should be ready.

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5.1, 6, 7, 8!

28 Mar
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A day in the life of Munch Pot 5.1

It’s a bittersweet moment as far as the caterpillars are concerned. While Munch Pot 3.1 is clearly no more after so many days with no evidence of metamorphosis or a shrivelled body or pod in sight, Munch Pot 5.1 continues to grow. And to our delight, we found more babies, 6, 7 and 8 to be exact on the Calamansi Lime tree! Hahaha… the poor tree.

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Top: Munch Pots 7 and 8 saying “Hello”! Bottom: Munch Pot 6

I guess there’s a never ending supply of caterpillars on this particular tree to keep me enthralled.

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Sarcastic Siri

26 Mar

I must say it’s fun to play with Siri. Silly mundane tasks to set the alarm, check the headlines or deep thought provoking questions about life which she cannot help me.

Siri can be downright sarcastic too at times. After asking Siri to set my alarm one night, I politely said “goodnight”, and she had to remind me of the time, implying it’s way too early to go to bed. Ish… Ish…

Not wanting to give her the satisfaction, I asked some other questions which I was certain she could not answer. But Siri, being Siri questioned me instead. The exchanges were priceless I must say.

All in good fun and very entertaining.

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Rescuing My Caterpillar

25 Mar

Of late, caterpillars have become very fascinating to me. It’s so fun checking on them every morning and evening, and taking pictures of them. Honestly, I like it when all the leaves on the Calamansi Lime tree gets gnawed on and even hubby doesn’t mind this.

Munch Pot 5.0 before it evolved

Munch Pot 3.1 doing a vertical stand

3.1 up close

The munch pots are growing and happy. Munch Pot 3.1 have grown beautifully and even 5.0 have evolved. So now, it’s 5.1.

What a cutie 3.1

5.1 on Friday night, having evolved

But on Saturday morning, a slight mishap occurred and we couldn’t find 3.1. Oh no, it’s gone! Lunch for the birds? I couldn’t accept this so we looked and looked. And lo and behold, it actually fell off the tree onto the ground. Oh dear…

Poor 3.1. I wonder if it’s traumatized?

5.1 looking good

Looking disheveled but hopefully not traumatized, hubby picked it up with a bamboo stick to place it back on the branches. I thought our little deed was whimsical, rescuing a caterpillar that some people consider a pest. I hope 3.1 will be okay and evolve to its next stage. It was still okay on Saturday afternoon when I checked on it again.

Unfortunately after that, the last two days as we stood in front of the Calamansi Lime tree to scrutinize every branch looking for it, we cannot find Munch Pot 3.1. Sniffle…

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