Thursday 30 June 2016

Junk Free June 2016

I know I haven't mentioned it, but I've been doing Junk Free June again this year - you know, just because I can. Same as I did last year, not trying to get fundraising for it (I don't even know what the money goes towards...) but it's a good thing to do and test to see how well I do. So, basically I successfully avoided typical things I consider junk food; chocolate, lollies and the like. It's actually really easy. I started towards the end of May, so "technically" I've been going well over a month now and haven't had any failures to count, except for one.

We went to the Mystery Creek fieldays in early June, just Mum, Dad and I went for a bit of a day out of town. At one stage I went into the Waikato University tent and tried a random computer quiz on a whole heap of random rubbish, and the guy there told me to feel free to have a chocolate fish, one of those small marshmellow ones - so I did, out of some sort of polite obligation and by the time I'd realised what I had done it was too late!
So that was my only fail, and it wasn't a very nice fail either - apparently my going without that sort of thing for a few weeks had changed my taste bud opinion on it, which is a good thing!

I also went to the young farmers tent and they had a "hang a gate" in the fastest time challenge. It was more aimed toward the younger teenagers, however as one of the young farmers running the stand had had the only go, they told me to give it a shot. It was easy, just pick up a steel gate, carry it over and pop it on the hinges on the post. Put it this way the young farmer guy took about 16 seconds, I had never put a gate on hinges myself and I took 14 seconds. Which is, umm, a little too long - but you know how you're trying to balance the gate over both hinges and you're in a hurry. But I loved that I beat a guy at it - total score. Anyway they gave me a small bag of blue jelly beans, those ones that are a bubblegum flavour and I looked at them and sighed. Popped them in my handbag and left.

Later on in another area, for some unknown reason a girl was handing out little sample packs of lollies that somehow represented their stand, so in my handbag they went with the other lot and that is where they've stayed for about two weeks! I cart them around everywhere I go, during those horrid early morning starts where sometimes you just want a sugar boost and I didn't even touch them. How good am I?

Sometimes I've just had a really rubbish day where I sit on the couch and scowl as somebody eats a square of chocolate. Mum keeps saying, just have a piece, it won't kill you! I'm telling you, she can really be the devil on the shoulder type some days! But I'm like no, I can't and sort of stomped off in another direction. Knowing full well I'm doing so well at looking at something and saying no, end of story, so I give myself a mental pat on the back!

The wedding I went to earlier in the month was nice, the reception was a somewhat winter theme of blue and silver colours everywhere so it looked quite pretty. It was kinda cute because each person had three little Hershey's Kisses in the place settings. This girl I know through the young farmers was sitting beside me, quite literally staring down all the little chocolates that I wasn't eating. In the end she said, "Are you allergic to dairy?"
"No," I replied.
"Do you not like chocolate?" she asked.
That's when I realised she was sitting beside me, almost drooling while she stared at the chocolates that I was ignoring! Oh, right! Ok, yeah sure just go ahead and eat them, I told her. Gosh it was funny, she was stoked. Then she carried on in the same manner with the rest of the people at our table.

Life here is carrying on as per normal. We found out that young Nick had/has, Glandular Fever. The clever little people working in white lab coats somehow discovered that, now three weeks ago, he had had the Flu, which probably meant that Mum and I also had the Flu. We thought it was just a nasty common cold, but apparently we were wrong. But Nick got worse, had a slight case of pneumonia and blood tests eventually proved he had this Glandular fever. When Mum heard that she was like, oh no, he's going to be out for weeks. (I remember Xj having this a few years back and being sick from it forever - actually, come to think of it, didn't your doctor at the time tell you to eat chocolate, Xj?) But somehow Nick has bounced back from it quite well - we're surprised, and seems Ok these days.


However, life for some of our farming clients and friends isn't the most happiest place at the moment. One older guy - I say older and basically mean he looks to be in his 70's but is coming on 100 with all of the stress he's facing with staffing issues. We feel really stink for him and we're trying to do what we can to help him out, but at the same time he can't afford to pay us so doesn't know what to do. Dad's just giving him advice for now, but we're worried about him. His wife says he's so strung out that he can't sleep - which is not a good thing, I don't blame him though. It's a massive 600 cow farm that he owns and he just can't run it himself but can't find the staff to do it either.

While my friend has quit his job this week on the farm where he's just started his third year on(I think). At like 5:15 the next morning he's texting me, asking me what his boss was going to be like that day?  As if I would know! And saying how he'd never, ever quit a job before. Luckily for his sake I was also working that morning, so while I was in a hurry trying to get ready for work and getting myself out the door, I'm also trying to talk some sense into him and hoping like heck that I wouldn't get home in a couple hours to find that he had decided not to go to work at all. He's my next door neighbour, you see.
From what I've since heard, his boss was being extra friendly yesterday so all I can think is that my friend must've lost the plot completely and now his boss is trying to be good about it. I was a little dumbstruck when he told me he had quit, but I think he was even more shocked at what he had done. So it's going to be just brilliant doing relief milking on that farm come October when my friend finally leaves, because then I'll be working with another useless worker (no offense to farm workers, but you do get used to the people you get to work with, and these days all of the good farm candidates are all taken...)

Last night was fun, seeing as Andrew was sitting at good old Auckland airport waiting for his plane to leave for Israel, he was actually in cellphone reception. So I spent a few hours chatting to him and found out that he didn't actually like Finding Nemo, so therefore wasn't too keen on Finding Dory. And he'd never heard of The BFG - I seriously had to consider our friendship after that!





7 comments:

  1. Oh are you? I was wondering, so many people are this year, considering last year you were the only one I knew doing it...
    It must be hard, though, by yourself. I mean, if there was no chocolate anywhere in the house for the duration, easy...

    That's good about Nick, hopefully he stays good.

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    1. Haha it wasn't actually too bad, long may this continue :)

      Yep I agree.

      Funny you're on the other side of the world yet you are still the first to comment :P

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  2. I know, I'm a blimmen stalker aye! :P

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  3. Giving you a hurry up for another post lol

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    Replies
    1. In all honestly, I wouldn't know what to say... :(

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    2. I hope that means things have been running incredibly smoothly and are far to boring to mention.

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    3. Give me a bit, will come up with something

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