More Last Things in Sydney

These last days at work, I've been busy training my replacement(s) to do my job and wrapping projects up with the practitioners in clinic. Surprisingly, I didn't have to work past regular hours any time yet this week (fingers crossed!). Today, I even got off early.

Since I didn't have time for my usual Wednesday trail run, I made the most of my early afternoon to pay one last visit to our neighbourhood gym, Crunch.

I got in a quick 40-minute run:

It was hard. I tried to read some blogs on my phone as I warmed up, but it was too jarring for my eyes with the bouncing and all. How do others do it? Doesn't it hurt your eyes to read while you run? What's the secret I'm missing here?

This was the best part of my day, by far:

I got this card from my employer, a naturopath with a love for travel. She and I had been working on a number of projects during the time I was with her. Even though she had told me repeatedly how much she appreciates the work I put in, she still got me this cute little card. Simple things like these make leaving both awesome and hard. I remember my first real-person job; teaching English in a small suburb in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. My students (oh my heart) put together a huge "Passport" full of notes and hand-made cards and pictures of how much they enjoyed my classes and how much they'd miss me.... *tear*

And this isn't even my REAL last day yet...

A Snowball Maker? Really?! Because you can't do it yourself?!

It rained nearly ALL WEEKEND. Guuh...

Still, Steven and I braved the wind and rain like little waterproof ninjas and went to the gym.

 By the time I changed out of my wet clothes and into gym clothes, I felt much better. Plus, my lululemon shorts match my new Crunch Fitness T-shirt!

I did a challenging treadmill run with lots of hills and some decent speed.

I'm looooovin' how the treadmill feels on my knees. I haven't had ANY knee pain in weeks, and it's MARVELOUS! Is this what it's like to be healthy?!!?

After the gym, Steven and I grabbed some lunch at the shopping centre nearby and hit up the sales at Rebel Sport, the big chain of sports equipment, shoes, and clothes. It's End Of Financial Year sales here---yes, End of Financial Year in June because for some reason their financial year ends in July.

I found this:

THIS IS A SNOWBALL MAKER.

There were also snowball launchers which looked like giant water guns.

The only thing I have to say is, SERIOUSLY AUSTRALIA?! SERIOUSLY?! How lazy do you have to be to take away the joy of shaping snow in your hands into little killer ice bullets? And then launching them?! You won't even swing and aim with your arm, instead you'd rather use a SNOWBALL LAUNCHER?! C'MON!

Anyway, I got over my incredulity and continued shopping. I really wanted to pick up some new running/gym shirts and possibly a pair of shorts, but I couldn't find anything I really liked, or was cheap enough.

Isn't it disappointing to WANT to buy something but not find anything?

We went home and cooked a nice dinner.

I can't tell you how delicious this dinner is.

It's literally the easiest meal in the world:
Grilled veggies
Grilled Organic Haloumi
chopped parsley and balsamic vinegar

Those are some pretty tasty roasted potatoes next to it, but the real star is the yummy yummy fresh veggies.

What did you do this weekend?

I joined a GYM!

Last night, Steven and I cashed in our savings, sold all our stuff, and sunk our money into our local gym.

Ok, that's not exactly how it happened.

It was more like, "Oh, it's only 71 dollars in total for the month, and I can bring Steven every single time, and I can cancel without penalty?"

"Let me just transfer some money to you and sign this little piece of paper. Thanks."

I am now a proud owner of this beepy tag thing that allows me to enter the Crunch premises.

It sounds weird, but I am looking forward to running on a treadmill on a weekly basis. Not only will it give my knees a break from the unavoidable downhills of North Sydney, but I can also zone out and listen to my beloved Radiolab podcasts without tripping over tree roots, run into poles, or get hit by a car.

Also, Crunch is like the largest gym in gym history (totally made that up), so there's plenty of space for Steven and I to amaze the crowds with our AcroYoga ninja-ness.

What gym have you joined, and why?