Kitchen Project: Day One

We are making some major changes to our house. Our project to move the kitchen downstairs and create a large open-plan kitchen and living space has begun.

Jana, Ellie and Ben have flown out to see their Czech family for three and a half weeks. I'm left here alone to keep an eye on things. We've got builders in to do the work.

Nothing can go wrong, surely?

Today was the first day of the work. This was the downstairs at the start of the day:

Our House Downstairs
[24 February 2013]

And this is how it looks now, after a full day's work on it:

Our House Downstairs
[25 February 2013]

We're also getting the stairs boxed off and a doorway put in:

Our House Stairway
[25 February 2013]

Exercise

Since we had Ben I haven't done any regular exercise. The running I had started last year came to a grinding halt when he was born. I didn't really mind at the time, because I'd been struggling with strains and aches in my legs and I thought they could do with a good, prolonged rest to heal properly.

This year, however, I decided to get things going again and thought I'd at least commit to going for one run per week to start with.

The good news is I've kept this up so far.

The bad news is those aches and pains are back. It's a bit worrisome. This isn't just a bit of muscle fatigue. I've had that before and recovered within 48 hours max. This feels like my whole lower leg is bruised and the feeling doesn't subside much, even though I'm not running hard and I'm only running once a week.

The only explanation I can come up with is that my legs aren't coping well with the high impact. I run on tarmac and concrete mainly. I've recently invested in a proper pair of running shoes but the damage might already be done. I'll try contacting a physio but in the meantime I'm thinking I should try another form of activity.

So, I've decided to look at this positively and see it as an opportunity to try something new.

I really don't fancy going to a gym, so I'm looking for a new, low impact form of exercise that I can do on my own. So far I've come up with swimming and cycling, and either might be feasible to fit into my current work/life routine.

The main thing is I need to get fit again!

First Meal

Today we started weaning Ben. Here he is having his first ever meal.

Ben's First Meal
[10 February 2013]

He had about 10 small spoonfuls of mashed carrot. About half an hour later he had a full bottle of formula milk.

Ben is definitely teething. We can't feel a tooth poking through but he's taken to chewing anything within reach and his cheeks regularly glow bright red. Poor thing!