May 2014 joy jar

May 2014's achievements:

On the 7th I attended Margaret's book signing of her latest thriller, Houded. Then we went for a bite to eat with her husband and they introduced me to yet another faboulous restaurant: Asian Varadero in the Harbour in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote. 

On the 10th I attended the 2nd marathon of free workshops organised by Esacan. This time I chose an introduction to dog traning, which later in the year will feature as a full course  & artistic reclycling, for the sake of it (as in, no course programmed yet). I met some lovely people and look forward to whatever initiatives come out of it. 

From the 26th to the 28th I attended a free workshop on how to make preserves at the Albergue de Tegoyo, organised by ADELRLAN, the local organisation for rural development. A lot of peeling, chopping & boiling involved but we got to take home with us the jars we filled: jams, veggies, sauces & chutneys...I am sorted for the winter (well, sort of!). 

In relation to my collaboration with Lanzarote Information, here are my favourite posts I contributed with this month:

• Rancho Texas Lanzarote Park Country Night

I got almost tricked into writing this one as in: a friend offered me a ticket if I was interested in going, to which I said "yes". Only aafter I accepted I was told "but you need to write something about it". Ahhhhggggrrrr, how I hate that! The pressure! And, of course, I did agonise about it but I'm quite pleased about the result. Even some friends who didn't know I had written it, being big fans of this particular show in our island, told me: "hey, we read a very good review of it on Lanzarote Information". Chuffed. There is no other word for it.

• Lanzarote Exhibition in London: Heirs of the Volcano

Purely by chance I came across the news of some local artists presenting their works in London. I am very pleased to see that my beloved island was having a chance to show a different side of itself to the world.

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This is the post that started my 2014  year's resolutions: Joy Jar. 

February 2014

Ok, here are the February achievements for my 2014 Joy Jar: 

I countinued to write the weekly English movie listings for Lanzarote Information, but a post that I really enjoyed preparing is the annoucement of Margaret Sherlock's latest book "Hounded". 

Catching up with author Margaret Sherlock
at picnic in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote

I also got my Betty Boop Nanis delivered. 
I'm in love!!!!

And after a year of working at House Lanzarote as an admin assistant I am delighted to announce that I have been made permanent! Happy days! 

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If you are thinking of buying a property in Lanzarote, whether it's for personal use or as an investment,
feel free to contact us (details on the website) or pop in if you are around. 

NYR 2013 - May results

Here you'll find the May results of my New Year's Resolutions: 

• NYR # 1 - Run

I run the 1st Disco Night Urban Race - Ciudad de Arrecife - Biolab on the 4th of May. I hadn't attended all the trainings that I should have. I had trained more than usually but not enough, in my opinion. I wasn't feeling really up to it, at all. To the point that it was getting me down. I even considered dropping out completely!

But I on the day I got up and I decided I would give it my best. I had proper energy food (I love pasta!) and I drank plenty of water. I warmed up quite well. And I was determined to have fun during the race, which I did. I ended up with my personal best to date on 10K: 1:02:08 or 6:28 per kilometer. Position 363 out of 679. No real achievement by any pro standards. But a great achievement for me, personally. I manage to finish it, within the time limit of an hour and 15 minutes AND cut my own personal mark by 6 minutes! Now, that's what I call satisfaction.

Even better now I know that I can do 10k within an hour if I set my mind to it. Right, where is the next 10K  race?

Result: passed. 

• NYR # 2 - Read

"Against all ods" by Margaret Sherlock. I really enjoyed this author's first fictional novel.

Result: passed. 

• NYR # 3 - Eat

I did some experimenting:
- meatballs. I did them twice, need to cook them again so I "consolidate" the recipe in my pretty little head)
-carrot jam. Mmmm, yummy. After burning the first batch, managed to produce quite a decent batch of two jars.
- orange, carrot & ginger juice. Delicious and refreshing. 

Result: passed. Not with flying colours, orangy/browny tinges mainly. 

• NYR # 4 - Walk 

I actually started to walk a mate's dogs 5 days a week, once daily during the week & twice at the weekend, other commitments allowing. Getting to enjoy the little routine, variations of the same route and bonding with my furry new friends. 

Plus I registered for the trekking option of the WineRun that takes place later on in June here in Lanzarote. 10k of walking among volcanoes and vines with the odd stop to sample the land's grapey nectar. Really looking forward to it. 

Result: passed. 

• Additional achievement  - Irish Set Dancing

Yes, you read it correctly. Me, the woman with 2 left feet. Attended the first lesson on the 10th of May, it was only a small group of women from 4 different countries: Ireland (of course!), Spain, Argentina & Germany. And we enjoyed ourselves like children. Step, step, 1,2,3, step, step, 1,2,3...

Result: passed. 

Quite a decent month by my NYR standards, if I may say so myself. 

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Here is the post that started it all: New Year Resolutions for 2013.

NYR 2013 - April results

OK, here we go:

• NYR # 1 - Run

In preparation for this coming Saturday's race, I have been training a bit more regularly and a bit longer. I even went for a run when I was on a mini-break to attend my god-daughter's 1st Communion over in Germany! Still, haven't managed to follow the full training program provided by the organisers, nor I have been able to attend all the weekly training sessions: once due to work, the other time because of travelling, the other time for health reasons (I had a really bad headache) and last but not least, due to extreme heat the training sessions was officially cancelled. So I ended up only attending half of them. 

Also, on the last session, they combined the usual training with some paleotraining, a circuit-based training that despite of taking it easy & doing only 1 round instead of 2, left me sore for 3 days in a row. 

On the positive side I manage to run 9k in just 1 hour, which makes me pretty confident that I can do all 10k within the time limit of 1  hour and 15 minutes on Saturday. I would be mortified if I don't do it, after all this effort. I know it's not an impressive mark by any means, but it is for my standards.

Result: passed. 

• NYR # 2 - Read

Yeah! I managed to finish last month's book: "Seven sisters down under" by Margaret Sherlock.

Result: passed. 

• NYR # 3 - Eat

Again, nothing really springs to mind, other than having start using the parsley and baby carrots I've been growing in my balcony.

Result: passed. 

• NYR # 4 - Walk 

Haven't done an official or organised training but I kept my Saturday morning walkies. Better than nothing, I suppose. 

Result: passed. 

Until next month, by for now. 

      

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Here is the post that started it all: New Year Resolutions for 2013.

NYR 2013 - March results

Ok, so  to break the usual delay and making the most of a few unexpected hours off from work, I post the very first day of the month the previous month's results...

• NYR # 1 - Run

Not only I took part in a 6.5K charity run at the beginning of the month (see Tinguafaya Charity Marathon) but I signed up for a 10K night run early in May. The organisers of the later offer a weekly training schedule on their website which I'm  more or less following  and then by a free group session on Fridays lead by José Carlos Hernández, a local Olympian. WOW, AN OLYMPIAN! I'm not one for running in groups but how could I pass on this opportunity? On Fridays so far we have done a gentle jog of about 20 minutes followed by stretching  mobility exercises and running technique exercises. I must admit it's been more fun than I anticipated and I'm already experiencing some improvement in my own performance.

Not only that, but encouraged by a fellow runner, I started using www.endomondo.com to record my runs. All done manually at the moment as I'm not in the 21st century in terms of mobile technology but I am also enjoying this and it might push me, to take the leap into the new generation of gadgets. Eventually.

Result: passed with flying colours!

• NYR # 2 - Read

OK, "una de cal y otra de arena", as we say in Spanish. The closest saying I could find in English is: you win some, you loose some. This month I didn't finish the book that I'm reading. So although technically I didn't pass, it's more like "a passing in progress", if you like.

Plus I had the honour to meet in the flesh the author of the book I'm reading, as I did a little post to promote the signing of her latest's book, The Blind Truth. You can read more about her and her books on her own website: www.margaretsherlock.net.

Result: failed but hopeful...

• NYR # 3 - Eat

Feel tempted to say that I failed as nothing really jumps to mind as remarkable. But I did buy (& eat most of) fresh produce from the local market. And I bought & cooked in several ways smoke salmon from one of the two local smokehouses. So, I won't be so hard on myself...

Result: passed... barely.

• NYR # 4 - Walk

I did the "Salinas de Janubio" walk organised by the Ayuntamiento de Teguise and Senderismo Lanzarote. Fantastic day out with friends, old and new.

Result: passed.

In general terms, I can feel a sentence popular in school reports: "Shows improvement and potential. Keep it up". And that is what I intend to do.

  

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Here is the post that started it all: New Year Resolutions for 2013.