Ate a lot of crap today, but I wasn't in any sort of mood to carefully watch what I ate.

Day 40
Breakfast
Ham and cheese toasted sandwich.
Half a block of Heaven Honeycomb chocolate.

Lunch
Chicken Schnitzel with avocado, lettuce and onion on a wholemeal roll.

Dinner
Chicken noodle strifry.
Four Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Exercise
30 minutes walking.
60 sit-ups.

The call I've been dreading for months finally came today: "Trav, it's Dad here. We've had to put the dog down."

We got Chelsea when I was in my second year of high school. She was a tiny thing, so small she could easily fit in my cupped hands. I remember when we bought her first dog bed. We filled it with small soft toys my sister had won from skill tester machines and laughed as she would get lost amongst the masses of synthetic fur and filling.

When, at two years of age, she went deaf I devised a way of training her using improvised hand signals. Once you had her attention, usually by frantically waving your hands, you could get her to a handful of the things other dogs could. She only knew 'sit', 'come' and 'go'; but it was enough.

As a pup she was very cheeky. When we had her desexed the vet told us not to let her walk up stairs, as the exertion could pull her stitches out. Of course the first thing she did when we brought her home was bolt up the stairs to my parent's room. Mum and Briony chased her in a panic, their arms outstretched. That memory always makes me smile.

One time my sisters and I were sitting in the lounge room building things from LEGO. Chelsea being Chelsea she walked up to the pile of blocks and grabbed one. Briony leap onto her feet and gave chase around the dining room table. After finally cornering the dog, Briony screamed out "Drop it!" to which Chelsea complied with an audible 'bleh.'

As Chelsea got older her body started to break down. She was eventually diagnosed with diabetes. A diesease that had taken her eyesight. Though she was robbed of two senses she was not loved any less. She was still very happy in her darkened world and it was only recently that she struggled with the basic things like standing up, walking, and going to the toilet. That turn is what prompted the decision to have her put down.

She was Mum's baby and it's really horrible that she had to make that decision. But I know that Mum did it out of love for a pet and companion she had for 14 years.

R.I.P. Chelsea.

Day 39
Breakfast
Plain bagel, buttered.

Lunch
Four hand rolls (two egg, two chicken).

Dinner
Two hamburgers on wholemeal toast with cheese and za'atar.
Four Weight Watchers Rasberry Tarts.

Exercise
30 minutes walking.

What a great way to spend a Monday. I was in a "team building" meeting (physically, not mentally) from 9am to about 1pm, then left at 3:30pm to get my car fixed. I need more days like that.

Day 38
Breakfast
Green tea.
4 small cakes.

Lunch
Four assorted quarter sandwiches (chicken, prosciutto with salad)
Glass of orange juice.

Dinner
Chicken, chorizo and cheese pizza.
Glass of lemonade.
Shared a Weight Watchers Double Chocolate Puddding.

Exercise
30 minutes walking.
Walked up five flights of stairs.

Dad's 59th birthday. Lots of Booze. Trip to Arthur's Seat. Chairlfit has been out of action for a while. Looks like it'll never comeback and that's a shame. At $14 a return trip it seemed very profitable. New sunnies are great. Luckily I have the only head shape that can pull them off. Dad can now install computer components by himself. He still wants me to check them before he powers on the computer though. Little sister is continuing the proud family tradition of binge drinking. She'll be 21 in a few months. I must get down to the beach more. The bay looked amazing from the top of Arthur's Seat. Australian Idol is a blight on humanity.

Day 37
Breakfast
Nothing. Nada. Ziltch.

Lunch
Steak with potatoes and vegetables.
One Boags Premium (heavy beer).
Four glasses of red wine.
Shared a chocolate icecream thing.

Dinner
One ham and cheese jaffle.
Glass of orange juice.
Caramel icecream.

Exercise
Nothing. It was just one of those days.

Last night I drove into North Melbourne with Ange to See Stephen K. Amos perform at the Lithuanian Club as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. He's a great comedian with a real barbed sense of humour.

The post title is a bit of a misnomer as, apart from a few jokes at the end, he was working with all new material. Material that had the audience laughing through the entire performance. The discovery of a German girl in the audience caused him to send a quick thanks to the Comedy God, while he took great delight in attempting to guilt a row of 16-year olds with a "my generation had it harder" spiel. Stephen is defintely one of the best comedians I've seen and I recommend everyone see him when he's down in Melbourne next.

Day 36
Breakfast
Two pieces of wholemeal toast, buttered with vegemite.

Lunch*
Pasta bolognaise.
Four Weight Watchers rasberry tarts.
Glass of orange juice.

Dinner
Half a small garlic pizza (Advertised as garlic bread!)
Spiced chicken, polenta and spinach.
Hot chocolate.

Exercise
Not a lot. I walked into Coburg do do some shopping, and that took about 30 minutes.