21 days down...

Bob has lost 3,6kgs in the past three weeks - now if only we could bottle that formula… we'd be rich!! He's just above 70kgs and I'm hoping he won't be dropping any further before departure to Japan - in fact I'd like to claim I'm thinking of building some reserves, but let's be realistic…

In the last four days: Not enough to report to give you a day-by-day account... We are now settled in the daily routine, and are both fairly busy. Bob is working on planning and preparation for his trip. I'm finishing off (finally) a Reader's Digest adaptation, and have just got two more article commissions that will need to be finished before Bob leaves (as well as a University project to complete by month end).

Bob managed to stab his finger (with his shinken) in the thrust of a kneeling batto jutsu kata - nukitsuki no ken. We patched and cleaned - and as soon as he got to that kata… he stabbed himself again. Another patch job followed, and fortunately trouble was not following in superstitious threes.

Bob is running regularly - 5km (and getting faster each time) with a bout of sprints at the end for breathing endurance for the kata. His weight programme is going well with tonnage moved increasing steadily.

Shaz says: I have become tired enough not to be so disturbed by the 4am alarm as to get up… Not exactly sleeping through it, but able to ignore it. Getting up naturally around 5a.m. or just after. Too soon to see if it is beneficial, but at least I don't spend the first 20 minutes walking around like a reluctant zombie... Otherwise I DO seem determined to make this journey a difficult one - now have an alergic reaction to ?? It started with slightly puffy eyes on Saturday, slighty more puffy eyes and sensation of it moving down the face on Sunday  - and this morning I've woken up feeling like one of those blow fish that puff themselves up in an emergency! 

Bob says: The quality of his meditations has changed… and he is making non-serious requests for peaches and custard or ice-cream and chocolate sauce. I think the accumulation of not touching the bad stuff at all is in his consciousness, although it does not appear to be a real temptation or issue.

Behind the scenes: I've discovered that the AA will issue an international driver's license without the driver being present - so one license procured… and I've more or less sorted out the ticket problem. Turned out my young travel agent was given the wrong information by her manager. I now have the original tickets back in hand - with a different copy of the voucher to prove that we have paid for a date change. Not first prize, but I feel A LOT more confident with that than one flimsy piece of paper. This coming week Storm and Sean will collect Bob's passport with visa from Pretoria - and next week we can look seriously at the timing for buying forex. The Rand / Yen has been quite volatile recently, for a currency that is generally very stable - vascilating between 16 and 17 Yen to one Rand.