It's Christmas Eve!

Hi,

What an exciting time for us.  Mike and Toby left at about 5.30pm last night and were off on their adventure.  Mike would be pitching tents and Toby would be playing with Sampson children for hours.  Meanwhile, I went grocery shopping.  Sally has prepared a menu and I have two things to produce for it.  It did involve buying things I have never bought before.

I have now bought baby beetroot, watercress and various other herbs that while I had heard of, I am sure I have never bought before.  My life has taken on new meaning.  Anyhow, I read the recipe, rang Sally to confirm finer points (is this recipe a hot or cold dish?; is "hot smoked salmon" hot?) and started work.  I think it turned out ok.  I did leave the mushrooms roasting a bit too long I think.  And possibly one batch of salmon might be darker than the others.

Anyhow, I finished wrapping presents and collapsed into bed.  Had a good sleep then into the shower to get ready for the day.

When I was just finished, Mike turned up!  What a lovely surprise.  But he had been up at 2am tightening the tents down and just had word from Lesley that one of our tents had blown down and poles were splintered.  Could be the death knell for our $35 tent.

Wally is rushing up to assess the situation.  We might be having Christmas at home after all.  We'll drive up after lunch and check it out.

I can't wait for the holiday.  Really looking forward to it.  I do hope it is in a tent camping, and not in the lounge room at home.  Heheheheh.

Love you lots.  Have a great Christmas and New Years.
Angela (and Mike and Toby).

The Wednesday with lots of packing

Hi,

Well, the car is packed after a marathon effort last night.  Toby got dropped off at lunchtime at Mum and Dad's place and we went around after we got home and had dinner and went back home to pack.

Phew!  Eventually the car was ready.  Mike will drive home today to collect Toby from Skids (it is a secret Santa day at Skids and Toby is quite excited) and they will head over the hill for camping.  Mike will pitch tents and sleep there.  Then Mike will leave Toby with the Sampsons there, and drive back for work tomorrow morning.  Cool Gilbert logistics plan.

Meanwhile, I will sort out Christmas lunch stuff for Sally and Andrew's place and generally tidy up the remaining tasks at home. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  Keep an eye on southern North Island weather over the next few weeks and see if we're having a good time or not.  Heheheheh.  We will have no cellphone reception where we are, but on Christmas Day we'll be back in Wellington for a few hours in the afternoon.

One more day of work then Mike and I head over to join Toby.  Yay.

Have a great rest-of-the-week.  Enjoy Christmas Day.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with no Toby

Hi,

I can't believe how slow this week is going.  It should be Friday already.  I keep having to check the day to make sure it really is Wednesday.

Toby was away all day yesterday and a sleepover with the Tabors up in Waikanae.  I hope he had a lot of fun.  He is letting his hair grow and I really need to post a photo of him.  He is looking older than his 8 years.  He is so funny at the moment - he has realised his hair moves when he tosses his head.  So he'll flip his head violently back and forth and come up with a new hair-do.  Very cute.

We'll be packing for our camping holiday tonight.  Mike and Toby will head up there after work tomorrow and pitch the tents.  Toby will stay with the Sampsons who will (mostly) be all up there at the same time tomorrow.  Actually, I think they'll be arriving a little earlier in the day tomorrow than Toby and Mike.

Mike will come back into Wellington first thing on Friday morning for work.  We'll re-pack the car with food and a bit more gear (and the Christmas tree!) and drive into work.  When work finishes, we'll be off.

Last night Mike and I had a decadent evening watching movies and eating cheese and baguette, strawberries and cherries for dinner.  Yummo!

Today is a sad day for me at work.  One of my bestest work colleagues is leaving work today.  Work won't be quite the same.  Time for me to harden up, eh?  ;-)

Have a great day.
Love,
Angela

The Monday with more rain

Hi,

And the rain continues - but it is still warm.  The wind has got up a bit though.  So long as it clears for Christmas.

Toby has a sleepover tonight up in Waikanae.  He was collected this morning and Aidan will take the boys to enjoy some indoor activities.  Scootering is on the agenda I believe.

We got a ride into work in Moby so I didn't ride in.  Soft, I know.

I have had clothes on the clothes line since Saturday afternoon.  They are very well rinsed now.  Not a trace of soap anywhere near them.

Busy at work again.

Have a marvellous day.

Love,
Angela

The social weekend before Christmas

Hi,

What a weekend of social activity.  And what is it with this constant dribbling rain and steamy conditions?  If you're going to have bread sit out for more than a day, check for mould.  This is a thriving environment for mouldy bread.

Friday night saw Toby sleeping over at Grandy and Gramps' house as we attended our departmental Christmas party.  Mike stayed on for the long haul, but I got home at a reasonable time.

Saturday was the quieter day of the weekend.  We collected Toby after a bit of shopping and went home to relax for a bit.  Mike had another party to attend that evening.

Sunday was full on!  We went to a church play in the morning (Toby was very keen and excited) then lunch at the library afterwards.  Then off to Jack's house for a big social gathering of Jack's parents' friends.  Toby played with quite a few 7 year olds.

Then off to Kara's for a BBQ.  Toby played with some kids there until they left and then he found Kara's PC and was entertained doing that for a while.

Then home to collapse into bed.

Busy week ahead at work.
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with the last day of school

Hi,

Toby was so excited at the last day of school he could hardly sleep the night before.  I remember those days.  When I collected him (after a hot, humid ride up the hill with a light misty rain trying to fall from the sky) he was bouncy and tired all at once.  He didn't want to do very much so our trip to Queensgate was postponed and we just had tea and watched a movie.

We all slept in the same bed, with a sheet and the window open.  It was a warm, humid night.  The light rain got slightly heavier and fell gently all through the night.  I slept like a log.  I hope Mum and Dad loved it.  They have sold their house (I'm not sure if it is unconditional yet) and will move back to Australia where the weather will be hot and humid far more often!  Toby is sad to be losing Grandy and Gramps.  He doesn't realise the half of it!

Anyhow, Toby has a day with Grandy today.  I think they'll take it easy.  I hope they have loads of fun together.  Mike and I dropped him off early this morning and drove in.  We have our IT Christmas party today.  For some reason this year I am over all these celebrations.

Better get stuck in.
Have a marvellous day.
Love,
Angela

Toby's best day ever

Toby has been talking about yesterday a lot, and saying it's been his best day ever in his life.

There's a troublemaker at his school who was, well, making trouble - waving a branch around and biting a girl who went in to stop him.  So Toby and his two friends went in and subdued him.  Toby disarmed him and threw his weapon away in the bushes, and then together they kept him under control until the teachers came.  The troublemaker had to go and see Mrs Williams, The Strictest Teacher In The School.  Toby thought that no good could come of that, oh no.  He is very, very chuffed at how well it all went.

Benjamin's babysitting went very well indeed last night.  When we came home all was quiet, Toby's door was shut, and Benjamin said that Toby was asleep.  But, when I went in to check - the cheeky boy was reading and looking at me with a slightly guilty look on his face!  But all good.  Thanks, Benjamin!  We'll get you back.

This morning Toby slept in the longest ever - ten to eight was when he got up!  Which should have been a complete disaster.  But he got ready quick-smart (with a bit of prodding from me) and we actually got away on time.  Very good.  My mornings are proof of The Theory of Relativity - time indeed flows at different rates.  How else could Toby be ready on time when he gets up at 7:50, and late when he gets up at 7:00??

The Wednesday with karate water fights and triva night

Hi,

What a lovely evening.  Mum baked some yoyos for Toby's class afternoon tea and went around to see Toby there.  Ta Ma.  I know how much Toby loves having someone there.  Mum then came into town to meet me after work and Mike left work to meet Toby.  Complicated but it seemed to work.

Mike took Toby to the final karate class for the year and it was water fight time.  Mike had filled many water bombs for Toby that morning so along with his super soaker, Toby was well armed.

Mike got to us at the trivia night while the last question was being read out.  Oh well.  We could have done with him during the evening.  But we came a solid middle of the table.  Not too bad.  Lots of fun.  Ta for coming with us to support my work colleague raise money for African bicycles.

Benjamin looked after Toby and I think Toby was very pleased with that arrangement.  They read a story about Perseus and the dragon.  Sounded awfully exciting.

Today is relatively normal.  A quiet day for Toby's last day at school in Year 3.  He is very excited about the summer holiday break.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with work and party and no Christmas carols

Hi,

Weird weather at the moment.  It's not cold, but the cloud has settled in at ground level and you walk through a fine mist of water everywhere you go.  Odd.

Took the bus in this morning because we had a work function that went late last night.  I'm never quite as awake at my desk after taking the bus in.  The bike ride is a great way to wake you up.

Mike and Toby were going to go to the local park for Christmas carols.  Perhaps lethargy crept in because I got a text saying Toby wasn't keen and they had a night in.  Next year!

Tonight is quiz night.  I am going to be exhausted this weekend after all this activity.  Big group of us going to have some fun trying to answer questions about Africa, bicycles and anything else.  Ok...  Mike will be trying to sort out the logistics of collecting Toby, taking him to karate and dropping him home with Benjamin before coming to meet us.  We're wondering if he'll see anything of the quiz.

Ok.  Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The Monday with work.

Hi,

I worked late last night - yawn.  11.30pm when I left work.  Anyone that knows me knows my brain is not at its peak after 6pm and I enjoy my early nights to bed.  So a late night like that is bound to reach a counter-productive point.  Heheheheh.  That might have been about 6.30pm.

Mike and Toby had a good evening last night eating yummy chicken kebabs and coming to get me prematurely at 7.30pm.  Oh well.  At least my bike got home.  Ta Mike.

Tonight is party central for our project.  So I'll be late home again.  Mike will take Toby to Christmas carols at our local park.  That should be great fun.  Then we have a quiz tomorrow night for a good charity cause and Benjamin will babysit Toby for some Christmas moolah (his mother will be expecting a big present - heheheheh). 

Phew.  Have a great day.  It is humid here - some might be unkind and say it is raining.  I think the clouds are merely down to sea level.

Love,
Angela

The weekend whirlwind that was Toby's birthday

Hi,

Phew - one of the busiest social weekends in the Gilbert calendar has ended for another year.  Why did we have a child born so close to Christmas?  Such poor planning.  On top of work being so busy, I am under-prepared for everything that comes my way at the moment.

Let's see how the weekend panned out, eh?

Friday afternoon was our work Christmas party and the venue at the Boatshed was a good one.  Mike stayed to kick on a bit and I caught the bus home to collect Toby.  Toby and I had a good evening watching movies.

Mike got home quite early - we decided it must have been the earlier than usual start.  We all slept well until swimming the next morning.  Toby had a water safety session in the 3m deep end of the pool.  He loved it.  Afterwards he dived in like a pencil and I think he touched the bottom.  He definitely got within a whisker.

Then off to Sally and Andrew's place for lunch.  They are off walking around int he Wairarapa so we wouldn't see them on Toby's birthday.  Toby got a yummy cake with candles and his first presents.

Home to prepare for the Kea sleepover/Toby birthday combination.  Packing and gathering food/utensils.  It went well until we realised we hadn't had dinner.  A quick run to Burger Wisconsin (and additions for Jack and William who turned up without dinner) and then we were ready.

Off to the Scout Hall.  It all went rather well for 16 children or however many it was...  We didn't lose any.  Well, only one, but that was intentional.  Turns out wee Jonathan (Toby's birthday chum) hadn't had much in the way of sleepovers before.  It was a bit daunting for his first one to be in the huge Scout Hall with 15 other kids.  By 10.30pm it was obvious Mike would need to take him home.  So we bundled him off into the car.  poor wee chap.  There isn't a lot you can do to comfort a child in a hall full of other sleeping kids.

Still, once the excitement levels dropped, we all had a good sleep.  And Michael (new Kea leader) cooked up a storm on the BBQ in the morning.  Bacon and eggs and toast.  Scrumptious.

Home for Toby's presents from us.  And we never saw him much for the rest of it.  He got a Donkey Kong Wii game and loved it.  Well done, Dad.

Preparation for the family dinner started and when Mum arrived Toby was excited to open more presents.  Then dinner kicked off when Vivienne and John arrived with Benjamin.  Dad got there too and Mum cooked the chicken schnitzels to perfection.  It's Toby's favourite meal.  His choice.  The birthday cake was yummy (thanks, Mum) and it all went well.

Now we can relax and get ready for Christmas.

Hooray.

Love,
Angela

Pokemon Advanced

Ash, Misty and Brock were sitting down on a tree, when Chimcha let out a big yelp and ran away! Pikachu was chasing after Chimcha, but Chimcha was just too fast. Then all the other Pokemon came out, and started chasing after Pikachu. Even Togepi chased Pikachu!

Then Chimcha tripped and fell into a big hole. It took five minutes for him to get out. Five more minutes later all the other Pokemon arrived - at a place called Advanced. There was Dealga, and Shamen, and even a Pichu with a guitar. Then the Guaratena attacked Polkia. Polkia used Psybeam - but Guaratena dodged it. Pichu (with the guitar) used an attack called Sonic Boom. Then Dealga came into the battle, stopped time, and attacked Guaratena. Then PsyDuck - Misty's Pokemon - joined the fight. Psyduck is a small, unevolved Pokemon - so it just ended up with a big headache. It tried to use Psychic Attack on Dealga - but Dealga stopped time and did his attack. PsyDuck fainted!

Then all the other Pokemon ran away. Misty, Brock and Ash started looking for the Pokemon - and they ended up falling down the big hole! After they climbed out they saw all of their Pokemon so they started chasing them. Guaratena attacked them! Chimcha used Flame Wheel on Guaratena, and made him faint. So Ash used his MasterBall to capture Guaratena. (Believe it or not - it actually worked!).

Ash used his Pikachu and all the rest of the Pokemon attacked. Onyx used Rock Throw; Geodude used Rock Throw too; PineCone used Self Destruct; and PsyDuck just got a headache again. Stami and Staru used Water Gun and Maryl, who was following them, used Water Gun too.

Eventually, the battle swung Ash's way and all the other Legendary Pokemon fainted. Ash caught them all with more MasterBalls! It was a good day for Ash.

The Wednesday with tennis, karate, dinner and tramping club talks

Hi,

We're very proud of Toby - he passed his karate grading with a lot of concentration.  He made two mistakes while I was watching (I was too worried to watch all the time) but one I think he just lost count during the complex move and the other I think he copied the children around him.

Good on him!

Then we went home for a yummy tea from Ma and then we were off to the tramping club meeting.  Mike made it with 5 minutes to spare.  Were we worried?  Nah.  Not much.  Heheheh.

Mike's talk went very well.  We might get all sorts of people arriving on family tramps now.  Toby loved having his Dad be the speaker and Toby contributed all through the session.  Wish we had Club Houze here for Toby.  He might be a natural performer.

Busy at work.  And we met the architects this morning to chat to the builder.  Let's see if we can't get some concrete (hahah - a building pun) quotes and make a selection, eh?

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with me forgetting to go shopping for New World bargains

Hi,

Toby and I had a relaxing evening practising for the grading today and doing some maths homework.  Trouble is, I was going to go shopping for some bargains at New World for Christmas.  Plum forgot.  Oh well.  Mike was having as much fun as he could muster by himself up in Auckland.  He is due back 30 minutes before his talk at the tramping club.  I have the slides to step in at the last moment if needs be.  Toby thinks he's going to dance for them if Mike fails to arrive.  "I'm the entertainment" he says.  I hope Air NZ runs to schedule tonight.

My bike is running like a well-running thing.  The service yesterday was superb.  Capital City Cycles shop in Victoria St (next to R&R).  My bike is so old and worn that services are hit and miss and I have to listen to people saying that my bike is not long for this world.  But it is so old and worthless, I can't spend any money on fixing components.  Two components would be worth more than the bike.  So when I picked it up, the guy was apologetic.  "Sorry we couldn't charge you very much, because there isn't a lot we can do".  Perfect!  And my ride home was great.  The gears were crisp and seamless.  Hasn't been like that for two years!  I'm going to let them know.

Ok.  Better get stuck in.  Lots to do.
Love,
Angela

The Monday with the last day of Keas

Hi,

We had the last day of Keas for the year last night and had a great BBQ.  The parents really contributed well to the success of it and it bodes well for supporting Michael next year as he continues to lead the Keas.  I am moving to Cubs to be a leader there.  I might be needed on the odd day for a while to run keas.

Mike is in Auckland today and it leaves me quite busy at work with Toby drop-off and pick-up duties.  We had a good morning.  Toby was up with Mike at 5.30am and he thought it was normal time.  But I convinced him to come into bed with me when Mike left and Toby slept for another 1.5 hours.  Phew!

Busy tonight practising for the grading tomorrow.  And other general tasks around the house.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Sergeant Pepper's WHAT?

Here is the hard question of the morning:

What is “Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band” ?

Seems that if you know the answer to that – you’re old.

I was pretty appalled this morning because on the dopey radio station we listen to in the mornings – because of where we are, we can’t get any station but this dopey station – it turned out that one of the announcers had never heard of Sgt Pepper before.  Ever.  Didn’t recognise it when they played it.

So I did a survey this morning, of one person – a work colleague who I have coffee with most mornings and is a young wee thing of 28 – and she had no idea what I was talking about either.

How about that then.  The most influential album of the 60’s and 70’s, and nobody under thirty knows a thing about it.  Oh, the youth of today.  And that makes me feel very, very old.  Especially since the album is 43 years old now.  Ancient history…

The weekend with swimming, sleeping and Tyler's birthday!

Hi,

Wee Tyler is now seven years old!  Hooray!  I hear she had a good day.  We texted to let her know that Wellington on Saturday was the most glorious day - quite possibly the best so far this summer.  Of course, my worry is that it was the nicest day this summer.  Heheheh.  But we won't dwell on that.

Friday night was movie night at home for me and Toby.  We watched "Honey I shrunk the kids" and Toby has declared it a favourite of his.  Mike was home reasonably early from his "meeting" and we all slept for something like 10.5 hours in a coma.

Up for swimming and the day was superb.  Tyler could have played Putt Putt all day in Wellington (I think that was her activity of choice in Sydney - and the weather co-operated by the sound of it).  Toby swam well and we re-booked for next term.  If he continues to improve like he is, I think he'll be in the next class sooner rather than later.

Then we were off to Clarks in the library in town for lunch.  We picked up a few books from the library too.  Then we spent the afternoon lazing around reading and watching DVDs.  I'd like to say it was because it was so hot we couldn't move.  But it was more like Mike's two late nights had caught up with him and he fell asleep and snored his way through DVDs of Suzy's World and I made it through at least one of Toby's borrowed books in that time.

Once Mike roused himself, we dropped Toby off at Grandy's place for a sleepover and Mike took me out for a lovely dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  Vivo Wine Bar was great - we were the only ones there for ages.  Enjoyed it a lot.

Then home to watch a movie and then I fell asleep.  In my defense, I hadn't slept all afternoon!  Heheheh.

Up to collect Toby and head to our work Kids Christmas party.  Mike was Santa - again.  This time his pants stayed up.  Mike has vowed off being Santa next year.  I think he plays it very well.  He is only let down by the $5 Santa suit the social club owns.  This year the hat was missing!  And the elastic holding the beard up had perished and Mike kept losing it down his face.  Funny!  I heard one wee 7 year old girl whisper to the girl next to her "This Santa is so fake".

Toby had a ball running around Chipmunks being chased by everyone.  He was so hot and sweaty!

At about 1pm we left for Waikanae to catch up with the Tabors - back from their month long vacation in the States.  We got our Christmas presents (oooooo) we had ordered (we have to pay them, don't forget Mike)and enjoyed the afternoon with them.  Mike found some books of Josh's and I think I am destined never to get any peace (or lots of it, if you look at it from a different perspective) until he has finished them.  He read the first one till the wee hours and got up to have breakfast with me just so he could talk all about it.

Mike also prepared for the tramping club session this week.  He is presenting!  A bit more to do tonight and he should be good to go.  Toby and I will attend so we can watch!

Mike is also off to Auckland Tues and Wed this week.  Let's hope his flight gets back in time for the session!

Tonight is the last Kea night for the year - and for me and Toby forever.  Toby goes up to Cubs next year - and I'll follow him to continue with the Scouts.  Great!

Have a marvellous week.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Scout meetings and more yummy tea

Hi,

Mike had a catch up drinks session with a friend last night and I had the Scout leaders meeting to discuss various movements of leaders and wee Scouts through the packs.  Given I am the only one who has put up their hand for being a Cub Leader, I might be in with a shot!  In our absence, Ma popped over to collect Toby from school and make tea for us.  Yummy chicken schnitzels.  And we got more because there were less of us eating.  Hooray!

Mike got home very late - it might have been today already!  I was hardly awake.

Today is another beautiful day.  Are we using up all our summer weather now?  I actually got hot riding into work this morning.  I might have to strip off my fluoro jacket for a t-shirt if this carries on.

Weekend is approaching.  Swimming.  Something on Saturday night (sorry - I have completely forgotten what it is - all I know is Toby is sleeping over at Grandy and Gramps' house).

Toby has House Day today - he is in Tui house and they wear green.  Yep - he looks like a leprechaun.  And he has some homemade (ta - Ma) mallowpuffs to provide for their shared lunch (no nuts!).

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with tennis, karate and chicken schnitzels

Hi,

What another beautiful day here in Wellington.  The sun is shining and the ride down the hill was great.  Yesterday went well with karate (Toby has a grading next week and he needs to practise - a lot!) and we ate a yummy meal afterwards (ta Ma).  Tonight Mum will be back because Mike has a meeting after work (an excuse for some drinks) and I have the Scout leaders meeting later in the evening.  So Mum will collect Toby and cook (schnitzels again - I think Toby has withdrawals and is overdosing on them) and stay when I head off to my meeting.

Toby was commended (twice) yesterday by the carer at the after school programme (SKIDS) - once when Gramps collected him and once when Mike went to collect him.  Apparently Toby was kind to a boy who was upset.  Fed him or something.  I'm not quite sure of the details.  But it must have meant something to Kevin (the carer) to mention it twice.  Mike thought there was going to be trouble when he left after finding out Toby had been collected, and Kevin called him back with "Mike - I have something to tell you about Toby".  Uh oh.  But it was all good!

Better get stuck in now.  Have a good day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with

Hi,

Toby drop off duty this morning and we had a good time at home before school.  There was rain this morning, but Wellington rain with no wind is pretty easy to overlook.  The road wasn't even properly wet.

Toby and I made play dough last night after dinner.  Mike commented that it is the colour of lint (you know, that really light purplely colour).  I mixed blue and red food colouring into it.  Toby has enjoyed playing with it.

Next Wednesday is a karate grading evening.  Toby has to practise a lot if he's going to pass this - it is the top grading in his class and a bit tricky.

Anyhow - time to get stuck in.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with Keas and good weather - oh, it's so boring having good weather every day

Hi,

Keas went really well - I hit upon a brainwave - a scavenger hunt.  We put them into two teams - Toby was one captain and Chelsea the other (they are the two oldest Keas now).  I was really proud of both of them.  Toby stepped up and his team worked well together - he was organised and thoughtful.  And I noticed he also did it himself if it wasn't getting done.  Team leading quite often comes down to that.  Toby kept a track of the things they had done by ticking them off and motivated his team well.  Good signs.

Wally and I relaxed for a lot of it while the Keas ran around finding stuff.  Great!

Then Toby and I left for the Ethiopian restaurant - that was shut.  So we ate next door and told Ilske how nice the Ethiopian food was...  What a shame.

Then we dropped Ilske off home and dropped Mike at the Wadestown Residents Association meeting.  Home to bed for Toby and I watched some TV and Mike arrived (fortunately he never said yes to anything this time) and bed for all of us.

I had Toby drop-off duty this morning.  We had a good morning but I was late getting away and sat in my 9am meeting in my bike shorts.  Heheheheh.

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with glorious weather

Hi,

It's all anyone can talk about at work - how lovely the weather was at the weekend.  Everyone looks healthy for getting a good dose of the UV.  Our Saturday was busy - we took Toby swimming and he swam well (although we could tell he really just wanted to play).

Off to the Backbencher afterwards to spend our Trivia night winnings ($100 voucher at the Backbencher pub) on a lovely lunch with the rest of "Six of the Best" (that was our team name).  We got to meet some friends of Christine's from Canterbury and they told us of the earthquake excitement.  Scary stuff.

Then home to quickly get Toby ready for his swimming with William and sleepover.  Mum rang about then and said it was too hot to walk tot he supermarket so I popped over and took her in the car.  By the time I got back home Toby was gone.  Mike and I had a few hours to relax before we cooked tea and Mike collected Ilske.

Ilske had talked at tramping club about her walk in Ethiopia so I got a private version of that talk.  Lucky me!  It was fascinating.  Dinner was yummy (vege lasagna and salad) and then it was time to take Ilske back home.

A quiet night watching TV before we both realised we were actually asleep on the couch. 

Sunday we decided to launch into some manic gardening.  Mike went and collected Toby from William's house and I set to with the hedge trimmer.  When Mike got back he decided the hedge trimmer was far too slow and not destructive enough.  The bush saws appeared and we cleaved a hole in some trees beside Toby's trampoline.

Then it was time to head to Sally and Andrew's place for lunch with everyone.  My mother had been baking up a storm (Ma - do you want to bake something for Thursday for Toby to take to school - he is having a shared lunch with his house - Tuis) and although I wore a bit of trifle when it oozed out of the container, everything was yummy.  Mum had also made marshmallows squares - I think they are Toby and my favourites.  Homemade Mallowpuffs I call them.  Toby ate three after lunch for dessert.

Andrew got back just as we were finishing lunch.  He'd done the Around Taupo race.  Phew!  He looked pretty pleased with his efforts.  Good on him!

Home for more gardening and tidying.  We have a lot of green waste to chip into the gully now.  And a broken sewer pipe to get sorted.  Mike bought a machete on the way home and hacked through the undergrowth to the sewer pipe and declared it was structural to the concrete slab.  So, the only thing keeping tonnes of concrete up is a sewer pipe.  No wonder it's broken under that strain.

Keas tonight - I haven't organised anything so we'll be winging it again.  Oh dear.  Then off to dinner with Ilske at the Ethiopian restaurant we have found in Brooklyn.  Yum!

Have a great week.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with lovely weather but lots of work

Hi,

Yes - it was a lovely day - and another cracker one today too.  The ride in was very pleasant.  Definitely t-shirt weather.  Mike has a migraine though so he is still at home recovering.  He had quick access to his migraine medicine, so it might nip it in the bud and he might be ok to come in later or work from home.  We shall see.

I had to work late last night.  Got lots to get through today too.  Nice email from Michelle to read though.  Sounds like she's doing well with Tim and her studies.  Good on her!

Swimming tomorrow.  Then dinner with Ilske (she's going to show me her tramping club presentation I missed on a Wednesday a few weeks back - walking in Ethiopia) and I think dinner with Kara tonight.  Busy!

Sunday lunch with Sally (Andrew is away I believe) and that sums up the coming weekend.  Great!  Have a marvellous day wherever you are.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with karate and Mike's return

Hi,

I rode home just in time to join Toby and Gramps at karate.  It's a grading coming up and we have to practise a lot with Toby.  He seems to have forgotten quite a bit since the last time.

We had a great dinner with Mum and Dad after karate.  Mum cooked up delicious macaroni cheese and we all ate heaps of it.  Then Toby and I were off to tramping club to return the billies from last weekend and Mike met us there from his flight.  Toby and I were sitting in the car reading our books.  Toby didn't feel like going to the club night.  Although when we approached the building to return the billies he said he loved the tramping club.  Great people he said.

Anyhow...  It turns out that the reason Mike was so stressed about the conference he was attending up in Auckland was because he was speaking at it!  He never said!  He was muttering about having no time to prepare for it and would need to do it on the plane.  And I was thinking "Ok.  Weird to worry about choosing what talk you'll attend but never mind".  Mike said it went very well.  I hope he cultivates this habit for a lifestyle change in about 15 years where I join him as he swans around the world talking at conferences and I visit the various tourist highlights in the vicinity.  Heheheh.

Busy day today.  Better get stuck in.
Love
Angela

The Tuesday with no Mike

Hi,

Toby and I had a good Tuesday evening - despite the lack of Mike.  We got home and got ready for Burger Wisconsin (a treat for me and Toby - and yes - I had nothing out for dinner) and made sure we had the Paua Hut key to return (it was close to Burger Wisconsin).

We ordered the burgers and then Toby surprised me by asking if we could walk to the house to drop the key off.  Sure we could!  I grabbed the key and the washed tea towels and we walked past Toby's karate (It's not Wednesday Mum!) to the house.  I chatted for a while to the woman on the receiving end of the key and asked if she could pass on the message to the next users to retrieve our safety tape (we left it there by mistake - it protects the cliff from the children getting too close) and look for a jade necklace Jack dropped somewhere near the hut.

Then back to get the burgers and home to munch on them.  Yum.  We chatted to Mike for a while on the phone.  Auckland was going well.  We did ring him in the middle of a conference talk at one stage though.  Oops.

Early to bed although Toby was very chirpy and blethered away merrily for ages.

Our morning was fun - washing got hung out and generally pottered about before walking to school.  All good fun.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with Keas

Hi,

Keas went surprisingly well.  Surprising because I have been so busy at work that preparation consisted of a hard think for about three minutes.  But the kids loved it.  Wally is good at it and can salvage any situation.

We learned about wild animals and tame animals and then the Keas all went and tried being an animal and we had to guess.  Gareth had us all stumped with a tamarin!

Then for dinner at the Sampson establishment and then home to see Mike.  He was busy packing for his two days in Auckland.  Yes, I am a single mother today and tomorrow.  Busy times indeed.

Mike got away early (5.40am) and Toby and I had a leisurely morning.  I packed up the tents so we can actually move in the lounge now.  And some washing wouldn't go astray, so the machine is on timer and should be good to hang out when Toby and I get home.  Marvellous.

Homework night tonight.  Should keep us busy for a while.  Times tables again tonight I think.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with a Paua Hut tramp

Hi,

What a great weekend - Mike led an amazing family tramp to Paua Hut.  The meal was fantastic and we enjoyed the company of other families and their children.

Friday night I went out with Toby to Christine and Tom's place for dinner and left Mike to sort out packing for the weekend.  Toby was a bit put out by this as he was looking forward to a quiet Friday night at home doing nothing but watching a movie.  He pouted all the way to their house and then climbed into the boot to delay going in.  Christine spotted us as she popped out to put something in the rubbish.  I mentioned Toby's reluctance to visit and she immediately turned him around and before I knew it, they were racing each other up the stairs into her house.  Toby was hooked - and he tucked into a fabulous dinner and watched Kung Fu Panda with Tom.  It was a great evening.

Home and to bed for an early rise for the start of tramping.  Toby got a lift there with Jack and John (they were on their first overnight tramp to a hut with us - Toby was so pleased to have Jack along) and Mike and I drove in to get a new bite valve for his camelbak (shops were still shut in town so we dropped into Kathmandu in Petone) and picked up Claire and her two daughters - Auriel and Saren.

We were a little late getting to the road end.  But Constanze and Christian were there with Gustav and Moritz.  And Daniel was there with his two girls - Charlotte and Alice.  It was a good walk in.  The weekend was threatening storms and it was very humid and mild on Saturday.  Definitely t-shirt and shorts weather.  We had lunch at Midway Bridge (a fantastic swing bridge halfway along the track).  Christian and Moritz left at the river and headed back.

We made Paua Hut with only a few drops of rain falling every now and then.  They have hardly had any rain in the last month here and the river was as low as I have ever seen it.  The side streams were dry and there was only one braid in the river - a single channel.  Usually there are channels you have to cross quite regularly.

The children played and had fun.  We put the tape on the trees to remind the kids to avoid playing near the eroding cliff.  Oh - did we remember to pick it up again?

Then Mike got dinner started and he cooked up a storm.  We now recommend the beef stroganoff in the Tramping Club recipe book.  It was great!  Mike made a vege one (we had a vegetarian on the trip) and a beef one.  It was perfect catering - hardly anything leftover and people ate heaps.  Well done, Mike.

When it got darker, we had a campfire outside and Daniel let off fireworks and the kids toasted marshmallows.  Great fun.  The funniest thing I saw?  Charlotte asking John to help her light her sparkler because it wasn't lighting.  John asked her to pass it to him.  Next thing he handed it back saying "It's a twig".  I laughed quite hard at that.   It was quite dark by then.  I am sure Charlotte had no idea about it being a twig.  One firework shot off right past me and Toby and fizzled loudly in the tree behind us.  Constanze had been there up until a minute beforehand.  Lucky for her.  Mind you, in my experience the Germans can handle fireworks with nonchalance.

Mike and I slept in our Macpac tent and Toby and Jack slept in the new Beyond tent.  As we drifted off, a slow patter of rain started.  Never heard anything else till the morning.  The rain had been quite steady all night though judging by the dampness.

We had breakfast - John cooked up bacon and asparagus.  It was scrumptious.  I am adding that to my brekkie list from now on.  Then we tidied and left.  The walk back was dry - the rain had stopped at about 7.30am.  The river was hardly any different (maybe slightly deeper and faster in places - but scarcely noticeable).  Toby had a misadventure on the way back.  He jumped off a 2m high bank and landed great, but bit down on his mouth with the impact.  He had a nip out of his lower inside lip and said he had 4 wobbly teeth.  We told him to be careful eating and not to wiggle them.  He calmed down and they came right.  I will keep an eye on them though.  His two top teeth and his two bottom teeth (front ones).  Poor boy.  it did upset him.

We got out to the car park by 1pm and all climbed wearily into cars and headed home.  It was a great weekend.  I love the tramp out there.  So easy and yet it feels isolated.

I had to get into work after that though for a few hours.  But it went ok.  Last night was a fantastic sleep - although the cat was making choking sounds and may have puked up at some stage.  Mike will know more. 

Time to start the week!  Have a great day.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with home made hamburgers - Toby's current favourite

Hi,

Mike and I had a work meeting at Microsoft in the late afternoon.  It was an early look at Lync (the latest version of OCS) and field in 90 minutes.  We then drove home (Mike had the car in town because he'd dropped off his mother at the airport) and collected Toby and went and bought the ingredients for hamburgers. 

They were yummy!  Scrumptious.

We're off tramping this weekend to Paua Hut.  Should be a good weekend, although I do have to come in on Sunday afternoon to work.  Might be the last time for a wee while.  This is to fix up some remaining data issues from last week's release.  Cool!  After that we should be sailing true! 

The weather isn't looking great for the weekend.  But the river should be pretty low after some superb weather so I think we'll get across to the hut just fine.  We're sleeping in tents so I hope it's not too wet and windy.  The hut is full!  This is one of Toby's favourite tramps and his best friend Jack is coming.  I think Toby will be very happy.

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with karate and tennis and Mike's dinner

Hi,

Toby and I had a nice morning this morning.  Mike was up early to drop his mother at the airport so Toby and I had a leisurely morning.  Toby ate 6 Weetbix.  He might be in training for something.  Then he ate two big bits of toast.  Phew!  It was good to see Mike's mother up - her responsibilities during the year have curtailed her visits up I think.  Toby enjoyed it.

I rode in but I have to say I was a bit scared.  There have been 4 cyclist deaths in the last four days (and I read about two other close calls in that time too).  It has left me a bit anxious about it.  And to boot my bike is making a strange clunking noise.  No idea what.  Not connected to pedalling as I hear it sometimes when I'm coasting.

Yesterday I was home in time for karate.  Toby had three grandparents there to cheer him on.  Plus me.  He is much taller than the other children in his class now.

Then Mike cooked up a storm - he was practising for the weekend coming up where we're tramping to Paua Hut and trying out a new recipe.  Mum made the trifle for dessert that is on the menu this weekend and it was a huge hit.  Even Toby loved it.

Busy at work.  Never mind.  Getting through stuff.

Have a great day.  Hope Abby is better.
Love,
Angela

Yesterday - yummy dinner at Vivienne's. Today - Karate and tramping food

Angela must be really busy because she's not posted today.  Let me fill you in on the details.

Last night Vivienne invited us around for dinner and as usual she put on a superb meal.  Spinach soup (which looked very green, but Toby tucked into with gusto nonetheless and judged it as 'yummy, even more yummy with the sour cream mixed in'); ginger soy chicken kebabs, roasted seasoned potato wedges, yummy baked pumpkin thing and salad with beansprouts and coriander; and caramel butterscotch meringue thing for dessert.  Mmmm-mm!

Vivienne and John have launched into demolition of their chimney.  There's now a big pile of bricks outside their front door, with definite plans about adding to the pile.  This the start of big things.  Watch this space!

Today is Karate, but like the rest of this week - not the normal routine.  My mum will be there, and since Angela came in early, hopefully she can leave early and come too.  I'm going to inflict the weekend's tramping food on everyone.  It’ll be Beef Stroganoff with Deconstructed Trifle for dessert, and it should be yummy.  I need to make sure the serving sizes are right, that my sample 8-year-old kindof likes it, and that I can actually cook it easily (so that when I’m trying to do it in a hut with two billies and a small gas cooker, it doesn’t all go wrong).  To make it authentic, though, I'm planning on using pots that haven't been washed properly, and getting water from the stream out the back...

My mum is off tomorrow, and I need to start ramping up for the tramping trip to Paua Hut this weekend.  So it's still going to be full on all week!

The Monday with Keas and lovely weather

Hi,

After the panic of the morning, it all came right at work at lunchtime when the cause of a lot of problems was identified and addressed.  I felt much better about it all.  We had worked hard over the weekend so it was good there was a result of sorts on Monday.

It was good enough for me to get away for Keas as usual.  Mike dropped me and Toby off straight there as we were running late.  Trouble was, Wally was sick and had the key.  So we played outside for ages as it was so nice.  Then Mike came back with the key and we went back inside for the handing out of certificates for their big investiture a few weeks back.

Today was supposed to be nice, but the wind has got up and we have clouds.  The ride down the hill was scary for me because my bike has started making a disturbing clunking sound on the odd occasion.  When you're doing 50km/h down the hill, you don't want to hear clunks.  Mike rode my bike down to try and identify the source of the clunk.  That meant I had to ride his.  And although his bike is nicer than mine, I cannot reach the pedals on his seat, so I coasted down and I am so glad I didn't clip in on one side because when I stopped, I couldn't clip out.  My cleats must be slightly different to his.

We're off to Vivienne and John's for tea tonight.  Should be a good, good night.  Looking forward to it.

Anyhow, have a great day - whatever you're up to.
Love,
Angela

It's been a busy weekend, and leading into a busy week

Mike here.  I imagine Angela will be under the pump and not blogging.  In spite of being quite chipper about things last time - at 4pm yesterday they discovered that the whole environment was quite different to how they thought it was, and everything was wrong.  So people are, well, less chipper.  And more busy (if that's possible).

Along with Angela being flat out at work this weekend, we had a whirlwind of social events going on as well.  Saturday morning, my Mum came up from Dunedin.  Timing meant we needed to hit swimming straight away.  Toby did well with his swimming - his kicking is the key thing though, when that's right he's good, when it's not he's not - and my Mum chatted away with another mum whose daughter was in Toby's class. 

Then we put Sally in a quandry by inviting ourselves around for lunch, right in the middle of her flat-out Saturday.  She handled it with her usual aplomb though.

Hmm, I seem to have lost a few hours on Saturday afternoon.  I have no idea what we did between lunchtime and about 4pm!!  That's a worry, isn't it.

But at 4pm, Toby's friend William came around for a sleepover.  Which pretty well meant that both boys disappeared downstairs and we saw very little of them til the next morning.

Next morning, the alarm went off at 6am and Angela was off! to work.  All still going well and chipper (presages of dread and fear).  That left me to sort out the arrangements for theWadestown Garden Walk for the 7 ticketholders, their families, and other Bichans who were coming to visit since we'd arranged to host the Bichan Sunday meal.  Panic!  Everything worked out fine though.  People came and went, people brought just the right food, my part of the catering went off smoothly, most people wandered back for lunch at something like the same time, and a good time was had by all.  Apart from Angela that is.  She missed pretty well all of it, was able to emerge back from work around 2pm to squeeze in some garden visits - before the dreaded 'oops, we did it all wrong' phonecall at 4.   Then she vainly fought the system for a few hours, remotely from home, before everyone gave up and we went....

To the Gin Wigmore concert!!!  Woo hooooo!!  I've been eagerly anticipating this concert for weeks now, especially since she lost her voice and had to delay it for a fortnight or more.  And it was fantastic.  Really good.  The Wellington Opera House is a cute little venue, a small, faded-glory sort of place.  Think the St Kilda Palais, or an older, smaller Dunedin Regent Theatre.  Perfect for her sort of music.  And the support band, The Thomas Oliver Band, were superb as well.  I think they've just recruited some groupies.  And they're supporting George Thorogood next year!!!  Have to go to that for old times sake, I reckon.

Well that was the weekend, full of ups and downs and drama and excitement.  Let's see how the week pans out!

Good evening - from work

Hi,

Well, another late night at work.  And an early morning tomorrow for me too.  But it is not all gloom and doom.  People are quite chipper about things. 

We've had a good day.  Between working at 7am this morning and working till at least 8pm now, I have squashed in Christmas shopping with Mum and a BBQ lunch at Sally and Andrew's place.  I'll sleep well tonight, that is for sure.

The weather is very odd.  A mist has been shrouding Wellington and the Hutt Valley all day.  A work colleague from the Wairarapa said it was gorgeous over there this morning.  Who knows?  Wellington has unusual weather conditions quite often.  "It's very unusual" is the catch cry of Wellingtonians.

Back to work.

Have a great weekend (what's left of it).

Love,
Angela

The Wellington Cup Carnival - Just like the Melbourne Cup, but it's in Upper Hutt.

I got handed this flyer today.

Folks at work who have actually been to the Wellington Cup Carnival say this oversells the event quite a lot, and I have to say I can't picture people this glamorous in Upper Hutt.

Maybe the drunk guy in the green shirt will be there - and the sleazy guy in the orange sports coat and the mullet.  The others - could be a bit artistic licence.

If you're still keen to go, though, it's on on the 29th of January - check out http://trentham.co.nz .

The Thursday with a birthday and still more work

Hi,

What a lovely run of good weather.  How nice for a change.  Shame I never see it at the moment.  I am looking forward to the House and Garden walk on Sunday around about 18 Wadestown houses and gardens.  It's a fund raiser for Toby's school and they have sold 750 tickets.  So it'll be huge!

Yesterday Mike collected Toby and took him to the Sampsons.  This was for Chelsea's 8th birthday.  Her birthday is 11/11 and Toby's is 12/12.  As Lesley pointed out, Chelsea's birthday next year is on 11/11/11 and Toby's the following year is 12/12/12.  Cool, eh?

Anyhow - have a great weekend, wherever you are.
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with work

Hi,

Yes - I am sure tennis was fine, karate was fine and Mum's dinner was yummy.  But I was working.  Never mind.  I do have a plate of dinner in the fridge so I can let you know how yummy it was (or is!) tomorrow!

Toby wore his nicest clothes to school yesterday.  He has a new Oxford shirt and khaki drill pants and he chose to wear that.  Funny boy.  He did look smart. 

Today he chose his new t-shirt and new hoodie.  He has definite fashion tastes.

I'd better get stuck into work now.  Been fighting my machine all morning.  I think I have it beaten now.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Vivienne's birthday dinner

Hi,

We had a great time at The Flying Burrito Brothers last night for Vivienne's birthday.  We ate so much that I had no room for my main when it arrived.  Toby was the same.  Anyhow, Mike collected Toby from the restaurant and I went to work to get my bike to ride home.  Then I got sucked into working as there was a problem with some stuff.  10pm I left work and had a great, quite, fast ride up the hill.

Today is lovely.  I rode in after dropping off Toby.  My bike computer is kaputt (the wire has snapped).  I can make it register odd values by touching the wires together.  Toby likes that bit.  I have no idea how fast I am going.

Busy at work.  Phew!  It is karate day and tennis day and I am looking forward to a great dinner from Mum.  She is experimenting on us tonight.  Yummy!

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with nice weather, Keas and fish n chips

Hi,

Happy birthday to Vivienne - what a glorious day for her birthday here in Wellington.

Keas went amazingly well last night considering I am so busy at work I had prepared nothing at all.  The weather was lovely so we played games outside.  The council had mowed the grass so we made a huge bird's nest and play "Rob the Nest" - that involves lots of running and turned into a grass fight. 

We had fish n chips with the Sampsons afterwards.  I think it'll be a regular Monday night thing.

Tonight we're off to Flying Burrito Brothers for Vivienne's birthday celebrations.  Cool!  I'll ride home and collect Toby and drive back in.  Should make it pretty close to 6pm.  Mike has a tramping club committee meeting where he has prepared his agenda and everything.  He's pushing for new web stuff to make the committee's job easier.  Fingers crossed that goes well and he's back in time for the end of the celebrations.

That's about it for now.  Another busy day lined up at work.  Phew!

Love,
Angela

The weekend where I forgot the title - again

Hi,
A weekend of two halves - bit like the rugby on Saturday against England. The weather on Saturday was cold. A biting southerly. The weather on Sunday was lovely. Shorts for Toby and hours on the bouncy castle at Aunty Sally and Uncle Andrew's place.
Saturday Toby had his best swimming day ever. He finally understood the idea of the kicking and kicked so hard doing his lengths he was actually puffing when he got to the other end. And he overbook other swimmers - for once. I think he's onto something.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.
 
Friday Toby had a sleepover at Jack's place.  It involved a party with lots of kids overlooking the fireworks spectacular.  Then, apparently, a long walk back to the car where Toby was freezing.  The southerly had kicked in by then.  We collected him on Saturday morning and he had obviously had a great time.
 
Swimming and then I watched a movie with Toby while Mike worked.  Poor Mike.  He did very well getting through his task list for the weekend.  I went grocery shopping.  Ooooo.
 
Sunday we watched the rugby delayed and it was a great first half.  The second half was a bit less exciting.  But it was a good game to watch.  Then off to Sally and Andrew's place for a late-ish lunch.  Great to catch up with people.  Toby bounced on the bouncy castle for ages with Anthony.  Good fun!
 
Back to work this morning.  The ride in was dry but it looked as though it had rained a few hours before. 
 
Keas tonight.  Wonder what the leader has organised?  Bet she's done nothing.  Oh dear.
 
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday class excursion to the zoo

Hi,

Yes - it was lots of fun, despite the weather being cooler than the surrounding days.  We only got rain in our last ten minutes running around the zoo.  We had a class education session from 12 to 1pm and 30 minutes to see whatever the boys hadn't seen already.  Why did my 4 boys want to see the baboons at the far end of the zoo?  Heheheheh.  We managed to see them and get back in time for the bus.

So I had Toby and three other boys from his class in my group.  Sam, Ben and Harry.  It was a lot of fun.

Busy at work again today.  Toby has a sleepover at Jack's house.  Hopefully the forecast bad weather this evening is delayed so the fireworks display is exciting.  Toby has an invitation to a fancy party somewhere with Jack's family.  Prime fireworks viewing location.

Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with exceptional weather

Hi,

The time just disappeared last night.  It was bedtime for Toby before we knew it.  We did have the first BBQ of the season though.  Very nice.  Sausages, roasted pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes.  Not too bad for a spontaneous BBQ.  It was Toby's idea.  As we approached home we smelled a BBQ cooking and he suggested it.

Melbourne Cup was a fizzer for me.  No luck at all.  Not even sure if the horse I picked is finished running yet!  But I'm glad Mike made me hop out to the local pub to watch it.  I was jammed in with lots of folk, but it was good to see it live.

Tonight is tennis and karate.  Mike will be riding home to get Toby (and hopefully we will see Mum and Dad too).

Have a great day.  I am very busy at work leading up to the go live date on Nov 15.  Ooooohhhh.... Aaahhhhhh.

Love,
Angela

very disorganised this morning

Toby and I were up and functioning quite early this morning, and we were all ready in good time.

But for some reason, neither of us were really thinking.  So many near disasters ensued. 

First we made it most of the way to school before Toby noticed that he hadn't grabbed his school bag.

And me, I've got a nice new shirt that I had to run out and buy, because I hadn't brought a shirt with me.

I really don't know what the problem was, but it affected us both!  Toby definitely has his lunch, though, so I guess that's not so bad.

The Monday with Keas and bugs

Hi,

Keas went really well.  The weather was good so we went outside in three groups of four (I had 5) and looked for insects.  My group collected a lot of dirt when we found a bug as I didn't want to touch them at all.  My plastic bag went inside out into the dirt and grabbed a handful and we investigated soil as an insect environment as well.  At least, that was what I was telling my group.  Yuckie!

The weather is lovely and I enjoyed the ride in this morning.  Tuesdays is homework night and I might get a walk in with the boys if I'm lucky.  Fingers crossed.

Busy at work as we gear up for the release of this project I have been working on for the last 5 months.  Woo hoo!  But I do have a day off this week for Toby's class excursion to the zoo.  Great!  Thursday I'm off.  Hope the weather holds.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with Halloween

Hi,

What a great weekend - if a little hectic. Toby had his second swimming lesson of the term and we collected Mum on the way. Mike had Wadestown Residents Association duties - helping with the hard rubbish collection that happens once a year here. I think he really enjoyed himself, having declared afterwards that he had now achieved a life ambition to work on a garbage truck.

Mum, Toby and I went to Queensgate after swimming (where Mum was astonished to see Toby's class in the big pool for their lessons - I think this will work well for learning to swim).  We exchanged Toby's shoes for the next size up.  Mum and Dad bought him some new shoes during the holidays but he never wore them because they hurt his feet.  He got the next size up (size 3 UK - his feet are almost as big as mine already - three more sizes) and immediately wore them happily.  Hooray!  Ta Mum for taking them back.
 
Mum then wanted some supermarket food for the week and then we dropped her home just as ReMax were finishing off taking a group of people through her house.  Oooooo.  We shall see.
 
Then Toby and I relaxed for an hour before Toby was collected by Aidan for some Waikanae fun, culminating in a Halloween party at midday on Sunday.
 
Mike and I got ready for the trivia night with Vivienne (more fun - but of a different kind) where we came a credible 5th (there were loads of tables - maybe 25 tables or so of 7 people).  Vivienne won a raffle prize!  Then home to chat to John for a bit and pat Ramble.
 
Mike was up early for his day tramp from Johnsonville to Makara/Karori.  I dropped him at the station and then had a leisurely breakfast watching TV shows from the Food Channel that Mike will never watch.  Then I hopped in the wee green car and drove to Waikanae to help with the party.  I think I hindered more than helped.  But I was in time to be a "Mummy" for one of the games that involved wrapping someone up in toilet paper the fastest.  Me.  I got wrapped up. 
 
I enjoyed the games at the Tabor party.  They were great fun.  Toby was very good, despite his 6 hour sleep (apparently he was too excited to sleep the night before Halloween and then woke at 5.30am!) and even came close to winning a few relays for his team with his burst of speed as the anchor man.  The apple bob was hilarious though.  He would not give up (he was the tallest and therefore the last to bob) and eventually picked up and apple!  Good on him.  I got a nice lunch and a lovely cup of tea too.
 
Then we drove home int he green car - with the top down.  Toby covered himself with jackets and fell asleep.  When he got to Porirua, it started raining.  The rain never enters the car, so I was driving along with the wipers on and the top down.  Must have looked funny to other drivers.  By the time we got off the motorway it had stopped raining. 
 
I then dropped Toby off at William's party.  It was chaos there - loads of people in great costumes.  Toby's costume was lame!  The sheet kept falling off.  Next year will need to try harder!  Then Mike got home to help me prepare for 4 boys for trick or treating.  We collected Toby and then drove to Jack's house to collect them.  Turns out they had just got to our house.  Slight mix up.  But we were soon terrorising the neighbours and the boys got a lot of loot.  Jack, Charlie and a wee boy called Mitchell from Washing DC.  He knew how it was done!
 
Then home to Jack's place for fish n chips.  Toby will have a sleepover there on Friday and have a good view of the fireworks from a friend's place in Oriental Bay.
 
Home to bed and slept like logs - all of us.
 
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Jack O Lanterns

Hi,

A good ride in this morning - it looks like rain out there but the roads are dry and I whizzed down the hill after dropping off Toby.

We had loads of fun last night.  When I picked up Toby he asked if we could do something fun.  The first few things I suggested were politely declined.  But after I got tea ready and we were sitting down to eat, I had a brainwave.  "Let's go shopping for pumpkins and make a Jack O Lantern".  Toby was chuffed.

So, we hopped in the car, arranged to pick up Mike from the pub where he was having drinks with a work colleague, and bought the two biggest pumpkins in the supermarket.  Collected Mike, dropped off his colleague near the airport and got back to sort out the pumpkins.

Mike and Toby carved a great face into one of them and we popped in a tea candle and put it outside in the dusky night.  It looked fantastic!  We're all very pleased with our efforts.

Toby loves Halloween.

Have a great weekend.  We have swimming, then Toby has a sleepover in Waikanae and he has three Halloween engagements on Sunday!  Phew!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with yummy dinner, tramping, tennis, karate and PTA meetings

Hi,

Mum and Dad came over to make tea and go with Toby to karate.  The dinner was so yummy.  Mum made potato gratin with our leftover camembert cheese and I ate three helpings.  Yummo!  One of the helpings was Toby's - he prefers Dad's mash obviously.

Mum and Dad then stayed on to look after Toby while I attended the Wadestown School PTA meeting.  It was actually very worthwhile and I think we'll make it a regular thing.  I found out loads about the school.

Mike went to tramping club as he has a day walk this weekend (Easy-Medium 5 hour tramp from Johnsonville to Makara via Mt Kau Kau).  He said the photos from the talk last night were great - Ilske talking about a day walk she did in Ethiopia.  Cool!

That's about it for now.  Have a great day and a great weekend (for those that have Fridays off!).

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with lovely evening weather and a walk

Hi,

Mike got back into town at a reasonable time last night.  Toby and I had just had dinner and Toby was talking to his Nana about the Wadestown Idol video when Mike got in.  He ate some tea and then we went for a walk in perfect t-shirt conditions.  It was absolutely lovely.  We walked to the Wadestown shops to play in the park.

Tonight is tennis night and karate.  Mike will ride home to get to karate with Gramps.  I think Mum is going to cook dinner - yummy!  I'll ride home and get there about the same time as the boys get there after karate.  I'm going to ask if Mum and/or Dad can stay for a while so I can go to the PTA meeting for Toby's school.  We have decided to invest a bit of time listening to the pulse of the school to help us make a decision about Toby's future there.  But Mike has to go to the tramping club for his tramp this weekend.  So I'm off to the PTA meeting.

The ride in was great fun.  Lovely conditions just like last night.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The long weekend with so much gardening

Hi,

Mike and I drove to Toby's school to see him perform int he finals of Wadestown Idol. Toby in Wadestown Idol finals  He was superb.  One of the best there.

So that was a great Friday for us.  Toby was pretty happy but maintains he is embarrassed by the video.

We had a long weekend but the promised fine weather was sadly lacking.  It was overcast most of the time.  But that was good for us because we got stuck into the garden.  It was starting to resemble a tropical jungle and we needed to move lots of plants for the coming building project.  So it was time.

Turns out we learned a lot about the way Mike and I approach projects.  Mike uses upcoming projects to plan meticulously and send himself to sleep within 5 minutes every night on the various intricacies of the plans.  I ignore upcoming projects until I decide to jump in and do something.  Then Mike tries to recall the meticulous plans from his sleep fuddled mind as I launch into the middle of his planning with some ill-planned (read - none!) action!  But my crazy actions result in his careful planning coming together to produce what looks like chaos, but the job gets done.

So we have done loads of gardening.  Mike obviously had bigger dreams than my ideas as more came out and we took two loads to the tip (one load was from Sally and Andrew's place).

Saturday Toby had two friends sleeping over.  We went to H2OXtreme with them (and their parents) and had a ball.  We like it there.  Duncan and Emerson also came to watch the rugby league with us at the cake tin.  Dad had got us tickets for the game from work and when we said we had two extras, he got them tickets too.  Thanks!  Mike actually really enjoyed the game.  And our friend Grant was there as well.  He took us to the only other rugby league game we have ever attended - Leeds versus Wigan in Leeds.  Cool!

Mike is up in Auckland for the day today.  Back tonight.  So busy day for me.

We also found Tyler's Hannah Montana jacket and I'll be mailing that off today!

Have a great week (short for us here in NZ).

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with dancing

Hi,

Toby is in the finals!  How great is he?  He was so chuffed when I drove there in my lunch break and found him playing after his success.  Yes - I missed it.  The office had given me the wrong time - Mike was right all along.

But I can redeem myself.  The finals are today at lunch time.  I will see if I can swing the same lunch break deal in my training course.  Fingers crossed - again.

We have a long weekend here this weekend.  And the weather is supposed to improve.  I was in my bike gear this morning about to walk out the door when Mike asked if I had 5 minutes to check something with him.  When we were done, I looked up and it was hosing down.  I flung off my bike gear and into work clothes and hurtled to the bus.

Oh well.

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with tennis, karate and Burger Wisconsin

Hi,

The ride to work this morning was great - the weather is supposed to be pants (I always think of Judith Holloway when I use that word - she says it with a great English accent) but the roads were dry and I hit another maximum speed on the fast downhill bit.  I won't say how much as it is starting to be slightly the wrong side of legal and I won't condone that sort of irresponsible behaviour.  Heheheheh.

Mike is driving in and giving me the keys as I want to shoot to Toby's school at lunchtime to watch him in the talent quest as he dances his way to Footloose fame.  I will be proud.  However, a fly in the ointment is my two day CRM training course I am on today and tomorrow.  Fingers crossed I can sort it out.

We have also (madly, with little forethought) booked a wee holiday to Samoa around my birthday.  Air NZ had some flights that looked cheap.  So we need to find some accommodation now.  Anyone want to join us?  We're leaving on Friday Feb 18 (and arriving on my birthday - I get two birthdays because Samoa is over the date line) and come back on Tuesday Feb 22 (we leave on Monday though and lose that extra birthday I gained).  We've got tickets that only allow hand luggage so we're going to live in togs for the 4 days.

Karate went well - I was hoping to ride straight there to see the end, but I was held up leaving work.  I met the boys at Burger Wisconsin in Northland and they took me home in the car - with yummy burgers to eat.  Mum and Dad were unable to come for the traditional karate/dinner special.  When we fend for ourselves, we get burgers!  Heheheheh.

Can't wait to see Toby dancing.  Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with school talks

Hi,

Our talk with the principal at Toby's school went quite well.  We're going to pursue another course of action with regards to enrolment at another school, but wait and see what happens when the principal has a chat to Toby informally.  He wants to help us get to the bottom of it too.

Karate and tennis today.  I got rained on by cold raindrops this morning riding in.  It is supposed to clear though so Toby might have tennis.

Busy at work.  Phew!

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with Keas, Keas and Keas

Hi,

Yes - Keas was huge!  We had 17 children running around (and several younger siblings from time to time), with two of them being older Cubs of Keas.  We invested 11 Keas!  I was expecting 10, so I had to "steal" Toby's woggle for the last Kea invested.  Toby didn't seem to mind too much.  Then we had dinner at the Sampson household, so Toby was happy.

We have an appointment with the principal of Toby's school today as we endeavour to get to the bottom of Toby's sudden (last two months) increase in talk of bullies and lack of interest in going to school.  Oddly enough, yesterday Toby brought home a merit certificate for possibly the first time this year.  Coincidence?  The cynic in me says not.  Anyhow, let's see what he says and where we go from there once we know.

Lovely day here today - I do think rain is expected this evening though.  But the ride down the hill was unbelievably good.  I think I hit an all time maximum speed as I pedalled like fury down the fast bit.  Of course, it wouldn't be over the speed limit.  But possibly my bike computer speedo read  54 km/h.  Wooooooo!

Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with wild weather, camping, tramping and Zealandia

Hi,

Phew - I'm at work and can take a breath from the hectic pace of the weekend.  Despite the weather straight out of winter we were out and about all weekend.  Let's see?  How did it go again?  The blur that it was...

Friday night we rode home together (ahhhhhh...) and collected wee Toby and packed the car ready for camping at Camp Woburn (Sally and Andrew's backyard).  We saw quite a few of their photos and pitched the tent in the backyard and slept like logs.  We never got around to mowing their lawn the whole time we were away (in our defense, only the last week was dry; we ran around their lawn at one stage and splashed our way through the grass) so the ground was so soft - it was heavenly.

Saturday morning Mike walked to the market with Sally and I got yummy pain-au-chocolate for breakfast.  How lucky am I?  Then off to swimming for the first lesson of the term.  Toby is now in the big pool!  Same class but they have moved them.  Good move I say.  We're going to try and work on his swimming this term with extra swimming afterwards at H2OXtreme.  We'll see how that goes.

Then home for a quick lunch and then off to Makara Beach to brave the winds for a day tramp with the tramping club.  It took us from 1.45pm to 5.30pm but the kids were great.  Three boys all about 7 years old and Toby loved having his best friend Jack there.  Jack has changed schools and Toby misses him a lot.  Turns out it was Jack's mother's birthday on Sunday but they had no babysitter sorted.  So we asked if Jack would like to sleepover with Toby and his parents could go out.  Toby had a ball!  Jack was so polite.  Mike cooked tea (spag bol) and after his first taste, Jack declared "This is delicious" and promptly devoured the huge bowl.  There were other outbursts of delight at Mike's cooking at Jack slurped through the bowl.  Jack can come to our house for a sleepover any time!

We're going to sort out trick or treating with Jack and Toby.  So I have to plan that.

Sunday was a bit more leisurely.  Jack's dad came to collect Jack quite early (and he brought around lovely purple tulips as a thank you - Mum, you will like them in our vase!) and we got ready for Zealandia.  The weather was atrocious.  Mike dropped us at the door and parked the car and as we waited fro him, there was a multitude of fathers doing the same thing.  We saw the exhibition and headed back home rather than getting more wet wandering around the valley.  Toby loved the animatronic moa.

Sunday afternoon passed with us watching Footloose as Toby has a talent quest on Tuesday and wants to dance to Footloose.  Ok.

Toby is also doing 2 weeks of chores to earn a plastic bag science kit toy from us.  He made us lunch on Sunday and said he'll make his own lunches too (I forgot today and made their lunches - but I'll try and remember tomorrow).  I might be eating a lot of toast over the next fortnight.

This morning was lovely until 7am and lovely after 8am.  But in the middle, I was riding to work and got caught in heavy, cold raindrops with a strong nor'wester.  Brrrr.  I dropped off a letter for Jack to their letterbox (from Toby) and had a good ride in as it started to clear.

Keas tonight - and ten Keas for investing!  Wow!  It's going to be busy!

Have a great week!
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with no Gin Wigmore but a CRM party

Hi,

Yes - the concert we were supposed to attend last night was cancelled (Gin had a sore throat).  So we cancelled our babysitter.  Then we remembered we had a work party on after work, so we re-instated our babysitter.  Heheheh.

The party was good fun - caught up with the fellow project people in the pub and got lots of food.  Yum.

I hope the concert is re-scheduled for soon and we can make the new date.

Turns out our babysitter couldn't make Thursday night, so Hannah's mother babysat Toby instead.  As I came down the stairs to his room I could hear "Hannah" talking to Toby, but when I went in, I saw Lesley there.  They had normal family logistics for the evening, so Toby had a ball driving all over Wellington, picking up various family members and generally being one of the family for the evening.  And got to play with Chelsea and Brennan and eat pizza.  I think he'll be keen on that every night!  Thanks!

And today is wet and drizzly.  But should clear by the evening - when I ride home.

Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with karate and yummy dinner

Hi,

Toby went to karate for the first time this term (after his holidays).  He's got a new Gi because his old one is getting very small on him (you have to jam it over his head!).  Mike washed everything and next week he'll be wearing his new Gi!

Ma and Da came over for the traditional Wednesday night dinner.  Yummy pie (with mash as good as it gets).  It was very nice.  Then Mike went to tramping club, Mum and Dad went home and Toby went to bed.  I watched more t-box programmes - I am so pleased with this.  I can record Time Team whenever it is on, so when I want to watch TV, it is up.

We're going out tonight.  But not to see Gin Wigmore as intended.  She has cancelled the concert.  But we're off to an event for work for a few hours anyway.  So Toby is getting babysat by Hannah.  Hell Pizza is on the menu.  We should be home early though.

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Sally and Andrew and a good ride home

Hi,

What a gorgeous morning we have this morning.  An ideal day - although I can still feel the southerly is in effect.  I had Toby drop-off duty so we had a good leisurely morning and I managed to tidy before we left for school.  It was a good chatty walk in and then I hopped on my bike and blatted down the hill.  I beat a scooter down.  Heheheheh.  I also wore my sunglasses - that's how nice it is.

Last night was pleasant.  We played Mathletics for a while and then had dinner.  Tuesdays are quite relaxed in the Gilbert household.

Yesterday I collected Sally and Andrew from Wellington airport.  Mike drove into work in the Mighty Red Galant and so it was easy to colelct them.  They dropped me at work on their way home.  They look very happy and relaxed.  Sleepy almost.  Heheheheh.  They had been travelling since Sunday to get here.  Phew!  I can't wait to catch up with them.

Ok.  Time to start in earnest!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Can't think in connected paragraphs anymore

... I've spent too much time on Facebook, so now I communicate in short, random sentences.  Like:

• RIP Rushes Restaurant, Pauatahanui - it's gone broke and is closed. A few years back, used to be a fantastic little spot when you wanted to splurge after a nice drive over the hill. But the reviews tell its sad decline.
• Sunny and warm on Friday. Gales and showers Friday night. Suny and breezy on Saturday. Changeable on Sunday. Hail and biting southerlies on Monday. Crisp and nice on Tuesday.  Welcome to Wellington in the spring!
• Was a bit late this morning, because Toby just wouldn't get off the computer.  Which I'd normally be grumpy about - but he was trying out mathletics.co.nz and didn't want to stop.
• Drove Sally's Mighty Red Galant in so collect them from the airport.  Gee, it's an old girl.  It's very exciting to drive now... as in, 'will I be able to brake in time??' exciting.

Well, that's my attention span done.  What was I talking about again?

The Monday with freezing rain and hail - brrrrrr

Hi,

I am so happy I took the bus in yesterday as it was absolutely freezing all day.  I got hailed on collecting Toby for Keas at the other end of the day too. 

Keas was great fun last night.  We had 14 Keas and that included 4 girls.  A good mix.  We were supposed to learn about Keas but we'd done that a while back.  So we played a version of "Robbing the nest" called "Steal the shiny objects from the car".  We were Keas afrer all.  The kids had a ball.  Toby's team won a round and that made him extraordinarily happy.  Then we played "Pin the beak on the Kea" and that was fun too.

Next week is investiture week and we're planning on doing 10 of the children!  Woo hoo!

Tonight is homework night.  Mind you, I don't think Toby has any just yet for this term.  But we have bought a Mathletics membership for him and will do that in earnest tonight.  http://www.mathletics.co.nz/  I have watched the Sampson children doing this and it looks like a fun way to help with Maths.  We'll see how Toby gets on with it.  He likes working on the computer so it might be very good.

That's about all.  I hope you have a great day!  Sally and Andrew are due back at around lunchtime today.  Cool!

Love,
Angela

The weekend where we did nothing - how nice for a change!

Hi,

My goodness, this is a wintry blast this morning.  I lay in bed listening to the howling wind lash raindrops against the house and decided on the bus.  When I got up, it sort of looked ok.  So I got into my bike gear.  Then 30 minutes later a hailstorm came in from the south pelting us with little chips of ice and I scurried back into my work clothes and settled on the bus.  Lucky too as it also hailed on the way in and I would  have been riding then still.  My feet were little blocks of ice on the bus.  Brrrrr.

Keas tonight - first one back for the term.  Oooooo.

The weekend was lazy.  We did next to nothing.  The main computer has blown up and Mike took it apart on Saturday and we figured out we need a new power supply for it.  Fingers crossed that works.  We also got a new cable box called t-box that lets us record what we want onto its hard drive.  It's so good because we don't like to watch much television, but when we do, we like to watch specific things.  I have Time Team recording everywhere.  It's superb!  We also have a lot of Cartoon Network.  Oh well.

Sunday we had good intentions of riding in a bike race in Waikanae.  But the Gilberts couldn't get out of bed early enough to be in Waikanae by 8.45am.  The bed had us in a steel grip!  So we did very little before a flurry of activity in the afternoon.  Afternoon tea at the James' house with other friends arriving too.  Then dinner at the Bichans where Toby fell inexplicably ill with a bit of puke in a convenient (phew!) plastic bag on the way there in the car.  He had some toast and seemed to perk up.  He tells us it's because of the Halloween lollies he was looking at (just looking, not eating).  The lollies were eyeballs, fingers and skulls.  Heheheheh.  Better get rid of them then.

Hope your weekend was fun!
Back to normal routine now after Mum and Dad looked after Toby for most of the school holidays!  Let's see how Toby copes with the first few days of normality.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday that was fun

Hi,

This morning is gorgeous.  Mike is off to Auckland for work and back tomorrow night.  I have tomorrow off and can only hope for nice weather like today!

The kids have had loads of fun and Karen comes at midnight tonight to collect them and whisk them away early on Saturday morning.  Toby is going to be very sad.

We went to dinner last night to Christine and John's house.  Risotto.  Yum!  Wee Tom slept the whole time we were there.  Had a pleasant time chatting away (I avoided the suggestion to play cards quite deftly).

Busy at work again today. 

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with lovely weather and a great bike ride home

Hi,

Yesterday was so lovely - and the ride home with Mike was late enough (about 6.15pm) to avoid any traffic.  It was calm and still and I got up the hill just fine.  And Mike changed my tyres when we got home to my road slick hybrids so I'll go even faster next time.  We spoke to Mike's parents for a bit (Ron was selling his Velocette motorcycles at an online auction so we watched that) - they are fine.

The kids may have gone to Staglands in Upper Hutt yesterday.  I spoke to Dad early on and that was the plan.  I think they would have loved it.

Mike and I walked in again this morning.  It takes almost exactly 55 minutes.  And about 60 minutes walking back home.  Not too bad.

Ok.  Time to get stuck in - and I need a cup of tea.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with lovely weather, dinner out and a Tuesday morning with no technician

Hi,

What another gorgeous day.  It's very odd though as I was waiting for a technician to arrive between 8.30am and 9.30am.  At the end of that time I asked Mike to see if there was a problem.  After 40 minutes on hold, Mike discovered the technicians had lost all 30 scheduled jobs for today and they weren't coming.

We're booked in for Saturday morning.

Mike took me out to dinner last night - to Mungavin Blues in Porirua.  It was ok.  Nothing sensational although Mike loved his dessert.

And that's about it.  Rode in for the first time in ages today.  It was quieter at 11am compared to even 7am!  Nice ride.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with lovely weather, water fun and Yum Cha

Hi,

What a lovely run of weather we're having.  All for a nice spring feel.  This morning Mike and I walked in with a still, calm morning, with the sun shining.  I wore sunglasses!  Honest!

Sunday was great fun.  We went to Yum Cha and Abby had stand by sandwiches just in case she didn't like the food.  But she ate well (maybe she likes Toby's kids chopsticks) and the sandwiches were unnecessary.  We met Christine and John and Tom there as well.  Very nice.

Then home to get the kids togs (they were at Mum and Dad's place) and off to H2OXtreme in Upper Hutt for some water fun.  Abby loved the water slides.  One was pitch black inside and she always went down on my lap in that one (mainly because I asked her to) but she went down the other one by herself many times, with Tyler sometimes and with Toby a few times.  We both steered clear of the almost vertical yellow fast slide.  Yuck!  Mike and I did have a comms mix up though.  I thought he was going to collect Tom and he thought it was me.  So when I got there and met Mike and William (Toby's friend from his class), I said "Where's Tom?" at about the same time as Mike said it to me.  Oops.  But Christine came and brought him.  A good thing too as it would have been hard looking after Tom and Abby (they are fulltime in the pool) and William, Toby and Tyler who like to run around like mad things.  Phew!

Saturday we won't discuss much.  The AFL Grand Final was a disappointment.  Can't see St Kilda bouncing back after that dismal performance to get into another Grand Final next year.  Woeful.

I hope Mum and Dad have fun with the kids today.  They are enjoying each other's company still.  Now, if only Tyler can get Toby away from his DS Lite for a few hours today...

Anyhow - time to get stuck in. 

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with table tennis and migraines - nice!

Hi,

The rain has stopped just in time for Dad's birthday!  Happy birthday, Dad.  He has the day off and the kids are off to Skids (school holiday programme) for the day.  They have a movie excursion so I hope they have a lot of fun.

I'm going to collect them from Skids at about 5.30pm.  I'm looking forward to some Friday night fun.

Yesterday was so wet - it was amazing.  There were floods and slips everywhere.  Chaos ruled the world.

I went to table tennis last night for the first time in ages.  My cold is still there in some form or other, but I played ok anyway.  It was the last night of the season.  A big night - and they all missed Mum.

Mike is better after his migraine yesterday.  He'd have to be - it was pretty bad.  But he came back to work in the afternoon.

We walked into work this morning once more.  It was a nice morning for it and I felt better after the break from walking yesterday.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday where I forgot the title

Hi,

The weather has come over all yuck.  The lashing rain meant we took the bus this morning.  I think the walk would have been good though.

I think the kids went to a video game place yesterday from the text I got from Mum.  I hope they all had a good time.  Not too sure what is on the cards for today.  But tomorrow it is a Skids school holiday programme day.  They are all going to the movies.

Last night we went ten pin bowling and I hit 100 on my second game.  Yay!  I got the trophy for highest ladies score.  There were only two of us and the other woman was not having a good day at the lanes.  She was on 3 for a good 5 or 6 frames in one of the games.  Gutter ball was the common theme.  So, I won by default really.

Then we went to the tramping club meeting and it was most excellent.  A chat by a physicist here at Vic Uni about the Earth's magnetic field.  I loved it!  Learned stuff and now I want to buy her book.  Cool!

Then home to sleep.  Mike woke this morning well rested but discovered he probably had a migraine in his sleep last night.  Apparently he dreamed he had a migraine and now his head hurts like he did have one.  Very odd.  Hope he feels better soon.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with a sore body and a nice tea

Hi,

It's a wee bit drizzly this morning but Mike and I walked in once more.  However, my body is complaining quite a bit about it.  So I think we'll ride in tomorrow to give my body a chance to recover.  Ouch!

Last night we walked home via Thorndon New World so my backpack had groceries in it.  Mike cooked up a great tea and by then it was time for bed.

I never heard from Mum and Dad yesterday - they were out when I rang earlier in the day.  I hope they all had a good time.

Tonight after work we're going ten-pin bowling (hmmmmm) and then to a great talk at the tramping club from a physicist discussing the Earth's magnetism.  Cool!

Then I have to do some homework for work - I am starting to study IT architecture and our new lunchtime training session is Thursdays.  Ooooo.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with no AFL, no Kittos, no Toby and lots of sleep

Hi,

What a gorgeous day it was yesterday.  We walked home through the forest above Thorndon and it was very nice.  We've decided to try and walk every day as it is so different to riding our bikes.  It takes longer but we go to slightly different places.  Yesterday we found tiny cottages in lanes behind Tinakori Road that we had never seen.  Some must only have one bedroom as they are so small.  Very cute though.

Toby had an exciting day with Mum, Dad, Tyler and Abby.  The pool was the highlight but I also can't wait to see Tyler's haircut.  They got to head out to Queensgate for lunch too.  I bet the kids enjoyed that.

We walked in again this morning.  Today is overcast but it is expected to improve by midday.  We shall see.

Without Toby our lives are not quite as action-packed.  So that's about all I have to say.

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with tulips, AFL Grand Final, Kittos and no sleep

Hi,

Mike tells me I can call my daily blog something that summarises what I say.  Most times I have no idea what I say, so I'll complete the title at the end, when I've said something...

The weekend was great fun.  I had Friday off because Karen arrived for a two day visit to drop Tyler and Abby off for some school holiday fun with Toby.  It was great.  I took them to the south coast of Wellington, sheltered from the strong northerly.  They loved the cafe and rockpools - I went to The Bach Cafe with them.  When I spotted a big starfish in a rockpool, Tyler and Abby were so pleased.

We hurtled to get Toby from school and he had a ball playing with his cousins.

Friday evening I collected Mike and Josh from work and we drove to Waikanae to visit the Tabors.  Jackie was over and we ate a great meal and chatted away.  Eventually it got so late we had to leave.  The kids slept in the lounge at our house and got a reasonable sleep in.

Saturday was AFL Grand Final Day.  I decided to take Mum to see the tulips in the Botanic Gardens - finally!  The day was lovely - sunny.  The kids played in the park as well.  Very pleasant.  Then home for the AFL match.  Go the Saints.  Mike took Karen to the pub in town to watch it.  I watched it at home - shouting at the television in the fourth quarter when St Kilda finally started playing.  When they got their nose in front I leapt off my seat.  Apparently Dad, Mike and Karen were leaping at the pub too.  Turned out it was a draw!  Can you believe that?  Bother it!  Same time next week for a repeat.

Sunday I got up early (was supposed to be 3.30am, but I changed my cellphone clock forward an hour and set the alarm for 3.30.  But my phone is too smart and switched to daylight savings time at 2am, making my clock now 3am.  So at the real 2.30am, my alarm went off saying it was 3.30am) and dropped Karen off at the airport.  I was still in my pyjamas, but with jeans and a jersey on top.  Glad I never broke down or anything.

Sunday morning (too early) we took the kids and Chelsea to Junglerama.  They loved it.  Then off to Maccas for lunch and Te Papa to see the Dunny exhibition.  Toby was so happy looking at them all.  He has quite a few of them and was chuffed to spot some on display.  The colossal squid was a huge hit - as was the fake cave system outside.

Home for more visitors - Karen W came around with the kids and my Tupperware order and there were 7 kids running around.  Great fun!  Tea time and then we dropped the kids off at Mum and Dad's place for the week. 

Have a marvellous week!
Love,
Angela