Hi,
Not too shabby a morning - I think it rained overnight at some stage as the roads were drying out. But I was on the bus, so I can't be too sure. my bike affords me a much better look at the roads. Mike and Toby collected me from town last night after my meeting. Toby loves picking me up from this venue because of the excellent water feature outside the building. He wanted to strip off and swim in it last night! he had to make do with chasing an apple juice bottle (which, in his imagination was a new Pokemon he was training) through the eddies and currents. There are stepping stones (never designed for stepping, just looking at) and Toby leaps from platform to platform. He leaned down on a part with water running over it and got quite wet. Mike and I were enjoying the spectacle.
Mike is off to see a friend recently returned from 6 months in India tonight. I'm off to take Toby to tennis and make sure he's ready for his sleepover at William's place. Then, if the Lewises are still keen on a Gilbert/Lewis Friday night takeaway, I'll pop over there to say hello.
This weekend holds lots in store. Saturday swimming for Toby (with Mike taking him), I have a facial with Ma at the same time, then home to pack for camping Saturday night in Waikanae and the trip out to Kapiti Island on Sunday. Then, Sunday night we have friends arriving from Melbourne.
So, it's all on this weekend!
Have a great weekend whatever you get up to!
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Good morning on Thurs, Feb 25
Hi,
Mike and I were rudely awoken at 4.44am by a howling gale driving rain into our wide-open window. But I must admit, that I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Mike apparently got up and closed the window but I was back into deep sleep by then!
Mike took the bus in as the wind was driving the rain against our window then too. But by 8.15am when I left with wee Toby (and his scooter) it was quite nice. The roads were wet and Toby was moaning (it's cold, it's wet, I'm sick, I want to watch TV all day - the last sentence being the crux of the matter) but it was fining up nicely. Toby was ok by the time we got to school - speeding there on his scooter.
I rode in tentatively, being the first time riding, with cleats, in the rain! Oooooo. But it all went well. I'm looking forward to the ride home up the hill after my meeting tonight. I expect the cleats to make it a wee bit easier.
Last night I rode to karate - that route is a lot easier than my usual route so it wasn't a good test of my uphill technique with the new pedals. And the evening was so warm. I was melting by the time I sat down at the back of the hall to watch Toby perform. Mike was there after seeing Toby's teacher for the parent-teacher interview and collecting wee Toby from Skids after tennis.
The interview went well. Apparently everything is "very nice". Mike thinks we need to check the curriculum and make sure Toby hits the milestones. I think we might check into Mathletics - the Sampson children seem to enjoy it. It costs money - a subscription - but it seems like a good additional homework exercise.
My cup of tea just flew down - it was absolutely scrumptious.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Mike and I were rudely awoken at 4.44am by a howling gale driving rain into our wide-open window. But I must admit, that I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Mike apparently got up and closed the window but I was back into deep sleep by then!
Mike took the bus in as the wind was driving the rain against our window then too. But by 8.15am when I left with wee Toby (and his scooter) it was quite nice. The roads were wet and Toby was moaning (it's cold, it's wet, I'm sick, I want to watch TV all day - the last sentence being the crux of the matter) but it was fining up nicely. Toby was ok by the time we got to school - speeding there on his scooter.
I rode in tentatively, being the first time riding, with cleats, in the rain! Oooooo. But it all went well. I'm looking forward to the ride home up the hill after my meeting tonight. I expect the cleats to make it a wee bit easier.
Last night I rode to karate - that route is a lot easier than my usual route so it wasn't a good test of my uphill technique with the new pedals. And the evening was so warm. I was melting by the time I sat down at the back of the hall to watch Toby perform. Mike was there after seeing Toby's teacher for the parent-teacher interview and collecting wee Toby from Skids after tennis.
The interview went well. Apparently everything is "very nice". Mike thinks we need to check the curriculum and make sure Toby hits the milestones. I think we might check into Mathletics - the Sampson children seem to enjoy it. It costs money - a subscription - but it seems like a good additional homework exercise.
My cup of tea just flew down - it was absolutely scrumptious.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Good morning on Wed, Feb 24
Hi,
Well, I am writing this from another PC at work of mine (I use Virtual Machines - my powerful host machine has something like 5 different environments for me to develop in - this is just one of them. But not the usual one...) because I have broken my one true machine. Stupid webcam. It won't install on my VM. So, as usual, a little bit of knowldege is dangerous and I have been fiddling as I suspect my USB port is not working correctly in the VM.
I have since tried to rollback to a previous version of my normal machine and I think it might have worked. Fingers crossed I have averted disaster. I will abstain from even touching the webcam from now on. Someone else more gifted than me can try it out.
We missed the parent teacher interview last night. The car was in town for its WoF and the traffic snarled up and there was no hope of getting there on time. So Mike has re-arranged the schedule after letting them know. I think Mike is making sure of it by taking a half day this afternoon. Mike has karate duty today and I think he will see Toby's teacher as well.
We are gearing up for overseas visitors in March starting on the first weekend. Toby and I will leave Thursday March 4th with our friends for Napier and Mike will follow on Friday. We'll hurtle around to Taupo, squash in the Tongariro Crossing (if the weather is good) and back home. Then, come the weekend aound March 20, we'll do the same again with other friends from Australia.
Inbetween Mike is leading tramps and we have Kea sleepovers and all sorts of excitement.
Mum went for a huge walk yesterday with Dad and I think they'll do the same again today. Time to get Mum into shape and I think she should look for a job. They might be staying here a little longer now, so I think a job should keep her out of mischief and out of the house. Good plan!
Have a marvellous day. I have to go and see what has happened to my other PC.
Love,
Angela
Well, I am writing this from another PC at work of mine (I use Virtual Machines - my powerful host machine has something like 5 different environments for me to develop in - this is just one of them. But not the usual one...) because I have broken my one true machine. Stupid webcam. It won't install on my VM. So, as usual, a little bit of knowldege is dangerous and I have been fiddling as I suspect my USB port is not working correctly in the VM.
I have since tried to rollback to a previous version of my normal machine and I think it might have worked. Fingers crossed I have averted disaster. I will abstain from even touching the webcam from now on. Someone else more gifted than me can try it out.
We missed the parent teacher interview last night. The car was in town for its WoF and the traffic snarled up and there was no hope of getting there on time. So Mike has re-arranged the schedule after letting them know. I think Mike is making sure of it by taking a half day this afternoon. Mike has karate duty today and I think he will see Toby's teacher as well.
We are gearing up for overseas visitors in March starting on the first weekend. Toby and I will leave Thursday March 4th with our friends for Napier and Mike will follow on Friday. We'll hurtle around to Taupo, squash in the Tongariro Crossing (if the weather is good) and back home. Then, come the weekend aound March 20, we'll do the same again with other friends from Australia.
Inbetween Mike is leading tramps and we have Kea sleepovers and all sorts of excitement.
Mum went for a huge walk yesterday with Dad and I think they'll do the same again today. Time to get Mum into shape and I think she should look for a job. They might be staying here a little longer now, so I think a job should keep her out of mischief and out of the house. Good plan!
Have a marvellous day. I have to go and see what has happened to my other PC.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Good morning on Tues, Feb 23
Hi,
And the month of February ticks away - I swear January and February are the fastest months of the year. Wasn't it just Christmas a few weeks ago? My birthday seems to come in a rush after the hectic summer holidays and now I stare at the barren 10 months of the year ahead. I wonder if I could put about a rumour that I was actually born in May or June?
Anyhow - one of my most excellent birthday presents from Mike was a set of shoes, cleats and new pedals for my bike. Last night Mike put on my new tyres (they have tread unlike the old tyres Mike took off), and my new pedals. He held the bike while I climbed on and practised trying to put my feet on the pedals. It wasn't very successful. I think I scared myself now that I was facing the prospect of using the cleats the very next morning on the ride in.
So, this morning, I had to prepare myself mentally for the new pedal system and face the fact that I was unable to clip in easily. Toby slept in until 7.45am and then scoffed 3 Weetbix and we hurtled out the door with scooter and bike. It all went very well. We were early for school - the scooter makes Toby very fast. I got a kiss (well, sort of - Toby licked me as I leaned in to get the schmoochy kiss) and I waved goodbye to him. Then I tentatively wheeled my bike to the road, and clipped in (eventually) my right foot.
Then I was off, and oddly, my left foot clipped in almost immediately. I kept it in all the way to the lights at Tinakori Road and managed to clip it back in again. I did it quite a few times on the way in. It took a few goes once or twice but overall I was happy. I was pulling my foot out very early on approaches to intersections and lights. And I was a bit chicken-like about it all. Booock, booock, boooock. (That's a chicken noise).
By the way, Toby's anal control-freak mother made his entire lunch today. As Roz pointed out, I saved at least $2 worth of Gladwrap with that move. But Toby slept in and I thought it was better he get a little lie in than make his lunch. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Tuesdays are now homework night. It's one of our free nights and Toby has three days to do his Monday homework this year. So, a slightly new routine. Makes it easier as Monday nights are Kea nights.
Which, by the way, went rather well. I rushed home with the car after work and collected Toby and his bike. We picked up Chelsea and her bike and drove to the Scout Hall. Wally was delayed at work so we got stuck into riding around. Good fun. Ryan turned up and we all had a ball. We drew pictures of the bike of our dreams. Wally and I reminesced about chopper bikes (with yellow, sparkly banana seat, flag, t-bar gear shifter and expensive price tag that meant Wally and I never owned one) while Toby's bike seemed to have many missiles and lasers. Chelsea's bike was a meticulous drawing where a bike builder could have used it as a plan. And Ryan's bike was cool!
That's about it. Busy. But all good.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
And the month of February ticks away - I swear January and February are the fastest months of the year. Wasn't it just Christmas a few weeks ago? My birthday seems to come in a rush after the hectic summer holidays and now I stare at the barren 10 months of the year ahead. I wonder if I could put about a rumour that I was actually born in May or June?
Anyhow - one of my most excellent birthday presents from Mike was a set of shoes, cleats and new pedals for my bike. Last night Mike put on my new tyres (they have tread unlike the old tyres Mike took off), and my new pedals. He held the bike while I climbed on and practised trying to put my feet on the pedals. It wasn't very successful. I think I scared myself now that I was facing the prospect of using the cleats the very next morning on the ride in.
So, this morning, I had to prepare myself mentally for the new pedal system and face the fact that I was unable to clip in easily. Toby slept in until 7.45am and then scoffed 3 Weetbix and we hurtled out the door with scooter and bike. It all went very well. We were early for school - the scooter makes Toby very fast. I got a kiss (well, sort of - Toby licked me as I leaned in to get the schmoochy kiss) and I waved goodbye to him. Then I tentatively wheeled my bike to the road, and clipped in (eventually) my right foot.
Then I was off, and oddly, my left foot clipped in almost immediately. I kept it in all the way to the lights at Tinakori Road and managed to clip it back in again. I did it quite a few times on the way in. It took a few goes once or twice but overall I was happy. I was pulling my foot out very early on approaches to intersections and lights. And I was a bit chicken-like about it all. Booock, booock, boooock. (That's a chicken noise).
By the way, Toby's anal control-freak mother made his entire lunch today. As Roz pointed out, I saved at least $2 worth of Gladwrap with that move. But Toby slept in and I thought it was better he get a little lie in than make his lunch. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Tuesdays are now homework night. It's one of our free nights and Toby has three days to do his Monday homework this year. So, a slightly new routine. Makes it easier as Monday nights are Kea nights.
Which, by the way, went rather well. I rushed home with the car after work and collected Toby and his bike. We picked up Chelsea and her bike and drove to the Scout Hall. Wally was delayed at work so we got stuck into riding around. Good fun. Ryan turned up and we all had a ball. We drew pictures of the bike of our dreams. Wally and I reminesced about chopper bikes (with yellow, sparkly banana seat, flag, t-bar gear shifter and expensive price tag that meant Wally and I never owned one) while Toby's bike seemed to have many missiles and lasers. Chelsea's bike was a meticulous drawing where a bike builder could have used it as a plan. And Ryan's bike was cool!
That's about it. Busy. But all good.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 22, 2010
Making lunches
I've put my foot down and said that both Toby and I will make our own lunches. Angela has very kindly been making our lunches for us, but I don't think it's good for me, and I don't think it's good for Toby. It's taken a while, because Toby has been going in with his Granddad for most of the last week, and Angela hasn't quite believed me so I've ended up with two lunches on more than one day. But today was the first day where I've been taking Toby to school, and have had control over his lunch.
Toby really enjoyed it. I really only meant that he'd make his sandwiches, but Angela left everything out for his morning and afternoon snacks too. So we started with sandwiches, and after mulling it over and thinking about marmite, no, honey, no, a huge 4-slice club sandwich with OODLES of honey - Toby decided to make himself a ham and cheese sandwich, which he hasn't had for ages. So he filled his sandwich and then got the gladwrap and cut a generous piece of clingfilm to wrap it in.
Now it was time for sorting snacks, and the first I knew about this was when Toby found the mallowpuffs ('Royales' in Australian English) and promptly stuffed one in his mouth. Why were these out, I wondered? Aha, Toby's lunch box was completely empty. So we got a mallowpuff and again, Toby cut a generous piece of gladwrap for it. Then he got a yakult and insisted on wrapping it with the mallowpuff - 'to keep it cool', you see. Then we found an apricot - and wrapped it in Gladwrap - and some apple - and wrapped it in gladwrap - and some mango slices - wrapped up in gladwrap. I think we weren't supposed to take everything that was on offer, but oh well.
Just as we were just about to go, Toby found another apple and I found him attempting to crush it and make apple juice. So I chopped it up for him and told him he'd need to eat it on the way. But we decided it may's well go into his lunch box as well. I put it into a ziplock bag, but guess what? Toby got another bit of gladwrap and wrapped up the plastic bag. 'Now we know it's sealed', he said.
So lunch prep is definitely going to be a highlight of our mornings from now on. I'm going to have to be organised enough to get us off on time!!
Mike and Toby on Saturday
Toby and I have had a good time over the last 3 days. What with one thing or another, we ended up spending a lot of time together.
It all started on Saturday when as Angela said, the Corolla refused to start, even after we shoved it out of the garage and ran it down the hill. You might remember that this is not too unusual that our car refuses to start! Someone in our family likes to be able to see as they're getting out of the car, and forgets about this after they're out. So the interior light and one of the map lights had been on for two days. Thank goodness for the Automobile Association.
But this meant that we had to go to plan B, which was the MX-5, and that meant that somebody had to stay at home and watch winter Olympics (say). I put my hand up and told Angela to go back down and relax. There was an action packed day planned, all out in the Hutt, so we wouldn't be back for hours.
First up was swimming, and because of our fun and games with the cars, we were late. But we got there right on time, in spite of the blustery conditions on the way that left Toby huddling on the seat with his hands over his eyes, and even if I did have to park on some yellow lines and come back and move the car again once Toby was settled.
We like Toby's new swimming class. He's just up to a new class this term. He gets a good 10 metre or so length to swim, instead of a weirdly shaped area that didn't really let him get more than 2-3 strokes in. He has to learn to breathe. And he's got a Dragon Lady teacher who doesn't take any rubbish from anyone. All good stuff.
Toby did pretty well. He got told off a couple of times - all about how he goofs off and doesn't concentrate when the teacher's explaining what to do. And he finds the breathing thing hard - it's the first time he's had to learn new swimming stuff for ages. But he did very well and he enjoys it too I think. I told him that his teacher this term is like a sensei, not a swimming teacher. And we'll practice the breathing thing on the sofa this week.
Next on our busy itinerary was present buying. Toby had two birthday parties in the weekend, and now was the time to stock up on loot for them.
Usually this means that one us parents goes and buys a gift and Toby wraps it and writes a card. But not this time. Toby knew what he wanted and where he wanted to go. No Warehouse trip for him. Off we went to Farmers, where the best Gogo's Crazy Bones are. And I didn't get much of a say in the present buying. Charlie got a soft-toy R2D2 and a Gogo's Crazy Bones collectors bag. Ryan got a set of little Transformers toys. Neither present was what I would have picked - but Toby was not to be dissuaded. He knew what they would want. And then he picked out the cards and the wrapping paper - again, nothing like what I would have chosen - and we were done.
By this time it was lunchtime, and if Toby and his Dad are out together, then that means McDonalds. Queensgate has two food courts - the nice one, with Nando's, Gloria Jeans and suchlike - and the pleb one. Guess where McDonalds was. I took the opportunity to have something not-McDonalds, and that was a mistake. The best I can say about my soggy noodles and chewy sweet-n-sour was that I didn't get sick. But Toby was very happy, and I even remembered to order his cheeseburger with no onions (but he still had to pick out the Gherkins).
Now we had just enough time to hit the Warehouse for sellotape and scissors, and wrap up Charlie's present in the car. Then off to the Lower Hutt laser strike we hurtled. We got there right on time, I dropped off Toby, and then headed back to Sally and Andrew's for coffee.
All too soon it was time to get Toby again, and back to laser strike I went. Toby had had a ball - right up til the end when he'd got into fisticuffs with another boy who was defending his base very enthusiastically. He came right pretty soon though, and I think we'll be going back to laser strike.
Finally it was time to head home - with the roof up this time, in spite of the heat - and to get the Corolla running again and Toby off for yet another appointment - a sleep-over with the Sampsons. Whew! What an action packed day. Toby has more on than we do!
Good morning on Mon, Feb 22 (this time)
Hi,
Sorry - the website did its own thing this morning. Not sure why.
But - the weekend was good fun. Friday night was so lovely we went to tennis and ended up looking after William and Edwin while Louise went out for work. Toby was happy to have the two boys come home with us afterwards and luckily Vivienne and Benjamin weren't put off by the sudden influx of boys and still came around to kick off the inaugural Gilbert/Lewis Friday night takeaway extravaganza. Yummy fish 'n' chips from our local chippy.
Saturday morning was time for swimming and Mike got into the Corolla and... Nothing. Battery flat as a tack. We tried to crash start it down the hill, but nothing happened. So Mike bundled Toby into the MX-5 and headed off for quite a few hours. Swimming, followed by present shopping and lunch, then Laser Strike for a birthday party at 1.30pm. I did some laundry and watched lots of Winter Olympics.
When Mike and Toby got home around 4pm, we got the car fixed and dropped Toby off at the Sampsons for a sleepover and went to dinner with Mum and Dad. We tried Kosmos - a Greek Taverna in Mt Vic. It was good, but average in the food department. Melbourne does Greek way better than Wellington. We gate crashed a wedding party on there, so we listened to details of this couple's life all evening. Mum loved it!
Home to bed (well, we watched a bit of TV) and we slept in without Toby to wake us early. We leapt out of bed and rushed to collect Toby from the Sampsons as he had an early birthday party to attend (Ryan's one at Junglerama). Toby loved it! He has never got tired of Junglerama. Ryan had a great lamington train cake. Toby stayed after everyone left and ate lunch and played.
We then went home to get bikes and picked up some younger Sampsons and went bike riding around Karori Park. Mum came and enjoyed the cafe there too. It was a lot of fun. Mike rode Wally's bike there and back so we had an adult on a bike. But it wasn't needed really. The kids were all good.
Then home to make tea and crash into bed. Another week begins.
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
Sorry - the website did its own thing this morning. Not sure why.
But - the weekend was good fun. Friday night was so lovely we went to tennis and ended up looking after William and Edwin while Louise went out for work. Toby was happy to have the two boys come home with us afterwards and luckily Vivienne and Benjamin weren't put off by the sudden influx of boys and still came around to kick off the inaugural Gilbert/Lewis Friday night takeaway extravaganza. Yummy fish 'n' chips from our local chippy.
Saturday morning was time for swimming and Mike got into the Corolla and... Nothing. Battery flat as a tack. We tried to crash start it down the hill, but nothing happened. So Mike bundled Toby into the MX-5 and headed off for quite a few hours. Swimming, followed by present shopping and lunch, then Laser Strike for a birthday party at 1.30pm. I did some laundry and watched lots of Winter Olympics.
When Mike and Toby got home around 4pm, we got the car fixed and dropped Toby off at the Sampsons for a sleepover and went to dinner with Mum and Dad. We tried Kosmos - a Greek Taverna in Mt Vic. It was good, but average in the food department. Melbourne does Greek way better than Wellington. We gate crashed a wedding party on there, so we listened to details of this couple's life all evening. Mum loved it!
Home to bed (well, we watched a bit of TV) and we slept in without Toby to wake us early. We leapt out of bed and rushed to collect Toby from the Sampsons as he had an early birthday party to attend (Ryan's one at Junglerama). Toby loved it! He has never got tired of Junglerama. Ryan had a great lamington train cake. Toby stayed after everyone left and ate lunch and played.
We then went home to get bikes and picked up some younger Sampsons and went bike riding around Karori Park. Mum came and enjoyed the cafe there too. It was a lot of fun. Mike rode Wally's bike there and back so we had an adult on a bike. But it wasn't needed really. The kids were all good.
Then home to make tea and crash into bed. Another week begins.
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 19, 2010
Good morning on Fri (hooray), Feb 19
Hi,
Happy birthday to Scotty for tomorrow! Yippee! Old man. Heheheheh.
Last night was lovely. We had work drinks with a vendor but Mike allowed me to go and he went home to feed Toby (Burger Wisconsin so Toby was very happy) and take him to the Sampsons for babysitting while Mike and I went out for a lovely dinner with Lesley and Wally to Boulcott Street Bistro. It was supposed to be Logan Brown, but they were booked out (most of us haven't been there yet). But Boulcott St Bistro is an old favourite and it didn't let us down.
Toby was up late as we didn't get to pick up him up until about 8.50pm last night. He went straight to sleep when he got home without any bother. He was up early too - say about 7am. So he must be feeling fine. He now has a Saturday night sleepover at the Sampsons.
Which reminds me, I think Ma and Dad want to take me out to dinner on Saturday night. We fancy the Greek place in Vivian St (I think it is Vivian St) near Cambridge and Kent Terrace. Anyone else like to come along?
Mike is no longer tramping this weekend. There was only one very late taker so Mike pulled the plug on it. Shame really, as the weather is going to be lovely. But Toby has a birthday party or two. One Saturday afternoon, and one Sunday morning. He'll be busy.
Swimming tomorrow morning. I might ask Ma if she wants to come.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Happy birthday to Scotty for tomorrow! Yippee! Old man. Heheheheh.
Last night was lovely. We had work drinks with a vendor but Mike allowed me to go and he went home to feed Toby (Burger Wisconsin so Toby was very happy) and take him to the Sampsons for babysitting while Mike and I went out for a lovely dinner with Lesley and Wally to Boulcott Street Bistro. It was supposed to be Logan Brown, but they were booked out (most of us haven't been there yet). But Boulcott St Bistro is an old favourite and it didn't let us down.
Toby was up late as we didn't get to pick up him up until about 8.50pm last night. He went straight to sleep when he got home without any bother. He was up early too - say about 7am. So he must be feeling fine. He now has a Saturday night sleepover at the Sampsons.
Which reminds me, I think Ma and Dad want to take me out to dinner on Saturday night. We fancy the Greek place in Vivian St (I think it is Vivian St) near Cambridge and Kent Terrace. Anyone else like to come along?
Mike is no longer tramping this weekend. There was only one very late taker so Mike pulled the plug on it. Shame really, as the weather is going to be lovely. But Toby has a birthday party or two. One Saturday afternoon, and one Sunday morning. He'll be busy.
Swimming tomorrow morning. I might ask Ma if she wants to come.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Good morning on Thurs, Feb 18
Hi,
Well, my birthday was very good. After work I collected Toby and we went to karate where as soon as they lined up Toby piped up and said "It's my Mummy's birthday today" so the sensei said "Happy birthday Mummy" and looked down at the back of the hall. So I put my hand up and the sensei (a woman for the first time) said I could come and join them. So I did. And it was one of the best karate lessons ever because we got to play with a weapon. We all got a go with a Jo Staff (same as a Bo Staff, but shorter) trying to donk the sensei on the head. Great fun!
Then we were off to Karori Park where Toby and I rode around twice. It's 1km around, so Toby did 2 kms and got up to 20 km/h on the last circuit. I'll have to take him there regularly. There is a tarsealed path all the way around (mostly flat) with an inner one of gravel. There is a wooden rail separating the two areas and it was wet (due to the high humidity - not rain!) and slippery. Toby rode over it early on and wobbled as he skidded but kept his balance. The next time though he went down. But he popped straight back on and kept riding. I think if I take him here two or three times a week, he'll be fine for the rail trail. We only have about 6 weeks left for training him. It's all about hours in the saddle now for him.
We ate fish n chips afterwards with Carrie from work. Toby played in the park and had a ball. We both declared it one of the best Mummy birthdays ever!
We did get very sad news when we got home though. John's mother passed away yesterday. Poor John - especially having it happen so far away from his own family. I'm sure Vivienne must be keen to see John now to support him. As do we all.
Mike's Dad is away on the ferry this afternoon back home. I hope he enjoyed his time up north.
That's about it for now. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Well, my birthday was very good. After work I collected Toby and we went to karate where as soon as they lined up Toby piped up and said "It's my Mummy's birthday today" so the sensei said "Happy birthday Mummy" and looked down at the back of the hall. So I put my hand up and the sensei (a woman for the first time) said I could come and join them. So I did. And it was one of the best karate lessons ever because we got to play with a weapon. We all got a go with a Jo Staff (same as a Bo Staff, but shorter) trying to donk the sensei on the head. Great fun!
Then we were off to Karori Park where Toby and I rode around twice. It's 1km around, so Toby did 2 kms and got up to 20 km/h on the last circuit. I'll have to take him there regularly. There is a tarsealed path all the way around (mostly flat) with an inner one of gravel. There is a wooden rail separating the two areas and it was wet (due to the high humidity - not rain!) and slippery. Toby rode over it early on and wobbled as he skidded but kept his balance. The next time though he went down. But he popped straight back on and kept riding. I think if I take him here two or three times a week, he'll be fine for the rail trail. We only have about 6 weeks left for training him. It's all about hours in the saddle now for him.
We ate fish n chips afterwards with Carrie from work. Toby played in the park and had a ball. We both declared it one of the best Mummy birthdays ever!
We did get very sad news when we got home though. John's mother passed away yesterday. Poor John - especially having it happen so far away from his own family. I'm sure Vivienne must be keen to see John now to support him. As do we all.
Mike's Dad is away on the ferry this afternoon back home. I hope he enjoyed his time up north.
That's about it for now. Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Good morning on Wed, Feb 17
Hi,
Happy birthday to me! Heheheheh. What a great morning - at least the forecast rain is nowhere to be seen. The ride down the hill was superb and as it is Ride to Work Day, we got breakfast supplied on the waterfront. We caught up with Andrew there too and some people from our work.
Wee Toby got up in time for me to see him this morning. I got lots of kisses. And I got a really good present from Mike and Toby. Forest and Bird membership. Hooray! I also have a facial from Mum (Saturday 20 in the morning) and a great book on Polynesian art from Sally and Andrew. So, all days should be my birthday!
Tonight I'll ride home and collect wee Toby for karate. Ron will have him at home already so I can dress him and go. We'll take both our bikes as we have Mountain Biking after work (followed by fish n chips). I'll ride with Toby in Karori Park while Mike takes on the off road courses. If I can squeeze in one ride there I'll be pleased.
That's it. We might have a nice dinner out shortly to celebrate as well.
Cool!
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
Happy birthday to me! Heheheheh. What a great morning - at least the forecast rain is nowhere to be seen. The ride down the hill was superb and as it is Ride to Work Day, we got breakfast supplied on the waterfront. We caught up with Andrew there too and some people from our work.
Wee Toby got up in time for me to see him this morning. I got lots of kisses. And I got a really good present from Mike and Toby. Forest and Bird membership. Hooray! I also have a facial from Mum (Saturday 20 in the morning) and a great book on Polynesian art from Sally and Andrew. So, all days should be my birthday!
Tonight I'll ride home and collect wee Toby for karate. Ron will have him at home already so I can dress him and go. We'll take both our bikes as we have Mountain Biking after work (followed by fish n chips). I'll ride with Toby in Karori Park while Mike takes on the off road courses. If I can squeeze in one ride there I'll be pleased.
That's it. We might have a nice dinner out shortly to celebrate as well.
Cool!
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Good morning on Tues, Feb 16
Hi,
Happy birthday, John! John has flown to Toronto to be with his mother as she is very sick, so we'll be missing him this week. I hope everything works out for the best. Fingers crossed. John - your birthday here in Wellington has lovely weather. So still and perfect.
Last night was the first Kea night for the year. We only had Toby and Chelsea because the Tabors have (inconsiderately) moved to Waikanae so they can have good weather, lovely house, big backyard, forts and puppy so no Duncan and Emerson, and Ryan was also unable to attend. So we had a shortened night and made origami boats and floated them. Mike's Dad came to watch, even though it was a slightly unusual Kea night. It was still good fun.
We went home and Mike cooked up a lovely meal (chicken pasta). Yummy!
Toby went to bed really welll and I watched some photos on the screen saver (it displays images from our photo collection - you never know what you'll see) until I fell asleep in a coma too.
This morning we drove in once more because the architect is coming to meet Ron at 5pm and show preliminary plans. I think my parents might be around to cook dinner (for my birthday as I am out tomorrow night mountain bike riding) so it'll be all go.
That's about it I think. I must try and remember to watch hours and hours of Winter Olympics!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Happy birthday, John! John has flown to Toronto to be with his mother as she is very sick, so we'll be missing him this week. I hope everything works out for the best. Fingers crossed. John - your birthday here in Wellington has lovely weather. So still and perfect.
Last night was the first Kea night for the year. We only had Toby and Chelsea because the Tabors have (inconsiderately) moved to Waikanae so they can have good weather, lovely house, big backyard, forts and puppy so no Duncan and Emerson, and Ryan was also unable to attend. So we had a shortened night and made origami boats and floated them. Mike's Dad came to watch, even though it was a slightly unusual Kea night. It was still good fun.
We went home and Mike cooked up a lovely meal (chicken pasta). Yummy!
Toby went to bed really welll and I watched some photos on the screen saver (it displays images from our photo collection - you never know what you'll see) until I fell asleep in a coma too.
This morning we drove in once more because the architect is coming to meet Ron at 5pm and show preliminary plans. I think my parents might be around to cook dinner (for my birthday as I am out tomorrow night mountain bike riding) so it'll be all go.
That's about it I think. I must try and remember to watch hours and hours of Winter Olympics!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 15, 2010
Good morning on Mon, Feb 15
Hi,
What a wonderful weekend. As an indication of what great fun it was, at about 3.30pm yesterday Toby asked if tomorrow was a school day and burst into tears when we said yes. He said the weekend was too short! Very true.
Friday evening we went to the first tennis club night (as did the Lewises to theirs, so no Lewis/Gilbert Friday night takeaways as yet) for the year. Or, rather, Mike and Toby did. I rode home to get ready and Mike rang me to tell me to relax at home. So I did.
Next morning we got up and went to Toby's first swimming for the year. Toby has a super strict teacher and he is swimming lengths so he'll be swimming properly in no time. He is learning breathing for the first time. It is very exciting. If Toby swims well for 4 Saturdays he gets a toy treat (I have a stash of them). Bribery is so easy!
Then we went home to pack for camping at Mt Holdsworth with the Sampsons. The weather was lousy so we packed and headed to the Sampson house to wait for a verdict on whether we should bother. But Wally has a new car to try out on the Rimutaka hill and two new tents so he was as keen as mustard. So we left and arrived quite late there. We had all the kids bicycles and the Sampson children were all hurtling around on them. Toby was interested, but kept having trouble and would leave his bike and run after Brennan. But eventually the difficulty in keeping up with a bicycle got through to him, and he persevered and I think he is over the hurdle now. We'll try to get him to ride to school each day for the next few weeks.
The two new tents worked well, and we had a great tea (sausages) and then I slept like a log all night. There were roosters wandering around that woke us all up at 5.30am! Groan! Breakfast was good and Toby rode his bike well again.
We packed up and headed for orienteering (the reason why the Sampsons were in the Wairarapa) and I did a course with Toby (the easiest one). We had loads of fun and Toby and I caught up with Brennan and Chelsea (competing separately but in the same course as us) and we all went around together. It worked well, but lifting the children over an electric fence wasn't fun as two of them put their foot on it as they went over and we both got shocks! Poor Brennan got a good one at the end when we had both climed over a fence and he asked if it was electric and I said no (seeing as how we'd both climbed over it) and he touched the next fence over! Zap!
The weather was hot, hot, hot. We all were bushed afterwards (some people run these things!) and gulping down water. Mike had trusted his compass (well, Brennan's borrowed compass) and got lost finding his control points (he was on a harder course) so he was late getting back. But we did all have fun! We'll do it again.
Back over the hill to Wellington where the weather had cooled a bit after a wee southerly change. Toby fell asleep and had about 1 hour snooze in the car while we visited Sally and Andrew. We had tea at Sally and Andrew's place (sausages - oh dear) and caught up with Aidan and Janne. Toby tried out their new bath and had great fun. Ron arrived and we all chatted. We picked plums and went home to crash into bed.
What fun!
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
What a wonderful weekend. As an indication of what great fun it was, at about 3.30pm yesterday Toby asked if tomorrow was a school day and burst into tears when we said yes. He said the weekend was too short! Very true.
Friday evening we went to the first tennis club night (as did the Lewises to theirs, so no Lewis/Gilbert Friday night takeaways as yet) for the year. Or, rather, Mike and Toby did. I rode home to get ready and Mike rang me to tell me to relax at home. So I did.
Next morning we got up and went to Toby's first swimming for the year. Toby has a super strict teacher and he is swimming lengths so he'll be swimming properly in no time. He is learning breathing for the first time. It is very exciting. If Toby swims well for 4 Saturdays he gets a toy treat (I have a stash of them). Bribery is so easy!
Then we went home to pack for camping at Mt Holdsworth with the Sampsons. The weather was lousy so we packed and headed to the Sampson house to wait for a verdict on whether we should bother. But Wally has a new car to try out on the Rimutaka hill and two new tents so he was as keen as mustard. So we left and arrived quite late there. We had all the kids bicycles and the Sampson children were all hurtling around on them. Toby was interested, but kept having trouble and would leave his bike and run after Brennan. But eventually the difficulty in keeping up with a bicycle got through to him, and he persevered and I think he is over the hurdle now. We'll try to get him to ride to school each day for the next few weeks.
The two new tents worked well, and we had a great tea (sausages) and then I slept like a log all night. There were roosters wandering around that woke us all up at 5.30am! Groan! Breakfast was good and Toby rode his bike well again.
We packed up and headed for orienteering (the reason why the Sampsons were in the Wairarapa) and I did a course with Toby (the easiest one). We had loads of fun and Toby and I caught up with Brennan and Chelsea (competing separately but in the same course as us) and we all went around together. It worked well, but lifting the children over an electric fence wasn't fun as two of them put their foot on it as they went over and we both got shocks! Poor Brennan got a good one at the end when we had both climed over a fence and he asked if it was electric and I said no (seeing as how we'd both climbed over it) and he touched the next fence over! Zap!
The weather was hot, hot, hot. We all were bushed afterwards (some people run these things!) and gulping down water. Mike had trusted his compass (well, Brennan's borrowed compass) and got lost finding his control points (he was on a harder course) so he was late getting back. But we did all have fun! We'll do it again.
Back over the hill to Wellington where the weather had cooled a bit after a wee southerly change. Toby fell asleep and had about 1 hour snooze in the car while we visited Sally and Andrew. We had tea at Sally and Andrew's place (sausages - oh dear) and caught up with Aidan and Janne. Toby tried out their new bath and had great fun. Ron arrived and we all chatted. We picked plums and went home to crash into bed.
What fun!
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 12, 2010
Good morning on Fri, Feb 12
Hi,
I had a good evening last night. I went straight out to Te Papa with Roz (a work colleague down from Auckland) and we went to the lecture on Discovery and Excavation at Pompeii. Pompeii is an exhibition on at Te Papa (the national museum here in Wellington) at the moment. I can't wait to go and see it but I couldn't make it last night.
Mike had a meeting with the First Karori Scouts to attend at 1930 last night. So he picked me up from the end of the lecture and dropped me and Toby off at home. Toby and I had a great evening before going to bed nice and early. However, I was in reading mode and stayed up until Mike came home. We talked about the meeting and then got distracted with the Internet so we had a late night. Well, late for me. Early for Mike when you think about his 2am marathon the night before finishing his book.
When I went down to kiss wee Toby goodbye this morning, he was already up and reading in bed. What a clever wee chap.
I caught the bus in after getting picked up last night in order to meet out time pressures. As the bus drove along Mairangi Road towards Northland, I looked up into the hills opposite (above the Otari-Wilton bush) and saw a herd of cows! Aha! The source of the mooing from yesterday. It must have been tremendously still yesterday for me to hear them from that distance. I suspect they aren't cows either, but young castrated bulls, bred to pile on the beef.
I remember when Mike was living here in Wellington and I was still in Dunedin. I came up for a holiday and Mike had a meeting in Palmerston North so we drove up. As we went past many, many types of cows (I had a sheltered existence in sheep territory in the South Island when I was a kid) I kept asking Mike if he knew what type they were. So, while he was in the meeting, I went into the PN library and read up on all the types of cows. So, on our return drive, I would say "Oh look, there's a Hereford". "Oh look, there's a Fresian - that's for dairy". That information has stayed with me all this time. Useful? Well, I leave that answer up to the reader. Heheheh.
Toby's swimming starts this weekend - a new class for the first time in years (well, I might be exaggerating a little there). Then we're off camping for the weekend with the Sampsons. Woo hoo!
Hope your weekend is great!
Love,
Angela
I had a good evening last night. I went straight out to Te Papa with Roz (a work colleague down from Auckland) and we went to the lecture on Discovery and Excavation at Pompeii. Pompeii is an exhibition on at Te Papa (the national museum here in Wellington) at the moment. I can't wait to go and see it but I couldn't make it last night.
Mike had a meeting with the First Karori Scouts to attend at 1930 last night. So he picked me up from the end of the lecture and dropped me and Toby off at home. Toby and I had a great evening before going to bed nice and early. However, I was in reading mode and stayed up until Mike came home. We talked about the meeting and then got distracted with the Internet so we had a late night. Well, late for me. Early for Mike when you think about his 2am marathon the night before finishing his book.
When I went down to kiss wee Toby goodbye this morning, he was already up and reading in bed. What a clever wee chap.
I caught the bus in after getting picked up last night in order to meet out time pressures. As the bus drove along Mairangi Road towards Northland, I looked up into the hills opposite (above the Otari-Wilton bush) and saw a herd of cows! Aha! The source of the mooing from yesterday. It must have been tremendously still yesterday for me to hear them from that distance. I suspect they aren't cows either, but young castrated bulls, bred to pile on the beef.
I remember when Mike was living here in Wellington and I was still in Dunedin. I came up for a holiday and Mike had a meeting in Palmerston North so we drove up. As we went past many, many types of cows (I had a sheltered existence in sheep territory in the South Island when I was a kid) I kept asking Mike if he knew what type they were. So, while he was in the meeting, I went into the PN library and read up on all the types of cows. So, on our return drive, I would say "Oh look, there's a Hereford". "Oh look, there's a Fresian - that's for dairy". That information has stayed with me all this time. Useful? Well, I leave that answer up to the reader. Heheheh.
Toby's swimming starts this weekend - a new class for the first time in years (well, I might be exaggerating a little there). Then we're off camping for the weekend with the Sampsons. Woo hoo!
Hope your weekend is great!
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Crash! (Witness to - not participant in)
Yes, it was weird weather this morning. Very, very light drizzly sticky humid stuff, after about a week of dry weather. Which meant the roads were very greasy and slippery. Which was exactly what I was thinking as I watched a motorcyclist in front of me grab handfuls of front brake as a taxi pulled out in front of him, and slide down the road...
I've just been doing a first aid course but the rider was inconsiderate enough to be completely fine. A pretty low speed drop, only his ego was damaged. His bike got off pretty lightly too - a scratched bar-end and broken-off back brake pedal looked like the all of it. Just enough to wake us up in the morning!
But yes, greasy and slippery. I even got wheelspin on an evil metal drain-cover I have to ride over every day. If I can get wheelspin with the tiny amounts of torque my legs can make - then it's certainly greasy.
I've just been doing a first aid course but the rider was inconsiderate enough to be completely fine. A pretty low speed drop, only his ego was damaged. His bike got off pretty lightly too - a scratched bar-end and broken-off back brake pedal looked like the all of it. Just enough to wake us up in the morning!
But yes, greasy and slippery. I even got wheelspin on an evil metal drain-cover I have to ride over every day. If I can get wheelspin with the tiny amounts of torque my legs can make - then it's certainly greasy.
Good morning on Thurs, Feb 11
Hi,
It was my first ride down the hill in over two weeks where the road was quite wet. But I hestitate to suggest rain. I think it is the low cloud oozing its cloud juice onto the roads as it touches it. :-) There was no wind at all and it was very humid. I heard a cow mooing as I got my bike out of the garage. What??? Who on earth has decided to keep a cow in their backyard? Either that or a cow has got loose from the farmland on the hills and the stillness meant I could hear it somewhere in the Wilton-Otari bush!
Last night was great fun. Ma and Dad collected wee Toby and poor Dad was sent out to buy more chicken as my chicken hadn't defrosted and my mother won't use properly thawed chicken (what is her mantra? Fast to freeze, slow to thaw - or something similar). But Dad got back with the right chicken and we all went to see Toby in his first karate lesson for the year. He lost his belt during the break and had to stand at the bottom of the queue but we found it once we got home (ta Mike!).
Mum had cooked up perfect chicken schnitzel and Mike's Dad arrived just as it was getting dished up. It was lovely. We all loved it.
Mum and Dad gave Toby Junior Scrabble and Mike and I played with him after tea when Ma and Pa had gone home to prepare Dad for his first day back today. It was such fun! Thanks!
We all crashed into bed - apart from Mike. He remembered tramping club was on and he had a tramp coming up in two weekends so he hurtled in to sort it out.
Mike got home early enough but his brain must have been electric as he talked to his Dad downstairs for ages and came to bed to read. I was asleep in seconds after he arrived and he read until 2am! Oh no!
Tonight I'm off to see Pompeii. Does anyone want to come with me? I'm meeting someone from work (she's down from Auckland for three days this week and wants to see the exhibition). Say 6.30pm? We might be able to get tea somewhere too. I'll have to wait for Mike to get home to look after Toby. I can collect Mum or Vivienne after that if they're keen.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
It was my first ride down the hill in over two weeks where the road was quite wet. But I hestitate to suggest rain. I think it is the low cloud oozing its cloud juice onto the roads as it touches it. :-) There was no wind at all and it was very humid. I heard a cow mooing as I got my bike out of the garage. What??? Who on earth has decided to keep a cow in their backyard? Either that or a cow has got loose from the farmland on the hills and the stillness meant I could hear it somewhere in the Wilton-Otari bush!
Last night was great fun. Ma and Dad collected wee Toby and poor Dad was sent out to buy more chicken as my chicken hadn't defrosted and my mother won't use properly thawed chicken (what is her mantra? Fast to freeze, slow to thaw - or something similar). But Dad got back with the right chicken and we all went to see Toby in his first karate lesson for the year. He lost his belt during the break and had to stand at the bottom of the queue but we found it once we got home (ta Mike!).
Mum had cooked up perfect chicken schnitzel and Mike's Dad arrived just as it was getting dished up. It was lovely. We all loved it.
Mum and Dad gave Toby Junior Scrabble and Mike and I played with him after tea when Ma and Pa had gone home to prepare Dad for his first day back today. It was such fun! Thanks!
We all crashed into bed - apart from Mike. He remembered tramping club was on and he had a tramp coming up in two weekends so he hurtled in to sort it out.
Mike got home early enough but his brain must have been electric as he talked to his Dad downstairs for ages and came to bed to read. I was asleep in seconds after he arrived and he read until 2am! Oh no!
Tonight I'm off to see Pompeii. Does anyone want to come with me? I'm meeting someone from work (she's down from Auckland for three days this week and wants to see the exhibition). Say 6.30pm? We might be able to get tea somewhere too. I'll have to wait for Mike to get home to look after Toby. I can collect Mum or Vivienne after that if they're keen.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Good morning on Wed, Feb 10
Hi,
Mike's Dad arrives today for a rally somewhere in the North Island. I'm not sure of the time but I think it is later rather than earlier (that is according to Mike).
Last night Mike set up my new cycling shoes with cleats! Yikes! I am going to be very apprehensive when I get my new pedals on my bike and move to this new system. Perhaps one night this week? I might wear body armour for a month or two. Mike also put new cleats on his cycling shoes because a screw had fallen out. I must ask him how it worked this morning for him.
Toby fell out of his bunk last night as he was going to sleep. He slid out a bit to look at something under his bunk and couldn't stop his momentum. He was lucky he got away with a bump on his head and a sore wrist. He cried for quite a while. Lucky Mike just passed his first aid course that day and could ascertain there were no broken bones.
Tonight is karate night for the first time back after the break. Toby's Gi is on the couch and I think Mum and Dad will pop over to collect him and get him ready for the karate. Dad likes watching him do his moves. Dad and I both oscillate between pride and embarrassment watching him.
If Ma wants to cook, Toby has asked for chicken schnitzel strips. The chicken strips are in the fridge defrosting (although they will still be a little frozen by this evening I'd expect).
That's about it. Oh - Mike's mysterious behaviour was all for my birthday present. He is very organised this year. I have already received all my presents (bike gear and a cleaner for the house once a week!) and I'm very pleased.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Mike's Dad arrives today for a rally somewhere in the North Island. I'm not sure of the time but I think it is later rather than earlier (that is according to Mike).
Last night Mike set up my new cycling shoes with cleats! Yikes! I am going to be very apprehensive when I get my new pedals on my bike and move to this new system. Perhaps one night this week? I might wear body armour for a month or two. Mike also put new cleats on his cycling shoes because a screw had fallen out. I must ask him how it worked this morning for him.
Toby fell out of his bunk last night as he was going to sleep. He slid out a bit to look at something under his bunk and couldn't stop his momentum. He was lucky he got away with a bump on his head and a sore wrist. He cried for quite a while. Lucky Mike just passed his first aid course that day and could ascertain there were no broken bones.
Tonight is karate night for the first time back after the break. Toby's Gi is on the couch and I think Mum and Dad will pop over to collect him and get him ready for the karate. Dad likes watching him do his moves. Dad and I both oscillate between pride and embarrassment watching him.
If Ma wants to cook, Toby has asked for chicken schnitzel strips. The chicken strips are in the fridge defrosting (although they will still be a little frozen by this evening I'd expect).
That's about it. Oh - Mike's mysterious behaviour was all for my birthday present. He is very organised this year. I have already received all my presents (bike gear and a cleaner for the house once a week!) and I'm very pleased.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Good morning on Tues, Feb 9
Hi,
The weather is lovely today again; my ride in was superb. I had Toby drop off duty once more and he slept until about 7.40am before turning up in the lounge ready to get dressed and have his breakfast. We had a nice morning and rode and scootered to school. I was in at work by 8.50am so I have no complaints.
Mike, on the other hand, is up to no good. I have no idea what he is planning and scheming, but I caught him at it. He said he was catching the 7.30am bus to his course, and ran out at 7.29am. However, he started doing the rubbish. I said I'd do it. Then we heard the bus coming up the road so Mike hurtled up with the recycling in his hands. I tied up the yellow rubbish bag and wandered up. As I approached I heard the garage door open. Odd as the bus was still collecting passengers from the stop so Mike should have been dashing to the bus. As I got to the road, the car backed out of the garage and a sheepish Mike looked at me. He said "My plans have gone awry and you've caught me but you have no idea what it is all about" and he zoomed off.
A man of mystery.
Last night was great fun. Mike started the BBQ up and we had a lovely dinner on the patio. The weather was so nice. I also put a wash out afterwards, so we're almost looking good on the housework front too. I got the green room suitable for habitation as Mike's father is almost here for some rally or other.
The architects are due today to do some checking on the house - I think they want to see the roof space. Hopefully that goes ok and they don't leave the cat locked up inside as it is bound to get too hot during the day.
That's about it. Time for a tea.
Love,
Angela
The weather is lovely today again; my ride in was superb. I had Toby drop off duty once more and he slept until about 7.40am before turning up in the lounge ready to get dressed and have his breakfast. We had a nice morning and rode and scootered to school. I was in at work by 8.50am so I have no complaints.
Mike, on the other hand, is up to no good. I have no idea what he is planning and scheming, but I caught him at it. He said he was catching the 7.30am bus to his course, and ran out at 7.29am. However, he started doing the rubbish. I said I'd do it. Then we heard the bus coming up the road so Mike hurtled up with the recycling in his hands. I tied up the yellow rubbish bag and wandered up. As I approached I heard the garage door open. Odd as the bus was still collecting passengers from the stop so Mike should have been dashing to the bus. As I got to the road, the car backed out of the garage and a sheepish Mike looked at me. He said "My plans have gone awry and you've caught me but you have no idea what it is all about" and he zoomed off.
A man of mystery.
Last night was great fun. Mike started the BBQ up and we had a lovely dinner on the patio. The weather was so nice. I also put a wash out afterwards, so we're almost looking good on the housework front too. I got the green room suitable for habitation as Mike's father is almost here for some rally or other.
The architects are due today to do some checking on the house - I think they want to see the roof space. Hopefully that goes ok and they don't leave the cat locked up inside as it is bound to get too hot during the day.
That's about it. Time for a tea.
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 8, 2010
Good morning on Mon, Feb 8
Hi,
We had a great weekend. Our Lewis/Gilbert Friday night relaxing takeway dinners has still not occured. I guess the good weather means we're likely to be busy. Here's hoping it'll happen this Friday! So our Friday was spent leisurely at home. I cooked up one of Toby's favourite meals (chicken schnitzel strips) and we read and watched TV. Nice and quiet.
Saturday we went over to Ngaio to weed a bit around Mum and Dad's place and spray weedkiller on the biggest baddies. We left them some fresh milk (theirs was yoghurt in the fridge), bananas and bread, ready for their return.
Then we went home and we were going to vege out at home doing not very much. It was a fabulous day - no wind and lots of blue sky. Mike immediately went to drop off some stuff at Christine's house and she convinced Mike to go to the beach. So Toby and I got picked up by her and Tom and we went to Ballina Bay in Evans Bay. The beach was gravelly but once I got used to the water (brrr) I was snorkelling away. Toby did a little too. I saw big sea urchins so after that I was careful to look where I was standing.
Christine has brought home-made icecream and cones so we ate wonderful icecreams on the beach after the swim.
We went back to their house for tea (chicken Caesar salad - one of Mike's favourites) and wandered back home eventually. Mike watched some TV after Toby went to bed and I set my alarm just in case I fell asleep because I had to collect Mum and Dad at 2320 from the airport. That all went well, although next year I aim to be away for Rugby Sevens weekend. Driving through town after lots of parties meant idiots trying to flag me down for a lift all over the place! My parents were pleased to be back home and keen to relax for a few days. We'll catch up with them today!
Sunday morning we were up for the next beach day up at Waikanae. The day wasn't quite so nice but Toby still got to go swimming at the river mouth with Duncan and Emerson. He even did some proper snorkelling for about 1 minute! 5 minutes from the end, Josh had to go into the water to find the spade that got chucked in. So he was a bit cross about staying dry all that time and then having to get wet. The Tabors then went off to see a puppy! Oooooooooooo.
Back home after a grocery shop and all was good last night. I dropped Toby off this morning because Mike has a first aid course today and tomorrow. We had a nice morning. Toby slept in until 7.45am!
Have a great week!
Love,
Angela
We had a great weekend. Our Lewis/Gilbert Friday night relaxing takeway dinners has still not occured. I guess the good weather means we're likely to be busy. Here's hoping it'll happen this Friday! So our Friday was spent leisurely at home. I cooked up one of Toby's favourite meals (chicken schnitzel strips) and we read and watched TV. Nice and quiet.
Saturday we went over to Ngaio to weed a bit around Mum and Dad's place and spray weedkiller on the biggest baddies. We left them some fresh milk (theirs was yoghurt in the fridge), bananas and bread, ready for their return.
Then we went home and we were going to vege out at home doing not very much. It was a fabulous day - no wind and lots of blue sky. Mike immediately went to drop off some stuff at Christine's house and she convinced Mike to go to the beach. So Toby and I got picked up by her and Tom and we went to Ballina Bay in Evans Bay. The beach was gravelly but once I got used to the water (brrr) I was snorkelling away. Toby did a little too. I saw big sea urchins so after that I was careful to look where I was standing.
Christine has brought home-made icecream and cones so we ate wonderful icecreams on the beach after the swim.
We went back to their house for tea (chicken Caesar salad - one of Mike's favourites) and wandered back home eventually. Mike watched some TV after Toby went to bed and I set my alarm just in case I fell asleep because I had to collect Mum and Dad at 2320 from the airport. That all went well, although next year I aim to be away for Rugby Sevens weekend. Driving through town after lots of parties meant idiots trying to flag me down for a lift all over the place! My parents were pleased to be back home and keen to relax for a few days. We'll catch up with them today!
Sunday morning we were up for the next beach day up at Waikanae. The day wasn't quite so nice but Toby still got to go swimming at the river mouth with Duncan and Emerson. He even did some proper snorkelling for about 1 minute! 5 minutes from the end, Josh had to go into the water to find the spade that got chucked in. So he was a bit cross about staying dry all that time and then having to get wet. The Tabors then went off to see a puppy! Oooooooooooo.
Back home after a grocery shop and all was good last night. I dropped Toby off this morning because Mike has a first aid course today and tomorrow. We had a nice morning. Toby slept in until 7.45am!
Have a great week!
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 5, 2010
Good morning on Fri, Feb 5
Hi,
Happy birthday to my niece, Stephanie, for tomorrow! I hope she has a great day!
The release last night was mixed. One of the satellite servers was not playing nicely and I couldn't get access to it to make sure of anything. So I went home not quite happy about it all, and a bit later than usual. But Mike had bought Fromage des Clarines cheese and a baguette so we ate that and I felt way better! The miracle of cheese.
Tonight we're off to the Lewises to have Friday night takeaways and walk Ramble. There are glow-worms behind their house in the bush, so we're off to see them too.
Tomorrow I want to get a few things done around the house and at Mum and Dad's place. They get back tomorrow night, late. So I want to make sure they have bread and milk and do a bit of weeding.
Sunday we might head off to Waikanae to see the Tabors.
So, not a lot happening. The weather is still lovely. I took the bus in this morning though as I caught a taxi home last night. It'll be a nice ride home though.
Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Happy birthday to my niece, Stephanie, for tomorrow! I hope she has a great day!
The release last night was mixed. One of the satellite servers was not playing nicely and I couldn't get access to it to make sure of anything. So I went home not quite happy about it all, and a bit later than usual. But Mike had bought Fromage des Clarines cheese and a baguette so we ate that and I felt way better! The miracle of cheese.
Tonight we're off to the Lewises to have Friday night takeaways and walk Ramble. There are glow-worms behind their house in the bush, so we're off to see them too.
Tomorrow I want to get a few things done around the house and at Mum and Dad's place. They get back tomorrow night, late. So I want to make sure they have bread and milk and do a bit of weeding.
Sunday we might head off to Waikanae to see the Tabors.
So, not a lot happening. The weather is still lovely. I took the bus in this morning though as I caught a taxi home last night. It'll be a nice ride home though.
Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Good morning on Thurs, Feb 4
Hi,
What a lovely day here in Wellington. It is so nice to finally get summery weather after the chaotic patterns in Nov, Dec and Jan. I hope it stays like this into April. Yes - I am an optimist.
Congratulations to my sister, Shona! She passed her hardest exam yesterday with her best mark ever! She's a legend and deserves praise for her hard work and sacrifices. I hope it gives her even more confidence that she can suceed at anything she does.
Yes - as Mike pointed out Toby had a good first day yesterday. It ended with me collecting him from school and taking him to Microsoft in town for a meeting I had. The Microsoft chap set Toby up with pizza and drink in front of Cartoon Network and we never heard a peep from Toby for the next hour. In fact, when the meeting was over and I went to collect him from the "hub" where he'd been set up, he said he didn't want to leave.
I have a release tonight and had Toby drop-off duty (so Mike can leave early to pick up Toby). I went in to see Toby's new classroom. It is very airy with a lovely view down over the other classrooms into the Otari-Wilton bush in the valley. Beautiful. The ride in was good afterwards although my cough made me labour a bit on the tougher sections. I think of it as an extra early warning system to let people know I am coming.
Tyler has her first Bright Stars drama class today. I do hope I get to hear all about that. I wonder if I should investigate something similar for Toby here? Let's wait and see what Karen reports back.
Ma and Pa arrive back on Saturday night, near midnight. I can't wait as I have missed them. I think we'll leave them to sort themselves out on Sunday and we'll head off to Waikanae to visit the Tabors. Hopefully we can get more swimming in!
Love,
Angela
What a lovely day here in Wellington. It is so nice to finally get summery weather after the chaotic patterns in Nov, Dec and Jan. I hope it stays like this into April. Yes - I am an optimist.
Congratulations to my sister, Shona! She passed her hardest exam yesterday with her best mark ever! She's a legend and deserves praise for her hard work and sacrifices. I hope it gives her even more confidence that she can suceed at anything she does.
Yes - as Mike pointed out Toby had a good first day yesterday. It ended with me collecting him from school and taking him to Microsoft in town for a meeting I had. The Microsoft chap set Toby up with pizza and drink in front of Cartoon Network and we never heard a peep from Toby for the next hour. In fact, when the meeting was over and I went to collect him from the "hub" where he'd been set up, he said he didn't want to leave.
I have a release tonight and had Toby drop-off duty (so Mike can leave early to pick up Toby). I went in to see Toby's new classroom. It is very airy with a lovely view down over the other classrooms into the Otari-Wilton bush in the valley. Beautiful. The ride in was good afterwards although my cough made me labour a bit on the tougher sections. I think of it as an extra early warning system to let people know I am coming.
Tyler has her first Bright Stars drama class today. I do hope I get to hear all about that. I wonder if I should investigate something similar for Toby here? Let's wait and see what Karen reports back.
Ma and Pa arrive back on Saturday night, near midnight. I can't wait as I have missed them. I think we'll leave them to sort themselves out on Sunday and we'll head off to Waikanae to visit the Tabors. Hopefully we can get more swimming in!
Love,
Angela
First day at school
... it was mayhem yesterday morning, Toby's first day at school for the year. Everyone had clearly decided to drive, and parking was backed up all the way to our house. It was quite festive when we got there, with parents and children milling around and trying to find their classrooms and each other.
Toby took us straight to his new classroom, and we found his desk with his name on it nice and easily. He's got Mrs Mahoney again - she was his Year 1 teacher but she's moved to the main school and is teaching Year 3 now. He's caught up with his friends, and there are new kids in his class that he doesn't know. All good. He seems pretty happy with things.
I've got a sore back at the moment - no dramas but I'm risk averse when it comes to backs so I've gone to see Kara about it. She's put two big strips of tape up my back to make me sit and stand properly, and it's quite amusing. I can't do up my shoelaces! And riding my bike is quite strange, I have to stay quite upright as I hurtle down the hill. It definitely sucks power going up the hill, unless I get off the seat and honk. Hopefully my body will be re-trained by the time the tape falls off. I'm also supposed to lie on the ground with a piece of closed-cell foam between my shoulder blades, when I'm vegging with TV or a book - but it's very awkward and uncomfortable. I'm not 100% sure what it's supposed to achieve. So I ended up with the foam under my head as a pillow instead.
The house extension is proceeding apace - well, the prep for it is. Surveyors were running all over the place on Tuesday when Angela and Toby were at home. Now there's little lead tabs and orange dots and other markers all over our section!
Toby took us straight to his new classroom, and we found his desk with his name on it nice and easily. He's got Mrs Mahoney again - she was his Year 1 teacher but she's moved to the main school and is teaching Year 3 now. He's caught up with his friends, and there are new kids in his class that he doesn't know. All good. He seems pretty happy with things.
I've got a sore back at the moment - no dramas but I'm risk averse when it comes to backs so I've gone to see Kara about it. She's put two big strips of tape up my back to make me sit and stand properly, and it's quite amusing. I can't do up my shoelaces! And riding my bike is quite strange, I have to stay quite upright as I hurtle down the hill. It definitely sucks power going up the hill, unless I get off the seat and honk. Hopefully my body will be re-trained by the time the tape falls off. I'm also supposed to lie on the ground with a piece of closed-cell foam between my shoulder blades, when I'm vegging with TV or a book - but it's very awkward and uncomfortable. I'm not 100% sure what it's supposed to achieve. So I ended up with the foam under my head as a pillow instead.
The house extension is proceeding apace - well, the prep for it is. Surveyors were running all over the place on Tuesday when Angela and Toby were at home. Now there's little lead tabs and orange dots and other markers all over our section!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Good morning on Wed, Feb 3
Hi,
Toby's first day back at school today. We were busy last night covering Toby's school books with contact adhesive stuff and getting his backpack ready.
Yesterday I had the day off with Toby, intending it to be a relaxing day for his last day so he wasn't too tired today. However, we scheduled in a trip to the zoo and I tidied the house and Jack (from Toby's class) came over to play in the afternoon. So it was pretty busy. But we had good fun.
In the morning we picked up Chelsea from her house and went straight to the zoo. We saw quite a bit of the animals, paying attention to the ones we liked the most. Toby was very keen to take photos to send to Tyler. The kids had the camera so I have no idea what the photos look like. I'll see if I can send them to Tyler very soon (not tonight as we're busy tonight, and I have a release tomorrow night).
After the zoo I popped in to get the contact covering and then we dropped off Chelsea and got home in time for Jack's arrival. The surveyors were there checking our property boundaries. They are all over the place! The boundaries, not the surveyors. Well, the surveyors too, really.
The weather is wonderful. Yesterday was lovely. My ride in was good except for my cold making me cough on the steeper bits. The ride home should be interesting - I'll take it even easier than usual. I'm off at 1630 to get Toby and back into town for a meeting. The organiser has said Toby can watch Cartoon Network while we listen to the meeting. Heheheheh. I'm going to be involved in running the Dynamics User Group in Wellington (a Microsfot suite of tools) and this is the first one for the year. At the moment I am just attending as a regular developer, waiting for the right timing to step up.
Anyhow. Enough waffle. Have a marvellous day wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Toby's first day back at school today. We were busy last night covering Toby's school books with contact adhesive stuff and getting his backpack ready.
Yesterday I had the day off with Toby, intending it to be a relaxing day for his last day so he wasn't too tired today. However, we scheduled in a trip to the zoo and I tidied the house and Jack (from Toby's class) came over to play in the afternoon. So it was pretty busy. But we had good fun.
In the morning we picked up Chelsea from her house and went straight to the zoo. We saw quite a bit of the animals, paying attention to the ones we liked the most. Toby was very keen to take photos to send to Tyler. The kids had the camera so I have no idea what the photos look like. I'll see if I can send them to Tyler very soon (not tonight as we're busy tonight, and I have a release tomorrow night).
After the zoo I popped in to get the contact covering and then we dropped off Chelsea and got home in time for Jack's arrival. The surveyors were there checking our property boundaries. They are all over the place! The boundaries, not the surveyors. Well, the surveyors too, really.
The weather is wonderful. Yesterday was lovely. My ride in was good except for my cold making me cough on the steeper bits. The ride home should be interesting - I'll take it even easier than usual. I'm off at 1630 to get Toby and back into town for a meeting. The organiser has said Toby can watch Cartoon Network while we listen to the meeting. Heheheheh. I'm going to be involved in running the Dynamics User Group in Wellington (a Microsfot suite of tools) and this is the first one for the year. At the moment I am just attending as a regular developer, waiting for the right timing to step up.
Anyhow. Enough waffle. Have a marvellous day wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 1, 2010
Good morning on Mon, Feb 1
Hi,
And the beautiful month of February starts. Well, normally it is beautiful but that is hard to fathom at this point because there is a southerly with rain and has been since yesterday morning. Never mind. It is bound to improve this month, of that I am certain!
The weekend was fantastic fun! Woo hoo! Friday night I went to the movies with Sally, Vivienne and Vicki. We saw "It's Complicated" and it was quite simple. Made me laugh when it should and Meryl Streep was perfection as usual. Mike and Toby picked me and Vivienne up and Mike got his house keys back (Vivienne had them for feeding Merlot on anniversary weekend). So everything was right with the world. I hope the trains were fine for Sally and Vicki's journey home.
Saturday morning dawned even more brilliant than Friday. The best day so far of the summer. Mike got ready for his day tramp and headed off and Toby and I started to walk to the hairdressers. We got about 5m. When Toby realised my intention was to walk all the way there (Thorndon - so not too far) he sat down in the gutter and pouted. I told him I would drive to the library and we'd walk from there. He perked up and told me he was good at compromising. Really?
So, we walked in. And we had a wonderful time walking in. The weather was so nice - no wind, blue skies. We were a little early when we got there and they took Toby immediately. So we were leaving by 9.40am. Toby looked great with his short hair, ready for school.
We walked into town and caught a bus to Courtney Place and walked to Oriental Bay beach to catch up with Carrie and her sister Penny. Carrie was entered in the 2.8km ocean swim. Toby was very impressed and the whole 2 hour thing seemed to keep him pretty interested. The elite swimmers finished in 30-35 minutes. Amazing. Carrie was about 1 hour 24 min, but we were suitably impressed with that. Well done. Toby has declared he wants to do it one day. So, his first swimming goal!
After that we drove to Waikanae (via McDonalds for lunch, which I botched up because I never order McDs so Toby was disppointed) and Toby had a ball. We bought presents for Duncan and Emerson (it was their birthday a few weekends back) and they went down very well. Then we piled into Moby (their car) and went to the beach. Well, the mouth of the Waikanae River really. Toby spent 3 hours in the water. The boys had a log of wood and they used that as a boat to swim across the river to the other side and back. Josh went to get pizza for tea and we ate that on the beach and headed home.
It was my best day of the summer! How life should be. Under a sunshade, watching Toby swimming well, eating yummy food and chatting away. Summer days should always be on a beach.
We drove home late (for Toby anyway) and he slept like a log until 8.45am on Sunday morning! Cool!
Sunday was different. For a start it was raining and a southerly. Mike's tramp was good but he has hurt his back and it got worse during the day. However, Toby was happy as Mike got the cable TV working. Hooray! Mike also hired a carpet cleaner and we cleaned the carpets in the lounge (our hand was forced because Merlot pooed all over the carpets during the week one night - please note the previous post in the blog for my understanding of how Merlot's brain works) and also cleaned the car. The car looks great - we luxed and use the upholstery attachment to clean the car carpets and seats. Nice!
That was the weekend. Toby is at the Sampson's place being looked after by Hannah. I get the feeling 8am was a little early for her to be called upon! But Hannah is marvellous and got dressed immediately and Toby will be in good hands!
Tomorrow I have the day off for Toby's last day of the summer holidays. We're off to the zoo (with Chelsea).
I hope your weekend was as much fun!
Love,
Angela
And the beautiful month of February starts. Well, normally it is beautiful but that is hard to fathom at this point because there is a southerly with rain and has been since yesterday morning. Never mind. It is bound to improve this month, of that I am certain!
The weekend was fantastic fun! Woo hoo! Friday night I went to the movies with Sally, Vivienne and Vicki. We saw "It's Complicated" and it was quite simple. Made me laugh when it should and Meryl Streep was perfection as usual. Mike and Toby picked me and Vivienne up and Mike got his house keys back (Vivienne had them for feeding Merlot on anniversary weekend). So everything was right with the world. I hope the trains were fine for Sally and Vicki's journey home.
Saturday morning dawned even more brilliant than Friday. The best day so far of the summer. Mike got ready for his day tramp and headed off and Toby and I started to walk to the hairdressers. We got about 5m. When Toby realised my intention was to walk all the way there (Thorndon - so not too far) he sat down in the gutter and pouted. I told him I would drive to the library and we'd walk from there. He perked up and told me he was good at compromising. Really?
So, we walked in. And we had a wonderful time walking in. The weather was so nice - no wind, blue skies. We were a little early when we got there and they took Toby immediately. So we were leaving by 9.40am. Toby looked great with his short hair, ready for school.
We walked into town and caught a bus to Courtney Place and walked to Oriental Bay beach to catch up with Carrie and her sister Penny. Carrie was entered in the 2.8km ocean swim. Toby was very impressed and the whole 2 hour thing seemed to keep him pretty interested. The elite swimmers finished in 30-35 minutes. Amazing. Carrie was about 1 hour 24 min, but we were suitably impressed with that. Well done. Toby has declared he wants to do it one day. So, his first swimming goal!
After that we drove to Waikanae (via McDonalds for lunch, which I botched up because I never order McDs so Toby was disppointed) and Toby had a ball. We bought presents for Duncan and Emerson (it was their birthday a few weekends back) and they went down very well. Then we piled into Moby (their car) and went to the beach. Well, the mouth of the Waikanae River really. Toby spent 3 hours in the water. The boys had a log of wood and they used that as a boat to swim across the river to the other side and back. Josh went to get pizza for tea and we ate that on the beach and headed home.
It was my best day of the summer! How life should be. Under a sunshade, watching Toby swimming well, eating yummy food and chatting away. Summer days should always be on a beach.
We drove home late (for Toby anyway) and he slept like a log until 8.45am on Sunday morning! Cool!
Sunday was different. For a start it was raining and a southerly. Mike's tramp was good but he has hurt his back and it got worse during the day. However, Toby was happy as Mike got the cable TV working. Hooray! Mike also hired a carpet cleaner and we cleaned the carpets in the lounge (our hand was forced because Merlot pooed all over the carpets during the week one night - please note the previous post in the blog for my understanding of how Merlot's brain works) and also cleaned the car. The car looks great - we luxed and use the upholstery attachment to clean the car carpets and seats. Nice!
That was the weekend. Toby is at the Sampson's place being looked after by Hannah. I get the feeling 8am was a little early for her to be called upon! But Hannah is marvellous and got dressed immediately and Toby will be in good hands!
Tomorrow I have the day off for Toby's last day of the summer holidays. We're off to the zoo (with Chelsea).
I hope your weekend was as much fun!
Love,
Angela
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