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

It's been an eventful 12 hours

Second in the quiz - Benjamin babysitting Toby (oh!  We didn't pay him!) and they ate pizza and Toby was asleep when we got home.

But our cat was covered in blood and dirt, and stank of even worse things when we got home.  Don't think any of it was hers, and she seemed happy enough.  We kicked her straight outside again and ignored her plaintive scratching at the window.  I think she killed and ate a small dog, or maybe a pony.  Saw her this morning, looks like she's cleaned herself up a little.

Toby was in a very good mood this morning, and he ate EIGHT WEETBIX.  He'd said last night that he'd saved his pizza for Tyler and Abby.  Maybe he starved himself for them!

And it's three days until St Kilda take the premiership.  Getting very very excited (even though I know I'll likely be crushed, disappointed and unhappy come 6:30pm Saturday).

Conversations you don't want to hear

Overheard in the elevator this morning - by some folks from Civil Engineer company that is in our building:

"The abutment got rotated.  It's very displaced.  Still carrying traffic, though."

Good morning on Thurs, Sep 23

Hi,

What an absolutely gorgeous looking day out there.  The wind is still a bit on the cool side, and a little brisk, but it looks fabulous.  I took the bus in this morning because we went out last night.  Vivienne had invited us for another quiz.  This one was at the Speights Bar in Tinakori Road. 

Vivienne dropped Benjamin off to babysit Toby and then drove in with Mike.  I walked there straight from work.  Then it was down to the business of the quiz.  Our first round was quite bad - at least for me.  It was sports and I'm not sure I could have answered any of them.  But we got 6/10.  So pretty good!  We were running close to the middle of the pack (maybe 15 teams I guess) with one round to go.  Pot Luck was the round and we were playing our joker (you get to double your points).  Fortunately we aced the round and got 10/10.  Woo hoo!  Miraculously we flew into second place.  Lost by one point!  And there was a tie for third place one point behind us!

I am concerned though as a pattern is starting to emerge of the weird television stars from the 70s that only I can answer.  Larry Wilcox from Chips in the quiz a few weeks back, and Patrick Duffy from The Man from Atlantis last night.  Oh dear.

Tonight is a great night.  Toby has a play date after school with dinner included!  Lucky boy.  His best friend Jack has moved to a posh school - Scots College.  Toby is a bit devastated.  However, he's off to play and have dinner.  Hopefully he can do that regularly.

We have to pick up car seats for Tyler and Abby to use for school holidays.  And we see them tonight (if they get on the flight!).  I'll go to table tennis (I think I'm well enough) and then head off to the airport at midnight.  Yawn.  They'll recognise their Aunty Ange because I'll be the one in my pyjamas!  Heheheh.

And our groceries arrive tonight too.  Hooray!  Food to eat.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Wed, Sep 22

Hi,

My first ride home in ages last night and it went pretty well.  I breathed just fine on the way up.  It wasn't until I got home that I started coughing.  Weird.  Still, the rain eased off this morning so I rode in again.

I'm going to stay at work and walk to the quiz venue.  It should be a lot of fun.  Mike will take Toby to karate and pick up Hell Pizza for Toby and Benjamin for tonight's dinner.

Busy at work again.

Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Tues, Sep 21

Hi,

What a beautiful morning - although as I rounded the hill on Mairangi Road I did ride into a fairly strong northerly.  I got up to 50 km/h on the way down and could have overtaken a truck (if I was silly enough).

My cold has moved onto a slightly odd sinus phase.  Whatever!  I am so over it.  Or as Mike said last night after a wee coughing fit - "No, you're not".  Made me laugh.

We had the last night of Keas last night for the term. Lots of fun.  We printed out Puffle Goblet pictures, and coloured them in, cut them out and pasted them onto paper cups.  Then we filled the cups with Milo and ate biscuits.  Huge fun!

We have a quiz night with Vivienne tomorrow night.  Mum is stand by for the table (if we need someone to cover an illness, she's coming in!).  Benjamin is going to earn some babysitting money by coming around and babysitting Toby while we're out.  Good on him!  We'd best get some rules in place for Toby to adhere to.

What else?  I think that's it.  Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Mon, Sep 20

Hi,

Isn't September flying by?  We had a fantastic weekend driving into the teeth of this storm the size of Australia.  I think it's a media beat up as the weather was bad, but nothing unusual for this time of year.  More problems were caused by the very wet winter we've had already with the extra rain on top.  But more of that later.

Friday was really bad weather so Mike made the call (very sensible) to head off early Saturday morning rather than late Friday night.  Good thing too.  The traffic was diabolical on Friday evening.  It took me 50 minutes to drive home from work (our car was here, packed and ready to go, you see).  With no traffic I'd be lucky to get to 10 minutes before I get home.  It was amazing.  Mike had drinks after work, until they had petered out and then we walked up to where I was stationary in the car and got in.

So, we got up at 5am and threw ourselves in the car.  We collected Ilske from Mt Vic (our paying tramping club passenger) and headed off via Maccas for brekkie.  By the time we got to the Chateau at the bottom of Whakapapa there was thick snow all around, it was snowing, and the road was closed.  Tourists were frolicking in the snow on the golf course below the chateau.  We checked out the likelihood of getting up the road (the chap said yes, but there was no guarantee we'd get back down) and headed off for lunch in Turangi followed by a soak in the hot pools at Tokaanu.

By the time we got back to the Chateau, the Tabor had arrived for their weekend of luxury celebrating Josh and his mother's birthday so we had champagne with them in the very posh lounge of the Chateau.  The snow has washed away with the heavy rain.  Then I drove up the hill with the chains on.  Mike got soaked putting them on.  A 4WD coming down looked disparagingly at our vehicle and said it was very difficult conditions up above with huge lumps of snow.  I thought I could turn around if I needed to.  I now think they were 4WD owners from Auckland with no idea about snow at all.

The road was clear all the way to the car park where we encountered about 2 cms of wet snow with torrents of water running through it.  We had our ski gear on and climbed the hill to the lodge.  We fell through to our thighs in many areas.  Toby was light enough to scamper over the top of most of it.  The lodge was a very welcoming sight.  Cup of tea and I was right as rain.

We were then treated to constant blizzards until we left the next day.  The wind was very strong and the snow often horizontal.  We cooked dinner (nachos entree and spaghetti bolognaise main) and Toby and I fell asleep by about 8pm!

Sunday the Tabors came up to visit and they took Toby out sledding.  Apparently he liked digging snow cave holes more than hurtling down the hill.  Too risky he told Aidan.

Then we packed up and left.  SH1 was blocked by slips, as was SH4 (the alternate route back to Wellington).  But by the time we got to the main slip south of Taihape it was open to one lane.  In the 20 minutes we were there we counted 7 huge truckloads of dirt being cleared away.  Wow.

In other exciting news!  Go the Saints!  Go, go, go!  They are in the Grand Final against Collingwood.  Two teams with woeful finals outcomes.  Who wants it the most?  We'll be eating pies and watching it on Saturday!

I slept like a log last night!  Back at work and busy this week.

Have a great week.
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Fri, Sep 17

Hi,

We have the car packed and ready for the weekend.  Whether we can actually get to the lodge on Ruapehu is another matter.  Mike thinks we might be climbing the mountain with our gear on for a bit after abandoning the car in a snow drift!  Yikes!  Heheheh.

I fully intend to read and sleep and eat lots.  Lots!

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Thurs, Sep 16

Hi,

Well, it was a damp morning this morning and the radio and the other passengers at the bus stop are all talking about some storm about it lash all of New Zealand that is (apparently) the size of Australia.  Nice.  It's going to whip up roaring forties conditions and hurl them at us.  So we're expecting fallen trees and slips.  Nice.  And we're going to to Ruapehu this weekend as well.  Probably good I was planning to take lots of books.

Last night Grandy and Gramps came to watch Toby at karate.  After that, we got Burger Wisconsin and took it around to Karen and Mike's place.  Toby had a lot of fun.  So much so, he said it seemed to him that we were only there for three minutes!  Heheheh.

I'm going to miss table tennis tonight.  I'm still too sick.  But hopefully next Thursday I should be better and able to attend.

Then tomorrow we're off to Ruapehu for the weekend.  Mike was going to climb Ngauruhoe but he's too sick too.  I am so happy about that as the weather is going to be awful and I would have worried quite a lot.  We might go skiing - if my lungs can cope.  And I'm keen to lounge around in a hot pool.

Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Wed, Sep 15

Hi,

The last school production was last night I went with Grandy and Gramps.  Gramps endured it and Grandy loved it.  When Toby came on stage, she stood up and shouted "Toby" and he was happy to spot us.  Heheheh.  He was by far the best possum in the group of 60 possums.  He has great rhythm and timing.  Wonder where that came from? 

It was a late night and Toby was restless in bed with a tummy ache. 

This morning I dropped him off at school and he told me his best friend Jack has moved to Scots College.  Toby is bitterly disappointed and really wants to go to Scots College to be with Jack.  He is not enjoying his school at the moment.  Scots College is a private school here in Wellington.  I have heard that there is a sizeable group of boys not going on to Year 4 here, but instead are moving to Wellesley and Scots.  Both private schools.  Hmmmmm.

We have damage control to sort out with Toby.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Tues, Sep 14

Hi,

Well, despite a bit of wind, it is dry and clear out there.  I was in my bike gear when I ran up and down our stairs twice and started coughing and what have you.  I changed into my work clothes and caught the bus.  I have decided I need a few more days rest before tackling the hill back home.  But I don't enjoy the buses much.

Toby's production was great fun.  It probably wasn't quite as good as the first one we went to two years back.  This one had more plot and talking and more group action (Toby was one of about 80 possums).  The leads weren't great at remembering their lines either.  But I enjoyed seeing Toby up there (however brief it was).  And the work the teachers put in to get something like this up and running is amazing.  Good on them.

I will go with Grandy and Gramps tonight.  I hope we get to see Toby in the crowd scenes as well as we did last night.  Fortunately Toby ended up at the end of a row on our side of the stage.  I could see him peering around trying to spot us in the crowd.  Finally, almost at the end of his scene, he saw us.  I got a nice smile from him.  I'll have the camera tonight and take some photos.  I couldn't find it last night (it was handily in Mike's parka pocket in the laundry).

Ok.  Back to the work at hand.  Busy.  Wish I was off with Sally and Andrew.  They are walking in Italy this week (Cinque Terre) and I am sure they will love it!

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Mon, Sep 13

Hi,

The weather here was a bit horrible over the weekend - but no wind at least.  Foggy wet weather.  I rode in for the first time this morning since I came down with this lurgy and took it very easy.  It was wet so I always ride in slowly anyhow.  But extra specially slow today.  Despite this, I still puked up a mouthful when my coughing overcame me int he basement at work.  Nothing a good wash of my bike gloves didn't fix!  And I feel ok now my coughing has subsided.

Mike was coming right over the weekend but declined into coughing malaise last night and again this morning.  He was getting ready this morning but if he fails to come in, I wouldn't be surprised.

Tonight (and tomorrow night) is school production night and Toby is a possum.  I must grab the camera from home.  I'll rush off to Keas and Mike will feed Toby and take him around to the venue in Karori.  I'm looking forward to it.  Toby was so cute in the last one we saw 2 years ago when he was a rabbit.  I wonder why they are always NZ pests!??!!  Heheheh.

Have a great week!
Love,
Angela

Good morning on Fri, Sep 10

Hi,

It's nearly the weekend!  Woo hoo!  We have swimming tomorrow morning and then a quick check on Sally and Andrew's house.  Then a quiet weekend in anticipation of Mike coming down with my lurgy!  He is exhibiting all the right symptoms so far.

Toby's school production is Monday and Tuesday night.  I am hoping to get one more ticket for Tuesday night so I can attend with Mum and Dad (they have tickets for Tuesday night).  Toby is a possum.  And I think he'll be the best possum there.

I'm off to get a nice cup of tea.  Have a great weekend wherever you are.

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Thurs, Sep 9

Hi,

What a weird week.  I have been sick since 1pm on Monday at home with a cough that the doctor said has given me asthma for the first time in my life.  I think I may be post-viral now (and theoretically not contagious).  But having said that, we're wondering if I have already passed it on to Mike as he is feeling a bit poorly now.  So I just cough a lot and give myself a headache when I do that.  But apart from that, I should be good.  I can breathe ok for the most part - just a bit of wheezing every now and then.  Excitement plus.

Bit like Dad really.  He is in the same shape I think.  He must have had the coughing bug I had a while back that lasted for weeks and now he probably has this on top.  His probably merged together.  Maybe he's mutating a new version for everyone?

The weather is lovely today but I think it is supposed to go to the dogs later.

Anyhow - loads to do at work.  Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Monday morning

... I should have stayed in bed.

Well, my bed did have a magnetic pull this morning, for both me and Toby.  We both overslept.  But we eventually got off to school, having used up most of our contingency time.

Then, it took me FORTY-FIVE MINUTES to drive to work.  I have to drive along about 100m of motorway - and the on-ramp and off-ramp I have to use were broken, broken, broken.  I was queueing on the suburban streets before the on-ramp, and at one point I was parked with my engine off for about 10 mins.

No idea why, although there were police and fire engines milling about at the end of the off-ramp when I finally got there.  Maybe they had it blocked off or something.

Finally, the carpark I park in was full, and their system is to let you drive up and down the ramps searching for a park before they tell you.  So that took a lot of time as well.  They squeezed me into a random "reserved" park in the end.

Whew!  And it looks as if this week will be a busy one both at work and at home.  And I'm still trying to cover off things I should have done last weekend.  Sigh.

Good morning on Mon, Sep 6

Hi,

Happy birthday to Abby for yesterday!  I hope she had a great day!  Our weekend was weird.  Saturday morning we heard the news from Christchurch of a huge earthquake there.  It must have disturbed my sleep because I woke at that exact time and moved to sleep on the couch (there wasn't enough room with Mike, Toby, me and the cat all in the same bed).

Then we went out to a quiz night on Saturday night - and won!  Hooray!

But Sunday I came down with another bad cold.  Mike's father's day celebrations were put on hold and he took Toby to a tramping club event without me.  I slept most of the day!

But, stupidly perhaps, I am at work.  Coughing and wheezing.  But no splitting headache so perhaps I am getting better already.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Fri, Sep 3

Hi,

Another busy day.  I hope Toby has a good time at his full dress rehearsal for the school play.  He's a possum!  Heheheh.

The weather is lovely here today.

Swimming tomorrow.  The a quiz night then the Rimutaka Incline for some family fun on Sunday.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Angela

Good morning on Thurs, Sep 2

Happy birthday to Cameron (and yesterday for Jamie, and for Sunday for Abby!!).

The conference in Auckland was superb.  I learned heaps.  Now I am up to my eyeballs in work.  So not a lot here to catch you all up on news.

Mike is away till tonight still.  He stayed on an extra day to catch up with work colleagues in Auckland. 

I am eating my grapes that Ma put in my lunchbox.  How nice to eat a lunch my mother made for me.  I feel like I should be in a school yard.

Toby was happy to see me and I can tell he loved his stay with Grandy and Gramps while we were away.

Roll on Friday evening for a chance to get back into routine.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela