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

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with glorious weather

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great week.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with lovely weather but lots of work

Hi,

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

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

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

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

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with karate and Mike's return

Hi,

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

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

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

Busy day today.  Better get stuck in.
Love
Angela

The Tuesday with no Mike

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with Keas

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with a Paua Hut tramp

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hi,

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

They were yummy!  Scrumptious.

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

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

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with karate and tennis and Mike's dinner

Hi,

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

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

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

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

Busy at work.  Never mind.  Getting through stuff.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Monday with Keas and lovely weather

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good evening - from work

Hi,

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

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

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

Back to work.

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

Love,
Angela

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

I got handed this flyer today.

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

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

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

The Thursday with a birthday and still more work

Hi,

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

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

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

The Wednesday with work

Hi,

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Vivienne's birthday dinner

Hi,

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

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

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

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with nice weather, Keas and fish n chips

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

Love,
Angela

The weekend where I forgot the title - again

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

The Thursday class excursion to the zoo

Hi,

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

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

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

Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with exceptional weather

Hi,

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

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

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

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

Love,
Angela

very disorganised this morning

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

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

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

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

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

The Monday with Keas and bugs

Hi,

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

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

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

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with Halloween

Hi,

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

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