The Wednesday with nothing for me and Toby and tramping club for Mike

Hi,

I rode home yesterday and did it hard.  Not too sure why.  The hill was obviously steeper for some reason yesterday.  Hahahah.

Anyhow, I collected Toby all prepared to go to the Scots Easter service with him, but he piked.  He coughed a lot (he is still a wee bit sick from his "Aussie germs" as he calls them) and looked at me pathetically.  Who am I to make him rush around to get to church by 6.30pm?  It'd be hard enough on me!  So, I capitulated.  We had a nice dinner at home and we did homework together.  Actually, we had a good time together.

Mike got home late from tramping club.  It was winter schedule planning time.  He did eat a lot of pizza.  Good!

We have four days off for Easter now.  Yay.  Toby has Tuesday off too.  The plan?  Hmmmm.  Tiny bit nebulous still.

Good Friday bike ride for me.  Easter Saturday meeting Tabors for lunch.  Easter Sunday might have an Easter Egg hunt if we're lucky.  Easter Monday I might get a movie in with Aidan and Sally.  Maybe.  Plus piano practice.  Plus housework.  Plus all manner of tasks on Mike's huge list of outstanding items.  Toby has a sleepover planned.  Or two.  Some boy called Liam from school.  Plus a Tabor sleepover on Monday night and a Tuesday holiday programme with the boys.  Wonder if I can squeeze in another bike ride somewhere there? Woo hoo!  Cool fun.

We usually go away over Easter.  I thought we'd have a quiet Easter at home.  Seems as though it might be quieter to plan something away.  What do you think?

Have a fantastic Easter!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Cubs - but not for me.

Hi,

I rode home and collected Toby from Alex's house and started dinner.  Mike arrived just as it was all cooked, so it was perfect timing.  We ate and then Mike took Toby to Cubs.  We were parent helpers so Mike stayed to make Easter crafts with the Cubs.  Toby has his sixer woggle now - yay!!  He had a good time at Cubs.

I stayed home and tidied.  Boring, eh?  Did all the luxing.  The laundry seems to be a little out of control though.

Rode to work this morning and it was lovely.  Mike will drive in and go and collect my wheel from Lyall Bay before his tramping club commitments.  Then I can ride it this weekend!  Wooo hoooooo!

I'll ride home and collect Toby and cook dinner.,  Then I rather fancy going to the Scots College Easter service at St Johns in the evening.  We shall see.

Have a marvellous day.  I need a cup  of tea.
Love,
Angela

The Monday with sleep

Hi,

That is a Monday best forgotten.  Actually, in my sleep-deprived state, I can hardly remember it already.  I rode home and got tea ready.  Mike got home and a nice time and we all ate.  I sat around moping (actually, not too sure it was moping - just catatonic really) until Mike suggested we got to bed to watch something.  I chose a David Attenborough documentary on plants.  I think I saw 5 minutes of it.

Yep - I think I had about ten hours sleep last night.  Zombie sleep.  The sort of sleep where if the apocalypse had happened, I would have slept through it.

I rode my bike in this morning and had a lovely ride.  Can't wait for the ride home now.  I think a week in Sydney has given me withdrawals.  Tomorrow I will pick up my other bike's wheel and hopefully that will solve the issue of my noisy bike.  And I can go for a long bike ride over Easter somewhere.  I fancy trying between 30 and 50 km.  I'll have a chat to Andrew and figure out a nice ride for me.

Mike and Toby are fine - they also had ten hours sleep.  We'll all be a box of birds today.  Our concreting isn't done yet - they are working on the neighbour's retaining wall.  Fair enough too.

Have a wonderful day.
Love,
Angela

The weekend back in Wellington - eventually

Hi,

We got up early (5am Sydney time) on Saturday and said our goodbyes.  Everyone got up to give us hugs - aren't they crazy?  I hope they did get back to sleep.  Karen had a big day ahead of her with the school fete she was running.

Mike had hired a rental car for the drive to the airport because the rail engineering works meant a bus replacement service.  Unfortunately, he only found out after he collected the car that our wee section of railway was still open.  But the car drive was fine!

We drive into town via Leichardt (I think that's how it is spelled but I might be making it up) to collect Christine from her sister's place.  We made it to the airport well before our 7.20am check-in time.  Mike had to go and find petrol though - bit of a blow.  Still, we had checked in and just waited for him.

Through to our gate and waiting.  And waiting.  Uh oh.  Apparently our plane touched down and the nose wheel steering broke and they couldn't steer the plane to the gate.  It sat for about 1.5 hours on the tarmac before it was towed to our gate.  This meant delays to our departure.

Mike fast asleep

Killing time

Mike was feeling a bit sick and he slept in a quiet corner on the floor.  I noticed ground crew checking him out to make sure he was still breathing.

We had an announcement to say we might be departing at 11.30am.  We spent our food vouchers in anticipation.  I noticed the board changed our status to canceled.  Hmmmm.  Sure enough, in 10 minutes they announced our flight was canceled and we were being re-scheduled onto later flights.  Ours was the Qantas 1805 flight.

We had to clear customs again and get our bags.  No check in until 3pm.  So we went to McDonalds and set ourselves up for a while   Christine bought playing cards with her vouchers and Mike and Christine settled in playing 500.

We bumped into a work colleague from London.  Duncan and his wife Rachel.  They now have two children and are living in Kuala Lumpur.  We chatted for a while, marvelling at the coincidences in life that meant our paths crossed.  They were delayed because they had left their car seat back through customs when they collected their luggage.  We should have already been touching down in Wellington!

Mike sleeping in his seat airside

Sydney in the distance

At 3pm, we checked back in and went airside to fill in more hours.  I did read a lot.  Hopped on the flight (delayed by an hour) and had an uneventful flight home.  So happy to see Sally and Andrew there to meet us.  We piled into the Mighty Red Galant and went home.  The neighbours were having a huge party and the music was very loud, even at 1.30am.  But it didn't bother any of us!

Sunday was quiet.  We woke up very late.  Didn't get to the Scots Gala because we were all tired.  Stayed at home most of the day apart from grocery shopping and William coming to play.  We did have a fright when Mike went up to the garage to get the car and discovered it was missing.  We looked at each other trying to remember what we did with it on Friday.  Had we left it for 7 days in the car park near work?  Jeepers - that would be expensive.  We decided it was most likely at the Wadestown library so we jumped in the car to check.  Sure enough - we found our car abandoned outside the library.  Unloved for the week.  Hahahah.

 I went out to the Paul Kelly concert without Mike (Alistair came instead) and enjoyed that immensely.   The concert, not the fact Mike was missing.  The venue was the Old St Pauls church and it was lovely.

Time for work!  Have a great week!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Sydney

Hi,

I can't believe our week here has gone so fast - this time tomorrow (NZ time) I'll be back in Wellington already.  Wow.

Let's see?  What did we do on Wednesday?  Our friend from work came over for lunch to Karen's place.  He is in Sydney for a while seeing his brother (he's a bit sick).  It was nice to catch up with him outside of work.

Wednesday night we left for the second Bruce concert.  Mike declared it even better than the first one.  I enjoyed it and it was different to the Monday night one.  But I think I liked Monday night just because of one of the songs he played that I like (She's the one).  He started a bit later (7.45pm probably) and we got home a wee bit later as a consequence.  But it was much easier driving there without a footy match on as well.  We got to park in P1, right next to the venue.  Took us 25 minutes to extricate ourselves from the multi level carpark though.

Bruuuuce - number 2

We were probably 180 degrees opposite our Monday night seats.  Can't wait for tonight's concert.  It's going to be big - Bruce said so.  Well, he thinks he is playing on Saturday night, but we know his schedule better than he does!

Thursday was great fun.  Karen and the girls took the day off with us and we went to see a movie (Oz, the great and powerful) at Castle Towers.  Wee Abby got a bit scared and crawled onto my lap.  I found the warm cinema, the big seats and constant late nights and early mornings produced a soporific effect and I slept through a good portion of the movie.  Mike and Karen liked it though - ask them for a review.  All I can say is it was good to catch up on some sleep.  Hahahah.

After the movie we went to Yum Cha at Castle Towers.  It was as good as usual.

Who gets those green veges every time?

Cute!

Those green veges seem to be next to me!

Abby keeping me and Toby at bay

Back home to recover from the excesses of the day.  Thursday night is netball training night and the first one of the season.  Karen is Tyler's team coach and I entertained Abby for a while practising passes.

Warm up!

Karen and Scott went out to see a movie and I read a book (I have to finish it by Friday because it is on Karen's kindle!).  I'm on a mission!

Friday is Karen's usual day off.  But she has a big day on Saturday as she is running the school fete.  Mike and Karen wheeled a freezer around to the school.  Yes - it is a mad as it sounds.  When they got back, after some more messages, I went to Rouse Hill with Karen.  We had sushi train and got some money for the stalls float tomorrow.  Bumped into Liz and chatted for a bit.

Bruce number three tonight.  And a complicated Gilbertian plan to get to the airport by 7am tomorrow.  It seems as though the railways are doing all their engineering works at the weekend.  It was either a bus replacement service that might take hours or we get a rental car.  So we have hired a car and will add a twist by collecting Christine from her sister's place and her suitcase from the middle of town.  No point doing anything too easy!

We're going to Scots College Gala on Sunday morning.  Come with us!  Should be fun!

Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela

The Monday with Bruce and the Tuesday with swimming

Hi,

What an eventful two days since I last blogged.  Bound to forget what we got up to - but here goes.  Monday Mike went into work and I took Sally, Andrew and Toby up to Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately my phone was as flat as a tack so I have no photographic proof I was there.  But Sally has a few photos.  We walked to the Three Sisters and ate at the cafe next to the visitors centre.  My chicken BLT was average and Toby's bacon and toast was pretty average too.  Sally and Andrew weren't enamoured of their meal either.  One of those eating establishments that convinces Andrew of his theory that places with exceptional views forget about making an effort with the food.

Driving home we followed a bicycle doing up to 80km drafting behind a huge truck.  We think he was waiting for the right truck to draft because we passed him on the verge at the top of the hill before a huge stretch of roadworks.  He was in the fast lane and either is very good to ride home that way every day, or isn't long for this world.

Back home and got dinner ready before jumping in the car and driving to Homebush to see Bruce Springsteen.  I drove Sally and Andrew there and planned to meet Mike at the venue.  Unfortunately the traffic was awful with a rugby league game at the same location (ANZ stadium next door!) and it made us late.  Took 25 mins to negotiate the last 5 kms to the venue.

Sally and Andrew jumped on the shuttle bus from the P5 carpark but I had to try and wait for Mike so he could leave his work backpack in the car.  But it turns out that P5 is about 3 kms from the P1,2,3,4,6 carparks.  So, I jumped on a bus and eventually found Mike, checked his bag in and we only missed one and a half songs.  Bruce started at 7.30 and we were sitting down in our seats at 7.37.

And the concert, I hear you ask?  Wow!  It was great - one of his best!  Do I say that every time?  Probably.  But this was astonishing.  Our seats were quite good - a side/behind view.

Bruuuuuuuuuucccceeee!

For 3 hours the place was pumping.  Bruce sang some songs I haven't heard live before (She's the one, is one of my favourites and I think it was the first time I have heard it).  Wrecking Ball is his latest album and is pretty good!

The exodus from the carpark was easy and we were home by 11.30pm.  However, we were up at 5.30am because Sally and Andrew were heading home.  Mike caught a taxi in with them.  For historical purposes let me say it was $175.  Ouch!

We all left home at 7am to get to the Aquatic Centre (at Homebush again)  for Abby's regional swimming race.  She was amazing - never let the occasion overawe her.  She swam a good race, a little slower than her qualifying time for the regionals but did well.

Lane 1 Kitto!

Amazing venue - where the Sydney Olympics were held

I went from there into town to meet Mike for a quick lunch and then wandered around until 5pm.  We met Christine and had an amazing dinner at the German restaurant in The Rocks.

Slurp

Harbour bridge self portrait

Schweinshaxe - and this was a good one!

Yum!

Self portrait - that's the Queen Mary 2 behind us - it is huge!

We walked Christine home from The Rocks to Central station  - it's quite a long way.  Caught a train home and after the early start and lots of walking, I slept the whole way.  Properly slept! On the train.  Like a hobo!  Hahahahah.  Fastest trip out I have ever had on the train.  We caught a taxi from Blacktown to Quakers Hill ($20 for historical purposes) and I slept in!

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Sunday in Sydney

Hi,

We're sleeping in the lounge on a mattress so we woke when the kids got up.  Fortunately, for Kitto children, they slept in!  Yay!  7am isn't too bad.

We had such a lot of fun last night at the trivia night. We had a table of eight with me, Mike, Sally, Andrew, Karen, Scott and a couple that we know from when wee Tyler was born that Karen and Scott have stayed in touch with - Noush and Andrew.

There were 24 tables with 8 people so it was huge. There was a table controversy when Scott wanted our joker round to be the movie round because he knows how good Karen is with that. But the rest of us wanted science and nature round. So majority won.

In our movie round we did really well. In fact we got ten out of ten. So we were now a bit worried that Scotty was right and we'd blown our best points chances. Then the science and nature round came and we aced that too. Twenty out of twenty. And we were ten points ahead of the next table by the end of that round and our closest tables had played their joker already. Turns out that was an unassailable lead and we won by 9 points.

Ooossssshhhhh. And that was despite having 5 kiwis on the table and a lot of Australian questions. Ha ha.

We won bottles of wine and double pass movie tickets. I think Karen and Scott have leisure time sorted for the next wee while because the tickets aren't valid in NZ.

They raised 20k for the recent young widow and she was very gracious in her speech. We were pleased to be a part of the community effort.

It did make us awfully tired by the time we got home.  I hit the wall at about 9.30pm after the final round but before the speeches.  So I did sleep very well.  Woke up Sunday and had a leisurely morning with Karen making non-stop breakfasts for everyone.  Then at 11am, Karen's friend Liz collected us for a high tea in town.

The drive in - Sally and I were in the way back

We drove over the harbour bridge into town and parked in the bowels of some building or other.  We still had about two hours to kill and I said I needed some clothes for work so we went into several shops.  But I hate clothes shopping and the other women seemed happy to buy things.  So I came away empty-handed.

I got a photo outside the Samsung shop, just for Josh.  :-p Here it is:

Apparently this was geeky behaviour according to Noush (and she's a clinical psychologist, so it must be true)

Sally, Karen and I wandered through a bookshop before the high tea.  It not only had an ABC Shop inside, but it also had an SBS Shop!  Wow - who knew SBS had shops.

Then we were off to the Swiss Hotel for high tea.

Liz, Mel, Noush, Sally, me, Karen

We stuffed ourselves silly with food and then rolled out to find the car.  A matinee session just got out and we joined loads of people exiting the car park.  But Liz drove expertly out to Quakers Hill and we got back home very fast.  The kids had a relaxing day at home with Mike, Scott and Andrew.

Time for dinner now - Mike is the chef.  Sally, Karen and I are too full to even contemplate dinner.

Bruuuuuce concert number 1 tomorrow night.  Woo hoo!

Enjoy the start of the  working week!
Love,
Angela

The Saturday in Sydney

H,

Oooo - that early morning flight takes a bit of getting used to, doesn't it?  Sally and Andrew collected us at 4.15am in the Mighty Red Galant and we were checked in at the airport before we knew it.  Certainly before Mike knew it because he hadn't had any coffee yet!  Hahahah.

Sally and Andrew had Koru membership to ease their way so we ate at Mojos (my ham and cheese croissant was pretty good, especially with Toby's spurned egg from his bacon and egg sandwich).  Mike woke up with a jolt when he had his small cappuccino with an extra shot, not realising he wasn't getting the large one with the extra shot.  His coffee was strong.  Strong!

The flight passed easily with our television viewing.  I watched a great couple of episodes of an English chap learning to ride dirt bikes through lovely parts of the South Island.  It was fantastic.  Mike watched season 2 of The Hour.  I feel we'll be watching that this year then.  I then listened to some music (quite loud) and was surprised when an announcement came on that every passenger dreads.  No - not that announcement.   Another one.  "If there is a doctor on the plane, can they make their presence known by pressing the call button?".  I thought nothing else of it besides wondering what was happening and where.  But Mike said something to me a few minutes later so I had to whip off the headphones and then I noticed a kerfuffle int he back seat of the plane (just two rows behind us).  A line of medical professionals were lining up to peer at someone.  Ooooo - whatever it was that was happening was happening right behind me and I was oblivious.  I got the goss from Toby later as he had listened to everything.  (Turns out a man had taken malaria tablets earlier that day and was not feeling very funny indeed - so funny that they got ambulance people with a stretcher to meet our plane).

Off at Sydney and into Maccas to feed the hungry ones.  Then onto the train and then... off again.  Turns out that they decided this weekend was the weekend to fix the entire train line out to Karen and Scott's place.  We waited for a bus replacement service in Granville (where?) for a while then meandered around outer Sydney on a suburban bus most definitely not designed for international visitors with luggage.  It's just as if we lived on the Kapiti line and had to endure bus replacement services every other weekend.  Phew!  It took almost as long (probably twenty minutes difference only) to fly from Wellington to Sydney as it took us to train/bus from the airport to Quakers Hill.  At Quakers Hill we managed to extricate ourselves from the pile of people and baby prams (because suburban buses cater so well for them too - right?) and Scotty came to get us.  Mike and Sally walked home from the station, to give us room.

Now we have settled into the Sydney routine again.  Karen and Scott are looking after us and we have a great load of exciting things lined up for the week.  Of course, there are the three Bruuuuuuce concerts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  And Abby is in the regional swimming final on Tuesday.  So it is all go, go, go!

Trivia night tonight.  I am hoping against hope that Mike's costume is a lot better than the one had rented last time for the work function that consisted of extremely brief lederhosen.  And I hope he didn't get me Guinevere's costume as he threatened!

I chatted to Shona for ages on the phone and heard all about her health concerns (less stress seems to be the key - let's all do that, eh) and her holiday to the South Island in January.  It was great to chat and chat.  Although Karen's landline crackle meant I stayed in the exact same standing position for an hour and then I noticed I had a sore arm from holding the phone for that long.  Hahahah.

Time for dinner soon.  We're a little bit out of whack with the eating times.

Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with user group

Hi,

What a beautiful day yesterday.  I had a busy day.  A team breakfast from 8.30am that I had to get to at 8am in order to eat breakfast and get to the workshop I had to run at 9am on the client site.  I envisaged eating breakfast alone at a table set for 20, but someone else thought it was an 8am start so I had company.  Walked around to the client site and had the workshop.  It went an hour over because it was quite a bit of fun and we were getting somewhere.

Met Aidan briefly while I ate my sandwich.  We sat outside Wagamama, looking out over the harbour.  We were so ready for a pod of orcas to swim past - but they had other plans.  Walked Aidan to the train and met Josh cutting through the station.  So I walked back with him, catching up on his news.

Had the user group after work and that went well.  A good, fun session!  Then Mike came to collect me and we went home.  The neighbour (Juliette) came around for a cup of tea and Mike explained the plans for their backyard to them.  She seemed happy.  Then into bed!  Phew.

I have my dizzy thing a little this morning.  I think I might be getting a touch of a cold or something.  Just in time for Sydney.  Bike ride in was fine though - it is hard to ride if you feel too dizzy.  We're off early tomorrow.  Karen has helpfully organised us from afar.  How did she know we needed it?  So, don't panic if you don't get any blogs for a bit.

Have a look at our patio.  Still looking mighty fine after our clean-up last weekend for the big BBQ.

So tidy!

The proto concrete pad - with steel reinforcing in place

And you can also see the latest in the state of the concrete pad.  I think it is ready for concrete to be poured.  Great!

Have an incredible day!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with nothing but I feel like I did something

Hi,

Mike and I rode home together.  Well, sort of.  He stopped on Lambton Quay for something and I made it through the intersection before the lights changed and I never saw him again until much, much later.  Defeats the purpose of a romantic bike ride home together.

Tidied up a bit at home and got homework done.  Mike checked out the neighbours and then to bed.

Today is lovely here in Wellington.  But all this lovely weather means we have hardly any water left.  Lucky we're going to Sydney on Saturday where they have had loads of rain and we can be profligate with our water usage.  Well, more so than here at any rate.  Bath anyone?

Busy at work.  User group tonight too.  Phew.

Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Cubs

Hi,

I ended up riding to Bowen St carpark yesterday evening because when I got my bike gear on, I remembered Mike had missed the Scots bus in the morning and driven Toby and Alex all the way to school. So I guessed he had the car in town.  Yep.  So I drove home and got Toby in plenty of time for Cubs.  Fed him and cajoled him.  He has gone off Cubs in a big way.  I'm worried it's because I'm not there to keep him company.  And all his friends have left, so he knows no one really well.  He knows loads of them for years at Cubs.  Anyhow, it's a battle to get him to go.  It didn't help that he is the sixer, and his seconder is trying to muscle in on his turf and the Cub leader called up the seconder to break the flag last night instead of him.  He took it pretty well, considering.  A grown-up response.  So we're pleased with the way he is handling it all.

Anyhow, I went grocery shopping when I dropped him off and then got home to get a call from Mike asking to be picked up.  He had attended a computer talk on agile development and met our neighbour Arthur there.  So I collected them both from town and put away the groceries while Mike went to collect Toby.

Then I chatted to Jo - one of the Cub leaders on the phone.  She said Toby was pretty happy during the evening and apologised for the oversights.  Oh well.  They try hard - I know.  I've been there!

Our concrete slab is moving along nicely.  The steel is all in place and it looks ready for the concrete pour.  Woo hoo!  I can't wait for the house to stop sucking all our money.  And the dust!  Gah!  I suspect I should just get used to dust.  When the deck goes in, there'll be more than just dust as a disruption.

Today is lovely again.  Someone said the forecast was for 25C today.  Unheard of March weather.  Crazy talk.  My ride in was great again today.  I think I've forgotten how to ride on wet roads.  Hahahah.  Anyhow, time for a cup of tea and get stuck in.

Have a wonderful day.
Love,
Angela

The Monday with a spontaneous dinner date for me

Hi,

It clouded over mid morning yesterday abruptly.  Went from glorious sunshine (like it is now) to cloudy and cold within 5 minutes.  Weird.  Had a tough day at work (stupid bug in the product - grrrrr - spent quite a few hours trying to figure that out - glad it wasn't something I had done though).  Then I met Ilske for dinner at Wagamama.  So it all ended quite nicely.  Pleasant conversation, nice food, nice view.

I rode home after that and felt even better.  Then I managed to convince the boys (I must have looked pathetic when I said I'd walk to collect the car all by myself) to walk with me to collect the car from the library.  Mike had caught the wrong bus home that went nowhere near the library.  Aha.  We had a great walk, bumped into neighbours, chatted.  Got in the car and went home.

By that time it was bedtime.  I think Mike read the entire internet before he went to sleep.  The whole thing.  Nothing left to read.

Mike has a tramping club thing on tonight so I'll ride home and collect Toby and feed him before dropping him at Cubs.

And that is about it.  Lovely day again today.  My ride in was a lot of fun!  Time for a cup of tea I think.  Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with good weather... still

Hi,

We had an unexpected weekend in Wellington after our Ruapehu trip was cancelled due to lack of interest.  Guess it would have been odd (but pleasant) in the 32 bunk lodge by ourselves.

So, instead, we had a great weekend in Wellington.  Saturday I was meant to tidy the house.  And I guess I did a bit of it.  Mike was supposed to work, and I guess he did a little bit of it too.  Toby had William come over and then they went to see Gamemasters at Te Papa all by themselves (while Mike worked) and then Mike took them to Joe's Garage and Mike had an iced coffee.  Yummy!  I was doing the laundry.

Sunday we were up early and tidying - again.  How does it get messy in one day?  Then I took Toby to Lower Hutt to buy some sneakers and the groceries for the BBQ.  12.30 people started arriving.  It was a gorgeous day - clouded over briefly but that was just a respite from the heat!

Out on the patio we sit - just for Ma!

We had family, friends and some colleagues from work come over.  So it was a big event for us.  Mike cooked up a storm.  Toby had some friends to play with, although I think the wee girls played in his room and the boys played computer games.

Mike ensured the patio area was scrubbed and you could eat off the floor.  Well, perhaps not quite.  But it was certainly clearer than I have seen it before.  And with all the guff gone, we had loads of space.  Might need to invest in some more chairs.

The rest of Sunday was spent tidying and ironing.  Well, at least we're ready for the week.

My ride down the hill was great today.  Lovely morning, again.  I am on the mountain bike because the council is chip sealing all the roads that lead to our house.  And the skinny road tyres scare me on loose gravel.  So the fatter hybrid tyres will have to do for a bit.

Hope your week is marvellous!
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with a birthday movie

Hi,

Mike had a huge day at work yesterday - a big presentation that went really well.  After that, he deserved a night off relaxing.  But he had volunteered to babysit wee Tom and Toby for Christine's birthday so we could all go out to a movie.  Shucks - he's a good man.

I met everyone at Reading cinemas.  I had met one of Christine's friends before, but none of the others there.  Well, perhaps I have seen one or two others in passing at other birthday parties.  But I was a bit shy.  Anyhow, we went to see Silver Linings Playbook and I rather enjoyed it.  It was billed as a drama/romance/comedy.  Not too sure about the genre really.  The humour was a bit black apart from one hilarious scene right near the end that had me crying with laughter.  It was a good drama I suppose.  And romance?  Well, I am a hopeless judge on that anyway.  But I know my mother would love it.  It has all the elements she likes - psychology, black humour, good acting.  Yep - Ma would love it.

We went out to The Library afterwards for a drink and bite to eat.  Well, the others fed me some of their chips.  I had a bit of sushi before the movie otherwise I would never have concentrated from 6 - 8pm.  I did have a Virgin Mule though - which is what I had last time I went to The Library with Christine.  Nice drink!  The "virgin" part means there is no alcohol.  So it was basically lime and mint with ginger beer.  Slurp!  I like The Library.  In booths, dark nooks, loads of books.  Yep.  A fine place.

Today is another lovely day.  I'm going to try and do a group ride around the bays tomorrow morning.  That should be fun!

Weekend is free.  We fancy a BBQ at our house for Sunday lunch.  Come around if you're free.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with dinner out

Hi,

Mike drove home after work to collect Toby and we met at the Steer and Beer restaurant with a whole bunch of my work colleagues.  The food was pretty good - Toby loved his chicken and Camembert burger and Mike said his beef burger was good (but not as good as my homemade ones the day before).  My steak was pretty good too.  So, not too shabby at all.  We'd go back if we needed some steak dinner before a movie.  It is at the Reading Cinema.

Mike left us to return to work.  He has a big presentation today and will be flat out.  Toby and I went to tramping club for Mike (collected a few bits and pieces) and then a few groceries before collapsing into bed.

This morning is gorgeous!  Gorgeous.  And I had to drive in again.  But that is because it is Christine's birthday today.  Woo!  And I'm off to see Silver Linings Playbook with her and some of her friends tonight.

Cool fun.

Have a wonderful day.  Hope the weather is as beautiful where you are.
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Cubs

Hi,

Mike and I rode home together for the first time in ages.  I was on my road bike and Mike finally heard the awful noise it makes as you ride along.  I left him for dead riding up the hill.  Overtook someone too.  We went up our hill as we had to cook tea quickly before Cubs.

Home made burgers went down a treat.  I got compliments from both boys.  And Toby has the last one in his lunchbox today.  Hope he likes it cold as well as hot.

Mike dropped Toby off at Cubs at Otari Wilton bush.  We got some messages done (bills paid, I did washing - you'd be surprised how happy I am to have my Tuesday evenings back to get some work done at home) and then I went to pick up Toby.

Then it was census time.  So we all sat down and completed our census forms.  We did them online and Toby completed his and then we did ours.  Great fun!  They have taken Scotland off for the first time as an overseas place of birth in favour of India.  So Toby had to put down "Other" and then write in Scotland.  Oooo.  Way to buck the trend, Toby!

We drove into work this morning because we have a work dinner on tonight.  Mike will zip home and collect Toby, get him changed, collect his models and we'll head into town.  Toby is making Minecraft models and loving it.  They look really cool!  Some paper cutting and folding.

Mike has tramping club after the dinner so Toby and I will get some groceries and head home to do homework.

Have a fantastic day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with a migraine

Hi,

Happy birthday yesterday to Mike's mother!  Yay!  Here's to having a March birthday.  Not quite as good as a February birthday, but not too shabby either.  ;-)

I stayed in bed all day.  Reading.  Oddly, nothing much happened.  Hahahah.  I feel much better today - just the slight hint that I had a migraine yesterday.  I rode my bike in because nothing is better for a headache than a ride on your bike.  I recommend it.  Neurophen doesn't come close.

Cubs tonight - they are rogaining (like orienteering) near our house so it's an easy drop off and pick up for us.

That's about it.  Hoping I don't have to think too hard today and I think I need lots of tea.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The amazing weekend with a pedicure

Hi,

What a fantastic weekend.  But it seems my body can't tolerate such fun because Monday morning saw me get a migraine for the first time in a year or so.  So I have a sick day from work.

Friday evening I left work and drove up with half of Wellington to Waikanae.  The traffic was so slow I was late for our dinner reservation.  I called Aidan and she moved it out a bit, fortunately.  We ate at the Front Room outside in the lovely evening.  I dropped her home and headed back to Wellington.

Meanwhile I have it on good authority that Toby declared their Friday night together (him and Mike) as the best Friday night ever.  Right.  So last Friday night when we snuggled up watching a movie was nowhere near as much fun as riding your bicycle on the road to Burger Wisconsin (he did what??) and watching Back to the Future 3.  Okay.

Saturday morning Mike was up early to get the car warranted.  It passed.  The headlights now point in the same direction.  Then I left to meet Aidan for a pedicure.  This was the first time I had ever had this done and despite my reservations I may have found a new heavenly experience on earth.  Why hadn't anyone told me I can pay money to have someone tickle my feet?  Thanks for the birthday present, Aidan.  It was great.

We then proceeded to take photos of our delicious toes everywhere.  Well, my toes are delicious.  Aidan's are merely functional, like most people's toes.  Hahahahah.

I also have a photo Aidan took of her toes on the dashboard of the MX-5 as we drove through town.  That one is awesome!  I may have to save it somewhere to get it up on the blog at some stage. [Edited:  look, I found the photo!]

We went to lunch at Dockside and were so pleased when a boatload of raucous men tied up right beside our table left on their drunken adventure.  The rest of the lunch was in peace and quite yummy.

We dropped books off at Arty Bees, went clothes shopping (well, I followed Aidan around the clothes shop after Mike told me to get off the internet when I was waiting for her) and I got an iced coffee at Joe's Garage out of it too.  Saw Aidan off to her party and went home to tidy the house.

Toby and Mike were off at Te Papa (we had met them briefly on the street) to see Gamemasters and Toby invited two friends back for a sleepover.  Akash and Jacob.  Nice boys.  They had fun all day playing games and slept well.

I was getting them breakfast the next morning when Vivienne knocked at the door.  I answered in my pyjamas.  Oops.  I had forgotten I was going to the market with her.  Threw some clothes on, made sure most of my hair was pointing in the same direction and went off with her and Ramble.  Such a nice morning.  It's a shame my weekends are full for the next three weekends - I could get used to this Sunday morning behaviour.

Back home for lunch and then Toby went off on a playdate (swimming at Tawa pool) and then home for tea.

Yes - it was such fun.  But my head is a little woozy now after my migraine.  A day spent in bed reading quietly will do wonders.  No sudden movements.  Actually, I had my dizzy thing on Saturday as well.  I wonder if it's connected.  That finally dissipated around 1pm.  Oh well.  All good.

Have a marvellous week.
Love,
Angela

The Thursday with nothing for me and Toby and more tramping club for Mike

Hi,

I rode home and collected Toby and gave him leftover spaghetti bolognese from yesterday's dinner.  It was prepared so fast he was still on his after-school snack when dinner was put in front of him.

Mike got home after having a quick beer with Josh after work.  We relaxed for a bit watching television.  We've watched television two nights this week.  Something weird has happened!  Only an hour each night - but still.  Highly unusual behaviour.  Mike is gearing up to switch off all our channels.  Why pay for something we never watch?  Maybe that's why we're watching some of it?

Mike then went off to the tramping club lodge committee meeting and now I believe he is on the lodge sub-committee.  Yep - it is sucking him in.  I will be a tramping club widow very soon.

I was well asleep by the time he got home.  Couldn't rouse myself to even say hello.  It's a shame for him!

It's almost the weekend!  Yay.  Mike has (surprise) tramping club web commitments this weekend.  I am meeting Aidan tomorrow to finally get that pedicure she was keen on back in October when my toenails fell off.  Mike wants to take Toby to see the computer game exhibition at Te Papa.  And Toby has a playdate on Sunday.

I need to tidy the house - it can't seem to stay tidy at the moment.  Big weekend looming then, eh?  Maybe a market visit with Vivienne if I'm lucky?

Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela