Hi,
Poor Mike - he was pretty sick with his migraine yesterday. I was busy at work but I got away for a nice lunch with Aidan when she came into town. Mike had also requested some more bath products so we had a trip to Lush and I am now stocked up on smelly bath stuff. We finished with a cup of tea at Clarks and then Aidan drove me back to work. Her car was parked under the library after all. It wouldn't have been such a silly idea, but we got caught in the graduation parade and waited in the car while the happy graduates walked down Lambton Quay.
I worked late as I had a lot of work come in and I rode home in the dark. Pleasant enough. Mike cooked a lovely dinner of steak when I got home. We all had a bath (and tried out the buttery sensation, or whatever that one was!) and had a great sleep.
Toby woke up in a great mood. Said it was his best sleep in two years! Hahahah. No sign of grumpy Toby from yesterday. Thank goodness.
Mike and I rode in together this morning. The roads were wet from recent rain but the day is supposed to be lovely today.
A long weekend for us in New Zealand. Yay! Toby has his eyes on Armageddon - he loves it. Monday morning he'll be there! Mike has to work and I have loads of house jobs. Nice.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Angela
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Wednesday with tramping club for Mike
Hi,
What a gorgeous day yesterday. The day cleared up to a beautiful day and the view from the roof at work was wonderful.
My ride home was great fun and I collected Toby and started cooking tea. Toby practised piano and did homework. He played on the computer for a while and then had a bath and went to bed. I had a bath and went to bed too.
Mike was home late after I made him do grocery shopping after tramping club stuff. Poor chap.
This morning is the most wonderful morning - same as above. I love weather like this. Makes you want to leap out of bed and embrace the day. Shame Toby is such a spoil sport. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed. There were great big gobs of tears. "I'm so tired, I can't go to school". What? I don't understand. Look at this gorgeous day? "Waaaaahhh, waaaaahhhh". Mike has a bit more sympathy because he also hates mornings. But even he lost patience. We jammed Toby into his school uniform and eventually his usual Toby self appeared by the time I walked up to the top of our street with him.
However, this proved too much for Mike's fragile system and he got a migraine. He is probably now in bed and groaning. Or sleeping. Missing the lovely morning and missing lots of work. Poor chap. That's his name now. Mike "Poor chap" Gilbert.
Well, time to start the day with a great cup of tea. I am hopefully having lunch with Aidan T today. And buying bath products to use. Oh yeah!
Have a fantastic day.
Love,
Angela
What a gorgeous day yesterday. The day cleared up to a beautiful day and the view from the roof at work was wonderful.
 |
| Tararuas with snow |
Mike was home late after I made him do grocery shopping after tramping club stuff. Poor chap.
This morning is the most wonderful morning - same as above. I love weather like this. Makes you want to leap out of bed and embrace the day. Shame Toby is such a spoil sport. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed. There were great big gobs of tears. "I'm so tired, I can't go to school". What? I don't understand. Look at this gorgeous day? "Waaaaahhh, waaaaahhhh". Mike has a bit more sympathy because he also hates mornings. But even he lost patience. We jammed Toby into his school uniform and eventually his usual Toby self appeared by the time I walked up to the top of our street with him.
However, this proved too much for Mike's fragile system and he got a migraine. He is probably now in bed and groaning. Or sleeping. Missing the lovely morning and missing lots of work. Poor chap. That's his name now. Mike "Poor chap" Gilbert.
Well, time to start the day with a great cup of tea. I am hopefully having lunch with Aidan T today. And buying bath products to use. Oh yeah!
Have a fantastic day.
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Facebook - don't be that guy
Running a Facebook fan page seems pretty easy. Set the thing up, post when you feel like it, and get the attention and publicity that only Facebook can offer.
If only it were that easy. Having helped with the Facebook page of my Tramping Club, and seen other organisations' facebook presence either succeed or fail, I've found a few key things you need to keep in mind.
Post stuff that your audience is interested in - not stuff you want to tell them
Hopefully, in general, they'll be the same sort of thing! But keep general interest, "off message" posts going.
Your website is where you old your metaphorical press conferences, and your discussion forum is a dinner party that you're hosting and gently steering the conversation.
Your Facebook page is a more raucous party that your fans have shown up to and are wandering about in trying to make friends. You don't want to be that boring guy who talks about nothing but work. You need to have your work conversation interspersed with interesting, off topic, slightly controversial posts that people like, and share, and talk about. If its just stuff you want people to know, rather than stuff others want to read, then your fan base won't grow.
You also don't want to be that other guy who sits in the corner and doesn't talk to anyone. So aim for around 2-3 posts a week, and sometimes post about less important things just to fill the silence before it becomes awkward.
There's science behind it. Science! It all starts on your page's 'insights' page:
Things to note here are:
We have 189 fans - that is, a post will be seen by up to 189 people. But those fans have 38,000 friends (and you've got to assume that a lot of those go tramping if they're friends with a tramper). If we post something interesting enough that our fans like or comment on the post - it can reach 38,000 people because it will appear in their timeline and their friends will see it.
So: interesting posts get seen by massively more people than boring posts - and new people, not just people who already know us.
The graph shows our 'reach' - how many people see our posts. Purple blobs are posts. You can see that when we had a dry period of no posts - our reach went massively down. More posts - better reach. Better reach - more people seeing our brand and our name.
So: post often and post interesting, otherwise your fan page withers on the vine.
Underlying this is Facebook's 'edge ranking'. When browsing facebook, have you noticed that the news feed is not in time order? Stuff from interesting pages - pages you interact with a lot, and pages other people interact with a lot - are pushed closer to the top of your news feed, and boring pages - pages that don't create much interaction - get pushed to the bottom.
So: Post interesting stuff that's just plain interesting (not necessarily 'on message'), otherwise no-one will see the posts you actually want them to read.
What constitutes an interesting post? The table underneath tells us that. You can look through it and see which posts are talked about more than others. For example, a post about fixing the lodge roof was one of our best stories. That's all down to a couple of people that commented, and that made people comment on those comments, and so on. Comments feed comments and they feed reach. That's also why slightly controversial posts and comments are gold (as long as they're not negative or detrimental!) - prompt a bunch of people to comment and you've hit reach paydirt.
Here's facebook's version of the above (they talk about paying them money to promote posts a lot more than I did)
https://www.facebook.com/business/engage
If only it were that easy. Having helped with the Facebook page of my Tramping Club, and seen other organisations' facebook presence either succeed or fail, I've found a few key things you need to keep in mind.
Post stuff that your audience is interested in - not stuff you want to tell them
Hopefully, in general, they'll be the same sort of thing! But keep general interest, "off message" posts going.
Your website is where you old your metaphorical press conferences, and your discussion forum is a dinner party that you're hosting and gently steering the conversation.
Your Facebook page is a more raucous party that your fans have shown up to and are wandering about in trying to make friends. You don't want to be that boring guy who talks about nothing but work. You need to have your work conversation interspersed with interesting, off topic, slightly controversial posts that people like, and share, and talk about. If its just stuff you want people to know, rather than stuff others want to read, then your fan base won't grow.
You also don't want to be that other guy who sits in the corner and doesn't talk to anyone. So aim for around 2-3 posts a week, and sometimes post about less important things just to fill the silence before it becomes awkward.
Things to note here are:
We have 189 fans - that is, a post will be seen by up to 189 people. But those fans have 38,000 friends (and you've got to assume that a lot of those go tramping if they're friends with a tramper). If we post something interesting enough that our fans like or comment on the post - it can reach 38,000 people because it will appear in their timeline and their friends will see it.
So: interesting posts get seen by massively more people than boring posts - and new people, not just people who already know us.
The graph shows our 'reach' - how many people see our posts. Purple blobs are posts. You can see that when we had a dry period of no posts - our reach went massively down. More posts - better reach. Better reach - more people seeing our brand and our name.
So: post often and post interesting, otherwise your fan page withers on the vine.
Underlying this is Facebook's 'edge ranking'. When browsing facebook, have you noticed that the news feed is not in time order? Stuff from interesting pages - pages you interact with a lot, and pages other people interact with a lot - are pushed closer to the top of your news feed, and boring pages - pages that don't create much interaction - get pushed to the bottom.
So: Post interesting stuff that's just plain interesting (not necessarily 'on message'), otherwise no-one will see the posts you actually want them to read.
What constitutes an interesting post? The table underneath tells us that. You can look through it and see which posts are talked about more than others. For example, a post about fixing the lodge roof was one of our best stories. That's all down to a couple of people that commented, and that made people comment on those comments, and so on. Comments feed comments and they feed reach. That's also why slightly controversial posts and comments are gold (as long as they're not negative or detrimental!) - prompt a bunch of people to comment and you've hit reach paydirt.
Here's facebook's version of the above (they talk about paying them money to promote posts a lot more than I did)
https://www.facebook.com/business/engage
The Tuesday with the last Cubs
Hi,
I rode home and only got hailed on twice! Hail is dry for the most part anyway. Although I have noticed that the hailstones accumulate in the vents in your cycle helmet and then proceed to melt icy water for a wee while. Like a reminder of the hail long after it has finished.
Got home and collected Toby. Cooked him a great dinner of two minute noodles. Fortunately he loves them!
Mike got home and took Toby to Cubs. Toby then resigned from Cubs. It was his last night. I'm a bit sad really. He has done it for so long there. And only a wee while shy of moving to Scouts.
It was so cold last night. Our heat pump can't keep up in the lounge/dining area because we have no gib on the walls. The heat just disappears. So after about 15 minutes chatting to Mike there I asked if we could go downstairs. We turned the oil heater on there and watched a DVD huddled around it. After about 30 minutes of that I couldn't stand it any longer. I got into my pyjamas and turned on my electric blanket and went to bed. Finally - warm!
Mike went to get Toby and we were all in bed very quickly (the cold!). Had a good sleep and up to have a hot shower. Still cold outside. We all piled in the car with my bike on the back and I collected Alex and Yingjie, dropped them all at the bus stop, dropped Mike at the dentist and took the car in near the Basin to get new tyres. I rode my bike back along the waterfront. The southerly meant I flew to work.
A wee flaw in our plans sees me typing this at my desk in my bike gear. Mike has my work clothes with him. Oh well. Lucky I am warm from the ride still.
I am in denial at the moment. I am not catching a cold. Nope. Nothing. Throat not scratchy. Nose not blocked. Nope. Healthy. I only have a fresh box of tissues on my desk as a preventative measure, in CASE I get sick. :-p
Have a great day. Stay warm if you're in New Zealand. An icy blast continues - but it is supposed to stay dry I think. Well, in Wellington anyway. The mountains have buckets of snow. The hills on the far side of the harbour (Orongorongos) have a huge amount of snow on them. I love it when Wellington is surrounded by snow.
Love,
Angela
I rode home and only got hailed on twice! Hail is dry for the most part anyway. Although I have noticed that the hailstones accumulate in the vents in your cycle helmet and then proceed to melt icy water for a wee while. Like a reminder of the hail long after it has finished.
Got home and collected Toby. Cooked him a great dinner of two minute noodles. Fortunately he loves them!
Mike got home and took Toby to Cubs. Toby then resigned from Cubs. It was his last night. I'm a bit sad really. He has done it for so long there. And only a wee while shy of moving to Scouts.
It was so cold last night. Our heat pump can't keep up in the lounge/dining area because we have no gib on the walls. The heat just disappears. So after about 15 minutes chatting to Mike there I asked if we could go downstairs. We turned the oil heater on there and watched a DVD huddled around it. After about 30 minutes of that I couldn't stand it any longer. I got into my pyjamas and turned on my electric blanket and went to bed. Finally - warm!
Mike went to get Toby and we were all in bed very quickly (the cold!). Had a good sleep and up to have a hot shower. Still cold outside. We all piled in the car with my bike on the back and I collected Alex and Yingjie, dropped them all at the bus stop, dropped Mike at the dentist and took the car in near the Basin to get new tyres. I rode my bike back along the waterfront. The southerly meant I flew to work.
A wee flaw in our plans sees me typing this at my desk in my bike gear. Mike has my work clothes with him. Oh well. Lucky I am warm from the ride still.
I am in denial at the moment. I am not catching a cold. Nope. Nothing. Throat not scratchy. Nose not blocked. Nope. Healthy. I only have a fresh box of tissues on my desk as a preventative measure, in CASE I get sick. :-p
Have a great day. Stay warm if you're in New Zealand. An icy blast continues - but it is supposed to stay dry I think. Well, in Wellington anyway. The mountains have buckets of snow. The hills on the far side of the harbour (Orongorongos) have a huge amount of snow on them. I love it when Wellington is surrounded by snow.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The Monday with nothing much but the winter is definitely coming
Hi,
Wow - Tuesday is definitely cold. My team lead just sent this through now - he lives in Dunedin.
Mike and I rode in but we didn't have to battle through snow drifts. Actually, we missed any rain of note. But it was freezing. And it is supposed to worsen here during the day. It's going to be a cold ride home.
Monday I rode home just after Mike and met Mike and Toby walking back from Yingting's house right at the top of our street. Perfect timing. We started dinner. Mike started peeling the potatoes, we got the sausages out (leftovers from the weekend feast) and Mike started the water boiling. Or not. Yep - Ma will be very interested to hear that we had run out of gas. All gone.
I made an executive decision that was well received. "Let's put this in the fridge for Wednesday night and have Burger Wisconsin".
Mike hurtled out to collect the burgers and we all ate our lovely comforting food.
We went to bed early and listened to the weather lash the house. We slept well though. When we woke it sounded horrendous outside and the news was saying things like severe weather warning, hail, snow, galeforce. What do they know? I convinced Mike we should ride and ride we did. Brrr. My hands were frozen. But we stayed mostly dry.
Cubs night tonight. Woo hoo! Have a wonderful day. Stay warm!
Love,
Angela
Wow - Tuesday is definitely cold. My team lead just sent this through now - he lives in Dunedin.
 |
| Dunedin this morning |
Monday I rode home just after Mike and met Mike and Toby walking back from Yingting's house right at the top of our street. Perfect timing. We started dinner. Mike started peeling the potatoes, we got the sausages out (leftovers from the weekend feast) and Mike started the water boiling. Or not. Yep - Ma will be very interested to hear that we had run out of gas. All gone.
I made an executive decision that was well received. "Let's put this in the fridge for Wednesday night and have Burger Wisconsin".
Mike hurtled out to collect the burgers and we all ate our lovely comforting food.
We went to bed early and listened to the weather lash the house. We slept well though. When we woke it sounded horrendous outside and the news was saying things like severe weather warning, hail, snow, galeforce. What do they know? I convinced Mike we should ride and ride we did. Brrr. My hands were frozen. But we stayed mostly dry.
Cubs night tonight. Woo hoo! Have a wonderful day. Stay warm!
Love,
Angela
Monday, May 27, 2013
The weekend with cultural highs
Hi,
What a great weekend. Do I say that every Monday morning? I rode home on Friday and collected Toby and cooked a lovely dinner of tacos. We promptly watched Wreck It Ralph and ate the whole lot. I think I ate more than Toby - but only just! The movie wasn't too bad - Toby loves it.
Eventually we went to sleep - but then Mike came home just as we were nodding off really. And he was indeed very merry. His antics involved falling asleep fully clothed on his side of the bed and drooling over his sheets (not my side fortunately), getting up to shout at the toilet, deciding the heated tiles in the bathroom were very inviting, and singing one of his favourite songs from the eighties to us. Toby and I were giggling at his harmless, good-natured antics. Eventually we all went to sleep in our bed. I am not doing that again. The boys seem to ooze out over the whole bed and I am left with a wee sliver. Consequently I had an awful sleep.
Anyhow, up in the morning at a vaguely respectable time. Off to the African festival via Adam's house. The festival was a little low key - but maybe we were there during a hiatus in action. The Ethiopian food was scrumptious. Bet Dad wishes he was there for it. He'd have flashbacks to the restaurant in Finsbury Park.
Off home via the supermarket for provisions for Saturday night. Up to Waikanae for some cooking homemade pizzas (even the dough from scratch - yummo) and watching Eurovision. Josh was away at a Scout training session for the weekend. Aidan was working hard to meet a deadline for her work (turns out she worked 40 hours in the last 4 days - and did the usual running of the household). So Mike and I cooked most of the dinner with supervision from Aidan when we looked dangerous. The boys played Minecraft - Lex was there when we arrived so they had a ball.
Mike and I watched Eurovision on Josh's laptop (thanks, Matt - he provided the file - a final in Swedish - made it even better I think!) and giggled our way to the end. Love Eurovision! Next year, party at our place on the big screen! Come on - you know you want to! What a great cultural experience. This is something Europe can share with the world and serve to make a more level playing field! Honest. The diplomatic possibilities are endless. Just check out the Swedish host - she was amazing! And Mike and I were astounded to see Bonnie Tyler as the British entry. Wow!
Mike and I slept on the floor in the lounge. Bit hard on the carpet - but okay. I can't be too old just yet then. Up early with Lulu (well, 1.30am to let her out and then I had to stay at the door to let her back in, so I dozed on the mat) especially at 5.30am when she dropped her squeaky toy in my face when Toby said "Drop it, Lulu!". Such an obedient dog!
Up to cook breakfast. Right. Aidan still flat out with work meant we were in charge of the stove. The big element has one setting - nuclear! A few burnt pancakes before we realised when Aidan said it had to be on Lo it really meant off. So Mike got to grips with the stovetop and wrestled some yummy pancakes out of it. I charred some bacon and sausages and we ate well.
I rushed into the shower and Mike and Aidan wisely decided Aidan couldn't make the Yum Cha. So we left Toby there to play with the boys and Mike and I drove back for Yum Cha. It was very nice, thank you. Yummy.
Off to Joe's afterwards for an iced coffee. Heavenly for me.
Back home for a quick session on the piano with Mike and his mother. Mike wants to learn a song with Toby that Mike likes.
I dropped Mike's mother home and then headed back to Waikanae to collect Toby. We went for a walk when I got there along the river. Such a nice walk. And because Aidan had finally finished and met her deadline, I got to chat to her. Yay!
Back home for a cup of tea and then the drive back to Wellington. Mike had tidied up outside under the deck when I got home - and he hung the television downstairs on the wall! It looks great! Now we have other plans for some decluttering. And painting our wardrobe doors - and the deck! This coming weekend is a long weekend. Maybe!
The ride in this morning was awful! So windy and threatening rain! Wild and woolly. What fun!
Andrew had an amazing weekend. Have a read here. Makes me want to go tramping. But not with him. He's a machine!
Have a wonderful week ahead. I have my dental appointment today. Yikes!
Love,
Angela
What a great weekend. Do I say that every Monday morning? I rode home on Friday and collected Toby and cooked a lovely dinner of tacos. We promptly watched Wreck It Ralph and ate the whole lot. I think I ate more than Toby - but only just! The movie wasn't too bad - Toby loves it.
Eventually we went to sleep - but then Mike came home just as we were nodding off really. And he was indeed very merry. His antics involved falling asleep fully clothed on his side of the bed and drooling over his sheets (not my side fortunately), getting up to shout at the toilet, deciding the heated tiles in the bathroom were very inviting, and singing one of his favourite songs from the eighties to us. Toby and I were giggling at his harmless, good-natured antics. Eventually we all went to sleep in our bed. I am not doing that again. The boys seem to ooze out over the whole bed and I am left with a wee sliver. Consequently I had an awful sleep.
Anyhow, up in the morning at a vaguely respectable time. Off to the African festival via Adam's house. The festival was a little low key - but maybe we were there during a hiatus in action. The Ethiopian food was scrumptious. Bet Dad wishes he was there for it. He'd have flashbacks to the restaurant in Finsbury Park.
Off home via the supermarket for provisions for Saturday night. Up to Waikanae for some cooking homemade pizzas (even the dough from scratch - yummo) and watching Eurovision. Josh was away at a Scout training session for the weekend. Aidan was working hard to meet a deadline for her work (turns out she worked 40 hours in the last 4 days - and did the usual running of the household). So Mike and I cooked most of the dinner with supervision from Aidan when we looked dangerous. The boys played Minecraft - Lex was there when we arrived so they had a ball.
 |
| Mike and Angela using The Stove of Death and Destruction! Note how carefully we're watching. It needs it! |
Mike and I watched Eurovision on Josh's laptop (thanks, Matt - he provided the file - a final in Swedish - made it even better I think!) and giggled our way to the end. Love Eurovision! Next year, party at our place on the big screen! Come on - you know you want to! What a great cultural experience. This is something Europe can share with the world and serve to make a more level playing field! Honest. The diplomatic possibilities are endless. Just check out the Swedish host - she was amazing! And Mike and I were astounded to see Bonnie Tyler as the British entry. Wow!
Mike and I slept on the floor in the lounge. Bit hard on the carpet - but okay. I can't be too old just yet then. Up early with Lulu (well, 1.30am to let her out and then I had to stay at the door to let her back in, so I dozed on the mat) especially at 5.30am when she dropped her squeaky toy in my face when Toby said "Drop it, Lulu!". Such an obedient dog!
Up to cook breakfast. Right. Aidan still flat out with work meant we were in charge of the stove. The big element has one setting - nuclear! A few burnt pancakes before we realised when Aidan said it had to be on Lo it really meant off. So Mike got to grips with the stovetop and wrestled some yummy pancakes out of it. I charred some bacon and sausages and we ate well.
I rushed into the shower and Mike and Aidan wisely decided Aidan couldn't make the Yum Cha. So we left Toby there to play with the boys and Mike and I drove back for Yum Cha. It was very nice, thank you. Yummy.
 |
| Yum Cha |
 |
| Iced coffee at Joe's |
 |
| Smalltown boy piano lessons |
 |
| River walk |
 |
| Fetch, Lulu! And get clean while you're there. |
The ride in this morning was awful! So windy and threatening rain! Wild and woolly. What fun!
Andrew had an amazing weekend. Have a read here. Makes me want to go tramping. But not with him. He's a machine!
Have a wonderful week ahead. I have my dental appointment today. Yikes!
Love,
Angela
Friday, May 24, 2013
The Thursday with dinner out
Hi,
I rode home and collected Toby and rushed him back to home get changed. As we were running around like mad things, Mike got home and also ran around like a mad thing. We ended up at Christine and John's house only 30 minutes later than the scheduled 6pm dinner. Fortunately they were serving children first and I no longer qualify as a child. Haven't for some time now.
We had a great dinner and met some of their friends too (a grown up Toby and wife Diane - turns out they are Henry's parents who Thomas used to bring to karate with him). Chatted for a while until yawns from Mike meant we couldn't stay much longer. I had already spent time sprawled on the ground. I also positioned myself close to the cheese board - I decimated the cheese. Not a lot left for anyone else - but they weren't elbowing me out of the way either!
Home to bed. I had a hard day because at lunch time my back upper molar broke. About a third came off. It has always had a massive filling in it and dentists have told me over the years that it is likely to break. It did. :-( An emergency appointment at our dentist means I have a temporary fix, and will go back for 1 1/4 hours this Monday to get it sorted. A crown. The tooth appears to have a healthy nerve still. It certainly smarted when the dentist sprayed a can of cold into it. It had made me a little sad though, as I like my teeth and I never have any bother with them. Oh well.
This morning's ride in made up for that! It is sunny and calm today with blue skies. Lovely and cold. I hurtled down the hill - pedalling like mad. Shame my bike computer is still broken as I may have hit a new maximum speed! I was in the mood to get rid of some funk!
The weekend looks like fun. All weekends do, though. An African festival on Saturday, followed by us watching Eurovision on Saturday night. We have Yum Cha booked for Sunday. Yep - a good weekend. I rather fancy a bike ride on Saturday. I might see if Josh is up for something.
Have a wonderful day - and a great weekend!
Love,
Angela
I rode home and collected Toby and rushed him back to home get changed. As we were running around like mad things, Mike got home and also ran around like a mad thing. We ended up at Christine and John's house only 30 minutes later than the scheduled 6pm dinner. Fortunately they were serving children first and I no longer qualify as a child. Haven't for some time now.
We had a great dinner and met some of their friends too (a grown up Toby and wife Diane - turns out they are Henry's parents who Thomas used to bring to karate with him). Chatted for a while until yawns from Mike meant we couldn't stay much longer. I had already spent time sprawled on the ground. I also positioned myself close to the cheese board - I decimated the cheese. Not a lot left for anyone else - but they weren't elbowing me out of the way either!
Home to bed. I had a hard day because at lunch time my back upper molar broke. About a third came off. It has always had a massive filling in it and dentists have told me over the years that it is likely to break. It did. :-( An emergency appointment at our dentist means I have a temporary fix, and will go back for 1 1/4 hours this Monday to get it sorted. A crown. The tooth appears to have a healthy nerve still. It certainly smarted when the dentist sprayed a can of cold into it. It had made me a little sad though, as I like my teeth and I never have any bother with them. Oh well.
This morning's ride in made up for that! It is sunny and calm today with blue skies. Lovely and cold. I hurtled down the hill - pedalling like mad. Shame my bike computer is still broken as I may have hit a new maximum speed! I was in the mood to get rid of some funk!
The weekend looks like fun. All weekends do, though. An African festival on Saturday, followed by us watching Eurovision on Saturday night. We have Yum Cha booked for Sunday. Yep - a good weekend. I rather fancy a bike ride on Saturday. I might see if Josh is up for something.
Have a wonderful day - and a great weekend!
Love,
Angela
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Wednesday with tramping club for Mike
Hi,
Mike must be getting serious - he rode to tramping club and rode home. And he rode in with me this morning in the rain and southerly. Good on him! Ooosshhhh!
I rode home last night and had a fantastic ride. The wind was non-existent. I fairly flew up the hill - perhaps I have recovered from my weekend's exertions. I collected Toby and cooked dinner for us.
I made salsa and we had steak and salad, with rice. And I buried my rare Porterhouse steak in salsa. Yum! Toby ate well too.
Toby did his homework and we then relaxed (Toby had a bath) and I eventually heard Mike's plaintive knocking to be let in the house. Toby went to bed and Mike and I had a bath and then also went to bed.
The bath novelty hasn't worn off yet. Well, guess that's good we put it in then!
Dinner out tonight at John and Christine's house. Haven't seen them for a while so looking forward to that.
Saw some amazing photos of Abby in her cross country yesterday on Facebook. Wow - she looked great! And so cute too. I hear Tyler stepped up too. In fact, I have heard more about their cross country than I did about Toby's last week!
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela
Mike must be getting serious - he rode to tramping club and rode home. And he rode in with me this morning in the rain and southerly. Good on him! Ooosshhhh!
I rode home last night and had a fantastic ride. The wind was non-existent. I fairly flew up the hill - perhaps I have recovered from my weekend's exertions. I collected Toby and cooked dinner for us.
 |
| Yum! |
I made salsa and we had steak and salad, with rice. And I buried my rare Porterhouse steak in salsa. Yum! Toby ate well too.
Toby did his homework and we then relaxed (Toby had a bath) and I eventually heard Mike's plaintive knocking to be let in the house. Toby went to bed and Mike and I had a bath and then also went to bed.
The bath novelty hasn't worn off yet. Well, guess that's good we put it in then!
Dinner out tonight at John and Christine's house. Haven't seen them for a while so looking forward to that.
Saw some amazing photos of Abby in her cross country yesterday on Facebook. Wow - she looked great! And so cute too. I hear Tyler stepped up too. In fact, I have heard more about their cross country than I did about Toby's last week!
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Tuesday with... no Cubs
Hi,
I rode home and collected Toby and started dinner. Mike got home just as I was starting to cook, so it was good timing. We ate and Toby got ready for Cubs. It was a moonlight tramp through the back of Karori somewhere. Mike hopped int he car with Toby and drove around and around Karori. Lost. Couldn't find the place, even with GPS maps in the car. I think it was around one of those infamous Wellington roads that stops for a flights of steps and starts again on the other side. So, back home they came.
Mike was a bit grumpy by this stage. I had to keep reminding him of his nice dinner. Food makes him happy.
Mike got through a bit of homework and hung our mirror up in the bathroom. What a difference that makes. You can stand upright and see yourself. Nice approach to personal grooming!
We also have a finished deck. The glass came and was installed yesterday. All we're waiting for is the inspection and the final nails can be hammered home. We do need to paint it. Next fine weekend I think I'll know what we're doing.
Yep - a "Paint the Deck" weekend is definitely needed. Just the balustrades and rail though. I think we're happy leaving the deck to mellow naturally. Like me, really! Hahahah!
Nice ride in this morning - the roads were wet but the rain is staying away for now. It must mean it is time for tea!
Have a fantastic day! The best day ever!
Love,
Angela
I rode home and collected Toby and started dinner. Mike got home just as I was starting to cook, so it was good timing. We ate and Toby got ready for Cubs. It was a moonlight tramp through the back of Karori somewhere. Mike hopped int he car with Toby and drove around and around Karori. Lost. Couldn't find the place, even with GPS maps in the car. I think it was around one of those infamous Wellington roads that stops for a flights of steps and starts again on the other side. So, back home they came.
Mike was a bit grumpy by this stage. I had to keep reminding him of his nice dinner. Food makes him happy.
Mike got through a bit of homework and hung our mirror up in the bathroom. What a difference that makes. You can stand upright and see yourself. Nice approach to personal grooming!
We also have a finished deck. The glass came and was installed yesterday. All we're waiting for is the inspection and the final nails can be hammered home. We do need to paint it. Next fine weekend I think I'll know what we're doing.
Yep - a "Paint the Deck" weekend is definitely needed. Just the balustrades and rail though. I think we're happy leaving the deck to mellow naturally. Like me, really! Hahahah!
Nice ride in this morning - the roads were wet but the rain is staying away for now. It must mean it is time for tea!
Have a fantastic day! The best day ever!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Monday with a ride home together
Hi there,
Mike and I rode home together for the first time in ages. I didn't leave him for dead on the uphill. I did beat him, but obviously my weekend's exertions have taken a bit out of my reserves. I only got home a couple of minutes before him, if that. Mike went to get Toby while I started dinner.
The boys both complimented me on dinner - that was nice. Toby had forgotten all his homework so he had a relaxing night with piano practice only. Tonight and tomorrow night will be homework marathons!
Mike had a busy day at work yesterday - an all day workshop. He was wrung out. I went grocery shopping and came back and collapsed into bed.
This morning Mike and I rode in together (yes - for the first time in ages!). I have a new bike computer so I might try and put that on this evening while Toby is at Cubs.
Right. Have a wonderful day.
Love,
Angela
Mike and I rode home together for the first time in ages. I didn't leave him for dead on the uphill. I did beat him, but obviously my weekend's exertions have taken a bit out of my reserves. I only got home a couple of minutes before him, if that. Mike went to get Toby while I started dinner.
The boys both complimented me on dinner - that was nice. Toby had forgotten all his homework so he had a relaxing night with piano practice only. Tonight and tomorrow night will be homework marathons!
Mike had a busy day at work yesterday - an all day workshop. He was wrung out. I went grocery shopping and came back and collapsed into bed.
This morning Mike and I rode in together (yes - for the first time in ages!). I have a new bike computer so I might try and put that on this evening while Toby is at Cubs.
Right. Have a wonderful day.
Love,
Angela
Monday, May 20, 2013
The weekend with a huge cycle ride
Hi,
What an amazing weekend. And I don't have to blog about it at all, because Andrew has done it already here.
We drove up in awful traffic on Friday night and asked Aidan to phone in our pizza order at the fabulous pizza place in her town. The 1.5 hours to Waikanae was caused by the traffic lights at Waikanae, we're sure. It took thirty minutes from Paraparaumu to Waikanae.
Anyhow, the pizzas were yummy and I only dribbled them on my jeans a little bit as I gobbled it down while driving through the rain. Sally got me and Andrew an iced coffee to drink, so it was washed down nicely. And I sang. A lot. But by then Sally was trapped in the car with no option but to endure the ride back on Sunday. Hahahahah!
Nice place in Stratford to stay at and a welcome huge single bed. Nice. Slept well and up early to set off with Andrew on the bike ride. I managed it just fine - although if I can find a way to keep my energy levels up better, I should manage a better time. Maybe I need to spike my water bottle with something. I drank most of my two litres of water. Andrew hardly touched his.
I feel fine after the 153 km ride. In fact, as I type this, I can't tell I did anything at all. The worst thing was a sore neck from looking ahead for all that time and that has gone. Although I admit to a bit of bruising when I sat on my other bike seat this morning to ride in! But not too bad really.
The drive back to Wellington was uneventful - bit of rain, bit of sunshine. We stopped for an amazing breakfast in Whanganui and an iced coffee at Foxton (Andrew knows the cafe owner). The Tabor household was avoided due to Emerson's illness (hope he gets better soon!). Dropped off Sally and Andrew, had a cup of tea and home to do the ironing.
Mike and Toby had fun tramping - Toby said he liked it. Said it was hard, but not as hard as his climb of Mt Tongariro. And he said he'd climb that mountain again in a heartbeat. His favourite tramp ever!
Mike is busy at work. He left early this morning and has an all day workshop. I was left without any of Toby's school shoes and socks. A bit of questioning and I had it narrowed down to the MX-5. Went up and found them. The clue was Toby telling me he hopped from the garage to the house on Friday evening when Mike collected him. Right. That would be because you had no shoes on.
Okay - time to start the day. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Angela
What an amazing weekend. And I don't have to blog about it at all, because Andrew has done it already here.
We drove up in awful traffic on Friday night and asked Aidan to phone in our pizza order at the fabulous pizza place in her town. The 1.5 hours to Waikanae was caused by the traffic lights at Waikanae, we're sure. It took thirty minutes from Paraparaumu to Waikanae.
Anyhow, the pizzas were yummy and I only dribbled them on my jeans a little bit as I gobbled it down while driving through the rain. Sally got me and Andrew an iced coffee to drink, so it was washed down nicely. And I sang. A lot. But by then Sally was trapped in the car with no option but to endure the ride back on Sunday. Hahahahah!
Nice place in Stratford to stay at and a welcome huge single bed. Nice. Slept well and up early to set off with Andrew on the bike ride. I managed it just fine - although if I can find a way to keep my energy levels up better, I should manage a better time. Maybe I need to spike my water bottle with something. I drank most of my two litres of water. Andrew hardly touched his.
I feel fine after the 153 km ride. In fact, as I type this, I can't tell I did anything at all. The worst thing was a sore neck from looking ahead for all that time and that has gone. Although I admit to a bit of bruising when I sat on my other bike seat this morning to ride in! But not too bad really.
The drive back to Wellington was uneventful - bit of rain, bit of sunshine. We stopped for an amazing breakfast in Whanganui and an iced coffee at Foxton (Andrew knows the cafe owner). The Tabor household was avoided due to Emerson's illness (hope he gets better soon!). Dropped off Sally and Andrew, had a cup of tea and home to do the ironing.
Mike and Toby had fun tramping - Toby said he liked it. Said it was hard, but not as hard as his climb of Mt Tongariro. And he said he'd climb that mountain again in a heartbeat. His favourite tramp ever!
Mike is busy at work. He left early this morning and has an all day workshop. I was left without any of Toby's school shoes and socks. A bit of questioning and I had it narrowed down to the MX-5. Went up and found them. The clue was Toby telling me he hopped from the garage to the house on Friday evening when Mike collected him. Right. That would be because you had no shoes on.
Okay - time to start the day. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Angela
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Thursday with drinks out - for me!
Hi,
A work mate is leaving tomorrow for Melbourne so we went out after work for drinks. And I stayed rather longer than anticipated. This is because I may now have an inkling into what Mike enjoys about nights out with work colleagues. You discover a whole load of things you were completely ignorant about. I now know who goes out with who. Who wants to go out with who. All manners of interesting details.
I got home and Mike had been pining for my company. So he says. Somehow he managed to drown his sorrows. He was listening to dubious music quite loud. A sure sign. Eventually I convinced him to come to bed. We read an academic paper for a while and then chatted away to each other for quite some time before sleep claimed me. Mike may still have been chatting. I'm not sure.
Off to Mt Taranaki with Sally and Andrew today. Mike and Toby are off tramping with Josh and the boys. It's a great weekend! I can't wait for the end of today so I can head off and explore. Andrew and I are going to ride around Mt Taranaki. Bit unsure if I can make it all that way in one day. But we'll see. I am ready to slog it out.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
A work mate is leaving tomorrow for Melbourne so we went out after work for drinks. And I stayed rather longer than anticipated. This is because I may now have an inkling into what Mike enjoys about nights out with work colleagues. You discover a whole load of things you were completely ignorant about. I now know who goes out with who. Who wants to go out with who. All manners of interesting details.
I got home and Mike had been pining for my company. So he says. Somehow he managed to drown his sorrows. He was listening to dubious music quite loud. A sure sign. Eventually I convinced him to come to bed. We read an academic paper for a while and then chatted away to each other for quite some time before sleep claimed me. Mike may still have been chatting. I'm not sure.
Off to Mt Taranaki with Sally and Andrew today. Mike and Toby are off tramping with Josh and the boys. It's a great weekend! I can't wait for the end of today so I can head off and explore. Andrew and I are going to ride around Mt Taranaki. Bit unsure if I can make it all that way in one day. But we'll see. I am ready to slog it out.
Have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The Wednesday with a movie night
Hi,
We managed to convince Aunty Sally that she'd like nothing better to do on a Wednesday night than look after Toby while we went out to a dinner and movie with work. And what's more, a colleague had a spare ticket so we pilfered Andrew off her to so he came to see it. We owe Sally big time for last night.
Toby had a great time with her - I can tell. He did all his homework and piano practice. He even had a bath as usual.
The three of us saw the new Star Trek movie. Andrew was underwhelmed, I thought it was very good and Mike thought it was great! Sally saw it last weekend and I think she was right - if you suspended disbelief and enjoyed the action, it was good fun.
Home via the supermarket and taxi and then Sally and Andrew drove our silver car home. We're heading up to Taranaki in that on Friday. Big plans to ride our bikes around Mt Taranaki.
Busy at work. Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela
We managed to convince Aunty Sally that she'd like nothing better to do on a Wednesday night than look after Toby while we went out to a dinner and movie with work. And what's more, a colleague had a spare ticket so we pilfered Andrew off her to so he came to see it. We owe Sally big time for last night.
Toby had a great time with her - I can tell. He did all his homework and piano practice. He even had a bath as usual.
The three of us saw the new Star Trek movie. Andrew was underwhelmed, I thought it was very good and Mike thought it was great! Sally saw it last weekend and I think she was right - if you suspended disbelief and enjoyed the action, it was good fun.
Home via the supermarket and taxi and then Sally and Andrew drove our silver car home. We're heading up to Taranaki in that on Friday. Big plans to ride our bikes around Mt Taranaki.
Busy at work. Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Chasing the bus again
Yingjie is driving Alex and Toby to the bus in the mornings, and on those rare, unusual, occasional times I don't ride my bike I often tag along too and walk to work with her. She's a very organised and calm person, being both a Buddhist and a Business Analyst, so the incredibly rare time that she is not perfectly on time gives me a little faith that everybody is late sometimes.
This morning was one of those times, though.
She arrived at our place a little bit late, and off we headed to the bus. But alas! there were no Scots boys at the bus stop. The bus had gone without us!
We hurtled down the hill (down the road I bike down virtually every morning apart from that occasional time I don't) to try to meet it at the bottom of the hill. We made it in time, we could see a little clump of red blazers waiting. But as we approached the intersection, there was the bus coming past!
Yingjie channelled her inner big-city driver and hurtled out behind the bus, neatly merging into the queue of cars behind the bus. As the bus slowed we tucked in behind it. Even before we'd stopped the car doors were open and the boys were running ahead to the bus. With plenty of time as it stopped and the other boys started to trickle on. Brilliant!
So another successful bus chase to start our morning. It makes for a great morning - the more primitive bits of my brain must see it like spearing a gazelle at dawn before the hard work starts. It left me really happy to face the day!
This morning was one of those times, though.
She arrived at our place a little bit late, and off we headed to the bus. But alas! there were no Scots boys at the bus stop. The bus had gone without us!
We hurtled down the hill (down the road I bike down virtually every morning apart from that occasional time I don't) to try to meet it at the bottom of the hill. We made it in time, we could see a little clump of red blazers waiting. But as we approached the intersection, there was the bus coming past!
Yingjie channelled her inner big-city driver and hurtled out behind the bus, neatly merging into the queue of cars behind the bus. As the bus slowed we tucked in behind it. Even before we'd stopped the car doors were open and the boys were running ahead to the bus. With plenty of time as it stopped and the other boys started to trickle on. Brilliant!
So another successful bus chase to start our morning. It makes for a great morning - the more primitive bits of my brain must see it like spearing a gazelle at dawn before the hard work starts. It left me really happy to face the day!
The Tuesday with, um, no Cubs
Hi,
Happy birthday to Benjamin. My goodness - I cannot believe he is 18 years old today. Where have all those years gone?
Mike gave me a ride home yesterday after his epic 12 hour day on Monday followed by an 10 hour day at work. Lazy, I know. But we collected Toby and as we drove home I said to Mike that Toby needs a warm jacket and torch for Cubs tonight. Toby then declared he didn't want to go. I said: "But what about our man-to-man talk on Monday night where we discussed it (in Mike's absence) and you said you'd go". Toby says "I don't remember any of that". Great. Great. Not sure why I bother saying anything if he has blotted out entire (pleasant) conversations. Maybe I should use a cattle prod instead. Actions being louder than words and everything!
It's okay I thought. Mike will sort him out. Hmmmmm. Mike thought it would be great to have an evening off Cubs too. I am doomed. I will never win any arguments in our house. Defeated from the start. Maybe I should just read instead? I could issue commands from the couch or bed whenever I got to a boring part in my book. If no one recalls my words, I'm sure it wouldn't matter what I was actually doing at the time. I flung myself on the bed, wondering why I can't parent better when I only have one child. But I couldn't keep a straight face and Mike laughed at me. Turns out neither Mike nor me is overly concerned at Toby continuing with Cubs. There are far better things to worry about. What if Toby wants a tattoo one day? Aaarrghhhhh! Hahahahah! See?
So, we cooked tea and Toby did his homework (happily - because there was no Cubs). Mike and I watched TV while Toby Skyped his friends and played Minecraft. The evening crawled by because we had to rush out to Cubs! Mike and I were in bed ready for sleep by 9.15pm! Choice!
Sally is looking after Toby tonight and taking our car home with my bike gear for the weekend. Ooooo. How exciting! Mike and I are going out with work.
Yesterday Mike and I dressed the same. Which would be fine as Mike has been so busy and I am on another floor. But, we coincided with lunch breaks and sat together and my new manager commented how cute it was that we dressed the same.
Black pants and wine-coloured top. Black shoes. Yep - we looked the same. Like those couples you see on cruise ships dressed in matching pastel coloured tracksuits. That'll be us in 20 years.
Lovely ride in this morning. Busy day ahead. Have a fantastic day. I need tea. They are drilling above my head once more in an endeavour to fix the roof before the next downpour.
Love,
Angela
Happy birthday to Benjamin. My goodness - I cannot believe he is 18 years old today. Where have all those years gone?
Mike gave me a ride home yesterday after his epic 12 hour day on Monday followed by an 10 hour day at work. Lazy, I know. But we collected Toby and as we drove home I said to Mike that Toby needs a warm jacket and torch for Cubs tonight. Toby then declared he didn't want to go. I said: "But what about our man-to-man talk on Monday night where we discussed it (in Mike's absence) and you said you'd go". Toby says "I don't remember any of that". Great. Great. Not sure why I bother saying anything if he has blotted out entire (pleasant) conversations. Maybe I should use a cattle prod instead. Actions being louder than words and everything!
It's okay I thought. Mike will sort him out. Hmmmmm. Mike thought it would be great to have an evening off Cubs too. I am doomed. I will never win any arguments in our house. Defeated from the start. Maybe I should just read instead? I could issue commands from the couch or bed whenever I got to a boring part in my book. If no one recalls my words, I'm sure it wouldn't matter what I was actually doing at the time. I flung myself on the bed, wondering why I can't parent better when I only have one child. But I couldn't keep a straight face and Mike laughed at me. Turns out neither Mike nor me is overly concerned at Toby continuing with Cubs. There are far better things to worry about. What if Toby wants a tattoo one day? Aaarrghhhhh! Hahahahah! See?
So, we cooked tea and Toby did his homework (happily - because there was no Cubs). Mike and I watched TV while Toby Skyped his friends and played Minecraft. The evening crawled by because we had to rush out to Cubs! Mike and I were in bed ready for sleep by 9.15pm! Choice!
Sally is looking after Toby tonight and taking our car home with my bike gear for the weekend. Ooooo. How exciting! Mike and I are going out with work.
Yesterday Mike and I dressed the same. Which would be fine as Mike has been so busy and I am on another floor. But, we coincided with lunch breaks and sat together and my new manager commented how cute it was that we dressed the same.
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| Snap! |
Lovely ride in this morning. Busy day ahead. Have a fantastic day. I need tea. They are drilling above my head once more in an endeavour to fix the roof before the next downpour.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Monday with nothing, but lots of work for Mike
Hi,
I rode home and collected Toby from Yingting's house. Toby ploughed through his homework and did his piano practice. I had a man to man talk to him in Mike's absence about Cubs on Tuesday night (tonight). Turns out he was quite compliant about attending tonight. Mike won't believe me that it is a battle to get him to go every Tuesday now.
The evening disappeared in cooking tea and tidying up. Toby had a bath and then I had one too. Went to bed and read for a while until I could hardly keep my eyes open. I woke briefly when Mike got home but not enough to comprehend anything.
Mike also got up early this morning. Before my alarm went off. How odd. He had first shower and left before breakfast. Yes - he is busy!
I did the Toby morning duty and Yingjie collected him and I rode in. My bike computer is really broken. Pants. The wire must be broken that leads into the device. If I wiggle it, the numbers appear, but it doesn't register the speed. Might be time to buy a new one.
Andrew and Sally and I have organised the weekend away cycling around Mt Taranaki. It's this coming weekend. When I say "we" have organised the weekend, I really mean Sally and Andrew. I say yes. Can't wait. The weather looks damp, but if it's not too windy, I am fine with that! Not too sure if I'll say that after 8 hours riding in the rain. But that is what a shower is for at the end of it all.
The deck is getting finishing touches. Framing around the glass panels (which aren't in yet) was done yesterday. The doors have been ordered.
Have a wonderful day. Enjoy your day!
Love,
Angela
I rode home and collected Toby from Yingting's house. Toby ploughed through his homework and did his piano practice. I had a man to man talk to him in Mike's absence about Cubs on Tuesday night (tonight). Turns out he was quite compliant about attending tonight. Mike won't believe me that it is a battle to get him to go every Tuesday now.
The evening disappeared in cooking tea and tidying up. Toby had a bath and then I had one too. Went to bed and read for a while until I could hardly keep my eyes open. I woke briefly when Mike got home but not enough to comprehend anything.
Mike also got up early this morning. Before my alarm went off. How odd. He had first shower and left before breakfast. Yes - he is busy!
I did the Toby morning duty and Yingjie collected him and I rode in. My bike computer is really broken. Pants. The wire must be broken that leads into the device. If I wiggle it, the numbers appear, but it doesn't register the speed. Might be time to buy a new one.
Andrew and Sally and I have organised the weekend away cycling around Mt Taranaki. It's this coming weekend. When I say "we" have organised the weekend, I really mean Sally and Andrew. I say yes. Can't wait. The weather looks damp, but if it's not too windy, I am fine with that! Not too sure if I'll say that after 8 hours riding in the rain. But that is what a shower is for at the end of it all.
The deck is getting finishing touches. Framing around the glass panels (which aren't in yet) was done yesterday. The doors have been ordered.
Have a wonderful day. Enjoy your day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, May 13, 2013
Can I have another Mother's Day weekend next week?
Hi,
Wow - I had a great weekend. The only thing missing in volume was Mike. I had a great time with Toby, and Mike and I had a great time on Sunday night. Also caught up with Tabors, and the weather on Sunday was amazing.
Let's see, how did the weekend pan out? Friday night I caught the bus home and collected Toby in the wee green car. We drove out to Lower Hutt and saw Jurassic Park 3D. We both decided it was far more scary in 3D on the big screen than watching it on our TV at home. It finished late so we went straight home to bed.
Been waking up easily an hour before my alarm of late (5am is a bit too early) and Saturday morning was no exception. Lay in bed reading until Toby stirred. Got us breakfast and then I nipped out to collect some dishes from a work colleague and pick up a headset microphone from Dick Smith so Toby can Skype with his friends.
Made lunch and Toby was collected by William and his Dad for a sleepover (gadget free) in Waikanae. I was supposed to go bike gear shopping but the yucky weather meant I was far more attracted to reading in the warmth.
Read and listened to music, and grabbed some food. Aidan was in town for a conference and going out to dinner with colleagues afterwards. When she was done there, we were going to her place for a sleepover. Yep - Toby and I were kinda doing the same thing. Aidan had her hands full with a friend and needed to be there for her, so it was late by the time we left Wellington. I picked her up on Aro Street and we hopped onto the motorway and drove to Waikanae. I even got to hear Aidan sing. Choice! A very nice version of He Honore was just for me. I am privileged.
Cup of tea when we got there - the last Rooibos in the house. Aaarrghhh. Chatted to Mike on the phone at his conference, just before he went to bed. Off to sleep myself. The sofa is quite comfortable there!
Up at 7am Sunday - but like usual of late I was awake hours before then! And in a strange bed, so no wonder there. Aidan and I made a scrumptious breakfast. Her boys were camping in bivvies for Scouts - with Lulu! How cool!
After breakfast we drove to the river and had a long walk up to the beach and back. The weather was stunning!
Back to Aidan's house and then off to Front Room for lunch. Mmmmmm. The gourmet sleepover. The sort I like. I had salmon again, and an iced coffee. Sluuuurrrppp! Went for a walk along the beach and then back to Aidan's place. She luxed just as her boys got back from their amazing adventures. We heard all about it. Lulu was exhausted.
Tried to get a hold of Peter (William's Dad) but failed. He obviously was also having a gadget free weekend and ignoring his phone! Drove back to Wellington with the roof down and the music loud.
Went to Kilbirnie and bought some bike gear for next weekend. Then got home just as Toby was dropped off. We explored our new deck (not quite done - but pretty close).
Took Toby to his next playdate (Jacob's house for movie and pizza) and then entertained Mike's mother unexpectedly. We had a light tea and then Mike got home and I took her home. Funny thing - apparently Mike said for her to come around for dinner. She assumed that was lunch because "tea" is the evening meal. I hope she wasn't too inconvenienced and the tea wasn't too light. We ate sliced tomatoes on toast because I had already had a huge eating day!
The weather is amazing again today - enjoyed my bike ride in. My bike computer seems to have packed up though. Grrrr. Wonder if Mike will look at it.
Andrew had a great tramping weekend - read about it in his blog! Wow! Andrew's weekend
Busy week ahead. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Angela
Wow - I had a great weekend. The only thing missing in volume was Mike. I had a great time with Toby, and Mike and I had a great time on Sunday night. Also caught up with Tabors, and the weather on Sunday was amazing.
Let's see, how did the weekend pan out? Friday night I caught the bus home and collected Toby in the wee green car. We drove out to Lower Hutt and saw Jurassic Park 3D. We both decided it was far more scary in 3D on the big screen than watching it on our TV at home. It finished late so we went straight home to bed.
Been waking up easily an hour before my alarm of late (5am is a bit too early) and Saturday morning was no exception. Lay in bed reading until Toby stirred. Got us breakfast and then I nipped out to collect some dishes from a work colleague and pick up a headset microphone from Dick Smith so Toby can Skype with his friends.
Made lunch and Toby was collected by William and his Dad for a sleepover (gadget free) in Waikanae. I was supposed to go bike gear shopping but the yucky weather meant I was far more attracted to reading in the warmth.
Read and listened to music, and grabbed some food. Aidan was in town for a conference and going out to dinner with colleagues afterwards. When she was done there, we were going to her place for a sleepover. Yep - Toby and I were kinda doing the same thing. Aidan had her hands full with a friend and needed to be there for her, so it was late by the time we left Wellington. I picked her up on Aro Street and we hopped onto the motorway and drove to Waikanae. I even got to hear Aidan sing. Choice! A very nice version of He Honore was just for me. I am privileged.
Cup of tea when we got there - the last Rooibos in the house. Aaarrghhh. Chatted to Mike on the phone at his conference, just before he went to bed. Off to sleep myself. The sofa is quite comfortable there!
Up at 7am Sunday - but like usual of late I was awake hours before then! And in a strange bed, so no wonder there. Aidan and I made a scrumptious breakfast. Her boys were camping in bivvies for Scouts - with Lulu! How cool!
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| Yum! |
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| Kapiti Island behind Aidan |
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| Self portrait - take two. Version one was crooked and I was hardly in it |
.JPG) |
| Iced coffee at The Front Room is declared exceptional! |
Tried to get a hold of Peter (William's Dad) but failed. He obviously was also having a gadget free weekend and ignoring his phone! Drove back to Wellington with the roof down and the music loud.
Went to Kilbirnie and bought some bike gear for next weekend. Then got home just as Toby was dropped off. We explored our new deck (not quite done - but pretty close).
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| On the deck! |
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| It's quite high! |
The weather is amazing again today - enjoyed my bike ride in. My bike computer seems to have packed up though. Grrrr. Wonder if Mike will look at it.
Andrew had a great tramping weekend - read about it in his blog! Wow! Andrew's weekend
Busy week ahead. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Angela
Friday, May 10, 2013
The Thursday with user group and a ride home with Rex
Hi,
Well, considering we had no preparation whatsoever for the user group last night, we had a good evening. We chatted about all sorts of things, perhaps not always on topic. I found out that non-native English speakers think learning English through playing computer games is a great way to learn the language. I'm not to sure. How many games get you to order food in a restaurant or something useful like that? And how many games get you to say "Die, you scum"? I know which one I think is more useful. Perhaps, unless you are driving around Los Angeles or something.
Rex gave me a lift home, which was nice. Otherwise I would have bungeed my leftover pizza to the back carrier and looked like a pizza courier on my way home.
Mike was early to bed. Still recovering from his migraine. He has a big weekend with a work function and will drive three colleagues up to Turangi today at lunch time.
Toby and I might try and see a movie tonight. Then go to the Karori West Scout Hall fundraiser garage sale tomorrow morning. Toby then gets to go to Waikanae with William for a sleepover. I might get to see Aidan if the planets align correctly. Otherwise a feast of chocolate and movies Mike will never want to watch are on the agenda.
Weather has packed in a bit. But the weekend should be okay. Let's keep fingers crossed.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Love,
Angela
Well, considering we had no preparation whatsoever for the user group last night, we had a good evening. We chatted about all sorts of things, perhaps not always on topic. I found out that non-native English speakers think learning English through playing computer games is a great way to learn the language. I'm not to sure. How many games get you to order food in a restaurant or something useful like that? And how many games get you to say "Die, you scum"? I know which one I think is more useful. Perhaps, unless you are driving around Los Angeles or something.
Rex gave me a lift home, which was nice. Otherwise I would have bungeed my leftover pizza to the back carrier and looked like a pizza courier on my way home.
Mike was early to bed. Still recovering from his migraine. He has a big weekend with a work function and will drive three colleagues up to Turangi today at lunch time.
Toby and I might try and see a movie tonight. Then go to the Karori West Scout Hall fundraiser garage sale tomorrow morning. Toby then gets to go to Waikanae with William for a sleepover. I might get to see Aidan if the planets align correctly. Otherwise a feast of chocolate and movies Mike will never want to watch are on the agenda.
Weather has packed in a bit. But the weekend should be okay. Let's keep fingers crossed.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The Wednesday with another migraine for Mike
Hi,
I rode home and had a ball - such a lovely evening. Usually slogging up a hill after the working day is done can hardly be referred to as "a ball", but yesterday evening was one of those days! But when I got in, I had a text from Mike asking if I could come in and collect him because he had a migraine. Poor chap. So I did just that, and was only 5 minutes late collecting Toby afterwards. And that was with Mike having three out of our four sets of car keys on him (and no car, mind you!). I found the one remaining set for the MX-5 and used another set of house keys to get into the garage. Then I was off.
Mike went straight to bed after eating something and drinking some water. Aidan called him and they chatted for a while (mainly while Mike was lying on the bed with his eyes tightly screwed shut). Mike probably wasn't at the top of his conversation game. Toby and I had baths and went to bed.
So, apart from the migraine, it was a great evening. Nice and relaxing.
It is user group night tonight. It's going to be a quiet evening, I think. Not a lot of takers have said yes.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
I rode home and had a ball - such a lovely evening. Usually slogging up a hill after the working day is done can hardly be referred to as "a ball", but yesterday evening was one of those days! But when I got in, I had a text from Mike asking if I could come in and collect him because he had a migraine. Poor chap. So I did just that, and was only 5 minutes late collecting Toby afterwards. And that was with Mike having three out of our four sets of car keys on him (and no car, mind you!). I found the one remaining set for the MX-5 and used another set of house keys to get into the garage. Then I was off.
Mike went straight to bed after eating something and drinking some water. Aidan called him and they chatted for a while (mainly while Mike was lying on the bed with his eyes tightly screwed shut). Mike probably wasn't at the top of his conversation game. Toby and I had baths and went to bed.
So, apart from the migraine, it was a great evening. Nice and relaxing.
It is user group night tonight. It's going to be a quiet evening, I think. Not a lot of takers have said yes.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The Tuesday with Cubs
Hi,
I rode home in another fast time (still a southerly - and a bit chilly) and collected Toby. Cooked tea and fought a battle to get him to Cubs. Mike and Toby now have to have a discussion on whether Toby continues at Cubs or not. I am not fighting the battle on my own every Tuesday. And we know he likes Cubs once he is there. Toby says he'd rather play football. Or rugby. I'd rather he played football!
Anyhow, I dropped Toby off and went back home and froze while reading the new National Geographic that came in the mail. Went to collect him and then went to collect Mike from the pub next to work. A great colleague has handed in her resignation. Bit sad about that.
Back home and asleep soon (after piano practice).
This morning (Wednesday) is gorgeous! Cold, no wind, clear skies. Look at the view outside our window this morning.
My fingers are still warm and tingly after that ride in. Nice. Hopefully I get to ride home with Mike tonight - but he is pretty busy at work.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
I rode home in another fast time (still a southerly - and a bit chilly) and collected Toby. Cooked tea and fought a battle to get him to Cubs. Mike and Toby now have to have a discussion on whether Toby continues at Cubs or not. I am not fighting the battle on my own every Tuesday. And we know he likes Cubs once he is there. Toby says he'd rather play football. Or rugby. I'd rather he played football!
Anyhow, I dropped Toby off and went back home and froze while reading the new National Geographic that came in the mail. Went to collect him and then went to collect Mike from the pub next to work. A great colleague has handed in her resignation. Bit sad about that.
Back home and asleep soon (after piano practice).
This morning (Wednesday) is gorgeous! Cold, no wind, clear skies. Look at the view outside our window this morning.
 |
| Gorgeous still morning |
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Monday with exciting weather
Hi,
The rain and wind caused chaos in Wellington yesterday. I rode in because I am tough. Well, perhaps not so much tough as panicking because I have committed to a huge bike ride with Andrew in two (short!) weeks and I need to ride lots! We're planning to ride around Mt Taranaki on May 18//19 and it is going to be huge. I hope the weather is kind. We'll make definite plans when we see what that weekend's weather will be like.
Anyhow, yesterday was huge on the weather front here. Rain came down in buckets. What statistic did Mike hear? I can't recall, but in the space of a few hours we had received a fair percentage of our annual rainfall. And a lot of it came down right beside my desk. In fact, as I type this, the huge carpet driers are blowing onto the carpet around me. The roof leaks here - a lot - when we get torrential rain. We even had a ceiling tile or two collapse and crash to the floor. Talk about exciting!
Then in the afternoon we had a wee earthquake. Just to remind us that we are puny humans and there is a place for us in the hierarchy of the universe.
Rode home with a mighty southerly gale to blow me home. Choice! Collected Toby and drove down to get Mike from the supermarket doing our weekly shop. He guessed the total to within a dollar and impressed the checkout operator. Went home and cooked up tea. I found out I had made a mistake a while back with booking the house for the Round Taupo race and complained to the boys I was useless. Toby's pearls of wisdom? This is what he said: "You're not useless, Mum. You just sometimes do useless things".
Right. Feeling so much better now. Hmmmmm. Hahahahahah!
On that note, have a wonderful day! Enjoy something that makes you laugh! I enjoy hearing Toby's insights. Honest, I do.
Love,
Angela
The rain and wind caused chaos in Wellington yesterday. I rode in because I am tough. Well, perhaps not so much tough as panicking because I have committed to a huge bike ride with Andrew in two (short!) weeks and I need to ride lots! We're planning to ride around Mt Taranaki on May 18//19 and it is going to be huge. I hope the weather is kind. We'll make definite plans when we see what that weekend's weather will be like.
Anyhow, yesterday was huge on the weather front here. Rain came down in buckets. What statistic did Mike hear? I can't recall, but in the space of a few hours we had received a fair percentage of our annual rainfall. And a lot of it came down right beside my desk. In fact, as I type this, the huge carpet driers are blowing onto the carpet around me. The roof leaks here - a lot - when we get torrential rain. We even had a ceiling tile or two collapse and crash to the floor. Talk about exciting!
Then in the afternoon we had a wee earthquake. Just to remind us that we are puny humans and there is a place for us in the hierarchy of the universe.
Rode home with a mighty southerly gale to blow me home. Choice! Collected Toby and drove down to get Mike from the supermarket doing our weekly shop. He guessed the total to within a dollar and impressed the checkout operator. Went home and cooked up tea. I found out I had made a mistake a while back with booking the house for the Round Taupo race and complained to the boys I was useless. Toby's pearls of wisdom? This is what he said: "You're not useless, Mum. You just sometimes do useless things".
Right. Feeling so much better now. Hmmmmm. Hahahahahah!
On that note, have a wonderful day! Enjoy something that makes you laugh! I enjoy hearing Toby's insights. Honest, I do.
Love,
Angela
Monday, May 6, 2013
The weekend with a bit of a lot of things
Hi,
Mike went home sick on Friday with a migraine, so our intended Toby handover from Mike's parents to us and a dinner in town never eventuated. Instead, I went to see Oblivion with Sally and Andrew at Reading Cinemas. It was okay - I think I would have enjoyed it more without Tom Cruise as the main character. I don't mind him as an angst ridden male lead, but an action hero is a little bit far for my imagination to stretch.
Waited an hour for the bus home. This is why I ride my bike.
Mike had to work on Saturday to make up for the Friday sick day (deadlines!) so I couldn't ride my bike to Waikanae as I hoped. However, it was replaced with a train ride with Toby to Waikanae and I was just as touristy on this trip as I was last time. My Kindle went unopened on my lap the entire way. Toby only looked up when I exclaimed about the scenery.
Had a cup of tea with Aidan and heard all about her manic week. I think she must have pulled off an amazing training session - the attendees are probably still reeling from the 5 day onslaught. She had highs and lows to regale me with!
Then we all went to see Iron Man 3 (after a quick lunch in the food court - I think I hate food courts around about now). It was okay - I would have preferred an alien invasion for the boys to watch rather than someone spouting hate to Americans and lots of shooting. But, the boys rated it either 9 or 10 out of 10 (depending which boy you asked). So I guess it was just me!
We collected a mirror from Aidan. She has two and asked if we needed both. I said yes. But only one would fit in the wee green car, so I think she dejectedly put the other one back in her garage. Back home and a relaxing evening with the boys. We put the mirror in the bathroom so Mike can shave. Well, Aidan said Mike could shave his chest in this mirror. Yes - we do have to hang it still. It is a bit low - even for me. But I am amazed to see myself so early in the day! I have got used to the surprise as I step into the lift at work with its mirrored walls. However, I do appreciate it might be too late to do anything about my hair at that stage. Hence the new-found appreciation for a mirror in our bathroom.
Sunday was so nice - William came over and we went to Joe's Garage for breakfast with Liz. She has now left Wellington for a week in Dunedin before heading home to Armidale.
We dropped William off and headed to Sally and Andrew's house for a big family gathering. A fantastic meal - Sally has exceptional skills in that department. Well, in every department, really. Ron had a great birthday celebration.
Wandered back home and did the ironing and fell asleep while Mike was sorting out bills and correspondence. We might be eating rice all this week.
Have a lovely week. Stay dry. I got quite wet riding in this morning. My new colleagues have been treated to the drowned rat version of Angela today.
My workplace roof leaks - there are loads of rubbish bins strewn around the walk ways past desks. Some of them are rather full of rainwater. Disturbing really, given the amount of electrical equipment.
Love,
Angela
Mike went home sick on Friday with a migraine, so our intended Toby handover from Mike's parents to us and a dinner in town never eventuated. Instead, I went to see Oblivion with Sally and Andrew at Reading Cinemas. It was okay - I think I would have enjoyed it more without Tom Cruise as the main character. I don't mind him as an angst ridden male lead, but an action hero is a little bit far for my imagination to stretch.
Waited an hour for the bus home. This is why I ride my bike.
Mike had to work on Saturday to make up for the Friday sick day (deadlines!) so I couldn't ride my bike to Waikanae as I hoped. However, it was replaced with a train ride with Toby to Waikanae and I was just as touristy on this trip as I was last time. My Kindle went unopened on my lap the entire way. Toby only looked up when I exclaimed about the scenery.
Had a cup of tea with Aidan and heard all about her manic week. I think she must have pulled off an amazing training session - the attendees are probably still reeling from the 5 day onslaught. She had highs and lows to regale me with!
Then we all went to see Iron Man 3 (after a quick lunch in the food court - I think I hate food courts around about now). It was okay - I would have preferred an alien invasion for the boys to watch rather than someone spouting hate to Americans and lots of shooting. But, the boys rated it either 9 or 10 out of 10 (depending which boy you asked). So I guess it was just me!
 |
| Mike can see himself - or his chest, as Aidan pointed out |
Sunday was so nice - William came over and we went to Joe's Garage for breakfast with Liz. She has now left Wellington for a week in Dunedin before heading home to Armidale.
 |
| Toby happy with his breakfast of bacon, bacon, bacon |
 |
| William and Toby |
 |
| Toby captured a close up of his breakfast |
Wandered back home and did the ironing and fell asleep while Mike was sorting out bills and correspondence. We might be eating rice all this week.
Have a lovely week. Stay dry. I got quite wet riding in this morning. My new colleagues have been treated to the drowned rat version of Angela today.
My workplace roof leaks - there are loads of rubbish bins strewn around the walk ways past desks. Some of them are rather full of rainwater. Disturbing really, given the amount of electrical equipment.
Love,
Angela
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Thursday with nothing
Hi,
I rode home and made it before the rain came down. The road bike is such a nice bike to ride. So long as I never have to stop. I hate clipping back in. I guess I am getting better at it. But still not comfortable all the time.
The balustrades have been put up on the deck now.
Yes - it is looking a bit murky in Wellington this morning. Rainy. Mike's parents will collect Toby tonight from his school holiday programme and bring him into town for the swap. We might go out for tea, if I get my way.
The weather isn't looking terribly flash for the weekend. I wonder if I can ride my bike for a good long ride tomorrow? The forecast for Saturday has gone from showers to high cloud. Strengthening northerlies don't bode well for my plans though. We'll see. I am still keen.
Sunday we have a Gilbert gathering at Sally and Andrew's place. Should be fun!
Have a lovely day. It's great here - if you're a duck!
Love,
Angela
I rode home and made it before the rain came down. The road bike is such a nice bike to ride. So long as I never have to stop. I hate clipping back in. I guess I am getting better at it. But still not comfortable all the time.
The balustrades have been put up on the deck now.
Yes - it is looking a bit murky in Wellington this morning. Rainy. Mike's parents will collect Toby tonight from his school holiday programme and bring him into town for the swap. We might go out for tea, if I get my way.
The weather isn't looking terribly flash for the weekend. I wonder if I can ride my bike for a good long ride tomorrow? The forecast for Saturday has gone from showers to high cloud. Strengthening northerlies don't bode well for my plans though. We'll see. I am still keen.
Sunday we have a Gilbert gathering at Sally and Andrew's place. Should be fun!
Have a lovely day. It's great here - if you're a duck!
Love,
Angela
Thursday, May 2, 2013
The Wednesday with a new job - kinda
Hi,
Wow - you would not believe our deck already. And yes - I do have a photo!
Woo hoo! Isn't it amazing?
Aidan borrowed our wee car yesterday. Grabbed the keys from home (asked Wilf to move a ladder outside the garage door) and used it to go to and fro from her course. They had sessions in Porirua and Lyall Bay until late. Made perfect sense to us. Good on her.
I rode home with Mike yesterday the long way (up Ngaio Gorge) and had a ball. Found it quite easy after not having done it for a few months. Good, eh? Mike says we'll do it again tonight.
Made tea and ate. I went grocery shopping. Mike made tonight's dinner after we ate. How marvellous is that?
First day in my new role at work. Busy. I have loads to learn. Should keep me out of mischief for quite a while.
Lunch with Liz lined up today. Must organise that.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wow - you would not believe our deck already. And yes - I do have a photo!
 |
| Looking along the deck from the lounge |
 |
| Deck outside the dining table window |
Aidan borrowed our wee car yesterday. Grabbed the keys from home (asked Wilf to move a ladder outside the garage door) and used it to go to and fro from her course. They had sessions in Porirua and Lyall Bay until late. Made perfect sense to us. Good on her.
I rode home with Mike yesterday the long way (up Ngaio Gorge) and had a ball. Found it quite easy after not having done it for a few months. Good, eh? Mike says we'll do it again tonight.
Made tea and ate. I went grocery shopping. Mike made tonight's dinner after we ate. How marvellous is that?
 |
| Sandwiches yesterday looked great - and tasted great |
Lunch with Liz lined up today. Must organise that.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Tuesday with a ride home with Mike
Hi,
The forecast rain didn't arrive until late in the evening, around 7pm. So Mike and I had a lovely ride home together at 5.45pm. Dry roads. It has been quite a while since Mike rode home and I left him for dead on the hill. I think that's enough positive encouragement for him to keep riding! Hopefully we can ride home the long way together tonight.
The deck is amazing. The skeleton of the entire deck is now in place. My view of the stars from bed is partially obscured, but I'll survive. Wilf is doing a great job.
Mike's parents have Toby's routine sorted now. Mike's Dad drives them to Karori (Samuel Marsden for the holiday programme - Toby is learning to programme in Java!) and then collects Toby at the other end of the day.
Toby said his holiday programme is great - he has made four friends. They are mostly a bit older than him. The age range was from 10 - 16 and I think they are mostly in the older range. But Toby says they treat him like he was in Year 12 too. Cute! Hahahah.
Toby's piano playing is also coming along nicely. Mike's parents are making huge differences there. And his parents are baffled at my inability to hear the difference between a major chord and a minor one. Oh well. I can hear the difference on a guitar. Piano? Not so much.
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela
The forecast rain didn't arrive until late in the evening, around 7pm. So Mike and I had a lovely ride home together at 5.45pm. Dry roads. It has been quite a while since Mike rode home and I left him for dead on the hill. I think that's enough positive encouragement for him to keep riding! Hopefully we can ride home the long way together tonight.
The deck is amazing. The skeleton of the entire deck is now in place. My view of the stars from bed is partially obscured, but I'll survive. Wilf is doing a great job.
Mike's parents have Toby's routine sorted now. Mike's Dad drives them to Karori (Samuel Marsden for the holiday programme - Toby is learning to programme in Java!) and then collects Toby at the other end of the day.
Toby said his holiday programme is great - he has made four friends. They are mostly a bit older than him. The age range was from 10 - 16 and I think they are mostly in the older range. But Toby says they treat him like he was in Year 12 too. Cute! Hahahah.
Toby's piano playing is also coming along nicely. Mike's parents are making huge differences there. And his parents are baffled at my inability to hear the difference between a major chord and a minor one. Oh well. I can hear the difference on a guitar. Piano? Not so much.
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela
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