The Thursday with normal stuff

Hi,

Well, after a hectic day at work, I had a lovely ride home.  The wind was a southerly, so it helped push me home.  Which is always nice, for a change!

I made dinner for Toby and myself and sorted out a few things around the house.  Mike had a tramping club something or other on and went straight from work to that.  He didn't get home until late and I was fast asleep by then.  Fortunately Toby was awake and let Mike in.  Hahah.

Mike is off to Christchurch for the day.  He's presenting something down there.  I have no idea what but I am afraid to ask, because I am sure he must have told me.  :-p

So, this weekend is huge in the Toby calendar.  He has his Halloween costume ready that his Nana helped him sort out.  He has a sleepover planned with some mates.   Tonight we're having burgers with Aidan and her boys and Sarah.  Then decorating the house tomorrow morning.  Halloween excitement on Saturday evening.

The Rugby World Cup final on Sunday morning.  And celebrations (hopefully) into a huge breakfast treat.  And Mike has some tramping club stuff on in the afternoon.  Oh - and I am working on Sunday night.  Boo!

Right.  Time for tea and the last day of the (short) working week.

Enjoy the weekend!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with nothing much

Hi,

Well, work was certainly a blur of activity.  The only thing that stands out in my mind is Celia coming back from the hairdresser and looking stunning.  But the funny thing was, she'd been back at her desk for a few hours before I even noticed.  And everyone had carried on conversations about it.  Yeah, guess I was a little absorbed in the work in front of me.

I took my bike home in the car because Mike had a catch up date with Josh.  I collected Toby on the way home and cooked tea for us.

Bruised finger

The only other thing of note is my middle finger has a bruise.  I think I got it weeding on Tuesday night.  Hahah.  Gardening is vicious.  I am noting the bruise changes.  It's still swollen but the bruise colour is a lovely deep red/purple/brown colour now.

Not much else to tell you.  Things are cruising along, I guess.

It's nearly November.  How did that happen?

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with skiing

Hi,

The long weekend was superb.  We had Friday night at home and due to poor weather at Ruapehu, we didn't leave at 4am to get a full days' skiing in.  No.  We slept in and left at a much better time of 7.45am.  And we had a food filled drive up.  The best!

I stopped at Farmlands in Taihape and got peach teats just for Rex.  And gumboots for me and jandals for Toby.  Great fun.

We went straight to the hot pools at Tokaanu when we got to the region.  Soaked in one of those for a while before having lunch at the Tussock pub at the bottom of the hill.

Up to the lodge around 4pm and settled into a room.  We were sharing with a woman from Auckland.  She was going to find it odd to have Mike in the bunk next to her, so she moved to another room.  Apparently she was only there because she snored.  I thought if they were foolish enough to choose Mike's snoring over hers, they were welcome to their room configuration.  I thought it was mean to make someone sleep elsewhere just because they snore.  Anyway, she moved out.

We went to sleep early because we got up at 3.15am to head down to Skotel for the rugby.  Huge game against South Africa at Twickenham in the 2016 RWC semi.  All Blacks won.  It was a tight, good game.

Back to the lodge and I got ready for skiing.  Headed up.  Trhe centennial life was access only as there was no snow in the lower mountain.  As I went up waterfall express quad, I saw a lot of patchy snow, but it was skiable.  I decided to ski waterfall T all day.  There was never a queue and the snow softened up perfectly.  There were jumps and all sorts.  I got a lot of skiing in.

Mike came up and joined me for the afternoon and we had fun together.  Doro and Pat often boarded with us too.

Selfie at the top of Waterfall Express Quad

On my favourite easy run - Waterfall T

Mike joined me, so here's a photo from further away than my arm span

Selfie of us

Male model I skied with

While Toby and Mike were in the lodge together in the morning, they carved a pumpkin.  Yes, we brought it with us.  It looked pretty good outside as the sun set.

Toby's carved pumpkin

Sunset over Mt Taranaki

Next morning we heard Australia were through to the final.  Woot!  Big game next week.  We headed away early.  Had brekkie in Ohakune at Mountain Rocks.  Good coffee.

Mt Ngaurahoe looking mighty fine

Good iced coffee at Mountain Rocks

When we got home I did some frantic ironing before we went to Aidan's place.  She baked and cooked while we chatted.  Well, I may have snoozed on her floor while Mike chatted.

I left them to it and Ange collected me for archery lessons.  Her blanket to ward off the cold was from Mosgiel Woollens.  Blast from the past.

Ange's blanket at archery came from Mosgiel Wollens

We were both on target

We both did quite well with our shooting.  Here's hoping I don't forget by next Monday evening.

Tuesday was busy.  We had an appointment at Toby's school so we dropped Toby at school and we both had breakfast at a cafe close by.  The appointment went well and we were back at work for the rest of the day.

Right.  Time for tea and to kick start the day.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with lunch with Aidan

Hi,

I seem to be coming down with a cold.  I just had one.  That seems inherently unfair.  Maybe it will come to nothing.

Yesterday I caught up with Aidan for lunch.  This lunch was different from Tuesday's lunch.  That lunch was me catching Aidan up with all my Nepal news.  This was a real lunch where we actually took turns at talking.  Hahahah!  Dumplings.  Mmmmm.

I also had a coffee date yesterday and tried really hard to avoid an iced coffee.  I got a chai latte instead.  Not quite as good.  But, it was still ok.  I have a coffee date this morning too and I think I am obliged to have an iced coffee.  What a shame, eh?

Guess what I did yesterday?  I bought tickets to see Star Wars (the new movie) at midnight on Dec 17th.  I am going to be there - at the Roxy cinema.  One of the first ones to see it.  I am so excited!  12.01 it starts.  Hahahah!  Can't wait.

The weekend is coming up fast.  We have a long weekend here in New Zealand.  Labour day.  And a huge rugby event on Sunday morning.  We're off skiing so I hope the local pub opens up at 4am.  Otherwise I will be"watching" it on my phone.  A blow by blow text feed.

We leave 4am tomorrow morning and drive up.  I am coming back early Monday morning because I have my archery class on.  Mike will come back later that day.  The weather is forecast to be pants, so I am packing my togs.

Have an awesome weekend!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with crazy logistics that came to nothing

Hi,

Ok - perhaps I am now overdosing on iced coffees.  I had another one yesterday.  But they are soooo gooood.  Hahahah!  I caught up with Laura from work and chatted away over a coffee.  She laughed at me having an iced coffee that early in the morning.  What?  Is there a time limit on them?

Mixed Business iced coffee

Anyway, I had to work through lunch to get away a little early to meet Toby at his appointment in Khandallah.  Drove there and knew I was a little late as the traffic was bad.  But no one was there.  Not Toby.  Not the psychologist.  Everything was locked.  No answer from Toby's phone.  He was supposed to have caught a taxi from school to there.

I rang Mike.  After a wee bit of a chat to him, we decided Mike had the wrong day for the appointment.  So, I drove home.  Turns out Toby had forgotten the taxi and appointment and took the school bus home.

Oh well.  Nice day for a drive.  Not as nice as the day before mind you.

Got home and cooked tea for me and Toby.  Mike went out with work and brewed a batch of beer at a place called The Occasional Brewer.  Sounds like they had fun.

Yes, we did have fun!

I have lunch today with Aidan.  Woot!  No iced coffees for me for a while.  Back to chai lattes.

Enjoy the day!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with lunch with Aidan and a sick day

Hi,


Ok - it is entirely possible that I hate my work PC.  This is the third time I have started this blog post.  It just keeps dying on me.  Perhaps no photos is the answer for right now.  Sorry.


Yesterday was the perfect day to have an afternoon sick leave for an appointment in Lower Hutt.  The sun was shining, I had the wee green car, I had a lunch date with Aidan.  Yep, pretty close to being perfect.  Wonder what job I can get where I have regular 4 hour days?

Iced coffee goodness with Ed at Mixed Business

I got through an iced coffee in the morning with a work colleague - we had a great catch up actually.  Then a mountain of stuff at work before I grabbed the car and collected Aidan from her work.

Second iced coffee within hours at La Cloche with Aidan.  She takes great pics.

We drove to La Cloche and had lunch.  Ham and cheese croissants.  Mmmmm.  And an iced coffee.  Actually, their iced coffee was soooooo good.  I caught up with Aidan and bored her with some photos from Nepal.  She was very stoic.  Hardly looked bored or glazed over at all.  Might have had something to do with food in her close proximity.  Good ploy on my part.  She is doing ok, apart from this massive cold that has affected her hearing.  She really couldn't hear me from 2 m away, yelling at her.  I hope that goes away soon.  That can't be fun for her.


I dropped her back at work and drove out for an appointment, via Farmers and a belt buying spree.  I now have a surfeit of belts.  Especially as I found my existing one now too.  Doh!  I was super early, despite the temptation to keep driving to Napier.  Lucky, because the place I was supposed to be at was my fourth attempt at trying somewhere.  It was fast and I was back in town and at home.


The boys and I were off with work to see The Martian.  Gold Lounge.  Best movie in ages!  Woot!  It was so good.


Back home and a collapse into bed for me.  I think we all slept ok.


My bike ride in this morning was great fun.  Yay for being back on my bike.


Have a wonderful day.


Love,
Angela

The Monday with archery

Hi,

After a chaotic day involving another migraine for me (typical - they cluster), I had to drive to Toby's appointment.  Got there on time, and so did he.  But I had to wait for the appointment to finish and it went longer than we anticipated, so it was a dash out to archery for us.

I got there bang on 1730.  We were supposed to be there at 1715 so we were ready by 1730.  But, that's how it is when you have to get to the Hutt in peak traffic.  Hahahah.

Mike came and collected Toby.  Ange and I had our first lesson.  It was a lot of fun.  I was still in work clothes, which was odd.  And I got cold.  But it was a lot of fun.

Back into town and a grocery shop before heading home and falling into bed.  I read a bit though.  And I was up for a run this morning.

A stunning morning in Wellington.

Right.  Time for tea.

Have a brilliant day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend back at home - for me and Toby

Hi,

Well, Mike got away for his tramp to the top of the South Island ok.  I got to my social work function and Mike's mother got to Toby and took him home.  It all went very well.

I played pool and was by no means the worst player there.  One on my team got worse the more alcohol she consumed.  She couldn't hit the white ball by the end of it.  But I just heard that our team won the evening competition.  Too funny.  Apparently other teams lost more than us.  Which is slightly different from winning.

Aidan picked me up when I was done from Te Papa and took me home.  I got to see her new car.  I have car envy.  She has a huge RAV4.  Black.  And I read the car manual as she drove me home, and we found how to engage the 4WD.  I am totally borrowing her car for ski trips next season.

Toby and I slept in the next morning.  I stayed in bed and read.  Lots.  Eventually I had to go out and start some housework.  Then I drove Mike's mother home and picked up new pillows from Harvey Norman.  I got home and they rang, saying they had undercharged me.  I was going back to Lower Hutt with Toby for some shopping so I sorted it out then.

We bought his stuff for Halloween and some munchies for a movie at home and came home and read until movie time.  We watched a dumb, dumb movie.  Dreadful.  I can't even remember its name.  About kids in a Monster club and monsters come and they do battle.  It was awful.

Went to bed and I read for a bit.  Then Mike helpfully rang at 7am from a DoC hut saying he only had a landline and it was only used for emergencies.  So I panicked.  No need!  He wanted the rugby scores!  Doh!  And the rugby wasn't on for another hour.

So I "watched" the rugby on my phone with a live commentary.  What a game!  Hahahah!  And in fact, I saw the result showing Scotland almost made it to the semis.  Those Aussies snuck out of jail there!

Sunday was lazy.  But I did finish our bedroom decluttering exercise I started with Mike's mother.  Yay!

Mike got home really late.  Ferry was delayed due to high winds and big swells.  Yuck.  And then it was morning.  Groan.

But today is stunning.  And I start archery lessons today!  Woot!

Sunday activities

Toby's Halloween costume is coming together

Jo lines up a shot

I got an iced coffee on Friday

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with nothing much

Hi,

Well, it seems to be getting tougher - especially as this working week is about 8 days long already.  That's what it feels like, anyway.  I have no energy - and I got my first migraine last night in forever!  Oh well, I am sure a good sleep over the weekend will do wonders.  Next week I will be on top of my game.

My run this morning was purely an exercise in participation.  I got up, and went for a run.  My legs felt like lead.  The time was pretty poor.  But I did it!  When I'd rather have been in bed for another hour.  Hahahah!

And I have a work social function tonight.  Oh, I am going to be so bad at playing pool.  I pity anyone that choose me to be in their team.

Mike is away tramping to the top of the South Island.  Mike's mother is coming over tonight to collect Toby and look after him.  Just need to order pizza to get delivered.  Toby wants to watch a movie with his Nana.

But once I get home, I am intending to sleep like the dead!  I have a few things to get done this weekend.  Blog about Nepal.  Sort out a nice set of photos.  That's about it.  And loads of housework.  I still have a mountain of laundry.  And like the Himalayas, it seems to be growing.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with nothing for me but tramping club for Mike

Hi,

I rode home after a day at work and enjoyed the experience.  Not too windy, nice and dry.  I got home and jumped in the wee green car and went back to the library to collect Toby.  I think he is still feeling the effect of the change in time zones.

Got home and cooked a yummy tea for me and Toby.  Delicious steak.  Broccoli.  Boiled wee potatoes.  Carrots.  Mmmmm.

Mike was off to tramping club.  I never asked him how it went because when he got home, I made him sit through all the photos we finally downloaded from the SLR camera.  Some nice ones there.  I need to make the blog entry now about our trip and choose the pics I want.  Might be the weekend activity.

Spot Toby in the crowd - at the Great Bhoudda Stupa

I was feeling quite exhausted so I collapsed into bed and hardly noticed when Mike came to bed.  I think Toby came into our room at some point during the night.

Anyway, I had a good sleep and woke up feeling a lot more refreshed than I have been.  Made lunches, had breakfast and enjoyed my ride into work.

Time to kick start the day with a great cup of tea.  Hope your day is wonderful!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with tea at Ange's house

Hi,

Yep - made it through another day.  I certainly have no issues with sleeping at the normal time.  But I have noticed getting up is harder than usual.  This morning it was really hard to get out of bed.  I could have easily rolled over and slept for another few hours.  So, that is kinda weird.  Maybe I can get a sleep in this weekend.  Mike is off tramping on Friday afternoon, down to the top of the South Island.

Last night I drove home from work because Mike had a dreadful morning that ended up with him driving Toby all the way to school.  I hope they have a better time this morning and actually catch the school bus.  I cooked tea and emptied our suitcases.  Yes - they finally arrived.  They were on the slow boat from Kathmandu.  Hahahah.

When Mike got home earlier than anticipated, that was nice.  We ate together then I disappeared off to Ange's house for a cup of tea.  We chatted to her mother, who is over visiting.  And helping Ange paint.  Cool!  Marion lives in Busselton, just south of Perth.  Made me fondly remember wonderful holidays with Ma and Dad in Freemantle.  I loved those visits!

Right.  Time for a tea and to kick start the day.  Let's see what it brings, eh?

Have a fantastic day.

First iced coffee back in Wellington.  Mixed Business at its best.

Memory from Nepal - we visited the mountaineering museum and the Yeti gave Mike a huge fright!

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work

Hi,

Well, I heard some marvellous news yesterday!  Karen and Scott have a new wee puppy and I think he is called York.  Tyler and Abby looked overjoyed from the photos I saw.  And York looks adorable.  He's a wee cavoodle and a little bundle of light brown fluffiness.

But, apart from that highlight, my day at work went well.  I worked without falling asleep in my soup at lunchtime and Mike collected me after work.  We made it around the supermarket successfully, and then back home.  Mike had promised Toby Burger Wisconsin, so that was eaten by the boys and we were all sorted.

I went to bed, hoping to get up early for my run.  I read a little but then before 9pm my eyes were so heavy.  I fell into a coma.  Mike, on the other hand, was up until the wee hours reading the internet.  I think Toby also had issues sleeping.  I am totally back on Wellington time.

I got up for a wee run - my first in over three weeks - and I still have a decent cold.  So it wasn't a great time, but it was ok.  I rode in, and stopped off at Aidan's house to say hello to her.  Had a cup of tea.  What a great way to start my morning!

At work now and ready for the day.  I hope I make it through this day too.  Although I am sleeping fine at the right times, I am still more tired than usual.  Hahah!

Time for tea.  That fixes everything.  And here is a photo of Mike and Toby in the old city of Bhaktapur.  If you slowed down, and showed any interest, you were fair game for the hawkers.

Toby and Mike browsing the stalls in Bhaktapur

Hope Toby has a great day at school and enjoys term 4.  Fingers crossed.  Hope Mike also enjoys his first day back.  Apparently he is  going to ride his bike in.

Love,
Angela

The weekend flying back to New Zealand

Hi,

We're back home!  Yay!  And yay for an awesome holiday in Nepal.  Our luggage is still enjoying the vacation, but we hope to be reunited today - all going well.  Mike and Toby have a day off to recover more.  I have to say, I am hoping I don't need to do anything more than read some emails (there are rather a lot of them).  My brain might not cope with massive amounts of decision making.

I am enjoying the weather Wellington has turned on for our arrival.  That's very welcome.

Marlborough Sounds looking lovely

Mt Kaukau this morning

I need to collate all the photos and create a blog post about Nepal.  It was the best trip!  We had such fun and we never got sick.  Although I am finding the food here very rich after eating simple food (vegetarian) for two weeks.

Time for me to get stuck into work.  I have read all my emails!  Yay.

Love,
Angela

Nepal 2015 - Being a tourist in Kathmandu

< 6-7 Oct - Pokhara to Kathmandu

Back in Kathmandu, we had a couple of last days in Nepal to do some sightseeing.

Nepal 2015 - Pokhara to Kathmandu, our trekking is over

< 5 Oct - Paragliding to Pokhara

Our trekking is over. It's quite a culture shock to be out of rural Nepal and back in a bustling city.  If that's a shock, what will returning to New Zealand be like?

Nepal 2015 - Paragliding to Pokhara

< 4 Oct - Dhampus to Sarangkot

Well, we didn't really do any trekking on the last trekking day.  It was much more fun than that!

Nepal 2015 - Dhampus-Sarangkot

< 3 Oct - Tolka to Dhampus

What an awesome day. We walked from Dhampus to Sarangkot in sunny, hot conditions.

Nepal 2015 - Tolka-Dhampus

< 2 Oct - Jhinu Dada to Tolka

Finally a day I'd consider as easy - and the shortest day so far. Mike and I were up early to visit the chorta. It was lovely watching the sunrise and catch the mountains.

Nepal 2015 - Jhinu Dada-Tolka

< 1 Oct - Tadepani to Jhinu Dada

Wow, this was an eventful day. It was supposed to be a relatively easy day - ten kilometres over fairly easy terrain, not too much up and not too much down. But things worked out differently for us.

Nepal 2015 - Tadepani-Jhinu Dada

< 30 Sep - Ghorepani and Poon Hill to Tadepani

1 October. The anniversary of Mike's Dad's death. And Gramps's birthday. Life and death. The cycle of life. I think Mike is happy to share his experiences of Nepal with me and Toby one year on.