Luna Park Wild Mouse

28 Dec 2012

28 Dec 2016

The Thursday with lunch with Andrew and then dinner as well

Hi,

I have been cutting back on the iced coffees lately, so there are no photos of me drinking in cafes around Wellington.  I had a hard day at work yesterday due to the constant low level headache which I have attributed to coffee.  There may be no scientific basis in this, but I have had more coffee in the past week than in the previous few months combined.  And I never get headaches.  So I have added 2 and 2 - and come up with 4.

Which - as a slight non sequitur for most people - Sally (and Mike) can't really do.  Hahahah!  More on that later, perhaps.

Anyway, I did catch up with Andrew for lunch at Verve which was good.  We planned a bit of our huge New Years tramp.

Then I walked home after work in my new tramping boots, as a part of the plan to walk them in before Andrew herds me and Mike over rough terrain in the Kahurangi National park.  I brought home sushi for Toby and he enjoyed that.

Mike popped in briefly to pick me up and we headed out to Petone to get the other car from the mechanics, then picked up fish n chips and ate with Sally and Andrew at their place.

Enjoyed the drive home and slept quite well.  Caught the bus in unexpectedly with Mike this morning.  We don't often do that so that was lovely.

And a family birthday/Christmas night tonight at our place.  Yay!

Last blog for a bit too.  We head to Sydney for Christmas on Sunday.  Looking forward to that for sure.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  See you in 2017.  Sounds like a good year to me.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with Rogue One

Hi,

I walked home last night, and pushed my bike.  It was a toss up between riding and walking in my new boots.  The new boots won.

I cooked tea for me and Toby (and left some aside for Mike).  It was pretty good chicken.

Chicken schnitzel with kumara chips and slaw

Toby had finished his last day of school and was pretty happy to have holidays stretching ahead of him.

I went to bed early to try and get some sleep before getting up at 10.30pm to get ready for the midnight showing of Rogue One at the Roxy!

Midnight viewing!

Mike got home after being waylaid by Steph just as he almost got on the bus.  I heard he got on the bus with Bernardine and  promptly stood on her foot.  Must have been a good time had at the Old Bailey.


Anyway - Toby and I got ready and drove out to see the movie.  We enjoyed the cosplay fun beforehand and then sat down to watch the movie.

Cosplay fun

It was so good.  I really enjoyed it.  I am not a night person, and I may have spent some of the movie with my eyes shut.  And I think I was quite horizontal in my seat for long periods of time.  But, that means when I see it again in Sydney, some of the scenes will be completely new for me.

This morning Mike dropped me close to town and I walked in.  Saw the demolition - the road is now partially opened.

Road partially opened now

Right.  I have a headache and I intend to drink lots of water to try and combat it.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with stuff

Hi,

Ok - I can't keep up with things at the moment.  Must be Christmas crazy.

Iced coffee

I just caught up with Rex and Jo before Christmas and had an iced latte at Mojos.  Mmmmm.

Mike dropped me close to town and he drove the car out to Petone for its WoF.  I saw him hurtling down the motorway from a bridge.

Mike drives the MX5 down the motorway

And I cooked a yummy tea last night.  Naked chicken parmigiana.  I liked it.  As did Mike.  Toby was unimpressed.

Yummy dinner

Toby was at the beach with his school mates yesterday.  He may have got a little sunburn.  Today is his last day of school and it seems to have been a successful year for him.

We're off to see a midnight showing of Rogue One tonight.  I couldn't wait for Boxing Day in Aus - but I suspect I will go again.  Me and Toby.  Mother/son bonding.

Have a lovely day.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with Toby's birthday

Hi,

My son is now 14.  I can't really believe it.  He towers over me and is hairy and muscly and has a deep voice.  But he is still kind on the inside.  Clever.  Considerate.  Loving.  If no one is around, I still gets hugs and kisses.  Still Toby.  I am a proud mother.

Anyway, he got the option of choosing his meal last night.  So he chose Burger Wisconsin over my cooking.  Hahahah!  I even offered to make spag bol for him.  That wasn't enough to sway him.

Other than that, we didn't do much.  I was up until the wee hours trying to sort out work issues.  Didn't do much good as I am now slightly tired and still wading through work issues.  Hahahah!  Not sure why I bothered worrying about it.  It obviously made no difference.

I did get brekkie with Roanne this morning though.  That was good fun.  The boys dropped me off in town early before they continued out to Miramar (I have no idea what is happening but apparently they are walking in a group to the beach from Molly's house).  I met Roanne and we enjoyed a breakfast at the Old Bailey.  It was yummy!

Right.  Time for get stuck in at work.  Woot!  And possibly find an iced coffee to compensate for the late night session.

Have a brilliant day.  Shine like a diamond!

Love,
Angela

The weekend leading up to Toby's birthday

Hi,

What a cool weekend - we were in Wellington and we bought a new car!  Oosshhh!

Iced coffee at Mojos

After a crazy day at work in an all day planning session, it was good to escape and meet up with Toby after work. He had tea in town and we got some Christmas shopping done.

We caught a bus home and Mike got back from Auckland around 8.30pm.  Fell into bed!

Next day was really rainy.  Toby had a birthday party at William's house to attend - a sleepover.  We dropped him off there and collected the new car.  The car looks like this one:  New car

Mike and I went to collect Sally from her place and had dinner with her at Bella Italia in Petone.  Lovely food, good catch up.

Sunday we were up early to get Toby from the party.  We tidied up the garage a bit, and managed to fit two cars in.  Our Corolla has a lot of junk for the tip in the back now.  A few trips there and we should see quite an improvement in the garage.

We have a house sitter for Christmas looking after Smudge.  Rodrigo.  Hope that goes well.

One more week of work!  Have an unbelievably good week!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with nothing much

Hi,

After a pretty busy day, where I managed to catch up with Ed and now have a fair few things to mull over, I squeezed in a session at the gym and then met Mike.

Mojos iced latte is becoming my favourite

Mike was with John - over for Christmas from the UK with his family (although they were all in Golden Bay still).  It was so good to see him again and catch up on a bit of news.

We shared wedges and squid - mmmmmm - at the Royal.  Then drove John to his brother's house and headed home.

Mike is off to Auckland today and back late tomorrow.  This morning was a rush for him because his alarm went off early and he just switched it off and went back to sleep.  I was perplexed as to why an alarm was going off in the middle of the night and thought nothing more of it.  But Mike jumped out of bed around 5.30am in a panicked mode.  And he had a migraine.  So I wandered around sleepily looking for his medicine while he got ready.  He got away on time and texted me from the gate - all happy.

Meanwhile I had breakfast with Toby and we were 5 minutes early for the bus.  We had a lovely time chatting on the bus and then I jumped off at my stop.

I'll see him after work.  We're going to have a steak at the Portlander around 5pm if anyone wants to join us.  Toby has a haircut at Maggies at 6.15pm.

Have a fantastic day!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with a lovely ride home

Hi,

I managed to catch up with the lovely women I worked with at a client site for a year yesterday morning.  They took me to La Cloche and I had their iced coffee.  They get full marks for the experience of the thing.  Sweet walnuts on the side, and slivered almonds inside.  Not too sweet despite the ice cream and a spoon to make sure you collect all the goodness at the bottom.

Good to catch up with friends before Christmas too!  Loved it!

La Cloche iced coffee experience

I rode home after work and cooked tea for Toby.  A big hunk of salmon, flaked over baked rice and salad.  It was very yummy.

Salmon flaked over baked rice

So yummy that when i went to collect Mike from town, and pick up some groceries, and bring him back - he ate two portions of it for his dinner!

The building the earthquake ruined is being demolished.  Mike would stand and watch it for hours if I let him.  These pics are from last week when it just started.  Today they had demolished almost back to that side stairwell part you see below.

Transformers - more than meets the eye

A chomp taken out of the top

It made me think of post apocalyptic disaster movies with a building taking the brunt of some massive fight.  Like that Transformers movie where that serpent machine thing trashes New York buildings.

Ok - I still have an imagination.

But the building is now missing its entire front.  It no longer looks like a battle casualty - it is really being demolished now.

Had a good ride in this morning despite the forecast gale force winds.  That's a good thing.  And John Holloway is wanting a coffee catch up today at 5pm.  Woot!  What an awesome surprise.  I didn't think I'd see him on this visit.  I'll say hello to him from you, Ma!

Have a brilliant day.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with date night for our anniversary

Hi,

What a lovely day.  I rode home after work and immediately jumped in the shower after ordering Toby a pizza.

Which it turns out I botched up because I didn't pay online.  So when the pizza turned up, they expected cash.  And Toby had none.  But, because we are such good customers, they left the pizza with Toby and rang me to ask for payment.  Hahah.

Anyway, all that happened while I was driving back into town to meet Mike at Boulcott St Bistro.  We had a wonderful meal.  I had the steak and it was like butter!  We shared a dessert - after telling the waitress it was our wedding anniversary.  So - get this - she gave us dessert on the house!  How cool is that?  We were very chuffed by the gesture.  The dessert was a rich chocolate mouse pinot noir ganache thingy.  It was gooooood!

This was an amazing dessert

We went home and Mike caught up with Toby for a bit before bed.  My ride in this morning was very nice - the wind is getting up but it has stayed dry.

I'm not feeling super well, but hopefully that passes.

Have a wonderful day!  Enjoy it all.

Love,
Angela

The weekend camping in Kaitoke

Hi,

Happy birthday to Tyler for yesterday.  She's hit teenage years!

And happy anniversary to me and Mike today.  Woot!  Date night!

What a lovely weekend.  Toby and I had a quiet Friday night while Mike had some drinks after work.  When he got home, he was a bit sheepish because he was a little loud after having had nothing to eat and a few drinks.  All gone to his head.  And he's out of practise somewhat.

Anyway, he was soon fast asleep and snoring, so all good.  Next morning we were up and packing for the camping trip to Kaitoke.  Oddly we were packed and out of the house by 9.10am.  Pretty good, considering.

Toby's knee was still sore, so the intention was for me to stay with him at the tent and Mike to lead his walk.  We stopped off at Petone Maccas for brekkie before getting to Kaitoke.

The weather was lovely.  Sunny.  By the time we pitched the tents, it was baking hot.  We pitched the new wee lightweight tent for Toby.  Just the ground sheet and fly.  We had our spacious tent for camping in style.

Toby and I nipped back into Upper Hutt to get provisions for the weekend from Countdown.  They had chocolate milk and coffee milk.  Mmmmm.

As I lounged around in the sun, reading, I fidgeted and in doing so, I leaned on my Kindle.  I heard an ominous crackle.  Opening it up, I discovered I had ruined it by breaking the screen.  No Kindle.  What a catastrophe.  I had to use my phone to read on - and I had no way of charging that easily.  Sigh.  First world problems.

It was so hot I asked the boys to fashion a porch out of big branches.  Toby and I found a couple of suitable ones and then I was in heaven - relaxing in the shade outside the tent.

Anyway, Toby's knee came right after he moved around on it a bit.  It was probably just stiff.  So we went for a walk.  Did the hour swingbridge walk;.   Bumped into Michelle - a friend of Andrew and Sally's.

Campsite

Gathering firewood with Toby

After getting back from the walk, we relaxed a bit more before cooking tea.  Yummy chicken satay kebabs, steak, asparagus and mushrooms.  It was good!

Kaitoke is beautiful

The buttercups lured me like a siren

Mike and Toby went down to the river with our firewood and cooked marshmallows and socialised while I dozed.  Apparently someone was fire dancing - which fascinated Toby.

Slept really well.  Woke up late and found Andrew chatting to the Meetup group.  He'd been wandering around the Tararuas, doing epic tramps.

We struck the tents and headed home quite early.  We dropped Mike off at work and then Toby and I found our tree.  We got that put up and did some housework.

The tree goes up!

I found the best stuff waiting in the letterbox - a Sky and Telescope issue - plus a National Geographic issue.

Best mail delivery ever!

Have a brilliant week.  I need a cup of tea,

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Toby hurting his knee

Hi,

Well, I was working just after lunch when my phone rang and it was the school nurse.  Uh oh.  I waited to hear what was happening, because no conversation can ever be good when it starts with "It's the school nurse from WHS here..."

Anyway, she said Roland was running towards a wall (more uh oh, I thought, this can't be good) as he meant to climb it (aha, I thought, he's unconscious in a heap somewhere) and then he slipped (ok - he's whacked his head on this wall and is now in a coma) and he wrenched his knee (oh, that sounds much better!).

Why do school nurses say things that let your imagination run wild before actually saying what happened before you have time to imagine the worst scenarios?

And anyway, who the heck is Roland?

Hahahahah!  Toby has an alias at school.  Yes, it confuses me too!

So I had to get home to grab the car.  I wondered at changing to ride home, and thought that might take a tad too long.  So I opted for the bus.  Not that great an option during off peak times.  I waited for 5 minutes for an anticipated bus in another 14 minutes when Fiona (neighbour) walked past and said she was catching a taxi and did I want to join her.

Ooosshhh!

I got home in a reasonably timely fashion and jumped in the car and finally found Toby in the sick bay at school.  A lovely girl who was also sick offered to help me to the car with him.  (Toby - you need to thank her for her offer whilst on her death bed in the sick bay)  But there was a wheelchair so we used that.  His science teacher was coming past and got the lowdown from Toby on what happened (she called him Roland too!).  So she helped us to the car and then took the wheelchair back.  She might be perfect for Toby as she might be slightly mad.  As she wheeled the wheelchair back, she shrieked out "Anyone want a ride?" as she hooned through the carpark.

We got home and Toby put his leg up and iced it for a few hours.  But he did have a restless sleep so he has the day off school today to try and recover.

Here are some pics from my race in Taupo.  Ooosshhh!  Loved it.

Riding down Waihi Hill

Over the finish line with a huge grin

 Have a wonderful weekend.  We're off to Kaitoke for camping/tramping although Toby might be chilling in the tent for the most part.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with user group

Hi,

After a busy day at work, I had the user group session to attend.  I did manage to fit in an RPM class somewhere in there.  Apart from being ravenously hungry at the moment, I think I have recovered from the Taupo exertions.


User group was good - a few of my work mates were there which made it more fun for me.

Mike had some logistics I dumped on him after his super busy day at work.  He had to Uber to the vet to get Ange's cat's medicine and fortunately our neighbour was there so he got a ride home.

Then, he drove the awesome car to come collect me.  We took it back to Anna (the long way) and dropped it off.  Then realised neither of us had the Corolla car keys.  Poor Anna had to drive us all home, and I went back with the car keys.

I dropped the medicine off at Ange's house and collected burgers for the boys. By this stage it was really late and bedtime for me.

What a hectic day.

Best get stuck into my work.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with a test drive

Hi,

Ok - work is work.  It is long.  But Christmas is coming!  Yay!

After work I went home with Mike in an Uber and Mike ordered pizza.  Then - then!  I went around to Anna's house and picked up her car.  Mike is very interested in buying her car so she sorted out insurance for us for a day or two, and we borrowed her car.

Well, I haven't done something for about 4 days that put such a huge smile on my face (ok - crossing the finish line after riding around Taupo does make me smile hugely).  This car is such a pleasure to drive.  I think I might have fallen a little bit in love with it.  Mike had his Christmas party after work, and had a few drinks, so it was all mine to test drive.

I got back home and asked the boys to pile in, and we went out to see Sally.  Just because!  Sheer pleasure.

Anyway, eventually we got back home, and Mike and I cleared the MX5 garage and the car just fit in ok.  We need to clear out some stuff to get both cars in.  Mike has a new workbench which we now need to fit in along the back wall.  A job for a weekend soon.

Busy day today.  User group tonight.  And we need to return the car.  Oh.  Hahahah.

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work post Taupo

Hi,

After a tough day at work, I rode home.  I managed to get a RPM class in, which I survived.  But riding home made my quads protest by the time I got home.  Evidence that I did do something at the weekend.

I got some dinner ready for Toby and then jumped in the car to meet Mike at the supermarket in town.  We checked out the building at 61 Molesworth St that is being demolished as it is quite close to the supermarket.  It really looked like a post apocalyptic scene.  Or the fight scene in a Transformers movie.  Normal looking building, it a chunk taken out.

And if my phone was communicating with anything, I would paste in a photo.  But for a phone, it seems to be doing a good impersonation of a brick right about now.

We did our grocery shopping with me in a slightly crazy mood.  Fortunately Mike still loves me lots.  Got home and fed Mike and then managed to do a few of our tasks for the evening before getting to bed.

Nice ride in this morning - hope the dry weather continues.

Have a wonderful day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend of round Taupo cycle challenge

Hi,

What an awesome weekend.  I left Wellington on Thursday afternoon and hit major traffic on the way out through to Waikanae.  What is with that route?  Awful - glad I don't live that way.

Got to Palmerston North at 6.40pm or so and found my way to Iona and Col's house ok.  Iona and I went out for dinner in town.  The town was heaving - it was a graduation night for the local uni.  We eventually found a Thai restaurant that could fit us in and enjoyed some yummy food.

Back to their house and I fell into bed and possibly got distracted with a book and read until 1am!  Ouch!

Up to have a cuppa with Col before heading to Sanson for a brekkie with her.  She dropped Frida off at the kennels as they were both away for the weekend to a family wedding.

I'd just ordered our breakfast and Col's coffee just got made when they had a power cut.  They asked me if I was in a hurry and I asked how long it takes to get to Taupo from here.  They said 2.5 hours (must have a Gilbert gene) so I said we were in no hurry.

Cute wee car

Iced coffee was sweet but quite good.

Eventually the power came back on and we got a yummy breakfast.  And I got my iced coffee.  Col and I chatted away and eventually I had to head off.  I filled up at the Z there and headed north.  Music on, singing away.

I found the accommodation around 1.30pm and settled in.  Moved in my bike and gear and then went into town to collect the race packs.

I got James' pack, and Sreejith's.  And Mike's - but he didn't need one as he wasn't riding.  Still, he'd paid for his entry so I picked up his pack.

I managed to change Sreejith and James to different groups.  Sreejith and his family just arrived so I went to chat to them.  James and Celia were held up in diabolical traffic so they arranged to meet me at our house around 8.30pm.

I went back home and got the bike ready.  Did a glass inspection as per Andrew's lessons to me.  Didn't do me much good as you will see.  :-(

When Celia and James arrived to collect his race pack, I chatted to them for a bit, before heading to bed in a coma.  I had the best sleep ever.  But I did wake up at 5am, an hour before my alarm was due to go off.

Got my bib

Mike woke up with me, which was nice as he'd only had 4 hours sleep by then.  He and Toby had left late from Wellington and got in around midnight.

I ate scrambled eggs and porridge.  I brought the omelette maker with me to cook an omelette.  But when I prepared my egg and opened the omelette maker, I discovered I had brought the sandwich press instead.  Oops.

Soon I was ready - trouble was I was about 2.5 hours early.  So Mike and I went back to bed.  Hahah.

Anyway, around 8am we got in the car and Mike took me close to the start as he could get.  We pushed the bike and I got some of my nerves out of the way by just enjoying Mike's steady hand in mine.  Found the W2 start group.  Found James waiting for his start.  Got hugs from him and Celia.  Met his mate Grant too.

Then I was in my group, approaching the start line.  I chatted to the woman next to me.  Emily Junck (it helps that we all have our names on our bibs).  Talk about amazing.  She'd just moved here from Seattle 2 months ago, did no training, had no one here to support her and just turned up to ride the whole way.  I hope she did well.

Anyway, our race started around 8.55am, I guess.  The conditions were overcast, possibly rainy and not a lot of wind.  Almost perfect, really.  In my start group there were about 8 women.  Not enough for a bunch to form, so that was disappointing.

Off I go!

I was riding by myself, but passing back and forth with a few people I started to recognise.  I was passing people from the previous group as well.  I was under my mark for 20km by about 4 or 5 minutes, and again at 40km.  So I was chuffed with my time.  But at the 50km mark I felt my back tyre start to bump a lot.  I looked at the road and it was super bumpy so I was hoping it was just that.  But I got onto slightly smoother road and the bumping continued.  I stopped in a road entrance and looked down.  Back tyre was flat.  Doh!

I jumped off and took all my gear out for changing it.  New tube.  Levers.  A lot of people asked if I was ok.  That was nice.  I finally got my back tyre off and the tube out when the mechanic support van pulled up.  Some nice young man whose bike had broken and was getting a lift came out and helped me change it.  He inspected the tyre and I pulled out a decent rose thorn/prickle thing.  I reckon that was the culprit.

He got my tube back in and pumped up and left for his van ride back.  Poor guy.  I got my tyre back on and then headed off again.

By this time I was held up easily by 20 mins or slightly more.  Gah!  And I had even less people around me to ride with.  So I was alone for the rest of the race.  I did overtake relay riders though.

Bottom of Kuratau Hill I spotted Celia and she cheered me on.  I loved coming down Waihi hill into Tokaanu.

I saw Mike and Toby cheering me on at Turangi - super nice to see them.  I got there at about 5 hours and 5 mins.  I really tried to ride hard for the next stretch.  I got to the bottom of Hatepe hill at 5 hours 55 mins and got to the top by 6 hours 5 mins.  From there, it was good that the wind wasn't too fierce so I tried to ride hard again.  I made it to the finish by 6 hours 55 minutes.

My official result

Phew!  I totally would have easily made my 6 hours 30 mins goal without the puncture.  So I am fairly happy.  It was 25 minutes faster than my previous time, even so.

And now I have a goal for next year.  Right?

I saw Mike and Toby cheering me over the finish line, and Sreejith and his family doing the same.  I met Celia and James (and Celia's mother) at the end.  So much support.  And so many texts wishing me luck.  I was really happy with everyone just willing me on.

We got back home and I showered and then we got some food and headed to Celia and James' accommodation.  James works with Sally and they live in Taupo (Sally and her partner Greg).  I don't think I have ever been felt so welcome to someone's house before.  Wow!  They were amazing people.  Toby played with their wee pup, Willis.  He is a Shihtzu/Bichon cross.  Toby asked if we could visit them again when we were leaving.  I think he also realised how welcoming Sally and Greg were.  We had a wonderful dinner - I got a scotch fillet steak for my riding efforts and it was cooked perfectly.  Yummy salads.  Yep - a perfect way to end the day.

Back home for a well needed sleep.  My head hit the pillow and I was out for the count.  Even with Toby listening to a Harry Potter movie right next to our room.

Replete cafe iced coffee

Next morning we got up and packed up and planned to meet Sreejith and his family at Replete Cafe.  But as we grabbed a table Sreejith had backed his bike rack into his rear windscreen.  Smashed it.  Doh!  Bad luck.

They managed to meet us for breakfast and sort out a temporary cover for the window for their drive home.

Did bump into Helen, Iona and Col's friend.  She did the twice around Taupo.  And she looks so normal on the outside.  Hahah.  She said it was tough.  No wonder!  it was tough just going around once!

Willis on top of Toby

Willis and Toby

 We left to drive home and made good time.  Home by 2pm.  Felt a wee quake last night.  Still shaky here a bit.

Thank you to everyone for wishing me well.  I had such a good time.  Can't wait for next year already.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with packing for the weekend

Hi,

Toby came to town for his optometrist appointment after school and I met him for that.  He was running late so Mike got him an uber.  

Turns out his eyes are quite stable and haven't changed much from last year.  Yay!

We met Mike after his work was done for the day and we all took the bus home.  The slow bus.  Through Kelburn.

Ravioli and yummy salad

But I cooked tea when we got home and it was really yummy.  Ravioli with roast zucchini and capsicum salad.   Mmmmm.

I finished packing for the weekend and then Mike and I watched some National Geographic thing on missions to Mars.  Dramatised documentary style.  It was ok.

It surely sent me to sleep, that's for sure.

Toby is off school today - he's a bit sick.

Up early to pack the car for the weekend.  I drove in and will leave tonight to head north.  See you on Monday to tell you all about the race!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with nothing on

Hi,

I managed to catch up with Serge in a coffee date, and that may have been the highlight of my manic day.  His mother is not well, so he's heading back for a long visit to see if he can help.

Iced coffee date with Serge

I did get to the gym though for a great RPM session with Sreejith.  And then I met the personal trainer and he took me through a few things.  Including some weird bear claw pose.  I think he was having a laugh.

Apparently this might be a bear claw pose

 I had to hang on rings for as long as possible.  I didn't hang on for long.  And I was hopeless with the standing on one leg and closing my eyes thing.  Ok.  I have to practise before my follow up session.

Rode home and sorted out some food for Toby before collapsing on the couch.  Went to collect Mike from Park St and then collapsed some more.  Hahah.

Right.  Time to get the day on track.  Enjoy yours!

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work

Hi,

Well, I was back at work like usual.  But at 4.30pm Mike's building was evacuated due to white powder discovered in the lift shaft.  If it's anything like our building, it'll be ground up gib board dust.

Anyway - it did mean by the time I got home, Mike had cooked tea.  Yum!  Fish.  We all loved it.

Fish - and my electrolyte so I am used to it by the race day this weekend

The day was stunning and the evening lovely, although the wind had kicked up by then.  The cat loved the deck.  She'd run out, poke around, get spooked by gusts and hurtle back in.  She was loving it!

Mike and I went to bed to finish watching The Crown.  We've done the season now in a marathon effort.  Quite enjoyed it really.

Ok.  Time for a coffee date with Mike.  Hope your day is fun!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with an exhibition

Hi,

Well, after an odd week, the weekend was surprisingly normal really.  The boys got home on Friday and Toby heard he got 86% in his science exam the day before (Thurs).  He thought his Maths exam was the hardest, but he hopes he did ok.  I was very proud of his science achievement.

I got up super early on Saturday and headed out to collect Andrew from his place in the wee green car.  I took a photo of the stick insect on the garage first though.  And for some reason I couldn't unlock the car so I made poor Mike get out of bed and it unlocked immediately for him.  Andrew and I headed up to Palmerston North, checking out slips along the way (a fair bit - we could see where slips closed SH1).  Met Iona and Col at Moxies on George St and enjoyed a lovely brekkie there.

Moxies iced cofee

From there we wandered around to the gallery where Iona's weaving Masters course were exhibiting their graded items.  Wow!  Iona is very talented and her classmates are as well.  The ideas collated over the years of the course and executed so well were amazing to see.  And this is from me, who knows nothing about weaving techniques but can appreciate art and effort and creativity.

Back to Iona and Col's place for lunch and the cousins arrived from Chch and Wellington to also see the exhibition.  Liz, Rowena and Alison.  So it was a marvellous catch up time for lunch for all the cousins.  And me and Col.  Hahah.

Stick insect on the garage

Andrew and I left when Iona took her second entourage through the exhibition.  It was a lovely drive back and I was home to see Mike before too long.

Emerson and Duncan were visiting for a sleepover so it was nice to see them after not seeing them for a wee while.  To say I saw them might be pushing the boundaries of the sentiment there.  They enjoyed the computer time and Toby's company more than mine.  But when food was presented, I did get to see them.

A lazy day Sunday where Mike and I watched a television series - very unusual for us.  Gorgeous day it was too.  Tried to clear the garage - put it off for a few weeks,

Right.  We're back at work now and although our building is in the news a lot, it is just cosmetic damage and the building is fine!

Enjoy your week.  I have a short week - Friday off to head to Taupo for the big race.  So excited I can barely sleep.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday back at home

Hi,

Well, we all got told to work from home for the rest of the week while they double check the building.  A few buildings in the CBD have had subsequent checks and have been deemed unsafe.  So I think we're just being cautious.  The building is fine, I'm sure.  But let's see what they say.

It was a good day to stay home as there was a strong southerly storm change around mid morning.  Made for some excitement on the weather front.

I don't recall feeling any aftershocks yesterday.  I did go around to see Ange for a cup of tea between meetings.  She is good but much happier riding out aftershocks at home.  Office buildings give her the creeps in quakes.  Fair enough.

I did get a bit of work done, which was good.  And cooked tea for the boys.  Lamb.  Mmmm.

Lamb and potato smash - with salad

For some reason I had less sleep than preferred.  Maybe I need to read less.  Maybe Mike needs to read less of the entire Internet!

But, at home again today.  Toby has his last exams today.  He seems happy with the ones he did yesterday.  I hope he can say the same when he gets home today.

It's the weekend!  Almost.  Yay!  Off to Palmerston North tomorrow morning to see Iona's exhibition with Sally and Andrew.  And back home to see Emerson and Duncan who will come for a sleepover while Josh is otherwise occupied with Scout stuff.  Choice!  And I hope to get a bike ride in of about 50kmn as I taper for the following weekend's race around Taupo.  Oosshhh!

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday back at work

Hi,

Well, that was a short lived working in the office week.  They sent us home for further building inspections to occur.  So today (Thurs) and probably Friday I am working from home.

I went home with Mike after work yesterday on the bus.  Molesworth St is closed due to a building about to collapse so our bus was rerouted up Hill St and along Tinakori to Park St.  That took 25 mins because all the cars were also trying to head down the same route.

Anyway - we got home ok and I cooked tea.

Pork kofta - yummy

We had pork kofta - on fragrant rice.  With a slaw of some sort.  I liked it.

Mike worked with the cat on his shoulders.  Hahah!

She likes this perch

So, today is Toby's big exam day.  He has 3 on today (and I think another one tomorrow).  I hope he does well.

And I am at home.  Working.

Hope your day is marvellous!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with an earthquake at the very end and working from home

Hi,

Well, that was an unusual end to the weekend.  Mike went away to Ruapehu in the silver bullet and Toby and I stayed home due to Toby's vomiting illness.  But by Saturday afternoon Toby was fine.

We went to have dinner in town and went to see Arrival.  We both really enjoyed it.  It was more cerebral than the trailers led us to believe.  Not exactly an action film.  But we thought it was good.

OCD Toby lines up the chips when he's done

On Sunday we went into town to have Yum Cha together.  Toby loves the Grand so we went there.  I was disappointed with it.

Dishing up sticky rice

Mmmmm - more sticky rice

Mike got home not long after us from his weekend away and we relaxed before dinner and an early bed.

But at midnight, I woke to the start of a long earthquake.  I mumbled "Earthquake" to Mike and he roused himself.  I kinda like that earthquakes don't wake him, but a whispered word from me brings him out of his deep slumber.  As the quake continued, I got out of bed and contemplated getting under it, or beside it in the 'triangle of safety'.  Mike elected to stay under the duvet in the 'rectangle of apathy'.  A photo fell off the bed head and landed on my pillow.  That's never happened before!

The shaking lasted about a minute and Toby came up and stayed with us for about another 40 mins.  Eventually he went back to his bed and we all went back to sleep.

Up in the morning to find out that chaos had pretty much ensued during our sleep.  The CBD was closed for building inspections.  Toby's school was closed.  Kaikoura had been cut off from the outside world (with Richard's brother out of comms for quite a while before he could get in contact to say he was ok) and Lower Hutt had been evacuated due to tsunami risk.  Sally and Andrew (and Celia and her family) spent many hours on the top of Wainuiomata hill.

Toby slept in a lot and Mike and I worked from the dining table.  We popped around to see Fiona and Brendon for a cup of tea and met Joan (from the corner) and Amy.

Perk of working from home - Lewis Road iced coffee

At 4pm we met workmates in town and went into work to get laptops.  Dropped them off in Karori and went back home.

Tuesday was working from home day - with Toby at school.  But his bus didn't come so he was dropped off by Mike.  A few aftershocks felt, but they are dropping off.  Mike collected Toby at the other end of the day and experienced traffic chaos.  Molesworth St is now closed as a high rise building there is apparently about to collapse.

Tuesday was crazy weather day.  I have never seen such fierce lashing rain.  Wow!

I took the bus in this morning because it just seemed crazy with the weather still really bad.  But with Molesworth closed I am unsure how the buses will get home.  I might aim for a 13 as they go a different way.

Right.  Tea will sort everything out.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Toby sick

Hi,

Well, I am unsure what Toby has, but it involves a bit of vomiting.  How pleasant for him.  At least he's old enough to make it to a bucket by himself.  Poor kid.

It does mean that our packing for the weekend is no longer needed.  Mike is now going by himself.  I'll stay here and look after wee Toby.  I think movies while staying warm and dry will be the order of the day.

Dinner was a yummy chicken thai noodle thing

Anyway - I rode home yesterday and cooked tea.  Toby had a wee bit.  Mike and I thought it was scrumptious.

Sat on the couch to unwind and Mike played with my hair.  Mmmmm.  What a lovely way to spend an evening.

We're switching our plans for the weekend with Toby being sick.  It's not fair to take him in the car to Ruapehu and then in the lodge.  I'll go for a run early tomorrow, and maybe fit in a gym visit.  Possibly I might get a ride in on Sunday.  That should be a good weekend for training.

Mike will likely do a big walk up at the mountain.  Not sure of the weather forecast.  Ruapehu didn't look great for the weekend.  I must check Wellington now and see what the two days look like.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Here's hoping wee Toby comes right.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with packing for the weekend

Hi,

I rode home and enjoyed dry conditions - yay!  The really weird news was that it was looking like Trump would win the presidential race - how jolly confounding!  And, by the time I woke up this morning, it was all confirmed.  Oh well.  Let's see what happens now.

When I got home I started packing for the weekend.  Toby and I have almost got our stuff packed - a little more tonight and we're good to go.  We're off to Ruapheu for the weekend.  But Mike and I have cycling plans - not tramping plans.

This morning Mike was in some hyper good mood - he might have been counteracting my mood.  Not too sure.  And he hadn't even had coffee by that stage.  He's listening to soothing Scottish women from The Guardian newspaper website calming the general populace down from their frantic political concerns.  Maybe that has worked wonders for him?

Didn't work for me.

But - I saw ducks this morning, walking up Norwich St.  It was certainly the weather for them.  Not sure where they came from.  The stream in Otari Wilton bush?  That's a lot of road and footpath to negotiate.

Ducks on the road!

A bit of zoom shows ducks on the footpath!

Right - anyway.  Time to kick off the frantic day.  Let's see how it all pans out.  And I hope I get to my RPM session today.

Have a fantastic day.  It has to be a better day than how Hilary Clinton feels right now!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday that really should have been a Thursday

Hi,

Happy birthday to Vivienne today!  Woot!

I feel like I have been at work for an entire week already - what's with it being on Wednesday this morning?

Another Mojo iced coffee

I did get to Mojos during the day for an awesome iced latte.  Yum!

I got home and started cooking tea - it was lamb tonight.  With kumara chips.  All very tasty.

Lamb for tea

Mike called and wanted a lift home from town, and my road bike was ready to collect, so I picked up Mike and Andrew from town, and dropped Andrew home.  We chatted to Gary and headed back home with my bike that is now super fast!  Those new bottom brackets will knock 5 mins off my Taupo time!

My ride in this morning was heavenly.  I hooned down the hill.  I think.  My bike computer is missing so I can no longer tell how fast I am going.

But time to kick start the day.  And I have a client meeting in the Hutt this morning.  That should be slightly weird.

Enjoy your day!
Love,
Angela