The Thursday with more gym and dropping Ange at the airport

Hi,

Happy birthday to my sisters today!  Yay!

Sunrise this morning on the way to work

I went to the gym with Sreejith again and had a ball doing the RPM class.  Back to work and off home not long after.  The ride home is always a bit tough after the gym session.  But with the skinny tyres, it was a bit better than usual.  Even with that pesky headwind.

I changed when I got home and went to the vet to buy kitty litter.  Then back home to collect Toby and then off to collect Ange from her house.  She is off to Christchurch for a family event.  On the way through town, I dropped Toby off with Mike so they could sample the delights of Maccas together.  The trip out to the airport went smoothly and before I knew it, I was back in town trying to find the boys.

They had checked out the new David Jones store that just opened the day before.  It has replaced Kirks.  Seems like quite the event!  The boys were unimpressed though.

Back to the supermarket (well, for me - the boys chases Pokemon in the cap park) and then off home.
It's Friday!  Woot!  the weekend beckons.  Let me check the weather conditions for a day trip to the mountain.

Have a great day!  And an even better weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with finally switching my tyres to commuting ones

Hi,

Back in June 2015 I went mountain biking with Celia and I switched my bike over to fat tyres.  I only just switched back to road tyres last night.  Mike reckons I have ruined them with 14 months of road use.  I reckon he might be right.  Might be ok for playing though.

I rode home (on the fat tyres) and cooked tea.  I missed Mike's text asking for a lift because I was elbow deep in the intricacies of preparing beef chilli con carne - with corn bread!  Not a hit with Toby but Mike and I liked it.  Mike ubered home, so he wasn't too late to eat it.

Beef chilli con carne - I liked it!

The evening disappeared in an instant.  And I was soon fast asleep.  I can't even remember lying there, thinking of anything.

I rode in this morning on my skinny tyres and it was so fast!  Ooossshhh!  I can't wait for my ride home this evening - I bet the hill is far easier with these tyres.

Time for a cup of tea.  It's my sisters' birthday tomorrow.  Woot!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with a weird day

Hi,

Doh - I forgot that dinner photo again.  I rode home in lovely conditions - no wind.  or if there was wind - it was a southerly, because I didn't feel it.  I hooned up the hill!

Got home and started making tea.  We had rosemary chicken with a baked potato/leek/silverbeet dish.  And broccoli.  Toby loved the chicken and ate his broccoli.  I quite enjoyed that meal - as did Mike.

Toby has a new school laptop.  His old one got a crack in its screen.  Mike upgraded it to Win10 (it is free to upgrade until July 29th I think).

Woke up this morning with the cat on our bed.  She slept there all night between me and Mike.  She was so cute in the morning.  I got lots of pats and she purred like a wee engine.  But eventually the twitching under the duvet got her excited and she started chasing her tail and batting at my hands.

Up to get ready for the day.  I even saw Toby out of bed before I left!  Wow!  As I put out some rubbish, it was really windy and raining.  Not so good for a ride in.  But 30 mins later when I left, the rain had stopped.  I didn't get wet!  Woot!

Right.  Time for tea and to kick start the day!  Have a good one!

Cheers,
Angela

The Monday with gym and dinner

Hi,

Had a pleasant enough Monday.  Managed to get to the gym after work and sweated my way through a RPM session with Sreejith.  Rode home after a wee stint back at work and enjoyed the conditions.  Still dry and not super windy anymore.

I found Mike already home with Toby when I got in.  He was playing with the cat and cleaning out her dirt tray.  I went to cook tea and we ate spaghetti and meatballs.  Toby loved the meatball part.  The sauce not so much.  But I loved it - as did Mike.

Spaghetti and meatballs

I wasn't quite as sleepy as I thought when I turned out my light and I chatted away to Mike (who was working in bed) before eventually falling asleep.  But I had a restless night.  So it was with difficulty that I dragged myself out of bed and went for a run.

My ride into work was lovely.  Dry roads and a clear sky.  Looks like a wonderful start to the day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend at home being lazy

Hi,

What a lazy, lovely weekend.  I could have more of those, I reckon.  The wind was pretty fierce for most of the weekend - and Saturday had lashings of rain to mix in nicely.  Needless to say, I didn't do anything very physical.

Saturday was largely spent lazing in bed with Mike while Toby played with his mates online.  We read and watched movies.  It was really rather pleasant for a change.  I made tea - lemon tarragon chicken.  Toby loved it - he ate all the leftovers.  We have to cook that one again.

Lemon tarragon chicken was a huge hit!

Sunday wasn't quite an action replay.  We put on bread so that got us up early - Mike and I ate bread for breakfast at the dining table around 8am.  Then I spotted a sunny part of the couch and sat there reading for a good long while.  Bliss.

Ange came around after lunch to see Smudge (and maybe us as well).  Then I went grocery shopping with her.  She likes the Countdown at Crofton Downs - where I have to get my Rooibos supply.

The boys wanted Indian takeaway for tea - so I didn't have to cook.  Just ironed my way to the evening.

This morning is lovely - the sunrise was stunning as I rode in.  

Monday sunrise

I hope to get up for a ski day this coming weekend.  Fingers crossed the weather plays ball.  Week ahead looks good.

Have an awesome day!  Birthday week for my sisters.  Woot!

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Star Trek

Hi,

After my run into work yesterday, I went to the gym at 4pm as well.  Yay for getting some exercise in.  Woot!

After gym, I jumped in the shower at work and dressed again to meet Toby and Isaac.  We were off to see Star Trek with my work's social club.  Mike also had our friend Grant come along.  First time I have caught up with him for years.  It was good to see he hasn't changed much.

The boys ordered food to arrive because we were in the Gold Lounge.  I enjoyed the movie, but it wasn't as good as the last one.  Mike thought it was ok.  Not sure what Toby and Isaac thought.  Grant thought it was a bit naff.

We all walked to the car on The Terrace (Grant works near there and had his car there) catching up.  Then we dropped Isaac home and fell into bed when we got there.

Mike and I walked into work together this morning.  That was really lovely.  No wind.  Clear skies.  Not even very cold.  But I am looking forward to the weekend starting around 5pm tonight.  Yay for the weekend.

Toby has a haircut booked for 1pm today so I am trying to convince him he'd like nothing better than a lunch with his mother at 12.  Shame he wasn't quite so enthusiastic.  He mumbled something about being sleepy when I spoke to him this morning before I left.  Well, here's hoping I see him.  And he finds his wallet.

Have a fantastic day.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with lunch with Toby

Hi,

Oh - I had a great day yesterday.  Wee Toby came in for lunch with me.  He used the time on his cellphone and was 1.5 hours early.  His phone had the wrong time on it (he often lets the battery flatten completely and it loses its settings then).  So, when he got into town I was in meetings.

Fortunately one of my meetings finished really early, so I grabbed him from reception and we went to eat sushi at Blowfish.  It's Toby's favourite sushi place (except for maybe the one he goes to with Tyler and Abby in Sydney - and then it might be just the company!).

From there we nipped across the road to Gasoline for a hot chocolate to round out the meal.  Then back to work to wait for Sally (Isaac's mother).  She collected him and Toby was off for a sleepover.

Toby liked this view inside Gasoline.  He took 90 photos on my camera of it!

I had the user group after work and that was good.  Caught up with Adam.  Then met Mike after it and helped him polish the last of his slide deck for his presentation this morning before we ubered home.

Wee Smudge slept on our bed again.  Seems as though if Toby is away, she'll tolerate us.  Otherwise she likes his bed.  I did try and roll over on her twice (that I know of) in the night.  She squirmed and let me know she was there, so I rolled off.  She didn't seem to mind too much.

When I woke, Mike was on my side of the bed and the cat had most of the bed.  Hahahah.

Right.  Time for tea.  We're off to see Star Trek after work tonight.  With Toby and Isaac.  And Grant!  Wow.  Can't wait to see him.

Have a brilliant day.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with nothing much

Hi,

Ok - so I never remember to take photos of our food.  Hahah.  Too busy eating it!  I rode home with Mike and we had a lovely ride.  Managed to miss any awful weather.  It was quite pleasant.  Considering when I walked to the gym two hours before it was raining and not very nice, - we did well!  Must have appeased some weather godlet at the right moment.

We got home and I cooked tea.  We had tandoori spiced lamb on rice (with Mike's rice being the only one to get cranberries stirred into it - yuck - fruit in rice!!!) with steamed veges.  It was pretty good.

Toby packed his bag for a Wednesday night sleepover with Isaac.  I hope he has more than what he showed me.  Hahah.  He came back from Auckland with most of his clothes still clean.  Sigh!

Anyway.  I have asked Toby to come into town today to have lunch with me.  Yay!  Looking forward to that.  And then he will get picked up by Sally (Isaac's mother) for fun at her place.

But he will be back tomorrow in time for our Gold Lounge evening watching the new Star Trek movie.  Woot, woot!  Can't wait for that.

I have just seen photos from Josh's holiday with his boys and family in Kenya.  The game parks look really amazing.  The photos have been superb.  Wow!

Have a great day.  I am hanging out for my tea about now.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with normal routine

Hi,

Well, normal for school holiday time, I guess.  Mike drove into work, so after my gym session and a bit more work, I met him and we went home together in the car.  Far warmer way to get home!  Hahah.

I cooked tea while the boys did whatever boys do.  I think Mike was trolling on the internet.  Our dinner tonight was a salmon and potato meal.  It was pretty yummy.  Mike loved it.  Toby ate the salmon.

Toby attacks his salmon

The potatoes are untouched

Tidied up and went to bed while Mike got pinned under the cat and couldn't come to bed for about an hour.  Hahah.

Slept well.  It was hard to get out of the warm bed this morning though.  Nice ride in - dry roads and not too much rain.  As I ate my Weetbix, the radio said there was rain over the entire country and gales in the North Island.  I was concerned as it seemed ok outside (hard to tell in the dark).  I imagined a fierce southerly that would blow me over as I stepped up to the garage.  But - no.  Hardly a breath of wind and no rain to be seen.

Time for a cup of tea.  Mmmmm. Tea.  Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with no Toby and a Friday as date day

Hi,

What a lovely long weekend.  And I have nothing to show for it, really.  Most of it was lazy.

Thursday afternoon saw Toby away safely to Auckland to visit with Jack for a few days.  Mike and I were busy at work until late.  But eventually we were home and our long weekend beckoned.

Had a lazy start to the day on Friday, with lots of reading and good intentions.  We went into town and got Mike some new jeans.  He looks good in them!  We also had lunch at Higher Taste - the Hare Krishna restaurant.  Yum!  Took in some culture at the art gallery.  Interesting exhibitions there.  Grabbed some groceries on the way home and relaxed for the evening.

Saturday was almost an action replay.  Reading in bed.  Bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese for breakfast.

We did get out to the races at Trentham for Saturday afternoon to meet Christine and her friends.  Even had a win.  And a couple of places.  As we were walking in, two older women were walking out  and they gave us their members passes right under the nose of the ticket chap.  He didn't seem concerned at all.  Too funny.  So it cost us nothing to get in.

From the races, we drove to Macs Brewery and watched two Super 15 rugby games.  Highlanders won!  Yay!

Back home and more reading and Mike is horribly addicted to House of Cards (US version) so he is happy to lie around in bed with me.

Wee Smudge missed Toby and slept on our bed while he was away.  It was fun to have her chase the monsters under the duvet.  And she also chases her tail like mad.  She is so funny.

Smudge checking things out

Sunday may have been a similar start as previous days.  Yummy brekkie in bed, with lots of reading and TV for Mike.

But today was Toby coming home day.  So we got out of bed and tidied the house in preparation for his return.  Mike went to work for a bit and then went to collect Toby from the airport.

I got lots of hugs from Toby when he got home.  Made me happy.  Thanks to Jack (and his parents) for looking after him so well.  He loved it!

The boys had a big dinner and I finished up a few things before bed.  Up early for my run and a new record for my weigh in this morning means I am the lightest since records began.  Ok - maybe not the Plunket records.  But as an adult - those records!  Yay for a fitness regime and a goal (round Taupo in 6 hours 30 - big stretch goal there!).

Right.  Time for the week to kick off.  It's a busy one.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with the first trip to the vet

Hi,

Well, after a strange day at work, I left on time and sat in the car waiting for Mike to arrive.  He rang me as he left work and asked if I was ready.  Yes, I was ready.  He said it would be good if I could leave now and meet him at the car, or he would drive down The Terrace and meet me.  I said I'd see him soon.  He was a bit worried when he got to the car and could see someone in it already.  Hahahah.  he called me a cheeky thing.

Anyway - the reason we had the car was because it was Smudge's first visit to the vet.  She had to get her stitch out from when she was fixed up.  We got her into her cardboard carrier box just fine and took her out into the howling weather up to the car.  Drove her to the vet.  Waited for our appointment (we were a bit early - excited, all of us!).  Met Alistair, the Scottish vet.  He took out the stitch in a second.  He reckons either the birth date of Smudge is wrong, or she is rather little.  We are going to take her in for some more shots in 3 weeks, to be sure.

But Smudge did very well.  She behaved herself.  And we were home rather quickly.  Mike and I started tea and soon we were eating.  The boys liked the beef schnitzel.

Beef schnitzel

We sorted out Toby's bag (mostly) for his trip to visit Jack in Auckland.  Toby leaves at lunch time today.  And off to bed.  I was asleep pretty fast.

The weather woke me twice in the night with lashing wind and rain.  It bucketed down!  Lots of debris over the road as we drove in this morning.

Toby will bus into town at 11.30am and meet Mike.  They'll head to the airport and catch Toby's flight.  Meanwhile - I have meetings, so I can't go to the airport.

It's also Friday for me and Mike today.  We have tomorrow off work together.  Date day!  Woot!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with gym and a ride home

Hi,

After a lovely Tuesday, the weather this morning (Wednesday) promises a bit more wintry conditions.  However, after my gym session yesterday, I rode home slowly and enjoyed it.  The wind was only just starting to make itself felt.  Actually, this morning it isn't quite as bad as predicted.  But it is supposed to deteriorate further today and tomorrow.

Busy at work yesterday but I found time to catch up with Celia and hear about her holiday to Fiji last week.  They both did a SCUBA course.  Sounds great and I hope to see more photos soon.

Today I drove in with Mike because we're taking wee Smudge to the vet to get her stitches out.  Or her stitch.  It's from when she was fixed up.  It doesn't look like it bothers her at all.  But she has a shaved patch on her flank - it'll be good to see her with her fur all back in a month or so.

Hopefully I'll get a lunch run in today along the waterfront.  Might be in poor conditions though.  Hahahah.

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The Monday with a lovely ride home with Mike

Hi,

I went to the gym at 4pm and then back to work for a while.  I waited for Mike to be ready and we rode home together.  It was a freezing ride home.  So cold.  I didn't get warm until a good way up our hill.

Got home and I started tea.  My Food Bag was butter chicken last night.  It was really rather scrumptious.  I was hoping it would be way yuckier than my own butter chicken.  But it was actually pretty good.  Steamed veges and brown rice.  I do hope the boys still prefer my version though.

Toby seems to be catching a cold.  Poor kid.  Imagine having a cold during your holidays!  I wonder if he is passing it onto me because my bike ride this morning was fighting my dizzy thing.  Which always seems to crop up with some of my colds now.  It's annoying riding when you get dizzy.

Doro popped by last night to drop off boots and check out Smudge.  Mike and Doro caught up a bit too.  And our last bookcase has gone from the garage (I think).

Had a great sleep and then a cold ride in this morning.  Not quite as cold as yesterday.  But just as stunning out there.  I didn't stop to take a sunrise photo though.  Hahah.

Hope your day is wonderful.  I have a breakfast date with Fran now.  Mmmmm.  Drexels.  Haven't been there for a wee bit.

Enjoy your day.  July marches on.  Getting close to halfway through.

Love,
Angela

The weekend in Wellington with Japanese food (maybe) and a bike ride

Hi,

What a great weekend - I wish they could all be that much fun every time.  Oh wait.  They are!  Woot!

I hurried home Friday because I got a text from Mike to say that Toby was locked out of the house.  Hurtled home, only to find out that Toby had found his key in his bag and was safely inside.  Oh.

Mike got home and we chilled out for the evening.

Saturday was a lazy start.  The wee cat easily absorbs a lot of time.  She's so cute to play with.  Sally popped in to say hello and brought pastries with her.  She played with Smudge a fair bit.  While we had coffee and pastries, the neighbour, Art, popped in too.

We promised to come to his house to check out books.  After my shower and out of my pyjamas.  Even though Art said pyjamas were fine.  I rather thought not!

Got a few books from Barb and we weren't back home too long before Art came back.  And he chatted to us in the lounge for about an hour.  Hahah.

Then I got a text from Iona and Col to see if I could come out for tea with them.  Jumped at that chance.  We went to an Asian restaurant in Newtown.  It might be "The Ramen shop" or something.  And it might be Japanese.  It certainly had sake on the menu.  And if we get food like that while we're away, I'll be a happy woman.

Back home and crashed into bed.  Up early Sunday for a run with Toby.  But when I went down to see him, he was not enthusiastic about getting out of bed.  I snuggled with him for a bit.  Then tried to get Mike out of bed for our big bike ride.

My "get men out of bed" technique obviously leaves a lot to be desired.  Mike ended up on the second bike ride shift.  I left to meet Iona and Col at Sally and Andrew's place and we headed up to Whitemans Valley and back.  Awesome ride with no wind and a few sun showers from time to time.  Mike, meanwhile, riding around the bays with Sreejith, got no rain at all!

Toby's too sweet concoction

Col catches me!

Looking back down the hill

Iona catches me

An emergency can of V attached to my monitor at work

Iced coffee for July - Mixed Business goodness

Mike drove out to collect me from Sally and Andrew's place, where I was having a cup of tea with everyone.  Big family dinner Sunday night so it was good to catch up with some folks.

Back home to pretend to iron (I didn't) and sort out a few things (crates from work and a few groceries for the week).

Off to bed nice and early.  I loved that!  Mike would have been asleep by 9.45pm I reckon.  I wasn't too far behind.

This morning is stunning.  Gorgeous weather.

Monday morning is gorgeous

Mike and I rode in together and froze!  And a car was at the motorway entrance, covered in powder and holding up traffic with emergency vehicles in attendance.  Not sure what happened there.

Gym after work and then home.  Toby is off school this week and away to AKL on Thursday for a few days to visit Jack.

And I have a brekkie date tomorrow with Fran - continuing our school holiday brekkie tradition.

Woot!

Have a great week ahead.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Christine to dinner

Hi,

Well, I am really hopeless at taking photos of our dinners.  Lucky I am not a food critic or anything.  Anyway, Mike asked me to take the car home from work, so after my gym class I loaded the bike up and headed off.

I got stuck in Molesworth St traffic - it crawled up from the Beehive to the motorway entrance.  They have it down to one lane for some weird road works.  Anyway, I eventually stopped outside Christine's work and she jumped in.

When we got home, Christine was introduced to Smudge.  And then we cooked tea.  Mustard roast beef with steamed vegetables and roasted kumara.  The horseradish mayo was yummy.  Mike has it for lunch today, so let's see what he thinks.

Unfortunately the times the recipes have for cooking meat are weird.  This was a big haunch of beef, and it was seared in the pan on all sides for 2 mins and then 7 - 9 minutes in the oven at 230C.  I left it in for twice that and it was still very rare.  Ok - I might have even said raw - and I like my meat pretty rare.  Christine needed it done even more.

I eventually left it in for 40 mins and still have to nuke Christine's meat.  And then everything else got cold and stodgy.

Oh well.

Anyway, I collected Mike from the supermarket and dropped Christine home.  She probably ate toast before she went to bed!  Hahahah.

Milk shows the year is going fast

Wee Smudge has taken to trying to climb up your legs.  That was painful in jeans but this morning in my bike shorts it was really not on!  Time to teach her some manners.

It's Friday!  Yay!  We have a Wellington weekend.  Time to finish our massive decluttering we did last weekend,  Can't wait.  Mike is way better at it than me - I think I should go for lots of bike rides instead of decluttering.  So Mike is even more effective without me saying no.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with a my food bag meal and no photo - again!

Hi,

Well, it was a bit of a weird day.  After work I caught a bus to meet Christine.  The bonus was meeting Fran while waiting for the bus and riding with her to Courtney Place.  Result!

The weird part was somehow getting wires crossed with Christine and me waiting somewhere she wasn't.  And her leaving her phone at work.

The other weird part?  I said it was weird.  Mike bumped into Christine on his way to tramping club, and decided to come and see me instead and pass on Christine's message.  Anyway, I decided to go home with Mike and cook tea.  We had ignored Toby a bit already this week, so a good home-cooked meal seemed like a plan.

We ate yummy chicken stir fry.  Mmmmm.  No photo.  I forgot.  Too excited to eat it!  I then drove back into work and grabbed my damp running gear (after a run at lunch time).  And some junk that has been at work for ages.  We have a clear desk policy now.  My desk is still not clear.  Oh dear.

Good ride in this morning after a salutary lesson to me on the effect of caffeine.  When I got home from work late yesterday, I drank a half bottle of the Lewis Road iced coffee.  I love that stuff.  But as I read until 11.30pm and then listened to Mike snoring the entire night,  I have learned that drinking coffee (I never drink caffeine anymore - down to one fancy iced coffee a month - apart from that yummy Lewis Road stuff that is obviously my undoing) late at night is stupid!  Stupid.

Please don't ask me anything complicated today.  Mike reckons caffeine is still in my veins as I chattered away in his ear at 6am at 50 miles an hour.  And I seem to be bouncing a bit even now.  Mike thinks I will crash at 9.30am.  Any productivity I will achieve today will be in the next 45 mins.

Have a great day!  Hope your caffeine consumption abilities are way better than mine!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with not much really

Hi,

Well, apart from a busy day at work, the day disappeared in a blur.  Well, maybe the busy day led to the blurry feeling.

I left a work function and found a 14 bus immediately.  Yay for public transport when it works!  Got home and chatted to Toby for a bit.  Read until Mike got home.  Late!  Hahahah.

When I went down to Toby's room this morning, Smudge was sitting on top of Toby's back, as he sprawled out over his bed, fast asleep.  Not sure how long she had been sitting there.  They are a funny pair.

I caught the bus in due to my work function running late the evening before.  The beehive looked wonderful.  I wanted you to see the flag at the top this morning!  Look!  Not a breath of wind.  Wow!

There is a flag on that flagpole!

Right.  Time for tea.  Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The Monday with fish

Hi,

Well, I did get to the gym at 4pm after work and had a good sweaty session there.  Although the woman riding in front of me was a machine - which showed me how far I still have to go.

I went back to work and did a bit more before meeting Mike and heading home with him.  We found wee Smudge snuggled up in Toby's lap while Toby played with his mates online.  They looked so cute together.

Mike and I went to make tea.  A fish meal - always a favourite.  And last night was a lemon flavoured grilled fish meal.  It was good.  Toby ate all the fish leftovers.  He steered clear of the potato and pea mash (not that I blamed him - peas don't go with anything!) and the broccoli and leek mix (which was heaven with its sour cream binding it altogether).

Fish dish hit!

I headed out to New World after tea to get some urgent groceries.  It's not good when we live on Weetbix for our cereal and run out of milk.  The boys seem happy to have UHT milk for it - but I only tolerate that on my Weetbix when I am tramping.  At home, UHT will not pass my lips!

Back home and a quick tidy and off to bed.  My bike ride in this morning was rather pleasant.  Dry roads, no wind.  Lovely.

Right.  Time for a big cup of tea.  Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with Smudge joining our house

Hi,

What a huge weekend in our family.  We went to the SPCA on Saturday morning and came home with wee Smudge.  She is about 14 weeks old and her name at the SPCA was Shadow.  But Toby liked the name Smudgleberry back when he was about 5 or 6 years old.  So, in honour of that name, she is called Smudge.

Smudge explores our bath

She has her safe place behind some photo crates under the stairs, but has been fairly brave for a wee cat in a new house.  She likes being on your lap and getting patted.  She also likes sitting on your shoulders.  Which might be ok now, but maybe not when she is fully grown.

Smudge likes lots of pats

Toby is very taken with her.  We're hoping they both get used to each other quickly as Smudge basically lives downstairs, where Toby's room is.   We have had her upstairs for a short time, and she was ok with exploring there.  But she still feels safest in her room.

Saturday evening we went out for dinner with Josh and the boys to Gasworks.  Which I think suited us all very well.  It filled in the time nicely before the movie at the Roxy.  We saw Independence Day, Resurgence.

Toby found Nemo

Toby was sitting with me in the upstairs room before we went into the movie and he declared he had found Nemo.  Turns out a giant helium balloon of a clown fish was stuck against the beautiful mural ceiling.  Too funny!

The movie was ok.  But the boys all loved it.  It wasn't as good as the first one for me.

Next morning I went to brunch with Ange.  She said hello to Smudge as well.  And then we were off to Ngaio for some brekkie.  I had an iced coffee but I didn't finish it.  So I am not counting that one as my July iced coffee.  Ange said so!  Hahah.

Iced coffee at Ngaio Cafe Villa

We went out to dinner in the evening to celebrate Andrew's birthday the day before.  Had a yummy dinner with cake at Sally and Andrew's house with the extended family.  Minus any boys.  We need to arrange having Sally over to meet Smudge this week.

Bit of excitement over the weekend for Australia too with their weird election.  No result as yet.  1 million postal votes could easily change the outcome.  This year is a weird one for politics.

Right.  Time for tea and to start the working week.  Have a brilliant day!

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with back to the gym

Hi,

Work is still a little bit crazy after my two days off - but I had a meeting or two cancelled late yesterday and all of a sudden, I got some real work done.  So yay for cancellations!  Hahahah.

I was sad though - one of my favourite colleagues had her last day at work yesterday.  She is one of those people that you don't mind when she contacts you, even if you know it'll make you busy - because she has a way of making you feel valued.  And that is worth any amount of your time - right?

Her next workplace is going to be a lucky place indeed!  Good luck, Nicolette!

Anyway - I got to the gym at 4pm with Sreejith and I did an RPM class with him.  I was under some industrial air conditioner that blew my stupidly long fringe into my eyes every thirty seconds and kept me rather cool.  I determined to attack my fringe as soon as I could when I had a free moment at home.

Lamb and lentil stew - with lots of feta

Mike and I made tea - lamb and lentil stew.  And I made sure I put lots of feta on it.  Turns out Sally and Andrew's chiller pack had our meat and their recipes.  So I took photos of our recipes and sent them to her.  We'd best check that in future deliveries.  I'm not as flexible as Sally when it comes to food!  We'd be better off complaining and having the right meat delivered.

I convinced Mike to take a bath with me - mainly because I was freezing cold still from my cool down after the gym.  Mmmmm.  Toasty pie warm after that.

Then I stupidly read for a bit in bed, instead of going straight to sleep.  Doh!  Anyway, I woke to pouring rain and asked Mike if I should still run in or go with him in the car.  He sleepily said run.  So I did.  And I missed any big downpours.  Got to work relatively dry.  And not a bad time.  Feel much better for it.

We have an awesome evening ahead.  Dinner at the Lewis household.  Should be great fun.  I'll take Sally and Andrew home after it too.  Good excuse for a drive and a sing (I'll wait until I drop them off before I sing - I think Sally and Andrew are subjected to too much singing from me and it might offend their real talent to hold a real note - unlike my talent - which begins and ends with enthusiasm).

The weekend is also exciting.  We're going to get a kitten!  Yes!  Our own wee kitten.  We're all very excited.  Even me.

And we have other more mundane tasks ahead.  Like tidying.  Oh well.  Still.  We're getting a kitten!

Have a lovely weekend.

Love,
Angela