The Thursday with typical crazy antics

Hi,

Actually - pretty normal yesterday, really.  Work is busy - and that was pretty normal.  I caught up with Mike at the car after work and we headed home.

Cooked tea - the boys loved their chicken satay sticks.  They ate it all up.  And then before I knew it, it was sleeping time.

And that was my day. 

But - today is Friday!  Yay!  And the weekend beckons with it chock full of plans.  Saturday abs session at the gym tomorrow morning (OMG - what???) and then visiting Philippa's open studio after lunch.  Then some BBQ for Mike and a quiz for me and Andrew in the evening.  Then I am foolishly going to see a Bruce Springsteen tribute band Saturday night.  In Upper Hutt.

Riiiighhhtt.

Sunday I hope to see Iona and Col at a cafe up the coast a wee bit (they are here for a wedding).  And then some laundry to see my week off to a great start next week.

Hahahah.

Toby has Capt Marvel tonight.  And we have a school teacher interview thingy this afternoon.

There you go.  Busy.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with a spontaneous quiz night

Hi,

What a crazy day.  Spin bookended my day - 6.30am with Flo (always good!) and 5.30pm with Josie.  Great fun.

I did get away with Joycie for a takeaway Machete iced latte.  Mmmmm.  It was so good sipping at that when I got back to my desk.

Iced latte with Joycie - in my keeper cup

May the force be with me

Hurtled out to Microsoft to support a guy in my team presenting NZBN fun.  He did so well.  Mike was in the audience.  Rami did a introduction and we observed a minute silence for colleagues killed in Christchurch.

Nailed it!

After work I went to spin - and then Mike convinced me to come and help him in some spontaneous quiz at The Churchill.  We were a team of two and I got there at the end of Round 2.

After some fun rounds, we ended up in second place and scored $50 and a 2for1 meal voucher.  The team that beat us had 10 punters in the team, so their winnings amounted to very little in comparison once they split their winnings.  Hahahah.

Nailed that too!

Ubered home listening to some crazy stories from the driver (some woman that lived in Karori pinned a destination in Palmerston North.  He tried to clarify - she insisted.  Turns out she was astonished when she looked up and they were in Pukerua Bay.).

Fell into bed.  Slept like I was in a coma.

What a great woman - and we're going to see her again in May.

Nice day today.  PT session with Quentin killed my arms.  They feel like long wet noodles right now.

Have a fantastic day.  Toby is off to see Captain Marvel tonight.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with lunch with Iona

Hi,

 Highlights of the day were with Iona - that is for sure.  What a work day!  Hahahah.  Let's just leave it alone now.  Today is another day.

Removed the manic photo - iced latte at Little Peckish

Scored lunch with Iona and Andrew - Little Peckish.  Not too happy with Andrew's soup - bit basic.  Anyway - cheap and cheerful. 

Caught up with Iona's news and plans.  Chatted to Col.  I know more now about her new job.  Yay!

Went back to work.  It continued in the same vein as the morning.  But when Sreejith piked from Spin (yes, his work is also manic) I decided to join Sally, Andrew and Iona for tea. 

Met Andrew and walked up to Beer Meats Grills (actually - I have no idea of its name - but it was some permutation of that) and enjoyed a beef burger where we asked for the patty to be replaced with the beetroot patty from the vegetarian burger.  It was good!  There is totally a place for a hash brown in a burger.

Mike joined us and we had dessert while he ate a burger.  Then he and I caught an Uber home.  And I fell into bed in some pleasant coma.

Gusty winds again today - and the south is being hammered.  80cm of rain in a day on the West Coast.  The entire Chc rainfall for a year (or some incredulous statistic like that).

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work and with multiple iced lattes

Hi,

The day was a hard one - but I got two iced lattes.  So, by any measure of mine, that is a good day.  Right?

Mmmm- best iced latte

Action shot

Celia and I enjoy the best iced latte.  And Victor takes a landscape shot.

I met Toby after work (well, he did have to snooze at reception for an hour - oops) and we got Maccas for tea (sigh) and met Mike in Midland Park to eat it.  Surrounded by pigeons.  Then I sat for a while at my dentist before my appointment.

My teeth  are still perfectly fine.  Yay!  And I have a hygienist appointment in May some time.  Drove home with Mike and tried to buy tickets for Nepal.  It was hard.

And then slept like a log.

Today is so windy - a normal Wellington day for wind.  And rain is forecast.  Let's see, eh?

Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with Mike at Ruapehu and me and Toby at home

Hi,

 What a chill weekend - yay for those.  Mike got away late on Friday as he missed the early getaway slot and the motorway choked up. 

Meanwhile Toby and I had a lazy Friday night and Saturday.  The weather was really good.  Nice and still and warm.

Iced latte goodness at Machete

Smudge looking adorable

Here she comes

Moxley checking me out

Enjoying the calm sunset

Prowling the deck

You got any food?

Laundry was the main feature of my weekend.  Not very exciting.  But a necessity.  Toby had a good Sunday.  He was up early and away on the bus to Tessa's house for a movie session.  She had cooked lunch and he ate well.  Even banana loaf!  And wee bacon and egg pies.  He got the recipe from Tessa so I am hoping to get an egg-only version from him very soon.

Mike got home around 7pm ish and we all ate tea.  Mike also got a call from a worried tramper's wife and he gave good advice.  They were late back from a kayak trip and by this stage she had been expecting their call 4 hours ago.  So he said to ring SAR and talk to them about it.

But thirty mins later he got a text saying they had got out of the bush and called.  Yay!!

Slept so well - and up early for my first real PT session with Quentin.  Mondays and Thursdays at 6.30.  Oosshh.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with busy stuff

Hi,

Little Peckish icy thingy - as the waiter said

Caught up with James, Celia (wow - she made it to brekkie) and Kate and I had a yummy breakfast.  And an iced latte that the waiter called "an icy thingy".  Hahahah.  I didn't mind it at all.

Crazy day that kept me at work for ages.  Then I met Mike at Leuven and we Ubered home.  I cooked tea and before I knew it, it was bedtime.

Mike is off to Ruapehu this weekend - meeting Wally and the gang.  But Toby had a drama rehearsal ahead of the debut of the play - but that got cancelled last minute.  And he made other plans.  So I am stuck at home - but it shouldn't be too bad.  I want to take Toby to practise his motorcycle skills.  And that should be a bit of entertainment.

I hope your weekend is a good one.  We have 2 minutes of silence today at 1.32pm to remember the atrocities committed at that time last Friday.

I am going to lend my name to the lobby for tighter gun control.  It's a good thing.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with dinner and a movie

Hi,

Work was kind enough to allow a bit of a breather after a hectic start to the week.  It's all relative, isn't it?  Glad to have lovely colleagues around me.

I met Christine after work and she had a quick cup of tea with me before Celia picked us up outside.  We went to the Penthouse in Brooklyn and had dinner there.

Panorama of dinner

Iced coffee @ Penthouse

 Despite it being 1830, I had an iced coffee.  Did nothing.  By 1920 I was getting sleepy at the table.  Hahahah.

Went into the movie - we saw Captain Marvel.  And while it was good, it wasn't fantastic.    Celia kindly dropped us at our homes afterwards. 

I saw my boys briefly before a completely comatose sleep.

Galaxy cat

In other events, I took a photo of a colleague's cat - and how cool does she look?  She looked like a cat from Minecraft - so I had to take a pic.  And the flash makes her (maybe she's a he?) look like she is some sort of immortal cat from another galaxy.

Ginger drink

Birthday nuts

Right.  Time for another day.  And a stunning one it is too.  Take care.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday that felt like Thursday

Hi,

Haven't I already been at work for days this week? 

Mmmmm - iced latte.  What a pleasant surprise.

Tastes so good.

I met Mike at Machete for an iced latte.  Mmmmm.  That was good for lots of reasons.  Got me out of the office mayhem.  Yes, I know.  How can it possibly be mayhem when you've been at work for 30 mins?  Well, indeed it can.

Andrew also popped in to say hi to Mike.  But he was later than usual and confused the staff by not ordering anything.  No iced latte.  No iced chocolate.  Hahahah.

After work I drove home (Mike had driven in for some reason) and put the sushi Toby asked for in the fridge as he was missing in action.  Mike got home and eventually Toby got home.  At least Toby was keeping Mike updated with his whereabouts.

Slept so well.

And today is stunning.  A cracker day in the best wee capital.  It is birthday dinner and movie night for me - with Celia and Christine.  Yay!

Hope your day is just as brilliant.

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work

Hi,

Turns out it was a fairly tough day at work.  But I did catch up with Andrew after my PT session as I needed brekkie and an iced latte.  And he was free.

I need to fix my hair

No - wait.  That's never going to help.  Just take the pic.

My arms are now sore from the session - don't ask me to raise my arms.  It needs to be a conscious effort at the moment.  Hahah.

Toby was sick with a migraine, so when I got home I made him a light tea - with fruit and avocado as well.  And as I hauled the duvet off his head (he was upside down on his bed), I decided he reminded me of River Phoenix.

Decided my son looks like River Phoenix - with his floppy hair

See?  Twins!

Hahahah!

Right.  Time to get stuck into the mad day.  Met Mike at Machete just now. That was so nice.

Have a good one.

Love,
Angela

The weekend in the aftermath of such a dreadful day in NZ

Hi,

I can't believe the actions of a lone nutter has changed the fabric of NZ so much.  A part of me thinks it was inevitable - we are generally pretty trusting here and that can lead to opening up vulnerable areas.

We can learn - and call out the sort of behaviour that allows that sort of awful thinking to become normalised.  That is what I am going to try from now on.

Our weekend was jammed packed - although Saturday was quiet.  Except - how did I get that much dirty laundry over the week?

Toby went to Ethan's house on Saturday evening so Mike and I chilled with a movie at home.  Up early Sunday to collect Toby from Ethan's place and off to Maccas for brekkie before the Learn to Ride course with Two Bald Bikers.

Perfect wee bike for it

Toby getting his instructions

 Wow - they are such a good company and offer such value.  Stuart was excellent looking after Toby.  By the end, Toby was riding full circles around the netball court.  I will practise with him next Saturday too (Mike is away to the lodge next weekend).

Dropped Toby home and then continued to celebrate Steph and Bronwyn's wedding the day before with a brunch at St Johns.  Saw some photos - it looked like a lovely day for them.  Zealandia put on good food and the takehe were out in force.  The two of them looked lovely and relaxed.

So nice to see them after the big day, relaxing with family and friends.  Thank you for inviting me and Mike to see that.  :-)

Sobering to see the police officer guarding the central police station with an assault rifle and the car parks outside all coned off from use.  Mike said he hadn't seen that sort of thing since Paris.

Friday iced latte

Tessa came around for movies Saturday afternoon and Mike and I went to the vigil at the Basin Reserve.  We got there around 1730 and it took us almost 45 mins to queue from the south gate around to the north gate.  There were two layers of queues in circles around the venue, snaking their way in.

The vigil was a good way to remember the Muslim lives destroyed in the attacks on Friday.  Members of our community emphasised the best way to combat that sort of hatred is with acceptance and tolerance and love.  I like to think that the majority think the same.  The speakers were eloquent and heartfelt.

Back home and Toby and I dropped Tessa off home.  And I collapsed into bed as I had a 5am start with Quentin.

And now my arms feel like they are twice as long, and made of al dente spaghetti.  Hahahah.

Just found out that Toby is home with a migraine.  And Mike is snotty.  Maybe disease and pestilence is due to descend upon the household.

Have a good week.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with no dragon boat training

Hi,

I think I was slightly manic all day yesterday and my colleagues totally knew it.  Oh dear.  Started with matching Joycie with our hair styles.  So that needed a photo.

Twins!  With our medals!  It's our hair - same, same.

then Joe was standing there, trying to have a meeting on his own, when I thought I would stroll over and pose next to him - because we were dressed the same.  Purple shirt.  Black pants.  Black shoes.

But I got all in his zone and interrupted things.  Double "oh dear".

More twinning - it is purple shirt Thursday after all

Met Celia and Roanne for coffee at Verve.  Heard all about the tale of building woes from Roanne.  OMG.  Nightmare.

Iced coffee @ Verve

Got a meeting later that day with Sally (work one) and Sreejith.  Topped up the caffeine.  Triple "oh dear".

Sreejith and iced latte - and my medal.  Just cos...

Wait.  Did you miss it?  Here's a close up.  Yes, that's silver.

 Weekend approaches - mind you, it's not coming fast enough.  Hahahah.  But it will get here.  Toby is protesting outside the Beehive today against inaction on climate change.  Climate change strike

I am interested to hear what happens.

Great pic from last Saturday - ta Joycie.  Can you see me peeping over Khemry's shoulder?

And the weekend is exciting.  Wet weather forecast - but Toby has a Learn to Ride motorcycle lesson on Sunday morning.  Ooossshhh.

Have a lovely day.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with chipping

Hi,

With a slightly tender knee (right side) I decided against a run - just in case it needs a rest to come right.  But Mary and I did get a walk in.  Very nice.

Windy selfie time

Mary posing in front of the scenic boatsheds on our walk

What are you doing, Andrew?

Ah - waiting for the background to clear

Also caught up with Andrew for an iced latte.  Ooohhh - I could totally do with one about now.  Maybe this is my new addiction?

Anyway, got home yesterday and Toby was missing in action.  I think we need some school night ground rules.  But when he did get home he was happy to eat the sushi I got him.

Meanwhile, Mike and I went into the jungle and chipped.  Mike did way more than me before I joined him.  But we have now finished chipping the enormous pile of foliage that the tree fellers left us.  There's hardly anything left to do down there now - get the chipper back to the street, rake up the big pile of mulch, and tidy up some old metal trellises that the tree demolished.  Mike thinks we got in before the 10 days of continuous rain that is forecast.

Mike is a happy man.  If I'd known how easy it was to make him ecstatic, I'd chip every night with him.

Weirdo.

Him - not me!  :-p

Have an absolutely awesome day.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with spin after work

Hi,

I went to Machete - with a client!  So it really was work.  Honest!  Hahahah.  She likes their iced lattes too.

Iced latte time!  Is there any other time?

Went to Spin after work with Sreejith and enjoyed that immensely.  Got the soap Mike was clamouring for at the supermarket after that and made it to my bus with scant seconds to spare.

Mike went into the backyard to prep for the chipping this weekend.  Cooked tea for the boys and me - spag bol for them.  Basil pesto for me.  As I was cooking, I happened to look out onto the deck.  As I looked up, I caught a glimpse of a black shadow falling off the deck and Moxley going a little frantic.  Raced out and looked down and saw Smudge looking very bewildered, wandering around on the grass.

Shouted out to Mike that Smudge had fallen off the deck, and Toby ran so fast down the stairs, he was like a hurricane.  Smudge was as vocal as I have ever heard her - mewing like anything at the startled realisation she was no longer in her safe place.

Toby picked her up and brought her inside.  I think she either fell (surely not) or saw another bird and decided to leap to catch it.  They are both now banned from the deck for a week.

Oh dear.

Mike was happy with the state of the backyard.  Saturday should see us knock off the rest of it.

Hope your day is a good one.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with chipping

Hi,

I did manage to catch Andrew and hear about his weekend.  He is addicted to his tramping like I am to my iced lattes.  He missed out on getting into the bush, and was lamenting the fact.

Hahahah.

Iced latte with Andrew

But I told him about dragon boating.  And he told me about the gardening.  So - all caught up.

Last night I got home and cooked tea.  Toby had been off sick, so he was home.  I cooked scrambled egg (he had started it, but the hob ran out of gas - even though my mother wasn't there!!) and mash - and chicken schnitzels.  Toby is finding it hard to eat until he gets used to his braces.  Chicken schnitzel eating was a slow process.

After dinner, wee Smudge sauntered into the lounge from the deck - with a sparrow in her mouth.  She was strutting like the cat that got the cream - except it was a bird.  Two years she has been lying in wait under the fern fronds, patiently waiting, backing herself to catch one of the little birds.  She was right!!  Mike was yelping to her to drop it and Moxley thought it was so exciting that she should definitely get in on the fun.  It was chaos - so normal then for us.  Hahah.  The bird flew around before getting caught again by Smudge and taken to her favourite safe place - UNDER OUR BED!!!

Mike was frantic now, envisaging shredded sparrow in inaccessible places in our bedroom.  The bird fluttered out from under the bed, Mike poked at it with the lux handle to convince it to crawl towards the door.  Ummmm.  The cats thought Mike was now playing the same game as them and pounced on the bird again.

It ended up behind Mike's bedside drawer with Moxley in full pursuit.  I threw paper towels at Mike telling him he needed to actually pick it up to perform any hope of a rescue.

He came out, clutching the sparrow and threw it off the deck.  I had visions of the bird flying like a stone into the bushes.  But it actually took off and flew away.

Well - what an incredible 3 mins of excitement.

After all that, Mike and I went off to chip more of the jungle for an hour before collapsing into bed.  We are making a sizeable dent in the mound of tree.

Yes, the Gilbert household is very exciting.

Toby seems better now - and hopefully remembers his appointment today after school.

Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with dragon boat racing

Hi,

Happy birthday to Jo today.  30.  All mature now.  Made me think about what I would tell my 30 year old self if I had a chance.  Turns out I would tell myself to push my body, as it can do a lot more than I ever knew.  So there you go.  My wisdom and advice, right there!

What a great weekend.  I feel quite exhausted - but the physical kind.  As I dried my hair with a towel on Saturday after the race day, I realised I had no strength left.  So I like to think I was trying my best.

Iced latte Friday

Happy

Hmmm - this is true of me.

The day was still and calm on the water.  Flat as I have ever seen it.  But it rained off and on most of the day.  The signal for rain was an impending race for us.  Hahahah

Dragon boat team - Ooossshhh!

Joycie had our tent humming with organisation.  I got there at 7.45am with my tarp and Jo arrived just afterwards with hers.  Best thing ever as the grass was muddy underfoot by the end.

It was Khemry's birthday and we celebrated with cake after our last morning race.  We got faster times as the day went by - which is what you want.  And our fastest time was in the B final where we came second by a whisker. 

Nina dropped her paddle after the finish line in the final - that's how much she gave it!  Wow!

We packed up and dropped off Joycie and the gear to her place and headed home.  Relaxed with Mike a bit before bed.

Sunday saw us chipping in the back yard jungle.

Me digging steps

I must be very strong after the summer training because I sawed my way through so much wood and managed to keep it up for hours.

Mike and I actually had fun, if you can believe it.  It didn't rain on us.  Mike spent a lot of time fixing the chipper to make it better than it was before.  And we powered through so much wood.

Went to have some late lunch at 3pm and shower ahead of Improv time.  We saw Ferris Wheel, starring Serge!  It was a great time - so glad we went to see it.  Nick Fone was in the audience!  We need a Southern Cross quiz night.

Toby saw a movie with his friends and enjoyed it.  Made his top 10.  Alita - I think it was.

Hope your week ahead is a good one.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with dragon boat training for the last time this year

Hi,

I caught up with Anjali for a coffee at Pandoro and saw their sign for a cold filter coffee.  They make the milky version with sweetened milk.  And it was good!

Oh - really?  Let me try

Pandoro with Anjali - cold filter coffee

Then later in the day I had a meeting with Mike and Kaustubh to discuss a session for the user group later this morning.  Mike had asked them to make an iced latte and they did the best job ever!  Wow.

Superb Amador iced latte

A super solid 8.5

Went to dragon boat training after work and it was so tough.  Windy and although not the biggest swell we have had to contend with, it was tricky conditions.

Got the start nailed a bit better.  The weather for tomorrow looks a little dodgy - 17C and a southerly.  Yikes.  I better bring lots of warm clothes.  And plenty of towels.

And my morning today is going like pants.  Which is not good - just to be clear.  Decided to taper ahead of the race day and skip Spin this morning and my scheduled lunch run.  Meant I could sleep in and catch the bus with Mike.  Meant no backpack.

Meant I have no swipe card for work and no rings on my fingers.  Yes, I feel really weird.

Toby has braces on his teeth!  He is getting used to it - and finding it hard to eat things.  I will take a photo this weekend to show you next week!

Have an awesome weekend.

Love,
Angela