The Friday with day 2 of full lockdown

Hi,

Our day 4 dawns with heavy rain very early.  But now it is stunning out there - great drying weather.  I seem to do a lot of laundry in lockdown mode.  But notice, I am not doing any ironing.  Aaarrgghh - hate ironing.

Day 2 of full lockdown for NZ as a whole.  Some have been in isolation for longer - immuno-compromised and elderly.  I saw someone has been in self isolation for 2 weeks already in my twitter feed.

I hope this works for everyone.  Some countries seem in a huge mess.  Australia - they are going to get way worse before it gets better.  They seem to be pretending it is not an issue still.  All my family are there, so I can't help but worry.  US - bigger mess.  UK - same, but now taking measures.  Other countries - so much pressure on their healthcare system.  :-(

Last night at 7pm we had the great Gilbert Just Dance competition.  I want to declare Toby the winner by a long margin.  I am going to put it out there:  he actually has rhythm. 

I don't.

My skills at dancing are only matched by my karaoke skills.  It would be hard to make a call on my best skill out of the two. 

However, I am totally enthusiastic at both.  Leap around with a huge grin on my face dancing to hits like:  Dancing Queen, and whatever else took my fancy last night.

Groaned at Mike and Toby's choices.  Psy!  Who wants to dance to Psy?

Gilbert Just Dance competition night

I am also tracking a burst blood vessel in my eye.  Well, the boys are tracking it.  Every day I get up they say it is worse.

Me doing a Twilight vampire impersonation

I tried to take a pic of it.  It's actually worse in real life - the colour is a deep red.  Here it looks a little paler.

Does it bring out the blue in my eye colour?  :-p

I am expecting it to be better by tomorrow.  I think this is day 3 of it.  I will update you - if I remember.

We have gone into isolation without Easter Eggs.  Panic!

Have a good day.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with proper level 4 lockdown

Hi,

Last night at midnight New Zealand went into full lockdown - level 4.  I was well asleep by then.  And we have been isolated since late on Monday.  The three of us in our bubble.

Don't pop your bubble!

Day 3 of our isolation.  No signs of any debilitating coughs or fevers at this time.

Mike and I went for a walk late yesterday.  Saw Wellington from the top of our hill.  The Hutt Valley was sparkling like a beacon of yellow-tinted diamonds.  We waved at Sally and Andrew.

View from top of Te Ahumairangi last night

Mike in the flax, with Hutt Valley shining brightly in the distance

The few people we saw were totally friendly and totally physically distancing.  We were perplexed by a leash looped around a park bench at the top of the hill.  No dog or owner to be seen.  And carefully laid out (full!) poop bags a little further on.

Mike and I bandied some theories around as to how you bag up poop then leave them in full sight.  And how you have an abandoned leash.  At night.  Ahead of a lockdown.

Most likely theory seemed to be a dog took off from their leash and their owner is now thrashing about in bush looking for them.  And said dog is probably already back at home, wondering why no one is letting them in to eat some food.

Other scenarios involved aliens.

Not sure what is less plausible, really.  These are indeed strange times.

Iced latte in bed!

Anyway, I got an iced latte in bed this morning.  So there is that! 

My new work rang me and said they would courier a PC out to me.  But no guarantees when it would arrive.

I will keep busy on April 1st I am sure of it.  Got lots to learn in a new job.

Hoping Iona keeps safe as she tackles the front line of covid-19.  She must be so busy.  My thoughts go with her and Col.  I am constantly amazed at the way people I know have ended up in jobs that suit them.  Smart, brave people stepping up and doing the thing needed of them.  And then some!

"Not all heroes wear capes."  Ain't that the truth? 

Glad I live in NZ where the govt shows compassion and sense.

Have a good day.  Stay safe.  Kia kaha.

Love,
Angela

The few days since I left work have been unusual

Hi,

Well, I don't want to be dramatic, but...  Wow!  What a crazy few days.  Left work on Friday.  It was so nice.  Understated because of social distancing (now being rephrased to physical distancing).  But probably good as I think hugs would have tipped me over the edge.  No room for tears.

Goodbye my friends

Thank you to everyone that made my last day super special.  You know who you are.

Rachael!  Hahah!  Awesome.

I wore a dress!

Goodbye for now, Paul

Said goodbye to my favourite cafe.  Hope to see you when the lockdown ends, my wonderful people @ Machete.

Work lunch @ Machete

Last iced latte for a bit

 Okay  I went to Machete 3 times on Friday!  I admit it.  But may as well give them my custom as anyone.

They wrote on my table reservation card!

I love Machete.  Have I said that already?  :-)

Got an iced latte with Andrew in!

Andrew was flat out all day but had to get a late lunch.  So I did get to see him.

After the work goodbye, I went home and packed with Mike.  We had a booking we couldn't cancel so off to the Wairarapa we went.  Janine was with us - but staying with her flatmate, Sarah.

Mike riding through the olive groves

 Mike and I met Janine Saturday morning at Medici (Sarah walked there) and enjoyed brekkie.  Celia and James arrived and we all then rode to Poppy's and started another eating session.

Iced latte at Medici

Spread out at Poppy's

Me and Mike in James' sunnies

Cycling legs

Sneaky selfie by James

 Janine (cousin this time) turned up at Poppys so we chatted for a bit.  Got a photo.

Bumped into Janine

Saturday evening saw us eating nibbles (thanks James!) and playing "Name that tune" from some Spotify playlist called "Summer of 69".  Celia and Mike are amazing at that game!

Beautiful olive groves

Was this my last iced coffee for a while?

Packed up and left Martinborough and headed home.  Picked up Tessa and went out to Bella Italia for Sally's actual birthday.  A vegetarian degustation meal.  Scrumptious.

Dropped Tessa home and then back to our place to see what Monday has in store.  Helen rang me with PC issues, which sounded a bit weird.  Asked her to check again in the morning.

Sally's birthday out at Bella Italia

Monday.  BAU for now.

I went around to see Helen to try and fix her PC.  She thought her Ethernet cable might be broken.  But I brought around a new one and it was still not working.  Could be her card inside her machine.  Anthony was going to bring around the tablet so I hope she was back online.  I stayed 2m away and used hand sanitiser twice in my 15 mins stay.

Monday around 2pm saw our fantastic Prime Minister (firmly in Jacinda's team now!  Okay, I was before, but now?  Now I am a fangirl.) give the go ahead to move to lockdown with clear but firm instructions to her country.  OMG.  She was amazing.  A journalist asked if she was scared.  She said:  No.  We have a plan.

Wow.

Can I be like her when I grow up?  What a role model. 

Anyway, Toby's planned play production was canned so I drove in to collect him.  And met everyone trying to get to the supermarket like it was the apocalypse.  I ended up driving for 2 hours around Wellington.  A trip that would typically take 30 mins all up.  Picked up Tessa and Zack with Toby and took them home.   We saw so many people walking on the streets with their newly purchased toilet paper.  Odd behaviour.  Then Toby and I went around the bays home. 

Mike got home after his work and went to pick up the new desk that he had bought.  We also have monitors coming in too.  WFH should be good.

We wondered if we needed to go out and panic buy kitty litter.  But vets and pet supplies are essential, so we can get them any time. 

A lot of NZ went nuts though.  And why did people queue for guns?  What?  Are they going to hunt for their dinner all of a sudden? 

Supermarkets are open!

Anyway.  Went to bed.  Slept well ahead of the slightly new world we're in from tomorrow.



Day 1 Lockdown.  Tues, March 24

We woke up like usual - well, I am on holiday so I slept in to about 7.30am.  Tried to anyway.  Mike had his first online PT session with Quentin at 7.30am.  That went well.  I had mine with Quentin at 9am.  Good on Quentin for finding ways to try and stay in business.

Toby slept in.  A lot.  But he was working from his bedroom.  Mike worked from the newly purchased desk in Jase's old room.  There's a spot for me from next week.

Lockdown started for us.  

Home gym sessions

I started on the slippery slope with watching TV.  Watched 3 episodes of Batwoman.  I think I have now watched 10 episodes in total of that show.  Spread over 3 months.  Practically addicted!

Book reading though.  Totally ploughing through Amazon's back catalogue of... anything!  Hahahah.

Off to bed.


Day 2 Lockdown.

Wednesday March 25.  At midnight tonight NZ shuts down into Level 4 mode.  Essential services only.  We three have started already.  Once we all got home Monday at 5pm (March 23rd), we were in self isolation.

Mike works out with Quentin online

Wednesday is gorgeous

Home made iced latte

Another online session with Quentin.  I want to add in a run with Mike to get me through the days where I have no PT session booked.

Mike made me a home made iced latte.  Pros:  It's big!  A pint of it.   Cons:  Oddly, I think I need Mike to make it slightly stronger.  Maybe a pint was too small for the one shot of coffee he gave me.

Iona is busy at work.  She has to deal with crazy stuff.  She likened it to being pecked by chickens.  Little pecks, but from a multitude.  Luckily Col got home on one of the last ferry crossings for passengers.  They close from tonight I think.  Freight only now.

Benefits of working from home (WFH) so far?  Mike can make coffees easily.  Saving money there because from what I can see, he must keep many cafes afloat usually.  Cats are happy with the company.  I can do washing whenever.  I like my family.  I talk to people through emails/texts (by far my preferred way of communicating)

Bad things?  Have I succumbed to binge watching TV if I watched 3 episodes of Batwoman yesterday? 


Mum seems okay.  Hoping Dad hunkers down soon with her too.  She cancelled mahjong, thankfully.  Don't need older women congregating at the moment!

Mike's mother is good.  Wish she was here though.

Everyone so far seems okay.  Let us know though if you need us.

Love you lots.

Angela

The Thursday with not a lot and the Friday with my last day

Hi,

 Well, I did my last Stuff quiz as work colleagues with Sally on Thursday.  We had lunch and wandered through the city art gallery.  She's my cultural attache.  :-)

Thank you for everything, Sally.

Iced latte on purple shirt Thursday

Swarf.  As art.

Sally and me with a faceless astronaut

Faceless astronaut faces Maori security guard.  Intriguing.

Got home and found out Toby has some crazy drama rehearsal schedule.  So he was in town and hungry.  And Mike was in town and hungry.  They went to Maccas together.  :-)

Mike packed for the weekend when he got home.  But I couldn't face it.  And I had to pack for my last day anyway.  Gym.  Someone asked me to wear a dress for my last day.

OMG.

I said yes.

I am an idiot.  And may back out of that foolishness.

Anyway.  Last day for me at work today.  The world is in chaos.  Nothing to do with me changing jobs.  All to do with pandemics.  I might start work in my new job - from home. 

Anyway - have a brilliant weekend.  We're off to Martinborough.  Janine is joining us but staying elsewhere.  Celia and James are staying Saturday night with us.

Cycling.  Eating.  Maybe even astronomy.

Love you lots.

Angela

The Wednesday with a few things

Hi,

Started my day catching up with Zaheer - he heard about me leaving through the grapevine and we had a coffee catch up.  He's happy at ANZ.  Yay!

Iced latte with Zaheer

Zaheer looks serious

Had a busy morning and then a more chilled afternoon before I left early to try and avoid crowded buses. 

Toby outside walking Smudge!

Smudge on the leash

Cooked chicken schnitzels for Toby.  He ate all of the three chicken breasts apart from two wee pieces I put on Mike's plate.  And even then, Toby sneakily cut off the ends of Mike's two pieces and gobbled them up too.

Mike got home and barely noticed his nibbled chicken.  Hahah.

Had a good sleep.  Not quite long enough.  Up early for my walk in.

Last day tomorrow.  Wow.  It's all happening.

Workplace next door (Transpower) is closed today for emergency management.  I guess they are all practising working from home.

Gym was so, so quiet this morning.  Yep - it's all happening.  Changing from hour to hour.

Have a good day.  Stay alert on that social distancing.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with a few things

Hi,

Bit of a family iced coffee day yesterday.  Woot!

Filthy lens on my phone

When I QA'd my photo Josh took @ Machete, it looked like it had gone through a Vaseline filter.  So I cleaned it and took Andrew's pic to prove it was better.

Cleaned it and now I can see Andrew

And in a huge surprise, Iona was briefly in town and it coincided with a free slot in my day.  Met her off her train at Thunderbird Cafe on Featherston.  And after a quick iced latte for me, she caught the airport bus.

Thunderbird Cafe with...

Iona!  What a surprise!  Yay!

Went to PT session and did squats in the cage.  Killed my legs.  Had fun negotiating stairs for a bit.  Needed to hold on to handles a lot more than usual.  Hahah.

Home.  Leftovers for Toby (who was shattered after drama rehearsals) and bed.  Mike got home and had a catastrophe with smashed eggs through his gym bag.  Lots of cursing and cleaning coming from the kitchen.

But I think he rescued it.

Up early for group PT.  So hard!  I ran from the bus because no Mike or Brendon.  Got there just as their warm up ended.

Let the day commence.

Have a good one.  Stay safe from viruses.

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work

Hi,

The last week starts!   Oosshh.

Catch up with Joe @ Machete

Saw Joe and chatted away about our respective weekends just gone.  And what might get curtailed with covid-19 lockdowns in the coming months.

Mike's marathon event this weekend has been cancelled and the accommodation can't be cancelled.  So we've turned it into a cycling around wineries weekend. 

Okay - the Monday session was hard work!

Got to the Monday group session before work and it was hard!  But good.

Dinner

Had a weird lunch that involved me eating at Qilin Tea House and Andrew getting a kebab and eating in Civic Square.  I guess it could be a thing - inside and outside eating.  Certainly the day was stunning enough that eating outside was a good thing.

Went to the gym for boxing and then Spin and headed home.  Cooked tea for Toby and me (he got spag bol, I got a Buddha Bowl).

Mike got home after his after-work thing and bed came not long after that.

Up for Spin this morning.  Woot!

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with a huge birthday celebration

Hi,

Friday saw me busy with work and hosting the Friday meeting.  OMG - I used up all my pretend extrovert genes with that effort.

Friday iced latte with Khemry and Davy

But I did catch up with some people to find out their news and fill them in.

Catching up with Rami

Cheers Rami!

Gilbert logistics kicked in at 5pm with me picking up the car from Te Papa and collecting Mike's mother from the airport, then Toby and Tessa from her house.  A "quick" stop at McD's at the BP (we actually had to negotiate the drive through twice) and Toby jumped out to pick up Krispie Kremes.  Then we were off to Featherston.  The delay meant smooth traffic north.  Yay!

Checked into Featherston Motels and Motor Camp.  The woman running it was lovely.  We pitched the tent and Toby and Tessa and Polly got the unit.  #5.  Brand new at Christmas time.  Excellent accommodation.

Mike and I had a reasonable sleep next to two other tents (they were cycle touring).  I was on his flat camping mat and wrapped in his warm sleeping bag.  He was on my great mat - but only had one indoor sleeping bag.  Halfway through the night I asked him if he was warm enough and he was very non-committal.  No - was my guess.  I cuddled into him after that. 

Everest cafe - hi Vicki!

 Up to have brekkie at Everest cafe.  Very nice.  Caught up with most people ahead of the big birthday bash.  Got jobs allocated and left to take everyone to the Kiwi Memorial Hall where the 120th birthday was about to kick off.

Iona made excellent cakes

Toby and Tessa were the bartenders.  

Iona and Andrew opened the day in fine form and set the scene for family and friends enjoying Aidan and Sally's big day and reflecting on their lives so far.

My thoughts:  if everyone could look back on their lives and see they made the best decisions possible, as Sally and Aidan have, then that is #winningatlife.

Toby holds baby Jacob

Col and Janne have a cuppa

Dessert all gone!

After lunch and dinner (leftovers from lunch) we settled into a sing along with Alistair and Glenis on their ukuleles and the rest of us singing away.  (Me, poorly and off key - but with enthusiasm)

Andrew did a solo effort of a Bruce song - Mary, don't you weep.  Exceptional stand alone performance. 

The musicians were stoic in their strumming for sustained periods of time.  Thank you!

Mike headed away to sort out Toby and Tessa with takeways and we stayed and sang a bit longer before packing up and heading back.

Helen decided to stay over and took the spare bed in our unit.  Yay!

I slept even better in the tent than the night before.  Woke with motorcycles revving their engines after coming over the hill.  Fell back to sleep.  Mike got up and found me an iced latte.

Sat outside Iona and Col's room drinking it and chatting away.

Sunday iced latte

Back to Kiwi Memorial Hall for brunch.  Tidy up and then away by 11.15am to take Toby and Tessa back to WLG.  Mike took Helen and Polly home in the Focus.

The Kiwi Memorial Hall - superb place

Best weekend ever!  :-)  Such a lovely way to celebrate two wonderful people that contribute so much to family, friends and work. 

Enjoy your week ahead.  This is my last week at my workplace.  Then one week off ahead of a new job.

Oooohhhh.

Love,
Angela