The Tuesday with working from home

 Hi,

Turns out I forgot to blog yesterday.  But only one of my loyal readers actually asked about it.  So, now I know my loyal readership is exactly one person.

Thank you Roz.  :-p  This is dedicated to you.

Bwhahahah.

I guess I was so excited that Toby and Tessa were due to visit (and Mike was also flying back from his trip) that I forgot to blog.  I kept an eye on the weather here (for flights arriving) and the two places down south where the flights were departing.

Toby's flight was delayed 30 mins.  But not bad considering.

Tuesday home made iced latte

Made bread for Toby and Tessa for their lunch

Sleety snow on the furniture

Cats wait for Toby and Tessa with me

They arrived safely just after midday and ubered here through the freezing rain.  The cats were just as excited as me and peered out the door to see what was happening.

The cats knew Toby.  Smudge was skittish - but definitely allowed a pat or two.  It was nice to see.  They tucked into soup and fresh bread and I went back to work downstairs.

Back in our old room with two cats!

We headed to Bin44 to meet Mike and David (Tessa's dad) after work and enjoyed dinner there.  Mike got there nice and early with his suitcase.

Ate lots.  Chatted lots.  Saw Roanne there.  Headed home in the car.  Snuggled into bed in our old room.  It was far easier to move us back as we haven't really moved into Toby's old room.  We just sleep there.

Hahah.

Up for a bus into work for the first time in a week or so.

Chatting to colleagues like I have been on a desert island for a year.  Hahah.

Right.  There you go.  A blog post just for you, Roz.

Lots of love,

Angela

The weekend with level 2 and lots of rain and no Mike

 Hi,

Happy birthday today, Ma.  I love you lots.

What a funny old weekend.  We went to the gym for boot camp.  With level 2 that means restricted numbers.  So we had to book in ahead of time (I did it late Friday - booked in Mike's one by reaching over his sleeping body to grab his phone and tapping away to use his gym app and securing a slot for him.  All without disturbing his sleep.) and bring our own resistance bands and mat etc.  We were all distanced and had to wipe down everything between sets.

It went really well.  Good on Quentin and Joel.

Back home for Mike to grab a few things, then off to the airport.  The weather was so bad - the harbour was whipped up to a frenzy.  Mike leapt out at the airport and checked in while I headed home.  He was very early (there were delays due to covid - probably because staff were self-isolating from the exposure here over the previous weekend and there was potential for reduced numbers) so enjoyed some coffee before his flight to Queenstown.

Level 2 means baking. ANZAC biscuits

Meanwhile - I made biscuits and bread.  And macaroni cheese for tea.

And bread too.

So cold the cats wanted to snuggle all the time

Andrew popped around to watch a movie with me.  We chose poorly.  Like - really poorly.  Beowulf and Grendal.  Do not watch it.  Wish we hadn't.  Poor dialogue.  Poor editing (I was confused a lot of the time).  Not enough amazing sword fighting.  Just hacking, really.  Anyway - it passed the time.  Mike called too so we chatted with him for a bit as a nice interlude from the movie.  Hahah.

Andrew headed home through the rainy night and I settled into a warm bed.  Best place with weather like this really.  Slept well. 

Up for Sunday.  Appointment in town and back home without tackling the supermarket under level 2 conditions.  The govt decided to extend Wellington's level 2 for another 2 days to midnight Tuesday.  Very sensible.  But so far nothing has shown up in Wellington.

Cleaned my bike from last weekend's dirt duathlon.  It was very dirty.  Hosed it down.  Degreased it.  Then dried and lubed it.  Hope it works well for July 25th!

Didn't do a lot else.  Chatted to Mike.  Read a book.  Luxed a bit.  Watched a decent movie I had never seen before.  Whip it.  Loads of good actors in it.  Why didn't we watch that the previous night?  

Into bed quite early.  Chatted online to Ma and Karen.  Covid spreading over there again.  Sydney is locked down.  

Up early for an online PT session with Quentin.  Wished Ma a happy birthday via our chat - I will try and call later today.  

Good morning Ma!  Happy birthday...

...from clear but cool and windy Wellington

Pay attention to me

Smudge patrols the balustrade

Time to kick start the working week.  Hopefully no covid pops up in Wellington.

Have a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Thursday working from home

 Hi,

Level 2 so we're working from home to minimise any chance of spreading covid if it exists in the community.  And that means bread making.  Mike got stuck in and the house smelled heavenly as the bread cooked away all morning.

Mike's bread

Looking good

The cats seem happy that we're at home.  They all slept in the home office with us at various times.  I think Mike has a pic of them both on the spare bed behind us.

Moxley gets up from a sleep in the patch of sun

The cats seem to move around the house, either following us or following the sun - and sleep.

Thursday home made iced latte

The commute home was pretty easy.  No traffic on the stairs except Moxley.  We had some tea and a bath.  Chatted away to each other.  Played with Alexa.  She couldn't hear the letter A.  We discovered this because as we played a quiz game, she never heard us if the answer was "A".  B & C were just fine.  A?  Nope.  Another quiz game was weird.  Despite answering the right thing, she would say we had it wrong and then give us the answer - which was exactly what we had said.

The bath time just flew by!

:-p

Off to bed and a good sleep before up for a lovely brekkie from Mike.  Scrambled eggs.  Mmmm.

Friday home made iced latte

Another day at work here at home.  Mike has something in town after work - I might drop him off so it is an easy, crowd-free trip in for him.

Weekend looms.  Supposed to be flying to Queenstown.  We'll make a call on that today, I imagine.

Have a great day.  Enjoy your weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with a lockdown in Wellington

 Hi,

Well, what a difference a day makes.  Through the day the places of interest from the Australian tourist visits were trickling in.  Nothing that meant Mike and I had any concerns, but some colleagues did.  Someone in our wider team was at Te Papa at the same time and is now self-isolating.  That makes us secondary contacts so we're monitoring our health.

Some people headed home and the advice from leadership teams here at work was to stay home for the rest of the week.  So, Thursday sees me and Mike working from the home office.

Work iced latte

We decided to walk home after work rather than cramming into a bus with other punters.  Although they all wear masks here - so it probably would have been okay.

The weather was nice and crisp.  And we needed the step count.  :-)

Walking home after work

Nice glimpse of the harbour through the trees

Made dinner and talked to Toby on Messenger Face time chat for ages.  He was talking us through the exam he just did. Seems like it went okay.  Phew!  Good on him.

We're playing it by ear as to whether he and Tessa come up here for mid year break.  Their holidays start this Friday and they have flights up here on Tuesday.  We also have a party for Mike on July 3rd.  We're waiting to see what we do for that too.

Off to bed nice and early because we're old and it was cold.  Hahahah.  Up for an online PT session with Quentin.  Chest and arms.  I am typing this like a feeble T-Rex now.  Arms seems useless for much else.

The day looms large.  Let's see if any positive results come out of the testing - although it is super early still.

Have a good day.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with a surprise dinner for Mike by Janine

 Hi,

Tuesday was great because Janine had organised a surprise dinner for Mike with some of his mates and Sally too - and it went off without a hitch and Mike was so happy.

Work iced latte

John!  What are you posting on FB?  Hahahah

Surprise dinner @ Huxley for Mike - thank you Janine

This is despite work getting in the mix and nearly scuppering Janine's best laid plans.  Mike had a lot of work to do before he left.  I was going to Spin, but realised Janine expected me for dinner at Huxley.  So I changed my plan and Mike still changed into running gear to join Janine for the end of her long run and a small run for his first one for a while.

I made it to Huxley just before they got there.  Anna and Daniel were already there and Sally arrived just after Mike and Janine.

Andrew was oddly too busy to attend.  Aha.  Now we know why.  But, at the time, we were clueless.  Just normal busy times for him.  We thought.

Anyway - Huxley is great.  Chelsea our wait person was superb.  We ate pizzas and some sort of hot dog style dessert.  All very tasty.  Thank you, Janine.

Went home very happy.  And full.

Wednesday morning in the capital

Woke up to hear the news of a covid positive person visiting Wellington from Sydney over the weekend just gone.  Waiting to hear of the places of interest.  Might be the last time I am in the office for a bit if it all turns to worms.

Let's see, eh?  Got my haircut today.  Typical.  The last time I had an appointment for a haircut I had to cancel and we went into level 4 lockdown that day.  I sense  bit of deja vu.

Right.  Have an awesome day.  Stay safe.  Mask up.  Stay home if you're sick.

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Well, looking at my photos I can see I had no iced lattes yesterday.  That might explain a lot.  Hahahah.  As I mentioned yesterday the heating at work was off - and the air con was blowing out freezing cold air.  This meant I was freezing until about midday when I rushed off to buy an emergency scone.  Hahah.

French version of a cheese scone

Juliet joined me and we tried La Cloche's version.  Choux-like and cheesey.  Yep - it was good.  Nowhere as dense as a scone.  But a good thing, when all is said and done.

Headed home with Ange after work - always nice to get a lift home with her.  Especially when the weather is pants.  Cold.  Wet.  Slightly windy.  They forecast strong winds - but I never noticed.

Home for tea and a few things before falling into bed.  Slept well (might be still due to the exercise on Sunday!).  Up for gym and deadlifts this morning.  Followed by leg press.  Oosshh!

Have a good one.  Good luck with exams, Toby.  Study hard, stay focussed.

Love,

Angela

The weekend with a dirt duathlon event

 Hi,

What an unusual start to the weekend.  No boot camp.  Mike and I hardly ever get the chance to stay in bed late on Saturday mornings.  So that is what we did.  And the weather was yuck - so it made it extra specially nice to stay lounging around in pyjamas.

Mike made me an iced latte after brekkie (I made the brekkie).  Mmmm.  He absolutely nailed it.

Saturday morning home made iced latte

Mike nailed it

Looks like the surface of Jupiter

Smudge claims my lap

The rest of the day was lazy.  We did go to the supermarket to get provisions for the race day on Sunday.  And after we had tea, we packed for the race too.  Car and bags were ready.

The Forester's drivers side front indicator failed as we pulled up to the house late Saturday with our groceries.  Stink!

Anyway - up at 5.30am to get ready for the race.  Last minute things and brekkie.  All good.  We were packed into the car by 6.35 am or so and off to collect Callan, only a tad behind schedule.

At his house just after 7am.  Shuffle of the bikes to use his bike rack.  Piled into the car and we were at Z Mana to meet Chris at 7.21am.  Almost back on schedule.  Woot!

At Theresa's house by 7.45am and she piled into Chris's car and then we drove to Waiterere Beach for the Dirt Duathlon.

The farmer had lent a paddock, handily cropped recently by cows.  Full of evidence they had been there.  Chris noticed a plover nest with 4 eggs in the middle of the paddock where everyone walked and drove.  So we protected the nest and the angry parents squawked at us from time to time through the day.

Theresa got our registration.  Team 038.  And Theresa got a spot prize - yay!  Team:  Straight off the couch.

Me, Theresa, Callan and Chris - all supported by Mike.  Mike pitched the tent which was lovely to use at the end of the race as it was raining fairly heavily by then.

10am start.  We were green which meant we did the course backwards.  C - B - A.  B was a bike leg through the forest.  C was a short race on foot with map and compass.  And A was a bit longer (5km maybe) through the forest on foot.

We get ready for the race

Plover nest with eggs

Finished 3 hours and 9 mins later

Hot soup in the tent

It took us 3 hours and 9 mins.  We were one of the last to finish.  The fastest team did it in 1 hour 57.  I need to do more cardio and running to keep up that sort of speed.

Happy bunch

But it was great fun.  Chris and Callan navigated like a boss - we made no mistakes (which was lucky as missing a gate meant a 1 hour penalty), Chris was awesome on the bike.  Theresa can run all day.  Callan was looking out for me.  It was such fun.

The campground across from the car park paddock let us use their toilet block - that was a huge help.  I thought we would have portaloos.  :-)  Flush toilets - so good.

Finished just after 1pm and fell into the tent and enjoyed hot chocolate and soup from Mike (who had the camp stove fired up in the tent porch).  Eventually packed everything up and headed home in the Sunday traffic.

Home to shower and dry things out and a quick turnaround to have dinner at Sally and Andrew's place.  Caught up with everyone's news.  Malcolm and Marion are moving to Blenheim very soon.  Malcolm has work there starting August 1.  Wow!

On our way there we stopped for petrol at Z Hutt Rd and Mike took the opportunity to replace the indicator light on the forecourt.  Did it (and fueled the car) in 5 minutes!  Wow.

Back home and fell into bed and slept like a log.  Hahah.  My alarm at 5.30am woke me with a huge start.  Funny.

The week stretches before us.  Shortest day today.  And Wellington is turning on the cold, wintry weather.  Rain.  Bit of wind.  Yep - winter.

Here at work the heating system is also blowing out cold air for some reason. It's actually colder inside than outside! So I am feeling a little chilly here at my desk.  :-o

Have a great week.  Last week of exams for Toby.  Good luck, Toby!

Love,

Angela

The Thursday with a hamper coming from my parents for Mike

 Hi,

It was good to go for a walk at lunch time to meet Andrew for lunch.  After working so close to his workplace for ages, it has been much harder to catch up for a semi regular iced latte with him.  The distance - and his crazy workload.  Maybe the latter rather than the former.  Anyway - we got to the cafe at the same time and got the toasted sandwiches and chatted away.  Good walk back to work too.  So if I need a break from the office and Andrew has the time - it is not a bad idea to wander up to Sally and Andrew's end of town.

The working day was tough and I decided a lot of my stress was due to a lack of exercise.  My cold had meant the chance of a decent cardio workout was diminished.  Off to Spin I went after work.

Iced latte with Andrew for lunch

It was a 30 min class - so good for my first one for a bit.  Not too busy in there - maybe 15 punters.  Nice.

And then I decided to walk home.  Even though it was lightly raining.  As I walked it did get a bit heavier.  Oops.  But by the time I got home, it had lightened up again.

Spin for Sanity

Found the courier had delivered Mike's hamper from my parents.  It was amazing.  Two boxes of goodies.  

Birthday hamper

Happy

Wow!  It looks amazing.

Off to bed and Mike answered his birthday social media notifications.  Took a while!  Had a good sleep and up in time to catch the neighbour driving into work.  So we got a lift.  Woot!

Morning iced latte snuggles

There are dribbles on my saucer

Careful with the dribbles

Weekend is here (soon!).  No boot camp tomorrow.   But we will be up to finish the car port painting.  And I need to prep for the race on Sunday.  Snacks.  Gear.  Bike.  Clothes.  All that.  Oosshh!

Have a great weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with Mike's birthday

 Hi,

Mike was so looking forward to his birthday dinner after a hard day at work.  He even got some beers in with work mates before dinner started.  Hahah.

Meanwhile, I caught up with Juliet and Barb and we enjoyed the iced latte that Cuckoo offers.  Scrumptious.

Cuckoo

It's near perfection

Sally beat us to Dockside but I wasn't too far behind her.  Managed to haul Mike away from beers to join us.  Andrew was also pretty early considering his workload.

Ready for dinner

And it was so worth it.  Dinner was superb.  Three of us had the vegetarian degustation menu.  Mike had the meat version.  5 courses.  All good (except why put alcohol in a cheesecake???  Mike ate mine).

One of the courses - tofu kofta

Home in an Uber at 9pm and fell into bed.  Up for gym and deadlifts.  Woot!  And Little Peckish for brekkie with Celia, James and Ed.  Choice!  They are all good.

Iced latte @ Little Peckish with the old work mates

Busy day.  Will try for Spin after work.  A bit of cardio after my cold.  Hahah.

Have a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with working from home

 Hi,

Happy birthday to Mike.  Yes, it is a significant birthday.  He's treating it like any other.  That's because he's very mature now. :-p

He walked home from work yesterday evening and we ate a light dinner before settling on the couch.  Mike then proceeded to hook Toby's face into a singing app that animates the pic to sing to a song.  It was slightly disturbing.  And the song was Safety Dance - which I don't like at the best of times.

Our evenings fly by

Smudge curled up next to me on Mike's home office chair

Anyway - off to bed nice and early.  And up for a present before heading into The Lab for brekkie.  Roanne joined us before work so that was good to chat to her.

Happy birthday Mike

Iced latte brekkie date with Mike for his birthday

Moxley wishes Mike a happy birthday

Excited bus people

Birthday boy before his caffeine

Got a degustation dinner @ Dockside with Sally and Andrew after work.  Woot.  Should be lovely.

Have a great day Mike.  You make all my days special - so enjoy this day lots.

Love,

Angela