The Wednesday with a spontaneous shopping spree with Toby after work

 Hi,

Okay.  What a day. And when I say that, I am actually referring to my intake of caffeine through my Wednesday. I had the one you know about at 8am. That was in yesterday's post.

But I merely went about topping up the caffeine for the rest of the day.  Callan and I met up with Chris at Mojo and I had another one there. Chris is good - his family are all back home and he is loving it. Emma is also well. So good to see him.

Callan and I get an iced latte - and say hi to Chris

Cuckoo do a good one

Then some of our squad went to Cuckoo for a spontaneous coffee. And when I asked Ben to take a pic of me and one of the best iced lattes around, he actually did Mike's trick and took selfies. Hilarious.

OMG - Ben is just like Mike - taking selfies when it's all about the iced latte

I work with a good bunch

Me and Matt

It was a good chat about Christmas break plans and the calorie count in a white coffee.  Hahah.  Great fun.

And at 2pm I had a V date with Jill and James at work. Yep - topped up the 3 iced lattes with a can of V. Or, rather, half a bottle. Not good for later that night.

Early Christmas

Got home and had tea with Mike. Then Toby got home and we fed him. Then off to shop for a stocking for Tessa and a few wee things to fill it.

Sore eye

Stocking filler presents

Tessa's slightly odd Christmas stocking

Stockings were few and far between. So Toby sewed up the legs of a baby fawn outfit and intends to stuff that full of presents. We're unsure of the effect of this. I await Christmas Day pics with mixed feelings on how this will pan out.

The caffeine levels kicked in and I lay in bed, desperately seeking sleep until midnight.  That never happens to me. I am sticking to one a day for a bit now.

Right.  At work.  Late PT session (8.30am) and matched my deadlift PB from last year.  80kg. My hands were too slippery for an attempt at 85.  Got it off the ground - but I needed chalk. 2023 I want to bust that PB.

And then at work. Last day for the year.

I hope you have a great Christmas and New Years.  See as many of you as I can early in the New Year, eh?

Take care.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with a Christmas movie with Toby and Nana

 Hi,

Busy times, eh?  I hope you are all doing well in the lead up to Christmas. I worked from home again and saw a bit of Toby through the day.

Moxley had a dodgy left eye we... well... kept our own eye on. In the end, Mike took her to the vet after work and we now have drops for her.

Winking cat

And off to the vet she goes

V for that 2pm drop in energy - bad idea. 

Google photos liked it so much it offered up a B&W pic for me

Mike's mother arrived while Mike and I were still at work. She made herself comfortable until we finished. We had tea (I made a mountain of lasagne and we used Celia's fresh lettuce for salad) and dessert (brandy snaps - mmmmmm). Then we settled in to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Christmas Vacation movie tradition continues

Toby wore his new elf outfit as we sat on the couch. Polly watched with us and it got a few chuckles out of her. But it never gets old for me and Toby. Hahahah. Squirrel scene gets me every time.

Mike dropped his Mum off at her place and I was already fast asleep by the time he got home. Fell back asleep easily.

The Lab iced latte - always good

Up for a bus ride in with Mike. Him to see Quentin and me to work and then The Lab to see a bunch of women from my work for an awesome Christmas week brekkie. So good to chat to them over an iced latte and egg brekkie. 

Christmas week brekkie with this bunch of awesome women

Will head home after work and see if it looks ok for a quick trip out to see the lights at Whitby. We went last year and it was amazing. But it is wet here.

Have an awesome day!

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work with spin and Christmas shopping with Toby

 Hi,

Toby went in for his appointments he'd lined up.  Dentist check and orthodontist check.  He passed one (the orthodontist) and found a seal had fallen off a fissure for the dental check - so he's actually in there getting it done at 7.30am this morning. Nice of the dentist to fit him in. Thanks.

After a tough day at work I went into town to meet Juliet for a R30 spin class at City Fitness, Thorndon. Best decision ever! I needed some sweaty exercise after that sort of a day. Thank you Juliet.

Spin fun!

Gremlin cat was playing with the lamp

Got home after spin and grabbed Toby to head out to Lower Hutt. We collected Mike along the way - he had just finished a long work call and then caught up with Janine to exchange presents with her. Then we were off to gather plums at 40 and then park at Queensgate and have tea and do some shopping.

I made it to 8.30pm before I had to call it quits.  Back home and I was not long out of bed. Slept like a log but still felt a bit tired this morning. So I had my session with Quentin online.

Mike dropped Toby off for his dentist appt and went to pick up his Mum from the airport. She's up for Christmas and coming over for tea tonight to catch up with Toby.

Right. Time to get stuck in.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend before Christmas

 Hi,

Friday saw me at work - because we had an all-day offsite for my business unit followed by the work Christmas party afterwards.

Huge day!

Celia won a big award for all her efforts this year. How proud was I? Pretty proud! She is amazing. 

Hello there - who might this be?

Work party fun!

In full flight - a priority of POs

Mike and I got home and fell into bed. Wet weekend meant we chilled at home for a bit. Saturday saw us head to Lower Hutt for lunch to collect Sally and Andrew and head to the new Imax to see Avatar: way of water.

Moxley snuggles under Mike's jacket

At the new Imax

I loved the movie. At 3 hours long, it was indeed long. But the new screen was amazing - the 3D effects were not overdone. The whole film was sumptuous. Yes, a little self-indulgent. It wasn't a tight plotline. It was more like a soap opera in that you were embedded into the film rather than looking at it from the outside. Hard to explain.

Buried under cats

John found this for me - delicious

Sunday saw us with the whanau around for tea. We popped out for groceries for a few things. John and Helen also joined us. John found a Jacob's Creek wine with no alcohol and it was really rather delicious. Nowhere near as sweet as the sparkling grape stuff. Must find that again.

Toby arrived just as tea was starting. And after tea he got his birthday presents. Ohhh - it is so good to have him here.

Right. Christmas week looms. Busy at work. Busy making sure everything is sorted ahead of Christmas break.

Have a lovely day.

Love,

Angela

The Thursday with a busy work day

 Hi,

Busy day at work - but had a team lunch which broke up the day beautifully. I grabbed an iced latte at work early on and saw that France had a handy lead in the final few minutes of the men's football world cup semi final with Morocco. 

Work iced latte with France beating Morocco in the background

Helen took us to lunch in her new Tesla

At lunch I ran out the door to find Helen waiting for me and Erin to take us to lunch in her brand new Tesla. My first time in one. It is very nice.

Beach Babylon team lunch

We had a lovely lunch at Beach Babylon - slight drizzle kept people away from the beach, despite the warm weather. I got presents from Helen and Erin too.  Awwww. 

Back to work and busy until my last meeting. And then Mike and I ducked away to catch a bus home. Cooked tea (okay - made tea - we had salad) and then into bed. Slept well.

Up for an early bus to town to meet Andrew at Machete for brekkie ahead of his 8am meeting. But the bus was cancelled. Mike and I had to wait for the 7am. And that meant Mike couldn't come with us and that I was late. But Andrew had food and iced latte ordered for me.

Negative RAT

I had to do a RAT for work - it is our Christmas work party after work today. Negative! Woot! 

Later bus ride in

Machete!

We'll see Sally and Andrew tomorrow at lunch time for the Imax Avatar experience at Lower Hutt. I am looking forward to seeing that.

And in the best news ever, Karen said she got confirmation she got that new job she went for this week. I am so proud of her. First job interview for 25 years. And she obviously nailed it.

What a great way to start the NY for her.

Have a lovely weekend. Warm weather here.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with a catch up with Doro

 Hi,

Yesterday I tried the coffee flavoured sheep milk for the first time. I give it 6 out of 10. If you like a creamy mouth feel, you'd like this one. It is not strong enough with its coffee flavour for me. It is not too sweet - bonus marks for that. And it does not taste like you are sucking sheep's wool at all. Could be a decent option.

Coffee flavoured sheep milk

Taste test

Also tried on my new t-shirt from Cycle Fever.  Matt at work owns this business and the t-shirts are choice!

New t shirt from Cycle Fever

Unexpected rain yesterday morning

Work iced latte

Busy day again. Chasing Christmas crazy notions and trying to get enough info to make sensible decisions.

After work, Mike and I caught up with Doro at Honey Badger. She is doing well at her workplace and looking forward to the downtime over Christmas.

Mike and I ran to the 22 bus and jumped on and we were taken almost to our door. Fed the cats and were not far off going to bed.

Up for gym this morning. An hour for me. No PB in bench. Boo! But did high reps of a light weight to make up for my puny strength. 

But Mike hit 150kg deadlift PB yesterday
And 125kg squat PB today!

Have a lovely day. Rain here in Wellington. But hot and sticky. I am working tomorrow so you should get a blog post then!

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with my first ride on my new bike

 Hi,

Yesterday was a day that only Wellington can turn on. I do not understand it - but a 24C day in Wellington is just magic.

Work iced latte with harbour backdrop - ta William!

Work was frantic but I did get out with Mike at lunchtime to see the Black Ferns address their adoring public at Parliament at lunchtime. We had stunning weather - hot! We heard from Ruahei, Stacey and Ruby. The PM also talked to us and got warm support from the crowd.

We did have to negotiate our way past some protestors outside the front gate. Still on about the vaccine. telling us we're all sheep. But seriously - there is covid everywhere! Get your head out of the cloud you have stuck it in! Get your vaccine now if you can. Dorks.

Black ferns reception at Parliament

We join the crowd in brilliant sunny weather

PM talked to us!

After a more frantic afternoon, Mike headed home on a crowded hot bus and I walked up the hill with Barb. We chose the trail up Te Ahumairangi because it would be cooler under the trees. And it was.  It was so lovely.

Hot, lovely walk home with Barb

Almost at the top

The top!

Barb went left off the trail as we headed down the other side to Glamorgan St (I think). I continued our usual covid walking route - but backwards - to our house.

Local house decked out for Christmas

BBQ dinner ready for me

When I got home Mike had a BBQ dinner all ready to go! I had cheesy vegetarian sausages and they were pretty good.

Mike also got my SPD pedals on my new bike and we tried it out. Oh - it is amazing. The hill was like nothing at all, I cannot wait to get used to it and ride it everywhere.

Warm night and up for work this morning. Surprised to get rain. Now it is hot and humid. Oh, lovely.

Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Work is interesting - a combination of busy and chill. I think it is meant to keep me on my toes.  Obvs. At lunch I tried to get the SPD pedals off my old bike. To no avail. I need Mike's leverage, I feel. Or a tool - a pedal wrench.

Trying to get my SPD pedals off my old bike

Bruise progression

After work I headed in to CityFitness for Spin class at 1730. First time in ages. Good fun. Then off to New World to pick up groceries. I saw Juliet from work at checkout and showed her the coffee flavoured sheep milk I found.

Spin after work for the first time in ages

Who does Spin with sunnies on?

Found this in the supermarket - coffee flavoured sheep milk

I haven't worked up the courage to try it yet

I peered at it this morning when I got up - but couldn't bring myself to try it. When Mike got home last night and I showed him, he asked why it was such a strange colour. He missed the memo that said it was coffee flavoured. I think he thought sheep milk was an odd colour.

I need to psych myself up for this. 

All my faves for tea - mmmmm, mango

eBike frame ID

Old bike frame ID

Had a nice tea. Mike got home too late for him to try and take off my pedals. But Matt at work told us how to sort the stem out - and now the handlebars are as good as gold. I cannot wait! If I can't get the SPDs sorted tonight, I might try the pedals it came with. Just so I can ride it.

Have a wonderful day. Happy unbirthday to Toby. He had a quiet day yesterday.  Working then out with Tessa. Awwww. Miss him.

Love,

Angela