The Wednesday with a Christmas shopping trip

 Hi,

No cat content. And no iced latte content. I know. I am failing my readers. That is what Christmas crazy week does to a person.

Ho, ho, ho

At Westgate

I rode home after work and enjoyed the fresh air. Got home, fed the cats, got changed and headed out to Lower Hutt for some shopping with Toby and Tessa. As we left the house, Simon and Amy were parking their new caravan in their driveway. So we got a tour. It is really, really nice. They have a section in the Wairarapa to leave it on. We picked Andrew up on the way to the Hutt. May as well maximise benefits from the journey. Dropped him at his place.

We parked outside the mall and walked into Farmers. Tessa had a plan. She told me and Toby. "We shop for a bit, then have tea. Then shop some more. Maybe another break later". We walked through Farmers and into the mall. Toby and I looked at each other as we surveyed the inside of the mall.  "Time for some tea?", said Toby. "Yes", I said. We scuttled Tessa's plans within 2 mins. Poor Tessa.

I had a falafel iskender meal. Toby had sushi and Tessa had a lovely crepe. Then - shopping. But it was all rather hard work. Got a few things. Had a break where we had 3 juices from Boost for $45! Ouch! Then to Countdown and home.

Mike was home when we got there. We were straight into bed. Up early for my ride in and the last day of 2023 in the gym. Did bench with Quentin. 32.5kg. Did 10 reps x 5 sets. 50 reps all up. Oohhhh. Feeling that now. Then accessories - shoulder press and bicep curls. Mike came in for his session - they are going to try for a PB in squats for him. Good luck, Mike!

And because I started the blog post early, it turns out I could finish it with pics of iced lattes from my post gym drinks! Woot! You are all so lucky. Like an early Christmas present. Bwhahahah.

Last gym day of 2023

Late running iced latte content

Grabbed an iced latte from the French Kiss cart on my way back to work. And timed it well with Andrew's walk to work from the station. So we had a chocolate and an iced latte. They do not go well together so both of us saved the choccy for later. 

And a selfie

With this person

They added the star back on top

I saw the council workers adding the star back to the top of the tree outside work. A strong gale gave it a lop-sided look a month back. Guess they found an engineer with some idea for strengthening it. Woot!

My last day at work today too. What a year. Had its ups and downs. But work-wise, mostly ok. Certainly ended well.

Christmas fun to come. Then NY and camping with Mike down south. Then the tramp with Catherine, Chris and Andrea - and some other punters. That will be epic. Travers Sabine circuit. It is going to be a long slog. But I do love that area of Aotearoa. Let's hope for some good weather.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone. 

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with a quizmas quiz

 Hi,

No cat content - those readers can switch off now. Hahahah. But - if you want to see iced lattes and axe throwing, then read on!

My single iced latte ration

Work filled me up all day. A morning tea - which had amazing food - just set me up for a team lunch. Thank you Erin.

Work morning tea

A Christmas Mallowpuff

Awwww - cute!

I didn't take any pics of lunch. But Erin took us (and Pippa) to Flamingo Joe's and despite the wait, the food was very good. I had tomato burrata (that soft cheese like mozzarella). Yum.

Then Dave collected Pippa from work and Erin and I walked to Sweet Axe on Cambridge Tce. Nice walk in gorgeous weather.

Axe throwing team

Juliet and Erin show their skills

I'm a little too enthusiastic

I quite enjoyed the axe throwing. Was a bit unsure about it after the first practise round. But I kinda got the hang of it after a bit. Even hit the sweet spot to win for the team I was in. Made it to the play off and Jill took me by a point on her last throw. Woot!

A quick drink at The Tasting Room and then off to the Quizmas Quiz at Mean Doses. And what a quiz it was. Hard categories to select our joker round. But in the end, we chose correctly because we went for the last round and got 10 / 10 for it. So 20 points. Shot up to 5th equal out of 17 teams. The round was called Christmas. So apparently we know our Christmas stuff.

Mike and his selfie skills - a series

Yeah - I dunno what he is doing either

Hi Kara!

Bussed to Lambton Quay with Andrew on his 83 bus. Jumped off for our 14. And home at 10pm. Oohh - so late. Mike moved the car because someone wanted to reverse their campervan easily.

Up to bus in for Quentin. But we ended up at a cafe for brekkie and presents instead of a cardio session at the gym. 

It's Christmas brekkie with Quentin

A much better pic - it includes my feet

Hoping to take Toby to the mall at Queensgate after work today. Get the last wee things for stockings for people.

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The Monday with Toby and Tessa in Wellington

 Hi,

I went to the airport to pick up Toby and Tessa off their Jetstar flight from Chc. I left at 6.45amn from home and there was no traffic. Went around the bays. Got an iced latte while I was waiting for them. They got in at 7.35am and had no luggage so we were off straight away.

Dropped them at David's house and headed into town and parked under work. Told Toby and Tessa to leave their bags in the car and come in for 5pm and we could take them home.

Jetstar arrives

Airport Mojo iced latte

View from work

Okay - this is not good. Still drinking my first iced latte

Mike got to work after his epic gym session (77.5kg bench! Wow!). And got me an iced latte. So I started drinking his one after mine.

Second iced latte

With Dave and Mike for my third iced latte

Also caught up with Dave at Margies with Mike. And my third iced latte of the day. Which was probably 1.5 lattes too much, tbh.

I was now on a downward spiral of caffeine.

Christmas time

Went out with Adnan and Toby and Tessa and Mike at Foxglove for a few drinks after work. Then home to make pie for morning tea at work.

I made pie

Up for a nice ride into work - no wind at all. And a PB in squats. 75kg. Smashed it. My previous PB was 65kg. So that was good. PB in all my lifts this week and last week. Sweet. 225 in total.

On my way to a PB in squats

Hey there

Busy day at work. And I have got an iced latte. But only the one! Axe throwing after work today with some people from work. Then the Mean Doses quiz.

Have a great day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with a trip to Blenheim

 Hi,

Maybe I could just leave the pics in to tell the story of the weekend? Hahahah. Big weekend. Such fun. Mike took me to the airport on Thursday evening for my Sounds Air flight at 20:00 to Blenheim. It left early - 19:50 - and it was not full. I got a seat to myself.

Iona picked me up on the other side and whisked me home. Caught up with Col and Twigg and was not long out of bed.

Up to head to the gym. Decided to go to my CityFitness one as we get in for free with my membership. Did bench - 30kg 4 sets x 10 reps. Then accessories with Iona.

Gym Friday morning.

Santa pic for Toby

Ran around trying to get a few things for the quiz set up. And a few iced lattes too.

Iced latte

Quiz set up

We got into the hall around 13:00 to set up. Got all the tables out of the back room. Got the mic set up. Projector. All that good stuff. Then back home to get ready.

IYKYK

Santa's helper hat on - ready for the quiz

Back at the hall at 17:30 and people started arriving not long after. 12 tables in the hall behind the hospital. I was in charge of the Christmas music that kicked in after each round. There was a lot of Bruce Springsteen Christmas songs, let me just say.

In progress

And all tidied

It was very well run by Iona and Caro. Came down to a tie breaker. Two teams on 70 points (out of a possible 100). Tough gig.

We tidied up and then headed home - via Christmas lights. Awwwww.

Christmas lights tour on the way home

Voted for this one in Budge St

Iced latte

 

Up for a coffee with Malcolm and Marion at Mitre10. And then a beach walk to pick up rubbish. We got 3 big bags. I got a pot with a wonky handle. Col got the element from a kettle. We saw two dead sharks.

A big bit of driftwood

Dead shark

Dead shark

E trapline

Popped into the E trapline. I approached my gate nemesis with trepidation. But - IT WAS UNLOCKED! So I walked through. Hahahah.

No rats.

Some wasps. We ran away after Iona poked at their nest. I might have squealed.

Elysium fields

Amazing feet

Light tea

Garden produce

We went to the market on Sunday, I stocked up on fruit.

Apricots from the market

It's Christmas time

Whites Bay

We did the Black Jack Track walk up to the lookout. Very nice.

A barque in the bay

Weaving lessons with tikanga

Back home to learn some weaving and tikanga from Iona. I loved it. I want to try some at home now. Iona showed me how to harvest. How to prep. And I tackled a kono with her very close guidance.

Fiddly bit

I am on the ara

Almost done

Inside looks amazing

And done

While Iona and I did that, Col did the new insect screen on their bedroom window. So good! $23 for the kit. Magnetic frame. I hope it worked.

Then they dropped me at the airport. Lovely flight out. I spotted Nicola's house. The pilot said it would be a sporty landing at Wellington. That was cool to watch - I had a good view of him working the controls and the runway in the distance.

I see Nicola's house

Oh - hi Wellington

Moxley claims my bag

Hope to unpack. So good to see Mike. And the cats. Off to bed. And up to drive to the airport to pick up Toby and Tessa.

Then back to work.

Phew.

Busy.

Right. Time to get things sorted.

Love,
Angela