The Wednesday with the bike maintenance course with Kara

 Hi,

Guess what? It really is Thursday now. My Wednesday was good - I was anticipating the bike maintenance course after work with antici..... pation.

I did get some bad news at work about the restructuring for a close mate at work. So that made me quite glum about it all. However, I firmly believe this person is amazing and one day will rule the world. Or maybe, at least, a wee part somewhere. And do good things. So - this was just a wee stepping stone. But I can say one day: I knew them when...

Good luck, buddy. Go own it!

Work iced latte

Little Grump - a new cafe

Mike and I found a new wee cafe on Featherston - well on the corner of it. Little Grump. The coffees were so good. Mike even told them it was the best coffee he had in ages. And you all know how much he drinks. High praise indeed. I had a good potato sandwichy thing. Want to try their cheese and broccoli toastie next.

Iced latte was good!

Mike with his selfie

After work I walked with Mike up Willis St. Mike to LBQ to meet Sally and Andrew for "planning night". And me to myRide for my bike course. Bumped into Courtney on my way and chatted briefly to her.

Met Kara as she found a car park right outside. Wow. She has good parking angels. And we met Fraser (bike shop owner - used to race bikes) and about 6 other women. And we learned heaps of things. 

Ready for the bike course

Kara is also ready

You're a .... chainbreaker!

How to change brake disc pads. How to bleed the brakes. How to use darts to fix tubeless tyres. How to use a CO2 canister to inflate a tyre.  How to break a chain and link it up (either with another link or a spare link). So many useful tips. 

I really enjoyed it. And now I want to change my eBike brake pads. 

I went to LBQ at 8pm when it finished and caught up with the chattery bunch there. Managed to convince them they did not need another round of beers and we wandered off to our homes. We got a 14 and got home fairly quickly.

I had so many push ups to finish. But got there while Mike sorted out the sad cats. It was well past their feeding time by then. Moxley decided to puke outside our bedroom door - so we sorted that out.

Up at 5.30 (groan) to ride in and PT session with Quentin. 140 push ups. OMG. And I still have so many to do. 213 today is the total. One more day tomorrow and I am done.

Did squats too. 60kg. 3 reps x 3 sets. And that was tough.

Met Andrew for a quick iced latte

Weekend beckons because it is Matariki. Hangi at work today - in the evening. Huge event. Home early and finish push ups and then bed. I am a little tired to be honest.

Sending kia kaha to everyone that needs it today.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday where I think it should have been Wednesday and now I am confused

 Hi,

I took no photos. You will have to imagine my entire day yesterday through the magic of my prose. Good luck with that.

Well, as this blog post title attests, I have no clue what today actually is. I had to check it really was Wednesday because it feels like I have been at work for 4 days this week already.

So, Tuesday - what did I do? Worked from the real office. So I did interact with humans instead of cats. Had a short break for lunch so grabbed a tofu poke bowl thing from TJ Katsu. Mmmm. Delicious.

Rode home after work. The slow cooker had cooked the slightly tough steak from Premium Game to perfection. Mike and I scoffed that. Then did some planning for the months ahead. That made me socially cringe as my weekends are awfully full for the next 3 months.

And wandered off to bed eventually. Slept ok but when I woke I still felt a little sleepy. Bussed in because tonight I have a bicycle maintenance course at MyRide at 6pm. Woot! Kara is doing it with me.

Mike, Sally and Andrew are catching up tonight to plan our weekend away. And I will hopefully see them after my course.

Have a brilliant day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday with a run after work

 Hi,

After a busy day at work (WFH) and checking Moxley's left eye through the day (it did not get better so we might go see the vet), I drove into town to meet Mike for a run.

Picture perfect morning

New running jacket

Moxley's eye is not normal

Got a new jacket for running. Worked well. Came home and ate some tea and went to bed,. The end.

Up for gym this morning - nice ride in.

Enjoy your day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend in Wellington with lots of things happening

 Hi,

Friday saw me busy. I met Maureen at Margies for brekkie and caught up with her news. Then I drifted through Unity bookshop trying to avoid buying books. I did but I also have a shortlist. Hahah.

Mid haircut

Got my haircut - Jolene did a great job as usual. Headed home after that to chill and sort out the cats before our evening commitments.

Back home

Moxley wants her tea

Headed to Penthouse in Brooklyn to meet Mike before his hosting of the latest Warren Miller film. Elly picked me up and we collected Tom on our way. Phil from Mad About Travel was there at the cinema. His wife was the co host last year. The movie was fun and the two shorts after it from Arc'teryx were fun wee movies. Maven was especially good. About three quarters full in the cinema. Elly won some suspenders for ski pants.

Up for Park Run Saturday for Mike. And he did 15km in the end. I did housework and garage gym. Got to use our new barbell jack. So good! 

Barbell jack

Deads in the garage gym

Smudge 

Buried by cats

Mike went to help Wally shift a table in the evening and then picked up Ange's old TV she had got out of her storage unit for us. Now we need to wall mount it and we will have extra high definition.

Start of half marathon

Up Sunday to a drizzly day and off on the bus to town to see Hope in her first half marathon. She started at 9am and we went to Thunderbord cafe for brekkie. And saw Tom and John there. Tom is really tall - I guess I have not seen him for a few years now. And he said he is interested in joining the navy. Wow. Good luck to him.

Thunderbird cafe

Waiting for brekkie

John and Tom were there

Iona arrived while we were waiting for Hope to finish. She was catching the ferry back after her raranga roopu weekend. Good to see her briefly. We saw Hope finish (good time too!) and then went to Maccas for a coffee before Iona had to board.

Iona turned up

Ready for it

Home to sort out a few things. Then off to the cinema for round 2 of Warren Miller. This time though I went to see another movie. A documentary on the 1971 Womens Football world cup in Mexico. It was so good.

Great movie

One for $3 or two for $6 - hahahah

The biggest stadium audience for a womens sports match ever. Epic! Good on those women for having the skill and determination to play back then in the face of so much adversity.

I snuck into the end of the Warren Miller film. Then we had tea at the cinema cafe with Kara before we headed home.

Fell into bed. And up for a big week this week.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with working from home

 Hi,

Busy at work but I did manage to get a wee run in my day. 3km. It was ok. Felt hard work. But I got there in the end.

Moxley hanging on the edge

Mike was delayed coming home so tea was already to go when he stepped in. We had wild pork steaks from Premium Game. I had no idea how to cook those so I googled a recipe and they turned out quite delicious. Bit of mash. Bit of broccoli and a salad.

Luring Mike home

Listening to Toby on the chat

We chatted to Toby after tea. He was home with Tessa. He looked lovely. I miss him. We had an agenda for the family meeting. Too funny.

Off to bed and up to drive in with Mike. He is WFH to meet Lewis - who is going to look at doing the laundry. Woot! So Mike drove in and I tagged along. Squats day with Quentin. 60kg. 3 reps x 4 sets. And 100 push ups. OMG.

Mike did a run on the treadmill and then squats with Quentin. I will walk home with Barb after work today. Got my new tramping boots to try them out on the steep Te Ahumairangi hill.

Reboot my PC at work and saw my wallpaper and wished I was there

Dave and Martin for iced latte goodness at Margies

I caught up with Dave and Martin this morning for an iced latte. Chatted to them. Great fun. Lunch with Sally (from my old work) today. Yay!

Work getting in the way of my social life today. Hahahah.

Tomorrow is brekkie with Maureen and my haircut (I had to postpone that due to covid a few weeks back). Then Mike has his Warren Miller film MC work Friday night and Sunday evening. Awesome!

Have a great day! And an even better weekend,

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with work

 Hi,

Got wet riding to work yesterday. Went to gym with Quentin and did deads. 75kg 5 reps x 4 sets. Then when I was wandering back to work for my busy morning of meetings, I decided I needed an iced latte more than anything else.

Morning French Kiss iced latte

This meant when I sat at my desk again after the gym, it was already 8.15am and so close to my first meeting that I decided to delay my shower for a bit.

Readers. I delayed my shower quite a bit. 

I went for a walk with Mike at lunch instead of having a shower.

And realised I had reached peak efficiency when at  5pm I did not need to change to my bike gear to ride home. Switched my shoes and I was off, riding up the hill. And although there was the odd spit of rain on my ride home, I did not get wet.

Got tea ready - but had to wait for Mike to bring home the burger buns I bought during the day. Buns would not survive the pannier bag home easily. And Mike was waylaid by so many people chatting to him. But he got home eventually and we had a lovely dinner. I had made guacamole so Mike was very happy.

Off to bed not long after. Mike chatted to his mother for a while. And then sleep. Up for an online session with Quentin this morning in the garage gym. 120 push ups and 35kg bench. I did 5 reps x 4 sets and it felt pretty good.

I did have to extract a splinter in the middle of my push up set. Mike sawed up some wood and there are tiny pieces of wood all over the gym floor. I swept up before continuing. But now I see (ok - now I am back in the house and wearing glasses!) there is something left behind in my hand. Tweezers did not work. Might need an operation! Hahah.

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The Monday working from home

 Hi,

We're having a bout of wet weather. Working from home on Monday was nice when I saw how it was outside. Brrrr.

Moxley says it is tea time

See her adorable nose scrunch as she bites me?

Also - hard no from Smudge

Smudge is still not enjoying any wet food. Hmmmm. This one looked a sure winner. Moxley liked it.

Mike got home and had tea. He was a bit damp when he got in. I had a bath to warm up and I was not long out of bed.

Up early to ride through the rain to work. Hahah. PT session coming up.

Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with possum run

 Hi,

Big weekend - and it included Mike's birthday. I got in a gym session on Friday and cranked out my push ups. Phew!

Friday gym

We were packed and ready to go by 4pm. Bharat drove over to leave his car here - so we waited for him for a bit. Then headed into the traffic to collect Janine from her work. That was easy enough. She works our side of the town. But negotiating to pick up Paul was a bit harder - through town into the other side. And then up to his place to get some things he had left at home.

But not long before we were away - and the traffic out of town up SH1 was really good. So much better with these new bypass roads. The weather was pretty bad on the way up, and the wipers were smeary, but we made good time nonetheless.

Cats happy

Friday tea in Taihape

We stopped in Taihape at 7.20 or so for tea. Roast Cottage on the main road (left side heading north). My sister Karen would have loved it. I got roast veges with gravy. Others got roast meats. It was really rather delicious. Good call, Paul!

Some weird British sewing reality TV show

Into Ohakune with Mike safely driving us there about 9pm. Matt was there at Grads to settle us in. And Mike and I found a warm room and we were not too long out of bed.

Up early for Park Run in Ohakune. This was the first official park run. Mike had run it before - before it got official status. They did a wee dog leg to add the 200m needed to get to 5k.

I did the 5k in 36 mins or something. It was my first 5k run post covid so I was a little out of practise. Mike came in at 30 min and five seconds. Paul came something like 5th or 6th. And everyone else did well. The first 2.5k is slightly uphill - more than you think so it seems harder than you expect.

Post park run iced latte at Utopia Cafe in Ohakune

Loved our brekkie at Utopia cafe. And then we were off to Taupo. Found our accommodation - Camellia Court. Cheap and cheerful. $40 each for our 5 bed unit. 

Turangi

The team went to register and came back to get ready. Mike was so ready for it. And it was reasonably dry - no rain for a bit despite the outlook.

He's ready

They're ready

They are all ready

All eight of them at the start

The race started at 1700. I stayed in the unit and I noticed the rain start at about 1915. Some of them copped that. They got back at 2230 and I was fast asleep. But it seemed like it was a tough race. Hilly. Slippery. Rough. Long. Did I mention long? Way longer than 21k. Mike did 23.3k, in 3½ hours. Whew!

Mike said that the medical staff had a great night, with a heap of blown ankles to keep them occupied along with sending people to hospital with all sorts of interesting and novel injuries.

The start

During - it's dark!

The end - Janine gets her medal

Into bed quickly and up for Mike's birthday. He got a t shirt from Janine (he wore it for the race. "If I collapse, stop my watch". Hahah) and a Bluetooth meat thermometer from me.

Birthday morning

Replete birthday coffee

Driving home past Peach Teats!

A quick brekkie at Replete (that is my routine) and off home. Easy drive back to town. Rain off and on. And Bharat nicely took Paul home as it was (kinda) on his way.

We unpacked and started washing and had tea. And now the week starts!

Hope your week is a good one.

Happy unbirthday Mike.

Love,
Angela