Hi,
The weather is lovely today again; my ride in was superb. I had Toby drop off duty once more and he slept until about 7.40am before turning up in the lounge ready to get dressed and have his breakfast. We had a nice morning and rode and scootered to school. I was in at work by 8.50am so I have no complaints.
Mike, on the other hand, is up to no good. I have no idea what he is planning and scheming, but I caught him at it. He said he was catching the 7.30am bus to his course, and ran out at 7.29am. However, he started doing the rubbish. I said I'd do it. Then we heard the bus coming up the road so Mike hurtled up with the recycling in his hands. I tied up the yellow rubbish bag and wandered up. As I approached I heard the garage door open. Odd as the bus was still collecting passengers from the stop so Mike should have been dashing to the bus. As I got to the road, the car backed out of the garage and a sheepish Mike looked at me. He said "My plans have gone awry and you've caught me but you have no idea what it is all about" and he zoomed off.
A man of mystery.
Last night was great fun. Mike started the BBQ up and we had a lovely dinner on the patio. The weather was so nice. I also put a wash out afterwards, so we're almost looking good on the housework front too. I got the green room suitable for habitation as Mike's father is almost here for some rally or other.
The architects are due today to do some checking on the house - I think they want to see the roof space. Hopefully that goes ok and they don't leave the cat locked up inside as it is bound to get too hot during the day.
That's about it. Time for a tea.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Good morning on Mon, Feb 8
Hi,
We had a great weekend. Our Lewis/Gilbert Friday night relaxing takeway dinners has still not occured. I guess the good weather means we're likely to be busy. Here's hoping it'll happen this Friday! So our Friday was spent leisurely at home. I cooked up one of Toby's favourite meals (chicken schnitzel strips) and we read and watched TV. Nice and quiet.
Saturday we went over to Ngaio to weed a bit around Mum and Dad's place and spray weedkiller on the biggest baddies. We left them some fresh milk (theirs was yoghurt in the fridge), bananas and bread, ready for their return.
Then we went home and we were going to vege out at home doing not very much. It was a fabulous day - no wind and lots of blue sky. Mike immediately went to drop off some stuff at Christine's house and she convinced Mike to go to the beach. So Toby and I got picked up by her and Tom and we went to Ballina Bay in Evans Bay. The beach was gravelly but once I got used to the water (brrr) I was snorkelling away. Toby did a little too. I saw big sea urchins so after that I was careful to look where I was standing.
Christine has brought home-made icecream and cones so we ate wonderful icecreams on the beach after the swim.
We went back to their house for tea (chicken Caesar salad - one of Mike's favourites) and wandered back home eventually. Mike watched some TV after Toby went to bed and I set my alarm just in case I fell asleep because I had to collect Mum and Dad at 2320 from the airport. That all went well, although next year I aim to be away for Rugby Sevens weekend. Driving through town after lots of parties meant idiots trying to flag me down for a lift all over the place! My parents were pleased to be back home and keen to relax for a few days. We'll catch up with them today!
Sunday morning we were up for the next beach day up at Waikanae. The day wasn't quite so nice but Toby still got to go swimming at the river mouth with Duncan and Emerson. He even did some proper snorkelling for about 1 minute! 5 minutes from the end, Josh had to go into the water to find the spade that got chucked in. So he was a bit cross about staying dry all that time and then having to get wet. The Tabors then went off to see a puppy! Oooooooooooo.
Back home after a grocery shop and all was good last night. I dropped Toby off this morning because Mike has a first aid course today and tomorrow. We had a nice morning. Toby slept in until 7.45am!
Have a great week!
Love,
Angela
We had a great weekend. Our Lewis/Gilbert Friday night relaxing takeway dinners has still not occured. I guess the good weather means we're likely to be busy. Here's hoping it'll happen this Friday! So our Friday was spent leisurely at home. I cooked up one of Toby's favourite meals (chicken schnitzel strips) and we read and watched TV. Nice and quiet.
Saturday we went over to Ngaio to weed a bit around Mum and Dad's place and spray weedkiller on the biggest baddies. We left them some fresh milk (theirs was yoghurt in the fridge), bananas and bread, ready for their return.
Then we went home and we were going to vege out at home doing not very much. It was a fabulous day - no wind and lots of blue sky. Mike immediately went to drop off some stuff at Christine's house and she convinced Mike to go to the beach. So Toby and I got picked up by her and Tom and we went to Ballina Bay in Evans Bay. The beach was gravelly but once I got used to the water (brrr) I was snorkelling away. Toby did a little too. I saw big sea urchins so after that I was careful to look where I was standing.
Christine has brought home-made icecream and cones so we ate wonderful icecreams on the beach after the swim.
We went back to their house for tea (chicken Caesar salad - one of Mike's favourites) and wandered back home eventually. Mike watched some TV after Toby went to bed and I set my alarm just in case I fell asleep because I had to collect Mum and Dad at 2320 from the airport. That all went well, although next year I aim to be away for Rugby Sevens weekend. Driving through town after lots of parties meant idiots trying to flag me down for a lift all over the place! My parents were pleased to be back home and keen to relax for a few days. We'll catch up with them today!
Sunday morning we were up for the next beach day up at Waikanae. The day wasn't quite so nice but Toby still got to go swimming at the river mouth with Duncan and Emerson. He even did some proper snorkelling for about 1 minute! 5 minutes from the end, Josh had to go into the water to find the spade that got chucked in. So he was a bit cross about staying dry all that time and then having to get wet. The Tabors then went off to see a puppy! Oooooooooooo.
Back home after a grocery shop and all was good last night. I dropped Toby off this morning because Mike has a first aid course today and tomorrow. We had a nice morning. Toby slept in until 7.45am!
Have a great week!
Love,
Angela
Friday, February 5, 2010
Good morning on Fri, Feb 5
Hi,
Happy birthday to my niece, Stephanie, for tomorrow! I hope she has a great day!
The release last night was mixed. One of the satellite servers was not playing nicely and I couldn't get access to it to make sure of anything. So I went home not quite happy about it all, and a bit later than usual. But Mike had bought Fromage des Clarines cheese and a baguette so we ate that and I felt way better! The miracle of cheese.
Tonight we're off to the Lewises to have Friday night takeaways and walk Ramble. There are glow-worms behind their house in the bush, so we're off to see them too.
Tomorrow I want to get a few things done around the house and at Mum and Dad's place. They get back tomorrow night, late. So I want to make sure they have bread and milk and do a bit of weeding.
Sunday we might head off to Waikanae to see the Tabors.
So, not a lot happening. The weather is still lovely. I took the bus in this morning though as I caught a taxi home last night. It'll be a nice ride home though.
Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Happy birthday to my niece, Stephanie, for tomorrow! I hope she has a great day!
The release last night was mixed. One of the satellite servers was not playing nicely and I couldn't get access to it to make sure of anything. So I went home not quite happy about it all, and a bit later than usual. But Mike had bought Fromage des Clarines cheese and a baguette so we ate that and I felt way better! The miracle of cheese.
Tonight we're off to the Lewises to have Friday night takeaways and walk Ramble. There are glow-worms behind their house in the bush, so we're off to see them too.
Tomorrow I want to get a few things done around the house and at Mum and Dad's place. They get back tomorrow night, late. So I want to make sure they have bread and milk and do a bit of weeding.
Sunday we might head off to Waikanae to see the Tabors.
So, not a lot happening. The weather is still lovely. I took the bus in this morning though as I caught a taxi home last night. It'll be a nice ride home though.
Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Good morning on Thurs, Feb 4
Hi,
What a lovely day here in Wellington. It is so nice to finally get summery weather after the chaotic patterns in Nov, Dec and Jan. I hope it stays like this into April. Yes - I am an optimist.
Congratulations to my sister, Shona! She passed her hardest exam yesterday with her best mark ever! She's a legend and deserves praise for her hard work and sacrifices. I hope it gives her even more confidence that she can suceed at anything she does.
Yes - as Mike pointed out Toby had a good first day yesterday. It ended with me collecting him from school and taking him to Microsoft in town for a meeting I had. The Microsoft chap set Toby up with pizza and drink in front of Cartoon Network and we never heard a peep from Toby for the next hour. In fact, when the meeting was over and I went to collect him from the "hub" where he'd been set up, he said he didn't want to leave.
I have a release tonight and had Toby drop-off duty (so Mike can leave early to pick up Toby). I went in to see Toby's new classroom. It is very airy with a lovely view down over the other classrooms into the Otari-Wilton bush in the valley. Beautiful. The ride in was good afterwards although my cough made me labour a bit on the tougher sections. I think of it as an extra early warning system to let people know I am coming.
Tyler has her first Bright Stars drama class today. I do hope I get to hear all about that. I wonder if I should investigate something similar for Toby here? Let's wait and see what Karen reports back.
Ma and Pa arrive back on Saturday night, near midnight. I can't wait as I have missed them. I think we'll leave them to sort themselves out on Sunday and we'll head off to Waikanae to visit the Tabors. Hopefully we can get more swimming in!
Love,
Angela
What a lovely day here in Wellington. It is so nice to finally get summery weather after the chaotic patterns in Nov, Dec and Jan. I hope it stays like this into April. Yes - I am an optimist.
Congratulations to my sister, Shona! She passed her hardest exam yesterday with her best mark ever! She's a legend and deserves praise for her hard work and sacrifices. I hope it gives her even more confidence that she can suceed at anything she does.
Yes - as Mike pointed out Toby had a good first day yesterday. It ended with me collecting him from school and taking him to Microsoft in town for a meeting I had. The Microsoft chap set Toby up with pizza and drink in front of Cartoon Network and we never heard a peep from Toby for the next hour. In fact, when the meeting was over and I went to collect him from the "hub" where he'd been set up, he said he didn't want to leave.
I have a release tonight and had Toby drop-off duty (so Mike can leave early to pick up Toby). I went in to see Toby's new classroom. It is very airy with a lovely view down over the other classrooms into the Otari-Wilton bush in the valley. Beautiful. The ride in was good afterwards although my cough made me labour a bit on the tougher sections. I think of it as an extra early warning system to let people know I am coming.
Tyler has her first Bright Stars drama class today. I do hope I get to hear all about that. I wonder if I should investigate something similar for Toby here? Let's wait and see what Karen reports back.
Ma and Pa arrive back on Saturday night, near midnight. I can't wait as I have missed them. I think we'll leave them to sort themselves out on Sunday and we'll head off to Waikanae to visit the Tabors. Hopefully we can get more swimming in!
Love,
Angela
First day at school
... it was mayhem yesterday morning, Toby's first day at school for the year. Everyone had clearly decided to drive, and parking was backed up all the way to our house. It was quite festive when we got there, with parents and children milling around and trying to find their classrooms and each other.
Toby took us straight to his new classroom, and we found his desk with his name on it nice and easily. He's got Mrs Mahoney again - she was his Year 1 teacher but she's moved to the main school and is teaching Year 3 now. He's caught up with his friends, and there are new kids in his class that he doesn't know. All good. He seems pretty happy with things.
I've got a sore back at the moment - no dramas but I'm risk averse when it comes to backs so I've gone to see Kara about it. She's put two big strips of tape up my back to make me sit and stand properly, and it's quite amusing. I can't do up my shoelaces! And riding my bike is quite strange, I have to stay quite upright as I hurtle down the hill. It definitely sucks power going up the hill, unless I get off the seat and honk. Hopefully my body will be re-trained by the time the tape falls off. I'm also supposed to lie on the ground with a piece of closed-cell foam between my shoulder blades, when I'm vegging with TV or a book - but it's very awkward and uncomfortable. I'm not 100% sure what it's supposed to achieve. So I ended up with the foam under my head as a pillow instead.
The house extension is proceeding apace - well, the prep for it is. Surveyors were running all over the place on Tuesday when Angela and Toby were at home. Now there's little lead tabs and orange dots and other markers all over our section!
Toby took us straight to his new classroom, and we found his desk with his name on it nice and easily. He's got Mrs Mahoney again - she was his Year 1 teacher but she's moved to the main school and is teaching Year 3 now. He's caught up with his friends, and there are new kids in his class that he doesn't know. All good. He seems pretty happy with things.
I've got a sore back at the moment - no dramas but I'm risk averse when it comes to backs so I've gone to see Kara about it. She's put two big strips of tape up my back to make me sit and stand properly, and it's quite amusing. I can't do up my shoelaces! And riding my bike is quite strange, I have to stay quite upright as I hurtle down the hill. It definitely sucks power going up the hill, unless I get off the seat and honk. Hopefully my body will be re-trained by the time the tape falls off. I'm also supposed to lie on the ground with a piece of closed-cell foam between my shoulder blades, when I'm vegging with TV or a book - but it's very awkward and uncomfortable. I'm not 100% sure what it's supposed to achieve. So I ended up with the foam under my head as a pillow instead.
The house extension is proceeding apace - well, the prep for it is. Surveyors were running all over the place on Tuesday when Angela and Toby were at home. Now there's little lead tabs and orange dots and other markers all over our section!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Good morning on Wed, Feb 3
Hi,
Toby's first day back at school today. We were busy last night covering Toby's school books with contact adhesive stuff and getting his backpack ready.
Yesterday I had the day off with Toby, intending it to be a relaxing day for his last day so he wasn't too tired today. However, we scheduled in a trip to the zoo and I tidied the house and Jack (from Toby's class) came over to play in the afternoon. So it was pretty busy. But we had good fun.
In the morning we picked up Chelsea from her house and went straight to the zoo. We saw quite a bit of the animals, paying attention to the ones we liked the most. Toby was very keen to take photos to send to Tyler. The kids had the camera so I have no idea what the photos look like. I'll see if I can send them to Tyler very soon (not tonight as we're busy tonight, and I have a release tomorrow night).
After the zoo I popped in to get the contact covering and then we dropped off Chelsea and got home in time for Jack's arrival. The surveyors were there checking our property boundaries. They are all over the place! The boundaries, not the surveyors. Well, the surveyors too, really.
The weather is wonderful. Yesterday was lovely. My ride in was good except for my cold making me cough on the steeper bits. The ride home should be interesting - I'll take it even easier than usual. I'm off at 1630 to get Toby and back into town for a meeting. The organiser has said Toby can watch Cartoon Network while we listen to the meeting. Heheheheh. I'm going to be involved in running the Dynamics User Group in Wellington (a Microsfot suite of tools) and this is the first one for the year. At the moment I am just attending as a regular developer, waiting for the right timing to step up.
Anyhow. Enough waffle. Have a marvellous day wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Toby's first day back at school today. We were busy last night covering Toby's school books with contact adhesive stuff and getting his backpack ready.
Yesterday I had the day off with Toby, intending it to be a relaxing day for his last day so he wasn't too tired today. However, we scheduled in a trip to the zoo and I tidied the house and Jack (from Toby's class) came over to play in the afternoon. So it was pretty busy. But we had good fun.
In the morning we picked up Chelsea from her house and went straight to the zoo. We saw quite a bit of the animals, paying attention to the ones we liked the most. Toby was very keen to take photos to send to Tyler. The kids had the camera so I have no idea what the photos look like. I'll see if I can send them to Tyler very soon (not tonight as we're busy tonight, and I have a release tomorrow night).
After the zoo I popped in to get the contact covering and then we dropped off Chelsea and got home in time for Jack's arrival. The surveyors were there checking our property boundaries. They are all over the place! The boundaries, not the surveyors. Well, the surveyors too, really.
The weather is wonderful. Yesterday was lovely. My ride in was good except for my cold making me cough on the steeper bits. The ride home should be interesting - I'll take it even easier than usual. I'm off at 1630 to get Toby and back into town for a meeting. The organiser has said Toby can watch Cartoon Network while we listen to the meeting. Heheheheh. I'm going to be involved in running the Dynamics User Group in Wellington (a Microsfot suite of tools) and this is the first one for the year. At the moment I am just attending as a regular developer, waiting for the right timing to step up.
Anyhow. Enough waffle. Have a marvellous day wherever you are.
Love,
Angela
Monday, February 1, 2010
Good morning on Mon, Feb 1
Hi,
And the beautiful month of February starts. Well, normally it is beautiful but that is hard to fathom at this point because there is a southerly with rain and has been since yesterday morning. Never mind. It is bound to improve this month, of that I am certain!
The weekend was fantastic fun! Woo hoo! Friday night I went to the movies with Sally, Vivienne and Vicki. We saw "It's Complicated" and it was quite simple. Made me laugh when it should and Meryl Streep was perfection as usual. Mike and Toby picked me and Vivienne up and Mike got his house keys back (Vivienne had them for feeding Merlot on anniversary weekend). So everything was right with the world. I hope the trains were fine for Sally and Vicki's journey home.
Saturday morning dawned even more brilliant than Friday. The best day so far of the summer. Mike got ready for his day tramp and headed off and Toby and I started to walk to the hairdressers. We got about 5m. When Toby realised my intention was to walk all the way there (Thorndon - so not too far) he sat down in the gutter and pouted. I told him I would drive to the library and we'd walk from there. He perked up and told me he was good at compromising. Really?
So, we walked in. And we had a wonderful time walking in. The weather was so nice - no wind, blue skies. We were a little early when we got there and they took Toby immediately. So we were leaving by 9.40am. Toby looked great with his short hair, ready for school.
We walked into town and caught a bus to Courtney Place and walked to Oriental Bay beach to catch up with Carrie and her sister Penny. Carrie was entered in the 2.8km ocean swim. Toby was very impressed and the whole 2 hour thing seemed to keep him pretty interested. The elite swimmers finished in 30-35 minutes. Amazing. Carrie was about 1 hour 24 min, but we were suitably impressed with that. Well done. Toby has declared he wants to do it one day. So, his first swimming goal!
After that we drove to Waikanae (via McDonalds for lunch, which I botched up because I never order McDs so Toby was disppointed) and Toby had a ball. We bought presents for Duncan and Emerson (it was their birthday a few weekends back) and they went down very well. Then we piled into Moby (their car) and went to the beach. Well, the mouth of the Waikanae River really. Toby spent 3 hours in the water. The boys had a log of wood and they used that as a boat to swim across the river to the other side and back. Josh went to get pizza for tea and we ate that on the beach and headed home.
It was my best day of the summer! How life should be. Under a sunshade, watching Toby swimming well, eating yummy food and chatting away. Summer days should always be on a beach.
We drove home late (for Toby anyway) and he slept like a log until 8.45am on Sunday morning! Cool!
Sunday was different. For a start it was raining and a southerly. Mike's tramp was good but he has hurt his back and it got worse during the day. However, Toby was happy as Mike got the cable TV working. Hooray! Mike also hired a carpet cleaner and we cleaned the carpets in the lounge (our hand was forced because Merlot pooed all over the carpets during the week one night - please note the previous post in the blog for my understanding of how Merlot's brain works) and also cleaned the car. The car looks great - we luxed and use the upholstery attachment to clean the car carpets and seats. Nice!
That was the weekend. Toby is at the Sampson's place being looked after by Hannah. I get the feeling 8am was a little early for her to be called upon! But Hannah is marvellous and got dressed immediately and Toby will be in good hands!
Tomorrow I have the day off for Toby's last day of the summer holidays. We're off to the zoo (with Chelsea).
I hope your weekend was as much fun!
Love,
Angela
And the beautiful month of February starts. Well, normally it is beautiful but that is hard to fathom at this point because there is a southerly with rain and has been since yesterday morning. Never mind. It is bound to improve this month, of that I am certain!
The weekend was fantastic fun! Woo hoo! Friday night I went to the movies with Sally, Vivienne and Vicki. We saw "It's Complicated" and it was quite simple. Made me laugh when it should and Meryl Streep was perfection as usual. Mike and Toby picked me and Vivienne up and Mike got his house keys back (Vivienne had them for feeding Merlot on anniversary weekend). So everything was right with the world. I hope the trains were fine for Sally and Vicki's journey home.
Saturday morning dawned even more brilliant than Friday. The best day so far of the summer. Mike got ready for his day tramp and headed off and Toby and I started to walk to the hairdressers. We got about 5m. When Toby realised my intention was to walk all the way there (Thorndon - so not too far) he sat down in the gutter and pouted. I told him I would drive to the library and we'd walk from there. He perked up and told me he was good at compromising. Really?
So, we walked in. And we had a wonderful time walking in. The weather was so nice - no wind, blue skies. We were a little early when we got there and they took Toby immediately. So we were leaving by 9.40am. Toby looked great with his short hair, ready for school.
We walked into town and caught a bus to Courtney Place and walked to Oriental Bay beach to catch up with Carrie and her sister Penny. Carrie was entered in the 2.8km ocean swim. Toby was very impressed and the whole 2 hour thing seemed to keep him pretty interested. The elite swimmers finished in 30-35 minutes. Amazing. Carrie was about 1 hour 24 min, but we were suitably impressed with that. Well done. Toby has declared he wants to do it one day. So, his first swimming goal!
After that we drove to Waikanae (via McDonalds for lunch, which I botched up because I never order McDs so Toby was disppointed) and Toby had a ball. We bought presents for Duncan and Emerson (it was their birthday a few weekends back) and they went down very well. Then we piled into Moby (their car) and went to the beach. Well, the mouth of the Waikanae River really. Toby spent 3 hours in the water. The boys had a log of wood and they used that as a boat to swim across the river to the other side and back. Josh went to get pizza for tea and we ate that on the beach and headed home.
It was my best day of the summer! How life should be. Under a sunshade, watching Toby swimming well, eating yummy food and chatting away. Summer days should always be on a beach.
We drove home late (for Toby anyway) and he slept like a log until 8.45am on Sunday morning! Cool!
Sunday was different. For a start it was raining and a southerly. Mike's tramp was good but he has hurt his back and it got worse during the day. However, Toby was happy as Mike got the cable TV working. Hooray! Mike also hired a carpet cleaner and we cleaned the carpets in the lounge (our hand was forced because Merlot pooed all over the carpets during the week one night - please note the previous post in the blog for my understanding of how Merlot's brain works) and also cleaned the car. The car looks great - we luxed and use the upholstery attachment to clean the car carpets and seats. Nice!
That was the weekend. Toby is at the Sampson's place being looked after by Hannah. I get the feeling 8am was a little early for her to be called upon! But Hannah is marvellous and got dressed immediately and Toby will be in good hands!
Tomorrow I have the day off for Toby's last day of the summer holidays. We're off to the zoo (with Chelsea).
I hope your weekend was as much fun!
Love,
Angela
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)