The weekend with fabulous skiing - and Mike!

Hi,

Wow - what a great weekend.  It was so nice to have Mike home, but we were busy immediately after work and I never saw Mike until midnight up at Ruapehu.

Here's how it looked from my eyes.  I caught a lift with Rex and his family up to Ruapehu.  We made good time and got lots of yummy things to eat along the way.  I recommend long road trips with their family!  We caught up with Aidan and Josh and their family at Bulls and drove together to Ohakune where we collected the food for the weekend and the week (other people moved in after we moved out).

The road was clear all the way to the carpark, where Rex had to put chains on to get into the spare carpark right beside the track to the lodge.  Shame, eh?  Anyhow, after fighting the chains for 30 minutes to get the first one on, the second one went on in 5 minutes!

Then we emptied the car and ferried it all up the track to the lodge.  I made four trips up and down, including one with two cartons of food on my back!  Phew!  Good fun!  Mike was about 90 minutes behind us.  But I only saw him briefly because he got the news that Andrew's car had slipped off into the gutter on the way up the hill.  Between us arriving and Mike, it had started snowing heavily and the road became treacherous.

I walked down to see if I could help, but Mike had it in hand and I wandered back up the lodge to wait and see what happened.  Eventually they left the car where it was and it was midnight by the time the last of us made it into the lodge.

Next morning it was snowing and a wee bit windy.  But some of us braved the conditions and wandered out.  I had a fantastic time.  Some young people took me down Broken Leg Gully and it was fabulous.  I ungracefully flopped over a wee cliff at the start of the run and had a ball.  It became a firm favourite when I introduced Andrew to it later in the day!

My messages to the lodge sank in to some people and Andrew and Josh joined me and I had a wonderful afternoon skiing on great snow with good visibility.  Josh's children had their first lesson and loved skiing.  Hooray!  I am hoping they will be good skiing companions for Toby in future seasons.

Dinner was great - so yummy.  I am amazed at how people can conjure up scrumptious food from ingredients someone else has selected.  Charm and Aidan seemed to be well in control of kitchen things.  We were in safe hands.

I slept well that night.  Sunday it was snowing early on and although it did brighten up in the afternoon, it wasn't quite as good as Saturday afternoon.  I took Rex up the the top of the mountain during a whiteout and I think it made him a bit more apprehensive.  Oops.  But he assures me that it was good for him and made him better on the easier slopes.  Perhaps he has forgiven me?  Mike took him down Rockgarden in good visibility and he loved it.

I had a few good runs with Mike and Andrew - exploring more of the mountain.

Then home with Rex and his family again.  And I slept well again last night!

Mike has now gone to Sydney again though.  We see him in about ten days.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Mike's return

Hi,

Toby and I went out shopping last night for some items for the weekend's ski trip and Toby got to eat McDonalds so he was happy.  We collapsed into bed when we got home, excited at the prospect of Mike coming back at midnight.

I was expecting Mike around 1am after clearing customs and the like but he came in the door at 12:15am.  His flight was early!  So I got up and we chatted for a while before we went to bed.  Toby woke up and was cuddling Mike a lot!

Anyhow, we got up after too short a sleep to sort out our lives.  I left early so I hope Mike and Toby got on ok.

Skiing this weekend.  Should be great fun!
Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with no karate and no Mike

Hi,

When I got to Toby and he asked to skip karate, I was in no mood to argue.  An evening relaxing seemed a much better idea than an evening starting with a hurried toasted sandwich for dinner and rushing around.  So we had a nice pasta dinner and relaxed for the most part.  Perhaps it was for the best as I had my best sleep in ages.

Busy again today at work.  Mike is coming home tonight (arriving on the midnight flight - so not so sure it counts as coming home tonight) and Toby and I are quite excited about it.

Off skiing for the weekend after work tomorrow.  Hope the weather improves from the forecast snow!

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Cubs

Hi,

Cubs went really well.  It was RWC theme and Toby and I dressed in rugby jerseys like most of the Cubs.  We had a rugby themed quiz and then each six got cupcakes to decorate in the theme of a RWC team with icing and the winner from each six went into the Grand Final.  Needless to say, a simple St George Cross won the day.  Icing and 9 year olds don't make for intricate patterns.

Toby and I went home and chatted to Mike with Face Time.  Great fun.  Then Toby and I collapsed into sleep.

This morning still has hail lying around from the storm that hit Wellington around 1pm yesterday.  It is cold but sunny today.  A gorgeous day!

Oh - and I rode home on Monday night without using granny gear.  Second time in two weeks.  Going to try and do it again this week.  Up the ante!

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

Where is Mike?

I'll write some words sometime, but in the meantime here are some photos instead.

A huge slab of yummy Tiramisu from a wonderful Italian place in Randwick.  I did manage to finish it.

Hanging out with the smurfs at Castle Towers

Max Brenner's take on hot chocolate. Lucious thick dark goodness!

Buckets and buckets of chocolate!

Hotel Addison in Kensington.  Look at the wonderful gold curtains!

The Monday with no Mike

Hi,

Toby and I had a good Monday evening - well, I had to work a little, but it was ok.  Tonight is Cubs night.  We're having (surprise) a Rugby World Cup evening.

Busy at work.  Mike is busy at his work.

Heheheh.  Good fun.

Have a great day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with no Mike

Hi,

Friday evening saw me and Toby collecting Sally and Andrew and heading to their place for tea and a sleepover.  Toby was so keen to sleep inside on the floor.  Heheheh.  We woke early and sneaked around and left before we heard any movement from the bedroom.  Hopefully we didn't wake anyone too early on a Saturday.

We drove home to swap cars and then had McDonalds for brekkie.  Then off to Toby's new swimming lesson.  I dropped him off at the pool early and drove back to Abtec for the stereo fitting.  I walked back and forgot Toby's swimming bag when I was halfway.  That meant I had to run back and run to the pool.  Toby was 5 mins late.  Oh dear.  But when he got out of the pool at the end he said he doesn't want to quit swimming anymore.  Hooray!  He loved the new lesson.

Then we wandered around Queensgate for a while.  We ate lunch and bought new shoes for Toby.  Then we walked to get the car.  I had to call Mike as they put the wrong stereo in.  But we're happy with the one they put in.  So Toby and I drove home to get ready for Toby's sleepover that night at William's house.

When Toby had left I worked on my work issues (and fixed the big one).  Then I watched some rugby and fell asleep.

Sunday I got Toby and we got the car wash stuff and I washed the MX5.  It looks great.  Toby and I relaxed and then went for dinner to Jack's house.  We always meeting interesting people at their dinner parties.

I know Mike had fun with the Kittos at the weekend.  Lucky him!  Mike told me last night how Karen always looks after him.

Work today.  And flat out again.  And a bit wet after the sodden ride on!

Have a great week!
Love,
Angela