The Tuesday with Jack and a book launch

Hi,

Toby got off the school bus in town and came to work at the same time as his friend Jack turned up.  Jack had two hours free before his mother's book launch at parliament and Toby and Jack enjoyed catching up with each other.  They stayed on level 8 at work while I caught up with work.  I think they had the better deal.

At 1730 we went down to parliament and entered the hall where the book launch was held.  It was packed - but the crown were all milling around at the door end.  So once I had my name tag, I moved well down the other end.  And then I sidled around to be as far away from the throng as possible.  To observe from the sidelines.

Ummmm.  That technique failed miserably.  Jack's mum came over to me and we exchanged some words before - BOOM!  The event started.  And because I was next to her, I reckon I am in quite a few photos.  Peter Dunne opened the proceedings and then came and stood next to me as the evening progressed.  I am sure he has no idea who I am still.  Probably thinks I am a high powered lawyer.

The evening was such fun.  Toby chatted away to Jack and they both had such a good time.

Iced coffee with Rex during the day

Jack and Toby chatting

Outside parliament afterwards

Beehive

The food came around on platters after the speeches.  I think the waiting staff cottoned on to the couple on the side, away from anyone else, who would eat anything you offered them.  If they only had a couple of things left on their platter, they'd come to us.

I got so full - by stealth!  One wee nibble after another.

We said our goodbyes and left.  Mike is promising to take Toby up to visit soon.

Back home and off to bed.

The next morning (this morning) I got a text from Andrew saying he was sorry but he couldn't make the Bike to Work Day with me.  Oooooohhhh!  I had completely forgotten.  So I made lunches and left in a huge hurry and enjoyed the waterfront and a bagel.

Bike to work Day

It was such a wonderful ride into town.  I sat in a truck cab to see what the visibility was like from their perspective.  The answer?  Hopeless!  Their mirrors are so tiny compared to the size of the truck.  And so many blind spots.

Best avoid trucks when you're on a bike.

Then I went into work.  

Should be a good day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday with Toby duties

Hi,

Monday was a blur of work - frantically busy for most of it.  But it did pass pretty quick.  Then Toby was at work and we headed off in the car to his appointment.  That went well and from there we headed back into town to collect Mike.

Once all three of us were in the car, we drove out towards Scots and found the yummy Mexican place closed on Mondays.  Stink.  I remembered Jo saying Gasworks was ok for family meals so we went there.  Toby loved his burger.  But the chicken wings were dry husks and my steak was tough.  No wonder I got given a knife Crocodile Dundee would have been proud to use.  Not high on our list of places to re-visit.

Off to see the Fergusson reception and meet other parents and teachers.  We saw inside Toby's locker and it was remarkably tidy.  Wow!  We have some plans for helping him get organised and hopefully he has an amazing year.

Back home and I was asleep in seconds, once in bed.  Slept right through until my alarm at 5am.  Got up for my run and did an alright time.  The wind has died down and the rain cleared away and the roads were dry.  Good news for my bike ride into work too.

Busy day today again.  And Jack is in town this afternoon so Toby is catching up with him.  And we're all invited to Parliament to Mai's book launch.  Wow.  How cool.

Have a fantastic day. I know I will.  It is off to a wonderful start.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with three days off and the most fun

Hi,

What an awesome weekend.  I love three day weekends.

The Thursday that was like a Friday wasn't an overly auspicious start to the weekend.  Mike and I drove back into town with jumper leads to try and start the motorbike that got delivered from Dunedin.  To no avail.  It didn't help that it had fallen over in the gusty Wellington wind and flooded.  Mike dropped me off at Sally and Andrew's work and went to get a trailer.  While we ate yummy food at Portlander, he came back with the trailer and took the bike home.  Andrew helped him get the bike on.  Mike was so efficient that he was back in time for our mains.  He's amazing.

Next morning I eventually got up for my run.  A bit later than usual at 8.30.  But it was good fun.  Aidan dropped her boys off at our place and she and I left in the wee green car for a day of driving adventure in the Wairarapa.  We left around 10.30 or so and wandered slowly over the hill, with Aidan doped up on her car sickness medicine.  The last time I drove her over the hill without it, we had to stop on the side of the road and allow the waves of nausea to subside.  I was all for her medicating herself this time.  And it seemed to work.  We were held up in slow traffic going up and over and Aidan was eternally grateful for small mercies.  But she never felt sick.

Top of Rimutaka Hill

We got to the Clareville Bakery just on midday and Aidan bought me lunch.  Whereupon I promptly ordered breakfast.  Eggs benedict.  Mmmmm.  And it was good.  We shared a cronut (is that the way I was supposed to phrase it, Aidan?) and I had an iced coffee.  It was a pretty good one.

Aidan had a sandwich, but I think my eggs trumped her sandwich.











We chatted about music and work and sang lots.  Aidan enjoyed the roof being down when I was singing particularly loud.  Something about drowning out the noise.  And I don't think she was referring to the driving noise.

Iced coffee at Clareville Bakery

Driving in the wee green car

From Clareville Aidan decided the goal was Napier, but after we went through Masterton and Mt Bruce she had decided that Lulu would have felt abandoned by the time we got back from there.  So Aidan navigated us from Eketahuna to Castlepoint via route 52.  A lovely drive,  And yes, Aidan self medicated again.

Walking to the lighthouse

We got to Castlepoint relatively late in the afternoon.  Maybe around 4pm.  And was it windy.  Wow.  The car has been finely sandblasted.  As have Aidan and I.

Aidan braced against the wind taking the photo of
 me sitting under the lighthouse

My favourite photo - me next to the lighthouse

On top of Castlepoint headland.  There is actually a lighthouse growing out of my head, but you can't tell from this photo.

 We wandered up to the lighthouse and around to the viewpoint.  The waves were strong enough to be breaking over the path.  One woman looked a bit fearful at the location her husband made her pose in.  But she got back to the path safely without me having to go over and get her.  I would have got wet.

On the top the wind blew out any cobwebs.  Wow - did it what!!!  But the sea was a lovely colour, tipped by whitecaps.

Walking up to the high point

Aidan posing in front of a dramatic, stunning backdrop

Aidan and me on top of Castlepoint

More driving fun

Virgin mule.  Lovely.

Aidan has a matching drink

 We got back in the car and headed to Greytown for tea.  Salute.  The tapas restaurant.  Mmmm.  Tapas.  We had a selection of yummy things and Aidan got me a drink.  She had a matching one but with a bit of alcohol in hers.













I am completely mystified by the formatting in this blog post.  No idea what is going on with it.  This particular paragraph is formatting in the middle of the page.  Too weird

Ok.  Whatever.  The formatting is pants and I can't move any photos around anymore.

So, where were we?  Eating tapas.  Yep.  From there we drove to Kaitoke and caught up with Mike and the boys.  They were camping and unbeknownst to us, they had only been there a few hours before we got there.  They had a slow start to their camping day.

We dropped off dessert to them and headed home.  Aidan got home and fed Lulu and didn't lose any limbs in the process.  She's lucky Lulu is so understanding.

Next day was Saturday and I did a load of tidying.  I also worked a bit.  A release to a production site wasn't going as well as expected.  But by midday it came right.  Yay.

I called Vivienne and got Benjamin on the phone.  So I said Hello Benjamin is your mother there?  And Benjamin helpfully said "I'm at work".  So I looked at my phone, sure I had called the home phone.  And Benjamin said "You'll be wanting Vivienne then".  And I said "Yes".  As the phone got handed to Vivienne I realised Benjamin was actually John.  Oops.  He sounded just like Benjamin!

I fed Ange's cats at 5pm and then got ready for karaoke night.  I collected Vivienne, got the Jazz and then we collected Aidan and Shannon and got to Monsoon Poon at 6.30 on the dot.  The others arrived soon enough (Andrew, Ilske, Christine and Brian) and we all ate a banquet of yummy food.

Andrew mixes

DIY iced coffee

Taste test at Zany Zeus

From there we went to K-Zone on Wakefield for karaoke fun.  Well, I had fun.  And I think Ilske had fun.  Aidan says she had fun.  But whether she ever does it again with me would be the determining factor.  Andrew sang, despite not knowing most of the songs.  Christine spent a lot of time chortling at the lyrics.  The best lyrics mess was "Ricochet, take your aim" translated to "Brick of shame, take your rain".  That had us in fits.  Aidan was translating that song on the fly for us.

Home early enough after dropping off everyone.  Slept well and up for my run Sunday morning.  More tidying before brunch with Sally and Andrew at Zany Zeus's.  Then a bit of computer stuff before going home to see my boys.

Dinner with Emerson and Duncan

Aidan was collecting Josh from Holdsworth and there was an accident on the way home so they went via Palmerston North.  They got to us quite late at 730 pm and their boys zombied into the car.

So, it was an action packed weekend.  I loved it.  Chatted Mike's ear off last night in bed and now need an early night to compensate.

Have a fantastic week.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with nothing

Hi,

Wednesday was pretty uneventful too.  Busy at work.  Rode home and found Toby at home already.  That was good.  Cooked tea.  His favourite - chicken schnitzels.  Mike got home relatively early so he also got dinner.  Lucky Mike,

I nipped up to the loft to dig out my motorcycle gear because our new bike is arriving this morning in Wellington from Dunedin.  Turns out I need new bike gear.  Both my helmets have had the linings disintegrate.  I love my Shoei too.  Sigh.  So I need to go shopping and replace it.  And a jacket.

But I cobbled together enough stuff to ride it home this morning.  Yay!  Can't wait.

Mike was going to head off to tramping club but Toby and I lured him home.  Hahah.  I had a lot of sleep to catch up on so I was sleeping before too long.  And it was a good sleep.

We've got tomorrow off.  Well, most of New Zealand has.  Waitangi Day.  I am catching up with Aidan, even though the forecast is a little wet and colder than it has been.  We're going to eat our way through the day.  Cafe hopping.

Mike and Toby are off camping.  Not sure where.  Possibly Kaitoke.  With Emerson and Duncan.  And some others from work.  Bet they have a great time.

Other than that, not a lot.  Have a fantastic time whatever your weekend brings.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with nothing

Hi,

My Tuesday was largely uneventful really.  The highlight was it was Mary's birthday (at work) so we had loads of fun at lunch and I had an iced coffee with her later in the day.

Far better iced coffee shot

Scary selfie shot for Mary's birthday

But I also had a V with a client in a meeting after the iced coffee and that tipped me over the edge.  I felt really yucky riding home.  Hahah.

Got home and cooked tea and Mike got home and gobbled it all up.  At least he appreciates my cooking.  Toby just nibbled around the edges.

The day is a bit windy this morning but it was a fine old ride in.  Fast.  Is it bad that I am already looking forward to home time?  It is a short week this week and the weekend beckons already.  Fun.  Can't wait.

Have a fantastic day.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with dinner at Christine's place

Hi,

I rode home yesterday and enjoyed it, although the wind had got up to a decent amount for the first time in ages.  Still, it wasn't too bad a ride at all.

I cooked tea for Toby and Mike came home just as I finished that.  So we swapped duties and I drove in to see Christine.  She cooked me a lovely dinner.  Wow.

Her pinny looked great

And the dinner looked even better

She cooked a rack of lamb with a crust she made from pistachios, Parmesan and lime juice.  Nom, nom.

We watched a harrowing mini series (well, I got through two episodes) featuring Tom Hardy (an actor Christine is taken with) while Christine mended my two items of clothing.  Her comment on Toby's hole in his blazer pocket was he should have brought it to her before the hole got so big her hand could fit through the hole.  But when she saw my pyjamas, she was astonished.  It wasn't so much a hole as a entire new opening really.

But, our clothes look great again!  Woot!  Thanks so much.

I got home late for me and fell into bed.  Mike was working so I never really saw him because I was asleep when he got into bed.

Up for my run this morning and it was tough.  I was so lethargic.  And I didn't feel great.  But I ran and made it through 5km.

Right.  Time for tea.  It's Mary's birthday today.  We have an iced coffee date.  Mmmmm.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with nothing much - for a change

Hi,

I did go and look after Toby, Emerson and Duncan on Friday night at their house while Mike went out to play with Jackie, Josh and Aidan.  Well, I was in the house.  Supervision might be a loose interpretation of what I was doing.  I got them burgers and they scoffed those then went to play on the computer.  So I got comfortable on the couch.  Tickled Lulu.  And fell asleep.  I reckon I had a good two hour nap.  Woke up when they all got home.

Reading on the couch

Mike tickling Lulu on the bed

Took the boys home and watched an awesome documentary on honey badgers.  Honey badgers seem to be like Tasmanian Devils.  Voracious for their size.  Smart.  Loads of character.  Toby and I watched it all, fascinated.  Mike's night out caught up with him and he snored through it.

Mike cooking breakfast

Next morning Mike got up and make me some toast.  Mmmmm.  And a cup of tea.  Mmmmm.  And stayed in his towel for ages.  Hahahah.  I went out to collect Aidan for an exercise class with her.  Barre.  It was so hard.  It probably didn't help that I forgot my water at home and had to share Aidan's supply.  But I made it through the hour intact.  I dropped Aidan home and went back to do some chores at home.

We did a minimal amount of work, really before Andrew called in the afternoon and asked for some IT help.  So we went around there.  After finding out the weed sprayer was perfectly fine because the missing pieces were actually inside the backpack.  Oops.  And talking to the neighbours for an hour.

But we got to Sally and Andrew's place and Sally and I went shopping for a BBQ.  Mike cooked it up and then we had the brazier.  Such fun.

Brazier night

I heard a camera!

Eventually I took the boys home and we fell into bed, exhausted.

Sunday breakfast

When I got up on Sunday, I read on Facebook that our neighbour had found a new cafe in Wadestown.  We exchanged posts and then Mike got up and went to get breakfast from there!  Look at that!  Le Marquis.  Very nice food.

Then Emerson and Duncan arrived to play and I went for my run.  Did a good time.  Not my best, but pretty good.  And then I went to see Christine.  She is good too.  Still has a sore shoulder though.  Brian fed us and then I helped Christine move Tom's bedroom around.

Back home and Mike cooked tea and I ironed.  Boring.  Then into bed to watch Time Team America from 2014.  Awesome.  I fell asleep within 20 minutes.  But never mind.

Have a wonderful week.  A short one for us in New Zealand.  Waitangi Day is on Friday.

Love,
Angela