The Monday that disappeared in a blur

Hi,

I think I blinked and missed it.  Work was frenetic.  But I don't think it was any different to usual.  Maybe my holiday last week has dulled my hyped up work brain.  Hahah.  Gee, I wish I was still skiing with Toby.  Shame it isn't a sustainable lifestyle.  Well, not for us anyway.

Rode home and found no sign of Toby.  Mike was coming home from the Hutt so he dropped in at the library to see if he was there.  But Toby walked into our place not long after Mike left the Hutt Valley.  He'd had a good day at school.  Yay for good days.

I cooked tea with Mike's help.  Toby's favourite.  Chicken schnitzels.  With potatoes, broccoli and carrots (raw - did you have to even ask?).  The whole lot disappeared.  Toby can certainly eat when he likes the food on offer.

Mike and I went grocery shopping after that.  I had to drive because Mike had a wine with his meal.  We enjoyed ourselves and back in time for a long read before sleep claimed me.  Not sure what is going on at the moment but I fall asleep in seconds and sleep deeply.  Nice.

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone.

It's my sisters' birthday tomorrow.  I hope they are going to have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with a Wellington focus

Hi,

Wow - it felt a little odd to have a relaxing weekend in Wellington.  Hahah.  Turns out there was stuff on to look at.  Wellington was celebrating 150 years as the nation's capital.  Woot!  There was loads on in town, and we did get to see some of it.

Friday after work saw Ange pop in for an evening of chatting.  Mike and Ange were in the mood for long talks.  Eventually the long working week (two days!) caught up with me and I was lying on the couch, drifting off a bit. But I was listening to them.  It was just past my bedtime,  Hahah.  I drove Ange home and then back home for a comatose sleep.

Saturday Mike went out to work in the morning and I drove up to Paraparaumu to do a 7km run with Mary from work.  We ran up the Waikanae river right next to her house.  It was a stunning morning.  The river was beautiful.  I did the run in just under 44 minutes.  Yay.  We have a 10 km run coming up soon.  Mary wants to do it in under 1 hour.  I think I will aim for 1 hour 10 minutes.  Hahah.

I got home and Mike got home from work not long after me.  He had a brochure from the 150 celebration so we lined up some stuff to do.

As we drove to Repco to get a replacement light bulb for our car headlight, Aidan called.  We arranged to meet at Parliament later for the light show and concert.  Yay!  A plan.  Of sorts.

The Te Papa off site storage was open to visitors, so we queued up and just managed to get in before the shut the doors for the day.

Shackleton's sled!  Wow!

We saw loads of tanks for specimens filled with alcohol.  We had to turn off cellphones in case we ignited the air.  Wow.  They have a new colossal squid.  We got to see it!

We saw Ernest Shackleton's sleds.  Made from bamboo.  We saw loads of bones and old furniture.  It was rather fascinating.

Look, dear!

Waiting for Mike

From there we went straight to the Beehive for the light show and Dave Dobbyn concert.  Aidan had staked a place with her blanket and we all sat on that and ate pizza Mike kindly went to buy for us.  And drinks too!  Good on him.  Mike took the boys away (they were bored) and Aidan and I stayed for the concert and light show proper.

Light show at the Beehive

My feet and Aidan's in the background

Birthday candles on the Beehive

Can anyone guess whose foot is whose?  Hint - mine are always stunning.  Aidan's are ok, but mostly functional.  Honest!

At one point we did a selfie and then a foot selfie.  It was a bit cold to take off footwear, so we probably got quite a few odd looks.  And if you look carefully in the photo above, you can see the Southern Cross pointers.  I love this photo.

Selfie while lying down

Aidan also took a selfie of us lying down.  It was weird because we were surrounded by people standing up.  So all we could see was a whole heap of chins above us.

Anyhow, we enjoyed ourselves, and although the weather was spectacular for a July evening, it was cold.  We huddled under the blanket and any time Aidan moved too far from me, I hauled her back.  The only part that stayed warm was the part closest to her.

Aidan dropped me home and collected her boys.  We watched a movie (Mortal Kombat - groan).  Then I slept the sleep of the dead.

Sunday was a bit more lazy.  I was supposed to tidy lots.  The bathroom and laundry got done.  But not a lot else.  Magnus came over.  Mike went to work.  I did finish my book.  Hahah.

We had tea after Magnus went home and Mike got back.  We watched a documentary together on some bank heist in London in 1975.  Funny.  Different times.

Today is Toby's first day back at school after his three weeks off.  I hope he has a great day.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday back at work

Hi,

Boom!  Shock of being back at work.  Mind you, it was over in a blur.  Friday already!  Wow.  Wish I had two day weeks more often.  Hahah.

Mike drove me to the Tabor house to collect Toby.  We managed to get a cup of tea and a chat out of Aidan before we had to go.  Mike ordered Indian takeaways for us and we all listened to a podcast that Toby has found.   Two guys from North Carolina that now live in LA and they talk about stuff.  They have known each other since grade 1.  But now they are married with kids and they usually have guest speakers in.  But the ones I have heard are just the two of them.  We have heard about adventures in Walmart, rites of passage for boys to men in various cultures and cases of head injuries producing savant skills in people.  They are just entertaining.

I went to bed after reading to Toby and I tried to listen to a podcast, but I just fell asleep in seconds.  I have no staying awake powers at all.

Right.  The weekend beckons.  We have a Wellington weekend.  Woot!  I need to sort out Toby's applications for schools next year and take him op shopping for a suit for his Halloween costume.  Could be tricky.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Angela

The holiday with Toby down south

Hi,

Oh, it's a shock to be back at work.  I'll need to tell you all about our holiday at some stage.  But I am a little too busy right now getting back into routine.

Toby and I had a brilliant time in Methven at Pudding Hill Lodge.  We built snowmen ( there was snow lying all around our accommodation), had snowball fights, skied, ate at cafes and slept lots.

My snow angel

With snowman one

Two snowmen facing off

Love his hair!

This looks so cute

Catch this, Mum!

Right - I need to get stuck in.  Have a fantastic day.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with Toby back

Hi,

Toby had an awesome day yesterday.  He caught up with William and they went into town to see Ant-Man together.  They actually said it was good and Toby said I would like it and I should take him.  Ok.  I wasn't convinced from the shorts, but there you go.

Turns out that Emerson and Duncan also went to see it - with Jackie.  And when I caught up with her in the evening, she said it was really good.  Interesting.  So now it is on my list.

I got the car to take home after work and Aidan needed a lift with the contents of her desk (they are moving around on the floor this weekend I think.  Not sure she can tell me - it's probably classified).  She had two shoe boxes and a carton with stuff in it.  Including a box of tea.  When she gets back to work (I think she has next week off with the boys), it could be deprivation for her.

Mike is off to Ruapehu this weekend and leaves after work today.  He's driving a van load up.  The weather looks pants, but you never know.

Toby and I have an action-packed weekend.  Saturday is Pax's birthday - he turns one!  Woot.  So we're going to that.  And then Isaac wants to see him, so I'll drop him over there.  If I'm lucky I might get a cup of tea with Isaac's mother (Sally).  Sunday I want to try a long run in the morning.  Then I want to take Toby and his mates (Emerson, Duncan and William) to Armageddon.  Wonder if I can fit in a breakfast with them.  That'd make me happy.

Then Sunday evening Toby and I fly to Mt Hutt for three days.  Back on Wednesday evening.  Can't wait!  We have a rental car booked (a 4WD) and Pudding Hill Lodge (always our accommodation of choice) lined up.  Bring that on!

Have a marvellous weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with Toby back

Hi,

Well, that Wednesday passed me by like a blur.  I can't believe I am wearing a purple shirt for "Purple Shirt Thursday" because it feels like Wednesday never existed.  I guess the upside is, Friday will come sooner than I expect.  Woot!

Iced coffee - decaf! - at Mixed Business

I did sneak out with Rex to Mixed Business to have a decaf iced coffee.  Sluuurrrrppp.  Yum.  That was a good catch up time with him.  We hardly see each other at the moment as he is on client sites constantly.

I rode home yesterday after work and enjoyed it.  It's been a wee while since I did that.  I was fluffing around when Mike got home earlier than expected and he made a delicious Spaghetti Bolognese. 

But before tea we ate Tim Tams - peanut butter flavour.  They smelled delicious, but they were standing a long way from peanut butter when they made them.  How did they make them smell like peanut butter, and taste bland?

Peanut butter Tim Tams!

What does this face say about them?

 Yummo.  After I scoffed the spag bol down I went grocery shopping.  I bumped into three people I know.  Very social shopping.

Then off to see Christine for a cup of tea.  We watched Dangerous Roads.  It made Christine sick.  It made me want to go find those roads.  Awesome holiday!  I also showed her the wonders of pause television.  She was astounded.

Back home and read to Toby before bed.  Zzzzzzz.

Have an awesome day!

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Toby home

Hi,

The novelty of having Toby with us is still really high.  And I get smothered in kisses if I get close enough - so I think he also likes being here.  Mind you, he also asked if he could go back this week to visit Nana,  So, perhaps he's in two minds.

Yesterday was a crazy logistics day.  I drove in super early then drove home to get Toby for an appointment across town.  I got him sushi for morning tea and lunch and then back to work,  Mike went out to the car and moved it to the car parking building.  I collected it after work and the car parking ticket man realised it was just me in the car and not my terribly sick husband.  "He's finally at home sick, is he?" he asked.  Hahahah.

I went and collected Toby and we drove out to Spruce Goose for dinner with Fran and Roz.  Woot!  Awesome choice.

Spruce Goose iced coffee gets a 7 from me

Their iced coffee was unusual.  Made with ice cream - like, blended into it, I think.  It was good.  Sweet, and not strongly coffeey.  I quite liked it for a change.  I ate their steak and Toby loved the pieces he had.  But I think he'd eaten a few Tim Tams during the afternoon and was not starving.

Good to catch up with Fran and Roz.  They are off to Rarotonga for their birthday.  Turns out their birthdays are within days of each other and they'd never said.  Lucky things.  I asked them to blog so I could live vicariously through them, but they pointed out their blog would go:

Day 1.  Sat around pool, relaxing
Day 2.  Read book around the pool
Day 3.  Checked out the beach for a swim

And so on.

Hahahah!  Sounds like an unusual holiday.  For me.  But our Samoa holiday was a little similar, I guess.  And on the way home last night (after we collected Mike from town), Mike mentioned he wants to return to Samoa for a holiday.  I vote yes.  And Toby certainly does too.

Rode into work this morning and avoided any rain.  But it is different from yesterday.  Heavily overcast.  And windy.  From the north.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,,
Angela