The Thursday with dragon boat training

Hi,

Happy birthday month!  Yippee!  And I know lots of people with birthdays today.

After Wednesday, my Thursday was relaxing in comparison.  Even with major hassles.  They just paled into insignificance compared to Wednesday.  Back to normal.

Iced latte with Andrew

Even got a coffee in with Andrew early in the morning.  And despite that being my only chemical enhancing drug for the day, I was accused of drinking V later in the afternoon.  Which I did not.  Haven't touched it this week at all. 

My pod mates were obviously all lying.

Had dragon boat training after work - and Celia attended despite still being on leave.  Yay for her.  And it was good to see her.

We had a great session in lovely weather.  There was a swell, so it was fun.

Mike and Toby surprised me by picking me up - and they had Indian takeaways.  So no cooking for me!

Toby's first day at school today.  Not sure why they bother.  10am start and they are dismissed at 12.30.  He has a sleepover at Tessa's house.  Hope that goes ok.

We have plans with Sally and Andrew - nebulous though they are.

And camping at Waikawa beach with the motorbike.  We'll collect Toby from Tessa's tomorrow morning and head away.

I will come back into the Hutt for Saturday evening for a birthday party.  Happy birthday Sreejith and Anjali.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with another swim lesson

Hi,

Ooohhhh - I am glad there are not too many days like that at work.  Talk about tough.  Anyway, I at least saw Mike at the start of my day.  We had an iced latte at The Lab.  I love the beaker I get mine in.

It was Victor's birthday and I made dip for it - which was a hit.  A dip hit.  Hahaha.  He came in with Susan and I think he enjoyed the attention.  Good on Joycie for getting it all sorted.  Nice cake too!  Nom, nom.  I ate two bits.  Thanks Jo.

About now I hurt my eye.  I think a blood vessel burst.  When I waited for Mike for lunch (which didn't happen), Shannon told me it was due to my super fast descents and ascents of the stairs and the altitude differential at that speed meant it popped.  That made me laugh as an excellent example of a  pseudo-science theory. 

This one actually hurt - like something was in my eye

Happy birthday Victor!

I made dip

Happy iced latte with Mike

Sneaky selfie by Mike

Mike stood me up for lunch - but I found him in a meeting at my work and dropped off the Surface that I had charged.

After work, I had a swim lesson - again.  Also tough - but in a different way to work.  I had missed lunch so it was hard work from that perspective.

Home to cook tea for Toby and Mike.  And into bed after a vent to Mike about my day.  Which he said he found interesting.  But, he's just sweet like that.

Missed the 15/15 yesterday because I didn't listen to (work) Sally.  Doh!  That Emily Bronte and her single piece of literature.

Hope your day is a good one.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with another swimming lesson

Hi,

Second swim lesson - omg - I have no clue.  I have to un-learn stuff, and learn new stuff.  I had no idea that freestyle was like that.  Arms aren't always opposite in the stroke.  There is a period where both arms are forward.  That is so hard for me to un-learn.

She said I relaxed a little more.  Umm - I didn't notice.  Hahaha.  And I did one full length without stopping at one point.  Woot!  But I still need to pick my elbows up higher and enter fingers first.

She also said she would assess Andrew and let him know what he should do for getting his swimming on track for a triathlon.  Bwhahahah - I might be putting things into Andrew's mind there.  But the gym has a week free trial, so she said to get Andrew in, and she'd check out his swimming.  And he can spin with me!  Oosshh!

Called Andrew's bluff.  :-p

Iced latte with Andrew

Iced latte with Ed

Best apricot of the season

Chilling on the deck - both cats thought it was too hot for being inside.

My phone says it is 28C

Yesterday turned out hot here.  My phone said it was 28C.  The pic is from my Surfer's Paradise trip in November last year, so don't get confused.  That is my background screen on my phone at the moment.

The media had a field day with "The Heatwave".  Whatever.  There was a live feed of the weather updates from around the country.  "MetService has released the 3pm weather temps".  Umm, really?  What a crazy beat up.

I think some places might have got up to 33C.

I would call that:  warmer than usual.

I got home after my swim and made morning tea for today for work.  Someone turns 50.  Spring chicken!  Hahahah.  It was warm - even at 9pm when I was sitting on the deck with the cats.

Mike has made the bathroom and foyer look amazing.  Cleared out all the debris and tidied.  And luxed!  My heart is lighter.  Apparently the tiler should be coming soon.

Anyway, this morning my Spin was cancelled, so I texted Mike to see if he could come in early for a coffee date with me.  He did!  I was ready for him.  And the cake got delivered at the same time, so I nipped out to wait for Rex outside New World.

I was standing there, by the loading zone where Rex would pull up.  And I had my arms crossed, because, you know.  Awkward!  Anyway, as I waited, this woman crossed the street towards me and came right up to me.

Ok.  This is unusual.

She says:  Are you security here?

Me:  Ummm, no.  But I am glad I look imposing.

She says:  Do you know where I could find a shoe repair shop around here?

Me:  Sure.  In The Grand, just down there.  And up on The Terrace.

She says:  Thanks.  My sandal is broken.  But I do have two other pairs.

Me: [eyebrows go up].

Fortunately Rex pulls up and I run over and she wanders away.

Anyway, that is my day so far.  Weird, but true.

And another swim lesson after work.  Toby's last day of school hols.  Wow!  And...  probably other Gilbert fun and games.

It's just how we roll.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with a swim lesson

Hi,

Ok - so I did catch up with Andrew for an iced latte and to hear about his tramping adventures from the weekend.  He knocked off quite a few spot heights and is likely to have less than thirty to go.  Woot!

Mmmm.  Machete iced latte.

Anyway, got through the day at work.  Then headed to Habit for my first swim lesson.  People in the know realise I was looking at this with some trepidation.  Something new.  Anyway, Ruth was great (the swim coach) and she had me doing freestyle immediately to check my form.  Which apparently I didn't have any of, really.  Hahah.  I swim too tense.  Like I cycle, run and ski.  Sigh.  So I need to relax.  And:

tense my core (but not my shoulders)
play tag with my arms
lift my elbow
enter fingers first into the water
bend elbow
stroke past my hip
pull lots of water
relax

I also did backstroke, which didn't seem to need as much remedial work.  And if I were to try and paraphrase what the coach said, I would say it was:  you aren't too useless.

Pretty sure she said something nicer than that.  But that is what I heard.  Hahah.

So another lesson tonight, and one tomorrow.  I expect my arms will be broken by then.  Next one is Tues 5th and the following one is Mon 11th.  I am hopeful I will have something to work on by the end of this so I can add swimming into my exercise plan.

When I got home, Mike was attempting to cut away the stump of the tree he cut down in the weekend. The gardeners had started with a chainsaw but it had thrown its chain and they were coming back to finish it. He was a little bit sheepish because he'd cut too far in before changing sides - and the handsaw blade had jammed tight into the tree.  He'd had to disassemble the saw and just leave it there.  So now our stump features a steel blade hanging out of the middle of it.

In other news, it is forecast to be 29C here today.  Mozzies attacked me at the bus stop this morning, like I was living in Malaysia or somewhere tropical.  Not Wellington.  And foggy as anything.  Mike reckons the expected heat wave from Australia has picked up a lot of moisture moving over the Tasman.  Like - a lot!  The air is thick.

My phone is not backing up to the cloud again.  Not sure why - some dodgy update no doubt.   So you have to imagine my iced latte photo.

Have an awesome day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend with no camping for me but with survival night for Mike

Hi,


After a slightly disappointing realisation that we wouldn't go to Matiu/Somes on Friday after work, we recovered admirably.  Mike found out you could ask the ferry to redirect to the island for $70.  And he found out you could call the ranger out for the gear check for an extra $80.  But that all seemed a bit crazy for a night on the island.  But if there were a bunch of you, it would become an option.

Mike got up early to get a few things done before he headed off for Survival Night.  Hahah.  He survived!

Meanwhile, Toby and I chilled out and watched The Princess Bride together.  Fun. 

Sunday was a lazy start and then Mike came home and galvanised us into action a bit.

Moxley playing in the fresh sheets

The week ahead beckons - with Toby going back to school after 2 months off.  Wow.  I hope he has a really good year.

And... so warm.  We got the fan out of the loft last night so put on the porch for "selling" - and Mike suggested we use it because it was so hot as we went to sleep.  So I got up and assembled it and we used it all night.

Bliss.

Right.  Time to kick start the day.  Have a good one.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with dragon boat training

Hi,

What a crazy day.  Running around like a headless chicken for the most part.  But we had dragon boat training so the day started looking up around 5pm when I had to dash away to get changed.

Celia is away, so Matt was balancing the boat and he was supposed to the be drummer.  But so many pulled out of training that Matt had to paddle.

And, despite not having a drummer, we did really well.  Hayden (sweep) kept us focussed and the evening was lovely.

Afterwards, I powered back to work, trying to aim for the 7.19pm bus.  Given it was 7.08 when I left training, it was tight.  I collected my fridge groceries from the Level 2 fridge, hurtled to my locker on Level 1 and sighed when I saw how many groceries I had there.  Found a bag, and flung everything in.  Decided against changing out of my wet shorts, as by now it must be super close to 7.19. 

Walked out of the garage at work and crossed the road.  I could see a bus in the distance and just knew it was my bus.  As I walked down hurriedly, it stopped at the bus stop.  I was totally going to miss it.  But I saw loads of punters waiting to get on.  The intersection lights were against me.  Red man.  Aarrghh.  But for some reason, the cars were all slow to take off.  So I scampered across the lights and started running.  With my huge backpack on.  My grocery bag with baguette poking out.  Wet shorts.  I saw the bus close its doors.  Uh oh.  But the driver looked up and saw me.  And opened the door again.  I ran on, and thanked her profusely.  Walked down the busy bus and found a seat to deposit my bulky bags.

Phew!

Home and grabbed some quick food before helping Mike with the tent.  We are going to Matiu/Somes after work.  We think.  Mike checked the ferry times and the last ferry is 2pm.  Which we hadn't planned on.  We're both busy at work.

So, goodness knows.  We might be sleeping in the tent in the back yard.  Because it is so clean, that is what we may as well do.  Hahahah.

Have a brilliant weekend.  Roll on the end of the working day!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with work

Hi,

I had lunch with Celia yesterday @ Machete and enjoyed a great catch up with her ahead of her Fiji holiday.  Woot!  Can't wait to see pics on social media of some of her adventures there.  A shark dive!  Oooohhhh.

Iced latte demonstration of dragon boat paddling technique

Saw Mike at work - which was kinda funny.  Caught the bus home - it was the slowest bus in the world.  It took ages to actually get to our suburb.  Caught in some space/time vortex all on its own.

Cooked tea - spag bol.  Toby's choice.  And Mike got home just as I served it.  But Mike also ate most of Toby's and then complained the rest of the night about being too full.  No more leftovers for Mike!

It poured down during the night.  Enough to wake me from my slumber.  Wow!

Toby passed his NCEA Level 1.  He was a happy boy.  Good on him.  Seeing him try a bit harder this year will have him acing it, I am sure.

Hope your day is a good one.  Enjoy.

Love,
Angela