Angela left for Taupo this morning in the Corolla, on a fine sunny morning. She's over halfway there now - it's a beautiful driving day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a beautiful cycling-160km-as-fast-as-you-can day. Forecast is for some pesky norwesters, though, which will make it challenging for the weak and ensure that Angela and Andrew both place better than they otherwise would have.
Andrew and Sally are also on their way up. Toby and I will head off around 4pm in the MX5, and drive like the wind with the top down and the music on loud (if Toby lets me). Should be great!
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
The Wednesday with work
Hi,
What a busy evening I had in the end. Turns out a client had an automated process that was anything but working automatically. I pushed 500 records through one at a time, every minute. Yes - it did take ages. Yes - I was at work until late. Hahahah.
But Mike and Toby took pity on me and came and collected me late from work. That was a nice surprise. Slept well. Mike left early to head into work and I drove in so Mike has the car for logistics tonight.
I'll pack tonight and leave early tomorrow to head to Taupo. Mike and Toby will come at the other end of the day. Yes, we are unfortunately maximising our carbon footprint to get there.
Have a wonderful day. Still a bit yucky here in Wellington.
Love,
Angela
What a busy evening I had in the end. Turns out a client had an automated process that was anything but working automatically. I pushed 500 records through one at a time, every minute. Yes - it did take ages. Yes - I was at work until late. Hahahah.
But Mike and Toby took pity on me and came and collected me late from work. That was a nice surprise. Slept well. Mike left early to head into work and I drove in so Mike has the car for logistics tonight.
I'll pack tonight and leave early tomorrow to head to Taupo. Mike and Toby will come at the other end of the day. Yes, we are unfortunately maximising our carbon footprint to get there.
Have a wonderful day. Still a bit yucky here in Wellington.
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Tuesday with nothing
Hi,
I rode home and escaped any rain. Lucky for me. Not quite so lucky this morning though, as I got a little wet riding in. Also had a close call on The Terrace as a taxi blocked the road and I made to go around it and a car I was following made to go around it too, and decided to brake at the last minute. Lucky I noticed and swerved. The collision at 5km/hr would have been horrific.
Last night was a pleasant evening of cooking a yummy tea, helping Toby with homework and doing a spot of grocery shopping. Came home and Mike helped me put away the food and we went to bed. I chatted to Ma on Facebook chat for a while. I am enjoying the photos from her trip to Canada and the US. And then I slept like a log.
Have a fantastic day. Stay dry if you're in Wellington.
Love,
Angela
I rode home and escaped any rain. Lucky for me. Not quite so lucky this morning though, as I got a little wet riding in. Also had a close call on The Terrace as a taxi blocked the road and I made to go around it and a car I was following made to go around it too, and decided to brake at the last minute. Lucky I noticed and swerved. The collision at 5km/hr would have been horrific.
Last night was a pleasant evening of cooking a yummy tea, helping Toby with homework and doing a spot of grocery shopping. Came home and Mike helped me put away the food and we went to bed. I chatted to Ma on Facebook chat for a while. I am enjoying the photos from her trip to Canada and the US. And then I slept like a log.
Have a fantastic day. Stay dry if you're in Wellington.
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
The Monday with nothing
Hi,
Monday is always a struggle when you have a fabulous weekend. But I got through it. Got to 5pm and rode home via Ngauranga Gorge. It was a decent headwind but I made good time. I shaved 90 seconds of my previous best time. Happy with that.
Mike cooked dinner and promised egg fried rice. But we got lots of veges in it and Toby and I felt a little cheated. Mike was mildly upset that we didn't think veges with a little bit of egg and rice was quite the same thing as egg fried rice. Hahahah. Toby respectfully requested no more stir fries.
It was a fairly relaxing evening - Mike and I managed a bath while Toby chilled out. Then I put Toby to bed and read for a bit while Mike pretended to work.
This morning's ride in wasn't quite as lovely as it has been but I avoided getting soaked. The rain last night was pretty heavy.
Have a lovely day!
Love,
Angela
Monday is always a struggle when you have a fabulous weekend. But I got through it. Got to 5pm and rode home via Ngauranga Gorge. It was a decent headwind but I made good time. I shaved 90 seconds of my previous best time. Happy with that.
Mike cooked dinner and promised egg fried rice. But we got lots of veges in it and Toby and I felt a little cheated. Mike was mildly upset that we didn't think veges with a little bit of egg and rice was quite the same thing as egg fried rice. Hahahah. Toby respectfully requested no more stir fries.
It was a fairly relaxing evening - Mike and I managed a bath while Toby chilled out. Then I put Toby to bed and read for a bit while Mike pretended to work.
This morning's ride in wasn't quite as lovely as it has been but I avoided getting soaked. The rain last night was pretty heavy.
Have a lovely day!
Love,
Angela
Monday, November 25, 2013
The weekend with lovely weather and Toby's survivalist party
Hi,
What a great weekend. I'm going to have to ask Mike to edit this blog and put photos up from his weekend with Toby and his mates as they celebrated Toby's birthday with a weekend camping in bivvys in the bush. The photos I saw were amazing. Toby was really excited by it. And I commissioned a work colleague to make the cup cakes for his birthday, with a survivalist theme. Look what she came up with!
What a great weekend. I'm going to have to ask Mike to edit this blog and put photos up from his weekend with Toby and his mates as they celebrated Toby's birthday with a weekend camping in bivvys in the bush. The photos I saw were amazing. Toby was really excited by it. And I commissioned a work colleague to make the cup cakes for his birthday, with a survivalist theme. Look what she came up with!
 |
| Fondant huhu grubs! |
 |
| Lots of huhu grubs |
I work with talented people, that's for sure. These huhu grubs are on chocolate cupcakes (Toby's favourite) with leaves and logs (flakes!). They looked amazing - and tasted great too! All the boys thought so.
Anyhow, while Mike and Toby were having fun in the bush, my weekend was just as much fun (well, maybe apart from the manic 4 hours of housework on Sunday morning). Friday night I rode out to meet everyone on Petone beach for burgers. Then I rode home. It was a lovely evening for it.
Saturday morning I did a bit of grocery shopping for the boys before helping them pack. Then I was off to drop off Andrew's bike gear and over the hill to Waikanae to collect Aidan. I caught her boys doing the last bit of packing for Toby's party and then we were all off. Aidan and I to see the Hunger Games Catching Fire, and the boys to Catchpool to find my boys.
Aidan suggested the Lighthouse at Pauatahanui and it was a lovely wee cinema. We got there early and Aidan got a late lunch and I had an iced coffee.
 |
| Pretty good iced coffee. Full fat milk or something, but the finish was lovely |
I enjoyed the movie a lot. Far better than most movies I have seen lately. I think Aidan wasn't too traumatised by it all. It went for ages! Nearly 2 and a half hours.
After it was done we went for dinner to Duck Creek. The weather was glorious and I got a bit of sun. Aidan made me go get my cap on from the car. Yeah - I was getting a bit pink.
 |
| Wearing a sensible hat |
After dinner we were completely full and drove back to Waikanae. Aidan suggested walking Lulu and it was a perfect way to feel better after such a huge meal. Lulu loved it. I heard all about Aidan breaking her ankle when Emerson was 6 months old and on her back in a backpack. Made for an awkward flight home, being wheeled through the airport with two wee kids on top of her and Josh carrying car seats and backpacks through the airport. So, to say I had a momentary panic when Aidan disappeared while talking to me, is an understatement. Fortunately she didn't hurt herself as she fell. Those dodgy ankles of hers. And I think I could have got her home as we were actually almost across the road from her house by then.
Back home for a glass of water and a cup of tea. Josh and Emerson arrived from the party (Emerson was a bit sick) and I headed home with Venus shining brightly overhead.
Sunday morning I did loads of housework and the house looks okay. Mike and Toby got back with Duncan and Aidan came in to collect him. Mike got to chat to Aidan finally (he's been missing her company of late).
Jake came around to play for the afternoon. Mike and I relaxed. Cooked a nice dinner. Relaxing.
Next weekend is the Taupo race. Very excited. Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
Friday, November 22, 2013
The Thursday with a school thing
Hi,
Wow - the days don't get much better than the run of three days of lovely weather. Today (Friday) is a low cloud/misty day. But Thursday was lovely - although the wind had increased. Mike and I drove to Scots with Toby and Toby took us through recent school projects he has been involved in. It was a lot of fun. I also played tennis with Toby in the square.
Mike and Toby dropped me off in town afterwards and I pottered around until I called Mike and that coincided with him coming to get Burger Wisconsin. So I got a lift home and ate burgers with the boys.
Mike is still a bit sick - it's all about the coughing. Same as my thing back in mid to late September. Poor Mike. It keeps him up at night. It also keeps me and Toby up too. Hahah. But we can roll over and go back to sleep.
This weekend is the most awesome Toby party ever. Mike is taking Toby and some mates into the bush and they are going to make bivvys and eat weird things. They will have a few challenges to try and achieve and generally have fun!
Hope you all have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
Wow - the days don't get much better than the run of three days of lovely weather. Today (Friday) is a low cloud/misty day. But Thursday was lovely - although the wind had increased. Mike and I drove to Scots with Toby and Toby took us through recent school projects he has been involved in. It was a lot of fun. I also played tennis with Toby in the square.
Mike and Toby dropped me off in town afterwards and I pottered around until I called Mike and that coincided with him coming to get Burger Wisconsin. So I got a lift home and ate burgers with the boys.
Mike is still a bit sick - it's all about the coughing. Same as my thing back in mid to late September. Poor Mike. It keeps him up at night. It also keeps me and Toby up too. Hahah. But we can roll over and go back to sleep.
This weekend is the most awesome Toby party ever. Mike is taking Toby and some mates into the bush and they are going to make bivvys and eat weird things. They will have a few challenges to try and achieve and generally have fun!
Hope you all have a great weekend.
Love,
Angela
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| Toby's sculpture - it looks pretty cool! |
Thursday, November 21, 2013
The Wednesday with nothing much
Hi,
After a complicated scenario from Mike involving many permutations to allow me to ride the long way and him to work late and Toby to get collected, I decided the Gilbert plan was far too hard and the Emmerson plan of "I'll go home and collect Toby" was far superior. So that's what we did. Mike worked hard and went to tramping club and worked hard pushing his agenda there.
I rode home the short way and got dinner ready. Toby and I had another pleasant evening. Homework done. Doors open. The wind has got up now though and I have found a new way to avoid luxing. Open the doors to the deck when the wind is up. It does create havoc with our loose papers. But the dust is magically pushed into places you never see again! The doors to our deck might just mean we have to tidy up more often. Could be a boon in more ways than one. Or we might just lose papers.
Tonight we're leaving work early to go to Toby's school for a student led conference. Not terribly sure what that means. But it should be fun! Then home - I might even ride home if I'm feeling super keen.
Mike had a coughing fit in the middle of the night. So much so that it made him physically sick. Like happened to me about 6 weeks back with my bad cold. So I think in a roundabout way, Mike has caught what I had back then. He woke everyone up. Toby was funny. "Mum! he shouted. "Dad's vomiting". As if I couldn't tell for some reason.
Mind you, he also woke in the night and went to the toilet. From his room he came into ours and went into the ensuite. And turned all the lights on. Even the one in our room. People that know our house will realise that Toby has his own door to the ensuite from his room.
I think both my boys are a bit mad.
Anyhow, another lovely day here. Enjoyed my ride in again. All over the back of a car coming down the hill. So much so that I had to pull the anchors on when they unexpectedly stopped for another car. Hmmm. Best watch my following distance.
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
After a complicated scenario from Mike involving many permutations to allow me to ride the long way and him to work late and Toby to get collected, I decided the Gilbert plan was far too hard and the Emmerson plan of "I'll go home and collect Toby" was far superior. So that's what we did. Mike worked hard and went to tramping club and worked hard pushing his agenda there.
I rode home the short way and got dinner ready. Toby and I had another pleasant evening. Homework done. Doors open. The wind has got up now though and I have found a new way to avoid luxing. Open the doors to the deck when the wind is up. It does create havoc with our loose papers. But the dust is magically pushed into places you never see again! The doors to our deck might just mean we have to tidy up more often. Could be a boon in more ways than one. Or we might just lose papers.
Tonight we're leaving work early to go to Toby's school for a student led conference. Not terribly sure what that means. But it should be fun! Then home - I might even ride home if I'm feeling super keen.
Mike had a coughing fit in the middle of the night. So much so that it made him physically sick. Like happened to me about 6 weeks back with my bad cold. So I think in a roundabout way, Mike has caught what I had back then. He woke everyone up. Toby was funny. "Mum! he shouted. "Dad's vomiting". As if I couldn't tell for some reason.
Mind you, he also woke in the night and went to the toilet. From his room he came into ours and went into the ensuite. And turned all the lights on. Even the one in our room. People that know our house will realise that Toby has his own door to the ensuite from his room.
I think both my boys are a bit mad.
Anyhow, another lovely day here. Enjoyed my ride in again. All over the back of a car coming down the hill. So much so that I had to pull the anchors on when they unexpectedly stopped for another car. Hmmm. Best watch my following distance.
Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela
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