The Monday back at work

Hi,

I did get to a Spin class with Sreejith at lunchtime yesterday.  And my cold didn't cause too much havoc at all. 

Pinned down by the cat

When I got home, I cooked tea for Toby.  He was home early due to a migraine.  Poor kid.  But he ate his dinner and I think he kept it down.

The cat pinned me to the couch with her super powers after dinner.  I think our cat is actually some sort of cat model.  I think there is no other cat as cute as her in the entire world.  And today is Halloween.  And she's a black cat.  It's her day!

The builder is actually at our house this morning.  Wonders will never cease.  I am quite excited to see what will have changed by the time I get home tonight.

Enjoy your day.  Hot in Otago today.  I hope Sally and Andrew are taking on a lot of water as they ride around central Otago today.

Love,
Angela

The weekend in Wellington

Hi,

After heading home, Mike made a lovely BBQ dinner for me.  Then he made one for himself and Toby.  Then Doro and Zoey came around and Mike made tea for them too.  Smudge was a little unsure of Zoey this time so Toby kept her downstairs.

I also went to Innocent Foods at lunchtime on Friday and enjoyed a Buddha Bowl.  Yum!  And a flu juice (although that horse may have bolted).

Buddha bowl for lunch on Friday

BBQ for tea - scrumptious!

Saturday I could barely talk when I woke.  But eventually I could croak out words.  Celia dropped by with tomato seedlings for us.  How cool.  Mike and Doro went for a huge walk with Zoey.  Toby and I went grocery shopping for his Halloween party.

In the afternoon I heard from Celia that James had smacked into a parked car at high speed and broke his collarbone.  Ouch!  I can't believe it.  The poor guy.  I hope he recovers well.

Toby's mates turned up around 4pm and they were actually well behaved.  Not too noisy really.  They ate more junk food than I thought possible.  Walked down to Magnus's house and ate pizzas.  Watched several movies.

Mike and I stayed in our room for the most part.  Although I did venture out to get pumpkin pie, courtesy of Molly.  Yum!

Sunday morning everyone got picked up fairly early.  Isaac stayed until early afternoon.  My cold made me lazy, so I stayed in bed for a while.  My cold is making me sleepy - and giving me a pathetic cough and a sore throat.  But apart from that, I don't feel sick, really.  Hopefully it won't hang around very long.  I guess I have had symptoms for a week now.  Hmmm.

Mike is taking me on a date night movie this week.  Not sure it counts if Toby is also coming.  Hahahah.  We're seeing Bladerunner.  Oooohhh.  I can't wait.

Enjoy your week ahead.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with a night out

Hi,

Unusually, I said yes to Mike to a night out and about in Wellington.  He was due to fly into Wellington at 6pm from his two days in Auckland for work.  My reluctance at venturing into pubs and bars on my own meant I was faced with working late until he got to town.

At a bar - shocking, I know!  Ta for the pic, Jo

But after explaining my foibles to Jo, she took pity on me, and met me outside my work and took me into Dirty Little Secret for drinks before everyone arrived.  After dropping my garage fob and grated cheese off with Andrew at his work.

Complicated Gilbert plan.  It's contagious.

Anyway, after Mike, Melissa and Momo arrived, we wandered to Mr Go's and got a table secured for a bit later.  Went to some other bar and got drinks and promptly got told the table was now available.  Melissa and I went back to keep the table warm.

Ok.  So, Mr Go's is actually so yummy, it might just be one of my favourites now.  I ate crispy tofu, and it was the bomb!  Who knew?  The cauliflower was superb.  Asparagus (the season is upon us and I am officially in heaven now) perfect.  Yep.  Very happy.

It was late when we got home, after my phone needed a reboot to finally get Uber working. 10pm.  Ooohhhh.

Sally and Andrew have a cycling holiday now down south.  Half their luck.  I hope the weather is wonderful.

And the weekend beckons.  Can't wait for that either.  Although we have a tonne of stuff to get through.  Social Mike and social Toby are creating havoc with my introvert tendencies.  Beer tasting at our place tonight.  Halloween party for Toby at our place tomorrow.  House needs a tidy.  Laundry.  I want to fit Spin in there too.  And a bike ride.  We'll see.

Enjoy yours!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with Mike in Auckland

Hi,

Hahah - I checked my photos for exciting things to tell you about my Wednesday.  And found work photos.  One of the user group session last night (great info!) and a blue screen of death on my PC.

User group

BSOD

Anyway, I got home after user group and cooked spag bol for Toby and he chowed his way through that.  Woot!  Spoke to Doro for a bit.  Tidied the ski gear and tramping gear.  Then noticed it pouring with rain and decided against wandering up to the garage with sleeping bags and stuff.  I can do that tonight instead.

Was in bed fairly early.  Did get to chat to Mike before I fell into a coma.  5.30am was very early.  I got changed and half woke Toby before riding my bike to work.  Got quite wet in the rain.  Into my Spin class and back at work now.

The ride in was amazing due to the courteous drivers.  I encountered two of them.  Both slowed and made way for me to take my path through road obstacles ahead of them.  Highly unusual - it's usually a game of chicken and even if I am ahead, it is fair game to cut me off.  Hence I anticipate the cutting off techniques and generally pull over to let drivers through.  But these two drivers all slowed down and let me through.  Woot!  Thank you to the blue people mover car on Hill St and the commercial white van on Wadestown Road.  :-)

Tonight Mike flies back in around 6pm.  We're meeting to go out for tea - with some of his friends.  But I heard a rumour I might get a date night soon.

Hope your day is a dry one.  Well, drier than mine, anyway.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday that felt like a Monday

Hi,

After an awesome weekend, it is hard to get back to work - and when it is a Tuesday, masquerading as a Monday, things just seem extra tough.  But with only one day at work, it is suddenly Wednesday.  Guess that is good, right?

I went home with Mike with a few much-needed groceries after being away for the weekend.  Lunchbox material was light on the ground yesterday morning.  Got more fruit and bread now.  Phew!

We ate leftovers and the evening disappeared in laundry and stuff.  This morning Mike left super early for two days in Auckland.  And I caught the bus in with Toby.  The King of Navarre got on the bus at Kelburn.   I have my user group session tonight, but I will leave a little early to get home to cook tea for the Tobster.

I am in complete denial about getting a cold.  Nope.  Don't have one.  Don't feel sick.  The tissues on my desk are purely to be on hand if I spill my tea.  :-p  Hahahah.

The sun is shining in Wellington today.  Woot!  I could get used to this - and not the rainy weather.  Especially now the ski season is over and I don't need it to be wet and freezing - until about May next year.

Have the best day!

Love,
Angela

The weekend that was long and labourous

Hi,

What an amazing weekend.  We left Wellington close to 6pm, but there was no traffic through the usual choke points.  Very odd, given it was the start of a long weekend.

Vanessa was joining us from the Chch office, so it was very exciting to show her the sights of SH1.  Mind you, it did get dark after a while, so we could only reassure her that there really was a giant carrot over there.  Or a giant gumboot.

We got to the lodge by 11pm and I was in bed not long after midnight, I guess.  Up to sunshine and a skifield that was open and ready to go.  Mike took off with his mates and I got Toby and Vanessa set up with skis and tickets.

We venture up to Knoll Ridge cafe to check snow conditions there

We did a few runs on Rockgarden in thick porridge before I convinced everyone to try the Turtle run off the Delta chair further up.  We stayed there most of the day.  Toby checked out more of the cafe than us though.


Next day was horrible, so we eventually prised ourselves out of the lodge (Mike was involved in a huge Phase 10 game) and drove to Tokaanu for a soak in the hot pools.  Checked out the wee walk next to the pools to see the natural springs.

Vanessa checks out a hot pool at Tokaanu

Back to the pub for a drink and the MotoGP was on the big screen.  Mike and I were very pleased.  In the evening I was convinced by Jo and Momo to join in some games.  Jenga is not my friend.  But "Linkee" - that was more my cup of tea.  A trivia game with four questions that are linked in some way.  Great fun!  I came second - to Mike!  My partner was Toby and we had a blast.  He left before the end and I inherited another partner - Tash.  Yep - all good fun.  I could buy that game.

Next day was awful - again.  No skiing to be had. In fact, it started sleeting.  Toby cleaned up like a machine!  Sreejith and I rode from Whakapapa village to Waiouru.  It took me 1 hour 40 to Ohakune.  And 1 hour 10 to Waiouru - that was only 27km but it was hard work.

I got divebombed by a magpie between Horopito and Ohakune.  Riding along at about 35km/hr and felt this boof on my helmet.  Saw the shadow of a magpie above my head and then 15 seconds later, felt it again!  Cheeky magpies.

I ride past the giant carrot in Ohakune

The drive home was in sunshine.  Mostly.  And we did manage to show Vanessa the giant gumboot in Taihape.  Woot!

We finally stop to pose by the big gumboot.

Mike and Toby check out another hot pool

I check out an iced coffee at Feliz.  Mmmm

Great weekend.  It's only a month to Round Taupo now.  Yikes!

Hope your weekend was good fun too.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with lots of iced coffees

Hi,

I'm not sure how it happened, but I had three iced coffees yesterday.  Three!  I think I might have some sort of addiction.  Hahahah!

As I walked into the Mojo cafe, the chap behind the counter just yelled out to the barista - "One iced coffee with sugar syrup on the side".  Like he knows me.  Ok, so he does.

Little Peckish iced coffee

Machete iced coffee

Mojo iced coffee

Anyway, eventually got home and cooked tea for everyone.  Vanessa from the Chch office is up and arrived at our place just as we sat down to eat.  She joined us and we chatted away for a while before packing for the weekend.

This morning I packed the car - mostly - and then caught the bus in with Vanessa.  She is settling into a desk at the office.

We are off to Ruapehu after work for the last weekend of the ski season.  I hope I get some skiing in.  Maybe even in my t-shirt.  Sreejith and his family are coming.  And Sreejith and I intend to do a road ride.  Ambitious!

It's a long weekend here - we have Monday off.  Woot!  And a new government.  Wow.  Didn't see that coming.

Have a brilliant weekend.

Love,
Angela