The Wednesday that was a hard slog

 Hi,

Well, at least my time warp has caught up with itself and it does finally feel like Thursday today.  Lucky, because it is indeed Thursday.  Because if it was still Wednesday, I may feel slightly over-emotional about that around about now.

As it is, there are two more working days left in the week.  Woot!

Because of my migraine, I used my glasses for computer work in the morning.  It made me feel old.

Sign of getting old

The cat crate sits next to me - and is closed.  But Moxley asked to be let in.  And she slept there for a while

While at lunch (upstairs) Smudge slept on my office chair.

The day was long and hard.  And Toby had to go see the GP for an appointment for a medical certificate for his migraine.  It was all rather stressful.  In the end, Toby Ubered to the doctor and Mike met him there.

I made tea for myself after work.  And then enjoyed some time with Moxley on the couch.

Moxley pinned me to the couch in the evening

Toby stayed home and I dropped Tessa home in the Focus.  The Subaru was still in the mechanics getting its bushes done (yes, I also had no idea what a bush was in a car - but Mike explained it is like the rubber bearings under Te Papa).  $850 later.  Ouch.  We pick it up Thursday (today).

We dropped into work to collect Mike on the way to Tessa's house.  Back home and I was in bed super fast.  But Mike had the worst sleep.  Poor Mike.

Up for online PT session this morning and another WFH day for us.

I hope you have an awesome day today.

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

Wed Aug 19

Toby Ubered to City GPs 3.30pm.  4pm appt.

Sushi visit Mike, Toby, Tessa

Toby and Tessa bussed home 

The Wednesday where I think it is Tuesday and obviously I am in a time warp

 Hi,

Yep - I actually feel like it is Tuesday today - go figure!  It was good to be in the office yesterday, but after lunch I got a migraine.  I know - it is never me that has them!

Turns out Toby also had one too.  And his was way worse because he had his drama dress rehearsal, last minute edits and then the final performance at 6.30pm.  But I am proud he tried his hardest.  It seems to me so long as he can say that, then he should be happy.  There might always be things out of your control that mean you have to adapt on the day, but if you did your best leading up to it, then you just give it your best shot.

And that is what makes us all much happier in this life.

My words of wisdom for the day, dished out.

With my migraine at work, I was convinced by Chris (colleague) to walk off my migraine by walking home.  Fresh air and all that.  So I did just that.  Super fast walk home too.  45 mins.  Mike met me at Toby's old school (Wadestown primary) and walked the last wee bit with me.  :-)

It was amazing - my head stopped hurting almost immediately as I walked up the hill.  So - good advice from Chris there.  Back at work when I got home - and the slight thump came back.  But - oh well.

Chocolate Mike got to send to Michelle

Michelle pinged me last week to ask if we had tried this chocolate.  Which we hadn't, but we have now gone shopping and got a supply in to send over to her.  :-)

Mike went out shopping after tea and I have to admit I was well asleep by the time he got back after 9pm.  Oops.  Thanks Mike.

Mike kitted out for the supermarket

Moxley helping me with work

Mike also drove the car in today for a service and a few wee things done.  And the other car is due in tomorrow.  Yay!  Trello board movement.  That keeps Mike happy.  Hahahah.

Take care.  Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

Tues Aug 18

Mike @ Thorndon New World 8.15 - 9.15pm (ish)

Wed Aug 19

Mike drove to Brendan Motors

Mike scootered to work.

The Monday where I can't believe it's not already Wednesday

 Hi,

It is so hard to remember that today is Tuesday.  I feel like my working week has already had a few days in it - and not just one.

Oh dear.

Mike has nailed my home made iced latte - look at this for a beauty!

At work with my iced latte

So happy I will show it off yet again - in case you missed it in the above two pics

Toby came home late super buzzing.  He had rewritten parts of his devising for drama after walking it through with his teacher.  He has to deliver it with revisions today for his final assessment.  He had a lot of energy that eventually dissipated when he played some computer game with his mates and shouted at his screen a lot.

Good luck for it today, wee Toby.

We have packets of lentils in the pantry and buckets of spinach in our garden.  So I looked up a suitable recipe for me.

I made spag bol for Mike and Toby and Mike made coconut rice to go with my spinach lentil curry thing.

I asked google what to cook with lentils and spinach.  It was quite good.  

It tasted quite good.  Which is lucky because I have a lot of it to eat still.

Just under the heat pump is where the unholy alliances are formed

All of us loved to see the cats together on the couch so independently we all took a photo and posted it on our group chat.  Hahahah.

Went to bed early.  Up for gym - boxing with Quentin.  Under level 2 I have to book into the gym floor.  Which I did.  And they did ask me my name as I entered.  Lucky I booked.

At work today - I am helping to interview for positions at work with the main person having to work remotely.  I was happy to step in.

I hope your day is a good one.  We have a frost here.  A proper frost.  Well, not Dunedin proper.  But a decent Wellington one.

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

Tues Aug 18

Angela on 22 bus at 6.16am

Angela @ CityFitness 6.40 - 7.15am

Angela @ work

Toby @ school

The weekend in Wellington

 Hi,

We are still in level 2 lockdown outside of Auckland.  We are monitoring our activity closely though.  When Dr Ashley read out all the places the covid positive people visited for their weekend away, the entire country realised if their list got read out, it better be an exiting yet thorough list.

Smudge claiming pole position

Moxley loves her new toy

I stayed home on Saturday to reduce any chances of picking up anything or spreading anything.  We are all well though.    Mike was still recovering from his migraine on Friday.

Saturday night we all watched Tongan Ninja.  That is 90 minutes of my life that has gone down the gurgler and I can never retrieve.

The set after my PB - 40kg in bench.  Oosshh!

Sunday saw us off to the gym after lunch - all the morning slots were booked (level 2 you need to book a time to come in).

But we came in and the bench press was free - so we did that together.  I got a PB (okay, one rep - the second effort was a dud) of 40kg.  Mike did 60kg without a bother (one set of 3 reps).  But 62.5kg was too much.  And then he had put so much effort into that, that 50kg was too hard too.

Lifting weights is an interesting exercise.

We went to Mitre10 Mega and Hutt Rd Z station.  And then dropped in to see Sally and Andrew.  Sally was flat out at work.  :-(

Back home and Mike and Toby headed out to see Alien at Roxy.

Moxley explores a new cupboard

I was so cold from wandering around in my gym gear that I decided on a bath.  When I opened the cupboard downstairs to hunt for bubbles for the bath, Moxley explored the new cupboard I had opened for her enjoyment.

She is so cute.

Anyway - the bath was great.  I got toasty pie warm.  Snuggled into bed and was well asleep by the time the boys got home.

Apparently Mike was very jumpy while watching it, and Toby reckons he should hire himself out as a moviegoer for horror films in general because sitting next to him enhances any horror film experience.

Toby is chill with horror happening on the big screen in front of him, but having the person next to him leap and gasp at every on-screen shock was totally making him jumpy.

Hahahaha!.  Welcome to my movie-going life for the past 27 years, Toby.  Remember that scene in Jurassic Park, Mike?

Monday morning and you cannot get a better day in the best wee capital city in the world

And today - Monday - you cannot get a better day anywhere in the world.  Except Dunedin.  Oh wait - I did love days like this in Melbourne too.  And London.

Okay - let me rephrase that.  Dunedin mornings where there has been a frost, and it is still and crisp, have conditioned me to enjoy mornings like that anywhere in the world.

Have a brilliant week.  Wash your hands.  All the time.  Well, not ALL the time.  But a lot of the time.

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

Saturday - I think Mike went to New World Thorndon for a quick visit.  Afternoon, maybe?  It will be on his app.

Tessa visited us Saturday.  Went home Sunday with David.

Wow - I am really trying to stay home.  That's good.

Also visited Sally and Andrew @ their house about 4pm on Sunday.

Mike and Toby to Roxy 6.30 - 9.30pm

Monday Aug 17

Toby on 14 bus to town ~ 8.10am - to school

The Thursday working from home

 Hi,

It's funny how it all becomes so routine so quickly.  Working from home.  The sun peeps around the corner of the ridge and straight into my eyes around 10am.  I pull the curtain across for an hour until it disappears behind our deck.  

Moxley comes to check us out.  She might doze on the windowsill or climb up to the very top of the spare bed leaning against the wall behind us, and sleep for ages.

Feet tackling the day

We worked, Toby got home from school.  With Tessa.  I was in meetings constantly so I missed Tessa being here.  When I finished work, Mike was out for his run.  So I started tea.  

It was lucky I made the two chicken breasts into schnitzels because when I was dishing up dinner, Mike said:  you know Tessa is here for tea, right?

Uh, no.  

But, I shared out the chicken, and I made a mountain of mash anyway.  The giveaway was the tiny speck of broccoli on each plate.  I only made enough for Toby.

Mike and I had buddha bowls.  Mmmm.

I sat on the couch to read and had Smudge there for a bit.  But Moxley came and muscled in.  I think I have turned into a cat fancier.

Moxley snuggled into my armpit

I have no words!  Aaawwwwww.  

Adorable

It's Friday and today we get to hear what is in store around the covid response.  More lockdown, I suspect.

Take care.  

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

I went nowhere.

Mike went nowhere

Toby went to school.  Tessa came here.  Her Dad collected her.

The Wednesday with date night

 Hi,

Mike and I are working from home until such time as we know what on earth is happening in the NZ covid landscape.  Well, as much as we can, anyway.  It seems every day brings a new slant to it all.  The next two weeks will tell us more about the size of this resurgence.

Working from home, happily for us, is easy for us both.  And in level 2, Toby still goes to school.  He said he was the only one on the bus with a mask, and he kept his mask on all day at school.  HE said it covered a huge pimple anyway.  Hahahah.  He's so great.  I hope he gets his NCEA marks despite this huge upheaval to his academic year.  He will flourish at uni.

Anyway, because my husband actually likes my company, he booked us in for date night a few weeks back and it was last night.  Woot!

We went to Hillside - they have turned fully vegetarian since we were last there.  Read about our last dining experience there:  here

We were unsure if they could still serve us with the level 2 we're now in.  But they had spread out the tables (a lot) and only one server was ever at our table the entire 3 hours we were there.

Mike ready for date night

This was superb - onion soup - but waaaaaay better

A daikon (like celery) with burnt butter sauce - delicious

The menu

I absolutely loved it.  Some were slightly misfires for me (rhubarb with chocolate tofu mousse - I had to separate out all the pieces and eat them separately because - mixing!).  But the ones that worked were amazing.  And the ones that didn't quite hit the mark for me - were an exercise in identifying an explosion of tastes and well worth the experience.

It's not like anything you would ever make at home.  And that is totally a huge part of the experience of dining here.

After getting through to the end of the 7 courses, we drove to collect Toby from Tessa's and back home for a decent sleep.

Up early for an online session with Quentin and into working from home.

Hope your day is a good one.

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

Angela & Mike to Hillside 6.25pm - 9.25pm

Toby @ school and then Tessa's place

The Tuesday with an iced coffee with Kate and a late covid press conference

 Hi,

Well, that was a Tuesday with highs and lows.  Had a very social day ahead of the government emergency press conference at 9pm. I guess I got it all in on Tuesday so it will last me a while, then.

I got my Surface charger tested by an electrician and certified as a low danger to life for the next two years.  Apparently it is a requirement of my new workplace to certify electrical things.  Guess it is the nature of this new industry.

I went to Gotham @ 8.10am to meet Kate from my old workplace.  We caught up with each other's news and it was such a pleasure.  Gotham's iced coffee is a dessert, let's be honest.  Tasty - but not meant for daily consumption.

Iced coffee @ Gotham with Kate

Work also had a team lunch on - and we all went to Master Kong.  It is tasty there - but way too expensive for anything regularly.

Team lunch at Master Kong

Moxley opens the bag of kibble on her own.  Or is she disemboweling that cat on the bag?

At the end of the day, I drove home with Ange and then sorted out dinner for Toby and me.  When Mike got home, he found Moxley had opened the new bag of kibble all on her own.  She's so clever.  But when I checked the hole, I saw she had chewed the cat's tummy.  Gross!  Hahahah.

Anyway, there we were, in bed.  I was reading and checking my phone when I saw a Stuff notification pop in saying the Prime Minister was holding an emergency press conference just after 9pm.  So Mike and I tuned into that to hear the bad news that community transmission has been discovered in south Auckland.

Auckland goes into level 3 lockdown today at midday and the rest of NZ into level 2.  So Mike and I are working from home and we use masks out in public now.  Toby continues to school with his mask and hand sanitiser.

I hope we can stamp this out and avoid any deaths this time around.  Please, please.  I have my very santised fingers crossed.

So take care.  Stay safe.

Love,

Angela

Contact register:

11 Aug Tues

Angela & Mike to CityFitness 6.40am - 8.15am

Angela @ Gotham with Kate 8.11am - 8.45am

Angela @ Master Kong 12:05pm - 12.55pm with team mates

Angela drove home with Ange 5pm

Mike @ Yoshi Sushi Lambton Quay 12pm-1pm

Mike @ St Pierres Majestic Centre 5pm-5:30pm

Mike @ The George 5:30pm - 8pm