thankth
September 29, 2006
just a quick note
i have a job interview on wednesday (tuesday for all of you guys) at a preschool/daycare place. i'm pretty sure it's for substituting or aiding, but i'll find out more at the interview. anyway, it would be great if you could keep that in prayer for me. i would really appreciate it.
thankth
thankth
September 25, 2006
bits and pieces
Here I sit, eating a "Zespri" golden kiwifruit.
Last week was fairly normal. Not much on. Sean had ambulance duty on Tuesday night, so I stayed home and had a banana milkshake (which was just that - banana and milk, if there is ice cream in a milkshake here, it is often referred to as a thickshake) and read some of a book called "Adventure Stories for Girls" which I picked up at the Red Cross Op-Shop in Brown's Bay. I had rented the new Pride and Prejudice, but I couldn't get the TV to turn on (which we later realized happens quite a bit and you have to turn the outlet off and then on again to get it to work). Wednesday, Sean was in Hamilton until about 8 o'clock, so I made a quesadilla watched some tv. I forget, but either Thursday or Friday I went to Ike's Emporium in Brown's Bay, which is like, my new favorite store. I only wish I knew how to sew. They have the most odd assortment of bits and pieces. Plastic jars full of notions and buttons and large bolts of material for like $3 a metre. Some of that material is really cool. And they have paint and canvas (nicely framed canvas) for a really good price, so I bought a few small canvases (canvasses? canvi?) and a slightly bigger one, some paint and a couple of brushes. I figured, I could paint whatever I wanted with whatever I wanted and I didn't need to worry about it being "right". So when I got home I painted a version of that photo from an earlier post of Java gazing out at the ocean in Tairua.
Friday we really didn't do anything, but Saturday. . . Oh, Saturday. We went to the Air New Zealand Fashion Week 4U Designer Garage Sale. Now, there were full day tickets in which you could see a runway show of the designers' best looks, walk around and drink and eat and generally feel like you were a part of something you weren't really a part of, or you could just pay $10 and get a chance to score some discounted designer clothing. I opted for the less expensive, more profitable option of the designer garage sale.
I am happy to report that I scored some very nice buys. As follows.
Caroline Church Summer 06 skirt was $505 bought for $120
Caroline Church Summer 06 skirt was $405 bought for $70 - the actual color is closest to what's inside the circled area - actually it is green like this picture, but it looks like this color also in some lighting situations - it's sort of a pale grey-green-seafoam
Unkown Designer leather belt $35 - it's long and wraps around twice and has a leather button/button hole closure
Unknown Designer leather wallet $25
So for $250 NZ or $167 US, I got some pretty cute stuff. I think my favorite is the belt. It was the one thing I saw and was like, YOINK! into my hands before anyone else touches you! We actually ended up being first in line to get in the door, also, as a strange and wonderful twist of fate had it. The security guard had been telling people to go line up at the other entrance, but we hung out at the door and asked the other security guard where you paid to get in and he said, "here". A few minutes later a whole throng - okay throng by nz standards - okay about 50 women came briskly walking up the sidewalk, vying for position. Oh, Snap! Who's first in line? We are. By the way, I just want to thank Sean again for going with. What a sport holding my sweater and my empty cup of tea.
Anyway, after that we went to Ellerslie and had lunch, mowed Sean's lawn, went to Sylvia Park (a new mall near his house - just made a once through - malls are small compared to US malls) and then came back to his parent's house and mowed their lawns. We went out to dinner and I had some overpriced veal-wrapped asparagus and Sean had some good chicken bacon tortellini in a creamy mushroom sauce. They were good, but the sauce was indeed mushroomy, too bad I'm not a huge mushroom fan. Overall it was a really epic day.
Sunday was really good as well. We went to Sean's friend's baby's christening (that's a lot of posessive apostrophes). I took pictures for them at the church and some of the family after at a really nice morning tea at a nearby historical park. After that we went to see Nan. We brought her some flowers which she seemed to enjoy. In the afternoon we took the SeaDoo out for a long ride around a couple of the islands in the harbour. The weather was really nice, but there was wind, so most of the ride was really choppy. My butt feels like I've done a bunch of lunges while somone punched me in the rear. It doesn't hurt all the time, but when I sit down on something hard it smarts a little. haha. It's getting better, though.
Yesterday Sean's parents came home from Europe. They had a really great time. I recieved a poster featuring some of the works of Antoni GaudÃ, a black t-shirt with a rhinestone Eiffel Tower and "Paris" on it, and a great big Toblerone from Switzerland! Everyone is settling back into a normal routine. It will be different now that they're back, but it will be more realistic, and that's what I came for!
much love
Last week was fairly normal. Not much on. Sean had ambulance duty on Tuesday night, so I stayed home and had a banana milkshake (which was just that - banana and milk, if there is ice cream in a milkshake here, it is often referred to as a thickshake) and read some of a book called "Adventure Stories for Girls" which I picked up at the Red Cross Op-Shop in Brown's Bay. I had rented the new Pride and Prejudice, but I couldn't get the TV to turn on (which we later realized happens quite a bit and you have to turn the outlet off and then on again to get it to work). Wednesday, Sean was in Hamilton until about 8 o'clock, so I made a quesadilla watched some tv. I forget, but either Thursday or Friday I went to Ike's Emporium in Brown's Bay, which is like, my new favorite store. I only wish I knew how to sew. They have the most odd assortment of bits and pieces. Plastic jars full of notions and buttons and large bolts of material for like $3 a metre. Some of that material is really cool. And they have paint and canvas (nicely framed canvas) for a really good price, so I bought a few small canvases (canvasses? canvi?) and a slightly bigger one, some paint and a couple of brushes. I figured, I could paint whatever I wanted with whatever I wanted and I didn't need to worry about it being "right". So when I got home I painted a version of that photo from an earlier post of Java gazing out at the ocean in Tairua.
Friday we really didn't do anything, but Saturday. . . Oh, Saturday. We went to the Air New Zealand Fashion Week 4U Designer Garage Sale. Now, there were full day tickets in which you could see a runway show of the designers' best looks, walk around and drink and eat and generally feel like you were a part of something you weren't really a part of, or you could just pay $10 and get a chance to score some discounted designer clothing. I opted for the less expensive, more profitable option of the designer garage sale.
I am happy to report that I scored some very nice buys. As follows.
Caroline Church Summer 06 skirt was $505 bought for $120
Caroline Church Summer 06 skirt was $405 bought for $70 - the actual color is closest to what's inside the circled area - actually it is green like this picture, but it looks like this color also in some lighting situations - it's sort of a pale grey-green-seafoam
Unkown Designer leather belt $35 - it's long and wraps around twice and has a leather button/button hole closure
Unknown Designer leather wallet $25
So for $250 NZ or $167 US, I got some pretty cute stuff. I think my favorite is the belt. It was the one thing I saw and was like, YOINK! into my hands before anyone else touches you! We actually ended up being first in line to get in the door, also, as a strange and wonderful twist of fate had it. The security guard had been telling people to go line up at the other entrance, but we hung out at the door and asked the other security guard where you paid to get in and he said, "here". A few minutes later a whole throng - okay throng by nz standards - okay about 50 women came briskly walking up the sidewalk, vying for position. Oh, Snap! Who's first in line? We are. By the way, I just want to thank Sean again for going with. What a sport holding my sweater and my empty cup of tea.
Anyway, after that we went to Ellerslie and had lunch, mowed Sean's lawn, went to Sylvia Park (a new mall near his house - just made a once through - malls are small compared to US malls) and then came back to his parent's house and mowed their lawns. We went out to dinner and I had some overpriced veal-wrapped asparagus and Sean had some good chicken bacon tortellini in a creamy mushroom sauce. They were good, but the sauce was indeed mushroomy, too bad I'm not a huge mushroom fan. Overall it was a really epic day.
Sunday was really good as well. We went to Sean's friend's baby's christening (that's a lot of posessive apostrophes). I took pictures for them at the church and some of the family after at a really nice morning tea at a nearby historical park. After that we went to see Nan. We brought her some flowers which she seemed to enjoy. In the afternoon we took the SeaDoo out for a long ride around a couple of the islands in the harbour. The weather was really nice, but there was wind, so most of the ride was really choppy. My butt feels like I've done a bunch of lunges while somone punched me in the rear. It doesn't hurt all the time, but when I sit down on something hard it smarts a little. haha. It's getting better, though.
Yesterday Sean's parents came home from Europe. They had a really great time. I recieved a poster featuring some of the works of Antoni GaudÃ, a black t-shirt with a rhinestone Eiffel Tower and "Paris" on it, and a great big Toblerone from Switzerland! Everyone is settling back into a normal routine. It will be different now that they're back, but it will be more realistic, and that's what I came for!
much love
September 18, 2006
i can hear you now, "it's about time!"
Well, at least the past few days have been satisfyingly busy enough that I haven't posted a blog. Looking back on my time away from blogger I see. . .
A large spider on my waste basket. . . I had Sean take care of this one. He was all, it's not poisonous. I was like, I still don't want it crawling up my leg in the middle of the night. Note the size in comparison to the balled up kleenex it rests on. Now, ball up a kleenex yourself and imagine.
Grandma's ginger cookies. . . these actually turned out well and I am truly excited being as it was my first foray into baking from scratch all on my own. And I made the entire batch which was just about 3 dozen. There are still some sitting in a tupperware container. Still good mind you, no eggs, and the tupperware has kept them moist, but I'm sure they're near the end of their lifespan. Hurry! Eat 5 cookies!!
What else do I see? Oh, I see that Sean cancelled IRB training at Piha on Saturday so we went to Ponsonby and walked around in the morning, had lunch there (a new mexican place, not half bad - that makes 2 viable mexican options just over the bridge) then took the jet ski out in the afternoon. . . As pictured I have a swimsuit, rashguard, fullsuit, wetsuit top, lifejacket and beanie on. I was still cold. Poor Seano, sacrificing the warmth of his wetsuit top and puffy lifejacket to me. That's love. He made me drive it, but it wasn't long until I was comfortable enough to bring the speed up and do donuts and figure-eights. It should be really fun come summer. The picture here is us back at the boat ramp and me posing on the ski going hurryhurry take the picture, it's drifting away from shore!
Sunday we went to church and met the pastor's wife and son (who's Sean's age). Looking forward to going to their 20something group next Tuesday. After church we went out and I got some hangers! and a duvet! and some sheets that I thought were all cotton, but turned out to be 50-50. sadness. but I'll deal. I'll post some pictures later when everything is put on the bed (still washing etc.) Also I got a nifty pair of black Havianas (sandals) with white and grey fern leaves on them (I'll post a pic of these sometime as well), and some lime/apple green washcloths and hand towels. Deal of deals, 80¢ each for the washcloths and $2 for the handtowels. They're pretty decent too, not really cheapo at all. Also there was grocery shopping. In a busy supermarket. Good times.
I also see. . . the fact that I've been driving around quite a bit! I drove to meet a friend in Takapuna yesterday (just down the road) all by myself which is the farthest I've been (not THAT impressive being as the farthest before that was the grocery store a block away - and Takapuna is like 5 minutes away). I have been driving with Sean pretty much whenever we go out. Which means I drove over the Harbour Bridge (notice the added 'u' in Harbour) on Saturday. AIEEEEE. And I'll be driving to Albany to pick Sean up at lunch today to visit Nan on his lunch hour. Also, I'll be picking up the package that was sent to me from home that I missed yesterday while I was in Takapuna. So, to help you imagine me behind the wheel, here's Dotty, Natalie's car that I have been/will continue to be driving while I'm here.
While I was in Takapuna I went to the bank to activate my atm card and change some currency over. Hooray for brave me! I also went into Trade Aid, which is like Cost Plus in the states, but it's all fair trade stuff, and not nearly as big or extensive. It's basically handmade stuff by developing countries. While I was there I found Arlen. My new tiny bobble-headed armadillo. He's a friend.
Also yesterday I bought some nifty lip balm that actually smells like strawberry popsicles. Real strawberries people, not fakie strawberry lip balm flavor!
This post would definitely not be complete without showing you the delicious looking roses that Sean bought me the other day. Coral. Love.
I miss you all.
A large spider on my waste basket. . . I had Sean take care of this one. He was all, it's not poisonous. I was like, I still don't want it crawling up my leg in the middle of the night. Note the size in comparison to the balled up kleenex it rests on. Now, ball up a kleenex yourself and imagine.
Grandma's ginger cookies. . . these actually turned out well and I am truly excited being as it was my first foray into baking from scratch all on my own. And I made the entire batch which was just about 3 dozen. There are still some sitting in a tupperware container. Still good mind you, no eggs, and the tupperware has kept them moist, but I'm sure they're near the end of their lifespan. Hurry! Eat 5 cookies!!
What else do I see? Oh, I see that Sean cancelled IRB training at Piha on Saturday so we went to Ponsonby and walked around in the morning, had lunch there (a new mexican place, not half bad - that makes 2 viable mexican options just over the bridge) then took the jet ski out in the afternoon. . . As pictured I have a swimsuit, rashguard, fullsuit, wetsuit top, lifejacket and beanie on. I was still cold. Poor Seano, sacrificing the warmth of his wetsuit top and puffy lifejacket to me. That's love. He made me drive it, but it wasn't long until I was comfortable enough to bring the speed up and do donuts and figure-eights. It should be really fun come summer. The picture here is us back at the boat ramp and me posing on the ski going hurryhurry take the picture, it's drifting away from shore!
Sunday we went to church and met the pastor's wife and son (who's Sean's age). Looking forward to going to their 20something group next Tuesday. After church we went out and I got some hangers! and a duvet! and some sheets that I thought were all cotton, but turned out to be 50-50. sadness. but I'll deal. I'll post some pictures later when everything is put on the bed (still washing etc.) Also I got a nifty pair of black Havianas (sandals) with white and grey fern leaves on them (I'll post a pic of these sometime as well), and some lime/apple green washcloths and hand towels. Deal of deals, 80¢ each for the washcloths and $2 for the handtowels. They're pretty decent too, not really cheapo at all. Also there was grocery shopping. In a busy supermarket. Good times.
I also see. . . the fact that I've been driving around quite a bit! I drove to meet a friend in Takapuna yesterday (just down the road) all by myself which is the farthest I've been (not THAT impressive being as the farthest before that was the grocery store a block away - and Takapuna is like 5 minutes away). I have been driving with Sean pretty much whenever we go out. Which means I drove over the Harbour Bridge (notice the added 'u' in Harbour) on Saturday. AIEEEEE. And I'll be driving to Albany to pick Sean up at lunch today to visit Nan on his lunch hour. Also, I'll be picking up the package that was sent to me from home that I missed yesterday while I was in Takapuna. So, to help you imagine me behind the wheel, here's Dotty, Natalie's car that I have been/will continue to be driving while I'm here.
While I was in Takapuna I went to the bank to activate my atm card and change some currency over. Hooray for brave me! I also went into Trade Aid, which is like Cost Plus in the states, but it's all fair trade stuff, and not nearly as big or extensive. It's basically handmade stuff by developing countries. While I was there I found Arlen. My new tiny bobble-headed armadillo. He's a friend.
Also yesterday I bought some nifty lip balm that actually smells like strawberry popsicles. Real strawberries people, not fakie strawberry lip balm flavor!
This post would definitely not be complete without showing you the delicious looking roses that Sean bought me the other day. Coral. Love.
I miss you all.
September 12, 2006
monday monday & tuesday
Monday was good. Rainy. Went to lunch and opened my account at National Bank. They have a thoroughbred horse as a logo. I like horses. Got a call mid morning that Sean's nan was in the hospital for a chest infection, so we stopped by there as well. She was in emergency and didn't look well at all, but by the evening they had her in a ward and she was recovering (although still not looking too great). I made some chicken and risotto for dinner and we went to visit her again. Stopped by the grocery store and picked up a few things and got (almost) everything to make gingerbread cookies. When I say almost I mean they had no flour. WHO RUNS OUT OF FLOUR? And ground cloves. So I bought a pack of regular cloves and decided to come back on Tuesday (the next day) to check on the flour.
Sean and I got up and took Java for a walk along Milford Beach Tuesday morning. I won't lie, it was chilly.
Came back and I made breakfast paninis. Eggs, bacon, cheese, tomato and avocado. They were quite tasty. And filling. We had some soup at lunch and went to see nan again. She looked heaps better than before and had regained a bit of her former sass. Post lunch, I went down to the market again, but STILL NO FLOUR!! I stopped in at a little surf shop and the bookstore (where I read part of a chapter of 'The Second Summer of the Sisterhood' part of the Travelling Pants series-you don't need to say a word, i already know) then went home. I blogged and looked for jobs (which, seriously, would you pray about?) and generally waited for Sean to get home from work. When he got home we went to see Nan again and then had to go over to Sean's place to show one of his rooms to a potential renter. We swung by his local supermarket on the way --- which DID have flour! and ground cloves!! (and I got some pocky too). Swung through - wait for it - McDonald's! and I got some much craved for french fries and cheeseburgers and, of course, Sean got a salad. It was a small indulgence I'll admit, but it was a taste of home. I don't really know what that says about home, though.
Sean and I got up and took Java for a walk along Milford Beach Tuesday morning. I won't lie, it was chilly.
Came back and I made breakfast paninis. Eggs, bacon, cheese, tomato and avocado. They were quite tasty. And filling. We had some soup at lunch and went to see nan again. She looked heaps better than before and had regained a bit of her former sass. Post lunch, I went down to the market again, but STILL NO FLOUR!! I stopped in at a little surf shop and the bookstore (where I read part of a chapter of 'The Second Summer of the Sisterhood' part of the Travelling Pants series-you don't need to say a word, i already know) then went home. I blogged and looked for jobs (which, seriously, would you pray about?) and generally waited for Sean to get home from work. When he got home we went to see Nan again and then had to go over to Sean's place to show one of his rooms to a potential renter. We swung by his local supermarket on the way --- which DID have flour! and ground cloves!! (and I got some pocky too). Swung through - wait for it - McDonald's! and I got some much craved for french fries and cheeseburgers and, of course, Sean got a salad. It was a small indulgence I'll admit, but it was a taste of home. I don't really know what that says about home, though.
September 11, 2006
rain and a cozy fire
Thought I would write a little about the weekend. Sean, Java and I went down to Tairua for the weekend. Sean had a couple of things lined up at the surf club on both Saturday and Sunday, but they didn't really take a lot of time. The weekend was mostly rainy and cold, but that allowed for optimal fire-heated living room dozing. On Saturday, after teaching a refersher on CPR regulations, Sean and some of the boys decided to have a bit of a surf on their paddle boards. The water was cold, but the waves were decent, so it had to be done!
Java and I watched from the shore, but it was raining, so we pretty much got wet, too.
Leftover pizza for lunch on Saturday and then a pretty good homemade spaghetti with chicken, broccoli and alfredo sauce for dinner. It's kind of nice to be cooking more. It's good practice, and you always feel better about eating something you've made. Unless you know you've totally butchered it, of course.
Sunday was rainy again, but we walked up to the main street to the cafe to have lunch and give Java a good stretch of the legs. The afternoon was pretty much spent getting ready to head back to Auckland. We left about 2:30 and got back close to 4:30, so we made pretty good time.
the last glowing embers of Sunday's fire
Dropped Java off at the house and then went to see Nan before getting some decidedly questionable chinese food.
we couldn't decide if the chicken in the chicken chow mein was cooked or not
We definitely took an early night, it being Sunday and all. Besides, my jet lag was starting to kick in. We started to watch Spiderman 2 at 8:30, but couldn't make it even a half an hour, so we got ready for bed and SLEPT.
September 7, 2006
Hi Everyone
Hi everyone. I made it to New Zealand.
My flight went really well. I had the whole center row (4 seats) to myself so I was able to stretch out and sleep a good part of the trip. The weather here is nice. There's a bite to the air, but it has been clear all day so far. It's a nice change from the warm weather back home. It will be warm here soon enough.
leo relaxes on his new bed
It's kind of weird to have the house to myself. Sean had to work today, so it's my first day here and I'm just sort of rattling around the place. I made a slightly uneventful lunch - mom you'll be happy to know I turned on unfamiliar gas burners - I made pasta, but pretty much forgot to season the sauce well enough so it was pretty bland. meh. what can you do?
Java has been fairly suspicious of me. Obiously she doesn't remember me from my last visit. A lady came to the door today while I was here alone and Java barked and barked - which isn't unusual - so it was akward talking to the lady whilst physically turning Java around and shoving her back into the house. As you can see, she gets especially weirded out when I take out the camera. Sean got her started chasing her tail a while back, so now when she gets excited or anxious she starts chasing her tail. This picture is right before a bark and a tail chase. When Sean left to go back to work after lunch she wouldn't go back inside. I had to turn her round physically and then I finally gave her a stern "Java come!" - she either got the point or finally gave up.
java sizes me up
Anyway, I now have my own set of keys. It looks as if the Nissan legacy continues with Dotty - Natalie's car.
Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some new hangers. The "w" trifecta of wood, wire and wal-mart just isn't going to make the cut.
Lastly, before I sign off today, my glass cross made it here without breaking. I had wrapped it in tissue and put it in my carry on bag. I'm glad I have it with me.
My flight went really well. I had the whole center row (4 seats) to myself so I was able to stretch out and sleep a good part of the trip. The weather here is nice. There's a bite to the air, but it has been clear all day so far. It's a nice change from the warm weather back home. It will be warm here soon enough.
leo relaxes on his new bed
It's kind of weird to have the house to myself. Sean had to work today, so it's my first day here and I'm just sort of rattling around the place. I made a slightly uneventful lunch - mom you'll be happy to know I turned on unfamiliar gas burners - I made pasta, but pretty much forgot to season the sauce well enough so it was pretty bland. meh. what can you do?
Java has been fairly suspicious of me. Obiously she doesn't remember me from my last visit. A lady came to the door today while I was here alone and Java barked and barked - which isn't unusual - so it was akward talking to the lady whilst physically turning Java around and shoving her back into the house. As you can see, she gets especially weirded out when I take out the camera. Sean got her started chasing her tail a while back, so now when she gets excited or anxious she starts chasing her tail. This picture is right before a bark and a tail chase. When Sean left to go back to work after lunch she wouldn't go back inside. I had to turn her round physically and then I finally gave her a stern "Java come!" - she either got the point or finally gave up.
java sizes me up
Anyway, I now have my own set of keys. It looks as if the Nissan legacy continues with Dotty - Natalie's car.
Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some new hangers. The "w" trifecta of wood, wire and wal-mart just isn't going to make the cut.
Lastly, before I sign off today, my glass cross made it here without breaking. I had wrapped it in tissue and put it in my carry on bag. I'm glad I have it with me.
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