Choir School is over for another year.

I think I should have gone to boarding school in my High School years. My Ma did, and hated every moment. I think my Dad also went to boarding school and hated it. My Sister reckons she wouldn't be suited to boarding school, but I reckon I would have LOVED it.

Over the last fifteen or so years I have attended heaps of live-in courses and camps and never wanted to leave any of them when the time came to leave. I love the routine, the staff and other students being around, having my own little room or dorm space, and communal activities in the free time. There's always the Harry Potter fantasy aspect too.

Anyway, I had an absolutely fabulous time. We were at St Matthew's Collegiate in Masterton, which has nice single dorms with a few double/triple rooms. I had a wee single with a lovely view of the Chapel out my window.

We had larger numbers than last year, and so there were four Houses, rather than the three we had last year. They were:

Gibbons - trebles (boys' unbroken voices). 9 - 11 year old boys.

Purcell - young sopranos, 9 - 11 year old girls.

Stanford - older sopranos (11-13 year olds) and some broken voice boy altos

Byrd - four part broken voice choir, including mature soprano and alto girls, and two boy altos. It turned out that there was only one tenor, so I helped out at rehearsals, along with Christina. We were literally The Three Tenors!

We had Chapel services twice a day - spoken prayers and meditation after breakfast, and sung services after dinner. Each night service was lead by a different house. The first night, the staff sang a full evensong with versicles & responses, a psalm, Magnificat & Nunc Dimittus, an anthem, and two hymns. We sounded pretty good, considering we had just met that afternoon and had never sung together. I guess my sightreading was better than I thought.

The tutors were all great - we had Stephen Rowley and Alison Stewart from last year's School, and two new tutors from Christchurch; Robert Cross and Paul Ellis. Christina from last year, a couple of parents and myself were all there as mere "house staff" - read "camp mums", but in the evenings, the music staff and house staff all came together to talk crap over a quiet drink in the staff lounge.

The organ scholar this year was a chorister from last year's School - Paul Tarling. Only eighteen, but very talented (and cute too!) I think it might have been a little wierd for him this year being staff, having been just "one of the kids" last year. Still, he loosened up a little as the week continued. I even got a foot rub out of him on the last couple of nights.

The final service was in the acoustic vortex that is St Matthew's Church in Masterton. The digital organ sounded less crap than last year though - maybe they loaded some anti-crap software in it. We sounded awesome and I made only two mistakes in the whole pile of music we sang. My favourite bass (Thomas, 16, from Tawa) scored the only Yellow Ribbon award, and also a sightreading scholarship to come back next year.

After the final service, we all ran around getting photos, hugs and email addresses from each other and headed homeward for a well-earned rest.

The guy standing 2 over from me is Thomas, the one I reckon looks like my friend James from netball. The photo doesn't really do him justice. The dark haired guy right up the back is Harry - the only MALE tenor in the School.

Winter Choir school is in early July '08. I'm looking forward to it already.

Here I am - I'm here!!

I've been out of the sphere for the last wee while, but I'm back now. Here's some of the stuff I've been up to...

Watching Derren Brown
This guy is amazing! I've always been interested in hypnotism, but this guy manages to mix hypnotism, neuro-linguistic programming, misdirection, magic, and pure showmanship to do some really cool things. My favourite clip is where he NLP's a young guy to be drunk, just from imagining it, then linking the feeling to a word that he flashes in front of him. I want that - a good buzz with no hangover the next day. Yeah!

Losing weight
I have now lost a total of 4kg and have maintained it for over 2 weeks. Wierd! I'm listening to a Paul McKenna NLP recording every night, which is supposedly helping my willpower to resist eating so much. Guess it's working, huh?

Reports
Two hundred and fifty (times five or six!) Senior reports all proofread,commented and signed. Whew! Deaning is not fun this time of year. And Junior reports are still to come in Term 3.

Netball
FINALLY we have finished the season from Hell! Next season will be better,I hope. It's a good thing I still have ring-in games at Petone. It's keeping me sane. And today I'm in the staff team playing the Prem 1 girls at lunch. Wish me luck!

What Sam said...

Here. See you all in a week or so.

Four short paragraphs

We got a postcard from Lauren today. Yay! Roll on July 13 :)

I have somehow managed to lose 2kg. I blame excessive netballing and other exercise.

I dug up some grass in the backyard so that we can pave it for Summer and get more use out of the 'deck to nowhere'. My shoulder hurts.

Roll on, end of term! I am SOOOOO ready for a break. If you call spending a week in Masterton with 65 junior choristers a break.

yeah baby

Jack and Heather had their second bub recently. Yay! I kept meaning to check in on their blog to see if it had happened, but it seems I forgot.

Her name is Margaret - I love it - it's my middle name, so I'm biased perhaps. She looks very precious in the photos.

Time for an update

Sign of the times

I was at the Bristol last Friday after a hilarious comedy show at SanFranBathHouse. I looked down from the level I was on and saw a bunch of people signing - it seemed most of the people there were actually Hearing, but a few of the people were quite fluent in their signing and were probably Deaf. From the goings-on, it seemed to be a birthday celebration, so I was reluctant to go down and bother them. I was itching for a bit of sign practice, so in the end I plucked up the courage to go downstairs and butt in.

I ended up 'talking' with a couple of Deaf guys who explained that they were tutors for the DEAF 201 course at Vic Uni, and one of the girls had invited the whole class out for her birthday celebrations. I was quite pleased that after learning NZSL about 6 years ago, I was still able to understand and make myself understood! We had a good chat about all the basics - where we live, work, family and all that other basic stuff you learn in sign class. I told Darrel (one of the two Deaf guys) that I had taught some signs to kids at school for NZ sign language week, and he was really encouraging. He reckoned I should start a Deaf Club at school and keep these kids interested - apparently NZSL interpreters are in short supply. Ah, if only I had the time... Still, it was cool that I could sign properly even though I haven't really kept in practice.

Rekha's leaving party

We had a MASSIVE cocktail party to farewell Rekha from UHC as she goes back to England. I bought a lovely new dress, which I bought also to wear to the school ball in July. Unfortunately, I'm going on a ski trip on the same weekend, so I will miss it. Bugger.

Anyway, back to the party. I drank way to much and ended up fertilising the garden out the back with the contents of my stomach. Bit of a shame really, as I ended up going home quite early and missed all the shenanigans later in the evening! I blame Mihail's cocktails. He makes them really strong. And yummy. I suppose my lack of willpower is partly responsible too, but I like to blame Mihail anyway. At least I made it to the garden. I gather someone else used the couch. Euuu.

I was pretty sorry for myself the next day. I took Dad to a motorbike show in the Town Hall for his birthday and wheeled him around, trying not to vomit the whole time. After that I went to a rat-meet, where I met a few people from the online rat club. Then I played three games of netball, which boosted my metabolism somewhat so that I was STARVING when I got home. Still felt crap on Monday at school and got a bit of ribbing for not living up to my nickname.

Netball

I'm going to see the Shakers lose, er, I mean *play* netball on Sunday. I've always said to myself, "I should go see some national level netball", and never made it. Well, this coming game is the last Shakers game EVER as the league goes through a re-shuffle, so it's now or never really. Going with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who are in town for the weekend. Should be fun.

Edward's 21st


So Edward (who I remember when he first came to St James as the son of the new Vicar, at age 6) just turned 21. What the?? Where did all that time go?

Anyway, the theme was National Dress. So I came as a Silver Fern. Yay for my excellent sewing skills!

I freehand stitched the logo on the front and machine stiched the white letters on the back. The velcro bibs are courtesy of my netball team. Pity not many people dressed up. Losers. Maybe they knew I would look so good that they shouldn't even bother. The photo below is my "Does my bum look big in this?" pose. Note: the correct answer is "Yes, and I like it that way".


I just noticed you can see a nice bruise on my elbow. From netball THREE weeks ago!



Paul Holmes is gone

Oh well. Although he didn't set the dance floor on fire, he certainly burned rather nicely on my back porch. I want Suzanne (aka Richard the bastard) to win anyway. Go Suzie!!



Note I am wearing my new 'fish' hoodie that Sarah made for my birthday. I've hardly taken it off since I got it.



The fish hoodie



Yeah baby! I reckon these would sell like hotcakes! Maybe only to wierd people like me, but what the hey :) I LOVE this hoodie!





Rat Photos below
(You have been warned!)

The wee ratties are growing bigger by the day. Still uber-cute though :)

Poppy likes to surf the net too.

This is the cutest little school bus! It's for taking the babies to school once a week or so. I now have a second cage that lives at work so it's a little easier than lugging the travel cage around.

I hope to blog a little more regularly next week. I only have 2 games of netball planned, rather than the five I played this week. Life is a little crazy at the mo.

Slacker

I have been too busy to blog. I am now off to have a relaxing bath to unwind from the exhausting week I have just had.


Oh yeah, big thanks and hugs and smoochy kisses to all those who made it to my birthday open home. You won't have realised it at the time but you are responsible for me:

• Raising one of my kitchen cupboards by 8 inches to make usable bench space.
• Mounting my noticeboard on the wall rather than the floor.
• Getting the computer out of the hallway and into the spare room.

All jobs that I was "getting around to doing" but could never find the time. I work well with deadlines.


The bath is calling...

Late notice I know...

... but I turn 31 on Sunday and I'm hosting an open home at our place!

We will be home any time after 1pm. Pop round for a muffin/coffee/slice/beer/tea/whatever.
You can also play with the rats if you wish.

Comment me your email if you need our address, or email fish@paradise.net.nz

Fishbowl News Roundup

We are the Champions

Hillary House, in their usual tradition of winning, took first prize in the International Karaoke competition today at Upper Hutt College. Team members Pesi Sina, Heu Sina, Kaila Malama and Vini Malama sang a medley of songs in Samoan to rapturous applause from their peers and teachers. Three staff also sang a piece in Latin - Bruckner's Locus Iste. Alto Fiona Hall said, "we tried to find a Soprano but there was nobody available to learn it in the limited time we had. Despite that, it sounded pretty good with only three parts instead of four".

The Canadians are coming!

Tattooed and pierced musician/teacher extraordinaire Lauren is soon to leave the shores of Canada for a four month stint at a Lower Hutt college. Lauren's host family, Fiona and Sam Hall are said to be "delighted" at the prospect of a new housemate coming to stay. Lauren will be teaching at Hutt Valley High School, and will also be a guest artist in the world-renowned Saint James Church Choir during her visit. In addition, she will be trained in the ancient art of Netball by Mr and Mrs Hall, and will be expected to take her new knowledge and skills back to Canada to educate the natives.

Home Again

Mr David Hall returned home from hospital today after a brief ilness. Sources close to the family say he is very glad to be home.

My Dad is in hospital. I won't go into details about why, but essentially the thing that's wrong with him is really painful and as a result he finds it hard to breathe. (His lungs are already poked from years of smoking, even though he stopped over 20 years ago.) So he's taking only tiny wee breaths and can't get enough oxygen but he's too scared to take big breaths cos it starts him coughing and that hurts and then he gets scared because he can't breathe. Kind of a vicious cycle.

It hurts to see my big strong Daddy look so weak and small.

special K not little K

I found this person's blog, thinking my mate Kirsten had finally jumped on the blog-wagon.

Not so, but I'm sure Kimberley is just as lovely as little K. :)

In the continuing chain of five hard questions, these are the ones she has asked me. I will answer them later tonight:

aka Special K said...
Your questions, with love from Special K, are:

1. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do?
Doing a reading at my Brother's funeral was pretty difficult. I cry at tissue ads, so you can imagine I was a bit of a wreck. Apparently I set everyone else going too.
Also, the confidence course at Linton army camp is a challenge. I sprained my ankle jumping off a 3m high pylon thingy when I was there in 1991, and when I went back in 1994 I couldn't even look at that part of the course without remembering how awful it was. I completed every part of it except my nemesis the 3m pylon in 1994 and I cried almost all the way through. But I *did* it!

2. What song do you sing in the mirror with a hairbrush when you think noone is looking?
Somebody to Love by Queen. I'm not really a hairbrush in the mirror girl; more often I sing it in the car when there's nobody else in the car with me. Then when I pull up at traffic lights, I get wierd looks from the other drivers. I like to do it at karaoke too. It suits my range well.

3. What was the last lie you told?
"You can have your cellphone back at the end of the day". Then I got on the phone to the kid's Mum and said I would give it back on Thursday. Meh, she can break the bad news to him. He shouldn't have been texting in class anyway, and he wouldn't have given it to me if I had told him he had to wait three days...

4. What thing do you regret doing? Or not doing?
When you visit Waitomo caves, they give a big speil about the largest underground room and they say Kiri Te Kanawa sang there one time because of the great acoustics in there. Then they ask if anyone would like to sing something. I've been there twice but I've not been brave enough either time. I would probably sing something Church-y in Latin, to suit the atmosphere. Maybe Mozart's Ave Verum, maybe Bruckner's Locus Iste. The latter piece was the one sung at our Wedding, for those who were there.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, and not be allowed to go anywhere else in your life, where would it be?
Sunrise Island, Fiji? Naah, I think I would get sick of it eventually. Umm... I think NZ in general suits me pretty well. I've only ever lived in Lower Hutt all my life, so it's hard to compare with other places that I have only visited. I think this one needs some more thinking...

Introducing...

Poppy and Lily.

Poppy is the dark one, Lily is the light one.
So cute!!
I put this last photo in because it looks (unintentionally) arty. It looks like Lily is about to be mugged by Poppy standing in the shadows. Maybe it's just me.

Going...

... going...

... gone.

Bye little pine forest!

Turns out all the trees *were* on the school side of the boundary, dammit.

Rat-tastic!

Yay! Two baby girl ratties for fish and sam!

I get them on Saturday.

Be warned Mum, not-kate, hottie: there WILL be pictures :)

fingers, rats, trees

As not-Kate mentioned in a recent post, I have had a bad run of finger injuries at netball. I now look like a character from the Simpsons with only three fingers and a thumb on each hand. Even if the middle one on each hand is twice as wide and has tape round it.

And I can't do the fingers (not that I would - I'm too well mannered for that), or sign the number two. Like last night when I tried to tell not-Kate that the money was for TWO players.

***

Still waiting on news about possible baby rats. I cleaned out the cage and set it up all nice for when I get them though :)

***

There are workmen cutting down trees along our rear boundary. Where there used to be a fence till yesterday. Till they removed it to cut the trees down. On OUR SIDE of the boundary. Wierd that we didn't get notified. Note the two tree stumps marked in yellow and the fencepost (in red).

I don't really mind as we get more light, but it would have been nice to know.

Gosh, it HAS been a while, hasn't it?

Visiting family

Sam and his Dad and (nibling) Thomas - and me all travelled to Blenheim for an airshow.

Actually I only tagged along because Carol and Murray live there, but I went to the airshow anyway. Even if I read my book for most of it.Megan is one now, and has just started walking. She has a few words too, like 'mum', 'dad' 'cat' and 'ta'. The plane is a Caribou - Canadian in origin, but it belongs to the Aussie Air Force.

Ange's birthday dinner

Matterhorn has yummy food, but it is massively overpriced - thank goodness for the Entertainment Book. Did I mention that I am selling the 2007/2008 Entertainment Book to raise funds for my netball club? Only $55. What a bargain - go out for dinner a few times and it's paid for itself! Let me know if you want to get one. I liked Mighty Mighty too - that tall fellow thought we were a bit of allright, eh Kate!

Here are photos of some people that were at dinner:

...and this is a spider that likes hanging round our back porch:

Rat News

I have just joined Rat Club so I can find two baby girls to replace Wee Man. Well, not replace him as such, but you get the idea. There are so many cute photos of all the peoples' rats! If you like that kind of thing...

Last day of term

Yeah! It is officially the end of Term One. Nine weeks of teaching/policing/mothering my students is over for two weeks. Sometimes I do feel more like a policeman/mother rather than a teacher. For example, three students have come to me so far this year to tell me they are (or might be) pregnant. Another 65 or so have had detentions with me, and I've had to chase another 20 or so that didn't go to their detentions. These kids stress me out big time sometimes.

I had a senior teacher come visit my class the other day. I'm struggling with my year 11s. They have a poor work ethic, and some of them have highly developed work avoidance strategies they have been using successfully for years. This class makes me feel like a first year teacher at times - and nothing I try with them seems to help. He has made some really good suggestions and I'm looking forward to getting them back on side next term (hopefully!).

For comparison I asked him to come see my year 10 (favourite) class, and I was really pleased by his feedback. All the things I try with the year 11s (that don't work) DO work in the year 10 class. So I'm not as useless as I thought! I will keep his feedback in my folder and whenever I am having a bad day I will remind myself to look at it.

A quote from his feedback:
"...you are IN CHARGE but still have a WONDERFUL smile! You make their day!"

and another:
"... you work HARD - you get into it with the kids, share your enthusiasm, you're involved, positive and enjoy working with them"

just one more:
" A really neat working relationship!"

What a lovely way to end the term. I love my year 10s.

I just visited the school library and got some books issued for the school holidays. I intend to do a fair bit of lazing round with a book or three these holidays. One of the perks of being a teacher :) I'll think of you working plebs while I laze round on the couch.

Lent

...is a season in the Christian calendar. Most of you lapsed Catholics out there would know what it is, but most people I come across seem not to know much about it. When I tell people that I have given up alcohol for Lent, most people say, "Why - are you pregnant?"

Like, er, no...?

By the way, did you know the 40 hour famine is done in March because it's in Lent and it echoes the "giving something up for Lent" thing? Albeit 40 hours rather than 40 days. Actually, 40 days not counting Sundays, so it's really more like 47 days.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Giving up alcohol for Lent is hard work. Especially when you go to social events at a pub (Wednesday quiz/Friday 3.15pm wind-down...) and everyone else is drinking. And it's not like I'm an alcoholic or anything, but sometimes I would just LOVE a nice cold beer with my fries and conversation. Even if I was driving I would still treat myself with ONE beer.

I have rekindled my affair with spicy tomato juice - my non-alcoholic drink of choice. There is a real art to it - not too much ice, for starters. Then lots of tobasco and Worcester sauce so it's got a lovely bite to it. The more spicy it is the less inclined I am to guzzle it down and need another one. I am also drinking a lot more Coke than I used to, due to it being cheaper than tomato juice.

* * *

It's my birthday soon. That is all.

* * *

I played in a netball tournament at the weekend. I was supposed to play three games but I pinged my finger (TWICE!) in the second game and had to sit the third one out. It held up ok at indoor last night but I had to tape it just in case.

Can I just mention to all the people who were at the game last night: I did NOT crash into that dopey blond girl on purpose! I was going for THE BALL - as one does in this game. The ref gave the ball to me afterwards so obviously it was not my contact. So there. :P

That girl sure was dopey though. She contacted me every time she went to run into the circle and seemed to have no idea what 'standing down' looked like. I'm looking forward to playing them again later on when they learn the rules a bit better. I think we will still beat them though - as long as we get to the court on time and don't lose 5 points!

Triathlon Today

I did it!!

A 400m swim, 12km bike, 4km run. And I didn't stop at all. Except when I swam into a huge bunch of kelp and had to wrest myself free. I also won a spot prize (nice coffee). So did Kirsten (wine) and Sarah (protein powder). I think K got the better deal :)

Yay me.

Netball

In about half an hour I will find out what netball team I am in this season. There is a mixture of anticipation and nervousness inside me as I wait for the meeting. Last year I was in Team 4 (out of 5) and for the two years before I was in Team 5. I am hoping to be in team 3, but team 4 will do I suppose; although I would rather be a not-so-good player in a strong team than be a strong player in a not-so-good team. I just hope the selector has seen it that way!


Sushi-riffic

Moto (our Japanese boarder) leaves next weekend. He is going to make us sushi for tea on Wednesday, which I am really looking forward to as my attempts at sushi making have not always been so successful in the past. Unfortunately this means I miss Cass's birthday celebrations which are on the same night. Poos.


Try a tri

The triathlon is also on next weekend. I feel very underprepared and unfit, but my goal is to finish, not win; even if I have to walk the run bit! At this stage I am mostly wondering how I go about the transitions. Do I wear just my togs or a wetsuit? What about a rash vest? Do I dry my feet after the swim, or do I cycle in wet socks? Shorts or leggings? What if it's raining? It's all a bit overwhelming, really.

Any advice from other tri-ers would be great... but don't even THINK about suggesting I do it pro-style and cycle/run in a bikini thingy - Greenpeace may just turn up and try to put me back in the sea.

It is finished

Wee Man is no more.

His back legs had been starting to lose function slowly since the start of the year, and by this week his back half was almost completely paralysed. He was rather a sad figure, dragging himself up and down the stairs of his cage with only his front legs. He was also losing heaps of weight despite eating normally and I think his kidneys had packed up because he was drinking all the time. So; it was the right decision to have him put down.

We took him to the vet after work yesterday, and after a final cuddle, the vet took him away. He gassed him to put him to sleep, then injected something to stop his heart. We got him back home, Sam dug a hole by the lemon tree, and we buried him there.

I cried.

Bye wee man!

Sporty Stuff

Affa-letix

...which is how you say "athletics" if you attend Upper Hutt College.

Man, today went off - what a fabulously organised and well attended event. After being stuck in third place for the last two years it was a relief to finally break the trend and come second. YAY Hillary house!! Now we have to kick butt all year in the other events and take the house trophy off smug old Blake house. Our leadership team (Year 12 and 13 kids) did an excellent job of signing people up for events and organising them to be in the right place at the right time. I'm really proud of them. The tiger outfit growled its way to being the most awesome staff costume (IMHO of course!), and I didn't get sunburned.

Netball

Netball sucked last night. We were within a whisker of winning but the opposition sunk a lucky 2 pointer on the buzzer. And they only had the ball cos I missed a pass from Sam, so really, I lost the game for us. And I was on C when I had no legs left (4th quarter). And we were top of the table - we shoulda kicked ass. But we didn't. Poos.

I have two games tonight in Petone. A good way to purge my netball demons.

Spot the difference

What difference?? They look identical to me...

Roll on athletics day.

GO YELLOW!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, Sam has already pointed out that tigers are orange not yellow. I plead colour blindness.

Back, Black, Black Caps

Back
I'm back from sunny Auckland - with 32 Waipuna pens to prove it. I had a competition with a teacher from HIBS - I lost - she got 38. I learned lots of new ways to teach the same old things kids have trouble with: algebra, fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio; and I am looking forward to trying it all out with my guinea pigs back at school.

And an old guy from the Ministry of Education made a pass at me. Flattering, but also weird.

Black
We went to a funeral today for Sam's boss's wife. Gone just a day after delivering her first daughter. Stink. I keep thinking what it would be like if it was me (or Sam) and just don't even want to go there. I cannot imagine how awful it is for the boss guy right now.

Black Caps
About time we gave someone a thrashing. Yeah.

One Love

Yeah baby. What a lovely day.

After leaving the beer at home before learning you *could* take your own, and then going via the petrol shop and the beer and food shop and then mum's place to drop off my car, and then to Kate's place to pick her up, we FINALLY made it there just in time for me to sit on my butt and soak up the sun and eat and drink and read my book.



And I got a henna tattoo on my foot.
Before (note the stick on tattoo also on my ankle):



After: (the henna has to dry then peel off, leaving a stain on the skin):

And this chick forgot to put her pants on, I think. There was definite cheek action visible when she walked. Oh Dear.

Training Notes and other things

400m swim, 12km bike, 4km run

I thought I'd better check the actual distances today and was pleasantly suprised that the run and bike legs were less than I had thought. The swim leg is longer than I thought, but 400m is a warm-up for me so no problem there.

Training Diary

So far I have been very active:

Feb 3 - walk down/up the hill
Feb 4 - walk up, run down the hill; bike ride up/down/up the hill; walk to the mall (4km)
Feb 5 - walk up, run down the hill; 1km swim; 2 games of netball
Feb 6 - walk up/down the hill; 1 game of netball

Tomorrow I will take it easy with only a walk up/down the hill in the morning. There may be a recreational swim in the river if the weather stays as fabulously hot as it was today.

Back to work (finally!)

The students start tomorrow - lots of course changes to make, and new faces to meet. We don't start teaching till Friday actually. Then next week I go on a conference for three days in Auckland. Yay! Although stink for my classes - I have to set relief when they have only just started learning stuff; not an ideal situation. I will be taking the laptop with me - be prepared for an interruption to your usual off-black service next week!

It is done

I have officially entered the Sun Latte Women's triathlon which is on 25 March.

Now I have to train for it as I stopped training just before we moved house, like, late November!

Here's the plan:

• Every morning - up at 6 for a walk/run/stagger up and down the hill and back up again. As we are kinda halfway up the hill, go up first as it is less steep than the 'uphill' from the bottom, and I need to save that bit till I'm warmed up.
• Week days - take swim gear to work and go home via the pool. Less hassle than trying to go in the morning and then get back home for brekkie: we live further from the pool than we used to. Do at least 1km, work up to 2km by 25 March.
• Mondays - indoor netball.
• Weekends - ride my bike up and down the hill and back up again. (Note: just tried that and found the second 'up' needed to be on foot. This will change!)

By the start of March I will be needing to ride on the flat for longer than the 2km of Major Drive - maybe up and down Oxford/Cambridge Terraces with the odd bridge crossing thrown in. I will also need to start taking the bike to the pool to get used to transitions, or coming home from biking and going straight out for a run.

Wish me luck!

The original model for Gollum

Megan - 39 weeks

Whaddya reckon?

VTNZ are picky buggers

Like not-kate, my car also failed its WoF. Unlike not-kate, mine will cost a lot more than $10 to fix.

I took it to VTNZ. Don't do that! They get paid per fault found, I reckon. They are uber-picky!!! They said my car needed:

• Rust repair under engine mount (approx $100 to fix)
• Rust repair under driveshaft neat the seats (approx $400 to fix)
• New tyre (about $80)

I said "bugger that" and took it to the lovely boys at Moonshine Autos, near UHC.
They said my car needed:

• New wipers ($10-ish)
• A new headlight bulb ($15-ish)
• New brakes (approx $120)

They also said, "Your tyre is borderline, but passes ok. And where's the rust supposed to be? I didn't find any."

Suck on that, VTNZ!

Funny how the different places pick up different stuff. I guess the headlight bulb blew in the week between WoFs, but the other stuff? What the hey - as long as I only have to spend about $150 rather than about $600 to get it roadworthy. Then I can sell the bastard :) It was totally worth the second opinion (and extra $40) to save $450. Especially as I am now a HOMEOWNER and don't have a lot of spare moolah.

Psst! Anyone wanna buy a Barina? One careful lady owner (and probably a few not-so-careful owners before that). :)

Here it is folks, the event you have been

waiting your whole life for… (or not)

Fish and Sam’s HOUSEWARMING!!

A not to be repeated event.
Mainly because moving house is a bitch

and we don’t want to do it again for at least ten years!

Saturday 27 January, from about 7ish
We will put on some snacks.
BYO drinks

Short notice, I know, and the races are on at Trentham that day, for those who are into that sort of thing, but we’re sure you can find time to pop in and christen the place. No, not like that. Shame on you, dirty people.

If you’ve read this, consider yourself invited!
Except that guy in the spare room at his Mum’s house reading this in his underpants. He’s not invited. You know who you are.

email fish@paradise.net.nz if you need the address.

Haircuts I have known: 1978

As promised on HP's blog, here's a photo of the haircut my sister Carol gave me at age 2. She was four. I can't find the front on view - it disappeared around the time of my 21st. The side view shows the complete lack of fringe and styley shaved side look though.

The second photo was taken three months later. You can still see the massive chunk missing at the front. Doesn't Carol look the picture of innocence? Yeah right :) Gotta also love the dressing the kids alike thing my Mum had going there. Nice beads too.

damn them all to hell

So I've switched to the new blogger. Maybe I had already but not realised it - I dunno. All I know is I couldn't log in anymore, so I tried logging in the new one and voila! Here I am.

We now have broadband at home. Yay! And two months free to get me addicted to all sorts of stuff so when I have to pay for it I will, cos I'll be addicted.

Textbook Rant
I went to school on Monday and spent FIVE solid hours stocktaking all the textbooks so I can figure out which naughty students haven't returned their books. I am the self-appointed textbook Nazi this year due to my amazing ability to be super organised. It really bugs me that some other teachers that issue the books don't take any responsibility for them. Some didn't even bother to record which student got which book. This of course wouldn't be a problem if all the kids brought them back, but kids are kids and are going to lose them/leave them at a mates place/leave them in a locker somewhere/change schools and all that kind of stuff. We have something like 100 textbooks missing over the five year levels. And that comes out of OUR maths budget. Hopefully the maths staff might get the connection this year when I make them personally ring all their last years' students to get the books back. Hehehe.

Food Poisoning Stinks (Literally. Euuuwww!)
I still have remnants of Campylobacter in me. Unfortunately my 2kg weight loss was merely water and I am now back to my regular size and weight. Also unfortunately, I still have trouble keeping food in my system any longer than about 2 hours. And therefore small meals are good. drinking water is good. Eating lots of meat or fibre is bad. Incidentally I found these cool stuffed toys thanks D3VO! that are representative of the micro-organisms that cause diseases and other illnesses. Pity they didn't have a Campy. I would have liked one so I could turn it into a voodoo doll.

Bzzzzzzzz
I bought an electric toothbrush. It's awesome. I can nearly manage to do all the surfaces before the 2 minute timer runs out - two minutes is actually quite a long time! I am going to get very good at estimating 2 minute intervals I guess. I went to the dentist yesterday and he said that my teeth looked very good and he was pleased that I had an electric toothbrush and soon I would notice how much better it was than a regular brush. I'm way ahead of him - I noticed by the second day that my teeth felt cleaner than usual and I had much nicer morning breath. That's gotta be good.

Labels
Why do I want to use labels? I've managed so far without them. Comments anyone?

Grrrrr

Telstra have screwed up AGAIN and completely cut our access to paradise.net Grrr. We have no dialup, no way to check email, and no email anywhere, even when I go from Mum's cos they won't accept my password. Stupidheads. I am going to call them when I get home and give them a piece of my mind. A grumpy piece at that. Good thing I drove Sam to work so I could pop into my work and use the internet. It's wierd being in a completely empty school. Nobody here but the caretakers and the guys building the new chem storage block. All too soon it will be all go again.

I just spent the weekend with a paritcularly nasty tummy bug. The doctor said it was Campylobacter, a common bug in "bbq season" :) I still don't know what caused it though, as I was the only person who got sick that I know of. Incubation takes anything from 1 - 10 days, so it could have been anything. Without being too graphic, I had bloating, cramps, and a speedy case of the runs for at least 3 days. I'm not quite back on a normal diet yet - sticking mostly to bread and fruit and other bland stuff. And I'm not allowed to swim till Friday! I did Monday's lessons from the side which was ok but not ideal. They managed to find a replacement for me for the next three days, but I'm looking forward to being able to get in the pool on Friday.

Won netball last night 35-18. Awesome. I shot 2 quarters and was super-confident for some reason and managed to sink quite a few. With Scott and Aaron we put on about 20 points in the two quarters. It was a good team game all round though - I think we had all missed playing over Christmas and were ready to give it our best last night. I think the other team could have done much better than they did - it should have been a much closer score.

Farewelled Leon and Laura last night - what a fine couple. Pity they couldn't stay longer.

Back in blogland

Moving house has disrupted my blogging of late, but never fear, I am back! And I have a lot of free time, not having to go to work till Feburary. One of the perks of teaching. Or perhaps the only perk :) Actually I have to be there on about the 28th or something to enrol the Senior students who failed lots of exams and now can't do the subjects they chose back in October. It would be much easier if they would damn well pass their exams, but I know they aren't all geniusses/genii? Whatever. Obviously I'm not one either.

Mum's clan are all in town for Auntie Wendy's 60th birthday party. There has already been one row (about how the scallops are to be cooked, for Chrissakes!! I mean who cares?) and I am sure there will be more. Imagine three older versions of me, all trying to be the boss at once, and you might get the idea. The three sisters in Mum's generation get all stressed out and yell and get shitty with each other and we cousins and the menfolk just roll our eyes and try to make peace. Family - can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em. At least I get to see Megan. She's all worth it :)

The last however-long of crap weather almost took its toll today. Sam and I both had a severe case of cabin fever and if today hadn't been lovely outside one of us might have decked the other. Not sure who would have been decked and who would have been the deck-ee, the jury is still out on that one. Either way it wouldn't have been pretty.

My car failed its WOF. Rust in the cross member, whatever that is, and one new tyre needed. Yay, and did I mention I am REALLY poor, having just bought a house and with Christmas debt to boot? Looks like I am going to have to get a taste for 2 minute noodles and tuna for the next 6 months.

I also took Wee Man to the vet. He has a rash on his tail (which antibiotics are gonna fix) and poor movement in his back legs (as a result of being old - not fixable). The conversation with the vet went like this:

Vet - how old is he?
Me - Three and a bit - how long do rats usually live?
Vet - Two years.

So I guess he ain't doing too bad for a geriatric.

Reads like a Mastercard ad...

Bought a microwave cabinet today and managed to assemble it with Mum's help/interference :) Cost about $200.

Paid NZ Post to redirect our mail. Cost $30.

Registered Sam's car. Never mind that the form has been lying around for three weeks - he texted me and asked me to do it TODAY cos it expires tomorrow. Gotta love the procrastination, although I guess the later you do it the longer you get out of the 12 months you pay for. Or does it not run from the date you pay? Meh. Cost $180ish.

Nearly ready to move the big stuff tomorrow. Truck: $35 plus 35c/km. Hoping to do it in one go rather than two.

Xmas Dinner at K and R's tonight. Cost: Dessert and drinks.

Xmas Dinner on the 25th at my place. Priceless. Thanks Mum!

Christmas and moving are both expensive, although I'm happy only ONE of those comes once a year!

It has begun

Yesterday I had the help of two strapping young lads from UHC, Uriah and Aaron. They did in two hours what would have taken me at least five. Damn fit young things. Cheap too. They did it all for $20 petrol into Uriah's car and $20 into Aaron's pocket.

Most of the house is now boxed up and moved, or ready to move. The big stuff goes on Saturday. I love that our house is split level, but the stairs will be a killer for the washing machine and fridge and beds! I just hope it isn't raining.

Some other stuff not related to buying a house (warning: rat photo included)

When Maths Teachers go out to dinner...

...well, not much happens out of the ordinary. I was home by 9pm. What a Nanna.

We also gave Wee Man a bath

He didn't really enjoy it but he smells a lot nicer now.

It's the waiting that gets you

I have a house full of boxes, more boxes in the car, and loads of nervous energy. I'm waiting for a phone call from the agent to say that the lawyers have confirmed all is well and I can have the keys. Until then I just have to sit tight and wait. Bored bored bored... I want to get moving!!!

I never realised we had so much stuff! We have now packed 13 boxes full of books and six boxes of CDs. This time when we unpack we will merge my CDs with Sam's. Dunno why it's taken us over four years of living together to do that. The final step on the committment ladder, perhaps?

This week I am also teaching swimming - private lessons at Huia, from 3 - 5.30pm. Bad timing, but it will help pay for a few presents this Christmas.

Ring, phone, ring dammit!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaaaa-ngessssss...

I have added another fabulous person to my Posse in the sidebar, who I thought I actually added MONTHS ago. Ah well, better late then never. Hi Andrew!

Today we signed all the important banking stuff at Westpac and the important lawyer stuff at the Lawyer's place. YAY!

School is about to end tomorrow. I have the UHC van and will be doing the 'school run' for the five or six people nearby who want to get boozed after prizegiving. The aftermatch is at the Speight's Alehouse in Petone. Sweet.

Sam's work is winding down for Christmas so they have hardly any boxes for us. I WANNA PACK, MAN!! (not to be confused with I want a Pac-Man) :) Anyone got a source that can hook me up?

House

WE GOT IT!!

A couple of builder reports niggles to sort, but esentially we will settle on Monday 18 December. Wanna help me move 18 - 23 December???

Fingers crossed AGAIN

So the place we had a backup offer on is now the place we have an OFFER on! The other one fell through today. I hope we get it but this time I am playing it cool so I don't suffer a crushing defeat like the last two times.

Please all think positive thoughts about Kelson today. No little K, it's not the one on your street. Further down on the right hand side :)

Sez and Ronnie's wedding pictures

Rarotonga. How romantic :) Doesn't she look fabulous?

Actually I've never seen a bride NOT looking fabulous - something about 'inner radiance blah blah blah...'

the Tattooed Lady

Here's the results of this weekend's antics:

You can see Sam's one here.

...and of course, now the eternal question:

"does this tattoo make my ass look fat?" :)

Two very similar photos

Yes, it's wedding season!!

Yay to my bestest friend ever, Sarah, and her new hubby Ronnie (Rarotonga, 2 Nov)

And congratulations also to Matt and Tania (Napier, 25 Nov)

Love you!! :)

Wedding in Napier, Thanksgiving in Welly

A jaunty angle

This is me just before leaving our motel unit in Napier for Matt and Tania’s wedding. The invite said “Black tie – hats encouraged” And I’m glad they were or I would have ended up with a severe case of sunstroke. I had trouble figuring out what the big yellow thing was up in the sky, as I hadn’t seen it for soooooo long. Now considering moving to Napier. Yeah that’s right, trade one fault line for another. Way to go earthquake-phobic girl :)

Here’s some more piccies. Didn’t we look dashing! We are at the Church Rd winery in case you were wondering. Or not.

Thanksgiving

After feeling really uncomfortable for the first couple of minutes after our not-so-fashionably-late-more-like-unavoidably-late arrival at Cal’s place, things looked a lot more rosy after I got some good food into me. Thanks Morgue and little K and Cal for sorting me out and giving me hugs, oh and thanks Aaron for Organising Everyone. And I got to meet my long lost twin properly in the flesh and actually talked to her In Real Life (tm). We shared self portrait tips and agreed on the perfect angle for taking them. What fun.

I arrived after the bit where everyone had to say what they were thankful for.
I’m thankful I missed it.

Wuss

I cried reading Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince on the way up to Napier.

That is all.

Blogger beta

Is it worth doing? Comments please.

BTW Carol, Blogger beta lets you have a blog which is private - only viewable by people you choose. I assume it has some kind of password setup. Might be the one for your Megan photos?

It's been a long time baby

About time I wrote something before people stop visiting altogether.


House search

Still no place grabbing us. Is it too much to expect all the boxes to be ticked? I don't want to settle for "it's nice enough, but... (insert something not as good here)" The main reason we are finding it hard is that we are looking in the range that investors are looking in, so the good ones get snapped up quickly. More open homes on Sunday... I'd really love to be in by Xmas so I can spend the holidays pottering around. My favourite :)


Mr and Mrs Reading

Congratulations go out to my bestest friend ever, Sarah, and her new hubby Ronnie. Yay for getting married! In Rarotonga even! Party this weekend should be awesome. I have bought them the coolest pressie - As Sarah reads this blog I can't say what it is, but notkate will know it (from that shop in Greytown, think electricity...)


Prizegiving

Ours was at Lane Park, an old factory in Upper Hutt that has been turned into a church space. It's MASSIVE, but we had the entire student body from years 11, 12 and 13, a bunch of parents, family and 80+ staff, and it was completely full. Some people even had to stand. I remember about 4 years ago it was only about half full - either our roll has really grown since then or more people now take the 'compulsory' instruction seriously.

The Dux was a student I have never taught, but the joint Proxeme were students I taught in Year 10. Yay me!! Cos it's all about me of course. Actually, despite being a Dean I didn't even get to hand any prizes out - as they only used one of each dean from each house, and I got to do it last year. I played in the band though, so everyone got to see how cool I look with a clarinet in my mouth and a red face from playing it. Clarinets are so not sexy - Allyson Hannigan made the right choice with the flute, in my opinion.


Netball

I'm coaching a combined 10A/10B netball team against a visiting side from Aussie today - should be fun.

06 Nov 04

... is exactly two years ago.

The morning was damp and misty, but the weather cleared to make a fantastic afternoon and a marvellous evening. I cried lots, as did my Mum and Sister, and probably my Dad. Kind of silly really, as it was THE BEST DAY EVER in my whole life!!!

Love you Sammy!