11.18.09
Sunshine words
Mr 5 has always been my little sunshine boy. When you are around him, you know he’s just a piece of sunshine – his nature truly is sunny, and when you get one of his smiles, it sure lights up your day.
So last night I was tucking him into bed. For a change it was me, and there was no Mr 8 to interupt as he was at cubs. And we had this wee conversation as I was kissing him goodnight:
Mr 5: Muuummm……
Me: Yes..?
Mr5: I wish I was still at kindy.
Me – a little puzzled, as he just LOVES school: Why is that?
Mr 5: Because then I could spend more time with you and just me.
He’ll always be my Sunshine.
11.15.09
So far so good.
I’ve just completed my first full week of work. I have my first payday next week – can I even begin to tell you how exciting that is??
The commute into the city has been very easy so far each morning. The fact I travel in right at the end of peak hour in the morning sure helps. I’m loving the environment I’m working in – people that work very hard but still know how to have a good laugh. I think I’m a good fit into the role and I’m loving the fact I’m just getting stuck into some of the work now. There is still a whole LOT to learn about the job, but it’s definitely a case of so far so good.
I still have a lot to do as well in terms of establishing new routines. Trying to fit the necessities of life such as groceries, after school activities and that ever present To Do item – housework, into the new working week is not happening easily so far. But everyone is adjusting little by little and I’m sure it won’t be long before there are patterns and routines back in place.
One thing that I might have to change a little is my usual Christmas card production. Time might not actually allow me to complete all the Christmas cards that I normally do. However, I’m working through the list and you just never know! But I came across a little help in the form of digi-cards from Becky Higgins yesterday. I think I may well be making use of them in some form! Here’s a link if you too would like a little ease in your Christmas card production: http://www.beckyhiggins.com/projectlife/. You might have to scroll down – and there are instructions too. Easy-peasy!
We’ve also been enjoying life around the place – and I have a couple of pics to prove it.
Halloween – this year we had a dog, a cat, a ninja and a jedi knight – plus a wee princess. She had trouble keeping up – at 18 months it is a little harder! There are also truly hideous pics proving that long, curly yellow hair and I are not really a match made in heaven. It was a last minute attempt at a “queen Bee” costume. It was fun – but not so pretty!! 
A day picnic-ing with friends. I love that my new camera lets me catch so much detail from afar – I loved being able to just watch and snap while they were completely unaware – and so very much in their element. What is really amazing is that this creek heading out to the sea at Paraparaumu didn’t quite so picturesque in real life, but clearly that doesn’t matter when you are 5 or 8 years old and doing stuff that 5 and 8 year old boys do! (Del – you and I will clearly have to swap pics! )
Taking Angus for a walk by the river
Boy vs. Dog – Angus is waiting for a stone or a stick to fetch. He then runs after it, realises he’s in a little further and takes off for shallower parts.
See?!
And finally – yes, we saw it! On the TV… but the scrapbooker in me realised that although we weren’t there in person, this was history! So we will know where we were when the All Whites got into the 2010 World Cup. Silly Mummy!
11.02.09
“And here’s the news…”
There are still the formalities, but I can now share my news with you without fear of jinxing anything!
I have a job!!
Wooohooo! I’m really excited about it – and a little nervous too.
It’s PA / Executive Assistant role in a government agency that deals with legal aid. Although at this point in time I won’t be using my newly acquired Legal Exec. qualification, the job ticks so many of the must have boxes for me, it’s pretty near perfect. For a start, it’s 20 hours a week, during school hours, with great flexiblity around school holidays. It is in a legal environment and they love the fact I have the qual, so in time use may be made of that. And best of all… they wanted ME!!
Having not worked (in a PAID capacity…. I am so not saying I’ve not “worked” while being a full-time mum!! LOL) in New Zealand for close on 11 years now, heading back into that environment is definitely a bit surreal. After the interview (which was 1 and a half hours long!) I had a really good feeling about the organisation. It seems to be a really good fit for the likes of me, and definitely has the vibe of being family-friendly. The manager that I’ll be reporting to and at least one of the other managers that will be in the daily mix both seemed to be very nice people. All adding up to a very good impression of the type of work environment I’m heading into.
So THAT’s why I decided that I really needed the reward of a good camera after longing for one for aaaaaages. And speaking of which, I’ve had a great time playing with it! Lots to learn to get the most out of it. I think I’ll be attending a camera club with my good friend and neighbour and awesomely arty photo friend, Liz.
Mr 8 and Uncle R testing out new remote control cars
Mr 5 concentrating on his remote car
10.22.09
I’m so excited!
There’s a piece of news that is 95%-99% certain – but I’m not actually going to share that with you just yet as that is highly likely to jinx it completely!
But because of this news, Hubby agreed that I could get a little something:
It’s not a full-on SLR but I decided, having admired my friend Liz’ for months and months now, that I’m not really a photographer-photographer. I want a camera that has a lot of features I get to play with, great zoom, will do some things for itself and basically give me crisper pictures than the tough camera I’ve been using. The Mju was always meant to be Hubby’s – to go kayaking and cycling with. But because it had a lot of neat scene settings on it, I had fun using it. I’ve become less and less impressed with some of the photos once printed though as it seemed very susceptible to producing noise. I played with a whole bunch of settings but nothing really seemed to improve it.
Then another friend, Del, lent me her S5 to take some pics. It felt like an SLR, but was smaller. And it took great pics! Great – I couldn’t believe how clever I was – er, the camera was. Well, the s5 has been replaced by the SX10 which in turn is already replaced by the SX20 very recently. Having done a bunch of homework, there are some hiccups in the SX20 which meant a lot of people were preferring the model it replaced. And seeing as there is a significant price differential, I opted for the SX10.
And I did a bunch of homework on that too – Hubby is currently here:
Has been for almost two weeks in fact. We were hoping that he might find the model I wanted a bit cheaper as electronics are often cheaper in Asia. But alas, not really the case in this case. And after hunting out as much info as I could online to pass on to him, I find I can get quite good deals here. Until finally this morning I clinched the best deal of all! Almost $150 off the RRP. Yay – go me!! Hubs gets to collect it on his way to customs as he makes his way home 
Anyway, that is why I am so excited – I’ll be getting my hands on my very sought after new toy on Saturday. Wooo-hoooo!!
Anyway, all that nonsense and mayhem aside, the last two weeks around the place have been *interesting*.
First two weeks of terms pretty much done. Those two weeks come hand in hand with Term 4 school swimming. Two very, very tired school boys reside in this house at present. It wasn’t helped too much with me getting a touch of tummy bug overnight on Friday/Saturday. It definitely isn’t pleasant, and I had to call in reinforcements to help with the Mr’s. Thank you Donna and Bevan and C and M!!!!
But my tour of solo-duty is pretty much up – Mr 5 has a countdown calendar going so he knows how many sleeps until Daddy is home. Mr 8 has tried very hard to limit the tantrums.
The second car is now warrented again, and I have even started on a couple of large-ish projects I’ve been meaning to get done for a long time now. The Angus-a-fied back lawn has seen some repair work, and hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll be rewarded with green, grass-like shoots showing. Likewise, my wardrobe no longer has an excess of very old clothes that were never going to see the light of day on me again. Having Hubs absent for a little while has proved beneficial.
But we are definitely looking forward to Saturday and having him home again.
And it’s NOT just because of the package he’ll have picked up on the way through. Although I am looking forward to that as well.
10.05.09
School Holiday time
I’ve been almost thankful for the rain at the beginning of these holidays. That’s a super rare thing for me to admit. But it gave me and the Mr’s great excuses to not do too much and just hang around the house. Sure it’s been interesting keeping the Mr’s amused, but as life keeps up moving at great pace, it’s been good to just chill out and do very little.
The Mr’s have discovered Moshi Monsters and have had a great time earning Rox, making friend, capturing Moshlings and figuring out puzzles. Strict time limits were put in place for each turn as we all know that giving a centimetre means much more than a kilometre is then expected! And so far the cooped up cabin fever has not shown up in any great way. Yay!
Last Thursday the weather fined up enough to meet with some friends and take part in the annual Spring Festival buggy walk through the Botanic Gardens. Not only are the gardens a great place to go generally, but there is a fantastic playground for kids of all ages. We took a picnic along with us and planned to eat at the playground. Interestingly, we ended up going around the gardens twice. And my legs for sure paid for it the next day – as did my shoulders as the picnic in my backpack got heavier and heavier. The incidental extra distance was due to me not knowing where the best place to park was going to be and ignoring my usual *let’s just see how parking is around the entrance* mantra. I planned this time to try at a car park that would meet up with the cable car – meaning this time we started at the top, to go down to meet the official walk and our friends, only to head up to the top and back down again for the giveaways and then back to the top for the picnic…. whew!
Little legs and voices did start to protest but we made it and considering how much fun we had and how much not-doing-very-much the previous few days, I think it was a good thing for the extra effort in the end. I didn’t take my camera as my bag was already jammed full of picnic stuff, but luckily for me, my friend Del took hers and in all honesty, she’ll have great pics. I’ll be downloading some later this week so will add some then. Seeing as I missed the Tulip Sunday last week for the first time in years (too busy with other stuff!!) I was pleased to see that there were still tonnes of tulips around. They certainly were a little worse for wear thanks to the rough weather in the previous week, but considering that, I was still impressed by the remaining display.
*****
On Saturday I had some time with fellow Stampin Up team members as we had a team day. This turned out to be lots of fun – there was a shoe box swap. Every prepares their swaps and puts everything required into a container. We all take a box to work on, create the project from the box and end up going home with 9 projects that we’ve made ourselves! Great concept.
*****
Donna and I agreed to run a couple of craft sessions for kids at the community centre. Last week it was buttons and all manner of broches, necklaces, rings, flowers and bracelets were created by a group of kids. This week we’re doing puppets on Wednesday – sock puppets, finger puppets, and paper plate puppets. This session is aimed to include slightly younger kids as well so I’m curious as to how many will show up.
*****
Hubby has just got confirmation that he will be going to Malaysia for a couple of weeks worth of work soon. I’m doing my best to not be all green-jelly. I would love to pack up and head over as well!! I think if he’d been going over longer, I’d definitely arranged for me and the Mr’s to be included!!
And just because I haven’t got any pictures in here yet, here’s one just to pretty things up a bit:
09.22.09
And so it’s Tuesday
Tuesday is my Hump Day. My insanely busy day – after school at least. Two swimming times, travel time, 60 minutes to get home, eat and get back out to pick up Mr 8’s mate and drop off to cubs. It is the one day that I would never usually add something into the mix.
So why on earth did I put something in there for today? Cos I’m mad is the only reason I can think of right now.
Last week I had to take our family car for its WOF. And having pointed out it needed a new bulb for a rear light, the only thing I thought might have been an issue were possibly the tyres.
Now, I have had to go to a place other than my usual mechanic because six months ago, I discovered that W&A had gone bust and they refused to tell me were Barry had gone. That annoyed me becuase he’s a great mechanic, and one that I have trusted over the years to be straight with me.
So I head to another big name place where I know I’m paying more for labour costs but expect a good job. Big mistake.
At this WOF check, not only did they fail to call me as requested should any work other than the known blown bulb need doing, when I did turn up, they had failed the car on about $800 worth of work. Excluding labour. Going through the list, my heart sank…. I was expecting maybe tyres but not all these jobs…. and the list seemed endless. And then they said “seatbelts not retracting.”
Woah!
Back up!! Did you just say that the seatbelts don’t retract? Yes, he did. Alarm bells start jangling. You mean, these seatbelts here, I questioned as a demonstrated perfectly functioning seatbelts retracting in the front. Well, yeah, those were the ones down here. Well, why don’t they work – when clearly they do…? I questioned. Let me go check, I’m told.
He comes back…… oh, it was the centre belt.
Ok, so you have marked down here that the front seatbelts have failed because they don’t work, but as they do work you really meant it was the centre back belt. The one that we haven’t used at all since the last time you passed it six months ago? What exactly is the issue with it? Um….. it doesn’t work. What doesn’t work? I almost hiss through clenched teeth – all the alarm bells ringing for me. Ummmm…. it doesn’t work. You mean this one that is working very well now? I ask. Yeah – that one – it’s a bit dirty.
By now I’ve had enough. I’ve been pulled up on perfectly working seatbelts plus a whole lot of other expensive jobs that supposedly need doing.
I tell him that I think there is a lot of BS coming from his team and that if any work needs doing, it will not be them receiving payment. And then I drive off to VTNZ. Which I probably should have done in the first place, except I like one-stop shopping.
I discovered that there is a natinal computer system – they knew I’d just failed elsewhere. he wanted to have a chat with me after his check….. He couldn’t find issues and wanted to find out why I had failed 30 minutes prior. He looked at me like I’d grown another head as I told him my perfectly functioning seatbelts and nearly new wiper blades were among some of the failures earlier.
I was still failed. For two nails in a left hand tyre that wasn’t picked up by the last lot, and a funny bulb pattern in my headlight. That was the only thing the two places agreed on. So today I went to a garage to get these things done. It cost me around $50 – including labour – to have them sorted out.
A saving of over $800.
I will never, ever use that first place again. What makes me wild is that if they hadn’t harped on about the seatbelts, I would have trusted them on the rest of the work – I knew no differently.
And my very busy, crazy Tuesday got a little crazier as I had to catch a bus in order to get to and from the new mechanic. But it has been so very worthwhile! I haven’t found Barry yet, but I think this new place is almost as good. Thank goodness for decent human beings!!
09.08.09
Into the pack
Many of us grew up being involved in organised groups such as guides, girls brigade or scouts. I remember well being a brownie then flying up to Guides in St Anthony’s 71st down in Christchurch. I often wonder if it is still an active troop. There are many memories of our activities: selling Girl Guide biscuits door to door (in and around Wainoni too which I don’t think would be done much these days, sadly), polishing the brass guide badge until it SHONE, likewise the shoes. Making and cooking damper over a real campfire in somwhere that felt like it was in the wop-wops but really was just in the massive grounds of our leader’s home. Going on a camp for the first time somewhere near Oxford and being part of the Six that found a cow skull. Those Six leaders were mad…. they spray painted the skull with luminous green glow in the dark paint and then waited until dark to scare the bejeebus out of a rival Six……!! Fun times!!
I think that some of the skills that I learned first in Brownies, and then in Guides (keeping three 2c pieces in a hanky at all times and knowing how to dial for help in a phone booth…. Or, lashing together a bivouac from tree branches and a raincoat…) have taught me more things than I’ve realised. And in this age of PC-dom and bubble wrapping of kids, I realise just how much fun it was to learn a bunch of skills towards independence alongside other kids just like me.
I was thrilled then to finally be able to get Mr 8 into Cubs at the local den. Even more so that I was able to get a mate of his to start at the same time. They’ve been learning the ways and wherefores of becoming a cub… quite a bit different to the ways of Brown Owl and the mushroom! It was recommended that we get the original Jungle Book story (ie NOT the Disney version! LOL) to help with understanding some of the things that cubs do. In preparation to take the Oath and be invested as a cub, Mr 8 and friend have been learning about good turns, what it means to be a cub and all sorts of other good stuff.
A couple of weeks ago, the group had some relay races involving lighting a candle with matches. It made me realise how many simple tasks that I learned when I was younger just don’t seem to feature in today’s world that often. I loved hearing about how excited and pleased Mr 8 was to be able to actually DO this for himself. And now, we’re learning how to make a cup of tea from go to whoa – including pouring boiling water safely. Why on earth did we wait so long to teach these things???! I now have hot cups of tea almost on tap… wooohooo!!
And then last week, they were invested:
Mr 8 and friend with Akela
Mr 8 was so proud to get his Investiture Badges (five in total!) and his woggle and scarf. Now I just need to get them sewn onto the vest in time for the next meetng. Actually, I’m sewing on four and a half – Mr 8 wants to sew some as well.
08.21.09
Did I say I’d be back???
Well, I tried. Really I did. But techno thingy this and whatsit hoover majiggy that didn’t play nice. I’m amazed I still have some hair left after tearing most of it out. I really, really hate it when your PC starts to muck you about. Turns out an update on a thingy-ma-whosit doesn’t react well with whosywhatsit and OMG you wouldn’t believe how slow my online world was spinning. Truly it was like being switched off. Except with a blank screen that you kept staring at thinking maybe, just maybe closing your eyes and counting to 30 might do the trick this time….. and no.
In the end, after running all sorts of nasty virus checks and system analysis that kept saying everything was A-OK, I stopped believing for a bit. Don’t know what made me think to go to IE and check up on Firefox, but low and behold, I came upon some threads in the support forum and EUREKA……! It was Skype’s fault. Some thingamajiggy whatsit doesn’t like floosit and when upgrading to the next big thing, they hold everything to ransom while we watch a blank screen Having found that, doing what it said to do, my bits and bobs of the online universe are responding well. Meaning it doesn’t take 5 hours to see three letters appear on screen while waiting for the next decade to pass once you finish the end of the sentance.
Hopefully all this means that there will be time in the next century for me to really sit down and blog and not write such a technical piece of writing.
But in the meantime…….
***
Hubby turned 40 and the world still spins. We had a great time at the twin-bro’s party. Then last weekend, the Mr’s were treated to sleepovers at their respective BFF’s while we scarpered up to Raumati. Nice. Can highly recommend staying at Raumati Sands Apartments.
***
Hubby plus four mates are mountain biking this weekend in Rotorua and Taupo. I’m sure they must be having a blast because I’ve heard nothing from them! I’m playing solo mum this weekend with an 8 am rugby nursary grade start. Feeling sorry for myself…. just a tad. Find me an IV connection to caffiene and I should come right.
***
The alternator on the Oma-Mobile went on Tuesday night. I’ve finally got it sorted so that I have a car again. The Oma-mobile desperately needs to be replaced but running on the smell of an oily rag really helps keep it close in our hearts. Sort of. It did hurt a little handing my card over to the mechanic when picking it up tonight. To get me through the last day and a bit, the neighbours have lent me their RAV. It’s an old one but looks kinda cool in my driveway… hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
***
SU business is doing OK. I promoted to Senior Associate earlier this month. It’s the first up from baby-beginner, but hey, I apparently get a certificate and a pin. I’m having so much fun doing this stuff.
***
I need to get more scrapping done. Worked out that I have no reason to procrastinate and so scrapping is still kinda sitting there. Have taken to crochet. OMG!! Almost forgot to tell you, I went to see Handmade Nation last week. Was feeling really decadent as I planned to go during school hours and therefore was going on my own. Go there a little early and someone spotted me….. Beverley! So we got to sit together. It was a great doco – really enjoyed it. Sooooo inspiring. Discovered I’m part of something called “Indie Craft” ….who knew?! So, I’m doing lots and lots of praticing and might have a few items to put together for a stall some point soon.
***
Okay, gotta go. Mrs Neighbour has just called and apparently there is a vodka and coke waiting for me across the road. Who can say no?!!! But I’m so happy to be able to type and actually see the words appear now that my techno-mojo has sorted my online world out (……… okay, you do know I have no techno skills right??!). And that means it won’t take forever and ever to see my blog buddies nor update here so hopefully I’ll be back much much sooner.
08.06.09
Hey There!
Oh.My.Goddness!!
Who stole July? I didn’t realise it had been so long since I last posted and you know, pretty much a whole month went by. And you know what? This post isn’t even going to start covering it!! So that means I have some more photos to pop up on here – which I will do. But tomorrow. Or tonight. Or, you know, some time soon. They just got downloaded on the PC so a little decision making and they’ll be good to go. There’ll be some circus highlights, some fireworks, some beach shots and a birthday. Because that was our July. It pretty much all happened during the school holidays and I have a feeling that’s how July happened. School Holidays. Need I say more??
So why did I pop on here today anyway if I wasn’t doing a what have we been up to post? Well, my SU blog is so new that a blog candy giveaway has almost gone unnoticed. So, I thought, why not make sure my lovely regular blog pals all have a chance. Just pop on over to here and leave a comment as to what the notebook might be used for and I’ll include you guys in the random draw. I’m going to close it tomorrow night – so head on over and leave your mark I’m happy to post anywhere in the world, so don’t be shy.
And in a very sweeping general thing, life is doing pretty well in general. We’re back at school/work/play routines. Hubby has his 40th on Friday (Tomorrow..!!) and is slightly bemused by the fact middle age is right there! The sun is coming out more often to play – we won’t talk about the wet and windy days in between. It’s really beginning to feel like the end of winter is just around the corner. I’ve even started Spring Cleaning. In small doses. No need to get carried away now, is there??
Right, now I have to head to the school library to get some books processed and out on the shelves – so catch you again soon.
07.11.09
Practise, practise, practise!
Better, I think.
But wait. There’s more!
Mr 5 has had 2 textures, a clipping mask, brush, word art and a frame applied. Yeah, ok, so this one might have gone a little over the top with pretty much everything except the kitchen sink thrown at it, but it is so much fun to do! For printing, I think I’d do away with the frame on this one and just re-jig the size of the brush.
