04.30.09
I blinked
And April sped past! Wow!! I know I’m harping on a theme that I bring up frequently…. but wow!
So, the holidays passed by pretty darn quickly. Hubby was in Napier the first Wednesday-Saturday with the Hutt City Brass Band. They were very pleased with their result of first in the Own Choice category in their grade, and 5th overall in their grade. A much improved result from the previous year where they felt very hard done by.
Mr 7 had a game in the Cake Tin ahead of the Hurricanes Vs. Stormers match. It was an exhibition game of Ripper Rugby and he was a bit nervous before I dropped him off to his coach:
*Mum, all those people looking at me will make me nervous and drop the ball.
Later:
*Mum, that was soooo cool. I was on the big screen and I was watching myself!! Um yeah, the nerves weren’t there at all!! LOL
The biggest thrill (apart from the big screen) was seeing some school mates in the crowd and knowing they thought he was cool, plus running out from the actual players tunnel. I was a bit bummed that I wasn’t in attendance as well, but I was still a bit tired from recovery and Mr 5 didn’t need a late night.
We then had a couple of days that we were all home, and then the second Wednesday to Sunday, the Mr’s and I flew via Christchurch to head to Invercargill for the big family ‘Do. My Nana and Grandad were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Not too many of those celebrated these days – and I worked out that most people my age will need to live well into their 90s before they will get to celebrate. Wow! This could be a very rare celebration indeed!!
Wednesday night we had a joint family dinner with my sister’s in-laws as R turned 17 the day before. We headed to Sequoia 88 – and the Mr’s could not believe their luck: it was their first experience of Buffet style restaurants. Eyes bigger than their bellies led to quite a lot of wastage, which I hope no-one will condemn us for. But they thought it was great to just go get whatever they wanted!! Mr 7 really had a decent meal – even selecting some vegies. Mr 5 had to be persuaded to try more than just the buttered bread roll or water crackers! But he did enjoy all those that he had!!
Thursday night saw Mr 5 and I begin our journey south while Mr 7 stayed in Chch with my sister and his cousin. Our car stopped in Timaru where we stayed with an aunt and uncle in their new house. Another uncle had flown in from Australia and was also staying there this night so it was a great catch up. It was amazing to have six extra bodies in teh house and we were not tripping over each other!! Wow!
Friday we continued south and stopped at Dunedin for lunch and the Cadbury tour. My neice, S, and Mr 5 were disappointed they didn’t see any Oompa-loompas and the adults were surprised that we didn’t actually see any chocolates being made…. the buttons line was down for cleaning. We did leave with a stash of give-away chocolates but thought the tour was a little under-done.
Friday night we stayed at the Ascot and had a little hiccup with the room allocated to us. Five bodies in one small studio room was not the go. After talking to reception, we were shown a fantastic room that we were prepared to upgrade to, only to be told that it wasn’t available!!!!! Great! Anyway, with the threat of us leaving to go elsewhere, the staff worked out a great alternative and we ended up with adjoining rooms and more than enough beds for the two nights. In fact the second room that adjoined the first was good enough to serve as lounge and yet another uncle and his fiance plus my mum and her husband joined us for some welcome, relaxed drinks.
Saturday was great. Warm, sunny weather (I’d been expecting cold, rainy weather so the few summer clothes we’d packed got a good workout!) Mrs Frizz had managed to track me down (I’m sooooo not good with specifics and she really had to hone her detective skills in order to meet me for a coffee!!) and it was fantastic to spend time with an online buddy.
Our room was again picked as being the best space wise and the rest of the family in town began to congregate before the festivities began. It was also the morning the remaining family that was attending were arriving in via the airport – Mr7, his cousin and my sister among them. After quite a bit of the usual family catch-ups, teasing and general larking about that goes on in this family, it looked like we were about to settle in for the day. Thankfully Nana started panicking about the time lunch was due to arrive as most of us thought the afternoon tea was at 3, but it was in fact at 2. Doh!! A quick sort out ensued and we were there in time.
Uncle P had worked hard behind the scenes and organised messages from all sorts of dignatories: the local MPs, John Key, the Governor-General and even the Queen herself. The resthome residents were most impressed by these – and then the honourable Tim Shadbolt himself arrived with a gorgeous bunch of flowers. I think the impression of grandness was cemented well and truly!! 
Afternoon tea with the Mayor dropping in
Dinner was an extended family affair and very nice indeed at the Ascot. Grandad had had enough of all the family photos by this stage though and was just wanting to get back to his dessert!
The happy couple – albeit tired!!
The grandkids and the great-grandkids that attended (there are 7 grandkids that didn’t make it and a further 9week old great-grandkid)
One thing that was a big bummer was that for all the photos that were taken on many, various cameras, most had issues. A cousin accidently reformatted her card and lost the pics, an uncle had something weird happen to his, someone else had settings on the wrong thing and my own camera decided to take very grainy, blurry shots despite being on the correct settings! I’m thinking the cameras weren’t happy that day!!!
Sunday was the big drive back to Christchurch…. Stopping at Oamaru for lunch, then Temuka for afternoon tea (with an Aunt on the other side of the family) the Mr’s and I were finally checked in to head back to Wellington. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well we travelled back on the Sunday – I thought we’d be a lot longer on the road. Although it was really a good thing we weren’t!!
Monday arrives and term begins. We’re back in the school routine again and suddenly I’m hit with how fast the month has flown.
04.15.09
Easter happenings
Well, the reality is that our Easter was pretty darn quiet. I’ve been a little taken aback as to how long it takes to regain usual energy levels. On some days I don’t think I’ve done that much, but a little extra running around is paid for in a day or two. Still, things must be improving because I’m getting in longer stretches of days before I need to rest up a bit. Nana naps are great!!
Here are a couple of pics of rugby day I missed in person:
Mr 5 loving, seriously LOVING, his first rugby training in the nursary grade. Hubby doesn’t know what was going on with the camera but most of these photos are blurry. One thing you can’t miss though is the huge ear to ear smile that never left Mr5’s face!
A little later in the morning and the camera is behaving again. Mr 7 is leading from the front at this point and looking every inch a future All Black (…..whaaaat?? You’ve gotta have goals! LOL) Actually, Mr 7 is trying to work out which position he thinks he’d like to play in. Yes indeed, nothing holding this boy back!
Easter bunny left two very special bunnies to be found in the morning. Actually, EB stuffed up a little….. he left the high quality chocolate bunnies that were destined for more grown-up tummies for the Mr’s because the assistant bunny forgot to actually get little guy supplies in. Ooooops!! The things that get overlooked when mother is slightly housebound!! 
One thing that was still on the books was our Easter Hunt. It’s become a bit of an annual thing to share this with the A’s - it’s more fun when there are more kids hunting!! This particular peek of gold in amongst some lavender was the last egg to be found. What was really funny was that we told the kids that there was an egg hidden and the two big Mr’s were hunting every direction around the bush except the most obvious!
This year’s hunt took place in the new setting of the front yard. I had visions of Angus hunting out the well placed eggs in advance of the kids and thought it probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. An added advantage of the front yard is that finally I have photos of the Mr’s faces!! Usually it’s been the behind view and I’ve never been quick enough to hit the button the second they spin around and take off for the next find! In this instance, Mr 7 is not saying “oh cool, look what we’ve found”. It’s more like “Darn, you beat me to it again!!“
No matter how much reminding of how we do things, there is always a bit of competition during the hunt as to who can find the most to put in their baskets. But because I can’t handle the loud protests of finding someone has a smidge more chocolate than another, all egss found are put into a pile at the end and shared evenly. I can’t believe I succomb to this particular piece of PC-ness, but believe me….. it makes for a lot more pleasant day afterwards.
And finally, I actually did some scrapping over the weekend. I can’t believe how many projects I simply haven’t done yet this year. So here at Easter, I was doing some Christmas layouts. Makes a lot of sense…..not!! And after going through my stash to work out what I was going to work with, I came up with this page.
A bonus with this particular layout is that because it is all stuff from my stash and nothing new, it fits the bill for one of the challenges over at Scrappin Patch. Woohoo – finally a challenge done in time for a deadline. The fact it is purely coincidental doesn’t need to be spoken of, surely?
I’m determined to get through a lot more of the projects I have in my To Do pile so hopefully my mojo will come out of hibernation and work with me.
One lot of layouts I’m determined to have done before the end of the holidays are the easter photos. Because I realised I have about 3 or 4 years now of photos waiting to be scrapped!! Someone mentioned on one of the forums that they have problems scrapping the “themed” pages… I think I identify! And to this end, I was thrilled to get a link to the Scrapbook Etc newsletter with 31 pages of easter layouts. Woohoo……. I think that will cover some of the pages I need to do.
Also being tackled is a myriad of unfinished projects. One in particular is a cross stitch that I wanted to complete. It was one that my MIL was working on at the time she had her stroke. That was four years ago, so it really is high time it got finished.
Footnote to the last post: how silly am I? (actually, don’t answer that!) I didn’t actually realise there was a small payment that is made when you have a submission published. I was just thrilled to have my work in a magazine. To see that there is a wee payment….. Squeeeeeeeeeee!! 
04.09.09
My day is made!
Yesterday I started hearing about people receiving a response for their submissions for the third issue of the new Innovations magazine that is about to be launched here. I thought I had missed out as I hadn’t heard anything.
BUT………..
On checking messages one last time before hitting the hay last night, I saw that in fact I actually received a “Yes Please!” note a little later in the day. Patience has never been my strong point. I immediately started doing the happy dance and I don’t think the smile has left my face yet!! This will be the first time I’ve been published – and in the company of ladies whose work I greatly admire.
And it’s funny, because while I do scrap for my own enjoyment, there’s been a bit of frustration at being turned down every time I’ve submitted to the other magazine in the past. A little bit of “maybe I’m not good enough”… creeping in. Which is silly, because I know my family really enjoy my pages. But it is just pure fun to know that I will finally see my name in lights so to speak and know that yes, I am good enough with what I do!! Yup, still doing the happy dance today!!
And to celebrate, I might have to do a wee bit of shopping. The lovely ladies at Scrappin Patch in Christchurch are celebrating a year in their new space this weekend. And what better way to celebrate than to share the joy? With 30% off things instore. Great sale! …..Ok, so I’ll see you there, right?!
04.06.09
Back on board
Albeit a little slow and tender. The surgery went fine… one large stone, a small one and lots of grit to show for it. Excuse me? That was what caused me so much pain?? I’m a wuss, I’m telling you!
In fact, I’m such a wuss, I was kept in hospital for a second night. Just because the post-op pain was a little too much for me to handle on my own at home. Was a good thing I think; I got a much better night’s sleep and felt pretty good Sunday morning. I was home again by Sunday lunch and the Mr’s were giving me a load of well meaning attention. It was hard not to flinch as they would come diving in with hugs intended to make me feel better!!
The job: is on hold. The manager I would have been reporting to decided to hand in her resignation on Wednesday. The firm needs to re-assess how it wants to staff it’s support roles, and that is happening this week. So, who knows how that one will play out. Waiting and seeing.
Being in hospital Saturday morning meant I missed the great first game of the season for both boys. Mr5 LOVED his first run… being in the club’s nursary grade means it is a lot of ball skills and a bit of a game for the kids involved. From the photos Hubby took, there are TONS of kids in this grade. Bodes very well for the club in upcoming years I would have thought. Apparently the biggest difficulty is getting to the club by 8am. Um yeah…..
Mr 7’s team has a group of boys from last year, augmented with new kids. Apparently they are looking very good and they came off with a win on Saturday. No game this weekend because of Easter, but hopefully by the next game, I’ll be ready to cheer them both on.
