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1 Down, 2 to Go Saturday 20 January 2007 - 9.23pm

Two more days of the long weekend yawn out in front of me like a giant mouth ready to inhale me whole and spit out the bones and grisly bits. My beloved is currently in tropical Taupo, enjoying the sun, drinking beer and watching the A1GP Please know I do not begrudge him, even slightly, this boys weekend away. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that stuff. Plus sometimes, it's good, nae healthy to spend some time apart. I was in fact very much looking forward to this weekend of solitude. That is, until it arrived. I convinced myself and those around me that it would be a treat to be able to partake in quality and quantity "me time" activities: watching chick flicks, wading through titles in the Everest pile of books, going for leisurely walks, napping the steamy summer afternoons away. I have enjoyed sampling a little of each item off the platter but my appetite is sated now and I crave human company (my two furrballs, while immeasurably cute, are not great conversationalists) and non-solitary activities. I wait with growing anticipation for Michael to return on Monday afternoon, to fling my arms around his now (apparently) rather sun-burnt neck in true romantic novel fashion and spend time just "being with him" even if it necessitates just sitting on his bed watching him unpack and sort his mounds of laundry. I hope he is not having so much fun that he doesn't have time to miss me a little too. Music: Katie Melua - Blame It On The Moon Mood: A little bit melancoly, a little bit okay

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Monopoly Thursday 18 January 2007 - 3.12pm

There is great debate raging round the office here at the moment regarding a news story that appears in today's Manawatu (Sub)Standard. A new edition of New Zealand Monopoly is in the works and the public is being encouraged to vote on what iconic cities and features they want to appear on it. You can vote at: www.nzmonopoly.co.nz It seems dear old Palmy is in a batle with New Plymouth to be the representative for the central North Island... Cities' face off heats up By MICHAEL CUMMINGS - Manawatu Standard | Thursday, 18 January 2007 The race between Palmerston North and New Plymouth for a place on the New Zealand edition of Monopoly is heating up, with both cities trading barbs calling on their citizens to vote. An online poll is being run to decide which local icons will feature in a new edition of New Zealand's version of the popular board game. The Square in Palmerston North, New Plymouth's Pukekura Park Lights Festival and Mt Ruapehu have been shortlisted to represent the central North Island. The Square was leading the poll yesterday morning, followed by Mt Ruapehu, with Pukerua Park a distant third. But the Taranaki Daily News yesterday warned its readers they were "in danger of losing a popularity contest to a flat, largely featureless plot of land in one of the country's least remarkable cities". The newspaper said New Plymouth mayor Peter Tennent is "aghast" at the standings. "Speaking as an ex- Palmerston North lad, who met his wife there, I can tell you The Square offers no comparison to the beauty of Pukekura Park," he said. After the story ran in the New Plymouth-based newspaper, votes for Pukekura Park flooded in and by yesterday afternoon it had hit the front. Daily News editor Jonathan MacKenzie, who grew up in Palmerston North and was the Manawatu Standard's chief reporter until May last year, was quick to put the boot into his old patch. "Obviously there's nothing to do in Palmerston North except sit around on the computer and vote for a drab, very square Square." Mr MacKenzie said. He said a lot of people from Palmerston North visit New Plymouth, "but no one goes from New Plymouth to Palmerston North to hang out in The Square, even after all that work's been done on it and lots and lots of money has been spent on it. "You're never going to have a hip factor there and, I've said it before, there's nothing inherently cool about Palmerston North." In 2004, Mr MacKenzie was assaulted in The Square by a group of teens attempting to steal his wallet. "I don't think anybody's been beaten up in Pukekura Park," he said. But after a quick survey of his employees to confirm his claim, he said: "I stand corrected, but at least if you're going to get beaten up in Pukekura Park it's going to happen in beautiful surroundings." Manawatu Standard editor Paul Taggart took exception to the comments made by his New Plymouth counterpart, downplaying the prominence of the lights festival. "I was surprised to hear they have a lights festival in Pukekura Park; I wasn't certain they actually had electricity over there yet," Mr Taggart said. "It's odd that New Plymouth would even try to compete with a major centre like Palmerston North. Who on Earth ever visits Taranaki?" Palmerston North mayor Heather Tanguay said she is "appalled that Taranaki is taking such an aggressive stance towards this competition". Palmerston North residents are proud of their city and she is encouraging people to vote. Mrs Tanguay doesn't want to get involved in "open warfare" with New Plymouth, but said the criticism from its mayor and Mr MacKenzie will only make Palmerston North more determined to win. This morning The Square was polling at 35 percent, Mt Ruapehu at 21 percent and Pukerua Park at 42 percent. The poll closes on February 10. Mood: Giggly

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Dying Part II Wednesday 17 January 2007 - 12.24pm

The results of my hair experiment, which I know you are all dying (bad joke) to know the about are in and... it actually turned out pretty good! Think I managed an even coverage - well all the greys are hidden at least so that's not a bad start! I love my hair post dye when it goes all soft and shiney. Cant stop playing with it - not helped by being tired at the moment (staying up til 1am each night reading will do that to ya ) which is when my hair twiddling increases. I do however have one small problem. Having smeared my hair with the dye and piled it up on my head to marinade I set about cleaning up the rubbish. As I bent over the bin my hair came free from its moorings and tumbled down my face. Not wanting to end up looking like I was trying to start my own African tribe, I raced off to the bathroom to degunk my face. What I didn’t realize was, as it slipped free, my hair brushed down the creamy yellow kitchen wall which this morning is sporting a nice purple abstract design. Ops. Any ideas on how to get hair dye off painted walls? Anyway, need to do more hair twiddling and probably some work as well Music: The sound of me yawning Mood: Sleepy...*yawn*

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Dying Tuesday 16 January 2007 - 9.31pm

As I type this, chocolate dye goodness is leaching into the myriad of greys that infest my brunette locks. I have never dyed my own hair before. It will either be a glorious success or an unmitigated disaster. I have a head sized paper bag at the ready. I would like to speak to whoever at Garnier designs the little gloves that come with the dye. Clearly one is expected to have dainty pixie hands, not whomping cow girl mitts. Speaking of gloves, I did not have any talcum powder to dust the gloves interior with. Gran's Foot Remedy made an effective (if interesting) substitute. 20 minutes til blast off. Music: Goldenhorse - Northern Lights Mood: Scared!

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Holidays..... Monday 15 January 2007 - 5.33pm

Holiday Entry - warning: its slightly epic in length! Our wonderful week away seems so long ago now – damn reality and work and all those other mundane life things getting in the way. It was so lovely to be away from routine and housework (though of course it was waiting for me when I got home) and the normal hassles of everyday life. Of course holidaying isn’t hassle free either.... Example One: me forgetting to pack my pillow and sun block meaning we had to go back – thankfully we were only just up the road and still well within PN city limits. Then on the outskirts of town Michael realized that he had forgotten his Christmas present voucher for the Gravity Canyon Flying Fox necessitating another return home….which we had to do a third time because, approaching Awahuri, Michael realized he had forgotten his Go-Kart Helmet. By this point we were over 1 hour late in leaving and what had started as a kinda funny comedy of errors had fast mutated into dark clouds of bad humour – not the ideal start! Example Two of hassle: not booking your first night’s accommodation (new years day) until you get up that morning to leave! Consequently I spent an hour on the phone that morning ringing every holiday camp in the Bay of Plenty to find us a tent site for the night. It seems Tauranga, with its aging population and love of Winston Peters is a popular holiday destination at New Years, who woulda thought that? That said it was really fun being able to go with the flow and we ended up staying at The Blue Lake Top Ten Holiday Park in Rotovegas! Such a very pretty city (love the lake front area) but I don’t think I could ever get used to that rotten egg smell. This was my first time staying in a tent and at a camping ground and I was foolishly excited. Having rained sporadically on and off on the trip up, we managed to get the tent up before the heavens opened…and stayed open for the rest of the night. Tents are rather small and hard to do entertaining things in huh? We went for a drive round the city and got hell pizza for dinner to take back and eat on our air bed in the tent…which had by now started to leak. We made repairs as best we could and then ventured to the small children infested TV room…and bet a hasty retreat back to the tent! We passed the rest of the evening reading by torch light and talking before what was possibly the worst night’s sleep I have ever had! Wet from the leaky tent with damp hair from going outside, I spent the entire night violently shivering and dreaming of daylight so I could have a hot shower only to manage to snatch a couple of hours of sleep right on daybreak meaning the entire campsite was awake and also wanting a hot shower when I awoke. This was my first experience with communal bathrooms and coin operated showers – I have led such a sheltered life. Now I am probably sounding a whole heap negative here and while it wasn’t necessarily the greatest introduction to the camping holiday lifestyle I did kinda enjoy it in a strange, self torturing kinda way, if only because I had Michael to laugh at me and my wimpy ways at complete odds with my rough tough, mucking in, country girl upbringing. Tuesday 2nd dawned beautifully and clear and HOT so we packed up the tent, had a good camping holiday breakfast…at McDonalds…and headed for Auckland. I took Michael through Lemington, the suburb of Cambridge where my Nana and Poppa used to live and showed him the house (now being subdivided L) where I spent so much of my childhood holidays and visited the grave of my poppa on what was the 13th anniversary of his funeral. We then cruised the main street of Cambridge (this took about 3 minutes ), got petrol (had to crash start the car – me pushing! - as its old alternator problem kindly decided to resurface) and took the back roads (supposedly to avoid the traffic?) to the big smoke. I fell asleep about 2 minutes out of Cambridge and woke up when we stopped…at Candyland! Now while a huge shop filled with all types of lollies imaginable sounds great…it was kinda disappointing; maybe I am just getting old? We did buy some fudge – Chocolate for Michael, Lemon Meringue for me – which promptly melted into goo in the stifling heat of the car and continued on our way. Auckland, when we arrived, was busy, loud, concretey and hot – so more or less just as I remembered it from ten years previously. We had a couple of hours to kill before we were due to arrive at Michael’s ex-girlfriends house where we were to be staying so we went to a massive shopping complex at Botany Downs and wandered around looking at all the shops we don’t have in PN and then decided what better way to cool down on a stinky hot summers day than by ice skating! I can now tell you there are lots of better, less painful, less humiliating ways to cool down. Yus, it would seem I have no natural balance and spent the majority of my time on my arse on the freezing (wet and very rough) ice or clinging to the rink wall like a anxious two year old glues themselves to their mother. Michael, by contrast, was a natural (he claims it was his first time but I have my suspicions: P) and from the outset was able to glide, seemingly effortlessly round and round, change direction, stop, start etc. After landing on my arse for the umpteenth time I skulked off the rink in a mood more befitting the hoards of school kids racing around than a mature adult and refused to try anymore. This may have been a good thing as the next morning we discovered a rather large, very dark, perfectly circular bruise on my bum – no doubt the result of repeatedly falling over while wearing jeans that had dome closing back pockets . As the afternoon wore further and further on, I became increasingly nervous. Sooner rather than later, we were going to have to face “the ex girlfriend.” They asked us via text if a bbq tea would be okay so we stopped at a supermarket on the way to purchase some supplies…only to discover on arrival that they don’t actually have a bbq. Confused? So were we. Instead they cooked the meat on the George Foreman Grill in the kitchen and then carried it out to the outdoor table for consumption. Odd but it worked…as long as you didn’t mind not all eating at once. But I digress. Despite my initial deep misgivings about staying with my beloveds Ex, it actually wasn’t too bad. There were one or two moments during that first night when she crossed the line and was much too friendly boarding on rude (rubbing Michael’s leg was one such occasion but I was so proud, he picked up her hand and firmly placed it back on her chair arm!) but she generally seemed to respect that Michael and I are together and happy and behaved herself! No having to reach for my nail file to gouge out her eyes or lacing her cornflakes with arsenic required (and don’t worry I went prepared for just such an eventuality ) I was also forced to revise my opinion of her current boyfriend/husband of convenience to get more student loan money. He is a really nice guy, very generous and helpful and kind and funny. He is clearly well under her thumb to the point where I almost wanted to slap him and say “wake up buddy! Don’t let her treat you this way!” For instance every night at 7.30pm she needs to take medication but it is HIS cellphone alarm that goes off as a reminder and it is HIM that gets up, fetches the pills and a glass of water and hands them to her. Eek! You would think for something so personal she would take a little responsibility for herself? He also does all the cooking, cleaning, dishes etc. I kinda feel sorry for him actually… Anyway, we camped out on the air bed on their tensy tiny lounge floor (they pay more than double the amount of rent I do for a flat which is smaller and scummier than mine – go Auckland) and slept late each day while they braved the morning traffic and went off to work. Fools. We spent our days doing those great touristy things like going to One Tree Hill, visiting NZ’s largest shopping mall - Sylvia Park (disappointingly not that big…yet), joining every family with screaming small children at Auckland Zoo, getting our educational fix at MOTAT, picnicing at Mission Bay, shopping up large at the Onehunga Dress Mart (where my beloved bought me a NZ Cricket shirt for my birthday), cruising the harbour bridge with our windows down and Minuit blasting, and shopping for my birthday present…at Borders book store on Queen Street. Oh, how I that store! 4 floors of blissful books, music, movies and coffee. I am spoilt for life – no other book store, least of all one any in PN, can compare. Michael bought me 3 books of my choice there (to add to the now Kilimanjaro like proportions of the pile of books on my bedside table waiting to be devoured) and a Borders Book Bag too. Our last night in Auckland we spent having dinner with the ex and her boyfriend/husband of convenience at the SkyTower. Waw what a view! It really is amazing up there especially on a beautiful blue skies day such as when we went. It is very disconcerting in the orbiting restaurant to start with however as everywhere you look, things are moving (okay so you would expect this but it still takes some getting used to!) It was really awesome watching the world turn (albeit slowly at one revolution an hour) while enjoying sumptuous food (though I swear the “Tuile” on top of my passionfruit tart desert was really just a “Roll Ups” fruit bar ) and I did not feel even remotely guilty at the expense which ex-girlfriend footed as her Christmas present to us (we got them Zoo vouchers in return). As the evening wore on, the city lights illuminated the night and provided us with a second stunning vista. Michael and I spent ages just sitting in the viewing lounge holding hands and looking out over the harbour which was a nice anecdote to the excruciating terror of walking on the glass floor viewing portals and seeing nothing but create waaaay down below you. Then it was time to exchange one set of bright lights for another…the casino! What an eye opening experience! The place was packed with people playing all kinds of gambling games, vendors pushed trolleys contained food and beverages so you didn’t have to leave your set as the neon lights burned gaudily overhead. And the money! My mouth literally dropped open as we strolled past one roulette table as an older Chinese lady pulled out a thick wad of $100 notes and laid a stack on the table for the dealer to count. We counted along too…$3000!!! I felt a little stingey in comparison with my $2 on the slot machines. As a side note, if you ever go to the Sky Tower Casino, I highly recommend checking out the Bar 3 bathrooms – the most opulent, decadent public loos I have ever come across – the stall doors are actually mirrors which confused the hell out of the girl who came in while we were staggering round starring at the luxeriousness of it all. And then all too soon it was time to pack up and head back down the North Island to Taupo which was as equally steamy hot as Auckland. We checked in to our cabins at the Camp Ground and more or less veged out for the afternoon, it was too hot to do much else. Saturday was the first of the two day Kart meet and the boy disappeared to the track at the ungodly hour of 7am while I snoozed on unawares. I woke up sometime around 10.30am (gulp), had a hasty communal shower (much nicer than the ones in Rotovegas) and bolted out to the track thinking I was missing all the action. Turns out I needn’t have bothered rushing – over the 2 days they had just 4 races which meant a lot of time lazing round and lying in the grass under any tree you could find. This proved to be a very good thing for poor Michael though; on the way to the track he had decided to have a service station pie for breakfast (nutritious huh?). Either the pie was dodgy from sitting in the warming cabinet all night or Michael’s stomach decided to rebel at being fed such stodge so early in the morning – either way the end result was two hours later, one very sick boy with vomiting, diarrhea, shaking, chills and lethargy. Of course, while lapping up my nursing attentions he flatly refused to withdraw from the days racing much to my chargin…and he still managed to win both races! After a blistering day of heat and racing, there was really only one thing we wanted to do at the end of it – paddle in the lake! It was so refreshing and cool even with half of the town and 4 evil swans also having the same idea. We got pizza for dinner (the boy having staged a remarkable return to health) and returned to the lake edge to eat and relax. Sunday was more of the same, hot weather and great racing. Again Michael won both his races walked away with his first trophy – first in the series overall as well Given that it was 30+ degrees that day it might seem a little odd but we spent the evening at the DeBrets Mineral Hot Pools. What absolute bliss. We had a private pool to start with (I didn’t want to inflict my pudgy white skinned body on the paying public) at a toasty 40 degrees before braving the public pool and then returning to a slightly cooler private pool (38 degrees). We had a session at an internet café to catch up on our emails and then retired to our cosy cabin for the evening. And so of course, after a week of beautiful weather it had to end sometime – and it chose my birthday to do it The 8th dawned cloudy and dull and trying its best to rain on us. Still, it was hard to dampen my enthusiasm – turning 25 and going home to see my beloved pusstats meant it was always going to be a good day though a bit of a double edged sword since it also meant holiday over Michael drove the van with the go karts (both his and a friends) home while I followed in the car and we kept in communication by walkie talkie! Terribly childish I know but they were so much fun! We had breakfast at a great bakery in Turangi (where once again we had to crash start the pooched car), walked the main street of Taihape () and went to Gravity Canyon for Michael’s flying fox ride! I was so nervous for him and the whole way down the winding narrow country road to the canyon kept repeating to him (via those groovy walkie talkies) that he could pull out at any time and I wouldn’t think any less of him or if he died I was sorry and would be please forgive me? Of course my doom merchant thinking proved unfounded and he and the myriads of others taking the plunge (there was a wait time of 50 minutes when we arrived) had a fabulous time … but there is no way in hell you would get me on it! We made it home sometime around 4.30pm having had to crash start the car once more at Gravity Canyon and again in Hunterville It’s got some serious issues I tell ya So yes, home. On one hand it was great to be back, to see my very affectionate kitties, to not have to live out of a suitcase and cart your dirty washing around with you but on the other, it meant reality: no more long lazy sleep ins, no doing fun stuff every day, no more seeing our wonderful countryside and spending lots of time with my boy. *cannot wait for next chance to go away with my beloved* Music: katie melua - just like heaven Mood: Good

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Slacker Thursday 11 January 2007 - 4.36pm

Well as the more astute of you may have noticed I have: a) not yet managed to write the promised post about my holiday = but its coming soon I promise! It's becoming kind of epic in length so will need a drastic edit before I inflict you with it! and b) I have been haunting the journals alot today. That is because I am sick, my concentration level would rival that of my 2 year old nephew and the last thing I want to be doing right now is concentrating on the pile of accounts I am supposed to be wading my way through but since I am not allowed to go home (evil boss ) I am taking lots of "me time" to get myself through the day without carking it. There is one very bright spark on my horizon though. It is Thursday which means 1) Payday! and 2) Kebab night! and a special one off yay - tonight I am picking up my other birthday present: a new car stereo! It will be the first time ever that I have had a stereo in my car that plays CDs! My beloved is going to install it tonight even. *swoon* Cannot wait to beast around the square blasting my sounds - hahahaha!!!! Mood: Sick but smiley

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8 Jan 07 Monday 8 January 2007 - 4.51pm

I'm back! Holidays are over It's my birthday! Back to work tomorrow A proper entry to come very soon Music: katie melua - just like heaven Mood: Tired but happy

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Howdy! Wednesday 3 January 2007 - 10.07pm

Hey all, Just a weeny post (while I have a few minutes of internet access to cure my craving) to say that, despite my foreboding, I am having quite the grand old time in Aucksland! The weather is hot, the shopping and sites sublime and I am so in love with the book store Borders - 4 floors of book heaven! Can I stay on holiday forever? Mood: Happy

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Time Killing Friday 29 December 2006 - 11.13pm

I intended to write a serious entry bemoaning my addiction (albeit somewhat belated after the craze began) to Sodoku courtesy of my beloved's dad introducing me to www.websodoku.com and the fact that the server/interweb here at my boy's flat has been on the blink on and off since a power cut the other night, but instead I thought I would share this gem of information with you: Your Celebrity Boob Twin: Geri Halliwell Who's Your Celebrity Boob Twin? Wasn't that fascinating?!? Pxox 1 more sleep til my besty arrives 2 more sleeps til New Years 3 more sleeps til we go on holiday! Mood: Giggly

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