Bits and bobs

Feb 2

2012-02-02T13:15:00.001+13:00

Words - Christmas seems like it was so long ago. I still have wrapping paper on my desk at work. I love the reindeer and the font type that the words are in.

Feb 1

2012-02-01T22:24:00.001+13:00

Your view today - the desk at the vets while waiting for the vet (who I adore) to see Whitey. Once upon a time I was at the vets all the time; now not so much. :)

I am joining Bron and Tara among a whole group of others to do the February Photo A Day Challenge which is the brain child of @fatmumslim or if you are not on Twitter then follow her blog here.

2012 Project 52 - Week 4

2012-01-27T14:00:00.001+13:00

(22nd– 28th January)

Mark and I spent the weekend at my parents doing some thingsto help make it safer for them at home. Mark built this handrail for them andthen finished it off on Sunday. While he was finishing it off I waswater-blasting their brick path in the rain; I got covered from head to toe inmud and grit. I think next time I water-blast I will wear goggles!! There aremore things to do, but this was an amazing start.

A friend just posted a status update on Facebook to say thatthey are having a 'gardening working bee' at their house on the weekend. Ithink that this is a fabulous idea. A group of us did this for some friends afew years ago and it was both productive and fun. Also, at a time when most peopleare so busy it is nice to be able to band together to help friends, family and evenneighbours out. I am seriously considering doing something like this for myparents.

Late night musing

2012-01-23T12:52:00.000+13:00

Every so often late at night or in the hours just before dawn I find myself wanting to write a letter to the person who hurt someone I love.

Then I stop myself as I realize it will have no impact on them.

Perhaps I should have written in 2011, burned it and left the anger and hurt there and not brought it into 2012.

#SadPanda

2012 Project 52 - Week 3

2012-01-21T22:38:00.001+13:00

Week 3 (15th - 21st January)

I made a commitment to save money by making lunches for work. This week was our first week back from a 4 week holiday and I'm pleased to say I made my lunch on the days that I was not training.

I made Mark's lunch all week bar Friday when he has lunch with the girls.

I tried to make sure we had a range of yummy and healthy items. My favourite snack was prunes and fresh blueberries.

This coming week I'm going to try adding more vegetables and savoury snacks. I'm excited that the February Healthy Food Guide has some fabulous lunch box ideas.

What do you take for lunch?

2012 Project 52 – Week 1 & 2

2012-01-14T13:35:00.000+13:00

Week 1 (1^st – 7^th January)

First BBQ with friends for the year and we made ToffeeStrawberries. YUM.

Week 2 (8^th – 14^thJanuary)

Inspired by another blogger I harvested theexcess herbs from our garden to begin the drying process. Exciting.

Do One Thing to Make a Difference

2012-01-11T07:38:00.000+13:00

Okay, I startedwriting this blog before Christmas but it was reading Kat’s blog early this morningthat spurred me to finish it off. Seriously, if you do not read Kat's blog then you should as I have so many of hers saved as favourites.

I had a really goodchat with Mel the day after I finished work for 2011. During our talk I realised that we are pretty much on the same page with ourfeelings about the earth.

Sometimes when I amalone with my thoughts my heart just breaks for our world. It is not just thepeople, but animals, plants, resources etc. it is that I hate the fact that we (meincluded) are really mucking it up through all sorts of things likeoverconsumption, littering, deforestation etc. We need to remember that this isthe only world that we have; there is no alternative unless you think that livingon another planet is plausible.

Personally, I thinkthat the time for action is NOW. It is no good waiting until things are sodrastic that we cannot turn back the clock; imagine not having access to clean,fresh water?

So my challenge tomyself (and you) is to consistently do one thing in 2012 to help this world.

Whether is pledgingnot to use plastic grocery/shopping bags and always taking cloth bags onshopping trips or using a “keep cup” (Café Chick’s blog about this is fantastic) for your daily hot drinks? I don’t care what you do, but do somethingand recognise that unless we all start doing things to stop the decimation ofearth we are not going to have a planet to live on.

Other ideas:

Buy New Zealand madewhere possible.

Support smallerstores like Trade Aid

Gift plants/seedsetc. to your children to teach them to grow their own fruit, vegetables etc.

Stop wastage; buyonly what you can use

Get involved incleaning up your local park, waterway and/or planting trees

Start using public transportor car-pooling

Pick up rubbish if yousee it (keep gloves and a bag with you at all times)

Think before youprint

I have had a book fora few years and only read a tiny part of it; but I am going to finish it as itmakes perfect sense to me and probably has some more fantastic ideas. It is ‘FightingGlobesity: A Practical Guide to Personal Health and Global Sustainability’ byPhillip and Jackie Mills; yes Mills as in Les Mills.

I am sure there areso many other ideas…what are yours?

First and Last

2011-12-31T19:00:00.001+13:00

Today (Saturday 31^stDecember, 2011) I had my first swim for the summer and my last swim for theyear.

I have always lovedthe water; it is so cleansing and refreshing. So what better way to see out2011 and welcome in 2012 than going for a beautiful swim. I love swimming inNorthland as the water is always clear and the sand is so white. Plus where we swimthere are not many other people in the water so it is bliss.

I have really fallenoff the blogging waggon over the last few months. I really want to blog moreregularly in 2012. We still have another fortnight off work and this means thatI can get started on writing many of the blogs that I have not had the time towrite in the last quarter of 2011. I love Christmas but I am glad that it isover so that I can relax and focus on things that I want to get done.

I do always try andwrite meaningful blogs but sometimes they take me a long time to write andthere are gaps between blogs. So I would like to try and write something acouple of times a week as I really enjoy writing and since being away from workI have had a lot of blog ideas. I also want to take photos every day and now Ihave the means to do that. Hopefully, photos will make my blog a little moreexciting/interesting.

Goodbye 2011; I amkind of glad you are almost over as it has been a hard year not just for myfriends and family, but for many people and Aotearoa.

I am determined toleave some “shit” behind in 2011 as it has no place in my life in 2012.

So welcome 2012; youare going to be a great year for us, our families and our friends.

Happy New Year!

What are you doing to celebrate the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012?

Chocolate coffee and a flower….food for the soul

2011-11-17T11:26:00.001+13:00

I wish I had a “healthy”habit to soothe my soul. I wish I could run with the wind in my hair and musicpounding in my ears. I wish we had the sea at our door where I could rush in andswim until my emotions were back on an even keel. I wish I could dance thenight away with no one watching.

But right now (11.30am) amazingchocolate, coffee and a simple purple flower will have to soothe the ache in mysoul. I also have an amazing new nephew and every-time I look at him my heartmelts.

The past few monthshave been an emotional rollercoaster for family and friends. There is hurt thathas occurred that I have no power to fix or control; which is hard because I ama control-freak.

There has beenheartache, anger, death and life and while I understand that these things arepart of life I/we still have to live through it. I also understand there arepeople who are suffering greater tragedies in this country and this world and Iam still deeply concerned and compassionate towards other people for theirgrief or loss.

Sometimes it all justgets too much and I need an emotional “reboot” so that I can be a better wife,daughter, sister and friend. It would appear that the next few days are thetime for that.

So sleep, a relaxing weekend,reading, music, the gym, a swim, a movie (or two), cuddles with our cats and summer holidays withfriends and family will help get me back on track.

What gets you back ontrack?

How to lose friends and alienate people…

2011-11-16T16:19:00.001+13:00

Puppy with a bow is cuter than a political related photo

I tend to stay awayfrom discussing politics in a public forum as I believe it to be a contentioussubject. Political views are a personal thing and it ishighly unlikely that people’s comments (or rants) on news articles/social mediawill influence the way that I will vote.

I am not going tofight with people that have different opinions to mine as I cannot imagine thatI will change their opinions, nor have people change mine. On the odd occasion peoplethat make intelligent or well thought out comments/arguments have made me thinkabout things differently. But ultimately I will make my final choice based onmy own opinions.

I grew up in a ‘left-wing’household and I have only voted Labour once. Does that make me ‘stupid’ or‘unable’ to make my own decisions? No it does not. I think that I am a rationalperson, and I can usually hold my own in debates where I know my argument.However, I am not the type of person that just argues for the sake of it andcertainly do not try and argue a point that I know little or nothing about andhope for the best.

ALL political partieshave made promises (at some time or another) that they have not kept forwhatever reasons. Left and right wing led governments have made mistakes andthen other governments have tried their best to fix those mistakes. It isalmost like a national sport to play the “blame game”. I think that sometimes people forget thatpoliticians are still human at the end of the day and we ALL make mistakes.

I have never studiedfinance or economics but even I can tell that New Zealand is strugglingfinancially. Will a change of government fix that? Possibly not. Should individual peoplealso look at starting to change their own behaviour? Definitely!!

So I am going tothink of NZ in terms of my own personal financial experience as I know what itis like to struggle under enormous personal debt as I did it for years. I couldnever see the light and just got further and further into debt.

How did I clear my personaldebt?

- Took ownership of mydebt, consolidated it into one loan and stopped borrowing

- Reduced my cost ofliving and lived within my means

- Stopped buyingunnecessary stuff and sold the things I no longer used or needed

- Got an additionalpart time job

Now to ‘simplistically’apply this to NZ

- Stop borrowing andgetting further into debt

- Reduce costs i.e.politicians spending, benefits, student loans etc. Essentially "trim the fat"

- Put things inperspective and stop wasting money on unnecessary things i.e. $36 Million to Team NZ (yes I know the current government were “contractually” obliged to giveit, but seriously?!)

- Before you spend the ‘bigbucks’ do your research first!

- Things this countrycould learn from this town

By the way I am morallyagainst selling assets, but even I can see the benefit of selling off 49% ofsome assets to try and ensure that they are more profitable and run in a more businesslike manner. If you don’t understandwhat the implications of selling state owned assets are then ask someone that does before you cast your vote.I know I had to.

Lastly, I did aBachelor of Arts degree in English and Education as I considered being ateacher. I worked throughout my degree and I am bloody proud of it even if itis not a science or business degree. I have an amazing job that I love and donot regret the choices I made for my tertiary education as it has shaped who Iam both personally and professionally. It is ironic that I nearly studiedpolitics at University, but ended up choosing different subjects at theeleventh hour.

Week 44 – w/c Saturday 29th October, 2011

2011-11-07T13:24:00.001+13:00

Saturday (29/10/11) ~ I made poached eggs for the first timewith the help of Twitter. I think they turned out quite good. Mark planted oursummer garden; very exciting. I managed to give myself a second (or even third)degree burn pouring the pasta into the colander in the sink….no photo of thatrevoltingness. Reinforces the idea that pasta is the DEVIL; thanks Colleen.

Sunday (30/10/11) ~ Mark did the 5km walk that is part ofthe bigger Auckland Marathon while I had a coffee and read the paper. In theafternoon Shona and John popped over for a catch up which was awesome.

Monday (31/10/11) ~ Halloween and we only had onetrick-or-treater.

Tuesday (01/11/11) ~ I attended an old workcolleague/current client and friends funeral. Devastating.

Wednesday (02/11/11) ~ I received a phone call from mysister at work to say that she could go into labour at any stage in the nextfew days to a week. Exciting! Took Kitty-Kat to the vet.

Thursday (03/11/11) ~ Sister still not in labour. Saw the 5+a day team outside Britomart.

Friday (04/11/11) ~ Chilled out at home with Mark in theevening and watched some recorded TV. Sister still not in labour. I keptwaiting for the late night phone call so decided to have an early night.

Week 43 – w/c Saturday 22nd October, 2011

2011-11-07T12:51:00.001+13:00

Saturday (22/10/11) ~ Lunch at palmers with mum and dad andthen later birthday dinner in Greenhithe for Jamie and Nikki.

Sunday (23/10/11) ~ Relaxing day at home. I think Markplanted sunflower seeds into trays.

Monday (24/10/11) ~ Lovely extra day off for labour day. Nophoto.

Tuesday (25/10/11) ~ Work and loads of TV watching in theevening. Made the best Pita for lunch at work. Yum-yum.

Wednesday (26/10/11) ~ I cooked a fantastic dinner withloads of broccoli to use up stuff in the fridge.

Thursday (27/10/11) ~ Work and client meetings. No photo.

Friday (28/10/11) ~ Early morning appointment with a client.Went to see John Rowles in Takapuna with Raewyn for her birthday; very cool!Amazing performer.

Week 42 – w/c Saturday 15th October, 2011

2011-11-07T12:48:00.000+13:00

Saturday (15/10/11) ~ I got up late as Mark took the car toget supplies for his boat building project. I started the kitchen springclean/declutter. It is kind of a work in progress but I did get rid of a lot. Ithink I will write a blog post about it. Made Nigella’s Devil’s Food Cake fordessert; it was great but I will double the mixture and add more baking powdernext time.

Sunday (16/10/11) ~ Finally got soil for the garden! Watchedthe rugby in the evening while texting my sister who was on her own in a bar inNew York.

Monday (17/10/11) ~ Bit of a bad day and ended up eatingsome bad food and then putting some clothing on layby. Tackled the pantry whichlooked like a train smash!

Tuesday (18/10/11) ~ Went to the gym and did about an hourof cardio which was awesome. No photo.

Wednesday (19/10/11) ~ My sister and nephew came to visit meat work today and I got three paintings from my nephew to put up at work.

Thursday (20/10/11) ~ Work. No photo.

Friday (21/10/11) ~ Work. No photo.

Freecycle

2011-10-20T15:59:00.002+13:00

Yesterday I wrote a blogabout Spring Cleaning and Decluttering. I got some great suggestions as aresult and two comments that both mentioned that it is good for your soul;which I absolutely agree with.

Lauren has beenfinding 15 things per week to sell or donate. Pauline has just finishedtackling her pantry. Teena has sorted her daughter’s room and the hallcupboard. It seems that people have the decluttering “bug”.

Then last night mywhole world changed! Kat mentioned that I take a look at Freecycle. Now I hadheard of Freecycle before, but I had never really looked at it.

I went on and signedup immediately. Next to Pinterest this could be my next obsession! I have beena member for less than 24 hours and found homes for:

Two Queen sized duvetinners

A Metal filing tray

2 x books

62 empty DVD cases(from work)

Assorted Stationery“stuff”

Pet bowls, blanketsand a basket

A stack of reusableshopping bags

I am completelyaddicted to it. The pile to list on Freecycle is growing and the pile to sellon Trade Me is decreasing. I have told my friends about it and phoned myhusband twice; I do not think he gets why I am beyond excited. Raewyn andPauline are both now fired up and excited about it as well.

Freecycle speaks to mebecause it is about community, about gifting items to other people in yourcommunity and ultimately reducing the amount of waste that goes into our landfills.This is why I totally support people going through inorganic collections on theside of the road. If someone can use something that others have thrown awaythen I support that 100%.

Their missionstatement is simple “Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement thatreduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfillswhile enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

So, what are youwaiting for; get decluttering and “Freecycling” people…you will be amazed athow good it makes you feel.

Spring Cleaning and Decluttering

2011-10-19T13:55:00.000+13:00

I have been thinkingabout spring cleaning our house for a few weeks now and I have procrastinated aboutgetting started. So my intended method of attack is to declutter and clean outcupboards and draws first and then go through the whole house and wash wallsand skirting’s, vacuum, mop and wash the windows. The worst thing is that Ioften want to clean at the most inopportune times i.e. midnight; rather than ata normal hour.

I wanted to start atone end of the house and go through room by room. I have now nearly finishedthe kitchen and have managed to fill two banana boxes full of stuff to sell/getrid of and things that do not belong in the kitchen. I have 5 cupboards left inthe kitchen and then I just need to wash down all the outside of the cupboardsand do the benches. At some stage I need to do the oven, but that might have towait until the weekend.I have included some before (photos on left) and after (photos on right) to show you my pantry and second draw of shame. The pantry looked like I had just gone shopping and thrown the food onto the shelf.

Then I will move ontothe dining area and lounge. There is a bit that could go from the loungeincluding DVD’s and CD’s we do not want and also some other bits and pieces. The hall is pretty basic and just needs apainting hung and the walls washed and touched up with paint. Oh blast….and thehall cupboard needs to be cleared out to make more space for storage.

The bathroom ispretty much completed as I did the cupboard and draw a few weeks ago. So all itreally needs is the walls and ceiling wiped down.

The bedrooms are alittle bit more complex and I think that I might leave them until last as thereare quite a few draws and two wardrobes to sort out. The spare room cupboard iscompletely packed to the gunnels with so much stuff and I am cringing justthinking about it.

The study seems to bethe “holding” zone for everything that has been removed from the rest of thehouse. I need to go through my books one last time, then sort and file ourpaperwork and finally clear out the cupboards of unnecessary stuff.

Honestly, I cannotbelieve how much “stuff” we have accumulated over the years. I do sort thingsoften, but seriously it just keeps creeping back in. I hate taking things tothe dump, so I would rather items find a new home where they will be loved andused instead of sitting unused in the back of a cupboard.

Also, there arethings that Mark will not let me get rid of that I hate, so I just have to findbetter places to put them. I do have a process of dealing with this and I willoften say to him “do you want to keep item 1 or item 2” knowing full well thathe will never, ever part with item 2. It is naughty, but it seems to work.

I think I might haveto write a list to keep myself on task. So the plan for the long weekend is:

1. Finish the kitchen

2. Sort out the “stuff”into three piles 1. Give Away. 2. Sell on Trade Me and 3. Throw away.

3. List things on TradeMe

4. Start (and finish)the rest of the house Lounge, Hall, Bedrooms (sigh) and study

5. Mark to wash thewalls and ceiling in bathroom and to do all the “touch” up painting

6. Wash windows insideand out

Are you springcleaning or decluttering? What is yourprocess?

Week 41 – w/c Saturday 8th October, 2011

2011-10-19T13:20:00.003+13:00

Saturday (08/10/11) ~ Really, really wanted to sleep in…didnot happen and I woke up at 7am. Caught up on more TV and then went out forlunch with some Twitter friends.

Sunday (09/10/11) ~ Totally lazy day getting up to date withwashing and more TV. Watched the rugby in the evening with Mark and Raewyn andhad kitten cuddles. Is Kitty-Kat a cat or a bunny? Hard to tell.

Monday (10/10/11) ~ First day of the school holidays whichmeant the roads were great; good because we slept through our alarm. Iregistered for Blog Action Day on the 16^th October. Might try and do the 6km walkafter work. No photo.

Tuesday (11/10/11) ~ Went to the gym without Mark thismorning and it was fabulous. I managed 55 minutes of cardio and burned almost500 calories. I am planning on an early night so that I can go on Wednesdaymorning.

Wednesday (12/10/11) ~ Surprise, surprise I did not make itto the gym. Slacker. Had lunch in Mt Eden and it was awful as the café Inormally go to was PACKED and then I forgot to get chicken with my Caesarsalad. The beautiful spring blossoms made up for it though!

Thursday (13/10/11) ~ Had the most amazing lunch with afriend from Twitter. She made the yummiest vegetarian lunch. Cannot wait toreplicate at home. No photo.

Friday (14/10/11) ~ Went to see Footloose with Mark atSylvia Park. I really enjoyed it, but then again I have not seen the original.We went into Toy World and they had this crazy Rubiks cube!

Blame it on the alcohol

2011-10-17T11:18:00.000+13:00

Over the past fewweeks I have read news articles about behaviour that has been attributed toalcohol.

When I was in my lateteens I told my (then) boyfriend that people could not use alcohol as an excusefor bad behaviour; even at 18 I knew that! Then I kissed someone at a party andended up telling my boyfriend that “I was drunk”; he threw my words back in myface and said “you told me that being drunk is not an excuse”. Bugger!

While I understandthat alcohol can affect your judgement I DO NOT accept it as an excuse for bad(illegal, malicious etc.) behaviour. Seriously,at what point does alcohol affect your judgement so much that you cannot tellthe difference from right and wrong? Orperhaps alcohol just lowers the inhibitions of certain people so that theirnatural predilection towards violence or inappropriate behaviour comes out.

I hate to say it, butat the end of the day if you “lose” control then you need to seriously look atthe volume that you are drinking and why. Like the advertisements say “it’s notwhat we are drinking, it’s how we are drinking”. The message does not seem to be gettingthrough. People are still drinking anddriving, violence is still breaking out, and people are still dying on ourroads, assaulting and/or killing others or sexually assaulting people.

I am sure that therehave all been times when people have over-indulged, but the majority do notlose control of their senses and murder, rape, start fights, damage propertyetc. This does not justify getting “smashed” but I am just trying to explainthat people do get drunk and do not lose it.

In my opinion we havea pretty shocking drinking culture in New Zealand. It needs to be addressed andmeasures taken to try and turn this around. It would be easy to focus on theyounger generation as being the majority of the problem, but it is not just them.We have people in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s binge drinking and ending up losingcontrol. So, to say that there is not a binge drinking problem in New Zealandis pure ignorance.

So what do we doabout it?

- Stop turning a blind eyewhen you see people that are obviously over the limit and out of control. The ‘Whoare you’ clip really sums up my point about not turning a blind eye

- Discouragingbars/restaurants to stop serving people that are obviously intoxicated and sendthem home via taxi

- Flipping the messagethat it is “cool” to stay sober vs. being “cool” is getting so wasted that youvomit and pass out. Listener article about teen drinking culture

- Being a responsiblehost and “always” providing food with alcohol. Having a few sober people that can drive others home

- Limit the number ofdrinks available per person i.e. 3 standard drinks per person? I.e. do not overcater with alcohol

What do you think? Doyou even think there is a problem?

Monday's Emotional Eating

2011-10-17T10:58:00.000+13:00

This is my blog written for the 2011 Blog Action Day

I was going to writean incredible blog. It was either going to be about how I gave up red meat orthat I find it hard to understand the world we live in where people die fromobesity related diseases and others die from starvation.

However, I want totalk quickly about emotional eating. Ironically I have blogged about it before(almost a year ago in fact) and you can read about it here.

I really dislikeMonday’s (it is Monday in New Zealand)…I think I am channelling my innerGarfield. Whilst I was a little grumpy I still managed to make some awesomechoices about food.

I chose not to drinkthe bottle of V Drink that my husband bought me

I had a healthybreakfast that included yummy peaches, low fat milk and Special K

I drunk 750ml ofwater

Then 10am hit and thensomething happened that turned my morning on its butt! I went on a quickemotional eating roller coaster and ate….a flipping chocolate brioche.

Even now I am justrolling my eyes. Why did I bury my feelings with food? Do I feel better?Barely.

I know better thanthis. I should have just taken myself outside and gone for a walk around theblock and not a walk to the closest café for ‘comfort’ food.

I think that perhaps when I feel the need to emotional eatthen I just need to drink a huge glass of water and take a time out and have are: scream or cry.

So for the rest of the day I am going to choose healthychoices and not beat myself up for falling off the wagon. I am better thanthis. My body deserves better than this.

What do you do instead of emotional eating?

The Night where Ness got called a Dipstick

2011-10-10T17:14:00.000+13:00

Last night I gotcalled a 'dipstick' on Twitter by someone I do not know because apparently Ishould have checked my facts before “mouthing off”.

The irony is, is thata lot of New Zealanders (including journalists, radio broadcasters and even anAll Black; not part of the RWC squad) spoke up at their frustrating that aparticular TV network did not show the live presentation of the 100^thtest match cap to Mils Muliaina after last night’s RWC match.

Instead we ended upwatching some post-match analysis and interviews. I guess I was confused (alongwith others) as we had watched the full presentation to McCaw of his cap byJock Hobbs. So what was different inthis instance? Or did I miss something?

So after a bit ofdigging on the net I now realise that the TV network was under particularobligations for post-match interviews at the same time as the presentation wastaking place. You can read the article on Stuff here plus all the assortedcomments. Nevertheless, if this was the case then why not start the presentationstraight after the post-match interviews?? Okay, after watching the bit from Campbell Live I understand a bit more about the "world feed"; how they decided the world would not want to see a brief capping ceremony is beyond me. But there you go.

What I actually resentis being told off in a public forum for a tweet on my personal twitter pagewhich simply reflected what a lot of New Zealanders were already thinking. Tobe honest if other New Zealanders, journalists and even rugby players themselves commented about it publicaly on Twitter etc.…thensurely there are a lot of people that have not checked “their facts” or were confused about what had occured and why.

So ultimately, I mightbe a dipstick but at least I know that I was not alone in expressing mydisgust. By the way…at least my team is still in the contest. #JustSayin'

P.S. I certainly think that the TV network in question have their big boy panties on and can defend themselves against people's opinions.

Week 40 – w/c Saturday 1st October, 2011

2011-10-10T10:52:00.001+13:00

Saturday (01/10/11) ~Went to the gym and then to visit myparents. Then raced to Café Crave in Kingsland to catch up with Lou, Niamh etc.Had the most AMAZING cheese scone and then onto Newmarket to see a friend thatI haven’t seen for such a long time. Busy, but amazing day. No photo.

Sunday (02/10/11) ~ Pretty much spent the day relaxing inbed with the cats and watching TV.

Monday (03/10/11) ~ Mark home from Wellington; nice to seehim! Went on a mad dash to the Laundromat to wash and dry all the bed linenetc. Here are the cats and the bearenjoying the freshly made bed.

Tuesday (04/10/11) ~ Gym first thing and then I discoveredPita Pit’s new Newmarket branch. No photo.

Wednesday (05/10/11) ~ I went to Pita Pit for lunch (again)and then went and ate at the Domain as it was a beautiful spring day. I watchedthe end of Kinky Boots and then Just Right. I am totally committed to gettingmy iTunes sorted so that every song has its BPM. I have about 400 songs updated out of almost 2,200.

Thursday (06/10/11) ~ I had a quick gym session in themorning and then a catch up with the Delish girls at lunch time. Beautiful day!No photo.

Friday (07/10/11) ~ TGIF. Pita Pit for lunch and bumped intoBec and Dan. Then went to the Domain to eat and read. Watched some TV in bedand Daisy slept.

Week 39 – w/c Saturday 24th September, 2011

2011-10-06T15:52:00.001+13:00

Saturday (24/09/11) ~Went to the gym and then to visit myparents. Had a bit of a “blah” afternoon and then had dinner and watched theFrench vs. All Blacks game at Raewyn’s house. No photo.

Sunday (25/09/11) ~ First day of daylight savings time and Islept late. Went up to Raewyn’s to talk about photos for Trade Me. Madepancakes for lunch and had a flat white. Watched recorded TV for the rest ofthe day and then finally I sorted out our monthly organiser for gym sessionsand dinners.

Monday (26/09/11) ~ Busy day at work with two clientmeetings. I made Garden Lasagne to freeze for lunches and dinners. No photo.

Tuesday (27/09/11) ~ Gym first thing and then a quietmorning at work. Lunch at Delish. I made chocolate chip cookies successfullyfor the first time after I received a fabulously ‘no-fail’ recipe from a gal onTwitter.

Wednesday (28/09/11) ~ Total ‘vege-out’ night. P.S. I am now OVER Garden Lasagne. No photo.

Thursday (29/09/11) ~ Mark flew to Wellington for theweekend to celebrate his dad’s birthday. I love my husband, but I also enjoy myspace. No photo.

Friday (30/09/11) ~ Last day of September…scary! No photo.

30. w.c. Saturday 23.07.11 to 38. w.e. Friday 23.09.11

2011-09-27T16:05:00.000+13:00

I have been totally hopeless with my week/year in photos and I aim to do better!

So to catch up I have done a collage of photos from the past 8 weeks. Once again it is all about cats and food.

Week 29 – w/c Saturday 16th July, 2011

2011-09-27T15:35:00.000+13:00

Saturday (16/07/11) ~I managed to go to the gym first thing on Saturday morning. Then I grabbed a quick Flat White and Brioche for breakfast before racing home to get showered and changed. I met up with Chev at Sylvia Park and we went shopping and then had coffee and a bite to eat. We did not end up seeing a movie as there were only 4 choices. Had a quiet night at home and fell asleep while reading. No photo.

Sunday (17/07/11) ~ I got to have a sleep in and then went grocery shopping. Popped potato bake in the oven and met Steph for rescue kitty photo shoot at Raewyn’s. Then we zoomed over to the North Shore for the Scooby mid-winter birthday catch up. It was great to see everyone and we got home just after 7.30pm. I tidied the apps on my iPhone and Mark’s iPod after seeing Steph’s organised iPhone4. I then read until I fell asleep.

Monday (18/07/11) ~ I had lunch at Ironique in Mt Eden and got quite excited because they had Coconut Cake; although the pink icing was off-putting. Went to Raewyn’s for kitten cuddles; Casper and Lenee are so cute!!

Tuesday (19/07/11) ~ After watching The Food Truck Mexican episode I decided to try Mexicali Fresh; absolutely divine. In my opinion it was a little on the expensive side, but very, very tasty. I made the effort to walk there to get some exercise.

Wednesday (20/07/11) ~ I think that I was off work with the flu? No photo

Thursday (21/07/11) ~ New library books. Exciting!

Friday (22/07/11) ~ Cannot remember. No photo

Dogs and Cats

2011-09-27T11:37:00.000+13:00

I think it is fairly obvious that I am an animal lover from the pictures I post of our cats and the volunteer work that I have done with cats over the past 5 years.

Normally, I try not to read animal stories as they just make me upset. However, sometimes I think it is important to read them so that I can get angry and spur myself into action.

First, there was the story of the man in Glenfield having dead cats in his freezers and also numerous cats living in disgusting conditions. He claims he is an animal lover. I claim that he is a cat hoarder and while he thinks he is “doing right” by these animals, he is being more cruel by keeping many in cages surrounded by their own excrement and others that were sick etc. Apparently, there were complaints made nearly a year ago but nothing was done. Why?

Secondly, I read the story about the two dogs that were killed by a “cross breed” dog. Once again the blame game is happening and unfortunately it would appear that the dog is getting the lion-share of the blame. I feel absolutely gutted for the two dogs that were killed and their owners; I cannot even imagine how terrible it would be and how helpless they felt. I feel angry at the owner of the other dog; she should have had it leashed and it would appear that she did nothing that would suggest she was apologetic for the situation. This to me speaks VOLUMES about the situation. Once again the dog is going to get the blame when it is obvious that the owner also needs to take responsibility for her actions and potentially the lack of training and discipline. She even kicked her dog. Seriously?!

I have to insert a disclaimer here…while we had dogs when I was younger I do not know dogs as well as I know cats. But I do have some thoughts…

There seem to be more and more attacks by dogs and calls to ban particular breeds of dogs. I noticed some comments on the Paw Justice Facebook page yesterday about people that do own larger dogs and cross breeds i.e. pit-bull/bull mastiff and have no issues at all. It would seem that these dogs have been raised by owners that know how to raise a dog the right way. I have read more and more blogs written by Ashley Owen Hill who founded Lucky Dog Rescue in the US. Here is her latest blog about bait dogs. After reading numerous blogs by Ashley, I am beginning to doubt whether viciousness in dogs isn’t so much about the “breed” of the dog, but more that care (and time) has not been taken to train and raise the dog. There are instances where badly treated dogs still want to be loved by their abusers….actually they just want love.

As dog attacks become more prevalent in NZ it is evident that some things need to change radically and very soon. So, while I do appreciate that all dogs in NZ need to be registered, I think that better checks need to be in place to ensure that dogs are not just going to owners with no experience with dogs. Or at least get people to go on mandatory dog training courses. Also, the public should not feel afraid to report owners who may not be doing “right” by their dog/s.

I have a huge issue with free animals on Trade Me. They have tightened their controls over the sale of live animals, but I still think that many traders go unchecked. I am sure that many pets go to loving homes, but there are still those that probably do not. Again, it comes back to my belief that no animal should be re-homed without being desexed first and if you have to get the new owner to cover that cost then so be it. If you let your animal have a litter of puppies, kittens etc. then it’s your responsibility to stop the breeding cycle and then get your own pet desexed especially if you are selling them to people that you do not know.

A few years ago I removed 2 female cats and about 11 kittens from a family as they had to move and could not take them with them. Apparently, letting these two cats get pregnant was their “thing” to do at Christmas. These female cats had never had a life of their own and had, had multiple litters. It was just not fair on them. Then this family just re-homed them to whomever. At the end of the day there are so many deserving animals that need a home so why add more.

What is the answer?

Summer is coming…

2011-09-27T09:19:00.000+13:00

I have been meaning to write a quick blog about the change of seasons since I read this lovely “autumn” blog from Jessica (‘How Sweet it is’). Jessica’s was the first of many blogs that I have read about the Northern Hemisphere change of seasons from summer into fall. I did not realise just how many American blogs I read until most of them started talking about fall “colours” and recipes with pumpkin!

I adore spring. I think it is something to do with new life and renewal. I also love the smell of fresh flowers especially freesias; ours had started popping up in August. It also means that we are well on the way to summer; long days, hot nights and beach days.

This year I have decided to just enjoy summer (despite the humidity that is characteristic of Auckland) and in preparation for a lovely long, hot summer I have decided to take 4 weeks holiday. This means spending more time with family and lots of time at the beach. I am craving the holidays that I had in my teens and am determined to make the most of it.

This morning I read Jenna’s blog and I got really excited about summer. For me, her blog sums up the easy-going summers of my past.

So I am going to LOVE summer because it means:

Golden sand

Sparkling ocean and white surf

The smell of strawberries in the sun; actually all berries and stone fruit

BBQ’s

Icy vodka and soda with a twist

Healthy doses of vitamin D

No shoes

Zucchini and tomatoes from our garden

Basil

Swimming

Long walks

Music on my iPod

Relaxing with family and spending time with my nephew and nieces

Playing on the back lawn with our cats

Sunflowers

Picnics
Sweetcorn

What are you looking forward to?

Music I Want and Cannot Get

2011-09-23T16:24:00.001+12:00

A few months ago I heard Natasha Bedingfield’s song ‘Strip Me’ at the end of a movie. I loved it and raced to my iTunes account to download it. Unfortunately, that song and album ARE NOT available in New Zealand. Not impressed. I have requested it from the library to see if I like it enough to buy the whole album. I am still waiting for the CD. I was a bit annoyed, as I buy 90% of my music through iTunes and the rest on CD. I just wanted 1 flipping song!

I had forgotten about the Bedingfield saga until last night. I was watching ‘Drop Dead Diva’ on DVD and there were a couple of songs played in the background by an artist called Jessie James. She is an American Country-Pop singer and I loved her songs ‘My Cowboy’ and ‘Blue Jeans’. I raced to iTunes only to find that she has one song available in New Zealand and it is NOT the one that I want.

I was furious. I went to Google and came up with an MP3 version of the album on Amazon. #Excitement! I added it to my Amazon cart and filled out my address only to have Amazon tell me that MP3 purchases are NOT available to people outside the USA.

Potentially I can use my sister’s Amazon account (she lived in NYC) or her Australian or US iTunes accounts. However, it still does not solve the problem that most people would not have this option available to them.

So what the hell do I do? I cannot get my music the way that I want and if I order it on CD it’s going to take a few weeks to get here. I am all about instant gratification re: music so I am really angry as I want the songs NOW!

I love you iTunes but NOT when you limit what I can buy because of the country where I live I hate your guts!

On a side note…Lisa wrote a good blog about NZ TV networks and piracy. Many people have had enough in little ‘ol New Zealand.

Four Friday

2011-09-23T16:10:00.000+12:00

I stole this list of prompts from Alice (and Wallace)

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE

To be honest I could actually name one company where I had 4 different roles over the 4.5 years I was there. Instead I will try and be a little imaginative…Business Analyst, Client Services Consultant, Sales Rep and Retail Sales Chick.

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER

10 Things I Hate About You, Bring it On, Easy A and The 13^th Warrior

FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN

Auckland….so suburbs: Titirangi, Milford, Avondale and Glendene

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH

Castle, Drop Dead Diva, The Closer and True Blood

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION

Reading (Michigan), Fiji, Bali and Melbourne

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY

Twitter, Google Reader, Facebook and Stuff

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS

Cheese, Pasta, Chocolate and basil

FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED

St Dominic’s Primary School, Glen Eden Intermediate and Auckland Girls’ Grammar

FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW

Home reading, Melbourne, Sydney (hugging my sister) or Rarotonga

"Cheers to the freaking weekend....."

Why Life should have an Undo Button

2011-09-15T14:45:00.000+12:00

I was talking to my cousin a little while ago and she remarked that sometimes she says things and then as soon as they are said she thinks “oh I should not have said that”. I said “I wish there was an undo button for life”.

Over the years I have realised that having an undo button for life would make things so much better. It would mean that I could live my life without having to edit-proof a lot of the things that come falling out of my mouth.

I have inadvertently blurted things out to people before and then thought “oh hell…UNDO” only to realise that there is no UNDO!

Since there is no way that we are going to get an Undo button I think it is best that I learn to edit my words before they come out of my mouth. Or try and get the mess that is my thoughts in order.

Do you wish Life had an Undo Button?

Blogs that I Cannot Live Without

2011-09-12T11:04:00.001+12:00

I have realised that so many of my blogs are born from anger or sadness. I want to blog when I have happy things to talk about as well.

I would love to blog about my nephews and nieces but I find it hard to do this without putting a million photos up. Unfortunately, their parents are not really keen about having their photos up online so I tend not to blog about them at all. Perhaps I will find a way around it somehow.

I read a lot of blogs written by New Zealanders, American’s etc. and I love them. They write funny, sad, angry, poignant blogs. I am addicted to reading them and looking at their pictures. There are blogs that make me think, blogs that make me cry, blogs that challenge my own beliefs. These are some that I cannot do without; I love them….they enrich my life (this is not even half of the blogs I read regularly):

People

Pretty Stuff

Hostess with the Mostess

How Sweet it is

Reasons to Breathe

Sarah’s Party Perfect

Animals

Photographers

PerspectivesPhotography

Steph

Tara

Last week I noticed that Penguin Books were looking for bloggers to review books. I was really keen and then I realised that I did not think that many people read my blog #SadPanda. I kind of wonder how other bloggers increase their visitor numbers? Write regularly? Shorter blogs? Have cool photos?

Any ideas?~ Because it's all about me!

Fat Haters

2011-09-09T11:16:00.001+12:00

Last night I watched ‘Embarrassing Fat Bodies’ on TV. It was pretty heart-breaking and maybe a little disturbing; but I could not look away. I saw a great deal of tweets about this about how people were disgusted, or it made them want to vomit. It also saw the fat haters come out and add their 2 cents worth on Twitter.

Fat hating no longer surprises me given the fact that I have been overweight/obese all my life and every day I have my own version of ‘Embarrassing Fat Bodies’ to contend with. The horrible comments left on weight-loss blogs no longer affect me that much.

For the most part I expect that people that are overweight have their own reasons for getting to that place. For me (like many) it is eating more than I am burning. So from a TOTALLY simplistic point of view my energy ‘in’ is way more than my energy ‘out’.

I am neither a doctor nor a medical professional, but I expect that in some cases medication, genetics and health plays an issue.

I happened to scroll back through the tweets, and one particularly annoyed me. It was basically that it’s clear how people become obese and again it was ‘just’ about food and exercise. I personally realise that this is how I got obese and I am sure most people realise that as well; however there are often deeper things going on. So by just saying “you are fat because you eat FAR too much and do no exercise” is like saying that nothing else is going on for you at all. So the problem will be easily solved by eating less and exercising. Sorry but I disagree. Yes, you can eat less and exercise but you are bound to revert back to learned behaviour if you do not get to the root of the issue.

I remember when I first watched Kepa (you can see his journey here) on TV and his advice was that you needed to get your “head right” first and essentially the rest would follow. Kepa lost 129kg over the course of about 2 years so I think that he knows what he is talking about. He did not have an operation, he just got some help, started to change the way that he ate and eventually starting moving. It was a struggle, but he is healthier, happier and living the life of someone his age. I appreciate sometimes you have to push through to get your head right, but it can definitely be done.

There is my friend Liz who lost 80kg and got fit, well and healthy. I can still remember watching her for the first time on morning TV. I was blown away. You can check out her website here. She started by not eating enough and realised that this was not the way. She did her research and starting eating well, and exercising. :)

If you have never ever had a weight problem or never been obese please do not feel like you have the right to tell fat people why they are the way that they are. You are only seeing the outside and not what is going on in the inside.

I wrote a blog a few months ago about my weight and the emotional side of things. If you want to see people breaking through their mental and emotional barriers just watch any version of The Biggest Loser.

I strongly believe that we should be supporting families in the community and teaching them about healthier choices, cooking and baking from scratch so that they can teach their children. We should be encouraging schools to grow small gardens so that perhaps children can take this knowledge home to their families. A garden does not need to be a huge expense and I know friends who use their scraps to create compost, to then create a small functional garden. You can also have a look at Kat’s blog here.

I also believe that physical education should be compulsory in schools until 6^th or 7^th form; with varied activities as not all children are runners. Get your families out for walks or even playing in the back yard. Limit children’s TV, gaming or internet time and just get them moving.

Oh and by the way do not even come at me with the fact that my weight is causing a “DRAIN” on the public healthcare. I have private insurance and very rarely go to the doctor. I am also on track to my weight loss goals for Christmas and next year.

Three Things that Have Almost driven me MAD

2011-09-02T15:37:00.002+12:00

Over the past 1-2 years there have been three things that have nearly driven me crazy. They cause me huge peaks of emotion. I feel intense sorrow and then cold fury. I have resisted blogging about them because I have not felt that it was right to write down my feelings, however I believe that in order for me to start to move on to a better place that now is the right time.

The Workplace

This is not about my workplace (I love my job) but the workplace of a friend.

Every time you come to me about your work I can feel my anger start to grow. I want to clap my hands over my ears and scream. I want to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon (King Lear reference right there).

Our conversations often start out calm and I listen and try and provide advice and words of support. But then I see the same problems crop up in your day all the time. It pains me to see you struggling with the situation, but I feel I have no more to offer you. Our conversations often end in me getting angry and frustrated and a lot of swearing.

I loathe your employer and your boss (and past boss) to such a degree that I feel I cannot be the supportive person that you need to talk to. I cannot be impartial anymore and just hope that you have the strength to do what is right and move on.

Your last boss was an evil, evil bitch. She did damage to you and I strongly believe she did damage to your potential career growth within the company.

So, I will try and support you a little, but do not expect too much. At the end of the day I feel that the company you work for is horrible and definitely not a healthy place to work. Hopefully, you will come to this realisation and be able to move on.

Unemployment

Disclaimer: I do not have a problem with people that need to receive benefits and this blog is not about bagging people who need them.

A few years ago you were made redundant. Then your partner resigned. I was gobsmacked. In a recession why resign just because your partner was made redundant.

You tried to get jobs and failed. You were not willing to move from the city you lived in to try for work. You only went for jobs in your “sector” and area of expertise, when perhaps you should have broadened your scope a little. Why not even try and find an interim job doing something while you were looking? Oh no…that’s right you were offered an awesome “interim” opportunity by family and did not take it.

You continued to live your life of “luxury” despite not having a job. This just made me ANGRY considering you had been very, very vocal about people/families taking advantage of the welfare system. You flipping hypocritical moron.

When you stayed with us your partner admired our belongings and made comments like “wow I love your XX” and “I cannot wait to get some pots like that”. Seriously, Mark and I have had to work hard to get what little we have. We had second hand stuff for ages, and eventually we were able to replace stuff bit by bit. For the record we do not replace things until they are dead!

You have finally gotten a job, but that has not changed my opinion of you. Eventually, I will probably come around but I will never forget your selfishness and laziness. You took advantage of people that were trying to help you. You did not even really contribute money towards living costs i.e. food, rent etc.

I believe that your selfishness remains. All I have to say to you is “to grow the hell up”. If no one tells you that soon, I may very well find my voice and do the telling.

Only the Lonely

I have a friend who is an only child and she is struggling a bit with what is going on with her parents as they are struggling. Other people tell her that they are there for her, to help, bounce ideas off etc. But she feels that even though there is a support network for her that at the end of the day she is alone and it is ultimately her responsibility. I feel for her as it is breaking her heart and her spirit bit by bit. She has changed in the past few years and is not the bubbly happy person that I know and remember.

It breaks my heart to see her like this. See her effectively shouldering the burden on her own. Perhaps it is the “curse” of the only child. They are just used to dealing with stuff on their own without having to turn to others.

That is all. Vent over.

Provide Solutions

2011-08-08T16:48:00.000+12:00

Lately, more and more people are struggling to make ends meet.

As a culture we could keep focusing on the problems or we could actually look to others to provide suggestions and solutions to help people get through the toughest times.

I am sure that there are people in this country who take advantage of the welfare system or live well outside their means and spend their money on “wants” vs. “needs”. I do not want to talk about those people. I want to talk about the people that are seriously doing the best that they can to make ends meet and they still struggle.

I do not want to hear about the price of milk anymore. Yes, it is expensive but everything has gone up in price. Last year people were focused on the price of cheese. We do not have children, but we still buy 2 x bottles of Dairy Dale milk for $6 from our local dairy. We keep one for home and I take one to work.

There are some amazing people out there that have made HUGE lifestyle changes to try and get ahead and lessen the struggle:

Hannah and her family moved to a smaller city; they have a vegetable garden etc.
Liz can feed her family of 5-6 on about $150 per week through good budgeting and a lot of home-cooked meals and baked goodies. Here is a link to her blog
Jane takes out the exact amount of money in cash for her weekly groceries and does not spend more than that
Make your own cleaning products (Wendyl’s Green Goddess website can be found here)
Carla who pulled money out of her “ass” last week by looking around for things in her home to sell
What about talking to your friends or neighbours and buying bulk vegetables i.e. 10kg of potatoes and splitting them up?

Somewhere along the line I think that some people have lost the skill of cooking and baking and even having a simple vegetable garden. A vegetable garden does not need to be expensive you could even grow things in a couple of old pots.

I absolutely love the philosophy of Sophie Grey (Destitute Gourmet) who makes amazing, nutritious meals on a budget. Her circumstances changed and as a family they had to make changes to their life.

Seriously, someone (I’m looking at you Close Up, Campbell Live, Breakfast) needs to get Sophie Grey on instead of continually talking about the problems.

So what are your ideas for saving money and getting through the tough times?

Hurt

2011-08-07T19:14:00.001+12:00

I have seen quite a number of counsellors over my life. However, it was the last one that I saw whose sessions have stayed with me over 10 years later. Hers are the words that I heed when things get tough or I am feeling “wistful”.

Like everyone I have been hurt in my life. I also trust easily and sometimes that blinds me to my natural “instinct” about people or things. One counselling session we talked about hurt and the feelings around hurt.

What I learned was that “hurt happens no matter what” and the higher we build walls around ourselves to stop the hurt, the harder the hurt will be. With this in mind I started to pull down the walls that I had put up to stop being hurt. I opened myself up more to people and began to trust again. When hurt happened I accepted that hurt; while unfortunate was part of life.

The other thing that we talked about was our reactions. We talked about a particular instance when I was angry and my counsellor asked me how I felt and I said “angry” and she said “no what did you really feel” and I said “anger”. We went on like this for a bit until she said “if you really think about it, what you were feeling was “hurt”. When I thought through the whole situation I realised that she had hit the nail on the head. So I now realise that a lot of our emotions and reactions will stem from a particular emotion, and not necessarily the emotion that we think.

A lot of my anger and frustration comes from a starting point of hurt and sadness. I am sure I have blogged before about not feeling that I can get my words out or tell people when they have upset or hurt me. This means that my resentment grows; but hurt was the seed. I find it hard to move on from things because I cannot say what I truly want to say. Ironically it is probably because I am afraid of people taking things the wrong way or even hurting them.

Recently an amazing woman Mel told me to not be afraid to speak my “truth”. A few weeks ago I read something that Mel had written about speaking her “truth” and how she had kept silent over the years because she did not want to rock the boat and I can completely relate. I want to be able to speak my “truth” with honesty and integrity.

So at the end of the day I believe that to move through hurt we need to pick our battles and determine what is truly hurtful and what could be a silly mistake. For me it is about speaking my “truth” and being honest with myself and true to my feelings. It is about controlling my own reactions to situations and being able to let things go rather than hold onto them.

I am still learning and have a way to go; but I am getting there.

Summer Holidays in Colville

2011-08-06T13:08:00.000+12:00

When I was in my mid-teens some friends and I spent two glorious summers in Colville; as one friend grew up there. We spent about 6-8 weeks there during our summer holidays and often I did not want to come home. Even now I yearn for those summers. They were bliss. Not a care in the world.

These summers’ holidays to me were freedom, fun, sun and no parents. Even now things take me back to that time. The smell of a wood fire burning (that’s how we heated the water) and incense. The music of Melissa Etheridge and Prince (‘Purple Rain’) takes me back as I listened to their music on my Walkman for one whole holiday. I would simply swap the tape over again and again.

Because we were only about 15/16 we walked everywhere. If we wanted chocolate (and you could buy this in chunks from the Colville General Store) we had to walk. I lost weight as we ate whole food, fresh food, vegetables, and good grains. At that stage in my life I really own ate fish and no meat. We went floundering for meals and cooked everything on a wood fire (even birthday cakes). We did both yoga and dancing on New Year’s Eve’s in the Colville Hall. I actually think that we cleaned the hall after a huge party and I remember my feet sticking to the floor.

Thinking about this now at 35 I think that weight-loss can actually be fairly simple if you just take it back to basics. It is about smaller portions and beautiful whole/fresh food like fish, brown rice, vegetables and the occasional treat and then a whole lot of exercise like walking, swimming and climbing trees.

Colville was a pretty small community filled with amazing, caring people, hippies, and Buddhists. There were the cool untouchable guys and girls and we spent a lot of time admiring the ‘Mahana Boys’ from afar. These guys played rugby and surfed a lot and worked sometimes. There were so many stories born out of small town truths and rumour. I remember one guy that had been injured in a car accident where he essentially lost half his face on the road. He always seemed distant and also unapproachable; as though he felt that people would only judge him by his scars. Personally, I did not even care.

I had a huge crush on a guy who grew up down in Colville. I spent the whole summer just hoping and praying for just a glimpse of him. I think I spoke to him once, but for over 2 years I totally lusted after him as only a gal in her mid-teens can do. I think we spent more time with his younger brother who was probably 3-4 years younger; I remember looking after him as he vomited after drinking whiskey. When I started writing this blog I actually used Google to find both guys and now they are grown up and so amazingly HOT! I can still see the guy that I had the crush on all those years ago, and his younger brother is still the same except he grew up.

Other things I remember is Layla going without deodorant because she thought that aluminium could contribute to breast cancer. I remember the hot days when she would wipe under her arms with tissues. I remember my friends Aunt burying the placenta from the birth of her son. She wanted to do it in Colville because it was special to her. I remember camping in Waikawau.

And finally I remember climbing up the hill overlooking a farm house after a long night to watch the sun creep up into the sky.

So thank you Colville; those summers helped shape who I am today.

Circle of Trust

2011-07-22T10:09:00.002+12:00

Friendship is an interesting thing.

When I was at school I had a huge circle of good friends. These were the people that I thought I would always be friends with no matter what. So almost 18 years after I left high school I find it a little ironic that from this group of friends I am still friends with just two people. I drifted away from many of these people when I was at University and those friendships dissolved. A few years ago I caught up with a school friend and I found it ironic that she is still friends with all the people I no longer see, and she is not friends with the two people that I still consider as close friends.

What I realise is that as you move through life you and others change; like the ebb and flow of the tides. There are people that are in your life for a long time and those that touch your life briefly. I believe that people come into your life to help you and teach you things as you come into theirs to do the same. I am not perfect. I have lost friends over the years through my own stupidity and/or thoughtlessness. I have also let friendships go for my own self-preservation.

As the eve of my 36^th birthday approaches I look around and realise that I have the most amazing group of friends. Many are friends that I have had in my life for well over 15-20 years and are my ‘circle of trust’. They are the people that I go to when I need their wisdom and advice. Ultimately they are the people that I trust with my heart and my soul. However, I am a strong believer that it is not always the length of time that you have known someone, but the depth of feeling that you have for them that makes you love and trust them. I have some very close friends that I have known for a short time that I trust implicitly.

I trust easily and yes I have been burnt in the past few years. I am re-learning to trust my own instinct when meeting new people. As I get older I realise that sometimes you need to guard yourself a little and not reveal everything all at once. One of the best things about friendship is getting to know the person bit-by-bit; a little like opening a present. Every layer is a surprise.

So I will treasure the friendships that I have and nurture them every single day.

Week 28 – w/c Saturday 9th July, 2011

2011-07-18T11:02:00.001+12:00

Saturday (09/07/11) ~ I spent some time on the couch watching some recorded stuff off Sky and Mark and I managed to watch 6 episodes of The Big Bang Theory before he disappeared into the garage to work on his boat. Mark also purchased wood for his birthday photo booth.

Sunday (10/07/11) ~ Mark got up and got me a couple of brioches from Fuze and also a flat white. Then I just read and slept as the weather was horrible.

Monday (11/07/11) ~ Phoebe and her sister Jac came over for kitten cuddles at Raewyn’s. No photo.

Tuesday (12/07/11) ~ Starting a new book. Love it!! ‘Faking It’ by Jennifer Crusie.

Wednesday (13/07/11) ~ Mark went to beer night with the “boys” to do some taste testing of Moa Beers. I spent some time with Kathryn talking and watching The Biggest Loser. Penny spent the evening racing around and then eventually dropped from exhaustion.

Thursday (14/07/11) ~ Picked up a huge stack of books and DVD’s from the local library. I get so excited about new books to read…is that wrong? One of them is about two best friends that open a cupcake shop together….sound familiar? It could be the girls from Delish Cupcakes.

Friday (15/07/11) ~ Our dryer is stuffed….so I got up in the pouring rain and went to our local Laundromat at around 6.30am to get our washing dry. I did not think anyone would be around at that time so I wore my PJ’s and a dressing gown. Suffice to say I saw about 4-5 people.

Week 27 – w/c Saturday 2nd July, 2011

2011-07-12T15:41:00.000+12:00

Saturday (02/07/11) ~ I spent the morning in bed and then Raewyn and I had a coffee catch-up and then tried to sort out things with Vodafone. After coffee I got back into bed with TV, books and cats.

Sunday (03/07/11) ~ Day in bed reading and watching Private Practice.

Monday (04/07/11) ~ Bombarded with 4^th of July stuff via Google Reader. No photo.

Tuesday (05/07/11) ~ I had lunch with Kathryn at Delish. She then sent me a photo of the layer cake that she had made. Lemon and Raspberry. YUM! Did a bit sort through of our clothing and now I have bags to chuck in the ragbag collection and other things to donate to charity. Had my own autocorrect failure on Twitter with my iPhone substituting ‘kanthan’ for ‘Langham’.

Wednesday (06/07/11) ~ On Tuesday I came across an amazingly organised bathroom cupboard; so I took a ‘before’ photo of our cupboard and bathroom draw. Had lunch with Robyn…my oldest friend from university who I had not seen for about 11 years; it was fabulous! We cannot wait to catch up again.

Thursday (07/07/11) ~ No idea…..work and then probably relaxing and reading at night. No photo.

Friday (08/07/11) ~ Phoebe came around to have kitten cuddles at Raewyn’s and then I drove over to Glenfield to pick Mark up from sport. No photo.

17 years, 7 months and approximately 12 days I left High School…

2011-07-12T14:37:00.000+12:00

….or so I thought.

Lately I have noticed that Twitter has started to become a little like some of the bad parts of High School.

Bullying occurs more frequently on Twitter and one campaign led people to delete their accounts to try and remove themselves from the situation. Then the bully would focus in on another tweep and try and engage all their followers into the fray. Just let it go!

Creation fake accounts to be devious and try and trick people into believing falsehoods or half-truths.

Then there are the debates that start with a bit of fire and end in personal slinging matches.

Predatory men (and possibly some women) sending people completely inappropriate messages while maintaining a seemingly ‘devout’ public persona.

I am over the self-professed social media guru’s. Seriously, there are so many people on Twitter that are actually experts in their field i.e. IT programmers, website developers, photographers, chefs, marketing, advertising, PR, nurses, doctors, diving instructors, massage therapists, mum’s and dad’s etc. On a daily basis they continue to wow their customers and peers without having to have ‘guru’ in their bios.

Seriously, at 35 years old I thought that I had left high school behind, but it would appear not.

Disclaimer: for me the good parts of twitter still FAR outweigh the bad parts. I love the people that I have met and the things that I have learnt. I am still glad that I joined twitter, as my life has been enriched by it.

Week 26 – w/c Saturday 25th June, 2011

2011-07-07T12:07:00.000+12:00

I am terrible at remembering to take a photo every day!

Saturday (25/06/11) ~ Cleaned up Raewyn’s house and changed all the litter trays in preparation for her arrival. Went to the gym. No photo.

Sunday (26/06/11) ~ Had Twitter friends come and look at kittens at Raewyn’s. They are definitely adopting. Exciting! No photo.

Monday (27/06/11) ~ Wednesday (29/06/11) ~ Work. No photo.

Thursday (30/06/11) ~ Met Bronnie and dropped some stuff off to her. Had handmade chocolates and a macaron. Stella (sister-in-law) sent me a photo of my niece and nephew for my birthday (which is actually in July); they are so cute….my heart melted.

Friday (01/07/11) ~ Can’t believe it is July. No photo.

Week 25 – w/c Saturday 18th June, 2011

2011-07-07T12:01:00.000+12:00

Saturday (18/06/11) ~ Looking after Raewyn’s cats while she lies on the beach in Fiji on a well-deserved holiday. Baked brownies. Raced to Newmarket to buy the cutest Pettiskirt for Niamh and then had a pedicure with my new OPI nail varnish. Then back home to meet Phoebe to take her to Raewyn’s for kitty cuddles. Went out for late dinner for Colleen’s birthday and Derby and Bravo is my new favourite drink. Tried my first ever Macaron.

Sunday (19/06/11) ~ I spent the day in bed with the cats and books.

Monday (20/06/11) ~ A very cute cat envelope.

Tuesday (21/06/11) ~ Went to dinner and the movies (Green Lantern) with the girls at Wairau Park. No photo.

Wednesday (22/06/11) ~ First book club meeting of the Vamp Tramps and Mark went to beer night. Got 3 more Gena Showalter books to read. No photo.

Thursday (23/06/11) ~ Mark had the dentist so I read my book in the car. No photo.

Friday (24/06/11) ~ Work. No photo.