When burglary just isn’t enough of an invasion?

Aside from the obvious crimes that I can’t stand like murder, rape etc. I completely hate burglary! It makes me feel physically sick. I am almost tempted to suggest that convicted burglars have a hand amputated!

After reading a news story on a website today about a cat having to be euthanized after burglars kicked it so hard they broke its pelvis and tail. Not to mention the internal injuries! I felt that I had to write a little bit about my opinion of burglary.

For me this story also hit a nerve, because I am constantly afraid of our cats getting brutalised for absolutely no good reason. I don’t particularly care about material possessions, as most of them can be easily replaced...but people and animals can’t! They are defenceless!

Seriously, burglary feels a little to me like wanting to keep up with the Jones’s. For example, you want a flat screen, plasma TV. Don’t save for it, or even put it on HP. No, just go and steal it from the house down the road.

What makes burglars believe that they DESERVE to steal someone else’s property for themselves, or to on-sell to make some cash??? Who the hell do you think you are?? What gives you the right?

Also, what makes some people think that they deserve to take what someone else has? Do they think that they are worse off because they had a bad childhood? Grow up, most people had bad thing happens in their childhood, and most of us can rise above it somewhat!

I don’t believe anyone deserves to be robbed. Rich or poor people still value their possessions! Not to mention anyone who is robbed probably feels a deep sense of invasion. “Hey, burglars p#ss off, get a job, don’t go to my house and steal my things, or hurt my cats”.

Spring Vegetable Garden

When we moved into our new place we decided we really wanted a veggie garden. My friend and landlord kept saying “oh you need to put in your winter garden”. Suffice to say it’s nearly spring and we obviously did not put in a winter garden.

Perhaps if we had spent a little less creating virtual farms on Farmtown, then we would have actually made our own garden.

The area for the garden is pretty much ready, although it needs another weed before we raise it slightly and put soil and compost in.

The best thing is, is that we live in an incredibly fertile area. I think a lot of the land was actually market gardens. Citrus grows really well.

To be honest I am kind of excited and apprehensive about having a garden. I am excited because we get to grow our own food, but apprehensive because I really want it to work. Both my parents are avid gardeners, so it’s funny for me to not really have a green thumb in the slightest.

So Mark and I really need to get started, otherwise we are going to miss another season for gardening and growing our own beautiful, yummy vegetables.

Feeling a little more motivated now, perhaps we will weed this weekend and get the top soil and compost in!

Next year I might consider some spring flowers.

DVD Marathon

I managed to have a blob out day watching DVD’s yesterday (Sunday) which was quite nice. Waited for Mark to get up, and when that didn’t happen I started watching movies.

Started with Paperback Hero again, but DVD kept skipping so started watching Kickin’ it Old School, which was funny, although a little cringe-worthy at times. I decided against watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona, as just really wasn’t that keen. Then I had a bit of a break and did a bit of cleaning and loaded some stuff on Trade Me. I then watched Bride Wars which was quite good, and a little sad in parts.

Went out and picked up some bits and pieces for dinner, and strayed into the video store. I came out $8 poorer with Confessions of a Shopaholic (which I sincerely enjoyed) and Transporter 3 (loved the action and driving scenes...sure 3 movies is now sufficient?).

I didn’t even do any reading!

Love weekends away!

Mark and I have just got back from a superb trip to the picturesque Bay of Islands for the 2009 Jazz and Blues Festival (http://www.jazz-blues.co.nz/home). We went with our good friends who absolutely love Jazz and we actually shared an apartment that had separate bedrooms (funnily enough) and bathrooms.

Friday 7th August, 2009
We managed to get away from Auckland in the late afternoon and started our drive up North. We made really good time, and I read my book until it got dark. We got to Paihia in 3.5 hours, which was pretty good considering it was a Friday. We waited about half an hour for Raewyn and Roy to arrive, and then popped into Franks on the waterfront for a drink, before heading into the ‘mall’ to get our badges from one of the venues.

Unfortunately, the bouncer at Cruza Bar would not even look at the tickets that we had that said “you can exchange these for badges at ANY venue”. So Cruza Bar, you get a fail this time! I am about to write a letter of complaint to the manager of this bar, and also the organizers as I was disgusted. This bar will NEVER get my business.

So a little dejectedly we headed down to the Paihia Pacific Resort, where the welcome was much friendly. We told them the problem that we had, had and they were a little annoyed on our behalf. Watched Barry Charles, who was extremely talented as was his amazing harmonica player. He isn’t really my style, but I could not help but admire talent. We then watched the first part of Shingle Bob’s set. I do not know where to start on this one, they are amazing! Their lead singer is fabulous and a true performer; awesome interaction with the audience. I could not stop talking about them all weekend. As a venue I think that the Paihia Pacific is a bit tired, and they definitely need to look at ventilation or air conditioning for next year.

On a side note, I was a little surprised to see that the Lighthouse Tavern/Bar was shut. I spent a lot of great ‘single girl’ nights there with friends, and for me it holds a great deal of memories. From the time that I had so many beers brought for me, the bartender leaned over and said “just tell me when you want your next beer, otherwise they will get warm” to doing the splits in the middle of the bar and our tongues turning different colours from all the Vodka Cruisers!

Saturday 8th August, 2009
We started the morning with a beautiful Salmon Omelette looking out over the bay from my favourite café (aptly named ‘Over the Bay’). I had decided that it was best to catch the ferry over to Russell early and get a good seat the Duke and stay there for the afternoon. So we wandered around for a bit and then had another hot drink and some chocolate cake, whilst watching the beautiful fish in the seawater tank at 35°. Mark and I then hoped on a ferry and managed to score a great table in the corner, and we settled in for an afternoon of great music, wine, beer and nibbles.

The lineup included Shingle Bob, Good Oil, Shimian, Brilleaux, Kokomo, Funky Do Da's and Riverhead Slide. I absolutely loved Brilleaux and Shingle Bob! We then went back to the Paihia Pacific which was absolutely packed! We sat outside in the foyer and had a drink. Met the girls selling the Brilleaux CD’s and then brought a couple for the drive home. We then popped back to our apartment and watched a bit of Telethon and then went to bed.

Sunday 9th August, 2009
Another lovely breakfast up at Waitangi, and then we drove up to Kerikeri to see the farmers market. I was really excited about the farmers market, but I was a little disappointed when we got there. Perhaps I am spoilt by our local farmers market http://www.oratiafarmersmarket.co.nz/ in Oratia. Anyway, we brought some goodies and tried some crazy hot chili sauce!! We then drove back towards Auckland and stopped in at Makana confectionery https://secure.makana.co.nz/Default.aspx where we got to drive some divine chocolate. There are no nasties in these yummy treats!

Got home and had cuddles with our cats, and then had a rather relaxing afternoon watching the end of Telethon.

A towel or no towel...that is the question!

Okay, so realistically when I am at the gym I should really be concentrating on doing my exercise and not people watching. However, when doing cardio for 45 minutes at a time it’s hard not to look around to pass the time. What I have really noticed is the fact that quite a number of people don’t use towels when they work out. Personally I think that this is a bit gross.

I expect that most human beings sweat at some time or another. Just because you are skinny, doesn’t mean you don’t sweat! Also, the boys that are “too cool for towels”...get over it! I for one don’t want to have to get on a machine after someone has sweated all over it and not bothered to wipe it down for the next person. It really reminds me a bit of coming out of a Chemical Brothers concert dripping and realising that my t-shirt was not only wet from my sweat, but also the shirt-less, sweaty boys that were all around me. Pretty gross really!
So bring a towel people. It’s not that hard!

The Quiz!

Got this quiz from girlwhoclicked's live journal...

Name 3 benefits you get from exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss.
1. More energy
2. Feeling of achievement
3. Proving to myself that I can find the motivation to choose life!

Name 3 things you like about exercising.
1. Increase in fitness
2. The music (how would I live without the perfect exercise selection on my iPod)
3. Seeing gym regulars
Name 3 things you could do to make your workouts more enjoyable.
1. Variety of exercises
2. Incorporate some outside activities i.e. cycling and tramping
3. Start doing some aerobics classes (boy have I missed those)
Describe your favourite exercise and why you like it.
Actually loving the Cross-trainer; when I first used this it was so hard and now I love it. Also, I love the fact that I can plug in my iPod.

What are some activities you'd try if only you were in better shape, stronger, more conditioned, etc.
Rock climbing, running, Body Attack, Body Jam, women’s triathlon, 40km bike around Taupo, Gymnastics!

Name your biggest obstacle to exercising. Now, name 3 ways to overcome it for your next workout.
Laziness!
1. Push past the “I don’t want to go to the gym” mindset
2. Changing the songs on my iPod
3. Coming home and getting into my gym gear straight-away and going out before I give myself the chance to change my own mind

Name some rewards you could give yourself for completing all your workouts for one week.
Coffee
Beauty treatment
Putting my feet up and watching a DVD
Reading a book
Chocolate cake

Name some consequences for not doing your workouts.
Cleaning the house
Weeding the garden

Describe 3 ways in which exercise could improve your current and future quality of life if you did it consistently.
1. Being able to walk up a hill or stairs without feeling like dying
2. Live longer and sleep better
3. Feel and look better

What's your biggest fear when it comes to exercise? How realistic is this fear?
Honestly, I don’t think that I have one!!?

1st Wedding Annivesary

Well Mark and I just celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. Firstly, I cannot believe that we were married a year ago; the time has just gone so fast! Secondly, it’s really amazing that we made it to our first anniversary considering the amount of “challenges” we had during our first year.

We ended up booking a night at The Westin Hotel, which we absolutely love (perhaps biased as my sister works for Starwood hotels in New York) and had a beautiful dinner out.

There wasn’t a whole lot of planning involved, so we walked from the hotel to the viaduct and looked at different restaurant options. The one thing that really frustrates me is when staff members from restaurants approach you when you are looking at the menu and kind of try and pressure you to come inside. This put me off some lovely restaurants. In the end we settled on Kermadec restaurant which was absolutely exquisite. We were able to look out over the water where all the big yachts are moored, and watch the mist roll in and then roll back out. It was kind of eerie watching the mist around the yacht masts.
The cheese board and port was absolutely to die for!

Then we went back to the hotel and watched some music videos, and then went to sleep. Woke up at around 9am and went and had a beautiful breakfast in the hotel.

Then we went home and chilled out and had Indian for dinner.

All and all, it was a fantastic day and night.