The Week

Attached is a ridiculously cute picture of Din Din, sent by Danielle & Nam. I've ordered a similar harness for Iain.

Besides the election, it's been a pretty mundane week. I'm struggling with Flash but my teacher is much better and when I'm not in class thinking, "HUH?!" I'm enjoying it. It's pretty intense, so I've been exhausted all week. The German has been absent and I'm loving it! I dutifully email my files to him each day after class, and he responds with lots of annoying questions about the teacher: is he improving? Is he better? Do we need to complain more? I think he's trying to recruit me to join his li'l cause. Sorry, buddy. You're about 4 years too late. My trouble making days are over.

Guy Fawkes Day was uneventful, thank god. The cats were a bit disturbed by the fireworks, but we got Tama safe and comfy under a blanket with Blue on top and they settled down.

The Americans next door (AKA "Snarky McNeighbors") have yet to acknowledge us, even though I walked right by one of them on my morning walk. She was coming towards me with her dog, and didn't even make eye contact when she passed. Neighbors or not, that's just rude. People around here say hello and good morning. Not even a nod!

When I shared this news with Iain, he tactfully reminded me of the time when a Philly news crew stood on Market Street filming people leaving work. Apparently, when the news aired that night I'd been caught on film trudging down the street, scowling and looking really pissed after a typical day. A few people recognized me and made fun of me the next day. So, maybe our neighbor was just having a bad day. Stay tuned.

In more interesting news, we've got Iain's parents visiting us next week. We're really excited! Iain's taking time off to hang out and show them all the fun stuff in Auckland. We've made reservations at Orbit, the revolving restaurant at the top of the SkyTower. We can't wait!

Lastly, welcome to New Zealand, Nana! Nana is a producer and she's making the move to Auckland from NYC for a year. I think she is probably en route as I write this!

Nana would've been the perfect candidate for Brian and Melanie's DVDs on moving to NZ. Check it: http://www.nzimmigrationdvd.com/