Offline!

Well, the campground has internet..... sort of. We can't upload photos or download anything, so no new posts until next week!

Hotel Dining

Wayne departed yesterday (we'll see him again in a week) so it's just Iain and me. After Wayne left, we had a drink at the bar (see cheeseball picture - the bartender put the shaker on the bar to make it look more "authentic". It was really funny.)

Then we enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we were entertained by the ridiculous music selections: "Walk this Way" by Aerosmith & RunDMC, followed by Abba's "Money Money Money", "Mamma Mia", and "Dancing Queen". There were also some random pop/reggae tunes thrown in for optimal weirdness.

A big tour bus full of American tourists descended upon the property last night. The average age was around 65. Forget D-grade celebrities, home improvements, and chefs -- THIS is the untapped market for reality TV. The women spent the first half hour dashing around the property taking pictures and yelling enthusiastically to each other ("Over here Janice!"). I was laughing at them until I realized that I do the exact same thing. Then, while we were eating dinner, we noticed a sullen woman dining alone in the corner, while the rest of her group hung out at the bar and then dined at large tables nearby, laughing and talking. It was really bizarre, but interesting to watch. Like, you didn't know if this woman was just a martyr drama queen who insisted on sitting alone to get attention, or if she was painfully shy. Her behavior indicated the former. She had a pissy look on her face throughout her meal, and kept looking over at her companions. One of the guys approached her and asked if she was okay, she was welcome to join the group, and he got a sign-songy, "No, I'm just fine ... you all have fun over there ..." Uh huh.

Then we retreated back to our room for some after-dinner wine & cheese while watching "The Darjeeling Limited" (yawn).

Today we're headed to the Coromandel Peninsula for a week of camping!

Hiking

Yesterday we went for a 3 hour hike around one of the lakes, stopping off in the middle for a quick lunch and a beer. The rain held out long enough for us to get back to our car - -the timing was perfect!

Here are some pictures:





Here's the revolting possum carcass we noticed 2 feet from our picnic AFTER we sat there for an hour eating and drinking.... We all thought it was a piece of wood.






Private Maori cemetery on the hill.

Indian food!

After a day of fishing in the pouring rain (Iain & Wayne) and watching TV (me), we headed out for some Indian! Completely stuffed, we rolled home and collapsed in front of the TV to watch the last hour of "The Hills Have Eyes 2". It sucked.

Today, the rain's stopped so we're going out for a very long walk!!!!

Hotel

We had a great first day of vacation. It took us 3 hours to get out of the house -- we have a TON of stuff. There was also the random last minute things to do: write a note for the cat sitter, leave a check in the mailbox for the lawn guy, empty the garbage, make sure the cats have enough food and water, as well as the insane task of packing 10 days' worth of luggage, camping equipment, food, etc. into the car. Iain did an amazing job.

It's only a 3 hour drive to Rotorua from Auckland, so we took our time and stopped at the little town of Cambridge for lunch. We arrived at the hotel around 2:30pm. It's a nice hotel and we got an amazing rate, but I was disappointed to learn that they had no king rooms available, only double queens. It sounds high maintenance but for me, half the fun of staying in a hotel is the big bed. Oh well.

Oh - they also have shutters in the bathrooms that, we presume, allow you to take a bath while gazing out onto the lake. Weird.

Wayne arrived around 4pm. We met outside for some drinks before heading over to the hotel's restaurant for dinner. Already, our resolution to try to stay healthy while on vacation has been trashed. Good thing we're planning some hikes while camping!

HOLIDAY

WE'RE ON VACATION! So get ready for tons of pictures.

For the next three days we're in Rotorua at the Duxton Hotel. Wayne is visiting us, and he and Iain are fishing today. I'm enjoying myself by ordering room service and catching up on Lost.

Sign

Here's a sign we saw yesterday. All I can say is, "Huh?!" You've got a reference to pies, autoparts, vague "accessories" and a picture of Paul Simon. Huh?

Iain Quote

"I'm done hiding my gluten intolerance from everyone!"

I Was A 37 Year Old Intern

So I landed an internship. It wasn't that tough -- my client suggested it, I applied, and they said, "Sure."

If only jobs were this easy. It's for the design department at my school and should be really cool. It's three months of working with clients on sites which will be great for my portfolio. And it beats sitting on my ass getting depressed over not having a job. The hope is to actually land a job during the internship or shortly after its 3 months, so we'll see.

I am finishing up my website presentation (yawn) for graduation today, then Iain and I are off to Gina's Pasta for dinner! I can't wait. It's one of two decent Italian places in this whole city.

Last Day of School!

Today is my last day of school!!

All I have to do is show up for an exit interview and I'm finished. Tomorrow is graduation, where we're all expected to stand up and present our work. I must admit, I'm nervous. Like 99% of people, public speaking is not something I enjoy. Thankfully I'm married to one of the freaks from the 1% that totally gets off on presenting and knows how to do it, so that's been very helpful.


In other news, the summer sound of cicadas has been deafening. Tama is LOVING it. His new favorite pastime is capturing these huge bugs and bringing them inside. There's nothing like the sound of a pissed off cicada in your hallway at 3am to wake you up from a deep sleep. I've also been finding little cicada heads around my desk, no doubt an offering from our psycho kitty.

COUNTDOWN TO VACATION: 3 days!!!!!!!

One Year

I realized that today marks one year of being in our house!

Iain Quote

On Jaguars and Tama:

"I just know that one night a guy sat with his cat on his lap - just like this - and thought, 'THIS is how I want the back of my car to look!'"

F I N I S H E D !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I'm done!!! But you never know with my school so fingers are crossed. My teachers are like bad clients ("Oh, didn't we tell you... there's this whole bit of code you were supposed to include.... yeah... we need it done by end of day!)

I turned in my assignment last week, and then had anxiety dreams all weekend about ways the teachers would screw me over. Even Iain had a few dreams!

Monday. I arrive in class, stomach in knots (I know... I need to work on relaxing a bit more...) GREAT news: my teacher's wife broke her leg!! The teacher hadn't even looked at our sites all weekend! The less time he has to review them, the fewer opportunities he'll have to find something wrong. Everyone is excited.

Tuesday. I arrive in class, and still nothing. I keep myself busy. Facebook, job searches, email, small talk... commiserating with classmates ("Do you have a job yet? No? Me, neither...")

Wednesday. Still nothing, and it's beginning to feel like Groundhog Day. I hate the commute, and it's 3 hours of sitting in class doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, could be worse. One of the kids finally asks the teacher, "When are you gonna hand back our assignments?!" We're told Thursday. Towards the end of class, the design instructor comes in and hands out his comments - he loved my site, has 1 or 2 minor changes, and that's it. WHEW! Awesome!! But I'm still anxious because Wife With Broken Leg hasn't given his comments yet, and he's the one you need to worry about.

Thursday. There's a rumor that the wife had to go the doctor and the teacher won't be in. No such luck. He arrives 15 minutes into class with a stack of papers. Gulp. He pulls up a chair next to one student, and starts pouring over minor details of her site. I stare straight ahead, pretending to be engrossed in an online tutorial of some sort, but I keep stealing glances and trying to eavesdrop. Finally he comes over to me, says, "Great site!" and hands me exactly 3 things to fix. And they're all EASY! I can't believe it.

So, I have tomorrow, Monday, and then on Tuesday we GRADUATE! Again, fingers crossed that they don't "suddenly" remember something I didn't do.


MOVIE RECOMMEND: Slumdog Millionaire
SOUNDTRACK RECOMMEND: Slumdog Millionaire

The hallway is finished!

Iain finished the hallway. It looks amazing. View these exciting before and after shots!



!

Weekend!

We had a fantastic weekend. On Friday we went to Claudine and Glenn's for a BBQ, then another BBQ on Saturday at Gill & Vernie's, then brunch in Ponsonby on Sunday (pictured).

Iain's old friend Janet was visiting from the UK, so Gill & Vernie invited "the old crew" (+ spouses and kids) over for the day. It was ridiculously hot out (see shirtless Vernie slaving over the grill) so everyone congregated in this one part of the kitchen/dining room area that had a breeze, until Vernie herded us all outside for the food. We were trying to be healthy but wound up eating a ridiculous amount of meat: venison sausage, sirloin, lamb chops, chicken kebabs, and vegetarian sausage. And that's just what I ate!





But by far, the best part of the weekend was swimming in the lake on Sunday, then hitting the beach on the way home for one last swim. I've never swum in a lake AND an ocean on the same day, and it's so cool that they're only 10 minutes from each other. It totally ruled.

We headed for home that afternoon where Iain watched rugby on TV (or cricket? I wasn't paying attention) and I watched SVU on my laptop (thanks Kate & Charley!)

This week is my LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!! Graduation is next Tuesday then we're off for a 10 day holiday. Excellent!!!

(Oh yeah, still no job! I did have a small freelance assignment that petered out, but that's it.)

Here's more pictures from the weekend, taken at the lake (look how clear it is).

Iain Quote

"I didn't know what they meant by open MRI. I thought it meant open to the public."

Last Day of Class! (almost)

Here's a picture of me on the bus this morning, awkwardly taken with my laptop while trying not to look like I was taking a picture of myself with my laptop.

We turned in our final Industry Projects today
(curious-eye.com).

But, we still have a week of class. This gives the teachers a chance to find something wrong with our sites and give us what's called a re-do. This practice makes turning in assignments really anti-climatic.
"I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!! Maybe....."; "It's OVER!!!!!!!! For now...."

But at least I'll be able to relax this weekend. Tomorrow is Waitangi Day. It's a national holiday so we all get a long weekend.

Next week we're back in class to do what? Sit there, I guess, and wait for the teachers to hand back our re-dos.

editor's note

In my January 26th posting about the dreaded hallway, I stated that there are 8 doorways to paint. Iain has informed me that there are actually TEN.

Iain Quote

"You know what I love about booze? It's always good!"