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!"

Total. Gyp.

This was enclosed in some Mallo Cups that my sister sent me. Read it. It's the worst rebate program EVER.

Online dating

There are loads of online expat groups for people like us who moved here but don't have a lot of friends. We've been exploring the "online friends" option for a while, but haven't been successful.

For example, the day of Obama's inauguration we read that one of the groups was hosting a celebration at an American bar. We thought, "This'll be awesome!" It wasn't awesome. It was totally disorganized: we couldn't differentiate between the Americans and people just hanging out at the bar. The people who were obviously Americans (guy wearing a USA flag tie, chick with USA flag scarf) were MUCH older than us. We were also in bad moods which didn't help motivate us to be social. It reminded me of when I was single and would go to a bar and just sit there with my girlfriends, scanning the room all night but never approaching anyone, and then going home and thinking, "Well, THAT sucked." It's no fun.

Then there's the SUPER organized groups who have screening processes, membership dues, and attendance requirements. Thanks, but I did the whole sorority thing in college.

The other problem is, a lot of these groups like to actually DO stuff (museums! garden walks! concerts! hikes!) And honestly, we don't like doing stuff, unless "doing stuff" involves sitting, eating, and/or drinking. Is there a group out there that likes to drink wine and yell at the TV? I'd join that!

Iain is more open-minded and optimistic than me, and has kept looking. That, or he's getting really sick of weekends with me and the cats and is desperate to find some new friends.

It paid off. On Facebook, Iain found a group called New Kiwis. We went to a happy hour they hosted and as soon as we walked in I thought, "Cool." They'd organized it perfectly -- they booked a private room so you knew exactly where to go, and everyone there seemed friendly. It was small enough so you could really talk to people. Everyone was from everywhere: England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, France, Germany... It was cool. The ONLY scary part was a comment one of the people made about someone being "very Christian". It was meant as a compliment, like "He's a great guy, very Christian." This raised some red flags, so we're hoping she meant it in a nice or innocent way, and not a creepy moral majority WWJD fish decal way.

When we got home, I went to the site and looked through every event and picture, and there is nothing that implies that it's a religious group, so maybe it was just an odd comment, or perhaps this woman just happens to be particularly religious. Iain said, "I'll take that over Republican!"

We stayed for two hours, met about 6 potentially cool people, and plan to attend more events. I hope it works out!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON!

Hey Mad, you can thank Hannah for the photos!

Post Graduation Vacation

My graduation is on February 17 (or 17 February, depending on what country you're in). I can't wait. After graduation (rumored to be a pitiful low budget affair held in the grody student common room), we're heading off for a week's holiday to the Coromandel Peninsula. I've posted two pictures from our 2005 trip for reference.

This time, we're going car camping!! We've got all the gear: the tent, the aerobed, the 3 burner stove, the outdoor shower, the lanterns, the cooler.... Iain has been 100% in charge of this, which is good since I've never been car camping. It's a great way to go on vacation without spending a gabillion dollars on hotels so let's hope I don't hate it.

Iain did a trial run of setting up the tent last weekend. It's huge!

Ponsonby

Yesterday we drove to Mission Bay for brunch but turned around because traffic was ridiculous. Then we drove over to another neighborhood but everything was closed. We finally hit the neighborhood of Ponsonby where, thankfully, everything was open. We had a fantastic brunch at an outside café, then got a phone call from our friends Toni & Max inviting us over for a few drinks.

Toni and Max recently re-did their back deck and installed a vegetable garden. I stared at it longingly all afternoon. I'm not alone in my adoration -- their cat Stella saw the new garden as a big, awesome toilet, until Toni put little wooden spikes in the dirt to prevent Stella from digging up the vegies.

Auckland Day

High-fives for Auckland Day!! Every major NZ city has a birthday, and everyone who lives there gets the day off. This is a really cool idea in a country with only 5 or so major cities, but I can only imagine the chaos of trying that in the US.

This morning we went for a nice walk and considered stopping into a local café for brunch but of course it was closed. I keep forgetting that on holidays, everyone shuts down.

Iain has primed and filled the hallway, so the only thing left now is painting. Awesome. This bloody hallway wound up being the biggest hassle -- there are a total of EIGHT doorways, which made it a really tough job. Once the house is in good shape we'll probably put it on the market and move to a new neighborhood.

Well, I'm finished with work for the day and we're off to brunch! Let's hope we find a place that's actually open!

Movie Recommend: 'Be Kind Rewind' by Michel Gondry with Mos Def & Jack Black.

Slow News Day

Today, Iain continued working on the hallway while I continued working on my site. The end is near -- for both projects, so that's good. We ended our day with a refreshing jump in the water. Now we're going to sit on the deck with a drink while the pizza Iain made cooks in the oven. Delish!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISKA HARGITAY!!!!!!!!

Here's a picture of me and my BFF Mariska at an awards show. We had SO much fun!

January 22, 2009

BIG DAY!!

Today is a big celebration!! YAY!!!!

And we're celebrating by working all day!!! CRAP!!!

I've had it on my calendar for months and hoped to take the day off and drink champagne all day, but alas. Reality snuck in, but it's still a great day.

It is...

OBAMA'S INAUGURATION!!!
OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN NEW ZEALAND!!

I have been up since 5am watching CNN while making revisions to my industry project. The cats got up at the same time as me. Blue realized a few minutes later he'd been duped and went back to bed with Iain.

I am totally amazed at the stamina of the Obama family. It's like getting married 80x in one day, without food or booze. Just one long awful receiving line and meet 'n greet.

Tonight we're heading into town to an American ex-pat bar called The Mustang Saloon (I know...) to celebrate.