From Friday to Sunday I have been helping with the niblings (great word, F+S). There's Hannah (8), Finn (7) and Ruby (15 months).
My observations of Children
- It takes a long time to actually leave the house when there are kids involved. They don't think to put shoes on or go to the toilet (and we had an incident where as soon as we walked to a playground, we had to go straight back home for a toilet emergency - kids!).
- No matter how many shiny-noisy-sparkling toys you put in front of a baby, she will still be more interested in playing with the buckles and straps on her stroller for half an hour.
- The sound 'da-da' can mean many different things, from 'dad' to 'did it!'.
- Rough games inevitably end in tears.
- Kids assume you want to hold anything they can't be bothered with (excess sweaters, shoes, rubbish, balls).
- The Disney Channel has some quality programming! I like Hannah Montana (which, incidentally, has Billy Ray Cyrus and his real life daughter in the main roles) Something Something Raven (with the annoying little girl from the Cosby Show - Denise's step-daughter).
Things I am Enjoying at the Moment
- I have, in my slothful state, discovered the radio. I very much enjoy enacting my early afternoon rituals to the Midday Matinee on National Radio. They had a whole hour of songs about Elvis (not by him, note). Interesting!
- The fact that netball's starting back up. I need to exercise.... I played non-stop cricket with Hannah and found it hard to run around the wicket and back.....
Things I am Not Enjoying
- Wellington seems to be hogging the news headlines with horrific stories. I don't like the thought that someone was going around our neighbourhoods randomly shooting people. I don't like the thought that someone got raped in a car-park in Newtown around the corner from where I used to live. Those are the kind of things that ought to be happening in other countries.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Animal Infestation
My flat is slowly being taken over by animals of various kinds.... It's like a bad horror movie. Tonight was the night of The Maggoty Mouse Hunt
1) The Ants.
They have been coming for a few months now. I've spotted them in my food cupboard and they sent scouts upstairs to my room and seem to enjoy my leg-waxing kit (it is sweet and sticky). They are easily assailable - small and slow. I kill them one by one.
2) The Spider.
English-guy#1 woke up with an itchy spider bite on his neck one night. He thinks it jumped in through his open window.
3) The Maggots.
I was putting the rubbish out tonight and since I'd been away on rubbish day the last few weeks, we had some rather old bags nobody else had thought to put out. I peered into one and saw a festering pile of maggots. I was bemused by this. It's happened once before in our flat, months ago. Maggots are fairly harmless to me. Gross but harmless.
4) The Mouse.
We have known for about a month that there is (hopefully only one!) a mouse living in our kitchen. It seems to enjoy one of the lower shelves and our cupboard-of-rubbish-under-the-stairs. I had a face off with it once. It got away (I let it - to be honest). Tonight, whilst I was looking bemusedly at the maggots, the little blighter jumped out of the bag and damned near landed on me. It continued to skitter about all the walls of the kitchen whilst I nimbly tried to jump out of its way. I had jandals on - this made me even more nervous about vermin being around my feet. If you know my lack of grace and coordination, the image of me 'nimbly' jumping out of the way of a mouse might be comedic. Very rarely do I move quickly. We had it cornered behind the fridge briefly, then it made a dash for freedom.
Comedy ensued. The mouse raced into the lounge. My yells of surprise had alerted the English-guys to the mouse's presence. It disappeared somewhere under the couch. There was a moment of calm. I went and got my mouse-catching-container from the kitchen, someone took out the rubbish. After my first face off with the mouse, where I had been sorely lacking for catching-apparatus, I had scouted out an ideal container, just for this type of ocassion. At this point English-guy#1 noticed the maggots had leaked onto the kitchen floor and nearly fainted. That concerned him more than the mouse.
We got a pincer movement going in the lounge - all with containers and cushions in hand - and vowed to make the mouse go out the front door. At that point it lept out somewhere between my feet, making me jump and scream, and disappeared again. English-guy#2 became the mouse scout and swore it was under the far section of the couch. We pulled the other sections away to give it less exit routes. English-guy#1 lifted the couch right up.... but there was no sign of the mouse. I accused the mouse-scout of having failed at his job..... but then we heard a scratching sound. The mouse had somehow lept up into the couch (much like how people cling to the bottom of cars or roofs in houses in chase scenes of Hollywood movies - this mouse has style).... and jumped out of it. Luckily it ran right out the door for safety.
YEAH - AND DON'T COME BACK, VERMIN! I yelled after him.
All this while Canadian-flatmate had been on a phone conversation to a friend back home. The person he was calling was very amused by the commentary of maggots and mice and the yelling coming from the rest of us. I think it may have sounded like his friend was living in a hell-hole .....
Note: I was incredibly brave the whole time! I did not scream in a girly way (only in a surprised way, which is very natural) and I played a key role in the plan to force the mouse out. I did not shie away from the action. And I was the one who then cleaned up the maggots. And I can change lightbulbs. I am SUPER GIRL!
1) The Ants.
They have been coming for a few months now. I've spotted them in my food cupboard and they sent scouts upstairs to my room and seem to enjoy my leg-waxing kit (it is sweet and sticky). They are easily assailable - small and slow. I kill them one by one.
2) The Spider.
English-guy#1 woke up with an itchy spider bite on his neck one night. He thinks it jumped in through his open window.
3) The Maggots.
I was putting the rubbish out tonight and since I'd been away on rubbish day the last few weeks, we had some rather old bags nobody else had thought to put out. I peered into one and saw a festering pile of maggots. I was bemused by this. It's happened once before in our flat, months ago. Maggots are fairly harmless to me. Gross but harmless.
4) The Mouse.
We have known for about a month that there is (hopefully only one!) a mouse living in our kitchen. It seems to enjoy one of the lower shelves and our cupboard-of-rubbish-under-the-stairs. I had a face off with it once. It got away (I let it - to be honest). Tonight, whilst I was looking bemusedly at the maggots, the little blighter jumped out of the bag and damned near landed on me. It continued to skitter about all the walls of the kitchen whilst I nimbly tried to jump out of its way. I had jandals on - this made me even more nervous about vermin being around my feet. If you know my lack of grace and coordination, the image of me 'nimbly' jumping out of the way of a mouse might be comedic. Very rarely do I move quickly. We had it cornered behind the fridge briefly, then it made a dash for freedom.
Comedy ensued. The mouse raced into the lounge. My yells of surprise had alerted the English-guys to the mouse's presence. It disappeared somewhere under the couch. There was a moment of calm. I went and got my mouse-catching-container from the kitchen, someone took out the rubbish. After my first face off with the mouse, where I had been sorely lacking for catching-apparatus, I had scouted out an ideal container, just for this type of ocassion. At this point English-guy#1 noticed the maggots had leaked onto the kitchen floor and nearly fainted. That concerned him more than the mouse.
We got a pincer movement going in the lounge - all with containers and cushions in hand - and vowed to make the mouse go out the front door. At that point it lept out somewhere between my feet, making me jump and scream, and disappeared again. English-guy#2 became the mouse scout and swore it was under the far section of the couch. We pulled the other sections away to give it less exit routes. English-guy#1 lifted the couch right up.... but there was no sign of the mouse. I accused the mouse-scout of having failed at his job..... but then we heard a scratching sound. The mouse had somehow lept up into the couch (much like how people cling to the bottom of cars or roofs in houses in chase scenes of Hollywood movies - this mouse has style).... and jumped out of it. Luckily it ran right out the door for safety.
YEAH - AND DON'T COME BACK, VERMIN! I yelled after him.
All this while Canadian-flatmate had been on a phone conversation to a friend back home. The person he was calling was very amused by the commentary of maggots and mice and the yelling coming from the rest of us. I think it may have sounded like his friend was living in a hell-hole .....
Note: I was incredibly brave the whole time! I did not scream in a girly way (only in a surprised way, which is very natural) and I played a key role in the plan to force the mouse out. I did not shie away from the action. And I was the one who then cleaned up the maggots. And I can change lightbulbs. I am SUPER GIRL!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Small but Hard Steps
Nicky-with-curly-hair told me years ago, back at Teachers' College, that to have a successful modern relationship you need to have a cell-phone and email. As a person without a cell-phone I thought she was ridiculous.... but now I know better! All that romance I could have been missing out on back in the early 2000's......
Here are some extracts from a long-term social project Cassie, Ange and I have called 'A Wellington Girl's Guide to Life'.
Chapter 17: The Break-up
There are two small steps you might be working towards which are tiny actions requiring less than a flick of the wrist, but milestones in your 'getting over him' phases.
1. The Cell Phone
If a relationship ends and it is obvious that you have no context to still be friends with the guy and you come to realise he may not have treated you as well as you deserved it is often somehow still hard to delete his number from your phone. There's still that 0.01% of your otherwise logical brain that thinks there may still be an 'I miss you! I made a terrible mistake!' text coming. You want to be able to say, 'Too bad! You missed out!' and feel better.
We come up with excuses like 'But I just want it there so that if he texts me I'll know who it is....' in order to justify not deleting his number.
In very unfortunate situations we send The Drunken Text asking oh-so-casually what he's up to late on a Saturday night. We try very hard to not have typos in this so as not to make him think we have become a pathetic shell of a lush post-breakup. We regret it the next day.
Even if he replies in an oh-so-casual manner, we realise it does not fit in with our dignified approach to The Break Up. Though, we may achieve a small amount of satisfaction if he was the last to text after this encounter.
Following The Drunken Text, we may realise it really is necessary to delete him from our phone. There are two veteran tricks to cheating at this. Firstly, you can leave something from him in your inbox which you will recognise from its contents, and thus even though he is not programmed..... if you need to you can still send The Drunken Text. Secondly, you can delete him fully from your phone, but write his number down somewhere handy.... just in case.....
The most healthy phase to reach is the where you delete his number without resorting to these two cheats. If you can do this you know you're at a 'good place'. It's much like when you burn your textbooks at the end of a course, or throw a perfectly good box of chocolates into the rubbish (after getting your friends to lick them - just in case that's not enough of a deterrant) when you're really starting a diet. Small acts - but symbolic signs of strength. Finality. The end of an era. Shows of strength. I DON'T NEED YOU ANY MORE, CHOCOLATE!
Just that one press of your button when the word 'Delete?' comes up on the screen is very meaningful. You can do it so that your friends around you just think you're texting flippantly.... it need not be a dramatic or public thing. But it's very final. It also helps to avoid 'the accidental text' which lets him know he's still on your phone...... Some people I know have even sent The Fake Accidental Text, just to see if he replies....... [for the record, he did - success.]
Another milestone is deleting all texts from them that you have saved in your inbox. I have a text from my 3rd date with my latest Ex that is still sitting undeleted in my inbox. It has lasted eight months. One day I'll delete it.
2. MSN
Ange warned me about this one after her break-up last year. If you have developed an MSN rapport with your Ex during the relationship, then it becomes very awkward to still have them pop up online once you have broken up.
It reminds you that they are still going about their everyday business.... but without you knowing anything about it. I somehow quite comfortably forget that they are people too. And them popping up on my screen gives me a visual of exactly where they're sitting, in their flat at the computer desk.... and I don't like this tangible reminder. It does not fit my egocentric view of the world. In my mind they are sitting humped over a glamour-photo of me, pining or getting fat and hideous so nobody else will ever want them....
Also, every time you see that they're online and they don't message you (though you rationally don't expect them to) it's a tiny rejection. Even if you don't like them anymore it would still be a tiny vindication if they wanted to see what you were up to...... And it's so easy to sound oh-so-casual via internet messaging. 'Sup?' 'Not much - u?' 'Same'
There is at the same time, of course, a voyeuristic pleasure in being able to tell what they are doing at any given time without having to resort to a spy-camera and binoculars. And the satisfaction of knowing they haven't deleted you yet either. Any time you don't see them for a few days you start to wonder if they have.... and then they pop up again. Phew. You still have the chance to get in first.
You hope that while they're online they're not sneakily reading your blog.....
I imagine (though I've not yet actually taken this step) that when you delete them from your MSN list it is yet another satisfying milestone.
Note: For now I've not done any of these things - though I guess it has been over three weeks now. Time flies.... I expect one day I will delete him. I don't expect in the meantime to have texted or MSNed him, so I'm not quite sure why it's rational to put it off. But it is.
See Chapter 18 for 'The Functional Breakup' after which you manage to remain friends - I have many examples to prove it is not a myth.
* * *
More Randomly
1. Why do boys like sitting in the lounge in the dark? Girls like having lights on as soon as it is dusk - unless we have set up candles or it is 'mood lighting' for a movie. Boys pull the blinds in the middle of the day. I am the only girl in my flat now. It's very dark.
2. Did anyone else see the amazing moon last night? I was driving home with Julie last night and we had a series of surreal events, one of which was looking up and noticing that the moon was the lowest we had ever seen it. It was one of those moons that you could reach out and touch. And it was huge! And yellow! Like in a Smashing Pumpkins video. Wish I'd had my camera with me.
3. I have managed to thus-far maintain the magic weight-loss I had on new year's day (after my night of drunken lushness). Long may that last! If it does not magically last I may have to resort to physical exercise. Bugger that. I even put on my 3rd loosest pair of jeans (the pair that has for months been too tight to wear without feeling like a masocist)... and they fit! Hoorah!
4. I have started to find common ground with the new flatmates. Enlgish-man#2 played the guitar in a band, likes Jeff Buckley and has been to Madison Square Garden (ditto all of those things for me, except not in a band). We both have well formed views on the demise of Michael Jackson and think the printing industry seems stressful and like something we would not like to be involved in. We both want it to be summer soon.
5. Today looks a bit like summer. I will tentatively leave my room and go outside for a while. Wish me luck....
Here are some extracts from a long-term social project Cassie, Ange and I have called 'A Wellington Girl's Guide to Life'.
Chapter 17: The Break-up
There are two small steps you might be working towards which are tiny actions requiring less than a flick of the wrist, but milestones in your 'getting over him' phases.
1. The Cell Phone
If a relationship ends and it is obvious that you have no context to still be friends with the guy and you come to realise he may not have treated you as well as you deserved it is often somehow still hard to delete his number from your phone. There's still that 0.01% of your otherwise logical brain that thinks there may still be an 'I miss you! I made a terrible mistake!' text coming. You want to be able to say, 'Too bad! You missed out!' and feel better.
We come up with excuses like 'But I just want it there so that if he texts me I'll know who it is....' in order to justify not deleting his number.
In very unfortunate situations we send The Drunken Text asking oh-so-casually what he's up to late on a Saturday night. We try very hard to not have typos in this so as not to make him think we have become a pathetic shell of a lush post-breakup. We regret it the next day.
Even if he replies in an oh-so-casual manner, we realise it does not fit in with our dignified approach to The Break Up. Though, we may achieve a small amount of satisfaction if he was the last to text after this encounter.
Following The Drunken Text, we may realise it really is necessary to delete him from our phone. There are two veteran tricks to cheating at this. Firstly, you can leave something from him in your inbox which you will recognise from its contents, and thus even though he is not programmed..... if you need to you can still send The Drunken Text. Secondly, you can delete him fully from your phone, but write his number down somewhere handy.... just in case.....
The most healthy phase to reach is the where you delete his number without resorting to these two cheats. If you can do this you know you're at a 'good place'. It's much like when you burn your textbooks at the end of a course, or throw a perfectly good box of chocolates into the rubbish (after getting your friends to lick them - just in case that's not enough of a deterrant) when you're really starting a diet. Small acts - but symbolic signs of strength. Finality. The end of an era. Shows of strength. I DON'T NEED YOU ANY MORE, CHOCOLATE!
Just that one press of your button when the word 'Delete?' comes up on the screen is very meaningful. You can do it so that your friends around you just think you're texting flippantly.... it need not be a dramatic or public thing. But it's very final. It also helps to avoid 'the accidental text' which lets him know he's still on your phone...... Some people I know have even sent The Fake Accidental Text, just to see if he replies....... [for the record, he did - success.]
Another milestone is deleting all texts from them that you have saved in your inbox. I have a text from my 3rd date with my latest Ex that is still sitting undeleted in my inbox. It has lasted eight months. One day I'll delete it.
2. MSN
Ange warned me about this one after her break-up last year. If you have developed an MSN rapport with your Ex during the relationship, then it becomes very awkward to still have them pop up online once you have broken up.
It reminds you that they are still going about their everyday business.... but without you knowing anything about it. I somehow quite comfortably forget that they are people too. And them popping up on my screen gives me a visual of exactly where they're sitting, in their flat at the computer desk.... and I don't like this tangible reminder. It does not fit my egocentric view of the world. In my mind they are sitting humped over a glamour-photo of me, pining or getting fat and hideous so nobody else will ever want them....
Also, every time you see that they're online and they don't message you (though you rationally don't expect them to) it's a tiny rejection. Even if you don't like them anymore it would still be a tiny vindication if they wanted to see what you were up to...... And it's so easy to sound oh-so-casual via internet messaging. 'Sup?' 'Not much - u?' 'Same'
There is at the same time, of course, a voyeuristic pleasure in being able to tell what they are doing at any given time without having to resort to a spy-camera and binoculars. And the satisfaction of knowing they haven't deleted you yet either. Any time you don't see them for a few days you start to wonder if they have.... and then they pop up again. Phew. You still have the chance to get in first.
You hope that while they're online they're not sneakily reading your blog.....
I imagine (though I've not yet actually taken this step) that when you delete them from your MSN list it is yet another satisfying milestone.
Note: For now I've not done any of these things - though I guess it has been over three weeks now. Time flies.... I expect one day I will delete him. I don't expect in the meantime to have texted or MSNed him, so I'm not quite sure why it's rational to put it off. But it is.
See Chapter 18 for 'The Functional Breakup' after which you manage to remain friends - I have many examples to prove it is not a myth.
* * *
More Randomly
1. Why do boys like sitting in the lounge in the dark? Girls like having lights on as soon as it is dusk - unless we have set up candles or it is 'mood lighting' for a movie. Boys pull the blinds in the middle of the day. I am the only girl in my flat now. It's very dark.
2. Did anyone else see the amazing moon last night? I was driving home with Julie last night and we had a series of surreal events, one of which was looking up and noticing that the moon was the lowest we had ever seen it. It was one of those moons that you could reach out and touch. And it was huge! And yellow! Like in a Smashing Pumpkins video. Wish I'd had my camera with me.
3. I have managed to thus-far maintain the magic weight-loss I had on new year's day (after my night of drunken lushness). Long may that last! If it does not magically last I may have to resort to physical exercise. Bugger that. I even put on my 3rd loosest pair of jeans (the pair that has for months been too tight to wear without feeling like a masocist)... and they fit! Hoorah!
4. I have started to find common ground with the new flatmates. Enlgish-man#2 played the guitar in a band, likes Jeff Buckley and has been to Madison Square Garden (ditto all of those things for me, except not in a band). We both have well formed views on the demise of Michael Jackson and think the printing industry seems stressful and like something we would not like to be involved in. We both want it to be summer soon.
5. Today looks a bit like summer. I will tentatively leave my room and go outside for a while. Wish me luck....
Monday, January 01, 2007
Defining You and R*I*S*K
Meeting New People
It seems very unfair in life that certain key features about us become 'defining'. They become the things that people ask us about in the beginning of a 'getting to know you' conversation. And most of these things are thrust upon us - rather than being things we choose to have as part of our identities. I met a bunch of 'new people' on New Year's Eve and was reminded of the first few stages of getting to know each other.
1. Before the conversation even begins you become identified by your physical features. You might be tall (like me) and that makes you 'Tall Kate'. People assume you are intelligent and capable and wise - most of which might be true, but it's still an assumption. You may be red-headed, in which case people will assume (perhaps correctly) that you are dramatic and exaggerate things. You may be extremely thin. You may have a fish-face. When people are talking about you, that may well become how they identify you - 'You know, Nicky with the curly hair'. It is inescapable. Unless you purposefully go out and create an even more noticeable feature. Like a mohawk or those extreme facial piercings. Or you could stoop a lot, if you don't like being tall. If you are lucky you are 'the hot guy', though we tend to attach 'arrogant player' to that..... Often rightly so.
2. Your place of origin is very important. It allows people to pigeon hole you very quickly. If, for example, you are from Levin, that says a lot about you. It says you are a very good sort and will get on with everybody famously. You don't hold pretentions and have an earthy quality about you. But you grew up close enough to Wellington to be open to liberal-thinking and able to adapt to fashion-trends. Being from The Hutt says something very different about you...... No matter how much travelling you do as a grown-up, you will always have to admit to where you hail from. Or learn to lie well. I figure you might as well be proud of it or it shows a lack of loyalty and indicates some kind of deep self-hatred..... I LOVE LEVIN!
3. Your job is another important thing. It's like in About a Boy when Will has to admit that he doesn't do anything - it road-blocks the coversation. Our jobs are natural segueways into other conversations - they indicate our level of education, our interests, the networks we have an 'in' with, who we might know by association..... And people have a natural curiosity about careers. The first time me and Nicky talked to a graphic design person we were fascinated by the fact that they could design a font based on their handwriting. And what the heck would one talk to Svend about if he didn't work for Weta? :) Sam has it hard on that front.... What with the secrecy codes and all. I just imagine him wearing white overalls and working in a bright sterile environment with lots of buttons and microscopes. I have no idea what he really does.
4. Your name is of course very important. First names mainly. I can go a long time without knowing someone's last name. Your name defines whether people will take you seriously off the bat. Some names make talking to someone much more fun - like Donald. People have past associations with names. Everyone I went to school with named 'Simon' was very geeky and into remote controlled cars. Svend is a cool name. I am mostly friends with Svend just because I like saying his name. Svend. It's pleasing. And almost every Sam I've ever known has been a good sort. It's a name I would consider giving to a son.
5. Your relationship status. There are a small core of us who are 'single'. I think it projects us differently to those who are 'married' or 'engaged'. I like to think it gives us a devil-may-care, rougeish appearance. I may be wrong..... In the 19th Century I would officially be the 'spinster Aunt' by now. Whereas now I'm the 'cool fun independant Aunt' (umm..... that's how I like to put it anyhow!). I think we 'singles' also have a predatory image to us. We try to move in packs. Relationship status is hard to bring up immediately without seeming nosy or a little too interested. It must be done discretely or by being very observant. Being 'newly single' is a slightly different category too.
6. Age is important. We look down on younger people because we've been there, done that. We can look at them partying and having their fun and say 'Ahhh, I remember what that was like - don't wanna go back though' (sometimes). I am very surprised if someone in their early 20s has the cynicism to kick it with my group of friends.
There's other stuff. But I've finished my rant. Those are the ones that came to mind first. I feel like one of those kids who ends an essay suddenly, without a conclusion.... Not sure where I was going with that.
* * *
I played Star Wars Risk today with the Kelson Crew. Intense. I can see how real war strategising would be quite fun. I liked sacrificing my men on the front line in brave battles when they were outnumbered, as long as they managed to take a couple of the enemy troops out with them.
The game moved in many waves of power.
1.
I looked good in the first round, and was fairly screwed after that (thanks mostly to that b******* Richard who kept thwarting my attempts to gain power with lucky rolling and managed to maintain just the tiniest of toe-holds in my planet). Due to being last at picking countries I'd made the rookie mistake of trying to hold the biggest planet. The Black Army was powerful - but had too many borders and pesky enemies to manage it.
2.
I turned briefly to just trying to kill Sam's Red Plague of troops for the hell of it and bugger winning. But then he became moderately powerful so I had to back off into obscurity. So I teamed up with Richard's Yellow Brigade and tried to contain the mighty blue wave that was Kirsten-and-Fish.
3.
I figured if I couldn't win... then nobody should, damnit! The game should go on foreeeever! And it did. Until we all decided to declare peace and go and have a spa instead. Ahem. I may have controlled the most territories at that point (mostly with just one man on them.... and easily assailable.... but for the record, it WAS the MOST).
It was amusing how Sam managed to earnestly blame his lack of skill at rolling sixes for his early demise...... I'm sure he'll go home and practise and come back as an expert roller next time :)
It seems very unfair in life that certain key features about us become 'defining'. They become the things that people ask us about in the beginning of a 'getting to know you' conversation. And most of these things are thrust upon us - rather than being things we choose to have as part of our identities. I met a bunch of 'new people' on New Year's Eve and was reminded of the first few stages of getting to know each other.
1. Before the conversation even begins you become identified by your physical features. You might be tall (like me) and that makes you 'Tall Kate'. People assume you are intelligent and capable and wise - most of which might be true, but it's still an assumption. You may be red-headed, in which case people will assume (perhaps correctly) that you are dramatic and exaggerate things. You may be extremely thin. You may have a fish-face. When people are talking about you, that may well become how they identify you - 'You know, Nicky with the curly hair'. It is inescapable. Unless you purposefully go out and create an even more noticeable feature. Like a mohawk or those extreme facial piercings. Or you could stoop a lot, if you don't like being tall. If you are lucky you are 'the hot guy', though we tend to attach 'arrogant player' to that..... Often rightly so.
2. Your place of origin is very important. It allows people to pigeon hole you very quickly. If, for example, you are from Levin, that says a lot about you. It says you are a very good sort and will get on with everybody famously. You don't hold pretentions and have an earthy quality about you. But you grew up close enough to Wellington to be open to liberal-thinking and able to adapt to fashion-trends. Being from The Hutt says something very different about you...... No matter how much travelling you do as a grown-up, you will always have to admit to where you hail from. Or learn to lie well. I figure you might as well be proud of it or it shows a lack of loyalty and indicates some kind of deep self-hatred..... I LOVE LEVIN!
3. Your job is another important thing. It's like in About a Boy when Will has to admit that he doesn't do anything - it road-blocks the coversation. Our jobs are natural segueways into other conversations - they indicate our level of education, our interests, the networks we have an 'in' with, who we might know by association..... And people have a natural curiosity about careers. The first time me and Nicky talked to a graphic design person we were fascinated by the fact that they could design a font based on their handwriting. And what the heck would one talk to Svend about if he didn't work for Weta? :) Sam has it hard on that front.... What with the secrecy codes and all. I just imagine him wearing white overalls and working in a bright sterile environment with lots of buttons and microscopes. I have no idea what he really does.
4. Your name is of course very important. First names mainly. I can go a long time without knowing someone's last name. Your name defines whether people will take you seriously off the bat. Some names make talking to someone much more fun - like Donald. People have past associations with names. Everyone I went to school with named 'Simon' was very geeky and into remote controlled cars. Svend is a cool name. I am mostly friends with Svend just because I like saying his name. Svend. It's pleasing. And almost every Sam I've ever known has been a good sort. It's a name I would consider giving to a son.
5. Your relationship status. There are a small core of us who are 'single'. I think it projects us differently to those who are 'married' or 'engaged'. I like to think it gives us a devil-may-care, rougeish appearance. I may be wrong..... In the 19th Century I would officially be the 'spinster Aunt' by now. Whereas now I'm the 'cool fun independant Aunt' (umm..... that's how I like to put it anyhow!). I think we 'singles' also have a predatory image to us. We try to move in packs. Relationship status is hard to bring up immediately without seeming nosy or a little too interested. It must be done discretely or by being very observant. Being 'newly single' is a slightly different category too.
6. Age is important. We look down on younger people because we've been there, done that. We can look at them partying and having their fun and say 'Ahhh, I remember what that was like - don't wanna go back though' (sometimes). I am very surprised if someone in their early 20s has the cynicism to kick it with my group of friends.
There's other stuff. But I've finished my rant. Those are the ones that came to mind first. I feel like one of those kids who ends an essay suddenly, without a conclusion.... Not sure where I was going with that.
* * *
I played Star Wars Risk today with the Kelson Crew. Intense. I can see how real war strategising would be quite fun. I liked sacrificing my men on the front line in brave battles when they were outnumbered, as long as they managed to take a couple of the enemy troops out with them.
The game moved in many waves of power.
1.
I looked good in the first round, and was fairly screwed after that (thanks mostly to that b******* Richard who kept thwarting my attempts to gain power with lucky rolling and managed to maintain just the tiniest of toe-holds in my planet). Due to being last at picking countries I'd made the rookie mistake of trying to hold the biggest planet. The Black Army was powerful - but had too many borders and pesky enemies to manage it.
2.
I turned briefly to just trying to kill Sam's Red Plague of troops for the hell of it and bugger winning. But then he became moderately powerful so I had to back off into obscurity. So I teamed up with Richard's Yellow Brigade and tried to contain the mighty blue wave that was Kirsten-and-Fish.
3.
I figured if I couldn't win... then nobody should, damnit! The game should go on foreeeever! And it did. Until we all decided to declare peace and go and have a spa instead. Ahem. I may have controlled the most territories at that point (mostly with just one man on them.... and easily assailable.... but for the record, it WAS the MOST).
It was amusing how Sam managed to earnestly blame his lack of skill at rolling sixes for his early demise...... I'm sure he'll go home and practise and come back as an expert roller next time :)
In addition....
I have just had the post-mortem with Ange. Apparently I was not alone in thinking I was very drunk last night. Most times I'm very drunk I think I manage to maintain a certain level of decorum, and even if other people say I was mildly obnoxious, I manage to steadfastly refuse to listen to them. I have solid (potentially bordering on delusional) self-belief in my a ability to hold my liquor.
But this time..... I may have been embarrassingly drunk for almost the first time ever! Ange was telling me things I said/did and I was saying, 'No! I wouldn't do that.... You're making it up!' But she swears it's true - and I have snippets of memories that back that up.
The worst thing was that at one stage I was rating everyone in the group out of ten. To their faces. Harshly! I told one guy he was 'A six - wait, maybe a four'. I'm sure there was a context, or I was kidding .... or something. I was a bit mortified on hearing that! Oopsy.
And Ange had secretly mustered a bunch of guys to 'look after' me all night, because I was the burdensome drunk girl in the group. Oopsy. All night I just thought I was really popular and charming because people kept hanging out with me..... I didn't realise that's why it was happening....
All I can say is those must've been some damned powerful Red Bull and vodkas I started on! Ange says I was a 'weird kind of drunk' - I wasn't making sense at all.
In an attempt to make me stop cringing Ange found one bright spot. I didn't send any embarrassing texts. I didn't even think of it, to tell you the truth. That is most excellent. And potential-rebound-guy texted me happy new years, and all I said in return was 'You too'. I think that's all I could manage to spell at that point. Good thing.
* * *
Oh, and I didn't vomit or fall over! So how bad could it really have been??? And I didn't get alcohol poisoning on New Years.... Only a real amateur would do that [ahem, Cassie].
* * *
Another post-script - I texted my random texter 'Suhail' back and asked if he/she was the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. They didn't get it. Mustn't be someone I know. People I know 'get it'. Or perhaps it seemed funnier in my drunken head ........
But this time..... I may have been embarrassingly drunk for almost the first time ever! Ange was telling me things I said/did and I was saying, 'No! I wouldn't do that.... You're making it up!' But she swears it's true - and I have snippets of memories that back that up.
The worst thing was that at one stage I was rating everyone in the group out of ten. To their faces. Harshly! I told one guy he was 'A six - wait, maybe a four'. I'm sure there was a context, or I was kidding .... or something. I was a bit mortified on hearing that! Oopsy.
And Ange had secretly mustered a bunch of guys to 'look after' me all night, because I was the burdensome drunk girl in the group. Oopsy. All night I just thought I was really popular and charming because people kept hanging out with me..... I didn't realise that's why it was happening....
All I can say is those must've been some damned powerful Red Bull and vodkas I started on! Ange says I was a 'weird kind of drunk' - I wasn't making sense at all.
In an attempt to make me stop cringing Ange found one bright spot. I didn't send any embarrassing texts. I didn't even think of it, to tell you the truth. That is most excellent. And potential-rebound-guy texted me happy new years, and all I said in return was 'You too'. I think that's all I could manage to spell at that point. Good thing.
* * *
Oh, and I didn't vomit or fall over! So how bad could it really have been??? And I didn't get alcohol poisoning on New Years.... Only a real amateur would do that [ahem, Cassie].
* * *
Another post-script - I texted my random texter 'Suhail' back and asked if he/she was the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. They didn't get it. Mustn't be someone I know. People I know 'get it'. Or perhaps it seemed funnier in my drunken head ........
Advice on How to Safely Remove Burnt Toast without Electrocuting Yourself.
1.
I have not had a hangover in a long time. Not like this one. And I had no Vogels in the house! Vogels and peanut butter is my best hangover cure. I made do with kumara croquettes (which I burnt in the oven quite spectacularly whilst distracted by the ballroom dancing on TV). All I could manage for the first two hours of the day were incohent mumblings (to myself - containing the words 'still drunk' and 'feel sick') while I lay in bed trying not to move and texting people telling them how bad I felt. People I barely know.
My vague memories of last night:
- I remember consciously thinking several times that it was like I was in a movie, and feeling very detached from what was going on. I also had this very certain feeling that I could do anything and that it didn't matter because it wasn't real. And I was only drinking alcohol... I think.
- I met a guy called Donald. I kept telling people Donald was my new friend. I liked Donald's name so I said it a lot.
- I think I was dancing. I remember standing in the middle of other people who were dancing, so I must have been too. I can't dance though. I wonder what I was doing.
- I saw Michelle from our indoor team. We danced. She danced, and I was standing next to her anyway. I must have danced too.
- I may have agreed to play in an indoor soccer team with Donald's short friend. I remember using my hands dramatically to emphasise how terrible I was at foot-coordination sports. I said, 'This is averagely bad. And this is me [motioning much lower down].' I wonder if he still wants me to play. I do believe he has my cell phone number. I was proud of remembering that whilst drunk.
- I remember someone else commenting on The Gollums as I used them to express something else. I may have been pointing leeringly in their face. Ange was quick to share their nickname.
- I don't believe I purchased a beverage the whole time I was out. Somebody must have been plying me with liquor though. I'm not sure who it was.
- On the bus home (Donald helpfully knew the after-dark time-table) I remember some young hooligans yelling out, 'Hi Miss J---!' from the back of the bus. I remember saying, 'I don't teach boys!' and wondering who they were and how they knew my teacher-name.
2.
Cassie has bravely asked me to be her bridesmaid again. For those of you unaware of 'The Curse', I shall explain why this is brave.
I have twice before been asked to be a bridesmaid.
Neither of the weddings eventuated. It was tragic. They'd picked out the colour of my dress and everything.
I think I may be bad wedding-luck as a bridesmaid. Asking me to be one shows how confident Cassie is of her union with Anthony. It's a good sign! She will beat the curse! I'm rooting for her. I want to wear a poofy pink satin dress.
3.
My 'v' key is a bit sticky at the moment. It's surprising how often I use that key.
4.
I just got a happy new years text from Suhail. Do I know a Suhail? I don't think I do.....
5.
Simon (ex-flatmate Simon - the one who rocks a lot, physically not metaphorically or musically) - has apparently found his mojo again. He said it was always inside him.
* * *
I may still be drunk. But spelling v[damnedstickykey]ery accurately. It's because I teach the English.
I have not had a hangover in a long time. Not like this one. And I had no Vogels in the house! Vogels and peanut butter is my best hangover cure. I made do with kumara croquettes (which I burnt in the oven quite spectacularly whilst distracted by the ballroom dancing on TV). All I could manage for the first two hours of the day were incohent mumblings (to myself - containing the words 'still drunk' and 'feel sick') while I lay in bed trying not to move and texting people telling them how bad I felt. People I barely know.
My vague memories of last night:
- I remember consciously thinking several times that it was like I was in a movie, and feeling very detached from what was going on. I also had this very certain feeling that I could do anything and that it didn't matter because it wasn't real. And I was only drinking alcohol... I think.
- I met a guy called Donald. I kept telling people Donald was my new friend. I liked Donald's name so I said it a lot.
- I think I was dancing. I remember standing in the middle of other people who were dancing, so I must have been too. I can't dance though. I wonder what I was doing.
- I saw Michelle from our indoor team. We danced. She danced, and I was standing next to her anyway. I must have danced too.
- I may have agreed to play in an indoor soccer team with Donald's short friend. I remember using my hands dramatically to emphasise how terrible I was at foot-coordination sports. I said, 'This is averagely bad. And this is me [motioning much lower down].' I wonder if he still wants me to play. I do believe he has my cell phone number. I was proud of remembering that whilst drunk.
- I remember someone else commenting on The Gollums as I used them to express something else. I may have been pointing leeringly in their face. Ange was quick to share their nickname.
- I don't believe I purchased a beverage the whole time I was out. Somebody must have been plying me with liquor though. I'm not sure who it was.
- On the bus home (Donald helpfully knew the after-dark time-table) I remember some young hooligans yelling out, 'Hi Miss J---!' from the back of the bus. I remember saying, 'I don't teach boys!' and wondering who they were and how they knew my teacher-name.
2.
Cassie has bravely asked me to be her bridesmaid again. For those of you unaware of 'The Curse', I shall explain why this is brave.
I have twice before been asked to be a bridesmaid.
Neither of the weddings eventuated. It was tragic. They'd picked out the colour of my dress and everything.
I think I may be bad wedding-luck as a bridesmaid. Asking me to be one shows how confident Cassie is of her union with Anthony. It's a good sign! She will beat the curse! I'm rooting for her. I want to wear a poofy pink satin dress.
3.
My 'v' key is a bit sticky at the moment. It's surprising how often I use that key.
4.
I just got a happy new years text from Suhail. Do I know a Suhail? I don't think I do.....
5.
Simon (ex-flatmate Simon - the one who rocks a lot, physically not metaphorically or musically) - has apparently found his mojo again. He said it was always inside him.
* * *
I may still be drunk. But spelling v[damnedstickykey]ery accurately. It's because I teach the English.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
It's official.
I am a shoe-moron.
Luckily I took a comfy spare pair of shoes in the car in case of need.
Need arose.
New shoes so tight I lost feeling in toes.
I shall persevere with them at a later date.
I maintain my feet must have been slightly swollen tonight......
Luckily I took a comfy spare pair of shoes in the car in case of need.
Need arose.
New shoes so tight I lost feeling in toes.
I shall persevere with them at a later date.
I maintain my feet must have been slightly swollen tonight......
Friday, December 29, 2006
1. YAY FOR CASSIE AND ANT!
My second lot of friends this week announced engagements. Must be a romantic time of year! I think we all saw this one coming for a while :) Nice to see happy people.
2. A Plum IdeaI helped my dad build a plum-catching net. Time will tell what its tragic flaws are.... Judges are not good at building things. We are good at eating. And doing Sudoku. And entertaining babies. But building, not so much. We cleverly used existing structures (the house and swing-set) to mount our netting, using hooks and lycra-string. Eat your heart out, MacGyver!
Lynne just walked past and said it had caught TWO PLUMS. Success! There will be much jam-making this year.
3. Wanna see my engagement ring?
I partook in the traditional female reaction of saying, 'Ooooh, let me see the ring!' to my friend Lulu. I'd already seen the ring hung on a necklace around her neck waiting to be resized by the jeweler. I'm not sure why I felt the need to exclaim and examine it on her finger. I don't really like rings. It must be a genetically inbuilt response.
I looked for a few seconds and then said, 'Oh - lovely!'
By the way, if any of you are thinking 'I'd like to propose to Kate, but can't afford to buy a ring good enough for her!' stop your worrying. My Grandma has a family one and she assures me it's mine as soon as I need it or when she dies (whichever comes first). I said, 'Thanks, Grandma! That's a selling point for me!'
Kate, 29, tall, dark hair, professional. Has own engagement ring.
4. Now this is summer as it should be....
I watched some cricket. Go that young Ross boy! He did good against the chucker. I don't like cricket.
Oh no. I love it.
5. The Family Media Empire Extends
I forced my dad into making a blog site. Ok - so I made it for him and did the first (and likely only) entry. It has selected shots of our family christmases. He said, 'So when do I start getting quoted by The Listener for my political views?' and I said, 'Patience - just start getting a fan-base and it'll happen......'
6. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing (except only for 20 minutes at a time, because her back hurts too much after that and she has to move around some)
Bugger living with chronic pain. Poor Lynne. And when they get you an 'urgent' appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon and it ends up being for March 14th..... that sucks! I understand that chronic pain isn't life-threatening but it's torturous. It filters your life in an awful kind of way.
7. Two Bodies - One BrainIt was amusing to discover that while in Levin Ange and I had both gone to Farmers. We had both gone there because we'd run out of clean underwear. We both figured it was easier to buy some than do washing. We both picked exactly the same two-pack of undies, out of an entire section full of them. Even the same colour. And we did this totally independently of each other.
Males I have explained this to do not understand. Females do. Buy new undies, and you can throw some of the old ones out..... And contrary to popular male myth, you don't have to wait until they literally are falling apart until you stop wearing them.....
[Note: undies in photo are unworn, as evidenced by tags!]
Sunday, December 17, 2006
No More Bad News, Thank You.
My week of bad news is over. It has now been exactly a week since it started with the first in the chain of break-up texts [not MY idea - the texting bit, anyhow].
Since then I have had a chain of unexpected bad news. It has, at times, reached comical heights. The fellow I had lined up as a very convenient rebound-guy suddenly had a family crisis and had to leave town, with an unambiguous 'See ya'. When even your rebound guy falls through you know it's not going your way.
And then, when trying to retrieve $350 from a flatmate who's moved out I get a text that begins 'Get f***ed...'. That seemed to fit the tone of the week.
All I could say was, 'Oh well - it's nothing too bad. Nobody's died or anything......'
UNTIL....
10.15pm last night, the phone rings at Dad's house (where I'm staying). It's my mum's mum ringing in a rather desperate sounding voice to say her husband's been rushed to hospital. She rang back at 7am today to say he'd passed away suddenly.
I didn't particularly like the guy, bit of a grumpy old bugger. But he had taken me to his family farm and sat me up on the top of a race-horse as a wee lass. And he sent us pictures of his truck, which we thought looked like Optimus Prime.
And my grandma will be beside herself. She was fairly lonely and terminally grief striken over various things even before this. So we'll be sending a family posse down to bowels of Westport for the funeral, and possibly to help her sort out what she wants to do now. I think a move to the North Island where the sparse remnants of her living family are scattered might be a good first step.
* * *
So, the week is now over. There will be no more bad news. Anything of that nature can wait til January.
* * *
I had a nice family christmas in Levin with my Dad's wife's clan. 16 of us there. Little bubbies! Pavlova, ham, bubbly. Songs on the guitar around the new brazier.
I had proudly driven from Wellington to Levin for the first time, again all by myself. I even passed some cars on the motorway for the first time ever. I said to my dad when I walked in, 'I managed to not kill myself!' and he said, 'Jolly good - you seem to be doing that a lot lately.'
There's certainly something calming about sitting with a big chubby baby in your lap who's playing with your fingers and kicking their little feet. Good old Ruby-Roo and Pree-pree. I love how they have their favourite stuffed toys too - Ruby has Leppy (see bottom corner of bottom photo) and Kapree has the Pink Lady (Ma-whero Wahine).
Since then I have had a chain of unexpected bad news. It has, at times, reached comical heights. The fellow I had lined up as a very convenient rebound-guy suddenly had a family crisis and had to leave town, with an unambiguous 'See ya'. When even your rebound guy falls through you know it's not going your way.
And then, when trying to retrieve $350 from a flatmate who's moved out I get a text that begins 'Get f***ed...'. That seemed to fit the tone of the week.
All I could say was, 'Oh well - it's nothing too bad. Nobody's died or anything......'
UNTIL....
10.15pm last night, the phone rings at Dad's house (where I'm staying). It's my mum's mum ringing in a rather desperate sounding voice to say her husband's been rushed to hospital. She rang back at 7am today to say he'd passed away suddenly.
I didn't particularly like the guy, bit of a grumpy old bugger. But he had taken me to his family farm and sat me up on the top of a race-horse as a wee lass. And he sent us pictures of his truck, which we thought looked like Optimus Prime.
And my grandma will be beside herself. She was fairly lonely and terminally grief striken over various things even before this. So we'll be sending a family posse down to bowels of Westport for the funeral, and possibly to help her sort out what she wants to do now. I think a move to the North Island where the sparse remnants of her living family are scattered might be a good first step.
* * *
So, the week is now over. There will be no more bad news. Anything of that nature can wait til January.
* * *
I had a nice family christmas in Levin with my Dad's wife's clan. 16 of us there. Little bubbies! Pavlova, ham, bubbly. Songs on the guitar around the new brazier.I had proudly driven from Wellington to Levin for the first time, again all by myself. I even passed some cars on the motorway for the first time ever. I said to my dad when I walked in, 'I managed to not kill myself!' and he said, 'Jolly good - you seem to be doing that a lot lately.'
There's certainly something calming about sitting with a big chubby baby in your lap who's playing with your fingers and kicking their little feet. Good old Ruby-Roo and Pree-pree. I love how they have their favourite stuffed toys too - Ruby has Leppy (see bottom corner of bottom photo) and Kapree has the Pink Lady (Ma-whero Wahine).
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
It pours.
Yesterday we found out the people printing the school magazine have (in my opinion) f***ed up and it won't be ready in time.
That sucks.
People keep coming up to me being sympathetic, saying "Oooh, you must be so disappointed - all that work you put in to meet the deadline!".... To which I non-challantly reply, "You know what - I don't really care." Which is true.
I think it puts people off when they come up to you ready to give sympathy, but you don't act sad.
It's only the fourth worst thing that's happened to me this week. And it's the one that affects me the least directly (I've seen every page of the damned thing a million times and I'm a bit over it).
I'm in a suprisingly good mood though.
I think it's because I've been wearing my lovely new shoes and new tshirts. The shoes leave dents in my feet where they dig in, but no actual blisters.
That sucks.
People keep coming up to me being sympathetic, saying "Oooh, you must be so disappointed - all that work you put in to meet the deadline!".... To which I non-challantly reply, "You know what - I don't really care." Which is true.
I think it puts people off when they come up to you ready to give sympathy, but you don't act sad.
It's only the fourth worst thing that's happened to me this week. And it's the one that affects me the least directly (I've seen every page of the damned thing a million times and I'm a bit over it).
I'm in a suprisingly good mood though.
I think it's because I've been wearing my lovely new shoes and new tshirts. The shoes leave dents in my feet where they dig in, but no actual blisters.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Shoes.
Why must I keep buying shoes that are too small for my feet....
I am, in all other aspects of my life, an intelligent person.
Why can I not get it into my head that if the shoe hurts your feet after walking around the shop for two minutes, it's going to hurt even more after a whole day....
But they're so pretty and shiny.... And they make my feet look small!
I am, in all other aspects of my life, an intelligent person.
Why can I not get it into my head that if the shoe hurts your feet after walking around the shop for two minutes, it's going to hurt even more after a whole day....
But they're so pretty and shiny.... And they make my feet look small!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Goodbye Party
Sarah (who I've never met) failed to turn up to her own goodbye-party (which I was crashing with F&S on Saturday night). We listened to a lot of Beatles songs at the dodgey old Ox and Something bar in town. There were scantily clad young ladies all around. It was a one-star establishment, but the 
beers were only $3.50! Happy hour is aptly named.So we ditched the non-event and went to play pool. I was oddly off form (VERY unlike me for sure).
Here are some beautiful photos.Note: Sam's one-eye-aiming-look.
Note: Me and Fish in the flattering-angle shot (ala H.P.'s style). That's my 'seductive look'. Hence, I rarely seduce.
Note: As Fish pointed out, I look like an Elf in one of the photos, what with my odd side-burn look and all.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Bowling for East-um-bine
Work have a quarter-annual interdepartmental challenge at work. This year it's been volleyball, quiz, pool and now bowling.
English took out the quiz and pool. We are dominating. All very capable and a good unit. That's what reading books and stuff does for you.
So we bowled up at The Lanes and got our special shoes (which were actually not too bad by bowling shoes standards - you could get away with wearing them in a public street). And to cut a long story short..... I WON! My department came second, but I had the best score out of the 27 staff taking part (men included). 130. I am a bowling prodigy. Dead-eye Kate, they call me now (or they will, once I make them) 'cause I just bowled it straight down the middle. Nothing fancy. No speed to speak of. Just accuracy and consistency. And my spare followed by two strikes didn't hurt.... I leapt ahead at that point.
***
Met Matt's Mum today. Odd seeing people's parents and picking out the similarities in thought patterns and mannerisms. I found it odd that I saw aspects in her facial planes that I really like in Matt.
On the way to meet him I almost ran right into Sam and Fish, as they were coming out of Iko Iko and I was going in. It was fortuitous and they'd used 'meeting Kate for lunch' as an alibi with one of their mums.... and as it happens, they DID have lunch with me.
But first I had the joy of witnessing Fishy get her tattoo on. She gritted and bared it very admiarbly, keeping up a conversation between the grimaces. No tears though! Very brave!
I'm sure you'll all see the pictures on their respective blogs. Very cool! Leon's design looks great on Sam and Fishy's new little fishy is all cute and perky looking above her butt, jumping out from her butt-crack in a splash of waves.
We had a beer outside JJ's in the sun. It was nice. Sam commented on the niceness of it several times. We people watched and drank Belgian beer and talked to a weird kid who showed us his new dracula teeth. As Sammy said, it had an 80's feel to it. Though nobody was wearing stubbies.
***
Remember the double-header for netball - 6.45 Sunday and 6.20 Monday.
***
English took out the quiz and pool. We are dominating. All very capable and a good unit. That's what reading books and stuff does for you.
So we bowled up at The Lanes and got our special shoes (which were actually not too bad by bowling shoes standards - you could get away with wearing them in a public street). And to cut a long story short..... I WON! My department came second, but I had the best score out of the 27 staff taking part (men included). 130. I am a bowling prodigy. Dead-eye Kate, they call me now (or they will, once I make them) 'cause I just bowled it straight down the middle. Nothing fancy. No speed to speak of. Just accuracy and consistency. And my spare followed by two strikes didn't hurt.... I leapt ahead at that point.
***
Met Matt's Mum today. Odd seeing people's parents and picking out the similarities in thought patterns and mannerisms. I found it odd that I saw aspects in her facial planes that I really like in Matt.
On the way to meet him I almost ran right into Sam and Fish, as they were coming out of Iko Iko and I was going in. It was fortuitous and they'd used 'meeting Kate for lunch' as an alibi with one of their mums.... and as it happens, they DID have lunch with me.
But first I had the joy of witnessing Fishy get her tattoo on. She gritted and bared it very admiarbly, keeping up a conversation between the grimaces. No tears though! Very brave!
I'm sure you'll all see the pictures on their respective blogs. Very cool! Leon's design looks great on Sam and Fishy's new little fishy is all cute and perky looking above her butt, jumping out from her butt-crack in a splash of waves.
We had a beer outside JJ's in the sun. It was nice. Sam commented on the niceness of it several times. We people watched and drank Belgian beer and talked to a weird kid who showed us his new dracula teeth. As Sammy said, it had an 80's feel to it. Though nobody was wearing stubbies.
***
Remember the double-header for netball - 6.45 Sunday and 6.20 Monday.
***
Saturday, November 25, 2006
The City was Strangley Empty.....
I think a very large proportion of 20-somethings and early-30-somethings have vacated Wellington this weekend. Me and Ange both have our flats all to ourselves.
1.
My birthday was a very middling 'average'. It wasn't bad - just nothing particularly memorable about it (except the Dashboard Diva, of course!). It was topped off by my dad and stepmum ringing in the morning saying they were couriering my gift up.... and it not arriving til the next day. I got a pang of disappointment every time I went past my desk or the office and it wasn't there...... I had visions of some sneaky kid nicking off with it.
One amusing thing was my little Marlene told everybody who'd listen that 'It's my form teacher's birthday today! She's very young - only 29!' (and she wasn't being sarcastic). Even before school started for the day she'd camped out at the gate and told about 4 teachers who came up to the staffroom and mysteriously knew it was my birthday when I'd been trying to keep it on the down-low from colleagues (I hate that kind of attention at work). She's a cutie... she made me two birthday cards and got the class to sing happy birthday for me.
Perhaps worst of all was that I started sneezing in the mid-afternoon and didn't stop all night. It turned into a miserable cold the next day (temperature, swollen glands, more sneezing) and I actually went home at lunchtime. VERY unlike me, I'm a trooper. But it was a teachers only day, so no big loss...... Just missed a bunch of debates on the new curriculum, which is as interesting as it sounds.
Having said that, I know people who've actually had TERRIBLE birthdays (Ange had one this year). Being in the middle of break-ups and what-nots (Nicky had a bad one where Ken dumped her and she was in the middle of a stressful first-section at t-coll).
I liked having dinner with Ange and Sam. That's always a pleasure. And I felt virtuous for calling up my brother and seeing him for the first time in two months. He seemed to enjoy me buying him beer.
And I guess the 'birthday period' has been tainted by some .... 'odd' decisions by Matt, which don't help. Sometimes boys are frustrating.
I'm still a bit under the weather today. Stink!
1.
My birthday was a very middling 'average'. It wasn't bad - just nothing particularly memorable about it (except the Dashboard Diva, of course!). It was topped off by my dad and stepmum ringing in the morning saying they were couriering my gift up.... and it not arriving til the next day. I got a pang of disappointment every time I went past my desk or the office and it wasn't there...... I had visions of some sneaky kid nicking off with it.
One amusing thing was my little Marlene told everybody who'd listen that 'It's my form teacher's birthday today! She's very young - only 29!' (and she wasn't being sarcastic). Even before school started for the day she'd camped out at the gate and told about 4 teachers who came up to the staffroom and mysteriously knew it was my birthday when I'd been trying to keep it on the down-low from colleagues (I hate that kind of attention at work). She's a cutie... she made me two birthday cards and got the class to sing happy birthday for me.
Perhaps worst of all was that I started sneezing in the mid-afternoon and didn't stop all night. It turned into a miserable cold the next day (temperature, swollen glands, more sneezing) and I actually went home at lunchtime. VERY unlike me, I'm a trooper. But it was a teachers only day, so no big loss...... Just missed a bunch of debates on the new curriculum, which is as interesting as it sounds.
Having said that, I know people who've actually had TERRIBLE birthdays (Ange had one this year). Being in the middle of break-ups and what-nots (Nicky had a bad one where Ken dumped her and she was in the middle of a stressful first-section at t-coll).
I liked having dinner with Ange and Sam. That's always a pleasure. And I felt virtuous for calling up my brother and seeing him for the first time in two months. He seemed to enjoy me buying him beer.
And I guess the 'birthday period' has been tainted by some .... 'odd' decisions by Matt, which don't help. Sometimes boys are frustrating.
I'm still a bit under the weather today. Stink!
Sunday, November 19, 2006
My Weekend
I have a secret fantasy of wanting to be locked in a toilet cubicle and having to figure out how to escape.
Myths our parents made is believe....
So far me and Ange have come up with....
1) Never put a plastic bag over your head - you will suffocate. We were both petrified for years.....
2) If you swallow chewing gum it will be in your stomache forever.... I remember the first time I ever swallowed some by mistake, I was quite worried.
3) If you swallow a fruit-pip it will grow in your tummy/out your ears.
4) [on State Highway One] If you and your brother don't stop fighting your father will stop the car and you will both have to WALK from here.....
Friday
I had the interesting experience of meeting 'new people'. My flatmates had drinks round at our flat and lots of their friends came along. Almost all primary school teachers - so good folk.
I liked that most of the guys were decked out for Movember and looking porn-starish. Also interesting was the guy who (allegedly) has killed 14 people for the French Foreign Legion. We had a good conversation about people who dress pets up in home-knitted jumpers (somehow stemming from the fact that I'm an English teacher...).
Saturday
I drove to the Hutt for the first time ever! I was fairly slow for the motorway, but to be fair it was drizzly and wet conditions...... and we got a little 'confused' once we entered the labyrinth of the suburbs. But we found Fish and Sam's house eventually.
Ange says my driving has 'improved lots'.
Cassie's move seemed to have gone ok. Our reinforcement muscles were not needed.
Monday, November 13, 2006
1. Corsage (beautiful and rose pink to go with my BA hood)
I am mildly concerned about my corsage progress. It is a school tradition that form captains organise for the class to buy a colour-coordinated corsage to go with their teacher's graduation hood and gown for our prize-giving. My form captain has known about this for a week.... and today, last period she is talking to me in the hallway and mid-sentence gets one of those lightbulb expressions and suddenly says.... 'Wait out here, Miss!' and runs into the classroom (having just remembered about having to organise this for tomorrow night).
I catch the tail-end of her talk to the class as she says, 'And don't tell Miss!'
* Note that the girls at our school call all female teachers 'Miss' - some are at first put off by not being addressed by their full names, but I like it.
I tell her when she comes out that teachers whose classes don't manage to get them corsages look like 'losers'.
I am crossing my fingers.
2. Becs
Hey Cass - Becs is engaged! Since last week. Getting married over in Samoa in January. About time - she has already picked out a dress.
3. Reading Books
Matt rang up on Friday and said, "What're you up to?" I answered, quite earnestly that I was reading a book.
I think he thought I was trying to get sympathy out of him - but really, I was enjoying reading my book. I was enthralled and not at all embarrassed about that being my Friday night plan. I haven't read a good book in ages.
He took pity on me and requested I go pick him up, get pizza and DVDs and hang out for the evening. We watched V for Vendetta which was kinda interesting, though not genius. Wouldn't be a bad lesson to leave for a Media Studies class (with some theoretical questions on 'censorhip' and 'propoganda'). I guess it's nice that the Nazi-like dystopia was happening in England, showing that any society can fall prey to fascist leaders in the right circumstances.
4. No more big kids!
I taught three of my classes for the last time ever today. They are off for exams now. I am happy to wave them off and say, 'Good luck!'.
This is offically the start of 'cruise time' for secondary school teachers. For example, I have one class to teach on Wednesday, no classes at all on Thursday and one class on Friday.
What do I do to fill in the time? Whatever I darned well like! Little projects I'd never find the time to do at other times of the year. I might even start using the school gym equipment for lunch-time workouts (maaaaybe). I will plan in advance for next year's classes..... I will prepare for my roll as 'The Caterpillar' in my form class's pantomime of Alice in Wonderland. I will finally mark my form class's assignments for last term...... (shhhhh).
I am mildly concerned about my corsage progress. It is a school tradition that form captains organise for the class to buy a colour-coordinated corsage to go with their teacher's graduation hood and gown for our prize-giving. My form captain has known about this for a week.... and today, last period she is talking to me in the hallway and mid-sentence gets one of those lightbulb expressions and suddenly says.... 'Wait out here, Miss!' and runs into the classroom (having just remembered about having to organise this for tomorrow night).
I catch the tail-end of her talk to the class as she says, 'And don't tell Miss!'
* Note that the girls at our school call all female teachers 'Miss' - some are at first put off by not being addressed by their full names, but I like it.
I tell her when she comes out that teachers whose classes don't manage to get them corsages look like 'losers'.
I am crossing my fingers.
2. Becs
Hey Cass - Becs is engaged! Since last week. Getting married over in Samoa in January. About time - she has already picked out a dress.
3. Reading Books
Matt rang up on Friday and said, "What're you up to?" I answered, quite earnestly that I was reading a book.
I think he thought I was trying to get sympathy out of him - but really, I was enjoying reading my book. I was enthralled and not at all embarrassed about that being my Friday night plan. I haven't read a good book in ages.
He took pity on me and requested I go pick him up, get pizza and DVDs and hang out for the evening. We watched V for Vendetta which was kinda interesting, though not genius. Wouldn't be a bad lesson to leave for a Media Studies class (with some theoretical questions on 'censorhip' and 'propoganda'). I guess it's nice that the Nazi-like dystopia was happening in England, showing that any society can fall prey to fascist leaders in the right circumstances.
4. No more big kids!
I taught three of my classes for the last time ever today. They are off for exams now. I am happy to wave them off and say, 'Good luck!'.
This is offically the start of 'cruise time' for secondary school teachers. For example, I have one class to teach on Wednesday, no classes at all on Thursday and one class on Friday.
What do I do to fill in the time? Whatever I darned well like! Little projects I'd never find the time to do at other times of the year. I might even start using the school gym equipment for lunch-time workouts (maaaaybe). I will plan in advance for next year's classes..... I will prepare for my roll as 'The Caterpillar' in my form class's pantomime of Alice in Wonderland. I will finally mark my form class's assignments for last term...... (shhhhh).
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
No Time!
I had to a million little magazine things today. I literally did not have more than two minutes of down-time all day. Any time I was actually not doing anything I was sitting at a screen watching a file-transfer and willing it to transfer faster, or waiting for pages with lots of pictures on them to print faster..... NOW NOW NOW. HURRY HURRY HURRY. Printer coming at 4pm. Gotta get it done.
I only taught two classes. One of them I left happily watching Carrie. The other one expected me to TEACH them. The cheek. Of course, I refused and merely gave them a bunch of handouts and told them to read and highlight. I had too much to do. NO TIME, NO TIME! I sent two girls on a mission to get photos from the special needs unit and find out the names of the school librarians. Another girl went and tracked down a 7th former who had a free period and could type something out for us. It was like a working-bee.
I ate not much and drank some coffee (which my colleague generously got for me while I was glued to my computer screen). It was an adrenalin day. I think I had a wild-eyed look to me. Nobody got in my way. Not that I get cranky when I'm busy - you can just tell by the way I'm moving (with much purpose and tunnel-vision) that I'm in a zone. People pity me for having the magazine burden. I get away with not going to meetings. That's a perk.
The printer-lady came and collected what we'd done thus-far (pretty much everything except the cover and front page). It was all written to CDs, labelled, printed out with explanatory notes and there was a master-checklist. It was an impressive pile. The only things we haven't got yet are things other people haven't done. I only have so much leverage over the principal when it comes to my deadlines.... she is a force unto herself. I think her motto is, 'Deadlines, schmedlines'.
Then I had to get home, have tea, wax legs and be off to basketball by 7pm. Basketball was much fun! I have a sore back so I hobbled around a bit, but got very puffed and scored lots of points. I even did a few 'flash' things like get steals and do cross-over dribbles to beat players down the court. (I love playing against kids!) We lost by two again - damned 40 point handicap.
Am tired now. Have to consider what to teach tomorrow...... Can't wait for next week to be over.....
Me think I'm running on empty...... Need a day at work where I can sit down for half an hour and do the Sudoku in the paper and eat a proper lunch.
Need to buy something pretty to wear to prizegiving which goes with a 'rose pink' hood and gown.
Hope my class buys me a nice corsage (one of the better school traditions - and you're always supposed to act 'surprised' when they present it to on the night and act dumb when they surreptisiouly ask what your favourite colour is beforehand). You look like a loser-teacher if your class forgets to give you one. Hasn't happened to me yet but my form-captain isn't very organised. Might have to organise a backup. Anyone got a good flower-garden at home?
I only taught two classes. One of them I left happily watching Carrie. The other one expected me to TEACH them. The cheek. Of course, I refused and merely gave them a bunch of handouts and told them to read and highlight. I had too much to do. NO TIME, NO TIME! I sent two girls on a mission to get photos from the special needs unit and find out the names of the school librarians. Another girl went and tracked down a 7th former who had a free period and could type something out for us. It was like a working-bee.
I ate not much and drank some coffee (which my colleague generously got for me while I was glued to my computer screen). It was an adrenalin day. I think I had a wild-eyed look to me. Nobody got in my way. Not that I get cranky when I'm busy - you can just tell by the way I'm moving (with much purpose and tunnel-vision) that I'm in a zone. People pity me for having the magazine burden. I get away with not going to meetings. That's a perk.
The printer-lady came and collected what we'd done thus-far (pretty much everything except the cover and front page). It was all written to CDs, labelled, printed out with explanatory notes and there was a master-checklist. It was an impressive pile. The only things we haven't got yet are things other people haven't done. I only have so much leverage over the principal when it comes to my deadlines.... she is a force unto herself. I think her motto is, 'Deadlines, schmedlines'.
Then I had to get home, have tea, wax legs and be off to basketball by 7pm. Basketball was much fun! I have a sore back so I hobbled around a bit, but got very puffed and scored lots of points. I even did a few 'flash' things like get steals and do cross-over dribbles to beat players down the court. (I love playing against kids!) We lost by two again - damned 40 point handicap.
Am tired now. Have to consider what to teach tomorrow...... Can't wait for next week to be over.....
Me think I'm running on empty...... Need a day at work where I can sit down for half an hour and do the Sudoku in the paper and eat a proper lunch.
Need to buy something pretty to wear to prizegiving which goes with a 'rose pink' hood and gown.
Hope my class buys me a nice corsage (one of the better school traditions - and you're always supposed to act 'surprised' when they present it to on the night and act dumb when they surreptisiouly ask what your favourite colour is beforehand). You look like a loser-teacher if your class forgets to give you one. Hasn't happened to me yet but my form-captain isn't very organised. Might have to organise a backup. Anyone got a good flower-garden at home?
Monday, November 06, 2006
RETURN OF THE NETBALLERS
Player of the Game: Morgan
Very glad to finally have a reason to cut my fingernails. They had gotten ridiculously long and seem to attract dirt. It was game #1 for 'Sparkle Motion' (I get a kick out of choosing such a dainty and feminine name for a mixed-sex team - we will be Nanoo Nanoo next season, Sammy - your name is on the waiting list). We should all eat packs of Sparkles before the game......
Not too bad. I'd say we should've won - they were athletic but very raw. Had a bit of a machine as their male shooter. He had a very quick release once he got the ball and rarely missed, though Morg did a nice job on him and managed to steal some ball away. Seemed like they were having a competition to see who could be most apologetic and nice to each other between plays after they'd 'accidentally' banged into each other. It amused me to watch this guy manhandle Sam Robinson when she tried to block him out..... Poor little Sam!
We had the usual problem in the mid-court of throwing away too much ball. Our shooters were all fairly solid once we got the ball in the circle and we got some 2-pointers (I was one-for-one!). Might just be a matter of refiguring our combinations there. Dare I say it.... but I think we missed Ken in there..... He always makes himself available and isn't afraid of the long pass (a bit of a mixed blessing sometimes). And without James we can't put Morgan in there as much as we'd like. Hmmmmm. Any volunteers to be our coach? You'd have to wear a suit and pace the sidelines with a mini-whiteboard.
I was most impressed by Aaron's tactical decision to draw the male-defender out of the circle. Worked a charm in the third quarter. Morg tells me he's even better with his Dodgeball tactics (I felt the need to capitalise that for some reason....). Having team tactics.... could be the theme of the season. I say we start having deeply secretive huddles between quarters and come up with plays that have code-names like 'Green Angel'.
This was perhaps the most pointless blog ever, since I discussed most of these things v-e-r-b-a-l-l-y at the game with the people who would be interested. Damnit. I should stop having conversations IRL and save the good stuff for my blog. Priorities!
Very glad to finally have a reason to cut my fingernails. They had gotten ridiculously long and seem to attract dirt. It was game #1 for 'Sparkle Motion' (I get a kick out of choosing such a dainty and feminine name for a mixed-sex team - we will be Nanoo Nanoo next season, Sammy - your name is on the waiting list). We should all eat packs of Sparkles before the game......
Not too bad. I'd say we should've won - they were athletic but very raw. Had a bit of a machine as their male shooter. He had a very quick release once he got the ball and rarely missed, though Morg did a nice job on him and managed to steal some ball away. Seemed like they were having a competition to see who could be most apologetic and nice to each other between plays after they'd 'accidentally' banged into each other. It amused me to watch this guy manhandle Sam Robinson when she tried to block him out..... Poor little Sam!
We had the usual problem in the mid-court of throwing away too much ball. Our shooters were all fairly solid once we got the ball in the circle and we got some 2-pointers (I was one-for-one!). Might just be a matter of refiguring our combinations there. Dare I say it.... but I think we missed Ken in there..... He always makes himself available and isn't afraid of the long pass (a bit of a mixed blessing sometimes). And without James we can't put Morgan in there as much as we'd like. Hmmmmm. Any volunteers to be our coach? You'd have to wear a suit and pace the sidelines with a mini-whiteboard.
I was most impressed by Aaron's tactical decision to draw the male-defender out of the circle. Worked a charm in the third quarter. Morg tells me he's even better with his Dodgeball tactics (I felt the need to capitalise that for some reason....). Having team tactics.... could be the theme of the season. I say we start having deeply secretive huddles between quarters and come up with plays that have code-names like 'Green Angel'.
This was perhaps the most pointless blog ever, since I discussed most of these things v-e-r-b-a-l-l-y at the game with the people who would be interested. Damnit. I should stop having conversations IRL and save the good stuff for my blog. Priorities!
RETURN OF THE NETBALLERS
More netball! Yay!
Very glad to finally have a reason to cut my fingernails. They had gotten ridiculously long and seem to attract dirt. It was game #1 for 'Sparkle Motion' (I get a kick out of choosing such a dainty and feminine name for a mixed-sex team - we will be Nanoo Nanoo next season, Sammy - your name is on the waiting list). We should all eat packs of Sparkles before the game......
Not too bad. I'd say we should've won - they were athletic but very raw. Had a bit of a machine as their male shooter. He had a very quick release once he got the ball and rarely missed, though Morg did a nice job on him and managed to steal some ball away. Seemed like they were having a competition to see who could be most apologetic and nice to each other between plays after they'd 'accidentally' banged into each other. It amused me to watch this guy manhandle Sam Robinson when she tried to block him out..... Poor little Sam!
We had the usual problem in the mid-court of throwing away too much ball. Our shooters were all fairly solid once we got the ball in the circle and we got some 2-pointers (I was one-for-one!). Might just be a matter of refiguring our combinations there. Dare I say it.... but I think we missed Ken in there..... He always makes himself available and isn't afraid of the long pass (a bit of a mixed blessing sometimes). And without James we can't put Morgan in there as much as we'd like. Hmmmmm. Any volunteers to be our coach? You'd have to wear a suit and pace the sidelines with a mini-whiteboard.
I was most impressed by Aaron's tactical decision to draw the male-defender out of the circle. Worked a charm in the third quarter. Morg tells me he's even better with his Dodgeball tactics (I felt the need to capitalise that for some reason....). Having team tactics.... could be the theme of the season. I say we start having deeply secretive huddles between quarters and come up with plays that have code-names like 'Green Angel'.
This was perhaps the most pointless blog ever, since I discussed most of these things v-e-r-b-a-l-l-y at the game with the people who would be interested. Damnit. I should stop having conversations IRL and save the good stuff for my blog. Priorities!
Very glad to finally have a reason to cut my fingernails. They had gotten ridiculously long and seem to attract dirt. It was game #1 for 'Sparkle Motion' (I get a kick out of choosing such a dainty and feminine name for a mixed-sex team - we will be Nanoo Nanoo next season, Sammy - your name is on the waiting list). We should all eat packs of Sparkles before the game......
Not too bad. I'd say we should've won - they were athletic but very raw. Had a bit of a machine as their male shooter. He had a very quick release once he got the ball and rarely missed, though Morg did a nice job on him and managed to steal some ball away. Seemed like they were having a competition to see who could be most apologetic and nice to each other between plays after they'd 'accidentally' banged into each other. It amused me to watch this guy manhandle Sam Robinson when she tried to block him out..... Poor little Sam!
We had the usual problem in the mid-court of throwing away too much ball. Our shooters were all fairly solid once we got the ball in the circle and we got some 2-pointers (I was one-for-one!). Might just be a matter of refiguring our combinations there. Dare I say it.... but I think we missed Ken in there..... He always makes himself available and isn't afraid of the long pass (a bit of a mixed blessing sometimes). And without James we can't put Morgan in there as much as we'd like. Hmmmmm. Any volunteers to be our coach? You'd have to wear a suit and pace the sidelines with a mini-whiteboard.
I was most impressed by Aaron's tactical decision to draw the male-defender out of the circle. Worked a charm in the third quarter. Morg tells me he's even better with his Dodgeball tactics (I felt the need to capitalise that for some reason....). Having team tactics.... could be the theme of the season. I say we start having deeply secretive huddles between quarters and come up with plays that have code-names like 'Green Angel'.
This was perhaps the most pointless blog ever, since I discussed most of these things v-e-r-b-a-l-l-y at the game with the people who would be interested. Damnit. I should stop having conversations IRL and save the good stuff for my blog. Priorities!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Haven't blogged in what feels like a whlie. I left my laptop at school accidentally and have had a busy-yet-unproductive weekend.
* * *
Men vs Women
Men interpret things weirdly. I was in town on Friday night, around 8pm and gave Matt a ring to see what he was up to. He was just on his way home from work drinks, said he was 15mins away. So, I said (and I quote) "How about I meet you at Fusion then?" Fusion is a clothes shop in Manner's St that is open late on a Friday night.
Anyhow.... I went in there and loitered around looking at clothes for a while, then thought I'd better try something on or else the shop assistants would start to look at me funny. Besides which, if I liked it I could get Matt to give a second opinion.
Half an hour later, he hadn't shown up. And other than my time in the cubicle (which was lengthy, I try things on slowly.... then retry them ....) I had kept an eye out for him. I ended up purchasing a couple of things and thought I'd better leave. I gave him a call and said, "Where are you?" He said he was at home and invited me around. I was perplexed by that - thinking my plan had been entirely clear and foolproof.
Turns out he had interpreted 'at Fusion' as 'outside Fusion' and hadn't gone in. He'd stood outside for a while, gone home (around the corner) and come back and stood outside a while more. Never once thinking to go IN. Now, I had stood outside for a minute while I called him and felt very ill-at-ease due to the congregation of drunken homeless people perched on the benches around there. So I wouldn't have suggested loitering in that locale for very long.
Having surveyed a few of my girl friends, we all see 'at Fusion' as meaning 'IN Fusion'. Why would you NOT go and browse while waiting for someone???
Do boys think differently?
* * *
POOL CHAMP
Hey Sam - I won a pool competition at work. It was inter-departmental and each department had two pairs competing, with the total points added together at the end. Me and my pair ended up winning five out of six games - we rocked! I think it was because while I wasn't the best player, I was very solid and my parnter wasn't crap. Most other pairing had one good player and someone comically terrible. Anyhow, my competitive streak may have surfaced again... English ended up beating Maths in the final, due to us strategically leaving six balls on the table and them missing the black....... Who says English teachers are no good at sports???
* * *
I greatly enjoyed Ken and Holly's BBQ on Saturday. I like that bunch of friends. Very easy to mingle with. I like a party where you can crank up the Beach Boys and sing along too! And who woulda thought, but Ant was right and fresh pineapple goes beautifully with fresh basil leaves....
I think 15 minutes of fireworks is plenty. I was well ready for the finale. Loved those floaty ones that hung in the air for a few seconds and left little tails behind them - like golden rain (not that I could use that term in front of Ryan without having to restrain him).
* * *
Luncheoned with my dad and Lynne on Sunday. Caught up on family gossip. How envious am I of my step-brother who has started a new consultancy firm and rather than rent an office in town, decided it would be wiser to buy a whole floor of offices in Lambton Quay and use a few and rent out the rest to other people...... He's r-i-c-h. They own a 'couple' of apartments in town too.
A cute thing was my one-year-old neice. Apparently she was sitting on Dad's knee, reading one of those books with textures in it you can touch. She came to an amimal one that had a 'furry' patch to touch. She sat there for ages, touching the book and then very carefully touching a tuft of Dad's chest-hair that was sticking out of the top of his chest, with the same finger. He said you could just see her going through a thought process, thinking 'Mummy and Daddy aren't furry - but Merv is... hmmmmmm....... Furry.' How fun to see kids learning and making connections!
I might be going to Elton John with them. Fun!
* * *
Work has been busy. I have been immersed in magazine-stuff. I took two days of relief and buried myself in the workroom all day, not even making time for a proper lunch break. So many little things to do and perfect. Haven't got a cover idea yet.... that's a worry....
Because magazine-stuff in consuming me at work people feel sorry for me and always give me sympathetic looks and say, 'How's the magazine going?' I think it gives me a bit of lee-way on my actual teaching at the moment. I let one class watch 'Friday the 13th' as relief. I actually WAS relevant to our study on the horror genre..... but also a slightly dodgey thing to show them.............. Oh well! I am bullet-proof at the moment because they don't pay me any extra for doing the magazine. They owe ME. Perhaps I have become a little complacent and arrogant................
* * *
Cautiously planning birthday stuff for the 25th of November. Pencil it in if you're keen. I haven't made any bookings yet but should do this week.
* * *
Looking forward to the first game of the netball season! I haven't done anything sporty in ages! I think my legs have become pure sticks of skin and lard stuck together by god knows what. All my muscles have disappeared since I don't walk to work anymore. Cars are a bad thing! Expensive and bad for your health! James is away watching Pearl Jam in Aussie, so I'll accept his apologies. Everyone else should be there.
* * *
* * *
Men vs Women
Men interpret things weirdly. I was in town on Friday night, around 8pm and gave Matt a ring to see what he was up to. He was just on his way home from work drinks, said he was 15mins away. So, I said (and I quote) "How about I meet you at Fusion then?" Fusion is a clothes shop in Manner's St that is open late on a Friday night.
Anyhow.... I went in there and loitered around looking at clothes for a while, then thought I'd better try something on or else the shop assistants would start to look at me funny. Besides which, if I liked it I could get Matt to give a second opinion.
Half an hour later, he hadn't shown up. And other than my time in the cubicle (which was lengthy, I try things on slowly.... then retry them ....) I had kept an eye out for him. I ended up purchasing a couple of things and thought I'd better leave. I gave him a call and said, "Where are you?" He said he was at home and invited me around. I was perplexed by that - thinking my plan had been entirely clear and foolproof.
Turns out he had interpreted 'at Fusion' as 'outside Fusion' and hadn't gone in. He'd stood outside for a while, gone home (around the corner) and come back and stood outside a while more. Never once thinking to go IN. Now, I had stood outside for a minute while I called him and felt very ill-at-ease due to the congregation of drunken homeless people perched on the benches around there. So I wouldn't have suggested loitering in that locale for very long.
Having surveyed a few of my girl friends, we all see 'at Fusion' as meaning 'IN Fusion'. Why would you NOT go and browse while waiting for someone???
Do boys think differently?
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POOL CHAMP
Hey Sam - I won a pool competition at work. It was inter-departmental and each department had two pairs competing, with the total points added together at the end. Me and my pair ended up winning five out of six games - we rocked! I think it was because while I wasn't the best player, I was very solid and my parnter wasn't crap. Most other pairing had one good player and someone comically terrible. Anyhow, my competitive streak may have surfaced again... English ended up beating Maths in the final, due to us strategically leaving six balls on the table and them missing the black....... Who says English teachers are no good at sports???
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I greatly enjoyed Ken and Holly's BBQ on Saturday. I like that bunch of friends. Very easy to mingle with. I like a party where you can crank up the Beach Boys and sing along too! And who woulda thought, but Ant was right and fresh pineapple goes beautifully with fresh basil leaves....
I think 15 minutes of fireworks is plenty. I was well ready for the finale. Loved those floaty ones that hung in the air for a few seconds and left little tails behind them - like golden rain (not that I could use that term in front of Ryan without having to restrain him).
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Luncheoned with my dad and Lynne on Sunday. Caught up on family gossip. How envious am I of my step-brother who has started a new consultancy firm and rather than rent an office in town, decided it would be wiser to buy a whole floor of offices in Lambton Quay and use a few and rent out the rest to other people...... He's r-i-c-h. They own a 'couple' of apartments in town too.
A cute thing was my one-year-old neice. Apparently she was sitting on Dad's knee, reading one of those books with textures in it you can touch. She came to an amimal one that had a 'furry' patch to touch. She sat there for ages, touching the book and then very carefully touching a tuft of Dad's chest-hair that was sticking out of the top of his chest, with the same finger. He said you could just see her going through a thought process, thinking 'Mummy and Daddy aren't furry - but Merv is... hmmmmmm....... Furry.' How fun to see kids learning and making connections!
I might be going to Elton John with them. Fun!
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Work has been busy. I have been immersed in magazine-stuff. I took two days of relief and buried myself in the workroom all day, not even making time for a proper lunch break. So many little things to do and perfect. Haven't got a cover idea yet.... that's a worry....
Because magazine-stuff in consuming me at work people feel sorry for me and always give me sympathetic looks and say, 'How's the magazine going?' I think it gives me a bit of lee-way on my actual teaching at the moment. I let one class watch 'Friday the 13th' as relief. I actually WAS relevant to our study on the horror genre..... but also a slightly dodgey thing to show them.............. Oh well! I am bullet-proof at the moment because they don't pay me any extra for doing the magazine. They owe ME. Perhaps I have become a little complacent and arrogant................
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Cautiously planning birthday stuff for the 25th of November. Pencil it in if you're keen. I haven't made any bookings yet but should do this week.
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Looking forward to the first game of the netball season! I haven't done anything sporty in ages! I think my legs have become pure sticks of skin and lard stuck together by god knows what. All my muscles have disappeared since I don't walk to work anymore. Cars are a bad thing! Expensive and bad for your health! James is away watching Pearl Jam in Aussie, so I'll accept his apologies. Everyone else should be there.
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