Bea

A Kiwi Christmas Day

Is it ok that this is mainly photos? I'm hot, the deck is calling, and I think the photos say more than I can about our Christmas Day spent on the beach.

Yes, that's right. It's beach, beach, beach. Can I tell you how much I enjoyed reading my book on the beach, getting too hot, jumping in the sea for a quick snorkel and a cool off, and then returning to my towel to dry off in the sun? THIS MUCH. It's not family, but it's a good second-best.

Saying that, we finished the day with a bbq with our 'Kiwi family' and a good game of petanque made increasingly difficult by copious amounts of food, drink and laughter.     

 

 
 Hope your holidays are proving to be fun, relaxing and rejuvenating too. Here's to the last days of 2009 :)

mystery package from dad

The only problem with international Christmas presents is that the sender has to identify the contents of the package. My Dad identified this one as 'baking aid'.

Made with extra love on his own lathe, no doubt. 

when you're wrong admit it, when you're right SHUT-UP

This afternoon I was at the local library, trying to use my library card after being away for 6 months. Picked my books, thought of sitting on the deck with a cup of tea in the sun, considered picking up some flowers on the way home. 

The librarian took my books, scanned my card, told me I had overdue fines. In fact, not overdue fines. REPLACEMENT fines. Totaling $109.00. I, being right all the time, asked what books they were and then swore upside and down, inside and out, on my life and yours that I had returned the books before we moved. That I could not possibly have the books, that I am SO diligent about returning books that it was their system that was in error, not me. That's right Mrs. Librarian, THE SYSTEM IS BRINGING ME DOWN. 

Mrs. Librarian called the other branches, got everyone to check their shelves, confirmed that the books had not shown up elsewhere. I got all indignant and said that I wasn't paying for books I didn't have, BECAUSE I'M RIGHT GODDAMMIT. So indignant was I, that I turned and walked out of the library and left my pile of books for them to put away...and my library card.

15 minutes later I was back at the library desk asking for Mrs. Librarian. And I apologised.

Turns out, I did have the books. Whoops!

I don't think that my own ass-y-ness has been more obvious than this. I was so RUDE, so embarrassed about my behaviour. I apologised, looked her in the eye and said that my behaviour was rude and that I was embarrassed and wished that the rest of her afternoon went much better. 

No excuses. Sure, there's a lot going on in my mind lately. But being an ASS to some nice librarian isn't part of my remit. I hate that I did exactly what others have done to me. That would be me that you're scraping from the underneath the pond scum. 

mmmfff i fffed tapp...what, can't understand me? That'd be because I'm stuffing my mouth full of humble pie.

I'd like to thank my mother, my father, the wine industry......

I have to be honest, there are days when blogging is the LAST thing I want to do. When there's too much going on, and I'm struggling to make sense of it, the noise of all that information is deafening and makes writing impossible. 

When I've taken good hard look at what I'm writing, and put some serious effort into posts, and then see my readership drop, I can't help but wonder what I'm doing this for. Sure, it's cathartic. But I'm paying a therapist for that too. 

But then, there are friends that come through. Who say the right thing at the right time. Who are reading while I'm out trying to figure the puzzle of life out.

And then Liberal Granola Girl nominates me for an award. MY FIRST! How cool is she? WAY COOL. Becca, your timing is impeccable.

And with awards, come responsibilities:

Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.
• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List.
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Without further hesitation, here are my bloggy nominations:

Jummy at, well, Jummy

Veronica at Sleepless Nights

Alison over at The Workshed

Wanda over at Wanda Harland

and last, but certainly by no means least,

Barbara over at Bsouth

Happy scribbling ladies!!

Moving Day

Ugh. We're moving. Again.

It's these sort of activities that make me wish I was some sort of Genie and could blink my eyes, wiggle my nose and be done with it. 

Hurray for our new home!

Boo for all the boxes!

Mai Tai anyone?

From our deck, where I am 'working'. Summer has all of a sudden arrived. I welcome it with open arms and a cheers!

 

The Year of the Kite - 2004

I dropped you off at the airport the day we moved into our first flat together.

You called me days later, told me you had been looking at ‘kites’.

I called you the day before your return, you said you had put a down payment on a ‘kite’.

Your flight was late. You were mad. Your bags had been lost. I knew what was in your pocket.

I showed you where I put the pots, pans, towels, clothes.

You showed me the ‘kite’.

I made you ask.

I haven’t known you long, you said, but I’ve known you long enough to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you

I couldn’t have asked for a better proposal.

We spilled red wine on the beige carpets and walls.

snowballing: how a small thing like christmas shopping can become an examination of your whole life

Just two weeks before we moved to New Zealand, David and I attended the wedding of one of his cousins. Another guest who was visiting from New Zealand and learned we were moving to New Zealand made a bee-line for me and gave me this warning:

'Shop while you can!'

'Ha ha!' I said 'You're so funny! We've visited, I've seen that there are shops.'

'No', she said 'you can not understand the luxury of choice that you currently have. Heed my advice and shop while you can.'

I shrugged it off as nothing, although I did try and use it as an excuse to shop David saw right through me. We were already dangerously close to our weight limit on our packing and putting just one more t-shirt in a box would have likely tipped it over. 

Almost five years later, I get it. 

It's not like there aren't shops in New Zealand, there are. There's Maxx, and Country Road and Glassons, and Cue for clothes. There's Dick Smiths for electronics, and Noel Leeming or Harvey Norman for appliances. And, of course, there's the Warehouse, for anything and everything else.

What I'm missing, though, is variety. Having recently begun my Christmas shopping online for our overseas family and friends, what has struck me is the amount of choices available at just one store. Did you know that you have 239 choices of dryers at Sears? I don't love dryers that much, really, but the choice of 239 different types? MIND BOGGLING. Noel Leeming has 5 on offer. FIVE. I don't even have a dryer. 

I would also like to believe that I'm not really into buying that much, that consumerism hasn't taken over my mind. But I DO like nice things. I like my home to feel homey, welcoming, comforting. But the price of furniture and appliances in NZ are higher than I thought they would be, and that's before we begin talking about mortgages. Did you know that the average house price in NZ is $355,000, but that the average household income is just $45,000. I'm no financial guru, but the numbers just don't make sense to me.

This is starting to sound a little whine-y, and it's not intended to be that way. New Zealand has a lot to offer in terms of lifestyle,freedom, decent education and healthcare systems. But given that eventually we would like to live in house bigger than a shoe box,work less than 50 hours a week, live on just one salary and perhaps live a little closer to our family we're taking a good long look at what our options are. 

It's not an easy conversation to have. It's loaded with dreams that we had before we moved here, some of which have been met and some that just haven't been, promises we made each other, and goals that don't always match. I know we're not the only married couple having these sorts of conversations. Given the economy, I'm sure there's even a higher number of people having this sort of debate - should we stay, or should we go? No where is perfect, but would somewhere else be better?

And after reading everything above, what strikes me most is that IT'S HARD BEING AN ADULT. 

What are the hard issues you're debating with at the moment? Whether it be yourself, your partner or a whole family, what decisions are you trying to make? C'mon, don't leave me drifting alone out here. Am I the only adult overwhelmed by the responsibility?

an intermission from looking in the mirror

 Tawharanui Regional Park > Parks & Reserves > New Zealand

 

I'll be sending one of these to Chookooloonks as part of her project to send kids at Texas Childrens Hospital a happy photo to bring a little happiness into their world. Maybe you would like to do the same?

falalalalalalalala- i know it's too freakin' early!

You know what sucks at this time of the year? Colds, that's what. It's all expected when you live in the northern hemisphere, but down here it should be getting warmer and we should be more worried about preventing sun burn that preventing a cold. But that's what I got, a big stinking cold. 

This has led to me being bed-ridden for the past couple of days, and not in a sexy kind of way. I can't think of a stronger argument for abstinence than snot running down your partners face. HOT. 

On a positive note, I've been sorting things out for the family birthdays of this month and, hold on to your seats for this one, writing out Christmas cards. I KNOW.

This is some sort of record for me. I'm sure friends and family will be concerned about my mental well-being should their Christmas card arrive, oh I don't know, like before Christmas? I told you I was sick.

Anywho, one of the things I do like about Christmas cards is picking the right ones. I'm a stickler for stationary and could easily spend hours and gazillions browsing the local stationary store. Alas, our local stationary store hasn't got the quality or variety of stuff I long for. And so I have been searching.

Ahoy, there's Paper Culture! Now, listen, yes this is a bit of a plug, but I really DO love their paper products. Because look at the type of stuff they do:

Does that not make your visual heart sing? Me too. Yes, I know it's not a Christmas card, but I couldn't resist showing you.

I'm thinking of these:

 
They're non-traditional enough to show up in the hoards of regular cards, but still very Christmas-y. 

Can I tell you the best part about Paper Culture? You can individually message each card and have them sent out for you, all for just the cost of the stamp! Do I have to explain how great this is for me?

Every year I spend tons of time driving in my car to the right store to find the right cards then drive back home to spend hours filling out those cards, then drive to the post office and spend lots of money sending the cards to our friends and family who live on the other side of planet earth. Can you see how I'm killing the planet with this action plan? If you can't breathe, it's Christmas' fault. 

Anyway, if you're so inclined to take a look, you can click on this link here. Think of the time you'll save! YOU'RE WELCOME.

Disclaimer: I told you I would tell you if I get paid to tell you about a product, so here I am doing just that. But just like I said I would, I'm only telling you about this product because I like it too, ok? Thanks!