Life of an ex-international tourist!

The amazing travels and times we had are becoming a memory as routine begins to kick in. Maurie is on his last overseas jaunt in Australia so Lucy and I are being brave and coping as best we can - two defenceless females, alone, with just a particularly ineffective dog to guard us! The list making idea has stalled (sort of) but I'm sure that once I find my diary (or at least one of them) I will be a list maker supreme! Meanwhile I am making inroads into the pile of work in my office, and having brief looks at the online stuff I want to do ( really must learn how to use 'office' type programmes ) and my head is filling with ideas of what I want to do - must be a positive.

Have managed to get my aging butt back onto a bike seat - and followed Lucy around Woodlands twice this week - hills are particularly hard at the moment! Sunday is a scheduled ride for Lucy and her other mum Shirley on the Motu Challenge

(http://www.motuchallenge.co.nz/) road bike course. Photo is Lucy finding out about the ride!

Unfortunately I will have to be the driver - one of the sacrifices a parent makes.

It is all action next door - finally. The earth moved for us on the weekend as big machines dug and consolidated Hine's and Kurt's house site, and today the profiles are there.

Mum's birthday

Yesterday was mum's birthday, and possibly the last of the 'firsts' as we come up to the first anniversary of her death. I was thinking about this quite a bit yesterday and pondering the question "when someone is dead is it still a birthday?" My take on this is that she lives on in all of us in some way and until we no longer exist it will always be mum's birthday. Bit difficult to celebrate with her now, but it will be a day for memories, laughs and maybe a quiet tear. Interestingly when talking with Lucy earlier in the week the first thing she thought of in relation to the number 10 was that "it is nana's birthday".
I have just walked around our track and seen our magnolia (poor spindly thing!) in spectacular flower - and my first thought was mum would love this! The second thought was that I really need a camera! (ma-in-law took a photo so hope it will appear on her blog (Ariadnes thread)).
Any camera recommendations gratefully received.

Reality bites

Today was my 3rd day back at work, and I have managed to clear the mail that was piled up, weathered the 'oh you're back' (as in I better be a bit less out there!)from a few of my library lovelies, taken home all my professional reading, discovered I have stacked 116 emails to deal with, and found that at least 100 new books are waiting for attention. I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed, but am determined not to put my ideas for a library blog and wiki on the back-burner!
Time and motion studies are under way!! (ie time to move onwards and upwards and buy into Maurie's system of MAKING LISTS - watch this space).
Weather cold and wet today, and the heating was off at school, and to compound this misery I discovered that I am not being paid due to an oversight by the payroll lot (a very kind description of their error!), so it has been Monday all day today. On the plus side Maurie cooked a yummy meal (but couldn't stop himself from pointing out that his time and motion study of Maurie in the Kitchen that it was a 12/12 presentation - 12 minutes to prepare, 12 minutes to cook!) I think I will stick with Lucy's assessment of me, delivered in sympathetic and understanding tones a few years ago "You're not a natural in the kitchen are you Mum"
More ravings to come! :-)

Home sweet home

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last rambled incoherently for you, my avid and dedicated fans!!
The last few days of being an international tourist raced past - only one minor hiccup. By our second to last day in Penang, Maurie was getting a bit tetchy (too much lying by the pool!) so my solution which was masterly (even if I do say so) was to load him into a bus, get him to find us a map and to lead (a slightly smaller) tourgroup - me, around Georgetown. The result was as you read in my previous blog, although I forgot to mention that the light industrial area was viewed from the Peneng equivalent of the Auckland motorway! I managed to get the last of my list of essential purchases in Singapore before it was time to wing our way home. We arrived, slightedly jetlagged on Sunday morning, went to our extremely scungy motel and tried to stay awake until NZ bedtime. Monday, after a rushed start because we slept in, we flew back to Whakatane to the welcome sight of Marilyn and Bunny, and a trip into town to get the best coffee we had had in a long time. The rest of the world just does not "do" coffee!
Tuesday was off to Gisborne to learn more a bout blogs and wikis, Wednesday to Taupo to watch Lucy play soccer and to spend a little time with her, and the rest of the week has been catching up at work. Chances of getting at the computer to do anything have been small, but Maurie is now playing with his CD's so I have my turn!
I am missing the breakfasts that international tourists get served up (mostly) and missing seeing Terry and Dallas across the table!
I did a lot of thinking while travelling (some of it deep and meaningful) about life, love, family, work so watch this space.