A Paddy in Kiwiland

Sandy's Baby Shower

2006-08-06T17:48:00.000+12:00

On Saturday night I went to my friend Sandy's baby shower, while Al went out with Scott (Sandy's husband) and the other lads. The party was great fun, it was pot luck dinner so i brought two cheese and meats board, the food there was yummy Liane made her spring rolls and i pigged out big time, they are so good and very very morish! Someone also made the best lemon meringue pie ever, there was a stage with blood might be shed for pieces of it! We played Buzz and singstar aswell as watch Sandy unwrap her presents.

My birthday weekend!

2006-08-06T17:32:00.000+12:00

What a weekend it was too! My actual birthday was on Saturday but we went out to celebrate on Friday night. Myself, Al, Kirsten, John, Jase, Nat, Stu, Liane, Alan, Jade, Jeni, Pagona and Jason all went out for dinner to this beautiful wine room called Arbitrageur, the food was just so good not even yummy would be good enough to describe it! We had a great night with plenty of food and wine! :)

I got spolit for my birthday too, from Kirsten, John, Jase, Stu and Nat I got bought a cheetah encounter at Wellington Zoo, which means i get to hang out with cheetah's including patting them and you learn all about them too, now how cool is that for a present? I was totally floored when i got it, i still cant beleive it. I think i am going to wait till Kirsten comes back off honeymoon in cause she wants to see me do it or part of it, but you can rest assure I will be blogging about it.

From Pagona and Lydia i got a voucher for a day spa here in Wellington, there is so many things to do there i am finding it hard to pick! From Liane, Alan and Jade i got a lipstick holder and Lush products so i am now smelling pretty good! Jeni sent me flowers to work and my Mum sent me money so i could buy photo frames. My sister Theresa gave me a black top and an ornament, my other sister's birthday is next weekend so we decided not to exchange this year because with postage etc it can be silly.

From Al and his family i am getting a hall table, if we can find one, we have been looking but I have not found something i totally love yet. Al has also spent the whole weekend spoiling me rotten, cooking me delicious breakfast paying for me on Friday night and generally being very attentive. So you can see why i say i have been spolit this weekend!

I am all movied out!

2006-07-30T20:58:00.000+12:00

This weekend we had a very relaxed one where we watched 5 movies and ate loads of home cooked lasagne and drank plenty of red wine. So what where the five movies, well the first we watched was Hostel, its a Quentin T movie and its was awesome, very very gruesome, loads of horrific blood scenes and if you loved Saw or Saw 2 then you will love Hostel, I dont want to tell you the plot and i recommend you dont read the back of the DVD it will spoil the plot.The next was the Weather Man with Nicholas Cage and i think even his wife would find it hard to like this movie, please unless you have no will to live do not watch it!

After that we watched Derailed, with Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston it is about these two married people was have an affair and they get attacked and Jennifer gets raped (she really played her most unlike Rachel from friends role the whole way through the movie) but they cant go to the police because of their affair. The attacker then blackmails them for money etc It was a pretty good movie to be honest, dont expect to much and you will enjoy it.

Next up was Transamerica with Felecity Hoffman, this is the one where my favourite desperate housewife got an oscar nomination for. She plays a man trying to become a woman and she finds out she has a 17 year old son one week before her gender change operation, and she cant get the operation signed off unless she deals with her son issue. I was so impressed by FH in this she was fantastic and the whole movie is very heartwarming, i would recommend giving it a watch.

I finally gave into temptation and went to see Johnny Depp in Pirates 2, well if i am honest i'd say that if it wasnt for Johnny Depp with movie would be crap and not much to look at! It is the kind of movie you have to see at the cinema for the effects etc, but if you have missing your chance dont worry the DVD wont lack that much. Even though i didnt really enjoy this movie i find myself waiting for the third one, maybe so i get to find out what happens as this movie is left in suspence and i wont have this big question mark hanging over me! Who knows?

Ha ha ha

2006-07-28T22:09:00.000+12:00

As you all know i am a toastmaster and every year the toastmasters organisation runs contests, this morning our club ran the club level contest for humurous speech and i won. What this means is that I go on to respresent our club at the area level contest and whoever wins that will compete in the district level and the winners of that compete at National level.

Last year i won the club level and area level but i was overseas at the time of the district level i didnt compete, so fingers crossed this year i get another chance!

My speech was about the things that happen when you babysit, and i told of two of my experiences when i was younger and babysitting my two cousins Stephen and Maria. Its a 5 to 7 min speech so its to much for me to blog about but i promise if i win National level i will blog it all! :)

I am no cannibal but i love having friends over for dinner!

2006-07-28T21:59:00.000+12:00

On Sunday night we had our friends Kirsten and Jason over for dinner, nothing flash just a good old fashioned chicken roast. Anyhow on Sunday we decided we would cook some duck breasts Kim gave us during the week; that night turned out to be Tuesday.

Kirsten looked for a nice recipe and between us both we pulled the ingredients together. We decided on duck cooked with with shallots, garlic, herbs and pistashio nuts, served with stir fry red cabbage with sliced almonds and mashed kumara. It was yummy! If i am honest Kirsten cooked the duck and i was the sliced, dicer and veg cooker! :) All washed down with some delicious red wine, it was superub!

What a fantastic day for a ride

2006-07-28T15:38:00.000+12:00

Sunday was just the most perfect day for a weekend ride on the Harley, although it was shall we say fresh out the sun was bright and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We met up with about 30 other bikes and with the majority of them two up, there was about 45-50 people so great fun! We headed out of town and up state highway 1 as if we were heading towards Kim and Susan place, our destination was Shannon a town that is a few km inland and about 90mins from Wellington, some people were wanting to just hang out and do some bird watching thing up there but myself and Al weren’t up for that, on a beautiful day like it was the last thing you want to be doing is not being on the bike, so we decided to go for our own tour and we took the back roads to a seaside town called Foxton and then followed the coast back to Wellington. It was just what we needed to blow out any cobwebs that had developed since the ride we had the weekend before!

Scallops and Duck

2006-07-28T15:25:00.000+12:00

On Saturday we went to one of the partners at Al’s work house for what can only be described as a gourmet dinner! Roger the host together with his partner and hostess Arti served us up home made pate and bread/crackers and various other canap‚s to get our appetites flowing, we then sat down to some yummy scallops and bubbles for starters, for main course we had this delicious duck with veg and mashed kumara and the sauce they served with it was just so divine! For dessert Arti made a chocolate mousse, now I don’t like chocolate mousse in fact I don’t like any chocolate thing that is not a pure square of chocolate, but my mind was changed with this dessert, heavenly, divine, yummy and totally delectable are only a few words that I could use to describe it.

All of this food was of course washed down with plenty of red wine, bubbles, dessert wine and port although I was driving so I only had two glasses of wine, Al sure did make up for me J As did the other guests Adam and his partner Karen, it was a great night but I am now officially to scared to invite them to our house for dinner, not unless two minute noddles is their kind of thing!

Our Anniversary

2006-07-28T14:00:00.000+12:00

On Friday myself and Al celebrated our anniversary, we have been together 4 years now, cant believe its been that long as I still get butterflies when I see him sometimes, but that said I often feel like driving a screwdriver through his head sometimes too he he only messing! Its been an amazing four years full of all the good and bad things about life but most importantly full of love and laughter. We went to this fantastic restaurant not far from our place in Newtown, it’s a really cosy French place which has an open fire etc, Al had obviously charmed the waitress there as we got the table by the fire! We have been there before, as that is where we went to celebrate Kirsten’s birthday, they have changed the menu since and the choices and the food was as good as they had been the last time. So we had a great night, we ate loads, drank loads and laughed heaps, which is basically what I like to call a perfect night!

Boo Hoo he's gone!

2006-07-20T17:45:00.000+12:00

Yes folks my friend Darren headed off on his big overesas adventure OE, this is a photo of him on his last day in work here with his colleague Josh and his boss and my friend Lydia.

We had his leaving party in town on Saturday night at a really nice restaurant, and we had a nice few glasses of wine. He was leaving Wellington the next day to head to Auckland for a few nights so he coudl catch up with his sister, her husband and his twin niece and nephew. A few of us including Lydia went to the airport to wish him off, and i must say because i was so happy for him to be going off into the big bad world and excited for all the adventures he would have ahead i didnt think i would be emotional...................doh! as if! As soon as he was giving me a hug goodbye tears start to form in my eyes and they trickled down for a few minutes as we watched him clear security and board the plane.

I knew i was going to miss him as we hung out heaps together but i didnt think i would miss him so quickly as the next day in work was so weird and quite because he wasnt there :( and now 4 days later its not getting easier but i dont notice it as much.

I have heard from him and he is enjoying it so far now bare in mind he has only spent one night in Syndey and the rest has been in Auckland. He will spend another 6 nights in Sydney before he heads to Dubai for 3 nights and then on to the big smoke itself LONDON! Thankfully his brother and his partner live there so he will have someone to look after him and show him around!

Mandy's wedding

2006-07-20T17:22:00.000+12:00

I know of you would like to know how Mandy's wedding went so i am going to cheat here and copy paste what she wrote to me!

We were then called to go downstairs at 4pm, walked down with dad and the bridesmaids behind me started to walk into the ceremony room to the intsrumental version of Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve. Was so happy but burst into tears half way down. Got to Luke and he said I looked beautiful and held my hands as I kept shaking and twitching my arms with nerves. Smiled and cried all the way through our vows and my cousin Sharon's reading "On your wedding day". Nearly said "Awful Husband"
instead of "Lawful Husband and think most people noticed the pause when I said it so they knew was I was thinking. Signed trhe register, had some more photos taken then walked out with Luke to Flowers in the Window by Travis.
Walked into the Marquee and everyone said how great it was and how happy we looked. Had a glass of champagne handed to me by one of the Ushers and had lots of pictures taken in the area outside but didnt feel like the time was all taken by pictures and got to talk to lots of people too. The table was decorated beautifully and our table arrangement had to be removed as it was so big. Had the meal about 5.30pm which was yummy. Started with Goats cheese in filo pastry, then Beef Fillet with black pudding and crunchy veggies then our chocolate wedding cake with raspberries. Gave out gifts of an England Team Signed Football shirt to the best man, cufflinks to the
2 ushers, Tiffany Jewellrey to the bridesmaids, Huge lovely bouquets to the
2 mums, Champagne to my cousin who did the reading and a box of nice wines to my aunt who made the bridesmaids dresses. The speeches were amazing and again I cried lots although think the best man speech had Luke shrinking in his chair - will have to bring the dvd of it when we visit.
The evening came and the Ceilidh Band (Irish & Scottish Dancing) started playing, Luke & I both got up and I kept going the wrong way, bumping into Luke but had a good laugh, think mostly everyone had a go though. Kept feeling sick due to nerves so stayed on water till the DJ arrived at 10pm then had a few vodkas. As we didnt have a 1st dance due to it being a Ceilidh we had a last dance to U2 "Even Better than the real Thing which was brilliant and everyone was clapping around us. Finished at 12pm and everyone headed into the main bar (apparently carrying on until 4am) but I went to our room at 1am.

Its been very busy

2006-07-20T17:07:00.000+12:00

I know its been a month since i last blogged as my friend Scott has reminded me, or more to the point teased me. In the past month so much has happened its the busiest time in work as its year end and of course we had Kirsten and John's wedding and various other events/parties and of course hangovers. So i am not going to go into detail of any of them apart from the wedding.

The lads got married in Martinborough about 1hour from Wellington in this beutiful country retreat, where each of the bedrooms/cottages had real log fires! It was a lovely location, and even though its winter here the weather held up for the day.

When Kirsten was getting ready i kept getting butterflies in my tummy becuase i was so excited for her and for John of course, and when she walked into the room and walked up to John i was taking photos and thankfully i was because it meant i coudlnt cry, and during the cermony when i thought i was going to cry i would take more photos............................i took over 400 photos on the day!

Her dress was just uniquely stunning, as you can see from the photo it was green but what you cant see was these beautiful pink and white flowers that were on the back, her Mum made the dress and i can tell you she would give Tom Ford a run for his money thats for sure! I know its cliche to say the bride looked lovely etc but i have to say i have seen Kirsten in her PJ's, dressed in work clothes, dressed up for a night out and she is very pretty and looks great in general but man alive she looked amazing on her wedding day, she really did and to think she did her own hair and make-up (well with her Mum's help)!. I also have to say that John looked very dashing in his suit which his sister in law made (great job Susan).

The food was great, the atmosphere was fun and happy, everyone really enjoyed themselves but most importanly two people who love each very much got married and I was there to see it!

Ode to Mandy

2006-06-21T15:23:00.000+12:00

My Scottish twin is getting married on the 30^th June and I wont be there to celebrate there big day, which might be a good thing as the picture of a bride vomiting and dancing like a mad woman which is what would happen if I was there is not necessarily a good thing! Anyhow, how better to recognise this day than to take an awesome piece of music by Barry Manilow (!!???!!!??) and give it a twist!

I don’t remember any of that night
Vodka shots as cold as ice
Shadows of a fake tan
My face puffed like a pillow
From vomitin' in the night
The night goes into

Drinkin', just another day
We will be vomiting all the way
Puckin up to my eyes
I see a martini
I now realize
How drunk you made me, oh Mandy

Well you came and you gave some of your space bakin'
I ate it straight away, oh Mandy
Well, you got pissed and didn’t stop me from pukin'
And I need you today, oh Mandy

Standin' with a vodka and lime
Talked about wines so fine
Caught up in a world of shots to timin’

With being sick on my mind
But at least this is rhymin', oh Mandy

Well you came and you gave some of your space bakin'
I ate it straight away, oh Mandy
Well, you got pissed and didn’t stop me from pukin'
And I need you today, oh Mandy

Last night's a dream
We face the mornin'
Cryin' because of too many bacardi breeze
The pain is callin', oh Mandy

Well you came and you gave some of your space bakin'
I scoffed it straight away, oh Mandy
Well, you got pissed and didn’t stop me from shakin'
And I need you today, oh Mandy

My favourite hen!

2006-06-20T15:50:00.000+12:00

The weekend I had been waiting for about 18 months was finally here last weekend, what weekend could I be talking about? Well quite simply Kirsten’s hen weekend!

It was going to be a great one, we were having it at our house and Al was send to him parents for the weekend too as it was hens only and no c*cks allowed he he. The theme was quite simply and basic pyjama party with loads of booze! Everyone arrived about 6ish and we got stuck in straight away and everyone brought some food to share around too (its called pot-luck dinner or bring a plate here in New Zealand). All dressed in our PJ’s we played some games, the first one being the Hand Bag Game, where you start with each person taking 3 items from their handbag and placing them in separate paper bags. Then I opened them up and everyone had to guess who they belong to.

Then we played Soap Stars everyone must talk in the style of a well-known character from a popular soap such as Coronation Street etc. At the same time, everyone had to guess the soap characters that the others where imitating. .

We then played one of my favourite games where we made a wedding dress for Kirsten using newspaper and Sellotape, it was so funny we gave her the most hideous dress we could think off, puffy sleeves, big bows you name it we had it!

Two other games we played where the Hat and chocolate game, where you need a bar of chocolate, a knife, a fork, gloves, a hat, a scarf and a single die. If you roll a six you have to put on hat, gloves, scarf pick up the knife and fork and start to cut up the chocolate, whilst everyone carries on rolling. The object is to eat as much chocolate, a piece at a time before someone else rolls a six! And the sculpting game with some plasticine and then everyone had to try to mould different things, which I had already decided what it was going to be and of course some of them were rude he he

We then played the playstation 2 game Buzz, which was a real hoot and we started to play it again when we got up in the morning until the early afternoon he he must be done it’s a great game!

I made a special cocktail for that night too called a Kirstentini and it was made with vodka, cointreau and cloudy apple juice, shake them in a shaker with ice and pour into a martini glass this drink is just to nice to say “oh no I couldn’t possibly have another too” its just so yummy so please whatever you do this summer/winter you must try a Kirstentini!

We did have a very sick hen the next day which is to be expected and wanted no offence Kirsten honey but we got to get you wasted on your hen night it’s the law!

There was also a few other sore heads etc around the next morning and I didn’t really feel like drinking again until at least Monday he he

Latest movie reviews

2006-06-19T16:45:00.000+12:00

Posideon………great movie I haven’t seen the original but the original doesn’t have Josh Lucas in it so who cares about the originals! I would give it a 7 out of 10

Brokeback Mountain…………………………I think the only reason this movie got such ravings was because it was controversial rather than it being an awesome movie that said I did enjoy it and I would give it a 6 out of 10.

Jarhead………………………………..This was the kind of movie that showed you the other side to war and the waiting around etc that goes on, so I quite enjoyed it for that reason I like movies that give you a different view, I would give it a 6 out of 10.

Walk the Line…………………………oh my god wasn’t Reece Weatherspoon amazing! I kept saying *snaps* for June (those of you sad enough to have seen Legally Blonde will know what I mean), I really enjoyed this movie and I think his life not that I knew to much about it was portrayed very well, I would give it 7 out of 10.

Palindrome……………………….not the kind of movie I thought it was going to be but I must admit I really enjoyed it although I was disturbed at times but I think that was the good thing about this movie it made you realise that this wasn’t just a movie but actual life for some people, I would give it a 7 out of 10 and that is nothing to do with my religion at all.

State Property………………………….a street gang violent kind of movie which I watched on Sunday morning so I cant feel I can comment objectively on this, so I wont.

The long weekend……………………………..he he how sad am I, I wouldn’t recommend this movie even if you are suffering from temporary amnesia

The Devils Rejects……………………a follow up to the house of a 1000 corpse, I must admit I do something worry is my brain desensitised from horror because it was more disgusted my the wallpaper on some of the walls than I was about the movie, so if you like being scared etc this movie is for you and I would give it a 4 out of 10.

Ode to Al by Eye and Kirsten

2006-06-19T16:34:00.000+12:00

For Al's birthday we wanted to make him something orginal and creative so Kirsten and myself emailed each other the next line of this poem so between us both we wrote a wonderful piece!

Happy Birthday to you
You may be 36
But you can teach an old dog new tricks
Sit, stay, lay down are just a few
That shoes are not a thing to chew
And the carpet's not the place to poo

Happy Birthday to you
You’re a shining example of what not to do
Don't give children candy, stop hanging around the zoo
You will look really dodgy and you will make the kids very podgy
And their Mum's will sue

Happy Birthday to you
Your not a splinter in the banister of life
IN fact you're soon to have a wife
Who is never drab and always fab, you’re very lucky
A life without her would truly be very sucky

Happy Birthday to you
Wow how cool Special K is one of your best mates
She even took you to a party in the states
Where you are crispy crèmes the donuts made of dreams

Happy Birthday to Al!!!!

2006-06-19T16:33:00.000+12:00

It was Al’s birthday the other weekend so as usual in our house that means we celebrate with friends, food and loads of booze! His actual birthday was on the Friday so I took him out for lunch, that night we went out with the other 6 usual suspects to a go-karting place and have a blast whizzing around the track and crashing! Jase was the fastest with Al coming in second, and then everyone came back to ours for pizza and booze. The next day I took Al away for the weekend to Napier (it was a long weekend too yippee), we did the usual stuff you do up there like visiting some vineyards and eating at very nice restaurants but this time we did something neither of us had done before………………………………….swim with a dolphin! It was a common dolphin and she was as quite as anything and loved to play with you, as she would aim straight for you and when you scream she veers off (she only does it to hear you scream) and she got so close that at one stage I moved my foot so my flipper wouldn’t hit her! Al said it was the bestest present so I was very pleased with myself, it does make me want to swim with the hector dolphins (smallest in the world) big time though. On our last day in Napier we caught up with Stu and Nat at Stu’s parents new house and we went sprint car racing, I was in the car with Al when we spun out and he steered us into a big muddy puddle but guess who got covered in wet mud and guess who couldn’t stop laughing at it! Yes that’s right I was covered but thankfully as we were on hols I had a change of clothes with me, it was funny though!

Lights, Camera, Action

2006-06-19T16:23:00.000+12:00

Now before you think I am going to launch into my movie critic mode I’m not what I am going to do is tell you about the movie I made with some friends and some of their friends at the weekend. In NZ there is a thing called 48hours movie festival check out www.48hours.co.nz and basically you are given a genre at 7pm on Friday and you have 48 hours to write, shoot and produce a movie. The movie is 5-7 mins long and you can’t plagiarise. We got Sci-Fi, we were hoping for a mafia type movie but Josh our script writer worked really well with it.

Our movie is basically about a guy called Robin Slade who works as a janitor in a place called body corp, body cprp is a place where human organs are genetically enhanced and synthetically modified he he and Robin needs a liver for his dying Mum. He breaches the security and enters a banned area of body corp, when he gets there he gets into a few fights like all heroes do and he finds out that the organs are in fact harvested from humans and not made at all, he manages to get the liver by killing two robots and they all live happily ever after etc.

The role I played was the face of body corp which means I opened up the movie with an introduction to body corp and what we do etc, I was also the receptionist and the body that was being carved up. I have attached a few photos of me doing these roles.

We all had a great time making the movie and believe you me it was a very long weekend and we were tried afterwards esp some of the production team who nearly worked for the 48 hours solid. The film was shown for the first time the thurs after filming at the cinema in town, so along with the rest of the cast and crew Al, Kirsten and Jason came to see me on the big screen. We didn’t win the contest but we had an absolute ball making the film. I cant wait for next years comp!

How true!

2006-06-15T09:01:00.000+12:00

40 degrees - Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Ireland sunbathe.

35 degrees - Italian cars won't start.
People in Ireland drive with the windows down.

20 degrees - Floridians wear coats, gloves, and wool hats. People in
Ireland throw on a T-shirt.

15 degrees - Californians begin to evacuate the state.

People in Ireland go swimming in the sea.

0 degrees - New York landlords turn the heat on.
People in Ireland have a last barby before it gets cold.

-10 degrees - People in Miami are extinct.
People in Ireland lick flagpoles.

-20 degrees - Californians all now live in Mexico.
People in Ireland throw on a light jacket.

-100 degrees - Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
People in Ireland wear a vest and pull down their ear flaps.

-297 degrees - Microbial life starts to grind to a halt.
Irish cows complain of farmers with cold hands.

-460 degrees - ALL atomic motion stops.
People in Ireland start saying "It's a biteen cold ...? "

-500 degrees - Hell freezes over.
Irish people support England in the World Cup

My new career as a movie critic?

2006-06-01T15:20:00.000+12:00

I am thinking of changing my career to become a movie critic, in the past 7 days I have seen 5 movies 3 of which were at the movies. First up was Matchpoint and if you read my blog on Mission Impossible all you will know how I feel about the lead man !! I must say all in all this was a pretty good movie stuff happened you didn’t expect and stuff you did expect to happen didn’t, its not often you get a twist like you did in this movie the majority of movies are all fairytale endings etc So what would I give this out of 10, id say a 7. Next up was The da Vinci code, bare in mind I haven’t read the book as I tell you the following…………………………………….what are the critics on about, what are the catholic church on about? The critics slammed the movie, now by no means did I think it was fantastic but I didn’t think it was that bad either, I wouldn’t watch it again and its not a film I would recommend but not one I would try and deter people from watching either. As for the church if they seriously thought that nearly 3 hours of a movie was going to make me question my faith they obviously never saw me trying to get up for mass on Sunday morning with a hangover, not once did I question any of the stuff I learnt about Jesus, the bible and basically any part of my religion. I have always thought it was sad that Jesus never married but only because he never got a chance to experience something so big in the eyes of the church but that’s just me. So in my opinion Da Vinci code get 5 out of 10. Up next was X-Men 3, which I must say is a bit like a blue movie, great effects weak story line J Hugh Jackman is so cool as wolverine and I really really do hope they make a movie of just him. The movie itself wasn’t to bad but they could of done the ending a bit better and I hate the fact they have left it open for another movie, it always annoys me when they do that (its worse than an episode of Law & Order, when all of a sudden the program is over and your left wondering what happened or what will happen) So what would I give X-Men 3, well id say 6 out of 10. The last two were on DVD and they were Looks like Heaven which was cute, funny, quirly and all those things it should have been so girls if you are at home with the flu rent it! The other one was Fun with Dick and Jane, if you can get over the fact that Jim “so annoying” Carrey is in it its not that bad a movie but if you do rent it when you have a cold make sure your cold remedy makes you very groggy!

Mission really possible

2006-05-11T12:01:00.000+12:00

I was dragged kicking and screaming to the movies on Tuesday night to see Mission Impossible 3, why kicking and screaming? Because I don not like Tom Cruise and I thought MI2 was the worst movie ever made and I have seen some of Barbwire! But I was promised food and wine afterwards so being the booze hag I am I went he he I am now going to shock you all by saying it wasn’t that bad a movie, don’t get my wrong by no means was it a good movie or a great movie or a movie I would recommend but I didn’t feel robbed of my $9.50 when I left the theatre. There were some really cool stunts and blow-up scenes, the dialogue was poor but Jonathan Rhys-Meyers totally made up for the movies flaws with his jaw-line and Irish twang (made me home sick). So if you are stuck in a plane and you have a choice to either watch this movie or watch another flashback over the series edition of Lost I would go with the movie!

Crash, bang, ra, ra, ra

2006-05-11T11:39:00.000+12:00

Yippee I went back to drumming lessons on Monday, I had missed the last three weeks of lessons due to the fact I was sick one week and Theresa was here for the other two. I didn’t practice either when the lads stayed with us as listening to the drums is one thing, listening to someone try and learn the drums is a complete different thing. I realised how rusty I was with stuff though so I have vowed to work extra hard this week before my next lesson so I can impress my teacher.

Yippee its Friday night

2006-05-08T16:47:00.000+12:00

We had leaving drinks at work for someone on Friday night, which ended up in some of us going to a restaurant for dinner which then in turn ended up just myself and Darren going out for a boogie. Al was out with his mates and he had been drinking since one and we did expect to bump into him but he was huddled in pub corners chatting and drinking away leaving myself and Darren to go on a boogie rampage. We hit a good few places in town leaving two of them because we got fed up of the music, going out with a single guy is funny and cool all in one, you spend half the night pointing out girls for them to chat up and then when these girls look at you sideways you can slag them off guilt free! He he I must say I do notice how precious some of these girls think they are, in my eyes everyone is precious but you don’t have to act like you are above other people, I do feel sorry for a single man in Wellington some times. Although hanging out with a old nearly married woman was not going to help Darren’s pulling power!

A great Red

2006-05-08T16:46:00.001+12:00

Thursday night we had Kirsten over for dinner. I am a pretty much Sauvignon Blanc drinker until Tuesday night when Kirsten and I went to the pub before the movies and she started to tease me about only drinking Sav so I decided to be brave and order a glass of red instead, well I totally loved it. So because of this she brought over this delicious bottle of red over for dinner and let me tell you she knows her wine! So not only is she teaching me how to swim but she is also wine educating me too, what a cool friend eh? I could teach her the Macarena but she doesn’t seem that keen hmmmmm can’t think why?

Liane and Jade

2006-05-08T16:46:00.000+12:00

Between going away and sickness it had been ages since I had seen Liane and Jade, on Wednesday night I went around there for dinner and when I say dinner I mean cheese board for starters, a delicious home made yellow beef curry for mains and the biggest bowl of stewed apple, custard and ice-cream you have ever seen for dessert. Jade has gotten so big and she was even standing up on her little legs supported of course but she is so strong on them, she loves to sing and she is an eternal smiler. Liane was also looking great, she was always a very relaxed person but she is so laid back over Jade and loves being a stay at home Mum, and from my observation it really suits her.

Great Movie

2006-05-08T16:44:00.000+12:00

Last Tuesday I went to see what I claim to be one of the best and funniest New Zealand movies ever made called Sione’s wedding. Sione is the brother of one of four men who basically refuse to grow up and he is getting married, what normally happens at weddings with these four boys is that they do something to mess the day up for the couple, so the priest has told them they need to find girlfriends if not they cant go to the wedding. The film is set in the Samoan community of Auckland and its just hilarious how everybody views there life and their culture. If you live in New Zealand and you haven’t seen it yet, shame on you go out right away and watch it, if you live outside New Zealand beg and plead with your video store to get it in for you it’s a must see!

Theresa and John

2006-05-04T12:10:00.000+12:00

Yippee yippee my sister Theresa and her husband John have been out to visit myself and Al here in good old Kiwiland. They arrived last Monday and spent a week with us, they had been in Sydney for a week beforehand visiting some friends and attending a wedding. I went to meet them at the airport of course and I was like a kid on xmas eve I couldn’t wait to see them both. That night we just had dinner at home and caught up on all the gossip from back home. The next day was Anzac day so the country was pretty much shut down so Al’s family came over to ours for lunch and to meet Theresa and John, we spent the day drinking, eating and watching Al’s family try and work out some of the things Theresa and John were saying as their accent is by far stronger than mine. The next day, I took the guys around the bays and into Al’s parents shop so they could have a nosey around and buy some stuff, that night Jase came over for dinner and to meet the lads. Thursday we went to Te Papa the national museum and we saw the Lord of The Rings exhibition which was pretty cool, although I did think it would be bigger, we then just went around the rest of Te Papa and did the earthquake house, shear a sheep etc. After Te Papa we went for a walk around town and up the famous cable car to the Botanical gardens at the top, from there you get great views of Wellington so they got some cool photos. We then hit the shops for some rugby gear for Theresa and John to wear to the rugby game on Saturday, did they find stuff? Put it this way they now have a different top to wear for every game this season! I then drove up to Mt Vic to the lookout so they could get a great view of the city and its suburbs. That night we went to Al’s parents place for dinner and so the Theresa and John could watch a DVD of his parent’s holiday in the south island and see a bit of the country that way! On Friday Al took the day off work and we all headed over the hill to Martinborough to visit some vineyards for wine tasting, we visited five different places and we bought a good few bottles and so did Theresa and John in fact they nearly took home more wine than clothes back with them! We had lunch in Martinborough and afternoon tea in Greystown. On Saturday we had a wander around town and had a lazy afternoon in the pub just to get us in the mood for the rugby that night. Everyone came over for a BBQ before the rugby so we could all get excited about sitting outside in a cold stadium while it was raining! Thankfully when we got to the stadium the rain had stopped and it wasn’t to cold inside there. The game was brilliant we won by loads and we even got a try which we converted in the last few seconds after the whistle was blown pretty awesome. Theresa and John really enjoyed it to as they would of heard of a lot of the players the Wellington team the Hurricanes had so it was quite exciting for them. After the rugby most of us headed back to our place for drinks and a guitar playing session courtesy of Darren and Al. On Sunday we took them over the Haywards Hill and then over the Paekakariki Hill for amazing views of the Kapiti coast and then into Kapiti itself to see Susan, Kim and the girls and to have a stroll on the beach. They went home on Monday afternoon and I found it very hard to adjust to them not being at home, it was so great to see them and spend time with them and sharing some of my life here with them and it made me very home sick for my family big time, but I guess I will see them in 13 months time.

After Easter

2006-05-03T12:16:00.000+12:00

After Easter: The Rolling Stones and Nickleback were in NZ for two concerts one in Auckland and one in Welly, the usual gang of myself, Al, Nat, Stu and Jase all went to mainly listen to Nat scream at Nickleback he he The concert was awesome, Nickleback were just amazing life and Chad the lead singer announced that they will be back to do their own tour, woohoo I cant wait. The Stones were pretty amazing for bunch of old guys, Mick Jagger owned the stage as he ran all over the place while Keith Richards did his best to stand. It was the first time I had seen the Stones live and I was impressed, however with the price tag of $185 per ticket you would want to be impressed!

Easter

2006-05-03T12:15:00.000+12:00

Easter: We decided not to go away for Easter but to catch up on things around the house and outside, as usual these tasks take at least 10 times longer than you thought and was more expensive than you thought. On Friday Al hacked off a forest load of branches off the trees around our property, we obliterated a part of the garden that hadn’t seen day light since 1601, we weeded and weed sprayed and I started to paint a wall out the back and the trellis.

On Saturday we tidied up all the branches and crap etc to take to the skip, I finished painting the trellis etc. That night we went to our friends Sandy and Scott’s place for an Easter Egg hunt, well what a laugh we had, it was great fun. When we first got there we all got stuck into a delicious BBQ and a few drinks which gave people enough time to work out their plan of attack for the hunt, one of their friends had brought a halogen light with them but it was confiscated due to the strict rule that you must be able to carry your torch at all times. The hunt started off looking like the beginning of the London marathon with woman and children been trod on to get to the eggs, the guys had hid over 250 of them some small some large etc, well I am telling you I haven’t laughed so much looking at other people etc for ages it was such fun. After the hunt we went inside to play singstar, being as shy as I am it took a lot of convincing to get me to sing but with Al’s help I did it! I cant wait for the hunt next year!

On Sunday, we hired a water blaster and Al got stuck into blasting the fence and the house and anything he could basically, while I was cleaning, painting and tiding up the rest of the place. That night we had a crowd of friends come over for an Easter BBQ, with Al, myself and Jase on one team and Kirsten and John on the other you think we would of kicked butt on the board game Cranium but oh no not us, the two lads whopped our butts big time and we all secretly made a pact not to play with them again he he he

On Monday, with the fence all clean and dry we painted the fence black and it looks so cool, it took the two of us a good few hours to do but the following weekend it only took me 2 hours to do the second coat, so it wasn’t too bad. The following weekend we also oiled our front deck after Al had waterblastered it clean. So there you have it we spend ages in the garden and in the fresh air doing stuff and we felt very proud of our work once it was complete.

Before Easter

2006-05-03T12:14:00.000+12:00

Wow so much has happened since I blogged last so let’s get straight into it.

Before Easter: Two friends of ours from London Helen and Chris came to visit us here in good old Welly, we caught up with them when we were in London last Sept but it still seemed like ages since we had seen them. They were in NZ for Helen’s brothers wedding and they stayed with us for two nights on their way down to tour the south island. While staying with us I managed to convince Chris that letting me shave his head was a good idea, everyone but me was nervous at first but man alive it looked really well when I had finished with it. It was great to see them and we took them to our favourite cheap BYO restaurant and we downed a few bottles of wine at home too, nothing strange there then!

Ahh the weekend!

2006-04-11T09:16:00.000+12:00

I had my first swimming lesson with Kirsten on Saturday and I really really enjoyed it and not only that I did exceptionally well too! I must say Kirsten is a very brave woman trying to teach me how to swim but I had a lot of faith in her and I didn’t feel all nervous so it was very successful and she was an awesome teacher. I was able with the aid of a flutter board to swim a whole length by using the correct breathing so yeah for me! We are now going to go twice a week, and have even joked about having my birthday party this year at the pool!

Saturday night we had all of Al’s family over for dinner at our place to celebrate Trevor’s birthday. Al cooked an awesome roast lamb with all the other roast goodies!

Sunday we went to a show called 2 Hot 2 Handle, it’s a car and motorbike show with street racing going on outside too. We saw some pretty amazing cars including one that costs $8000 a km to run! Now compare that to my car which costs $.12 a km to run! We also saw this cool as Jet car race, first of all it was just shooting flames and a crazy amount of smoke out the back and then it was back firing creating a lot of noise and more flames and smoke and then whoosh with an almighty roar it took off at a crazy speed, it was so cool but so loud my ears hurt for ages afterwards! There was no really cool bikes there which is a shame but never the less it was still an ok show.

Fiji Baby etc

2006-04-05T12:21:00.000+12:00

Work has been so busy hence why I haven’t blogged in ages plus I was away for a week in Fiji.
Anyhow I am back now and have loads to fill you all in on.

Fiji was just amazing, we had a fantastic time there and the weather was so hot it was great. I snorkelled for the first time and I am in love with snorkelling I couldn’t get out of the water after my first go and I snorkelled every day after that. Some places I snorkelled was over a coral reef by the beach and at one place I snorkelled it was just a sand dune in the middle of the water, but the fish and the coral around there was the most spectacular I have ever seen. My breath was taken away with these beautiful reefs just off the shore of an island but I wanted bigger and better things the trill of doing ot off shore was not enough (he he) so I snorkelled in the middle of the ocean 45mins from land and in this amazing and rather large reef. The difference in snorkelling by the beach and in the middle of the ocean is quite simply sharks, rougher water, drop off area and its bloody scary! But all that aside it was an amazing rush swimming and snorkelling in the middle of the ocean. I would never ever have done it though if it wasn’t for Al he made me feel and be safe the whole time. The whole thing has inspired me to become a good swimmer so I am starting lessons on Saturday!

My presentation went very well although I was very nervous but it didn’t show and I pulled it off to loads of positive comments so I am very proud of myself for doing it now!

I will blog some photos of Fiji once I sort myself out and bring them into work (its quicker to download them here)

The next few weeks are going to be as busy as the past few as not only do we have Easter around the corner we also have some friends coming over from London next week for two nights and then the week after Easter my sister and her husband will be here for a week and I cant wait it will be so good to see them all! However I will try and blog more often so you can read about more everyday stuff and not just one lump sum short blog!

Surprise

2006-03-10T15:57:00.000+13:00

I got a cool surprise today my friend Liane and her cuter by the day daughter Jade came in to see me, you will all have seen pics of Jade on my blog before. She is such a darling little girl, she is happy, quite and an all round wonderful baby Liane is very lucky, although she does lend to Jade’s relaxed attitude because that is exactly how Liane is. Liane herself is just the most glowing Mum in the world she looks great and not the haggard looking state you would expect a new Mum to be in, all I can say is that I hope Al and myself are as lucky as Liane and Alan are, if not I might have to send them to Liane’s place for training!!!

Tiger Woods

2006-03-10T15:56:00.000+13:00

I was born in the year of the tiger and my symbol is wood, I am always able to remember this because of Tiger Woods, but I am so far off being Tiger Woods its not funny. Last night a crowd of us went out to play mini putt, the par for the course was 42 I got 67 I can hear you all laugh at that what is worse is that I got 67 by cheating it should have been a lot higher if I was honest about how many strokes it took me to putt the ball. At one stage I was dared to launch the ball off the course over the fence into the estuary this strangely enough I managed to do, I even at one point bowled the ball at the hope that was better than putting it, it wasn’t. I am glad I don’t have to conduct business on a golf course because if I did I would be a very poor girl! We had a BBQ afterwards though so that was quite cool.

Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep

2006-03-08T15:29:00.000+13:00

What is the world coming too, I have just heard that kindergarten schools in the UK have banned the children from singing Baa Baa black sheep! Has the world gone so PC that our poor under 5 year olds are having to change nursery rhymes to ensure they don’t offend someone, all I can say is its about time too because every child under the age of five that I know has really really big racial issues!!!! (is sarcasm non-PC?) This is crazy, the kids are now having to sing Baa Baa Rainbow sheep, now it may be just me but I think we are going to have English kids turning up on the shores of New Zealand looking for these rainbow coloured sheep! In other words we will have a nation of PC but confused children, what’s next? Jack in Jack and Jill can no longer fall down the hill in case it is seen that Jill pushed him and that would be inciting domestic violence or Miss Muffet no longer has an iinsy winsy spider sit down beside her, we will have to call the spider an average built spider? And what about the horribly racial child that likes only the black jelly babies !! What will become of them?? Society has gone crazy all over a black sheep, I wouldn’t mind so much but the black sheep seems to be doing quite alright for themselves if they can supply three bags of wool, one for the Master, one for the Dame and one for the little boy who lives down the lane………………………….which we might have to change also in case children think that a little boy is living all by himself down a lane somewhere, quick someone call child services!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chicks at the movies again!

2006-03-08T14:19:00.000+13:00

Last night was a Tuesday night which normally means one thing……………………girls movie night! This week we were going to a charity show and trust me this is the only reason we would see this movie and please do not close this page once I tell you what movie we saw………………………..CASANOVA! I know I know it had the worst reviews since Madonna’s Swept Away, we all went to this movie knowing we were going to be bored for 2 hours. Ladies and Gentlemen I am embarrsed to say but I actually enjoyed the movie, now when I say enjoyed I mean in the kind of bursting to go to the loo and you find a toilet kind of sence not when you find $20 kind of enjoyment (although if I did I would be $5 up so I could be wrong!!!) I laughed, I groaned and I totally was convinced by Heath Ledger that he was Casanova sad I know but that is the magic of Hollywood for yah!

Just a normal Monday

2006-03-08T14:18:00.001+13:00

Monday and its my usual drumming lesson and I must say I am getting quite good on it, I mean dont get me wrong I am not goingt o quit my job any day soon but who knows maybe next month I will he he he.
I also started working on my hour long presentation I am doing in Fiji, I cant rememeber if I blogged about that or not but as you all know I am going to Fiji in two weeks time and I am been asked (begged really he hehe) to do a presentation on public speaking. I am nervous about this but I also feel you have to push yourself in life and experience new stuff even if it frightens the living daylights out of you! No dount I will be blogging more about that in the future!

Sunday Night

2006-03-08T14:18:00.000+13:00

Sunday night we went to Al’s parents place for dinner, they had just gotten back from holidays and we all hadnt seen each other for about a month. Sue, Kim, Emma and Amber where there too as was Fr John a family friend who I had never met before but they lads have known he years and in fact he married Sue and Kim over 12 years ago now! Everybody was in great form Sue has gotten herself this really cool job really near home and with school holidays off, we are so pleased for her. Al’s Mum has put on a little very needed weight and she is looking the best we have seen her look in ages Christmas is such a busy time for them and being on your feet all day is so tiring so it was great to see both Ronda and Trevor look so good and well rested!

HOG Ride to Hell

2006-03-08T13:41:00.000+13:00

Sunday we did a ride out with the HOG club it was a Poker Run ( for those of who who don’t know what a poker run is its when you draw a card at different stops to get your hand of 5 cards and the best hand wins prizes etc). The weather for the two days before the ride was horrible but thankfully that all changed on Sunday and it turned out to be a beauitful day. We left Wellington at 10 and headed out up the Haywards Hills and then in over to the coast where we drew our second card, from there we headed inwards to Shannon (a small village) on the back roads where we had a chance to open up the engines and have some fun, this is where we drew our third card. From there we started to head back down to Wellington via Foxton ( a small town that the main highway goes through) this is where we drew the fourth card, the final destination and where we were going to draw our fifth card was Mana. Once we got to Mana we all pulled up outside the Hell pizza parlour ( a place where they do the most delicious pizza’s) inside our local motorcycle shop shouted us drinks and food for 3 hours!! About 80 bikes went on the ride and a good few people dressed up as the theme of the ride was “ride to hell”. I have attached some photos so you can get an idea! It was truly a great ride and a great day and I was very hard to go to work the next day I was just itching to get back on the bike!

Dinner with Sandy & Scott

2006-03-08T13:40:00.000+13:00

Saturday night we went to our friends Sandy and Scott’s place for dinner and a game of Cranium (for those of you who don’t know what cranium is it’s a board game that is a cross between Charades, Trival Pursuit, Pictionery and all those other great board games you can think of). Sandy cooked an awesome dinner of chicken with cheesy spuds and yummy vegs all washed down with plenty of wine. It was the first time we had seen the guys house and wow what a beautiful place, its really warm and inviting the minute you walk in the door loads of natural woods and cool colours, Scott is also very handy with the camera so they had these amazing pictures of New Zealand around the place. The kitchen is open plan and they have a desk off their bedroom how cool is that! The sitting room is open plan and they have a conservatory off that too which gave them amazing views! To make it fair we split the couples up to play the game and I was with Scott, things were going great until I had to act out Buffy the Vampire Slayer and he got as far as woman who slays vampires!! To be fair though I wasn’t that much better, but we had a great night and didn’t leave there till 2am!

Sorry its been a while!

2006-03-03T16:47:00.000+13:00

I know its been ages since I have blogged but I have been a very busy woman both in and out of work!

The best news of the past few weeks is the fact I now have a computer at home, I bought a second hand PC from a friend in work and its awesome it has a flat screen and even has a DVD rewriter, all for the fantastic price of $300 (its only a year old!!)! The best part is that my old hard drive that I had in London is in it so I have all my music again, to say I am like a pig in Sh*t is an understatement!

Last seven days:
Friday went out for drinks and dinner with some friends in the hope that two of them would hook up, and it may have worked they are catching up tomorrow again!!
Saturday we went paintballing in the morning with all the gang from Al’s work and then they had a BBQ afterwards!
Sunday we went for a ride out with the HOG club, about a 300K round trip which was awesome perfect way to blow out the cobwebs and catch up with some friends. That night we had the usual crowd of Jase, Darren, Nat and Stu around for dinner and to watch the DVD the Catherine Tate show (a BBC show that is the funniest thing since the Office).
Monday I had my drumming lesson as usual and I hate to brag but I am getting on quite well, I have a couple of really cool grooves down pat now so I am pleased with myself. My teacher is pretty cool, patent and has great taste in music so this makes the lesson more interesting too.
Tuesday I went to the movies with the girls to see the new New Zealand movie out called No2 and to be honest I can see why it is called that as it was sh*t, I was bored and the acting made the actors on Days of our lives look like Oscar contenders!! That all said its always good to hang out with the girls!
Wednesday we went to our monthly hog meeting where we all went for a ride out afterwards to end up at the Cambridge ( a bar in town) where if you bought a drink you got a BBQ free, you cant go wrong with that now can you and it was great food too apart from the sausages (if they could legally be called that!!)
Thursday we had Darren around for dinner and to help Al with this software program he gave us for guitar playing, it’s a program that you can download songs into and it shows you how to play it etc so Al is well happy with that.
Tonight I am going for a ride on a Ferris wheel straight after work and after that myself and Al are either going to go to the movies and dinner or else hire some DVD’s and grab some takeout!

So there you have it a little summary of my last week.
I will try and be better with my posting in future!

My Scottish Twin is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-16T09:12:00.000+13:00

Found out yesterday that my Scottish twin Mandy and her hubby to be are going to be in NZ on the 4th Jan next year, there should be a council ban of drink on the street that’s for sure cause Mandy is just going to love Courtney Place and the ability to walk in and out of all the pubs with ease. Less than 10 months to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Al is back home !!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-16T09:10:00.000+13:00

Al came home early on Tuesday as he was able to get the earlier ferry so he was home for 6.30 rather than 10.30 that night which was really cool but it did interrupt my singles dinner that I had planned for Valentines night. We had Kirsten (John is so busy in work at the moment), Jase (our resident singleton who was looking very tanned and beach bumish!!!) and Scott (Sandy was in Auckland on a training course). It was nothing flash just home made beef burgers, good wine and awesome company! Al had a great holiday loads of riding, loads of eating and loads and loads of drinking! Its good to have him home again though, although it was for 2 night only as he is off up the North Island today for a training course with work and he won’t be back home till Sat afternoon.

Valentines Day

2006-02-16T09:09:00.000+13:00

I am generally a romantic person but I don’t believe in celebrating Valentines Day, it’s just so commercial and I can’t be bothered with all that crap. Al is aware of this so he never stresses over the Day at all, this year he was still away on holiday with the boys so he decided to send me a card and a single rose all done up really cool. Now remember I don’t celebrate Valentines day but man alive did getting these delivered to me at work was just so cool, mainly cause I was not expecting anything at all and also cause Al organised it before he left including the card so I am a very chuffed Valentine at the moment!

I won I won I won

2006-02-08T13:42:00.000+13:00

I can’t believe it I have actually won something!!!!
I won an IPOD nano yesterday, for those of you who don’t know what an IPOD is, well it’s this latest and greatest music player and the one I won normally retails at $350 to $400.
I won it through entering a competition on the Coco Pops website, I got an email yesterday saying I won and I didn’t believe them so after 5 friends read the email they all concurred that it was not a hoax and I had actually won it, now all I gotta do is wait for the postman to come and deliver it.

Home Alone

2006-02-08T09:23:00.000+13:00

Al has left me, but its okay he will be back in a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Al left on his a week holiday down the south island yesterday, the HOG Nationals are on in Dunedin and him and about 70 other bikes from Wellington are riding down the south island to attend this annual event. It will be an awesome ride and the Nationals themselves should be great fun and I am sure he will have loads of stories to bring back. I will miss him of course while he is away but I will worry more so about the two days they have of 7 -8 hours riding that he has to do, although Al is an skilled and excellent rider I still worry but I guess that is one of the side effects of loving someone so much!!!! Anyhow its only 6 sleeps till he is home, which happens to be 10.30 at night on Valentines day………………………….talk about the perfect gift!

Spread the rumours

2006-02-08T08:47:00.000+13:00

Last night was girls movie night and 9 of us chicky babes went to see Jennifer Aniston’s movie Rumours has it. I personally thought this was a good movie, it will never be a classic but at least its not trying to be, it was funny, clever and witty. The cast line up was awesome, Shirley Maclaine was just fantastic as the Grandma and Jennifer Aniston’s acting was pretty convincing too (although bare in mind she is not trying to play the role of Hannibal Lector). So is this movie worth seeing, yes for girls and boys if you are made to watch it don’t worry its not to chick flick at all plus you get to see some of Jennifer Aniston’s b**b too!!!

The Seven's

2006-02-08T08:33:00.000+13:00

For those of you who don’t know what the sevens is, it is when various nations get seven rugby players together to play rugby in various countries around the world. These teams descended on Wellington at the weekend for the two day tournament, which is actually a two day drinking tournament!!

Wellington erupts when the sevens are in town, there was a parade on Thursday of all the different teams and they all get involved in different stuff around town. The first day of the tournament is a Friday and we headed down to the stadium after work (even though it started after 1) the majority of people dress up for the sevens in a variety of costumes, although the crowd of Al’s friends I was with didn’t want to dress up so we went as boring accountants!! We didn’t go to hard out on the drinking stakes the first day as Saturday is a long day too, so we sat down and soaked up only a few drinks and the electric atmosphere until it starts to lash rain, which at that point we dived for cover.

The Saturday’s weather was much much better and we had to slap on the sunscreen big time. This day was much better than the Friday the atmosphere is different, more people are dressed up, more people are drunk and the games themselves are more exciting. I spent the day aisle hopping to see various friends all over the stadium (a practice that is common at the Seven’s) and drinking way to much wine, we were too wasted at the end of the tournament (which Fiji won) that we didn’t head into town afterwards but home instead!

Fiji baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-31T17:27:00.000+13:00

Yippee we are off to Fiji in 51 sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we finalised everything for our stay in Fiji, we are going for 6 nights of fun in the sun. I cant wait I have never been on a beach holiday before its never been my scene really maybe cause I lived on a party island for 8 months so I got it out of my system then. The resort we are staying at is lovely, if you want to check it out its www.sonaisali.com we are staying in one of the Oceanside Bura’s for the first four nights and then in the private spa Oceanviews ones for the last 2 nights! How romantic will it all be? Well the reason we are going is because Al has a work conference there, all the partners of the Horwath firms are going with there wifes/girlfriends/husband/boyfriends, Al has a day and a half worth of a conference to attend (while I relax in the sun, by the pool or in the shade of the bar he he he) there is also a days boat trip to some nice island (cant remember the name) for a whole day with everyone, we are staying on for a further two nights then just by ourselves I guess this will be the romantic part!!

HOG Annual BBQ

2006-01-24T15:00:00.000+13:00

The HOG club’s annual BBQ took place on Sunday at a park about 40 mins ride from town, it is a family BBQ so there was a good few kids and Granny’s around enjoying the sun and food. There were different games for the kids and different games which had to be done on the bikes. There was also a show and shine (basically a beauty contest for bikes) but unfortunately our bike did not win it, there are some awesome bikes in our club so you can’t feel too disappointed if you don’t win.

The BEST news ever.......................

2006-01-24T12:09:00.000+13:00

We found out at the weekend that both Emma and Amber our two nieces can be the ring bearers at out wedding next year. Susan and Kim were understandably nervous about them doing it at first cause the whole trip to Ireland, the wedding etc will be quite a big thing for the girls. Ring bearing is not something that is done back home, but Emma has been talking about doing it ever since we got engaged, so we will be incorporating the whole ring bearing thing into the ceremony, they will both have their own cushion and they will hold a ring each. We are just so happy about this and I am now calling them my Frodo (as in Lord of the Rings Frodo).

Happy Birthday Kim

2006-01-24T12:00:00.000+13:00

It was my brother in law Kim’s birthday on Fri but we all celebrated it on Sat up at a camp site in Otaki, where Kim and his family were spending the long weekend with Al’s parents also. We took the bike up so we had a beautiful ride up there. Susan and Ronda had pre prepared the BBQ food so it was all ready to go once everyone got there (Kim’s Mum and partner also came) we had a very scrummy BBQ and loads of very scrummy wine (the joy of only having to hold onto the bike and not ride it !!!). Kim was his usual quite sober self…………………………………………………….yeah right !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The birthday boy had been downing a few beers and glasses of wine all evening, so he was on right form and drunk enough not to be too embarrassed when his out of tune families sung him Happy Birthday!!

Playing cards and drinking do or don't go well together?

2006-01-24T11:52:00.000+13:00

Friday night saw Al, Kirsten, John and myself playing the card game 500 until 1.30 in the morning. The night started off great and what I mean by great I mean we were sober enough to play cards, remember the rules and not have an attack of the drunken giggles, which is how our night ended up, I don’t remember much of the last game but I think it took us nearly 2 hours to play it!!

Based on this night I have concluded that Kirsten and John are a very bad influence on me and I tend to drink more when they are around, so the moral of the story is to hang out with them more!!

Our baby has been sold

2006-01-20T16:08:00.000+13:00

Last night was the saddest night of my life for a long time; we sold our little Baby our Harley Davidson Sportster!

We had a man come around last night to look at her and from just seeing her in the photo he knew he would fall in love with her so he had a bank cheque already prepared. It all happened way to quick he was only there two mins when he said he was pressed for time and that he had the money in his pocket let’s get this deal done!!! So less than a half hour later she was been ridden off by some strange man, this is when I started to cry. I will miss that bike, Al and myself had some great times and adventures on that bike and she has been with us for over two years so you cant help but get emotionally attached to her. I know we have the new bike and we will have plenty more adventures on that but I will always have a special place in my heart for the sportster.

When with Pagona, do what she does and eat Greek !!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-19T11:41:00.000+13:00

Last night was my first Greek restaurant experience in New Zealand and I am very pleased to report it will not be my last experience there either.

13 of us headed to a Greek restaurant in Miramar (a suburb in Wellington) led by my Greek friend Pagona. Its kind of a tapas type restaurant so we got loads of different types of food, from the breads and dips like taramasalata to spinach pies, calamari, octopus to horrible chicken livers (which were nice, I just don’t understand why someone would eat them if they aren’t been forced by their Mum too) all of this was washed down with some lovely wine or Ouzo for Pagona, we also had some very yummy desserts like Baklava. All this coupled with great company it made for an excellent night!!!!!

Al arrived back from Melbourne last night after spending four days there, and being the dutiful fianc‚e I picked him up from the airport at midnight (but really its because I had missed him so much), he had a good time, he was at a training course which was tough going but apart from that he ate and drank loads and basically had a good time.

Dinner at a friends and it wasn't a BBQ !!!!!!!!!

2006-01-18T09:35:00.000+13:00

Last night I went over to Kirsten and John’s place for dinner and at the risk of sounding ungrateful yippee it wasn’t a BBQ. Not that I am sick of BBQ’s but it is nice to have a change!

Kirsten is an awesome chef and she made us this Chicken Enchiladas Stack, with yummy salad! All washed down with a couple of glasses of Sav of course. I must say I am beginning to feel sorry for her, because when she comes to our place she would have had the same dish a few times but anytime she or John has cooked for us it is never a dish they have made before. Hopefully for her sake I will start to get embarrassed by this and change!!!

We normally do each others hair and she quite often gets left with dye dots all over her face/neck and ears but last night it was a very professional dye job, so I am very pleased with myself today. But as I am not dying my hair at the moment (except for the blonde streaks I have on the sides and grown out fringe which I get done at the Hairdressers) she didn’t have to do mine. Although when she has done them they have always been very professional.

Another Birthday BBQ......................and my drum kit

2006-01-16T13:46:00.000+13:00

On Sunday it was our good friend Jason’s birthday and he had a BBQ at his place. Al didn’t come as he flew to Melbourne earlier in the morning where he is going to be for 4 days. There was quite a big turn out for the celebrations and the food Jase cooked was awesome, he did these delicious marinaded beef kebabs, so yummy you had to have two!

After the BBQ I had my friend from work Darren come over to set up my drums properly, they needed a few adjustments but myself or Al didn’t know what type of adjustment. I have also now put a pillow in the base drum so the sound is much better. As a result I have my kit all ready to start playing properly well as properly as a learner can play. Kirsten and John came over and had a bash on the drums, Kirsten thought it was just so much fun (and she would be right) and John thought he was the drummer for Guns and Roses (and he would be wrong) but they are right it is so much fun and Al is really enjoying them too which is great, I cant wait to start lessons again in two weeks!

My favourite big nieces birthday

2006-01-16T13:34:00.000+13:00

Last Saturday our eldest niece Emma turned 11, she is a great 11 year old though she is at that stage when she is as mature as a teenager but as affectionate as a 5 year old, she doesn’t have any embarrassment about giving either of us hugs. Which is something I hope she doesn’t lose and to be honest I can’t see her losing it either, she has the biggest heart and has always been a sweetie so it looks like we will have many more years of hugs to come.

For her birthday the whole family gathered at their house in Raumati for a good few bottles of wine and some yummy pizza! I will upload a photo once I get one. Next Friday is my brother in laws birthday and that will end the birthday season for awhile I am all BBQ and birthday caked out!!!!!

Me and Jade

2006-01-13T08:55:00.000+13:00

This photo was taken when Jade was three days old and I went to meet her for the first time in the hospital, she is a cutie !!!!

Is it possible I could make more noise than I already do?

2006-01-12T11:21:00.000+13:00

Hell yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am now the proud owner of a second-hand drum kit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have the picture attached but to give you a run down of this wonderful set up that I am going to be the next Rick Allen (Def Leppard one armed drummer, awesome dude!!)
I don’t know the exact dimensions but it’s around the following
22"x16" Bass Drum 16"x16" Floor Tom 13"x11" Tom 12"x10" Tom 14"x5.5" Snare Drum 14" Hi-Hat 16" Crash

It also comes with all the pedals, stands and the chair !

I checked it out last night and when we got home we made an offer on it and they accepted so we are going to pick it up tonight !!

I must say Al was a bit dubious at first but he knows how much and for how long I wanted to play the drums and I have had 8 lessons before I have bought them so he is being so supportive on this, how cool is he eh? I got him to have a bash on them too last night and I saw the look in his eyes I think he could fall in love with drumming too, if not he can continue playi8ng the guitar and we can jam and stuff together.

I am not going to go back to lessons for 2 weeks this will give me a chance to refresh the stuff I already learnt as I still have all the lesson notes etc and once I have got the basics again I will start back at lessons.

A great ad !!!!!!!!

2006-01-10T16:10:00.000+13:00

http://www.bigad.com.au

This ad is a must to check out

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another BBQ

2006-01-09T15:02:00.000+13:00

Just when you though you were all BBQ’d out we get invited up the line to Susan and Kim’s place for a family BBQ. We had planned on spending the day at home doing household chores etc but it’s the summer the time for BBQ’s so you cant help yourself but say yes to all those delicious invites. It was good to see everyone and Susan did some experimenting with salads she made this most delicious rice salad which I have to get the recipe for and try to recreate she also made this Greek salad which was also very yummy. We rode the bike up there and it was a very windy ride up there but the ride back was brilliant no wind at all.

BBQ, Babies and the Speedway

2006-01-09T14:51:00.000+13:00

What else could you want for a great Saturday in the summer??

Our friend John (whom we went down south with) had a birthday BBQ lunch on sat and yet again the good old Island Bay butcher was visited. John and Kirsten are amazing cooks and this was no exception we dined on a multitude of international style sausages, wallaby (similar to a kangaroo) burgers and the most divine salads you could imagine and more variety of breads than a bakery, all I can say is if you get an invite to their place you should cancel your own wedding to make it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Later on that afternoon we popped over to see Jade, Liane and Alan’s baby girl, you will have seen a photo of her in an earlier blog. She is now three weeks old but 3 millions times cuter and if she keep getting cuter at this rate she will be as beautiful as me !!!! he he he She is such a content little girl however I did get nervous holding her, I know she is not made of paper but she is not made of cast iron either and when I passed her over to Al I was sweating buckets afraid id do something wrong, it really has been ages since I held a baby. Liane is doing great she is such a cool Mum, very laid back and totally great with her, I have said it before and I will say it again Jade is very lucky.

Before we got to clucky and kidnapped Jade we left to go to the Speedway or stockcar racing as it is also known.

Scott the wonderful hubby of one of my friends here in work invited us promising it was a night not to be missed and it will be packed full of fun and drama and as usual he didn’t let us down. There was 18 races and then a demolition derby, the races themselves had a mixture of some awesome races to some ok I can talk to you know cause the race isn’t holding my attention races but that was generally the smaller mini-stocks. I love the super saloons they are mental and the cars are up on two wheels etc it was very cool to watch. The best part I think was the demo derby (although some lady driver got hurt in an accident) but the way these people trash there cars and ram each other etc is just crazy and they had a ramp for them to go over which was right in front of us and the force some of them land with would give you whiplash from just watching!! I cant wait for the next one, although it is a pity you cant have a drink while you are there, my first Saturday in months without a drink !!!!

There is no such thing as a quite Fri night

2006-01-09T14:35:00.000+13:00

After our week away and the three days back in work myself and Al decided that we would have a quite Friday night at home, but how could we forget there is no such thing as a quite Friday night at home. We went around to our good friends Nat and Stu’s place for a BBQ, Nat had just bought herself a new road bike, it’s a Suzuki GN250 it’s a cool little thing but I really see Nat on a Kawasaki Ninja in a few weeks !! Nat’s brother had his new to him trail bike and Al decided to go for a quick spin on it and now all he is talking about is getting a trail bike, I am keeping him away from helicopters!!!!

The food was as usual yummy with the Island Bay butcher (a top grade butcher) doing the meats and Nat doing the rest, oh yeah and Stu preparing the shots of Midori, Malibu and Gin which I invented and totally recommend. I was driving but Al left there a lot worse for wear but as I said there is no such thing as a quite Friday night.

Bridezillia

2006-01-06T11:55:00.000+13:00

Last night I watched a TV program called Bridezilla and oh my god these women are shocking, ok for starters its filmed in America and lets face it Americans tend to be very OTT and in your face, but these woman they morph from normal sane woman into a totally Bridezilla in a matter of days or hours even, its crazy. I think every bride to be should be made watch this programme so they can see how not to be and how to stay sane and realise yes it is the best day of your life but it doesn’t have to be everybody else’s worst!

I have also heard today that friends of ours from London Chris and Helen will be here to spend Easter with us this year yeah and also my sister Theresa and her hubby John are going to be here in late April how awesome is that !!!!

That added to the fact my Scottish twin Mandy will be here in Dec/Jan next with her hubby to be Luke it will be a cool year for visitors but a very bad year for our livers esp with Mandy was Oliver Reed’s mentor !!!!!!

Looks like 2006 is going to be a good one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wedding Date Set !!!

2006-01-05T08:27:00.000+13:00

Yippee, we have now set a date for our wedding 7^th June 2007; it’s a Thursday so it will be a long weekend of festivities!!

It will be in Ireland at Trinity Church which is our local parish in Wexford followed by a reception in the Riverbank Hotel, which is just across the bridge in Wexford town itself. We have also booked the band, they are called American Heart and they are totally the best band in Wexford and they are also very good friends of my Aunty Eileen and Uncle Joe, Caroline had them at her wedding and they were awesome! Fr Doyle is going to be the priest who marries us, I have known him all my life and he also married Caroline and Theresa. That is all the plans we have made so far, but of course everyone will be kept updated on this blog of all the latest information regarding our big day !!!!

Family BBQ

2006-01-04T11:53:00.000+13:00

No sooner had we gotten home from the ferry that we jumped in the car to see Al’s parents as they were having a family BBQ for their niece and grandniece who was over from Australia, Susan and her gang where there as where more relatives, so 15 in all. It was great to see everyone after the New Year etc and as usual the Scott’s put on an amazing BBQ with loads of yummy food. We were so tried though we left early, which is not bad as we were just going to go for a half hour but stayed for 3!

Our Holidays.......................Nelson

2006-01-04T11:49:00.000+13:00

The last leg of our trip was two nights in Nelson. The ride from Hanmer Springs to Nelson was beautiful, open roads, windey roads and amazing scenery, this was a four hour ride so we really got a great blow out on the bike that day, which really helped relive any New Years hangover we had.

Our first day in Nelson was very subdued, we were tried from the night before and from the trip, so we had a BBQ at home and chilled out on the couches in the sitting room watching TV, (backpackers are so handy for this reason!) the next day we went for a wander around town, where I bought 2 pairs of magic jeans ( I call them magic cause they fit so perfectly and for a 5ft 2in person with legs that could start kick a combine harvester they are magical) a pair of black boots and a hoody. That night we went to see an old work mate of Alan’s who had moved there a few months ago with his family and then we went to this delicious Indian restaurant, where I must say I had the best curry I have had since I came to Kiwiland.

The next day we made our way back to Picton to catch the ferry home. The ferry ride was not rough so we were very pleased about that, but no sooner had we come off the ferry that the wind in Wellington nearly blew us off the bike!!! We didn’t have any wind while we were away and it was so nice for a change!

All in all we had a great holiday with the guys, filled with laughter, a crazy card game, great food and loads of booze what more can a person want !!

Our Holidays..................Hanmer Springs

2006-01-04T11:40:00.000+13:00

The ride to Hanmer springs is pretty cool and it only took under 2 hours, we had been to Hanmer two years ago on our other trip of the South Island but we hadn’t stayed there, so we were really looking forward to going back. The first day we went to the Thermal Spring baths, which had rock pools, thermal spas, hot water swimming pools and cold water swimming pools (cold being 27 degrees!!!) and they also had a water slide which the other three went on, me I was too scared what with not being able to swim and all that !!! That night we had a BBQ at the place we were staying and drank loads more wine and played cards all night.

The next day we heading off to this adventure place, where the four of us hired 2 4wd safari carts and we did a safari trail, which consisted of the boys driving like crazy men around a very dusty, bumpy track until we came to the river in which they drove through like compete mad men, with myself and Kirsten egging them on !!! It was nearly a two hour safari and on the way back we came across the river again and this time the lads went totally crazy through it about 4 times too I might add, back and forth, back and forth and we got soaked, as the speed in which they went through the water was coming up over the top of the buggy and these buggies are just bars of steel and are not closed in at any part, so we really did get truly soaked but man it was such fun!!!!

That night it was New Years Eve, so after a few getting ready drinks at home we heading off into town for some dinner and more wine, after dinner we went to the local pub which had a band playing on a truck in the car park. The band themselves were very very cool and the atmosphere was filled with happy drunken people i.e. our kind of people !!! WE danced and drank the night away there until about 2am when we started to walk home with 3 lost English people !!

Our Holidays..........Kaikoura

2006-01-04T11:28:00.000+13:00

On the 28^th of December we headed off on our Summer holiday, we were heading down to the south island for a week with our two friends Kirsten and John.

The first stop on our trip was Kaikoura, we were extra lucky on this trip not only were we going away to tow ultra cool people but we were also going on the new bike and the lads were taking their car so we didn’t have to carry anything on the bike, yiphee !!

The place we stayed at in Kaikoura is wicked, the rooms themselves are pretty neat, but this place also has a swimming pool a spa pool and a thai restaurant by the pool, our first day there we had a wander around town, sat outside our room in the sun and had some drinks and then went out for a lovely dinner, our second day was spend by the pool, either playing volleyball, swimming, playing cards and of course drinking, this night we checked out the Thai restaurant, very yummy indeed ! Oh and we also had a massage just to help us unwind for the holiday, not that the three bottles of wine myself and Kirsten drank on the first night didn’t do that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

St Stephens Day aka Boxing Day

2006-01-04T09:39:00.000+13:00

The next day we headed up to Wanganui (just over 2 hours away) on the Harley up to some bikes races, stopping along the way at Susan’s so both she and Emma could go for a spin on the new bike. The Cemetery Circuit, which is a motorbike race was on in Wanganui hence why we were heading there. We had an awesome ride up, the weather was perfect and there was not too much traffic on the roads either.

The races themselves where very cool, and we only saw one guy fell off and he wasn’t hurt and was able to get back on his bike and rode off again, quite a good result considering the speed he was going !!!! The sidecar races are my favourite the way the swinger has to swing back and forward and throw himself around is extremely scary and you would never catch me doing it that’s for sure !!!

We rode back home that same day, stopping off for fish and chips by the sea on the way home, my favourite you just cant beat Fish and chips by the sea!!!

Christmas Day

2006-01-04T09:31:00.000+13:00

It’s been a while since I had a chance to blog, so I will update you all by different dates rather than by a long big blog, so here goes Christmas day.

Myself and Alan spend Christmas day up at his sister and brother in laws house in Raumati (about 45 mins drive away) all of Alan’s immediate family and nearly all of Kim’s immediate family (he has a brother in Singapore) was there, a grand total of 15 in all. But that did not deter the ever organised Susan, she had various dishes tasked out to everybody who was coming and she was up earlier sorting the place out and doing prep of the yummy salad and spuds and of course the old bird itself !!!

Loads of wine and beer was consumed but not to much by me as I was driving, we ate too much food as you do on Christmas day and we got loads of presents. I got this really amazing screen divider of the Mona Lisa, but I am going to take off the hinges and mount the three pieces on the wall instead very cool, from his parents I got a statue of an elephant which I totally love and I have called Grant, I also got two bracelets, an elephant hand bag and other bits and bobs from them, from his sister and her family I got a white strappy top, while I had wanted and was going to get myself after Christmas, so I was very pleased about that ! From my family we do a secret Santa thing and my sister Theresa got me this year and I got a beautiful silver frame and a cast iron frame too. So as you can see I was very spoilt this year !!!

We had a great Christmas day, my third in New Zealand and after being home just a few months ago I was very homesick from my family but it was still a great Christmas.

King Kong from my lazyboy

2005-12-21T11:52:00.000+13:00

Last night I went to see King Kong, the movie of the year if not decade or so it has been hyped to be. It’s a three hour movie which can play havoc on ones’ bottom and bladder, I however was lucky enough to watch it from the very comfy lazyboy chairs in the movies (for you guys who don’t know, there is an area in the cinema which has a bar, lazyboys and food, you do pay a lot more for it though) so that was my bottom sorted but as you get wine delivered to your chair my bladder was under extreme pressure!!!!

The movie itself was very good, however, I did not feel the need to cry when he was killed at the end, as so many men have been reported to in the states (Bloody Yankee’s !!!) I did not fall in love with Kong as so many women around the world have been reported to, but I have asked myself how old is Jamie Bell??? Billy Elliott has certainly grown up !!!! Naomi Watts was nothing short of amazing, she owned that role and it was very hard to imagine her as Naomi Watts, she was more like an unknown actress, so if an Oscar can go to Charlize Theron for being ugly in a movie then this girl so deserves one!!!

In general it is a great movie and it does cement what a brilliant director, producer and kiwi Peter Jackson is, the effects are amazing the humour is subtle and very funny, the casting was well thought out, Jack Black in his element as Carl Denim with Peter getting a good few hollywood digs in there through him. It is a movie I would recommend you go see but you must see it on the big screen to get the full effect.

I cant wait for Peter Jackson to start work on the Lovely Bones, a sad thought provoking book which I am reading at present and I’d dare say a few of you have also, if not it’s a must read (Patrick look at me I have progressed on from Chic Lit, you must be proud !!!)

A brand new Baby

2005-12-20T12:29:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I went to see my good friend Liane’s baby daughter Jade. Jade was born last Friday so was only 3 days old and she is my first brand new baby I have experienced in New Zealand, which goes to show I must hang out with a big crowd of boozy mates to whom the thoughts of getting pregnant is filled with dread as the thoughts of not drinking for a whole nine months and longer if you breast feed!!

She was just the cutest thing, she was born by C section so she wasn’t all scrunched up as some babies can be and she is a very chilled little thing, fully aware of noises and movement around her but not disturbed by it all. It was so lovely to hold her and watch her gurgle away, I think mid-wifes have a cool job they get to hold these little miracles on a daily basis, however I have no plans on changing my career as if they were all as cute as Jade I would end up wanting to take them home with me !!!

I cant wait for us to get married so we can start our own brood, but in the meantime I will be quite happy playing Aunty Eyleen to baby Jade.

Christmas Parties

2005-12-19T12:01:00.000+13:00

The month of December has always been a month for parties and excessive drinking (although the excessive drinking is not just in the month of December) and December 2005 has been no different.
At the weekend we held our inaugural Christmas BBQ at our house, this turned out to be a more civilised affair than any other party held at out house, no-one was to drunk to leave and no-one threw up, much to our disappointment as it really is time Nat had left our house a lot worse for wear, but her time will come. We had about 20 guests which was about half the amount we invited I guess that is what you get when you hold a party the weekend before Christmas, everyone had their partner or their own familyÆs Christmas parties to go too. I hurt my back, Lydia is convinced it was a result of me doing my Beyonce impression and dancing like an agile 15 year old, its amazing how wine loosens your limbs and joints ! I however am convinced it was lifting a full chilly bin and thatÆs the story I am sticking too!
The party signalled an end of parties for myself and Al before Christmas, bearing in mind the first one we attending was in mid-November ! However I have just learnt that we are going out for dinner and lots of fluids on Wed as a friend is home from London for the holidays, our arms are hurting so much after that twisting ………Yeah right !!!

Welcome to my blog

2005-12-19T10:53:00.000+13:00

Hi all

I thought I'd jump on this blogging band wagon as a way to keep you all up to date as to what is happening to me here in Kiwiland.

I will posting to it on a regular bases so enjoy !

Eye