Archive for the ‘musings’ Category

Melbourne, we ♥ you

Because I am the luckiest girl in the world (there must be no other reason) mon amour surprised me with a trip to Melbourne for the weekend. Up until we arrived at the airport I had no idea where we were going but, to be honest I did have a wish list and Melbourne was at the top, so you can imagine how overjoyed I was when the cat was finally let out of the bag. Well, as overjoyed as you can get at 3:30 am when you haven’t arrived at that hour by partying all night long.

Talofa Lava

We took off for Samoa on the 1st of August, or at least that was the way it was supposed to happen. As it turns out we got up at 4am, made our way to the airport, and then discovered through sleepy eyes that my passport expires in November. We were only going to Samoa for a week so this hardly seemed like an issue until we learned that you can’t leave the country unless you have more than six months left. Clearly this is something the passport office should look into.

After our initial shock we packed up our disappointment and trudged home and did the only thing civilised people could have done…climbed into bed.

Aging not so bad as once thought

I am now the proud owner of a Pepper Yellow KitchenAid Mixer and I can’t tell you how happy I am about that. In fact, it was clear to me as I was unwrapping the box and discovering the awesomeness inside that I couldn’t think of anything else I would have rather had. How cool is that? And I didn’t even have to ask for it!

Underfloor insulation installation not for the sane

Living in a small country you’re reminded frequently that there just isn’t enough competition here. Mobile phone companies are the first example that springs to mind but our most recent experience was with heating suppliers. We want to have ducted gas heating (central heating) installed in our house before winter because it will be colder than the inside of our fridge in July. After hours of searching online for companies that could

Colour me green…no gray..no sage

Renovations at Sandringham Palace are moving steadily along. The grand office has finally been completed and we’re putting the final touches on the newly renovated schizophrenic front bedroom before we move in…just in time to enjoy the fire in the evening reading in bed. I’m personally looking forward to that!

When did May get here?

I meant to write this a month ago before I was ensconced in a sweater and a scarf but as usual time passes far too quickly. It’s hard to believe we’re already well into May and I’ll be turning 4o fricking one in nine days! I remember thinking when I was young that twenty was old. Those were the good ole days!

Hello 2010

Ok so yes, it’s already mid-Feb. Welcome to my world where things move so fast and the days are so packed full of things to do that we don’t even have time to watch TV…which is why we don’t have one. How do all you people with TV’s find time to watch them??? Honestly our neighbor (who has a giant wall-sized tv screen in his living room which lights up our bedroom with its glow..seriously it’s so large that if we could read lips we’d be able to sit on our bed and watch in silence and still understand what the hell is going on) has his TV on ALL DAY. Morning to night. 7 days a week. Including holidays.

Back home!

Having a holiday in September in France certainly has its advantages.

The weather is practically perfect. The wine is super cheap and doesn’t give you a headache. The cheese is pretty damn good. The architecture is top notch. The chocolate is divine. The people are lovely (mostly) and there’s no lack of things to do and see. Did I mention the cheese?

Citrus overload

Our house, in the middle of our street…
If we were on the grapefruit diet we’d be in heaven.

It seems there is only so much grapefruit two people can consume. So be warned, if you come to our house you are not permitted to leave without a bag of grapefruits.

Seb spent Sunday night juicing a sink full of grapefruits and ended up with three bottles full of the golden juice. Not bad for an hour of hand juicing.

We bought a house!

So this is a long delayed announcement…we finally bought a house! We’ve been looking for a house for seven increasingly exhausting months so it’s with pleasure and pure sense of relief that we found our little slice of Auckland.

Our search started with a long list of wants and needs, some more important than others though the priority changed frequently. Our budget grew progressively as we realized that there was no crisis in the Grey Lynn area. And then our desired location expanded. So the result of our searching checks off all of the boxes on our wants and needs list but is in Kingsland (which neighbors Grey Lynn) and is a good $80,000 more than our original budget. Isn’t house buying fun?

We move in on the 15th and we’re so excited and so pressed for time we don’t know which emotion to deal with first. My web design business has gone through the roof and my previous worries of not being able to get enough work have been long forgotten. Somewhere between working with my clients I’ll have to pack some boxes and get movin’.