Christmas holidays

Well, its almost the New Year here in New Zealand. I know that everyone else has a day or two to go still. What a crazy week we had in Tirau. Some days were full of misadventure and others full of longing for home. All in all though it wasn't a terrible vacation and Gordon and I enjoyed being with the family. We've made a game of guessing what phrases Roger will say to me and Gordon now that we are married. It helps me to cope with all the praise. I think we got up to 14 phrases this time around, a new record.

Before I forget, I didn't write about it last time. I have a new nephew! I was hoping for a niece but I love my nephews and nieces no matter what! His name is Ewan Chattan Martin. So congratulations to my sister for having the baby and their latest addition to the family. I look forward to seeing him sometime this year, hopefully! Gordon and I have been discussing names. We definitely are going to name our first son Clark but we decided to switch our first girls name to Eleanor. I really like the name and you don't hear it often anymore and we get to call her Ellie! If I only get one girl I would like her to be Eleanor and if I get two then I'll name the second one Suzanne.

I'll start with date night. It was great and I had the most wonderful time with Gordon. We definitely should do it once a month, even if it's going to Domino's for pizza and catching a movie later. We did it up this time around. We went to Speight's Ale House for dinner and were placed at a table for two. I had some chicken stuffed with cheese and fruit stuff and Gordon had the drunken steak. Which, if memory serves me, he also had in the Speight's Ale house we went to in Queenstown in March. It was lots of fun and that's where we came up with our standard phrases we would hear once we got to Tirau. We had an hour or so before the movie started so we bought our tickets and then went for a walk around the square. During that time, we got a call from Scotty. I guess Roger had invited him to join them for the holidays and he decided to take him up on his offer and was telling Gordon. After our walk, to settle our food, we went to our movie which was "Four Holidays", I think that was the name, with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. It was so funny! Gordon and I had a great time watching it. It was lots of fun to be out on a date with my husband.

On Christmas Eve we packed the presents in the car and headed off to Tirau. The way was pretty wet and cold but we made it there by 4pm or so. Kylie was asking us if we wanted to go to the pool with her and I said yes which made Gordon say yes too. We had dinner first and let our tummies settle before we took a swim. In between, I got a case of homesickness and started crying in our room. Gordon was nice enough to just hold me while I cried, missing my family and friends during the holidays. I probably would have cried some more but Kylie came up to the door asking if we were coming or not. We decided to go with her and as we set off Gordon thought we were taking the car so left his shoes off. He walked to the pool in his bare feet down the road! I felt awful and told him we could turn around and get the car but he said no and just kept walking. I had to cheer him up a bit because he was feeling bad that I was homesick and missing my family. I told him it was our decision to live in New Zealand despite me being away from my family. I didn't have my bathing suit on and so we arrived at the pool to discover that the changing rooms were locked! Gordon held a towel up in a little shower area for me to change in. Gordon and I just ended up goofing around and tossing a tennis ball while Kylie and another lady worked out.

After that we went back home and had a bit of rest and shower to clean ourselves up for midnight service. I think Gordon didn't want to go but when he heard I was going, he was in. It was a bit different being an Anglican church and all. We sang some Christmas carols in between people reading the Christmas story. I thought that I knew how some of them went but some carols go a bit differently here like "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" was different from the way I had always sang it. It makes me feel a bit out of place when something I thought I knew just isn't the way its done here. We survived the late night and had to wake-up bright and early the next day to make breakfast for everyone the next morning. We had a 7am wake-up call because breakfast had to be ready by 8am and we had to be in Tauranga by 10am! Sounds a little crazy for Christmas day but I would roll with the punches. We had to take two cars because we had six people now and we all wouldn't fit into one. So Gordon, Scotty and I took our car with the beautiful air conditioning, not too hot and not too cold.

Luckily, I found out that we were opening all of our presents in Tauranga rather than a few so I had Gordon open two of his that I had made for him. There were a bit sentimental and mushy and I didn't want to be teased about them. There was a mass of presents. I felt bad that all we had for the rest of the family there were a couple of chocolates and our Christmas cards. Gordon said not to worry about it. Opening presents took about an hour and a half to two hours. One of the kids, Ruth, helped distribute the presents with the help of Luke, Gordon's cousin. There were some really great things. I didn't have a lot of presents to open because I didn't get a lot for myself this year. I guess its different when you're the one doing the shopping, I tend to think about what presents I need for others rather than what I would like. We had a bit of downtime between presents and lunch so Gordon and I went to the porch area to relax. I guess we were kid magnets that day, or maybe because they had to play outside, because Ruth and Andrew wanted to play and talk with us.

Lunch was a hodge-podge collection of chicken, ham, rice salad (?), eggs, salad, beetroot and other things. I kept it light because I didn't want to eat too much. Dessert consisted of ambrosia (which was this whipped cream concoction), Christmas pudding, trifle, cheesecakes and fruit salad. It definitely was a bit different but I was able to pick and choose what I ate. Afterwards, we were all rounded up to sing some songs for Roger's video. Then we finally got to get out and do something! We went to the beach for a walk!

I really liked being able to get out of the house for a bit and taking a walk with Gordon on the beach. Some people stayed at the house and took a nap while some of us went to the beach. It was a good collection of people. We saw little mussels/clams digging their way back into the side while the water washed over them and there were jellyfish bigger than my hand with spots! We saw people playing beach cricket and a couple of times I caught Roger doing nothing but taping me and Gordon. I've become a very shy person since being in New Zealand around the family, mostly because I don't want to hear overtures of praise all the time. So looking up and seeing Roger taping us didn't make me too happy but it was Christmas so I didn't care. We then went back after our walk to the house and had supper, leftovers with some sausage rolls, and the leftover dessert. We all took another rest and I read the kids a story while they ate their dinner. We left at about 8pm! One thing that I did notice through the day was that I think Gordon and I are going to be very relaxed parents. After having to watch twin nieces, you feel like you can do just about anything.

The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day which everyone usually gets off. Gordon and I didn't have a gift for Scotty so we decided that we would pay for a round of golf for him. I was supposed to go with the boys to the course but I decided that Gordon and Scotty should go without me. I felt like I was monopolizing Gordon's time. I stayed at home while the boys went to play. It was a nice, quiet day and I got to know Gordon by looking through some of the family albums that were tucked away in a cupboard. The boys came back and Roger came home from the shop to watch the cricket game with Gordon. That's where things went a bit south for the day. Gordon was having so much fun watching the game with the guys that he forgot about me entirely. Needless to say, I wasn't in the very best mood but Christine and I got to have a nice talk while I was outside reading my book and later when we were sitting around knitting and reading. Gordon and I talked about the fact he ignored me for the rest of the day later.

We found out that we weren't going to have a family beach day on Monday, which I was eagerly looking forward too. Instead we were going to be going to dinner and a movie. So Gordon and I decided to have our own beach day. It was a bit of a shambles but with Gordon there, it was a great day. We decided to try a beach that Christine recommended on an island by Tauranga. First we went to the wrong location of the ferry, it turns out it didn't leave from Tauranga it left from Omokoroa. When we got there we had just missed it and had to wait two hours for the next one to come. We had our picnic lunch on a little sand inlet area. It really reminded me of Maryland and the river bank at the park except there was more sand and a bigger stretch of it. We were able to change into our bathing suits and get on the ferry by foot. We found that the island was a lot bigger and we couldn't possible reach the other side in time to have a swim and be back for the last ferry. We ended up just sitting in some water by a sandbar area, not the beach day I was looking for but there are plenty of chances to try again. Gordon and I had a really good talk about our future and where we want to be in the next decade or so. It would be nice to move back to America in ten years or so but we are just going to see where we are when the time comes. I was telling Gordon that I would like my family to be able to spend time with the kids when they're older if Gordon's family was going to be around them when they are younger. I decided that either way some one's feelings are going to get hurt if we decided to or not move back to the States. It was a really good talk and I came away from it a lot more content and happier with knowing where we may be going.

Sunday was a day for Cricket. Christine got Roger, Gordon and I tickets to a 20/20 match in Hamilton for Christmas. How could I not go, I would miss the chance to see Daniel Vittori! The game didn't start until 5pm but we ended up leaving at 3 to get there. I have to say that I really enjoyed watching the game. It was about 3 hours long but it was full of excitement and fun. I got some great pictures of the West Indies team and the Black Caps. There was an awesome catch by Jacob Oram right by us! There was one annoying person with a whistle and a runner onto the field, he was trying to steal the knobs that go in between the wickets, both were drunk. Other than that, I wouldn't mind going to more 20/20 games if we had the money. Roger was still hungry so we stopped at KFC to get him some more food. We packed sandwiches for the game so we didn't have to buy our food at the stand.

We had our family outing on a rainy day. We went to a place called Rapscallion's for dinner. They do gourmet burgers and such. I had a burger with fried onions, sour cream and honey soy sauce with a nice milkshake, my guilty indulgence, and Gordon and I shared some fries. The burger was big and nice but I don't think it can ever beat out the whopper we had at Fergburger in Queenstown! We bought our tickets beforehand so we were able to take a little stroll around Rotorua. It was especially pungent that evening because of the rain and clouds, on a clear day you don't smell it as much. Rotorua is a geothermal hot spot so there is tons of sulfur being released which gives the town a rotten egg smell some of the time. Gordon and I found a gelato shop! I couldn't not have any! It was delicious, tangerine and passion fruit gelato was so yummy in my tummy. We then went to Pak'n'Save to get some candy for everyone else, I was full enough and had way to much sweet things already. Then we went to our movie which was "Australia". It was a very good movie and you could definitely tell it was directed by Baz Luhrman, his style is very unique. Hugh Jackman was ruggedly handsome and oh so dreamy. I told Gordon that he's my Hugh Jackman, hehe.

The next day Gordon and I packed the car up and headed home. We got home at about 5pm, we left late from Tirau. When I got home I took a peak in the fridge and saw nothing but moldy leftovers. I think I was physically from having to empty them into the trash. We always put our fridge on vacation when we are gone for a long time, so it doesn't use up as much energy. I promptly poured bleach into the containers to get kill the mold and to wash them later. We had soup and toasties (grilled sandwiches) for dinner. It was a good vacation and I was so happy to be back in our bed. We had some wet and soggy Christmas cards because it rained while we were away but I enjoyed reading them.

I was also happy to find that my garden was flourishing. Me and the pruning shears had some fun beating back zucchini leaves against the cucumber, butter bean and pumpkin plants. We have some massive zucchini! I'm not sure how you can tell when a zucchini is ripe, do you guys know? I picked two of them and I'll be taking their pictures soon to show you how big they are. My watermelons are flourishing as well as the carrots and broccoli and cauliflower and... Well everything is doing great. We have to definitely add more soil around some of the plants because it seems whenever I water them they tip over and we can't have that. I'll take some more pictures so you can see my mammoth garden. Gordon and I are definitely going to expand the garden next year, if we are still in the same house. We might get to move if we have a bun in the oven which we will be working sometime in the New Year.

I hope that everyone has made their New Year's resolutions, I'll give you mine next week. I hope you enjoyed family and friends during your holidays and I miss you very much! I am doing better now though, I've started to let go, start over, and move ahead. With the promise of summer, its not that hard to do. I'll be working on my flower bed next, yippee! If no one wants to hire me, I'll find contentment in my house and making it pretty. I think God is trying to teach me a lesson and I'm just not listening but I'm trying very hard to open my ears to hear His message. Oh, sister, I received your last Christmas package. Thank you for the screen printing kit. I'll have to use an old-fashioned iron until I know that I'll be able to sell my things. The cookies were a bit smashed but I love them anyway. They are so yummy in my tummy, especially the bizcochitos! I can't wait to eat my cranberry sauce you sent. Everyone have a safe week!

Christmas time is here

Sometimes I think that I should keep a daily track of what I do that way I don't forget to tell you all that I've been doing. I've always had poor memory with my daily activities but I have excellent clarity on all the little things. Last week was the last week of classes for water aerobics until the New Year so I went to three classes instead of two. The Tuesday and Thursday classes are actually deep water aerobics so I got to wear this little life belt around my waist and workout in the dive pool on Thursday. It was a little bit tough because it was really windy and cold outside. I think that I caught a bit of a cold from it because I wasn't feeling too super on Friday but I'm feeling lots better now.

On Tuesday, I went to go and do what I planned to do last Friday. See my first movie in a long time! This sounds horrible but I actually went and saw "High School Musical 3". I couldn't resist a movie that had dancing and songs and "Mamma Mia" was already out of the theatres. So, there I was among all these parents and teenagers. It made me feel a bit foolish but I liked the movie, it had some great songs. You never realize that you've grown-up until your surronded by teeny-boppers talking about how cute Zac Efron is and your thinking that he's just a nice kid. Wednesday was my day at home so nothing exciting there and Thursday and Friday was spent at water aerobics. Friday's class was taught by two people. One of them used the water noodles and the other used those arm dumb bells. My arms were sore by the end of that workout!

Oh, on Wednesday Gordon and I had somewhat of a night out. I was tired of cooking and we still had to go to the pool to workout. We ended-up going to Dominos and taking our pizza to the Esplanade, a garden center, to eat them. It was quite delicious and yummy. We walked around the area for a bit because Gordon had to use the toilets and he saw an aviary. We found an albino male peacock trying to get friendly with a female in the next cage. It was some nice time spent together. He's told me numerous times that he would like to build an aviary one day. Gordon has been starting to want to go to the base pool with me now. He likes water exercise as well and it gives me a bit of motivation to do extra well while he is there.

Thursday was a big day for Gordon. They had all of the RNZAF helicopters in New Zealand for once and wanted to fly them together. Sort of a benchmark for the RNZAF and a history marker for Gordon. It seems they were able to get all 19 of them up in the air and in formation without any breakdowns. Gordon said there was one helicopter that was giving them trouble but they finally managed to get it going. He took lots of pictures of the choppers as they were heading out. I heard them and looked out of one of our windows and saw them flying past Bulls. It was pretty awesome to hear the thrum and roar of 19 helicopters in the air. Gordon was really excited that they were able to achieve the goal they set out.

Friday was Gordon's last day of work. They got out around noon and I was home when he made it back on his bike. We ended-up having a nap because I wasn't feeling good and the stress of the week had finally caught up to Gordon. Afterwards we went to the base practice field so Gordon could hit some golf balls and I read. Then we went to the pool and ran into one of the guys that participated in the golf tournament a couple of months back. He was with his kids and wife and they were enjoying the kiddie pool while Gordon and me enjoyed the big pool. I was able to make dinner ahead of time and not worry about it until we got back home.

Saturday was shopping day! It was more shopping for Gordon than for me because he still had to get my Christmas present! We started off at Mitre 10 to see their prices on table saws which were okay and Gordon would have gotten a discount for being in the military. I was able to get a water noodle so I could do some of my exercises that I learned in water aerobics at the base pool. We then went to Bunnings and found that their table saws were even cheaper than if we went with Mitre 10 and the discount. So my parents gift for Gordon was sorted and we also ended up getting a little metal table for the hallway so we could put our keys and stuff on it. Then we were naughty and went to Dick Smith and Noel Lemming, electronics stores. I had kept telling myself that I didn't need one but when I saw the price of the XBox I couldn't resist the urge and we bought one with a couple of games. I told Gordon that was the last time we were going to be fiscally irresponsible for a long time. Don't worry though, we had sufficient funds for the Xbox and it didn't put us anymore into debt than we were. We actually paid down the credit card a lot this month, yeah! We were then off to the Plaza mall so I could go to Kmart. I was able to find a shirt for Xmas day for $6! I was so happy and then we had our usual fare at the Plaza mall, curry.

We only had two stores left to take care of, The Warehouse and Spotlight. We had to get some candies for the family to go with their Christmas cards and for Kylie and Roger. We also bought some Christmas crackers that were on sale and a Christmas CD so we could hear some songs on the way home. We went to Spotlight real quickly to get my scrapbook tote, Gordon's gift for me, and to check out the price of area rugs because they are cheap. We found a blue oriental design that we liked and are planning to save up for. We then had to get gas because the gas light was on. Then we picked-up my creative memories order, my Mom's birthday gift for me, and headed for home. It was very rainy on Saturday so it was a good day for shopping. We even ran into John and Arinah at Dick Smith and caught up with them for a bit. Gordon also told me of a New Year's Eve Party so we may get to go somewhere for that evening.

Sunday service was a bit tough for me for some odd reason. The pastor was talking about the holiday season and how it can be a joyous time but for some it may not be all they dreamed of. He must have struck a chord with me because when we got up to sing I was trying to stop crying amidst "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "What Child is This" and getting so upset that I couldn't stop. Gordon was a bit worried but I told him that I would be fine. Carols, hold a special place for me, because we would always go to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve and sing carols. I told Gordon that I would probably be weepy until Christmas day and then there would be nothing. There's no way getting around being homesick on a holiday that holds special significance to me. I just have to try to work through it and hope that there aren't too many weepy moments.

I also did something out of my box at Church. The pastor wanted people to sign-up to give mini-sermons during the month of January. I decided that I could offer a different perspective being someone new and from a different country. So, we'll see what happens. We're given a bible passage and then we talk for about 3-5 minutes. There should be about 5 people each Sunday. Something told me to sign-up. Later that day we went to a fundraiser movie for one of the ladies bible studies. It was called "The Christmas Cottage" about Thomas Kinkade and based on actual events. It was a really good Christmas movie and Gordon ended-up crying at it. We also met some new people from the church we've been attending. It had a great message about the light that illuminates our lives. It made me think how special Christmas is and how it can illuminate a dark time in our lives or during the season. It's a little hard to picture it in such a sunny place as New Zealand right now but when I think back to New Mexico I can see it.

I've included a couple of pictures of our garden. We're going to be gone for 5 days so I'm a bit worried that everything is going to dry out because we have no one to water it for us. My bulbs have also started to sprout and I'm worried that they'll die as well. The only thing that I can pray for is rain during our vacation. The zucchini has flowered and so has the cucumbered. I can see the little zucchini beneath the big leaves and soon there will be some cucumber to go with them. No green beans yet but I suspect that we'll have some good pumpkin and watermelon. We also have some potatoes sprouting. Enjoy your holidays everyone filled with laughter, joy and love. When you hear "Silent Night", think of me, that's one of my favorite carols. I'll try to write before the New Year and I may have some Xmas pictures for everyone to look at.

Christmas vacation is almost here

This week was little bit more laid back than most. Gordon was at work all week doing a computer course and I was able to have the car a couple of days out of the week. In the middle of the week I was definitely starting to go stir crazy in the house. I notice that even if I get out for a couple of minutes out of the day, my mood is so much better because I'm out doing something rather than being at home.

I know what you're thinking, a job would take care of that. Well, job hunting has still been unsuccessful. I may have to go to the NZQA to get my degree verified and validated to try and get a reasonable job. Sometimes it feels like its who you know rather than what you know. The couple of science jobs that I applied for weren't successful but I'm still going to keep an eye out and apply if I think that my skills are good enough. I've been very bad and keep changing the same cover letter over and over. If I'm going to keep applying I would rather have a generic one and I know that employers don't always like that. I really should have a sit down and rewrite my whole cover letter but where to begin? Anyways, I'm exploring my avenues and trying my best to make it through. Its not always easy and the budget we live on now is very meager but I'm learning to be happy with what I have. I'm also becoming very proactive with my spending by watching how much and where.

Well, I've decided that I really like water aerobics so I'm going to try and go twice a week, except for this week when I'll go 3 times, then try and go to the base pool twice a week. Doing excersice for 45 minutes a day is really starting to help me feel better. Like I said before, I love the water and doing stretches and aerobics in it doesn't always feel like such work. I think that its starting to make a difference because I am feeling better. I was also thinking today about the fact that I should love my body rather than detest it, which I normally do. If Gordon loves my body, why shouldn't I? That doesn't mean I'm going to let myself go or stay at my current weight. I feel that if I love my body, I should be doing something to make it and me feel better and get more in shape.

I'm able to go on base now to pick-up and drop-off Gordon now. I also can take advantage of some of the facilities open to member and family of the RNZAF. We went on Wednesday to get my dependents pass all taken care of. I've had to use it a couple of times now and I feel a bit better using it. On Thursday, Briscoes was having a midnight sale. Gordon had a special flyer so we got an extra 5% off of things. We were able to get some hair rollers, a Xmas present for me, an alarm clock and an extra dishware set. Now I'll be able to have worry-free dinners because we have enough plates for people. I chose a different dishware set than the one we bought before. It's green which goes great with my blue pattern that I have. I remember reading somewhere that it was okay to have different sets as long as they went together. The only problem is that the big plates of the new dishware set don't fit in the cupboards! So we have one cupboard that is slightly open right now. No biggie. Gordon was also able to get a new golf glove, his was so tattered and torn, and I go some swim goggles at Rebel Sports because they were having a sale as well.

Friday, I tried another water aerobics class. This one had a different instructor so the workout was a bit different. I had fun though and I definitely felt my muscles being used! Afterwards, I tried to head into town, Palmerston North, to catch a movie. I ended-up parking in the wrong spot and could only stay for an hour. Gordon told me where the movie theatre was so I went to go and check it out. They had this little mall fit into this space, the movie theatre was on top and the stores on the bottom. It was actually quite neat and it reminded me of home, which I was missing the other day. I would say that its maybe a 16th of the size of Coronado mall, really small guys. I had fun exploring and looking in the stores. I found a cute dress in my size, and on sale, but when I tried it on it did not look good. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I think that I may go and get a Xmas dress just to feel special at Kmart or something where they are cheap. I was able to buy some rugs and beach towels on sale though, which we needed. Now I can get rid of the nasty carpet in the hall. Friday was pretty good day and my mood was starting to lighten up.

Saturday was pretty awesome in the morning. Like I said in my previous blog, there was a family day for 3 squadron. So, those family members who are an integral part to the men and women of 3 squadron got to take a helicopter ride if they wanted to. Sort of a thank you to us for being so nice and understanding to our partners.

Gordon was on duty crew for the weekend so he had to be there early to get all the helicopters out and up and running. He asked if I would be okay if I went up there on my own or if I wanted him to come with me. I told him that I was a big girl and could fly on my own. I didn't want him to have to take his motion sickness pills unless it was necessary. What can I say about my ride other than...IT WAS AWESOME AND SO TOTALLY COOL!!! I guess I ended-up on the extreme maneuvers helicopter because we were doing spiral downturns and everything. There were moments when we were horizontal with the ground. Now I understand why Dad loves flying so much. The giddy feeling I got in my head when we did the turns was great and just being able to be up in the air was a great feeling too. The doors were open so we were able to take pictures. I was even able to see our house and get a snapshot of that. That's what all those pictures are for. To show you the fun I had on Saturday. I also got to wear the ear muffs that had the speaker and microphone in it so I could here what the pilots were saying. They recognized that I was Mrs. Schofield because I had Gordon's ear muffs that he had lent me for the ride. It was a lot, a lot of fun. When we were little my parents took us to an occasional air show but the only helicopter I remember riding in was the flight simulator that my dad used to work on.

Gordon ended-up staying at work for the rest of the day and some of the evening. A helicopter broke down in Wellington so Gordon was on the crew to go fly out and fix it. He wasn't able to take his pills in enough time so he ended up loosing his lunch on the flight out. They were able to get it up and running but somebody put too much fuel in the chopper and it couldn't lift off. So they had to burn-off the fuel for a bit and then they were able to go but had to fill-up again in another town and then finally got home. I went to go and pick him up because I knew he would be tired from his long day. He didn't get out until 8pm that evening. What a long day for Gordon! We called it an early night that evening. We didn't wake-up until 9am the next morning! So there was a bit of a rush to make it to church. We got our picture taken and name put in the church directory.

Everyone is starting to get in the holiday spirit out here. Some of the carols are a bit different here but they are still good nonetheless. I have a special affinity for "Blue Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" this year. There is a new rendition with Elvis and Martina McBride, it sounds so great. My favorite carol would have to be either "Hark, the Herald Angels" or "Silent Night". I wasn't able to go to the Bulls Christmas parade because I was in the helicopter. Sunday we were going to try and go to the Feilding Christmas parade but Gordon got called into work so we had to decide between grocery shopping and the parade. I chose grocery shopping because I like to have help unloading the car. I was a bit disappointed but I understood that he was on call so it might happen. So we missed all the Christmas parades but Christmas should be interesting.

Gordon and I decided that we are going to the see the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth in the New Year. I was checking out the website and found that it was being held from December to February 8th. I was able to find a holiday park that only charged $50 for a night. I've been trying to reserve a room with them but I keep getting sent mixed messages. We only need it for one night. We are looking at the 3rd of January to go but we'll see. Since we aren't going before we go to Tirau, Gordon and I decided that we should have a date night before we leave. That'll probably be the 23rd of December, Mom's Birthday!, and I get to go to dinner and a movie. I'm really excited about it because Gordon and I don't get to go on a lot of dates. Dating seems to be a bit different out here as well as going to a restaurant. Restaurant experiences out here, you usually spend a couple of hours at the place rather than in the States where you can be in and out in 30 minutes, if you want. We're looking at Speight's Ale House to have dinner and then we have to pick a movie. We'll probably go and see "Four Christmases" since its something we can both watch. "Australia" doesn't come out here until the 26th of December.

On Christmas Eve, we'll head to Tirau to spend time with Gordon's family. I guess they saw our mattresses on the floor last time because they've made us a double bed. I don't know if they thought sleeping seperately was making us spend less time with them or something. We are staying until the 30th though. We'll spend New Year's by ourselves or maybe have dinner with friends or something. I'm hoping that we can go to a pool or lake or beach on a couple of the those days to get some water fun. Christine wants to have a beach day on the 29th, which is why we are staying until the 30th. Hopefully it'll work out and we'll have lots of fun. I keep getting scared of Christmas because whenever someone finds out my family is far away they keep telling me that the holidays can be tough for me. I know that I'll be missing my family but if I don't dwell on it too much I don't get overly sad. I just need to keep my mind occupied to block out some of the pain. It's been a good week though and next week will be even greater because Gordon gets off for two whole weeks! Yeah for me and him! Things are starting to look up and I'm trying my best to adjust to life in NZ.

Just a little note for those that want to know. Our garden is growing like crazy! Our zucchini plants are on a mission to cover as much of the garden as they can. I had to cut a couple of stems so they wouldn't block out the other plants. I guess I have a better green thumb than I thought. I've also planted my bulbs so hopefully they'll be popping up soon! Next step, planting the rest of my little seedlings. Gordon is trying to make me a garden on the side of the house. I tell him we need more soil and he just says we'll fill it with compost. We'll see who wins that argument, hehe. Everyone have a safe and fun week, get all your shopping done for Christmas so you can avoid the crowds!

Golf and water are good for me

It's been a fairly quiet week for me and the weather has been starting to get warmer and warmer. There are still little fronts that come through and make it cold again but I think that summer is officially starting to make its way here. It looks like that sometime this week I actually am going to have to pack-up my long sleeve shirts and take out the short tees. It should be easy, what with all the unpacking and repacking I've been doing lately.

Well, Gordon decided to mow the lawns before he went to cricket practice on Wednesday so we didn't have much time together. It turns out that I was only able to do one errand because he was only at practice for 45 minutes. He's decided to retire from cricket and take up golfing more seriously. If he makes the team for Ohakea this year, it'll be his last time playing. I ended-up going to the warehouse to get a CD for Kylie for Christmas from my family. I was going to try to go to Spotlight, the NZ equivalent of Hobby Lobby, but I didn't have any time. Gordon worked hard at his practice and was feeling it for the next couple of days. I also created a budget for Gordon and me. It wasn't encouraging but I think we can pull it off and start living meagerly for the next couple of months after Christmas. As soon as that blasted card gets taken care of, we'll be able to live a bit more comfortably.

On Thursday we winded-up going to the Rangitikei golf course because we were supposed to play with one of Gordon's friends. His friend ended-up having to cancel and so it was just Gordon playing that day, I decided to walk the course. It was a good thing that I brought some water and decided not to play because I would have been completely exhausted by the end. In fact, I was struggling to finish walking the course with Gordon. It was because there were some really steep hills that we had to trudge up to get to the green at the first couple of hills. I ended-up taking a nap for 2 hours when we got home! It was a very good workout for me. I also got some birthday and Christmas cards in the mail from my family.

Friday I got the car to do the rest of my errands in Palmerston North that I didn't get to finish. I ended up at the bank first to deposit the checks and money I had received for my birthday and Christmas. Then I went to an electronics store to buy my beloved Indiana Jones game for the PC, using the money Gordon's grandma gave me. I decided that I would use the birthday money to buy my game and Gordon can get me something less expensive for Christmas. Then I went to the Palmerston North mall to go to Whitcoull's, a bookstore. I ended buying two cook books that are supposedly for small budget households. I was able to use my $5 gift voucher to reduce the price too and I got another $5 gift voucher! I'm going to use that one to get the 4 ingredient cook book or the next book in the Twilight series. I was also able to go to Kmart and I found some cheap, good-looking picture frames as well as a shirt that was on clearance and fit me! It really was my lucky day.

I ended-up back at the warehouse because there was a CD there that I needed to get and I still had some birthday money. I had just arrived there and noticed that there was a guy signing books at the front of the store. I thought nothing of it but then I looked at the cover and realized it was a cricket player who was signing his book. I decided to get a copy and have the guy sign it for Gordon for Christmas. His name was Craig MacMillan and he was very nice to me. It was lucky that I got there when I did because he was just about to leave. See it was a very lucky day! Then I was able to go to Spotlight and return some things as well as purchase some sale items. I was able to get a sheet set for $20 bucks and a carpet that was $129 for $40! I also did some grocery shopping to get the fridge full of veggies and fruits. Its really important to me that I get back on track with weight watchers and start loosing my weight again. Gordon had to go to work that day at the normal time because there was a parade and what not being held so all of 3 squadron had to be there. He came home and helped me with cooking dinner which is always nice and appreciated.

Saturday was a bit of a let down because Gordon helped a guy out by taking his duty crew shift for Saturday. We were hoping that he would be off in the afternoon. Unfortunately he had to be there all day until 5pm. I ended-up going to scrapbooking for the whole day. I only say that Saturday was a let down because we missed Christmas in the Park in Marton that evening. There's always next year. I did get a lot of scrapbooking done and was able to start on the wedding album. Since it was my birthday month, I got my workshops for free which was really nice. I also ended-up paying more than I was supposed to for my last order so now I only have to pay $128 for my next order, a birthday gift from mom.

On Sunday we did our usual thing of going to church and I was able to meet-up with my friend Kay. We had a nice chat after service and she was telling me that some of the ladies of the congregation scrapbook as well. She was saying that it might be nice to start a scrapbook day or something within the church. We went home afterwards in order to eat lunch and so I could call home.

Afterwards, Gordon and I went to the Marton golf course to play...golf. I was able to play this time around but I did get quite tired from it all. This time I didn't fall asleep afterwards. Golf is an activity we get to do together but he was getting really frustrated with how he was playing on Sunday. He didn't have a stellar round and was abusing his clubs a bit. I don't know if he was just frustrated with the round or something. He's been playing really well lately. We joke and say that its because he's trying to show off for me. We all have our bad days though and Sunday was it for Gordon. Unfortunately, my round was a sort of a good one. I actually got my first par! Gordon was really excited for me and was telling me that I just parred on the 2nd toughest hole of course for ladies. It was a good feeling. I was very aware of the sun's heat rays on Sunday and I had properly put on my sunscreen. The only part of my body that I forgot was my legs! I ended-up with a sunburn on the backs of my legs. When I woke up this morning I could feel the burn, literally.

That night, we had breakfast for dinner. I taught Gordon how to make pancakes. We've also started adding a new secret ingredient to our scrambled eggs that makes them taste oh so delicious and yummy. You don't have to add a lot of it but it gives it a little extra zing. Maybe I'll tell you next week what it is. Gordon was having fun making monster pancakes but he soon realized that they can be a bit difficult to turn. It was a nice relaxed Sunday dinner and Gordon was still in a bit of a mood from playing golf. I guess that I could actually classify it as grumpy. Helping me cook seemed to help him though.

I've been trying to control my appetite lately to get it back to the way it was when I was on weight watchers. If Gordon and I keep playing golf though it shouldn't be as big as a task as it seems. With the nice weather, we're starting to get outside more and do exercising while playing golf. I also tried out water aerobics for the first time today. My doctor recommended that swimming for 30-45 minutes was a good way to get fit. I decided to try the aerobics to see what it was like. I had so much fun and it doesn't hurt as much because the water reduces the stress and impact to your joints. You still get a good workout though because while I was at the grocery store I was feeling the strain in my muscles from the class. I think that I may use my grandparents birthday money to buy me some more classes that way I can go twice a week or so to start loosing some weight. I have a target goal to lose at least 15 kg of weight (~30 lbs) in the next couple of months. After that I may reset my goal but I know that I liked the feeling that I had when I saw that my weight was going down on the scale.

That's it for me for this week. I'll be back next week with some more stories. This weekend is open day at Ohakea and I get to fly in a helicopter! I may also go to the Bulls Christmas parade to see how small town NZ celebrates Christmas. There will also be stalls which will be neat to look at. Oh, I almost forgot, I just got my NZ driver's license in the mail. So it's official, I can validly drive the roads of NZ for 10 years! I took a pretty good picture too. I hope that you are enjoying Christmas preparations! Love you and miss you bunches!!!

The big 2-7

What another big weekend! Gordon and I were back up in Tirau to celebrate an American holiday, Thanksgiving. The Schofields keep talking about how next year they will come to us to celebrate but I think that its easier to celebrate up there for now. Plus, the state of the house has me appalled. Even if they don't care if my house is dirty, I care. I guess I've finally acquired Mom's tidiness when guest have come to visit. However, Thanksgiving was good and the day was sunny and beautiful. It got a little hot in the kitchen when we were cooking late in the day. Roger mentioned at least five times how much he liked the turkey because it was cooked just right and it was so easy to dry out a turkey. I had no hand in it. I just stuck it in the oven when required and turned the heat-up to cook it faster in the end. We had all the basics of the dinner, except stuffing because they're not fans of stuffing. Which is too bad because that's one of my favorites. For dinner we had mashed potatoes (chive and onion), brown gravy, green bean casserole, roasted kumara, steamed asparagus and savoury muffins. I couldn't find any canned cranberry either which had me a little upset but the German Chocolate cake made up for it. I think when we came home we ended-up with all the sweets and the Schofields got the leftovers, strange?

Gordon was on course this week so he got to come home early on some days and spend time with me. We also picked-up the birthday presents he ordered for me. A scrapbook with pages, a popcorn maker and a massage mat for the chair. We also got an ear thermometer because I noticed that we didn't have any type of thermometer in the house. We also sent away all of our Christmas packages for the States so it was nice to be able to send them off and not worry about them anymore. I also got some pots from a fast-growing friend, Kay Brown. I also got my NZ driver's license! Other than that, nothing exciting again this week. I've been taking care of the garden, making sure it's watered and everything. Oh, I did go to the doctor because I was concerned about some pain the chest. The doctor told me that he believed it was just esophagitis and nothing to do with my heart and I was perfectly healthy. He also recommended some activities for me and how to eat New Zealand food, which is very high in calories. It was a good first visit and made me feel good.

On Friday, he got off at about 10:30 and was able to come home and pack. We were able to leave the house at about 11:30 to go to Tirau. We ended stopping in Hunterville to have some lunch in a little picnic area and were able to mail off our Christmas cards. I really like them and I hope that everyone who gets one enjoys them as well. We then switched halfway and Gordon drove the rest of the way. We had to stop in Taupo though due to my upset stomach that needed some fresh air to feel better. We walked to the edge of the lake and sat for a bit. The town was busy due to the Lake Taupo Challenge. Its a bike race where cyclists ride around all of Lake Taupo, quite a big job because the lake is so huge. We saw tons of cyclists walking and when we were driving to Tirau. It made me glad that we were driving the opposite way.

Saturday started off late with Gordon and me sleeping in. It started off an a bad note for me. People like to open their windows here due to lack of air conditioning and these nasty flies start buzzing all around the room and drive me crazy. I saw a fly on the window and decided to take care of it. I ended-up missing him and breaking the window! Gordon took the rap for me, even though I told him not to. He says that these things happen and was more concerned with my arm and hand then the window but I was fine. I told Gordon that we need to invest in fly screens for our windows so I can open them in the summer. After that we went to the Woolworths in Putaruru because I found the pantry lacked some ingredients I needed for cooking and there was nothing for lunch in the house. We didn't start preparing dinner until 4pm. I must say that I timed everything pretty good and wasn't rushing around trying to get one thing done while doing something else. It helped that Gordon was there as my assistant. We had dinner and then birthday cake for me and I got to open my presents. I had Gordon's gifts, which included a picnic basket, and other family gifts and cards. I was very touched that Gordon's Grandma gave me a present. It takes awhile to realize that your part of another family. With the German Chocolate Cake we had hokey pokey ice cream, my favorite!

Sunday we made our way back to Bulls. We stopped on the side of Lake Taupo to have lunch. We also squeezed in a game of golf in Wairou. I was out after six holes which goes to show that I need to be playing more golf. Gordon was having a pretty good game until the last hole when he got into the trees and couldn't get out. He ended-up loosing his temper but I think he was just cranky because he was getting hungry. We stopped in Taihape to try the New Zealand version of KFC; I was appaled that they charged us 50 cents for BBQ sauce. The popcorn chicken was good though. We passed the rest of the ride talking about trips we would like to take around New Zealand, maybe before or while I was pregnant. There's a holiday display in New Plymouth that Gordon wants to take me to and that I want to see. I would also love a weekend in Wellington. Gordon wants to take me on the TranzAlpine train and the train trip to Auckland because of the parts of New Zealand you get to see.

We got home a bit late and I was trying to clean-up a bit because Scotty called and was stopping through Bulls on his way to Auckland. He ended-up leaving the Air Force and moving back to Gore for a bit. Now he has a job to get by on in Auckland until he goes to the UK or States to get a job he actually likes. I ended up cleaning the living room, the place Scotty would be staying, on Monday. Which actually consisted of putting more things in the spare room. I really need some bookshelves or something.

Monday was the big day. My birthday! It started out fine. Gordon made me breakfast and we decided that if it was a nice day we would go to the Cross Hills Nursery and garden. Since we had been gone for the weekend, there wasn't anything edible for lunch that day. We went to a bakery in Feilding to get a couple of sandwiches for lunch at the gardens. We had a slight disagreement in the car on the way to the gardens and I ended-up crying. One, due to my flux of hormones thanks to birth control and two, because having the disagreement made me end-up missing home. It made me think of how if I was in NM I would be going out to dinner with Ali and Mom and the family and we would have tons of fun and maybe play some guitar hero or Mario Party afterwards. Gordon apologized and we made our way to the gardens which was past a little town called Kimbolton. I felt bad for crying and making him feel bad. Usually when we have a disagreement, to make amends, I put my hand in his. It signals to him that everything is okay now.

The gardens specialize in Rhododendron and Azaleas. They were definitely everywhere you looked when you took the little paths. It was a nice ramble for my birthday. Every now and again you would catch such a beautiful fragrance in the air. I am definitely convinced that we should have a rhododendron in our little side garden. We were able to walk the whole area and take a couple of pictures. All of my pictures are on Myspace and Facebook if you want to see them. We took a couple of hours in the gardens and then had lunch. We went back through Feilding to do some grocery shopping for some essentials and ran into rain. We spent the rest of the day at home before we went out to dinner that night.

Gordon took me out for dinner on Monday to a place called LoneStar New Zealand. It was kind of like the LoneStart restaurants in the States but the menu wasn't anything like it. We had a lovely dinner and I ended-up with two desserts. One of them had a candle, which I didn't get any candles on my cake, so I got to make my wish and blow it out. It was a yummy pavlova with a berry sauce. The second dessert was a Banoffie pie, which was bananas, caramel and coffee flavored cream. It was oh so yummy in my tummy. I had the Johnny Cash Stash chicken for my meal which was stuffed chicken with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and other yummy things. I had to take some of it home because the chicken breasts were so huge! Gordon and I were placed at a little table off to the side, very romantic. Our server was named Sierra of all things! We were going to take a walk in the square of Palmerston North but it was raining when we left so the walk will have to wait for another day. When we got home, Scotty was there and having dinner, we left him a house key. We caught up for a bit then headed-off for bed.

Today (Tuesday) was chore day. Gordon likes to have at least one day for chores to do around the house. We had to go to Mitre 10 to get our stuff for the garden. We got our hose extension! No more trekking back and forth between the house and the water can to the garden to water my veggies! We also got some stake labels and potting mix for my plants and the garden and some bean poles for our green beans. Scotty then left to finish his journey to Auckland. We were starting to plant the rest of our seedlings into the veggie garden except it started raining so we had to do inside jobs. We were able to hang our wedding photos that we ordered. We also set-up our Christmas tree which is a small, 80 cm, fiber optic tree. Perfect for a starting couple but we will have to upgrade next year. I was hanging ornaments when there was a visitor at the door. It was my friend Kay Brown stopping by to wish me a Happy Birthday and give me a little yellow rose bush as a present. It was so nice and thoughtful of her. I received the first package from my family for birthday and Christmas. In it were two adorable pictures by Ainsley and Sierra, I have to find a place of honor to put them. I was thinking the fridge. I also got to see pictures thanks to Ali's included CD in the package. While Gordon went to work, I got busy on wrapping his presents and the presents for the Schofields included in today's parcel. So now there are presents under the tree. That's one holiday I celebrate eagerly, Christmas! Gordon hung my stocking over the fireplace and joked that he was going to fill it with goodies.

It finally cleared-up and we were able to plant again. Now our veggie garden is full and we'll see how our new transplants fare. I tried to be as gentle on their roots as I could be but I know that they will be going through root shock and some of their roots were intertwined with others. That's why I like punnets because its one seed per punnet and you don't worry about roots getting tangled. Everything that we've planted so far is starting to flourish. Our zucchini is like a plant on a mission to cover every square inch it can. The green beans are getting bigger and starting to grow up. The butter beans are getting bushier and the cucumber is sprouting new leaves and growing. Looks like Gordon and I must be doing something right. We ended up planting bell peppers, broccoli, butternut pumpkin, sugar baby watermelon, potatoes, kumara, cauliflower, carrots and lettuce today. Our garden is now full and there's no more space so hope for the best.

Tomorrow, Gordon is going off for a cricket practice in Palmerston North and I'll be doing errands in town while he's doing that. The day after, I'm on a mission to do some cleaning around the house with Gordon's house. The bath and loo need a good scrub down as well as the kitchen. That kitchen is perpetually dirty but I'm getting better at reducing the number of pots I use when cooking dinner. We hope to be able to attend Marton's Christmas in the Park on Saturday evening. There will be carols and things and it should be interesting, Gordon may be on duty crew so he might not be able to make it but I hope that he can.

I must admit that missing my family and the kids has made me thought of having children more and more. The job search is not being fruitful and babies take my mind off of my lack of a job for now. I think that Gordon and I are a strong couple. You always hear stories about couple's who have babies and it wrecks their marriage. I can't see that happening to us. If anything, it would strengthen our bond to know that we created another human together. Who knows when its the right time to have children anyway? I asked Gordon today if he was ready to have somebody else occupy most of my time, since a baby would do that. He replied he didn't expect me not to and that he would be trying to help me with the baby. I would really like everyone's thoughts on this topic. Whether its from personal experience or your own view point. How has having children affected your lives? Do you ever know when is a good time to have kids? Is it better to wait a couple of years in the marriage to have children rather than right off the bat? That's my food for thought for the week. I hope that everyone had an enjoyable turkey day with friends and family! I'll be back in a week with another update from the land of the long, white cloud.

Miss you and love you bunches! ~Nedra