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!