Half-versary

Our life seems to be settling into our little niche now because all's quiet on the Schofield front. Gordon was on night shift last week. That technically should mean more time for us but Gordon has a habit of sleeping in and then trying to do chores around the house. I like it when he does things around the house but sometimes there's just no "us" time. Its one of the things that I've learned to deal with concerning Mr. Schofield. We did get to work on our Wall O' Pictures. I made a frame for my sister's family that's labeled "The Martins" and I'll be putting in new pictures when I get them. It always reminds me of my Grandma's house in Maryland (now Pennsylvania)where she has a collage frame devoted to each of her grandkids and now great-grandkids. I have a little piece of my family with me in the lounge.

Last Monday was our 6-month anniversary which Gordon took off for. We ended-up being at the doctors though because I wasn't feeling the best and had to tape the game. No worries now, I'm starting to feel better. I just felt horrible for having to spend time at the doctors but I was a little concerned with my symptoms. Turns out there was nothing to worry about, silly me. We watched the "big" game on ESPN but we didn't get any of the commercials! Its okay, I got onto myspace and caught a couple of the good ones. Gordon's favorite had to be one with the astronauts speeding around the moon and then their tires get stolen. He had to watch it twice. It was pretty funny.

After Superbowl in the afternoon, we went out for dinner to "The Rat Hole" which is a pub and restaurant in Bulls. We needed to go with something cheap and affordable because of...well, money. It wasn't a bad meal of side dishes but I wasn't a fan of my main course. Next time, I'll stick with chicken. Gordon got, what else, a steak to eat and a massive pile of side dishes to go with it. The side dishes come free with the meal so we didn't pay extra for it. It was a nice night and Gordon spent some quality time with me. While we were at dinner, a young farmer's club was starting, it made me think of Kylie right away.

Friday was Waitangi day which commemorates the treaty between the British and the Maori. Everyone gets off for this day and there's usually some kind of uproar at the Treaty house in which the prime minister or politicians are accosted. Gordon had sold a cricket bat the previous day and was dropping it off in Palmerston North so he decided to take me to lunch at my favorite bagel place. We also had a nice walk around the square and I got to go look at a couple of shops in the Plaza.

Gordon was on duty crew this weekend which is essentially on-call in case any helicopters need to be taken out or put away. Friday he had to be there at 2pm. Saturday he was called in at 7:30 and didn't come back until 3pm and then had to go back in at 5pm. Saturday was not a good day for either of us. I did catch-up on some correspondence with friends and family. One good thing that we did do on Saturday was take a nice relaxing walk around the neigborhood. We decided to count how many cats we could see and we got up to 15 and that was only 2/3 of the married quarter! I would say that five of those cats were kittens. No wonder the SPCA is so adamant about getting your cat fixed. I do wonder though that if all the domestic cats got fixed then where would we get free kittens from? Would governments create special licenses for cat breeding so ordinary people could afford a pet? Just makes me wonder and I realize that not every domestic cat in the world will probably ever be fixed. We found a good sunset on Saturday and I had to cajole Gordon to stay outside and enjoy it with me.

Sunday was a nice day and Gordon didn't get called in! There was a picnic at one of the parishners houses' for the pastor's birthday. I made five-cup salad with fruit salad for the festivities. I was afraid that no one was going to eat it but it was nearly gone by the time we left. We met a couple of new people who introduced themselves and chatted. The theme of their questions seemed to be what did I do for a living. I guess its an innocent enough question to make small talk. Gordon talked about being a aircraft technician which left me with the "I stay at home for now" line. It made me a little awkard because they asked what my degree was in and if I've been looking for jobs, etc, etc. They mean well but its starting to get discouraging. The way the economy is I don't know when I'll get a job. I like to think that there is a plan out there for me that God knows about and when I achieve it he'll clue me in. For know, I'm just stumbling in the dark and putting myself out on a limb applying for jobs. It doesn't worry me so much anymore because something will eventually come along and it might not be anything related with biology.

I have been trying to find ways for us to save money. Lots of people have been coming out with lists on how people can save money. I always find that I'm doing mostly everything that they talk about. We don't eat out (maybe once in two weeks), we have a veggie garden (with so many veggies we don't know what to do!), we're paying our card off as fast as we can, we think about any purchases before, we go to the supermarket on a full stomach, we always look for a sale, and we're getting rid of everything we don't need. Gordon has been selling a lot of things on Trademe lately. He's also going to sell his extra golf clubs, the ones he used before he got his new ones a couple of years ago. I'm trying to narrow down my tea sets and sell them as well. So far i have a one cup/teapot that I never used, a sunflower set, a betty boop one and a wicker basket set. I found it hard to part with my things mostly because it cost so much to bring them over. If someone else can like it though then I should give it away and if I can get money out of it why not? We're doing the best we can with what we have. I just wish I could do more for Gordon at times. I was very proud of myself on Tuesday because I made my linen sprays with vodka and bottled water, it says distilled which is bottled.

I've started making cards to fill-up all the time that I have at home. So far, I've made about 10 Easter cards and 6 Valentines day cards. I sent them to Christine so she could sell them in the shop in Tirau. If I can get a little bit of money for Gordon and me then I'll feel like I'm contributing to the household. I could put that money aside for our "emergency fund" so I don't have to worry so much. The size of my cards makes them at least $2 so that will be 36 dollars for us! I'm working on some more to do as well. This picture is just a sampling of what I've done so far. I've been making some really cute ones that look like gifts with bows on them. I also have some pretty flower ones that I'm looking at as well. I even thought of a name for the brand of cards, Scrappy Apple. Scrappy because I use my scrapbook tools and Apple because I'm American, like Apple Pie. I don't have a logo or anything but I think that I'll start putting that on the back of my cards. People like labels.

The garden, what can be said about it? My side garden is taking away which has me a little concerned. I just got a notice today that they are finally going to start painting our outside windows. Which means that I can't plant anymore in my side garden until they are done, which will be 2-3 weeks. Figures that would happen when I have carnations and rubdeckies and cottage mixes that need to be planted. My plants should be able to survive for the next couple of weeks, I'll just have to get those carnations and rubdeckies into some pots for now.

The veggie garden is starting to come into its own and needs a mighty, good trimming, hmm...I sense a chore for Gordon, hehe. The pumpkins and watermelon are trying to muscle their way through the garden, well they are vine plants. We need to stick some cardboard under the cucumbers so they can grow a bit more bug free from the grass. I told Gordon that next year we are downsizing our number of plants because we don't need these much produce and we have limited space in the freezer right now. Like everything else, we're working on it. It does feel nice to have a good garden though, we're definitely going to have fertilize it over the winter to restore the nutrients in the soil. Gordon's tomatoes are getting bushier and bigger.

This is where I leave off for the week. I hope everyone enjoys their V-day on Saturday. We might get to go to the beach that day! I would be so excited if we did. I already have Gordon's card and I still have to think of his gift. He's going to buy me another Alstromeria for the day. We have to get Roger a gift for his birthday on the 24th and my Daxter is going to be two in March so we'll be getting his gift to send as well! Everyone have a great week!