Goodbye 2006, Titanic, Bantams

1. We're saying goodbye to 2006 in about half an hour. No party or anything. Just a happy new year and a yawn. However, it sounds like the neighbours are having a knees up. I'm looking forward to 2007. I like new starts. I don't make resolutions though. Too depressing when I break them. Hope all the bloggers who visit my blogs have a wonderful 2007 and I look forward to getting to know you all a bit better.
2. We all stayed up to watch Titanic which was a four hour long epic on tv. What a wonderful love story. The children even stayed up and watched to the end which surprised me. We let them stay up as a treat and they went off to bed very easily when it finished. I won't be far behind.
3. I've answered Michelle's question about silkie bantams on yesterday's post. We went to get them today. They are four weeks old and we have three of them, very fluffy and cuddly. Hopefully we have a rooster and two hens. Still a bit young to be completely sure. The rooster has been named Rocket and the girls are Tammy and Opal.

Sales, BBQ, bantams

1. We bought some Christmas decorations for next year at 75 per cent off the normal price. It was fun choosing and we particularly like the colour change lights. We stood in our large cupboard with the lights off to watch them change colour. Wonderful.
2. We also bought a bargain BBQ today. My husband spent a long time putting it together and I'm sure he enjoyed every minute of it. It looks magnificent. I'm looking forward to him cooking on it very soon.
3. We have been looking for some silkie bantams and have finally found some for sale not far from here. We're off to buy some tomorrow and borrowed a chicken coop from friends today. It was a mission getting it home but it's finally here, waiting for its new inhabitants.

Visitors, laughter, end in sight

1. My sister and nephew came to visit from Auckland today. It was great fun having them and a lot of help as my sister took all three children to the movies while my husband and I continued with the concreting around the pool. It was wonderful spending time with family as we didn't see them on Christmas Day.
2. We shared lunch and dinner together and spent much of our table time laughing over funny anecdotes. I've even been laughing to myself a lot since then, just remember the funny stories. We need laughter.
3. No concreting tomorrow. Probably gardening instead. And resting. Yes. Definitely resting.

More hard labour, gardening, cleaning

1. Aren't I the virtuous one? Not sure what's come over me but I certainly seem to be doing my fair share of hard work lately. More concrete mixing today which I continued to enjoy, although I'm not sure my hands will ever be the same again. Progress is being made though, so that's what counts.
2. I am creating a vegetable garden. Well, I've dug the hole anyway. This has happened before, without result - apart from a patch of weeds. However, I feel confident that I can make it happen this time. Ask me later.
3. I haven't had a lot of time for cleaning lately, due to my being stuck next to a concrete mixer for several days. However, tonight I vacuumed under and behind our bed. I finally got sick of cobwebs being the last thing I saw before switching off the light. I feel much happier.

Hard labour, food, weather

1. I've probably said this before but I'll say it again. I love the feeling I get from doing really hard manual labour. It makes me feel much more alive. I've just spent most of a day shovelling cement and sand into a concrete mixer as part of our swimming pool preparations. I concreted a few things I wasn't supposed to, including my shoes, due to poor co-ordination and lack of upper body strength. But generally speaking, I did a good job and I was very proud of myself.
2. However, due to the level of hard work, I allowed myself way too much food. It meant I had more energy for longer but I think I overdid it just a tad!
3. Has anyone seen summer? It's drizzling, although warm enough from time to time. I suppose I should be grateful as it's easier doing hard labour in weather like that I guess. Well, back to the grindstone.

Christmas, gardening, biking

1. Christmas has come and gone and I'm pleased to be back to some kind of normality. I like special occasions but I'm always pleased when things are back to normal. I like things to be predictable. That sounds boring, I know. But it's true. I hope all the word imps out there had a happy and relaxing Christmas.
2. Boxing Day for me has been gardening day. Well, I have done other things as well, but this evening I have been making a vegetable garden. So far, it's involved a lot of manual labour. Great for the soul.
3. We went on a short family bike ride so the children could practise riding their new bikes on the quiet roads around our street. It was wonderful to see the beginning of a confidence I'm sure they'll master very soon. A privilege, in fact.

Chocolate, tarts and pizza

1. In a rush so I have to say I enjoyed the chocolate truffles tonight, Margaret.
2. Also loved the fruit mince tarts, Margaret.
3. The pizza was super delicious Liz and Margaret. Happiest of Christmas wishes to everyone.

Organised, mosaics, pool

1. I'm feeling very virtuous because of my heightened level of Pre-Christmas organisation. Tonight the presents are wrapped. This would not usually happen until about 11.30pm on Christmas Eve and would be done grumpily. Not this year. I'm loving it.
2. I spent hours with the children doing mosaic tiles today. Not sure if the success rate is high, but we had fun.
3. The re-fibreglassing of patches of the pool happened today and things are looking relatively rosy in that department. We think we will swim in it before the New Year.

Hard work, dedication, giving

1. I worked so hard digging and pool cleaning today that I used up every ounce of energy. It felt very good to work so hard but I'm paying for it now.
2. I'm almost asleep as I type. That shows my absolute dedication to blogging. Zzzzzz.
3. We have discovered Oxfam's gifts for those less fortunate than ourselves and my eight year old daughter has organised us into a collection jar with the aim of paying for a first aid kit for a community because the nearest doctor could be a day away. She was horrified to hear such a thing could occur. I'm pleased it's raising the awareness level of my children. Thanks to my good friend Elizabeth who set the ball rolling on that one. Bye for now. Off to sleep.

Chocolate, hammering, party time

1. I haven't had any chocolate for a couple of weeks but have just had three nights in a row necessitating indulgence in chocolate. Tonight was the height of indulgence, with a dessert called "Chocolate Lovers" from my favourite local cafe called Elevations. Thanks for that yummy treat Sandra and co.
2. We have been preparing some tiles for mosaicing (is that a word?) and I discovered that my son gains great pleasure from using a hammer to smash tiles to pieces. He went to the job with so much gusto that I felt more than a little concerned. Perhaps it's called enjoying the moment.
3. My reason for eating more than a little chocolate tonight was a little Christmas celebration with my close women friends. We get together each Christmas for a mums' bit of fun and it was wonderful to have time out from children, pool fences and financial juggling. Thanks girls.

Sleep in, fly, fence

1. I very much enjoyed allowing my son a sleep in this morning as it was the first day of the school holidays. He made the most of it and seemed happier for the rest. If only I could do the same!
2. An angry fly has been buzzing madly about my small office as I write. It's very distracting, but I realised how fortunate I am to live an existence quite different to that of a fly. I'm happily human tonight.
3. My husband has been diligently applying himself to our swimming pool fencing and all seems to be going to plan. I helped a little tonight, although my daughter wanted me to make Christmas crackers with her instead. I managed time for a little of both, but didn't really fulfil either role adequately. I hate that mother thing of being torn between so many wants and needs.

Weird, party, shattered

1. Blogging is a weird thing. People I've never met make friendly comments on my blog and they feel like friends. I'm realising that the comments I make on people's blogs probably give them a similar feeling of warmth and joy to the feeling I get when that happens to me. Thanks everyone. Did that make sense? Warm fuzzies to you all at Christmas and always.
2. I had my little neighbourhood dessert evening tonight and it went very smoothly. The participants ranged in age from four to "seventies" and covered North Americans, British and New Zealanders. The chatting was laid back, the children behaved well, the desserts were mouth watering and the Christmas tree sparkled. I'm glad I did it.
3. It was a nice end to a shattering day. I spent almost all day driving from one timber supplier to another searching for a particular type of fence with no satisfying conclusion. It was frustrating, particularly driving to another town because the man on the end of the phone assured me they had the exact fence. They didn't. However, I remained calm and didn't growl.

Christmas lights, holidays, visitor

1. I'm looking out my office window tonight at an array of Christmas lights adorning the houses in our street. I'm getting in the mood for Christmas.
2. Tomorrow the children will have their last day at school before the summer holiday which amounts to about seven weeks off school. The thought is daunting, but I know it will be fun.
3. I had an unexpected and welcome visitor pop in today. She doesn't celebrate Christmas because of her beliefs, but we managed to skirt around the "holiday" question quite happily. I was amazed that I managed to have a whole conversation with her without mentioning Christmas - although we did stand beside the Christmas tree at one stage. I guess her stress levels will be lower than mine at least!

Seattle, tidy, little helpers

1. Seattle sounds like such a wonderful place. Just the sound of the name is inviting. Our neighbours emigrated to New Zealand after living in Seattle and their family is visiting from Seattle for Christmas. Everything I hear about it makes it all the more intriguing. I must visit there some time.
2. I was a tidy fairy today, tidying and cleaning things for most of the day. I've wanted to get it done for ages - and I'm by no means finished - but I've made a start and the house is looking much better.
3. Our children spent hours in tidy mode today as well. Our son worked on his bedroom diligently and our daughter did mirrors, cleaned out drawers and did some serious scrubbing. It was a real hive of activity and very enjoyable, with music blaring away in the background. I would like more days like that.

Tired, cricket, new recipe

1. Everyone in the family was very tired today due to the late night we all had on Friday with my husband's Christmas party at work. There were some tears, not mine. And a little bit of stomping, again not mine. However, we got through the day and almost everyone's asleep again. I love tomorrow.
2. We love playing cricket as a family and Santa turned up at the work party last night with a cricket set, funnily enough. So we took time out today for a family game of cricket after dinner. My son is a very talented cricketer, following in his dad's footsteps. However, my daughter has my cricketing genes! We try but I think butter fingers would mainly describe our efforts. However, we enjoy having a go and that's what memories are made of, I think.
3. I tried a new recipe tonight called Honey Chicken which uses two cups of tea in the sauce which the chicken pieces cook in. Scrumptious.

Friendship, children, dancing

1. It's been a happy day and a busy one. I started it by having morning tea with a friend who I met more than seven years ago when we moved to this house. She was my neighbour but has since moved house. We always have meaty philosophical discussions and solve the world's problems over hot beverage. I enjoy it immensely, although it's not a frequent event as we're both busy working mums.
2. The children had their end of year concert at school this afternoon. I was so proud of them both, standing on the stage, smiling, singing, remembering their parts and being very earnest. I feel very fortunate to have two happy children.
3. We also had my husband's work Christmas Party this evening. There was heaps of karaoke and dancing and I slipped into the role of DJ for some of the night because I figured out how to use the Karaoke machine. I'm not usually technically minded so it was a bit of a change for me. Santa visited the Christmas Party and their children were very happy with their gifts. I'm glad my husband has found a job where he is valued and so is his family.

Singing, swishing, All Black

1. My daughter went into her room to get dressed for school this morning. She turned her CD player up loudly and sang along to all the words of a song I had no idea she had even heard before! I realised very strongly how she is very much her own person. For some reason it was a wonderful moment for me. I'm so proud of her.
2. As I drove along today I passed a woman walking briskly in her exercise gear. I've noticed a lot of women exercising in public lately. I hope it's not the universe trying to tell me something. Anyway...the most interesting bit was the rhythmical swishing from side to side of her long blonde pony tail. The top half of the pony tail swished while the bottom half stayed still. It looked odd but fascinating.
3. I meant to write this one yesterday, but forget. So here it is today. I listened to a radio interview featuring former All Black Eroni Clark. The interviewer asked about his introduction to rugby and when he started dreaming he could be an All Black. Eroni described being a young boy watching an international rugby match in Auckland with his father. He said that from that day he "purposed to become an All Black". I have never used the word "purposed" in that way. However, now I've heard it, I like it very much. "I purposed at a young age to become a children's author, and I did!"

Cutey pie, super organisation, exercise

1. At kindergarten, there's always one child that is the cutest of cute. One of the little girls at kindergarten is just that little cutey pie. Long curly brown locks, turned up nose, rosebud lips, enormous brown eyes with a slightly faraway look that suggests she's partly in the world of her imagination and partly in the here and now. I like cute.
2. I'm spookily well organised for Christmas. Not completely, mind you. But well on the way. It feels great.
3. We have a huge dirt pile to shift. It's what came out of the hole that the pool now sits in. So it's out with the wheelbarrow and shovel and hard labour for all concerned. However, it's good exercise and should help sculpt the svelte body of my dreams. I look forward to more of the same tomorrow.

Pool, health, more luck

1. The pool is in the hole. It was touch and go for a few anxious moments but a few quick words to my contacts upstairs sorted that out. I have photographic evidence but am not clever enough to get them onto my blog as yet. Maybe some day soon I'll be able to add that exciting facility. That could be a challenge but I'm willing to accept it. Anyway, all looks well for a swim on Christmas Day.
2. I am feeling virtuous about my health after five days (so far) on a healthy eating kick. Also feeling happy, well and not so snug in my clothes! (that's definitely a good thing)
3. We wondered why we had $40 in our bank account and today I found out that our Bonus Bond of $100 won $4o. I think it's the first time in about 7 or 8 years that we've had a win from it. Mum gave it to us when we married 11 years ago. I think we've had $25 ages ago as well. Probably not the world's best investment! But exciting nevertheless. I'm attributing it to the lucky four leaf clover which is still happily living in my garden. Another reason for a photo!

Blogging, countdown, hot hot hot

1. I love blogging. I love bloggers. I love being connected to people around the world who love blogging too. Thank you everyone for caring enough to be part of my blog. I'm honoured.
2. It's the countdown to our swimming pool delivery. It will be delivered by truck and installed by crane (vehicular rather than bird) tomorrow. Very exciting. I can't wait to tell you all the details in my next blog.
3. Finally, some summer weather. Today was incredibly hot. I kept my cool though and did some serious Christmas food shopping to beat the rush which will start to take effect next week, I expect. Good weather for a pool actually.

Calm, faraway friends, hugs

1. I'm pleased to say I stayed calm through many difficult moments today. Everyone seemed to have their moment of angst but I can safely say I pulled each through their own particular storms and all is sunny again. Not bad for someone with PMS either!
2. My faraway friend phoned tonight and I realised how faraway she is. However, we do have a strong spiritual connection which I will try to cultivate at this time of year when I wish we were nearer.
3. Our children are very "huggy". I'm not sure what has created this but I like it. Mostly. Sometimes, however, I don't want to be hugged. But usually, I hug anyway. Lots of hugs were had by all today.

Tired, sky, parade

1. I've been tired and just a bit irritable today, mainly due to PMS. However, I got through the day in an achieving fashion. It was one of those days that I'm just pleased to have nearly ended.
2. The weather was irritable today as well. We all noticed an angry blue black cloud menacing the sky above Mt Kakepuku. It seemed to say "I can get you whenever I want, so watch out!"
3. Our local Christmas parade was held in mixed weather conditions this afternoon. We haven't been since the children were preschoolers, but decided to give it a try this year. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time and our children were pleased to be thrown a lolly or two. Nothing like the parades full of marvellous floats that I remember from my Auckland childhood though. And Santa was too skinny.

Luck, zones, Christmas shopping

1. A friend gave me a four leafed clover the other day. Better still, she uprooted the thing and gave the plant to me to plant in my garden. She seems to have more than her share of four leafed clovers in a lucky little patch of garden at her place. Hopefully my plant will go forth and multiply in a similar way. I believe the luck is already trickling in. Might even buy a lotto ticket. Thanks, Margaret!
2. Someone on another blog mentioned Flylady who I already knew about and her "zones" which I didn't really know about. I've checked it out and sort of started trying to be a house cleaner by zones. Well, I'm working up to it anyway. The good news is, I shared this idea with the children who both find the mess in their rooms beyond their ability to move. So I talked about zones. Both children have now cleaned one zone in their rooms. Progress. I can recommend this for other messy children's rooms. Just get them to tidy one part like a bookshelf or desk or cupboard. The rewarding tidy area makes the room look surprisingly tidier and gives the child a sense of achievement and (hopefully) the will to press on to the next zone!
3. I have finally begun some Christmas shopping. This is unusual since it's not Christmas Eve. However, I'm pleased to be somewhat more organised than usual and have bought two frozen chickens! Unheard of.

Luck, zones, Christmas shopping

1. A friend gave me a four leafed clover the other day. Better still, she uprooted the thing and gave the plant to me to plant in my garden. She seems to have more than her share of four leafed clovers in a lucky little patch of garden at her place. Hopefully my plant will go forth and multiply in a similar way. I believe the luck is already trickling in. Might even buy a lotto ticket. Thanks, Margaret!
2. Someone on another blog mentioned Flylady who I already knew about and her "zones" which I didn't really know about. I've checked it out and sort of started trying to be a house cleaner by zones. Well, I'm working up to it anyway. The good news is, I shared this idea with the children who both find the mess in their rooms beyond their ability to move. So I talked about zones. Both children have now cleaned one zone in their rooms. Progress. I can recommend this for other messy children's rooms. Just get them to tidy one part like a bookshelf or desk or cupboard. The rewarding tidy area makes the room look surprisingly tidier and gives the child a sense of achievement and (hopefully) the will to press on to the next zone!
3. I have finally begun some Christmas shopping. This is unusual since it's not Christmas Eve. However, I'm pleased to be somewhat more organised than usual and have bought two frozen chickens! Unheard of.

Miracle sorted, feedback, hats

1. The sevens ticket miracle has been sorted. I'm more than pleased. Now I can dress up as Marge Simpson at the Wellington rugby sevens in February with my sister and friend and join the biggest party in the world. No blogging that weekend sorry.
2. I received some excellent feedback today from my Maori language mentor about the work I'm doing in kindergarten. It was good to hear.
3. My daughter wants a new summer hat. Nothing seems right though. What do you want? Not that. What would your hat look like? More fancy. Aaaahh! The joy of daughters.

Saying goodbye, neighbours, cuddles

1. Lots of the kindergarten children are leaving this week or next for school. I'll miss them so much. Even though I only see them on Wednesdays, they become an important part of my life and I see them grow in confidence and abilities - then bam... most of them are never seen again. However, I do occasionally see them in the street - when that happens, I'm invariably treated with a giggly embarrassed smile.
2. We spent some time with some lovely neighbours tonight. My husband offered to cut down a tree on their property which was causing trouble. He's in his element with that kind of work and jumped at the chance as soon as he heard they wanted it gone. He did a marvellous job and we went over in our pyjamas to see him finishing it off. Then we all walked around the lovely garden they've created. It's surrounded on two sides by a creek and we spotted an eel curving past. Very exciting. It's the first they've seen there. It was a special time and the children each came away with an old stamp album from the depths of their garage.
3. We spend a few minutes each night giving each of our children a "cuddle time" to say good night. It's a lovely time when they tell us secrets from the day and we remember how much we enjoy being parents.

Lunch out, dinner out, family

1. I was lucky enough to be invited out for lunch with some women friends today. It was a very long lunch with plenty of laughter and delicious home cooked fare. Thanks girls! I needed that.
2. Then I was lucky enough to be invited out for dinner! My husband's parents shouted us dinner at a restaurant near their home and I devoured a wonderful Moroccan chicken dish. Mmm. I needed that too.
3. Enough about food. I feel very fortunate to be part of a large, loving family which is relatively functional as opposed to dysfunctional. Others less fortunate are all around us, and I need to remember to count my blessings.

Mind rooms, bloggers, maybe miracles

1. I worked with some students today on a short writing project using an idea I got from another blog. Blogs are great for that. It was the idea of someone else (I'll get back to you on that) about imagining your mind as a room and describing the room. The students aged 6-12 imagined their minds as various rooms and several produced great results. I can recommend it to other teachers. A fulfilling lesson.
2. I had cause to be thankful for another blogger today. I was checking out the blog of Meg4Meg who has started enjoying my word imperfect game. I noticed that a recent post of her was dedicated to how much she enjoys my word imperfect blog. Thanks Meg4Meg. I'm very pleased to be bringing joy to people far out of my normal sphere of influence. Hope the joy continues.
3. My search for rugby sevens tickets took me into uncharted begging territory today. They say it's not what you know it's who you know. Well, it's not exactly someone I know but someone my husband used to know. I phoned him with my request and he says he will do his best to try to find us some tickets through his contacts. It's not a miracle yet but it has the potential to be one. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Fun, pancakes, wind

1. Some friends from my husband's work visited today. We played soccer and cricket on our large front lawn and lots of fun was had by all. It was nice to play.
2. We had pancakes for dinner. I enjoy flouting custom every now and then and having dessert instead of a main. It's not a regular event in our household, but unusual enough to be considered a real treat.
3. I don't enjoy the wind and there's been plenty of it lately. But, on the good side, the washing gets dry. And I like that a lot.

Miracle, gala, butterflies

1. Finally, the world's kindest man has agreed to shift the swimming pool we have bought from its possy in Auckland to the whole in our lawn. It will cost us, but it's what we've been hoping for. Happiness reigns.
2. The local school had a gala this morning. I asked my son if he wanted to come with us. He said no. We were organising to go and he said "what is a gala?" When told it's like a fair, he said "Oh, I thought it was a garden centre. I'll come then." Something of a word imperfect moment I thought.
3. My daughter and I were shopping for tent pegs and also bought a swan plant so we can hopefully watch the monarch butterfly life cycle process. I haven't seen a single monarch butterfly for ages. Then, about 5 minutes after we arrived home, I looked out the window and a monarch butterfly flew straight past! Very weird.

Recycling, relaxing, hail

1. I helped the environment today by taking my recycling to the depot. I took my mum's recycling as well. It's not a big thing, I know, but it all adds up. I'm sure.
2. Now that my manuscript is in the able hands of my agent, I can finally begin to unwind and relax. It's a wonderful feeling. There are other pressures, of course, but nothing too onerous.
3. Today was the first day of summer in New Zealand. You wouldn't have known it though. It actually hailed! Hail is so exciting! The children didn't mind at all. There wasn't much and it melted fast. But it drew whoops of glee while it lasted.