i am writing this as i sit in a central south island motel room watching csi miami. the south island is hot, mostly. we started on saturday with christchurch and rumours of another 40 degree day. which basically didn't happen. but, hey, any excuse for a sprinkler party. so we got into our togs and went nuts.

speaking of nuts, a road trip with your family is the most mental idea in history. the term over ambitious springs to mind. plus there have also been fights over the use of english. especially whether the instruction "veer right" means "turn right" or "go straight". needless to say, when your car rental company doesn't give you a map and you haven't yet bought an iphone with gps, this kind of conversation is pretty frequent. plus we haven't yet figured out the right grace period before we can make fun of this kind of hilarity. hence the near tears this morning as we were trying to get out of christchurch to head south.

on the up-side i probably get to feed wallabies tomorrow and my nephews are even more awesome the more you get to know them. plus the warehouse has cheap cds. which leads me to announce my new favourite song of all time:



barry white forever!

this is just about the saddest thing i've ever seen. an empty swimming pool on a hot summers day.

yesterday was real hot so i decided to go to the khandallah summer pool to cool off. when i got there it was locked up and - more concerningly - drained. according to the woman in the cafe next door the pool was drained last week and the explanation was that it rained a lot LAST year.

another letter of complaint for me to write. to the council for being the epitome of bad bureaucracy. gives bureaucrats a bad name. also for not serving my wellbeing. and for creating barriers to access (the outdoor pools that you have to pay to enter are still open, it seems just the free ones have been drained). but more importantly it was just sad to see an empty pool on a sunny sunny saturday.

other letters i have yet to write:

• complaint to wakelin house for not honouring its entertainment card promises
• complaint to my neighbours for not inviting me to the street party (seriously there was a street party in the part of my street near the intersection and i walked past and noone acknowledged me, don't they know it is me that makes this street cool?)
• open letter to the city to try and get people to stop feeding pigeons. they are so unattractive and needy they ruin my lying around in the botanic gardens by their coming right up to me. ewwww i probably have salmonella now.
• invitations to my birthday party. it will be on thirty first march. i will send invites. but for now you should keep the night free.

so my current frustration is work. what a dumb frustration. i wish i was like rory gilmore having three hot boys fight over me. that is the kind of frustration i would welcome. but work is such a lame frustration.

i can tell i'm frustrated by work because i'm finding it hard to get out of bed. it is a sunday and i should be spending the day alternating between swimming in the sun and reading in the sun. instead i will spend the day alternating between writing a presentation on one thing or writing a presentation on another thing entirely. to mix it up i may send some grumpy emails about how the inability of certain people to do their jobs is impacting on my weekend. any advice on how to make it particularly pointed is completely welcomed.

also my house is a mess. i think i need a maid. when i'm frustrated at work i tend to go out more in the evenings. which means i tend to not spend any time at home except to throw my clothes on the floor and make midnight snacks which i never do the dishes from. a maid would make this behaviour sustainable.

also when i'm frustrated about work i get really in to tele. like last night i was really in to this programme called how i met your mother. it wasn't half bad, even though it was a bit predictable and never really got anywhere. actually, now i'm not sure why it wasn't half bad. maybe it was the cast - doogie howser, one of the chicks from buffy and a dude who i think was on freaks and geeks. but the world is conspiring against me because the remote control has gone missing so this simple pleasure is now significantly less pleasurable.

anyway, time to make some banana on toast for breakfast and face the day. sigh.

so boyz II men are in new zealand. right this moment they probably just finished performing in bowlands new plymouth. lucky new plymouth.

anyway, guess who was in new plymouth this morning HUNTING THEM OUT*? that's right, me. don't let the fact that i was probably clinically depressed the entire decade fool you... i go nutty for the nineties. and bIIm scream nineties. especially that deep voiced dude (the one in the centre, the one who is not peaking over the shoulders of the others, the angel). motown philly, back again...

by my calculations there are two good hotels in new plymouth and therefore two accommodation options for bIIm: the copthorne and the waterfront. i stayed at the copthorne, and NOTHING. so for breakfast i drove over to the waterfront and fine-dined there. it was a million dollar view...

and a thirty dollar breakfast. there was a creative use of bacon, which is always welcomed by me. just as well too, because i didn't espy a single bIIm member. if it werent' for the bacon i would have thought it thirty dollars wasted.

after a hard morning of star gazing (or gazing at everything but stars, sigh) i headed to pukekura park and lay in one of the dells reading and trying to appreciate the provinces more. things were going well until i noticed i was (a) getting bitten by provincial bugs and (b) going to miss my plane home if i didn't hot foot it to the airport...

my understanding is that bIIm will be in welli tomorrow. when i can begin the great search all over again.

*note, i was actually in new plymouth on business. the bIIm thing was just a happy coincidence

babes

first off, this is a shout-out to all the new aunts in the hizouse. i'm quite practiced at being the world's best aunt, but let me tell you - it isn't as easy as it looks. getting them to kiss you on demand is the best trick, followed by getting them to squeal in delight and jump and say "up, up" every time you walk in the room. both have taken me eighteen months to perfect.

talented babes

while i'm on topic, my nephew tried to impress me yesterday. he made me a drawing:

i draw too, i told him. he didn't believe me. it was another time, i said to him (and another me, i said silently, to myself - i so need an oprah lifestyle makeover right now).


then i gave him a a piece of chocolate and he danced to the wiggles for me.

seasons in the sun

so usually it is warmer in the wairarapa than it is in welli. not today though. the one day in history or something. nevertheless i went to wairarapa for a relaxed gourmet picnic. it was one of those awesome days where i enjoyed myself just hanging around chatting. but to be truthful, the memory of the company is fading and all that remains fresh is the memory of the awesome food - in particular the awesome pies. NC deserves the player of the day award, for the pies but also for the frisbee action. (i said it, i played frisbee - sort of. mostly i stood there and watched as it sailed past me, but occassionaly i jumped or ducked in order to clam the disc between my hands. this means i'm no longer afraid of the frisbee, but i'm so lame - why don't i just play hacky sack already).

let's get together and feel alright

it is one love at hataitai today. all these drunk and or high AND sunburnt people are walking past my bedroom window loudly talking. i've even recognised a few. the next door neighbour's kid is trying to convince his friend that they can sell stickers to the passers by. i hope he has mobile EFTPOS, these people look like they are unlikely to have any cash on them.

long time passing...

and obviously it is waitangi day. i have retreated to my room because the television news is so god-awful. what i would give for some good reporting.

to be honest with you, for a while there i was unhappy with my home town. it was wet and cold even in the height of summer. but wellington, wellington, wellington, you have won me all over again.

i hate to go on about the weather, but IT HAS BEEN AWESOME. i have tan upon tan and even though that will be bad for me in the long term and i face a life of wrinkles it was so worth it. i have spent more time in my togs than in civilian clothes. and my hair has gone that over chlorinated straw like consistency.


i'm permanently exhausted. i lie in the sun. drinking chocolate milk, if all goes particularly well.

i break the lying around with periods dancing at bars or playing pictionary with rats (real rats, and i survived and didn't even vomit or anything - given my phobias this was a big achievement), or waiting at fish and chip shops for my scoop of chips (which i will then eat lying in the sun drinking chocolate milk). i might even crochet and watch buffy the vampire slayer early episodes.

i tried to garden yesterday as an activity that required movement. but it was all too much. i took a break after an hour and had a nap in the sun instead. it was more rewarding.

i wish i had taken tomorrow off work to extend my weekend. but i will hold out for tuesday where i will picnic and lie in the sun some more - all things running to plan.