Flying Possums

Well, I thought I'd check before I started blogging, but I haven't won lotto - which is a bit of a bugger! It is the night after Guy Fawkes night, and as I sit in a very tidy kitchen with fresh baking smells all around (I know! Unlikely!) the evening quiet is being regularly punctuated by the bangs and whizzes of firecrackers and rockets! Tomorrow is Monday, which was why I felt prompted into checking my lotto ticket - was sooo hoping I didn't have to go into work!

Ok - so, while on work, all fine. Still at Auckland University of Technology, still running the Temp staff who work at the uni. Still quite enjoying it, but could do it standing on my head. That said, the hours fit in, as much as possible anyway, with the girls, they pay me reasonably well for standing on my head and I can study (with all that spare time I have!). Have had a bit of a change of plan since last talking about study. I had decided to do a Human Resources Management course - but wasn't quite interested enough to do anything about it. So, instead, as of March, I will be studying for a careers counseling qualification. Kind of related to what I do now, and something I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about. The bee got particularly over excited a couple of years back when I started looking at going back to work and realised that despite a degree, a management qualification and an armful of sales courses, not to mention O'levels and A'levels, I was doomed to work in a job rather than a career, unless, of course, I considered the possibility of adopting out my children! Anyway, told you there was a bee in my bonnet! So going to do something about it next year.

Continuing on the me front (completely self obsessed, I know!) - still seeing Mark. Couple of weekends ago, he took me away. In the beginning, the weekend was intended to take my mind off the fact that it was a year since John left. As it turned out, I actually almost forgot about it, entirely!! - mission accomplished I guess!! We did sort of go South, but not to any of the places that I had imagined - and in the end it wasn't a surprise either. It turns out Mark is as bad at keeping a surprise secret, as I am about having it kept from me!!
When we first started dating, (3 months ago now!!!) we were talking about favourite places and I told Mark that mine was Cathedral Cove, on the Coromandel where he had never been - so on the Saturday, that was where we ended up and I got to show him my little piece of heaven - beautiful blue sea, and sky, empty beach and a fair amount of snogging! Excellent afternoons work! On the Saturday night, he took me down to Tauranga to meet his Mum - which was really lovely actually. Confess that I was a bit wibbly in the tummy, at the prospect of being vetted - but was made very welcome and treated to the most beautiful roast lamb - and after a rather stonking breakfast on the Sunday, I was sent home with lemon curd (is this becoming a theme?!), oranges, orange juice and avocados! Weighed down with our produce, we headed back to Auckland where Mark had booked us into a rather swanky hotel. The views were just perfect - we had Rangi (my volcano, you'll remember...) out of one window and the city out of the other. When we went to bed we left the curtains open so that we would be woken by the dawn - and we sat on the balcony drinking tea at 5.30 on Monday morning in lovely crunchy white hotel dressing gowns while watching a beautiful sunrise...
Anyway - so, I was originally thinking that Mark was probably not going to be a long term prospect - now, not quite so sure! He gets on well with Lou and Becs, and I spend a lot of the time I am with him laughing, or smiling idiot-like - and when I'm not with him, I kind of wish I was!

The girls seem to be taking all the above in their stride - their approaches are completely different, and seem to sum up the differences in their personalities - Louisa generally greets Mark with "Will you verse me at Chess, Mark" (as in play / versus - don't know, don't ask!), if it's not Chess, she's after Backgammon. Rebecca on the other hand, generally screams into the kitchen yelling "Flying Possums!" which, roughly translated means, "Mark, please take your position at the far end of the living room, so that I can propel, the small stuffed toy possum clutched tightly in my left hand, towards you at great speed. Please be aware that the rules will change as the game progresses to be as advantageous to me as possible. Please also be aware, that should either one of us miss fire, said possum and smash any one of Mummy's special (that's Spishl in Kiwi) bits of china, I will not be seen for dust and you will have to take the brunt of her displeasure!"
Whilst on the games front, Louisa keeps beating Mark at Backgammon, I beat Louisa - ergo hoping this bodes well for my upcoming fixture with Mark. Meanwhile, he still keeps beating me at Scrabble, although less convincingly (I can say that, cause he doesn't read my blog and won't be able to contradict me!), and I still keep thrashing him at Jenga!

Last week Rebecca asked me if we were poor - (how sad is that!), "No," I said, "we are broke"- "What's the difference between poor and broke?" she continued. So I explained that we had a nice home, and food on the table and enough money for decent clothes and for going to the cinema and other treats sometimes, but that there wasn't much left over - which was being 'broke'. She then asked if we were broke because Daddy left - and I told her that that was part of the problem. The following day on the way to school, she suddenly burst out "Mummy, I've been thinking, if you married Mark now, we could have all his money and then we'd be rich!" cue lesson number 473 - "Generally darling, when we get married, it is because we love someone and they make us happy. If you are going to marry someone for money, it is a good idea to make sure they are VERY VERY rich!!"

Then this week, Louisa asked me if I could please have another baby with Mark!!

Both conversations have been reported back to Mark, surprisingly he has not dumped me, although his face did go a very strange shade of pale when I mentioned the baby idea!! Just for the record, NO! - not even a remote possibility!!!!!!

Other than that on the me front...I am exceptionally fat, I have broken out in spots, Chrystaltips hair is being managed with straightening irons, my left knee is buggered from sitting badly at work for 10 of the last 20 years, the rest of my body seems to be under the mistaken belief that it has just entered it's 8th decade, I have discovered that I hate audio transcription, and socially I need at least another 10 hours a day - something which could be solved with that lotto win!

What can I tell you about the girls? Guess I should updated on the netball...Becs back on the team after a bureaucratic / parental glitch - she played yesterday as "Goal A" scoring 14 of the goals in their 16 - 0 win - proud Mummy! Boo at the moment is less enthusiastic, which I am hoping is temporary - think it is partly as her team have been less dynamic of late, but also suspect she has been feeling rather over worked on the homework front, and that by the time it gets to netball night all she wants to do is either design her next catwalk collection or nothing at all!

Christmas is fast approaching - I imagine that you are all sitting there in your polo necks and jeans having been shopping in twinkly lit streets with bows of holly and big Christmas trees - if you have been very lucky it will have been crisp and cold enough that your ear lobes will have hurt. Here, on the other hand, it has just started getting warm. (This is not good! Mainly because I am too fat to take off my jacket at the moment!) We will shop in glaringly sunny shopping malls with bows of holly - (quite ridiculous - it just looks like someone forgot to take them down at the end of last Christmas!) - Santa still wears his big red suit and succeeds in looking rather sweaty and seedy - I'm hoping that the Farmers Santa Parade in the city will be on John's weekend so that I won't be nagged narrow to go - If I give in I will have to sit for 2 hours on a dirty kerb before the parade even starts during which time, a series of fairly untalented extras will throw bucket loads of sweets (lollies in kiwi!) at my children and their perfect teeth - this will be followed by more larily dressed would be actors bringing round flags, hooters and more sweets. Then the parade will start - and shortly after it will finish - and I'll have to remember where I parked the car before battling with all the other irritated mothers to get out of the city and back home! Bah humbug! But oh, it would be soooo much nicer in the cold!

So far I have not found a charity Christmas card supplier - this is also bad! I have written my list - I have even thought about the possible contents of my round robin, however, I have no cards yet - deadline 11th November - alias Friday! Arghh. Fortunately I have a friend travelling to the UK on 15th December - so if all else fails she may be playing the role of Postman Pat - or at least handing over the sorting and delivering to him!

I have now booked the girls flights to the South Island and I am no longer going with them as our airpoints wouldn't stretch - I am a tad nervous about them flying solo, but know that kids do it daily the world over and will now just try and pluck up the courage to let them walk to the dairy (aka corner shop) on their own!

On the John front, getting better. His Dad and his sister obviously struck a few chords with him while they were over as he has been unfailingly nice and normal since their departure. Long may it continue - he and Mark met today and there were pleasantries and no fisticuffs!

I am going to cut short at this point as I have decided to try and get a week of relatively early nights - I have recently, on several occasions, been mistaken for a zombie and think that I should work against this image! However, before disappearing I will try and post the girls school pictures and a couple of other goodies.

Plus, I am going to see if I can get pictures of some of my kiwi and not so kiwi friends here. I am aware that apart from Matthew and Sarah (who are still waiting for Grace Rosie to arrive) I haven't really mentioned anyone in detail, only in very general terms - which is extremely remiss of me because in the last year they have pretty much kept me afloat. Anyway, next time I will see if I can borrow a digital that works and I'll introduce you to some of my muckers.

Big snogs xxx