Christmas is Coming......

Hi all! I know, I know, I haven't updated for ages - and now I am going to cheat! If you have already had your Christmas card (which is unlikely as they only fly out of NZ in my friends suitcase tomorrow!) today's entry will be somewhat familiar .... kind of figured that Christmas round robin would serve as a handy summary of 2005 - and then at the weekend I will do a proper blog! And yes, I will have time at the weekend, as spookily I have a weekend to do nothing!!! I intend to walk on the beach, test drive my new lawn mower, do some Christmas shopping and maybe finish Grace's cot cover! Anyway, in the meantime....

Happy Christmas all! Firstly I apologise for the lack of Christmas card and news last year and throughout 2005. Doubtless, since then you have caught up with the various events on this side of the equator - but if not, by the end of the next page you'll be up to date! I guess that means that I have most of 2004 to catch you up on as well although I'm not sure how well I can remember any of that!!
So, 2004 started with John as an Executive Chef in Takapuna running three restaurants - somewhat knackered but professionally doing pretty well. We had Tracey, Phillip, Josh, Megan and John Snr over to stay in the January which was wonderful. One of the few regrets I have in moving here is that Louisa misses Josh big time and so for her it was a particularly good three weeks - plus I got to do some serious yacking with Tracey - which was great! Anyway, saw Dolphins, did the bubbly mud thing etc and then they headed off back to Blighty. Shortly after, John was diagnosed with depression, but saw the doctor who prescribed anti-depressants and a couple of counselling sessions and within a short space of time he seemed to be back to his normal sunny self. In May I joined the gym and spent about 5 months walking miles and miles on treadmills and streets, and working out with weights etc, lost mega fat stuff and even discovered that I was the proud owner of some abs - admittedly they were still quite well hidden, but!! John's sister, Suzanne, also came to visit last year on a whistle stop trip. She had one week off work and managed to get here, have 5 days with us and get back to work on the following Monday - and all with barely a smidge of jet lag!! Last year was probably also the time that Lou and I finally settled in over here. John seemed to get his feet under the table almost as soon as we arrived here. Becca seemed to barely notice that she has moved house, yet alone hemispheres!! but Lou and I, while quite comfortable here, just took a little while longer to feel completely at home. Last year we both found some friends who provided the necessary click factor and by the middle of the year it looked like we were having one of the best years for a long time..... However!! The best laid plans .... pride comes before a fall .... etc etc .... to cut a very very long story short, in October it turned out that John was not happy - and hadn't been for quite a lot of years and after a couple of weeks of not telling me what was going on in his head, or his heart, he left me and the girls, and soon after moved in with a new girlfriend, Sharron.
OK - at the time, all horrendous, all awful - hadn't seen any of it coming - very very hard, and not made at all easier by being miles from everyone at home in England. That said you were saved from a huge amount of burbling and tears, so maybe it was good that we were here when it all happened as it kind of forced me to take it on the chin, and just get on with it all. Subsequently, there have been a lot of angry things said, alot of tears, and quite a lot of arguing about who deserves what, how to best avoid damaging the girls, money, and ancient history. Recently we passed the one year anniversary of John's departure - and at about the time John's Dad and his sister came over on a visit too. I think words from Dad and sister may have helped John look at the train wreck that he left behind, and as a result in the last few weeks things have been noticably calmer and easier.
John seems to be happy. He has been Head Chef up in Torbay, north of Auckland at a place called Snow Planet for the last 9 months and tells me all is going well. He and Sharron are happy and plan to marry once John and I are divorced (we can't apply for divorce till we have been separated for 2 years - so won't be till the end of 2006). The girls get on well with Sharron which is a blessing and he has them to stay at his every other weekend which leaves me a little time to breathe.
Meantime... Having spent the first 10 months of separation swearing off ever having another relationship, I am currently seeing a very nice chap called Mark!! No idea where the relationship is going. Sometimes it feels like it could last forever - other times, and probably more often, I am hit with the "well look what happened last time you thought that" thing! That combined with the whole just having come out of a 15 year relationship which I apparently misread for years thing, and the fact that I can't help feeling maybe I should check out a wider selection of the population means that I am trying very hard, but fairly unsuccessfully to put the breaks on!! (note - 12/12/05 - breaks seem to have come off altogether.....)
So, anyway - that was why you didn't get a Christmas card last year!
2005 - well, Dad and Judy came in January and it was absolutely wonderful. Don't think I have ever been so pleased to see anyone in my life! Remarkable that when things are tough the person that gives you the very best hug is still your Mum or your Dad! And I had quite a lot of hugs! I had to work quite a lot of the time they were here, which was a bugger, but they earnt mega Brownie points on the babysitting front which also meant they got some quality time with the girls. It was fantastic for me not to have to worry how the girls were spending their summer holidays. I would come home to the house having been converted into a restaurant with menus and food to go with it, or to tales of lovely days on the beach or walks in the bush - Dad if you are reading this, I am hoping that if I rave enough you will feel the need to spend the next few summers in the City of Sails!!! Obviously, this is working on the theory that one or other of us wins Lotto - but then I guess if I win Lotto, I won't need to work and I'll just come and visit England every Christmas instead and save you the pain in your knees!
What else? I am still at AUT and have recently had a bit of a change in my job. Until now I have only been employing and managing Temp staff - as of tomorrow I will also be dealing with permanent vacancies and staff as I will be moving into the Human Resources dept which will be a bit of a change - quite looking forward to it - although, I am going to do some study next year to try to move towards working as a Careers Counsellor - that said, that will be a few years away! When John left I had to up my hours to adapt to the financial lurch of separation, and though it's doable, I have to say it is bloody hard work and only doable because I have had the support of a number of very kind and lovely friends who pick up my slack. Never have I asked so many favours and never have I been able to pay back so few. That said, they don't seem to hold it against me!! And despite everything, the girls seem to be riding the wave without too much trouble. Couple of blips from Lou during the year but generally they seem to quite enjoy the various friends who pick them up from school. I, on the other hand, enjoy the days that I pick them up from school and get to actually see them properly. Generally, life does seem to be a bit of a race at the moment though - as in - racing from school to work, from work to school, from school to gymnastics / netball / brownies, to home to bed to Oh my God it's school time again - and when to do homework?!! Never have I been so stressed by homework!!
Anyway - where was I? 2005!! Yes, I am now fat again - John left, I could barely get to the gym and so I spent evenings weight lifting the contents of the fridge - but hey!!! Time to work on it again I think - Mark is talking about getting a tread mill to live in my garage - I am saying nothing, but secretly hoping that he does!! What else - girls both Netball mad - Becca shoots like a little Silver Fern and Boo, if in the right mood, is absolutely cracking when it comes to intercepting. Becca's team did really well this year - but next year their teacher isn't able to run it, so it is being handed over to the Mums!! Haha - think I will be chief e-mailer! Lou's team less successful but playing a lot of older / taller teams so hopefully next year will be a good one. Meanwhile, both Lou and Becca at Brownies at the moment although Lou moves to Guides in January - in the meantime, I get an hour and a half to myself on a Thursday night! And Boo continues with her Flute. In March she was set to give it up - currently she is playing Minuet in G and Eidelweiss (forgive spelling!) and seems to be quite enjoying it.
Schoolwise they are both doing well. Lou is still absolutely rubbish at time management / organising herself and homework is a permanent battle - sadly, she is afflicted (!) by being quite a little bright spark, but she thinks this means she doesn't have to do any work. Becca, on the other hand, still quite bright but has to work a wee bit harder - in the end I suspect she might outsmart her big sister just because she decides she wants to! This year at school they both got completely involved in the school production of The Wizard of Oz - Becca was a Poppy, Lou was a Masseuse! Don't ask!!! And subsequently, Mummy has started having a bit of fun introducing them to some of the great classic musicals. Since seeing My Fair Lady while Grandad was here, they have both got pretty much every song down pat! Becca does a storming rendition of Just You Wait 'Enry 'Iggins, while Lou does a very creditable performance of I Could Have Danced All Night! Last week they seemed to enjoy Oklahoma! and are asking me to get hold of the soundtrack - and I figure it is only a very little while before I will be able to entice them to watch Singing in the Rain with me and to think it is one of the best movies ever!!!
Anyway, this week at school the girls have Outdoor Activity week. The year 6 kids go off on camp and the rest of the school has a bit of a hoolie. Louisa has so far walked up Mangere Mountain (South Auckland), climbed up a rock wall, and today is doing "foraging art" - Becca has been swimming a lot, today it is tent day and yesterday she learnt to draw sheep! Louisa will be sleeping in a tent at school on Thursday - so glad I am not the parent help!!!
As for Christmas - well, I have the girls on Christmas and Boxing Day and then on the 27th they are flying down, solo (Mummy having kittens slightly!) to the South Island to spend 2 weeks on holiday with John and Sharron. Meantime, I am not sure what I am doing, but may be going camping with Mark somewhere North I think!
I seem to remember that the first Christmas we were here I raved about Christmas in the sun - well I need to clarify a little here!!! The first Christmas, I had done most of my Christmas shopping before leaving England, and I was able to shop in the middle of the day when Becca was at kindy and everyone except for a handful of full time Mums were out shopping. I also managed to find the only supermarket in Auckland that no-one ever went to AND it was sunny on Christmas Day so that we had a beautiful Christmas breakfast on the deck and we spent the morning on the beach. However!!!!! Since then, it has rained or been cold every Christmas morning. So I have neither breakfasted on the deck nor been to the beach on Christmas Day since 2001 - Plus, everyone else seems to have discovered my deserted supermarket and they all seem able to shop only at the same times that I am able to! Coupled with the fact that I can't see the Christmas lights until gone 8.30pm and that Christmas trees over here are long needled and droopy (stars on the top not an option! - we hang ours from the ceiling!) I confess that I am hankering after a winter Christmas!
That said... The Pohutukawa tree is known as the Kiwi Christmas tree and it is generally held that if it flowers before Christmas we are in for a long hot summer. This year, my Pohutukawa tree flowered at the end of October - so hopefully we are going to have a cracking summer, Christmas on the beach and will still be basking in subtropical temperatures by the time Tracey and Phillip come to visit in March! (Oh, and Jonathan and Lou, Angela and Vince according to the long term weather forecast, next Christmas is going to be beautiful too - honest!! And if it isn't, I suspect it will be a fab Christmas anyway!!)
What else can I tell you? Seems ridiculous that I have just summed up 2 years in less than two pages! Dave (the lovely Scot at our wedding) and his new wife Claire came to visit this year as well, which was fab. They came for the Lion's tour - despite initially wanting the ABs to win, I confess to becoming totally Pommie by the last match, just on the basis that I was getting bored of the Lion's being pummelled! Likewise the last few weeks in the UK - that said, Daniel Carter is a bit 'Spishal'!
Yes, I now have a twang - sorry. Apparently the girls do too, but I don't hear it. Yes they are very kiwi. They regularly go to school with no shoes on. Sometimes because they want to, sometimes because they can't remember where they left them. Yes we barbecue using gas (aghast!), yes it is still bloody cold in winter without central heating and no I don't know all the words to the National Anthem in Maori - although I did for about 3 weeks last year.
I am now going to go and fix my printer! Failing that I will have to e-mail this to work and print it there! If you are on e-mail and I don't have it, let me know. Plus, for those of you I haven't bored to death already, generally keep my blog reasonably up to date with news - so if you want to know how we are going on next year, you can have a look on http://lisainnz.blogspot.com/ - although you might find the most recent entry is a copy of this!! (God I must be psychic!!!!!!) Please forgive the round robin approach, time is not my friend at the moment! Think of you all often. It's been a strange year or so, but we're ok, over the worst of it and smiling most of the time. It's been good knowing that you are all still there and that when I do ring, (not often I know - sorry) or hear from you in letters and e-mails, you are all the same as ever - and I still miss you all a stupid amount!
So, Merry Christmas to all and to all good night!! Oh, and over here they don't know Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat... !!! and have a fantastic 2006 - looking forward to seeing you, those that we know we are seeing next year - and will work on seeing the rest of you some time before my 50th!!!!
Huge hugs xxxxx