YAH!! I AM GOING TO RAROTONGA TOMMORROW!!

Yes it's true - we are FINALLY off to Rarotonga tommorrow and I can hardly wait:)

Over the past week I have been making my final preparations for the trip - I bought some shorts (well they are 3/4 pants on my but hey close enough), some cute summer open toe shoes (with skulls on them - too cute!!) and a few books for the plane and beach and also a cute summer hoodie that Kat made for me.

I have also packed my togs and summer frocks and dresses a plenty - looking forward to giving them some air after being neglected in my wardrobe due to cold weather.

We did a brief grocery shop today and picked up a few nibbly things and some cereal (as apparently food is quite expensive in Rarotonga) - I also made doubly sure I don't forget my toothbrush and toothpaste as one of the ladies at work forgot these on her trip to Rarotonga and ended up paying $13 for them!!

Well I best sign off for now - I have vowed not to touch a computer or cellphone for the next week!! But never fear - I'll be keeping a journal (I am SUCH a geek) so no doubt will have plenty of stories to tell and photo's to publish when I get back!! OMG GOING TO RARO!!

Weekend thus far...

I guess my weekend started on Friday, well at least my social calendar did when I met Karyn at Ministry of Food for lunch on Friday. She was having a look about town as she had the day off work so it was good to see her as I hadn't had a "lunch date" in a while:)

Friday night was super quiet - apart from a quick stop at the Number 1 Shoe Warehouse to buy some shoes for our trip! Other than that it was a quiet night at home...we ended up watching Ren and Stimpy on C4 which was kinda cool - I forgot just how MENTAL Ren and Stimpy was.

Today's been a kinda busy day - I had my final sewing class for a while in the morning. I finally finished my sheer halterneck top that I've made for wearing in Rarotonga over my togs. I kinda liked the skirt I made better but at the same time I know I've learnt heaps in the past 4 weeks of sewing class and I am getting more and more confident. I also have started a black lace sleeveless hoodie, class is over though so I think I will have to call on Kat's expert help to complete that one. Anyways here's a wee photo of my completed second project.

It's not the greated photo in the world but you get the jist of what the top looks like anyways.

After class I had lunch out with Jess, Celia and Ange at my favourite place in the whole world! Yes HAREM! I actually hadn't been there in a while and we all shared a couple of Mezze platters...mmm....Mezze.... It was good to see everyone again and just hear the goss as it was the last time I'll have to catch up with the girls before my holiday (hummm....how many times can I talk about my holiday in one blog entry!).

After hanging with the girls met up with Andrea at Aro Cafe for a coffee - it was good to see her and have a chat. Although very annoyed Aro Cafe DOESNT do Chai Latte's! I may have to cross them of my list of Cafes to hang at!

Well better sign off now - tonight Rich and I are off to a comedy festival show with Ross as we haven't seen him in the while. The show is about a dominatrix...hummm...maybe we shouldn't sit in the front row for this one?

Bye Bye Georgie!!

On Wednesday night I headed out with the girls to bid a final farewell to Georgie before she heads home to the UK - yes I know we've already said goodbye to Georgie a couple of times now but this was the last time any of us will see her until either she comes back to NZ when she realises how truely wonderful it is and realises that she doesn't in fact want to go home or until one of us heads over to the UK for a holiday or OE.

Anyways, we started the night out at a Malaysian place with super yummy (and super cheap!!) food. It was really nice to catch up with everyone, as I kinda felt like I fell out of the loop for a bit as I didn't wanna be around people much when I found out Marth had died, so it's kinda nice to get back to my normal social butterfly routine.

Anyways after many noodles and much gossip about what Georgie had been up to and what she was going to get up to next in her exciting travel in Asia we decided it was time for coffee. But then coffee actually turned into gelato.

For those non-Wellingtonian's who read my blog - the greatest place in Wellington to get Gelato is Kaffee Eis!! There is a relatively new Kaffee Eis store opened next to Paramount Cinema so we went there to have a gelato...and joy upon joy they have Chai Gelato!! It's just like a Chai Latte...only cold:) YUM!

After further gossip and some Gelato it was time to leave, with final hugs to Georgie, we will all miss her!

A bit of what I've been up to lately

So my blogging has been a bit slack lately - just seem to be very short of time:( Anyways here's a few lines about what I've been up to lately.

Last Wednesday Rich and I had a bit of a night out - the old dinner and movie thing. So we headed over to Electric Avenue for dinner, I'd never had dinner there before but it was really good, I can recommend the vege stack to anyone! Rich had a piece of fish and it was absolutely huge.

Then we went and saw a film at the Human Rights Film festival - I can't remember the name of the film but it focused on the rights of children and young people. I found it particularly interesting as one of the young people in the film was a Japanese teenage who had aspergers syndrome, which is a learning difficulty. It was like the Japanese school system didn't know how to deal with this kid because he wasn't "normal" so they sent him to a special school where a lot of the kids had quite bad disabilities - he clearly didn't belong there and spent most of his time trying to convince his teachers that he should be at a "normal" high school. Which was very sad and a bit strange as I never really thought of my brother as being any different to any other kid.

On Friday night Rich and I decided to do the comedy festival thing and went and saw "Andrew McLellan's Mix Tape" - this show was so hilarous - basically it was this guys love of music with a few jokes thrown in - a perfect comedy show for music geeks like Rich and I. When he was discussing the different types of metal I thought I might fall off my chair or something I was laughing so hard!

On Saturday night we headed over to Donna and Lee's new place in Roseneath for dinner - so we walked from Aro Valley to Roseneath and back!! It was a bit of a hike but worth it - there new flat is great and nice and warm:) Also they made us a really lovely dinner - we will have to return the favour soon...although I don't think I'm as good at cooking as Donna is...but hey it's the thought that counts right?

On Sunday I had my first Muse meeting which was awesome!! An article I wrote is going to be in the next issue which I am very excited about and it was just great to spend some time with some women that are passionate about feminism.

When I arrived home from my meeting I saw Nankz briefly - he had bought over some cake and a little soap to say sorry about Marth which was just lovely. I feel so lucky to have so many great friends that have been there for me in the worst of times.

We now I shall be off - craft club is at mine this week and it's due to start very shortly so I best get off this computer before people start arriving!

I FINALLY feel like I am going to Rarotonga!!

Why is that you may ask? Yesterday I FINALLY got to pick up my passport - and I am so HAPPY to finally have it - mugshot and all (the photo is terrible but I think that's pretty standard).

I also picked up our tickets and associated travel malarky from Jess yesterday - so we are all set to go....just counting down the days to our holiday!

In other news, I saw Jaimee for lunch today - it was good to see her and catch up. She had bought me a sympathy card with a little message in it which was very sweet of her:)

I went to bellydance after work today - when I came home I had a parcel from my friend Karen in Masterton - she'd written my a lovely wee sympathy card and sent me a glass heart to say sorry about Martha.

It's really good to know that I have friends that will be there for me even if the times are tough and I have to say I really appreciate all the support I've got over the past couple of weeks.

Born Again Runner

In an effort to regain some of my fitness I have lost over the past few months and lose some weight I have decided to embark on a long lost fitness love - running - yes running! Now I know many people out there would rather have teeth pulled than go for a run - I know this because I was once amongst their ranks!

This is the first decent run I have had in over a year - in fact it may be the first really decent run I have had since I moved to Wellington!! I ran from our place to the Botanical Gardens and back without stopping. As always it was hard to get going - for the first 5 minutes all that was going through my head was WTF am I doing? Do I really want to be fitter this badly? But then a few moments later I started to feel awesome - I am totally going to include more running in my exercise plan from now on - with running, going to the gym and bellydance my fitness will be up again in no time:)

General Blab...

Well it's a week today since I found out about Marth and whilst things are still hard and I'm still a little sad I feel a lot better than I did a week ago....if nothing else this whole experience has given me a much greater appreciation of what I have and made me feel like I have to really make the most of the adventures that come my way as none of us really know how long we have...scary thought but true.

With that thought in mind I decided that I would head off to my sewing course on Saturday - Marth was a really crafty person and I know that the last thing in the world she would want me to do was bail on a craft course because I was feeling sad. It was actually a really good morning when I had been there for a while - I guess doing something you love always makes you feel better and I was keeping my hands busy and not over thinking things (which is what I was doing at work for the most of the week) so it was really good. Also now my first creation is completed - my black A-line cowgirl style skirt. Here's some photo's of my creation -

Here's some detail of the skirt and cutie cutie little horse shoe and some pretty gathered lace!!

This picture is a little dark but you get the general idea of what the skirt is like - I'm really happy with it and have 2 weeks of class left so hoping to make a halterneck top next week

In other news - our trip to Rarotonga is coming up really quickly and with the events of the last couple of weeks it's just what I need too. Although I am slightly stressed about the whole thing - I applied for my passport sometime ago as you're meant too and the nice people at the Department of Internal Affairs sorted it all out for me but now those morons at NZ couriers are giving me the total run around - they claimed they tried to deliver it on the 7th and 11th May - hello - no card was left at our house either of those times! I rang them today to ask if they could just leave it at the Terrace postshop for me to pick up and when I got home today there was a card from them saying they tried to deliver it...grrr...talk about stress you out and drive you crazy....I'm going to ring them first thing in the morning and see if it actually as it the Terrace postshop (because they were suppose to ring me and confirm it was there but of course they didn't). If I don't get it tommorrow I'm going to get Jess to put the hard word on them as our travel agent because this is just CRAZY!!

But on the up side if I do actually manage to make it to Raro - Rich and I have sorted a draft schedule of things we'd like to do when we are there and here it is....

Thursday 31st May

3:00pm arrive in Rarotonga!

Explore Avarua

Take a round the island bus trip

Attend Island night

Friday 1st June

Morning - Take a tour of Rarotonga in the morning via bus

Afternoon - Hire Bikes and go cycling

Evening - Got to Punanga Nui markets “feast night”

Saturday 2nd June

Morning - Go to Punanga Nui Markets and buy lots of yummy fresh Island fruit

Afternoon - Head to Muri Beach and go snorkelling

Evening - Eat dinner and head out and see what’s happening in Avarua

Sunday 3rd June

Have a day out at Muri Beach! Go for beach walk, snorkelling, cycle around the WHOLE island, whatever else takes our fancy

Monday 4th June

Morning - Rich plays golf at Rarotongan Golf Club, Trees may join him, or may go shopping….

Afternoon - Take a day walk to Wigmore’s Waterfall

Evening - Maybe go out for dinner - enjoy hanging out in Rarotonga

Tuesday 5th June

Complete one of the bigger day walks in Rarotonga then in the evening relax!

Wednesday 6th June

Morning - Art and Craft Markets at Punanga Nui Markets

Afternoon - Check out some sites in Avarua - Art Galleries, Museum, Wreck of the Maitai, National Culture Centre, carving workshop - anything else that sparks our interest. Could also complete another short walk.

Evening - Have a nice dinner out and chill

Thursday 7th June
Morning - Have a final look about Rarotonga - visit Parliament on the way to the airport and say bye bye - fly back home at 4pm

So yeah that's a draft schedule of what we would like to do - enough ramblings for now!

Thank you Everyone

It has only been a few days since I found out about Marth but everyone has been so fantastic to me.

They say that you find out who your true friends are in a time of crisis, and if that is the case then I am so lucky as I have many many good friends.

Thanks to you all for your hugs(real and virtual), texts, e-mails and phonecalls!

Ange sent me this poem this morning - she read it at her Dad's funeral - it's very poignant and I felt that I'd like to share it with the world.

Death is nothing at all

I have only slipped away into the next room

I am I and you are you

whatever we were to each other

that we still are

call me by my old familiar name

speak to me in the easy way

which you always used

put no difference in your tone

wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

laugh as we always laughed

at the little jokes we enjoyed together

pray smile, think of me, pray for me

Let my name be ever the household word

that it always was

Let it be spoken without effort

without the trace of a shadow in it

Life means all that it ever meant

it is the same as it ever was

there is unbroken continuity

why should I be out of mind

because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you

somewhere very near

just around the corner

All is well

Henry Scott Holland(1847-1918)
Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

Farewell to my beautiful friend Martha

It is with a very heavy heart that I make this entry in my blog - last night just as I was leaving bookclub I recieved a text message from one of Martha's friends Kellee.

Kellee let me know that Marth passed away last Friday night and was buried yesterday.

I knew Martha had been getting sicker and sicker, she told me she was on some new medication but the doctor wasn't sure if it would work.

I also knew she had lost the feeling in one of her hands and the doctors weren't sure if she would get it back.

But I didn't realise that she was so close to the end of her life.

Martha was a fantastic friend to me and I will always remember her - I will remeber her bubbly personality and her sense of humour.

I will remeber all the beading classes we took together, the shopping trips, the tonnes of postcards she sent me and her beautiful smile.

It will be hard next time I got away on a trip somewhere - as I won't be able to send her a postcard.

It will also be hard next time I go to Auckland as I won't be able to visit her.

She was such a fantastic person - and even though I will miss her heaps and heaps I count myself so fortunate to have been able to have her as part of my life.

I will always remeber Marth when I do my crafts, when I attend art classes and when I run stalls at markets.

This morning when I got up I decided to wear the leather and paua wrist cuff she made me for my birthday a few years back to remeber her.

I will always remeber her as being a really good friend and as one of the people who has shaped my life and made me who I am.

Farewell my beautiful Martha.

Flatwarming Party

So last night we finally had our flatwarming party and it really was a fantastic night! It was great that so many of our friends could make it:)

We weren't expecting any presents for our flatwarming - but we got quite a few lovely things for the flat.

The biggest surprise of all though was that some of our friends pooled thier money together and bought us a microwave - so we have finally entered the 21st century! So thanks to Jess, Andrew, Celia, Simon, Brendon, Ange, Donna, Lee and Jacqui for getting us a microwave and especially to Jess for organising the microwave!!

Anyways - here's the photos - ENJOY:)

Day 1 of my sewing course

Yesterday I had the first day of my sewing course - it's the first of four, four hour classes (which includes me and a whole bunch of kids aged 13 to 15! Eek I'm the oldest in the class by more than 10 years!).

The class was really good though and the tutor is really excellent. I've nearly finished my first project - a black A-line skirt (although I have to admit I'm finding the darts a wee bit tricky) - it's nearly finished - I just have to hem it and add the waistband - I'm also wanting to sew some red lace along the bottom:)

Then my next project for class will be a red tartin halterneck top - yah!

mmmmm....warm new winter jacket....

I finally got around to picking up my new winter jacket from Miss Demeanour today - it's snuggly and red with a hood and cutie cutie fur trim - I am so loving it!!!

I have to admit - even though I complain a lot about the cold - I LOVE winter fashion so much!!

YAAHH Postcard!!

Yah - thanks to Jess for feeding my postcard obssession and sending me a postcard from her holiday up in the Coromandel (*Sigh* what I wouldn't give for a holiday in the Coromandel! So beautiful up there)

I'm officially a Muse!!!

Ok that last comment may have not made much sense - let me explain...

There's a feminist zine here in Wellington called Muse - it's a really fantastic little zine.

Anyways I had a bit of a meeting with the Muse collective on Sunday (a bit like a job interview I guess) and I have been asked to join the collective.

I'm really excited about this - can't wait to get involved with more feminist activism type stuff:)