Another month whizzes by between blogs - I need to ease back on this work stuff so that I can concentrate more on keeping everyone up to date!
Steve and Viv Frodsham invited us around for a Sunday roast back in April - and WOW, was it delicious. Steve has missed his vocation as a top chef - the joint of pork he cooked was delicious and his veg selection was pretty awesome too. I tried my best to do justice with a bread and butter pudding for afters - seemed to go down well with all. That was back on the 25th April. I have been keeping a score of alcohol-free days vs had-a-drink days; it was 52:63 at that point - I'll keep you informed as the year continues. I guess the current ratio is symptomatic of the Kiwi-culture of any gathering is an excuse for a bevvie!
Maria and I also went out the following weekend for a few more bevvies...to the birthday party of someone I've met since arriving here - Christine Prince - she's an ex-work pal of Darren Rudkin - a fellow Pembrokian and 1986 Footballing Blue - it's a small world! We've caught up a few times - including at the end of the Christchurch City2Surf 12km race, where she was hosting her fellow Canterbury Tourism employees to a post event BBQ lunch - and glass of champagne, of course.
Talking of races, I've actually entered the Christchurch half-marathon in 2 weeks. Maria is entered for the 10km distance event on the same day - as is Christine. My preparations had been going well until I ran the Tai Tapu 15km race a couple of weekends ago, only to put myself out of action with a humungous blister - not on the palm of my hand - but on the ball of my right foot! I couldn't walk properly for 3 days and didn't run for 9 days after the event!! By the way, I managed to clock 63mins 9 secs for the 15km - the last 5km in blister-agony!
Maria and I had an enjoyable Parents' Evening at Sarah's school - not least because of the fact that the appointments were booked by ourselves on-line rather than having to deal with a hap-hazard mix of appointments and the ensuing scrums. It was all very civilised - plus Sarah's reports were all very positive!
Sarah herself continues to amaze us with the things she is throwing herself in and out of school. She has recommenced piano lessons after school - much to our pleasure - plus she has chosen basketball and cycling as her school sports options this term. The former results in after school matches on a Friday whilst the latter involves a Wednesday post-school 10km cycle out to Tai Tapu Old Rd for a 12km time trial and the 10km cycle back. I would never have guessed she'd have been doing that if you had asked me 12 months ago!
She also goes to a 4 hour, Saturday morning dance and acrobatics class with one of her school pals. She seems to be really enjoying it.
This weekend was also a Charity weekend where school kids were encouraged to 'fast' for either 20 or 40 hours - by which fasting meant survive on rice and barley sugars! Sarah and friends spent 20 hours camping in a back garden at one of the homes - and yes it was very cold last night! Crazy kids!
Anyway, with Sarah out camping and Chris working, Maria and I decided to go out for dinner last night and went to 2 Fat Indians - a curry house in Merivale. The food was great and mine was accompanied by a pint of Boddingtons "Pub Ale"!
May 9th was Mothers' Day here in NZ. Maria and I marked it by going for a lovely walk up in the Port Hills - without the kids! Chris was sleeping - he'd been working nights, and Sarah was too tired from her dance classes the day before!
I held another i2i course in mid-May - which went well - but could have done with more people on paying more money! I've also started my lecturing at the University of Canterbury - which has also gone well to date. I had 6 hours last week and I have another 6 hours the week after next. Not a huge amount, but a start.
I've also been doing a few hours at NZ Business Mentors - holding the fort whilst the usual Canterbury coordinator has headed off to Europe for a holiday. So that's why I've not been blogging - it's been more than a full time job, with lecture preparation, course marketing and administration, etc..
Mind you, I did find the time to go for a round of golf this morning out at Macleans Island Golf Course. It was a BNI fund-raising event - I represented the Emissaries chapter along with Steve Richens, Pat O'Donoghue and Chris Westeneng. I don't think we won any prizes, but we had a pleasant time - and the rain held off. I think we're due plenty of the wet stuff over the next few days. Still, it's been so dry for so long and we have continued to get unseasonably warm days right up until a week or so ago. Autumn is starting to take a hold and it's noticeably cooler at nights - oh for some central heating and double glazing! I think that that's becoming a priority and may cause us to seek out somewhere different to rent in the medium to longer term. Plus, the novelty of the swimming pool has worn off and I'm getting bored of cleaning out the leaves and constantly needing to buy chlorine to fight off the algae! Remind me never to buy anywhere with a pool - more trouble than they're worth!
