Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Fluffing Aboot

I can't believe it's been a month since my last blog entry. There's not TOO much to report. I've just been fluffing around enjoying the warmer weather.
Let's see if I can think of any recent tales of interest... Hmmmm..

My Scottish friend Jenni Pryde came down to Christchurch last weekend. We had a public holiday on the Friday for Show Day (Canterbury's regional annual holiday) and the weather was superb. Jenni has been living in Ngaruawahia (where?) since arriving in NZ in August so was amping to hit the mall. It was nice and cool in the mall too so we had a good old look around and Jenni crossed some things off her foot-long 'Things to do when I hit civilization' list. Then we went to Denny's for a late lunch/early dinner.... Mmmmm .... Denny's.

Friday night was a quiet one in. We shared a bottle of wine. Had cups of tea and little Weight Watchers cookies (had to balance out the Denny's chocolate shake, you see) and watched Friday night tv. It was nice to catch up again.

On Saturday morning, after moving in to Roxy Inn to house sit while Claire and Scott were up in Warkworth for the weekend (more about that later!) we put on our pretty dresses and off we went to the Riccarton Gallops. Even the bus ride there was exciting as I don't often catch the bus... which was kind of obvious when the lovely bus driver told us where we should get off and then we had to walk for about 20 minutes, in heels, in the heat, to the races. Oh well, we got there ok (with a few blisters) and met up with my friend Richard from work, his wife, and some friends of his. Feeling very thirsty after our marathon to get there, we proceeded to line up for 30 mins to get a drink! Crafty us decided it would be a good idea to get a bottle of wine rather than just a glass. Always thinking, me.


We placed a couple of 'combo' bets - it was like ordering McDonalds! I'm not a gambler really, I get the odd lotto ticket but that's about it, so needed all the help I could get. None of our bets won anything but it was very exciting watching the race and rooting for our numbers! Fun times.

We got back to Roxburgh Street around 6pm and my flatmate Belinda, and friend Renee came and joined us before heading into town. It was extremely busy due to the races and there were a lot of very young, very drunk people. Jenni and I (the nanas that we are) were home by midnight after our long, exhausting day.
The following morning we had about 50 cups of tea before heading to Denny's (again!) for lunch. Then it was out to the airport by 3pm for Jenni's flight back to Hamilton. It was over so quickly but she is hoping to get some cheap flights to come back at the end of January. Yay!

So, as mentioned, Scott went up to Warkworth last weekend for the 'Big Reveal'. Claire had been up there since the Wednesday as she had bridesmaid duties to do for her friend, Jess who is getting married in Raratonga next year. We had briefed Scott on key topics of importance -ie, appreciating Dad's garden, no swears in front of Mum, that sort of thing, and it seems he passed with flying colours. Phew! Not that we really doubted he would. It will make Christmas time that much more comfortable for him having already met most of the family. Perhaps a little less overwhelming.

I got a letter back from Broadcasting School about a month ago to say that unfortunately I wasn't accepted. There was a number to call at the bottom of the letter to discuss my application if I felt inclined. I decided to call just to see what I could have done better and what I could do in the future should I wish to apply again - for that, or any course.
So, I rang and talked to the course co-ordinator and he explained that because I've had no experience in the field that would have counted against me. Now, throughout the whole application form it clearly stated in BOLD that they were NOT looking for ready made broadcasters. If I were applying for a job I would agree that having no experience would be a major downfall BUT I was applying for a course to learn all that. I just found it odd. Nevermind, I wasn't angry or upset that I didn't get in, just confused by his explaination.


So then I moved on to Plan B. I found the MOST beautiful little cottage for sale in St Albans and decided to see what (if any) my chances were to purchase it. I went to an open home just the week before the auction and totally and completely fell in love with it. Even the letterbox was cute with 'Love Letters Only' above the slot. Ooohhh sweetums!
So I had to move fast with only 5 days until it would definately sell.
I rang my bank and had a good old chat with one of the lenders and everything was looking particularly good UNTIL I gave her my last 3 months wages. Because I had gone on holiday for 5 weeks in July and had only been paid for 3 of those weeks with holiday pay, the rest was leave without pay it made a considerable difference to that months wage. Because they had to take the lowest amount for the calculation I didn't meet the criteria. I explained that it was a one off and she was so lovely about it but there was nothing she could do. She said if I tried back next month after that payment would have slipped off to be replaced by the next months wage it would have been no problem. But the auction was that week so it was no use to me. It was very frustrating but there was nothing either of us could do so I had to say a tearful goodbye to Plan B. I did, however, go along to the auction mainly to be nosey. As I was walking in I found $10 on the footpath - a good omen? The house did end up selling for $341,000 which was $61,000 over my budget AND it went to a young family which I was very pleased about.

http://rwredcliffs.co.nz/cgi-bin/clients/rwnz/profile.cgi?webid=RDC20237&gid=23724

Any other plans are currently on hold until after the festive season. I'm having a plan siesta.

I know you're probably sick of hearing about the earthquake but we are still getting aftershocks. Most of them I don't feel but apparently there has been over 3000 now. Amazing. A lot of older buildings in and around the CBD have now been pulled down. And there is still fencing and cordans around a lot of buildings, especially through Sydenham township. It is very sad. The Earthquake Commission have had 108,243 claims as at 2 Nov and I have heard that in the 3 months since the quake they have settled 5000 of these. Obviously they are trying to sort out the worst affected first, but it is a long wait for those unsure of whether their houses are staying or are to be pulled down. With every aftershock comes a new worry that the damage is worsening.
Apparently Claire's neighbours, (the not-so-nice ones) have problems with their pilings which may result in the house having to be pulled down. Result! Ooh that isn't nice, but the house is an eyesore. I wonder if they have tried to claim peeling paint, rusty roof, and rotting wood as an effect of the earthquake??

Unfortunately our favourite pub Sullivans, in Manchester Street in the city is closed and possibly won't be reopening which is sad. We've had many a good night in there.

I had another mini break up North at the beginning of the month. I flew up to Auckland on the Friday night (at a reasonable time this time) and Mum and Dad were at the airport to pick me up. Bless them. In their new car which is pretty flash! I stayed in Warkworth for the night and then my friend Krissy and I borrowed Mum's 'spare' car and drove up to Whangarei for a dress fitting and to stay with Swayze and see Rachael (the bride). Rachael has her wedding dress and put it on so we could see it - she looked beautiful! She's going to make such a beautiful bride. I can't wait!! We went shoe shopping but didn't buy anything yet. And then went back to Swayze's for wine and belly laughing. It was a great evening.
Krissy and I left Whangarei around 9.30am Sunday morning to head back to WW.
Cousin Heather came down to Mum and Dad's for a cup of tea at 11am and a catch up which was really nice. Unfortunately A Mary was out on the yacht that day so couldn't make it which was a shame but a nice day for her I am sure.
After lunch we headed back to Auckland and stopped in for afternoon tea with Kathryn and Moos which was lovely before heading to the airport. It was over all too quickly.... again.
I'm looking forward to being up there for 2 weeks over Christmas. It might give me a little more time to relax and catch up with some others I haven't seen for a while.

On Friday night I went out (shock horror! Friday nights are usually my stay-in-watch-tv nights!) and met up with some cool ex Cherry Tree-ers - Brianna and Julia. I invited Renee along too thinking we would go out, have a few drinks, and be home in time for 'School Reunion' which started last week and is total crap but totally watchable. I was wrong.
After drinking a couple of very yummy, very expensive Cosmopolitans at Minx bar in His Lordships Lane we ventured to Yellow Cross. We were up dancing - by ourselves, having a great old time with what seemed like a semi circle of people around us watching us dance like frogs in a blender. It was reminiscent of a Form 2 social! I haven't laughed so much in ages! It was a fun and funny night. Julia and Brianna left about.... actually, I don't even know what time they left, but Renee and I stayed out and didn't get home until 8.30am!! I know! If Nana Bartlett were still here she would call me a dirty stopout! We met 3 Australian guys and after the bar closed at 3am we went back to the hostel they were staying at for drinks (because we hadn't had enough already) and then ended up staying in their room in bunks. All above board, can I just say... honestly Mum. They were nice guys and we had a lot of laughs. They were catching the bus to Queenstown yesterday morning. I told them to look out for the most beautiful girl in the world and if they saw her, that was my niece. They said they'd keep their eyes peeled but didn't think she would be hanging out in bars, which is more than likely where they would be.
So suffice to say, I slept most of yesterday morning away, which was fine because it was raining anyway. I feel like a young 20-something year old!!

So today is Sunday and the sun seems to be trying to shine through the clouds. The rain has stopped. I am meeting up with Gail who I worked with at CherryTree this afternoon for a coffee (cup of tea for me) and her gorgeous 3 year old grandson James. I've only met James about 3 times now and he LOVES me. He always tries to sit as close as possible to me. Bless. He is a cutie. So this young'un had better go and get up and atom seeing as yesterday was such a write off.