Merrill July 05 019

Merrill July 05 019
Originally uploaded by zela.

This is Sharon, the MIL and FIL's next door neighbour at the river...she's been married to Joe for 50 years and they were one of the first people to welcome MIL to the river when she had just married FIL...by rustling up a group of friends, grabbing their pots and pans and clanging them together as they walked over the meet the new bride and groom...being a sweet Georgia peach and not used to the wild ways of Wisconsin..I think the MIL freaked out a bit, but became freinds and now counts Sharon as one of her nearest and dearest.
Sharon and Joe didn't want to have a fancy dinner so Dawn (the daughter) and Judi and Jerry (she's the pretty redhead in the pictures) and others cooked up a surprise.
At 3pm on Saturday we all met at the top of the drive, turned on the siren on someones golf cart and walked down the hill banging all the muffin tins and saucepans we could find.
The extended family had managed to make excuses to be there already, we loaded the 3 pontoon boats with booze and food and carefully (with generally comedic results) tied all 3 boats together and sailed on down the river enmasse. Sharon and Joe had a great time (she was pretty shickered by 9pm) and we eventually moored for a bbq to finish things off.
Just the perfect way to celebrate 50 and a fun way to introduce my sister to life on the river.
Try not to look to hard at how much the cake is leaning...she insisted on 4 layer banana cake with whipped cream and choc icing on top.
Click on the photo if you want to see more of the party.

Parking...what parking?

I think Americans might be a bit 'afeared' of parking...maybe it;s the big ass cars, maybe its easier to park in first gear (instead of trying to figure out what the automatic gears might do), maybe it a genetic lack of a parking gene, but I for one, am grateful. When I pull into the underground car part a little late (like this morning), spaces near pillars and beams....oooooooh...scaaary pillars and beams...are usually free...and closer to the building - yay for that.
However, I have learnt that it not a good idea to park in the spaces next to the trolley returns (where there is usually a gap at the supermarket). Maybe it has something to do with winter and a desperate need to get into the car before you turn into an icicle, or possibly the overwhelming influence of Nascar, but I've seen a lot of trolleys shoved in the general direction of the returns section by people looking the other way, and once one go careering past (not downhill...there are no hills in Illinois) with no one watching but me...and yes, i did stop it crashing into a car. Not sure why they don't push them neatly into the lines every time....maybe some people just can't park!

so it's back to work

Can't beleive that I only have one more week of my sister staying with me...it's been fun (I think our relationship has gotten much better since we've gotten older) and she seems to be having a good time. I was really liking this working part-time thing last week...wonder if I can keep doing that and still get the same pay!

Been on blogging holiday....

once you are out of your normal routine, normally routine things become much harder to fit in. I've got photo's to post, but they have to wait a day or two (though I'm about to figure out how to send them to Walmart to print out via the internet), but in the meantime, here's the FRIDAY FEAST (on Saturday or Sunday if you read in NZ!)

Appetizer
Briefly describe your living room.
It's a wonderful large 1.5 height room with an enormous stone fireplace in the middle and one of the main reasons why we bought the house. At the moment it contains a boob height pile of unpacked packing paper, a matching pile of flattened boxes, all our pictures stacked on one wall and all our 'good' china neatly lined up on the floor around the walls like a car boot sale thanks to the unpacking skills of my little sister...maybe we should just open the door and see what we can sell...the papers all there to wrap it up!

Soup
List 3 things you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2005.
Find a home for everything in the house
Start the garden
Go to Patagonia
I figure the last one might be the most feasible!

Salad
When you're online, what do you spend the most time reading/playing/doing? Suggest a site for us to visit.
Writing my blog and reading others...and shopping for blinds or travel deals! If Strayed into this blog the other day...very funny and quite an interesting perspective to

Main Course
What would the title of your autobiography be?
Kiwi's can fly!

Dessert
What time do you usually go to bed?
Going to bed and going to sleep are two different things...heheheheheh...somewhere between 9:30 (bad day!) to 10:30 usually...the sleeping thing can occur 15 to 4 hours later...depending on the book I'm reading (minds out of the gutter children!)

George Carlin said it best about MARTHA STEWART.

"Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars. O.J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the one woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and haul her ass off to jail."

Thanks for sending this Lorraine.

Sisters take on San Fran

San Fran July 05 034
Originally uploaded by zela.

I've just about reached my upload limit for the month so will probably have to subscribe to a bit more...in the meantime, here are some of my best shots of picking F up in San Fran and just generally hanging out and having a great time. I spent Saturday pottering around getting the lay of the land, and Sunday, popped down to the farmers market at the ferry terminal (after getting in a quick ride on the cable car before the hordes of other tourists got there). Frances and I went out when she got back on the 'go-cars' as we wanted to get around and see the city, without hoofing it or from a bus. Best money ever spent on a tour. They are built from motorcycles and sound like lawn mowers but you can drive them on the road and the tour bit comes courtesy of the sat nav guidance. We had a hoot, featured in many tourist photo's along the way and were laughed at by big men in trucks...and got to see all over the town, to the bridge (not allowed to go over), down the windiest street and made it back just in time for closing (despite being stopped by the cops for running a light - didn't mean to officer) along the way.
On Monday we rented bikes and rode over the bridge and down to Sulsalito, took the ferry back and handed over the bikes and hiked our way home, to our rather grotty hotel.
Seemed to spend most of yesterday getting to the plane, on the plane and then stuck in traffic on the way home.
Still, she's here and I've still got the rest of the week off...hooray.
More photo's can be found here.
We're off to town to get hair and nails done (playing ladies) and then to see 'Wicked'
Catch you all later...and Jeff, if you are reading this...the 2 packets of Tim Tams with your name on made it through customs OK

this post is brought to you by the letter 'S'

S is for for snoring.
Yup, combination of too much garlic on the lamb from the 'taste' (as the locals call it) and the 'snorisaurous' sleeping in our bed have rendered me yawning but awake. I'll be trying some milo, usually my cure-all and put-to-sleep potion soon, but in the meantime, perhaps some net activity whilst the jug is boiling is might help.
Its 3:01, have to be up at 5:30 to leave at 6 to go to the airport...might have to be an extra-large M-I-L-O, milo.
and G & L, the taste is small but tasty!

it seems like all I've done this week is answer questions...

but anyway it's Friday feast time so here goes:
Appetizer
What kind of car do you drive? If you could make an even trade for any other car, what would you want to drive?
It's a highlander and I love it...big enough to play with the big boys on the road, fast enough to not get sneered at by the sports cars. My only regret is that I had to buy it before the hybrids came out...oh well, next time.
Wouldn't trade it for anything else equivalent

Soup
Take your phone number and add each number together separately (example: 8+6+7+5+3+0+9=38) - what's the total?
41...which comes back with Island Records when you google the number

Salad
When were you last outside, and what were you doing?
This morning, reluctantly making my way to the car at 6:20am...last day at work for a week as my sister comes over from NZ on Sunday...YIPPEE

Main Course
What is your favorite restaurant, and what do you usually order there?
At the moment it's Bob Chins Crabhouse (number 4 in the whole of the US apparently), just down Milwaukee Ave. The 'tacky Tiki' decor complete with 'I caught my crabs at Bob Chins' always amuses me and they really do have FRESH seafood (not bad for an inland city) including NZ Green Lipped mussel's (which I never have cos I know they taste better in NZ)
I usually have giant crab legs and try not to think about the poor septaplegic crustacean toodling around in it's wheelchair wondering who ate it's legs.
Took MIL and FIL there on Monday night (reward for waterblasting the patio and many other jobs) and MIL thought the crab was even better than the stuff they had in Alaska.

Dessert
Name 3 things in which you occasionally indulge.
Dessert
Cigars (in the company of male cigar smoking friends, much to my husbands horror)
New handbags

and interviewed again...blimey

I read Ellisson every day at work, and he's taught me heaps on how to blog. I save him 'til lunchtime as he's always entertaining (funny or thought provoking or both) and occasionally posts about food, which kinda makes whatever I've concocted from the salad bar in the cafeteria much more tasty...oh and he has cute cats to boot.
Anyway, at risk of being thought of as a 'meme-slut', I asked him to interview me as well...Rules once again down the bottom of the post

1) Where have you lived? Of the places where you’ve lived, which one did you like the most, and why?
Richmond Downs, Omokoroa, Katikati, Hamilton, Auckland, London, Epsom, Stoneleigh, Sutton, St Albans, Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire...and I'll let you figure out which ones are NZ, UK or USA!
Since I've moved so much pretty much where I happen to be at the moment is my favourite...I have a sneaking fondness (as do Mands and Annie) for Stoneleigh as that was a 'proper' home in the UK and we had such good times(and parties) together, despite not being as tidy as Mands.

Who are your three favorite music artists? Name a single work that you feel captures the essence of each one.
J S Bach - Cantata & Fugue in D minor...once heard, never forgotten and when you hear it in a cathedral, his true glory comes out.
Lemonheads - Into your arms...perfect indie pop, we couldn't work it into the wedding...but I got it onto the wedding video!
Crowded House - 4 Seasons in one day...I've heard this in the strangest places all over the world (Mongolian restaurant, UK truckstop at 2am) and it always makes me homesick in a way nothing else ever does

Imagine that you are condemned to be executed, presumably for a crime you did not commit. What would you select for your last meal?
hmmmmnnnnn, very tough question...there would definitely be roasties (Roast potatoes) made by my brother...roast kumara and roast pumpkin (imported from NZ where they grow pumpkins to taste yummy, and not to be wasted as pie)...since we seem to be having a roast...roast pork with the crackling on, yorkshire puds(made by my aunt), proper English gravy (the MIL can make it cos I taught her how), yellow butter beans, crunchy raw turnip(laugh if you want but it's MY last supper) and then to top it all off...Auntie Y's mince pies as no one else in the world can make them like that.
And for my release party we're having smoked Marlin...

If you could be a character from TV/Book/Film who would you be, and why?
Granny Weatherwax or Nanny Ogg...all the knowledge or all the sex power....hmmmmmn, failing that, Yoda would work for me, I've always thought a light sabre would come handy, especially if the power goes out!

What is your hometown, and what is special or unique about it?
Lincolnshire (as of 13 days ago)...pop 48,000 by day and 6,000 by night when all the workers in the offices go home...you get great facilities due to the taxes and minimal people to enjoy it with...and the tree's ROCK (though I might be telling a different story in autumn when the leaves fall off)

I'm being interviewed

So was checking in on Gordys blog (congrats on the new golf handicap by the way) and decide to let him interview me via the meme going around at the moment... I will answer the questions shortly, but first, I am contractually obligated to explain the rules to this inquisitive round-robin.

1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying "Interview me." "Blow me" or "Eat me" are not acceptable substitutes.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person's will be different. I'll post the questions in the comments section of this post.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

So Gordy says...OK Zela, here you go.

Q1. You moved home recently, what is the one thing that you would have missed most had it been left behind?
Apart from my husband (and there was a good chance he might have got packed if he stayed still long enough around the packers) I think probabley dairies that I have written in since I went to Uni. I'm a fairly infrequent writer (much better at blogging) but still write when i need to think something through, and I have lots of memories of trips I have done that I wouldn't want to lose.

Q2. You have been a while here in the US now, what is the thing that still surprises you to this day?
No roundabouts! Whenever I stop/start at a stop sign, I sigh and think to myself how much easier roundabouts are!

Q3. What is your favorite quote or one liner from a book, play or movie?
"Men!...can't live with'em, can't shoot 'em"...St Elmos fire (I think)...and I always like to subvert the glass half empty thing by saying...'it's half filled with champagne and someone is coming towards me to top it up!'

Q4. Finish this sentence. I wish....
I could lose wait by eating fried/roasted/boiled/mashed potatoes...


Q5. Tell me 3 things you really don't like.
1) being very cold (and wet)
2) being told I have a funny accent
3) being mistaken for an Aussie

The cleaner arrived this morning

and I was expecting Toni (who's from Yugoslavia) and we got Gatunda, also from the eastern bloc. I always have mixed feelings about having a cleaner...on one hand the ghost of my mother scrubbing the floors whilst raising 4 kids on a farm seems to reproach me for 'outsourcing' the work. On the other hand, I hate cleaning, we'd much rather be doing other things and in the grand scheme of things, it seems we can afford this money for marital harmony. I rationalize it by knowing I was grateful for the work when I cleaned, my sister is when she does and paying someone to work is better than saving the money for charity(which I confess we probably wouldn't).
She looked a bit relieved when I indicated that she could hoover around the large piles of cardboard and paper still in the living room, and bit more gloomy contemplating the rather old and grubby looking bathtubs.
I just hope she's as good as Toni, who is definitely channeling the spirit of my mother when she scrubs the floor on her hands and knees!

How do you clean patio door runners?

with a toothbrush of course!
so the weavers had a very busy weekend doing the first steps of what will prob be a 100step plan for 'tidying up the house', aided and abetted by MIL, FIL, SIL and BIL...still so knackered I can hardly move.
Won't bore you with the details, but once again they involved lots of trips to Home Depot, and we now have a kitchen semi painted in stripes, doors that actually move on their runners, clean siding and all our stuff out of storage...and into the garage...sigh...now just got to find somewhere in the house to put it all...I can feel a garage sale coming on :>)
and the toothbrush thing?
So there I was, on my hands and knees having vacuumed 3 years worth of grime and debri from the runners and looking at the gunge still stuck there, and the array of brushes that were just too big. A momentary flash of inspiration (or perhaps a rush of the mold I'd just brushed off) and I raced off to get a toothbrush, from the trusty 'stuff stolen from airlines' drawer. I did contemplate using my electric one...to cut down on the scrubbing you know! but managed to stop myself in time. The toothbrush (and a lot of elbow grease) worked a treat, a quick coat of silicone spray later and now we can open the doors with one hand, instead of the two hand, full body, 'shove the door with you hip or bum' method favored before.
I might not have saved the world this weekend, but I now know there is a certain amount of satisfaction to be gained from doors that work!

so it's 7:23am on a saturday..

and FIL has been up for an hour already sorting out the garage...that man is a machine, and shall be rewarded with scrambled eggs (his favourite).
Me, I've tried to sneak very quietly through the kitchen as MIL is still sleeping in the family room. It worked and the breakfast stuff is now 'good to go'...I think its going to be a long day today :>)
Still, it's 7:30 and 18 degrees and I'm wearing shorts already...can't beat that really!

Friday Feast time

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?
Jean...after a favorite aunt of my fathers apparently. When I was growing up it seemed very plain so I wanted to change it to Jean-Louise. Grew out of that. Liked having an X in my maiden name, with a Z in my first name and it started with A which meant I was always at the top of a list...good for prizegiving, bad for class presentations. Now I start with W so I've gone to the bottom of the list - sigh - but the world is running out of Weavers, so I'm happy to do my bit to adding to their numbers as they are pretty nice so far.
We have a family tradition on my mothers side of having the first born son take the mothers maiden name, so my brother is Mark Scott and my cousin is Paul Scott. Given I've left the whole baby thing a wee bit late, it might have to be the first born...or possibly the first pet that takes the glorious name of Alexander.


Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?
Hmmmmmmn, what an odd question. fabrics that cover you, colors that flatter you and styles that make you look skinny I think!


Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?
I really really REALLY hate cleaning the fridge, stove is OK but the fridge is just awkward, cold, smelly and full of foods you had no idea you bought!


Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?
What a bizarre list of questions so far...losing people I love...perhaps a wee bit scarred by losing both parents by 18.
I'm hoping that since I'm older I'll pop off before they do, but they keep flying frequently, living in places where bombs go off, visiting places when tidal waves occur and getting sick...so the odds aren't good


Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.
At work...must get back to the emails.
Pictures of my wedding, family, friends, postcards of Prague and Ocean Beach - Tairua and a cool NZ card Dave and Becs gave us
A rainbow colored slinky to play with when phone conference calls get dull
Lavender handcream
thats the good stuff...everyhing else is work - sigh - and speaking of work....

and the first email in my inbox this morning was...

Your Harry Potter Order Is on Schedule..from Amazon

HOOOOOORAAAAY


We're happy to let you know that we've begun preparing your order for
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for delivery.

You should have the book(s) in your hands no later than 7:00 p.m. in
your time zone on Saturday, July 16. Most books will be delivered by
U.S. Mail, either with your regular mail delivery or in a separate,
special mail delivery. Some orders may be delivered by UPS.

Because our carriers are delivering hundreds of thousands of books on
that day, we do ask that you wait until 7:00 p.m. before contacting
customer service if you haven't received your order.

Although we're not requiring a signature, we still recommend that
someone be home to accept the package, as the driver may not leave it on
your doorstep if they don't feel it's safe to do so.

You'll receive our usual shipment confirmation e-mail after your package
leaves our fulfillment center.

Thanks for shopping at Amazon.com, and happy reading!

Just as well we are all home on saturday, woouldn't want any of the bad neighbours nicking off with my copy. Perhaps I should have told them to deliver it next door, they have big (but lovable)guard dogs...it might be safer.
Oh Hazel, get a grip...it's only a book!

I am a glamorous Hollywood movie star...

you know how you'd see pictures of Hollywood film stars resting during the day with their eye shades on...well except for the fur trimmed slippers and the fact that I sleep scrunched up on my side...that could be me...really it could.
And all because we have no curtains in the bedroom. I knew there was a reason we'd collected those free eyeshades they hand out on the plane, they're for when people like us move into houses with no blinds.
The master bedroom has unusual windows with a long skinny window on top and two square ones underneath. I'm not sure what the previous owners did, perhaps they didn't care, but I can't find any evidence that there were ever curtains/blinds or even a sheet with drawing pins up there. We suspect that the fact they didn't;t wash the windows or screens for the past 2 years...so you look out through a grey haze might have acted as blinds.
So what are we going to do...start by having a long debate about what sort of curtains/blinds/sheetwithdrawingpins we might want...trek around the stores and prob end up buying on line when we've exhausted both the feet and heated discussions.
M has tested the 'can you see my boobies from the neighbor's' by standing in the driveway' and the answer is no...though my part of the test involved continuing my ironing in the bedroom...not standing nekkid waving my bodacious ta-ta's for the world to see!
Still, might go with the temporary sheet and drawing pins solution for fear of scaring the neighbor's too early on in the day!

so I think we might have unpacked

at least 30 of the 87 boxes...but I'm too afraid to count in case its less than I think it is!
White packing paper anyone!

ahhhh...salsa lizano

ever since tebear introduced me to salsa lizano i've been finding new and interesting ways to use it. It tastes hot but not burny hot and tangy but not sour. The latest includes putting a squirt in the mayonaise for potato salad dressy (mnnnn tangy) and mixing it with frozen green beans and microwaving it for a couple of minutes then letting it marinate for a quick bean salad (mnnn yummy).
I'm not sure what I'm going to do when the bottle runs out, as unlike tebear I didn't buy 6 bottles to bring home...guess I'm just going to have to go back to Costa Rica!

The house in the trees

The house in the trees
Originally uploaded by zela.

I've finally got all the house pictures up on Flickr, so click on the picture link and you can see all the work awaiting us.
All 87 boxes and assorted furniture are in...so its just a wee bit of unpacking (ohmygod) and we'll be ready.

so at 5:30 this morning

we get a call from my sister to say Ross has manage to ring through and he was at work (thank goodness he was on earlies) this morning when the explosions happened.
I just spoke to him (it's 6:55am now our time) and he's not sure how he's going to get home, but I'm just glad he's ok:>)
All other London freinds have been accounted for at this time...knowing that some others family members won't make it home from a normal workday is not a good day.

This week we are...

working
packing
moving

by friday we shall be in the new house proper...and I'm beginning to think I live in Wisteria Lane
Posts shall be a bit scanty this week...but happy 4th of July to you all.

you gotta love that spam

that sometimes sneaks through the system.
This is what I got today...I've bolded the interesting bits
Hello,

For job seekers allover the world, here is an opportunity for

you to make a wealthy living for yourself and to all those that look up to you. A new founded Zebra adverting company is connected to companies to give works to job seekers all over the world.We will get a job for you .A capable and experienced personality to manage the following below.


Account Officer (Junior Class)

P.R.O

Secretary to the Director=
(Female)

Business Admin Officer

Clark to the Director

Account Officer (Senior Class)

Marketing Officer

Customer care officer

Asistant to the Customer care officer

Acounting(OND/HND) EXP.2yrs

News brocaster(EXP. 3yrs )

Sales Executive

Manager of an Oil company.

If the job you want is not listed, fill free to mail us,we will get a company with good weekly wage.We are looking forward to hearing from you.
N B

Applicants must be ready to relocate

If intrested reply to us and youn are sure to have a Job

hmmmmn let me think about this...while it would be nice to be a manager of an oil company with a good weekly wage so that all who look up to me would be happy...I'm not sure my personality is experienced enough for that!

Friday's Feast - a buffet for your brain

Friday's Feast - a buffet for your brain

Appetizer
Where do you plan to go on vacation this year, or where would you want to go?
Not sure what whether we are going to fit much more in...though Frances and I will do lots of exploring when she gets over here
My current dream destination is Galapagos Islands...bring on the big turtles

Soup
What color is your bedroom? If you could redecorated it, what would you change?
The new one is a horrible fake flesh color, the sort they use for artificial limbs...think it might be changing this weekend...we're both thinking celedon green...though M might not have actually used the word celedon and thinks I'm making it up!

Salad
Do you have a bumper sticker on your vehicle? What does it say?
Oh yes...it's a little NZ flag with the word New Zealand...just in case people think I'm from OZ...which would be a terrible mistake to make!
It's partly a reaction to the intense (and must be respected for being proud really) patriotism the US shows, and partly to make it easy to find my beige SUV in the car park amongst all the other beige SUV's


Main CourseWhat's the worst pain you've ever been in?
Waiting the the Spanish ER with a broken arm, nose and 11 stitches in my eyebrow for the orthopedic doctor, who was operating on some poor women who had just gotten of the plane, slipped on the marble in the airport and broken both hips...there is ALWAYS someone else worse off than you.
And Carron and Linda...will always be grateful you were there too!

Dessert
Who is your favorite celebrity? What do they do that inspires you?
Hmnnnn...this is surprisingly tough. Like Green Tuna at TunaNews, I can always think of uninspiring celebrities. I've always had a soft spot for the incredibly hairy Peter Jackson for following his dream and making the Hollywood machine work for him rather than the other way around.
And despite your politics...you've got to take your hat off to Helen Clark for 'getting stuck in' and doing for women in politics what Hillary Clinton can only dream of

I think they're having a laugh...

I got the following warning today on the PC
Multilingual MIME warning

I realise that MIME must be some sort of techinical term...but I'd be worried if I saw a multilingual one of these!

Hooray for the internet

The lions are touring NZ...to the uninitiated this might sound like a safari gone wildly wrong (don't we go tour lions?)but to anyone else that cares about Rugby, it's a big deal. To the Kiwi's who lost in the world cup, its a chance to banish that ugly memory...and for me in the US, it's a nightmare trying to find some way of watching the tests.
God bless the internet and video streaming...hopefully if we can get it working tonight I'll be able to see the second match on saturday morning...so don't you all go and tell me what the result is please...
and the other big news is that today we got our house. We were at the real estate office at 8:00am this morning for the closing (as they call it here)with our lawyer, their lawyer, their agents and someone scurrying around providing documents to sign called...the closer...so 2 hours of reading and signing papers and 5 minutes to hand over a large cheque and get a key in return and it's all ours...M is taking some 'before' pictures today and we'll be emailing the new address soon.
Lots of home renovation ahead...why would anyone paint the smallest room in the house maroon!

View from hotel

View from hotel
Originally uploaded by zela.

thanks Jeff, for your faboulous pictures in Costa Rica

holy volcanoes it's a smoking!

holy volcanoes it's a smoking!
Originally uploaded by zela.

thanks Jeff, for your faboulous pictures in Costa Rica

Lush rainforest

Lush rainforest
Originally uploaded by zela.

thanks Jeff, for your faboulous pictures in Costa Rica

note the grip of death

note the grip of death
Originally uploaded by zela.

thanks Jeff, for your faboulous pictures in Costa Rica

jungle bridges

jungle bridges
Originally uploaded by zela.

thanks Jeff, for your faboulous pictures in Costa Rica

identify the berries

identify the berries
Originally uploaded by zela.

thanks Jeff, for your faboulous pictures in Costa Rica

Another 4 days and it will be all ours...Hooray

3 sleeps to go and we get our hot little hands on the keys to the new house...and email with new address will be going out shortly.
There is a wee problem with the new phone (internet) that we've had installed to cut down on the cost of overseas call...it seems that if you call from NZ (the place I get the most calls from) you get the disconnected signal...hmnnnn, not part of the master plan. M called them last night and they are now ringing telecom NZ to see if they are a carrier and they have it hooked up ok. Which part of 'NZ is part of the international community' don't you understand?
So hang in there if you have tried to call us and think we have gone AWOL...

Friday Feast time

Appetizer
What time do you usually wake up each day? If you could choose your wake-up time, when would it be?
When I was a single girl, usually around 6...now that I have Mr 'Set alarm early hit snooze hit snooze hit snooze then get up at 6' sleeping next to me...who knows. This happened in the weekend as well, until he bought a clock that lets you set the time different in the weekend to the week, much better for marital calm.
If I could choose then it would be 6:30 in the week and unless I'm catching a plane.....not EARLY at all in the weekends

Soup
When was the last time you bought groceries? What store did you go to? Name 3 things you purchased.
Monday night
Jewel (weird name for a supermarket) has it's own kosher aisle since we live in a Jewish area. I'm working my way through the strange and interesting food to be found down there.
1. the wrong skim milk again (they have swapped the colors around from the UK) 2.a late birthday card for my brother 2. Rainier Cherries...yuuuuummmmy

Salad
How many books have you read so far this year? Which was your favorite and why?
I get through a couple (at least) a week so with 26 weeks already that's about 52...and it think its way more than that (I've read 4 this week so far). To M's despair, there is always a teetering pile of books on my bedside table, waiting to clobber me in the night if i stick a fumbling arm out to get the glass of water.
To many good ones to remember...but we have just read The Kite Runner for book club and it's wonderfully written book with a riveting story and I couldn't put it down.

Main Course
What is something you consider to be very elegant? In particular, what about that item/place/person conjures up the feeling of elegance?
Being in France is always elegant, the French manage to make any place in France, from Paris to any little town seem elegant. Hanging out at the food market, drinking coffee in the little cafe's ...even the goddamn supermarkets are elegant in the way they lay out the food, how do they do that?


Dessert
Who taught you how to drive?
The driving instructor in his Morris minor with the gear stick that had about a metre between each gear. We would trundle down the very long straight Beach Rd, turn around in the car park in the end and trundle back. I think it was 2 lessons before we even did stop signs. And as we lived in a town without traffic lights, the cops wouldn't let you pass your test unless you had said you had driven in Tauranga, cos they had lights AND roundabouts.

GeoffRossNiagara

GeoffRossNiagara
Originally uploaded by zela.

as Tracy Tebear says today is H-O-T-T hot...its already 21 and we expected to hit 30-31 today...I LOVE summer. So even though I'm sitting in an interior office and have to lean right back to look through my door window to see Amy's window to see the bright sunshine outside it still feels good as I know it will be waiting for me when i finally get out. And if I shut my eyes and blank out the tasks unfinished and unstarted, i can imagine myself back on the boat on the Wisconsin river lying in the sun and snoozing (for only 1/2 hour on each side mind you).
We had a very exhausting weekend on the river...what with all the getting on the boat, snoozing, eating, snoozing, chatting, snoozing, lying down, reading, snoozing and getting off the boat to read/chat/snooze, it's a wonder I got time to get 4 swims in...and yes, I did go in first thing in the morning (get up yer porpoise...in-joke- -sorry). The fresh water is cold when you're hot and warm when the outside is cooler. No sharks or other bitey things (FIL can testify that nothing was biting when he went fishing too), although the tea color (due to the tannin from all the pine trees) does take a little getting used to.
So we had a very relaxing weekend, got to wish the FIL happy fathers day and my wee brother R happy birthday all the way over in Ing-geer-land. Can't believe that he's 32 already...seems only yesterday that I was helping mum change his nappies and stepping on his lego bits.
Here he is on the right of his cousin Geoff (they've always been close) when we all went to Niagara earlier

Friday Feast

Appetizer
What's one word or phrase that you use a lot?
'Super' as in 'I've just spent an hour on the phone with Comcast an we got -insert long list of specials- from them for the next 6 months' 'Super'
Occainsonally i intersperse this with 'faaaaaaanstastic'just for a bit of variety

Soup
Name something you always seem to put off until the last minute.
Doing taxes...i have all the bits of paper ready but it's hard to hand over that money even if they already have it.

Salad
What was the last great bumper sticker you saw?
My sister saw one that said 'If you're not a hemmeroid get of my ass' and we're still laughing. My all-time favourite is 'my other car is a broomstick'


Main Course
If you could be invisible for one day, how would you spend your time?
Given than being invisible would also give me other powers like travel at the speed of light...I'd pop in on all my friends and family (starting with NZ when the sun rises) to see how they are doing in their day to day lives...you have been warned!
Oh and accidently stray into the allblack training camp changing rooms for a brief moment on the way
Dessert
Describe your hair.
I think brown might be it's natural colour but who knows!

It still makes me laugh

An ambitious software engineer finally decided to take a vacation. He booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life. At least for a while. A hurricane came up unexpectedly. The ship went down and was lost instantly. The man found himself swept up on the shores of an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing. Only bananas and coconuts.

Used to four-star hotels, this guy had no idea what to do. So for the next eight months he ate bananas, drank coconut juice, longed for his old life, and fixed his gaze on the sea, hoping to spot a rescue ship.

One day, as he was lying on the beach, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye! It was a rowboat, and in it was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. She rowed up to him. In disbelief, he asked her: "Where did you come from, and how did you get here?" "I rowed from the other side of the island," she said. "I managed to get ashore there when my cruise ship sank."

"Amazing," the software engineer said, "I didn't know anyone else had survived. How many of you are there? You were really lucky to have a rowboat wash up with you."

"There's only me," she said, "and the rowboat didn't wash up: nothing did."
He was confused, "Then how did you get the rowboat?"
"Oh, simple," replied the woman. "I made it out of raw material that I found on the island. The oars were whittled from gum-tree branches, I wove the bottom from palm branches, and the sides and stern came from a eucalyptus tree."

"But, but, that's impossible," stuttered the man. "You had no tools or hardware - how did you manage?"

"That was no problem," the woman said. "On the south side of the island, there is a very unusual strata of exposed alluvial rock. I found that if I fired it to a certain temperature, it melted into forgeable ductile iron. I used that to make tools, which I used to make the hardware. But enough of that. Where do you live?"

Sheepishly, the man confessed that he had been sleeping on the beach the whole time. "Well, let's row over to my place then," she said. After a few minutes of rowing,she docked the boat at a small wharf. As the man looked onto shore, he nearly fell out of the boat. Before him was a stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white. While the woman tied up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man could only stare ahead, dumbstruck.

As they walked into the house, she said casually, "It's not much, but I call it home. Sit down, please. Would you like to have a drink?"
"No, no, thank you," he said, still dazed. "I couldn't drink another drop of coconut juice." "It's not coconut juice," the woman replied. "I have made a still - How about a Pina Colada?"

Trying to hide his continued amazement, the software engineer accepted, and they sat down on her couch to talk. After they had exchanged their stories, the woman announced, "I'm going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to have a shower and a shave? There is a razor upstairs in the cabinet in the bathroom."

No longer questioning anything, the man went into the bathroom. There in the cabinet was a razor made from a bone handle. Two shells honed to a hollow-ground edge were fastened to its tip, inside a swivel mechanism.
"This woman is absolutely amazing," he mused. "What next?"

When he returned, the woman greeted him wearing nothing but vines and leaves and smelling faintly of flowers. She told him to sit down next to her. "Tell me," she began, "We've both been out here for a very long time.
You've been lonely. I've been lonely. There must be something I'm sure you really feel like doing right now." She stared into his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing - this was like all of his dreams coming true in one day.



"You mean...," he replied, "I can check my e-mails from here?"

The heat wave has broken

and we're down to 25 high for today...a bit less humidity is nice but I'd still trade it for the lovely 30's anyday.
Since I'm feeling a bit blue at the moment(not to mention nonbloggingguilt), on the advice of my sister I'll console myself with a wee list of all my blessings (and I'm starting from Sunday cos of the first one)
Golf...whilst I'm not getting much better (2nd game in a year and a half), I'm out there and loving playing it. Played Texas Scramblefor the first time...and we even hit of some of my shots cos they were good, so I think I'll resign the gym membership(i hardly ever go) and get me some more lessons
Dinner last night - working in the office to finish off some stuff and hubby (like to call him that just for the hell of it) come in with chinese for dinner. Sweeeeeeet thing that he is
Plans Saw the plans for the proposed extension and all was good. If (and its a very big IF) we can work out how to afford this, will turn the 3bed2bath into a 4bed3bath...that's positively a mansion, what will I do with all that space! and best of all he did a free rework of the kitchen to make it a much better living space, which can wait for later cash if needed. Better start buying those lottery tickets I think...I might have a spare kidney for sale if anyone wants it.
Girly gossip... L and I got to talking as we drove our golf cart mostly on the road. Did you know they were 4wd...no really they are, at least out if eyeshot of the course official. I realized how much I'd missed face to face girly gossip about stuff, what to wear to a wedding, various foilables of partners, the best places to buy stuff, politics etc etc etc. Hope I might have made a friend there.
MIL & FILWho very nicely bought a cottage by the river all those years ago, a great big floating pontoon boat to go with it and a collection of BBQ's to rival your nearest hardware store. And best of all they let us come and stay, eat there home cooked goodies and lavish parental-in-law love and affection.
They also produced a pretty damn good sister in law for me to...well done you two.
lo-stress moving...for the first time in my life I'm not stressed about moving. I've moved more than I can remember and like a turtle, usually carrying it all on my back (or whatever car my friends/men with van and I had) We've got movers this time, hopefully MIL and FIL's trailer (and MIL and FIL as an added bonus) and we should be done. I'm sure it will be more stressful than that but I'm not worrying at the moment, and besides, I'll have to be at work that day - yippee.
Life's not so bad..oh wait, I need to go to the airport this afternoon...oh well

although i missed posting the Friday Feast

here it is anyway...the Friday Feast is something to think about on Friday's, and to make you think...what would your responses be?
Appetizer
Name one thing that made you sad this week.
My sister is still having problems with changing medications, we can only hope it will come right in the end.

Soup
What was the last object (not person) you took a picture of?Looking on my cameraphone, the sun setting on Chicago skyline from the Dan Ryan motorway as we were stuck behind the queues behind the burning cars after a 5.5 hour trip from Cincinnati (should give you some idea of how crap my week was last week)

Salad
Who do you talk to when you need help in making a decision?For home, my husband of course...that's what he's there for righ?...he's good on moral support, even if we are both indesicive.
For work - anyone that will agree with me!!!

Main Course
If you were a weather event, what would you be, and why?I'd like to say a nice peacefull sunrise...but suspect that I'd be labelled as a hurricane by those who have seen me in full steam...leaving a trail of debris behind
Dessert

Suggest a website that you think your readers would enjoy visiting.http://www.dilbert.com will always brighten up your work day

Attempting to get to the blog this week has felt like...

this

It's 30 (90) degrees today

hot hot hot...and lovin it, cept I have to be inside working not lying by the pool. Oh well, lets hope it holds out for this weekend too.
Back to work, catch you later

Costa Rica baby

I've been having some blogging probs over the last few days and seemed to have lost days 2-4 post...hmmmnnn. In the meantime, here is a link to tracy's photo's, pretty damn good photos to

Tebear-Weaver-Starks do Costa Rica for Memorial Weekend

Day one
The day started early with the alarm set for 3:00 and the need to b e out the door by 3:45…managed to see the sunrise over O’Hare airport, something I’m pretty sure I’ll never need to see again if I’m lucky. A short flight down to Atlanta (love that southern accent) then onto a rather old and dingy Delta flight, complete with the mandatory seat kickers and interesting airline food.
Kept getting little glimpses of the sea and land, but since my geography is pretty naff, not sure if that was the last sight of the US or first sight of Central America.
Getting off the plane you could feel the heat and humidity (lovely…missed the heat for sure) and after standing in the looongest line in customs (we thought we were smart avoiding the line with all the Baptist missionaries going to paint something for a church), but managed to get behind the ‘family that did not fill any papers in!’…they took so long that the entire line applauded when they finally got through…and they slunk of to collect the luggage. I don’t think that many kiwi’s go to Costa Rica as the customs man had to check which stamp I needed. Steam was coming out of M’s ears at this point…We trundled off to the car rental place…somehow when she booked they had said to T that she didn’t need any insurance, and they also forgot to mention the tax as well. He might have well been wearing eye patches and a parrot on his shoulder, the pirate! A couple of hundred dollars more (cos they didn’t have the car we booked and we had to go to a slightly larger one)…rather gritted teeth and we’re off…singing ‘Do you know the way to San Jose…
The outskirts of San Jose had shanties and light industry, ranging from ferriteria (iron works) to the guys on the side of the road selling banana’s, round flat bed and some sort of flowers, and lots and lots of pineapple. Using a combinations of maps, printed directions from the hotel and large signs with volcano’s on them, we make our way through little towns and up and down hills towards the hotel.
The Lost Iguana is situated in Arenal, an area in the centre of Costa Rica dominated by the worlds second most active volcano…the nearest big (a somewhat subjective term here) town is La Fortuna…somehow resembling a small farming outpost cum tourist town cum wild frontier town, uneasily coexisting together. Apart from the somewhat bewildered tourists wandering around trying to figure out where the town begins and ends, the biggest excitement is when the long distance bus honks and hoots its way into town, disgorges the crunched up passengers, stuffs them full of mama Olga’s pizza, comidos and dodgy looking lottery tickets before adding a few more people and sending them on their way.
As instructed we turned right at the purple Alamo and headed further into the hills. The roads got windier and windier as as the dusk fell, we traversed the dam road (water on one side and long drop on the other), down a long bumpy metal road and finally made it to the Lost Iguana,
It’s a fairly new hotel and only has 20 rooms in two blocks. All the furniture is made of local wood or bamboo, and it was rather like living with the Flintstones. We had one room on one end and Jeff and Tracy had one on the other. One of the reasons we chose this place was the promise of volcano views from every room, and they were right. It’s very hard to see the volcano at night (and mostly during the day) due to cloud cover, but when it rolls back or lifts up somewhat and the mountain spews forth lava its quite spectacular. Red sparks and a stream down the side. In the day you can’t see the colour of the lava but if the mountain is visible you see the plume of smoke and ash when it erupts, then a few seconds later you hear thunder as the sound catches up.
A few drinks and a little tour planning down by the pool, a little salad or two then head hits the bed and sleep takes over…it was a very long day.

I'm legal...

So yesterday was D-day...or DL-day to be more accurate. I finally plucked up enough courage to go sit my Illinois drivers license, something all foreigners have to do after 3 months entering the country (don't do the math....lots of illegal time there and M not very happy)
I really hate tests and I flubbed my written and oral exam the first time ( in 1984 ohmygod) as I'd change my mind every time I'd answer a question and get it wrong.
At this point I'd like to thank the horrendous weather last Thursday that had me circling Cincinnati airport for an extra 1.5hours...allowing me some more road code swotting time)
They tell you to get down to the DMV 15 minutes prior to the door opening and sure enough, 20 people were already there. If you come into the state from other states or change your address you have to renew your license, but no tests. Old wrinklies also have to resit after a while.
The DMV is a nice slice of culture...with lots of good people watching while you while away the (luckily) minutes of waiting in queues...see the large lady with very tan legs, inappropriate short skirt and biiiig hair...see the goatee gentleman retesting his 3 wheel trike...with a marijuana t-shirt...yup, they're really going to pass you with that on mate.
So I go through the first queue, 50 assorted documents in hand...get a number and wait for the second desk person. He checks the docs, makes sure I'm really happy how my name is spelt and makes me stick my head in a hood to read some lines and check for flashing lights...think that's peripheral vision.
He also asks me what weight I want to have on my license (why the @#$% to they need that...if I get too big am I not allowed to get in a car...is it for better estimating which organs might be better to take in a fiery crash?) The temptation to drop a few pounds instantly is overwhelming, but I surrender my true weigh (like I'm going to tell you guys) and we consult a wee chart to work out what 1.71cm equates to in feet and inches.
Then I go to the cashier and hand over $10.00...what a bargain. The last 'lifetime' licence I had in NZ was $45 and i can't remember what I paid in the UK for the privilege of handing over my NZ one for a UK one, but it was waaaay more than $10.00
Then off to a wee booth to press the screen and do the written test..only fluffed 2...what do the flashing red lights at the traffic lights mean (not emergency vehicles approaching BTW, but the same as a stop light), and what do you do if your wheel goes up a curb when you are driving along the road...Hell, I've got a 4 wheel drive Toyota behemoth...i might not even notice it happened. Apparently you slow down and steer back, not just steer back.
With my 93% and a jubilant heart I went outside to bring my car around for the practical. The tester looked like a spitting image of Debra Jo Rupp from the 70's show...and we proceed to have a great girly chat about how much she liked my car, accent, driving (thank god) and how people drove in NZ and how I came to be here ...and in-between I turned, stopped, turned, drove forward, with one eye on the speed limit, lots of conspicuous looking at front and side mirrors and the gentlest breaking I could imagine. I think she might have been too busy to mark me, but I seemed to have passed...and with an even lighter heart I sat in the last queue, got my picture taken (marginally better than the UK one, least I remembered to put lippy on) and 1 hour and 15 minutes after i first entered the door i skipped out proudly clutching my nice new piece of plastic.
And would you believe it, as I sat in the car at work, reaching for my handbag, ready to get out., the loser parked opposite me slipped his foot off the break and kissed my car with his bumper...only the plate was slightly buckled, along with his pride and the coffee cup he was holding, which had distributed itself all-over his pant..huh - that'll teach you to mess with someone with a brand new license.

blogging brad

My friend Brad from the UK set off on his world adventure almost a year ago (I think) and has been living on a shoestring and generally having a wonderful time. Every now and then we'll get emails from somewhere in the jungle that remind us it is possible follow your dream...
I'm sure he won't mind if the blogshere enjoys it as well today.


Greetings from the Visayan islands

Here is a quick update from your wandering friend in
the far east. Since I wrote last, I've been
travelling through The Philippines and will next be
flying to Hawaii for a family reunion. I've actually
managed to compress and send a few photos this time.
Hope you enjoy.

Week 44 - Manila, Philippines
Another enjoyable and relaxing week in Manila.
Clair(UK) arrived from Malaysia and I spent a few days
showing her a few local sights. A few good nights of
local nightlife and it was off to the Visayan islands.


Week 45 - Bohol & Batayan Island, Cebu
Jill, Clair and I spent 4 nights on the island of
Bohol. Here we visited the chocalate hills which are
supposed to look like chocalate balls. Since its now
the rainy season they are quite green, but made for
very interesting landscape. Next we
visited a tarsier sanctuary. These are little freaky
animals that look like minature monkeys with giantic
eyes. Took some nice photos and
avoided the temptation of sneaking one into the my
daypack. This was a nice activity that I'd recommend
to those of you furtunate enough to visit The
Philippines in the future. They really are quite
interesting animals.

We then made our way to the Batayan Islands where we
spent 3 nights doing nothing but sitting on the
beach and drinking Halo-Halo, a
Philippine afternoon drink. Halo-Halo is an odd
desert made of way too much fruit, gummy products,
granola, shaved ice, and sweet milk. It sounds like
an early death by sugar, and its incredibly
addicting.... If you try one, you'll find yourself
craving them on a daily basis.

Week 46 - Batayan Island, Malapascua Island, Cebu City
We finally left the relaxing Batayan Island for
Malapascua. This island was less enjoyed by the three
of us so we only spent 2 nights before departing for
Cebu. However, I was finally able to get 2 more scuba
dives under my belt while at Malapascua. These were
my first attempts since being certified in Thailand in
early April. The dives were quite good and Im eager
to do more soon.

Then it was off to Cebu City where we spent 2 nights.
We were all a bit beached out so we spent our time
enjoying the air conditioning of the huge local mall.
We managed to watch Star Wars Episode III and enjoy
yet more Halo-Halo treats....

Thats that the story for now. Im off to Hawaii for 10
days to meet my family then I will return to The
Philippines in early June. I'll write again in a few
weeks.

Paalum para na "Good Bye for now"
-Brad

still...its not raining here in Illinios today and that's a good thing.

what a day what a day

Been so flat out writing this test plan haven't had time to add anything...now it seems to be taking forever for each save, at least I have some time in between to add something...anything, so in the best tradition of "Wot I did in the weekend'

Had a lovely weekend up in Grand Geneva, glad we had the night as a gift as it was a trifle overpriced..though a grand place indeedy.
Did some spa stuff including a duo massage. Seemed very odd to get naked in a room with my husband and then coverup and have two complete strangers come and pound on us. Though the moment they started i virtually dropped off to la-la land I was so tired.
I can't quite get the hang of spa etiquette here, perhaps it had something to do with the fact we had gone over the border to Wisconsin away from Illinois.
In the whirlpool and sauna in the ladies section of the gym at home people quite often go nekkid...something I've finally got used to after Europe (outside of England I mean...English girls would probably run shrieking if you stood there starkers)But here they were, all wearing their togs/swimmers/bathingsuits/swimming costumes...and me without one.
I'm bold, but not bold enough to leap into a pool and be the only one nekkid...so I contented myself with a carefully draped towel (damn those things are short)and sat in the sauna for a bit.
We pottered around the next morning and then went of to Lake Geneva, the nearby town. It used to (and somewhat still is) the holiday home for the rich robber barons and their families fleeing the sticky heat (and for a time, the great fire) of Chicago. All around the lake are wonderful holiday home, ranging from the sublime(size of a normal house) to the ridiculous. It's also home to one of the US's first golf courses. The town is a mecca for day trippers, gawkers and us (oh ok - we fall into both categories)...and definitely a destination for that hidden subculture...the weekend Harley rider. So families, couples, large biker dudes (with even larger biker dudesses) and the odd harried looking resident.
They weren't quite selling sticks of rock...but pretty close.
We took the boat ride around the lake (2 hours) to gawk at the lifestyles of the rich and famous and it was pretty good, very much a potted history of Chicago aristocracy.
It was freezing when the boat got going so we huddled together like limpets...but at least I wasn't wearing a boob tube and miniskirt like one poor girl...you could ski down her goose bumps.
We managed to sit behind the worlds most boring guy...and by the time we finished we had learnt more about his parents lavishing too much money on his brother, her parents lavishing too much money on her sisters grandkids, his taste in houses, her taste in jewelry 'I got the diamond set down so it would sparkle more'...til I wanted to turn around and say in my loudest most English voice 'Would you please be quiet'...but I didn't...and still wish I had.
We toodled home the long way, had Gordy and Lorraine over for a nice long BBQ lunch in the sun on Sunday...did way more laundry than I thought we had clothes and here we are and it's Tuesday already.

You know you need a break when...

you go to make yourself a cup of tea and find yourself pouring hot coffee on the teabag!
Would that make it a cup of cea or toffee? either way the result looks far to disgusting to drink, regardless of how much caffeine it might indicate I need.

Can I borrow your cat?...

cats
Originally uploaded by zela.

Occasionally I click the 'view next blog' button to see whose moved in next door...last time it was someone in Prague! Now its someone in Hong Kong who has the cutest (if somewhat owllike) cat pictures...with very smooshed in faces, poor things
Take a look at the other pictures on Cecilia sites...I'm cracking up cos those cats look very confused about the whole photoblogging business.
Hmmnnnn...maybe I'll just have to catblog someone else cats until I get my own.

Always listen to your sister…

We went to Merrill last weekend to visit with MIL and FIL and soak up some home cooking and riverside ambience…hoping that it would be warmer than Chicago (not sure why cos we were heading north…my internal compass is still set to NZ…where north is warm and cold is south). It was as cold and miserable as Chicago…but at least we have the river rushing by and no real reason to do much but stay warm.
On Saturday we went to put the pontoon boat in, basically a floating deck with comfy squishy sofa that doubles as MIL/FIL’s outdoor room. It’s a monster and goes into storage over winter due to the river freezing. FIL had it out and on the trailer. They usually put it in up river but that’s steep and tricky so this year they decided to go to the council grounds (like a bush reserve) and so off we went…veeeeerrrry wiiiide turns and all.
The council grounds are a big piece of forest as a spit into the river, boat ramps on one side and walking paths all over. MIL and her gaggle of gals go walking there most days, and once the boat went in with the hearty sailors to take it all of 15 mins cross river to their dock, we would do the walk and haul the trailer home.
As we slowly drove through the woods I said to MIL did they have Deer, no she said, I’ve never seen them and we all burst into laughter as 3 deer bounded across the road a little way in front.
So have you ever seen a bear I asked, no she said and whilst she was saying it and I was looking into the forest I saw a bear…I pointed it out, and I’m sure they thought I was joking…but sure enough , on all four paws (and then it stood up), looking for all the world like it had stepped out of the wonderful world of Disney was a bear….M’s never seen one, MIL’s has only every seen a couple. The bear stared at us, we stared at the bear and slowly kept driving……and we sure as hell weren’t walking in the woods that day.
We talked to the ranger when we left the grounds, and he said that there was a mother and two cubs about, so we must have seen the mother. It’s 6 days later and I’m still excited about my first live wild in the woods bear.
And the moral of the story is…don’t pooh pooh your kiwi sister when she says look out for bears when you go into the woods…she might just know what she’s talking about.

Trying to figure out trackbacks

The bonfire of the vanites is over at the ever so georgious Ferdy at the Conservative Cat
Not sure I like the content this week...but at least everyone can poke fun at themselves.

Note to self, things to remember about being a lady

Don't open the foil top of a yoghurt after shaking it...Especially if you're wearing a black top
Remember Kris/Kross and to 'Jump Jump' when climbing into your SUV with a short skirt on, try to act nochalent when you fall off the seat cos you can't swing your legs up
Remember Diana when you climb out...swivel and slide out gracefully, not slither and laugh hysterically.

Please feel free to add your own.

'Storewars'

the veggies are taking over. I laughed until i cried...look out for the Thai fighters

http://complimenter.blogspot.com/

Compli-meme
Here is my new meme. It's a compli-meme. Go out and spread the news.

Finish these sentences in a complimentary fashion. Copy, paste, finish and leave them in someone's comment box. Then post them on your own site and pass the word.

1. WOW! Your site is

2. That post was very

3. You're

YOU'VE BEEN COMPLI-MEME'D. GO OUT AND DO LIKEWISE.

An extra smile goes to those who participate.

Been a bit flat out for the last couple of days...

so here's a few links to my favorite blogs...enjoy:
Elisson's blog always cracks me up, even when he was going through his poetry month...and offers very interesting insights to being Jewish in the modern world...plus his cats are the cutest things
and speaking of cats...for those of us (me) who are waiting to move before getting a CAT (M finally agreed in a moment of weakness, though he's now trying to renege on the deal)...Carnival of the cats goes to a different website each week to offer a spot for the tradition of cat blogging...mecca for those of us feline deprived, don't forget to read the FAQ's...and for you other poor souls...Carnival of the dogs will have to do.
I'm not sure what Green Tuna does in the outside world, but etiquette says its not polite to ask...I'm pretty sure her name is a pun, and TunaNews is always fun.
Gordy and Lorraine recently moved to Chicago from the UK...so apart from them being friends (well they have some of our furniture so I think that means we like each other), they are both new and doing pretty damn good at blogging...his and hers.
Bonfire of the vanities are always a good way to read some interesting writing and find other blogs you'd like to come back to....so I'll leave you with this weeks version, posted here (one day I'll work up enough courage to submit)...enjoy

You know you're assimilating when:

You start to take your coffee to work in a insulated cup (thanks Geoff and Amy for giving us these for Christmas)
At first I though people did it cos their journeys were long...but now I realize it's because the coffee at work is crap

Stopping at Dunkin Donut's on the way to work is no longer a novelty
in my defense it was cos I had to get some little donut holes for the kids in my JA class since we are studying donut production today

You find yourself asking for the 'gas' station, coffee with 'cream', 'jelly' for your toast and eggs 'over hard' - though I still throw in the words 'make them bounce like rubber'..hate the funny runny stuff

for those of you wondering what i said

rude comments about mumbling and dodgy accents aside.
here's a great Kiwi to English dictionary I've just found.
I was attempting to translate togs.
I shall now endeavour to teach 1 word a fortnight (another handy word not used by USians)...a couple of weeks ago i said 'jiggery-pokery' in a meeting and they loved it...makes me laugh everytime i hear it get used now.
Tell me your favourite new expressions (I've been watching Bro-town and shall have a few new ones soon I think)

cheers mate

random airport thoughts

today the trees are just packed with pink and white blossoms, none of the long flowering springtime here...seems to come in a rush as if the blossoms are so eager to be out they all burst out at once. I almost smacked into the back of a car i was so distracted by what was going on, on the tree's. Probabely would have been a bit hard to explain to the person I hit...'well I was looking and the blossom and didn't see you in that enormous truck in front of me'
It was a little odd going through the Cincinnati airport this week, I've not been back since Feb when it was so cold and here were the Avis guys walking around in shorts and polo's, as opposed to the sub zero ski suits and miserable faces i saw in the brief time it took me to exit the car and run to the warmth of the airport bus. They looked positively nekkid. Must be a damn miserable job in winter.
Trundled through the 'remove all your clothing and give me the name of your first born child' Homeland Security palaver and managed to insult the Zimbabwean boarding pass checker by asking if she was south african...never a good thing and she punished me by making me show my passport. I usually use my drivers licence going through US airport internally as it has my married name.
Down the hall way and onto the 'business plane'...seems to be mostly everyone is on this flight to get back to Chicago from whatever work they have been doing in Cincinnati...everyone has a rolling bag and/or briefcase/backpack. The men are wearing white or chambray shirts or some sort of polo straining over the beer gut if they have business casual. The women are mostly in black/navy/khaki/beige, and the odd casual traveller (usually retired) looks most bemused when we all line up the moment the desk boarder approaches the door. Seating area 1 is ready to go.
I've finished my porridge and am almost through my raisins, so it;s time to post this get a cup of mediocre coffee and get back to work.
Have a fab weekend all of you.

most of the time

you never want to hear someone's train of thought when they go to the loo...or at least you don't say so in polite company...but anyways...just went to the loo and undid my trousers and:

my tights are tighter, my butt is bigger...
whaaaat, how can that be?...
I've been doing my physio exercises...
OK they are for bursitis in my hip but it's still exercise damnit...
and I'm playing volleyball (badly) for a work team...
and I didn't eat anything with wheat for lunch...
though peanut butter cookies for dinner cos M is out of town prob didn't help...
but my tights aren't constricting my tummy???
which usually bloats up first...
what the @#$%...
oh yeah...
my tights are on backwards...
duh...
mustn't laugh out loud in the loos at work...
they'll think I;m mad!

tips

for my mission to be a better blogger

wed-ned-day

a couple of strange things I've noticed/heard:
the walking men on the crossing signs have no feet or hands so they look like amputees crossing a creek...how strange
the Illinois chamber of commerce running an advert asking people to stop suing and 'trial shopping' (ie finding a friendly court)cos it's pushing costs up high, professions are leaving (ie doctors) and new business doesn't want to move here. Apparently our state does the most suing.
Imagine that...I can feel a slip and fall coming on :>)

and I've been looking for a list of terms

and here it is...thanks to cocojams site

it's may - hooray

but it's still a little bit freezy around the fanny...had to bring the hanging baskets in last night so they didn't get frost bite and had a few snow flakes around yesterday morning...aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh, when will this winter be OVER.
MIL and FIL came back from Florida in the weekend...not happy campers with the cold, think they have definately turned into snowbirds
Apparently a week or two of spring then winter then straight into summer is quite common. looking forward to the 'into summer' bit, yes indeedy.
Got the news from the lawyer today, the new owners have signed on the bottom line and we are officially sold.
very happy bout that
We did another driveby this weekend with MIL and FIL, had to change car's so they wouln't know it was us...though they might have figured it out after we drove around the block for the 3rd time.
MIL and FIL made polite noises about how much work it looked like it needed, but I think they liked it and most of all...they like that we love it. Can't wait to show them the inside, FIL likes fireplaces a lot (i think this might be his BBQ subsitute for winter) and ours is a doozy...made of great big stones and accessed through both sides.
Now we have to work out when we are actually going to move in, when we get the architects to have a look, how much work can we schedule before we move in..the list goes on.
At least I don't have to be a tidy around the house now that it's sold...that was damn near killing me!
Off to Cincinnati, Ohio for work tommorrow night...and then back to dayton Ohio for the weekend for a wedding.

Toronto in a nutshell

Toronto in a nutshell
Friday
too early
cheese criossant
roaring water
chicken quesadeia
sweet wine
zzzzzzzzzz
Rogan Josh and poppadoms
boomboomboombbom
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Saturday
mmmmnnnnnnsleeeeep
mmmmmmnnnnbaaacon
slooshslooshsloosh
brrrrrrrhhhh
kaching, kaching
brrrrrrrhhhh
tea/oysters/tea/beef/tea/fish/tea/rice/duck/taro/rice/tea/greens/rice/beef/rice/soy/tea
hmmmmn...so that's how you eat a fish head!
aaaaaahhhhhh
port
zzzzzzzzzzzz

Sunday
brrrrrrrhhh
trudge trudge trudge
aaaaahhhh coffee
shoes...purty shoes...
brrrrrhhhhhh
trudge trudge trudge
Tom Yum Kai
Lights/camera/action
trudge trudge trudge
it's a long way dooooowwwwn
Taxeeeeee!
Brooooom broooom
up up away
zzzzzzzzzz
brooooom brooooom
home sweet home
zzzzzzzzzz

birthday present

Sent this clock to Vanessa's Tim for his birthday...got the following email back.

Beep beep ... beep beep

Flash flash flash

Beep flash beep ... flash beep flash

Beep kiss thankyou flash smile beep

Flash flash flash

Beep beep ... beep beep

xxxx


I think that means he likes it!

Moose time

we're off to Toronto this evening to hang with assorted whanau, my brother, cousin, his wife and what ever you call your cousins wife's brother and his girlfreind. Looking forward to seeeing them all especially my brother, who is the baby of the family (though not sized that way anymore)
M's taking his laptop, so if if all goes well, there will be maple blog for you all.

A cautionary tale from the tooth fairy...

dental surgery...such joy to be had from this...
I needed a root canal done...somehow this relatively simple procedure has turned into 5 visits, 2 dentists, 1 periodontist, 3600mg of ibuprofen and I still have no idea what a periodontist actually is!
so it sorta goes like this
i visit dentist number one (now known as 'bad dentist' cos he whinged so much he put me off going back) who tells me that tooth 20 (which he later writes down as tooth 21 - strike 2) needs to have infected roots removed, filled up and crown placed on top. And by the way "get this done now as you'll need to get an incisor removed completely after this" - Visit 1
Dentists in the US don't dig out the roots, you need a specialist of course (funny how the rest of the world copes with having it all done under one roof) so he refers me to a specialist, but he has left me doubting his abilities, so for first time in my life I seek a second opinion (how Hollywood of me!)
I go to M's dentist who is kind and patient to a patient, and will now become 'Good Dentist'. He agrees that this is correct but I must seek out a periodontist to do this. - Visit 2 is complete
I find a periodontist in my healthplan (based on the thought her last name 'Summercorn' sounded like someone who would not hurt me too much) and ring the surgery to make an appointment to get the root canal done...but no...I must have a consultation first, before they can schedule the root canal and next one is not until 3 weeks. At which point I lose the will to live and agree to the appointment...i have no energy to try and find another surgery at this point.
I visit the periodontist who takes more x-rays despite Bad Dentist giving me an x-ray to show them and Good Dentist agreeing that the X-ray was ok...tooth 20 probabley glows in the dark now from all the X-rays it has had. Surprising enough (take a moment to grimace ironically please) she agrees that it does require a root canal and luck is on my side (this is Friday), they've had a cancellation and on Monday at 9:00 the inside of tooth 20 will now be removed - Visit 3 ends
Visit 4 involves lots of injections, jaw wrenching, slurpee suction sounds and moments of comedy when they couldn't get the clamp that goes around the tooth off, and i might have to walk out wearing it. She also stuffed a bit of cotton and lightweight cover and told me that my dentist would fit the crown...whaaaaa the ??? I had some stupid notion that she would finish of the job then and there...oh and I had to have it done in the next 10 days...hmmmm
So back at work I ring Good Dentist (who's office does not open until noon) and tell the receptionist that i need an appointment and guess what..."you need a full consultation first and the next one is in may...did I want to take that appointment?"...uh yes, but i need a crown in the next 10 days too please. She went off and talked to 'Good Dentist"...who lived up to his name and managed to see me at 8:00am on Tuesday.
Visit 5 got off to a bad start when the nurse realized I had only had the surgery the day before...a bit of consultation and the large quantity of ibuprofen already taken helped and 'Good Dentist' got underway. Visit 5 involved more injections (a wee bit painful on top of an already injected site), not so much jaw wrenching, just as much slurpee suction and the exciting addition of a mouth guard full of squishy pink stuff that sets like wax to take a mold to fix the permanent crown....yes folks, he was just fitting a temp crown cos they have to send away for a permanent one to be carved somewhere (no doubt by a specialist). On the bright side he did allow me to watch TV for 10 minutes while the squishy pink stuff set and I got to see just how young Ted Danson and Shelly Long looked in the early 'Cheers' episode. Definitely the high point of my day.
So now I have a mouth that can only eat mushy food despite the 600mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours for the last 2 days...$500 less due to co-payments and i still have 1 more appointment to fit the crown when it finally comes in.
Oh yes...and the prospect of an extraction involving an oral surgeon, titanium post insertion and wearing something called a 'flipper' for 6 months so I don't look like a hillbilly is all there to look forward to...you have been warned.

for anyone who wonders what sorts of emails I get in a day

note...spelling and grammer is senders own and names XXX to protect the guilty

XXX/XXX-
Please confirm this the data that we were looking for from last week's internal meetings:

XXX- educational institutions for the conversion effort (these are just the ones that (deleted client name) is currently using in staffing system 4/1)

XXX- locations - I believe this was the followup to verify valid values for locations with XXX. (not sure if this is the correct dump)

Thanks,
XXX


and

the document is upto date as its what we presented to the client last week, and Jim's captured all there feedback. The document does not indicate (atleast not clearly) approval level, just the primary/ secondary initiator for the processes.

and the sort of stuff I send looks like...

Hi XXX, any update on this?
XXX indicated today that we could view anything that did not exist on R2 or R3 as a customization (unless all three clients wanted it, then it might turn into base), but we could still do with some sort of estimate for the requirements consultants.

and

Hi XXX,
We would like to explore a couple of potential customizations (they might be configurations if we're real lucky but we're not holding our breath).
In the termination processes we currently plan on using 37 separation reasons for Client, of which 6 are base.
We've checked with XXX and we understand that the base functionality (only filters on Involuntary Severance and LOA as Termination reasons when the Contingent Worker Controller selects Termination as the reason for change.

In the event that the client may require either a sub-set or none of the 37 reason when they chose Termination, what are our options?
Can we filter and only use a subset, and how big a customization will this be?
Can we somehow turn off all the Termination reason list and only allow eligible, ineligible and ineligible with override, so that this status can still be attached?
Please give me a call if my questions are not clear.

so now you know...and oddly enough, most days i like my job too!

Cherry pie

mmmmmnnn cherry pie for breakfast, although eaten carefully in the side of the mouth not brutalized by the root canal yesterday.
I'm developing a real love affair for cherry pie. The client I have been working on sells the best cherry pie in their lunchroom, the crust is flaky and the fruit is sour and sweet with just the right amount of juice. I've been attempting to replicate this masterpiece ever since. I think I've finally got the pastry just right...and almost up to my mothers/aunts/sister/Nana standard...must have been cos I was adopted and didn't have the special 'really cold hands' gene that runs in the Scott women...allowing them to produce the bestest pastry around...my mother used to say 'hot hands cook pastry', but I'm still not sure poor circulation is actually a benefit no matter how good the pastry is.
anyhoo. Still working on the filling. The first one I used the sour tinned cherries but the recipe wasn't explicit about draining the juice so I went with adding it. The whole thing looked a bit gory by the end (I gotta stop watching CSI, puts me right of red colored food) but tasted ok, though still a bit sweet.
This time I went with the frozen cherries. Not sour and I used less sugar (only 1 cup! - this is not a low cal exercise), but not sour at all and the lack of juice made it a bit gluey. So the insides of 1 and the pastry of two and I'm almost there
still...nice having a piece of cherry pie for breakfast.

1 year anniversary

Hard to believe I've been married one whole year...harder to beleive M has survived being married to me one hold year and has not reached for the restaining jacket, or mailorder valium from canada.
We celebrated by having a lazy day around the house and reminding ourselves (not that it was to hard) that we didn't have any chores.
I got M an Ipod and he had a great morning working out how to get the tunes in it...score one for me, it's always so hard to buy him gifts.
Promised myself i would bundle up the unused winter clothing so I had more room in my wardrobe...not really a chore, more, allowing more space in the universe for new clothes to get into my house. Also feels like a good thing to do in spring.

measured cleaning

has gone on since we finished breakfast (mnnn cold pizza...almost better than the hot stuff)and we are now up to phase 1 of the 'Saturday we get all the jobs done to sell the house so we can celebrate our wedding anniversary on sunday' project. I've slipped away to blog, though technically I'm finding out when the DMV is open (gotta get the liscense changed) and print out a photo we are going to put on the wall (long story)
shhhh...don't tell M (he's in the shower)
ok...back later after I've sanded/plastered/painted the last bits of the kitchen and guest bathroom, picked up various bits, dropped off various bit, made various appointments and returned home with bbq stuff.
laters
and Linda...you rock!

Heather reminded me the other day

by sending me . So no matter how trivial it seems...gotta get out there and do it.
Been sidetracked by reading some great stuff from carnival of the vanities, particularily Chris's faboulous peice
Gotta figure out how to do proper linkbacks.
House should properly go through today...so will be celebrating that, surviving (i mean enjoying) 1 year of marriage and looking forward to a root canal(ohmygodihatethedentist) on monday
and will post the pics of the girlies and i taking NY by storm when i find the cable that lets me download the piccies from the phone.
Gotta dash and do phone interview dashit!

new house 003

new house 003
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new house 004
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new house 006
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new house 007
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new house 008
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new house 009
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new house 010
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new house 011
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new house 001

new house 001
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new house 002
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new house 005
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new house 012
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new house 013
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new house 014
Originally uploaded by zela.

Wednedsday weather watch

5:37am - Birds tweeting, husband snoring, sun starting to get through the blinds
8:31am - Meeting going well, sunlight glinting of the pond seen through the window
11:31am - Strange flavoured chicken thing for lunch, wind making the wavelets on the pond dance and sparkle
2:45pm - Admin Assistant comes to tell us we're on tornado watch, assured by locals that tornado's have not been seen for years
5:02pm - Dark, stormy, wind lashing heavy rain on the windows, animals in twos heading for a large wooden boat (OK - kidding about the animals bit)
6:00pm - Darker, rumbles of thunder every few seconds, lightning flashes distracting me from spreadsheet
6:18pm - Lighter outside like normal evening again, head off to have margarita's with workmates
9:32pm - Rain spatters on car on way home, not cold though (might be wearing a margarita overcoat)
2:37am - Wind sounds like sirens, can't get back to sleep
5:42am - Strong winds, floods and tornado damage elsewhere - spring has been cancelled for today