join them.

i’ve cracked under the pressure.

i’m on facebook,

it’s easier,

quicker…

but i’m not abandoning my little pensive oyster.

i’ll put the major stuff here.

ciao!

the real slim sammy

may 1, 1999 – january 27, 2007

well, aotearoa is pretty smart [alleck] by getting all of the public holidays over smack after christmas…maybe so we look forward to them all year and really enjoy them more, or maybe it’s the best chance for hte best weather…any way, monday was ‘wellington anniversary’…which means monday off. once i learned this i decided i was headed for taranaki’s white cliffs…which i’ve been trying to get to for months.

 so here you go…my new favorite place in nz;

happy new year to all the pearls on my strand…

just back to welly and work after my first holiday season in nz and it was great.

after christmas we travelled north, as north as you can go on this land, where the sun was shining, flowers blooming, and the sea sparkling.

i really enjoyed this part of country connected to the sea and chock-a-block with the short but meaningful history of this youthful country:

p.s. back in [s]wellington and the wind is roaring and mid-summer i am wearing three layers.

no idea what this flower is, but it’s beautiful!

family outting in kerikeri

historic and world’s largest waka. it’s used in the annual observance of the treaty of waitangi

matai beach on the doubtless pennensular. this secluded beach was definitely worth the effort of getting there!

tiki carving on the portal of the waitangi marae

historic town (3 buildings i think) of kerikeri

a rural chapel outside of whangarei (fahn-ga-ray)

sunset at cape reinga…the very northern tip of aotearoa

cape reinga with giant sand dunes to the left

waitangi treaty grounds with gov busby’s colonial cottage and tradition maori marae

merry christmas 2007

wishing so much joy, love, and cheer to all my loved ones, family, friends, human and other wise…, near and far, those i see and those from which i am separated.

i am truely greatful for the opportunity of spending a time in such a place i could never imagine visiting before. and while i delight in new traditions, scenery, and experiences…

i look forward to another traditional christmas in the nothern hemisphere at least.

just remember…

‘i ll be home for christmas…if only in my dreams’

merry christmas and know how much i love you!

please read the following christmas poem by the scottish writer Moira Andrew:

Letter from Egypt

Dear Miriam,
Just a line
to let you know how things
are with us & of course to
thank you (& your good man)
for all you did for us – &
at your busiest time too
what with the census &
everything. I was quite
exhausted and the baby was
beginning to make himself
felt. If it hadn’t been
for all your help that night
my baby might have died.

Good of you
to put up with all our
visitors – who’d have
thought, six scruffy
shepherds up & leaving
their sheep like that?
& didn’t they ever smell?
Still they were good-
hearted & they meant well.
I hope they brought some
extra trade to the inn.
They looked in need of
a hot drink & a meal.

& what about
those kings, Miriam? Kneeling
there in their rich robes
& all? & me in nothing but
my old blue dress! Joseph
said not to worry, it was
Jesus they’d come to see.
Real gentlemen they were.
But what funny things to
give a baby – gold & myrrh
& frankincense. That’s men
all over! It wouldn’t cross
their minds to bring a shawl!

Sorry we left
so suddenly. No time for
good-byes with king Herod on
the warpath! We had to take
the long way home & I’m so
tired of looking at sand!
Joseph has picked up a few
jobs mending this & that so
we’re managing quite well.
Jesus grows bonnier every
day & thrives on this way
of life, but I can’t wait
to see Nazareth again.

Love to all
at the inn,

Mary

http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html

just a couple of highlights over the last week…where the moto is

work hard,

play harder,

just do it!!!

*** we are having a fairly strong earthquake as i upload these pics!!!! it’s lasted about 30 seconds so far!!!

okay, i’m off, i have laundry and baking to do…

buon giornata

in lieu of written wednesday and in an attempt to blog more often, i’ve just come home from the chemist and inspired to began wednesday’s wod, why?

1. a reason to use the term ‘wod’

2. left with perscription eye product, again, why?

a. allergy season down unda

b. astigmatism, well probably

c. dry eye

d. sore eye

e. been reading tons…jsut not keeping up with written wednesday

f. 10+ hours at the computer a day (ah the glomrous life of an architect)

so the word:

Corneal Sac

 it’s pretty self explanatory, the lower eyelid in which you deposit the mucous-like eye ointment to releive sore, allery, gritty eyes.

final thought: i just found out botox is being used for jaw clenching and teeth grinding, not a bad application i think.

now, i’m meant to be preparing for a big drop, but a new tv program is debuting tonight and i am treating myself after a long tuesday that feels like friday!

so, i drink my evening vino whilst watching:

‘does my bum look big’

http://www.tv3.co.nz/Reality/DoesMyBumLookBig/tabid/576/Default.aspx?showid=16050

i love this funny little country i call home at the moment…