Week of 10-14 November

Hi all,

I haven't been very good at updating this again, and my reason is that I've been very busy at work. In fact, in the last two weeks, I've worked an extra 30 hours! It has been a bit stressful, but the extra money will come in handy for my parents' visit and for our Christmas trip.

Some examples of the work craziness: Monday morning I ended up playing caterer for a Mexican party (for three hours). Tuesday I spent over six hours attending a marketing seminar (not my field, and I've only been with the company for a few months). Wednesday was my Advanced reading course followed by three hours of last minute PPT work for the CEO. Friday was spent mostly in meetings.

My parents arrive in just six days...I'm so excited! The weather is getting very nice, and the temperatures are just about right for a pair of Northwesterners. There has been plenty of sunshine, but also a soft breeze coming off of the sea. It is getting to the point that we leave the window open at night.

Wednesday night we met Susan for a night in Newtown. Her time in NZ is almost over, so we're trying to check the last boxes before she flies back to Canada. I took her op-shopping, and then we met Rory for dinner at Amigos (the Chilean place). The food is so nice, but also very rich...but that didn't stop us from finishing off the evening with chocolate gelato from the Mediterranean Food Warehouse. Then Rory and I walked from to Island Bay (it took about 45 minutes, but we needed it after all of that food!).

Friday night I met Rory for dinner in Newtown again (it is my favorite place to go for a meal). We tried Beijing, and the Chinese food was delicious. We had dumplings, fish rolls, and Beijing style pork. The pork came with little pancakes that resembles tortillas, and you rolled it up with lettuce, sauce, and little crunchy potatoes. Yum! Then, once again, we walked home.

Yesterday we spent the whole day looking for deals for Christmas break. Rory and I both get two weeks off, and they mostly overlap. Right now we are looking at either going to the Bay of Islands in Northland or to the bottom of the South Island, Fjordland. It is just a matter of whether we want beaches or mountains, I guess.

I'll try to be better at blogging this week. And then mom and dad will be here! Hooray!

Love, Amy