The test between New Zealand and Pakistan was very evenly poised going into the last day, so we spent another afternoon in the sun at the Oval.
Cricket has gone into a decline in New Zealand during my years
overseas. Watching New Zealand play recently has required a special
kind of masochism. Until yesterday, they hadn't won a test match for a
year. The poor results have led to a huge drop in attendance at
matches. I used to go to Carisbrook along with 10 to 20 thousand
others. Yesterday, we were at the University Oval (a much smaller
ground) as part of a crowd of just over 2200. It was fun and
atmospheric even so - but the reduced crowds are a bit alarming.
after the annual SCAW (sleeping children around the world) charity concert, we finally had a chance to try roger mooking's kultura restaurant. like his other restaurant, nyood (pronounced 'nude'), it's like a tasting menu where you share as a group.
oh yum. definitely a good choice. the only problem was that there were so many yummy items that we over-ordered. at the same time, the plus side is that the next time i go back, i'll have a clearer idea of what i want to focus on.
our crazy, long list (including appetizer, main menu items and dessert):
Edamame - Miso, Black Bean
Scallops with Gow Gee - Braised Beef Cheeks, soy Emulsion, Cripsed Shallots
Mushroom Orecchiette - Mailvoire Pinot Noir Pear Chutney, Aged Cheddar
Peppered Tuna Carpaccio - Daikon, Sesame Oil, Mizuna Cress, Miso Crisp
Naan - Garlic, Black Onion Seed, Harissa Yogurt
Indian Samosas - Shitake Mushroom, Pine Nuts, Truffled Paneer, Tamarind Date Chutney
Miso Black Cod - Yuzu Corn Puree, Pickled Radish Salad, Crystallized Tamarind
Crispy Tofu - Miso Consomme, Shitake, Garlic Chips
Chicken and Gnocchi - Rice Crunch, Spring Peas, Peppered honey
Black Quinoa Cursted Lamb Loin - Roasted Salsify, Gai Lan, Maple Gastrique
Chocolate Delice - Salted Caramel, Sesame Nougat, Twizzler Ice Cream
Flourless Chocolate Cake - Chocolate Pudding, Caramel Parfait, Frozen Lemon Curd
Vanilla Sugar Doughnut Holes - Caramel and Chocolate Dipping Sauce
keep in mind, for a lot of it, we had to order two as there were about 5 adults and chaeli, whom loved the food that she tried but was a bit disappointed that roger mooking himself wasn't there to greet her (he's one of her favouirte 'cookers' as she likes to call it, from foodtv.ca). okay, i admit it. i was disappoint too, even though i knew full well that he wouldn't be there.
my favourite was the black cod, mushroom orecchiette and the tuna carpaccio. the tofu and scallops were also amongst some of my faves.
The past week has been BUSY! Last weekend my little brother came to visit. We very much enjoyed having him out to hang with us for a few days. Rock Band got a lot of air time :) When we dropped him off at the airport and drove off, Stephan kept asking, “Where’s uncle Eilert?” and then we talked some about him, and I, being sad that uncle Eilert had to go home. He’s such a sweet little boy, already planning uncle’s next trip out!
I also made the apple pie for our mini "Turkey" feast.
After Eilert left, I endured my one and only workday of the week, rushing home to get down to the Pepsi Center so we could shoot some hoops before the Nuggets game. Unfortunately, we only ended up with five minutes because we got there so late and they booted us off the court earlier than I’d expected. We then walked across the parking lot for dinner and went back for the game. At halftime Stephan was part of the “High Five Squad” and got the chance to high five some very tall NBAers. Due to a mix up, he did not get to see the Nuggets up close, and some of the other kids parents were jerks, but he did get one Nets player to come up and give him a high five, which I tried to play up for his sake. He was disappointed to only high five one player, but that’s more than some people ever get so it was still pretty darn cool!
That afternoon I’d called my OB’s office and found out the preeclampsia labs she did all were fine. Still going to check my BP on Tuesday and see if I’ll need to start meds, but what a relief to know that it’s not preeclampsia, just the high blood pressure right now.
Wednesday Andy and I took Stephan to daycare and spent the day together. We went to see Pirate Radio (not a bad flick, but not the comedy I’d expected from the previews) and he took me to Red Robin for lunch. Also stopped at Sam’s for tp, but otherwise an official date mid week, something that doesn’t often happen.
Turkey day we went to Mimi’s Café for lunch with my in-laws. I’m not a huge turkey fan, so I just got a breakfast frittata that was pretty good and shared Andy’s pumpkin pie. Even though it was a pretty small meal, I didn’t eat much the rest of the day. We sent Stephan off with nana & papa and had another afternoon to ourselves before heading to the Bronco game. So glad they actually won again. A little chillier than I like, too bad the game wasn’t played in the afternoon when it was 60 and sunny out. On the way home we drove by Best Buy and Ultimate Electronics to see where we might have the most luck getting Andy his PS3 deal. I decided to ask him if he wanted that as his Cmas/Bday/Anniv gift this year and after combing the ads, those two stores were the only ones with deals. Best Buy looked NUTS already at 9:30pm so we decided to skip that and go for Ultimate since there were only about 15 people waiting there. After going home and getting a few hours of sleep, we got up at 3am to head out for …
Black Friday. This is only the second year we’ve done the BF thing. When we got to Ultimate, there were about 40-50 people in front of us and we plopped down in our camp chairs and bundled up in our blankies for a couple hours. When the store employees finally started walking down the line with vouchers we luckily got one for the PS3, 7 of 10! The deal there was that they were going to sell 10 PS3s with a bonus $100 gift card. With that bonus we were able to get the BluRay remote and a game for Andy and I got a game for my DS too since they were already sold out of my Mario game. Oh well, it’s on my Christmas list along with Wii Fit Plus! After the hour long wait to check out, we drove over to Target to see if they still had a couple toys in the ad for Stephan. They did. Andy was unsuccessful at finding his Psych season, but got a season of Monk instead. So far a pretty good morning. We stopped at McD’s and then went to Kohl’s to see what was left there after them being open for 3 hours or so. There was a toy I wanted to get for Stephan, something to hang on to and give him from the baby in the hospital, and some frames, and Andy said he’d wanted to have me pick out some earrings for my Christmas gift. We found everything and while the cheaper earrings that were in the ad were all gone, they probably looked kinda crappy anyway, and I found some pretty diamond earrings to coordinate with the necklace he and Stephan got me a couple years ago for Mother’s Day.
We went home and got everything inside. I decided that while Andy was setting up his PS3 I’d pull out Stephan’s presents and get them all unboxed and ready to go and then wrapped them so he wouldn’t discover them AND know what they were like he did this year before his birthday. Took a while, but now his gifts are not only purchased, but wrapped and ready to go under the tree and in his stocking. Good thing too, cause he’s already found them and asked about them and wanted them. Sheesh.
After waking up a little with showers, we headed up to nana & papa’s to get the kid and stopped along the way at Dick’s to see if we’d get lucky there too. While they did not have the plum Crocs I wanted (don't even think they stock that color), they did have my size in the cute emu ugg boots so I snagged those. I’ve been wanting a pair but holding out since so many are made in China and not Australia. I did not want to spend a ton of money on a pair of boots that are probably made for ¼ the cost or less. These were 60% off and have a cute button accent so I decided to give them a try and see if I like them enough to maybe order some that are really made in Australia.
I crashed with Stephan when we got home and had a lovely nap that got me through dinner and more Rock Band with some friends we haven’t seen in years, not since just after Stephan was born. We enjoyed catching up with them and just hanging out.
This morning Andy woke up feeling crummy after so little sleep yesterday. After he drank some water and ate some he started feeling better and we were off on our last errand of the weekend. Went to the mall and the Christian bookstore. Their deals were good for three days and not just three hours so I didn’t want to stress or feel like I needed to rush there yesterday. We got a couple Veggie Tales DVDs and CDs for Andy and I, Stephan picked out a Veggie ornament for his tree ... and we picked up a DVD and doll for my youngest niece.
WE ARE DONE WITH CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!! YAY!!!
One tradition left to go. Andy and I buy stocking suffers
for each other last minute. Have for years. We go to Target and make a game of avoiding each other in the store and seeing how much
we can get for the other person’s stocking for just $25. Fun challenge.
If Andy’s still feeling better he might go down to the garage and dig out the tree and all our other Christmas stuff. Right now of course, he’s shooting up somewhere in Warfare land on his Christmas gift. I’m glad everything worked out.
Tomorrow, we’ll head to church and then probably rest the afternoon away.
I only worked 8 days in Nov + one day at a conference. There are 12 up in Dec, three whole weeks and then Christmas break. I feel a bit spoiled. Hard to believe that come January I’ve only got about 10 more weeks till baby’s here and then I’ll have most of the rest of the year off before summer. This year has been QUICK.
Well, I did survive Thanksgiving after all, above is the Fisherman's Memorial at Point Judith, it inserted itself there by accident!
alright - just one more observation that I have to make from my bodypump class, which i wrote about yesterday... okay, maybe two. because there's this little petite brunette who attends the class and she really is just that. petite. but with very noticeable breasts. and not in the bad way. i'm not saying that she's so out of proportion that she might fall over but seriously - she's stacked and well, it's very hard not to notice.
but other then that, i've noticed that on the occassion, we get some male clientele in the class. and without fail, i honestly do not know what they are trying to prove.
there they are, all arms but with a big pop-belly, loading up the weights and ready to go.
not even after the first exercise, are they able to last.
here is where i smirk. way more then towards the teens that i wrote about yesterday because at least those teens proved to us that they weren't there to try and prove anything and were, actually, not the typical, pain in the ass teens we normally stereotype them for.
but these men! exactly what did they think they were trying to do - impress us?
i lose count at all the times they end up dropping their weight right to the ground before we finish a set, creating a huge thud as the instructor, even with the mic, tries to talk over the noise as she brings us all to the finale. at this point, our muscles are starting to shake, sweat is stinging our eyes, and we are doing everything in our power to try and overcome that lactic acid build-up so we can finish the set together - as a team. and basically, just bring it on home.
but that loud thud? that annoying distraction?
it makes me want to just face THAT GUY and say, "did you seriously think that this is about how much you can lift/press? this is about ENDURANCE, baby - not maximum weight. take it outside to the rest of the meat heads if THAT's what you're looking for!"
morons.
It's been slow coming but summer has finally arrived. I know because the first cricket test of the season started yesterday. We've had a few days of fabulous weather as well. We celebrated by going to the cricket for a couple of hours this afternoon.
While we were picnicking and playing with Petra the Blackcaps' batsmen survived a few nasty blows to the head and body and managed to bat through to the last ball before lunch without losing a wicket. Travis and I only got intermittent looks at the play but I enjoyed the sound of bat on ball and what bowling and shot making I did see.
Wow, it was the worst light ever today for fooling with the camera. FLat, gray.
so this is probably going to make myself sound pretty horrible... but who doesn't sound horrible once in awhile on the internet? everyone. that's who.
i walked into today's bodypump class about five minutes early, surprised that nearly all the spots were taken. relieved, i did find one spot near the front and yes, while most people do not like being in display for the rest of the room to see, i don't care.
i even have a hole on one of my butt cheek which i have to patch up. but as it's mainly a class of women, whom will see me completely naked after the class in the locker room (and vice versa), does one hole, showing my baby blue panties really make a huge difference?
i don't think so.
as i was saying, i like being up front. not because i like being on display (not caring about who sees my bum with the hole showing that i'm wearing baby blue coloured panties and WANTING to show said bum with the hole that's showing blue panties are two completely different things), but because it helps for me to be close to both the instructor and the mirror. just so i can stay focused and on time. and i don't have some one in front of me that's completely off beat, mucking me up.
i hate that. it's my pet peeve. let that be a warning - if you're going to take a spot in front of me, you had better be awesome.
anyway - the class was packed! and as i didn't look around all that much, i didn't realize that half the class was made up of teen girls until the instructor welcomed the students of some catholic school, where they were participating in the class for the day as part of their gym excursion.
and in the middle of the week, outside of summer vacation, i'm just not use to seeing anyone younger then the age of 23 at my gym - and the 23 year olds are usually either trainers or fitness instructors. the rest of us clientele are usually in our 30's and up. these girls were YOUNG! you know - young enough so that THEY needn't be ashamed for gushing over twilight actors.
now, this is a hard class. and while i've been going to this strength circuit training class from hell since september, i'm still working on increasing the plates of the bar that i use. and the last thing i need are a bunch of teens laughing and pointing at me while snickering to each other, "hee hee - look at that older lady there struggling with half the weight i'm using! and she's got a hole in her pants! YOU CAN TOTALLY SEE HER BLUE UNDERWEAR!"
but something amazing happened. because as we started to do the warm-up, and i couldn't help but to see the reflection of those behind me from the wall mirror, i realized that these teens were actually using 1/3rd to even as low as 1/4tr of the weight that i was using. and they were struggling! like - they were just dying and we only had just done the warm-up!
so it's horrible for me to say, but i enjoyed it immensely as i doubled up my plates for the squats while they were all taking breaks numerous amounts of times, panting and making faces like, "you have GOT to be kidding! she wants us to do what now?" they were having 10 times harder of a time then my first class.
and then i really looked around and saw that some of the regulars are actually older then i am and loading up way more weights.
it gave me inspiration - that with age, we actually can become stronger. and that women today knows what it takes to be kick-ass if they want to be.
okay... so maybe this epiphany was somewhat tainted over the fact that i got to feel better about myself through the struggle and pain of a bunch of teens. but i hope, at the least, that these girls saw a future where they too, can achieve this type of strength and determination.
after all, us old farts know a thing or two about life. :)
Black Friday is the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season. When are you planning on beginning your holiday shopping?
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I start my holiday shopping the day after Christmas. If I see something throughout the year that I know a loved one would want I pick it up and store it in the 'gift closet' until it's time to pull out the Christmas paper and wrap it all up.
That being said. This year I bought stuff that will just stay in the closet until next year. I found some puzzles on clearance and picked them up as little 'hey Mom, saw this and was thinking about you' gifts. But, Mom has decided that we are not buying for anyone other than the great-grandkids this year. So, Mom doesn't get her puzzles and Jordan gets left out, too.
We may just stay in Tuscaloosa for Christmas this year. bah humbug!!
I took a walk with my Mom yesterday and insisted on bringing my old camera. She wanted no camera as it was an exercise walk, not a camera walk, but I am thrilled I brought it along because this is what we encountered...
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