An Email Exchange

On Thurs, Oct 7, 2009 at 9.05 A.M, [Pip] wrote:

I may have just died and gone to heaven
Though it would be a Leo-style "must have more, can't have more,
must have more" kinda heaven ...
http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/project/302/1
Pip

[Note: Leo was a friend's cat who was notorious for his inability to stop eating until his plate was clean, even if that plate was a bowl of melted icecream with chocolate sauce]

Husband:

and only 10,000 calories! :) (How many circuits of Taupo is that?)

Pip:

Er, that's about three times around the lake. No worries!

Leonie:

yeah Hamish, Pip can do that BEFORE breakfast, then go back and run it twice before lunch!

Nic:

But would she have the mega-egg for breakfast (between the cycle and the runs) or before? or after?
and how many times could she so around if she put 10 shots of espresso in it?

[Note: I'm also notorious for my extreme reaction to caffeine]

Pip:

Definitely not for breakfast- too much sugar and it would cause serious gastro issues! I'm contemplating whether it would be possible to pour some of the fondant into the feedbag on my top tube, every now and then reaching in and scooping some out instead of sucking down gels on the bike. The chocolate would melt in my shirt pockets, and that would just be nasty. For similar reasons it wouldn't be terribly portable on the run, but I imagine that, combined with a little chocolate milk, the egg would make a great recovery meal.

Give a calorie intake target of only around 200 calories per hour during exercise though, and even allowing for around 600 calories of recovery meal intake, there'd still be plenty of egg left over for my supporters!

And I'm now wondering how I ever wound up in a universe where I sit at my desk on a Thurday morning calculating calories burned during exercise versus the calorific contents of a giant Cadbury crème egg and its nutritional value.

Pip: (a few minutes later)

Thinking about it, I'd probably be able to add 5k per hour in speed on the bike per shot of coffee, and drop 30 seconds per kilometre on the run (these are genuine calculations, btw). I'm sure if I thought about it I could calculate the reduced calories burned as a result of the reduced exercise time resulting from the coffee intake, but I should really stop now and get some work done ...

Leonie:

Picture me LMAO right now

Dalek Cookies

Apologies for the poor quality PXT. Hilarity took over the kitchen today. First I added too much water to the cookie mix. I had cookie dough all over my hands like some strange Dr Who alien invasion. Hamish came to the rescue, adding flour to my sticky hands until I was eventually able to rescue the situation and create something that looked like cookie dough. I rolled out the dough onto the bench, but then discovered I hadn't floured the bench enough and that the cookies were stuck fast. I smooshed up the dough again, liberally dusted the bench with flour (and myself and the floor and the cupboards at the same time) and tried again. Eventually I ended up with acceptable Dalek cutouts. I then spent another few minutes adding rice crisps to the cookies before bumping them and sending rice crispies flying everywhere.

It took a fair bit longer than the eight minutes the box gave as the cooking time but eventually we had some cooked Daleks cooling on the stovetop. I was decorating them with the orange paste when the buyer of my bike turned up with his two adorable young girls in tow. Afterwards I regreted not offering them one each.

There's a reason I don't bake very often!

Winston Peters has a Cunning Plan

Winston's master stroke will see him escaping the SFO and criminal investigations via his unexpected and unforeseen use of donations into supporting development of the Large Hadron Collider.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and he feels fine.

Quick Update

First thing's first. Go to Steve Stenzel's blog and watch one of the funniest videos you will ever see involving a guy dressed up as the Grim Reaper.

Right, stopped laughing? On to the second big news item of the day. My student loan is paid off! Well, technically I have a $17.59 balance, but I've paid $33 in interest this tax year which will be written off, so actually the IRD owes me money. It's taken me nearly ten years to rid myself of the thing. Oh how sweet all that extra disposable income is going to be! How happy was I? So happy I opened a bottle of cider after my easy six km run tonight and drank it from a champagne glass. Never let it be said this girl doesn't know how to party. The run wasn't too bad either. For various reasons I was expecting to feel awful but in fact I felt great. It helped that the pouring rain stopped just long enough for me to get out around the Bays and back again and the lack of wind was an added bonus.

Rolling back in time - on Thursday I caved in, decided the weather was too awful, and bussed into town instead of riding Cleo. I did a circuit workout then after work I did an RPM class. Unfortunately Steven was teaching and the last track involved a series of very intense 15 minute power intervals. For the next few days I had tight little knots in my hamstrings just above my knees, and insanely tight quads in the same area above the front of my knees. I should have known better, but when it's only 15 seconds I figure I can ride through the pain, right? Mad Dog will be my downfall ...

My hip didn't like me either, though Margaret's Balance class on Friday seemed to help a bit. The latest release is, well, ok. The hip track is good but the sun salutation track is odd. I did quite like the strength track but I was supposed to be taking it easy. Huh ...

On Friday night the weather forecast for Saturday was for intermittent showers clearing. It poured overnight and the wind got up and by 7am the weather forecast had morphed into rain, with snow on the Rimutakas. Gearshifters was meeting up for our first training ride at 8.30. I felt a sense of doom. This could not be happening!

I wore my full-fingered gloves, my arm and leg warmers, a polyprop, my windbreaker and two pairs of socks. As an afterthought I threw on Hamish's lightweight raincoat. I think the raincoat may have saved me. I parked in the Freyberg carpark and somehow managed to park next to a huge drain into which the Nile appeared to be flowing. Standing at the back of my car to unload Cleo there was nothing for it but to stand in the middle of the deluge. It was a joke trying to put on gloves and shoes. Everything was soaked within seconds.

A small group of cyclists was huddled around the entrance to Freyberg. I joined them and was shivering with cold within seconds. The lifeguards took pity and we were allowed to gather inside the reception area where it was so warm and humid that I momentarily considered going home for my togs and swimming instead, but it was not to be.

In the end the ride turned out to be a bit of a fizzer. One of the trainers, Vanessa, organised four of us into our own little pack and we took turns drafting around the Bays. Vanessa charged me with chasing down a solitary cyclist up ahead and it turned out to be Carrie, the fastest cyclist of the last squad. I took that as a sign that I really am faster on Cleo.

As if the rain weren't bad enough the wind was insane. There was enough of a head wind to make things unpleasant but it was the crosswinds that were causing the biggest problem for me. On a bike that was a couple of kilos lighter than I'm used to and with my fancy American Classic wheel set crosswinds were not my friend. Riding around Pt Jerningham it took all I had just to stay upright. I was, quite frankly, terrified. I've ridden in much stronger winds, but this was something else.

As previously arranged we pulled into the Evans Bay marina car park to regroup. A very nervous group of cyclists looked around at each other. A collective decision was made. We were turning back. It was just too dangerous and many of the cyclists were too inexperienced to be out there. One woman in particular had only just bought her bike, having not ridden before, and had in all seriousness fallen off three times on her way to Evans Bay.

A small group of hardy types decided to press on through Kilbirnie, thereby missing the worst of the wind. My feet were killing me from the cold though and I was more than happy to be heading back to Freyberg. We gathered together dripping water all over the floor of the Parade Cafe and it took a good fifteen minutes for my feet to start to feel normal.

Ironically it cleared up that afternoon to reveal a huge dump of snow on the Orongarongas. Julia and I arranged to meet up at 9am on Sunday morning, again at Freyberg. I'd managed to wash and dry my cycle gear but my shoes and helmet were both still wet and I had to swap to my half-finger gloves. At least it was a gorgeous morning, if somewhat cold. We had two rides to combine into one, a 10-10-10 time trial and a one and a half hour ride. My legs were feeling like toast and I wasn't really sure how fast or how far I would be going, but there was no backing out.

We cycled easily round to Shelly Bay then it was all on. Cleo was complaining about having been taken out in the shoddy conditions of the day before. She seemed to have a heap of gunge in her brake pads so I stopped briefly to try to wipe them out a bit then chased off after Julia. It was a gorgeous day but I barely noticed as it was head down and full steam ahead. My dead legs were screaming at me and I felt like I was going nowhere. It seemed to take an age to creep closer to my riding buddy ahead. I was getting really frustrated. I should have been flying past her!

In the end I caught her in time for the ten minute rest interval. We hit the end of the rest at the top of the pass of Branda and I took off again. This time my legs were REALLY complaining. I only made it as far as the first round about in Lyall Bay, then got to stop for a few minutes until Julia caught up.

I had no idea why my legs were feeling so nasty. Well, I suspected it was the after effects of Thursday's ride and the accumulation of a few hard weeks in general. I was happy to take it reasonably easy until I left Julia on the climb up to Brooklyn, waiting again at the top and taking the opportunity to eat half of a Sculpt chocolate and cranberry bar. On the plus side, I rode up almost the whole way on my large cog. I love Cleo's gear ratio!

When Julia caught up we took off down the city side of Brooklyn hill and I faced my fear of death all over again. Boy can that bike fly downhill! It was all I could do to hold on and pray. I don't have a cycle computer on her yet but let's just say that I wasn't getting overtaken by anyone! I faced my fear of death multiple times on our ride back through town, down Taranaki Street and back around to Freyberg. The traffic was crazy. Alongside Waitangi Park I nearly got taken out by a woman running from the supermarket across the road to the farmer's market. I think she had seen a break in traffic but not seen Julia, managed to avoid Julia but then nearly ran into me instead. The look on her face was priceless!

So yes, after my weekend my hip was really complaining today and the pain was transferring down the front o fmy quad. Not good. I skipped a weights session, figuring I needed rest more than anything but couldn't let myself get away with doing nothing at all, so chose the flat, easy option for a run tonight. Of course I didn't feel anywhere near as bad as I should have done on the run and came away feeling really pleased. I probably only enjoyed myself that much though because I let myself take it easy. If I'd tried to keep up with Sally it might have been a different story. It appears I'm learning to pace myself, even if I forget sometimes!

Two RPM classes and hopefully Balance tomorrow, and I plan to fit in some upper body weights before spin to make up for the workout I didn't do today. Hopefully another run on Wednesday and, weather permitting, a ride into town on Thursday with a 15-10-15 interval session after work. Rest on Friday (perhaps Balance) then it's riding both days this weekend. Our homework ride on Sunday will be 2.5 hours.

I had a realisation yesterday that the next three months will see me pretty much tied to my bike each weekend. Until daylight savings kicks in my homework will have to be done on a Sunday with mid-week options a bit limited. It's a bit daunting in all honesty. Thankfully I have Cleo.

The reserve has been met on my Trademe auction so Lola is sold. There are 23 people watching the auction so I'm hoping there will be a bidding war near the end. Some people really can't read though. What is the point of asking what the courier price is to send a bike to Christchurch when the ad clearly states 'pick up only'? Duh ...

Oh well, if someone is stupid enough to buy and then need poor Lola transported they can jolly well pay the $40 to have her properly boxed as well.

So how do you know?

I've 'run into' a common Pip dilemma. Sigh ...

Last week my left ankle (the good one) was feeling very sore after each run. If you'd asked me to locate the pain I would have been hard-pressed to do so. It was a kind of jarred, bruised feeling, vaguely localised within the ankle itself. I decided I needed new shoes, and bought some on Saturday.

Yesterday I did my Monday leg weights. It was cold at home and I had plenty of time before 4.30 RPM, and I figured doing them on a Sunday afternoon would mean I could sleep in this morning. Which I duly did! My last run had been on Friday, and I anticipated that my ankle would be good to go for a run tonight. I was even getting excited about doing a few treadmill intervals.

However by this afternoon I had a nagging feeling that my ankle still wasn't quite right. I jumped up and down on it a few times and, although it wasn't painful, there was a slight ache that threatened to turn into something more serious if I went out and ran on it for an hour. So, with a big sigh, I headed home instead.

So, did I do the right thing? Have I gone from one extreme (running in agony in order to stick to the programme) to another (an overcautious wimp)? Either way I'm still sitting here feeling huge and unfit. Stupid, I know, but that's just the way it goes!

It's not even like the rest of the week is going to be slothful. Tomorrow I'll do Balance and RPM. Wednesday I'll run with my new posse. Thursday I'll do my usual bike/Duck combo. Friday I'll run with my posse again. Saturday I'll aim to run for at least 70 minutes (preferably 80 to 90) followed by Balance. Sunday I'll ride if the weather permits, or try the weights/RPM combo again. So, ankle permitting, I'll still be getting three runs in and two RPM. If Duck fills in for Thursday RPM again then I'll end up doing three. Alternatively, if the ankle likes the new shoes I'll throw in a bonus run up Wadestown Rd.

So I'm praying to the ankle Gods. If they're merciful they'll allow me to increase my mileage this week to something vaguely resembling a half-marathon training plan again! Oh for the days I used to run for 90 minutes on a Saturday without even thinking about it ...

On a more sombre note, I was half-way through watching a 60 Minutes item on a "super-obese" (the term used by the journalist) woman tonight when I spotted some photos of her as a child and realised that we were friends at school. I remember her as being obese even then and that she appeared to have family issues, the extent of which she never spoke about but which were mentioned briefly during the item. I also remember her as being very intelligent, an A student who had a lot of potential but who also had some big walls to scale. It broke my heart when she said that she wished people wouldn't assume that fat people were stupid. She seems extremely self-aware and determined, and I hope with all my heart that she is successful in finding herself some happiness. She certainly deserves it.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

It seems Hamish is THAT guy, you know, the one with THREE cats ...

My Wild Self

Build your own wild self.

Tomorrow

My ankle feels good. I may try to run tomorrow. Any takers on ten minutes?

I also have an exam tomorrow. I don't feel at all confident, even though I did well enough in the practice exam today. All I need is 50%, and I'm never going to know my score, only whether I pass or fail. I keep thinking I should have put more study in, but when I look through the manual it all looks familiar.

I feel hung over, tired and heavy after last night. I'm sure I would feel better right now if I'd been able to go for a run or do an RPM class today. I went for a gorgeous long walk around Vogeltown this afternoon in the sun, but it just wasn't the same. And lunch tomorrow means running the gauntlet of the Duxton kitchen again. Don't even get me started on the fiasco that was the Chapman Tripp awards ceremony dinner last night. Let's just say that a few steamed vegetables, some mashed potato and some fried rice with a few corn kernels, does not a vegetarian meal make.

Which isn't to say that we didn't have fun, because obviously we did. But the food was appalling.

Right. Off to see if anyone else has played their turn in Scrabulous!

Ever have one of those nights ...

where you just somehow knew that life was good, and that you had created this world for yourself?

Theatre Militia were up for three awards at the Chapman Tripp awards tonight. We didn't win anything, but we were up against some heavyweight nominees. The lighting designer lost out to Maui. His budget was around $100. Maui had a TEAM of lighting people, and needless to say, the budget was somewhat larger.

Oh, and Hamish looked HOT in his floral shirt from Mandatory. Eleven years, still all good. Love you babe ...

And then the Universe Spoke

I'm not kidding. My daily email from the Universe just popped into my inbox. Sometimes the Universe is just too insightful for words.

Talking a lot about something that bothers you, Pip, is a pretty good sign that you've got something huge, and profoundly liberating, to learn. Whooohooooo! The Universe That is, Pip, if you can catch yourself, turn within, and yearn for illumination

Front, back and sides

I took a risk and booked a session with an apprentice hairdresser at Is Bliss hair salon in Taranaki Street. Three hours and multiple cups of tea later, this is the result. I can highly recommend Jessie to anyone! Jessie was ably assisted by my former senior stylist Ang. How could I have ever left you Ang? I promise I will be back!

This is only the second time I've posted a photo of myself that hasn't involved me looking sweaty and/or wind-blown and dressed in running gear!

Leonie will be pleased to know that I missed Jog Squad tonight thanks to Jessie and Ang (and it was quite nice to have the excuse not to go). Today has consisted of sitting on the sofa reading, writing and watching The Notebook on DVD. Tomorrow I'm off to Greytown for the day, and Friday might have to be that gallery session I've been talking about.

I am a sheep

After a (good) 45 minute run this morning (no abductor pain), and a 45 minute RPM class (small slap merited), I stood in a queue in Whitcoulls and, like everyone else in the store, bought my Harry Potter. I'm not used to being one of the masses. It was humbling.

Now I'm sitting on the sofa with Harry and a bag of grapes. I may be some time...

Random Friday Night Thoughts

Four tracks into the new Crowded House album it's still a Neil Finn album to me. Track three was a little more early CH, but overall so far it's all about Neil.

Oh boy, I need an iPod. It's not that I'm a late adopter, it's more that I won't use something that I don't see as being of use to me. This week I've needed an iPod. That's a new thing for me, but I'm going to go with it.

I'm over the Harry Potter hype. I haven't pre-ordered the book. Nevertheless I'm going to go out tomorrow and see if I can pick up a copy somewhere. I do want to read it before the spoilers become unavoidable.

It still hasn't really registered in my mind that I'm getting up to run tomorrow morning. I've drunk too much and eaten too much and I'm going to wake up dehydrated and feel annoyed with myself. I've been reading back through my posts and eating too much seems to have become a theme. I don't want to binge eat. I want to be totally healthy. The overconsumption has to stop. I mean it!

I really am an addict. When Duck sent around a txt this afternoon to let us know she was teaching RPM at 10.30 tomorrow morning my immediate thought was "cool, I can run, then do RPM, then fit in a Balance". Slap me. Slap me now.

I'm on holiday! I don't feel like I'm on holiday. Possibly that's because I still have to go in on Monday to have a performance review meeting with my acting manager, and I have a Ministerial Submission to chase up while I'm there. Plus I'm meeting everyone for Yum Char on Wednesday, and going to a colleague's leaving party on Friday night.

Collecting for charity is fun. It helps to wear approachable and pretty pink stuff (thanks to Leonie for the pashmina, and yay for pink boots) and to give everyone a big smile, whether they donate or not. Collecting outside your office helps too! The good karma lasted for most of the day.

I've been ashamedly grumpy lately. Waiting half an hour for a bus tonight and two hours for our Indian to be delivered didn't help. I need to relax and remember that it's up to me to choose whether to be grumpy or not. I could equally choose to be philosophical and to think about something else.

I accomplished a lot at work the last couple of days. I'm good at my job. I need to ask for the opportunities to show it.

There's more going on with my parents' health than they're letting on. I need to start paying attention.

I want to run the Manawatu half marathon in August. I need to fit in a couple of 90 minute runs to reassure myself that I'm fit enough. Time to prioritise the running again.

Having said that, perhaps I need to set a goal to complete a standard length triathlon this summer. I am soooo fit enough. S**t. I need to get back in the pool.

Small vanity moment - getting dressed in the bathroom this morning I caught a glimpse of some ab'age in the mirror. Oh yeah - now THAT's why my obliques hurt.

I got annoyed with a colleague tonight when she talked about contributing to local charities rather than international ones like the Red Cross. That's fine in theory, but the problems in the more disadvantaged sectors of New Zealand society can hardly be compared to those in places like Darfur, for example, and should largely be handled by central and local government.

People say the most wonderful things about my poetry. I love what they get out of them and the feedback gives me new insight into my own words.

Enough. If I haven't already said too much I very soon will. Time to go to bed. Goodnight!

Thanks

Not the real thing

Thanks to everyone who expressed concern for my mother's well-being following the tornado this week. I spoke to her again the next morning, and the exact chain of events was a little clearer, although Mum was, I think, still shaking.

It seems that a series of tornadoes hit Taranaki over a period of an hour or so. Most came in off the sea and Oakura suffered the most damage. Amazingly no one was killed, although one man was asleep in his caravan and woke to find the caravan on its side and his fridge on top of him.

From what Mum has said, the tornado that hit Stratford came from the direction of the mountain rather than the ocean. It hit the house behind theirs, lifted that house's roof up, blew it OVER the top of Mum and Dad's house, and dumped it onto the roof of the house in front of them. Mum and Dad lost part of their fence, and a concrete water trough in the back yard was blown over. Debris went through the skylight in their garage. Their back yard is littered with wreckage, including chunks of insulation and other rubbish. However their house is intact, and no one was hurt.

Our family are no strangers to weather hazards. Mum and Dad moved from Auckland to Taranaki after the council bought their house when the flooding in their valley got too dangerous to allow them to stay. We grew up with the knowledge that dirty brown water could overflow and run underneath our bedroom windows at any time. I once narrowly missed being swept away by a flash flood that swept down the stream bed minutes after I had been standing there. Mum was rescued from the roof of my car by a fireman after flood waters rose too quickly for her to get back to the house.

Mum is used to police and firemen knocking on her door. She just didn't expect to find it happening again. When Mum and Dad were traveling the North Island looking for somewhere to live, any house near a stream was ruled out pretty quickly. Then not long after they had settled into their great home with a stunning view of the mountain, news reports began to make a big deal about the risk of eruption. Apparently eruption is well overdue. Now Taranaki is being described as a tornado 'hotspot'.

With my family history there's no way I should be living in a city built on major faultlines!

Specials Board

Dinner this evening, Little Boys Duck and Porcini sausages, served over a sage and lentil risotto.

On the drinks menu, a shot of tequila at the stove, and a glass of Pinot over dinner.

I'm liking this cooking thing at the moment. Earlier this week I cooked a smoked chicken risotto, adding some baby peas and a shot of Limoncello. The liqueur added a hint of sweetness to the chicken, and the whole combination worked extremely well.

Tomorrow I'm going to cook Thai chicken meatballs over coconut rice, and I'm planning a buttered chickpea (a vegetarian alternative to buttered chicken) meal with basmati rice for later on this week. Tomorrow afternoon I'll cook up a pot of curried kumara soup to have for lunch at work on Monday.

It was 8.5 degrees in the hallway all day. I kept warm by doing housework and not sitting still. The temperature could have something to do with my renewed interest in cooking!

And the universe said ...

Image stolen from Mad Dog Resin
Please forgive me guys, it was just too perfect.

Sometimes, it's easy to forget that you always have options, Pip.

That your power has remained intact.

And that everything, up until now, has just been practice for the really, really good stuff.

Tallyho,
The Universe


In 48 hours I'll be sitting on the sofa, as I am right now, and I will already have taken that option.
Will I remember my power when it comes time to stand up and be counted? Will I be able to recognise the really really good stuff?

I picked up my race pack today, together with my parking coupon. Everything is in place. Everyone is behind me, and several of them will be at the finish line to cheer me home. It's such a small thing really, to go out there and just keep putting one foot in front of the other for two hours. I've already done the hard work. I've brought myself to this point. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to take it the whole way.

How could the universe possibly be wrong?

Winter continued...

My walk today took me from the high ridge at the Southern end of Kingston, all the way down to the Southern Coast. Although it is winter, Wellington was in a gentle, meditative frame of mind.

Pencarrow sat slumbering under benevolent clouds.

Everywhere families made the most of the forgiving weather conditions.

Owhiro Bay chanted mantras quietly to itself as the sun marked time and waves breathed in and out.

Happy Valley continued to cheerfully incline upwards to the suburban oasis that is Brooklyn.

Nature continued to mark the seasons,

its mood changing with the light as the sun shifted in and out of passing clouds.

Nature merged with suburbia, with neither winning the battle for dominance.



But the better part of the city knew that its only hope for a continued existence was to work in tandem with nature.

So nature decided to be kind and let us stay on for another day.

Winter

Today my camera and I went on a Wellington walking adventure...

Winter
The city today
is paused in the space
between the in-breath
and the out.

I walk in silence
and stillness
down to the coast
and the sea.

You walk this way
with me in a
parallel universe
some weeks earlier.

Later I will cross the
space-time continuum,
call a Wellington number
and speak to you in America
about this.

Five Things You May Not Know About Me

Tagged by Leonie. I'm still trying to work out how I can summarise my holiday in a blog post, so this is a suitable diversion.

1. I lived in the same house in Henderson Valley, Auckland, from a few months of age till I moved in with Hamish when I was 23. The house was built for my parents, and they lived there until two years ago, when the council bought it off them and moved it off the site. The property had a history of flooding, and I still nurse deep-seated fears of heavy rain and rising water. However it was also a fantastic place to grow up. It was semi-rural, surrounded by fields and bush. There were lots of families nearby with children around my age, and we all roamed freely around the neighbourhood.
2. I first started singing in a school choir formed to take part in a combined schools music festival when I was about seven years old. One of the other kids in my class told me I couldn't sing, but thankfully, although I believed them, I didn't let it stop me. One of my strongest memories is of a plucky girl with very curly hair singing a solo from 'Annie Get Your Gun'. I met her again several years later at Intermediate School, and we remain close friends. The theme that year was musicals, and I can still remember the words from several of the Sound Of Music songs we had to learn.
3. I once won a regional poetry competition for an anti-nuclear poem I wrote at high school. I had used only my first initial and surname on the entry-form, so the organisers didn't know whether they were awarding the prize to a boy or girl.
4. If it weren't for the Gulf Crisis turning into the Gulf War, I would have spent a year in Egypt on student exchange. Instead, the only country that could take five New Zealander teenagers at short notice was the Netherlands. I swapped long cotton skirts and high-necked blouses for jeans and a thick winter coat and spent ten months cycling around a small town in the middle of the country. I failed to apply myself in class, and ended up dating one of my host brothers, who thankfully lived in another city. He failed university that year because he kept skipping class to meet me, and as a result he had to do a year of army service. He now lives in Hungary with his lovely wife and two daughters. I read most of the way through my host mother's collection of English language literature, but still managed to learn servicable Dutch. I can still understand the language, both written and spoken, though I wouldn't be able to write or speak it that well any more. If it weren't for the opportunity to go on exchange, I think I would have failed Bursary. Instead, I learned a lot about the world and got into university on my sixth form grades.
5. I've recently discovered that I resemble my father's mother. She passed away when he was a teenager, but I've grown into the only photo of her we have. Up till now I've always resembled my mother's mother. Both have wonderful cheeks when they smile, so I guess I was always destined in that respect.

Sarah, you're it...

2006 Meme

Stolen from Sarah:

∑ What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
I competed in a duathlon, I ran 10km, I ran 20km, I floated, I rode my bike using my SPDs and didn’t fall off.
∑ Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn’t make any, so I didn’t have any to keep, and I doubt I’ll be making any this year.
∑ Did anyone close to you give birth?
A girl from my office had a little boy, but that’s about it.
∑ Did anyone close to you die?
No – not humans anyway.
∑ What countries did you visit?
New Zealand!
∑ What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Time.
∑ What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day of the duathlon, because it was such a huge achievement for me.
∑ What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It’s hard to pick the biggest, but they were mostly sporting related. Going under water is probably right up there. I guess starting to write again, and starting this blog, were also very significant achievements.
∑ What was your biggest failure?
Oooh, I don’t know whether I want to class this as a failure, more a lesson on the path, but I guess failing to complete the Wairarapa Country Half Marathon could technically be classed as a failure.
∑ Did you suffer illness or injury?
I’ve been in great health, other than this ongoing knee injury. Grrrr.
∑ What was the best thing someone bought you?
A framed copy of one of my poems.
∑ Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Although it may all be a clever marketing ploy, Al Gore.
∑ Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Speaking in general terms – any of those people who continue to deny climate change.
∑ Where did most of your money go?
Into Duck’s bank account (personal training, Special K, three Jog Squads and a Women’s Multis).
∑ What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Traveling up to Auckland for Ruth’s 60th birthday, catching up with all of Auckland friends, and the debut of the halterneck dress.
∑ What song will always remind you of 2006?
“Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
∑ Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Definitely happier
b) fatter or skinnier? Definitely skinnier
c) richer or poorer? About the same.
∑ What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing, meditating, spending quiet time on my own. I would also like to have taken an arts class.
∑ What do you wish you'd done less of?
Pushing myself too hard, being too hard on myself.
∑ How do you plan to spend Christmas?
At home with Hamish, the cats, some good bubbly and a heap of food.
∑ Did you fall in love in 2006?
Yes, in one thousand different ways, with as many different people and things.
∑ How many one night stands?
None.
∑ What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes, closely followed by Carnival (Sophie, how could you?).
∑ Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No – I don’t hate anyone.
∑ What was the best book you read?
I’m re-reading the Bone People, and enjoying it immensely.
∑ What was your greatest musical discovery? Hmmm… Cold Cut? Samuel Flynn Scott? Cat Power?
∑ What did you want and get?
Fancy running gear (and I’m aware of how tragic that is) and the halterneck dress.
∑ What did you want and not get?
Even more fancy running gear.
∑ What was your favorite film of this year?
I can’t really remember seeing too many films. An Inconvenient Truth was good. Casino Royale was pretty good as well.
∑ What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you:
I turned 33 and got riotously drunk on tequila and bubbly cocktails at Tupelo with Leonie, Nic and Hamish.
∑ What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
My year has already been immeasurably satisfying, but it would have been nice to finish the half marathon.
∑ How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
This year I bought expensive running gear, but made do with second-hand and cheap new clothing to keep me going when I wasn’t at the gym. This was the year of the aforementioned halterneck dress, and the size 8 Keith Mathieson jacket, board shorts and trousers, and the cute little Pagani tops.
∑ What kept you sane?
Running.
∑ Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most:
I didn’t.
∑ What political issue stirred you the most:
The environment.
∑ Who do you miss?
Fi (come back Fi – Wellington loves you).
∑ Who was the best new person you met?
Sarah listed me, so I guess I need to reciprocate or I’ll be short a running buddy!
∑ What was the best thing you ate?
Mmm… too much good food to declare a winner! There were the crumbed jalapenos, cheese dip and chicken burritos at Flying Burrito Brothers, there was the panfried duck breast at Hope Bros, and there was the entire banquet menu at Spice Island. Actually, I think that the Mrs Macs Chilli and Cheese pies consumed after long runs probably came out on top… or perhaps it was the Whitakers Dark Ghana. Mmmm, cider. Mmm, chilli tequila cocktails. Sigh…
∑ Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006?
Relax!
∑ Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
The lyrics from the song I mentioned above probably sum things up:
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten