You haven't seen the last of me....

Well, I have been sewing, watching 'Burlesque', writing and generally falling behind on my word count, BBQing sausages and having my cell phone stolen. 

It's all been busy.

Throw in holiday plans (yay), end of the year school stuff (boo), insurance details for 3 claims and sorting out travel cover, preparing to have my ankle operated on and keeping my kitchen clean, it enters the realm of the ridiculous.

Sometimes I forget where I am in the middle of it all.  I shouldn't.  All I need to do is stop, look and realise that this is all I have, so I need to make the most of it. 

At least my hair is growing out. :P

A Brief Update

Well, this is a busy time, but I think all times are busy really....

School is back on in full force, and part of me is loving it.  The other part of me is frantically trying to catch up with all the paperwork!

On Thursday, I'm off with a fantastic group of 12 kids to the New Zealand Juggling Championships and Convention in Levin.  We are teaching, learning, performing, watching, camping and running backstage stuff for the professional show, Cirque du Otaki.  It will be wonderful.  The best part is the camping methinks, we will be hanging with Circus-folk in tents!  Yay!

When that is all done and dusted, there will be planning for the History trip to the Bay of Islands, what I consider to be my spiritual homeland.  Following that, there will be *hopefully* the trip to South East Asia, and all going according to my desires, selection to travel as an exchange teacher to China.

However, April is Script Frenzy, and I want to get my classes, and myself, sorted out to conquer the challenge of a 100 page script by the end of the month!  Yay.  One does like challenge......

A day at the coast

Yesterday we were meant to be heading to an airshow.  I'm stoked that with the weather, we decided not to.  We have been in the past, and the planes are pretty much the same every year.  However, the day was not wasted.  We headed out to the South Wairarapa coastline.

We drove to Cape Palliser, where we climbed the 252 steps to the top of the lighthouse.  Talk about steep!  But the view was more than worth it.

Then we headed down to the beach, and collected some kelp for the garden.  There is something so entrancing about watching the ocean.

Then we went to my favourite place in the area- the Fur Seal Colony.  It is so cool that there are still places where we can pull up the car and just be with wild animals in their environment.  The seals kind of just take us in their stride.  They certainly move when you get to close, and they bark if you push your luck, but they are peaceful and wonderful to watch.  They seem to show off for the camera.

Then it was time for dinner, and the Lake Ferry Hotel it is.  Not hot on class or sophistication, what they have is fresh produce served, cooked well, and a laid back atmosphere.  I'm hooked. 

Tragically, I don't go to the coast as often as I would like.  I often head to Lake Wairarapa to read or write, or into the Tararua Ranges, but the coast gets left off.  I think maybe it is to keep the experience special, as something to share and enjoy.  Either way, I love the coast.

Another resolution

I have been doing a lot of thinking about travel.

This year I am going to get really organised and apply for the AFS Teacher exchange to Asia.  My choices of country to visit would be as follows:
1.  China - to see the Beijing Opera and diabolo stuff
2.  Vietnam - to see the legendary water puppetry
3.  Indonesia - to see their shadow puppets

Yes, the Drama teacher in me comes out.  Narrowing the list down to 3 was hard!  I still feel like I want to put Japan in the list, Kabuki theatre and all that.  Sigh.  So many options.  But, as the award is an all-expenses paid trip, the selection process is tough, and I cannot get my hopes up for selection.  But, I am mega keen.  :D

I also have been looking at the STA experience travels, and I think I would like to participate in one of their language immersion trips.  They do one to Cuzco to learn Spanish.  I figured out it would cost about $3000 for flights and the course, so once I sort myself out, I may have to start saving.  I have always wanted to live overseas and to learn another language, so this one has been excited to say the least.  I'd even get to stay with a family in their home, which would be so wonderful.

But, the realities of life must take over for now.  I have goals to achieve, and the Cuzco trip can only be a reward if I manage the others.  But it is exciting to think about. :D

M is for my Mother

M is for my mother.

Tom, the marine biologist, shows my mother and I how to feed the stingrays

Basically, in short, (as she is) my mother is one of the strongest people I know.  She annoys me, oh yes.  But, I admire her a great deal.  She has undergone radical cancer treatment, including radiation, chemo, ongoing drugs, breast removal, lymph removal and all that stuff.  However, she has never complained.  In fact, when she was first diagnosed she said, "Well, rather me than someone else.  1 in 3 gets cancer, who would you rather it be, me, Juanita or Katrina?  (My sister and I)  I've had a good quality of life, and this is okay".  And she dealt with it.

She even helps my sister with her 2 kids, me with my broken ankle recently, both of them giving up way too much time to make costumes for my school production recently.   And she doesn't stop.

Last week we went to Auckland, to go swimming with stingrays.

My mother doesn't swim.

But, she got in the water, hand-fed these 200 kilo beasts, and felt better for it.

She has guts of steel, that woman.  And so I dedicate this M for my Mother.

Wordless Wednesday - Butterflies

It may be wordless Wednesday, but this one needs words.... :D 
Sailing up to the small Pacific Island of Lifou, about a thousand butterflies flew over the ship and gathered around the radar.  Beautiful and haunting and such an occasion to render me speechless.

And now, I am a published freelance writer

Yes, the world of published internet writing guru is mine.

Or at least, one step to world domination is here.

Follow the link to my article.... ha!  Yes. I am proud.

All aboard the Pacific Sun

And I have a new job!

Well..... yes.  I applied for a job..... and I got it.  Oddly enough....

I am now officially a free-lance writer.

Can I be a free-lance writer officially without earning anything yet?  Who knows.  I think I can be anyway.  So, I am a writer............ well......... I was a writer before.  And I have been published, so that is enough to say I have been paid in the past for my words on paper. :D

But this is all new.

I had to submit my resume.  I did that.  And then some samples of my writing.  Being lazy, I submitted my writings that are still available online.  Yay!  And then I got the email back saying I had been accepted. 

This is cool. 

I have the possibility of being paid for doing just what I am doing right here, right now.  :D  Only, I have to watch my grammar and spelling.  Here, well, here I can put in smilies and stuff and use too many ands in a sentence and start on a conjunction!  Whoop!  (I live on the wild side)

So, I wrote an article about a cruise ship I traveled on recently..... I hope it gets accepted.  Then I can feel cool.  Yes.  Cool.  Soon I shall write an article on Fiji perhaps, I loved Fiji.... and Vanuatu.... and possibly Norfolk Island.  Then I shall review the cruise ship I'm going on in December.  And I shall review New Caledonia.... good lord!  I think I'm a travel writer!  Shit.  I may have to start traveling widely!

But..........  What the hell do I want to write about on the regular?  God knows!  I certainly don't.  But I shall see what I can do.

Nargleface

Well, I am once again avoiding doing what needs to be done by writing.  At least I like writing... though... laptops HAVE to be destroying my wrists..... this is an unnatural and uncomfortable way to type.  But my bum is comfortable on the sofa, so that is the main thing.

I am going snorkeling!  My new kit arrived the other day, and I did the dishes while wearing it (hardly a big deal as I dressed as Dorothy to mow the lawns, often do naked vacuuming, or pirate themed dusting).  My neighbours deserve a medal for bravery.  So, back to the snorkeling.  To succeed at this I need to be able to swim again.  I have now stopped sinking to the bottom of the pool, so that is great.  But it still hurts and results in my poor ankle swelling up like the wave in "A perfect storm".  (See what I did there.... yep... bad punning!)  Hopefully I will be back to full, or better than full, function in December.  Yes.... tropical waters, tropical fish, and a nice backtan await.  This is one of the true joys of having an underwater camera..... photographing the little fishies......

Snorkeling in Vanuatu earlier this year... my first time snorkeling!

One of my fishy friends whom I played "Jaws" with.... and he nibbled on my toe.

Other than that, I personally am saving Amazon and Juggleart from the recession, and have just spent FAR too much on a hobby that I suck at.... juggling.  However, I enjoy it, and will be at the NZ juggling convention next year.  Yippee!

So, back to work I go.  No more procrastination here......