Counting My Blessings

Last time I updated this blog I was interrupted by a second major earthquake measuring 6.3, here in Christchurch centred in Lyttelton. You may have seen the devastation on the news. We were lucky with the first quake back in September last year - due to the time it hit most people were asleep, safely in their own homes, and we had no fatalities. This time we were not so lucky. So far there have been 163 confirmed deaths. The youngest being just 5 months old. Very, very sad. There are some suburbs still without power, water, and phone. If I had to find the silver lining in all of this it would be the communtity spirit. People coming together to help neighbours, families, friends, and even complete strangers. And the rest of New Zealand pulling together to offer support and open their homes to those who have lost theirs. If anyone can get through this it's Cantabrians. They are a strong and resilient region.

Below is a photo apparently taken as the quake hit. I presume the photographer was somewhere up the Port Hills. Scary stuff, huh?

I am so, SO thankful that my family and friends are all safe and accounted for. I can't even begin to imagine how much worse it must be for those who have lost loved ones.

On to happier events of late. Like a rat deserting a sinking ship, I jumped on a plane and flew to Queenstown for the weekend last Thursday. To be fair I had booked tickets about 2 months ago but couldn't get on that plane fast enough! It was a relief to get out of shakey old Christchurch and go somewhere safe to spend the weekend with some people that I love. Mum and Dad had also arrived that same day so it was REALLY nice to see them too.
And of course, the whole point of the trip was to meet my 17 day old niece Hazel. What a teeny, tiny precious wee bundle. She is bigger than Annabelle was at birth but I tend to forget how little she was and was amazed at Hazel's mini-ness. Fingers, ears, lips. All perfectly formed but just so little. Total cuteness.

I'm getting better with babies. I wasn't so scared to hold her in fear of breaking her. Babies are quite bendy, you know. Ha.
Dad's birthday was on the Thursday so Mum had made a fig cake (yummo!) and taken it down for his birthday cake.

On Friday Mum and I took Annabelle for a big walk into town along the Frankton Walkway which was really nice. It was a nice day so perfect for a bit of an outing. We stopped at the playground so Annabelle could have a swing, see saw, and climb. She is so confident and interested in giving things a go. Even on the big slides that scare me! I talked her into the smaller slide which she seemed happy enough with.
On the way back Annabelle walked for a bit of the way and she made Nana run saying 'Faster Nana.' Bless.
We were all plum tuckered out by the time we got back to Larch Hill.

While I was in Queenstown my Speed Dating results came in. I got 5 matches from the 6 fellas I ticked. Unfortunately the one I especially liked didn't feel the same. Boo hiss. Nevermind. 3 of the guys have been in touch and we plan to catch up in a couple of weeks once everything has settled down a little. Watch this space.

Lance was down during the week so we had dinner together on Wednesday. It was nice to catch up with him. After talking to him on the phone I always feel a little sad that we aren't together anymore because we get on so well. We discussed this and it reminded me that we are POLES apart and aren't heading in the same direction - in fact, he is pretty much running the other way! But I am glad that we are still friends and it is nice to see him when he's in Christchurch.

Friday was my flatmate Belinda's 36th birthday. We went out to The Yaldhurst Tavern which happens to be the third pub we never quite made it to on our country pub crawl a few weeks back. The rugby was on so we watched that first and then got serious about drinking. After the Yaldy we went to the Golden Mile with the free juke box. Rent-A-Crowd came out for the night too (Claire, Scott, Averil, Renee, and Julia) and we had a BLAST! Another really good night. Friday nights out is the new black. Sooo much better to have TWO days to recover before having to go back to work.

Tomorrow night I fly to Auckland for one night in Warkworth before heading up to Whangarei on Wednesday for my friends Rachael and Dean's wedding on Friday in Waitangi. We will dress up in pretty frocks (not Dean) and act like ladies for one day only. I am really looking forward to it as I know it will be a fun wedding with loads of laughs.