Wishes DO Come True!

A very exciting day in Christchurch today - well, for me anyway. It was my first Snow Day (day off work because of snow). I've been waiting 5 1/2 long years for this day and it finally arrived. I was up at 6.15am for a normal day of work and had my shower before I got a text from my supervisor saying to stay home as the roads were dangerous. He didn't have to tell me twice! I got straight back into my pyjamas. Then, after taking some photos out of the kitchen door, I had to wait - like a kid at Christmas - for my flatmates Belinda and Toby to get up so they would come outside and help me make a snow man. So much fun was had!! Our snow 'lady' (as it turned out) looked RIDICULOUS but it was a good time building her. Toby even gave her some boobs. And we had a snowball fight AND I made a snow angel. I was SO excited. The rest of the day was spent keeping warm and staring out the window at the falling snow. Amazing.

So, what's been happening around here lately I hear you ask... along with what the hell has taken me so long to update.. well, let me tell you, we have all been busy AND important!

I went up to Warkworth for a weekend at the end of June for my friend Krissy's baby shower. I was supposed to fly up on the Thursday night but Mother Nature (bless her) had other ideas and sent a big, fat ash cloud over NZ so my flight was cancelled. I was determined to get to Warkworth as I had helped organise the baby shower and there was no way I was going to miss it AND I needed a Mum hug so I headed out to the airport on Thursday morning (lucky I have a very understanding and kind boss) to try my luck at a stand by flight. Air NZ are brilliant and have $59 one way stand by fares available daily between 10am and 3.30pm but you have to be there to get them. Unfortunately I couldn't get up to Auckland as all flights were fully booked but I managed to get a flight to Hamilton. My plan was to catch the bus to Auckland or even Warkworth if possible BUT my dear friend Krissy (yes, the 8 month pregnant friend) offered to come and get me as she (and I quote) 'had nothing better to do'. Now, I told her no, she told me yes, after about 2 minutes of arguing she quickly said yes and promptly hung up. She's naughty, but really nice. I was VERY appreciative of her kindness. I ended up getting to Warkworth before I would have had I caught my original flight.

Danielle 1 - Ash Cloud 0

It was great to be back in Warkworth for the weekend. On Saturday Mum and I had a morning tea date with A Mary and Heather and were delighted when U Fraser, Greg, Scott and Debbie came around as well. I was really nice to catch up with them all. Lots of laughter as always. I also got to have a guided tour around the house that Dad is building for Jim and Ingid Wheeler. Very impressive! The baby shower was on Sunday morning and went really well. Krissy's sister held it at her house and organised all the food. It was great. Rachael and Swayze from Whangarei made it down for the day also and brought along some brilliant games.

I was due to fly back to Christchurch on Sunday evening but surprise, surprise my flight was cancelled .... again. So instead Mum, Dad, and I went down to Auckland on Sunday afternoon and had dinner with Kathryn and Moos and then they very kindly put me up for the night for me to again try my luck on Monday morning with Air NZ stand by. Which, I was very happy to be able to get a flight for 10am and made it to work by 12.33pm. Apart from having to take an extra 10 hours off work, it was a brilliant weekend and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Claire and Scott have also been happy travellers and went to Rarotonga for the second time this year for Scott's brothers wedding. They had a great time and highly recommend Rarotonga as a holiday destination. It sounds devine and I am already planning a wee break there perhaps for next year. A week of rest and relaxation and warmth sounds amazing to me.

I did another stint of housesitting out at Templeton a few weeks ago. It was great. Lots more chickens this time (a lot of the babies from last time are now fully grown hens! They grow up so fast) And Johnno the rooster was there also with his harem of females. Ha! He's such a proud co rooster.
On the first Friday night there Averil came out for dinner/pyjama party/wine/NZ Next Top Model/sleepover. It was great. I made a couple of vegetarian pizzas which, can I just say, were delish! And we ate chocolate with our cups of tea. Fun times!

The second Friday night was another Templeton Pub Crawl with Rent-A-Crowd. That was a good night. Again, like last time, we only made it to two of the three pubs but unlike last time no one fell over and hit their head on a rock. Did they, Scott?

A few weeks ago we were all invited to Renee's for a sophisticated pot luck dinner and drinks.. Well, that all turned pear shaped as soon as dinner was over (which was so yummy, by the way) and Cameron McInnes introduced us to 'The Vagina Game'. Crude but so, so funny. For those who are more than a little interested in this game, basically you get a group of people and go around the group, each person starting with 'My vagina is...' and they have to say a word beginning with the letter A. Everyone has a go until someone either can't think of a word or says something that has already been said. They drink and you move to the next person, and the next letter of the alphabet. Now, you might be reading this thinking "Oh Danielle!" but it is hilarious especially when the boys describe their vaginas. Try it - I bet you will laugh. Best to have a couple of drinks under yer belt first though. We got all the way to Z. That's how dedicated we are to our vaginas.

Moving on to something a little more respectable. Averil's wedding plans are coming along nicely. We had a little working bee, if you will, around at Roxy Inn on Saturday.

Paula did some sewing of drapes, and I attempted mini trial wedding cakes. The place that Averil and Eru had chosen to get the cake from is closed over Christmas and New Year SO we are seeing if it's something we can perhaps make ourselves. So I busied myself in the kitchen conjuring up a couple of different prototypes - in mini form. I love all things mini. The recipe is one of Mum's that has been used for 21st cakes in the past and has been a hit! but I couldn't quite get it right. The cake had quite a bitter after taste from the baking soda used. So obviously I'm going to have to sort that out. But otherwise they didn't look too bad. As a rough guide. Plenty of time (and willing taste testers) to try to perfect it.

After going out to Ohoka to try the drapes at the hall on Saturday we went up to Pukeko Junction in Amberley for a late lunch. Yummy as always.

Mum and Dad have been in Australia for a 10 day holiday. They flew to Cairns and were catching the train down to Brisbane to go and stay with Uncle David and Helen for a few days. They are due back tonight so I am looking forward to finding out all about it tomorrow. I'm sure they have had a good (and much warmer) time away.