I'm Baaaaaaaccckkk.

And very tired. It has been both a physically and mentally draining week. On Friday my mum had her 50th birthday party which was a lot of fun. Then I spent Saturday afternoon organising group photos around Upper Hutt (even though we all live in town now) for Michelle's leaving gift and then printing them and getting them into some sort of order for an album. Theeeenn we actually went to Michelle's party(got there late in the end) and stayed until 3.30 in the morning. Then on Sunday it was back into Upper Hutt (the 5th trip between Wellington and Upper Hutt that weekend) for birthday dinner for mum.

Then on Monday after work we went to see Michelle off. It is a hard thing to see your best friend leave and know you will not see them for at least two years. Stupid New Zealand for being so far away. Stupid Costi for leaving. Stupid me for not going too.

On Tuesday (yesterday, wow it feels like this week as gone on forever) our cat Doug disappeared. He reappeared again 24 hours later, but I was very upset.

Today I spent 3 hours out in the cold playing 'spot the tosser' with a rotation of 600 students. There is a sensible explanation for that last sentence, but I think I'd rather leave it like that.

So now, after I finish marking damn essays I'm going to eat, read and sleep. Three of the great pleasures in life.

Bloody useless people

I'm not talking about me by the way, although I can be at times.

We have now been living in our new flat for three weeks, and we have yet to have our phone line activted. Not because we are slack, but because Telstraclear is. And Telecom are worse, so we are limited by our options.

So here I am writing from Michelle's place. We are going out for a farewell dinner for Michelle (it's like her 3rd out of 4 farewells). Then tomorrow is my mum's 50th birthday, with a 50s theme, so we will be all dolled up and glamerous (or houswifey, depending on your interpretation). And then on Saturday Michelle is having the final big-blow-out of a farewell. So 'tis going to be a big weekend, I hope to be standing at the end of it.

Ciao for now, who knows when I might be back.

Call for big strong men

I'm moving. I hate moving. It sucks the big kumara (a native sweet potato for those foreign readers). But we want somewhere with more space and more sun so it has to be done, even if it is just down the road. Yes we are literally moving around the corner.

I am in the process of packing at the moment, but sometimes (okay many times) I find myself staring into space with a random object in my hand. Plus I'm a hoarder and can’t bring myself to throw things away, so there is some pretty useless stuff to be packed. The only part I enjoy about moving is getting to place furniture and putting all my paintings up. The curator in me comes out whenever I move and I can spend hours deciding where each painting should be hung. I also refuse to use a hammer (which annoys Luke to no end), preferring my ‘trusty piece of wood’ that has been through several moves and acts as both hammer and ruler.

So anyone who would like to help us move on Saturday will be rewarded with fish ‘n’ chips and beer (or wine). It will be nowhere near as harrowing as last time as we will be going down hill, not up.

Come on, you know you want to guys…