Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Kind of like Christmas

A very expensive Christmas that is.  Our stuff is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.  Much of this stuff I haven't seen in over a year so it will be like opening a box of goodies, except they are all from ourselves and I've used the majority of them.  There are some new hiking boots as my other ones didn't not meet my expectations and they waterproofing died a tragic death after only a couple months. 

I must apologize as I haven't had the opportunity to post any pictures lately as my phone stopped uploading to Picasa.  I have a feeling I have to update to whatever Google Plus product it changed to in order to get it to work.  Much like Talk went to Hangouts and well the UI on the phone kinda sucks.  Any way, I have lots of photos that I have to manually transfer to the computer to post.  Yeah its an extra step and I don't really charge my phone by my computer.  However, once I get my desktop set-up and all the software upgraded, I might actually do a back-up of all the images and music I have on my laptop.  I would hate to see a corruption.

Beth and I bought a Honda Fit not this past weekend, but the one before.  We spent this last weekend sick.  The flu is going around the office and a lot of us got sick.  Beth has been indoctrinated with work speak already as a few of my coworkers come over to the house for lunch.  I've been whipping up little meals for us to munch on.  Its a lot better than the options in town and a fraction of the cost.  I've introduced them to spicy beans from scratch, bbq pulled pork, pancakes, french toast, homemade pizzas, and chimichurri.  It is nice to be able to make a meal for others.  Beth and I often get the left overs as well.

I've signed up for a Half Ironman in January, just happens to be around the time that Beth's parents leave.  They'll be over around Christmas time for a visit.  The people I've been swimming and running with keep asking if I have signed up for Ironman New Zealand, which is hosted in Taupo in March.  I keep saying I'm thinking about it.  I really am.  Its just that I was thinking of heading back to the States for a quick vacation in February and that would kill any training I would be doing and I would probably put on weight from catching up with all my favorite food spots.  So who knows on that one.  I'm tempted to do a 2 day adventure race in August that involves mountain biking, trail running, road riding, and kayaking.  It starts and stops in town with an over-night in Tairua (the start of K2 last year). 

So in other words, I've been keeping busy.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Fall Already


So the never ending MN Winter seems to have come to an end and the rainy New Zealand Autumn/Winter has just started.   My friends and family back in MN would complain when we conversed that sprinter (as the guy from comcast called it) was never ending.

Beth has been busy getting things situated back in the States.  She sold our car, rented our house, sold a bunch of stuff, and donated some as well.  She also was a little unsuccessful in quitting her job as they'll be keeping her on part-time until they hire a replacement.  They are in the process of interviewing at the moment, so it shouldn't be too long.  She also arrives here on Thursday.  I'll no longer be living the single life.  No more being able to drop whatever I'm doing and head out for a long bike ride or a hike with Shiv.  I'll be cooking for 2 instead of one.  Its been difficult as we don't see each other, but we talk daily.  We probably talk more apart than when in the same house.  Ok that isn't exactly true, but you get to the important bits a lot faster and she doesn't have to listen to my stupid stories.  She can read them if she wants.

So I've moved into our 3 bedroom house  recently and its pretty nice.  The only complaint I have right now, is that I'm hungry looking out the window everyday as there are lambs and sheep roaming in the paddocks behind the house.  I don't think my neighbor would miss one of the three back there.  I could even put it on the rotisserie grill that is on the deck.  I can feel that I'm getting stronger on the ride back from work as the hill is worse than Ramsey Hill over in St Paul as its just a little longer, more elevation gain, and a wicked curve.  I can do it in my 2nd ring on my disc trucker, but not the big ring as of yet.  I biked past a woman who was mowing her lawn the other day and she said I was awfully fit for biking up the hill.  I felt pretty good as I passed her, but if she would have seen me gasping for breathe a couple weeks back she probably would have called 111 (the emergency number here).

Shiv and I have been hanging out a fair amount.  We take turns making dinner, play various PS3 games, and just bs.  We did go out on a short hike this past weekend.  We parked at our co-worker Janet's house and forded several streams while enjoying a pleasant morning.  I came home and spent several hours in the kitchen.  I made ribs and kumara nuggets with brown sugar butter.

Today I spent the day baking and cooking.  My co-workers and I have been eating out daily and its gotten old.  So we'll be coming back to my place for lunch and I'll be whipping something up.  So today I made some spicy beans to compliment the planned fajitas.  I also made 2 pumpkin cheesecakes and a pumpkin cookie with caramel sauce.  Annette from work was nice enough to get Graham Crackers for me from Auckland for the base.  Yes, I even had to roast the pumpkin again.

I've gotten all the necessary paperwork and filed for residency this past week.  We'll here pretty soon from Immigration about the process as Beth is going to be entering the country on a visitor's visa.  This means she has to have a ticket with a destination out of New Zealand upon entering.  So we are going to Samoa over the Queen's Birthday Holiday.  Evidently there is some good diving over there so I might head over to Tairu to get certified one of these weekends.