Hallelujah . . .

. . . who knocks on my door while I'm trying to bang out my 16 miler this morning?

My.  new.  best.  friend.  Mr "TNT" [NZ company] delivery guy.

Giving
me
this
back.

My L i f e!  [I know, I know, it's a sad, sad life].  so. completely. happy.

So after retrieving 16 [no joke] voicemail from [ALL boys] for Peanut.  yikes.  I started up the treadmill to finish my run.  Seriously, long runs go so much faster when you text and run.  [I'm sure this is doing really bad things for whatever "form" I have].

whatever.

I have my phone back!  Who freaking cares!

So I finished this.

Yippee!

Then, I got back to my phone.  We have photos people - - photos!

That you want to see!

Like the sweet ride we had the whole time we were there. [please remember the Pita is 6'8" without shoes].

awesome.

It was like a go-cart on wheels.  Yes, dad it got great gas mileage.

And this seriously had me rolling on the 2X2" floor of the car.

Made Pita pull over & stop the go-cart for this one.  The pita:  Em, they are just pink sheep.  Me:  just pink sheep?!? Like that's normal [tears of laughter flow].

This was sad but noteworthy.

Where the last episode of the Bachelor was filmed.  The "eagles Nest".   

Pretty sweet place.

There is just no explanation for this.

We saw 8 total while driving.  Yep, pig skins.  So.  Gross.

You know only a man would do that.  I have pig skins - hear me roar!  oink.  oink.

The trash can I loved.

I was a tidy kiwi spouse.

Well, that's all I'll bore you with today my friends.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I'm beginning my countdown to this.

I.  Can't.  Wait!

Emz-ology

Let others know a little lot more about yourself, repost this as your name followed by “ology.”




Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?

A. Balsamic vin


Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?

A. Chipotle


Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?

A. Hana [sushi].


Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?

A. 20%



Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick off of?

A. carrot cake



Q. What marathon would you run if you could run ANY one you wanted?

A. NYC



Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?

A. Canadian bacon & mushrooms



Q. What do you like to put on your toast?

A. almond butter



Q. What is your favorite type of gum?

A. The whitening kind



TECHNOLOGY



Q. Number of contacts in your cell phone?

A: if I had my cell phone, I could tell you. [ugggggg!! - Pita's sister -- PLEASE SEND IT!!!!]



Q. Number of contacts in your email address book?

A. 146



Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?

A. This picture.  My favorite family photo. ;)

Q. How many televisions are in your house?

A. 5



BIOLOGY



Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?

A. right



Q. What’s your best feature?

A. Well......the body part I am least unhappy with are my abs.


Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?

A. no, unless a teacher pulling Peanut off my leg at age 4 counts?!



Q. Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?

A. SMELL - without a doubt -- SMELL



Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?

A. three years ago



Q. What is the heaviest item you lifted last?

A. a filing cabinet



Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?

A. no.  I pass out pretty good on my own.



BULL[CRAP]OLOGY



Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?

A. No. I want to live for today, not tomorrow or November 14, 2014.



Q. Is love for real?

A. Absolutely.



Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

A. Savannah



Q. What color do you think looks best on you?

A. Blue or green but I am true to my black & white.



Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?

A. No comment.



Q. Have you ever saved someone’s life?

A. Maybe.



Q. Has someone ever saved yours?

A. In an emotional way . . . absolutely.



DAREOLOGY



Q. Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000?

A. Sure, if that street was in Waipu, NZ.  I'd only have to worry about the animals seeing me.  What?  It's still public.  It's a city!!



Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000

A. No.  way.



Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?

A. Not after the blog-friendships I've made - no way.



Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?

A. ehhhh, why not.



Q. Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000?

A. Yes, If I can watch Modern Family on Hulu.com



DUMBOLOGY



Q: What is in your left pocket

A. Uh, nothing.



Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?

A: Abso-freaking-lutely



Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?

A: Neither.  Concrete.



Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?

A: Umm, what kind of freak show sits in the shower?



Q: Could you live with roommates?

A: ummmm, apparently, I can.



Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?

A: 5 [it's AZ folks!]



Q: Where were you born?

A: Phoenix, AZ



Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: what I am today [just a better version]



Q: Who is number 1 on your top 8

A: Pita



LASTOLOGY



Q: Friend you talked to?

A: hmmmm, "talked" - I emailed Kim & Judi this morning.  Talked to would have to be my sweet Mum, last night.



Q: Last person you called?

A: My Mamma!



Q: Person you hugged?

A: The pita as he left for work



Q: Person you kissed?

A: Peanut, she just woke up.



Q: Number?

A: 4  [is there any other number?!]



Q: Color?

A: blue



Q: Season?

A: winter [winter in AZ is spring for the rest of you]



CURRENTOLOGY



Q: Missing someone?

A: Cassandra



Q: Mood?

A: sore.  [is that a mood?]  calm/quieter than normal and sore.



Q: Listening to?

A: sponge bob in the other room.  man, I hate his voice.



Q: Watching?

A. I'm not that talented.  It takes all my concentration to type.



Q: Worrying about?

A: I'd change it to "thinking about" . . . . future plans.



RANDOMOLOGY



Q: First place you went this morning?

A: funny.  McDonald's.  On Thursday's, I don't make breakfast for the Pita.



Q: What can you not wait to do?

A: Go to back to sleep tonight.  Stopped taking ambien after 2 months.  I swear I am going through detox.



Q: What’s the last movie you saw?

A: Edge of Darkness



Q: Do you smile often?

A: a lot, actually



Q: Are you a friendly person?

A: I think so.



Q: Now that the survey's done what are you going to do?

A: Hurry and get ready to get my hair done --- yippee!!



Let others know a little more about yourself, repost this as your name followed by “ology.”

You're MY brown eyed girl

Dear Peanut,

Ten years ago today . . . .There I was, a brand new mother cradling my new bundle of love. You were perfect, and so beautiful. After [what felt like] a lifetime of wondering what motherhood was all about, my moment had finally arrived. I was ready to mold and shape and inspire and do all those wonderful life-changing things mothers are to do.

But I quickly realized that you didn't want to start doing all the mother-daughter things with me just yet. You couldn't bake with me. And you weren’t ready to run or even swing on the swings. In fact, all you really wanted to do was eat, and sleep. And then eat, sleep & poop. And finally, you’d eat, and then sleep.

And there I was, alone most days in our quiet condo. Your Dad was working four days a week from 6am-6pm. So we had a lot of time to spend together. Everyday, I'd clean the house (that took all of 20 minutes.) I'd bake something. I’d clean the one VERY big window that looked out over the parking lot. I'd have our dinner plans organized by 9:00am. I'd color coordinate your baby clothes. I'd straighten your diapers...again. And again. And then I'd look out that one big window. Sigh. So much for changing the world.

One thing has certainly changed - -  you are now ten years old. You have beautiful long, brown hair and you’ve always been daddy’s little brown eyed girl. You are smart, [insanely] funny, and have a wickedly serious imagination. And I miss you everyday as you bounce off to day camp this summer.

I found a paper you wrote last month in school. Here is a portion of what it said:

"I love my Mom. My Mom has two jobs. Her first job is being my Mom. Her second job is buying a lot of clothes to sell. However, even though my Mom does very well at job #2, she does a better at job #1. HELPING ME!" And then, in her [then 9 year old] wisdom, she said, "I can help change the world by being a Mom. Mom’s teach children."

Your words pierce through me [especially today]. I think back to those simpler, condo days. How quickly time has slipped through my hands. Now, especially, as I long for the time [back] to look into your eyes without any other responsibility or interruption. As for dinner? You know, I'm usually scrambling to get it on the table by 6:30. And you certainly know I do not color coordinate your clothes. You’re lucky if I fold them!

But today as your father &I celebrate the life of you ---- my healthy, funny, talented, emotional, understanding & thoughtful Peanut. I cannot help but feel grateful. Blessed. Loved. Lucky to have you to share my life with.

You are my #1.

I am proud to be your Mom.

Happy "Double Digit" Birthday Peanut.

Love,
Your Mom
[ok, fine, and Dad too] ;)

8 days & 1 rant = not bad

Peanut:  Ummm, we're staying here?  This is no resort.

Ahhhh, my little Peanut.  Run.  Run for your life.

Oh man, how she should have begged to take that statement back.

[little info to help]

We love Priceline.  We should own stock in Priceline.  Seriously.  A resort for $55 a night?  With a flat screen tv/bubble jet bath tub/a tv to watch while in the bathtub/slides at the pools/fun little sample size offerings in the bathroom [her fav]/etc.  Love it.

Hokianga . . . . let me just say . . . .  beautiful.  amazing.  breath-taking.  they have no idea what resort means.  We were in NZ in the "off" season = great rates = happier wallet for us.  So when we found we could stay at the "resort" for an insanely great rate - we swooped it up.   Much to Peanut's dismay - this in all fairness - did look like a motel 6.

Then it hit. 

Well, his words hit. 

For like - e v e r. 
or
7 minutes that felt like the most hilarious 7 minutes I had ever witnessed. 

A father.  trying.  to.  explain.  what.  life.  was.  like.  for.  him.  growing.  up.  without.  resorts.

Rant:

"did you really just say that.  you can sleep in the car.  when I was a kid [Me - thinking-ahhhh crap, here it comes]  we didn't get to stay in hotels we were broke.  I didn't have an ipod or mp3 or napster or cable.  heck, I hardly even got to watch TV I had so many chores to do and when I did.....it was usually whatever he [step-dad] was watching and even then I just had to stand up every 2 minutes and change the channel, by hand!
 
it continued [I had to go into the bathroom at this point, sorry kid.  I was crying I was laughing so hard and it wasn't making the Pita any happier]

..... no playstation 3, no atari even!  No frogger, no mario . . . ya guess what we didn't have a computer or internet or [gasp] google?!?  no microwave popcorn [not sure what that one was about], no caller ID, no call waiting, no call declining, no voicemail, no texting, no cell phones.  No DVD's no blu-ray.  You are spoiled Peanut.  So SUCK IT UP and enjoy the resort life in Hokianga!" 

HOLY ________!

I peeked my door open to see the damage - in true Peanut fashion - her first words were.  "oooooooooo kkkkkkkkk aaaaaa yyyyyyy.  got it.  So Mom, wanna go to the beach?"

Ummm, you better believe it.  I'm outta here!

So this is how we got these sweet pictures - Peanut has a thing for flowers in her photos.  Yep, she took them.

Enjoy!

Man, I'm just happy he left out that "walking 5 miles, up hill both ways" part.

s p a i n

I have never been there.

But after my trip to New Zealand, I think I have a pretty real understanding as to what it would be like to cheat death from an angry bull.

{this is for you BDD}

I'm guessing my little bull-friend wasn't used to seeing American chicas pass by too often [on foot] on the nearby motorway.  Truth be told, I can't believe I actually ran on the motorway.  The posted speed limit was 100km. 

But I did just find this on wikipedia:

In many respects, New Zealand highways are simply the major roads between significant places and can be used by any traveller, including cyclists, [runners-I may or may not have added this part],pedestrians and even farm animals.

Yes, they are so NOT lying on the farm animals part.  I learned this fact in Waipu.  Yep, you got it pronounced WHY-POO.  Which Peanut loved.  "Mom, waipu when you can just pee?  It's faster."  nice. 

Anyway, while running in Waipu, there was a farmer [?] walking his cows on the motorway . . . ummm, ya this was after the charging bull experience so you bet your butt I turned around.

I'm really hoping I mentioned there was a fence between me and the bull.  Call me a baby, whatever but unless you've had a massive animal like that running full boar, straight for you . . don't judge. ;)

Have I ever mentioned, I am a treadmill girl.  kidding.  kidding.  So I had a week of me.  outside.  with nature.  in New Zealand.  no treadmills in sight :( .  If I was going to run, I was going to look around and enjoy every moment.  I thought it was so cool to run past animals, ocean, dead possums, mean Weka's, singing tui's, 75 year old women - - that when I saw the two massive bulls ahead I thought, "OMGosh, awesome, those are freaking huge bulls!" 

Then . . . . .

c h a r g e !

That thing snorted something fierce then came at me like nothing I have ever seen before.  [please keep in mind, I'm on a motorway {the ones with cars not farm animals} - I can't just move into the street!].  So, of course, I stop....still staring at the bull and now he and I are NO MORE than 3.5' away from each other [yes, the fence had stopped him].  looked at my hands.  s h a k i n g - uncontrollably.  Look at heart rate numbers.  Yea, I'm still alive!

All is well.  On the return, I was a smart little blonde and ran on the other side.  of course, I stared him down the whole time.  I saw him.  He was shaking.

[the motorway minus the bull]

j e t - l a g

Okay, that's my excuse anyway.

Here's my numbers:

*15 - hours Peanut slept last night.
*23 - number of possums [dead] I counted during my runs.
*1 - number of bulls that charged me while running.
*1 - amount of times I think I peed my pants from the charging bull
*1-Weka's that bit at my shoe thinking I was trying to steal her off-spring.
*14-number of dolphins we counted while on our "hole in the rock" tour in Russel.

*14-number of laps you have to run to equal 12 miles in Russel.

*7-number of times we ate fish & chips [uggggg]

which is partially why . . . .

Miles ran today 22 [20.47 on treadmill]  probably pretty stupid for the first day back at em'. [and no that's not tread-sweat it's from my Lysol wipes - yes, I'm a germaphobe]

*1-the number of iPhones I left in NZ
*1-the iPhone that is mine that was left in NZ
*44,444,444 - the amount of times I have wanted to cry about it.
*7-how many days I will be without it.
*8-how many days "Em, I'll get it off to you ASAP" means to the Pita's Sister.
*3-the number of 75+ year old women who watched me run my 800's by Poppy's house.
*444-how many times I thought "this is weird" that 75+ year old women are watching me run in circles.
*9-number of times the Pita asked if I'd move back to NZ.
*65-the age I told him I'd move back by.
*7-how many times Peanut asked if we could move there.

*1-how many times I barfed on our "hole in the rock tour"

*18-how many photos I have of rainbows [for you Amy!]
*4-times I was sad we didn't get to see uncle Rod. [or his undies]
*94-number of photos I still have to download.
*30-days until next marathon.

can I get a what? what?

106 - I have died and gone to follower heaven.

106?

Made my day.  I sat down with really good intentions to share a few random bits of the New Zealand Tour 2010 but the ambien I took 45 minutes ago is having it's way with my brain, typing and I'm quite sure my head is at a 45 degree angle as I write.

But man do I have some photos for you.  Hmmmmmm maybe even one from the Pita without him flipping me off?!?! [you'll be getting that one from me on your Christmas card!]

I will blame the ambien for the random facts you can look out for tomorrow . . .

what season is fall?
Sea level here?
charging bull
time? run over
do you see any others?
nevermind.
what "I'll hurry it off to you" means when a New zealander says it.
6 out of 7 days {FC}
possum count
barf count
ferry count
fit count.
jucy car.

I bet you can hardly wait.   [ha]

MISSED  YOU GUYS!!!!!!