In the 'hood

A new cafe called Boho Cafe has opened in Awapuni.  We are so excited.  We had breakfast there last weekend, and while I wouldn't call it a relaxing meal given that we were wrangling a two-year-old and seven-year-old, the coffee was delicious and the eggs were perfectly done.

Today I escaped there for a while with the paper and had a coffee and bacon and egg focacia.  Yummy, generous portions, friendly staff and a cosy little corner to sit in.













There are still quite a few empty shops which is discouraging but with the new cafe, the sushi shop and the hospice op shop in the neighbourhood as well as the longstanding presence of the library and chemist it's shaping up to be a great little place to be.

Inspiration in dealing with my shadow side

I still love the job but life is definitely busy and relentless.

My darling girl turned two yesterday.  I feel so blessed to have her and her brother in my life and to be raising them with my wonderfully funny and creative wife.  I also feel tired and crabby and resentful at all the things I have to do rather than watch a movie or read a book or just vege.

We had a low-key birthday party for Rangimarie this morning and then in the afternoon we went to a friend's place who happened to have a birthday today to celebrate with more cake.  I was sitting on the couch holding a hot cup of green tea and Manaaki was sitting next to me.  Several times I reminded him that I was holding a hot drink and to please be careful not to bump me.  However he took no notice and finally knocked into me so hard that the hot tea spilled all over my hands and the floor.  I yelled "Manaaki!" and suddenly the room was silent and awkward because I'd lost my cool.  I felt like such a dork. Coming home I was so angry with myself and just frustrated that I get very little break and just about no couple time.  I love that I am still breastfeeding Rangimarie but the day-in-day-out reality of it seldom having uninterrupted time, even in the evenings, is frustrating.

Luckily my wife was sympathetic and gave me an hour or so to mooch around the sleepout and poke through old boxes of journals and cards and photos.  It was very restorative.  When I came back inside she had cleaned the kitchen and made a soup for dinner.

Inspired by our friend, Helen Lehndorf, who has recently written a book 'Write to the Centre' I got out my scissors and some old cards and got creative.  Writing it out really does help.

Back to the grindstone!

I have a new job and I love it!  I have just finished my first week and I'm very excited about the possibilities.  It's a full-time nine month contract and they are letting me start part-time while I see out the semester in my other 10 hour a week role.

Rangimarie has started at a kohanga (Maori speaking childcare centre) on campus.  I'm so pleased I settled her in a few weeks before I started my new job as it was a bit of a mission.  At first she cried when I left her, which felt awful.  Then I was going back at lunchtime to breastfeed her and get her down for her nap.  Now when I leave her with one of the kaiako (teachers) she smiles and waves and she goes down fine for her nap without me.

I have started getting up at 6am every weekday morning as M is starting work at 7am.  This might not sound like much but it is huge for me.  My whole adult life I have struggled to get out of bed in the morning and I usually develop a routine that has me waking up as late as possible and doing the bare minimum before I scramble out the door.

Now that I'm up earlier I have time for a relaxed breakfast and coffee.  I even manage to get round and open all the curtains and make the beds.  I just feel more on top of things.  It's still not easy and I feel pretty cruddy for the first hour or so that I am up but the momentum of a new job has given me the chance to create this new routine and I hope I can stick to it.

My energy levels have been much better lately.  Part of this is the excitement of a life change.  I think I must have had pretty bad anaemia last year as I look back on some of my posts where I was really struggling.  Getting the B12 injections definitely helped with that.

So now we can pay off our holiday and start saving for the next one.  The world feels full of promise!

Disneyland

We are back in Ventura after our trip to Disneyland. It was fabulous!

We were lucky enough to stay with family in Orange, a short drive from Disneyland. Our friend stayed in Howard Johnson hotel which was a quick 10 minute walk to Disneyland gates and she had a good-sized room and access to a kids water playground area. I'm not sure how much she paid but I would recommend it for convenience.

A benefit to staying close is that we took a break in the afternoon during the hottest and busiest time at Disneyland.

The other adults took the kids to the water playground at the hotel and I had a blissful couple of hours with bottomless iced tea and a mimosa at Café Mimi's across the road.

We then headed to Captain Kidd's for dinner because kids love a buffet. The food was mediocre but the price was great and there was enough to keep everyone happy.

Feeling refreshed we headed back to Disneyland.

I don't know if it was the early evening air being the perfect temperature or the cheerful piped music but that moment walking back up the promenade is one of my favourite memotes of the trip. The kids were walking holding hands and laughing and playing together. Across the road a family was leap frogging over some road cones. I really felt that innocent sense of wholesome fun that Disneyland promises.

I didn't go on a lot of the rides but I loved the atmosphere and the baby rooms were amazing. Staffed by these lovely grandmotherly ladies in period costume and with very comfortable facilities for changing and feeding little ones.

We stayed until just before closing time. One thing I would do differently is find a good spot to watch the 9.30pm fireworks. We were walking from one space to another when they were on and there were lots of attendants waving glowing batons and urging us to keep moving so we couldn't really enjoy the show.

There is so much more I could say but this post is already mammoth so perhaps I will say more at a later time. I would definitely recommend Disneyland as a great family day out.

California dreaming

We have been in California five days now. It's been jam packed with visiting friends and activities.

We went to the county fair and Rangimarie and I got to watch a talent show while Manaaki and the rest of the family tried out the rides. We ate hotdogs and caramel apples.

My favorite activity was the big bubble cauldrons right next to the mechanical bronco ride. Rangimarie and I say on a hay bale and watched the bubbles to the strains of country music playing from the bronco stall.

We walked through the livestock hall. Pigs are so freaky. A pink pig's back looks just like a pale white guy's back at the beach.

We've been to the beach and today we went to Ojai and played at Libbey park. Even after 5pm it was still really hot but the park had this cool walk through mister that was very refreshing. Afterwards we went to Bliss frozen yogurt where Manaaki got the most massive tub of froyo and luckily it didn't bankrupt us. They even had a little kid size table that was perfect for Rangimarie.

So far so good. The only sore point had been that as a parent you never really get a holiday and this has been a source of friction. Out of our usual routine we both feel like we've had even less time to ourselves than usual. I'm not quite sure how to do this better but if I find a solution I will let you know.

It's cold outside!

It's freezing outside and the backyard is a lake.  However, we are cosy inside with the fire and looking forward to a holiday in sunny, dry California.

We will be in Auckland for Manaaki's birthday so he had a party early with his friends.  He directed the decorating of his cake from the initial concept, shopping for decorations and finally directing me on how to apply the icing.  We were proud of the result.  Super Kids is his own super hero group that he has created with his friends and they are very serious about it.

I'm feeling a little stressed about getting ready for the trip but also excited about getting a break and very excited about meeting my new niece in Auckland before we go!

Warming up winter

It's been a really cozy winter so far.  We've had the fire cranking and there has been some beautiful still, sunny days.  The trees are brilliant golds and reds.  I'm starting to think autumn/early winter is my favourite season in Palmerston North.

The job hunt continues.  I got a rejection email from a DHB job that I had applied for but I'm still waiting to hear from some council jobs that I applied for and today I'm working on an application for two more jobs at the local museum.  I guess it's just a matter of keeping on baiting those hooks and eventually I will get a bite.

I felt newly invigorated with the massage booking that I had a few weeks back and so have been working on that again.  I did a bit of promotion in town dropping off my brochures to various places and my latest plan is to use my networks so I will ask my Mum to forward an invite to her friends to come along to a chair massage afternoon at my place.  I hosted one this weekend that I organised on Facebook and it was really fun.

We are getting more and more excited about our US trip.  It will be so great to have some time out as a family without the pressures of work and home.  This week's task is to renew my passport.