Songs In Blue

Finally getting around to writing about our weekend!  I don’t know how time seems to go so fast and yet so slow all at the same time! 

Unfortunately, it seems that anywhere I go the internet is really slow and FRUSTRATING so I’m not able to add photos to this post.  You can, however, go to my flickr page and check them out there.(http://www.flickr.com/photos/songsinblue)
 
But yeah, the weekend was a BLAST!  It felt so nice to have a long weekend away with good wine, fun people, and nice weather (for the most part)!
 
We got to our house in Martinborough after work on friday.  It was a pretty chill night with everyone arriving at different times and getting settled in.  There was about 12 of us sharing a 5 (and a 1/2) bedroom house.
 
Matt and I scored the massive king size room with an ensuite on the top floor.  The only problem was that it had 2 sky lights with no curtains so we were awake with the sun at 5:30am every morning!
 
Saturday morning we went for a walk around Martinborough then came back to a sweet lunch spread of dip, cheese and bread-y goodness!  The boys played touch rugby in the yard while us girls tanned and read magazines.  Matt scored a couple tries but ended the game with a broken toe.  I think I could dedicate an entire post to his toe injuries – he should really cut them all off!  The best part of my afternoon was my hour-long nap, A NAP!  It was awesome!
 
Whenever I write a post about weekends away or vacations, I always regret that I didn’t take enough photos.  It’s because I feel like a paparazzi with my SLR and don’t want to make people uncomfortable because there’s a big-ass camera in the room.  I’m going to get over this and start taking more photos…
 
But I digress.
 
Saturday night we had a BBQ (with enough food for an army) and watched the New Zealand vs. Bahrain World Cup qualifier.  My North American friends probably had no idea what that is/that it was happening.  Basically, whoever won that game would play in the Soccer World Cup in South Africa next year. 
I’m not a soccer fan, but the game was so exciting to watch!  And New Zealand ended up winning!  It’s the first time they’ve made it to the World Cup since ‘82 (I think), and it was a really big deal here! (Kinda the same as the Canucks making round 3 of the Playoffs)

Sunday was the actual wine festival.  The weather was perfect besides, you know, GALE FORCE winds.  It didn’t stop us from fully enjoying the day and probably kept us from getting too drunk.  My favourite wine was the Alana Estate Riesling.  If anyone visits me, we will definitely go there for a lunch!  Our programs listed the menu of each vineyard (there were 7 taking part) and we went to one specifically because it had a ‘Diet-be-damned Brownie’.  Worth it.

After listening to a few bands, drinking more wine and bussing to different wineries, we went back to our place and an epic dance party ensued.  There’s a photo of Matt and I having a dance off and we both look pretty intense.  We’re serious about our dance moves, yo!

So the weekend was a complete success!  There wasn’t much drama, no one did anything they regretted (at least I think so) and I’d go again next year in a heart beat!  Anyone want to come with?

I’ve been in a weird head space this week. 

I had my end of year review meeting with my manager today and the first thing she said to me was, “You look numb.”

Funny, I feel numb. 

I got some not-so-great news about work earlier this week and in my normal fashion, I completely shut off and made myself not care.  Without going into too much detail, I was told that because I’m on a contract I don’t qualify for any sort of reward (salary increase, bonus, nothing).  It would’ve been really nice to know this before I worked my ass off for the last year.  Not that it would’ve changed my work ethic AT ALL, but it’s the shock of only finding out now that’s really got me bummed out.  I was doing everything I could to prove that I deserved a raise and even started running a fund all by myself – which isn’t what I was hired to do. 
My manager told me that they wanted to make me permanent for next year and that I’m in a good position to take over a more challenging role but that doesn’t really make me feel any better.  Normally, I could care less about the money and just want to advance my career, but I can’t do that right now.  Plus, it’s like being told you’re worthless – it hurts, yo!

More than anything, I’m ready for a change.  When that doesn’t happen, I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything and my life is pointless.  I get angsty, claustrophobic, and end up really annoying myself (and I’m sure, others). 

But yeah, I’m starting to get over it now and who knows what will happen.  I do love my job and the people I work with so it’s not all bad!

On a brighter note, this weekend is Toast Martinborough.  The actual event isn’t until Sunday, but we’re leaving tonight!  There’s a group of about 12 of us going and we’re staying at this really flash house on a golf course!  There isn’t much planned besides a BBQ and the soccer game Saturday night so it should be a nice relaxing weekend away.  Which will be great after this last week!

What are your weekend plans?

We arrived at our lakeside hotel Friday evening and were immediately impressed!  The room was HUGE and had so many perks we wondered how they got away with charging us so little!  The best part?  This massive spa bath:

We made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the necessities (wine, chocolate, strawberries, grapes, crackers, brie…) then spent the rest of our night chillin’ in the spa bath.  We took a few photos of the sunset too.

It was pretty awesome.

On Saturday, we walked into town and had a go at the mini golf.  Matt won, by a lot, but it was good fun!

Why yes, that is me wearing shorts and jandals!  The weather was so nice and warm all weekend – I even got a bit of a sunburn.  Hello, Summer!  (at least in Taupo, not so much in Wellington.)

After lunch, we walked to Huka Falls and took some photos.  I still can’t get over the colour of the water here – it’s so blue and pure looking.

Didn’t end up doing much with the rest of the day – ate some ice cream, went out to dinner, and watched a movie in our room.  It was nice to be able to take our time to do things and have a relaxing weekend.

Sunday was awesome.  We went to the hot pools and soaked in the hot water for a few hours with a couple waterslide breaks!  Look how pretty:

To top it all off, we had massages.  I’m addicted now – pretty sure I can justify getting one once a month from now on.  Why did I not have one before???

The only kinda bad thing that happened on our weekend was Sunday night’s dinner.  We went to a new Indian place and they were still getting used to running a restaurant.  We ordered our food and waited.  And waited.  And noticed EVERY table was waiting for some part of their meal.  After over an hour, I went up to ask when the food was coming as we hadn’t even been served entrees yet.  Apparently, they thought we had already had our entrees – at least the food came pretty quickly after I asked!  At the end of it all, we finished eating at 10pm.  Luckily, we were able to laugh at the whole thing.  We felt pretty bad for the staff cause they were just run off their feet.  One couple wasn’t so understanding though – they ate their entrees then did a runner!  It was pretty funny watching them run down the street.

I could definitely get used to weekends away!  Our next trip isn’t for a couple of weeks but I want to go NOW!

My Wordpress and Flickr accounts appear to hate each other right now, so I can’t upload photos to my blog without a lot of time and energy….which I don’t have.
I think my whole site needs to be taken down and re-installed, but I’m a little scared to attempt that on my own.

Anyway, we spent last weekend in Castlepoint.  You can see pictures here.  It’s a tiny town, so there wasn’t a whole bunch to do.  We hiked up the big cliff and it was so windy I thought I’d get blown off .  We walked along the rocks  to the lighthouse.  Then the rest of the time was spent playing Trivial Pursuit, Boogle and watching Flight of the Conchords.
Overall, it was really nice to relax and give my camera a bit of a workout.

Last weekend was the Rugby Sevens tournament.  I missed the parade and seeing the Canadian team, but some people I work with brought me back some goodies they threw from the float.  I now have a make-shift shrine to Canada on my desk, complete with a flag, tattoo and Maple candy!

Unfortunately, the Canadian team didn’t do very well in the tournament, but I can’t tell you how cool it was to watch them play and hear the Kiwi announcer say ‘Canada’ and ‘The Canadians’ over and over.  He even showed off a bit by saying ‘Saskatchewan’ properly.

I was so proud.

Which will forever be known as the weekend I peed 247 times.  Seriously.
I ended up sleeping on the picnic tables by the bathroom because I was so fed up with having to get out of my tent and walk all the way over there every. single. time. I woke up.
I have no idea what’s wrong with me, but thankfully, my bladder seems to have calmed down.

Other than my bathroom escapades, the weekend was pretty sweet.  We were up with the sun and spent most of our time at the beach.  The waves were pretty big and the current was really strong so I didn’t last as long in the water as I would’ve liked.  I did try boogie boarding for the first time! I sucked, but it was fun and hopefully I’ll be better next time.  I also tried playing cricket…the result was about the same.

Even though we came home a day early, the weekend seemed to go on forever.  It was awesome!

There are a TON of other photos up on Flickr…so check them out!

I failed at NaBloPoMo.  In all the excitement of yesterday, I forgot to post.  The intention was there but I had no follow through, so Matt won.  There, I said it.  As much as I hate to admit it, I should’ve known because the dude ALWAYS wins.

Anyway, yesterday we went to pick up my Christmas present…the Nikon D60 kit!!  I’ve been waiting ages for this camera, and it’s been worth every one of the many pennies I spent on it.

After we got home with the camera, it was time for my office work party.  Let’s just say I took full advantage of the free champagne (and food) and leave it at that.  I don’t want to ruin the do-no-wrong image you may have of me (HA!).

So today, we went on a bit of a photo walk to see what my camera can do.  I think Matt will end up using it just as much as me…he’s pretty into it and takes really good photos.  Per usual, you can find more photos on my Flickr page.

Matt was taking pictures and started directing me.  This is “Ok, now think Tiger“

I think I’ve seen more soccer games in the last 3 months than the last 21 years.  It’ll never replace hockey but I’m starting to enjoy the game, especially when Matt and other people we know are playing.  Watching a pro game is a little more challenging and I usually only last the first half.
Every Sunday or Monday, Matt and some of his friends play on a indoor soccer team, ‘Team Tamatea’.  It’s supposed to be a casual thing, but these boys get pretty into it and even have matching jerseys.  Ever since they started wearing them, other teams have been showing up in similar colours…it’s pretty funny.  I took some pictures tonight, but they aren’t that great…can’t wait for my new camera!

We’re in white.

My brain completely shuts down on the weekend, so this post will be short.
We don’t have much, if anything, planned, which is really nice and totally needed!  So far we slept in, then went for a walk…which turned out to be a little expensive.  I bought a book specifically on the camera I’m buying cause I figured I could read/learn before I got it…plus I’m just so freakin excited!
We went to an Indian restaurant for lunch…won’t need to eat for the rest of the day, wow!  I had never had Indian until I got here, and this was only my second time.  It’s pretty heavy, but really good.

On our trip down to the South Island, we played some scrabble at one of the hostels we stayed at.  I really didn’t like scrabble up until that point, but now I love it!  We ended up buying the game today, so tomorrow will probably be spent playing it!

What are your plans?