Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

We have been on holiday again this week. One of Nicky's friends from church had offered use of their family bach (holiday home) in Whangamata, but we didn't end up going because of still being in "health recovery mode". I am now almost back to normal, Nicky is still dealing with her sinusitis, and Claire is improving but still coughing. So, we have had the week at home again being leisurely. The beginning of the week was not brilliant weather-wise, so we stayed home and read and jigsawed. A ray of mild excitement occurred on Monday when we had a delivery from China. Many months ago Nicky had been told at work about a website for ordering cheap glasses (spectacles). A couple of weeks ago we ordered a pair for her as the ones she bought from the opticians about a year ago had been in for repair for a second time and the lenses have also got scratched. We entered Nicky's prescription details on the website and chose a frame and sent the order off. We were both a litt

We have been on holiday this week. Nicky and Claire have taken annual leave, and I just planned to fit my work commitments around them which has been very easy with being offered very little work (which is somewhat worrying). We have a long list of things to do in and around Auckland, and have made virtually no headway into it due to health and weather. Both myself and Claire have picked up Nicky's cold, and though we are all recovering, we are not yet 100%. So, on almost any given day, at least one of us hasn't felt like doing much, and the weather has been cool and often wet, but it has been good to have some quiet time at home together. We have managed a visit to the Botanical Gardens to see this year's Stoneleigh Sculpture exhibition, and surprised ourselves when we realised it was Jan 08 since we last saw this. Time has flown. Again the exhibition was interesting and the gardens enjoyable and the weather overcast but dry. Nicky had time to attend a lecture on library i

Claire has finished her first year at University this week. She sat her last exam on Monday, which went well, and the semester officially finished on Wednesday. So, she is now practising lying-in, except on the days where she has to be at Whitcoulls in the morning. Last night she went out for a drink with some of her fellow students, and caught some of the football fever. NZ were playing Bahrain for a place in the World Cup Finals next year. NZed's 1-0 victory got them a place for the first time in 27 years, so some of the folks here are very excited. Nicky had a day off work as she has come down with a cold (which I now have too!) which has exacerbated her sinusitis even more. Other than that, work for her has been much as usual. She is on holiday now for two weeks, as is Claire, which she is relieved about. We are planing some day trips like last year, and just having some time together. The beginning of the week was busy for me with work which was good. I have had a phone call f

Another week draws to a close, so it's time to update the blog. Nicky has been working as usual, but the library hasn't had quite so many borrowers this week so there has been an opportunity to get on with other tasks, which has been good. Claire has been on study leave this week, her last exam is tomorrow. I did my final assessment at college - a one hour massage of a tutor. This is the assessment which I have to pass to get my qualification. I will get confirmation in a couple of weeks but I think I passed because the tutor didn't ask me to repeat anything or to book a re-sit, but didn't actually say I had passed. So, I will wait for written confirmation. We have all been on the look-out for a local fireworks display for Bonfire Night as our usual venue (a school) has closed. It was a fee-paying school and the recession hit hard at the beginning of the new academic year and the roll dropped by half. We wanted somewhere local so that we could support our community and

It has been an extraordinary week - well sort of. For the first time in ages, Nicky has been home for five consecutive weekday evenings. This is due to her not doing Maori this term, it being the off week for the alternating meeting of Life Group, and the Quilters not meeting or her doing a late night. It has been fun. My week has been very light in terms of work, though today I have earned by doing post-event massage at the Auckland Marathon. Very busy, or "full on" as they say here, and tiring, but an interesting experience. Claire did another exam this week, which went OK - could have been better, could have been worse. She sits here last paper for this academic year in just over a week. She has worked both Saturday and Sunday at Whitcoulls this weekend so is looking forward to having a quiet day tomorrow. Nicky and I had a quite unexpected experience on Saturday. We were invited on Friday evening to join one of our neighbours from Matata Street at the Community Centre for