The Summer That Almost Wasn't

So I know I'm a bit spoiled. We've done a bunch of really cool stuff this summer (re: best day ever). The bikes have been ridden, the car has been road tripped, the beer hath been drankith. There's nothing really missing from our typical summer here, right?

Well there is one thing. Not that you can really tell from the pictures I post (because I cherry pick the good ones, obviously)… but one key component of summer has been dearly missed. The freaking sun. Especially the warm version of it.

The first in a montage of deceivingly summer-esque photos.

It is now late February, which means it is the southern hemisphere equivalent of late August. Which means summer is a) almost over apparently, and b) should be peaking or should have peaked in temperature.

We had a day in January that was 31 degrees (88 F). But it was so windy that it was miserable. Every other day was approximately 15-22 (59-72 F). Is this even the same country we were in last summer?

Don't let that shiny thing at the top of the picture fool you!

Sure, the slightly cooler weather is actually better for bike riding. And ok, last year's amazing weather was actually considered a long-term drought and became a national emergency. But it had nothing on the desert status of California this winter. It was lovely. And I miss it.

I've probably only worn shorts 5 times this summer. And I was probably cold 3 of those times. I haven't left the house without a jacket once, and I leave my puffy Arcteryx in the car because I hate being cold. My little dress collection is collecting dust, which I think is prompting Scott to look at one-way tickets back to California.

Castle Hill. I was soooo cold when I took this picture about 2 weeks ago. I was in shorts and it was horrible.

But you know what the worst part about all of this freezing nonexistent summer has been? I'm getting soft. I was on a road ride on Sunday and I was moaning to myself about how hot it was. I was getting sunburnt (for the first time since winter) and my single water bottle wasn't enough. I really, really wanted to be loving it, but it was awfully uncomfortable.

It was 22 degrees! A balmy 72 for those of you in the northern hemisphere. It was definitely humid, but come on… thats a crisp winter day in Hawaii!

Our view. Are you coming to visit yet?? Bring your parka!

Ok, I have another admission. Today it was 33 (92ish). I almost died. I skipped the gym, refused to ride, poured myself an ice cold glass of rose, and contemplated filling the tub with ice water.

Don't worry, it's meant to drop back to 20 tomorrow (of course), so I can resume my normal winging about how cold it is and how we're not having a summer. Or rather, how summer happened today. Started this morning, and ended this evening. If you blinked, you missed summer in New Zealand. I'm going to die when we visit Chico this July.

View from my road ride where I nearly died of heat mild weather exhaustion.

Which brings me to our holiday back home. It's coming up soon-ish. About 4 months! We've booked nearly the whole thing up with family time and road trips. We're excited to play "tourists" in California and Oregon, and tick off a few things we never got to do when we were there. Even if it's a mild summer though, it's going to be a shock to our systems! I seriously can't wait.

One last thing- look at this little hedgehog I saw in the yard last week! How cute is he!?

Warrant Of Fitness

Every 6 months every car owner in New Zealand has to go down to their local garage and get a Warrant of Fitness inspection. This is a fairly comprehensive look at the working status of all of the safety features on the car. By no means does this mean your car runs well, there's no oil change or tire rotation involved. Its simply a bi-annual safety check. There's about 40 boxes to tick, but generally, here's what they look at:

A Warrant of Fitness inspection includes the following safety checks:

• Tyre condition (including tread depth)
• Brake operation
• Structural condition (rust isn't allowed in certain key areas)
• Lights (are all bulbs working?)
• Glazing (is your windscreen safe?)
• Windscreen washers and wipers (do they work?)
• Doors (do they open and close safely?)
• Safety belts (must not be faded or damaged; buckles must work properly)
• Airbags (if fitted - SRS light should work correctly)
• Speedometer (must be working)
• Steering and suspension (must be safe and secure)
• Exhaust (there must be no leaks and the exhaust must not be too loud or too smoky)
• Fuel system (there must be no leaks)                                                         (source: www.vtnz.co.nz)

Today I went to get warrant on my Golf, making this my fifth time getting WOF done. We've gone through some cars during our short time in New Zealand! And since I have so much experience, my stomach gets all knotted up just thinking about it. So far, our past/present cars have failed 100% of the time. We've had to replace tires, brake pads, headlights. We've had to fix maladjusted doors and finicky indicator switches. Some would say this is just the joy of owning a car in New Zealand (ie: an old piece of junk). I don't get much joy.

For me it's like going to the dentist. You walk in with a sense of dread. You don't always take the best care of your car (teeth). Sometimes you forget to check your tire pressure (or floss). As you sit in the waiting room, you see everyone else waiting, tense, knowing bad news is likely on the way. Then it's your car's turn. It takes about 45 minutes, and just like at the dentist, the mechanics speak in a gibberish only they understand. To you, it sounds like this car is a failure. It fails on every level. Look how poorly it's been cared for. (You never floss, do you?).

They poke and prod at the car from all angles, jacking it way up in the air, putting it through some sort of brake check that appears to take 6 months off my recently expensive new brake pads. With every part of the inspection, my anxiety grows. There's so many ways my car can fail. If I had washed it before I brought it in, would the shiny paint make it look safer?

Then the man walks up to you, with his clipboard. If you've passed they just call your name, give the key back, and hand you your shiny new sticker which means 6 months of freedom on the open road. If he walks up to you with the clip board... dun, dun, duuuuuun. There's trouble. Dammit.

"One of your brake light bulbs is out", he says. I wait for the rest of the bad news. Surely that's not it. That's never it. 

"Ok......." I say.

"I can fix it", he says. 

"Yep, that's great!" I say, hoping he does it quickly before he notices the 10 epic catastrophes he must have somehow missed.

I can't believe it. This has been the best trip to the garage ever. I mean, technically I still failed- but the fix took 5 minutes and I got my shiny new sticker of freedom. No more WOF induced anxiety until April (for my car, anyways). It's like I got out of the dentist with my new toothbrush, no cavities, and only a slight scolding to floss more often. (I'm working on it Kerry, I swear!)

The downside to all of this is that 6 months from now I'm surely going to walk in with a false sense of security and BAM, they'll get me. 

Because a photo of the WOF garage is boring, here's recent views from our deck. It's starting to look like summer again!!!

Sunset over the estuary

As Of Late....

This update regarding my infrequent postings is brought to you courtesy of night shift.

I have been incredibly lucky throughout my nursing career and I've never had to stay up past 11pm. (At least not at the hospital. There were of course study sessions that went well past 2am, and mid-nursing-school crisis WhatamIdoing? sessions that surely went later than that.) But I've never had to work a shift later than 11pm. Lucky.

When I got hired at the 24 Hour Surgery, they were very upfront in telling me that I would have rotating shifts including a run of night shifts every 2 months. The 24 Hour Surgery is a lot like an "Immediate Care" or "Prompt Care" center in the States, except that we are the only medical establishment open 24-hours besides Christchurch Hopsital's Emergency Department. This severe lack of overnight medical centers is of course because of the earthquakes.

Anyhow, back to me. I had gotten out of my night shifts until now because of of the variations in my job and schedule, but the time had finally come. I dreaded it for weeks. Pretty much since I saw the days in ink on paper back in May. 3 nights. 8 hours each. Midnight-8am.

I whined about it to all who would listen. I warned my husband that I would likely be an inconsolable ball of sleepless anger and fury and self pity, and that he was best advised to stay away or stay quiet. (Like, silent). I made sure to stock up on food (the only foreseeable positive thing in my life for the next 72 hours). And then I tried to sleep.

Of course I couldn't. Who sleeps during the day when they haven't yet stayed up all night? Not this girl. I managed to show up for night 1 with a 1-hour nap under my belt (but a solid 8 hours the night before). And you know what? It wasn't that bad. Work was steady, as Friday nights in emergency nursing are. When I came home, I dropped dead to the world and slept for 4 hours.

For the following 48 hours I commenced zombie-life during the day time and perky-ness at night. I have to say, although I had a 0% productivity rate during the awake part of my days, I was surprised by how easy it was to stay up all night. For a girl that has trouble staying up after midnight for a drink with friends. I impressed myself.

The last night, or early hours of Monday morning, were really slow. Like 2 patients in 4 hours slow. This is when the going got tough, the nausea set in, and my eyes felt like they were filled with gravel. But 4 hours out of a total 24 isn't a bad ratio. I'll take it. Also, working nights means working with many fewer nurses, and getting to do the cool stuff like suturing. Sweet!

So I was really hyped up about something that wasn't that bad. I'm not going to go on looking forward to my next night shift. But there won't be so much dread next time.

Anyways, a photo from our guest room when I was making the bed last night. Scott's parents will be here tomorrow!!!

Now, what are your reasons for not coming to visit??

This morning: not so much with the view. I woke up socked into a cloud. Where did the neighbors go?

 The alps, the fog, and the misty gray winter morning:

Keeping Busy on Rainy Days...

When it's raining cats and dogs, I feel like there's not as much to update on. Bike rides become a little less frequent and a lot less scenic. Travel slows down and my bank account breathes a deep sigh of relief. And yet... life still ends up feeling busy sometimes. I suppose it's just because I like it that way. I schedule as much as I can, even if it's just errands, into a day so that I don't feel like I did nothing. In fact last week I over scheduled and effectively overflowed the washing machine and ruined my spatula (and my lunch) just while trying to get ready for work.

R.I.P. Little Blue

Lovely weather this weekend... I know all of you in California feel really bad for us right now.

I've had a stretch of 4 days off though, and the rain really settled in. Actually a cloud settled in, on our house, erasing our view of much of anything. It felt like a good time to relax, read a little bit, and recoup.... so I did 4 loads of laundry, deep cleaned the house, and painted an old dresser we've been hanging on to.

Then today I finally re-arranged the living room. I say "finally", because a) we've had a guest sleeping out here, so for awhile I couldn't... and b) it's needed to happen for a long time because the heater is on the back wall. If you aren't sitting within about 5 feet of the heater, you aren't getting warm. And with our new residence inside the storm cloud, heat is necessary.

So I'm pretty sure that about 4 months ago I promised some photos of the inside of our house once we were "settled in". I'm actually, finally, beginning to feel a bit settled in (which is about to all be un-done in 2 months, but more on that later). So some pictures of my projects and our settled-ness...

I'm really wishing I took a "before" photo of how truly ugly this dresser was. It wasn't really that different. It was just dark brown wood, with lots of chips and stains. But it was seriously dumpster worthy.

I also wish I'd taken more of a "before" photo than the one above. This is more like mid-re-arrangement. Anyways...

After:

Man, everything just feels better with a clean house...

I'm actually pretty happy with how the dresser turned out. Sure, white is a ridiculously boring color. Actually, it's the same color as the walls and the ceiling. The exact same color. Because the paint came from a bucket in our garage. So the color I painted the dresser is actually called "free". Free is my favorite color.

Kinda cozy, no? We inherited this unique coffee table thing from a friend. It could use refurnishing, but I really like it. It's the perfect height to go with our couch, and it has storage drawers. Pretty sweet.

Isn't that a cool piece of furniture?

My seasonally confused indoor tomato crop

Scott gathered a batch of local succulents together for me. He "planted" them in the kitchen window (and in my favorite tea cups... ha!) to bring a little cheer indoors whilst Mother Nature wreaks havoc outside.

Well, there you have it. A little tour of the part of my house that is clean... Now I'm going outside to enjoy the sun, cuz it's back and gorgeous outside today! Take that California!

Fire in the Sky

"Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight."

6:30 am

6:40 am

6:45 am

Ominously fantastic, eh? These are from yesterday morning, and today, as if on cue, the clouds gathered. The rain began sprinkling, no... cascading around 6 this evening. It feels as though fall has fallen (haha, pun!) and like winter is hot on it's heels.

On another note, I just reviewed and acknowledged how terribly awful the pictures from my last post are. No more cell phone photo documentation from this girl. You guys don't deserve that.

Here Comes the Sun...

At this rate, sunrise pictures are going to be my new photo phase (although don't think you'll never see another duckling). And if you don't like sunrises, I'm sorry. (But really, who are you?!) 

I find that between getting up at 6am nearly every day for work, and having a glass wall that faces the east, I see a lot of sunrise. Some mornings are just gray. Some, the sun peaks over a crystal blue ocean and enters a clear sky. Others have glimmers of color. But many, so many more than I ever would have guessed, look like the one today. I thought a great one may be coming. I woke up to just a sliver of vibrant orange light, sitting on the ocean like fog hovers on a lake. 

Evolution of a sunrise...

Naturally, my photography skills don't do justice. 

That's really all from here for now. I just finished up day 5 out of a 6 day stretch of work, so I'm a bit fried and devoid of creativity/news/any thoughts at all. I hope all my readers are finding themselves happy and healthy. It's almost Friday (in New Zealand!)

And The Bronze Goes To...

You guys are awesome!

I placed third in the Lexiophiles Top 100 International Exchange & Experience Blogs Competition. There were over 250 entrants, and winners were chosen solely by the blog readers. So thank you!

Please take a moment to check out the full list of winners here.

As a prize, a donation has been made in my name to UNICEF: The United National Children's Fund. I have fundraised for and donated to UNICEF in the past, and I think they are a great organization. I am so pleased to have a donation made in my name. So again, thank you!

I'm off to work guys... (boring!), but here's a photo or two of what is happening right now. Completely un-edited, I promise. Daily sunrises are almost as healing as yoga.