People are weird

I know the title of this post is no surprise, people are weird, we all know that lol.  But in this particular instance I am talking about them being weird in the way they are commenting about me losing weight.  And I just thought I would put it on here as it might help someone else down the track, some day, eventually.

I have been running pretty consistently since September-ish (thanks acupuncture), and a happy byproduct of that is that I am losing the weight I put on when I couldn't do any exercise at all (boo chronic fatigue crash).  I am running for me, cos I like it and it makes me happy (not always in the moment I am running, sometimes I just think I am crazy to chose to do that lol.  But I am always happy at the end and at some point during the run), but returning to pretty much my normal/standard weight has been a wonderful perk.

People are weird comes into this equation because the following seems to be happening with those who have commented on it:
Those over around 55 have been very wow good on you losing weight.
Those under around 35 have been concerned that I am losing weight.
Only those who are around my age(ish) have asked if it is intentional and if I am happy/ok.

Now I am sure everyone is happy for me and/or thinking of my wellbeing, but from the receiving end I do much prefer the people who are asking if I am happy/ok before being excited/concerned.  Not just assuming it's a good or bad thing.  It's such a small, and it's not like I am mad at those who are commenting straight off, but if you know someone who is losing or gaining weight maybe ask them first before reacting 😊

And that is just my little note for the day, I hope you are all having a good week 💜

Homeward Bound

To some of you this might come completely out of the blue, others of you it won't...

I am moving home 😀🎉 home being Taranaki for those of you who are not sure where I call home these days.  And to be fair I call a few places home at the moment so if you weren't thinking Taranaki straight away you are forgiven.  Anyhoo... I have got a job in South Taranaki which I will be starting on Tuesday 7th April so I will be moving back over Easter weekend.  And before you ask where am I going to live, I don't 100% know yet.  I know where I am thinking of looking once I sell this place, but I am also aware I do like to change my mind so there is a chance I will end up somewhere else lol.

The job is being an EA to a general manager, and helping the executive team a bit as well, its at a iwi run health centre.  I think it will be a fun job, and the people that I have met, over Teams for a video interview and via email chats, are lovely.  I am very much looking forward to the move and the new adventure.

Got a few things to do here now of course, like figure out the whole listing a house for sale side of things, packing, catching up with friends for the last time while I'm here etc.  I am sure it will keep me busy and before I know it, it'll be time to move.  I will be sad to leave my current job as I really do like it, but it is time for me to leave HB so I am ok with it.

Not much else to report at this stage so shan't keep you any longer, just wanted to share my happy news really.  Have a wonderful day 💜

Napier sunset

Sharing this photo cos I feel it would be rude not too, Napier sunset from Ahuriri this evening, looking all gorgeous 😻😻

Had a lovely dinner at The Gin Trap with Aunty Kay and Uncle Terry who are camping in my driving for the night (in their caravan so fancy camping lol). Was a lovely evening catching up and just general chatting. Went for a wander after dinner and this was our wonderful view 💜

Recycled awesomeness

Made myself a nice warm awesome as jacket for winter 🥰😻💜 fully recycled too which is cool.

The grey fabric is my old girl guide blanket, the blue is an old blanket from Jenny. Both woollen blankets.

The lining is an old duvet cover that I’ve had for years but don’t use anymore.

The cotton was from Gma’s stash.

And the buttons were a nice surprise from my boss Michelle. She loaned me her button collection when I mentioned I didn’t have any suitable ones and really didn’t want to buy ones cos was able to not pay for anything else for the jacket. She’s a cool boss 🤗

Now just need the weather to cool so I can wear it lol 😻🤩😂

Rotorua as a tourist

Last weekend Jenny and I went to Rotorua to be tourists.  I know, it was a bit of a weird experience for me because I am so used to going there to see Bro.  Don't worry we did call in to see him so I could show Jenny his place.  Did I give him a say in the matter, nope but I did let him know roughly when we would be going past so he could be out if he wanted to avoid us lol.  Pretty sure that is a kind little sister thing to do 😇😆

As I have been to Vegas many more times than Jenny, I was left to plan what to do.  Jenny wanted to do a maze which was good cos so did I, but other than that she left it to me.

First off we did the walk around part of the lake from Government Gardens to the Lake Front.  Very enjoyable and a nice little wander.  Then we headed off to the 3D maze, we picked that one because it is my favourite.  Also because the other one is a hedge one and with how much of nature is making me react in a not great way these days we thought it would be best to not have me stuck in a hedge for an hour or so.  The 3D maze was a lot of fun.  We did get lost a couple times, perk to being tall(ish) is being able to see over some of the walls on the upstairs parts so I could work out where we needed to go to get back on track.  We completed the maze, and found most the answers to the scavenger hunt properly (one was found by me looking over the wall lol), and had a great time.

We then headed back to our accommodation for lunch and to rest our tired legs.  In the afternoon we went to a cat cafe.  I do NOT recommend this experience.  I don't know what I was expecting but it was not what I got and I just felt sorry for the poor cats.  There were so many of them in the small space and no outdoor area.  Not even very many interactive things for them.  Jenny said it wasn't a good one, but that they are all pretty similar with the no outdoor area and lots of cats.  Definitely not something I support.

That evening we had dinner at our accommodation (same as the first night we were there, we were doing Rotorua on the cheap lol), watched a movie then had a dip in the hot tub/spa.  Many laughs were had and it topped off a great day.

The following morning, our last morning there, we detoured to find Fred a tyre cos she had had a something (I don't want to call it an accident or incident, but it was a something) at some point that required me giving her attention and money.  Typical female I know... 😜 After this we headed off to a 3D trick art gallery.  I wasn't sure what I expected from this but it looked intriguing online so we figured why not (it was also raining so we didn't want to do anything outdoorsy lol).  While we were wandering around I must admit I thought it was a bit lame and not worth the entry fee.  However once I got home and looked at the photos I changed my mind, it was totally worth it!!! The photos turned out awesome.  Everything was just 2D when we were there, but the photos are not.  Very cool.  Below are some of my favs. 

Overall I would recommend Rotorua as a tourist, however most of the activities are quite expensive now.  We wanted to do things that were below $30 and we achieved this, but it did take many many things off the table.  Doesn't mean I won't be back to do them some stage though 😊

2025 in books

It's that time of year again, that time that I sum up the last year by what I read lol.  I mean it's basically tradition now lol.

This year I knew I wasn't going to get a max amount of books read in the year because I ended up reading both Gone With The Winds and Ulysses.  And neither of them are small books.  Ulysses was a harder read than I expected so it took me about 4 weeks I think, Gone With The Wind was very enjoyable and I will be reading that again at some stage.  Took me about 3 weeks from memory to get that one done.  And yes while reading both I did have another book on the go, usually do these days.  Sometimes I am only reading one book but it would be less often than the reading two or three at a time.

Anyhow, here is the summary:

Total books read: 68

Total pages read: 26,287

Shortest book: 106 pages (thank god cos it was terrible lol)

Longest book: Gone With The Wind (no surprises there)

Average book length: 386 pages

Surprisingly, the book I read that the most other people also did (on the site I use anyhow) was Gone With The Wind, that one surprised me a lot.

Also surprisingly the book with the highest rating on the site was a WWII book - The Forgotten Highlander.  Didn't expect that, it has an average rating of 4.53 (I gave it a 4 if you are wondering).

Genres of books I read are as follows:

Fantasy - 38 books (no surprise its still well above the others)

Sci-Fi - 2

Fiction - 5

Chick-Lit - 12

Crime/Thriller - 3

Non-Fiction - 7

Other - 1 (horror if you were wondering)

How to spot JB at a concert

So I just want to start off saying the concert was inside… so no wind or outside air temps were involved lol.

Went to see Rob Thomas last night (solo artist and also lead singer of the band Matchbox 20) in Wellington, and while the majority of the crowd were happy in single layers, there was me in three layers (tshirt, winter shirt and jumper) plus Jenny’s coat and my coat as blankets AND I was still shivering. And shivering enough that Jenny who was sitting next to me (but we weren’t touching) could feel me shivering. I know I know, my body has a broken internal thermostat, obviously 🙄😂 good thing I had my trusty usb chargeable hand heater with me, it warmed me up enough that I stopped shivering, yay.

The concert was good, Jenny def enjoyed it more than me but she is a way bigger Rob Thomas fan. I mostly came for the road trip and the chance to see my Welly friends (who are doing good btw, we had a lovely catch up before the concert). 

We are staying at Waikanae Beach and had a fun Welly public transport experience getting into town, starting with buses replacing trains for a chunk of the trip so the 1hr trip took just over 2hrs. Still worth it to stay out here though, for starters our trip home today is only gonna be 3hrs 🥳 and we didn’t have to drive in Wellington, total win lol. We wandered down to the beach yesterday, it was blowing a gale so we didn’t stay long, but it was pretty 🤩 

Some photos from my happenings the last few weeks

Too lazy to write heaps about what I’ve been up to so here are some pics with brief explanations. If you would like to know anything in more detail feel free to reach out 🙃 

Aunty Susan’s bear was a perfect hot water bottle looker-afterer during the day

It’s not every day your friends name is on a gallery sign 💜 such gorgeous work on display, very lovingly made

At my friend Betty’s wedding with Tiare 

Some new friends I made when Jo showed me around Hohepa in Clive

Beach fun with Elyse who visited from the States for a week. I went and read under a tree shortly after this while she paddled some more

Up Te Mata Peak, trying not to be blown away

Fred enjoying the view from up Te Mata Peak, she was not worried about being blown away lol

Off on an adventure, aka exploring Hobbiton after paying a fortune for the pleasure to do so… lol

Helping out by doing some washing in a hobbits home

Doing some desk work, still in the hobbits home

Helping knit some of the hobbits scarf, possibly the most fun part of the tour hehe

Picking up Elyse for the adventure, got our walking sticks ready so must mean we are prepared 😂 

Elyse giving driving on the left hand side a go

Lake Taupo

Going for a wander round Lake Rotorua with bro this morning(ish)

My super exciting weekend

Hehe did you think I actually did super exciting stuff?? Well I sort of did, just not the sort of super exciting stuff that requires energy 😄 

I read, in a few different spots, and in some of my fav spots as well. And I napped, a lot. And watched some Dr Who. But there are no photos of the last two, just photos of my reading for your enjoyment. Made them black and white to make them look more exciting, cos I’m cool like that (well maybe not cool but it was fun lol) 😝