Where's BH - Volume 5

Hello Dear Readers,

I know it has been ages since my last update. Apologies for that. Things have been super busy as you will see with the update below. So grab a cuppa, get comfortable and read away.

Where to begin? So much has occurred. I finally feel as if I am settling in. It took some time to realize that I wasn't just on holiday and would be going home soon. People here talk about the 3 month freak-out. Apparently after 3 months people go through a bit of a freak out and either decide to go back home or to stay. It's now been well over 4 months that I've been here (how did that happen?!) and I'm good to go so I guess I've made it past the hump. So what have I done in the past couple months?

I went to Rotorua to spend a weekend with Dave and Annie. It was wonderful to see them again! They actually live on one of the wee lakes outside of Rotorua. I drove up on a Friday afternoon and got there in time to meet up with a crew at the pub to head to the Auckland vs Bay of Plenty rugby match. Grass roots rugby sitting on concrete steps with kids running everywhere during the match - I loved it! Spent the next day with Paul and Nicola and finally got to meet their two children. That night I took Dave and Annie to a wonderful Latin restaurant. The food was heavenly and got me my Latin food fix which was awesome. I drove back on Sunday and was sad to go. I always enjoy spending time with Dave and Annie as they make me feel at home and I can just relax and enjoy. Thanks guys!

I went to the World of Wearable Arts show. My company had purchased a table to entertain clients and my boss' wife couldn't make it as she had recently had a baby. He asked me to go instead. It's essentially a fashion show that started about 20 years ago in Dunedin. It had continued to grow and grow so they eventually moved it to Wellington and it's now a week long show that lasts 2.5 hours. There were times where I definitely thought I don't understand art, but other parts of it were amazing! The piece that won was phenomenal - hand dyed and sewn leather mask, bodice and skirt with a train.

I've been up the Kapiti coast a few times to the Wool Shed. It's a great place that used to be an actual wool shed. It has since been converted into a home and meditation centre. A friend of mine has been giving a some talks up there a few weekends and it is just beautiful. It's located at the end of a dirt road on a farm surrounded by gorgeous hills, horses, sheep (naturally) and looks over the ocean to an island. There is a gorgeous garden in the front that follows a winding path. Both times I have been there the weather has been stunning and the sky and the ocean are an almost fake colour of blue.

I "had" to go to Sydney for training at the beginning of October. Yes, it's rough to be me. Unfortunately, I managed to get bronchitis before going. It was the oddest trip to a doctor I have ever had. I went in, told her my symptoms, told her one of the kids at work had seen her doctor that morning and had bronchitis and since I was leaving for Sydney the next day I wanted to get it checked out. We then chatted about how prevalent respiratory infections are, this that and the other thing. She then looked in my throat for 5 seconds and wrote me two scripts saying she thinks I have laryngitis and bronchitis. No taking of the temperature, no checking the ears and lungs, just throwing medication at it. Don't get me wrong, in this case I wanted drugs since I was travelling, but that's not normally how I operate.

Anyway, hopped a flight Wednesday afternoon. Let me tell you, joining Air New Zealand's Koru Club was the best money I ever spent. There's nothing like being able to relax in a comfortable environment with a hot cup of tea instead of sitting at the departure gate feeling miserable. A colleague and I took a cab to the hotel upon arrival. We were staying at the Sheraton on the Park which was quite posh. My room was phenomenal! Okay, so was the bathroom which, you know me, was really the key piece. Met up with Niamhie (that's Neve for you who don't know how to pronounce it) that night for dinner. Then we were joined by her flatmate and another friend for some drinks. Don't worry, I was only drinking water. Thursday was all day training. The training was rather useless for me as it was geared to people who had just been promoted to Manager. Considering I've been a Manager for a few years, it wasn't relevant, but was a good networking opportunity. That night was our big dinner and dancing. A group of us went out to Ivy after. Apparently Ivy is THE club in Sydney. I was there with a couple Scottish guys, three French guys, a guy from Estonia and a couple Aussie girls. We had a fun time, though it was an odd night – in addition to being hit on by two different men, I was also hit on by two different women. Random. Friday was more training and then Niamhie came, picked me up and took me to her awesome apartment in Balmain for the weekend. We ended up taking a late Nana nap as I was exhausted so by the time we went for dinner, hardly anything was open. She took pity on me and after dinner we just headed back and went to bed. I slept for about 10 hours and it did me a world of good! Saturday we went for a great breakfast in Balmain and then took the ferry over to Manly and spent the afternoon on the beach. Niamhie is officially the worst Irish woman I have ever met – she was all bundled up because it was "cold" at 27 degrees (C) and I'm rolling around in a skirt and tank top because it's the warmest weather I've encountered since moving down here. That night she took me to an awesome dinner at Coast and then we did a bit of a pub crawl along the harbour. We finally headed home around 3am, in theory to go to sleep. Turns out her neighbour one floor down was also out on his balcony so we ended up chatting with him for ages. I tapped out around 4:30, but think she lasted til 5:30. Sunday was a lie-in day for sure. Niamhie cooked us an amazing Irish breakfast and then we just spent the afternoon on the balcony soaking up the sun. It was 30 degrees! I was sad to head to the airport and go back to Wellington, though the weather was at least decent.

This past Friday night was a team dinner after work drinks. We had a lot of fun. A few of us went out after. I stopped at home to drop off my laptop and happened to glance at the moon which was stunning. Sent a few texts to friends along those lines which eventually turned into an awesome multi-hour phone conversation with a dear friend back in SF. It was great to catch up and just chat with someone who knows me. I played volleyball for about 6 hours on Saturday as part of the Business Games here in Wellington (similar to Corporate Challenge in the States). I haven't played in some time and boy are my shoulders sore! Sunday was back up the Kapiti Coast and then an Italian cooking class last night. The class was a lot of fun and the wine was flowing. Paula/Nancy – reminded me of your stories from Italy with Steve and Larry. Good times. Met some really nice folks. I went through the American Women's Network in NZ. This was the first event of theirs I have done. They are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner as well which I think I will attend. It's odd to not be in a place where Thanksgiving is celebrated. In fact, our Labour Day is a week from today. I'm surprised every single time someone comments about having next Monday off. At some point I'll get the holiday schedule down here sorted.

My flatmate Troy has now moved back to Brisbane. He left last Tuesday morning. I ended up staying in the flat, buying the furniture off him and moving into the bigger room. Eddie, my new flatmate, moved in Friday afternoon. He had also lived in the building up on the 10th floor and I knew him through Troy. He's really sweet, is a couple years older than I am and seems like he will be a great flatmate. In fact, he just texted me saying he was cooking steak and salad for dinner and wanted to know if he could cook for me too. I love it! :-)

The fishing trip I was supposed to go on in September was postponed due to gale force winds. It has yet to be rescheduled. Chicago has nothing on the winds in Wellington! There are gale force winds somewhat regularly. When they are comign from the South they can be bitterly cold. The weather can't seem to decide what it wants to do these days. There are periods where it is lovely and warm and then it turns cold and rainy again. No wonder everyone is sick. I'm really looking forward to summer!

Work is going well. I'm finally feeling comfortable with what I am doing and am continuing to learn the ropes. Got a Final Report out to a client last week and have a draft report out to another client. Having those under my belt has made me feel a lot more comfortable. The majority of folks I am working with are great and don't seem to mind my silly questions. The nice thing is I can finally start to see an end to the silly question period.

In other news, my buddy Dylan from the Bay Area moved down here a little over a week ago when I was in Sydney. It's nice to have a familiar face around. Dylan, Todd and I decided to scare the Kiwis by gathering together for dinner on Tuesday night. Three Americans in one place together? Oh my! It was great to catch up. It's interesting to watch someone else go through the transition. At times it seems like ages ago that I came here and at times it seems like last week. It's hard to believe I'll be back in SF and KC for Christmas in just two months! All my flights are booked and I can't wait to see everyone again.

Congratulations to Sarah Gomez on her wedding! Congratulations to all my friends who are now pregnant as well – pretty exciting times! I'm amazed at the number of people I know who are pregnant right now. Great stuff!

On the spiritual front, I am making lots of progress. About a month ago I had an amazing session where I finally let go of all the pain and anger and hurt and fear around dad's death and with that release has come such an amazing feeling of freedom. Letting go of all that has also helped me let go of bad habits and things that were standing in my way to getting what I ultimately want. I'm now working on the same type of thing around mom's death. It's been difficult, but such a wonderful path that I am truly blessed to be on. Watch out world – when I get all this sorted it won't know what hit it! :-)

I feel like I'm missing out on telling you about lots of things, but my brain is a bit fried on this Monday morning and I can't think of what any of them are. Thank you for all the emails – I love getting news from home. Hope you all are well!

This update was brought to you by the letter W and the number 4.