Still Alive

Whew!!!  Has it been a while since I've written or what?  I'm pretty sure everyone thought (or hoped) I had quit blogging.  Nope...I just haven't had a chance.  I started back to work and life became more hectic than usual...not to mention Little Stevie got sick the week she started daycare...by sick I mean she averaged a trip to the doctor other day.

Our usual doctor wasn't in and she ended up seeing Dr. Quack, which is probably the nicest thing I've called him to date.  The first day daddy took her in he basically said she has a cold and welcome to day care.  Two days later the other doctor she saw sent her to the ER.  The "cold" was actually bronchiolitis.  I was at work and text Ben on my lunch break to see what the doctor said.  Imagine my surprise to find out she was down in the pediatric ER.  I ran down on my lunch to check on her and give her cuddles and a feed.  I went back up after my lunch was over and word had circulated through my ward that I had a sick baby.  My awesome boss told me to go take care of my baby and let her know if I needed to rearrange my work schedule.  I go back down and we spent the next 8 hours in the pediatric short stay unit.  Thankfully, she didn't get worse, I'm a nurse, and we live near the hospital which meant we got to go home and not be admitted.

Over the next couple of days she managed to get conjunctivitis and then both of her eardrums ruptured.  Oh, did I mention while all of this was going on, Ben and I both got sick with her.  Yeah, when I went back to work I started spiking fevers and had to go home.  Poor Ben didn't get a chance to really be sick because he was having to suck it up and take care of us.  I felt like I had the flu and didn't feel well for about a week.  Ben says I had the man flu because I stayed in bed with the baby moaning and groaning unable to do anything.  Every time he tried to be sick, I was sicker...lol  He's still not had a chance to properly enjoy his illness because there's always something going on when he's unwell.

We have all finally recovered, but in the meantime I was working working working.  So, how is work going for me?  It's going really well.  I enjoy being back in my element.  In case you didn't know, I'm working with moms and babies again, so I'm happy!!  My ward has a great manager, great staff, and I couldn't be happier.  There's some adjustments I'm having to make, but that comes with any new position.

The hardest part about nursing here is having to relearn all the medications.  I just thought I said goodbye to drug cards when I graduated nursing school.  NOPE!!!  Guess who's been making them to learn the new meds!!  It's not that we have completely different medications here, it's just that the names are different.  Take Tylenol for example.  In the U.S., the trade name is Tylenol and the generic is acetaminophen.  In New Zealand, the trade name is Panadol and the generic is paracetamol.  Same drug...different names.  So, to all of my nursing school instructors that I use to think were spawns of the devil for requiring drug cards...I take back all the nasty things I thought about you and would like to say I'm sorry and thanks!!  I'm really not going to bore everyone that isn't a nurse with all the nursey talk.  If you want to know more, feel free to send me an email.  

What else has been going on?  Oh, we made a trip down to the southernish part of the North Island.  We went down to Ben's marae to celebrate Nanny's 90th birthday.  It was the first time I've been to a marae, and it was an incredible experience.  Ben use to say things about Maori culture and tell me I "wouldn't understand" which always resulted in me rolling my eyes and thinking, "yeah, whatever..."  After experiencing what being in a Maori family actually means, I realize how right he was.  It wasn't something that could be explained; it had to be experienced.  I'll talk more about the marae another day.

Backtracking a bit, we made the drive down, and I got to see the beautiful scenery.  Since we were trying to hurry on the way down, I didn't take any pictures.  On the way back, I took some, but not many because I was just tired and slept most of the way home.  Here is one of the photos I did take

Desert Road View

After that weekend trip, we've been back home and working working working.  We've not really had a chance to do anything because of my schedule, and the fact that we're saving up cash for our upcoming trip...BACK TO THE STATES!!!!! Yep, we'll be in Alabama at the end of October!!  I'm so excited!!  I've missed my family and friends so much.  It's a short trip because of work, but I'm not going to complain because I am getting to see everyone. 

So, that's been us.  I hope all of you have been doing well!  I'm back, so be sure to keep watching because there's a few changes that will soon be taking place here.  Until next time!

Just Jump Already!

Happy Friday from New Zealand!  With it being the weekend, I thought I would write about something fun/entertaining.  When I initially thought about my topic I was all gung-ho, but then I was like 'nah because some people know about this' and then I was like 'but wait, everyone isn't my facebook friend' so, I decided to write about it.  By now, I'm sure you're wishing I would stop rambling and actually get to writing about whatever it is I'm going to write about.  So, here goes...

Remember me posting about my trip to Auckland and the Sky Tower?  Here's a pic of the Sky Tower in case you missed it.

Sky Tower

See how tall it is?  It's 328 meters tall, which is 1,076 feet tall for those of you like me who are metrically challenged (yes, I still have issues with the metric system even though I've used it for the past 7 months).  Guess what you can do?  You can jump off of it!!  Yep, you can leap off the ledge!  If that isn't your cup of tea, you can also walk the ledge, but for some reason, that seems even more scarier than jumping.  I know, I'm weird.  I would much rather jump off with lines and wires attached to me versus inching my way around the thing with the same wires and lines attached to me.  I might fall! :D  For more info on that click here, or hop over to Jenny's Practically Perfect Blog to read more about it.

As you can tell, I did not jump off of it, but it is impossible to come to New Zealand and not jump off of SOMETHING!!!  They don't call us the Adventure Capital of the World for nothing.  What did I jump off?  I jumped off the side of a cliff (over water).  Initially, I thought that was a bit safer than jumping over the ground because at least if something goes wrong you don't go SPLAT!  I've changed my mind.  I've since realized that if something goes wrong over water, I'll most likely drown, which is worse than going SPLAT in my opinion.  But hey, if I was gonna exit the world when I jumped, at least this was my final view...

I bet you're going oooh and aaahh.  I know I did when I saw that beautifully colored water!  That's down at Taupo, which is where I bungy jumped back last June.  It was my first time, and I did it at Taupo Bungy.

Was I scared?  You betcha!!  Perhaps scarier than being drug off leaping off the platform was the number of times they weigh you.  "Hi!  I want to jump off that cliff side!"  "Step on the scale, please" O.o  Ummmm...I'm not THAT big of a girl.  After that, they weigh you again for good measure, weigh you with the person you're jumping with (if you're going tandem), weigh you with the equipment on, weigh you with the person you're jumping with once you're both strapped up, and then they weigh you one more time because they haven't given you a big enough complex.  Seriously, they do it for your safety, but it felt like they were trying to put me in therapy...lol

Okay, so once you're feeling kinda crappy after stepping on the scale so many times, they run through a few more safety checks, and then they encourage you to jump.  O.o  I would say by that time I was all prepared, but nope!  Still skeered!!  Luckily, I was strapped to Ben (because I felt better drowning with someone if something happened) and when he went, I had no choice but to go.

I screamed the entire 47 meters (154 feet) down!!  The only reason I stopped screaming is because the wind rushed down my throat and silenced me, but I was still screaming!  When it was all over, I was giving thank you prayers and actually wanted to do it again!!  I'll admit it was the biggest rush EVER!!  When I saw Sky Tower, it made me think of my bungy jump.

Wanna see Ben and me jumping?



Pretty scary huh?  Let me just add, grabbing that pole is a bit more difficult than it looks.  You're high on adrenalin, the blood has rushed to your head, and you're going round and round and round.  It doesn't seem like we're spinning that fast, but it feels like you're on the tilt-a-whirl!

I am keen for my next jump, which I plan to do solo, and maaaaaaybe it'll be the Sky Jump!  What do you think? (besides thinking I'm out of my head)  What are some jumps you have made or want to make?

Hamilton Gardens

I was sitting at the keyboard eating my porridge, yes, I said porridge, and I nearly decided to write about it.  Don't worry, you were spared by my lack of pictures!  Instead, I decided to write about the Hamilton Gardens.  How did I go from writing about porridge to The Gardens?  Because...after I finish this bowl, I'm going to need to head over and walk my breakfast off before it settles on my thighs.  Okay, enough about porridge and thighs...on to the point of this post...The Gardens!

Last week, we had a little break in the rain.  Stevie and I had been cooped up inside for a while, and we needed to get some fresh air.  It was chilly, but sunny, so I grabbed Stevie, chunked her in the car, and headed over to The Gardens.  It was a nice day to be at there because we were about the only ones there.  However, she and I looked like tourists.  I had my big camera bag thrown over my shoulder, I was wearing her, AND I had my cell camera ready to point and shoot. 

Baby wrapped, camera bag over shoulder, and cell phone self shot

 Guess what...it wasn't a good day to be there.  It's winter, and the flowers aren't blooming...duh Callie!!  I facepalmed once I realized I didn't plan that one too well.  On the other hand, it did get us out of the house, and I did have the chance to grab a flat white at the cafe after our walk.  Flat whites are my other addiction.  They too deserve their own post, but not today.

I did manage to get a couple of pictures of one of the new areas that is currently under development, but most of the pictures I'm posting are from previous trips.  You can read more about Hamilton Gardens here.  The site will give you a brief history of how the gardens started at 4 acres and grew to over 143 acres, information about the various garden collections, and you can also see even more pictures.  The best part of the gardens...it's free!!  So, here ya go...a scroll through The Gardens!!  I crack myself up...get it, scroll, not stroll.  Okay, yes I'm a dork...on to the pictures....

The Paradise Collection:

Japanese Garden of Contemplation

 

 

  

 

Chinese Scholars Garden

English Flower Garden

 

American Modernist Garden

Italian Renaissance Garden

 Indian Char Bagh Garden

The Productive Collection:

Sustainable Backyard

Te Parapara

The Fantasy Collection:  This collection is currently under development.  I'm sure it will be spectacular once it's fully established.  For now, I just have a couple of pictures of what you can view.

The Tudor Gardens

There's more to The Gardens and more collections that I do not have pictures of.  Actually, there's a whole section I have not had a chance to visit, yet.  As soon as the weather warms up and the flowers are in bloom, we will be heading back out to have another browse.

Inside, there's a very interesting piece of art.  It's a wood mural hand carved by two different artists.  It took them over 7000 hours to complete.  It is amazing!!!

I can't get over how detailed it is.  You really have to see it to appreciate it.  My pictures do not do this justice.

So there you have it, Hamilton Gardens! After battling the chilly weather, Stevie and I warmed up at the cafe, and then called it a day.  It's always nice to get out and play tourist though!!  Do you ever play tourist where you live?