Creepy Christmas in Auckland

Things I Would Have Never Thought I'd Miss: Part 3

Porcelain Toilets:

This again may seem strange, but the truth of the matter is that most toilets in New Zealand are made of plastic. This causes several problems: 1) You cannot sit on them when the lid is closed, 2) You cannot stand on them (to clean the window behind them for instance), and 3) They are extremely susceptible to mold which is then impossible to completely wash off. Ewwwwww! So thank you American Standard and your porcelain bowls. Who knew I'd miss you so?

Things I Would Have Never Thought I'd Miss: Parts 1 & 2

Part 1: The United States Postal Service

Yes, it is quite hard to believe, but I miss the US Postal Service. It isn't just that I've seen the bicycle-riding NZ Post workers go over a curb and drop mail out of their saddlebags, or that we had to pay $20 to forward our mail to our new address for 2 months! And it isn't the fact that we get a continuous stream of our neighbors mail. No, it is mainly the general lack of caring with regards to if we get our mail, if the mail we send gets where it is going, and...OK I LIED, it is the $20 for forwarding our mail!!! So USPS, I, Jennifer Haeger, salute you for being kind, courteous, reliable, un-price-gouging, and amazingly responsible...comparatively. ;)

Part 2: Windows that Close

I know that this seems a strange thing to be missing, but here's the deal. We have an ant problem. This ant problem is mainly due to the fact that almost every window in the house has a gap in it when it is "closed" that the ants can easily get through. This also makes it even chillier it the winter as well, when the wind just whistles through these little gaps in the window sill. Again, something that I would never dream that I would miss about good the ole' USA. And no, they don't have Borax here either! So just everyone take a moment to appreciate your properly closed and sealed American windows.

:) Jen

The New House - Interior

OK, so I promised to post some pictures of the inside of the house. These are a bit messy, but this is a better representation of how it looks most of the time. ;) This is the living room. It is still decorated for our Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. party, so you may notice some odd decorations. See if you can pick out the one Thanksgiving decoration. We also had candy canes, but we found them covered with ants the other day...
It has a lovely big window wall.

This is the hallway facing away from the front door.
This is the master bedroom. It is right across from the living room and also has lots of windows.
Much brighter than the bedroom at the old place.

This is the second bedroom/Scott's office, but since he doesn't work from home anymore, it doesn't get much use.

This is the hallway perpendicular to the entrance hallway with the second bedroom at the end and the bathroom to the left.Coat hooks are very handy.
Here is the bathroom, complete with toilet!
This is our second shower curtain which we had to hang up with some rope over the bathroom window in the shower.
This is why we needed a second shower curtain. The window looks right at the doorway of our neighbor's house (which is also a beauty salon!) and it really isn't patterned enough...
This is the other end of the hallway leading into the breakfast nook and kitchen area.
Kitchen.
More kitchen. Oven works, yay! Microwave...still afraid to use it...
This is the third bedroom, also known as the cat containment area and storage closet.
Pantry next to the third bedroom.
Laundry hallway next to the pantry.
And finally, the other toilet and back door.

I hope that you have enjoyed your virtual tour of 58 Greenpark Road.

Cheers!
Jen

Jen's First Quarter Marathon (10k)

I look a bit deranged in this picture, but to be fair I didn't get much sleep the night before (due to us having to spend the night in town and Halloween being apparently one of the largest party nights of the year) and only had a king-sized Twix bar for breakfast (due to the fact that I'm a dummy and didn't realize NOTHING would be open in Auckland at 6:00am to sell me food).
There were so many people that it took me a full 2 minutes after the official start of the race to get to the actual starting line.
We ran directly into the rising sun. Half the time I couldn't see where I was going.
I started my sprint a little late owing to the fact that I couldn't actually see where the finish line was, but I think that I caught the pack in front of me at the last second. Scott was actually lucky to get this shot as I had told him to look for me a bit before 1 hour 30 minutes and this is at 1 hour 12 minutes. He didn't even see me coming but heard them announce my name. If you are terribly keen, you can view my official results, but let's just say that I am a very average runner! ;)

After the race.
I don't know how the half-marathon and marathoners do it. I'm still exhausted and sore!

Cheers!
Jen

P.S. World Run Day is November 8th, so all you closet runners should get registered and get your shoes out! It is for charity. :)

More Holiday Party Pictures

Here are some more pictures from our holidays party. They are in completely reverse order and I am too tired to fix them.
















Jose is NOT catwoman, she is in fact an LOL cat with the caption: Drunk ketty lykz gin (or something similar).

















The paper hats are all from these really cheap Christmas crackers (poppers if you are from US) we had. They also contained little plastic toys and terrible jokes.































Tony went as a 5 or 6 year old. Please notice penguin footy pajamas and stuffed penguin.














Stephan went as a crazy, psycho, cowboy.



















And Jenny went as Captain Hammer.














Tony won first prize in the costume contest with Jenny taking second and Stephan taking third. Sadly, the LOL kettin was too late for the contest.

















There was also a gift exchange with highlights including a volcano making kit and bath crayons.































































































































It was a beautiful day and I hope that everyone that came had a good time! Thank you to all who came and ate all the food that Scott cooked! :) Jen