Nek minnit

What was I saying about having a good work day? The very next day the rainbow dissappeared. I received 2 major assignments:

Assignment 1
To start work as a Business Analyst for one of our new clients. It went something like this:

WorkBoss1: What's your availability like? WorkBoss2 mentioned that we might be able to use you as a Businesss Analyst at this client.
Me: Really? Now why would he say that? [chuckle - so they would think it was the IT humour talking ... but really...]
WorkBoss1: So you can start in 2 weeks' time? Great! I'll let them know.
Me: [turns monitor away from boss and Googles "Business ... Analyst"]

Assignment 2
One of our clients is a big electricity generator and retailer. There are some changes being made to the country's electricity market, so a workshop is being held next week for all market participants. I have been assigned the task of representing our company at this workshop.

My boss reckons it will be good networking. Networking!? So why on earth did they choose me ... hello, I don't even talk to the people at work that don't work on projects with or have the same cuppa-tea-making-time as me.




Checks pants. Yep, there's definitely poop there.


I think I am about to die from not-knowing-what-the-hell-is-going-on-ness. Oh my life, I should start fasting right now, and don my sackcloth, cover myself in ashes and weep. Lord, if I make it through this alive, it will be nothing short of a miracle.

First day wrap up

Today was my "first day at work" ... sort of. About a year ago now, we moved from Auckland to Wellington, and somehow I managed to keep my job with the Auckland company. There was the tiny issue that they didn't have a Wellington branch. Yet. So I became it. Theta Wellington, all on my lonesome self, with a proper office and everything in town but no work colleagues in it. Now that I think back on it, it seems a bit comical, like I was some mental person with the delusion of having a desk job in town.

Anyway, last month Theta Systems acquired a smaller company in Wellington, which has now become the "official" Theta Central Region (I think that's what we're called now). So today was my first day working in their office. It felt kind of weird, since I was the original Theta person, and yet I was "the new girl". But apart from that, the day actually went well. It was a massive change not having my Facebook logged on in the background, so I could switch windows when I saw a notification. Ha! But work flowed smoothly, everyone was super-nice, yada yada yada.

However, by lunch, I was ready for some "me time", so I hit the streets.

First stop: Cafe Rahzoo

These guys have a massive  & delicious selection of salads, and you can pick any 3 choices for  $8.50

Next stop: Midland Park, across the road from Rahzoo, where I got my daily dose of Vitamin D while I ate my rabbit food.

This was later in the afternoon, during lunch it's all packed out with lunch-eating Welly folk

Final (and favourite) stop of the day: Whitcoulls

In the fantasy section there were a whole bunch of comfy lounging chairs, where I curled up and enjoyed a Jon Snow chapter of 'A Dance With Dragons', before buying my trusty black Collins diary for 2012 and heading back to work.

Next thing I knew my daily alarm to pick up Lyla went off. So much for stressing about my "first day". This was one hell of a sweet day.

More rambling than anything

Tonight I was reading a book to Lyla and it had a map of New Zealand and Australia. She pointed to Australia and said "I want to go there." Great idea! I have actually never been there. What?! No!! Really? Really really. The only countries I've ever been are Samoa and New Zealand, and since pretty much everyone in Samoa has been to NZ, it doesn't really count, right?

So I'm thinking this year I will cross the ditch and finally make my way to the Land Of The Big Red Dust (that's Australia, by the way. Does it have a pre-colonial name, like Aotearoa?)

I'd have to get a new passport though, as the current one I have is "defaced", thanks to my lovely daughter deciding on one of our flights to kick her cup of water which tipped directly onto the pile of passports, where mine sat proudly on top defending the others and sacrificing itself in the process. So where was I? Oh yes, that's about $200 right? Or maybe even $300. For a Samoan passport. Why not an NZ one? Because I'm not a citizen yet. Sssh. I really should put my application in. Then go in to the citizenship ceremony, sing the National Anthem and declare my allegiance to the Queen and my love for Camilla. I hope no one I know is there to bear witness. Ha! I jest. I would love to be a NZ citizen (in case I'm caught up in some Middle Eastern country drama and need rescuing and I'm not sure Stui has the sway or care to get me out). So starts my list of mini-goals for this year, which are not a must, but a nice-to-have.

1: Apply for NZ citizenship
2: Get a NZ passport
3: Visit Australia (finally...and without all the hassle of having to get a visa)

The End

Doin it

This morning, as I put my breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, I give thanks to God that  not only do I have a dishwasher and dishes, but for the food that was on those dishes.

I remember all the times I complained "I have nothing to wear!" or "We're eating that again?" How ungrateful. The Lord has blessed our family abundantly. Our worries are so insignificant in the big picture, and not just in this life, but eternal life.

I write this as a reminder to myself of several things:

• Always give thanks to God for all things. Always.

• There are those, not just on the other side of the world, but around us, that are much less fortunate than we. Some are driven to crime just to survive. It's easy to persecute or even try to justify their actions when you're living comfortably, but I pray that I will always try to see and move from God's perspective.

• Life is too short to stuff around trying to be a law-abiding citizen and nothing more. As much as I hate to admit it, I have barely scratched the surface of living the life that God has planned for me. Hovering on the tip of salvation is no longer enough. It's time to really dive in now. To do the deeds.

James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Feeling Good

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, and I'm feeling good.

Yep, this is it, the big new year's post. With the resolutions. Except this year, I have no resolutions. Oooooh, what a rebel! I do, however, have goals. What? That's just the same. Not to me. I have made many a NY resolution, high on the hopes of what promises to be the biggest and bestest year of my life. And I have to say I have probably kept ... oh, about ... zero of those resolutions.

So now I set goals. Things that have been on my mind for a while, things that I already want to do but have not gotten around to making a commitment, things that I want to better myself in. Yea ok, still smells like a resolution. And now they are also public. Eek.

1. Be gone, Bejewelled Blitz!Having wasted a lot of last year playing Bejewelled Blitz in a half-daze, I have decided to remove it from my life. The app is now gone from my FB page. Now here's to making sure it stays off.

2. Reach my goal weightI am on a weight loss journey at the moment. My aim is to reach my goal weight (no, I'm not telling), and once I reach it, to maintain it for 12 months. One can only hear "Ua e lapo'a a" so many times before committing murder.

3. Improve fitnessI'm dreading this one. But I will make use of the steep hill we live on to do interval hill walking. continue to thrash the hubby at handball. Do Round the Bays. Drive less and walk more.

4. Holiday
I'm not usually good at taking proper holidays, ones where you leave your house, and do not log into your work laptop once. This year I will try to do it twice. Wish me luck.