Author Archives: paulainauckland

December Daily – inside cover & Day 1

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Here’s the inside cover. The envelope has a photo of Murray and my thoughts about the days immediately leading up to December first; in an envelope because they are very personal, but as Maureen pointed out, this is part of my December and I need to document it, as hard as it is. I used an obvious quote but still one that means a lot to me: some people come into our lives and quickly go. some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. we are never, ever, the same

And Day one – the text reads ” Before Daddy flew back to CHC, we started our new tradition – reading a Christmas story together. Eventually I want 24 stories but 14 isn’t a bad start. Bran chose A Kiwi Jingle Bells.”

December Daily cover

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I’m trying to catch up on all the pages (yes, I know it’s supposed to be done daily!) and I’ve done 5 of the nine, and am waiting on day nine’s photo to dry out. Mass image posting tomorrow!

I must admit it’s fun, and keeping to a limited pool of stuff means I’m not fussing too much – four pages done yesterday, and one was just the text written on the back of the premiere ticket. That I’m not spending forever angsting over the content and look is helping too…

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RIP Murray

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I can’t really believe this has happened. Murray is one of the best men I know; a great father, partner, friend. He was the glue that held our group together and he will be sorely missed.

What’s harder is knowing how much he enjoyed this life. Just five weekends ago we caught up and looked over their new house and listened to him heckle the builder. He was so full of enthusiasm over what would be their new home and I love that about him. So full of energy it’s unfair he won’t grow old.

The last few days have been full of tears and laughter as we talked to friends scattered around NZ and Australia. We’re praying for Emma, his son and the extended family; we hope that Murray will be home soon.

Thanks to AirNZ for the help in getting Si home to us for these few days; the manner in which the staff have assisted families and friends is amazing and a real credit to the management and each & everyone of you. Thanks also to Catherines R & C, Michelle, Becs & Emma2; I really appreciated the hugs and the words.

The Fabulous Roger Moore

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Last night at the Hilton was great – he’s so funny and witty and his wife, Lady Kristina, is great too. She must be to enable him to do all his UNICEF work, maintain the family and get the book produced. Thanks Chris – the invite is very much appreciated!

Here’s Shanee and myself with Sir Roger.

And the work do later wasn’t too bad either!

so excited!

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Today’s Thursday, and in my little world today is the day I get to meet Sir Roger Moore. Which I think is pretty cool!

He’s also at our Corner store (cnr Queen & Victoria Sts, Auckland CBD) tomorrow from 4.30pm.

And the book is (I’m only on page 78 as I got distracted with Wally Lamb’s latest, The Hour I First Believed) pretty damn good. Funny and interesting and not at all back-stabbing – the sort of bio I really enjoy. And one I can safely give to the MIL for Christmas! After all, Simon is named after The Saint…she’ll love it.

a few things…

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I haven’t written in a while – life has been quite busy! Simon came back to Auckland to spend last weekend with the kids and we ran around like mad things for three days solid. I even managed to (probably, according to the physio) detatch part of my tendon from my hip. OUCH! Sitting, walking and driving are all a little uncomfortable right now. I’m just glad the second car is an automatic.

Speaking of cars, I still haven’t heard from the insurance company as to if they have found my car as yet. Yes, my poor little Legnum that was damaged in June, then finally taken away in October. I rang for an update a fortnight ago and was told that the file had been closed off. So I asked what the resolution was. Sorry miss, can’t tell you. Pardon? Sorry miss, there’s nothing written down. So, can I speak to a supervisor? No miss, but I’ll speak to one for you. Ten or so minutes of stewing later, she came back online with the same answer. I rang the ASB customer helpline and vented. I have the email of one of the reps in Wellington but keep getting fobbed. I am seriously pi$$ed and once this is over, taking my business and the MIL’s away from IAG. It’s bad enough that I had to argue for several months that I had full cover insurance, to finding out that the agreed value (my bad, I never looked at the papers fully) was about four times the resale value – they tell me that I’m not important enough to warrant a loan car or repayment of any associated costs. If anyone can recommend a company please do let me know. I would really appreciate it!

I finished the cover and major interior pages of my December Daily – I’ll try to remember to post some pics. Thanks for reading!

three things for monday

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1. That there is something to laugh at by email every working day – even if the original publisher didn’t think it would be! Crochet slippers? In khaki and red? ROTFLMAO yeah, that’s something to treasure.


2. One Silent Night is finally in at the Corner for me to pick up – and it’s only one month until the next instalment!
3. My desk is pretty clear and my day is planned.

Brandon’s induction

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Last night Bran chose to be inducted as a cub – he’s now part of Blue 6, Kereru Scouts. He was very serious saying his Cub Law and the Promise and listened very carefully to everything Baloo (Shane) said to him.
Zachary took some photos too with the other camera but also took care to run it out of battery, so I will have to post those later.
So proud of my boy!

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what an awesome day

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I had a GREAT day today – started off buzzing as Tuesday night I won a CD from ZM – it’s Sound of the Underground which doesn’t look too bad – some stuff to sing along to in the car as I live to embarrass my kids.

Then I found out it was my horse that came in first, so I won the office sweepstake. Becs and I ran (well, felt that way in high heels!) up to Borders Queen St and I picked up MOS Annual 2009`(Aussie version, not US or UK) which has me jumping. It was this or Coldplay’s Viva La Vida which I still don’t have. Maybe Santa can put it in my stocking, hmmm?
And Bran was still excited about the photos he took on Monday afternoon. His homework was a photo essay on Spring and it was interesting seeing one of my favourite places from his perspective. Even if I have to laugh – he whinged and moaned about going until we got there and now he’s raving about it. Even sent a collage down to his dad, but NZ Post hasn’t delivered it yet. Bugger. He took about 40 shots overall, both at Te Atatu and in our garden, learning about the zoom & macro functions. I think he did quite well!
And I got to watch a bit of history as McCain conceeded to Obama. I really do hope he makes it to inaugeration as I can only admire a self-made man. Plus he’s giving his kids a puppy. That’s sweet.

December Daily – the start

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This year I’m going to try to complete a December Daily album, a la Ali Edwards. The general thought was to use more of what I already have, but I have grabbed a Kaisercraft album as my base. I wanted something a bit more sturdy as my boys aren’t too gentle on things. So here’s my basic list. Thank goodness I have a month to pull the base pages together as I think I’ll need all the time I can get! I’ll also pre-make some embelishments to go over some of the photos I plan to take.

Supply list: Kaisercraft album – Christmas Journal SB143 (templates here); Letters – American Crafts Thickers, Making Memories Heidi white (rub-on); Ribbons – American Craft Premium Christmas range (the rolls), Kikki-K (red gingham), green unknown; Rub-ons – One Heart One Mind (song phrases), Karen Foster (merry phrases), American Traditional (dear santa); Stamps – letter set unknown, 7 Gypsies (parenthesis stamper), Versacolour ink pads.
Misc – Basic Grey motifica tags, K&Co Elizabeth Brownd metal art, chipboard embelishments (from NZ Scrapbook co), Provo Craft sticker borders, Kaisercraft rhinestones, Spotlight silver mesh stars, SEI pearl brads, Whitcoulls gift tags & tree cutout (it was used in-store last year), own cookie cutters, paint (for album edges) Resene half spanish (what i’m using for my walls!).

I need to sort thru the paper stash still but I will try to list things, at least when I post the pages up.

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