There’s no Turning Back Now

Yesterday was an entirely weird day. The previous night we were at Courtney’s brother’s house saying goodbye to his friends. We got home around midnight and I was too cold and tired to do any packing or sorting. By morning, I was up and ready to go but Courts was a little… seedy, to say the least.

We ambled around getting ready and didn’t even really notice the time getting on. We felt no sense of urgency to get to work and were already running late when we realized we needed petrol as well. We took Monty’s car through the car wash ready for his big return and made it to work half an hour late.

My boss arranged a chocolate cake and took it into the main Contact Centre where she proceeded to embarrass me with speeches from her and our team. I both loved and hated it, but it really did mean a lot. She pulled out a list of stats of my time there, things like having done 30 induction courses for new staff and trained 200 people. It was the 700 phone screens that got me jaw-dropped as recruitment was my least favourite part of the job.

They presented us with a going away gift too – 2 tiki key chains, a traveler’s notebook and 2 tickets to the very top of the Eiffel Tower. I was lost for words, we hadn’t been planning on stretching our budget to get to the top and here they’ve given us an experience that can’t be had anywhere else. Once that was all over (even the GM and head of IT came down which was awesome) I sent a goodbye email to my wider team and said my goodbyes. Courtney, in true Courtney style, took forever saying goodbye, but we finally left around 1pm.

I can’t explain how surreal it was to drive away from work. I know I wanted to leave, to get away from the air conditioning and fluorescent lights, but I’ve still spent the majority of my waking hours there for 4 years – it would have been weirder if it didn't feel a little like leaving home.

We spent the afternoon packing and cleaning and awaited the arrival of Mum and my sister after 5pm. By this time the stress had got to both of us and we were arguing and taking stupid things to heart. Courtney is a leave-it-to-the-last-minute guy whereas I would have had everything ready the night before if I hadn’t been waiting for him to be finished with bits and pieces. Having agreed days ago that the morning of our flight to Christchurch we would start the day in the clothes we would wear on the plane, I thought it was safe to pack everything up. Alas, Courtney needed a shower and afterwards needed everything I had packed up. It was silly but it did really stress me out, knowing we still had stuff to do and yet here we were undoing everything I’d already done.

Saying goodbye to my animals was the worst. Only animal lovers can understand it, but I was more upset leaving them than any humans – I can Skype the humans, I can’t Skype my little furs. I said goodbye to Izzy early on and left him to play in the bedroom with Njaro. We have routines together, he and I. he sleeps under the covers with me and rests on my pillow when he gets too hot. It will be extremely weird not having that. 

Saying goodbye to Toby was even worse. By the time I came to do so, Nurse B’s Mum had arrived to take over house sitting duties and I didn’t want to get upset in front of her. Toby is my buddy, and he’s a Mummy’s boy too. He understands a lot of words, some of which don’t translate when other people say them because it’s the inflection in my voice that he picks up on. I feel like he will be living in a metaphorically darker world for 4 months, all these words in his head and no one saying them. He’s a Border Collie so he is smart and needs mental stimulation. I think it will be like if I went to a small town in China where people spoke broken English at best. I know he will be safe, but he’s still my little boy, and I missed him the second I was in the car.

I didn’t cry saying goodbye to my Mum, sister, Squish, Lobster and Wozz at the airport. It didn’t feel like a big goodbye scene because we were only at a domestic terminal and I knew I was only flying an hour. I was a bit sad when I realized there was a viewing platform and, not knowing about it, they had left already. It really hit me though on the plane. Instead of thinking how 4 months is so short and I want to be in Europe longer, I was thinking how 4 months is so long and I miss my home already.

Everything changed so drastically in one day. There was no resting period between finishing work and leaving, so in one day I left my job, my friends, my animals, my family, my home, my stuff – my sense of normality and grounding. I cried on and off the entire flight, moving between excited and incredibly sad.

It helped that my darling Gin was there to pick us up at the airport and that she had the most comfortable bed ever in the history of the world waiting for us at home. Her house smelled of fire and homeliness and warmth, and it was easy to fall asleep.

Today is a huge day. See you later New Zealand, we’re off exploring.

If you’ve travelled, what did you miss the most? What was the hardest thing to leave behind?

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Blended Families - When Fur Flies

We're on the home stretch of our House Sitting gig now, looking after Monty and Nurse B's house and their dog, Jimmy and cat, Njaro. When we head off to Europe NEXT WEEK (!) our dog, Toby and cat, Izzy will stay behind for a 4 month holiday with Uncle Monty and Aunty Nurse B.

Introducing the animals has not been easy. None of them are difficult animals individually. Toby is a big softy, a border collie who is a quick learner but also extremely ditzy. He does have a jealous streak occasionally but generally he is very well behaved. Jimmy is the sweetest boy. He's a bit of a rebel but you can't stay mad at his big brown eyes. Every now and then he will slowly, gently, climb onto your knee for a cuddle. He's by no means small but he seems to think he's doing it without you noticing!

Izzy is an adventurer. He loves exploring and he is normally outside a lot of the time. He plays with Toby constantly but when he's tired, he is the cuddliest (fluffiest) cat you'll ever meet. Njaro is a short haired white kitten who loves as much attention as he can possibly get and makes up for it by being quite possibly the softest animal I've ever patted.

Toby and Jimmy had met plenty of times before and they're good mates. It was a bit of a different story to have them eat together though. Toby is used to being the man of the house and it took a bit of control training to get him to realise both bowls weren't his to call dibs on. He's now at a point where he goes straight to his own bowl and the only time he gets grumpy is if Jimmy gets too close to his morning biscuits, which is rare because he eats so fast.

Izzy and Njaro got on well quite quickly. Njaro is just a kitten and he was very keen to meet Izzy (who is 2) as soon as possible. The first few days Njaro was let into our bedroom with a segregated Izzy several times. Occasionally there was hissing but never a fight, and very quickly they were playmates. Although it took a few attempts before they were happy with the idea of a full night in the same bedroom together, they now sleep next to each other on the bed with us every night. Njaro refuses to eat from his own food bowl and even if he is out in the rest of the house he will often choose to be in the bedroom with a still-segregated Izzy at the first opportunity.

Cat versus dog introductions proved a whole other story. Toby and Njaro are alright now. Toby had seen Njaro several times before we moved in and had a careful sniff and moved on. The day after we moved in however, there was a scrap when Njaro went to eat his own food near Toby's bowl. Since then Njaro has made his animosity toward Toby quite clear. A few weeks later, they're now generally OK and are happy to be in the same room together. If Njaro runs off, a quiet 'uh-uh' to Toby reminds him not to chase and play and otherwise they're all good.

Izzy and Jimmy have been a whole other story.

One week to go and we're no closer to having Izzy running around the house freely. Basically the routine is thus - Izzy and Njaro sleep in our room, Toby and Jimmy sleep in the lounge. In the mornings, the dogs eat their biscuits, Jimmy on the front door mat and Toby outside (because Jimmy eats slowly and Toby will steal them otherwise) while I start getting ready. I put one scoop of biscuits in Izzy's cat food feeder and that feeds both cats for the day - because of course Njaro won't eat out of his own bowl.

Once Jimmy has finished eating, both dogs are shut outside so the cats can come out of the room and go to the toilet. The litter tray was in our room but of course this is far from ideal and I've been moving it closer and closer to the laundry each day so that hopefully by the time Monty and Nurse B get back the cats are only using Njaro's original litter tray in there. Same with the biscuit feeder, so that even if they won't eat out of Njaro's own bowl they can eat in the laundry.

We go to work and leave the cats inside to roam around the whole house and the dogs go in their kennel. When we get home from work the dogs stay outside for a minute while we go in and shut the cats back in our room. They're normally out in the lounge somewhere. We don't make Njaro go back in our room, but whatever Izzy is doing, Njaro wants to do. Once the cats are shut back in, the dogs come inside.

When everyone has settled down, I usually take Jimmy into our room, holding his collar, to let him and Izzy have a sniff of each other. Izzy has stopped caring (read: hissing) and Jimmy will be very well behaved for a few minutes, nose to nose with Izzy, sniffing, occasionally licking, and mostly just looking - and then he lunges. He's not nasty about it, he's trying to play but it means we cant leave the bedroom door open without us keeping a very careful eye/hand on him cause he goes under the bed and then a fight starts when Izzy gets a fright from the sudden movement.

Holding on to Jimmy we pull him away and then he goes back out into the rest of the house and Izzy (and usually Njaro by his own choice) stays shut in the bedroom to chill out for a bit. We feed the dogs and let them have run of the house for awhile. later on we will usually shut them out for half an hour or so, so that the cats can have a run around with us there and go to the toilet. Izzy comes out of the room about half the time.

After awhile we shut the cats back up and the dogs come inside for the night. We have a good little routine going, I just have no idea how to get Jimmy and Izzy over this hump. Everyone else is fine, but we cant leave the bedroom door open unattended. Nurse B has suggested bringing Izzy into the lounge while Jimmy is quiet or sleeping and getting them used to each other in a different environment. I'm definitely going to try it! Thankfully there's a long weekend coming up.

Any tips my lovely readers? I think the main issue is the cramped space, but if we leave the door open for Izzy to wander out, he won't have a chance before Jimmy is under the bed. Maybe I open the bedroom door and call Jimmy onto the couch for a cuddle, I think that will work. Any ideas are very much appreciated, I haven't done this since Izzy was a tiny little fuzzball!

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Are you Living Your Dream Life? Part Six: Nurse B

http://brandonsneed.com

Who are you and what is your life like now?

I am Berny aka Nurse B, and right now my life is almost how I want it. I am a home owner, I have a dog and a cat, I have the loving man and I am a nurse. Nursing is my chosen profession and I can’t imagine doing anything else. And as you read this I am doing a month long trip through Kenya, Uganda and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with a couple of days stopover in Dubai.

What would you do all day, week or year if you were living your dream life?

If I was living my dream life….  I would like to be more self-sufficient and eco-friendly. I’d have a bigger house with solar panels for electricity (Ideally we’d be off the grid). I’d have lots of land so I can have at several dogs, a few more cats and maybe a guinea pig. I’d have a big vege garden, lots of fruit trees, and couple of pigs and chickens (for eggs and to eat eventually, if I don’t chicken out).  

I think I’d keep the loving man, hehe. We’d be married and eventually we’d have a couple of kids. The kids would be taught to enjoy the great outdoors, instead of being stuck inside glued to a TV set. I’d be quite happy to not have a television, but I’d still like to be able to watch movies occasionally. I’d love to have a swimming pool, big enough to do laps (and slightly warmed), and an indoor spa pool to relax in.

The house would have to have a dedicated music room, for my piano (big enough to fit Mum’s grand piano in when she can no longer keep it) and the man’s guitars. It would need a big, well equipped kitchen so I can bake and cook more often, so I would no longer need to buy things like bread and biscuits.

I would take from Mid-December through to Mid-February off every year to enjoy the summer and school holidays with my kids. We’d explore New Zealand and spend all sunny days at the beach or going for bush walks. I’d hope the husband would also be in a position to join us. Also every year we’d take a month off to explore different areas of the world (which month would depend on which was the best time of year to visit whichever country we’d planned on seeing that year).

What would your job be?

I’d still be a nurse because that is my passion. In fact the only true downfall to my job is the long and unsociable hours. Nursing is not a 9–5 Monday to Friday job. Nursing is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and I have to be able to work any one of those hours and days.

In my dream life I would like be able work only one or two days a week (enough to keep my registration current). The rest of my time I’d spend being a home maker. If I was good enough I’d maybe make a little extra cash by baking bread, cakes and biscuits and making preserves (jam, sauces and relish) to sell at a local market.

Why would it make you happy?

This would make me happy because I would love to watch my kids grow up and discover the world first hand. I’d be able to spend more time with friends and family, go to parties and gatherings without having to clock watch or worry about getting to bed on time for my next shift of work. I’d have more time to do the things I love such as cook, bake, and garden, do handcrafts and listen to music. I’d also have more time to do the other household chores that I don’t love so much, so they would not reach a point where I feel overwhelmed by them. I take pleasure in a tidy, clean home, but at the moment often do not have to time or energy to achieve this.

So what's stopping you?

At the moment we don’t have to money for a bigger house and wouldn’t have to time for the upkeep of the gardens and animals. The area of nursing I am working in allows me to earn a reasonable wage, which is an evil necessity to be able to pay the mortgage and bills and be able to eat. It is reasonably flexible (just as long as I work 7am–7pm or 7pm-7am, 3-4 days per week). It is a good area to be in while I am still young and will probably be a good area to remain in when I have young children, as I’d probably be able to work less days (or work nights) to allow for child care. It offers the opportunity to earn extra money by paying penal rates for night shifts and weekend shift and pays double time for public holidays and allows the opportunity to do overtime during busy periods. This means that if we need a little extra cash for travel or other luxuries it is not too difficult to earn it. 

Thanks so much Nurse B for contributing to the Dream Life series! 

If you would like to participate, I'd love to have you on board. Use the Contact Me tab to email me your answers to the Dream Life questions. I'll reply to get your photos and let you know when you will be published. All I ask in return is that you link back to Dancing in Barefeet on the day you appear.

Are you living your Dream Life?

And then there were 34

34 Days to go. ONE MONTH! Tomorrow, we officially move to Monty and Nurse B's house. And the best bit? Izzy is coming with us. As you know, we had a bit of an emotional weekend. I spent much of Monday in zombie mode, stressed to the max and just a little bit down in general. I didn't know where Izzy was going to go and I felt terrible about Soul Buddy having to deal with the whole mess. SB in turn felt terrible that she had let me down, although I don't feel in the slightest like she has, more that I let her down by relying on her so much.

Poor little Izzy, I feel so bad that he has to deal with all this confusion. At least he will have Toby back and he will have us. I don't think it will phase him living with a new dog and cat as well. SB pointed out that having grown up with Toby, Izzy doesn't behave like a cat. He thinks he's a dog, and his dog-like behaviour intimidated SB's cats while their cat-like behaviour confused Izzy. I just feel terrible that he has to be uplifted again. Once we get to Monty and Nurse B's, we will keep Iz segregated to one room for a week so that he settles really well before even exploring the house. As much as he will hate being stuck in one room (he's a hunter and explorer) I think it will be better for him in the long run.

So that's where we are at. MOVING DAY! The last of our bits and pieces will go into storage and we will begin living out of a suitcase. It will be nice to say goodbye to our bed, which I hate. It was advertised on Trade Me as Queen sized and medium firmness and turned out to be double and an extremely hard mattress when we got it home. Bye-bye horrible bed!

Bye-bye warm house that needs little heating. Bye-bye rubbish water pressure. Good bye ridiculously annoying and un-conquerable ant infestation. Bye feijoa tree and apple tree. Bye nasty kids that fight in the street. Good bye ugly wooden walls that somehow make it feel like home. That's it really isn't it? Good bye to the last 'home' we will have for 5 months. We will redefine home. Home is love and adventures and tents and motorcycles. Bring it on.

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Nothing Ever Goes to Plan

I woke up feeling sick today. Full on shakes and nausea. I'm not ill, I'm stressed and I'm sad. It was supposed to be such an exciting weekend - moving all our furniture into storage and Izzy the cat to Soul Buddy's house. Not exciting to have no furniture and no cat but definitely exciting to be one step closer to Europe.

Saturday morning started with an argument. I've never moved house with the Long Haired Boy before and therefore I never knew he Hates Moving House. He hadn't really said so before - I should have taken the packing-everything-myself as a sign. I needed him to tell me what in the spare room was still on Trade Me vs going in the bin vs going in a box to go into storage that day. I needed to know these things so that a messy room in reality could be a room I didn't have to worry about in my head. I can't explain how that works. But without knowing that room was all sorted, even as Organised Chaos, I wouldn't have felt like we had everything covered.

Meanwhile, LHB needed a drink of water. He had just surfaced, he's not a morning person, and he's especially not a morning person without a glass of water first, followed by a coffee if at all possible. Just as he couldn't see inside my mind to know why I needed answers now, I couldn't see inside his head to know he wanted to go and get a drink. He got frustrated, I got upset, nasty words were said. Hello, Saturday.

Moving our stuff ended up being even more stress. I had everything packed, I've been sorting, selling, giving away and packing for literally 2-3 months and other than a couple of cupboards in the kitchen that I needed to get more boxes for, I thought everything was sorted. Mum had mentioned having a plan for everything, what stuff was going to my sister's house, what was going into her storage locker. She had also mentioned upgrading the storage locker to a bigger one. I took all of this as gospel but when it came down to it, there were a lot of questions - "Where's this going?" "I thought you knew?" throughout the day.

As the common denominator here, I feel perhaps communication isn't my strong point. I try to talk to people about issues, I try to get everything out and air cleared. I think I do it wrong.

With all the underestimated moving stress, we were running way behind our anticipated timeframes (borrowed Ute had to be back at 11, we finished moving at 5) and Izzy still had to go to Soul Buddy's. SB and her Mister ended up coming to pick him up and off he went, followed by a few tears and then a mad panic to get to Monty and Nurse B's going-away dinner, since along with us moving into their house this weekend comes them flying off to Africa.

The dinner was awesome, a lot of fun with awesome food and great company. SB sent me pxt's and texts all night to keep me updated on Izzy (he didn't miss me at all) and when Courtney's sister and I visited on Sunday morning all was good. He had been a little brat all night trying to escape and keep everyone awake but he was happy, they were happy. Now the other cats had to get used to him and we'd be away laughing.

I went home, did Miss Nails' backfill and then went to find my phone. SB had text, rather upset because her cats had had to be coaxed inside with tuna, then sprayed their territory and run away again. We all came to the conclusion that Izzy should have been segregated for awhile first to allow them to get used to the smell and introduce them all slowly, but that's not what happened, so now we need to deal with the situation. Izzy is shut in the spare room on his own. He is happy enough, he is a very chilled cat. But SB feels guilty that she has let me down, I feel guilty that I've stuck her with this mess, and I feel incredibly guilty about Izzy.

I know he's a cat and cats are resilient. But he trusted me, he chose to live with me, he let me cuddle him, he slept on my face (yeah, he does that). I was his owner and he trusted me and I let him down. Think me stupid for feeling this way but I do. I feel immensely bad, that someone, even if it is a fur, trusted me and I let them down. I felt the same way when my dog Holly died while being pet sit and I have felt the same way in human situations. I hate it, I hate letting people down, and I hate that I can't communicate with Izzy and explain to him why this is all happening and that it will all be OK in the end.

Will it though? We now have to find a new home for Izzy. The poor little fur has to deal with another new house, new family, possibly new pets to be introduced (slowly) to and another car ride. Monty and Nurse B have said there is potential he might be able to come with us after all. He wasn't originally because they have 2 cats and a dog and we are adding Toby to the mix and that is quite a lot of fur for one 3 bedroom house. Monty's cat Dee hasn't taken well to the blended-family vibe though and a month or so after moving into Nurse B's with Monty, still hasn't come out from under the bed. She doesn't like dogs. So Dee might be on her way to Monty's Mums house and that might mean Izzy can come with us and (slowly) meet Jimmy the dog and Njaro the kitten. If he can't, and at the slightest hint that he can't I won't take him, because Monty and Nurse B are doing us a big enough favour already, then I don't know what to do.

I was relying on there being a car to take Izzy to SB's house on Saturday and there wasn't, so they had to pick him up to allow him a full weekend to get used to everything with them at home. I relied on other people for the cars and therefore I let SB and Mister down when I couldn't meet my obligations of dropping him off. Everyone on moving day was bitching at me for not knowing where everything was going because I'm the organised one therefore I should know everything. I relied on Mum saying she had it sorted and by doing so I let Mum, her partner and Courtney down. I'm relying on Monty and Nurse B to look after not only Toby but us and now they might have to do even more by taking Izzy in. I hate relying on people and I hate that I'm putting my friends, who are doing us favours left right and centre, in these positions and letting them down.

It all came to a head when Courtney got home from one place en route to band practice, running late, and came home to me stressed about Izzy. I was extremely stressed and inconsolable and had no idea that he also was feeling a bit down. Queue another big fight, more tears, more blame and more nasty words and then an evening sat in bed, alone, with the laptop, not knowing how to install Digg buttons or anything else required for a successful blog, marvelling at how much more successful 'everyone else's blogs are, 'everyone else's relationships are and 'everyone else's lives are.

No one that writes a perpetual-travel blog ever tells you about the Mourning Period. They don't tell you that when everything is packed and all the furniture is in storage you grieve. LHB and I both feel sad and a little empty and we are probably taking it out on each other, unfairly of course. These big changes are supposed to be exciting, they lead to everything we have dreamed of, saved for and planned for in the last 6 months. Instead I feel like my little life that all my money and time and energy has gone into for the last 6 years is gone. My cat is gone, my stuff is gone and I'm living in a shell of a house waiting for that to be gone too. I want to be excited but instead all I feel like doing is throwing up and then curling in a ball and waiting for it all to sort itself out.

No one warned me it would be like this. But I guess that would be me relying on other people for warnings too, wouldn't it.

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Finding Home Comforts When You're Away

48 Days. 6 weeks and 6 days. So soon!! We move even sooner, to house sit for Monty and Nurse B while they head off on safari and conquer Mt Kilimanjaro. Our flatmate moved out last weekend  so his room has become storage for two growing piles - things that are still on Trade Me and everything going to Europe.

Everything we couldn't part with,
waiting for moving day.

It seems absurd to be packing for Europe 6 weeks out from departing, but there is a method to our madness (I should say 'my'). Next weekend, our lounge suite, dining table, bedroom furniture, beanbag and TV cabinet head to my sister's house to fill out their somewhat empty spaces. Our bookcase, gas heater, my desk, the blanket box and all our boxes go into Mum's storage locker. All we will have left is our bed, Courtney's computer and desk, a suitcase to take to Monty's, and a bag to take to Europe. So if I don't pack for Europe now, half of what we need will end up in storage and it will be a mad panic to find everything.

We struck an awesome deal with the Tongan family moving into our house after us. They have only just moved to New Zealand and have very little in way of possessions or money, so they are purchasing our beds from us, and we are giving them our spare towels and sheets. Thank goodness for this arrangement or we'd have no beds for the last week in the house either!

As I scour shops and the ever helpful Trade Me for things like money belts, toilet bags and melamine dinner ware, Courtney assists by piping up 'Why don't we just get it when we get there?' every now and then. Not helpful! He said the same thing about the tent, the same thing about sleeping bags, the same thing about headsets for the bike and shampoo and shaving gel and... everything we have ready to pack. 

I said to him the other day while spending hours trying to get him to decide on dinnerware, that we needed it sorted so we could pack. "Why don't we just get it when we get there?" came the predictable reply, "We won't need it in Ireland". "No", I said, but we'll need it in London!". "Will we?" came back Courtney. We might be staying with friends in Ireland but when we arrive at the hostel in London around midnight , damned if I'll be out shopping for cereal bowls before breakfast the next day! 

His 'n' Hers sleeping bags, mats, toiletries... OCD much?

I'll admit I am organised to the extreme, but it's my way of coping without creature comforts on the road. I've spoken before of needing a tidy house to be able to function - "A cluttered house is a cluttered mind" - and I'm the same with travel. We don't know what our rooms will look like, where to go to buy a loaf of bread, how much we'll pay or where to get gas. In each new location we will need to learn how to connect to wi-fi, where to charge our phones and laptop, where the communal kitchen is and which shops are a rip-off. We will navigate three separate currencies and 27 stops including 1 home stay, 3 festival campgrounds, 1 cabin, 2 hotels, 4 hostels and 16 campsites. When we do have our own space, it will be a nylon room big enough for the two of us to lie in and little else. Amongst all this madness, all I ask is that I know I have the paperwork for the next stop and that when I need a fork or a hair tie or a toothbrush or a bandaid, I know where it is. 

One of the few things I dislike about camping is the act of getting ready each day. I am not a vain person, far from it, but as with most girls I feel my best when my hair is coloured, cut and straightened, my eyebrows are shaped and tinted, my nails are done, my legs are shaved, my skin is clear, my mascara on and my clothes are clean. All of this doesn't bode well with how lazy and cheap I am. I bite my nails (or I did until 4 weeks ago), I colour my hair myself, I get my eyebrows tinted half as often as I should and my darling Long Haired Boy broke my GHDs. So at the best of times I feel less than my full potential. 

When you go camping you then have to shower in the communal cubicles without getting your fresh clothes wet and without letting anything touch the floor. Your wet feet go through your dry jeans unless you can balance jeans and towel and standing on one foot, or you stand on the bench seat. You unpack and repack your toiletries daily, if you dare to straighten your hair you end up being one of 'those girls' hogging the power points and the mirror. No matter what you do, your clothes will always be strewn around the tent and have grass on them.

Courtney's sister offered to let me use her toilet bag but I was very particular about buying new ones, one each for me and Courts. Each one has everything we could possibly need in the divided boys and girls bathrooms, so that I can go into the bathroom and not worry about where my hairbrush is or whether Courtney has the toothpaste or when my hair tie breaks. It seems pedantic to most people and I completely understand it, but for me it's a coping mechanism necessary to enjoying 4 months camping. 

Any other tips or tricks for starting each day feeling fresh and ready instead of damp and camera-shy?

Bliss Continued!

Friday: Long Drives

Hot on the heels of our weekend in Napier, Courts, his sister and I drove down to Whangamata with Toby to meet up with Squish, Lobster, Monty, Nurse B, Wozz and two of Monty's friends Jimothy and Debs for our annual post-cricket-season weekend away. Monty and Jimothy were the only actual cricketers but that didn't mean we couldn't bask in the glory of their season! Friday night we all drove down after work and after a slight detour (read: I missed the turn off and no one will let me forget it) we arrived at Monty's uncles bach around 10pm. This bach is amazing, sleeping a huge number of people and boasting a three car garage and a room specifically designed for a projector screen.

The first Friday of our annual weekend away is usually a little alcoholic and this was no exception. Wozz had tequila and I doubled my count for 'Alcoholic drinks in 2011' with tequila shots alone, never mind the bottle of wine (Moscato, of course) I added to it. I thought my tolerance would be a lot worse than it was after 3 months of not drinking but I didn't do too badly and I had barely a hangover the next day.

Saturday

One of the best days I have had in a long long time. I woke up early (thank you body clock) and cleaned up the mess from the night before while chatting with Debs about our European plans. As others slowly rose, Jimothy started the barbeque and we were soon stuffing ourselves with a feast of bacon and eggs. Monty and Jimothy meandered off for a round of golf and the rest of us headed down to the beach. The water was freezing but the weather was beautiful and warm. Only four were brave enough to venture into the water, and that's if you include Toby. Even though he is terrified of waves he ran into the breakers at full speed and had the time of his life!

Everything is going to be OK :)

We walked the length of the beach to the inlet used by boats and then wandered up the main road. I decided to fore go sugar-free for the weekend and shared a huge chicken burger with Courts followed by Feijoa Crumble and then an Ice Cream all to myself. Go hard or go home I say! The sugar high wasn't unmanageable but I spent a good hour or so sleeping off the resulting crash. Once the golfers had found their way home we bought a smorgasboard of munchies at the supermarket and Jimothy once again took skillful control of the barbeque. The night was much quieter than the previous as we ascended to the movie room to play Wii on the projector and several of us dozed off in our respective corners.

Sunday

Sunday started much the same way as Saturday, clearing up from the previous nights barbequed bananas and ice cream. This time it was Nurse B's turn to wow us with buttermilk pancakes, stewed apple, blueberries and maple-cinnamon butter which was amazing. The only bad thing about the pancakes was that there weren't more! After breakfast I took Courtney's sister for a driving lesson around the quiet roads of the town, the first chance she had to drive her new car.

My entire week was summed up for me by a singular comment by Wozz as we all sat out on the deck together - "We need to sit around a table eating cheese and talking crap more often". It's true, and I'm going to try and make it happen.

Two Weeks of Bliss - Challenge Entry Two

Two more Bliss weeks have passed and I was so full of things to tell you about Melbourne that I haven't had a chance to wrap them up for you yet. So in the last 2 weeks, I've been blissed out on the following.

My Long Haired Boy and our Furbabies!

www.imdb.com

Monday of the first week we decided we needed some time to ourselves. We got fish n chips on the way home from work and ate them in front of the TV, completely home alone. I don't remember the last time we did that! Then we went to bed at 7.30pm and veged out in front of The Switch, cuddled up with each other and our furboys. I love having nothing to do other than be with Courts and to top it off I love the look on Toby's face when he's truly happy. He's so easy to please and a cuddle with Mum and Dad is damn near the top of his Bliss list I'm sure. PS. The Switch was full of plotline holes and as a movie it was rubbish, but if you're a Jen Aniston fan and want to be entertained and relaxed, it's worth a watch.

Sleep

Not a very interesting one, and I get so much more Bliss from an afternoon nap than a normal night, but at the end of a 14 hour shift, sleep is all I need.

Seeing the World

We all know the details of my trip to Melbourne but I just love the feeling of adventure and new experiences and the unknown and living!

www.thrashitoutonline.com

Slash

'Nuff said.

Sex, Drugs n Rock n Roll.

Not necessarily literally! I love the vibe of the idea of sex, drugs n rock n roll. It's a lifestyle, its a movement, and as much as I might love any or all of the individual components, it's about more than that. And I got it at Soundwave.

Long drives

Last weekend Courts and I decided to take a sunny afternoon and drive out to Pokeno, 45 min ride south of Auckland. If you haven't been privy to it's wonders, Pokeno is a tiny town in Waikato known for little more than it's Ice Cream store. They have 40 flavours, and scoops are super cheap. Plus you can buy 11 scoop cones if you really want a challenge! I used up my one-cheat-a-week on a scoop of Mochachino Ice Cream, followed by hot chips shared with Courts. There was a cold breeze blowing away the sunshine before it could reach us, but it was nice to take a time out and do something different.

Monday I worked late, till 9pm, and I was exhausted afterwards. No bliss.

www.wagamama.co.nz

Family

Tuesday Mum, my sister and her boyfriend, me and Courts, went to check out the results of our photo shoot the other week. We ate at Wagamama's Newmarket beforehand and then spent an hour or so going through photos and choosing the ones we want to keep. The reason I loved it though was because we had so much fun together, bantering and joking back and forth. Not often we're all together at the same time.

Pilates

Wednesday I treated myself to a Pilates session. I used to go 4 times a week and I LOVE Pilates. I stopped when I became single before I was with Courts, out of a need to save money and also because I wasn't in the right headspace to do anything but watch Shortland Street and eat chocolate. I miss it though, and if it weren't for saving for Europe I'd be back there, 4 times a week again.

www.manhattanstyle.com

I go to Absolute Pilates in Newton, Auckland and I'm loyal to the studio! The best instructors are Sam and Asho - Sam for a mean work out and a real burn, and for the best communication of methods to beginners. Asho for intense relaxation and stretching that opens you up. In saying that, I think finding the right instructor is very personal, you need someone that you click with, to get the most out of their instruction. The other instructors have years and years of experience, but if I had one of them instead of Sam for my first ever class, I probably wouldn't have gone back. That's no reflection on their skills as instructors but on my learning style and preferences.

Pilates is amazing, if at first you don't succeed, try another instructor! And do it at Absolute Pilates. I wish I could go back sooner! The receptionist recognised me straight away, as did Asho, which was really awesome. It made me feel welcome and not at all like 'that girl that quit'.

Inner Circle

www.imdb.com

'Inner Circle' is how I refer to my closest friends, the ones who stick by through thick and thin and go the distance. Thursday was monthly movie night at Monty and Nurse B's. Once again they impressed with their cooking and we watched Monkey Business, a 1931 film with the Marx brothers. I loved it, such a good movie! The humour still translates today. And of course the company wasn't half bad either!

Random Acts of Kindness

My older sister is moving to Queenstown in a month or so and is packing packing packing. It means we haven't caught up lately and I miss her! We didn't grow up together and have only known each other properly for a few years but it doesn't feel like that. She's family in every sense, we get on awesome, and I love her to pieces along with her partner and my 2 nephews. Anyways, Friday night on the way home from work, we muffin-bombed them! Like a photo-bomb, where you duck into the background of someones photo without them knowing... we ran up to her doorstep and left muffins to help with the packing.

Mini Skirts

OK, actually not mini skirts, daisy-duke shorts. Both make me equally happy, it's just that it's Mini-Skirts that are on the Bliss List. I'm not a big fan of pants, but only to the point that I prefer short shorts or mini skirts. I don't know why! That's just how I'm most comfortable. So I spent the whole weekend in daisy-dukes.

Mexican Food... oh and Birthdays, Inner Circle, Soul Buddy, Squish and Long Haired Boy.

www.huttrotary.org.nz

Did I mention that this weekend is my birthday?! The big 2-5. One of my bestest oldest friends is five years older than me almost to the day, his birthday is the day before mine, and so we celebrated together Saturday night with a Mexican Fiesta! We had potluck Mexican - enchiladas, tacos, burritos, chili, quesadillas, and chilli chocolate! Only problem was that I had come home from Muffin-Bombing on Friday really sick. I think I have a virus, I had the whole body-ache, weak, tired thing going on and a very weak stomach to match. The company was awesome and the night was really fun, I just wish I'd been able to enjoy the food! Mum brought over streamers, we had Mexican music, I saw one of my oldest friends for the first time in months (she's back from 7 months working in India) and the entire Inner Circle was there. Loved it!

My Week in Bliss

The first week of the Bliss challenge is over. The very first thing I learnt is that scheduling Bliss might be a good start, but it very rarely works out! Failed iPods, postponed appointments and cancelled dates make for quick thinking when you have a challenge at hand haha. After all that, this is what Blissed me out this week -

Britney Spears 'Hold it Against Me'.

defpenradio.com

Call me obsessed, as many of you already do, but I love her, and I love this song. Britbrit is on my bliss list, and I can't blame my love of her on nostalgia. I have a distinct memory of sitting in the back seat of a hot car in 1999 while my 10 year old sister played '...Baby One More Time' on repeat and Mum didn't see the need to stop this monstrosity. I'm pretty sure it wasn't until 'Toxic' that I got on the Britney Wagon, and I haven't stopped since. I may always revert to rock, but singing along to Britney makes me happy. I had planned on a day of her catalog on shuffle, but the aforementioned iPod decided to sync all crazy and instead I listened to Hold it Against Me about seven times in a row. I am not ashamed.

Challenges and Inspiration

On the same day as Britney, the General Manager of our company came and sat with the frontline staff and took calls from customers for 4 hours until 10pm at night. As a trainer and someone that frequently does the same, I got to sit with him and assist. He wanted to see and hear what the frontline deal with, struggle with the same struggles and hear the good and bad from our customers. Why? So he can fix it. So he can make the working environment better for customers and staff alike. So the little people have it easier. He doesn't only care about a bottom line or the next change in statistics. He is taking on challenges that aren't easy but he's getting on with it. When I grow up I want to be just like him.

itsallmythought.com

Being Alive

The next day I woke up in a seriously good mood. Finishing at 10pm meant I went to bed not long after getting home and I woke up in the same great mood I went to sleep in. I had planned to get my haircut that night, which I love, but the world had other plans. At 12.50pm a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 3km below the surface, 10km outside of Christchurch. We live in Auckland, so we didn't feel the quake, but I have kept up with the news every waking hour since. 146 are confirmed dead, 200 are still missing, and I am ALIVE. I spent the night watching the news, and instead of being pampered, I coloured Squish's hair for her, in front of the TV. I spent time with my Long Haired Boy and with Squish, I pampered someone else, and the only thing I would have liked more is to actually help out in our Garden City.

Green Grass and Good Friends

twistedquill.blogspot.com

Wednesday saw us join Monty and Nurse B at Glover Park in St Heliers for Movies by Moonlight. It was our second foray into outdoor movies this summer, watching 500 Days of Summer, and it was not to be our last, because we joined Mum and Squish the very next night for Julie and Julia. We had picnic dinners, say cocooned under duvets with pillows. We watched moths lit up like fireflies by the projector as we stared up at the stars in a sky as deep as it was dark. Although we enjoyed both movies, it didn't matter what was on the screen. We had fresh air, grass under our feet, and loved ones at our side. Perfect summer nights.

Being Pampered

Thursday I got that haircut I had been waiting for. My hair was quite long but it was badly damaged by bleaching-gone-by and the huge Cheap-Haircut Mistake of 2010. Courtney's Step-mum's niece (got that?) did it for me and she did an amazing job. She laughed when I said I was looking forward to having my hair brush fall off the end of my hair in the morning, but isn't it a great feeling? Refreshed and renewed. I stopped a lot of my pampering efforts over the last 6 months as Europe savings too priority, but I don't think I can prioritise the awesome feeling I get.

The pampering didn't stop there! On Friday I got a massage, express facial, eyebrow wax and tint and eyelash tint. It was a 1 hour treatment package that I got myself and my sister off a last-minute deals site. I desperately needed my eyebrows tinted (blonde eyebrows kind of disappear when you have black hair) and the girl did a great job. Unfortunately I can't recommend the salon because the customer service when both of us tried to book was seriously atrocious, to the point we considered not going at all for fear of the treatment we would get. Not wanting to waste money, I went, and I'm glad I did.

cookingchinchillas.blogspot.com

There was a very good reason for all my primping and preening this week - on Saturday Mum had booked photoshoots for my sister, herself and me. We each had our hair and make up done, individual shots and group shots. I got made up with 50's pin up make up and hair, which i LOVE. I will share photos when we have them.

Random Acts of Kindness

This one was unintentional but after the photoshoot

Singing in the Car

There is little I enjoy more! I feel like I'm annoying people when I sing around the house. I should get over it, because I love singing, and I'm not tone deaf. In the car, I have ultimate freedom. I don't care that other drivers see me, I love seeing people singing in their cars!

My Long Haired Boy

We had our third Saturday Breakfast Date this weekend, and I can happily say this new tradition was a brilliant idea! There is no better way to start the weekend than sitting with my LHB eating amazing food I would never have cooked myself, in the sun, with trees and sea air. Thanks Mecca Stonehouse.

Mexican Food

www.mexicancafe.co.nz

Blondie's birthday dinner went down a treat! I hear mixed reviews about Mexican Cafe but I am yet to have a bad experience. Soul Buddy was there with her hubby and everyone had a great night. Their cocktails are to die for and last night I didn't have a single one. Viva La Sugar-Free!

Decluttering

So it's not pampering, its not glamorous photo shoots and its not fine dining, but damn it feels good. Inorganic Rubbish Collection week is AWESOME. We also have a house inspection tomorrow so when I finish writing, I start cleaning. Britbrit, I'm going to need you on form for this one. It's gotta be LOUD!

So, the end of the first week, and it was a success. My week wasn't perfect, I had a big argument with Courts over stupid little things (it's all A-OK now) and a drunken (on their part) argument last night after dinner. Neither needed to happen. With Courts I needed to just chill out and relax, which I think was in part because I haven't had much time to myself. We're working on that though. The other I'm still not a hundred percent sure on, but it will be resolved. I'm not an angry or mean spirited person and both incidents really got to me. I'm real though, and that's why I'm mentioning them to you. As long as I focus on being more patient and chilled out, and bringing the bliss in, things can only get better.

What did you Bliss out on this week?

When You Realise How Great Your Friends REALLY Are

Happy Friday! Another week down, another week closer to Europe! 105 sleeps to go, and Friday means it's time to update you on our plans. If you're not interested in house-sitting, ferries, poor customer service or cougars, feel free to skip this post, I won't mind!

First things first, our animals now have loving homes to (temporarily) go to while we are away, hence the title of this blog. The wonders of Facebook. Oh how I love and loathe thee all at the same time. We had quite a few people say that if their circumstances were right at the time, they could help. Thank you, to each and everyone of you, for reassuring me that I had options, if I didn't find anything more suitable. Although it was a great relief to know we had people willing to help, the greatest relief came in a resolution.

Our dear Movie Night hosts, Monty and NurseB, have offered to take Toby in, while Izzy (the cat) will head to Soul Buddy's house for awhile. In a perfect world I wouldn't want them separated, but I think they will be OK. Monty and NurseB already have a dog, and he is only just getting used to their cats (blended family bliss!) so it's not really a great idea to throw Izzy in the mix. Toby has been around Monty since he was a pup so there is a lot of trust there, and having another dog to distract him won't hurt either. It also works really well because Monty and NurseB are off on Safari for the month before we leave, so we are going to house sit for them. The fact that we will be with Toby in his new house for the first month he is there is awesome, we can help him transition so it isn't so hard on him. The whole thing couldn't have worked out better, and we are eternally grateful to our friends for helping us out.

Meanwhile, Izzy is going to stay with his Aunty SB. SB has three cats of her own so while it will become a bit of a full house, at least he will get a lot of attention! My only worry is that SB and her husband are off to England for 2 weeks at the same time that we leave (we're all off adventuring this year! Even Squish and her Lobster are off to the US of A) and Izzy wont understand all the changes. He's going to head to her place when we move to Monty's so he has a month to get settled before they go away so I am sure it will all be OK. Either way, I couldn't ask for a more trustworthy and loving person to look after him when I cant.

OK, so with that out of the way - the fun stuff! We're really just trying to focus on getting accommodation sorted at the moment, so we've recently booked Paris, Athens, and Avallon, a stop between Nice and Cherbourg which has replaced Clermont-Ferrand on our itinerary. It's really close to an awesome experimental building site that we plan on visiting - a castle is being built, using only medieval resources. No cranes or jackhammers, just chisels and pulleys.

We've also booked our ferries between Poole, England and Cherbourg, France, and our ferries between Athens and the island of Santorini in Greece. Even though it is still months away, its really exciting to see the pieces come together. This is actually going to happen! After 10 years of dreaming and googling and dreaming and brochures and dreaming and ideas, I'm actually going to make it happen. It still doesn't seem real.

Silly things are exciting. I had a few dollars left over last pay day so I bought fresh stocks of hair ties, clips, toothpaste, soap, 2-in-1 shampoo and even Marmite and stowed it all away in our rapidly filling Things-for-Europe drawer (we're on our second one, luckily they're small bedside table drawers or I don't think we would get it all on the plane!). I told you I'm super organised! I just like doing these things because each one takes me a step closer to being there.

Our only disappointment has been the International Youth Travel Card. The IYTC is a card that costs $25 and acts as proof of age (you have to be under 26 to get one). It then qualifies you for discounts all over the world. The STA website has a database of all the places you can get the discount, and although there were very few that appeared useful to us, it showed we could get a discount off our Disneyland tickets that would be almost equal to the cost of the card. We reasoned that this essentially made the card free, and so if we did find a place to use it, it was a bonus.

Only thing was, the database was wrong and we couldn't use the card for the Disneyland discount. It only applied to Student cards, which wasn't noted, and the database was so out of date the ticket prices weren't even correct. After an argument with a very rude travel agent over her demands that I email the complaint and that there was no-one I could talk to (I wanted it reversed before the charge came off my credit card so didn't want to leave it up to email), she passed the phone to the very person I'd been told to email. The lovely Rhiannon realised that the website wasn't clear, and arranged a refund for us. While I wasn't too happy with STA originally, they can thank Rhiannon for taking ownership and proving that their Customer Service isn't all bad.

Lastly, I am very excited for tomorrow night. Its the 40th birthday dinner of my Mum's best friend Blondie and not only do we get to celebrate with her but we get to do it at Mexican Cafe, my favourite restaurant on earth. Happy Birthday other-Mum, thanks so much for welcoming my sister and I into your life as family members before you barely knew us. Thanks for putting up with us, loving us unconditionally, and for being my Mum's Soul Buddy. You make us all very happy and I am proud to call you my other-Mum. And to point you out to everyone I know and tell them your real age after they comment on how hot you are. No more dirty thirties! Love you xx

Milestones!

The Crème Brulee was amazing. With it came another wee milestone in my sugar-free life though – I couldn’t finish it. To put this in perspective, I never leave dessert behind, and I have no issues being the only one at the table to order it.

My inability to finish the Crème Brulee had no reflection whatsoever on its taste or texture – everyone else finished in record time and looked for seconds. When I say it was amazing, I mean holy rock n roll AMAZING, and yet about a third of the way through, I was stuck. I pushed through, but at half way, I just couldn”t do it. I spent the next half hour feeling like I had over eaten tremendously (I hadn’t) and feeling a little bit under the weather. I have no regrets - that first half of the dessert was everything I have craved for the last 3 weeks (YES! 3 week milestone today!) but afterwards I thought to myself, you know what? I don’t think I need to make an exception for sugar next time. I just don’t want it anymore.

This new found revelation is not to be overestimated. I still woke up this morning studying the Vogels Hazelnut and Cocoa cereal to figure out if there was anyway I could get away with it (I couldn’t) and the vending machine calls to me from the lunch room at work. But I am getting there, and 3 weeks is a quarter of the way to the 3 months my nutritionist said it would take to be rid of the cravings for good.

I do have to admit to one downside. Working late on Friday night I got the feeling when your blood sugar is low and you start to feel a bit light headed. I’ve felt this plenty of times, but never as suddenly. As soon as I ate I was much much better. I guess I need to watch the timing of my meals more now that my body has lower levels of sugar to rely on. Poor Courts bore the brunt of it as as soon as I felt unwell I was miserable and over-sensitive, another side effect I have experienced when I have tried to kick sugar previously.

Interestingly enough, this came out on Stuff today - http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/4563503/Do-you-need-a-sugar-detox - thanks to everyone that forwarded it to me!

Moving on, because I want to update you on our Europe plans. The deposit on our bike is paid and our booking confirmed – we 100% HAVE A BIKE! We pick it up on 25 June (after having travelled Ireland and been to London already) and its all ours until 23 September. The husband and wife that run Bournemouth Motorcycle Hire have been really great, answering all our questions and going out of their way to give us the best deal possible. If you ever have a chance to use them, I highly recommend that you do.

Because we have a bike set in stone, we can start finalising our itinerary and booking accommodation and ferry transfers. Courts is very much a go with the flow kind of person, but the idea of knowing where we will be and when (at least roughly) makes me more excited, it feels more real. Today we booked tickets to see two shows at the West End – Wicked and The Lion King. I have seen Lion King previously on Broadway, but it was awesome and I can’t wait to share it with Courtney.

Everything is coming together! In 140 days (yes, I am counting) we will be on our way!

For tonight, I'm off to see Burlesque with my bestest buddies, and that’s more than enough Bliss for one day <3