Adventure Mom

Oh, What a Feeling – Lionel Richie in New Zealand The kids and I just returned from seeing Lionel Richie in concert near Napier. It's about a 4-hour drive from our home base in the Bay of Plenty. I'm still on a high. Makes me feel like I'm back in college. Just as powerful as the music was the experience of talking and dancing with Kiwis who stepped above and beyond open-air concert politeness. The venue was the grounds of a winery. You bring a picnic, a blanket, a chair or 2 and dancing feet. We stood, ran and danced on those feet all night. Our closet neighbors included Sue, John, and their friend, Christine, whose husband had died 6 months ago. It breaks my heart, because I know what she's going through.Year One post-mortem: grief, pain, numbness. I told her I was sorry about her loss, and that I'd been widowed, too. Music blared too loudly to say much else. Maybe we didn't need to. I balanced Fiona on my shoulders and danced. I thought, "What a shame ...

Happy Deviation M.J., from S. Korea, with Finn & Fiona I'm writing from the lounge of the Tiki Lodge, a "backpacker's" in Taupo, New Zealand. We're not supposed to be here. I mean, we've paid for a room, and everything, but this was not the PLAN. The PLAN was to fetch Fiona and Finley from school at three o'clock this afternoon, drive 2 hours to Taupo, eat dinner, then drive 2 hours to Napier, where we'd overnight at my flatmate's colleague's home (free lodging). The premise for this road trip is seeing Lionel Richie in concert in Napier. Glitch #1: My GPS crapped out 2 weeks ago. It's been sent to a shop (possibly in Antarctica) for repairs. I was hooked on that device like a baby's hooked to his mama. GPS, tell me where to go, and I'll follow ("At the roundabout, take the second exit..."). Until she blacked out. I was forced, against my will, to buy a map. The paper kind you can't refold after you've u...

Luck of the Irish? 1 Day, 2 Dates I have seven minutes before my self-imposed blogging deadline of midnight (NZ time) to complete the day's writing assignment. Today, I went on my first dates since... since....forever. One happened over coffee this morning. Another happened over drinks and just wrapped up before midnight. I have few expectations of this dating thing beyond experiencing face-to-face conversations with persons of the opposite sex. Okay, conversations with single persons of the opposite sex. I enjoyed 2 conversations today. And that's just fine with me. Maybe it's the luck of the Irish, but I have no first-date horror stories to report. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

How are we Doing?  3 Progress Reports I had to get Fiona and Finley's school progress reports as part of our visa renewal (actually, NZ forces you to complete a new application, one for each family member, but that's another story...). Parents don't normally get these reports until the second school term, which starts in May. That means I have an "inside scoop" on my children's academic and social progress. It's a kind of Month-Two temperature check on life in New Zealand. I'll give you a sneak peak: Fiona Stanelun Reading Reading at Level 5 [editor Mum's note: Fi's still behind some of her peers] and developing decoding strategies. Reading is not yet fluent, but Fiona is enjoying success by being able to complete reading tasks with a degree of independence. Writing Fiona can write a complete sentence by using basic word sources and hearing and recording sounds in words. She is planning the structure of sentences in her head before writing...

"On, on!" Note: Some content of this blog is not suitable for younger readers. Or those easily offended. Hell, who am I kidding? I don't have readers. "Self? Are you offended? Nope." Continue...] I call them the "Raunchy Runners:" the Mount Maunganui Hash House Harriers. http://www.mounthash.8m.com/   It's a rag-tag bunch of walkers, joggers and a few faster folk who meet each Monday night to drink beer (or another adult beverage - heck, sometimes even soda), run, pause to drink more beer (near the end of the run/walk) and eat whilst having another refreshment (note: I can't drink anything but water before a run. And I rarely down more than one adult beverage...okay, maybe 2, during the night. There's the disclaimer). The Hash is commonly referred to as "a drinking club with a running problem." Don't wear new shoes to the Hash - You'll have to drink from them.   I ran with a Hash group in Spokane, Washington called ...

Running with the Hashers - Part One I admit it: It's late, I've just run with the Hash House Harrier group, and I'm knackered (tired). Stay tuned: I'll tell you my "Hash name" tomorrow. Cheers!

Take a Mental Picture I did it...again. Left for the weekend and forgot the battery charger for my digital camera. You know this one...pull out of your driveway, wondering if you've forgotten anything. Camera? Check. How's the battery strength? 2 bars out of 4? That'll work. Maybe. Only it didn't. I made it through one Aquaduck (tank-like truck that turns into a boat) tour of Rotorua, plus nearly an entire Maori performance (snapped the obligatory picture of warrior-performer with outstretched tongue) before I got the battery-with-a-slash-through-it symbol of camera death. Shoot. I can't shoot. Battery's dead. No worries. The glow worms we saw after our hangi (meal cooked in the ground) wouldn't have shown in the dark, anyways. My friend, Andrea, and I drove the hour from Rotorua to her home near Whakatane while the kids slept in the car. Again, nothing to see here. No need for pictures. Then comes another glorious Kiwi morning, when the sun is shining an...