I’m on Week 10 of a 12-week commuting stint in Auckland. I fly up on Wednesday morning and back home on Thursday night. I pick up a car at Auckland Airport and travel to my Auckland office in New Lynn.

I’ve really enjoyed it. The people I’m working with are lovely, the work is challenging and interesting, and it’s kinda fun to be in Auckland two days a week. It’s been really nice to see Gerard, Fleur, Iris, Esther and George regularly. I found a hotel just up the road from them, so I can pop in for a visit after gym / dinner on Wednesday to say hi. I’m looking forward to seeing my sister when I’m up next week.

I like that the people at the car rental place, the hotel and the gym (Les Mills is across the road from my Auckland office, yuss!) all know me by name. I’m now in a regular flow that almost feels normal.

The only downside is that it is disruptive to my home life – nights at home on the couch = 0. At the moment, my week consists of:

• Monday night – gym and hockey
• Tuesday night – gym and committee meetings (yes I have one pretty much every week, ugh!)
• Wednesday night – away (still get to the gym, win!)
• Thursday night – usually return home about 9pm
• Friday night – hockey and club night
• Saturday night – sometimes this is couch night (ahhhhhhh), unless there is hockey (wahooo!)
• Sunday night – derby

And I usually squeeze a Friday and Saturday day gym session in there, as well as derby Freshmeat training on Saturday afternoon, coaching Wyatt and Arlia’s hockey (8am Sunday, OMG!), and Saturday lunch time Learn to Play Hockey sessions. That’s not to mention that it’s NZIHL season, so there are hockey games Saturday and Sunday once a month.

It’s not really a sustainable level of activity, but it’s fun at the moment!

I look at my left wrist and what do I see? Wrist. Bare, empty wrist.

The Apple Watch was released on April 24th, but not for New Zealanders. Many of those who did get a chance to order it on release day are still waiting, almost a month later. I’m so impatient to be able to order mine! It’s so tempting to set up an Australian iTunes account and buy one that way. But I will wait. Sigh.

We got off scott-free in the Sept 2010 earthquake, breakages-wise. And in the Feb 2011 quake, the only damage we had was a broken computer screen, expensive but not traumatic. 

So when we moved into our new home in April 2011, I didn’t worry too much about things getting broken. It took a while to set everything up, so it was early June before I found a suitable spot for all the precious knick-knacks that I’ve collected over years. 

So of course, Murphy’s Law prevailed and three days later, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake happened. We lost power and flush toilets, but almost as distressing was coming home to find many of my wee thing smashed to bits. Glue sorted the worst of the mess out, and then I packed them all away until it was safer to bring them back out again.

That day is today. 

I’m having the best weekend! It’s Easter, so I have four long days of blissful time off. Today I had a lovely sleep in, went to yoga this morning, then did some chores and caught up on hockey and derby admin. We went to the skatepark in the afternoon. It’s so cool to watch my kids carving it up, they are so talented! We had a look at Anton and Tina’s new house later in the afternoon (very flash, I bet they love it!). Now I am laxing on the couch watching Survivor. Such a good day.

For me, this is relaxation.

Someone commented on a photo I took the other day that I am the original selfie queen – I was taking selfies almost everyday before the word had even been invented! For over 10 years now, I’ve been visually documenting my life from an up-close viewpoint.

Recently “selfie” seems to have become a bit of a dirty work – it’s seen as narcissistic maybe? I don’t care. I love that I have hundreds of photos that document my life as I’ve moved from my 20s, through my 30s and into my 40s. It’s great to look back and see how far I’ve come.

So in honour of my selfie tradition, and because Stephen and I recently celebrated four years married and six years since we met, here is a medley of couple selfies 🙂

It took me quite a while to convince myself that it was okay to spend a whole day on the 7th floor of a building in Wellington. I’ve been up that high a few times in the last four years, but not often and not usually for long.

It didn’t really reassure me that someone was putting together the earthquake survival kit while I was there. It’s a wheelie bin full of bottled water and food and first aid stuff. I couldn’t help but think that the wheelie bin ain’t gonna help them if Wellington has an earthquake bad enough that they need a week of supplies.

I joked about it with one of the women in the office. She pointed out that at least they’d be safe from tsunamis up that high. Ha! It reminded me that it’s silly to worry about these things. I was still glad to leave though.

I went to a meeting on a building site in the city today. It was across the road from a building site, and beside a building site, with a few more building sites behind it. Afterwards a jumped in my car and drove down Colombo Street, flanked by building sites.

It feels like it’s taken forever, but it’s finally happening. Building is everywhere.

I remember a few weeks after the quake driving down Barbadoes St when they finally opened it. It was nighttime and the city was completely dark – no power means no city lights. Each intersection I drove through I could see the black, and eventually I had to pull over because I was crying so hard I couldn’t see properly.

I missed the city so much and I still do. But then driving through the middle of it today and listening to the sound of construction made me so happy.

They are giant steel-framed things, built zillions of percent above code, green and all that. The bus exchange looks spectacular. It’s been a tough four years, but days like today make me feel excited for our future.

I went for a delightful walk along the Wellington waterfront this evening after Day 2 of a fairly heavy and difficult review workshop. The sun was shining and there were tonnes of people out and about. It was so good for my soul!

But it reminds me how much I miss my city. I am quite used to not having a city anymore, but on days like today, it makes me feel sad. Remember wandering through the Square? Stopping for coffee? Wandering down the river bank? The Arts Centre on a Saturday morning? The Dux on a sunny afternoon?

C’mon rebuild, go faster!

I stopped for gelato on my way back to my hotel 🙂