Getting to Know You

Soooo, no photos this time, sorry!  I know, I know, you are totally disappointed that you are spared my sub-standard photography skills for this one and only get to read my sub-standard writing, but here goes.  Super quick post all about ME (insert eye roll!).

1.  I totally miss American food.  It seems to be the one thing that I cannot get a fix for here.  Nothing tastes quite right.  I miss all kinds of American food and Americanized food ie. Mexican, Indian, German, Italian, etc, etc, etc.  New Zealand has all those categories of food but none of them taste just right to me.  Even Diet Coke tastes a little different.

Funny story that this reminds me of...Once when JJ and I were in Spain we were becoming desperate for something that tasted somewhat like home.  We had been super adventurous this trip and eaten everything from tripe to shark to elk to blah, blah, blah and now after several days (that JJ spent very, very sick) in the mountains we were hungry for anything American tasting.  We found ourselves in a Chinese Restaurant chugging cans of orange Fanta like it were mother's milk.  Seriously, we drank at least ten between the two of us.  I don't remember if the food was good but the Fanta? The Fanta was ah-mazing!!

2.  I hate to stay in a house overnight without another adult.  Like seriously HATE to.  When I lived alone I detested it.  I have had plenty of practice staying alone (cough, cough, overnight call for JJ for the last couple of years) but I have never gotten over hating it.

JJ was in Christchurch this weekend.  Hated it!  The kids and I all slept in the living room and truth be told, I didn't sleep much.  I watched You've Got Mail, Annie Hall, Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.  It was something of a Meg Ryan and/or New York love affair of a night for me.  Made me miss Manhattan, especially the upper west side!

3.  I am married to a brain surgeon and I HATE blood and guts.  I could pass out when I cut myself shaving.  I mean it.  Having little boys who say things to you like "Mom, you know that finger I smashed in the door?  The nail just came off in my mouth.", makes me want to throw up a little.

I adore when my husband will talk to me about his job.  I will never complain about that, I completely love it.  There are times though that I am sure I think more about what he has done to some poor soul's skull far, far longer than he does (I get to do a XYZ procedure this week where you blah, blah, blah -- I am still thinking about this nameless, faceless person after all their hair has grown back!).

On a side note, AJ1 asked JJ if he had to cut any little boys heads off last week at work (WTH?!)!!

4.  Recently I was told that a kiwi told her friends the following about me, "I think she's a Republican but she still seems cool.".  I remember once not long after college having lunch with a few of the philosophy profs and having this discussion about how the older I got (I was like 22 and a total woman of the world) the more left I found myself.  Well, heck, I was raised in small town Indiana, where did I have to go but to the left!

I find my politics now more along the lines of common sense and not sending my babies to war -- EVER.  I tell the boys that we are pacifists and occasionally play a little Tobi Keith in the car so I can remind myself that Americans still kick ass (I have to pay homage to my roots).  At least I still seem cool, even if I'm a Republican (or something).

That's my little slice of heaven on earth for tonight.  I will return soon with a post where the photos will knock your socks off (we went to Coromandel today!).  I should say, before I go, that I am really, really grateful for the blessings that have been given to my family.  This adventure is amazing but JJ and the AJs are the real deal and we could be Memphis, TN or Houston, TX (probably my least favorite places in the first-tier world) and I would still feel like I have it all.

Cheers!

PS I am a total redneck tonight as I forgot to put any sunscreen there this morning and then wore my hair in a bun to discourage AJ3, who was on my back, from pulling it.  That thin ozone, intense sun thing here is FOR REAL -- ouch!