trademe

 Trademe, a Tom Tom and online grocery shopping have really made New Zealand for me so far -- I know, it doesn't sound like it takes much for me but if you were living my life (I hate to admit it, but a little overwhelming at moments in the last few weeks) you would totally appreciate these things as well.  Don't forget, when we moved to New Zealand, we came with clothes, a few laptops and the boys Thomas the Tank Engine figures and tracks (oh, and I smuggled a photo album and some children's books into the mix).  This is 100% absolutely lovely to me and I am not looking to replace all our belongings Kiwi style but we have to have a few things to live and trademe (the online auction site) has saved the day...

Everyone has to have a couch and we were able to find one in Remuera that is chocolate brown, looks good (this is the stock photo from the auction, not mine) and super, super comfy.  If you had been to our house in C-vill before (or Daleville or Greenwood) you would know just how important it is to us to have a comfortable couch!!

We have barstools!  We have a bar so these ended up being a must -- just picked them up tonight (again, these are all stock photos from the actual auctions, I will share how they have come together in our rooms another time (or maybe not :)  

Everyone in our family now has a place to sit at the dining room table -- we even have a seat for Junie!!

Everyone has to have a new breakfast set, yes?  JJ about died when I told him we had to drive clear to the North Shore to get these but, well, I really liked them!!  Truth be told, he does too :)

Ash now has a bed -- trip up to the Hibiscus Coast tonight and we picked this up.  

Finally, I had a moment and totally fell, head over heals in love with these two wool chairs.  they are bright orange and I am sure that they were manufactured before me but I still had to have them (although I had to change the entire vision of the public space of our house for them).  Again, comfy!!!

We have purchased about ten other furniture items that I can think of in addition to our beds which came from the Target furniture store.  I love a bargain so this is all right up my alley!

Anyway, tonight was a real treat for me.  We had to pick up a lot of furniture and needed the space that car seats would have taken up so the boys had to stay at home with Mam-maw while we ran up the coast.  On the way home we had to stop and get milk (I am still learning about how much of what my family needs in this new place).  It was such a fantastic treat to go to the grocery, late(r) at night with my husband.  I adore the grocery but when you have six grabby hands that go with you everywhere, the grocery becomes a chore and not a pleasure anymore, so tonight with just JJ and I to look through the aisles, it was fantastic.  We handled it like the inner 12 year olds we are and brought home ten tons of junk!!  I feel a bit sick now but crisps and chocolate will do that to you!!

Tips for World Travels with (my) Children

I'm back! We aren't all settled in yet but settled enough that I can sit down to write for a moment here and there.  I am going to start at the beginning of our trip and maybe throw in a bit of our month in Indiana here and there...

Now, about travel with the three AJs three and under...I had all kinds of ideas about traveling with the three. I spent months collecting toys they had never seen to distract them from the 32 hours (yes, 32 hours!) of travel.  I collected all of their favorite snacks to feed them during the trek.  I packed bags of diapers and wipes and etc, etc, etc...

NEVER DO ANY OF THAT AGAIN!!

The next time that I travel with the three (although I hope that they are by then three, four and under) here is what I will take...just enough diapers plus two, one extra outfit each (not three), any required food (formula), umbrella strollers and kids.  It still sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Oh and I would DEFINITELY take car-seats again, they were a pain to lug around LAX but so, so, so helpful!!!

A quick recap of our trip, it went perrrr-fecctly!!  My family, being the absolute best in the entire world gathered at promptly one o'clock in the morning to begin to drive us to the airport.  We loaded a borrowed Dodge Ram truck completely full of suitcases and people (Caley, Junie and the UG) in the extended cab, my grandparents Buick with carseats, AJs, Mam-maw, me and Aunt Nana and headed to Indianapolis.

The awesome people at US Air let Junie and Aunt Nana go back to the gate with us, never charged me a dime for our luggage, were courteous, kind and helpful all the way!  The only thing that they did wrong was to seat all three boys together while seating Mam-maw and I in other areas of the plane.  The woman in front of Atticus (who was remarkable and slept up until the last 10 minutes when he started extending his feet into her seat-back) took her complaints as far as she could in Phoenix and we were all seated together for the Phoenix to LA portion of the trip -- have to love the grumps sometimes!!

In LA we spent the entire day at LAX.  First we got off the plane where someone took pity on me and offered me a cart to strap our five carry-ons, two car-seats and five personal belongings.  I specifically brought bungee cords along in case this opportunity arose (I was super surprised to get these through security and onto the plane but I did, twice)!  We had to go to baggage and collect our bags to re-check them for the overseas portion of the trip (when they told me at Indianapolis that I would have to do this, I LITERALLY started crying - can you say embarrassing?!).  We checked our bags, walked about a mile to another building (with three children and a luggage cart) to get some lunch.  After lunch we went back through security (international this time) and headed to find a quiet gate to wait the next 8 hours (we had already waited for four).  We found a gate, I set up the laptop with DVDs and we took turns walking and running the kids around for eight hours.  This sounds absolutely horrible, especially when you consider that we didn't sleep at all (AT ALL!) the night before but, truth be told, it went quickly and wasn't bad, AT ALL!!

At 9 pm LA time (midnight Indiana time) we lined up to board the plane to Auckland with all the others traveling with children...Standing in line AJ1 fell completely asleep.  We boarded the plane, got everyone situated and AJ2 and I joined AJ1 in slumber before the take-off (I didn't even hear it :).  I woke a few times (DINNER!!, WINE!!, SNACK!!, WINE!! and BREAKFAST) and at one point I had a cup of coffee I had to ask them to take away because I was falling asleep with it in my hands, but for the most part we ALL slept almost the entire way to Auckland (in fact, AJ1 didn't wake until the plane landed!!).  Piece of cake!

Here's the best part...for some reason, the flight attendants LOVED us (seriously as in fell in total love with my entire crew) and literally whisked us through customs and immigration.  Less than ten minutes after de-planing I was in a hired car headed for my new home.  I have had this be a two hour experience with a carry-on and no children so this was Ah-mazing to me!!   Air New Zealand was the bomb!  Comfortable, kind, helpful, absolutely the best of the best!!  Fantastic way to be welcomed to Auckland!

I'd do it again in a heat-beat as soon as I get over the jet-lag!

Packing took a whole room!

The crew getting started.

Say cheese at 1:30 am -- great kids!!

Back of the full size truck bed filled with suitcases!!

LA to Auckland!!

Parnell

We seem to need to live in places that were established by political movers and shakers.  Living in Charlottesville in the shadow of Monticello was an amazing experience and will be again when our short time in Auckland is over.  It seems that we will again be living in the shadows (although not quite so literally) of a political innovator, Samuel Parnell.

Yes we found a house (Praise the Lord!).  JJ has been scouring Auckland for the last several weeks and we finally decided on a place!!  It fits all of our requirements:

My list:

• Safe 
• Within walking distance to shopping and activities
• Clean
• In our budget

JJ's list:

• In Auckland ;)

We found a cute little house with a pretty front porch, nestled far back off the road with a nice front yard for the kids to play and a gorgeous deck off the back for the adults to utilize when the children are not around (it's about 10' in the air and the AJs are notorious climbers).  Our home backs up to a wooded natural reserve (I have mixed emotions about this). Someone who was really into security lived there at one time or another as all windows and doors lock with a key and there is a hefty alarm. We went for three bedrooms instead of two which cut our living space a bit, but for our young family of five I think it will be perfect...

Now, back to Parnell:  

• Parnell is the oldest suburb in Auckland.  
• The PM lives on the next street north of us
• I have already discovered a great looking pool, the Parnell Baths
• The shopping is probably out of my league but I don't mind looking at pretty things each day
• I only hear mention of an Anglican Church so if my Catholic self ever makes it to church with all three AJs on my own again, I may have to find my way out of Parnell.  
• If you weren't interested in the long history lesson of the above link, Parnell was named after the founder of the eight hour work day movement, Samuel Parnell.  Yes, I see the irony as a Neurosurgery resident (registrar now)'s wife that we live in the neighborhood named after a man who demanded shorter work hours -- hilarious.

Do you have any Parnell knowledge?  Please share!!

Come, Follow Me...

AJ1 often begins statements with "I've got an idea..." and I know he gets it true.  My entire adult life I have kept file folders jam packed full of the ideas that I want to keep.  This began when the internet was in it's infancy and scanning documents was reserved for glossy paper rolls and a phone line, I had never heard of digital photography in 1994.

When we moved, I had to go through and eliminate my idea folders.  It was refreshing and hard all at the same time.  I kept my favoritist of everything and then weeded through them all over again.  

What I ended up with were two workouts (but I just got the insanity workout from my sister so it will now be added), a blank emergency telephone list (to help me to remember to fill it out), a couple of handouts from the pediatrician and cut-outs from Parents Magazine, a book mark my ma-maw gave me in 1998, several magazine pages showing my early obsession with Dorothy Draper (only amplified by our visit to the Greenbrier earlier this year) and my absolute go to recipes -- the fancies that I pull out of my hat when I want to know that dinner will not be a flop or I need cookies for an exchange, etc.

Here is what it looks like:

This is a fair sight better than the entire bookshelf that I had filled over the years.  As recently as two years ago I would have NEVER been able to rid myself of all these papers and clutter but that was before I (and everyone I know) found Pinterest.  This fantastic weapon in my organization arsenal has enabled me to save most of my ideas in a digital format and seek out the fantastic ideas of others and access it all with the click of my mouse!!  If you aren't already, you should follow my boards (button to your right :) and give me the opportunity to follow you as well.  

I will leave you with one of the recipes that I have in my folder.  I have no idea where it came from a million years ago when I began making it, but I assure you it has been tried and tested and is always fabulous...

Chicken Tikka Masala

Serves 4

Ingredients

1  C plain yogurt

1 Tbspn lemon juice

2 tspn ground cumin

1 tspn ground cinnamon

2 tspn cayenne 

2 tspn fresh ground black pepper

1 Tbspn minced fresh ginger

4 tspn salt

3 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bit size chunks

4 long skewers

1 Tbspn butter 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

2 tspn ground cumin

2 tspn paprika

3 tspn salt 

1 (8oz) can tomato sauce

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1.  In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 tspn cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 tspn salt.  Stir in chicken, cover, refrigerate for at least one hour (I always leave it in over night in a plastic bag that I swish around every so often).  

2.  Preheat the grill for low heat

3.  Lightly oil the grate, thread chicken onto skewers and cook as sloooowly as possible while reapplying marinade every so often.  Take off the grill when juices from chicken run clear.

4.  Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.  saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute.  Season with 2 tspn cumin, paprika and 3 tspn salt.  Stir in tomato sauce and cream.  Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.  Add grilled chicken and simmer for 10 minutes.  Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with fresh cilantro.  

I ALWAYS DOUBLE THE SAUCE AND SERVE OVER BASMATI USUALLY WITH GARLIC NAAN (TWO OTHER RECIPES IN THE FOLDER).

Enjoy.

Happy, Happy Birthday To You (To You)!!

I am rushing to get this post out by midnight tonight...today was my mamma's birthday, she turned 53.  I know a lady's age is supposed to be top secret, but my mamma is the youngest of all my friends as far as I know, so I think it's worth bragging about!  My sister H came down to stay with my sister S and today we all picked up my mom and my sister L and hit the town.

We really had a lot of fun investigating the 'thrifty' stores around town.  I was the only person who didn't come home with a bag full of assorted bargains but only because I just sold off all my possessions to move around the world.  Now I wish that I would have taken a moment or two through the day to snap an image of the fun things they all got (ooops, rookie blogger mistake)!

After we decided to get Thai food, go back to S' house and veg for a bit.  We found out then that Thai food is not available in Muncie at 3pm so we settled for Chinese food and pizza (what a combo) and headed out to Chesterfield.  We all over-indulged, AJ1 had SIX pieces of pizza!

Next we had to stop at 'the Walmart' as AJ1 loving always refers to the store.  We took the opportunity for a photo before we left.  My original idea was that I would have an image printed to give to my mom before I left town so I asked her to take one of all us girls and my boys (minus AJ3 who hasn't been feeling well and stayed with my ma-maw today).  Those few minutes ended up being classic and I will share those with you at the end...

We hit Walmart North and were doing really well when AJ1 turned to all of us teasing about his southern accent and emptied the contents of his stomach in the middle of the aisle - YUCK!  We handled that the same way 'the girls' (as my family refers to us) handle everything; swiftly, with a laugh while working together and kept moving.

When we said goodbye tonight we knew it would probably be the last time for a good long while. So much will change between now and the time that I see them again.  I can go on and on and plan to again sometime but for now I just want to say thank you to my mamma, on her birthday, for giving me the absolutely best gift I could ever ask for, my fabulous, amazing, fantastic, sometimes a bit dramatic, sisters!!

This was the first photo my mom took -- blurry!!

Here is the next photo, S, L and I are all but out and who knows what AJ1 is doing!?!

There were a few others but this turned out to be the best except that L is hiding behind S!  

Homesick

We have been in Indiana for three weeks today.  I am taking the kids and heading up north for the second time since we have been home, today.  Soon now, we will depart for New Zealand.

We haven't even begun our "big adventure" and AJ's 1 & 2 are expressing feelings of homesickness and I just had a pang for the mountains.  As AJ2 is fond of saying, "What are we gonna do?".

Please don't get me wrong, we are very excited!  Its been three weeks since we put JJ on a plane with a kiss and a wave goodbye and we are all ready to be back together again.  In addition, Auckland looks and sounds amazing and the neighborhood we have chosen to live in sounds fantastic.  All that being said, the boys have begun to talk about Virginia as if it were the promised land but instead of making me sad or nervous it makes me so, very happy.

Three years ago when we moved to Virginia with nine month old AJ1, Pavlov and Reagan, I wasn't sure if I was capable of relocating happily, eight long hours in a car, away from Indiana.  It was no time before we settled right in and had everything we needed within arms reach.  Soon, AJ2 was on the way and then AJ3 right after...there was no time to feel anything but joy and happiness (and the weight of my eyelids at times).

The fact that my oldest two children (and me to some extent) are missing Virginia is a good sign to me.  It is evidence that in the last three years JJ and I have been able to create a home amongst the mountains in a small town with an American icon standing watch over us all.  This gives me confidence that Auckland will soon be home and when our tenure has expired, we will also file pieces of another city and its people into a part of our soul that will always be there when we think of home, because home is really, simply, wherever we are, together.

Spades

Pavlov and Reagan were our first children.  Pavlov, the 125 pound Rottweiler/Australian Shepard mix breed was my lap dog until his death last fall.  It wasn't a good death.  It caused great controversy and animosity in our house for months leading up to it but I basically insisted that my dog had gotten too old and slightly volital and had to be put to sleep after AJ3 was born.  It was hard on everyone but especially JJ and AJ1.

AJ1 still talks about missing his black dog and wants to know why he can't return.  Some of AJ1s first words were "Dog, Eat!!".  He was quite attached.

Fast forward nine months and we had to give Reagan up.  Reagan the cat is 17 years old.  She is in perfect health.  She is residing with my in-laws for the moment.

This week when we dropper her off, I unfortunately, didn't have a choice but to have all three AJs with me.  AJ1 went nuts!

He kicked, he screamed, he cried, he even got so upset as to gag!  He accused me of killing the dog (of course, I don't think he knows that I sanctioned the dogs demise but he doesn't seem to miss much that goes on at our house) and now of taking the cat into my in-laws house and killing it with my bare hands (he's 3 and not exposed to violence so I don't have a clue how he came up with that one).  He said that he didn't care if we couldn't go to New Zealand and be with JJ, he wanted his cat!

I was crushed and before AJ1 was finished, I was crying (this had been my pet for the last 15 years as well), AJs 2 & 3 were also a mess (I have to assume from the emotional stress, not leaving the cat) and not for the first time I thought about what this move was going to do to our children.   I grew up in a very disrupted world with my only constant being home.  I hope that I give my children a constant world with the only disruption being geography.   In the meantime, I've been worrying it.

I was having trouble sleeping tonight in my holding pattern of we should be in Auckland already but haven't actually purchased tickets yet.  I did the rounds on the internet, you know, email, news sites, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter etc and finally came to the list of blogs that I normally save for Sunday morning (I am hoping to avoid being awake in the morning).  A good friend's blog made me feel so much better!

My friend Danielle grew up in a military family and is now married to a man devoted to medical training (pediatric cardiology).  Talk about someone who has to know how to roll with the punches.  She too is orchestrating a move this summer though hers is being done while nine months pregnant!  You can check her out here and read why I had restored confidence that I may not totally mess up my kids by moving them around.  If Danielle is the end product of moving and being away from family, then I'll take it in spades!