early in the morning

I've woken early, too early. 4:20am early. After lying in bed for most of an hour, I though I may as well be productive. Somehow I've ended up blogging instead...

Beyond the machinations around our gear, we've had a busy week. We're enjoying staying with Bronwyn's parents in the Waikato. The weather here has been pretty glorious, with blue skies and polarising-filter-loving cloud formations gracing balmy days. Both Bronwyn's family and other locals have been quick to advertise the superior merits of a life in this region. No doubt many of them true, though there is a sense of a benevolent advertising campaign going on round here, with the entire population in on the conspiracy.

Certainly involved in such proselytising are the staff I've met from Waikato DHB, who interviewed me for a post there on Tuesday. Following this I arranged to return for a further visit on Wednesday to tour the facilities I'd potentially be working in, and visiting the Psychology Centre the DHB jointly runs with the local university. While I'm yet to hear back from the manager officially, signs again highly positive regarding the interview process. With discussions continuing with other possible employers also, there are a number of options and I've much to think about.

Bronwyn's family are gearing up for sister Stephanie's wedding on Easter Saturday, with dress fittings for bridesmaids Bronwyn and Carolyn being completed this week. We've now got the dresses, and I can announce to you all the style is mfhhghg hggn rrfff and the colour is hhggngn gaaahh gurrgle. (Cough cough choke.) Why is my windpipe suddenly so sore? Ah well... [Jenny's ninjas apologise for any disruption to your transmission.]

This week has seen me putting time into a major re-deployment of the MMM International (New Zealand) website, the voluntary organisation that Bronwyn's parent's work for. The new version is almost ready for launch, though the existing site remains up this morning. It's been good to be able to use my ill-gotten blogging skills for “good” on this occasion, as well as for “awesome”. [Check here for a screenshot when the new site is live...]

We're still enjoying being back, and haven't been hit by total reverse culture shock yet. I still can't get my head around prices of things. Most items I select at the supermarket seems reasonably-priced now, but when my express-lane small pile of items comes to over $40 I wonder if I've got someone else's bill. Meanwhile, I ran the car down to the fuel light being on yesterday, and was therefore able to set a new record of pumping $80 of gas into the car, even using less expensive fuel this time. Wow. We're living on the NZ Peso again...